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Background 3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) is an important platform chemical, serving as a precursor for a wide range of industrial applications such as the production of acrylic acid and 1,3-propanediol. Although Escherichia coli or Saccharomyces cerevisiae are the primary industrial microbes for the production of 3-HP, alternative engineered hosts have the potential to generate 3-HP from other carbon feedstocks. Methylobacterium extorquens AM1, a facultative methylotrophic α-proteobacterium, is a model system for assessing the possibility of generating 3-HP from one-carbon feedstock methanol. Results Here we constructed a malonyl-CoA pathway by heterologously overexpressing the mcr gene to convert methanol into 3-HP in M. extorquens AM1. The engineered strains demonstrated 3-HP production with initial titer of 6.8 mg/l in shake flask cultivation, which was further improved to 69.8 mg/l by increasing the strength of promoter and mcr gene copy number. In vivo metabolic analysis showed a significant decrease of the acetyl-CoA pool size in the strain with the highest 3-HP titer, suggesting the supply of acetyl-CoA is a potential bottleneck for further improvement. Notably, 3-HP was rapidly degraded after the transition from exponential phase to stationary phase. Metabolomics analysis showed the accumulation of intracellular 3-hydroxypropionyl-CoA at stationary phase with the addition of 3-HP into the cultured medium, indicating 3-HP was first converted to its CoA derivatives. In vitro enzymatic assay and β-alanine pathway dependent 13C-labeling further demonstrated that a reductive route sequentially converted 3-HP-CoA to acrylyl-CoA and propionyl-CoA, with the latter being reassimilated into the ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway. The deletion of the gene META1_4251 encoding a putative acrylyl-CoA reductase led to reduced degradation rate of 3-HP in late stationary phase. Conclusions We demonstrated the feasibility of constructing the malonyl-CoA pathway in M. extorquens AM1 to generate 3-HP. Furthermore, we showed that a reductive route coupled with the ethylmalonyl-CoA pathway was the major channel responsible for degradation of the 3-HP during the growth transition. Engineered M. extorquens AM1 represents a good platform for 3-HP production from methanol. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12934-017-0798-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common condition with high mortality, morbidity and healthcare costs. This study aimed to determine whether clinical pathway (CP) implementation in different hospitals in China increased antibiotic compliance with the national CP in inpatients with CAP. Methods Chart reviews of CAP cases were conducted in 18 public hospitals from 3 different regions of China in 2015. Chi-square tests and the t-test were used to compare differences between hospitals that implemented CP (CP group) and those that did not (non-CP group). Multivariate logistic analysis was adopted to test whether CP implementation for CAP in hospitals affected their overall antibiotic use compliance rates with the national CP for CAP. Results The overall compliance rate with the national CP for inpatients with CAP was 43.69%. The compliance rates for timely initial antibiotic use, recommended antibiotic use and use of the recommended combination of antibiotics and the overall compliance rate were substantially higher in the CP group than in the non-CP group. A multivariate logistic model for overall compliance in inpatients with CAP showed that the hospitals in the CP group had greater overall compliance than those in the non-CP group (odds ratio [OR] = 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16–2.71) after controlling for hospital and inpatient characteristics. Conclusion In China, the overall compliance rate with the national CP for inpatients with CAP was low, but inpatients with CAP in the hospitals in the CP group received antibiotics more concordantly with the national CP. Since adherence to evidence-based care has been shown to improve clinical outcomes, internal and external support from hospitals is required to facilitate CP implementation for inpatients with CAP. Additionally, governmental commitment, hospital input and population involvement are required to improve antibiotic utilization.

The co-culture of Trametes versicolor and Ganoderma applanatum is a model of intense basidiomycete interaction, which induces many newly synthesized or highly produced features. Currently, one of the major challenges is an identification of the origin of induced features during the co-culture. Herein, we report a 13C-dynamic labeling analysis used to determine an association of induced features and corresponding fungus even if the identities of metabolites were not available or almost nothing was known of biochemical aspects. After the co-culture of T. versicolor and G. applanatum for 10 days, the mycelium pellets of T. versicolor and G. applanatum were sterilely harvested and then mono-cultured in the liquid medium containing half fresh medium with 13C-labeled glucose as carbon source and half co-cultured supernatants collected on day 10. 13C-labeled metabolome analyzed by LC-MS revealed that 31 induced features including 3-phenyllactic acid and orsellinic acid were isotopically labeled in the mono-culture after the co-culture stimulation. Twenty features were derived from T. versicolor, 6 from G. applanatum, and 5 features were synthesized by both T. versicolor and G. applanatum. 13C-labeling further suggested that 12 features such as previously identified novel xyloside [N-(4-methoxyphenyl)formamide 2-O-beta-D-xyloside] were likely induced through the direct physical interaction of mycelia. Use of molecular network analysis combined with 13C-labeling provided an insight into the link between the generation of structural analogs and producing fungus. Compound 1 with m/z 309.0757, increased 15.4-fold in the co-culture and observed 13C incorporation in the mono-culture of both T. versicolor and G. applanatum, was purified and identified as a phenyl polyketide, 2,5,6-trihydroxy-4, 6-diphenylcyclohex-4-ene-1,3-dione. The biological activity study indicated that this compound has a potential to inhibit cell viability of leukemic cell line U937. The current work sets an important basis for further investigations including novel metabolites discovery and biosynthetic capacity improvement.

