Reliability of induced sputum test is greater than that of throat swab test for detecting SARS-CoV-2 in patients with COVID-19: A multi-center cross-sectional study.

We previously reported that sputum induction was more sensitive than throat swabs for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in two convalescent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients; however, the value and safety of induced sputum testing require further study. We conducted a prospective multi-center cross-sectional study to compare induced sputum to throat swabs for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Confirmed COVID-19 patients from six hospitals in six cities across China who received one or more negative RT-PCR result for SARS-CoV-2 were enrolled, and paired specimens (induced sputum and throat swabs; 56 cases) were assayed.

Copper-Nanoparticle-Induced Porous Si/Cu Composite Films as an Anode for Lithium Ion Batteries.

"Welcome-mat"-like porous Si/Cu composite amorphous films are fabricated by applying the predeposited Cu-nanoparticle-assembled film as the growth direction template for the subsequent deposition of a Si active layer with the cluster beam deposition technique. When used as the binder-free anodes for lithium ion batteries, the acquired single-layer porous Si/Cu composite film exhibits a large reversible capacity of 3124 mA h g after 1000 cycles at 1 A g. Even when cycled at 20 A g for 450 cycles, the porous Si/Cu composite film still delivers a decent reversible capacity of 2086 mA h g.

Enhanced Microwave Absorption Properties by Tuning Cation Deficiency of Perovskite Oxides of Two-Dimensional LaFeO/C Composite in X-Band.

Development of microwave absorption materials with tunable thickness and bandwidth is particularly urgent for practical applications but remains a great challenge. Here, two-dimensional nanocomposites consisting of perovskite oxides (LaFeO) and amorphous carbon were successfully obtained through a one pot with heating treatment using sodium chloride as a hard template. The tunable absorption properties were realized by introducing A-site cation deficiency in LaFeO perovskite.

Colloidal synthesis of Cu-ZnO and Cu@CuNi-ZnO hybrid nanocrystals with controlled morphologies and multifunctional properties.

Metal-semiconductor hybrid nanocrystals have received extensive attention owing to their multiple functionalities which can find wide technological applications. The utilization of low-cost non-noble metals to construct novel metal-semiconductor hybrid nanocrystals is important and meaningful for their large-scale applications. In this study, a facile solution approach is developed for the synthesis of Cu-ZnO hybrid nanocrystals with well-controlled morphologies, including nanomultipods, core-shell nanoparticles, nanopyramids and core-shell nanowires.

Enhanced anomalous Hall effect in Fe nanocluster assembled thin films.

An enhanced anomalous Hall effect is observed in heterogeneous uniform Fe cluster assembled films with different film thicknesses (ta = 160-1200 nm) fabricated by a plasma-gas-condensation method. The anomalous Hall coefficient (Rs) at ta = 1200 nm reaches its maximum of 2.4 × 10(-8) Ω cm G(-1) at 300 K, which is almost four orders of magnitude larger than bulk Fe.