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Negative carbon emission technologies are critical for ensuring a future stable climate. However, the gaseous state of CO 2 does render the indefinite storage of this greenhouse gas challenging. Herein, we created a liquid metal electrocatalyst that contains metallic elemental cerium nanoparticles, which facilitates the electrochemical reduction of CO 2 to layered solid carbonaceous species, at a low onset potential of −310 mV vs CO 2 /C. We exploited the formation of a cerium oxide catalyst at the liquid metal/electrolyte interface, which together with cerium nanoparticles, promoted the room temperature reduction of CO 2 . Due to the inhibition of van der Waals adhesion at the liquid interface, the electrode was remarkably resistant to deactivation via coking caused by solid carbonaceous species. The as-produced solid carbonaceous materials could be utilised for the fabrication of high-performance capacitor electrodes. Overall, this liquid metal enabled electrocatalytic process at room temperature may result in a viable negative emission technology. While CO 2 reduction proves an appealing means to convert greenhouse emissions to high-value products, there are few materials capable of such a conversion. Here, the authors demonstrate a liquid-metal electrocatalyst to convert CO 2 directly into solid carbon that can be used as capacitor electrodes.

The predicted strong piezoelectricity for monolayers of group IV monochalcogenides, together with their inherent flexibility, makes them likely candidates for developing flexible nanogenerators. Within this group, SnS is a potential choice for such nanogenerators due to its favourable semiconducting properties. To date, access to large-area and highly crystalline monolayer SnS has been challenging due to the presence of strong inter-layer interactions by the lone-pair electrons of S. Here we report single crystal across-the-plane and large-area monolayer SnS synthesis using a liquid metal-based technique. The characterisations confirm the formation of atomically thin SnS with a remarkable carrier mobility of ~35 cm 2 V −1 s −1 and piezoelectric coefficient of ~26 pm V −1 . Piezoelectric nanogenerators fabricated using the SnS monolayers demonstrate a peak output voltage of ~150 mV at 0.7% strain. The stable and flexible monolayer SnS can be implemented into a variety of systems for efficient energy harvesting. The presence of strong inter-layer interactions has hindered the synthesis efforts towards large-area and highly crystalline monolayer SnS. Here, the authors report synthesis of large-area monolayer SnS using a liquid metal-based technique, and fabricate piezoelectric nano-generators with average peak output voltage of 150 mV at 0.7% strain.

Indium tin oxide (ITO) is a transparent conductor used in applications such as touch screens, smart windows and displays. A key limitation of ITO is its brittle nature, which prohibits its use in flexible electronics. The commercial deposition of high-quality ITO also currently relies on a costly vacuum manufacturing approach. Here we report the centimetre-scale synthesis of flexible two-dimensional ITO using a low-temperature liquid metal printing technique. The approach can directly deposit monolayer or bilayer ITO onto desired substrates, with the resulting bilayer samples offering a transparency above 99.3% and a sheet resistance as low as 5.4 kΩ □ −1 . We also show that the bilayer ITO features a stratified structure with a pronounced van der Waals spacing. To illustrate the capabilities of the technique, we develop a capacitive touch screen using centimetre-sized monolayer ITO sheets. A liquid metal printing technique can be used to create monolayer and bilayer indium tin oxide, with the bilayer samples offering a transparency above 99.3% and a sheet resistance as low as 5.4 kΩ □ −1 .

The original version of this Article contained errors in the author affiliations. Affiliation 1 incorrectly read ‘School of Chemical Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2031, Australia’ and affiliation 4 incorrectly read ‘School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia.’ This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

One in ten severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections result in prolonged symptoms termed long coronavirus disease (COVID), yet disease phenotypes and mechanisms are poorly understood 1 . Here we profiled 368 plasma proteins in 657 participants ≥3 months following hospitalization. Of these, 426 had at least one long COVID symptom and 233 had fully recovered. Elevated markers of myeloid inflammation and complement activation were associated with long COVID. IL-1R2, MATN2 and COLEC12 were associated with cardiorespiratory symptoms, fatigue and anxiety/depression; MATN2, CSF3 and C1QA were elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms and C1QA was elevated in cognitive impairment. Additional markers of alterations in nerve tissue repair (SPON-1 and NFASC) were elevated in those with cognitive impairment and SCG3, suggestive of brain–gut axis disturbance, was elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) was persistently elevated in some individuals with long COVID, but virus was not detected in sputum. Analysis of inflammatory markers in nasal fluids showed no association with symptoms. Our study aimed to understand inflammatory processes that underlie long COVID and was not designed for biomarker discovery. Our findings suggest that specific inflammatory pathways related to tissue damage are implicated in subtypes of long COVID, which might be targeted in future therapeutic trials. Openshaw and colleagues find myeloid inflammation and complement activation signatures in patients with long COVID who were previously hospitalized.

