[Homology analysis and clinical infection characteristics of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumonia].

Objective: The hvKP phenotype strains were screened from the sensitive and multi-drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, and the distribution and homology of their clinical infection characteristics were compared. Methods: A total of 158 Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated from clinical infection specimens in the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University from 2014 to 2018 were retrospectively collected. The string test (ST) was used to screen the hvKP infection, and a total of 65 were screened. The number of patients included 51 males and 14 females, with an average age of 56 years. The composition ratio of Klebsiella pneumoniae was analyzed for clinical infection related information. Matrix assisted laser desorption-ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) was used to identify the hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae and establish a new database, and bio-tree cluster analysis and principal component analysis were carried out for all strains that met the experimental conditions by using analysis software and the homology of protein level was obtained. Results: A total of 65 strains hvKP were screened, 62 of which were susceptible strains and 3 were multi-drug resistant strains. The main diseases of infected patients were diagnosed as hepatobiliary disease, encephalopathy and liver abscess. The basic diseases of the population were mainly diabetes and hypertension. Dendrogram cluster analysis divided hvKP into 3 groups at a distance of 550 from the horizontal line; principal component analysis found that some strains were closely related, and the Kc group with the largest proportion was mainly related to hepatobiliary diseases. Ka group was mainly related to infection after surgery. Conclusions: HvKP was highly invasive and the clinical manifestations of infection were diverse. The infected patients were mostly elderly patients with weakened immunity. The rapid homology analysis of MALDI-TOF MS mass spectrometry has important clinical significance for the rapid screening of hvKP infection.

S doped NiCo2O4 nanosheet arrays by Ar plasma: An efficient and bifunctional electrode for overall water splitting.

Transition metal oxides show great potential as electrocatalysts, owing to the low cost and rich chemical states. However, the limited surface areas, low intrinsic activity and poor hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity greatly restrict the application for overall water splitting. Herein, we have constructed S doped NiCo2O4 nanosheet arrays by Ar plasma (Ar-NiCo2O4|S) to enhance active sites and boost catalytic kinetics. Consequently, the Ar-NiCo2O4|S shows the improved performances for HER and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Further, as bifunctional electrocatalysts, Ar-NiCo2O4|S exhibit a voltage of 1.63 V at 10 mA cm-2, as well as good stability.

Homogeneous (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 intermetallic compound joints rapidly formed in asymmetrical Ni/Sn/Cu system using ultrasound-induced transient liquid phase soldering process.

Homogeneous (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 intermetallic compound (IMC) joints were rapidly formed in asymmetrical Ni/Sn/Cu system by an ultrasound-induced transient liquid phase (TLP) soldering process. In the traditional TLP soldering process, the intermetallic joints formed in Ni/Sn/Cu system consisted of major (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 and minor Cu3Sn IMCs, and the grain morphology of (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 IMCs subsequently exhibited fine rounded, needlelike and coarse rounded shapes from the Ni side to the Cu side, which was highly in accordance with the Ni concentration gradient across the joints. However, in the ultrasound-induced TLP soldering process, the intermetallic joints formed in Ni/Sn/Cu system only consisted of the (Cu, Ni)6Sn5 IMCs which exhibited an uniform grain morphology of rounded shape with a remarkably narrowed Ni concentration gradient. The ultrasound-induced homogeneous intermetallic joints exhibited higher shear strength (61.6 MPa) than the traditional heterogeneous intermetallic joints (49.8 MPa).

Effect of vertically oriented few-layer graphene on the wettability and interfacial reactions of the AgCuTi-SiO2f/SiO2 system.

With the aim of expanding their applications, particularly when joining metals, a simple but effective method is reported whereby the surface chemical reactivity of SiO2f/SiO2 (SiO2f/SiO2 stands for silica fibre reinforced silica based composite materials and f is short for fibre) composites with vertically oriented few-layer graphene (VFG, 3-10 atomic layers of graphene vertically oriented to the substrate) can be tailored. VFG was uniformly grown on the surface of a SiO2f/SiO2 composite by using plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). The wetting experiments were conducted by placing small pieces of AgCuTi alloy foil on SiO2f/SiO2 composites with and without VFG decoration. It was demonstrated that the contact angle dropped from 120° (without VFG decoration) to 50° (with VFG decoration) when the holding time was 10 min. The interfacial reaction layer in SiO2f/SiO2 composites with VFG decoration became continuous without any unfilled gaps compared with the composites without VFG decoration. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) was employed to investigate the interaction between VFG and Ti from the AgCuTi alloy. The results showed that VFG possessed high chemical reactivity and could easily react with Ti even at room temperature. Finally, a mechanism of how VFG promoted the wetting of the SiO2f/SiO2 composite by the AgCuTi alloy is proposed and thoroughly discussed.

