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Three soil samples obtained from different sites adjacent to a chromium slag heap in a steel alloy factory were taken to examine the effect of chromium contamination on soil bacterial diversity as determined by construction of 16S rDNA clone libraries and sequencing of selected clones based on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis. Results revealed that Betaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Alphaproteobacteria occurred in all three soil samples, although the three samples differed in their total diversity. Sample 1 had the highest microbial diversity covering 12 different classes, while Sample 3 had the lowest microbial diversity. Strains of six different species were successfully isolated, one of which was identified as Zobellella denitrificans. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a strain belonging to the genus Zobellella able to resist and reduce chromium. Among all isolates studied, Bacillus odysseyi YH2 exhibited the highest Cr(VI)-reducing capability, with a total removal of 23.5 % of an initial Cr(VI) concentration of 350 mg L(-1).

Removal of a damaged base in DNA produces an abasic site (AP site) nanocavity. If left un-repaired in vivo by the specific enzyme, this nanocavity will result in nucleotide mutation in the following DNA replication. Therefore, selective recognition of AP site nanocavity by small molecules is important for identification of such DNA damage and development of genetic drugs. In this work, we investigate the fluorescence behavior of isoquinoline alkaloids including palmatine (PAL), berberine (BER), epiberberine (EPI), jatrorrhizine (JAT), coptisine (COP), coralyne (COR), worenine (WOR), berberrubine (BEU), sanguinarine (SAN), chelerythrine (CHE), and nitidine (NIT) upon binding with the AP nanocavity. PAL is screened out as the most efficient fluorophore-switched probe to recognize the AP nanocavity over the fully matched DNA. Its fluorescence enhancement occurs for all of the AP nanocavity sequence environments, which has not been achieved by the previously used probes. The bridged π conjugation effect should partially contribute to the AP nanocavity-specific fluorescence, as opposed to the solvent effect. Due to the strong binding with the AP nanocavity, PAL will find wide applications in the DNA damage recognition and sensor development., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The triplex DNA has received much interest due to its various applications in gene regulation, molecular switch, and sensor development. However, realizing a highly selective recognition using a fluorescence probe specific only for the triplex topology is still a great challenge. Herein, we found that relative to the structural analogues of natural robinetin, myricetin, quercetin, kaempferol, morin, rutin, baicalin, luteolin, naringenin, genistein, chrysin, galangin, isorhamnetin, and several synthetic flavonoids, fisetin (FIS) is the brightest emitter when targeting the triplex DNA in contrast to binding with ss-DNA, ds-DNA (with or without an abasic site), i-motif, and DNA/RNA G-quadruplexes. Only the triplex association triggers the FIS green fluorescence that is relaxed from the tautomer favorable for excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT). FIS can stabilize the triplex structure and primarily interact with the two terminals of the triplex via a 2:1 binding mode. This work demonstrates the potential of FIS as a DNA structure-selective switch-on ESIPT probe when evolving the triplex-forming oligonucleotides and developing the novel triplex-based sensors and switches.

We seek to observe the association between childhood obesity by different measures and adult obesity, metabolic syndrome (MetS), and diabetes. Thousand two hundred and nine subjects from "Beijing Blood Pressure Cohort Study" were followed 22.9 ± 0.5 years in average from childhood to adulthood. We defined childhood obesity using body mass index (BMI) or left subscapular skinfold (LSSF), and adult obesity as BMI ≥ 28 kg/m(2). MetS was defined according to the joint statement of International Diabetes Federation and American Heart Association with modified waist circumference (≥ 90/85 cm for men/women). Diabetes was defined as fasting plasma glucose ≥ 7.0 mmol/L or blood glucose 2 h after oral glucose tolerance test ≥ 11.1 mmol/L or currently using blood glucose-lowering agents. Multiple linear and logistic regression models were used to assess the association. The incidence of adult obesity was 13.4, 60.0, 48.3, and 65.1 % for children without obesity, having obesity by BMI only, by LSSF only, and by both, respectively. Compared to children without obesity, children obese by LSSF only or by both had higher risk of diabetes. After controlling for adult obesity, childhood obesity predicted independently long-term risks of diabetes (odds ratio 2.8, 95 % confidence interval 1.2-6.3) or abdominal obesity (2.7, 1.6-4.7) other than MetS as a whole (1.2, 0.6-2.4). Childhood obesity predicts long-term risk of adult diabetes, and the effect is independent of adult obesity. LSSF is better than BMI in predicting adult diabetes.

