A hyperinflammation clinical risk tool, HI5-NEWS2, stratifies hospitalised COVID-19 patients to associate risk of death and effect of early dexamethasone in an observational cohort.

BACKGROUND: The success of early dexamethasone therapy for hospitalised COVID-19 cases in treatment of Sars-CoV-2 infection may predominantly reflect its anti-inflammatory action against a hyperinflammation (HI) response. It is likely that there is substantial heterogeneity in HI responses in COVID-19. METHODS: Blood CRP, ferritin, neutrophil, lymphocyte and platelet counts were scored to assess HI (HI5) and combined with a validated measure of generalised medical deterioration (NEWS2) before day 2. Our primary outcome was 28 day mortality from early treatment with dexamethasone stratified by HI5-NEWS2 status. FINDINGS: Of 1265 patients, high risk of HI (high HI5-NEWS2) (n = 367, 29.0%) conferred a strikingly increased mortality (36.0% vs 7.8%; Age adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 5.9; 95% CI 3.6-9.8, p<0.001) compared to the low risk group (n = 455, 36.0%). An intermediate risk group (n = 443, 35.0%) also showed significantly higher mortality than the low risk group (17.6% vs 7.8%), aHR 2.2, p = 0.005). Early dexamethasone treatment conferred a 50.0% reduction in mortality in the high risk group (36.0% to 18.0%, aHR 0.56, p = 0.007). The intermediate risk group showed a trend to reduction in mortality (17.8% to 10.3%, aHR 0.82, p = 0.46) which was not observed in the low risk group (7.8% to 9.2%, aHR 1.4, p = 0.31). INTERPRETATION: Higher HI5-NEWS2 scores measured at COVID-19 diagnosis, strongly associate with increased mortality at 28 days. Significant reduction in mortality with early dexamethasone treatment was only observed in the high risk group. Therefore, the HI5-NEWS2 score could be utilised to stratify randomised clinical trials to test whether intensified anti-inflammatory therapy would further benefit high risk patients and whether alternative approaches would benefit low risk groups. Considering its recognised morbidity, we suggest that early dexamethasone should not be routinely prescribed for HI5-NEWS2 low risk individuals with COVID-19 and clinicians should cautiously assess the risk benefit of this intervention in all cases.

Evidence of a genetically driven metabolomic signature in actively inflamed Crohn's disease.

Crohn's disease (CD) is characterised by chronic inflammation. We aimed to identify a relationship between plasma inflammatory metabolomic signature and genomic data in CD using blood plasma metabolic profiles. Proton NMR spectroscopy were achieved for 228 paediatric CD patients. Regression (OPLS) modelling and machine learning (ML) approaches were independently applied to establish the metabolic inflammatory signature, which was correlated against gene-level pathogenicity scores generated for all patients and functional enrichment was analysed. OPLS modelling of metabolomic spectra from unfasted patients revealed distinctive shifts in plasma metabolites corresponding to regions of the spectrum assigned to N-acetyl glycoprotein, glycerol and phenylalanine that were highly correlated (R2 = 0.62) with C-reactive protein levels. The same metabolomic signature was independently identified using ML to predict patient inflammation status. Correlation of the individual peaks comprising this metabolomic signature of inflammation with pathogenic burden across 15,854 unselected genes identified significant enrichment for genes functioning within 'intrinsic component of membrane' (p = 0.003) and 'inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)' (p = 0.003). The seven genes contributing IBD enrichment are critical regulators of pro-inflammatory signaling. Overall, a metabolomic signature of inflammation can be detected from blood plasma in CD. This signal is correlated with pathogenic mutation in pro-inflammatory immune response genes.

FebriDx host response point-of-care testing improves patient triage for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the emergency department.