Rapid formation of Ni3Sn4 joints for die attachment of SiC-based high temperature power devices using ultrasound-induced transient liquid phase bonding process.

High melting point Ni3Sn4 joints for the die attachment of SiC-based high temperature power devices was successfully achieved using an ultrasound-induced transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding process within a remarkably short bonding time of 8s. The formed intermetallic joints, which are completely composed of the refined equiaxial Ni3Sn4 grains with the average diameter of 2µm, perform the average shear strength of 26.7MPa. The sonochemical effects of ultrasonic waves dominate the mechanism and kinetics of the rapid formation of Ni3Sn4 joints.

[A clinical analysis of 22 patients with drug-induced liver injury caused by traditional Chinese medicine Periploca forrestii Schltr].

Objective: To investigate the clinical features, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of patients with liver injury caused by Periploca forrestii Schltr. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed for the general data, clinical manifestations, and laboratory examinations of 22 patients who were diagnosed with liver injury caused by Periploca forrestii Schltr. from November 2014 to December 2015, and their clinical type was determined according to the classification criteria of drug-induced liver injury recommended by the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences. Results: There were 12 female and 10 male patients. The mean medication time ranged from 1 week to 2 months, and as for biochemical markers, there were mainly abnormalities in alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate aminotransferase(AST), total bilirubin(TBil), alkaline phosphatase(ALP), and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase(GGT). ALT and AST increased in all the patients, with mean levels of 676.68±481.11 U/L and 527.36±361.14 U/L, respectively; TBil increased to a mean level of 170.26±147.30 µmol/L in 19 patients; ALP increased to a mean level of 135.61±59.26 U/L in 13 patients; GGT increased to a mean level of 195.65±138.48 U/L in 20 patients. As for clinical typing, 18 patients had liver cell injury, none had cholestasis, 3 had a mixed type, and 1 had an unclassified type. One patient died and all the other patients fully recovered. Conclusion: Periploca forrestii Schltr. had complex constituents, and liver injury caused by this drug is mainly liver cell injury. The pathogenesis of liver injury caused by Periploca forrestii Schltr. is presumed to be related to patients' idiosyncratic reaction to its constituents.

Identifying significant crosstalk of pathways in tuberous sclerosis complex.

OBJECTIVE: Tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) is the second most common phakomatosis and is characterized by the formation of benign hamartomas and low-grade neoplasms in multiple organ systems. In this study, our objective here was to explore the interaction and crosstalk between pathways in response to tuberous sclerosis complex. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We enriched the significant pathways and made the crosstalk analysis of the significant pathways. RESULTS: The results showed that ECM-receptor interaction was a significant pathway in TSC. In addition, insulin-signaling and mTOR signaling also have been identified involved in TSC here, which have been well characterized. Further analysis indicated that there was a crosstalk between ECM-receptor interaction and antigen processing and presentation, ECM-receptor interaction and apoptosis, and leishmaniasis-oxidative phosphorylation-pancreatic cancer. In this study, a network-based approach was used to analyze the crosstalk among TSC related pathways. The crosstalk of pathways is found and analyzed using the PPI datasets and expression profiles. CONCLUSIONS: Our work showed that comprehensive and system-wide analysis could provide evidence for TSC pathway and complement the traditional component-based approaches. The crosstalk identified might provide new alternative insights into the TSC pathology, which may contribute to the development of novel therapeutic targets for TSC.

Plasma copeptin and long-term outcomes in acute ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVE: The identification of patients at highest risk for adverse outcome who are presenting with acute ischemic stroke to the emergency department remains a challenge. This study firstly investigates the long-term prognostic value of the stress marker copeptin in Chinese patients with acute ischemic stroke. METHODS: In a prospective study, copeptin levels were measured using a new sandwich immunoassay on admission in plasma of 245 consecutive patients with an acute ischemic stroke. The prognostic value of copeptin to predict the functional outcome and mortality within one year was compared with the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score and with other known outcome predictors. RESULTS: Patients with an unfavorable outcomes and non-survivors had significantly increased copeptin levels on admission (P < 0.0001 and P < 0.0001). Multivariate Cox regression analysis adjusted for common risk factors showed that copeptin was an independent predictor of functional outcome (hazard ratio = 3.88; 95% CI: 1.94-7.77) and non-survivors (hazard ratio = 5.99; 95% CI: 2.55-14.07). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of copeptin was 0.75 (95% CI, 0.70-0.82) for functional outcome and 0.867 (95% CI, 0.802-0.933) for mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Copeptin levels are a novel and complementary biomarker to predict functional outcome and mortality 1 year after acute ischemic stroke.

