A Multicenter Study of Viral Aetiology of Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Hospitalized Children in Chinese Mainland

Virologica Sinica - Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in children worldwide. In this study, we aimed to describe the aetiology of viral...     

A cold-active β-glucosidase (Bgl1C) from a sea bacteria <Emphasis Type="Italic">Exiguobacterium oxidotolerans</Emphasis> A011

By constructing a genomic library, a new gene encoding β-glucosidase (Bgl1C) was cloned from Exiguobacterium oxidotolerans A011, which was isolated from deep sea mud. The putative β-glucosidase gene consisted of an open reading frame (ORF) of 1,347 nucleotides, and encoded a protein of 448 amino acids with a predicted molecular weight of 51.6 kDa. Bgl1C belonged to the glycoside hydrolase family 1, and the deduced amino acid sequence displayed the highest identity (68%) to the β-glucosidase from Bacillus coahuilensis m4-4. Optimal conditions for activity were pH 7 and a temperature of 35°C and Bgl1C was stable in buffers ranging from pH 6.6 to 9. The specific activity, K _m, and V _max for the substrate p-nitrophenyl-β-d-glucopyranoside were 41 U mg⁻¹, 1.72 mg ml⁻¹ and 0.45 μg ml⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively. Na⁺, Ca²⁺, EDTA and β-mercaptoethanol had no effect on the activity, while Hg²⁺, Cu²⁺, Co²⁺ strongly inhibited it. It is noteworthy that Bgl1C is a cold active enzyme that retains about 61% of its maximum activity at 10°C. Structural model of Bgl1C revealed that some amino acids (glycine, alanine, serine, valine) concerned with plasticity and flexibility were located around the active sites, this may contributed to the cold adaption of Bgl1C. These favorable features make Bgl1C a potential candidate for various industrial applications.     

Identification of pathogens in culture-negative infective endocarditis cases by metagenomic analysis

Background

Pathogens identification is critical for the proper diagnosis and precise treatment of infective endocarditis (IE). Although blood and valve cultures are the gold standard for IE pathogens detection, many cases are culture-negative, especially in patients who had received long-term antibiotic treatment, and precise diagnosis has therefore become a major challenge in the clinic. Metagenomic sequencing can provide both information on the pathogenic strain and the antibiotic susceptibility profile of patient samples without culturing, offering a powerful method to deal with culture-negative cases.

Methods

To assess the feasibility of a metagenomic approach to detect the causative pathogens in resected valves from IE patients, we employed both next-generation sequencing and Oxford Nanopore Technologies MinION nanopore sequencing for pathogens and antimicrobial resistance detection in seven culture-negative IE patients. Using our in-house developed bioinformatics pipeline, we analyzed the sequencing results generated from both platforms for the direct identification of pathogens from the resected valves of seven clinically culture-negative IE patients according to the modified Duke criteria.

Results

Our results showed both metagenomics methods can be applied for the causative pathogen detection in all IE samples. Moreover, we were able to simultaneously characterize respective antimicrobial resistance features.

Conclusion

Metagenomic methods for IE detection can provide clinicians with valuable information to diagnose and treat IE patients after valve replacement surgery. However, more efforts should be made to optimize protocols for sample processing, sequencing and bioinformatics analysis.

     

Rescuing infusion of miRNA-1 prevents cardiac remodeling in a heart-selective miRNA deficient mouse

Objective

The decreased expression of muscle-specific microRNA-1 (miR-1) has been found in many cardiovascular diseases and is considered to contribute to heart failure (HF). Here we investigated the role of miR-1 in myocardium protection by infusion of miR-1 in a cardiac global miRNA-deficient mouse.

普通小麦(Tr.aestivum L.)不同品种酯酶同工酶酶谱分析的初步研究

近十多年来,世界上一些国家开展了应用同工酶酶谱分析,研究作物品种起源、地理分布、种群分类和品种资源。我国近年来也以水稻、玉米为材料开展了这方面的工作。但以小麦为材料的这方面研究干作,目前报道的还比较少。我国小麦品种资源丰     

湖北大麦品种酯酶同工酶酶谱与地区分布关系的研究

对产于湖北的１０５份大麦品种,采用聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳进行了酯酶同工酶酶谱分析,共得到８种酶谱类型。８种酶谱聚为４类,其中具酶谱类型Ｉ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ和Ⅷ的品种约占供试材料的９４％,构成湖北大麦酯酶同工酶酶谱的主要类型。对这些品种来源地的分析表明,具有相同或相近酶谱的品种分布在一些相对集中的地区,这些地区的气候条件较相似。对湖北大麦酯酶同工酶酶谱类型与地区分布和气温关系的关系,以及酯酶在大麦引种育种生产实践     

Identification of soybean drought-tolerant genotypes and loci correlated with agronomic traits contributes new candidate genes for breeding

Plant Molecular Biology - Drought tolerance level of 136 soybean genotypes, the correlations among traits were evaluated, and several important drought-tolerant genotypes, traits, SNPs and genes...     

中国人唇纹研究初报

本文研究了1403名中国人的唇纹及唇纹的稳定性,统计分析了六种唇纹型的出现率。与日本人的资料作了比较和讨论。     

Estimating the Size of HIV Key Affected Populations in Chongqing,China, Using the Network Scale-Up Method

Objectives

To estimate the average social network size in the general population and the size of HIV key affected populations (KAPs) in Chongqing municipality using the network scale-up method (NSUM).

Methods

A general population survey was conducted in 2011 through a multistage random sampling method. Participants aged between 18 and 60 years were recruited. The average social network size (c) was estimated and adjusted by known population method. The size of HIV KAP in Chongqing municipality was estimated using the adjusted c value with adjustment for the transmission effect using the scaled respect factor.

Results

3,026 inhabitants of Chongqing agreed to the survey, and 2,957 (97.7%) completed the questionnaire. The adjusted c value was 310. The estimated size of KAP was 28,418(95% Confidence Interval (CI):26,636∼30,201) for female sex workers (FSW), 163,199(95%CI:156,490∼169,908) for clients of FSW, 37,959(95%CI: 34,888∼41,030) for drug users (DU), 14,975(95%CI:13,047∼16,904) for injecting drug users (IDU) and 16,767(95%CI:14,602∼18,932) for men who have sex with men (MSM). The ratio of clients to FSW was 5.74∶1, and IDU accounted for 39.5% of the DU population. The estimates suggest that FSW account for 0.37% of the female population aged 15–49 years in Chongqing, and clients of FSW and MSM represent 2.09% and 0.21% of the male population aged 15–49 years in the city, respectively.

Conclusion

NSUM provides reasonable population size estimates for FSW, their clients, DU and IDU in Chongqing. However, it is likely to underestimate the population size of MSM even after adjusting for the transmission effect.