Abstract
The intertwining between spin, charge, and lattice degrees of freedom can give rise to unusual macroscopic quantum states, including high-temperature superconductivity and quantum anomalous ...Hall effects. Recently, a charge density wave (CDW) has been observed in the kagome antiferromagnet FeGe, indicative of possible intertwining physics. An outstanding question is that whether magnetic correlation is fundamental for the spontaneous spatial symmetry breaking orders. Here, utilizing elastic and high-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering, we observe a c-axis superlattice vector that coexists with the 2
$$\times$$
×
2
$$\times$$
×
1 CDW vectors in the kagome plane. Most interestingly, between the magnetic and CDW transition temperatures, the phonon dynamical structure factor shows a giant phonon-energy hardening and a substantial phonon linewidth broadening near the c-axis wavevectors, both signaling the spin-phonon coupling. By first principles and model calculations, we show that both the static spin polarization and dynamic spin excitations intertwine with the phonon to drive the spatial symmetry breaking in FeGe.
To explore the characteristics of Helicobacter pylori resistance in China and the association between antibiotic resistance and several clinical factors.
H. pylori strains were collected from ...patients in 13 provinces or cities in China between 2010 and 2016. Demographic data including type of disease, geographic area, age, gender and isolation year were collected to analyse their association with antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance was detected using the Etest test and the Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method.
H. pylori were successfully cultured from 1117 patients. The prevalence of metronidazole, clarithromycin (CLA), azithromycin, levofloxacin (LEV), moxifloxacin, amoxicillin (AMO), tetracycline and rifampicin resistance was 78.2, 22.1, 23.3, 19.2, 17.2, 3.4, 1.9 and 1.5%, respectively. No resistance to furazolidone was observed. The resistance rates to LEV and moxifloxacin were higher in strains isolated from patients with gastritis compared to those with duodenal ulcer and among women. Compared to patients ≥40 years old, younger patients exhibited lower resistance rates to CLA, azithromycin, LEV and moxifloxacin. The resistance rates to CLA and AMO were higher in strains isolated more recently, and we also found that the prevalence of resistance to metronidazole, CLA, azithromycin and AMO were significantly different among different regions of China.
The resistance rates to metronidazole, CLA and LEV were high in China. Patient age, gender, disease and location were associated with the resistance of H. pylori to some antibiotics. Furazolidone, AMO and tetracycline are better choices for H. pylori treatment in China.
Summary
Background
Inherited epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is a rare skin disorder characterized by susceptibility to specific types of human papilloma virus (HPV) and is strongly associated ...with skin carcinomas. Inactivating mutations in EVER1/EVER2 account for most cases of EV. However, more phenotypes related to but distinct from EV have been reported with an immunodeficiency state but without EVER1/EVER2 mutation, and the genetic basis for these atypical EV cases is poorly understood.
Objectives
To identify the causative gene responsible for three siblings affected by atypical EV but without EVER1/EVER2 mutation.
Methods
Whole‐exome sequencing followed by Sanger sequencing was performed to identify the gene responsible for the patients with atypical EV enrolled in our study.
Results
A homozygous splicing mutation was detected in LCK (c.188‐2A>G). This mutation resulted in an exon 3 deletion T lymphocyte‐specific protein tyrosine kinase isoform, which further led to frameshift mutation and subsequent mRNA decay.
Conclusions
We demonstrate a novel mutation in LCK in a family affected by atypical EV with T‐cell defects, HPV infection and virus‐induced malignancy, providing new clues in the understanding of host defences against HPV and better genetic counselling of patients with the EV phenotype.
What's already known about this topic?
Epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV) is an unusual genodermatosis characterized by an increased susceptibility to β‐human papillomavirus and is associated with a high risk of skin carcinoma.
Inactivating mutations in EVER1/EVER2 account for most cases of EV.
What does this study add?
Our study suggests an association between a novel splicing mutation in LCK and EV susceptibility.
What is the translational message?
Patients with EV should be tested for T lymphocyte‐specific protein tyrosine kinase deficiency and T‐cell function, which will help guide treatment.
Linked Comment: Uitto and Vahidnezhad. Br J Dermatol 2016; 175:1138–1139.