Background Currently, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) has attracted widespread public attention. However, there is a war regarding the applicability of the diagnosis in different populations regarding the distinct criteria for the diagnosis of MS. Data about the prevalence rate of MS and its components in Jiangxi Province are limited. Thus, our goals were to compare the consistency rates and applicability of three criteria, i.e., those of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment PanelⅢ (ATPⅢ), and the Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS). Methods From September 2013 to March 2014, 5959 residents (age≥18 years) from Jiangxi Province were selected by multistage stratified cluster random sampling methods. The prevalence rate of MS and its components were calculated according to the IDF, ATPⅢ and CDS criteria, and the protocols of the different criteria were measured in terms of consistency with the kappa statistic and Youden's index. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to explore the optimal cut-off points of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). Results The mean age of the participants was 50.52±13.92 years among the total of 5959 individuals (2451 male and 3508 female). The standardized prevalence rate of MS was 19.85%, 24.77% and 9.95% according to the IDF, ATPⅢ and CDS criteria, respectively. The order of the prevalence rates of the different components of MS according to the IDF or ATPⅢ criteria from high to low were as follows: elevated blood pressure, central obesity, reduced high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), hyperglycemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. The most prevalent component of MS, according to the CDS criterion, was being overweight or obese, followed by elevated blood pressure, dyslipidemia and hyperglycemia. The Youden's index in IDF criterion was higher than which in CDS criterion (0.79 for IDF vs. 0.38 for CDS) referring to the ATPⅢ criterion. The agreement between the IDF and ATPⅢ criteria was good (kappa = 0.85), whereas the agreement of the CDS with the IDF and ATPⅢ criteria was moderate (kappa = 0.46 and 0.46, respectively). The ability to predict MS risk factors clusters was superior when the BMI cut-off point was 24/24kg/m2 (male/female), and the WC cut-off point was 87/80cm (male/female). Among the 18~59 years old male group, BMI was superior to WC in predicting clusters of risk factors for MS; while in the 60 years and above male group and all-age female group, WC was superior to BMI. Conclusion Our results revealed that the prevalence rate of metabolic syndrome among adults was high in Jiangxi Province. BMI and WC had different ability to predict clusters of risk factors for MS in different age groups and gender. Among the three criteria for MS, there was bigger difference in applicability for the adults of Jiangxi Province. The choice of the appropriate criteria should be based on the actual conditions of the site.

Purpose: To investigate the influence of the lipid profile and related parameters on the development of asthma in children aged 10 to 15 years. Methods: Peripheral blood samples were collected from a group diagnosed with asthma as well as from a healthy control group. The lipid profile parameters measured were total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), serum total antioxidant capacity (TAC), reduced glutathione (GSH), and malondialdehyde (MDA), and the activities of lecithin–cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP). Results: TC, TG, LDL, and VLDL levels were significantly ( p ≤ 0.05) higher in the asthma group compared with the controls, while HDL level was lower. Total TAC and GSH were lower in the asthma group, while MDA level, and LCAT and CETP activities were higher. Conclusion: There is a link between an elevated lipid profile and increased antioxidant capacity in asthmatic children.

Background Cryptococcal infection has become a public health challenge globally. However, information about cryptococcal infection in patients with hematological diseases remains relatively rare. Methods HIV-uninfected cryptococcosis cases with hematological diseases admitted to Huashan Hospital from January 2001 to December 2014 were reviewed. Results In total, 33 cryptococcosis patients were enrolled, including 12 malignant and 21 non-malignant hematological cases. Twenty-six patients had central nervous system (CNS) involvement, which was observed more often in patients with non-malignancies than with malignancies (20/21 vs. 6/12, P = 0.001) Most patients (25/26) with CNS infection were confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture or smear, and 100% (20/20) of them tested positive for the CSF cryptococcal antigen test. Eighteen out of 26 cryptococcal meningitis patients were treated with amphotericin B (AmB)-based therapy, 16 of them with AmB deoxycholate (d-AmB) and 2 patients with liposomal AmB. The clinical success rate was 55.6%. D-AmB was well-tolerated at 0.35–0.59 mg/kg/d (median 0.43 mg/kg/d) and only 12 patients had mild adverse events. Conclusions CNS cryptococcal infection was more frequent in patients with hematological non-malignancies, and cryptococcal antigen test as well as the CSF fungal culture or smear are suggested for early diagnosis. D-AmB could be used as an alternative therapy for CNS-infected patients with hematological diseases. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-017-2561-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Hyperphosphorylated tau is the major protein component of neurofibrillary tangles in the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the mechanism underlying tau hyperphosphorylation is not fully understood. Here, we demonstrated that exogenously expressed wild-type human tau40 was detectable in the phosphorylated form at multiple AD-associated sites in cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions from HEK293 cells. Among these sites, tau phosphorylated at Thr205 and Ser214 was almost exclusively found in the nuclear fraction at the conditions used in the present study. With the intracellular tau accumulation, the Ca(2+) concentration was significantly increased in both cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions. Further studies using site-specific mutagenesis and pharmacological treatment demonstrated that phosphorylation of tau at Thr205 increased nuclear Ca(2+) concentration with a simultaneous increase in the phosphorylation of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV (CaMKIV) at Ser196. On the other hand, phosphorylation of tau at Ser214 did not significantly change the nuclear Ca(2+)/CaMKIV signaling. Finally, expressing calmodulin-binding protein-4 that disrupts formation of the Ca(2+)/calmodulin complex abolished the okadaic acid-induced tau hyperphosphorylation in the nuclear fraction. We conclude that the intracellular accumulation of phosphorylated tau, as detected in the brains of AD patients, can trigger nuclear Ca(2+)/CaMKIV signaling, which in turn aggravates tau hyperphosphorylation. Our findings provide new insights for tauopathies: hyperphosphorylation of intracellular tau and an increased Ca(2+) concentration may induce a self-perpetuating harmful loop to promote neurodegeneration.

