Several studies on the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are being conducted, and various drugs are being tried; however, the results have not been uniform. Steroids have been widely used in the treatment of COVID-19, but their effects are controversial. As immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory agents, steroids are considered to reduce lung damage by regulating various inflammatory responses. We report a case of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 pneumonia manifesting as a cryptogenic organizing pneumonia-like reaction and discuss its treatment, clinical course, and favorable outcomes after steroid administration.

Hyperlipidaemia is a major cause of atherosclerosis and related CVD and can be prevented with natural substances. Previously, we reported that a novel Bacillus-fermented green tea (FGT) exerts anti-obesity and hypolipidaemic effects. This study further investigated the hypotriglyceridaemic and anti-obesogenic effects of FGT and its underlying mechanisms. FGT effectively inhibited pancreatic lipase activity in vitro (IC50, 0·48 mg/ml) and ameliorated postprandial lipaemia in rats (26 % reduction with 500 mg/kg FGT). In hypertriglyceridaemic hamsters, FGT administration significantly reduced plasma TAG levels. In mice, FGT administration (500 mg/kg) for 2 weeks augmented energy expenditure by 22 % through the induction of plasma serotonin, a neurotransmitter that modulates energy expenditure and mRNA expressions of lipid metabolism genes in peripheral tissues. Analysis of the gut microbiota showed that FGT reduced the proportion of the phylum Firmicutes in hamsters, which could further contribute to its anti-obesity effects. Collectively, these data demonstrate that FGT decreases plasma TAG levels via multiple mechanisms including inhibition of pancreatic lipase, augmentation of energy expenditure, induction of serotonin secretion and alteration of gut microbiota. These results suggest that FGT may be a useful natural agent for preventing hypertriglyceridaemia and obesity.

This study reports the earliest known reef-building anthaspidellid sponge, Rankenella zhangxianensis n. sp., from the Cambrian Series 3 (late Stage 5–early Guzhangian) deposit of the Zhangxia Formation, Shandong Province, China. Rankenella zhangxianensis mostly occurs within Epiphyton-Rankenella-Cambroctoconus reefs, with minor occurrence from inter-reef grainstone. The species has anthaspidellid-type regular ladderlike spicule networks consisting of dendroclones and trabs, and is characterized by trabs parallel/subparallel to the gastral surface that diverge and meet the dermal surface, which is typical of the genus. Compared to R. mors and R. hamdii, reported from the late Cambrian Series 2–late Cambrian Series 3 of Australia and the late Cambrian Series 3–early Furongian of Iran, respectively, R. zhangxianensis is characterized by a relatively thicker wall, high angle (~90°) between dermal surfaces and intersecting trabs, and minor occurrence of differentiated canals. On the other hand, R. zhangxianensis mainly shows obconical shape, which is far less diverse than the other two species showing conicocylindrical, digitate, explanate, or bowl shapes. These Cambrian Series 3 reefs from China are the ancestors of the Furongian anthaspidellid-microbial reefs and the Early Ordovician anthaspidellid-microbial reefs that flourished worldwide. They represent the resurgence of reef-building metazoans after the extinction of archaeocyaths at the end of Cambrian Series 2.

We report on the formation of highly flexible and transparent TiO2/Ag/ITO multilayer films deposited on polyethylene terephthalate substrates. The optical and electrical properties of the multilayer films were investigated as a function of oxide thickness. The transmission window gradually shifted toward lower energies with increasing oxide thickness. The TiO2 (40 nm)/Ag (18 nm)/ITO (40 nm) films gave the transmittance of 93.1% at 560 nm. The relationship between transmittance and oxide thickness was simulated using the scattering matrix method to understand high transmittance. As the oxide thickness increased from 20 to 50 nm, the carrier concentration gradually decreased from 1.08 × 1022 to 6.66 × 1021 cm−3, while the sheet resistance varied from 5.8 to 6.1 Ω/sq. Haacke's figure of merit reached a maximum at 40 nm and then decreased with increasing oxide thickness. The change in resistance for the 60 nm-thick ITO single film rapidly increased with increasing bending cycles, while that of the TiO2/Ag/ITO (40 nm/18 nm/40 nm) film remained virtually unchanged during the bending test.

Energetic outflow from active galactic nuclei (AGNs) may play a critical role in galaxy evolution (e.g., Silk & Rees 1998). We present a velocity diagnostic for detecting gas outflow in the narrow-line region of Type-2 AGNs using line-of-sight velocity offsets of the [O iii] λ5007 and Hα emission lines with respect to the systemic velocity of stars in host galaxies (See Figure 1). We apply the diagnostics to nearby galaxies at 0.02 < z < 0.05, 3775 AGN-host and 907 star-forming galaxies as a comparison sample, which are selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey DR7. After obtaining a best-fit stellar population model for the continuum and a systemic velocity based on stellar lines, we subtract the stellar component to measure velocity offsets of each emission line. We find a sample of 169 AGN-host galaxies with outflow signatures, displaying a larger velocity shift of [O iii] than that of Hα, as expected in a decelerating outflow model (Komossa et al. 2008). We find that the offset velocity of [O iii] increases with Eddington ratio, suggesting that gas outflow depends on the energetics of AGN.

