Background and aims: Over the past two decades in Taiwan, pyogenic liver abscess has usually been caused by a single microorganism, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and is frequently associated with the ...serious complication of endophthalmitis, especially in diabetic patients. However, the relationship between the clinical presentation and bacterial factors remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical features of patients and the serotype and ribotype of K pneumoniae liver abscess. Methods: From July 1991 to June 1998, a total of 134 cases of K pneumoniae liver abscess with 248 K pneumoniae isolates from the same patients were collected from two large medical centres in northern Taiwan. Clinical data were collected from medical records. Serotyping and ribotyping were performed using the countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis method and automated Riboprinter. Results: Serotyping revealed that the most common serotypes were K1 (63.4%) and K2 (14.2%). K1 isolates occurred at a significantly higher frequency (p<0.01) than all other serotypes. Among 134 patients, 105 (78.4%) had suffered from diabetes mellitus for 3–15 years. Fourteen patients (10.4%) had metastatic infection to the eye causing septic endophthalmitis. Liver aspirates, and blood and vitreous pus cultures yielded the same serotype of K pneumoniae in all patients. Among patients with septic endophthalmitis, 92.3% (13/14) were diabetic, and 85.7% (12/14) of the isolates belonged to serotype K1. For molecular typing, different degrees of genetic polymorphism among isolates with the same K1 serotype suggested no particular prevalence of any one strain in K pneumoniae liver abscess. Conclusion: K pneumoniae serotype K1 was significantly associated with liver abscess and the complication of endophthalmitis, especially in diabetic patients. Physicians should request an immediate report of serotyping and susceptibility test results simultaneously if a diagnosis of pyogenic liver abscess has been made so that early and appropriate management for possible complications will not be delayed. The use of ceftriaxone because of its higher concentration in the aqueous humor is suggested to decrease the chance of septic endophthalmitis.
The cellular entry of Hantaan virus (HTN) occurs through interactions with β3 integrins as cellular receptors. However, the process of HTN infection following attachment to the cell surface is not ...well understood. Our data indicate that overexpression of a dominant-negative mutant dynamin inhibits HTN internalization and that compounds that block clathrin- but not caveolae-dependent endocytosis also reduce HTN infectivity. In addition, we show that HTN colocalizes with the clathrin heavy chain but not with caveolae. At the early phase of infection HTN colocalizes with EEA-1, an early endosome marker, and later, HTN colocalizes with LAMP-1, a lysosome marker. Cells treated with lysosomotropic agents are largely resistant to infection, suggesting that a low-pH-dependent step is required for HTN infection. These findings demonstrate that HTN enters cells via the clathrin-coated pit pathway and uses low-pH-dependent intracellular compartments for infectious entry.
The RENO experiment reports more precisely measured values of θ_{13} and |Δm_{ee}^{2}| using ∼2200 live days of data. The amplitude and frequency of reactor electron antineutrino (νover ¯_{e}) ...oscillation are measured by comparing the prompt signal spectra obtained from two identical near and far detectors. In the period between August 2011 and February 2018, the far (near) detector observed 103 212 (850 666) νover ¯_{e} candidate events with a background fraction of 4.8% (2.0%). A clear energy and baseline dependent disappearance of reactor νover ¯_{e} is observed in the deficit of the measured number of νover ¯_{e}. Based on the measured far-to-near ratio of prompt spectra, we obtain sin^{2}2θ_{13}=0.0896±0.0048(stat)±0.0047(syst) and |Δm_{ee}^{2}|=2.68±0.12(stat)±0.07(syst)×10^{-3} eV^{2}.
This book attempts to define non-cognitive traits, ways to measure them, impact of non-cognitive factors and how they can affect the positive outcomes in academic achievement, influence in ...employability, and success in social life. The information contained in this book provides knowledge growth and current thinking about non-cognitive factors and educational strategies that can be effectively used to nurture the well-being of individuals.
By means of a combination of genome-wide and follow-up studies, recent large-scale association studies of populations of European descent have now identified over 46 loci associated with coronary ...artery disease (CAD). As part of the TAICHI Consortium, we have collected and genotyped 8556 subjects from Taiwan, comprising 5423 controls and 3133 cases with coronary artery disease, for 9087 CAD SNPs using the CardioMetaboChip. We applied penalized logistic regression to ascertain the top SNPs that contribute together to CAD susceptibility in Taiwan. We observed that the 9p21 locus contributes to CAD at the level of genome-wide significance (rs1537372, with the presence of C, the major allele, the effect estimate is -0.216, standard error 0.033, p value 5.8x10-10). In contrast to a previous report, we propose that the 9p21 locus is a single genetic contribution to CAD in Taiwan because: 1) the penalized logistic regression and the follow-up conditional analysis suggested that rs1537372 accounts for all of the CAD association in 9p21, and 2) the high linkage disequilibrium observed for all associated SNPs in 9p21. We also observed evidence for the following loci at a false discovery rate >5%: SH2B3, ADAMTS7, PHACTR1, GGCX, HTRA1, COL4A1, and LARP6-LRRC49. We also took advantage of the fact that penalized methods are an efficient approach to search for gene-by-gene interactions, and observed that two-way interactions between the PHACTR1 and ADAMTS7 loci and between the SH2B3 and COL4A1 loci contribute to CAD risk. Both the similarities and differences between the significance of these loci when compared with significance of loci in studies of populations of European descent underscore the fact that further genetic association of studies in additional populations will provide clues to identify the genetic architecture of CAD across all populations worldwide.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Spatial visitation patterns and its features on nature-based tourism are difficult to assess using only a field-based survey, which is costly and labor intensive. However, understanding of a ...protected area's visitation status is critical, as it can strongly influence the sustainability of natural resources. Hence, it is important to identify ‘where people visit’ and ‘why people visit,’ to evaluate the features attractive to tourists. In this regard, we proposed and applied social big data to investigate nature-based tourism in an ASEAN Heritage Park. Overall, our research was able to effectively illustrate spatial patterns of visitation using 10 years of Flickr geo-tagged photographs. Hotspots of high visitation were identified, while revealing the local spatial impact of distributed attributes. This study offers insights into the applicability of social big data to protected-area management and its potential in reinforcing existing field-based participatory approaches.
•Provided first study on the applicability of social big data for tourism management in ASEAN Heritage Parks.•Geotagged photographs shown to be a powerful tool to evaluate spatial patterns in visitation.•Impact of attractions and supporting artifacts on visitation were identified.•Potential and limitations of using social big data in management were suggested.•There was complementarity among big data and field-based approaches.
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