Clinical and genetic evaluation of DYT1 and DYT6 primary dystonia in China.

BACKGROUND: Dystonia is defined as the presence of sustained involuntary muscle contractions, often leading to abnormal posture and movement. DYT1 is caused by a mutation in the TOR1A gene, whilst mutations in THAP1 gene have been identified as responsible for DYT6. The relative frequency and phenotype differences between DYT1 and DYT6 amongst Chinese primary dystonia patients have not been well-characterized. PATIENTS AND METHODS: One hundred eleven unrelated Chinese patients with primary dystonia were screened for mutations in TOR1A and THAP1 genes, and correlate this with clinical presentation. Exon 5 of TOR1A and all three exons and exon-intron conjunctions in THAP1 were screened by direct sequencing. RESULTS: Three subjects were found to have the GAG deletion in the TOR1A gene, and two patients were detected with THAP1 gene mutations/variations (c.224A>T, c.449A>C). The overall mutation frequency was 4.5% in this cohort with TOR1A mutations found in 2.7% and THAP1 mutations found in 1.8%. No mutations were detected in the controls composed of 100 normal Chinese subjects. The clinical presentations of the DYT1 cases included onset in the limbs that could progress to the generalized dystonia within several years but without cranial involvement. Whilst in the DYT6 cases, the onset was cranial or cervical and progresses very slowly. CONCLUSION: The major clinical differences between DYT1 and DYT6 dystonia in China were the cranial involvement in DYT6 and progress to general dystonia within several years in DYT1.

On-line adaptive chaotic demodulator based on radial-basis-function neural networks.

Chaotic modulation is a useful technique for spread spectrum communication. In this paper, an on-line adaptive chaotic demodulator based on a radial-basis-function (RBF) neural network is proposed and designed. The demodulator is implemented by an on-line adaptive learning algorithm, which takes advantage of the good approximation capability of the RBF network and the tracking ability of the extended Kalman filter. It is demonstrated that, provided the modulating parameter varies slowly, spread spectrum signals contaminated by additive white Gaussian noise in a channel can be tracked in a time window, and the modulating parameter, which carries useful messages, can be estimated using the least-square fit. The Henon map is chosen as the chaos generator. Four test message signals, namely, square-wave, sine-wave, speech and image signals, are used to evaluate the performance. The results verify the ability of the demodulator in tracking the dynamics of the chaotic carrier as well as retrieving the message signal from a noisy channel.

Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of liver lesions.

BACKGROUND: Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) is not traditionally thought to be clinically applicable in liver imaging. EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration of the liver has not been well described. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in which 574 consecutive patients with a history or suspicion of gastrointestinal or pulmonary malignant tumor undergoing upper EUS examinations underwent EUS evaluation of the liver. Fourteen (2.4%) patients were found to have focal liver lesions and underwent EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration. RESULTS: The median largest diameter of the liver lesions was 1.1 cm (range 0.8 to 5.2 cm). The mean number of passes was 2.0 (range 1 to 5 passes). All fine-needle passes yielded an adequate specimen. One of the 14 patients underwent EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration of 2 liver lesions. Fourteen of the 15 liver lesions sampled by means of EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration were malignant and one was benign. Before EUS, computed tomography (CT) depicted liver lesions in only 3 of 14 (21%) patients. Seven of 14 patients had a known cancer diagnosis. For the other 7, the initial diagnosis of cancer was made by means of EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration of the liver. There were no immediate or late complications. CONCLUSIONS: EUS can detect small focal liver lesions that are not detected at CT. Findings of EUS-guided fine-needle aspiration can confirm a cytologic diagnosis of liver metastasis and establish a definitive M stage that may change clinical management.

Gene cloning and sequencing of BmK AS and BmK AS-1, two novel neurotoxins from the scorpion Buthus martensi Karsch.