OBJECTIVES: Patients presenting to hospital with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), based on clinical symptoms, are routinely placed in a cohort together until polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results are available. This procedure leads to delays in transfers to definitive areas and high nosocomial transmission rates. FebriDx is a finger-prick point-of-care test (PoCT) that detects an antiviral host response and has a high negative predictive value for COVID-19. We sought to determine the clinical impact of using FebriDx for COVID-19 triage in the emergency department (ED). DESIGN: We undertook a retrospective observational study evaluating the real-world clinical impact of FebriDx as part of an ED COVID-19 triage algorithm. SETTING: Emergency department of a university teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Patients presenting with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19, placed in a cohort in a 'high-risk' area, were tested using FebriDx. Patients without a detectable antiviral host response were then moved to a lower-risk area. RESULTS: Between September 22, 2020, and January 7, 2021, 1,321 patients were tested using FebriDx, and 1,104 (84%) did not have a detectable antiviral host response. Among 1,104 patients, 865 (78%) were moved to a lower-risk area within the ED. The median times spent in a high-risk area were 52 minutes (interquartile range [IQR], 34-92) for FebriDx-negative patients and 203 minutes (IQR, 142-255) for FebriDx-positive patients (difference of -134 minutes; 95% CI, -144 to -122; P < .0001). The negative predictive value of FebriDx for the identification of COVID-19 was 96% (661 of 690; 95% CI, 94%-97%). CONCLUSIONS: FebriDx improved the triage of patients with suspected COVID-19 and reduced the time that severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) PCR-negative patients spent in a high-risk area alongside SARS-CoV-2-positive patients.

Evaluation and improvement of the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) for COVID-19: a multi-hospital study.

BACKGROUND: The National Early Warning Score (NEWS2) is currently recommended in the UK for the risk stratification of COVID-19 patients, but little is known about its ability to detect severe cases. We aimed to evaluate NEWS2 for the prediction of severe COVID-19 outcome and identify and validate a set of blood and physiological parameters routinely collected at hospital admission to improve upon the use of NEWS2 alone for medium-term risk stratification. METHODS: Training cohorts comprised 1276 patients admitted to King's College Hospital National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust with COVID-19 disease from 1 March to 30 April 2020. External validation cohorts included 6237 patients from five UK NHS Trusts (Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals, University Hospitals Southampton, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, University College London Hospitals, University Hospitals Birmingham), one hospital in Norway (Oslo University Hospital), and two hospitals in Wuhan, China (Wuhan Sixth Hospital and Taikang Tongji Hospital). The outcome was severe COVID-19 disease (transfer to intensive care unit (ICU) or death) at 14 days after hospital admission. Age, physiological measures, blood biomarkers, sex, ethnicity, and comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular, respiratory and kidney diseases) measured at hospital admission were considered in the models. RESULTS: A baseline model of 'NEWS2 + age' had poor-to-moderate discrimination for severe COVID-19 infection at 14 days (area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) in training cohort = 0.700, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.680, 0.722; Brier score = 0.192, 95% CI 0.186, 0.197). A supplemented model adding eight routinely collected blood and physiological parameters (supplemental oxygen flow rate, urea, age, oxygen saturation, C-reactive protein, estimated glomerular filtration rate, neutrophil count, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio) improved discrimination (AUC = 0.735; 95% CI 0.715, 0.757), and these improvements were replicated across seven UK and non-UK sites. However, there was evidence of miscalibration with the model tending to underestimate risks in most sites. CONCLUSIONS: NEWS2 score had poor-to-moderate discrimination for medium-term COVID-19 outcome which raises questions about its use as a screening tool at hospital admission. Risk stratification was improved by including readily available blood and physiological parameters measured at hospital admission, but there was evidence of miscalibration in external sites. This highlights the need for a better understanding of the use of early warning scores for COVID.

High incidence of glucocorticoid-induced hyperglycaemia in inflammatory bowel disease: metabolic and clinical predictors identified by machine learning.

BACKGROUND: Glucocorticosteroids (GC) are long-established, widely used agents for induction of remission in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Hyperglycaemia is a known complication of GC treatment with implications for morbidity and mortality. Published data on prevalence and risk factors for GC-induced hyperglycaemia in the IBD population are limited. We prospectively characterise this complication in our cohort, employing machine-learning methods to identify key predictors of risk. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study of IBD patients receiving intravenous hydrocortisone (IVH). Electronically triggered three times daily capillary blood glucose (CBG) monitoring was recorded alongside diabetes mellitus (DM) history, IBD biomarkers, nutritional and IBD clinical activity scores. Hyperglycaemia was defined as CBG ≥11.1 mmol/L and undiagnosed DM as glycated haemoglobin ≥48 mmol/mol. Random forest (RF) regression models were used to extract predictor-patterns present within the dataset. RESULTS: 94 consecutive IBD patients treated with IVH were included. 60% (56/94) of the cohort recorded an episode of hyperglycaemia, including 57% (50/88) of those with no history of DM, of which 19% (17/88) and 5% (4/88) recorded a CBG ≥14 mmol/L and ≥20 mmol/L, respectively. The RF models identified increased C-reactive protein (CRP) followed by a longer IBD duration as leading risk predictors for significant hyperglycaemia. CONCLUSION: Hyperglycaemia is common in IBD patients treated with intravenous GC. Therefore, CBG monitoring should be included in routine clinical practice. Machine learning methods can identify key risk factors for clinical complications. Steroid-sparing treatment strategies may be considered for those IBD patients with higher admission CRP and greater disease duration, who appear to be at the greatest risk of hyperglycaemia.

