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Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, has rapidly spread to most of countries in the world, threatening the health and lives of many people. Unfortunately, information regarding the immunological characteristics in COVID-19 patients remains limited. Here we collected the blood samples from 18 healthy donors (HD) and 38 COVID-19 patients to analyze changes in the adaptive immune cell populations and phenotypes. In comparison to HD, the lymphocyte percentage was slightly decreased, the percentages of CD4 and CD8 T cells in lymphocytes are similar, whereas B cell percentage increased in COVID-19 patients. T cells, especially CD8 T cells, showed an enhanced expression of late activation marker CD25 and exhaustion marker PD-1. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2 induced an increased percentage of T follicular helpher (Tfh)- and germinal center B-like (GCB-like) cells in the blood. However, the parameters in COVD-19 patients remained unchanged across various age groups. Therefore, we demonstrated that the T and B cells can be activated normally and exhibit functional features. These data provide a clue that the adaptive immunity in most people could be primed to induce a significant immune response against SARS-CoV-2 infection upon receiving standard medical care.

ABSTRACT. Previous studies have found that the vaccinia related kinase 2 gene (VRK2) polymorphism was associated with schizophrenia (SCZ) in the worldwide population. This association was further supported by VRK2 mRNA expression patterns and brain structure variations. Here, we analyzed four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the VRK2 gene in a total population of 893 samples, consisting of 360 patients with SCZ and 533 healthy controls of Han Chinese descent using the SNPscan method. Single SNP, haplotype, and gender-specific association analyses were performed. We found that rs3732136 was significantly associated with SCZ (P = 0.042; odds ratio = 1.25; 95% confidence interval = 1.01-1.55). Further genotype and haplotype association analyses suggested a similar pattern. Our data provide preliminary evidence that the VRK2 gene might play a 9404-9411 (2015) major role in the development of SCZ in the Northwest Chinese Han population.

Replacing the throttle valve with an expander is beneficial to the performance improvement on the transcritical CO 2 refrigeration cycle. The expander is hereby developed for this purpose in this paper. With the required working conditions, performance potential, reliability, etc. considered, the free piston machine is selected as the most suitable concept after a comparison among some candidates. The single acting structure is adopted, in which an auxiliary compressor is arranged on a common shaft to utilize the work recovered by the expander. A slider-based scheme is applied to control the expander inlet/outlet, and an adjustable clearance volume is designed to modulate the operating ranges of the low/high pressures. A design model is established to determine the geometric parameters of the expander -compressor unit. A prototype expander is manufactured and preliminary test is carried out on a test rig with both air and CO 2 as the working fluid. The experimental results show that the expander -compressor unit can work in some ranges of the low/high pressures, which proves that this type of expander concept as well as the inlet/outlet control method is feasible. A serious pressure pulsation is observed at the expander inlet, resulting in considerably large pressure drop during the filling process of the expander. The work to improve the expander is therefore being done, with the attenuation of the pressure pulsation focused on.

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