A recently developed pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2 has quickly spread across the world. Unfortunately, a simplified risk score that could easily be used in primary care or general practice settings has not been developed. The objective of this study is to identify a simplified risk score that could easily be used to quickly triage severe COVID-19 patients. All severe and critical adult patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 on the West campus of Union Hospital, Wuhan, China, from 28 January 2020 to 29 February 2020 were included in this study. Clinical data and laboratory results were obtained. CURB-65 pneumonia score was calculated. Univariate logistic regressions were applied to explore risk factors associated with in-hospital death. We used the receiver operating characteristic curve and multivariate COX-PH model to analyse risk factors for in-hospital death. A total of 74 patients (31 died, 43 survived) were finally included in the study. We observed that compared with survivors, non-survivors were older and illustrated higher respiratory rate, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, D-dimer and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), but lower SpO2 as well as impaired liver function, especially synthesis function. CURB-65 showed good performance for predicting in-hospital death (area under curve 0.81, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.71–0.91). CURB-65 ⩾ 2 may serve as a cut-off value for prediction of in-hospital death in severe patients with COVID-19 (sensitivity 68%, specificity 81%, F1 score 0.7). CURB-65 (hazard ratio (HR) 1.61; 95% CI 1.05–2.46), LDH (HR 1.003; 95% CI 1.001–1.004) and albumin (HR 0.9; 95% CI 0.81–1) were risk factors for in-hospital death in severe patients with COVID-19. Our study indicates CURB-65 may serve as a useful prognostic marker in COVID-19 patients, which could be used to quickly triage severe patients in primary care or general practice settings.

Biochar conversion from corn stover was evaluated under various process conditions, and the absorption capacity of biochar was investigated for the removal of oxytetracycline in wastewater. Biochar was prepared at lower carbonization temperatures (200–500 °C) and was used in three different concentrations of chemical oxygen wastewater. The results showed that the biochar prepared at the temperature range of 200–500 °C had a faster sorption rate and shorter sorption equilibrium time compared to biochar produced at higher temperatures. The longest time to reach sorption equilibrium was 9 h for biochar obtained at 200 °C. However, the biochar prepared at 500 °C required only 0.5 h to reach the sorption equilibrium. The corn stover-biochar had the highest sorption capacity of 246.3 mg/g for oxytetracycline at 30 °C. The adsorption kinetics was consistent with pseudo–second-order kinetics. This study provides a theoretical basis for the conversion of corn stover into biochar as efficient sorbents.

Existing data on folate status and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis are scarce. We prospectively examined whether serum folate concentrations at diagnosis were associated with liver cancer-specific survival (LCSS) and overall survival (OS) among 982 patients with newly diagnosed, previously untreated HCC, who were enrolled in the Guangdong Liver Cancer Cohort (GLCC) study between September 2013 and February 2017. Serum folate concentrations were measured using chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Cox proportional hazards models were performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI by sex-specific quartile of serum folate. Compared with patients in the third quartile of serum folate, patients in the lowest quartile had significantly inferior LCSS (HR = 1·48; 95 % CI 1·05, 2·09) and OS (HR = 1·43; 95 % CI 1·03, 1·99) after adjustment for non-clinical and clinical prognostic factors. The associations were not significantly modified by sex, age at diagnosis, alcohol drinking status and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage. However, there were statistically significant interactions on both multiplicative and additive scale between serum folate and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels or smoking status and the associations of lower serum folate with worse LCSS and OS were only evident among patients with CRP > 3·0 mg/l or current smokers. An inverse association with LCSS were also observed among patients with liver damage score ≥3. These results suggest that lower serum folate concentrations at diagnosis are independently associated with worse HCC survival, most prominently among patients with systemic inflammation and current smokers. A future trial of folate supplementation seems to be promising in HCC patients with lower folate status.

