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Objective To summarize the electrophysiological and muscle pathological characteristics of Lambert - Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). Methods and Results Twelve LEMS patients referred to China - Japan Friendship Hospital between January 2010 and December 2021 were included. Clinically, they all showed proximal muscle weakness and reduced or disappeared tendon reflexes. Electrophysiologically, all 12 patients showed decreased compound muscle action potential (CMAP) amplitudes, normal distal motor latency (DML), and normal motor and sensory conduction velocities. Ten patients underwent repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS) test: all had amplitude increments of more than 100% at high - frequency RNS, and 8 had amplitude decrements of more than 15% at low - frequency RNS. Three patients completed the post-exercise facilitation (PEF) test: the ulnar nerve CMAP amplitude reached a peak immediately after maximum voluntary contraction of the abductor digiti minimi for 5-10 s and then gradually decreased to near baseline level after contraction for 60 s; the ulnar nerve CMAP amplitude reached a peak immediately after maximum voluntary contraction for 10 s, and then rapidly decreased to near baseline level after 15 s. On needle EMG, 8 patients showed normal motor unit action potential (MUAP), 3 showed short - duration MUAP mimicking myopathy, and one showed long - duration MUAP mimicking neuropathy. Two patients with normal MUAP underwent biceps biopsy, which showed selective type Ⅱ fiber atrophy. Conclusions Electrophysiologically, CMAP amplitudes of LEMS patients are usually diffusely low or borderline. LEMS patients have amplitude increments of more than 100% at high-frequency RNS, and some have amplitude decrements of more than 15% at low-frequency RNS. PEF test shows a transient but significant CMAP amplitude increase after 5-10 s maximum voluntary contraction. Needle EMG is usually normal, but some show myogenic lesions, and some show neurogenic lesions. Muscle biopsy shows selective type Ⅱ fiber atrophy. Needle EMG myogenic lesion may not be associated with pathologically selective type Ⅱ fiber atrophy.

为减少甾醇酯的生产工序，提高大豆油脱臭馏分重相组分中总甾醇得率，采用柱层析法直接分离提取甾醇酯，通过单因素试验考察吸附剂种类、上样量、洗脱剂比例和柱长直比（填料高度与直径比）对甾醇酯产品纯度和得率的影响，确定最佳工艺条件，并对最佳工艺条件下分离提取的甾醇酯产品进行傅里叶红外光谱表征，以及甾醇组成和脂肪酸组成测定。结果表明，柱层析法分离提取甾醇酯的最佳工艺条件为吸附剂为硅胶（粒径50~75 μm），上样量0.5 g，洗脱剂比例为正己烷、乙醚、冰乙酸体积比95∶ 5∶ 1，柱长直比16∶ 1。在最佳工艺条件下，甾醇酯产品纯度为(89.90±0.94)%，得率为(9615±1.49)%；傅里叶红外光谱分析证实提取的产品中含甾醇酯，甾醇酯上的甾醇组成主要为β-谷甾醇、豆甾醇、菜油甾醇，脂肪酸组成主要为亚油酸、油酸、棕榈酸、硬脂酸和亚麻酸。综上，柱层析法无需复杂工序，即可实现大豆油脱臭馏分重相组分中甾醇酯的有效回收。In order to reduce the process of sterol ester production and increase the yield of total sterols in the waste residue of soybean oil deodorizer distillate (WRSODD), column chromatography was used to extract the sterol esters from WRSODD. The influence of absorbent type, sample loading amount, eluent ratio and ratio of column material height to diameter on the recovery rate and purity of sterol esters were examined by single factor experiment, and the optimum process conditions were selected. The sterol esters obtained under the optimum process conditions was analyzed by Fourier-infrared spectroscopy, and its sterols and fatty acid compositions were analyzed. The results showed that the optimum conditions were as follows: with silica gel powder (particle size 50-75 μm) as absorbent, sample loading amount 0.5 g, volume ratio of a mixture of n-hexane, diethyl ether and glacial acetic acid 95∶ 5∶ 1, and ratio of column material height to diameter 16∶ 1. Under these conditions, the purity and recovery rate of sterol esters were (89.90±0.94)% and (96.15±1.49)%, respectively. Fourier-infrared spectroscopy results verified that the product contained sterol esters. The sterol compositions of sterol esters were mainly β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and campesterol. The fatty acid compositions were palmitic acid, stearic acid, oleic acid, linoleic acid and linolenic acid. In conclusion, effective recovery of sterol esters from the waste residue of soybean oil deodorizer distillate can be achieved through column chromatography without complex process.