Based on the known amino acid sequences of BmK AS and BmK AS-1, the gene specific primers were designed and synthesized for 3' and 5' RACE (Rapid Amplification of cDNA Ends). Their partial cDNA fragments obtained by 3' and 5' RACE were cloned and sequenced, and the full length cDNA sequences of BmK AS and BmK AS-1 were then completed by overlapping their two partial cDNA sequences, respectively. The predicted amino acid sequences both consist of 85 amino acid residues including a putative signal peptide of 19 residues and a mature toxin of 66 residues. They are different in 17 amino acid residues, among them 11 residues in the mature toxin. The predicted amino acid sequences of BmK AS and BmK AS-1 were almost consistent with those determined and revised (personal communication), only different in one and two residues at their COO-terminal parts, respectively. Based on the determined cDNA sequences, and using the total DNAs isolated from the scorpion venom glands as a template, the genomic DNAs of BmK AS and BmK AS-1 were also amplified by PCR and sequenced. It showed that no intron was inserted in their open reading frames, while in the exon of signal peptide sequences of other Na+, K+ and Cl- channel toxins from the same scorpion, an intron is usually found. However, the Northern blot hybridization results indicated that the sizes of their mRNA should be around 800 bp. Their extra sequences around 400 bp which might function as an intron should be located at their 5' untranslated regions.

Lactation increases prolactin receptor expression in spleen and thymus of rats.

Prolactin receptors (PRL-R) are widely expressed on cells of the immune system. During lactation, the increase in serum PRL levels may modify the gene expression of these receptors. Specific PRL binding sites and the expressions of both PRL-R-L and PRL-R-S forms in thymus and spleen of nulliparous control, 10-day postpartum lactating, and 10-day postpartum nonlactating rats were studied. A semi-quantitative RT-PCR technique was used to detect the PRL-R gene transcript in the tissues. Our results showed that specific PRL binding sites and PRL-R-L mRNA and PRL-R-S mRNA were present in the lymphoid tissues with the PRL-R-L mRNA predominant. Lactation markedly increased specific binding sites and PRL-R-L mRNA in both spleen and thymus and only PRL-R-S in spleen. No differences between nulliparous control and postpartum nonlactating rats were observed in any of the parameters measured. The parallel increase in specific PRL binding sites and PRL-R-L mRNA suggests that lactation up-regulates PRL-R expression in lymphoid tissues and may be beneficial to the maternal immune system.

[The study and protection of mercury contamination in silver amalgam on patient's safety]

The mercury concentration of oeal gas was determinded.Comparison were made on 2 groups consisting of silver amalgam covered cases(n=15) and uncovered cases (n=29) immediately by vaseline after filling silver amalgam,and the concentration of Hg before polishing old silver amalgam and after polishing (n=10),The result showed there are very significant difference (P<0.01).The surface area of filling mercury amalgam did not relate to Hg concentration.The larger volume of polishing old mercury amalgam was,the higher concentration of Hg was.In addition,mercury concentrations of air in four consulting rooms before ventilation were higher than 3.1-6.6 times national hyienic standard,however,it was reduced to 1.2-2.1 times after ventilation.

Studies on structures of some platinum complexes with 1,1-cyclopropanedicarboxylate.

The crystal structures of [Pt(NH3)2CPrDCA].H2O (I), [Pt(CH3NH2)2CPrDCA] (II), and [Pt(dmbn) CPrDCA].2.5H2O (III) (where CPrDCA is 1,1-cyclopropanedicarboxylate; dmbn is 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-butyldiamine) are determined. Compound I crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pnma with the cell dimensions: a = 6.517(2), b = 9.709(3), c = 14.205(5) A, Z = 4, R = 0.058. Compound II is monoclinic with space group P2(1)/n, a = 9.648(3), b = 8.720(2), c = 12.770(4) A, beta = 107.12(2), Z = 4, R = 0.059. Compound III belongs to the monoclinic system space group P2(1)/m with the cell dimensions: a = 6.494(1), b = 19.638(3), c = 6.606(1)A, beta = 94.44(1), Z = 2, R = 0.038. Electronic structures of the complexes are studied and the correlation between structure of the amine ligands and biological activity of the complexes is explored.

[Observation on the treatment of systemic lupus erythematous with a Gentiana macrophylla complex tablet and a minimal dose of prednisone].

Sixty-two cases of systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) treated with Tab. Gentiana macrophylla complex 5 tablets three times per day or 10 tablets twice per day and prednisone 10-30 mg per day were reported. As controls, 19 cases of SLE were treated with prednisone alone at the same time. The results showed complete remission in 86.46% (50/62) cases in the observation group and 31.57% (6/19) cases in the control group. Eight cases of SLE treated with Tab. Gentiana m. complex alone also achieved complete remission in 6 cases and improvement in 2. There was very significant statistical difference between the two groups (P less than 0.001). The Tab. Gentiana m. complex was more effective on the improvement of nephropathy, arthralgia, erythema and restoration of ESR, LE cells and CH50, C3 than prednisone alone. No apparent side effects of Tab. Gentiana m. complex were found in this observation.