Changes in the intestinal microbiota of children with hand, foot, and mouth disease under 3 years old.

This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of intestinal microbiota in children with hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) under 3 years old. Fresh feces were collected from 54 children with HFMD and 30 healthy children. All of them were <3 years old. Sequencing of the 16S rDNA amplicons was performed. Between the 2 groups, the richness, diversity, and structure of the intestinal microbiota were analyzed by α-diversity and ß-diversity. Linear discriminant analysis and LEfSe analyses were used to compare different bacterial classifications. The sex and age of the children in the 2 groups were not statistically significant (P = .92 and P = .98, respectively). Compared to healthy children, the Shannon index, Ace index, and Chao index were lower in children with HFMD (P = .027, P = .012, and P = .012, respectively). Based on the weighted or unweighted UniFrac distance analysis, the structure of the intestinal microbiota in HFMD was also significantly changed (P = .002 and P < .001, respectively). Linear discriminant analysis and LEfSe analysis showed that the changes of key bacteria were manifested as a decrease in Prevotella and Clostridium_XIVa (P < .001 and P < .001, respectively), while Escherichia and Bifidobacterium increased (P = .025 and P = .001, respectively). Children with HFMD under 3 years of age have intestinal microbiota disorder and show a decrease in diversity and richness. The decrease in the abundance of Prevotella and Clostridium, which can produce short-chain fatty acids, is also one of the characteristics of the change. These results can offer a theoretical foundation for the pathogenesis and microecological treatment of HFMD in infants.

Platelet Aggregation Before Aspirin Initiation in Pediatric Patients With Congenital Heart Disease at High Risk of Thrombosis.

Background: Aspirin following unfractionated heparin is the most common anticoagulation strategy for pediatric patients who experienced cardiac surgery at high risk of thrombosis. The platelet aggregation test is the golden method to evaluate the aspirin effect on platelet function. However, the platelet aggregation basal status before postoperative aspirin initiation and the related clinical influencing factors hasn't been investigated systemically in this population. Methods: In a prospective cohort of 247 children, arachidonic acid-induced platelet aggregation (PAG-AA) was measured by means of light transmission aggregometry (LTA) before the first dose of aspirin after cardiac surgical procedure and the perioperative variables were also collected. Distribution of this population's PAG-AA basal status was described. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to identify the main influencing factors of PAG-AA. Results: The median time of aspirin administration was 2 (1-27) days after surgery and the corresponding median value of basal PAG-AA was 20.70% (1.28-86.49%), with 67.6% population under 55% and 47.8% population under 20%. Patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) had a significantly lower basal PAG-AA than those without (30.63 ± 27.35 vs. 57.91 ± 27.58, p = 0.013). While patients whose test done within 3 days after CPB had a significantly lower PAG-AA than those out of 3 days (25.61 ± 25.59 vs. 48.59 ± 26.45, p = 0.001). Univariate analysis implied that the influencing factors of the basal PAG-AA including CPB use, test time point, cyanosis, and platelet count. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that only CPB use, test time point, and platelet count were the main independent influencing factors for the basal PAG-AA. Conclusion: The majority of children have impaired basal platelet aggregometry responses before postoperative aspirin initiation. The main influencing factors are CPB use, test time point, and platelet count. To establish the platelet aggregometry baseline prior to commencement of aspirin therapy, testing should be performed 3 days later following the procedure when effect of CPB is basically over.

Stage-specific influence of temperature on the growth rate of Japanese Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus niphonius) in early life.

Since 1850, each successive decade has been warmer than any preceding one. Warming could make a major contribution to the growth of fish larvae. To evaluate the influence of water temperature on the growth of larvae who spawned in later spring and early summer, we selected Scomberomorus niphonius, which has important ecological and economic value as a sample fish species. We conducted high-resolution spatiotemporal surveys during the 2015 spawning season at an important spawning ground in China. We found that the temperature required for larval survival was stricter than that for spawning. Within the appropriate temperature range, a rapid rise in water temperature was favourable for larval hatching, but S. niphonius hatched at relatively low temperature exhibited a faster growth rate in the yolk-sac and pre-flexion stages. The accumulated temperature and hatching temperature significantly affected the growth rate of S. niphonius larvae. The model that considered developmental stages provided a better explanation of the data than the model that only considered the temperature effect. The model improvement in terms of variance explained was higher for the early developmental stages than for the later developmental stages, suggesting that stage-specific temperature influences were prominent in the earlier stages, like the yolk-sac stage, and then reduced. Our results implied that water temperature anomalies could be hazardous to fish larvae, especially for fish spawning in late spring and early summer. Given that early-life stage fish are highly sensitive to water temperature, it is imperative to incorporate the potential effects of climate change into fisheries management.