This article summarized the preoperative and postoperative nursing process of a patient with giant common bile duct stones accompanied by acute cholangitis who underwent SpyGlassTMDS-guided laser lithotripsy for stones removal. Key issues of nursing included preoperative preparation, intraoperative cooperation, postoperative care, and Traditional Chinese Medicine nursing plan, which make a great contribution to alleviating patient’s discomfort symptoms after surgery and quickly recover from discharge. (本文总结1例胆总管巨大结石伴急性胆管炎患者行SpyGlassTMDS直视下激光碎石取石的围手术期护理经验, 护理重点包括术前准备、术中配合、术后护理及中医护理方案, 旨在帮助患者缓解术后不适症状, 促进康复。)

To retrospectively analyze the clinical data of a patient with confocal laser endomicroscopy, and summarize nursing measures such as preoperative preparation, intraoperative coordination, postoperative care of adverse reaction care, psychological care and other targeted nursing interventions. It is required to carried comprehensive nursing interventions to reduce patient discomfort and ensure the success of confocal laser endomicroscopy. (本文总结1例行共聚焦激光显微内镜检查术患者的护理配合要点, 包括术前准备、术中配合以及术后常规护理、不良反应护理、心理护理等针对性护理措施, 以减轻患者不适症状, 保障患者共聚焦激光显微内镜检查的顺利完成。)

The separation of C2H4 from C2H6/C2H4 mixture is of great importance but difficult and energy intensive. Adsorptive separation provides an alternative approach to ameliorate this situation. Here, we report a microporous metal–organic framework (MOF) BUT-315-a as a C2H6-selective adsorbent for the separation of C2H6/C2H4 gas mixture. BUT-315-a combines good IAST selectivity of 2.35 with high C2H6 uptake of 97.5 cm3 g−1, giving superior high separation potential ΔQ (2226 mmol L−1) for equimolar C2H6/C2H4 at 298 K. Impressively, such excellent performance can be preserved at higher temperatures of 313 and 323 K to accommodate industrial conditions. Efficient dynamic separation performance of BUT-315-a has been demonstrated by column breakthrough experiments under varied temperatures and gas ratios. Theoretical calculations further reveal multiple synergistic interactions between C2H6 and the framework. This work highlights a new benchmark material for C2H6/C2H4 separation and provides guidance for designing adsorbent for separation applications.

The relaxation signals of rapeseed oil, soybean oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil and corn oil were investigated using low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR), and the correlation between the composition of vegetable oils and their NMR relaxation characteristics was analyzed. Furthermore, a classification model for vegetable oils was established based on the echo attenuation information of LF-NMR using principal component analysis-linear discriminant analysis (PCA-LDA), and the effects of discriminant functions and the number of principal components (PC) on the model’s performance were studied. The experimental results showed that the decreasing order of the attenuation rates of the echo curves was peanut oil > rapeseed oil > corn oil > soybean oil > sunflower oil. The types of vegetable oils had significant effects on relaxation properties including T2W, T23, S23 and Stotal (P < 0.05). There existed extremely significant correlations between T2W, T22, T23, S23 and Stotal and the contents of C18:1, C18:2, C20:0, monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) (P < 0.01). The classification precision of the PCA-LDA model developed using linear discriminant function and 10 PCs for the training and prediction sets were 100.0% and 88.2%, respectively. It can be seen that it is feasible to identify vegetable oil species using LF-NMR. This study can provide a theoretical basis and technical support for quality and safety detection of different edible vegetable oils.

