Objective The association between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels and mortality remains controversial. We aimed to investigate the potential dose–response associations between HDL-C levels and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer in the general population. Methods PubMed and Embase were searched through April 2019. Prospective cohort studies reporting risk estimates of HDL-C levels and mortality were included. Linear and non-linear dose–response analyses were conducted. A random-effects model was employed to calculate pooled hazard ratio. Results Thirty-seven studies, involving 3,524,505 participants and more than 612,027 deaths, were included. HDL-C level was found to be associated with mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer in a J-shaped dose–response pattern, with the lowest risk observed at HDL-C levels of 54–58 mg/dL, 68–71 mg/dL and 64–68 mg/dL, respectively. Compared with HDL-C level of 56 mg/dL, the pooled hazard ratios for all-cause mortality were 1.03 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01, 1.05) and 1.10 (95% CI 1.09, 1.12) for each 10-mg/dL increase and decrease in HDL-C levels, respectively; furthermore, compared with the reference category, the pooled hazard ratios for all-cause mortality were 1.21 (95% CI 1.09, 1.36) and 1.36 (95% CI 1.21, 1.53) for the highest and the lowest categories of HDL-C levels, respectively. Similar results were obtained for cardiovascular and cancer mortality. Conclusions In the general population, HDL-C level is associated with mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease and cancer in a J-shaped dose–response manner; both extremely high and low HDL-C levels are associated with an increased risk of mortality.

Background The objectives of this study were to analyze the clinical features of coronavirus disease 2019 and evaluate the diagnosis and treatment. Methods A retrospective analysis of the clinical manifestation and auxiliary examination of 19 patients with COVID-19 from the Liyuan Hospital intensive care unit (ICU) between January 16, 2020 and February 20, 2020 was undertaken. Results There were 11 male and 8 female cases among the patients. The median (range) age was 73 (38-91) years. Of these patients, 8 (42.1%) had died and the median duration from ICU admission to death was 2 (interquartile range (IQR): 1-10.75) days. Seven of these 8 patients had underlying diseases. The auxiliary examination showed fever (68.4%), dry cough (15.8%), dyspnea (10.5%), and diarrhea (5.3%). All 19 cases showed ground-glass changes on chest computed tomography. Serum hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and serum amylase A (SAA) were clearly increased in all of the cases. Among the 19 cases, there were 16 (84.2%) cases in which the total number of lymphocytes decreased, 12 cases (63%) had reduced liver function, and 11 cases (58%) had deviant results for fibrinogen (FIB) and D-dimer, in particular, the D-dimer level was significantly higher in the non-survivors compared with the survivors. Conclusion There were more men than women among critically ill patients. All of the cases showed ground-glass changes on chest computed tomography and the vast majority of patients displayed fever and dry cough. The clinical laboratory indices change significantly, especially the D-dimer level among non-survivors.

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This paper presents a unique morphological evolution of metal‐organic inverse opals (Pb(NO3)2‐poly(St‐MMA‐AA)) subjected to an electrowetting process. The morphology of the building blocks changes from interconnected pores to separated hollow spheres during the electrowetting process, accompanied by an unusual blue‐shift of the stopband position and the decreased wettability of the film. This morphology evolution is attributed to the simultaneous collapse/reconstruction of the metal‐organic frame owing to the partial dissolution of the metal salt and the interfacial assembly of the metal‐organic coordination around the skeleton. The adjustable morphology can be developed as a novel and simple water‐lithography approach for the creation of the photonic crystal pattern.