Gut-derived fungemia due to Kodamaea ohmeri combined with invasive pulmonary aspergillosis: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Kodamaea ohmeri is a rare pathogen with high mortality and is found among blood samples in a considerable proportion; however, gastrointestinal infection of K. ohmeri is extremely rare. Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis is also an uncommon fungal; these two fungal infections reported concomitantly are unprecedented. CASE PRESENTATION: We described a case of a 37-year-old male who got infected with K. ohmeri and invasive pulmonary aspergillosis. We used the mass spectrometry and histopathology to identify these two fungal infections separately. For the treatment of K. ohmeri, we chose caspofungin. As for invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, we used voriconazole, amphotericin B, and then surgery. The patient was treated successfully through the collaboration of multiple disciplines. CONCLUSIONS: We speculate that the destruction of the intestinal mucosa barrier can make the intestine one of the ways for certain fungi to infect the human body.

Descriptions of two new species of the genus Colocasiomyia (Diptera, Drosophilidae) breeding on Rhaphidophora host plants in Yunnan, China.

The genus Colocasiomyia de Meijere (Diptera, Drosophilidae) is known to include 30 described and nearly 60 undescribed species classified into six species groups. Among these, the C. gigantea group of seven known species (two Southeast Asian and five Chinese) proved to be peculiar for its specificity on monsteroid (subfamily Monsteroideae, family Araceae) host plants. In this paper, two new species, C. todai Jiao & Gao, sp. nov. and C. liae Jiao & Gao, sp. nov., are described as members of the C. gigantea group with specimens collected from inflorescences of the monsteroid host species Rhaphidophora peepla (Roxb.) Schott and R. crassicaulis Engl. & Krause, respectively, in Yunnan, China. The two new species are delimitated, in comparison with all known species, based on not only morphological but also DNA barcode (partial sequence of the mitochondrial COI, i.e., cytochrome c oxydase subunit I, gene) data. A revised key to all the nine species of the C. gigantea species group is provided.

[Progress on Laboratory Diagnosis of Hereditary Spherocytosis--Review].

In recent years, the diagnostic methods of hereditary spherocytosis (HS) have been developed rapidly, including eosin-5'-maleimide (EMA) binding test, flow cytometric osmotic fragility test, osmotic gradient ektacytometry and next-generation sequencing. EMA binding test and flow cytometric osmotic fragility test are recommended as HS screening tests due to their high sensitivity and easy operation. Osmotic gradient ektacytometry has high sensitivity and specificity, thus which can be used to distinguish HS from other hereditary membrane disease, but can not differentiate between HS and auto-immune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) and it is difficult operation, which is used as an intermediate step between screening and diagnostic tests. Next-generation sequencing can detect the molecular defects, identifying the gene encoding defective protein, thus achieving accurate diagnosis. This diagnostic test of HS has become an important diagnostic tool. The development of laboratory diagnosis has reduced misdiagnosis, and significantly improved the level of HS diagnosis.

Chiral separation of racemic mandelic acids by use of an ionic liquid-mediated imprinted monolith with a metal ion as self-assembly pivot.

A new chiral stationary phase based on molecularly imprinted polymers (MIP) was prepared in ionic liquid by use of the metal pivot concept. Imprinted monoliths were synthesized by use of a mixture of R-mandelic acid (template), 4-vinylpyridine, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, and several metal ions as pivot between the template and functional monomer. A ternary mixture of dimethyl sulfoxide-dimethylformamide-[BMIM]BF4 containing metal ions was used as the porogenic system. Separation of the enantiomers of rac-mandelic acid was successfully achieved on the MIP thus obtained, with resolution of 1.87, whereas no enantiomer separation was observed on the imprinted monolithic column in the absence of metal ions. The effects of polymerization conditions, including the nature of the metal ion and the ratios of template to metal ions and template to functional monomer, on the chiral separation of mandelic acid were investigated. The results reveal that use of metal ions as a pivot, in combination with ionic liquid, is an effective method for preparation of a highly efficient MIP stationary phase for chiral separation.

Preparation and characterization of enrofloxacin-imprinted monolith prepared with crowding agents.

Molecular crowding is a new approach to promoting molecular imprinting more efficiently. In this work, this concept was applied to the preparation of imprinted monoliths in the presence of molecular crowding agent for stabilizing binding sites and improving molecular recognition. The imprinted monolithic column was synthesized using a mixture of enrofloxacin (template), methacrylic acid, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, and polystyrene (molecular crowding agent). Some polymerization factors, such as template-monomer molar ratio and the composition of the porogen, on the imprinting effect of resulting MIP monolith were systematically investigated. Moreover, a stoichiometric displacement model for retention was successfully applied to evaluate the interaction between the solute and the stationary phase. Compared with the MIP prepared by conventional polymerization, the molecular crowding-based monolithic MIPs showed higher selectivity. The results suggested that molecular crowding is a powerful strategy to increase the effect of molecular imprinting.