Syphilis Screening among 27,150 Pregnant Women in South Chinese Rural Areas Using Point-of-Care Tests

Objectives

To determine the prevalence and correlates of syphilis among pregnant women in rural areas of South China.

Methods

Point-of-care syphilis testing was provided at 71 health facilities in less developed, rural areas of Guangdong Province. Positive samples were confirmed at a local referral center by toluidine red unheated serum tests (TRUST) and Treponema pallidum particle agglutination (TPPA) tests.

Results

Altogether 27,150 pregnant women in rural Guangdong were screened for syphilis. 106 (0.39%) syphilis cases were diagnosed, of which 78 (73.6%) received treatment for syphilis. Multivariate analysis revealed that older pregnant women (31–35 years old, aOR 2.7, 95% CI 0.99–7.32; older than 35 years old, aOR 5.9, 95% CI 2.13–16.34) and those with a history of adverse pregnant outcomes (aOR 3.64, 95% CI 2.30–5.76) were more likely to be infected with syphilis.

Conclusions

A high prevalence of syphilis exists among pregnant women living in rural areas of South China. Enhanced integration of syphilis screening with other routine women''s health services (OB GYN, family planning) may be useful for controlling China''s syphilis epidemic.     

Liver Ischemic Preconditioning (IPC) Improves Intestinal Microbiota Following Liver Transplantation in Rats through 16s rDNA-Based Analysis of Microbial Structure Shift

Background

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury is associated with intestinal microbial dysbiosis. The “gut-liver axis” closely links gut function and liver function in health and disease. Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) has been proven to reduce I/R injury in the surgery. This study aims to explore the effect of IPC on intestinal microbiota and to analyze characteristics of microbial structure shift following liver transplantation (LT).

Methods

The LT animal models of liver and gut IPC were established. Hepatic graft function was assessed by histology and serum ALT/AST. Intestinal barrier function was evaluated by mucosal ultrastructure, serum endotoxin, bacterial translocation, fecal sIgA content and serum TNF-α. Intestinal bacterial populations were determined by quantitative PCR. Microbial composition was characterized by DGGE and specific bacterial species were determined by sequence analysis.

Principal Findings

Liver IPC improved hepatic graft function expressed as ameliorated graft structure and reduced ALT/AST levels. After administration of liver IPC, intestinal mucosal ultrastructure improved, serum endotoxin and bacterial translocation mildly decreased, fecal sIgA content increased, and serum TNF-α decreased. Moreover, liver IPC promoted microbial restorations mainly through restoring Bifidobacterium spp., Clostridium clusters XI and Clostridium cluster XIVab on bacterial genus level. DGGE profiles indicated that liver IPC increased microbial diversity and species richness, and cluster analysis demonstrated that microbial structures were similar and clustered together between the NC group and Liver-IPC group. Furthermore, the phylogenetic tree of band sequences showed key bacteria corresponding to 10 key band classes of microbial structure shift induced by liver IPC, most of which were assigned to Bacteroidetes phylum.

Conclusion

Liver IPC cannot only improve hepatic graft function and intestinal barrier function, but also promote restorations of intestinal microbiota following LT, which may further benefit hepatic graft by positive feedback of the “gut-liver axis”.     

Downstream processing of pullulan from fermentation broth

pullulan, a water soluble extracellular polysaccharide, was produced by downstream fermentation employing the strain Aureobasidium pullulans. To obtain pure biopolymer from the fermentation broth, it is necessary to harvest cells, heat the broth, remove the melanin pigments co-produced during fermentation, concentration, precipitate and dry. Centrifugation of the fermentation broth at 10,000 rpm for 15 min gave cell pellets that were discarded and a green–black supernatant containing melanin pigment was subjected to the heat treatment at 80 °C for 20 min in order to remove the protein in the fermentation broth. The supernatant was demelanized by oxidation with hydrogen peroxide, concentrated under vacuum, precipitated with ethanol and dried at 60 °C for 30 min. This procedure produced high purity pullulan that was comparable in color and texture to the commercial samples.     

