Community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a serious clinical concern. A lack of accurate diagnosis could hinder pathogen‐directed therapeutic strategies. To solve this problem, we evaluated clinical ...application of nested multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in children with severe CAP. We prospectively enrolled 60 children with severe CAP requiring intensive care between December 2019 and November 2021 at a tertiary medical center. Nested multiplex PCR respiratory panel (RP) and pneumonia panel (PP) were performed on upper and lower respiratory tract specimens. We integrated standard‐of‐care tests and quantitative PCR for validation. The combination of RP, PP, and standard‐of‐care tests could detect at least one pathogen in 98% of cases and the mixed viral‐bacterial detection rate was 65%. The positive percent agreement (PPA), and negative percent agreement (NPA) for RP were 94% and 99%; the PPA and NPA for PP were 89% and 98%. The distribution of pathogens was similar in the upper and lower respiratory tracts, and the DNA or RNA copies of pathogens in the lower respiratory tract were equal to or higher than those in the upper respiratory tract. PP detected bacterial pathogens in 40 (67%) cases, and clinicians tended to increase bacterial diagnosis and escalate antimicrobial therapy for them. RP and PP had satisfactory performance to help pediatricians make pathogenic diagnoses and establish therapy earlier. The pathogens in the upper respiratory tract had predictive diagnostic values for lower respiratory tract infections in children with severe CAP.
•Serangium japonicum and thiamethoxam are often integrated to control Bemisia tabaci.•Thiamethoxam can strongly affect the predatory activity of S. japonicum.•Exposure route can affect the impact on ...the predator.•Foliar applications should be preferred to systemic ones.
Given expectations for a booming usage of thiamethoxam and increasing availability of the promising biological agent Serangium japonicum for the control of Bemisia tabaci in China, an evaluation of their compatibility is crucial for integrated pest management (IPM). This study examined the lethal and sublethal effects of thiamethoxam on S. japonicum through three exposure routes. An acute toxicity bioassay showed that LC50 values of thiamethoxam for S. japonicum through residue contact, egg-dip, and systemic treatment were 6.65, 4.37, and 2.43mg AI L−1, respectively. The prey consumption of S. japonicum given different densities of B. tabaci eggs under control, discontinuous, egg-dip and systemic exposure scenarios showed a good fit to a Type II functional response. Predation of S. japonicum was most affected under systemic exposure, followed by egg-dip, and discontinuous, which was only slightly affected. In all cases tested, however, predators recovered their predation capacity rapidly, either after 24h of exposure or 24h after the end of exposure. Thiamethoxam was highly toxic to S. japonicum regardless of exposure routes. Sublethal effects of thiamethoxam applied systemically or foliar both impaired the biological control of S. japonicum on B. tabaci. Therefore, thiamethoxam should be used with caution in IPM of B. tabaci.
High strength and high ductility are often mutually exclusive properties for structural metallic materials. This is particularly important for aluminum (Al)-based alloys which are widely commercially ...employed. Here, we introduce a hierarchical nanostructured Al alloy with a structure of Al nanograins surrounded by nano-sized metallic glass (MG) shells. It achieves an ultrahigh yield strength of 1.2 GPa in tension (1.7 GPa in compression) along with 15% plasticity in tension (over 70% in compression). The nano-sized MG phase facilitates such ultrahigh strength by impeding dislocation gliding from one nanograin to another, while continuous generation-movement-annihilation of dislocations in the Al nanograins and the flow behavior of the nano-sized MG phase result in increased plasticity. This plastic deformation mechanism is also an efficient way to decrease grain size to sub-10 nm size for low melting temperature metals like Al, making this structural design one solution to the strength-plasticity trade-off.