Automated data cleaning of paediatric anthropometric data from longitudinal electronic health records: protocol and application to a large patient cohort.

'Big data' in healthcare encompass measurements collated from multiple sources with various degrees of data quality. These data require quality control assessment to optimise quality for clinical management and for robust large-scale data analysis in healthcare research. Height and weight data represent one of the most abundantly recorded health statistics. The shift to electronic recording of anthropometric measurements in electronic healthcare records, has rapidly inflated the number of measurements. WHO guidelines inform removal of population-based extreme outliers but an absence of tools limits cleaning of longitudinal anthropometric measurements. We developed and optimised a protocol for cleaning paediatric height and weight data that incorporates outlier detection using robust linear regression methodology using a manually curated set of 6,279 patients' longitudinal measurements. The protocol was then applied to a cohort of 200,000 patient records collected from 60,000 paediatric patients attending a regional teaching hospital in South England. WHO guidelines detected biologically implausible data in <1% of records. Additional error rates of 3% and 0.2% for height and weight respectively were detected using the protocol. Inflated error rates for height measurements were largely due to small but physiologically implausible decreases in height. Lowest error rates were observed when data was measured and digitally recorded by staff routinely required to do so. The protocol successfully automates the parsing of implausible and poor quality height and weight data from a voluminous longitudinal dataset and standardises the quality assessment of data for clinical and research applications.

Reconciling the Potentially Irreconcilable? Genotypic and Phenotypic Amoxicillin-Clavulanate Resistance in Escherichia coli.

Resistance to amoxicillin-clavulanate, a widely used beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combination antibiotic, is rising globally, and yet susceptibility testing remains challenging. To test whether whole-genome sequencing (WGS) could provide a more reliable assessment of susceptibility than traditional methods, we predicted resistance from WGS for 976 Escherichia coli bloodstream infection isolates from Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, comparing against phenotypes from the BD Phoenix (calibrated against EUCAST guidelines). A total of 339/976 (35%) isolates were amoxicillin-clavulanate resistant. Predictions based solely on beta-lactamase presence/absence performed poorly (sensitivity, 23% [78/339]) but improved when genetic features associated with penicillinase hyperproduction (e.g., promoter mutations and copy number estimates) were considered (sensitivity, 82% [277/339]; P < 0.0001). Most discrepancies occurred in isolates with MICs within ±1 doubling dilution of the breakpoint. We investigated two potential causes: the phenotypic reference and the binary resistant/susceptible classification. We performed reference standard, replicated phenotyping in a random stratified subsample of 261/976 (27%) isolates using agar dilution, following both EUCAST and CLSI guidelines, which use different clavulanate concentrations. As well as disagreeing with each other, neither agar dilution phenotype aligned perfectly with genetic features. A random-effects model investigating associations between genetic features and MICs showed that some genetic features had small, variable and additive effects, resulting in variable resistance classification. Using model fixed-effects to predict MICs for the non-agar dilution isolates, predicted MICs were in essential agreement (±1 doubling dilution) with observed (BD Phoenix) MICs for 691/715 (97%) isolates. This suggests amoxicillin-clavulanate resistance in E. coli is quantitative, rather than qualitative, explaining the poorly reproducible binary (resistant/susceptible) phenotypes and suboptimal concordance between different phenotypic methods and with WGS-based predictions.

Genomic Epidemiology of Complex, Multispecies, Plasmid-Borne blaKPC Carbapenemase in Enterobacterales in the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2014.