Fluorinated acrylate emulsions have been extensively applied for hydrophobic surface coatings. To obtain fluorinated emulsions of low surface energy, amphiphilic sulfonyl macro emulsifiers consisting of 2-(perfluorohexyl) ethyl acrylate (PFHEA) and 2-acrylanmido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS) were designed via radical polymerization and subsequently used for the emulsion copolymerization of PFHEA, methyl methacrylate (MMA), and methyl butyl acrylate (MBA). Under optimum synthesis conditions, the emulsifier displayed superior emulsification properties such as high monomer conversion, small particle size, and excellent stability compared with conventional emulsifiers. The corresponding emulsions with sulfonyl macro emulsifiers exhibited extreme low surface energy (9.8 mN/m) and outstanding hydrophobicity due to high contents of fluorinated chains, as well as thimbleful hydrophilic sulfonyl groups, which shows the great potential in water repellent modification application. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 133, 44921.

The study reports a girl with pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy. The girl was admitted at the age of 2 years because of intermittent convulsions for 1.5 years and psychomotor retardation. She had a history of "hypoxia" in the neonatal period. At the age of 5 months recurrent epileptic seizures occurred. The child was resistant to antiepileptic drugs, and had many more seizures when she got cold or fever. She also had a lot of convulsive status epilepticus. No discharges were found during several video-EEG monitorings. Cerebral MRI examinations showed normal results. So Dravet syndrome was clinically suspected. ALDH7N1 gene mutation analysis revealed two heterozygote mutations, and pyridoxine-dependent epilepsy was thus confirmed. Seizures were generally controlled after pyridoxine supplementation.

Epothilones are cytotoxic macrolactones having auspicious anti-tumorous activities, but merely produced by rare Sorangium strains. Here, we have focused on the epothilone gene cluster from special niche bacterial strain, S. cellulosum So0157-2. Therefore, we have isolated a high pH tolerant S. cellulosum strain So0157-2 and characterized the epothilones gene cluster and its flanks by cosmid/fosmid libraries preparation and sequencing. The assembly spanned 94,459 bp and consisted of 56,019 bp core region. Remarkably, the core as well as upstream 420 bp and downstream 315 bp were highly conserved, while further neighboring regions varied extremely. Transposase traces were identified near the core of clusters, supporting that the transposon-mediated transgenesis is a naturally evolved strategy for the cluster’s dissemination. A predicted neighboring esterase gene was identified as a potential epothilone-resistance gene preventing self-toxicity. Novel modification or regulatory genes, a multi-position-cyclo releasing gene and their relationship with corresponding analogs were identified in strain So0157-2. These findings open the door to discover additional, naturally evolved epothilone-related genes for significant applications in industrial as well as clinical sector.

In this paper, domestic and foreign progress and some of the results obtained in the field of conductive textile research are introduced. An intelligent quilt concept is conceived. The intelligent quilt is made from natural plant improved by genetic technology. It has certain “conductivity”, which is not necessarily the true current conduction, but may be the conduction of some weak “unique signal” sent out by some specially bred textile fibers organization. The research results of flexible sensor are applied to trace gas detection in the intelligent quilt. Also, new energy supply strategy with combination of. Bioenergy technologies and other energy are employed. The proposed intelligent quilt may be applied to the monitoring biochemical and autonomic parameters of the human body and provide helpful suggestions on people’s health status.

Background: The epidemiological patterns of cancer incidence have been investigated widely in western countries. Nevertheless, information is quite limited in Jiangxi province, southern China. Materials and Methods: All data were reported by 6 population-based cancer registries in Jiangxi Province. The results were presented as incidence rates of cases by site (ICD-10), sex, crude rate (CR), age-standardized rates (ASRs) and truncated incidence rate (TR) per 100,000 person-years, using the direct method of standardization to the world population. Results: 8,765 new cancer cases were registered in our study during the period 2009-2011. Diagnosis of cancer was based on histopathology in 61.0%, clinical or radiology findings in 4.87% and death certificate only (DCO) in 3.0% of the cases. The median age at diagnosis was 62.0 years (mean, 61; standard deviation, 15). The ASRs were 170.8 per 100,000 for men and 111.2 for women. The ASRs for all invasive cancers from the urban areas (145.7 per 100,000) was higher than that of rural areas (137.1). Incidence rates for lung cancer were higher in rural (35.8) than in urban areas (27.0). Similarly, relatively high rates were observed for stomach cancer in rural (20.1) relative to urban areas (15.5). Conclusions: Our results reveal that the most common cancers were breast and lung in women and lung and liver in men. Interestingly, this study suggested a higher incidence rates for lung and stomach cancer in rural males than in urban population, which may suggest other potential causes, such as over-consumption of smoked meats and high prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection, respectively. Public education and the promotion of healthy lifestyles should be actively carried out.

The atmospheric corrosion behaviors of AZ80 magnesium alloy are investigated by exposure test in different testing sites. After four months exposure test, the corrosion morphologies and the component of the corrosion products were observed by the scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy-dispersive analysis of X-ray (EDAX). The corrosion rates of AZ80 magnesium alloys were calculated by mass-loss. The results indicated that the corrosion resistance of AZ80 magnesium alloy in the sea environment is the worst. The corrosion degree of the back surface is worse than the front side. The corrosion products are mainly formed by carbonate, and contain small amount of chloride in most environments, while in Xishuangbanna and Jiangjin area contain a little sulfate.