The integration of artificial intelligence technology into education is an inevitable trend of scientific progress and educational reform, and how to use artificial intelligence technology and ideological and political education reform is called a key research direction in the education sector. Aiming at the problems of cold start in personalized recommendation system, lack of interpretability of recommendation results, and ignoring the implicit features of the course for better acceptance of recommendation results by learners, the BPRMF model based on deep learning is proposed to be applied to the problem of recommendation of Civics and Political Science course, which not only models learners’ preferences and combines with course attribute features to generate recommendation rating ranking list and provide personalized recommendation service. Then the study of Civics education reform is conducted, mainly analyzing the change in teaching methods based on big data, machine learning, and deep learning technologies to promote secondary school students. The performance of the BPRMF model is evaluated in comparison with the BPRMF model under different k values. It is concluded that the accuracy rate of the BPRMF model is 8.9%~12.01% higher than UBCF and 8.07%~10.26% higher than IBCF, but with the increase of k value, the recall rate will gradually pull away from other models and optimize the recommendation system to some extent. This study is beneficial to ideological education in the implementation process to better utilize the opportunities, meet the challenges, and develop efficiently.

This paper summarized the nursing management for an elderly patient with esophageal food impaction during the recovery stage after cerebral infarction. Based on the nursing assessment on hospital admission, gastroscopy-assisted foreign body removal was carried out. Much attention has been paid on the perioperative nursing and health education about functional exercise after discharge from hospital. A systematic and comprehensive support was provided including dietary guidance, swallowing exercise, limb function exercise, language function exercise and psychological care. (本文总结1例老年脑梗死康复患者引起食物嵌塞的护理经验。在完善入院评估的基础上, 加强胃镜下食管异物取出围手术期护理, 开展出院后功能锻炼和延续护理指导, 从饮食、吞咽功能锻炼、肢体功能锻炼、语言功能锻炼及心理方面为患者及家属提供系统全面的护理干预。)

Fragment productions in spallation reactions and projectile fragmentation reactions are important topics in nuclear reaction both theoretically and experimentally, which find important applications in fundamental nuclear physics, radioactive ion beam facilities, nuclear waste disposal, medical isotopes production, etc. Besides the many models to predict the fragment productions, such as the transport model, empirical parametrizations or formula, machine learning models have been constructed to predict fragment cross-sections in proton induced spallation reactions and projectile fragmentation reactions. In this paper, the recently proposed models using Bayesian neural network (BNN) models were introduced for precise prediction of fragments, especially for extreme rare isotopes with large isospins in nuclear spallation and projectile fragmentation reactions. Two types of models were introduced, i.e., the BNN models which were constructed based on massive learning to experimental data, and the physical model guided BNN+ models which were constructed based on massive learning to the differences between measured data and physical model predictions. The simplified EPAX (sEPAX) formula and the FRACS formulas were adopted as the physical model to guide the BNN+ model for spallation reaction (BNN+sEPAX) and projectile fragmentation reaction (BNN+FRACS), respectively. The BNN and BNN+ models have the structure of one input layer with key parameters related to the reaction, one hidden layer with optimized numbers of neural nodes and one output layer. For the numbers of learning data set, it was 15 370 measured fragments in the proton induced nuclear spallation reactions and 6 393 measured fragments in the projectile fragmentation reactions. It is found that the machine learning models provide new type of predictive models for nuclear reactions besides the physical models. The BNN model needs sufficient information to achieve good prediction ability, while the BNN+ model can inherit the advantage of the physical model and make up for the defects of the physical model, which makes it achieve good predictive ability when known data are insufficient. The predicted results show that the BNN and BNN+ models have high predictions to fragments cross-sections in spallation reactions smaller than 136Xe within an incident energy range from tens of MeV/u to a few GeV/u, and projectile fragmentation reactions for projectile from 40Ar to 208Pb within the range of incident energy from tens of MeV/u to 1 GeV/u. Particularly, the BNN model for projectile fragmentation reaction predicts a 0.46 fb compared to the experimental estimation 0.5 fb for 39Na isotope in the 345 MeV/u 48Ca+9Be reaction, indicating it is capable for high quality prediction to near drip-line isotopes.