Nutrition therapy is considered an important treatment of burn patients. The aim of the study was to delineate the nutritional support in severe burn patients and to investigate association between nutritional practice and clinical outcomes. Severe burn patients were enrolled (n 100). In 90 % of the cases, the burn injury covered above 70 % of the total body surface area. Mean interval from injury to nutrition start was 2·4 (sd 1·1) d. Sixty-seven patients were initiated with enteral nutrition (EN) with a median time of 1 d from injury to first feed. Twenty-two patients began with parenteral nutrition (PN). During the study, thirty-two patients developed EN intolerance. Patients received an average of about 70 % of prescribed energy and protein. Patients with EN providing <30 % energy had significantly higher 28- d and in-hospital mortality than patients with EN providing more than 30 % of energy. Mortality at 28 d was 11 % and in-hospital mortality was 45 %. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that EN providing <30 % energy and septic shock were independent risk factors for 28- d prognosis. EN could be initiated early in severe burn patients. Majority patients needed PN supplementation for energy requirement and EN feeding intolerance. Post-pyloric feeding is more efficient than gastric feeding in EN tolerance and energy supplement. It is difficult for severe burn patients to obtain enough feeding, especially in the early stage of the disease. More than 2 weeks of underfeeding is harmful to recovery.

Astrophysical collisionless shocks are amazing phenomena in space and astrophysical plasmas, where supersonic flows generate electromagnetic fields through instabilities and particles can be accelerated to high energy cosmic rays. Until now, understanding these micro-processes is still a challenge despite rich astrophysical observation data have been obtained. Laboratory astrophysics, a new route to study the astrophysics, allows us to investigate them at similar extreme physical conditions in laboratory. Here we will review the recent progress of the collisionless shock experiments performed at SG-II laser facility in China. The evolution of the electrostatic shocks and Weibel-type/filamentation instabilities are observed. Inspired by the configurations of the counter-streaming plasma flows, we also carry out a novel plasma collider to generate energetic neutrons relevant to the astrophysical nuclear reactions.

We present laboratory measurement and theoretical analysis of silicon K-shell lines in plasmas produced by Shenguang II laser facility, and discuss the application of line ratios to diagnose the electron density and temperature of laser plasmas. Two types of shots were carried out to interpret silicon plasma spectra under two conditions, and the spectra from 6.6 Å to 6.85 Å were measured. The radiative-collisional code based on the flexible atomic code (RCF) is used to identify the lines, and it also well simulates the experimental spectra. Satellite lines, which are populated by dielectron capture and large radiative decay rate, influence the spectrum profile significantly. Because of the blending of lines, the traditional $G$ value and $R$ value are not applicable in diagnosing electron temperature and density of plasma. We take the contribution of satellite lines into the calculation of line ratios of He-$\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}$ lines, and discuss their relations with the electron temperature and density.

The high repetition rate 10 J/10 ns Yb:YAG laser system and its key techniques are reported. The amplifiers in this system have a multi-pass V-shape structure and the heat in the amplifiers is removed by means of laminar water flow. In the main amplifier, the laser is four-pass, and an approximately 8.5 J/1 Hz/10 ns output is achieved in the primary test. The far-field of the output beam is approximately 10 times the diffraction limit. Because of the higher levels of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) in the main amplifier, the output energy is lower than expected. At the end we discuss some measures that can improve the properties of the laser system.

The three-dimensional instabilities of axisymmetric flow are investigated in a laterally heated vertical cylinder by linear stability analysis. Heating is confined to a central zone on the sidewall of the cylinder, while other parts of the sidewall are insulated and both ends of the cylinder are cooled. The length of the heated zone equals the radius of the cylinder. For three different aspect ratios, $A= 1.92 $, 2, 2.1 ($A=\mathrm{height}$/radius), the dependence of the critical Rayleigh number on the Prandtl number (from 0.02 to 6.7) has been studied in detail. For such a kind of laterally heated convection, some interesting stability results are obtained. A monotonous instability curve is obtained for $A= 1.92 $, while the instability curves for $A= 2 $ and $A= 2.1 $ are non-monotonous and multivalued. In particular, an instability island has been found for $A=2$. Moreover, mechanisms corresponding to different instability results are obtained when the Prandtl number changes. At small Prandtl number, the flow is oscillatory unstable, which is dominated by hydrodynamic instability. At intermediate Prandtl number, the interaction between buoyancy and shear in the base flow plays a more important role than pure hydrodynamic instability. At even higher Prandtl number, Rayleigh–Bénard instability becomes the dominant process and the flow loses stability through steady bifurcation.

