Pediatric brainstem glioma is an incurable malignancy because of its inoperability. As a result of their extensive tropism toward cancer and the possibility of autologous transplantation, human ...adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAT-MSC) are attractive vehicles to deliver therapeutic genes to brainstem gliomas. In this study, in a good manufacturing practice (GMP) facility, we established clinically applicable hAT-MSCs expressing therapeutic genes and investigated their therapeutic efficacy against brainstem glioma in mice. For feasible clinical applications, (1) primary hAT-MSCs were cultured from human subcutaneous fat to make autologous transplantation possible, (2) hAT-MSCs were genetically engineered to express carboxyl esterase (CE) and (3) a secreted form of the tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (sTRAIL) expression vector for synergistic effects was delivered by a gene transfer technology that did not result in genomic integration of the vector. (4) Human CE and sTRAIL sequences were utilized to avoid immunological side effects. The hAT-MSCs expressing CE±sTRAIL showed significant therapeutic effects against brainstem gliomas in vitro and in vivo. However, the simultaneous expression of CE and sTRAIL had no synergistic effects in vivo. The results indicate that non-viral transient single sTRAIL gene transfer to autologous hAT-MSCs is a clinically applicable stem cell-based gene therapy for brainstem gliomas in terms of therapeutic effects and safety.
Prediction of structural phase of transition metal composites is highly required because the electronic and magnetic properties are deeply related to the crystal structures. The d-orbital occupancy ...has been suggested as a simple descriptor to predict the structural phase of transition metal composition in nonmagnetic ground state. In this work, we suggest new rule, orbital-spin occupancy rule with new descriptor nd-σd (σd is spin moment.) to predict stable crystal structure, which should be generally applied to nonmagnetic as well as magnetic system. Using first-principles calculation, we show that all 3d, 4d, and 5d transition metals follow this rule. Also, we confirm that structural phase can be controlled by changing nd-σd with pressure and electron doping. We suggest that orbital-spin occupancy rule should be widely applied to the prediction of various transition metal composites.
The PHENIX collaboration presents first measurements of low-momentum (0.4<p_{T}<3 GeV/c) direct-photon yields from Au+Au collisions at sqrts_{NN}=39 and 62.4 GeV. For both beam energies the ...direct-photon yields are substantially enhanced with respect to expectations from prompt processes, similar to the yields observed in Au+Au collisions at sqrts_{NN}=200. Analyzing the photon yield as a function of the experimental observable dN_{ch}/dη reveals that the low-momentum (>1 GeV/c) direct-photon yield dN_{γ}^{dir}/dη is a smooth function of dN_{ch}/dη and can be well described as proportional to (dN_{ch}/dη)^{α} with α≈1.25. This scaling behavior holds for a wide range of beam energies at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the Large Hadron Collider, for centrality selected samples, as well as for different A+A collision systems. At a given beam energy, the scaling also holds for high p_{T} (>5 GeV/c), but when results from different collision energies are compared, an additional sqrts_{NN}-dependent multiplicative factor is needed to describe the integrated-direct-photon yield.
The objective of this study was to assess trends in the prevalence and distribution of gram-negative bacteria isolated from bovine mastitis and their antimicrobial susceptibilities during a 6-yr ...period between 2003 and 2008 in Korea. Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterobacter cloacae, Acinetobacter lwoffi/junii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Serratia marcescens were the most commonly observed pathogens during this period. Generally, gram-negative bacteria showed low susceptibilities to most of the antimicrobials tested in this study, except amikacin and gentamicin. Although these 2 aminoglycosides were broadly active against gram-negative bacteria, less than half of those bacteria showed susceptibilities to streptomycin. The β-lactams, except piperacillin, had the lowest activity among antimicrobials tested in this study. Susceptibilities to chloramphenicol and trimethoprim were fairy high in all genera of gram-negative bacteria, except Acinetobacter spp. and Pseudomonas spp., whereas relatively high resistance to tetracycline was observed uniformly among gram-negative bacteria. There was no significant change in the prevalence of bacterial and the proportion of antimicrobial resistance among gram-negative bacteria isolates during a 6-yr period.
We search for energetic electron recoil signals induced by boosted dark matter (BDM) from the galactic center using the COSINE-100 array of NaI(Tl) crystal detectors at the Yangyang Underground ...Laboratory. The signal would be an excess of events with energies above 4 MeV over the well-understood background. Because no excess of events are observed in a 97.7 kg·yr exposure, we set limits on BDM interactions under a variety of hypotheses. Notably, we explored the dark photon parameter space, leading to competitive limits compared to direct dark photon search experiments, particularly for dark photon masses below 4 MeV and considering the invisible decay mode. Furthermore, by comparing our results with a previous BDM search conducted by the Super-Kamionkande experiment, we found that the COSINE-100 detector has advantages in searching for low-mass dark matter. This analysis demonstrates the potential of the COSINE-100 detector to search for MeV electron recoil signals produced by the dark sector particle interactions.
Summary Background Community-associated meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) has emerged as an important pathogen worldwide in a continent-specific manner. Clinical characteristics of ...infections caused by CA-MRSA other than USA300, especially in healthcare settings, have not been well established. Aim To conduct a retrospective cohort study to determine the clinical characteristics of infections caused by Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL)-negative, multilocus sequence type (ST) 72 staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCC mec ) type IV, a major CA-MRSA clone in Korea. Methods ST72-IV isolates, which were susceptible to fluoroquinolones, gentamicin, rifampicin, and cotrimoxazole, were presumptively identified among 4667 MRSA isolates and then confirmed by SCC me c typing and multilocus sequence typing. A total of 124 cases of ST72-IV infections were analysed. Findings The annual incidence of infections by ST72-IV per 100,000 admissions increased from 45.5 to 66.3 cases during 2007–2009. The most frequently occurring type of infection was skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) (46.0%), followed by pneumonia (27.4%) and bone and joint infection (9.7%). Surgical site infection accounted for 22.6% and 32.5% of community-onset (CO) healthcare-associated infection and hospital-onset (HO) infection, respectively. Pneumonia was most frequent (45.0%) among HO infection. Multivariate analysis showed that pneumonia increased the odds of all-cause mortality (odds ratio: 18.8; 95% confidence interval: 2.6–133.9) compared with other types of infection. Conclusions Increasing trends were observed in annual incidence of CO and HO infections by ST72-IV in Korea. Pneumonia was the most frequent among HO infection and was associated with higher mortality. These findings pose important implications for successful antibiotic therapy and infection control in the era of CA-MRSA.
Purpose
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed extraordinary demands on healthcare services worldwide. Some have reported increased viral transmission to healthcare workers during aerosol-generating ...procedures such as intubation. We report our experience with universal preoperative and preprocedural screening for COVID-19 in children requiring general anaesthesia with low risk of having the infection.
Methods
This was a data review involving children aged < 18 years undergoing procedures under general anaesthesia in our institution from 18th March to 31st May 2020 and deemed low risk for COVID 19 infection, as defined by our institutional protocol. Confirmation of COVID-19 was by real time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction with confirmation by nucleic acid sequencing. All patients were followed up 14 days post-swab.
Results
Of the 66 children (median age 4.5 years, range 0–16.8) eligible for the study, 39 (60%) were male and infants (1–12 months) formed the largest group (
n
= 24, 36%). None were positive for COVID-19. On 14 day follow-up, none had symptoms related to COVID-19.
Conclusion
Our study shows that low risk asymptomatic children with no history of contact with COVID-19 patients test negative on universal screening. Larger studies are required to ascertain the role of screening prior to procedures done under general anaesthesia.
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