Nationwide surveillance of bacterial respiratory pathogens conducted by the surveillance committee of Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, the Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases, and the Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010: General view of the pathogens\u27 antibacterial susceptibility

The nationwide surveillance on antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens from patients in Japan, was conducted by Japanese Society of Chemotherapy, Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases and Japanese Society for Clinical Microbiology in 2010.The isolates were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections during the period from January and April 2010 by three societies. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was conducted at the central reference laboratory according to the method recommended by Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institutes using maximum 45 antibacterial agents.Susceptibility testing was evaluable with 954 strains (206 Staphylococcus aureus, 189 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 4 Streptococcus pyogenes, 182 Haemophilus influenzae, 74 Moraxella catarrhalis, 139 Klebsiella pneumoniae and 160 Pseudomonas aeruginosa). Ratio of methicillin-resistant S.aureus was as high as 50.5%, and those of penicillin-intermediate and -resistant S.pneumoniae were 1.1% and 0.0%, respectively. Among H.influenzae, 17.6% of them were found to be β-lactamase-non-producing ampicillin (ABPC)-intermediately resistant, 33.5% to be β-lactamase-non-producing ABPC-resistant and 11.0% to be β-lactamase-producing ABPC-resistant strains. Extended spectrum β-lactamase-producing K.pneumoniae and multi-drug resistant P.aeruginosa with metallo β-lactamase were 2.9% and 0.6%, respectively.Continuous national surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility of respiratory pathogens is crucial in order to monitor changing patterns of susceptibility and to be able to update treatment recommendations on a regular basis

Visualization of hydration layers on muscovite mica in aqueous solution by frequency-modulation atomic force microscopy

A three-dimensional interaction force mapping experiment was carried out on a muscovite mica surface in an aqueous solution using a high-resolution and low-thermal drift frequency-modulation atomic force microscope. By collecting oscillatory frequency shift versus distance curves at the mica/solution interface, complicated hydration structures on the mica surface were visualized. Reconstructed two-dimensional frequency shift maps showed dot-like or honeycomb-like patterns at different tip-sample distances with a separation of 0.2 nm with each other, which agree well to the water molecule density maps predicted by a statistical-mechanical theory. Moreover, site-specific force versus distance curves showed a good agreement with theoretically calculated site-specific force curves by a molecular dynamics simulation. It is found that the first and second hydration layers give honeycomb-like and dot-like patterns in the two-dimensional frequency shift images, respectively, corresponding to the lateral distribution function in each layer

Morphological control of layered double hydroxide through a biomimetic approach using carboxylic and sulfonic acids

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have intercalation properties and are used in various applications. The performances of the LDH materials can be improved by controlling crystal morphology. Morphology of inorganic crystals is controlled by organic molecules in biomineralization. Inspired by biomineralization, we investigated the effect of the addition of mono, di and triacids as morphological control agents on crystal morphology of LDH synthesized by the homogeneous precipitation method. Morphology of LDH was changed from hexagonal plate to stacked disc by addition of monoacids, namely acetic acid and methanesulfonic acid, in the reaction solution. Flower-shaped LDH crystals were formed in the presence of diacids and a triacid, namely succinic acid, 1,2-ethanedisulfonic acid and 1,2,3-propanetricarboxylic acid. We found that the morphology of the LDH crystals was controlled by the number of functional group on the morphological control agent rather than the type of functional group. These findings can contribute for the development of novel and functional LDH materials with precisely controlled morphology

Beyond the Helix Pitch: Direct Visualization of Native DNA in Aqueous Solution

The DNA double helix was first elucidated by J.D. Watson and F.H.C. Crick over a half century ago. However, no one could actually “see” the well-known structure ever. Among all real-space observation methods, only atomic force microscopy (AFM) enables us to visualize the biologically active structure of natural DNA in water. However, conventional AFM measurements often caused the structural deformation of DNA because of the strong interaction forces acting on DNA. Moreover, large contact area between the AFM probe and DNA hindered us from imaging sub-molecular-scale features smaller than helical periodicity of DNA. Here, we show the direct observation of native plasmid DNA in water using an ultra-low-noise AFM with the highly sensitive force detection method (frequency modulation AFM: FM-AFM). Our micrographs of DNA vividly exhibited not only overall structure of the B-form double helix in water but also local structures which deviate from the crystallographic structures of DNA without any damage. Moreover, the interaction force area in the FM-AFM was small enough to clearly discern individual functional groups within DNA. The technique was also applied to explore the synthesized DNA nanostructures toward the current nanobiotechnology. This work will be essential for considering the structure–function relationship of biomolecular systems <i>in vivo</i> and for <i>in situ</i> analysis of DNA-based nanodevices