Human telomeric repeat-containing RNA (TERRA), which has recently been found to play as important a role in living cells as its DNA counterpart, solely adopts a parallel G-quadruplex (G4) topology. However, developing a highly selective fluorescent probe specific for the TERRA G4 is a great challenge, since difficulty arises in differentiating it from the DNA G4s that possess polymorphic structures including parallel, (3 + 1) hybrid, basket, and chair topologies. In this work, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(3,5-dihydroxyphenyl)porphyrin (TOH(d)PP) was selected out of various porphyrins as the most efficient fluorescent probe in targeting TERRA. We found that only the TERRA binding is effective in activating the hyperporphyrin spectrum of TOH(d)PP, favoring red-shifted spectral bands and an enhanced fluorescence emission. Following the previous investigations on the TERRA G4 structure and our present experiments, we anticipate that TOH(d)PP most likely interacts with the 5' tetrads of two TERRA G4s via a 1 : 2 sandwich association. The ribose 2'-OH favors the loop adenine residue-extended tetrad G4 plane that is specific for TERRA, thus besides π-stacking with the G4 tetrads, TOH(d)PP should also interact with this substructure to trigger an efficient electron communication between the tetraphenyl substituents and the porphyrin macrocycle, as required by the hyperporphyrin effect. The hydrogen bonding interactions of the eight hydroxyl substituents in TOH(d)PP with the backbone phosphate oxygen atoms of TERRA most likely further contribute to the binding selectivity. Our work demonstrates the potential of TOH(d)PP as a selective TERRA G4 fluorescent probe and a promising TERRA-based sensor reporter.

Objective: To investigate the burden of infectious disease of the Chinese population in 1990 and 2010 and changing pattern in the past 20 years., Methods: Results of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010) were used to demonstrate the burden of infectious disease of the Chinese population in 1990 and 2010 and changing pattern from 1990 to 2010 by gender and age groups, including indicators of incidence, mortality, years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLL), years lived with disability (YLD), disability-adjusted life years (DALY), and their age-standardized rates using data of the 2010 National Census as a standard population., Results: In 1990 incidence, standardized incidence rate, mortality, standardized mortality rate, DALY, standardized DALY rate, YLL, standardized YLL rate, YLD, and standardized YLD rate of infectious disease in China were 3 067 469 200 cases, 242 669.34 cases/100 000, 824 300 cases, 72.27 cases/100 000, 58 937 700 person-years (PYRS), 3 992.85 PYRS/100 000, 46 504 100 PYRS, 2 932.99 PYRS/100 000, 12 433 600 PYRS, and 1 059.86 PYRS/100 000, respectively. All the aboved indicators were declined from 1990 to 2010, in 2010 they were 3 065 985 800 cases, 224 351.66 cases/100 000, 388 600 cases, 30.74 cases/100 000, 19 492 200 PYRS, 1 440.75 PYRS/100 000, 12 045 700 PYRS, 891.87 PYRS/100 000, 7 446 500 PYRS, and 548.89 PYRS/100 000, respectively. When 2010's indicators were compared to those in 1990, the rates of increase of incidence, incidence rate, mortality, mortality rate, DALY, DALY rate, YLL, YLL rate, YLD, and YLD rate were 56.84%, -9.85%, -33.07%, -61.54%, -27.68%, -58.42%, -32.46%, -61.17%, -16.75%, and -52.13% for 50-69 age group; for ≥ 70 age group, 57.90%, -5.86%, 7.41%, -36.12%, -5.00%, -43.51%, -5.14%, -43.59%, -4.52%, and -43.2%., Conclusions: The burden of infectious disease of the Chinese population was declined from 1990 to 2010; however, the incidence of infectious disease was increased in ≥ 50 age groups.

This article introduced the application of trajectory model in epidemiological study on fat development in sixty teenagers. Results showed that fat developing trend on three trajectories-normal fat group, high fat group and very high fat group, with independently different developing trend. Trajectory model seemed a suitable model for fitting the longitudinal data with heterogeneity.

