Sapovirus (SV) is one of the major causative agents of viral gastroenteritis affecting all age groups worldwide. A new method for the quantitative detection of SV from clinical stool specimens by ...real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) based on TaqMan
® MGB technology was described. Primers and probe were designed to target the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase/capsid genes junction. Performance of the newly developed assay was validated against a panel of 244 clinical stool specimens collected for patients with gastroenteritis. SV was detected in eight (3.3%) specimens. Phylogenetic analysis of the positive isolates suggested that the assay could detect at least SV genogroups I, II and IV. In addition, the assay had an increased detection rate compared with a widely used conventional RT-PCR assay. Quantitative analysis showed that the assay could detect as low as 10 copies of viral cDNA per reaction. No cross-reactivity with norovirus and rotavirus was observed. In conclusion, the assay is a sensitive and specific method for the detection of SV from clinical stool specimens.
A partnership model in interprofessional education (IPE) is important in promoting a sense of global citizenship while preparing students for cross-sector problem-solving. However, the literature ...remains scant in providing useful guidance for the development of an IPE programme co-implemented by external partners. In this pioneering study, we describe the processes of forging global partnerships in co-implementing IPE and evaluate the programme in light of the preliminary data available.
This study is generally quantitative. We collected data from a total of 747 health and social care students from four higher education institutions. We utilized a descriptive narrative format and a quantitative design to present our experiences of running IPE with external partners and performed independent t-tests and analysis of variance to examine pretest and posttest mean differences in students' data.
We identified factors in establishing a cross-institutional IPE programme. These factors include complementarity of expertise, mutual benefits, internet connectivity, interactivity of design, and time difference. We found significant pretest-posttest differences in students' readiness for interprofessional learning (teamwork and collaboration, positive professional identity, roles, and responsibilities). We also found a significant decrease in students' social interaction anxiety after the IPE simulation.
The narrative of our experiences described in this manuscript could be considered by higher education institutions seeking to forge meaningful external partnerships in their effort to establish interprofessional global health education.
Nonalbuminuric diabetic kidney disease (DKD) has become the prevailing DKD phenotype. We compared the risks of adverse outcomes among patients with this phenotype compared with other DKD phenotypes.
...Multicenter prospective cohort study.
19,025 Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes enrolled in the Hong Kong Diabetes Biobank.
DKD phenotypes defined by baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and albuminuria: no DKD (no decreased eGFR or albuminuria), albuminuria without decreased eGFR, decreased eGFR without albuminuria, and albuminuria with decreased eGFR.
All-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, hospitalization for heart failure (HF), and chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression (incident kidney failure or sustained eGFR reduction ≥40%).
Multivariable Cox proportional or cause-specific hazards models to estimate the relative risks of death, CVD, hospitalization for HF, and CKD progression. Multiple imputation was used for missing covariates.
Mean participant age was 61.1 years, 58.3% were male, and mean diabetes duration was 11.1 years. During 54,260 person-years of follow-up, 438 deaths, 1,076 CVD events, 298 hospitalizations for HF, and 1,161 episodes of CKD progression occurred. Compared with the no-DKD subgroup, the subgroup with decreased eGFR without albuminuria had higher risks of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio HR, 1.59 95% CI, 1.04-2.44), hospitalization for HF (HR, 3.08 95% CI, 1.82-5.21), and CKD progression (HR, 2.37 95% CI, 1.63-3.43), but the risk of CVD was not significantly greater (HR, 1.14 95% CI, 0.88-1.48). The risks of death, CVD, hospitalization for HF, and CKD progression were higher in the setting of albuminuria with or without decreased eGFR. A sensitivity analysis that excluded participants with baseline eGFR <30 mL/min/1.73 m2 yielded similar findings.
Potential misclassification because of drug use.
Nonalbuminuric DKD was associated with higher risks of hospitalization for HF and of CKD progression than no DKD, regardless of baseline eGFR.