Background Thus far, the incidence, mortality, and temporal trend data of oropharyngeal cancers (OPC) in China were few. We estimated the incidence, mortality, and temporal patterns of OPC in China during 2008–2012 according to the data from 135 population-based cancer registries to better understand the epidemiological pattern of OPC and to provide more precise information for OPC control in China. Methods According to the data of diagnosed OPC reported to 135 cancer registries during 2008–2012, we calculated age-standardized rate of incidence and mortality by 2000 Chinese standard population (ASRIC and ASRMC) and by 1985 Segi’s world standard population (ASRIW and ASRMW) by age, sex, and geographic regions; annual percentage changes of OPC incidence and mortality were calculated using Joinpoint trend analysis. Results ASRIW and ASRMW were 2.22/100,000 person-years and 0.94/100,000 person-years, respectively. The incidence and mortality in urban areas were higher than those in rural areas. ASRIC and ASRIW of males were higher than those of females. The overall ASRIC of OPC was significantly increased by 6.2% annually between 2003 and 2006 (P = 0.038), but remained stable between 2007 and 2012 (P = 0.392). ASRIC and ASRMC of males and in rural areas were significantly increased in the last decade (P 0.05). Conclusions Across multiple cancer registries in China, there was an obvious increase in OPC in the recent decade, especially for incidence and mortality of males and in rural areas, whereas the rates of females remained stable. A healthy lifestyle should be advocated and early diagnosis and early treatment of OPC should be enhanced. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40880-018-0345-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In view of the current situation and problem existing in campus energy usage, corresponding water, electricity, and heat energy saving strategies and implementation schemes are proposed. Then, taking Minzu University of China as the object, the framework of the supervisory platform of campus energy saving is designed, which includes hardware facilities of the front end, communication transmission equipments and data center or energy saving management center. The main function units of the platform are described and analyzed. Compared to existing designing scheme of energy saving supervisory platform, which can only realize one-way sensing, monitoring, and management functions, the proposed designing scheme also has feedback control functions. It can adjust and control building energy supply according to energy consumption usage and truly achieve the purpose of energy saving.

Immunoglobulins (Igs) are the major molecules secreted by B lymphocytes during an adaptive immune response. They are glycoproteins with distinctive glycosylation patterns, resulting in wide variations in the number, type and location of their oligosaccharides in each isotype and subclass. The sugars play specific structural roles, maintaining and modulating effector functions of Igs. Aberrant glycosylation might contribute to disease pathogenesis. This review will focus on the glycosylation of IgG and IgA because they have been studied more extensively than other immunoglobulins. Rheumatoid arthritis and IgA nephritis are used to describe the association of glycosylation aberration and disease pathogenesis.

Context The association between 3-hydroxy-3methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors (statins) and bone mineral density (BMD) is controversial because of conflicting findings from previous studies. Objective and design The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of statins on BMD reported in randomized and non-randomized controlled trials. We searched PubMed and Embase, using text, medical subject headings (MeSH) and keywords “bone mineral density” and “statins” or “HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors”. Our last PubMed and Embase queries were updated to August 2012. Data on participants, interventions, and outcomes from each study were abstracted independently by two authors. Results Five case–control studies, six cohort studies and four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) met the inclusion criteria. Included studies involved 34,877 subjects (3824 in the intervention group and 31,053 in the control group) in 12 different countries with ages ranging from 44 to 66 years. Statins significantly increased BMD at lumbar spine [standardized mean difference (SMD) 0.15, 95% CI 0.09–0.22], total hip (SMD 0.22, 95% CI 0.17–0.27) and femoral neck (SMD 0.19, 95% CI 0.09–0.29). We carried out subgroup analyses on selected populations of the cohorts. Statistically significant increases were also observed in the lumbar spine (SMD 0.12, 95% CI 0.04–0.21), total hip (SMD 0.23, 95% CI 0.17–0.28) and femoral neck BMD (SMD 0.22, 95% CI 0.08–0.36). Conclusion The results of this study suggest that statins may help improve and maintain BMD at the lumbar spine, hip and femoral neck, especially in Caucasians and Asians. It also provides justification for prospective RCTs to evaluate the possible role of statins in BMD in different ethnic populations, such as Latin American and Africans.

Biofilm from a clinical strain of Cryptococcus neoformans activates the NLRP3 inflammasome

Radiation leads to a rapid burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is considered to be one of the major causes of radiation-induced injury. ROS have previously been shown to induce changes in cytosolic Ca2+ ([Ca2+]i) including [Ca2+]i oscillation. However, the role of radiation in [Ca2+]i oscillation is poorly understood. The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of ROS and X ray on [Ca2+]i oscillation, as well as their role in radiation-induced lung injury. Alveolar macrophages were cultured in the absence and presence of different doses of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or exposed to X-ray irradiation with or without pretreatment of diphenyleneiodonium chloride (DPI, an inhibitor of NADPH oxidases) or tetrandrine (TET, a calcium entry blocker) and cytosolic Ca2+ concentration was detected by fluorescent Ca2+ indicator Fura-2. Rat radiation lung injury was induced in vivo by using 40 Gy X ray and DPI or TET was used to prevent radiation-induced lung injury. The results showed that there was sp...

Micro-arc oxidation (MAO) coatings were synthesized on MB3 magnesium alloy substrate. Two different electrolyte (Ⅰ) and electrolyte (Ⅱ) were adopted, and the performance of ceramic coatings was compared. The morphology feature, phase composition, and chemical composition of the formed coatings were studied by metallographic microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy disperse spectroscopy (EDS), XRD, respectively. The corrosion resistance of the coatings was evaluated by salt spray test. The research results show that, the starting and terminal voltage are different during the oxidation process, they are 220V and 375V in the electrolyte (Ⅰ), and 150V and 270 V in electrolyte (Ⅱ). After MAO, The sample surface in electrolyte (Ⅰ) is light gray, and looks tender and smooth. The ceramic coatings obtained in electrolyte (Ⅱ) are relative rough and white in colour. But MAO coatings obtained in electrolyte (Ⅱ) has higher deposition rate. Salt spray test show the corrosion resistance of samples obtained in electrolyte (Ⅱ) are better than those in electrolyte (Ⅰ), which is related to the thickness of the MAO coatings.