To understand the composition and structure of microbial communities in acid mineral bioleaching systems, the molecular diversity of 16S rDNA genes was examined using a PCR-based cloning approach. A total of 31 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) were obtained from the four samples taken from four different bioleaching sites in Yinshan lead-zinc mine and Dongxiang copper mine in Jiangxi Province, China. The percentages of overlapping OTUs between sites ranged from 22.2 to 50.0%. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the bacteria present at the four bioleaching sites fell into six divisions, alpha-Proteobacteria (1.1%), beta-Proteobacteria (2.3%), gamma-Proteobacteria (30.8%), Firmicutes (15.4%), Actinobacteria (0.3%) and Nitrospira (50.1%). Organisms of genera Leptospirillum, Acidithiobacillus, and Sulfobacillus, which were in Nitrospira, gamma-Proteobacteria, and Firmicutes divisions, respectively, were the most dominant. The results of principal component analysis based on the six phylogenetic divisions and biogeochemical data indicated that the microbial community structure of a site was directly related to the biogeochemical characteristic of that site. It follows therefore that sites with similar biogeochemical characteristics were comprised of similar microbial community structures. The results in our study also suggest that the elements copper and arsenic appear to be the key factors affecting the compositions and structures of microbial community in the four bioleaching sites.

Four strains of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans with different iron oxidation capacity were isolated from different mine drainage stations. The 16S rRNA gene of these strains were cloned and sequenced. Based on our sequences analysis on the four strain and the data on the other strains deposited in Genbank, all A. ferrooxidans may be classified into three phylogenetic groups. The analysis data showed that nucleotide variables (signature sites) were detected in 21 positions, and most of them were found in the first 800 bp from 5' terminal except position 970 and 1375. Interestingly, the first 13 signature sites were located in two main regions: the first region (position 175-234) located in V2 while the second region (position 390-439) were detected in constant region between V2 and V3. Furthermore, the secondary structure and minimal free energy were determined in two regions among strains of three groups. These results may be useful in characterizing the microevolutionary mechanisms of species formation and monitoring in biohydrometallurgical application.

Phox homology (PX) domains specifically bind to phosphoinositides, and this interaction is crucial for their cellular function. A full-length cDNA of human PX domain containing serine/threonine kinase gene (PXK) that we termed PXK_v1 had previously been cloned. PXK_v1 consists of a S_TKc domain (serine/threonine kinases, catalytic domain), but lacks several residues that are indispensable for intrinsic catalytic activity. Evidence obtained in the present study demonstrated the existence of four other splice isoforms of human PXK in fetal brain, designated as PXK_v2, PXK_v3, PXK_v4 and PXK_v5. The results of RT-PCR indicated that human PXK_v1, PXK_v2 and PXK_v4 transcripts were widely expressed in human adult tissue, except heart tissue. In contrast, PXK_v3 transcripts were only expressed in peripheral blood leukocytes at a low level and PXK_v5 transcripts were not detectable in any of the tissue analyzed. Subcellular localization analysis of EGFP-PXK fusion proteins in COS7 cells indicated that EGFP-PXK_v3 had a different subcellular localization compared to other EGFP-PXK fusion proteins. Mutation analysis of EGFP-PXK_v1 showed that PXK_v1-Tyr56 and Arg92 are essential for subcellular localization of the protein in the cytoplasm.

Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is one of the most important bacterium used in bioleaching, and can utilize Fe(2+) or sulphide as energy source. Growth curves for Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans under phosphate starvation and normal condition have been tested, showing lag, logarithmic, stationary and aging phases as seen in other bacteria. The logarithmic phases were from 10 to 32 hours for Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans cultivated with normal cultivating condition and from 20 to 60 hrs for Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans cultivated phosphate starvation. Differences of protein patterns of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans growing in case of normal or phosphate starvation were separately investigated after cultivation at 30(o)C by the analysis of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)-Mass spectrometry. There were total 6 protein spots identified, which were Recombination protein recA, RNA helicase, AP2 domain-containing transcription factor, NADH dehydrogenase I chain D, Hyothetical protein PF1669, and Transaldolase STY3758. From the 6 identified protein spots, 3 proteins were found to be decreased in expression at the cultivating condition of phosphate starvation, while another three upregulated.