An increasing number of reports have demonstrated enormous strength enhancements in titanium matrix composites (TiMCs) reinforced with graphene nanoflakes (GNFs) on account of the superior mechanical ...properties of GNFs. Unfortunately, the difficulty of uniform dispersion and severe interfacial reaction are simultaneously the most challenging and serious issues in GNFs reinforced TiMCs. In this work, we applied electroless plating method to prepare Ni decorated GNFs (Ni-GNFs) as a reinforcement in Ti matrix to uniformly disperse the GNFs in Ti matrix and relieve the severe interfacial reaction between metal and carbon nanophase. The composite reinforced by low content Ni-GNFs (0.05 wt%GNFs) exhibiting ultimate strength of 793 MPa (+40% compared to monolithic pure Ti), have been processed by short time ball milling process followed by spark plasma sintering (SPS) and hot-rolling (HR). Enormous strength increase of the composite can be attributed to a homogeneous distribution of Ni-GNFs in the Ti matrix coupled with the formation of special interface (Ti/Ti2Ni/nano-TiCX/Ni-GNFs). The load transfer mechanism of Ni-GNFs in composites was investigated by in-situ tensile test, which shows the great interfacial load transfer capability. This work provides a new strategy for dispersion and interface analysis of GNFs reinforced Ti matrix composites.
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Abstract Background With advances in immunosuppressive therapy, heart transplantation is currently recommended as the only established surgical treatment for refractory heart failure. However, ...chronic immunosuppression increases the risk for malignancy. Everolimus (EVR) is a potent mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor that is used after transplantation and to treat advanced malignancies, as we have done in Taiwan after heart transplantation since 2004. Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) and EVR are frequently used as cell-cycle inhibitors to optimize post-transplantation outcomes. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the characteristics and outcomes of 454 patients who received either MMF (n = 232) or EVR (n = 222) after heart transplantation at the National Taiwan University Hospital from March 1, 1990, to March 1, 2015. Patient characteristics and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were compared between groups. Results During a median follow-up of 69.2 months, malignancy was diagnosed in 27 patients receiving MMF (n = 23) or EVR (n = 4). There was a significant difference in malignancy risk between groups (9.91% vs 1.80%, P = .001). The most common malignancies were non-Hodgkin lymphoma, skin cancers, and lung squamous cell carcinoma. The 2-year overall survival after malignancy was 50% in the EVR group and 47% in the MMF group ( P = .745). Conclusions EVR treatment after heart transplant is associated with a lower risk of malignancy than is MMF treatment. The 2-year survival rate after malignancy was similar between EVR and MMF groups.
We evaluated the inhibitory effects of the probiotic
Lactobacillus
species on different phases of
Candida albicans
biofilm development. Quantification of biofilm growth and ultrastructural analyses ...were performed on
C. albicans
biofilms treated with
Lactobacillus rhamnosus
,
Lactobacillus casei
, and
Lactobacillus acidophilus
planktonic cell suspensions as well as their supernatants. Planktonic lactobacilli induced a significant reduction (
p
< 0.05) in the number of biofilm cells (25.5–61.8 %) depending on the probiotic strain and the biofilm phase.
L. rhamnosus
supernatants had no significant effect on the mature biofilm (
p
> 0.05), but significantly reduced the early stages of
Candida
biofilm formation (
p
< 0.01). Microscopic analyses revealed that
L. rhamnosus
suspensions reduced
Candida
hyphal differentiation, leading to a predominance of budding growth. All lactobacilli negatively impacted
C. albicans
yeast-to-hyphae differentiation and biofilm formation. The inhibitory effects of the probiotic
Lactobacillus
on
C. albicans
entailed both cell-cell interactions and secretion of exometabolites that may impact on pathogenic attributes associated with
C. albicans
colonization on host surfaces and yeast filamentation. This study clarifies, for the first time, the mechanics of how
Lactobacillus
species may antagonize
C. albicans
host colonization. Our data elucidate the inhibitory mechanisms that define the probiotic candicidal activity of lactobacilli, thus supporting their utility as an adjunctive therapeutic mode against mucosal candidal infections.
An optimized bidirectional pumping fiber amplifier is demonstrated to achieve low-frequency intensity noise suppression and effective power enhancement simultaneously. Based on the concept analysis ...of the gain saturation effect, the influence of input signal power and pump power on intensity noise suppression is investigated and optimized systematically. Further combining with the optimization of the pumping configuration to achieve the even-distribution gain, the relative intensity noise (RIN) of 1083 nm single-frequency fiber laser (SFFL) is suppressed with 9.1 dB in the frequency range below 10 kHz. Additionally, the laser power is boosted from 10.97 dBm to 25.02 dBm, and a power instability of ±0.31% is realized. This technology has contributed to simultaneously improving the power and noise performance of the 1083 nm SFFL, which can be applied to a multi-channel helium (He) optically pumping magnetometer. Furthermore, this technique has broken the mindset that power amplification of the conventional fiber amplifiers will inevitably cause the degradation of intensity noise property, and provided a valuable guidance for the development of high-performance SFFLs.