The Nigerian miniature neutron source reactor (MNSR) is a research reactor developed and constructed by China Institute of Atomic Energy. The high enriched uranium (HEU) fuel is used in the reactor core fuel. In order to prevent nuclear proliferation, the Chinese government is committed to actively assisting other countries completing the conversion of low enriched uranium (LEU) of the research reactor, then the work of Nigerian MNSR with LEU core is started. In order to carry out the conversion of LEU smoothly, Nigerian MNSR with LEU core model was constructed using MCNP, WIMSD and CITATION codes, and main parameters of the Nigerian MNSR with LEU core were calculated, such as critical mass, central control rod reactivity efficiency, upper beryllium reactivity efficiency in outer ring, thermal neutron fluence rate in inner and outer irradiation tubes, core reactivity efficiency, irradiation tubes reactivity efficiency of core radial and axial in-homogeneity coefficients, fuel temperature coefficient, moderator temperature coefficient, effective delayed neutron fraction and prompt neutron lifetime, etc. Then, the zero-power experiment was completed on MNSR zero-power experiment device, the reactivity efficiencies of experimental components such as the central control rod, upper beryllium, fuel elements in outer ring, inner irradiation tube and outer irradiation tube were measured using the classical periodic method in reactor physics experiments. The experimentally measured value of the reactivity efficiency of the central control rod is measured as 742 pcm, the maximum backup reactivity of the Nigerian MNSR with LEU core is 400 pcm, and the minimum shutdown depth is 342 pcm, which meets the safety requirements for MNSR shutdown. The value of the reactivity efficiency of the upper beryllium reflector layer is 1 750 pcm. According to the operating experience, if the reactivity is consumed at 50 pcm per year, the Nigerian MNSR with LEU core can continue to operate for about 35 years without replacing the core. The zero-power experimental measurement data are in accordance with the design calculation data whose relative deviation between them is basically whin 5%. On the basis of these experimental and calculation data, the Nigerian MNSR with LEU core safety function experiment was successfully completed. The neutron fluence rate increases to a peak of about 2.2×1012 cm-2·s-1, and then gradually decreases. Due to the temperature negative feedback and characteristics of the Nigerian MNSR with LEU core, when the control rod is stuck in the reactor and a large reactivity is accidentally introduced, the reactor can be automatically adjusted and in a controllable safety level. The results of the experiment confirm the good safety performance of the Nigerian MNSR with LEU core, marking the completion of the Nigerian MNSR from HEU to LEU, which has contributed to the prevention of nuclear proliferation in the international community.