The plant elicitor peptides (Peps), a family of damage/danger-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs), are perceived by two receptors, PEPR1 and PEPR2, and contribute to plant defense against pathogen ...attack and abiotic stress. Here, we show that the Peps-PEPR signaling pathway functions in stomatal immunity by activating guard cell anion channels in Arabidopsis thaliana. The mutant plants lacking both PEPR1 and PEPR2 (pepr1 pepr2) displayed enhanced bacterial growth after being sprayed with Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato (Pst) DC3000, but not after pathogen infiltration into leaves, implicating PEPR function in stomatal immunity. Indeed, synthetic Arabidopsis Peps (AtPeps) effectively induced stomatal closure in wild-type but not pepr1 pepr2 mutant leaves, suggesting that the AtPeps-PEPR signaling pathway triggers stomatal closure. Consistent with this finding, patch-clamp recording revealed AtPep1-induced activation of anion channels in the guard cells of wild-type but not pepr1 pepr2 mutant plants. We further identified two guard cell-expressed anion channels, SLOW ANION CHANNEL1 (SLAC1) and its homolog SLAH3, as functionally overlapping components responsible for AtPep1-induced stomatal closure. The slac1 slah3 double mutant, but not slac1 or slah3 single mutants, failed to respond to AtPep1 in stomatal closure assays. Interestingly, disruption of OPEN STOMATA1 (OST1), an essential gene for abscisic acid-triggered stomatal closure, did not affect the AtPep1-induced anion channel activity and stomatal response. Together, these results illustrate a DAMP-triggered signaling pathway that, unlike the flagellin22-FLAGELLIN-SENSITIVE2 pathway, triggers stomata immunity through an OST1-independent mechanism.
Abstract
Search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has been mainly focused on nearby stars and their planets in recent years. Barnard’s star is the second closest star system to the Sun and the ...closest star in the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) observable sky which makes the minimum Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power required for a hypothetical radio transmitter from Barnard’s star to be detected by FAST telescope a mere 4.36 × 10
8
W. In this paper, we present the FAST telescope as the most sensitive instrument for radio SETI observations toward nearby star systems and conduct a series of observations to Barnard’s star (GJ 699). By applying the multibeam coincidence matching strategy on the FAST telescope, we search for narrow-band signals (∼Hz) in the frequency range of 1.05–1.45 GHz, and two orthogonal linear polarization directions are recorded. Despite finding no evidence of radio technosignatures in our series of observations, we have developed predictions regarding the hypothetical extraterrestrial intelligence signal originating from Barnard’s star. These predictions are based on the star’s physical properties and our observation strategy.
During recent 20 years, enterovirus 71 (EV71) has emerged as a major concern among children, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. To understand current EV71 serostatus, to find risk factors ...associated with EV71 infection and to establish future EV71 vaccine policy, we performed a seroepidemiology study in Taiwan in 2017.
After informed consent was obtained, we enrolled preschool children, 6-15-year-old students, 16-50-year-old people. They received a questionnaire and a blood sample was collected to measure the EV71 neutralization antibody.
Altogether, 920 subjects were enrolled with a male-to-female ratio of 1.03. The EV71 seropositive rate was 10% (8/82) in infants, 4% (6/153) in 1-year-old children, 8% (7/83) in 2-year-old children, 8% (13/156) in 3-5-year-old children, 31% (38/122) in 6-11-year-old primary school students, 45% (54/121) in 12-15-year-old high school students and 75% (152/203) in 16-50-year-old people. Risk factors associated with EV71 seropositivity in preschool children were female gender, having siblings, more siblings, and contact with herpangina or hand-foot-and-mouth disease. The risk factor with EV71 seropositivity in 16-50-year-old people was having children in their families in addition to older age (p<0.001). Compared with the rates in 1997, 1999 and 2007, the rates in children were significantly lower in 2017.
EV71 seropositive rates were very low, at 4% to 10%, in preschool children and not high, at 31%, in primary school students. Preschool children are highly susceptible and need EV71 vaccine most.
Using a sample of listed firms from 2012 to 2017 in the A-share markets of Shanghai Stock Exchange, we examine how textual tone influences a firm’s future value based on a total of 4694 annual ...reports. We find that the tone of the Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) sends a signal of managers’ expectations of the firm and generates a long-term effect on market responses. We show that firms with more optimistic MD&A tone tend to present higher firm value. We further discover that such impact is weakened for the firms with higher-paid executives and more independent directors. Our empirical results are robust to a battery of checks.
