Nitrogen-doped carbon dots for dual-wavelength excitation fluorimetric assay for ratiometric determination of phosalone.

N-doped carbon dots (N-CDs) were fabricated in a simple procedure by hydrothermal treatment of cellobiose and urea. When excited at 235 nm or 327 nm, only one emission peak at around 420 nm has been observed. With the addition of phosalone, the excitation band at 235 nm was efficiently quenched within 1 min, while the excitation band at 327 nm showed little change.

Longitudinal characteristics of lymphocyte responses and cytokine profiles in the peripheral blood of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.

Background: The dynamic changes of lymphocyte subsets and cytokines profiles of patients with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and their correlation with the disease severity remain unclear.

Methods: Peripheral blood samples were longitudinally collected from 40 confirmed COVID-19 patients and examined for lymphocyte subsets by flow cytometry and cytokine profiles by specific immunoassays.

Findings: Of the 40 COVID-19 patients enrolled, 13 severe cases showed significant and sustained decreases in lymphocyte counts [0·6 (0·6-0·8)] but increases in neutrophil counts [4·7 (3·6-5·8)] than 27 mild cases [1.

Real-time polymerase chain reaction for the diagnosis of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis.

Aim: To design, optimize and validate a rapid, internally controlled real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for herpes simplex virus (HSV) in the diagnosis of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis.

Methods: Tears alone or together with corneal epithelium scrapings from 30 patients (30 eyes) suspected of necrotizing herpes stromal keratitis were tested for HSV DNA by RT-PCR. The samples were collected during the first visit and then on the subsequent 7, 14, 28, 42, and 56d.