Isolation and Identification of Black Yeasts by Enrichment on Atmospheres of Monoaromatic Hydrocarbons

Black yeast members of the Herpotrichiellaceae present a complex ecological behavior: They are often isolated from rather extreme environments polluted with aromatic hydrocarbons, while they are also regularly involved in human opportunistic infections. A selective technique to promote the in vitro growth of herpotrichiellaceous fungi was applied to investigate their ecophysiology. Samples from natural ecological niches and man-made environments that might contain black yeasts were enriched on an inert solid support at low humidity and under a controlled atmosphere rich in volatile aromatic hydrocarbons. Benzene, toluene, and xylene were provided separately as the sole carbon and energy source via the gas phase. The assayed isolation protocol was highly specific toward mesophilic Exophiala species (70 strains of this genus out of 71 isolates). Those were obtained predominantly from creosote-treated railway ties (53 strains), but isolates were also found on wild berries (11 strains) and in guano-rich soil samples (six strains). Most of the isolates were obtained on toluene (43 strains), but enrichments on xylene and benzene also yielded herpotrichiellaceous fungi (17 and 10 isolates, respectively). Based upon morphological characterizations and DNA sequences of the full internal transcriber spacers (ITS) and the 8.5S rRNA genes, the majority of the obtained isolates were affiliated to the recently described species Exophiala xenobiotica (32 strains) and Exophiala bergeri (nine strains). Members of two other phylogenetic groups (24 and two strains, respectively) somewhat related to E. bergeri were also found, and a last group (three strains) corresponded to an undescribed Exophiala species

Appropriate whole genome amplification and pathogenic loci detection can improve the accuracy of preimplantation genetic diagnosis for deletional α-thalassemia

ObjectiveTo improve the accuracy of preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) in deletional α-thalassemia patients.DesignArticle.Patient(s)fifty-two deletional α-thalassemia couples.Intervention(s)Whole genome amplification (WGA), Next-generation sequencing (NGS) and PCR mutation loci detection.Main outcome measuresWGA, Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and PCR mutation loci detection results; Analysis of embryo chromosome copy number variation (CNV).ResultsMultiple Displacement Amplification (MDA) and Multiple Annealing and Looping–Based Amplification Cycles (MALBAC) methods for PGT for deletional α-thalassemia. Blastocyst biopsy samples (n = 253) were obtained from 52 deletional α-thalassemia couples. The results of the comparison of experimental data between groups MALBAC and MDA are as follows: (i) The average allele drop-out (ADO) rate, MALBAC vs. MDA = 2.27% ± 3.57% vs. 0.97% ± 1.4%, P=0.451); (ii) WGA success rate, MALBAC vs. MDA = 98.61% vs. 98.89%, P=0.851; (iii) SNP haplotype success rate, MALBAC vs. MDA = 94.44% vs. 96.68%, P=0.409; (iv) The result of SNP haplotype analysis is consistent with that of Gap-PCR/Sanger sequencing results, MALBAC vs. MDA = 36(36/72, 50%) vs. 151(151/181, 83.43%), P=0; (v) Valid SNP loci, MALBAC vs. MDA = 30 ± 9 vs. 34 ± 10, P=0.02; (vi) The mean CV values, MALBAC vs. MDA = 0.12 ± 0.263 vs. 0.09 ± 0.40, P=0.916; (vii) The average number of raw reads, MALBAC vs. MDA =3244259 ± 999124 vs. 3713146 ± 1028721, P=0; (viii) The coverage of genome (%), MALBAC vs. MDA = 5.02 ± 1.09 vs. 5.55 ± 1.49, P=0.008.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that MDA is superior to MALBAC for PGT of deletional α-thalassemia. Furthermore, SNP haplotype analysis combined with PCR loci detection can improve the accuracy and detection rate of deletional α-thalassemia

Frataxin deficiency promotes endothelial senescence in pulmonary hypertension

The dynamic regulation of endothelial pathophenotypes in pulmonary hypertension (PH) remains undefined. Cellular senescence is linked to PH with intracardiac shunts; however, its regulation across PH subtypes is unknown. Since endothelial deficiency of iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters is pathogenic in PH, we hypothesized that a Fe-S biogenesis protein, frataxin (FXN), controls endothelial senescence. An endothelial subpopulation in rodent and patient lungs across PH subtypes exhibited reduced FXN and elevated senescence. In vitro, hypoxic and inflammatory FXN deficiency abrogated activity of endothelial Fe-S–containing polymerases, promoting replication stress, DNA damage response, and senescence. This was also observed in stem cell–derived endothelial cells from Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA), a genetic disease of FXN deficiency, ataxia, and cardiomyopathy, often with PH. In vivo, FXN deficiency–dependent senescence drove vessel inflammation, remodeling, and PH, whereas pharmacologic removal of senescent cells in Fxn-deficient rodents ameliorated PH. These data offer a model of endothelial biology in PH, where FXN deficiency generates a senescent endothelial subpopulation, promoting vascular inflammatory and proliferative signals in other cells to drive disease. These findings also establish an endothelial etiology for PH in FRDA and left heart disease and support therapeutic development of senolytic drugs, reversing effects of Fe-S deficiency across PH subtypes