White adipose tissue undergoes browning during preweaning period in association with microbiota formation in mice

Summary: Beige adipocytes are transiently induced during early postnatal period in mice. Previous studies have suggested that, unlike in adults, the induction is independent of the sympathetic nerve activity; however, the mechanism is yet unknown. Here, we showed that beige adipocytes are induced during the preweaning period in association with the formation of microbiota in mice. Alteration of gut microbiota composition in preweaning mice by maternal treatment with antibiotics or high-fat diet feeding substantially suppressed WAT browning. The suppression was also found in pups transplanted cecal microbiota from pups of high-fat diet-fed dams. These treatments reduced the hepatic expression of genes involved in bile acid synthesis and the serum bile acids level. The abundance of Porphyromonadaceae and Ruminococcaceae in microbiota showed a positive and negative correlation with the induction of beige adipocytes, respectively. This finding may provide comprehensive understanding of the association between gut microbiota and adipose tissue development in the neonatal period

Reduction of [11C](+)3-MPB binding in brain of chronic fatigue syndrome with serum autoantibody against muscarinic cholinergic receptor.

BACKGROUND: Numerous associations between brain-reactive antibodies and neurological or psychiatric symptoms have been proposed. Serum autoantibody against the muscarinic cholinergic receptor (mAChR) was increased in some patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) or psychiatric disease. We examined whether serum autoantibody against mAChR affected the central cholinergic system by measuring brain mAChR binding and acetylcholinesterase activity using positron emission tomography (PET) in CFS patients with positive [CFS(+)] and negative [CFS(-)] autoantibodies. METHODOLOGY: Five CFS(+) and six CFS(-) patients, as well as 11 normal control subjects underwent a series of PET measurements with N-[(11)C]methyl-3-piperidyl benzilate [(11)C](+)3-MPB for the mAChR binding and N-[(11)C]methyl-4-piperidyl acetate [(11)C]MP4A for acetylcholinesterase activity. Cognitive function of all subjects was assessed by neuropsychological tests. Although the brain [(11)C](+)3-MPB binding in CFS(-) patients did not differ from normal controls, CFS(+) patients showed significantly lower [(11)C](+)3-MPB binding than CFS(-) patients and normal controls. In contrast, the [(11)C]MP4A index showed no significant differences among these three groups. Neuropsychological measures were similar among groups. CONCLUSION: The present results demonstrate that serum autoantibody against the mAChR can affect the brain mAChR without altering acetylcholinesterase activity and cognitive functions in CFS patients

Additional file 2 of Role of DNA dioxygenase Ten-Eleven translocation 3 (TET3) in rheumatoid arthritis progression

Additional file 2: Supplementary Table S1. TET3-mediated upregulated genes. Supplementary Table S2. TET3-mediated downregulated genes. Supplementary Table S3. Results of functional enrichment analysis. Supplementary Table S4. KEGG pathway analysis. Supplementary Table S5. Demographic, clinical, and biochemical features of RA and OA patients whose synovial tissues were used in the experiments

Additional file 1 of Role of DNA dioxygenase Ten-Eleven translocation 3 (TET3) in rheumatoid arthritis progression

Additional file 1: Supplementary Figure S1. Degeneration of TET3 mRNA induced by TNFα stimulation. Relative mRNA expression levels of TET3 in RA FLS (n = 3) treated with actinomycin D (Wako, 10 μg/mL), followed by stimulation with TNFα for 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 6 hrs. Supplementary Figure S2. Relative mRNA expression levels of TET1/2/3 with or without TET3-knockdown. (A) RA FLS (n = 2) samples were used to study TET3 mRNA levels by qPCR. Data are mean ± SEM. (B) RA FLS (n = 3) samples were used to study TET3 protein levels by Western blotting. Supplementary Figure S3. Heat map of differentially expressed genes in all RA FLS with or without TNFα stimulation and TET3-knockdown. 2013 of all 21,448 genes were differentially expressed genes in 4 RA FLS groups (ANOVA F-test, P < 0.05) and analyzed. Red corresponds to gene upregulation and blue to gene downregulation. Supplementary Figure S4. Cell proliferation of FLS by TET3 expression. RA FLS (n=3) were transfected with control or TET3 siRNAs. Cell numbers of FLS were counted with Hemocytometer at day 1, 3, and 7. P value by the t-test

Additional file 3 of Role of DNA dioxygenase Ten-Eleven translocation 3 (TET3) in rheumatoid arthritis progression

Additional file 3