One of the most common life-threatening infections in immunosuppressive patients, like AIDs patients, is cryptococcal meningitis or meningoencephalitis. Current therapeutic options are mostly ineffective and mortality rates remain high. Hydrophobic antifungal drug Amphotericin B (AmB), has become a golden standard in severe systemic fungal infection therapy. However, most AmB commercial formulations, including deoxycholate AmB and lipid formulations of AmB, show poor penetration into the CNS and difficulty to reach the therapeutic levels. To improve the CNS permeability of AmB, we have successfully developed an effective brain-targeting polymeric micellar system with angiopep-2 modified, named Angiopep-PEG-PE/AmB polymeric micelles. An immunosuppressive murine model with Cryptococcus neoformans meningoencephalitis (CNME) was established to evaluate the CNS penetration efficiency and antifungal treatment efficacy of the AmB-incorporated brain-vectored polymeric micellar formulation, compared with the AmB commercial formulations. After three consecutive days of i.v. administration, the results showed that the group treated with Angiopep-PEG-PE/AmB achieved the greatest treatment efficacy, which reached the highest AmB level in brain, reduced the brain fungal burden significantly, decreased histopathological severity and prolonged the median survival time. The increased treatment efficacy could be attributed to the brain-targeting delivery system promoted AmB crossing the BBB and penetrating into the brain to reach the therapeutic concentration. The underlying mechanism was also explored in this work. Therefore, the brain-targeting delivery system could have potential and promising implications for treatment of intracerebral fungal infection.

Transcriptomic analysis of cultured fungi suggests that many genes for secondary metabolite synthesis are presumably silent under standard laboratory condition. In order to investigate the expression of silent genes in symbiotic systems, 136 fungi-fungi symbiotic systems were built up by co-culturing seventeen basidiomycetes, among which the co-culture of Trametes versicolor and Ganoderma applanatum demonstrated the strongest coloration of confrontation zones. Metabolomics study of this co-culture discovered that sixty-two features were either newly synthesized or highly produced in the co-culture compared with individual cultures. Molecular network analysis highlighted a subnetwork including two novel xylosides (compounds 2 and 3). Compound 2 was further identified as N-(4-methoxyphenyl)formamide 2-O-β-D-xyloside and was revealed to have the potential to enhance the cell viability of human immortalized bronchial epithelial cell line of Beas-2B. Moreover, bioinformatics and transcriptional analysis of T. versicolor revealed a potential candidate gene (GI: 636605689) encoding xylosyltransferases for xylosylation. Additionally, 3-phenyllactic acid and orsellinic acid were detected for the first time in G. applanatum, which may be ascribed to response against T.versicolor stress. In general, the described co-culture platform provides a powerful tool to discover novel metabolites and help gain insights into the mechanism of silent gene activation in fungal defense.

The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of ultrasound-guided diffuse optical tomography for differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions.The Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase databases were searched from inception to February 14, 2016. Sensitivity, specificity, and other information were extracted from the included studies. Sensitivity and specificity were pooled by a bivariate mixed-effects binary regression model. A summary receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed. Heterogeneity and publication bias were explored by Higgins and Deeks tests, respectively.Seven studies including 768 women with 886 lesions were analyzed. The summary sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio were 95% (95% confidence interval [CI], 85%-98%), 77% (95% CI, 66%-85%), and 57 (95% CI, 12-267), respectively. The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curve was 91% (95% CI, 89%-94%). No significant heterogeneity or publication bias existed.Ultrasound-guided diffuse optical tomography is useful for differentiating breast lesions. Especially, its sensitivity is excellent.

Micro-arc oxidation (MAO) method was used for the surface modification of MB3 magnesium alloy. The morphology feature, phase composition, and chemical composition of the formed ceramic coatings were studied by metallographic microscope, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), XRD, respectively. Drop test has been applied to study the corrosion resistance of MB3 Mg alloy with and without micro-arc oxidation treatment. The present result indicates that, through MAO, ceramic coatings were in-situ fabricated on the surface of MB3 Mg alloy, the micro-arc oxidation coating is relatively dense and uniform, maximum thickness is more than 97μm. The dominant phase of the coating is spinal Mg2SiO4 (Forsterite) and dissociative MgO (Periclase). Drop test shows that after oxidation the corrosion resistance of MB3 Mg alloy is greatly improved.

