Detection of Severe Murine Typhus by Nanopore Targeted Sequencing, China.

We report a case of murine typhus in China caused by Rickettsia typhi and diagnosed by nanopore targeted sequencing of a bronchoalveolar lavage fluid sample. This case highlights that nanopore targeted sequencing can effectively detect clinically unexplained infections and be especially useful for detecting infections in patients without typical signs and symptoms.

Prognostic impact of red blood cell distribution width in pulmonary hypertension patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Elevated red blood cell distribution width (RDW) may correlate with a worse prognosis in pulmonary hypertension (PH), though results to date are inconsistent. The goal of this study is to detect the impact of RDW on the prognosis of PH.PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched from their inception to July 22, 2019 for relevant publications reporting the relationship between RDW and the prognosis of PH. A meta-analysis was performed, and the heterogeneity across the included studies was evaluated using I and Q statistics. We conducted sensitivity and subgroup analyses to detect sources of heterogeneity. In addition, potential publication bias was evaluated by Begg's and Egger's tests.In total, 1236 publications were retrieved, and 7 eligible publications with 666 PH patients were included in our meta-analysis. The results suggested that increased RDW can predict worse prognosis in PH (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.11-1.45). According to subgroup analysis, study design, region, various endpoints, time of follow-up, and patient age were not sources of heterogeneity. In addition, RDW showed prognostic value in retrospective studies (HR = 1.32, 95%CI 1.15-1.51) but not in prospective studies (HR = 1.14, 95%CI 0.78-1.67). Additionally, RDW may serve as a predictive biomarker of PH in Europe (HR = 1.33, 95%CI 1.18-1.49) but not in Asia (HR = 1.20, 95%CI 0.90-1.58). Further analysis indicated that the prognostic value of RDW was influenced by patient age (>44 years: HR = 1.34, 95%CI 1.17-1.55; ≤44 years: HR = 1.20, 95%CI 0.90-1.58) and follow-up (<3 years, HR = 1.36, 95%CI 0.53-3.47; ≥3 years, HR = 1.29, 95%CI 1.14-1.45).RDW provides important prognostic information for PH patients, and this measure may be used to optimize patient management and guide clinical treatment.PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019122636.

Interstitial pneumonia induced by cyclophosphamide: A case report and review of the literature.

INTRODUCTION: Recently, interstitial lung disease significantly increases and it is difficult to treat. Cyclophosphamide(CP) is one drug administrated in interstitial lung disease, which can also cause pulmonary fibrosis and lung function lesion. This article present a case which exacerbated interstitial pneumonia after treatment by CP, aiming to enhance the understanding of the side effects of CP and standardize usage of the CP. CASE PRESENTATION: A patient of nephrotic syndrome administrated with CP suffered respiratory insufficiency requiring mechanical ventilation. Computed tomography (CT) imaging was compatible with interstitial pneumonia(IP). After treating with multimodal combination therapy (corticosteroids, immune globulins), the patient survived. The clinical characteristics of CP-related lung toxicity and/or pulmonary fibrosis should be paid more attention to avoid the serious outcomes. CONCLUSION: Although interstitial lung disease induced by CP is rare, with the current widespread usage of CP increases the risks of diffuse interstitial pneumonia and pulmonary fibrosis, which need to be noted in time to get early treatment.

Thymol Induces Conidial Apoptosis in Aspergillus flavus via Stimulating K+ Eruption.

Aspergillus flavus is a notorious foodborne fungus, posing a significant risk to humans in the form of hepatocellular carcinoma or aspergillosis. Thymol, as a food preservative, could efficiently kill conidia of A. flavus. However, the underlying mechanisms by which thymol kills A. flavus are not completely understood. With specific fluorescent dyes, we detected several apoptotic hallmarks, including chromatin condensation, phosphatidylserine externalization, DNA damage, mitochondrial depolarization, and caspase 9 activation in conidia exposed to 200 µg/mL of thymol, indicating that thymol induced a caspase-dependent conidial apoptosis in A. flavus. Chemical-protein interactome (CPI) and autodock analyses showed that KCNAB, homologue to the ß-subunit of the voltage-gated potassium channel (Kv) and aldo-keto reductase, was the potential target of thymol. Following studies demonstrated that thymol could activate the aldo-keto reductase activity of KCNAB in vitro and stimulate a transient K+ efflux in conidia, as determined using a Port-a-Patch. Blocking K+ eruption by 4-aminopyridine (a universal inhibitor of Kv) could significantly alleviate thymol-mediated conidial apoptosis, indicating that activation of Kv was responsible for the apoptosis. Taken together, our results revealed a K+ efflux-mediated apoptotic pathway in A. flavus, which greatly contributed to the development of an alternative strategy to control this pathogen.

Catalyst surfaces with tunable hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity: metal-organic frameworks toward controllable catalytic selectivity.

This report describes a facile strategy that has the capability of adjusting different surface hydrophilicities/hydrophobicities of catalysts by covering metal-organic frameworks with graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide. The catalysts exhibit remarkable catalytic selective performance for the hydrogenation of different hydrophobic and hydrophilic reactants.