Carbapenem resistance in Enterobacterales is a public health threat. Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (encoded by alleles of the blaKPC family) is one of the most common transmissible carbapenem resistance mechanisms worldwide. The dissemination of blaKPC historically has been associated with distinct K. pneumoniae lineages (clonal group 258 [CG258]), a particular plasmid family (pKpQIL), and a composite transposon (Tn4401). In the United Kingdom, blaKPC has represented a large-scale, persistent management challenge for some hospitals, particularly in North West England. The dissemination of blaKPC has evolved to be polyclonal and polyspecies, but the genetic mechanisms underpinning this evolution have not been elucidated in detail; this study used short-read whole-genome sequencing of 604 blaKPC-positive isolates (Illumina) and long-read assembly (PacBio)/polishing (Illumina) of 21 isolates for characterization. We observed the dissemination of blaKPC (predominantly blaKPC-2; 573/604 [95%] isolates) across eight species and more than 100 known sequence types. Although there was some variation at the transposon level (mostly Tn4401a, 584/604 [97%] isolates; predominantly with ATTGA-ATTGA target site duplications, 465/604 [77%] isolates), blaKPC spread appears to have been supported by highly fluid, modular exchange of larger genetic segments among plasmid populations dominated by IncFIB (580/604 isolates), IncFII (545/604 isolates), and IncR (252/604 isolates) replicons. The subset of reconstructed plasmid sequences (21 isolates, 77 plasmids) also highlighted modular exchange among non-blaKPC and blaKPC plasmids and the common presence of multiple replicons within blaKPC plasmid structures (>60%). The substantial genomic plasticity observed has important implications for our understanding of the epidemiology of transmissible carbapenem resistance in Enterobacterales for the implementation of adequate surveillance approaches and for control.

Analysis and Hierarchical Clustering of Blood Results Before Diagnosis in Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) is associated with a diagnostic delay. Blood tests are a routine part of the work-up in children with chronic abdominal symptoms (pain, diarrhea). Normal blood tests cannot exclude PIBD. We analyzed blood results at diagnosis over a 5-year period. METHODS: Patients diagnosed from 2013 to 2017 were identified from the Southampton-PIBD database. Results were obtained up to 100 days before diagnostic endoscopy. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP), albumin, hemoglobin, platelets, packed cell volume (PCV), white cell count (WCC), and alanine transferase (ALT) were analyzed. Hierarchical clustering was applied to normalized results. RESULTS: Two hundred fifty-six patients were included (Crohn's disease [CD], 151; ulcerative colitis [UC], 95; IBD-unclassified, 10; median age, 13.48 years; 36.7% female). Hierarchical clustering of patients revealed novel groupings enriched for CD and UC, characterized by specific patterns of results. In PIBD, 9% presented with all normal blood tests, 21.9% with normal CRP and ESR. Abnormal results were seen in all tests (ESR, 56.4% of patients; CRP, 53.4%; albumin, 28%; hemoglobin, 61.9%; platelets, 55.6%; PCV, 64.6%; WCC, 22.7%; and ALT, 7.2%). Normal inflammatory markers were more common in UC compared with CD (UC, 34%; CD, 15.8%; P = 0.0035). UC (14.4% normal) presented with all normal results more frequently than CD (CD, 5.3%; P = 0.02). CRP, ESR, and platelets were significantly higher in CD compared with UC. Albumin and hemoglobin were significantly lower. CONCLUSIONS: Most cases of PIBD present with >1 abnormal blood result, although 1/11 patients presents with normal blood tests and 1/5 present with normal inflammatory markers. Hierarchical clustering offers the potential to produce novel groupings to inform disease categorization and best management.

Increased prevalence of anti-TNF therapy in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease is associated with a decline in surgical resections during childhood.

BACKGROUND: Anti-tumour necrosis factor-α (anti-TNF) therapy use has risen in paediatric-onset inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD). Whether this has translated into preventing/delaying childhood surgery is uncertain. The Wessex PIBD cohort was analysed for trends in anti-TNF-therapy and surgery. AIM: To assess patients diagnosed with PIBD within Wessex from 1997 to 2017. The prevalence of anti-TNF-therapy and yearly surgery rates (resection and perianal) during childhood (<18 years) were analysed (Pearson's correlation, multivariate regression, Fisher's exact). RESULTS: Eight-hundred-and-twenty-five children were included (498 Crohn's disease, 272 ulcerative colitis, 55 IBD-unclassified), mean age at diagnosis 13.6 years (1.6-17.6), 39.6% female. The prevalence of anti-TNF-treated patients increased from 5.1% to 27.1% (2007-2017), P = 0.0001. Surgical resection-rate fell (7.1%-1.5%, P = 0.001), driven by a decrease in Crohn's disease resections (8.9%-2.3%, P = 0.001). Perianal surgery and ulcerative colitis resection-rates were unchanged. Time from diagnosis to resection increased (1.6-2.8 years, P = 0.028) but mean age at resection was unchanged. Patients undergoing resections during childhood were diagnosed at a younger age in the most recent 5 years (2007-2011 = 13.1 years, 2013-2017 = 11.9 years, P = 0.014). Resection-rate in anti-TNF-therapy treated (16.1%) or untreated (12.2%) was no different (P = 0.25). Patients started on anti-TNF-therapy <3 years post-diagnosis (11.6%) vs later (28.6%) had a reduction in resections, P = 0.047. Anti-TNF-therapy prevalence was the only significant predictor of resection-rate using multivariate regression (P = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of anti-TNF-therapy increased significantly, alongside a decrease in surgical resection-rate. Patients diagnosed at younger ages still underwent surgery during childhood. Anti-TNF-therapy may reduce the need for surgical intervention in childhood, thereby influencing the natural history of PIBD.

