Corticosteroid therapy and delayed NAI treatment were associated with prolonged A(H7N9) RNA shedding. NAI combination therapy and double-dose oseltamivir treatment were not associated with a reduced A(H7N9) shedding duration as compared to standard-dose oseltamivir.

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Electroless metal deposition is a simple and convenient technique to fabricate metallic films and to provide isotropic metal functionalization of 3D structures with complex geometries. In this work, we describe the synthesis of silver coatings by means of a modified Tollens reaction and their use as optical coating. The chemical composition of the metallization bath is here addressed to optimize the metal coating deposition. The synthesis parameters have been tailored in order to deposit very smooth films which were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and optical spectroscopy. 2D diffraction gratings and sinusoidal plasmonic gratings were produced with the proposed method. Optical characterization confirmed the plasmonic activities of the resultant structures, proving the efficiency of the described method for optical applications. Thermal annealing was found to improve the surface roughness of the coating and therefore the optical properties of the plasmonic gratings

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In China, there are an estimated 30 million people with asthma, a condition that remains poorly controlled in many patients. The INITIAL study (NCT02143739) was a 12-week, multicentre, prospective, observational study comprising 45 centres across Northern and Southern China that aimed to assess asthma severity among newly diagnosed patients as well as their prescribed medications and response to treatment. The primary objective was to evaluate asthma severity using Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 2006 research criteria. Secondary objectives included the distribution of asthma medication by GINA severity category and evaluation of GINA 2012-defined control levels. Medications were prescribed as per usual clinical practice. At baseline, among 4491 patients, 3.9%, 12.0%, 22.6% and 61.6% had intermittent, mild persistent, moderate persistent and severe persistent asthma, respectively. Inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting β2 agonist was the most common initial therapy in 90.2% of patients. GINA 2012-defined controlled asthma levels increased in all groups, rising from 6.1% at baseline to 43.0%, 53.8% and 67.8% at Weeks 4, 8 and 12, respectively. Most patients presented with severe persistent asthma. Newly diagnosed patients with asthma could benefit from at least 3 months of regular treatment followed by long-term pharmacological management.