Objective To compare the efficacy of dual-frequency dual-pulse laser lithotripsy under endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and traditional endoscopic mechanical lithotripsy in the treatment of patients with common bile duct stones, and summarize perioperative nursing measures. Methods From May 2018 to May 2022, the clinical data of 200 patients with common bile duct stones who underwent ERCP treatment and lithotripsy were retrospectively analyzed, of which 69 patients were treated with dual-frequency dual-pulse laser lithotripsy (Laser group) and 131 patients were treated with mechanical lithotripsy (Mechanical group), and the success rate of stone extraction, operation time, postoperative hospital stay time and complications of two groups of patients were compared. Results There was no significant difference in baseline data such as general conditions and preoperative clinical data between two groups (P＞0. 05). Neither neither Laser group nor Mechanical group had reported the perioperative death case. There were no significant difference in postoperative bleeding, postoperative pancreatitis and perforation complication rates in the two groups (P＞0. 05). The surgical time in the Laser group was significantly longer than that in the Mechanical group (P＜0. 05). The postoperative hospital stay was shorter in the Laser group than that in the Mechanical group(P＜0. 05), and the total complication rate and stone residue rate were lower in the Laser group than those in the Mechanical group (P＜0. 05). Conclusion The treatment of common bile duct stones by dual-frequency dual-pulse laser lithotripsy has better efficacy and lower complication rate than traditional surgical mechanical lithotripsy, but there is still room for improvement in the operation time. (目的 比较内镜逆行胰胆管造影术(ERCP)下双频双脉冲激光碎石与内镜下传统机械碎石治疗胆总管结石患者的效果, 总结护理经验。方法 回顾性分析2018年5月—2022年5月在北京中医药大学东方医院消化内镜中心行ERCP治疗并碎石的200例胆总管结石患者的临床资料, 其中69例患者采用双频双脉冲激光碎石术(激光组), 131例患者采用机械碎石(机械组)。比较两组患者的取石成功率、手术时间、术后住院时间、并发症等情况。结果 两组患者一般情况、术前临床资料等基线资料比较, 差异无统计学意义(P＞0. 05)。激光组和机械组均无围术期死亡患者。两组患者术后出血、术后胰腺炎、穿孔并发症率比较差异无统计学意义(P＞0. 05)。与机械组相比, 激光组的手术时间较长(P＜0. 05), 术后住院时间更短(P＜0. 05), 总并发症率和结石残留率更低(P＜0. 05)。结论 ERCP下双频双脉冲激光碎石治疗胆总管结石具有比传统手术机械碎石更好的效果及更低的并发症率, 但手术时间仍有改进的空间。)

This paper summarized the nursing management for a case of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy, including the preparation of preoperative instruments and articles, intraoperative operation process, postoperative psychological care, fistula stomy care, enteral nutrition care, complication prevention and health education. Through preoperative and postoperative nursing, the aim was to improve patient nutritional status, reduce complications and improve prognosis. (本文总结1例经皮内镜下胃造瘘术(PEG)患者的护理体会, 包括术前仪器物品的准备, 术中操作过程配合, 以及术后患者心理护理、造瘘管护理、肠内营养护理、并发症预防和健康宣教等措施, 通过开展精准的围术期护理, 以达到提高患者营养水平、减少并发症及改善预后的目的。)

This paper summarizes the nursing experience of a patient who received endoscopic variceal ligation in the treatment of esophageal varices, including preoperative psychological care, instrument preparation, patient preparation, intraoperative care, postoperative general care, complication care and other targeted nursing measures. Through the comprehensive nursing mode, full preoperative preparation, close surgical cooperation, and meticulous postoperative care, the success of esophageal variceal ligation was guaranteed, the pain of patients was reduced, the patient's symptoms were improved. (本文总结1例内镜下食管静脉曲张套扎术治疗食管静脉曲张患者的护理体会, 包括术前的心理护理、器械准备、患者准备、术中护理、术后一般护理、并发症护理等针对性护理措施。充分的术前准备、密切的手术配合和细致的术后护理是保障食管静脉曲张套扎术成功的关键, 有助于减轻患者疼痛, 改善患者病症, 促进其康复。)

To summarize the comprehensive nursing experience in a case of typhoid fever complicated with intestinal bleeding. Based on the nursing risk assessment, comprehensive nursing interventions including guidelines on rest and exercise programs, disinfection protection, psychological nursing, observation and nursing of high fever, observation and nursing of diarrhea, diet nursing and continuous nursing were carried out. Comprehensive nursing interventions were implemented to relieve the symptoms of diarrhea, relieve the pain of the patients, shorten the course of the disease, and prevent cross-infection of the disease. (本文总结1例伤寒并发肠出血患者的综合护理措施。在完善护理评估的基础上, 为患者制定常规的休息与活动计划, 加强消毒防护、心理护理、高热观察及护理、腹泻观察及护理、饮食护理及延续性护理, 旨在缓解患者腹泻症状, 减轻患者痛苦, 缩短病程, 防止疾病交叉感染。)

