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Background: Numerous case-control studies have investigated the association between GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism and CHD risk, but the results from published studies were inconclusive. The present meta-analysis was performed to derive a more precise estimation. Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science database searches were conducted to retrieve relevant articles. Results: Ultimately, 5,451 CHD cases and 5,561 controls from 15 studies were included. Pooled analysis did not yield any statistically significant association between GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism and CHD risk for the overall population (Val vs. Ile: OR, 1.05; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.18; Val/Val vs. Ile/Ile: OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.42; Val/Ile vs. Ile/Ile: OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.93 to 1.28; Val/Val vs. Val/Ile+Ile/Ile: OR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.83 to 1.30; Val/Val+Val/Ile vs. Ile/Ile: OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.97 to 1.33). Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses indicated that GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism was still not associated with an increased risk of CHD. After excluding studies detected by Galbraith plots as major sources of heterogeneity, these relationships were still not significant. Conclusions: The overall results did not reveal a major role of the GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism in modulating CHD risk. Well-designed studies with large sample sizes are needed to validate our findings and explore the possible gene-gene or gene-environment interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay combined with a nanoparticle-based lateral flow biosensor (LAMP-LFB) was established for the rapid and accurate detection of the mobilized colistin resistance gene (mcr-1), which causes the loss of colistin antibacterial efficacy in clinical treatments. The amplification stage of the assay was completed in 60 min at 63°C, and the reaction products could be visually detected by employing the LFB, which provided a fast (within 2 min) and objective method to evaluate the amplification results. The LAMP assay amplified the target sequences of mcr-1 with high specificity. In pure strains, the detection limit of the LAMP-LFB assay was 360 fg plasmid DNA/reaction, and in spiked feces samples the value was approximately 6.3×103 CFU/mL (~6.3 CFU/reaction), which was tenfold more sensitive than the PCR assay. The results show that the developed LAMP-LFB assay will be a worthy tool for the simple, rapid, specific, and sensitive detection of mcr-1 gene in clinical settings and resource-limited areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Creating National Sanitary City (CNSC) promotes appearance, environment sanitation and public health including vector management of cities in China. However, vector management especially mosquito management and the related administrative productivity of Patriotic Health Campaign System (PHCS) of National Sanitary Cities (NSCs) were questioned by many pest control professionals and citizens. In this study, we studied mosquito management of NSCs taking Wuhan as an example. The study aimed to (1) determine the distribution and abundance of immature mosquito habitats in built-up areas of Wuhan and (2) better understand the related administration procedure in CNSC. Methods: Immature mosquito habitat surveillance was carried out in randomly selected premises of driving schools (DSs), schools or kindergartens (SKs), property management residential areas (PMRAs), construction sites (CSs), wide roads with storm drains (WRSDs) and urban creeks (UCs) in built-up areas of Wuhan from July to October 2015 followed by questionnaire interviews with one each of premise occupants and district departments responsible for mosquito management in these premises. Results: Total of 64.1 km of route were inspected in 36 DSs, 36 SKs, 36 PMRAs, 36 CSs and 36 segments of WRSD and 2,158 potential mosquito habitats with 749 (35%) mosquito-positive habitats were found. The route index (RI) was 11.7, which was 14.6 times higher than the grade C criteria for vector density control (RI = 0.8 positive habitats/km) in CNSC. Occupants of 36 DSs, 36 SKs, 36 PMRAs, 34 CSs were interviewed and 77% of them reported no difference in mosquito infestation in their premises since 2013 and 80% of them knew about the responsibility and arrangements of PHCS of mosquito management in their premises. Only 15% had the awareness of larval source reduction strategy and 14% had implemented it. Receipt the electronic/paper edition of CNSC vector management specifications from the PHCS was very low (13%) and an official notification or bulletin for rectification mosquito-positive habitats was also very low (5%). Of the 75 responsible district departments interviewed, about half (55%) reported that they had held training courses/meetings related to CNSC vector management, the majority (96%) reported that they had not carried out independent on-site supervision of premises under their jurisdiction. No differences in larval indices were found between premises which were administrative intervened and with no administrative intervention. Conclusions: The administrative intervention of PHCS had not evidently improved mosquito management of the premises in built-up areas in Wuhan. It is a violation of the original intention of the National Patriotic Health Campaign Committee in organizing CNSC programs. To combat mosquito borne