Regulation of asymmetric smooth muscle myosin II molecules

The emerging view of smooth/nonmuscle myosin regulation suggests that the attainment of the completely inhibited state requires numerous weak interactions between components of the two heads and the myosin rod. To further examine the nature of the structural requirements for regulation, we engineered smooth muscle heavy meromyosin molecules that contained one complete head and truncations of the second head. These truncations eliminated the motor domain but retained two, one, or no light chains. All constructs contained 37 heptads of rod sequence. None of the truncated constructs displayed complete regulation of both ATPase and motility, reinforcing the idea that interactions between motor domains are necessary for complete regulation. Surprisingly, the rate of ADP release was slowed by regulatory light chain dephosphorylation of the truncated construct that contained all four light chains and one motor domain. These data suggest that there is a second step (ADP release) in the smooth muscle myosin-actin-activated ATPase cycle that is modulated by regulatory light chain phosphorylation. This may be part of the mechanism underlying "latch" in smooth muscle.     

影响棉铃虫增殖马尾松毛虫质型多角体病毒的条件因子的初步探讨

棉铃虫为马尾松毛虫多角体病毒 (DPCPV)理想的替代寄主。试验结果表明 ,不同接毒方法、接种浓度、接种温度及接种虫龄对棉铃虫增殖病毒有影响 ,以病毒涂在人工饲料表面的接毒方法、2 0～ 2 3℃温度及 3龄虫为最佳组合条件。由于利用棉铃虫生产出的病毒 (Ha DPCPV)容易诱发棉铃虫本身的多角体病毒 (NPV) ,尤其对那些带有NPV源的虫种 ,Ha DPCPV不宜作毒种 ,因此为慎重起见 ,最好用马尾松毛虫复制出的病毒作为生产毒种。     

Fluorescence properties and base pair stability of oligonucleotides containing 8-aza-7-deaza-2'-deoxyisoinosine or 2'-deoxyisoinosine

The fluorescence and the base pairing properties of 8-aza-7-deaza-2'-deoxyisoinosine (1) are described and compared with those of 2'-deoxyisoinosine (2). The corresponding phosphoramidites (11, 12) are synthesized using the diphenylcarbamoyl (DPC) residue for the 2-oxo group protection. The nucleosides 1 and 2 base pair with 2'-deoxy-5-methylisocytidine in DNA duplexes with antiparallel chain orientation and with 2'-deoxycytidine in a parallel DNA. These base pairs are less stable than the canonical dA-dT pair and that of 2'-deoxyinosine (4) with 2'-deoxycytidine. The fluorescence of the nucleosides 1 and 2 is quenched (approximately 95%) in duplex DNA. The residual fluorescence is used to determine the Tm-values, which are found to be the same as determined UV-spectrophotometrically.     

Muscle regulatory factor gene: zebrafish (Danio rerio) myogenin cDNA

Myogenin is one of the basic helix-loop-helix proteins that regulate muscle-specific gene expression. Using reverse transciption-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), 5'- and 3'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE), zebrafish myogenin cDNA was cloned from mRNA of embryos at 10-96 h post-fertilization. The cDNA, at 1384 base pairs (bp), contained a 771-bp open reading frame with 113- and 500-bp flanking regions at the 5'- and 3'-ends, respectively. The deduced amino acid sequences of zebrafish myogenin encoded a 256-amino-acid polypeptide. In a comparison with myogenin of carp, trout, Xenopus, chicken and human, zebrafish myogenin shared 90.9, 77.6, 70.3, 62.9 and 51.5% amino acid identity, respectively. The basic helix-loop-helix domains in myogenin are all conserved. The molecular phylogenic tree demonstrated that myogenin of zebrafish is more closely related to that of fish than to the myogenin of other vertebrates.