This paper summarized the whole process of nursing intervention for a patient with oculomotor paralysis caused by systemic lupus erythematosus. Responsible nurses were involved throughout the process, in which overall evaluation of disease condition, routine nursing management, auricular point needle combined with auricular point pressing therapy were carried out. Targeted nursing plan should be made based on the overall evaluation and Traditional Chinese Medicine syndrome differentiation, in order to improve the rehabilitation of the patient. (本文总结1例系统性红斑狼疮(SLE)致动眼神经麻痹患者的护理经验, 包括整体评估、常规护理、耳针联合耳穴贴压等, 根据患者的评估结果和中医辨证, 制定针对性的护理方案, 有助于促进患者康复。)

This paper summarized the nursing experience for a patient undergoing endoscopic guided placement of nasointestinal ileus tube. Key issues of nursing included preparation of insertion tube, cooperation during tube placement, psychological nursing , medication guidance, tube maintenance , nutrition care, pain control with Traditional Chinese Medicine, extended care. A comprehensive nursing of integrated Traditional Chinese and Western medicine is potentially effective to relieve the pain during placement and improve the rehabilitation of the patient. (本文总结1例内镜下放置肠梗阻导管的中西医护理体会, 包括置管的准备、置管过程中的配合以及心理护理、药物指导、管路护理、营养护理、中医疼痛干预、延续护理等针对性护理措施。通过中西医综合的护理模式进行多角度干预, 减轻患者疼痛, 改善患者临床症状, 促进康复。)

The asymmetric unit of the title coordination polymer, [Co(C9H4N2O4)(C2H4N4)]n or [Co(L1)(L2)]n, consists of one crystallographically independent Co2+ centre, one L12− ligand and one L2 ligand (L1 = 1H-benzimidazole-5,6-dicarboxylic acid, L2 = 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole). The Co2+ centre is coordinated by two carboxylato-O atoms from two independent L12− ligands and two nitrogen atoms from L2 and another L1 ligand. Thus, the metal center adopts a four-coordinate mode, forming a tetrahedral geometry. Interestingly, through the combination of two L12−, two L2 ligands and two Co2+ ions, a basic repeating unit is constructed, resulting in the formation of a one-dimensional straight chain structure. These chains are further expanded to the final three-dimensional framework via N—H...O hydrogen-bonding interactions.

RAV transcription factors (TFs) are unique to higher plants and contain both B3 and APETALA2 (AP2) DNA binding domains. Although sets of RAV genes have been identified from several species, little is known about this family in wheat. In this study, 26 RAV genes were identified in the wheat genome. These wheat RAV TFs were phylogenetically clustered into three classes based on their amino acid sequences. A TaRAV gene located on chromosome 1D was cloned and named TaRAV1. TaRAV1 was expressed in roots, stems, leaves, and inflorescences, and its expression was up-regulated by heat while down-regulated by salt, ABA, and GA. Subcellular localization analysis revealed that the TaRAV1 protein was localized in the nucleus. The TaRAV1 protein showed DNA binding activity in the EMSA assay and transcriptional activation activity in yeast cells. Overexpressing TaRAV1 enhanced the salt tolerance of Arabidopsis and upregulated the expression of SOS genes and other stress response genes. Collectively, our data suggest that TaRAV1 functions as a transcription factor and is involved in the salt stress response by regulating gene expression in the SOS pathway.

Abstract aurora B kinase is highly expressed in several cancer cells and promotes tumorigenesis and progression, and therefore, it is an important target for drug to treat tumors. Quercetin was identified to be an antitumor agent. Herein, we report for the first time that quercetin inhibited aurora B activities by directly binding with aurora B in vitro and in vivo. Ex vivo studies showed that quercetin inhibited aurora B activities in JB6 Cl41 cells and A549 lung cancer cells. Moreover, knockdown of aurora B in A549 cells decreased their sensitivities to quercetin. In vivo study demonstrated that injection of quercetin in A549 tumor‐bearing mice effectively suppressed cancer growth. The phosphorylation of histone 3 in tumor tissues was also decreased after quercetin treatment. In short, quercetin can suppress growth of lung cancer cells as an aurora B inhibitor both in vitro and in vivo.