An existing elevation dependent shadowing model for high-altitude platform HAP mobile communication in built-up areas is employed to perform the area coverage probability analysis and fading margin computation for HAP mobile communication systems. A generalized expression for the PDF of the received signal power in the HAP coverage is derived. The shadowing fade margin model that can characterize different types of built-up area is developed. Theoretical relations between shadowing fade margin and outage probability and cell coverage probability are given. Numerical simulation for isoflux coverage HAP-based system shows that there is great difference in the value of shadowing fade margin under line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight conditions for the same outage probability. It is also found that the cell coverage probability is insensitive to the variance of the shadowing fade margin in suburban environment whatever the size of the cell and for small cells in urban high-rise environments.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge named Danshen in China has been used for hundreds of years in both China and other countries. Danshen injection made from the aqueous extract of Danshen which is widely adopted in China is one of the traditional Chinese medicine injections for preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases in most of the time. The present study was carried out on re-evaluating the safety of Danshen injection by determining toxicity after acute and sub-chronic administration in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. Materials and methods In acute toxicity study, rats (10 males and 10 females) were intravenously administered Danshen injection dose of 32 g/kg body weight, two times in one day. General behavior, adverse effects and mortality were recorded for up to 14 days post treatment. In the sub-chronic study, Danshen injection was given intravenously at the doses of 0, 1.92, 5.76, and 19.20 g/kg per day ( n = 15/group each sex) for 13 weeks to rats. Animal body weight and food intakes were observed weekly. Hematological, biochemical parameters and organ weight were determined in all animals at the end of the 13-week administration and 2-week recovery. However, histological examinations were carried out in the control and high-dose groups only. Results In acute study, the sign of struggling was observed in some animals at the moment of intravenous administration. No deaths and other signs of toxicity occurred in any of the animals tested during the 14 days of the study. In sub-chronic study, Danshen injection did not result to death, adverse effects or dose-dependent changes in food consumption, but had an effect on body weight gain. Some statistically significant differences were observed in hematological and biochemical parameters, as well as in some organ weights of both male and female rats treated with Danshen injection. In these changes, the significant decrease in triglycerides and increase in total bilirubin were considered related to treatment, indicating the lipid-modulating activity of Danshen. Histopathological examinations of the injection site showed that Danshen injection could cause dose-dependent focal inflammation. There was no abnormality of other organs noted in both gross and histopathological examinations. Conclusions The results showed that acute or sub-chronic administration of Danshen injection was low or non-toxic in male and female rats, and the no-observed-adverse-effect-level for sub-chronic administration of Danshen injection dose was 5.76 g/kg bw/day, which was suggested that it was safe in clinical use.

Based on the background that large amount of copper tailings are stockpiled in China, the utilization of skarn-type copper tailings to prepare autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) was studied. The AAC samples were prepared on a laboratory scale with a dry density of 610.2 kg m −3 and compressive strength of 4.0 MPa. Compared with the traditional AAC, lime was totally substituted by skarn-type copper tailings and blast furnace slag in order to develop a potential technique of reducing CO 2 emission during the AAC production process. The samples of different curing stage were examined by XRD, FESEM as well as 29 Si and 27 Al NMR analyses. Results show that the main minerals in the AAC product are tobermorite-11 A, anhydrite, augite, quartz, calcite and dolomite, with small amount of other minerals brought in by the copper tailings. It was also suggested that most minerals in the copper tailings participated in the hydration reaction during the procuring process, and the chemical elements in them got into the structure of platy tobermorite in the subsequent autoclaving process.

In this paper, general GNSS signal quality analysis software with MATLAB, which is capable of analyzing the quality of multisystem and multifrequency GNSS signals, is introduced. The architecture of the software and the structure of the GNSS software receiver are described. The relation between the performance of the software GNSS receiver and the signal analysis parameter, especially the PSD, output waveform, scatter plot, eye diagram, C/No evolution, and the correlation peak of the prompt correlator, is studied using real digital GNSS IF data. It is found that fine acquisition and coarse acquisition may result in different measurements. So the distortion of measurement cannot be simply ascribed to bad signal quality. The performance of the software receiver itself can result in measurement distortion.

INTRODUCTION:Drug overuse in healthcare settings is common in China. Clinical pathways are tools that provide the link between the best available evidence and clinical practice. This study aimed to determine if the clinical pathway of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) had effects on the antibiotic use in patients with CAP.METHODS:The study was conducted in Shanghai, Hubei Province, and Gansu Province to represent high, middle, and low levels of socioeconomic status in 2015. In each region, three public tertiary general hospitals and three public secondary general hospitals were selected for chart review of antibiotics’ utilization in the patients with CAP during 2014. A multilevel logistic regression model was used in the study, with a dependent variable of appropriate utilization of antibiotics (right time, right type, and right combined use) and independent variables of hospital adoption of clinical pathway and patient characteristics (sex, age, severity of disease, and number of comorbidities).RESULTS:Twelve surveyed hospitals (66.67 percent) adopted CAP clinical pathways and 354 cases (66.29 percent) were from these twelve hospitals (CP group). Among the total utilization of antibiotics (796 times) in eighteen types of antibiotics used in patients with CAP, the five recommended types of antibiotics accounted for 82.16 percent.The percentages of cases that got initial antibiotics in time were 90.60 percent in the CP group and 76.11 percent in the non-CP group. The compliance rate for appropriate types of antibiotic utilization was 88.36 percent in CP group, much higher than that in non-CP group (70.22 percent). For 244 cases that used combined antibiotics, the compliance rate for the recommended combinations of antibiotics was 20.12 percent in the CP group, but 1.25 percent in the non-CP group. After controlling patients’ characteristics, the patients in the CP group got more appropriate antibiotics than those in the non-CP group.CONCLUSIONS:Adoption of the CAP clinical pathway in hospitals can improve antibiotics' utilization.

The crystallization process of iron-rich glass-ceramics prepared from the mixture of nickel slag (NS) and blast furnace slag (BFS) with a small amount of quartz sand was investigated. A modified melting method which was more energy-saving than the traditional methods was used to control the crystallization process. The results show that the iron-rich system has much lower melting temperature, glass transition temperature (Tg), and glass crystallization temperature (Tc), which can result in a further energy-saving process. The results also show that the system has a quick but controllable crystallization process with its peak crystallization temperature at 918°C. The crystallization of augite crystals begins from the edge of the sample and invades into the whole sample. The crystallization process can be completed in a few minutes. A distinct boundary between the crystallized part and the non-crystallized part exists during the process. In the non-crystallized part showing a black colour, some sphere-shaped augite crystals already exist in the glass matrix before samples are heated to Tc. In the crystallized part showing a khaki colour, a compact structure is formed by augite crystals.