High Rates of Human Fecal Carriage of mcr-1-Positive Multidrug-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Emerge in China in Association With Successful Plasmid Families.

Background: mcr-1-mediated colistin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae is concerning, as colistin is used in treating multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae infections. We identified trends in human fecal mcr-1-positivity rates and colonization with mcr-1-positive, third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GC-R) Enterobacteriaceae in Guangzhou, China, and investigated the genetic contexts of mcr-1 in mcr-1-positive 3GC-R strains. Methods: Fecal samples were collected from in-/out-patients submitting specimens to 3 hospitals (2011-2016). mcr-1 carriage trends were assessed using iterative sequential regression. A subset of mcr-1-positive isolates was sequenced (whole-genome sequencing [WGS], Illumina), and genetic contexts (flanking regions, plasmids) of mcr-1 were characterized. Results: Of 8022 fecal samples collected, 497 (6.2%) were mcr-1 positive, and 182 (2.3%) harbored mcr-1-positive 3GC-R Enterobacteriaceae. We observed marked increases in mcr-1 (0% [April 2011] to 31% [March 2016]) and more recent (since January 2014; 0% [April 2011] to 15% [March 2016]) increases in human colonization with mcr-1-positive 3GC-R Enterobacteriaceae (P < .001). mcr-1-positive 3GC-R isolates were commonly multidrug resistant. WGS of mcr-1-positive 3GC-R isolates (70 Escherichia coli, 3 Klebsiella pneumoniae) demonstrated bacterial strain diversity; mcr-1 in association with common plasmid backbones (IncI, IncHI2/HI2A, IncX4) and sometimes in multiple plasmids; frequent mcr-1 chromosomal integration; and high mobility of the mcr-1-associated insertion sequence ISApl1. Sequence data were consistent with plasmid spread among animal/human reservoirs. Conclusions: The high prevalence of mcr-1 in multidrug-resistant E. coli colonizing humans is a clinical threat; diverse genetic mechanisms (strains/plasmids/insertion sequences) have contributed to the dissemination of mcr-1, and will facilitate its persistence.

Resolving plasmid structures in Enterobacteriaceae using the MinION nanopore sequencer: assessment of MinION and MinION/Illumina hybrid data assembly approaches.

This study aimed to assess the feasibility of using the Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) MinION long-read sequencer in reconstructing fully closed plasmid sequences from eight Enterobacteriaceae isolates of six different species with plasmid populations of varying complexity. Species represented were Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae, Serratia marcescens and Klebsiella oxytoca, with plasmid populations ranging from 1-11 plasmids with sizes of 2-330 kb. Isolates were sequenced using Illumina (short-read) and ONT's MinION (long-read) platforms, and compared with fully resolved PacBio (long-read) sequence assemblies for the same isolates. We compared the performance of different assembly approaches including SPAdes, plasmidSPAdes, hybridSPAdes, Canu, Canu+Pilon (canuPilon) and npScarf in recovering the plasmid structures of these isolates by comparing with the gold-standard PacBio reference sequences. Overall, canuPilon provided consistently good quality assemblies both in terms of assembly statistics (N50, number of contigs) and assembly accuracy [presence of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)/indels with respect to the reference sequence]. For plasmid reconstruction, Canu recovered 70 % of the plasmids in complete contigs, and combining three assembly approaches (Canu or canuPilon, hybridSPAdes and plasmidSPAdes) resulted in a total 78 % recovery rate for all the plasmids. The analysis demonstrated the potential of using MinION sequencing technology to resolve important plasmid structures in Enterobacteriaceae species independent of and in conjunction with Illumina sequencing data. A consensus assembly derived from several assembly approaches could present significant benefit in accurately resolving the greatest number of plasmid structures.