A joint diagnostic system was established for the diagnosis of laser-driven shock wave experiments. The system has high temporal resolution (time resolution ~12 ps) and high spatial resolution (spatial resolution ~7 μm) and fits for diagnostics of the experiment with small sample size and short time physical process. The joint diagnostic system was applied for shock wave measurement on the Shenguang-II laser facility. The passive shock breakout signal and active diagnostic signal were simultaneously obtained. The temporal measurement reliability of the system was verified using a multi-layered target. The experimental results show that the two measurement results were consistent.

To evaluate the effects of H5 subtype avian influenza DNA vaccine with HA gene and expressive vector optimization, groups of 3-week-old specific pathogen free (SPF) chickens were inoculated intramuscularly with a single dose of 100 μg or 10 μg of pCIHA5, pCAGGHA5, pCIoptiHA5 or pCAGGoptiHA5 in 200 μl volume. Another group of chickens was injected with 200 μl phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) as controls. Sera were collected every week after vaccination to detect the HI and agar-gel precipitin (AGP) antibodies. Four weeks after the single vaccination, all chickens were challenged with 100LD50 of the highly pathogenic A/Goose/GuangDong/1/96(H5N1) [Gs/GD/1/96(H5N1)]. Oropharyngeal and cloacal swab specimens were collected from all chickens 3, 5 and 7 days after inoculation for titration of virus in eggs. Chickens were observed daily for 2 weeks for signs of disease and death. Results showed that in the groups vaccinated with 100 μg pCAGGoptiHA5 and pCAGGHA5 chickens were completely protected from virus challenge (no disease signs, no virus shedding and no deaths), while only partial protection occurred in chickens vaccinated with 100 μg pCIoptiHA5 (75%) and pCIHA5 (50%). In groups vaccinated with 10 μg pCAGGoptiHA5 and pCAGGHA5 chickens were protected from virus challenge (no disease signs and no deaths). In the group vaccinated with 10 μg pCIoptiHA5 the protection ratio was 75%, while chickens vaccinated with 10 μg pCIHA5 all died after challenge. Results indicated that codon usage optimization of the HA gene and β-actin promoter enhanced the protection efficiency of H5 subtype avian influenza DNA vaccine and the construction pCAGGoptiHA5 could protect chickens from lethal H5N1 virus challenge even at the low dose of 10 μg, implying the possibility for the commercialization of an avian influenza DNA vaccine in the near future.

An investigation of insect parasitoids of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella(Linnaeus), in brassica vegetable crops in the suburbs of Hangzhou was conducted during five periods from 1989 to 1997. Eight species of primary parasitoids were recorded: Trichogramma chilonis Ishii, Cotesia plutellae Kurdjumov, Microplitis sp., Oomyzus sokolowskii Kurdjumov, Diadromus collaris(Gravenhorst), Itoplectis naranyae (Ashmead), Exochus sp. and Brachymeria excarinata Gahan. Seven species of hyperparasitoids were also collected. Rates of parasitism of eggs of P. xylostella were usually very low. However, rates of parasitism of larvae and pupae were substantial and showed two peaks each year, around June–July and September–November respectively. Rates of parasitism during peaks were usually 10–60% and reached over 80% on a few occasions. Cotesia plutellae, O. sokolowskii and D. collaris were the major larval, larval-pupal and pupal parasitoids respectively. In the field, C. plutellae was active throughout the year. Oomyzus sokolowskii was active from May to October, entered a quiescent pupal stage in October–November to overwinter and did not emerge until next April–May. Diadromus collariswas recorded from April to July and October. Rates of parasitism of P. xylostellain radish and mustard fields were usually higher than those in cabbage and Chinese cabbage fields in the same locality. Negative correlations of parasitism rates between C. plutellae and O. sokolowskii indicate a competitive relationship for host larvae between these two larval parasitoids.