Background. There is increasing evidence that mannose-binding lectin (MBL) has a complex role in many diseases, particularly in infectious diseases. However, the relationship between MBL deficiency and cryptococcal meningitis has not been clarified. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between MBL polymorphism and non-HIV cryptococcal meningitis. Methods. A case-controlled genetic association study was conducted. Patients with cryptococcal meningitis and control subjects were genotyped for 6 alleles of MBL2 gene (H/L, Y/X, P/Q, A/D, A/B, and A/C). The distributions in allele frequency, genotypes, haplotypes, and genotype groups were compared between patients and control subjects. Results. Study participants included 103 HIV-uninfected patients with cryptococcal meningitis and 208 healthy control subjects, all of Chinese Han ethnicity. The homozygous mutative genotypes (O/O) of the coding region were associated with cryptococcal meningitis (P = .023; odds ratio [OR], 4.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11–19.88), the correlation more overt in immunocompetent patients (P = .005; OR, 6.65; 95% CI, 1.49–33.05). MBL-deficient participant group was associated with cryptococcal meningitis (P = .039; OR, 2.09; 95% CI, .96–4.51), particularly in immunocompetent patients (P = .028; OR, 2.51; 95% CI, .96–6.22). Conclusions. This is the first to show genotypes coding for MBL deficiency are associated with cryptococcal meningitis in nonimmunocompromised hosts.

A cementitious material was prepared by mixing 80wt% Si-Mn slag powder, 10wt% lime, and 10wt% anhydrite. The compressive strength of mortar samples reaches 51.48 MPa after 28 d curing. The analyses of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that much ettringite is formed in the sample cured for 3 d, and C-S-H gel increases rapidly during subsequent curing. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis of 29Si and 27Al and infrared spectroscopy (IR) analysis show that aluminum decomposition from tetrahedral network of the slag glass and its subsequent migration and re-combination play an important role in the process of hydration and strength development of the samples.

We simulate the processes of electron extraction from 1D conjugated polymers to metal electrodes in the presence of electric fields based on the Su–Schrieffer–Heeger (SSH) model extended to a polymer/electrode contact structure. From the simulation, we can obtain the lifetime of the process that a charged carrier known as polaron at the polymer chain end starts to dissociate and the released electron tunnels to the electrode immediately. An effective carrier mobility named interface mobility can be defined for this process and calculated from the lifetime. It is found that the interface mobility is independent on the external electric fields. However, this mobility increases with decreasing the work function of the electrode. By enhancing the coupling between the polymer and the electrode, the interface mobility is shown to increase. Kinetic energy of the electrons is also shown to favor the improvement of the mobility.

In this paper, the indicators of multi-component bamboo blended knitted fabric style were obtained by FAST meters, and the relationship between the performance and the blend ratio of the bamboo fiber was analyzed. The results indicated that the value of fabric surface thickness, bending rigidity, the formability and shear stiffness linearly decreased with the bamboo fiber content increasing.

This paper studies the generalized state density (GDOS) of near-historical extreme events of a set of independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.) random variables. The generalized density of states is proposed which is defined as a probability density function (p.d.f.). For the underlying distribution in the domain of attraction of the three well-known extreme value distribution families, we show the approximate form of the mean GDOS. Estimates of the mean GDOS are presented when the underlying distribution is unknown and the sample size is sufficiently large. Some simulations have been performed, which are found to agree with the theoretical results. The closing price data of the Dow-Jones industrial index are used to illustrate the obtained results.

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the crystallization process of glass ceramics prepared from a mixture which was composed of nickel slag, blast furnace slag and a small amount of quartz sand. First, the parent glass of the mixture was prepared. Then, the glass ceramics were obtained by heat-treating for the parent glass. The crystallization behavior was studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). A large number of tiny spherical crystals were observed when the glass was heated up to 700 °C. Subsequently, the radial crystals were observed when the glass was heated up to 820 °C. By XRD analyzing, the spherical crystals and radial crystals were likely to be the crystals of diopside (CaMg(Si,Al,Fe)2O6) and hedenbergite (CaFe(Si,Al,Fe)2O6). The crystallization temperature was 860 °C and the final crystalline phases were identified to be diopside and hedenbergite. In addition, the activation energy of crystallization was evaluated by Kissinger method.

In this paper we discuss variable selection in a class of single-index models in which we do not assume the error term as additive. Following the idea of sufficient dimension reduction, we first propose a unified method to recover the direction, then reformulate it under the least square framework. Differing from many other existing results associated with nonparametric smoothing methods for density function, the bandwidth selection in our proposed kernel function essentially has no impact on its root-n consistency or asymptotic normality. To select the important predictors, we suggest using the adaptive lasso method which is computationally efficient. Under some regularity conditions, the adaptive lasso method enjoys the oracle property in a general class of single-index models. In addition, the resulting estimation is shown to be asymptotically normal, which enables us to construct a confidence region for the estimated direction. The asymptotic results are augmented through comprehensive simulations, and illustrated by an analysis of air pollution data.

Promoter is an important cis-regulatory element for gene expression and plays an important role in the process of plant gene expression and regulation. Constitutive promoters are being used to drive alien gene expression in most transgenic engineering. Although constitutive promoters can improve resistance of transgenic plants to abiotic stresses, over- and constitutive-expression of the alien genes have been shown to cause stunted growth and reduction of yield in transgenic plants. Therefore, inducible promoters, which are expressed only when exposed to stresses, are of importance. This paper reviews the types and functions of plant gene promoters induced by bio- and abio-stresses. The prospect of stress-induced promoters was discussed.

