Phenotypic and molecular characterization of Escherichia albertii: Further surrogates to avoid potential laboratory misidentification

Escherichia albertii is an emerging gastrointestinal pathogen, related to Escherichia coli, which can be misidentified as enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), due to the presence of the eae gene in E. albertii. The aim of this study was to verify our hypothesis that E. coli cytolethal distending toxin-II (Eccdt-II) gene-positive E. coli is E. albertii and to accumulate the data regarding the bacteriological characteristics of E. albertii. For these purposes, we attempted to detect E. albertii in eae gene-positive bacteria previously identified as E. coli and to examine if re-identified E. albertii contained Eccdt-II-homologous gene and remaining eae gene-positive E. coli did not. A total of 373 eae gene-positive E. coli strains were analyzed by biochemical tests, multilocus sequence analysis and an E. albertii-specific PCR. The strains re-identified as E. albertii were also examined for the presence of cdt genes by using ³²P-labled DNA probes, followed by their toxin-typing. Of the 373 strains, 17 were re-identified as E. albertii by three above-mentioned methods. Furthermore, all the 17 re-identified E. albertii possessed cdt genes highly homologous to Eccdt-II and Eacdt genes. Moreover, Eccdt-I or both Eccdt-I and stx2f genes were detected in two re-identified E. albertii strains. However, the remaining 356 strains did not carry such cdt genes. These data indicate that all re-identified E. albertii isolates specifically carried cdt genes homologous to Eccdt-II and Eacdt genes. We suggest that Eccdt-II gene-positive E. coli may be identical to E. albertii.     

顺铂和氟脲嘧啶联合术前诱导化疗治疗舌鳞癌的临床应用

目的研究顺铂(cisplatin CDDP)和5-氟脲嘧啶(5-fluorouracil,5-FU)联合术前诱导化疗对口腔舌鳞癌的抗瘤作用.方法 对36例口腔舌鳞癌患者采用顺铂和氟脲嘧啶联合术前诱导化疗,总计量CDDP 80 mg·m-2、5-FU 2.0 g,在4 d内平均给予.结果以肿瘤体积缩小50%以上或症状明显缓解为有效,总有效率为66.7%,化疗的主要毒副反应为胃肠反应91.7%.结论 CDDP和5-FU联合诱导化疗方案对舌癌能够取得明显的近期疗效.     

Abnormal neural responses to harmonic syntactic structures in congenital amusia

In music, harmonic syntactic structures are organized hierarchically through local and long‐distance dependencies. This study investigated whether congenital amusia, a neurodevelopmental disorder of pitch perception, is associated with impaired processing of harmonic syntactic structures. For stimuli, we used harmonic sequences containing two phrases, where the first phrase ended with a half cadence and the second with an authentic cadence. In Experiment 1, we manipulated the ending chord of the authentic cadence to be either syntactically regular or irregular based on local dependencies. Sixteen amusics and 16 controls judged the expectedness of these chords while their EEG waveforms were recorded. In comparison to the regular endings, irregular endings elicited an ERAN, an N5, and a late positive component in controls but not in amusics, indicating that amusics were impaired in processing local syntactic dependencies. In Experiment 2, we manipulated the half cadence of the harmonic sequences to either adhere to or violate long‐distance syntactic dependencies. In response to irregular harmonic sequences, an ERAN‐like component and an N5 were elicited in controls but not in amusics, suggesting that amusics were impaired in processing long‐distance syntactic dependencies. Furthermore, for controls, the neural processing of local and long‐distance syntactic dependencies was correlated at the later integration stage but not at the early detection stage. These findings indicate that amusia is associated with impairment in the detection and integration of local and long‐distance syntactic violations. The implications of these findings in terms of hierarchical music‐syntactic processing are discussed.     

Chloride channel 3 (CIC-3) predicts the tumor size in hepatocarcinoma

Chloride channel 3 (CIC-3) has been suggested to be implicated in the carcinogenesis though; it still remains ill understood in hepatocarcinoma, especially in terms of clinicopathological meaning of its expression. Given this, herein, to understand the clinicopathological significance of CIC-3 expression in hepatocarcinoma, Immunohistochemistry was performed to examine the level of CIC-3, followed by statistical analysis of the correlation between expression versus clinicopathological variables, including gender, age, TNM classifications, tumor size, lymph node metastasis and overall prognosis. It was shown that positive staining of CIC-3 can be present in both hepatocarcinoma and its paired normal controls; and that CIC-3 was significantly over-expressed in hepatcarcioma on the whole relative to paired normal controls. Moreover, up-regulation of CIC-3 markedly correlated with tumor size and overall prognosis, suggesting that CIC-3 expression could predict both tumor size and overall prognosis in hepatocarcinoma.     

