The study aimed to determine the long-term Staphylococcus aureus colonization patterns and strain relatedness, and the association between maternal and infant colonization in infancy.
A birth cohort ...study was conducted from January 2012 to November 2014. Nasopharyngeal swabs for S. aureus detection were collected from infants at the age of 1, 2, 4, 6 and 12 months and from mothers when their children were 1-month-old.
In total, 254 samples were collected at each planned visit during the first 12-month study. The prevalence of S. aureus colonization decreased in the first year of life, ranging from 61.0% (155/254) at the age of 1 month to 12.2% (31/254) at 12 months. Persistent colonization, defined as a positive culture on four or five occasions, was detected in only 13.8% (35/254) of carriers. Most of the persistent carriers were colonized with methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) only, and among persistent MRSA carriers, 61.1% (11/18) had indistinguishable genotypes. Of the mothers with MRSA colonization, 77.1% (27/35) had infants who were concomitantly colonized at the age of 1 month; 70.4% (19/27) of the infant–mother paired isolates belonged to indistinguishable or related subtypes, which suggests that surrounding carriers, probably their mothers, may be the possible source for MRSA acquisition in early infancy.
Staphylococcus aureus colonization including MRSA was commonly observed in our cohort. Strains of persistent MRSA among infant–mother pairs were usually of indistinguishable genotypes. Therefore, horizontal spread within households is possibly an important factor related to infant MRSA colonization.
High-quality single-crystal thulium iron garnet (TmIG) films of 10-30 nm thick were grown by off-axis sputtering at room temperature (RT) followed by post-annealing. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy ...(XPS) was employed to determine the TmIG film composition to optimize the growth conditions, along with the aid of x-ray diffraction (XRD) structural analysis and atomic force microscope (AFM) for surface morphology. The optimized films exhibited perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) and the saturation magnetization at RT was ∼99 emu/cm3, close to the RT bulk value ∼110 emu/cm3 with a very low coercive field of ∼2.4 Oe. We extracted the
H
⊥
of 1734 Oe and the peak-to-peak linewidth ΔH of ferromagnetic resonance are only about 99 Oe, significantly lower than that of PLD grown TmIG film and bulk single crystals. The high-quality sputtered single-crystal TmIG films show great potential to be integrated with topological insulators or heavy metals with strong spin-orbit coupling for spintronic applications.
This study investigated the relationship between the specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) profile for 40 allergens using a novel microarray technique (BioIC) and fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) in ...a population sample of 1321 children. Significant positive associations were found between FeNO and sensitization to mites (P < 0.001), animals (P = 0.001), cockroaches (P < 0.001), and foods (P = 0.042), and furthermore, between FeNO and the number of sensitizations (all P < 0.05) or the sum of specific IgE (all P ≤ 0.01) against the aforementioned allergen categories. Specifically, sensitization to the following allergens was significantly related to higher FeNO: Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoides farina, Blomia tropicalis, cat, German cockroach, Oriental cockroach, codfish, crab, shrimp, and cheese (all P ≤ 0.01). In conclusion, IgE sensitization to mites, pets, cockroaches, seafood, and cheese, respectively, is significantly associated with elevated FeNO levels in a dose‐dependent fashion in children. Our results provide new evidence that sensitization to certain food allergens may contribute to prompt inflammation in the airways.
Landfill leachate issue in Taiwan was often to be concerned for its treatment technology, effects, and costs. An experimental study using microwave oxidation process to treat leachate was designed ...and optimized using Taguchi L
16
orthogonal array (OA) design, coupled with the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio method and the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method, and compared the relationships between them. Three experimental factors, microwave (MW) power settings, persulfate (PS) doses, and MW irradiation time (T), as well as three target parameters, total organic carbon (TOC), color, and UV
254
, were studied. The optimal conditions were found to be: 550 W, 1 M, and 120 min for TOC removals of 80% and color removals of 96%; 775 W, 1 M, and 120 min for UV
254
removals of 55%. The ranking of significance of experimental factors was: MW > PS > T for TOC removals, PS > MW > T for color removals, and MW > PS > T for UV
254
removals. The quality loss function values were used to compare the quality loss situation among different experimental conditions in the Taguchi OA design. The predicted removals of target parameters under the optimal conditions by Taguchi method and ANOVA were similar to the actual results from the confirmation experimental runs.
