Virus load and virus shedding of SARS-CoV-2 and their impact onpatient outcomes

BACKGROUND Understanding a virus shedding patterns in body fluids/secretions is importantto determine the samples to be used for diagnosis and to formulate infectioncontrol measures.AIM To investigate the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)shedding patterns and its risk factors.METHODS All laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 patients with completemedical records admitted to the Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital from January28, 2020 to March 8, 2020 were included. Among 145 patients (54.5% males;median age, 46.1 years), three (2.1%) died. The bronco-alveolar lavage fluid(BALF) had the highest virus load compared with the other samples. The viralload peaked at admission (3.3 × 108 copies) and sharply decreased 10 d afteradmission.RESULTS The viral load was associated with prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) duration.Patients in the ICU had significantly longer shedding time compared to those inthe wards (P < 0.0001). Age > 60 years [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.6;95% confidenceinterval (CI): 0.4-0.9] was an independent risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 shedding,while chloroquine (HR = 22.8;95%CI: 2.3-224.6) was a protective factor.CONCLUSION BALF had the highest SARS-CoV-2 load. Elderly patients had higher virus loads,which was associated with a prolonged ICU stay. Chloroquine was associatedwith shorter shedding duration and increased the chance of viral negativity.

Growth and properties of hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon thin films prepared by magnetron sputtering with different substrate temperatures

Hydrogenated microcrystalline silicon (μcSi:H) thin films were deposited by an radio frequency (RF)(13.56 MHz) magnetron sputtering at different substrate temperatures (100–300℃), and the influences of substrate temperature on the growth and properties ofμc-Si:H thin films were investigated. Surface roughness and crystallinity of the thin films increase as substrate temperature increases. And all thin films are at the transition region(X_(c)=49.2%~61.0%). Theμc-Si:H thin films deposited at lower substrate temperature (≤200℃) represent a weak(220) preferred orientation, while the thin films deposited at higher substrate temperature (≥250℃) exhibit a weak(111) preferred orientation. The μc-Si:H thin films have a dense structure, and the structural compactness of the thin films slightly increases with substrate temperature increasing. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results indicate that theμc-Si:H thin films have a low hydrogen content (3.9 at%–5.6 at%), which is in favor of reducing light-induced degradation effect.

Influence of Aspect Ratio on Giant Magnetoimpedance Effect for Fe_(67)Co_(18)Si_(11)B_4 Amorphous Ribbons

The effect of sample geometry aspect ratio （l/w） on the giant magnetoimpedance （GMI） in Fe67Co18Si11B4 amorphous ribbons was investigated systematically. The GMI profiles were measured as a function of the external magnetic field at different frequencies up to 110 MHz. The results show that there exists a critical aspect ratio （（l/w）0 = 5.4） below which the maximum GMI effect and sensitivity η decrease with decreasing l/w and above which the maximum GMI effect keeps almost constant and η decreases with increasing l/w. The observed dependence on aspect ratio as （l/w） 〈 （l/w）0 is correlated with the magnetization process： Complex domain structures emerged near the ribbon ends to decrease the magnetostatic energy, modify the transverse permeability and consequently GMI response. Contributions from transverse permeability and resistance may dominantly determine the change of GMI effect as （l/w） 〉 （l/w）0.