Case Reports of Low-Temperature Plasma Radiofrequency Treatment for Congenital Epiglottic Cysts in Neonates and Infants.

An uncommon benign condition in neonates, known as congenital epiglottic cyst, can lead to symptoms such as neonatal dyspnea, laryngeal stridor, and, in severe cases, even pose a potential threat of asphyxia-related mortality. A congenital epiglottic cyst is one of the neonatal emergencies. Fibrolaryngoscopy is the predominant method of diagnosis, and early identification, diagnosis, as well as treatment are the key points. Successful endoscopic ablation of congenital epiglottic cysts in 3 newborns was achieved through the utilization of a low-temperature plasma radiofrequency ablation system. Consequently, the purpose of this case report is to assist pediatric emergency physicians in the timely identification of congenital epiglottic cysts with the potential risk of mortality and to provide additional experience in clinical management.

IgG4-Related Disease Involving the Paranasal Sinus Orbit: A Case Report.

Immunoglobulin G4-related disease (IgG4-RD) is a rare and complicated clinical disease entity newly identified in recent years. It is a chronic inflammatory disease mediated by the immune system that can affect various organs throughout the body, such as the pancreas, salivary gland (submandibular gland, parotid gland, and sublingual gland), lacrimal gland, and thyroid gland. In rare cases, it involves sinuses and orbits. We describe a 44-year-old patient who was hospitalized with distension and pain in her right eye. The lesions included the nasal sinus and orbit. IgG4-RD was diagnosed after surgery and the patient was treated without complications. This case report helps to provide clinicians with additional information to assist in the diagnosis of the disease.

Bacterial diversity of middle ear cholesteatoma by 16S rRNA gene sequencing in China.

In this study, the bacterial diversity of acquired middle ear cholesteatoma (MEC) was evaluated to reveal its pathogenesis and provides a guide for the use of antibiotics. Twenty-nine cases of acquired MEC and eight cases of healthy middle ears undergoing cochlear implantation (CI) were evaluated. Full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to profile the bacterial communities in lesions and healthy tissues of the middle ear. ACE (P = 0.043) and Chao1 (P = 0.039) indices showed significant differences in alpha diversity (P < 0.05). Analysis of PERMANOVA/Anosim using the Bray-Curtis distance matrix results suggested that the between-group differences were greater than the within-group differences (R = 0.238, P < 0.05, R2 = 0.066, P < 0.05). Bacterial community analysis revealed that Alphaproteobacteria at the class level and Caulobacterales and Sphingomonadales at the order level were significantly different (P < 0.05). In the LefSe (Linear discriminant analysis effect size) analysis, Porphyromonas bennonis was elevated, and Bryum argenteum and unclassified Cyanobacteriales were reduced at the species level in MEC (P < 0.05). Fifteen metabolic pathways were found to be significantly different between the two groups by analysing the abundance of metabolic pathways in level 2 of the Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG). Seven and eight metabolic pathways were significantly elevated in the MEC and control groups, respectively (P < 0.05). The role of bacteria in the pathogenesis of acquired MEC was further refined through analysis of metabolic pathways. These findings indicate that the acquired MEC and healthy middle ear contain more diverse microbial communities than previously thought.

Genomic Characterization of a New HIV-1 CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC Recombinant Virus Form in Guizhou in Southwest China.

A novel HIV-1 second-generation recombinant form (CRF01_AE/CRF07_BC) was isolated from an HIV-positive subject among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Guizhou province in Southwest China. Recombinant analyses of the near full-length genome suggested that the strain was composed of CRF01_AE and CRF07_BC with one region of CRF07-BC inserted into a CRF01-AE backbone. Further analysis indicated that the CRF01_AE regions of the recombinant were highly clustered together with a subcluster 4 lineage of CRF01_AE, which is exclusively circulating among MSM in China. The CRF07_BC region of the recombinant was clustered with the CRF07_BC cluster, which was identified among MSM. The emergence of the novel HIV-1 recombinant may be a harbinger of more novel intersubtypes recombinants occurring in Guizhou province in Southwest China, and was of great important in understanding the dynamics and complexity of the HIV-1 epidemic in this region.

Autodisplay of an archaeal γ-lactamase on the cell surface of Escherichia coli using Xcc_Est as an anchoring scaffold and its application for preparation of the enantiopure antiviral drug intermediate (-) vince lactam.

At present, autotransporter protein mediated surface display has opened a new dimension in the development of whole-cell biocatalysts. Here, we report the identification of a novel autotransporter Xcc_Est from Xanthomonas campestris pv campestris 8004 by bioinformatic analysis and application of Xcc_Est as an anchoring motif for surface display of γ-lactamase (Gla) from thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus P2 in Escherichia coli. The localization of γ-lactamase in the cell envelope was monitored by Western blot, activity assay and flow cytometry analysis. Either the full-length or truncated Xcc_Est could efficiently transport γ-lactamase to the cell surface. Compared with the free enzyme, the displayed γ-lactamase exhibited optimum temperature of 30 °C other than 90 °C, with a substantial decrease of 60 °C. Under the preparation system, the engineered E. coli with autodisplayed γ-lactamase converted 100 g racemic vince lactam to produce 49.2 g (-) vince lactam at 30 °C within 4 h. By using chiral HPLC, the ee value of the produced (-) vince lactam was determined to be 99.5 %. The whole-cell biocatalyst exhibited excellent stability under the operational conditions. Our results indicate that the E. coli with surface displayed γ-lactamase is an efficient and economical whole cell biocatalyst for preparing the antiviral drug intermediate (-) vince lactam at mild temperature, eliminating expensive energy cost performed at high temperature.