Covert dissemination of carbapenemase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC) in a successfully controlled outbreak: long- and short-read whole-genome sequencing demonstrate multiple genetic modes of transmission.

BACKGROUND: Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), including KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (KPC-Kpn), are an increasing threat to patient safety. OBJECTIVES: To use WGS to investigate the extent and complexity of carbapenemase gene dissemination in a controlled KPC outbreak. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Enterobacteriaceae with reduced ertapenem susceptibility recovered from rectal screening swabs/clinical samples, during a 3 month KPC outbreak (2013-14), were investigated for carbapenemase production, antimicrobial susceptibility, variable-number-tandem-repeat profile and WGS [short-read (Illumina), long-read (MinION)]. Short-read sequences were used for MLST and plasmid/Tn4401 fingerprinting, and long-read sequence assemblies for plasmid identification. Phylogenetic analysis used IQTree followed by ClonalFrameML, and outbreak transmission dynamics were inferred using SCOTTI. RESULTS: Twenty patients harboured KPC-positive isolates (6 infected, 14 colonized), and 23 distinct KPC-producing Enterobacteriaceae were identified. Four distinct KPC plasmids were characterized but of 20 KPC-Kpn (from six STs), 17 isolates shared a single pKpQIL-D2 KPC plasmid. All isolates had an identical transposon (Tn4401a), except one KPC-Kpn (ST661) with a single nucleotide variant. A sporadic case of KPC-Kpn (ST491) with Tn4401a-carrying pKpQIL-D2 plasmid was identified 10 months before the outbreak. This plasmid was later seen in two other species and other KPC-Kpn (ST14,ST661) including clonal spread of KPC-Kpn (ST661) from a symptomatic case to nine ward contacts. CONCLUSIONS: WGS of outbreak KPC isolates demonstrated blaKPC dissemination via horizontal transposition (Tn4401a), plasmid spread (pKpQIL-D2) and clonal spread (K. pneumoniae ST661). Despite rapid outbreak control, considerable dissemination of blaKPC still occurred among K. pneumoniae and other Enterobacteriaceae, emphasizing its high transmission potential and the need for enhanced control efforts.

PINALOG: a novel approach to align protein interaction networks--implications for complex detection and function prediction.

MOTIVATION: Analysis of protein-protein interaction networks (PPINs) at the system level has become increasingly important in understanding biological processes. Comparison of the interactomes of different species not only provides a better understanding of species evolution but also helps with detecting conserved functional components and in function prediction. Method and RESULTS: Here we report a PPIN alignment method, called PINALOG, which combines information from protein sequence, function and network topology. Alignment of human and yeast PPINs reveals several conserved subnetworks between them that participate in similar biological processes, notably the proteasome and transcription related processes. PINALOG has been tested for its power in protein complex prediction as well as function prediction. Comparison with PSI-BLAST in predicting protein function in the twilight zone also shows that PINALOG is valuable in predicting protein function. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: The PINALOG web-server is freely available from http://www.sbg.bio.ic.ac.uk/~pinalog. The PINALOG program and associated data are available from the Download section of the web-server. CONTACT: m.sternberg@imperial.ac.uk SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Temperature-responsive self-assembly of charged and uncharged hydroxyethylcellulose-graft-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) copolymer in aqueous solution.

Temperature-induced interchain association and contraction of species in aqueous solutions of charged (MHEC(-)-g-PNIPAAM) and uncharged (MHEC-g-PNIPAAM) modified hydroxyethylcellulose-graft-poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) copolymer have been studied with the aid of turbidimetry and dynamic light scattering (DLS). It was shown that by attaching PNIPAAM chains to the backbone of a hydrophilic cellulose derivative, a strongly temperature-responsive copolymer could be prepared. The results show an intriguing interplay between interchain association and contraction of the multichain species. The transition zone for compression is narrow, and the compaction effect is promoted by a low polymer concentration and charges on the polymer moieties. The findings from DLS revealed two populations of species, namely molecularly dispersed molecules or small clusters and interchain complexes, which exhibit temperature-induced collapse. The magnitude of the cluster contraction can be modulated by changing the polymer concentration and charge density of the copolymer.