A data‐driven scheduling approach for integrated electricity‐hydrogen system based on improved DDPG

Abstract The involvement of hydrogen energy systems has been recognised as a promising way to mitigate climate problems. As a kind of efficient multi‐energy complementary system, the hydropower‐photovoltaic‐hydrogen (HPH) system could be an ideal approach to combining hydrogen with an installed renewable energy system to improve the flexibility of energy management and reduce power curtailment. However, the intra‐day scheduling of HPH system brings challenges due to the time‐related nonlinear hydropower generation process, the complex energy conversion process and the uncertain natural resource supply. Faced with these challenges, an improved deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG)‐based data‐driven scheduling algorithm is proposed. In contrast to the prevalent DDPG, two sets of actor‐critic networks are properly designed based on prior knowledge‐based deep neural networks for the considered complex uncertain system to search for near‐optimal policies and approximate actor‐value functions. In addition, customized reward functions are proposed with the consideration of interactions among different energy supplies, which helps to improve convergence speed and stability. Finally, the case study results demonstrate that the proposed system model and the optimal energy management strategy based on the improved DDPG algorithm can guide the electricity‐hydrogen system to achieve rapid response and more reasonable energy management

A Data-Driven Scheduling Approach for Integrated Electricity-Hydrogen System Based on Improved DDPG

The involvement of hydrogen energy systems has been recognised as a promising way to mitigate climate problems. As a kind of efficient multi-energy complementary system, the hydropower-photovoltaic-hydrogen (HPH) system could be an ideal approach to combining hydrogen with an installed renewable energy system to improve the flexibility of energy management and reduce power curtailment. However, the intra-day scheduling of HPH system brings challenges due to the time-related nonlinear hydropower generation process, the complex energy conversion process and the uncertain natural resource supply. Faced with these challenges, an improved deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG)-based data-driven scheduling algorithm is proposed. In contrast to the prevalent DDPG, two sets of actor-critic networks are properly designed based on prior knowledge-based deep neural networks for the considered complex uncertain system to search for near-optimal policies and approximate actor-value functions. In addition, customized reward functions are proposed with the consideration of interactions among different energy supplies, which helps to improve convergence speed and stability. Finally, the case study results demonstrate that the proposed system model and the optimal energy management strategy based on the improved DDPG algorithm can guide the electricity-hydrogen system to achieve rapid response and more reasonable energy management

Effect of ultrasonic modification on the protective activity of Flammulina velutipes polysaccharide to prevent ethanol-induced injury on GES-1 cells

Flammulina velutipes (F. velutipes) polysaccharides were modified by ultrasound at the rated power of 150 W and 900 W. The monosaccharide composition, ultraviolet-visible, and Fourier transform infrared spectral characteristics of F. velutipes polysaccharides (FVP) and their ultrasonic modification products (U-FVPs) were determined. The protective effects of FVP and U-FVPs on human gastric mucosal cells GES-1 were confirmed for the first time. The mole ratios of glucose and galactose were decreased and the mole ratio of mannose was increased after ultrasonic modification. Compared with the original FVP and the FVP modified by ultrasound of 150 W (U-FVP1), the FVP modified by ultrasound of 900 W (U-FVP2) could better prevent ethanol-induced damage to GES-1 cells. With increasing ultrasound intensity, the protective effect of FVPs on GES-1 cells was significantly enhanced by more effective prevention of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and more promotion of expression of triglyceride factor 2 (TFF2), prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), epidermal growth factor (EGF), and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) mRNA. The ultrasonic modification might be an effective way to develop novel F. velutipes polysaccharides that could effectively resist the gastric injury caused by excessive alcohol consumption

Safety evaluation on concomitant immunization with inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine produced from Sabin strains and other vaccines (from 2015 to 2020)

Objective To evaluate the safety of concomitantly administering inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine produced from Sabin strains (sIPVs) with other vaccines. Methods A descriptive analysis was carried out on adverse events following immunization (AEFI) based on the administration of sIPV alone or concomitant with other vaccines (from 2015 to 2020) using data from the national AEFI surveillance system of China (CNAEFIS). All adverse reactions (ADRs) of the concomitant immunization were coded using a medical dictionary for regulatory activities (MedDRA) before comparison. Results The CNAEFIS reported a total of 9130 sIPV-related AEFI cases, including 6842 AEFI cases collected after immunization with sIPV alone and 2288 AEFI cases collected after immunization of sIPV concomitant with other vaccines. The combination of sIPV with diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine (DTaP) was correlated with the highest frequency of AEFI, which accounted for 53.50% of all 2288 AEFI cases. After MedDRA-based coding, the most frequent ADR was fever (70.18%), followed by erythema and swelling at the injection site (6.95%), induration at the injection site (3.85%), dermatitis allergy (3.56%) and urticaria (1.55%). A statistically significant difference (P < .001) was found between sIPV immunization and sIPV immunization concomitant with other vaccines for general reactions (95.36% and 93.22%, respectively) and abnormal reactions (4.64% and 6.78%, respectively). Conclusion No new safety signal is found for sIPV administered concomitantly, although its administration with other vaccines may increase the occurrence of abnormal reactions. Vaccine manufacturers should focus on the safety of administering sIPV with DTaP and carry out relevant clinical studies when necessary