Graphical Abstract
We report here the first study of the growth kinetics of vertically-aligned ZnO nanowire arrays grown on Al-doped ZnO (AZO) seed layer-coated substrates by a hydrothermal method. The as-synthesized ...vertical ZnO nanowires possess a single-crystalline wurtzite structure and a preferred growth orientation along the 0001 direction. The ZnO nanowires were found to grow following the reaction-controlled process and their lengths could be tuned from several to over ten micrometers by adjusting the hydrothermal temperature and time. By measuring the growth rates at different synthesis temperatures, the activation energy for the linear growth of vertical ZnO nanowires on AZO-seeded substrates derived from the slope of the Arrhenius plot was around 35 kJ mol
−1
. The obtained value is smaller than that of ZnO nanowires grown in bulk solution, which can be explained by the different nucleation mechanisms. From water contact angle measurements, it is found that the as-synthesized ZnO nanowires are hydrophilic in nature, and their surface wettability can be adjusted by the storage time and heat treatment conditions. Furthermore, the reversible switching of the surface wettability of ZnO nanowires has been accomplished by alternate annealing in vacuum and oxygen atmospheres. The ZnO nanowires with switchable surface wettability will find promising applications in surface engineering.
We report here the first study of the growth kinetics of vertically-aligned ZnO nanowire arrays grown on Al-doped ZnO (AZO) seed layer-coated substrates by a hydrothermal method.
A new apocarotenoid, burmannic acid (1), was isolated from the roots of
Cinnamomum burmannii
(Nees & T. Nees) Blume (Lauraceae). The structure of the new apocarotenoid was elucidated by chemical and ...physical evidence.
Hydrogen gas is one of the most promising renewable energy sources, and the final product of hydrogen combustion is nothing but water. However, it is still a big challenge to produce hydrogen and ...store it. Many studies have been conducted into produce hydrogen from water using photocatalysts. Z-scheme photocatalysis is a two-photocatalyst system that comprises a hydrogen catalyst and an oxygen catalyst to produce hydrogen and oxygen respectively. Compared to the one-step system, the two-step system can promote the efficiency of water splitting. In addition, formic acid (FA) is a convenient hydrogen-storage material and can be safely handled in aqueous solutions. Therefore, this study investigated the photocatalytic conversion of FA solution to hydrogen using visible light with several types of hydrogen catalysts (CdS/titanate nanotubes (TNTs), CdS/TiO2, Pt/CdS/TNTs) and WO3 as the oxygen catalyst. The results showed that the yield of hydrogen with CdS/TNTs + WO3 was much higher than with CdS/TiO2 + WO3. Moreover, coating the photocatalysts with metal could further promote the reaction. The optimal platinum loading was 0.01 wt%, and the hydrogen production achieved was 852.5 μmol · h(-1) with 20 vol% FA solution.
A number of 7-substituted quinolone derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for antibacterial and cytotoxic activities. Preliminary results indicated that most compounds tested in this study ...demonstrated better activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus than norfloxacin. Among them, 1-(4-amino-2-fluorophenyl)-6-fluoro-1,4-dihydro-7-{4-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2-hydroxyiminoethyl-1-piperazinyl}-4-oxo-3-quinolinecarboxylic acid (11d) and its ketone precursor 10d exhibited significant activities against Klebsiella pneumoniae, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, erythromycin- and ampicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis. Due to strong cytotoxicities of 11d (a mean log GI50 of −5.40), compound 10d, with good antibacterial activities and low cytotoxicities (a mean log GI50 of −4.67), is a more potential drug candidate.
A New Flavanone from Citrus reticulata Chen, C. Y.; Wang, J. J.; Kao, C. L. ...
Chemistry of natural compounds,
03/2021, Letnik:
57, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
A new flavanone, 5-hydroxy-7,2′,3′,4′,5′,6′-hexamethoxyflavanone (
1
), was isolated from the unripe fruit peels of Citrus reticulata (Rutaceae), together with two known polymethoxyflavones, ...5,6,7,8,3′,4′ -hexamethoxyflavone (
2
) and 5,6,7,8,4′-pentamethoxyflavone (
3
). The structure of
1
was characterized and identified by spectral analysis.
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