Effects of terrestrial input on heavy metals in Zhanjiang Bay, a typical subtropical bay in the South China Sea.

Understanding the influence of terrestrial inputs on heavy metals in bays is crucial for the environmental protection of regional estuaries and coastal systems. In this study, the concentrations, temporal and regional distribution characteristics, and fluxes of heavy metals (Cr, Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb) in the surface seawater and terrestrial sewage of Zhanjiang Bay (ZJB) in four different seasons were investigated. The results identified the heavy metal concentrations in the sewage outlet around ZJB had significant seasonal variation. The heavy metals in the surface seawater of ZJB had significant spatiotemporal variations. Terrestrial input, biological activity and hydrodynamics affected the overall distribution. The heavy metal emission fluxes indicated that riverine input was the main influencing factor for heavy metals in ZJB (96.22 %). The fluxes of heavy metals into ZJB increased significantly after the typhoon (Cu: 127 %, Zn: 63 %, Pb: 136 %), it was possible to deteriorate the seawater quality.

Subtyping children with asthma by clustering analysis of mRNA expression data.

Background: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease. There are several phenotypic classifications for childhood asthma. Methods: Unsupervised consensus cluster analysis was used to classify 36 children with persistent asthma from the GSE65204 dataset. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between different asthma subtypes were identified, and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was carried out. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis was performed for DEGs and critical gene modules. Protein-protein interactions (PPI) were constructed to obtain the hub genes. Finally, differences in the immune microenvironment were analyzed between different subtypes. Results: Two subtypes (C1, C2) were identified using unsupervised consensus clustering. The DEGs between different asthma subtypes were mainly enriched in immune regulation and the release of inflammatory mediators. The important modular genes screened by WGCNA were mainly enriched in aspects of inflammatory mediator regulation. PPI analysis found 10 hub genes (DRC1, TTC25, DNALI1, DNAI1, DNAI2, PIH1D3, ARMC4, RSPH1, DNAAF3, and DNAH5), and ROC analysis demonstrated that 10 hub genes had a reliably ability to distinguish C1 from C2. And we observed differences between C1 and C2 in their immune microenvironment. Conclusion: Using the gene expression profiles of children's nasal epithelium, we identified two asthma subtypes that have different gene expression patterns, biological characteristics, and immune microenvironments. This will provide a reference point for future childhood asthma typing and personalized therapy.

Altered regulatory cytokine profiles in cases of pediatric respiratory syncytial virus infection.

OBJECTIVES: Regulatory cytokines are associated with viral infection. The objective of this study was to evaluate the relation between serum regulatory cytokines concentrations and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease. METHODS: We enrolled 325 children aged < 24 months who were diagnosed with acute respiratory tract infection. Twenty age-matched healthy children were enrolled as controls. Nasopharyngeal swabs were analyzed to identify virus by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and blood samples were taken to quantify the regulatory cytokine concentrations, including interleukin (IL)-35, IL-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß1 using the Bio-Plex immunoassay or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: RSV disease was associated with a great regulatory cytokine response than healthy children, among 89 RSV-infected patients, serum IL-35 (P = .0001) and IL-10 (P = .006) was significantly elevated in comparison with healthy controls. Young children (0< age ≤6 months) with RSV infection had significantly lower IL-35 and IL-10 expression but needed more oxygen therapy and more severe disease comparing with older children (12< age <24 months). Comparing with mild group, the expression levels of IL-10 were significantly lower in children with moderate and severe disease (P = .012 and P = .005, respectively). And levels of IL-10 was inversely associated with total duration of RSV infection symptoms (r = - 0.311, P = .019). CONCLUSION: Children with RSV infected had increased serum regulatory cytokine IL-10 and IL-35 concentrations. Elevated expression of IL-10 and IL-35 were contributed to protect hypoxia and reduce the severity of disease.

Respiratory syncytial virus subtype ON1/NA1/BA9 predominates in hospitalized children with lower respiratory tract infections.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is the leading cause of acute respiratory tract disease in children less than 5 years old. The aim of this study was to further elucidate the molecular properties and clinical characteristics of RSV infection. The study sample included 238 patients <5 years old who were hospitalized with clinical symptoms of upper or lower respiratory tract infection (URTI or LRTI) in the Pediatric Department at the First People's Hospital of Chenzhou, South China in 2014. We subjected nasopharyngeal aspirate (NPA) or nasal swab (NS) samples from the patients to indirect fluorescence assay screens. RSV G genes were amplified by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and sequenced. Of the 238 patients screened, 64 (26.8%) were confirmed to have RSV infections. Of those 64 confirmed RSV infection cases, 39 (60.9%) had subtype BA9, 13 (20.3%) had the recently identified subtype ON1, 11 (17.2%) had subtype NA1, and 1 (1.6%) had subtype GB2. The predominant presentation was LRTI with coughing, sputum production, fever, and wheezing. RSV subtype NA1 and BA9 infections were found mostly in infants, whereas the age distribution of subtype ON1 infections was more uniform across the age bands. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that, compared with the prototype strain A2, all ON1 and most NA1 isolates had lost one potential N-glycosylation site at amino acid 251 and 249 due to T251K and N249Y substitution, respectively. These findings suggest that NA1, BA9, and ON1 are the dominant RSV subtypes causing respiratory tract infections in young children presenting to the hospital in South China. J. Med. Virol. 89:213-221, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.