IntroductionLung cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide and surgery remains the main treatment for early stage disease. Prior to the introduction of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), lung resection for cancer was undertaken through an open thoracotomy. To date, the evidence base supporting the different surgical approaches is based on non-randomised studies, small randomised trials and is focused mainly on short-term in-hospital outcomes.Methods and analysisThe VIdeo assisted thoracoscopic lobectomy versus conventional Open LobEcTomy for lung cancer study is a UK multicentre parallel group randomised controlled trial (RCT) with blinding of outcome assessors and participants (to hospital discharge) comparing the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and acceptability of VATS lobectomy versus open lobectomy for treatment of lung cancer. We will test the hypothesis that VATS lobectomy is superior to open lobectomy with respect to self-reported physical function 5 weeks after randomisation (approximately 1 month after surgery). Secondary outcomes include assessment of efficacy (hospital stay, pain, proportion and time to uptake of chemotherapy), measures of safety (adverse health events), oncological outcomes (proportion of patients upstaged to pathologic N2 (pN2) disease and disease-free survival), overall survival and health related quality of life to 1 year. The QuinteT Recruitment Intervention is integrated into the trial to optimise recruitment.Ethics and disseminationThis trial has been approved by the UK (Dulwich) National Research Ethics Service Committee London. Findings will be written-up as methodology papers for conference presentation, and publication in peer-reviewed journals. Many aspects of the feasibility work will inform surgical RCTs in general and these will be reported at methodology meetings. We will also link with lung cancer clinical studies groups. The patient and public involvement group that works with the Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit at the Brompton Hospital will help identify how we can best publicise the findings.Trial registration number ISRCTN13472721

Statins (3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors) are known to reduce mortality and cardiac events in patients with coronary artery disease who have not progressed to left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) and/or heart failure (HF). This study investigated the effect of changes in statin therapy and cholesterol level on mortality in patients with LVSD. Data from consecutive patients with LVSD enrolled in a single local hospital HF management program were analyzed. Patients were grouped according to changes in statin treatment within 4 months after their initial visit: groups NS (no statin), IS (initiation of statin), CS (continuation of statin), and SS (statin stopped). Nine hundred patients were followed for a median of 36 (28-43) months (range, 16-66 months). The 2-year mortality was 16.7%. Groups IS and CS had lower 2-year mortality than groups NS and SS (11.0% and 11.9% vs 22.0% and 34.8%, respectively; P < .001). This was independent of age, sex, severity of LVSD, HF medications, New York Heart Association functional class, and baseline cholesterol. The effect was mainly observed in patients with coronary artery disease. In 734 patients who had completed 1-year follow-up on stable HF treatment, neither baseline cholesterol nor change over 1 year predicted outcome. Initiation and maintenance of treatment with statins is associated with better survival in patients with LVSD. This could not be explained by other measured variables.

Abstract One in ten severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections result in prolonged symptoms termed long coronavirus disease (COVID), yet disease phenotypes and mechanisms are poorly understood 1 . Here we profiled 368 plasma proteins in 657 participants ≥3 months following hospitalization. Of these, 426 had at least one long COVID symptom and 233 had fully recovered. Elevated markers of myeloid inflammation and complement activation were associated with long COVID. IL-1R2, MATN2 and COLEC12 were associated with cardiorespiratory symptoms, fatigue and anxiety/depression; MATN2, CSF3 and C1QA were elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms and C1QA was elevated in cognitive impairment. Additional markers of alterations in nerve tissue repair (SPON-1 and NFASC) were elevated in those with cognitive impairment and SCG3, suggestive of brain–gut axis disturbance, was elevated in gastrointestinal symptoms. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) was persistently elevated in some individuals with long COVID, but virus was not detected in sputum. Analysis of inflammatory markers in nasal fluids showed no association with symptoms. Our study aimed to understand inflammatory processes that underlie long COVID and was not designed for biomarker discovery. Our findings suggest that specific inflammatory pathways related to tissue damage are implicated in subtypes of long COVID, which might be targeted in future therapeutic trials.

Telemonitoring involves remotely monitoring patients' vital signs. It is an innovative and promising development in the care of people with heart failure that may reduce hospital admissions and the burden on the NHS, as well as improve patients' quality of life and clinical outcomes. This article describes what telemonitoring is and explores the evidence base for its use. The role of the nurse in telemonitoring is also discussed, with particular reference to dealing with and responding to alerts. The development and implementation of new technology is essential to improve the delivery of healthcare and optimise patient outcomes, and telemonitoring may play an important role in the future of heart failure services.