Relationships of varicella zoster virus (VZV)-specific cell-mediated immunity and persistence of VZV DNA in saliva and the development of postherpetic neuralgia in patients with herpes zoster

There are no surrogate markers for the development of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) in patients with herpes zoster (HZ). All patients with HZ were prospectively enrolled to evaluate the associations of saliva varicella zoster virus (VZV) DNA persistence and VZV-specific cell-mediated immunity (CMI) with the development of PHN. Slow clearers were defined if salivary VZV DNA persisted after day 15. Salivary VZV was detected in 60 (85.7%) of a total of 70 patients with HZ on initial presentation. Of 38 patients for whom follow-up saliva samples were available, 26 (68.4%) were classified as rapid clearers and 12 (31.6%) as slow cleares. Initial VZV-specific CMI was lower in slow clearers than rapid clearers (median 45 vs 158 spot forming cells/10 ⁶ cells, P = .02). Of the 70 patients with HZ, 22 (31.4%) eventually developed PHN. Multivariate analysis showed that slow clearers (OR, 15.7, P = .01) and lower initial VZV-specific CMI (OR, 13.8, P = .04) were independent predictors of the development of PHN, after adjustment for age and immunocompromised status. Initial low VZV CMI response and persistence of VZV DNA in saliva may be associated with the development of PHN.     

Enhanced conversion of sterols to steroid synthons by augmenting the peptidoglycan synthesis gene pbpB in Mycobacterium neoaurum

Some species of mycobacteria have been modified to transform sterols to valuable steroid synthons. The unique cell wall of mycobacteria has been recognized as an important organelle to absorb sterols. Some cell wall inhibitors (e.g., vancomycin and glycine) have been validated to enhance sterol conversion by interfering with transpeptidation in peptidoglycan biosynthesis. Therefore, two transpeptidase genes, pbpA and pbpB, were selected to rationally modify the cell wall to simulate the enhancement effect of vancomycin and glycine on sterol conversion in a 22‐hydroxy‐23,24‐bisnorchol‐4‐ene‐3‐one (4‐HBC) producing strain (WIII). Unexpectedly, the pbpA or pbpB gene augmentation was conducive to the utilization of sterols. The pbpB augmentation strain WIII‐pbpB was further investigated for its better performance. Compared to WIII, the morphology of WIII‐pbpB was markedly changed from oval to spindle, indicating alterations of the cell wall. Biochemical analysis indicated that the altered cell wall properties of WIII‐pbpB might contribute to the positive effect on sterol utilization. The productivity of 4‐HBC was enhanced by 28% in the WIII‐pbpB strain compared to that of WIII. These results demonstrated that the modification of peptidoglycan synthesis can improve the conversion of sterols to steroid synthons in mycobacteria.     

Referencing the trochlear groove based on three-dimensional computed tomography imaging improves the reliability of the measurement of the tibial tuberosity–trochlear groove distance in patients with higher grades of trochlea dysplasia

BackgroundTo determine whether 3D-CT imaging technique is valid and reproducible compared to conventional CT measurement technique (CCT) for the detection of a femoropatellar instability.MethodsPatients who had undergone surgery for femoropatellar instability (patellar instability group) between 2010 and 2016 (n = 37 knees of 35 patients) were retrospectively enrolled. For the matched control group, patients who had acute anterior cruciate ligament injury (< 4 weeks previously; n = 30) were recruited. Preoperative CT data had been obtained in all patients. Inter-rater reliability was calculated for both measurement protocols, and inter-method reliability was calculated between the two imaging modalities. The results are reported using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and Bland–Altman 95% limits of agreement.ResultsAll patients in the patellar instability group had femoral trochlear dysplasia (Dejour types A: four, B: 19, C: seven, and D: six), but no dysplasia was noted in the control group. In the patellar instability group, the CCT technique showed a poor inter-rater agreement (ICC = 0.74), and the 3D-CT technique still showed excellent inter-rater agreement (ICCs = 0.91). In the sub-analysis of the patellar instability group according to the trochlear dysplasia grade, ICCs were markedly decreased with severe trochlear dysplasia when using CCT technique; however, the 3D-CT technique could provide excellent reliability even with severe trochlear dysplasia.ConclusionThe 3D-CT imaging technique for the measurement of the TT–TG distance can be suggested as a better measurement technique for patellar instability patients with bone abnormality.     

TNF-α/calreticulin dual signaling induced NLRP3 inflammasome activation associated with HuR nucleocytoplasmic shuttling in rheumatoid arthritis

Inflammation Research - The present study was undertaken to validate whether TNF-α and calreticulin (CRT) serve as dual signaling to activate nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-,...     

4种不同药材来源郁金饮片中挥发油成分的GC-MS分析

目的:分析4种不同药材来源郁金饮片中挥发油成分,找出其共有及差异成分,为该饮片的合理使用提供依据。方法:采用水蒸气蒸馏法提取挥发油,利用GC-MS对4种不同药材来源郁金饮片挥发油成分进行测定,载气高纯度氦气,进样温度250℃,压力49.5 k Pa,总流量36.0 m L·min~(-1),柱流量1.0 m L·min~(-1),线速度36.1 cm·s~(-1);电离方式电子轰击离子源,电离电压70 e V,离子源温度200℃,接口温度280℃,溶剂延时3.5 min,m/z 40~400。结果:4种不同来源郁金饮片挥发油均检测出了50种成分,其中有3种共有成分,3种郁金共有成分达13种,2种郁金共有成分达15种;4种郁金共有、交互存在的挥发油成分达31种。结论:4种不同药材来源郁金饮片挥发油中存在共有及交互存在的成分。吉马酮可作为温郁金、桂郁金、绿丝郁金的含量测定指标成分;姜黄素、姜黄酮、芳姜黄酮等可作为黄丝郁金的含量测定指标成分。