diseases, and to improve the quality of life of residents, we recommend that PHCS honestly reveals defects in urban mosquito management and seriously takes those exposed defects. The PHCS should strengthen Patriotic Health Campaign activities by strict adherence to NSC standards. Further research on sustained promotion of urban mosquito management of NSCs, which focus on effective administration, as well as on improvement of related sectors of NSC standards should be carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ATP bioluminescence method has been increasingly employed as a rapid, on-site detection method in nosocomial infections control. In this study, we used a paired design of monitoring methods, the colony counting method (C) and the ATP bioluminescence method, to evaluate environmental surfaces after disinfection. The ATP bioluminescence method included three detector types (B, P, and N). Every surface after disinfection was performed by combining two types of monitoring methods or detectors. There was no statistically significant difference in theATP content per surface siteamong samples from intensive care units (ICUs)and internal medicine wards using B (p = 0.435) and P (p = 0.260). According to the Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients, with the exception of the correlation between the ATP content values detected by B and P, the correlation between the values generated by the remaining methods/detectors was weak or lacking, whereasthe differences between the detectors were statistically significant. Therefore, there are differences between the ATP bioluminescence method and the colony counting method, also between different detectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical disinfectants effectively kill pathogenic microorganisms, eliminating routes of transmission for infectious diseases. Accurate quantification of the active ingredients can help make a more effective use of disinfectants. In this study, the active ingredients in six different types of chemical disinfectants were systematically quantified with great precision and accuracy using potentiometric titration. The coefficient of variations fell in the range of 0.04%-0.46%. The recovery rates of samples were all above 95% and the extended uncertainty was 0.32g/L. This method can be broadly applied to the analysis of disinfectants in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The receptor for activated C kinase 1 (RACK1) is one member of the most important WD repeat–containing family of proteins found in all eukaryotes and is involved in multiple signaling pathways. However, compared with the progress in the area of mammalian RACK1, our understanding of the functions and molecular mechanisms of RACK1 in the regulation of plant growth and development is still in its infancy. In the present study, we investigated the roles of rice RACK1A gene (OsRACK1A) in controlling seed germination and its molecular mechanisms by generating a series of transgenic rice lines, of which OsRACK1A was either over-expressed or under-expressed. Our results showed that OsRACK1A positively regulated seed germination and negatively regulated the responses of seed germination to both exogenous ABA and H2O2. Inhibition of ABA biosynthesis had no enhancing effect on germination, whereas inhibition of ABA catabolism significantly suppressed germination. ABA inhibition on seed germination was almost fully recovered by exogenous H2O2 treatment. Quantitative analyses showed that endogenous ABA levels were significantly higher and H2O2 levels significantly lower in OsRACK1A-down regulated transgenic lines as compared with those in wildtype or OsRACK1A-up regulated lines. Quantitative real-time PCR analyses showed that the transcript levels of OsRbohs and amylase genes, RAmy1A and RAmy3D, were significantly lower in OsRACK1A-down regulated transgenic lines. It is concluded that OsRACK1A positively regulates seed germination by controlling endogenous levels of ABA and H2O2 and their interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The receptor for activated C kinase 1 (RACK1) is one member of the most important WD repeat-containing family of proteins found in all eukaryotes and is involved in multiple signaling pathways. However, compared with the progress in the area of mammalian RACK1, our understanding of the functions and molecular mechanisms of RACK1 in the regulation of plant growth and development is still in its infancy. In the present study, we investigated the roles of rice RACK1A gene (OsRACK1A) in controlling seed germination and its molecular mechanisms by generating a series of transgenic rice lines, of which OsRACK1A was either over-expressed or under-expressed. Our results showed that OsRACK1A positively regulated seed germination and negatively regulated the responses of seed germination to both exogenous ABA and H2O2. Inhibition of ABA biosynthesis had no enhancing effect on germination, whereas inhibition of ABA catabolism significantly suppressed germination. ABA inhibition on seed germination was almost fully recovered by exogenous H2O2 treatment. Quantitative analyses showed that endogenous ABA levels were significantly higher and H2O2 levels significantly lower in OsRACK1A-down regulated transgenic lines as compared with those in wildtype or OsRACK1A-up regulated lines. Quantitative real-time PCR analyses showed that the transcript levels of OsRbohs and amylase genes, RAmy1A and RAmy3D, were significantly lower in OsRACK1A-down regulated transgenic lines. It is concluded that OsRACK1A positively regulates seed germination by controlling endogenous levels of ABA and H2O2 and their interaction.