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His research interests include molecular epidemiologic studies on viral and bacterial diseases. References 1. World Health Organization. Statement on the second meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) [cited 2020 Feb 18]. https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/30-01-2020statement-on-the-second-meeting-of-the-internationalhealth-regulations-(2005)-emergency-committee-regardingthe-outbreak-of-novel-coronavirus-(2019-ncov) 2. Zhu N,

Limited data are available for clinical characteristics of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outside Wuhan. This study aimed to describe the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 and identify the risk factors for severe illness of COVID-19 in Jiangsu province, China. Clinical data of hospitalized COVID-19 patients were retrospectively collected in 8 hospitals from 8 cities of Jiangsu province, China. Clinical findings of COVID-19 patients were described and risk factors for severe illness of COVID-19 were analyzed. By Feb 10, 2020, 202 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 were enrolled. The median age of patients was 44.0 years (interquartile range, 33.0-54.0). 55 (27.2%) patients had comorbidities. At the onset of illness, the common symptoms were fever (156 [77.2%]) and cough (120 [59.4%]). 66 (32.7%) patients had lymphopenia. 193 (95.5%) patients had abnormal radiological findings. 11 (5.4%) patients were admitted to the intensive care unit and none of the patients died. 23 (11.4%) patients had severe illness. Severe illness of COVID-19 was independently associated with body mass index (BMI) � 28 kg/m 2 (odds ratio [OR], 9.219; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.731 to 31.126; P<0.001) and a known history of type 2 diabetes PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common digestive malignancy and emerging studies have closely linked its initiation and development with gut microbiota changes. Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) has been recently identified as a pathogenic bacteria for CRC; however, its prognostic significance for patients is poorly investigated and is less for patients within late stage. Therefore, in this study, we made efforts to analyze its level and prognostic significance in a retrospective cohort of 280 stage III/IV CRC patients. We found that the Fn level was abnormally high in tumor tissues and correlated with tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis status, and distant metastasis. We also identified it as an independent adverse prognostic factor for cancer-specific survival (CSS) and disease-free survival (DFS). The following subgroup analysis indicated that Fn level could stratify CSS and DFS in stage IIIB/C and IV patients but failed in stage IIIA patients. In addition, stage III/IV patients with low Fn level were found to benefit more from adjuvant chemotherapy than those with high Fn level, in terms of DFS. Finally, we analyzed the expression and clinical significance of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers (E-cadherin and N-cadherin) and cancer stem cell (CSC) markers (Nanog, Oct-4, and Sox-2) in CRC tissues. The results indicated that N-cadherin, Nanog, Oct-4, and Sox-2 were adverse prognostic factors in these patients, while the opposite was true for E-cadherin. More importantly, expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and Nanog was significantly correlated with Fn level in tumor tissues, suggesting the potential involvement of Fn in EMT-CSC cross talk during CRC progression. Taken together, these findings indicate that Fn is a novel predictive biomarker for clinical management in stage III/IV patients, and targeting Fn may be an effective adjuvant approach for preventing CRC metastasis and chemotherapy resistance.