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Emerging evidence suggests that autophagic modulators have therapeutic potential. This study aims to identify novel autophagic inducers from traditional Chinese medicinal herbs as potential antitumor ...agents. Using an image-based screen and bioactivity-guided purification, we identified alisol B 23-acetate, alisol A 24-acetate, and alisol B from the rhizome of Alisma orientale as novel inducers of autophagy, with alisol B being the most potent natural product. Across several cancer cell lines, we showed that alisol B-treated cells displayed an increase of autophagic flux and formation of autophagosomes, leading to cell cycle arrest at the G(1) phase and cell death. Alisol B induced calcium mobilization from internal stores, leading to autophagy through the activation of the CaMKK-AMPK-mammalian target of rapamycin pathway. Moreover, the disruption of calcium homeostasis induces endoplasmic reticulum stress and unfolded protein responses in alisol B-treated cells, leading to apoptotic cell death. Finally, by computational virtual docking analysis and biochemical assays, we showed that the molecular target of alisol B is the sarcoplasmic/endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+) ATPase. This study provides detailed insights into the cytotoxic mechanism of a novel antitumor compound.
Pulmonary infection caused by the opportunistic organisms Penicillium marneffei and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia in patients with Job's syndrome is rare and not well documented. The case of a ...30-year-old man with Job's syndrome who developed recurrent pneumonia and lung abscesses caused by P. marneffei and S. maltophilia, complicated by massive hemoptysis, is described. Bronchial artery embolization was successful in controlling the hemoptysis; however, the infection proved fatal despite appropriate antimicrobial therapy. A brief review of the literature on Job's syndrome and its associated infective pulmonary manifestations is also presented.
There is much interest in the tissue of origin of circulating DNA in plasma. Data generated using DNA methylation markers have suggested that hematopoietic cells of white cell lineages are important ...contributors to the circulating DNA pool. However, it is not known whether cells of the erythroid lineage would also release DNA into the plasma.
Using high-resolution methylation profiles of erythroblasts and other tissue types, 3 genomic loci were found to be hypomethylated in erythroblasts but hypermethylated in other cell types. We developed digital PCR assays for measuring erythroid DNA using the differentially methylated region for each locus.
Based on the methylation marker in the ferrochelatase gene, erythroid DNA represented a median of 30.1% of the plasma DNA of healthy subjects. In subjects with anemia of different etiologies, quantitative analysis of circulating erythroid DNA could reflect the erythropoietic activity in the bone marrow. For patients with reduced erythropoietic activity, as exemplified by aplastic anemia, the percentage of circulating erythroid DNA was decreased. For patients with increased but ineffective erythropoiesis, as exemplified by β-thalassemia major, the percentage was increased. In addition, the plasma concentration of erythroid DNA was found to correlate with treatment response in aplastic anemia and iron deficiency anemia. Plasma DNA analysis using digital PCR assays targeting the other 2 differentially methylated regions showed similar findings.
Erythroid DNA is a hitherto unrecognized major component of the circulating DNA pool and is a noninvasive biomarker for differential diagnosis and monitoring of anemia.
Abstract This study evaluated the clinical and epidemiologic features of individuals with community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) in Hong Kong from January 2004 ...through December 2005. Twenty-four episodes of skin and soft tissue infections and 1 episode of meningitis due to CA-MRSA were identified. CA-MRSA infections or carriage was found in 6 (13%) of 46 household contacts. A total of 29 isolates were analyzed by the Staphylococcus cassette chromosome mec (SCC mec ) typing, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and multilocus sequence typing. In addition, polymerase chain reaction detection of the genes encoding Panton-Valentine leukocidin was also carried out. It was observed that 24 had SCC mec IV/IVA and 5 had SCC mec V, and 23 were pvl positive. PFGE analysis clustered all except 1 isolate into 3 pulsed-field types (PFTs), HKU100 through HKU300. The HKU100 isolates had genotype ST30-IV identical to the Southwest Pacific clone. The HKU200 isolates belonged to ST59-V and were multiresistant, including an ermB -mediated macrolide resistance trait, which is characteristic of the predominant CA-MRSA clone in Taiwan. The HKU300 isolates had unique features (ST8, Panton–Valentine leukocidin negative, and SCC mec IVA) typical of CA-MRSA in Japan. In conclusion, CA-MRSA has a propensity to spread within families. Our findings showed that CA-MRSA strains in Hong Kong have diverse genetic backgrounds.
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