Despite numerous previous studies, relationships between watershed land use and adjacent streams and rivers at various scales in Korea remain unclear. This study investigated the relationships between land uses and the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of 720 sites of streams and rivers across the country. The land uses at two spatial scales, including a 1-km buffer and the base watershed management region (BWMR), were computed in a geographical information system (GIS) with a digital land use/land cover map. Characteristics of land uses at two spatial scales were then correlated with the monitored multidimensional characteristics of the streams and rivers. The results of this study indicate that land use types have significant effects on stream and river characteristics. Specifically, most characteristics were negatively correlated with the proportions of urban, rice paddy, agricultural, and bare soil areas and positively correlated with the amount of forest. The site-scale and BWMR-scale analyses suggest that BWMR land use patterns were more strongly related to ecological integrity than they were to site land use patterns. Improving our understanding of land use effects will largely depend on relating the results of site-specific studies that use similar response techniques and measures to evaluate ecological integrity. In addition, our results clearly indicate that the characteristics of streams and rivers are closely linked and that land use types differentially affect those characteristics. Thus, effective restoration and management for ecological integrity of lotic system should consider the physical, chemical, and biological factors in combination.

We investigated the pressure dependence of the inductive coupled plasma (ICP) oxidation on the electrical characteristics of the thin oxide films. Activation energies and electron temperatures with different pressures were estimated. To demonstrate the pressure effect on the plasma oxide quality, simple N type metal-oxide-semiconductor (NMOS) transistors were fabricated and investigated in a few electrical properties. At higher pressure than 200mTorr, plasma oxide has a slightly higher on-current and a lower interfacial trap density. The on-current gain seems to be related to the field mobility increase and the lower defective interface to the electron temperature during oxidation.

Plasma doping (PLAD) process utilizing PH3 plasma to fabricate n-type junction with supplied bias of −1 kV and doping time of 60 sec under the room temperature is presented. The RTA process is performed at 900 °C for 10 sec. A defect-free surface is corroborated by TEM and DXRD analyses, and examined SIMS profiles reveal that shallow n+ junctions are formed with surface doping concentration of 1021atoms/cm3. The junction depth increases in proportion to the O2 gas flow when the N2 flow is fixed during the RTA process, resulting in a decreased sheet resistance. Measured doping profiles and the sheet resistance confirm that the n+ junction depth less than 52 nm and minimum sheet resistance of 313 Ω/□ are feasible.

To improve the IPD reliability of NAND flash memory, plasma oxidation was introduced as the post-treatment process of ONO (Oxide/Nitride/Oxide) IPD. The LP-CVD SiO2 modified by plasma oxidation showed the excellent electrical properties. e.g., low leakage current, high breakdown voltage etc. By the analysis of Tof-SIMS and XRR, we could observe the several changes of physical characteristics such as the reduction of impurities (H, N etc.), the increase of oxide density, and the improvement of oxide surface roughness. We found out the appropriate treatment condition to be able to densify oxide layer without the addition of ONO Equivalent Oxide Thickness (EOT). The LP-CVD SiO2 prepared by plasma oxidation was used for the ONO IPD of 50nm NAND flash device and also compared with the conventional LP-CVD SiO2 in the aspect of the IPD reliability.

The low frequency noise of individual ZnO nanowire (NW) field effect transistors (FETs) exposed to air is systematically characterized. The measured noise power spectrum shows a classical 1/f type. The noise amplitude is independent of source-drain current and inversely proportional to gate voltage. The extracted Hooge's constant of ZnO NW is found to be 6.52×10−3. In addition, the low frequency noise of ZnO NW according to NW resistance and contact property are investigated. The noise amplitude is proportional to the square of ZnO NW resistance. If a sample shows a nonlinear current-voltage (I-V) characteristic due to a poor electrical contact, the noise power spectrum is proportional to the third power of current instead of the square of current.

Field effect transistors(FETs) made of ZnO nanowires are very sensitive to the gas environment, so that the passivation can be a good way to get reliable nanowire FETs with longer lifetime and the better mobility. The studies on the passivation effects with the positive electron-beam resist was investigated by selectively covering the part of nanowire devices between the electrodes. Reproducible electrical characteristics were recorded, reflecting the stable electrical properties by the passivation which deters the degradation of a device. Considering the defect states of oxide nanowires dominate the charge states, the pre-state just before the passivation process will be crucial to understand the reproducible and controllable device characteristics of nanowire devices.

This paper reports the fabrication of and characterization on EWOD(electrowetting-on-dielectric) devices on flexible substrates of interest to the flexible displays and devices. The EWOD devices were fabricated on PET (poly ethylene terephthalate) and PMMA(polymethylmethacrylate) substrates. Au and ITO(indium tin oxide) were used as electrode materials. The wet etching process was developed not to attack plastic flexible substrates. The photo resist was used as an insulator materials in EWOD devices due to the deformation of substrate when oxide layer was deposited on plastic substrate. As a hydrophobic layer, cytop was spin-coated on the photo resist. Wetting tests were done with DI water in air environment. In sessile droplet test, the contact angle of droplet changed from 116◦ to 80◦ under DC power. Threshold voltage was 20 Vdc. The droplet was oscillated under AC power because of the frequency. But the contact angle of droplet was began to change at 30Vac and decrease with the increase of AC power. In droplet transporting test, a droplet(0.2§¡) was started transporting at 20Vac and the transporting speed increased with the increase of AC power. But the droplet transporting was not occurred under DC power because of slower contact angle recovery rate under DC power.