A model construction scheme of chaotic optoelectronic oscillator (OEO) based on the Fourier neural operator (FNO) is proposed. Different from the conventional methods, we learn the nonlinear dynamics ...of OEO (actual components) in a data-driven way, expecting to obtain a multi-parameter OEO model for generating chaotic carrier with high-efficiency and low-cost. FNO is a deep learning architecture which utilizes neural network as a parameter structure to learn the trajectory of the family of equations from training data. With the assistance of FNO, the nonlinear dynamics of OEO characterized by differential delay equation can be modeled easily. In this work, the maximal Lyapunov exponent is applied to judge whether these time series have chaotic behavior, and the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) is introduced to evaluate the modeling performance. Compare with long and short-term memory (LSTM), FNO is not only superior to LSTM in modeling accuracy, but also requires less training data. Subsequently, we analyze the modeling performance of FNO under different feedback gains and time delays. Both numerical and experimental results show that the PCC can be greater than 0.99 in the case of low feedback gain. Next, we further analyze the influence of different system oscillation frequencies, and the generalization ability of FNO is also analyzed.
Endovascular repair (EVAR) of mycotic aortic aneurysm (MAA) has become an alternative treatment for high risk patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate long-term survival and outcomes.
...Retrospective analysis of 40 consecutive patients with MAAs undergoing EVAR and subsequent intravenous antibiotic treatment between September 2009 and April 2015. Follow-up was truncated on 30 April 2015. Uni- and multivariate logistic regression were used to assess risk factors of adverse outcomes. Cumulative survival was calculated using the Kaplan–Meier method.
Median age at repair was 73 years (range 48–88 years) and 31 (77%) were men. Eleven (27%) patients were infected with Salmonella, 12 (30%) with non-Salmonella species, and 17 (42%) had negative cultures. Anatomical locations included the aortic arch/thoracic area in 10 (25%), the paravisceral area in seven (17%), and the infrarenal area in 23 (57%). Ten (25%) patients presented with aneurysm rupture and underwent emergency repair. Median follow-up was 25 months (range 1–69 months). Cumulative 1 and 5 year survival rates were 71% and 53%, respectively. Persistent or recurrent infection occurred in 20% (n = 8). Patients with persistent infection were treated with long-term medical therapy, but all died (75%; n = 6) within 6 months of repair. No survival difference was found between patients with or without Salmonella infections. However, there was a trend toward better survival in culture negative patients.
EVAR of MAA is an acceptable alternative treatment of MAA. However, persistent infection after endovascular treatment does occur and is often fatal without surgical treatment.
Programmed cell death 4 (Pdcd4), a tumor invasion suppressor, is frequently downregulated in colorectal cancer and other cancers. In this study, we find that loss of Pdcd4 increases the activity of ...mammalian target of rapamycin complex 2 (mTORC2) and thereby upregulates Snail expression. Examining the components of mTORC2 showed that Pdcd4 knockdown increased the protein but not mRNA level of stress-activated-protein kinase interacting protein 1 (Sin1), which resulted from enhanced Sin1 translation. To understand how Pdcd4 regulates Sin1 translation, the SIN1 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) was fused with luciferase reporter and named as 5'Sin1-Luc. Pdcd4 knockdown/knockout significantly increased the translation of 5'Sin1-Luc but not the control luciferase without the SIN1 5'UTR, suggesting that Sin1 5'UTR is necessary for Pdcd4 to inhibit Sin1 translation. Ectopic expression of wild-type Pdcd4 and Pdcd4(157-469), a deletion mutant that binds to translation initiation factor 4A (eIF4A), sufficiently inhibited Sin1 translation, and thus suppressed mTORC2 kinase activity and invasion in colon tumor cells. By contrast, Pdcd4(157-469)(D253A,D418A), a mutant that does not bind to eIF4A, failed to inhibit Sin1 translation, and consequently failed to repress mTORC2 activity and invasion. In addition, directly inhibiting eIF4A with silvestrol significantly suppressed Sin1 translation and attenuated invasion. These results indicate that Pdcd4-inhibited Sin1 translation is through suppressing eIF4A, and functionally important for suppression of mTORC2 activity and invasion. Moreover, in colorectal cancer tissues, the Sin1 protein but not mRNA was significantly upregulated while Pdcd4 protein was downregulated, suggesting that loss of Pdcd4 might correlate with Sin1 protein level but not mRNA level in colorectal cancer patients. Taken together, our work reveals a novel mechanism by which Pdcd4 inhibits Sin1 translation to attenuatemTORC2 activity and thereby suppresses invasion.
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