[Clinical diagnostic practices for Chinese developmental dyslexia].

Objective: To explore the optimization of the standardized assessment tool for clinical diagnosis of Chinese developmental dyslexia (DD). Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May to December 2023, in which 130 primary school children in grades 1 to 3 with clinical signs of literacy lag and positive screening results on the screening scales were recruited from the outpatient clinic of Child Health Care Medical Division, Shanghai Children's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Chinese dyslexia screening behavior checklist for primary students (CDSBC) was used as the screening scales, and supplemented by dyslexia checklist for Chinese children. Referring to the standard procedure of the"expert advice on diagnosis and intervention of Chinese developmental dyslexia", the developmental dyslexia scale for standard mandarin (DDSSM) was used to evaluate the children's literacy-related cognitive abilities and conduct the diagnostic assessment, and divided the children into learning backward group and the DD group. The t-test and χ2 test were used to compare the differences in the distribution of intelligence, literacy and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder between the two groups. Spearman's correlation was used to analyze the correlation between the scores for each cognitive ability in the DDSSM and the CDSBC. Results: Of the 130 children, 90 were male, aged (8.3±1.0) years; 40 were female, aged (8.1±0.9) years. A final diagnosis of DD was made in 59 cases, of which 41 were males. There was no statistically significant difference in operational intelligence quotient (101±15 vs.100±15, t=0.53, P>0.05) and statistically significant difference in literacy of DDSSM (32±5 vs.21±4, t=11.56, P<0.001) between the learning backward group and the DD group. Eighteen cases (25.4%) of the learning backward group were children with attention deficit subtype attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD-I), and 16 cases (27.1%) in DD group, the difference in incidence between the two groups was not statistically significant (χ2=0.05, P>0.05). There were correlations between the DDSSM (for oral vocabulary, morphological awareness and orthographic awareness) and the CDSBC total score (r=-0.42, -0.32, -0.35, all P<0.01), but the correlations for visuospatial perception and rapid automatized naming with CDSBC total score were not statistically significant (r=-0.09 and -0.20,both P>0.05). Conclusion: For literacy-related cognitive abilities, screening scales CDSBC are not sufficiently useful for assessment, so the introduction of standardized assessment tools DDSSM is an optimization of the clinical diagnosis of Chinese DD, which is crucial for achieving accurate diagnosis and intervention.

The high prevalence of pathogenic Vibrio harveyi with multiple antibiotic resistance in scale drop and muscle necrosis disease of the hybrid grouper, Epinephelus fuscoguttatus (♀) × E. lanceolatus (♂), in China.

Scale drop and muscle necrosis disease with high mortality widely occurred recently in the hybrid grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus ♀ × E. lanceolatus ♂), a crucial cultured marine fish species in China. In this study, 30 Harveyi clade isolates of 27 Vibrio harveyi strains were isolated from diseased hybrid groupers in the south-east and north-east coastal areas of China. A total of 22 V. harveyi strains were determined to be pathogenic, and most challenged fish died within 2 days of infection; surviving individuals exhibited scale drop and deep dermal lesions as naturally diseased fish. Although five typical virulence genes, including luxR, toxRVh , chiA, serine protease and vhh widely existed in V. harveyi, no obvious correlation was established between virulent strains and virulence genes harboured in them. Furthermore, multiple antibiotic resistance was widely exhibited in Harveyi clade strains, particularly for penicillins, polypeptides, lincomycins, acetylspiramycin, streptomycin, metronidazole and bacitracin. And the multiple antibiotic resistance indices were gradually decreased from southern to northern areas of China. This study demonstrated that the pathogenic V. harveyi with multiple antibiotic resistance is highly prevalent in hybrid grouper in China, which requires particular attention.

High-Flux Femtosecond X-Ray Emission from Controlled Generation of Annular Electron Beams in a Laser Wakefield Accelerator.

Annular quasimonoenergetic electron beams with a mean energy in the range 200-400 MeV and charge on the order of several picocoulombs were generated in a laser wakefield accelerator and subsequently accelerated using a plasma afterburner in a two-stage gas cell. Generation of these beams is associated with injection occurring on the density down ramp between the stages. This well-localized injection produces a bunch of electrons performing coherent betatron oscillations in the wakefield, resulting in a significant increase in the x-ray yield. Annular electron distributions are detected in 40% of shots under optimal conditions. Simultaneous control of the pulse duration and frequency chirp enables optimization of both the energy and the energy spread of the annular beam and boosts the radiant energy per unit charge by almost an order of magnitude. These well-defined annular distributions of electrons are a promising source of high-brightness laser plasma-based x rays.

Note: On the wavelength dependence of the intensity calibration factor of extreme ultraviolet spectrometer determined with profile measurement of bremsstrahlung continuum.

The absolute calibration factor of extreme ultraviolet spectroscopic instrument which has recently been determined from absolute radiation profile measurement of bremsstrahlung continuum has been investigated by comparing the calculated diffraction efficiency of grating. An overall tendency of the wavelength dependence of the calibration factor from 40 Å to 500 Å can be reproduced by that of the grating efficiency, especially the agreement between the measured calibration factor and the calculated grating efficiency has been found to be fairly good for the wavelength range 200 Å-500 Å.

Sensitive detection of PrPSc by Western blot assay based on streptomycin sulphate precipitation.

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, also termed prion diseases, are fatal neurodegenerative disorders that affect both humans and animals, which are characterized by presences of protease-resistance disease-associated prion protein (PrP(Sc)) in brains. In the present study, we optimized the Western blot assay for PrP(Sc) with a precipitation procedure of streptomycin sulphate. After incubated with suitable amount of streptomycin sulphate, the detective sensitivity for PrP(Sc) was remarkably improved. The precipitation of PrP(Sc) was obviously influenced by pH value in the solution. Employs of PrP(Sc) stock sample into various mimic specimens, including normal hamster brain homogenate, human cerebrospinal fluid and urine, demonstrated that streptomycin precipitation markedly increased the detective sensitivity of PrP(Sc), regardless in low concentration or in large volume. In addition, the PrP(Sc) from a human brain tissue of familiar Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (fCJD) was efficiently precipitated with streptomycin sulphate. As a sensitive, specific, rapid and flexible protocol for PrP(Sc), the protocol in this study has the potential, alone or combined with other techniques, to detect low levels of PrP(Sc) in the specimens not only from central nerve system, but also from peripheral organs or fluids.

Potential role of Armigeres subalbatus (Diptera: Culicidae) in the transmission of Japanese encephalitis virus in the absence of rice culture on Liu-chiu islet, Taiwan.

Mosquitoes known to be involved in the transmission of Japanese encephalitis virus (JE) on Taiwan typically develop in rice fields. However, recent serological evidence indicated that JE virus was being transmitted on Liu-Chiu, a rice-free islet. To identify the mosquito vector in this unusual epidemiological situation, 4 mosquito species commonly found in Liu-Chiu were evaluated for their vector competence for a strain of JE (CH1392) virus isolated from central Taiwan. Armigeres subalbatus (Coquillett) was the most susceptible species, indicating its status as a potential vector. In addition, an isolate of JE (T1P1) virus from Ar. subalbatus collected on Liu-Chiu readily infected the salivary glands of orally infected Ar. subalbatus originating from Liu-Chiu. The infection rate reached 79% (11/14) after a 20-d period of extrinsic incubation at 28 degrees C. We conclude that JE likely was transmitted between vertebrate hosts by Ar. subalbatus in this rice-free islet and that this species should be considered as a potential vector in similar ecological conditions.