The changing seroepidemiology of enterovirus 71 infection among children and adolescents in Singapore

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Enterovirus 71 (EV71) has caused recurrent epidemics of hand, foot and mouth disease among children in Singapore. Between August 2008 and July 2010, we conducted a survey to estimate the seroprevalence of EV71 infection among children and adolescents aged 1-17 years. We compared our EV71 seroepidemiologic findings with a previous study conducted in 1996-1997.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The survey involved the prospective collection of 1,200 residual sera from Singapore residents aged 1-17 years in two hospitals. Neutralizing antibodies to EV71 were detected by the microneutralization test. The geometric mean titer (GMT) of EV71 antibodies and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated and compared by age groups. Statistical significance was taken as <it>P </it>< 0.05.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall EV71 antibody prevalence was 26.9% (95% CI: 24.5-29.5%). It increased significantly from 14.3% in children aged 1-6 years to 27.8% in those aged 7-12 years, and reached 38.8% in adolescents aged 13-17 years. The seroconversion rate differed by about 12% between the consecutive age groups. The GMT of EV71 antibodies was higher among primary school children aged 7-12 years in our study than that among the 6-12 year age group in the 1996-1997 study.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Higher antibody titers were observed in children aged 1-6 years than those in the other two age groups, indicating that most of the infections had been acquired during early childhood. EV71 infection is common among children and adolescents in Singapore, with 39% infected by the time they are in secondary school (13-17 years of age).</p

Seroepidemiology of coxsackievirus A6, coxsackievirus A16, and Enterovirus 71 infections among children and adolescents in Singapore, 2008-2010

10.1371/journal.pone.0127999PLoS ONE105e012799

Expanding frontiers in materials chemistry and physics with multiple anions

During the last century, inorganic oxide compounds laid foundations for materials synthesis, characterization, and technology translation by adding new functions into devices previously dominated by main-group element semiconductor compounds. Today, compounds with multiple anions beyond the single-oxide ion, such as oxyhalides and oxyhydrides, offer a new materials platform from which superior functionality may arise. Here we review the recent progress, status, and future prospects and challenges facing the development and deployment of mixed-anion compounds, focusing mainly on oxide-derived materials. We devote attention to the crucial roles that multiple anions play during synthesis, characterization, and in the physical properties of these materials. We discuss the opportunities enabled by recent advances in synthetic approaches for design of both local and overall structure, state-of-the-art characterization techniques to distinguish unique structural and chemical states, and chemical/physical properties emerging from the synergy of multiple anions for catalysis, energy conversion, and electronic materials

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection Facilitates Invasion of Staphylococcus aureus into the Nasal Mucosa and Nasal Polyp Tissue

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) plays an important role in the pathogenesis of severe chronic airway disease, such as nasal polyps. However the mechanisms underlying the initiation of damage and/or invasion of the nasal mucosa by S. aureus are not clearly understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction between S. aureus and herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) in the invasion of the nasal mucosa and nasal polyp tissue. Methodology/Principal Findings: Inferior turbinate and nasal polyp samples were cultured and infected with either HSV1 alone, S. aureus alone or a combination of both. Both in turbinate mucosa and nasal polyp tissue, HSV1, with or without S. aureus incubation, led to focal infection of outer epithelial cells within 48 h, and loss or damage of the epithelium and invasion of HSV1 into the lamina propria within 72 h. After pre-infection with HSV1 for 24 h or 48 h, S. aureus was able to pass the basement membrane and invade the mucosa. Epithelial damage scores were significantly higher for HSV1 and S. aureus co-infected explants compared with control explants or S. aureus only-infected explants, and significantly correlated with HSV1-invasion scores. The epithelial damage scores of nasal polyp tissues were significantly higher than those of inferior turbinate tissues upon HSV1 infection. Consequently, invasion scores of HSV1 of nasal polyp tissues were significantly higher than those of inferior turbinate mucosa in the HSV1 and co-infection groups, and invasion scores of S. aureus of nasal polyp tissues were significantly higher than those of inferior turbinate tissues in the co-infection group. Conclusions/Significance: HSV1 may lead to a significant damage of the nasal epithelium and consequently may facilitate invasion of S. aureus into the nasal mucosa. Nasal polyp tissue is more susceptible to the invasion of HSV1 and epithelial damage by HSV1 compared with inferior turbinate mucosa

