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Background Timely and precise etiology diagnosis is crucial for optimized medication regimens and better prognosis in central nervous system infections (CNS infections). We aimed to analyze the impact of mNGS tests on the management of patients with CNS infections. Methods We conducted a single-center retrospective cohort study to analyze the value of mNGS in clinical application. Three hundred sixty-nine patients with a specific CNS infection diagnosis were enrolled, and their clinical data were collected. CDI and DDI were defined in our study to describe the intensity of drug use in different groups. We also used LOH and mRS to evaluate whether the application of mNGS could benefit CNS infection patients. Results mNGS reported a 91.67% sensitivity in culture-positive patients and an 88.24% specificity compared with the final diagnoses. Patients performed with the mNGS test had less drug use, both total (58.77 vs. 81.18) and daily (22.6 vs. 28.12, p

Additional file 1: Table 1. Baseline characteristics of HBV-ACLF patients with and without prophylactic antibiotics. Table 2. Baseline characteristics of patients with prophylactic antibiotics. Table 3. Characteristics of isolated bacteria in HBV-ACLF patients with bacterial infection

Additional file 1: Table S1. Commonly reported pathogens in central nervous system (CNS) Infection. Table S2. Criteria of CNS infection. Table S3. Missed or extra identified bacteria and fungi by mNGS when comparing to culture in CNS infections. Table S4. The consistency between mNGS and other conventional methods (PCR, Xpert MTB/RIF, Filmarray, serological antibody test and etc.). Table S5. The comparison of relative abundance of pathogens who were detected at least 5 times between a) culture-positive vs culture-negative and b) with vs without empirical treatment patients. Table S6. The CSF laboratory examinations among different subgroups.

Background: Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) has been widely recommended as a first-line antiviral agent to treat chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Qingzhong and Viread, formulations of TDF commercialized by Jiangsu Chia-tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical Co Ltd and GlaxoSmithKline, respectively, have both been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration, China. This study analyzed the efficacy and safety of these 2 TDF agents in Chinese patients with CHB. Methods: In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, noninferiority phase 3 clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02287857), 330 Chinese patients with CHB [hepatitis B envelope antigen-positive (HBeAg) (+): 232] were randomly assigned to receive Qingzhong (group A: 161 patients) or Viread (group B: 169 patients) 300 mg once daily for 48 weeks. Subsequently, all patients were administered Qingzhong 300 mg once daily from week 49 to week 240. The primary end point was the degree of decline of plasma hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels at week 48 and the secondary endpoints were viral suppression, normalization of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)/HBeAg loss or seroconversion, and virological breakthrough. Results: Among patients with CHB who were HBeAg (+), the mean HBV DNA titer decreased similarly between the groups at week 48. The percentages of patients who achieved undetectable HBV DNA were similar between the groups (85.11% and 82.35% in groups A and B, respectively) and similar losses of HBeAg and HBeAg seroconversion rates were achieved. Moreover, for patients with CHB who were HBeAg (−), reductions in HBV DNA were similar. Among all patients with CHB, the rates of normalization of ALT and the loss of HBsAg were similar. The overall incidence of adverse events was comparable between the groups. Conclusion: In conclusion, the 48-week administration of Qingzhong showed noninferior efficacy and safety profiles compared to Viread in Chinese patients with CHB.

Figure S1. Scatter plots showing levels of HBV RNA and HBsAg. HBV RNA and HBV DNA (both in log10 copies/mL) before PEG-IFN alfa-2a treatment in 61 HBeAg positive patients. A. The level of HBV RNA was significantly correlated with HBV DNA before treatment (r = 0.684, P = 0.004); B. The level of HBV RNA was significantly correlated with HBsAg before treatment (r = 0.521, P

Methodology of the next generation sequencing and data analysis. The detailed methodology information of the next generation sequencing and data analysis adopted in this study. (DOCX 15 kb)

We propose a scheme of quantum computation with nonlinear quantum optics. Polarization states of photons are used for qubits. Photons with different frequencies represent different qubits. Single qubit rotation operation is implemented through optical elements like the Faraday polarization rotator. Photons are separated into different optical paths, or merged into a single optical path using dichromatic mirrors. The controlled-NOT gate between two qubits is implemented by the proper combination of parametric up and down conversions. This scheme has the following features: (1) No auxiliary qubits are required in the controlled-NOT gate operation; (2) No measurement is required in the course of the computation; (3) It is resource efficient and conceptually simple.

By using steady and transient methods, the total heat fluxes and the distributions of the heat flux were measured experimentally for an argon DC laminar plasma jet impinging normally on a flat plate at atmospheric pressure. Results show that the total heat fluxes measured with a steady method are a little bit higher than those with a transient method. Numerical simulation work was executed to compare with the experimental results.

In this paper, intensity distribution of 69.8 nm soft X-ray laser pumped by capillary discharge is studied theoretically and experimentally. In experiment, a main current of 11.5 kA is chosen to generate the plasma in a 35 cm long capillary filling with Ar at pressures in a range of 14-16 Pa. The intensity distribution is characterized by two different components. There is a big peak in the center of the intensity distribution profile, and its full width at half maximum divergence is about 0.4 mrad. There are also two small off-axis peaks on the either side of the center peak, and the peak-to-peak divergence is about 1.5 mrad. In theory, three different distributions of electron density are used to study the propagation of Ne-like Ar 69.8 nm laser in a cylindrical plasma column. The spatial intensity distribution for the 69.8 nm laser beam is calculated with the geometrical optics approximation. The results show that the center peak, which has such a small divergence, could be attributed to the slight depression of electron density on the axis.