•There is a significant market reaction to the tone of the MD&A.•The impact of textual tone is weakened for the firms with more independent directors.•Higher compensation increases managerial incentives to manipulate textual tone which undermines its information value.•The corporate information disclosure of Chinese market is flawed even for firms with relatively good corporate governance.
Experimental autoimmune prostatitis (EAP)-induced persistent inflammatory immune response can significantly upregulate the expression of N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptors in the ...paraventricular nucleus (PVN). However, the mechanism has not yet been elucidated. Herein, we screened out the target prostate-derived inflammation cytokines (PDICs) by comparing the inflammatory cytokine levels in peripheral blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) between EAP rats and their controls. After identifying the target PDIC, qualified males in initial copulatory behavior testing (CBT) were subjected to implanting tubes onto bilateral PVN. Next, they were randomly divided into four subgroups (EAP-1, EAP-2, Control-1, and Control-2). After 1-week recovery, EAP-1 rats were microinjected with the target PDIC inhibitor, Control-1 rats were microinjected with the target PDIC, while the EAP-2 and Control-2 subgroups were only treated with the same amount of artificial CSF (aCSF). Results showed that only interleukin-1β(IL-1β) had significantly increased mRNA-expression in the prostate of EAP rats compared to the controls (P < 0.001) and significantly higher protein concentrations in both the serum (P = 0.001) and CSF (P < 0.001) of the EAP groups compared to the Control groups. Therefore, IL-1β was identified as the target PDIC which crosses the blood-brain barrier, thereby influencing the central nervous system. Moreover, the EAP-1 subgroup displayed a gradually prolonged ejaculation latency (EL) in the last three CBTs (all P < 0.01) and a significantly lower expression of NMDA NR1 subunit in the PVN (P = 0.043) compared to the respective control groups after a 10-day central administration of IL-1β inhibitors. However, the Control-1 subgroup showed a gradually shortened EL (P < 0.01) and a significantly higher NR1 expression (P = 0.004) after homochronous IL-1β administration. Therefore, we identified IL-1β as the primary PDIC which shortens EL in EAP rats. However, further studies should be conducted to elucidate the specific molecular mechanisms through which IL-1β upregulates NMDA expression.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by nonstop infections of SARS-CoV-2 has continued to ravage many countries worldwide. Here we report that suramin, a 100-year-old drug, is a potent inhibitor of the ...SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and acts by blocking the binding of RNA to the enzyme. In biochemical assays, suramin and its derivatives are at least 20-fold more potent than remdesivir, the currently approved nucleotide drug for treatment of COVID-19. The 2.6 Å cryo-electron microscopy structure of the viral RdRp bound to suramin reveals two binding sites. One site directly blocks the binding of the RNA template strand and the other site clashes with the RNA primer strand near the RdRp catalytic site, thus inhibiting RdRp activity. Suramin blocks viral replication in Vero E6 cells, although the reasons underlying this effect are likely various. Our results provide a structural mechanism for a nonnucleotide inhibitor of the SARS-CoV-2 RdRp.
Background: the wear of tibial insert is still one of primary factors leading to failure of total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Dodecyl gallate (DG) has shown improvements in the oxidation stability of ...highly cross-linked polyethylene (HXLPE). This study aimed to assess the application of HXLPE supplemented with DG (HXLPE-DG) on the tibial insert in TKA concerning the wear resistance and the potential impact on implant fixation; Methods: tibial inserts made of HXLPE-DG were subjected to a 3 million loading-cycle wear test following ISO 14243-1:2009. The loss of mass and wear rate of the tibial inserts were calculated. The quantity, size,- and shape of wear particles were recorded; Results: the test specimens lost an average mass of 16.00 mg ± 0.94 mg, and were on an average wear rate of 3.92 mg/million cycles ± 0.19 mg/million cycles. The content of wear particles in the calf serum medium was 3.94 × 108 particles/mL ± 3.93 × 107 particles/mL, 96.66% ± 0.77% of the particles had an equivalent circular diameter less than 0.5 μm. The aspect ratio of wear particles was 1.40 (min: 1.01; max: 6.42). Conclusions: HXLPE-DG displayed advantages over the commonly used materials for tibial inserts and presented the potential of application in TKA.
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