Bifidobacterium longum (B. longum) as a delivery system for endostatin was shown to have definite antitumor effects. Moreover, it was found that the enrichment of selenium was able to enhance the immunity of mice. In order to further evaluate the safety and efficacy of B. longum carrying pBV22210-endostatin (B. longum-En) enriched with selenium (Se-B. longum-En), we determined the biochemical characteristics of Se-B. longum-En. We then investigated its effect on macrophage activity, as well as its inhibitory effect on the multiplication of pathogenic bacteria in vitro and the antitumor effects on murine hepatic (H22) tumor-bearing mice. The results showed that Se-B. longum-En exhibited similar biochemical characteristics to that of wild-type B. longum, i.e., Se-B. longum-En strongly enhanced macrophage phagocytosis in rats and inhibited the growth of pathogenic bacteria. In addition, Se-B. longum-En showed a definite inhibitory effect of tumor growth when H22 tumor-bearing mice were fed through oral or tail vein delivery. These results suggested that Se-B. longum is able to retain the advantages of wild-type B. longum and be used as a novel gene delivery system for liver cancer gene therapy.

Invasive aspergillosis is a life-threatening fungal infection, especially in immunocompromised patients. Pulmonary aspergillosis is the most common type of the infection, while urinary tract infection is relatively rare. Here, we describe a case of a 46-year-old man with chronic renal disease presenting with intermittent abdominal pain. The diagnosis of aspergillosis was established by pathological findings of the fungal ball in the bladder. The patient underwent multiple antimicrobial treatments and surgical interventions and was finally cured by posaconazole.

BCSC-1 is dramatically upregulated in CNE-2L2 human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells with reduced malignancy (AS cells) and is proposed to be a candidate tumor suppressor gene. We therefore examined the effect of BCSC-1 expression on malignant behaviors of CNE-2L2 cells. Growth in vitro and tumorigenesis in nude mice of wild-type CNE-2L2 cells (W cells) were inhibited by ectopic BCSC-1, and those of AS cells were promoted by BCSC-1 suppression. The tumor suppressor function of BCSC-1 was further confirmed by a study showing that intratumor BCSC-1 injection caused growth suppression of the tumor from W cells inoculated in nude mice. Immunohistochemistry exhibited marked reduction of BCSC-1 expression in 11 of 39 human nasopharyngeal carcinoma specimens. Because BCSC-1 expression was as rich as that in normal cells in the rest of the carcinoma specimens and was poor in CNE-2L2 cells, HNE-1 human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells with rich BCSC-1 expression were used as a control in the study. No effect of BCSC-1 transfection on growth of the cells was observed. The data suggest that BCSC-1 suppression might play roles in tumorigenesis of some nasopharyngeal carcinomas and that BCSC-1 might be a potential gene therapy target in nasopharyngeal carcinomas with poor BCSC-1 expression. Enhanced aggregation of cells together with increased E-cadherin and alpha-catenin expression and reduced Wnt signaling might be involved in the mechanisms of tumor suppressor function of BCSC-1.

以氯甲基化双酚A型聚砜（PSF-CH2Cl）为大分子引发剂，通过原子转移自由基聚合（A TRP）法合成了以聚砜（PSF）为疏水主链、聚（聚乙二醇单甲醚甲基丙烯酸酯）［P(PEGMA) ］为亲水侧链的梳状两亲性共聚物PSF-g-P(PEGMA).FT-IR和 1H-NMR的表征结 果证实了两亲性共聚物的生成.将PSF-g-P(PEGMA)与PSF进行共混，通过浸没沉淀法制 备了共混超滤膜.研究发现，引入5 wt%的PSF-g-P(PEGMA)，共混膜的孔隙率和平均孔 径分别从65.9%和0.08 μm提高到81.9%和0.18 μm；将共混膜于90℃热水中浸泡24 h后，膜表面O/S从14.63提高到17.16；共混膜的亲水性和抗牛血清蛋白(BSA)吸附性能显著提 升.

In order to study the biological significance of alpha-mannosidase Man2c1, hMan2c1 transgenic mice were developed. In 113 F0 mice, eight were found to be genomic PCR positive for hMan2c1; 9/20 (45%) F1 mice, 16/21 (76.2%) F2 mice, and 12/14 (85.7%) F3 mice were genomic PCR positive for hMan2c1. RT-PCR demonstrated hMan2c1 mRNA transcription in four of eight transgenic lines. Enzymatic activity on p-nitrophenyl-alpha-D: -mannopyranoside was enhanced in 35# and 54# transgenic mice and real-time RT-PCR showed hMan2c1 mRNA expression in these mice. Reduced Con A binding to splenocytes implied N-glycosylation modification of host proteins by hMan2c1 transgene. hMan2c1 transgene promoted growth, invasion, and metastasis to lung of implanted hepatoma H22 and sarcoma S180. The average weights of H22 and S180 tumors were 3.98 +/- 1.62, 3.29 +/- 0.76, 1.69 +/- 1.09, and 3.19 +/- 0.44, 2.72 +/- 1.38, 0.97 +/- 0.41 g for 35#, 54# transgenic mice and wild type mice (W), respectively, (35# or 54# versus W, paired t-test, P0.05). In 35# and 54# mice 5/10 and 3/10 showed lung metastasis of H22 tumor in contrast with 1/10 in W mice. In 35# and 54# mice 1/6 and 2/6 showed lung metastasis of S180 tumor in contrast with 0/6 in W mice. The possible mechanism of the promotion was explored on both humoral and cellular immunity. Reduced antibody response to BSA was observed in transgenic mice, suggesting that specific antibody response to tumor antigens might be suppressed by hMan2c1 transgene. However, NK cytotoxicity in splenocytes was not affected by the transgene.