Abstract Background Mustelidae, as the largest and most-diverse family of order Carnivora, comprises eight subfamilies. Phylogenetic relationships among these Mustelidae subfamilies remain argumentative subjects in recent years. One of the main reasons is that the mustelids represent a typical example of rapid evolutionary radiation and recent speciation event. Prior investigation has been concentrated on the application of different mitochondrial (mt) sequence and nuclear protein-coding data, herein we employ 17 nuclear non-coding loci (>15 kb), in conjunction with mt complete genome data (>16 kb), to clarify these enigmatic problems. Results The combined nuclear intron and mt genome analyses both robustly support that Taxidiinae diverged first, followed by Melinae. Lutrinae and Mustelinae are grouped together in all analyses with strong supports. The position of Helictidinae, however, is enigmatic because the mt genome analysis places it to the clade uniting Lutrinae and Mustelinae, whereas the nuclear intron analysis favores a novel view supporting a closer relationship of Helictidinae to Martinae. This finding emphasizes a need to add more data and include more taxa to resolve this problem. In addition, the molecular dating provides insights into the time scale of the origin and diversification of the Mustelidae subfamilies. Finally, the phylogenetic performances and limits of nuclear introns and mt genes are discussed in the context of Mustelidae phylogeny. Conclusion Our study not only brings new perspectives on the previously obscured phylogenetic relationships among Mustelidae subfamilies, but also provides another example demonstrating the effectiveness of nuclear non-coding loci for reconstructing evolutionary histories in a group that has undergone rapid bursts of speciation.

Abstract Background To explore the epidemiologic and clinical features of, and interactions among, multipathogen infections in hospitalized children with acute respiratory tract infection (ARTI). A prospective study of children admitted with ARTI was conducted. Peripheral blood samples were analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence to detect respiratory agents including respiratory syncytial virus; adenovirus; influenza virus (Flu) types A and B; parainfluenza virus (PIV) types 1, 2, and 3; chlamydia pneumonia; and mycoplasma pneumonia. A medical history of each child was taken. Results Respiratory agents were detected in 164 (51.9%) of 316 children with ARTI. A single agent was identified in 50 (15.8%) children, and multiple agents in 114 (36.1%). Flu A was the most frequently detected agent, followed by Flu B. Coinfection occurred predominantly in August and was more frequent in children between 3 and 6 years of age. A significantly higher proportion of Flu A, Flu B, and PIV 1 was detected in samples with two or more pathogens per sample than in samples with a single pathogen. Conclusion Our study suggests that there is a high occurrence of multipathogen infections in children admitted with ARTI and that coinfection is associated with certain pathogens.

Abstract Background Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading viral pathogen associated with bronchiolitis and lower respiratory tract disease in infants and young children worldwide. The respiratory epithelium is the primary initiator of pulmonary inflammation in RSV infections, which cause significant perturbations of global gene expression controlling multiple cellular processes. In this study, differential display reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction amplification was performed to examine mRNA expression in a human alveolar cell line (SPC-A1) infected with RSV. Results Of the 2,500 interpretable bands on denaturing polyacrylamide gels, 40 (1.6%) cDNA bands were differentially regulated by RSV, in which 28 (70%) appeared to be upregulated and another 12 (30%) appeared to be downregulated. Forty of the expressed sequence tags (EST) were isolated, and 20 matched homologs in GenBank. RSV infection upregulated the mRNA expression of chemokines CC and CXC and interfered with type α/β interferon-inducible gene expression by upregulation of MG11 and downregulation of G1P3. Conclusion RSV replication could induce widespread changes in gene expression including both positive and negative regulation and play a different role in the down-regulation of IFN-α and up-regulation of IFN-γ inducible gene expression, which suggests that RSV interferes with the innate antiviral response of epithelial cells by multiple mechanisms.