Colorectal cancer stages transcriptome analysis

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the gene expression differences in different stages of CRC. Gene expression data on 433 CRC patient samples were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). Gene expression differences were evaluated across CRC stages using linear regression. Genes with p 0.001 in expression differences were evaluated further in principal component analysis and genes with p 0.0001 were evaluated further in gene set enrichment analysis. A total of 377 patients with gene expression data in 20,532 genes were included in the final analysis. The numbers of patients in stage I through IV were 59, 147, 116 and 55, respectively. NEK4 gene, which encodes for NIMA related kinase 4, was differentially expressed across the four stages of CRC. The stage I patients had the highest expression of NEK4 genes, while the stage IV patients had the lowest expressions (p = 9*10−6 ). Ten other genes (RNF34, HIST3H2BB, NUDT6, LRCh4, GLB1L, HIST2H4A, TMEM79, AMIGO2, C20orf135 and SPSB3) had p value of 0.0001 in the differential expression analysis. Principal component analysis indicated that the patients from the 4 clinical stages do not appear to have distinct gene expression pattern. Network-based and pathway-based gene set enrichment analyses showed that these 11 genes map to multiple pathways such as meiotic synapsis and packaging of telomere ends, etc. Ten of these 11 genes were linked to Gene Ontology terms such as nucleosome, DNA packaging complex and protein-DNA interactions. The protein complex-based gene set analysis showed that four genes were involved in H2AX complex II. This study identified a small number of genes that might be associated with clinical stages of CRC. Our analysis was not able to find a molecular basis for the current clinical staging for CRC based on the gene expression patterns

Prevalence and burden of HBV co-infection among people living with HIV:A global systematic review and meta-analysis

Globally, in 2017 35 million people were living with HIV (PLHIV) and 257 million had chronic HBV infection (HBsAg positive). The extent of HIV-HBsAg co-infection is unknown. We undertook a systematic review to estimate the global burden of HBsAg co-infection in PLHIV. We searched MEDLINE, Embase and other databases for published studies (2002-2018) measuring prevalence of HBsAg among PLHIV. The review was registered with PROSPERO (#CRD42019123388). Populations were categorized by HIV-exposure category. The global burden of co-infection was estimated by applying regional co-infection prevalence estimates to UNAIDS estimates of PLHIV. We conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the odds of HBsAg among PLHIV compared to HIV-negative individuals. We identified 506 estimates (475 studies) of HIV-HBsAg co-infection prevalence from 80/195 (41.0%) countries. Globally, the prevalence of HIV-HBsAg co-infection is 7.6% (IQR 5.6%-12.1%) in PLHIV, or 2.7 million HIV-HBsAg co-infections (IQR 2.0-4.2). The greatest burden (69% of cases; 1.9 million) is in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, there was little difference in prevalence of HIV-HBsAg co-infection by population group (approximately 6%-7%), but it was slightly higher among people who inject drugs (11.8% IQR 6.0%-16.9%). Odds of HBsAg infection were 1.4 times higher among PLHIV compared to HIV-negative individuals. There is therefore, a high global burden of HIV-HBsAg co-infection, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Key prevention strategies include infant HBV vaccination, including a timely birth-dose. Findings also highlight the importance of targeting PLHIV, especially high-risk groups for testing, catch-up HBV vaccination and other preventative interventions. The global scale-up of antiretroviral therapy (ART) for PLHIV using a tenofovir-based ART regimen provides an opportunity to simultaneously treat those with HBV co-infection, and in pregnant women to also reduce mother-to-child transmission of HBV alongside HIV

Hydrothermal Synthesis of Delafossite-Type Oxides

The syntheses of copper and silver delafossite-type oxides from their constituent binary metal oxides, oxide hydroxides and hydroxides, by low temperature (<210 °C) and low pressure (<20 atm) hydrothermal reactions are described. Particular emphasis is placed on how the acid-base character of a constituent oxide determines its solubility and therefore whether a particular delafossite-type oxide can be synthesized, a strategy utilized by geologists and mineralogists to understand the conditions necessary for the synthesis of various minerals. Thus, the geochemical and corrosion science literature are shown to be useful in understanding the reaction conditions required for the syntheses of delafossite-type oxides and the relationship between reactant metal oxide acid-base character, solubility, aqueous speciation, and product formation. Manipulation of the key parameters, temperature, pressure, pH, and reactant solubility, results in broad families of phase-pure delafossite-type oxides in moderate to high yields for copper, CuBO2 (B) Al, Sc, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ga, and Rh), and silver, AgBO2 (B ) Al, Sc, Fe, Co, Ni, Ga, Rh, In, and Tl)