Finding a Needle in the Virus Metagenome Haystack - Micro-Metagenome Analysis Captures a Snapshot of the Diversity of a Bacteriophage Armoire

Viruses are ubiquitous in the oceans and critical components of marine microbial communities, regulating nutrient transfer to higher trophic levels or to the dissolved organic pool through lysis of host cells. Hydrothermal vent systems are oases of biological activity in the deep oceans, for which knowledge of biodiversity and its impact on global ocean biogeochemical cycling is still in its infancy. In order to gain biological insight into viral communities present in hydrothermal vent systems, we developed a method based on deep-sequencing of pulsed field gel electrophoretic bands representing key viral fractions present in seawater within and surrounding a hydrothermal plume derived from Loki's Castle vent field at the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge. The reduction in virus community complexity afforded by this novel approach enabled the near-complete reconstruction of a lambda-like phage genome from the virus fraction of the plume. Phylogenetic examination of distinct gene regions in this lambdoid phage genome unveiled diversity at loci encoding superinfection exclusion- and integrase-like proteins. This suggests the importance of fine-tuning lyosgenic conversion as a viral survival strategy, and provides insights into the nature of host-virus and virus-virus interactions, within hydrothermal plumes. By reducing the complexity of the viral community through targeted sequencing of prominent dsDNA viral fractions, this method has selectively mimicked virus dominance approaching that hitherto achieved only through culturing, thus enabling bioinformatic analysis to locate a lambdoid viral “needle" within the greater viral community “haystack". Such targeted analyses have great potential for accelerating the extraction of biological knowledge from diverse and poorly understood environmental viral communities

Evaluation of a psychoeducation program for Chinese clients with schizophrenia and their family caregivers

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a psychoeducation program for Chinese clients with schizophrenia and their family caregivers. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was conducted. Seventy-three clients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia and their caregivers (n = 73) were recruited and randomized into a study (n = 36) and control group (n = 37). Ten psychoeducation sessions were provided to the study group. The outcomes were measured at the baseline, immediately after (post-1), six months (post-2), and 12 months after the intervention (post-3). Results: There were significant treatment effects across time for all client outcomes: adherence to medication (p < 0.01), mental status (p < 0.01), and insight into illness (p < 0.01). However, no significant differences were found between groups at the post-3 measures for all client outcomes. For the caregivers, significant group differences were only detected in self-efficacy at the post-1 (p = 0.007) and post-2 (p < 0.001) measures, the level of satisfaction at the post-1 (p = 0.033) and post-2 (p < 0.021) measures, and the perception of family burden at the post-2 measures (p = 0.043). Conclusion: A psychoeducation intervention had positive effects on Chinese clients and their caregivers. However, these effects might not be sustained 12 months after the intervention. Practice implications: To substantiate its effects, psychoeducation should be an ongoing intervention, with its outcomes constantly evaluated. © 2008 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Investigating the impact of Silica Nanoparticles on affective and cognitive behaviors, and on synapse in vivo and in vitro

Conference Theme: Science and Aging: An Era of discover

An occupational therapy fall reduction home visit program for community-dwelling older adults in Hong Kong after an emergency department visit for a fall

202303 bckwAccepted ManuscriptSelf-fundedPublishe

Role of topography in the behavior of the matric suction of unsaturated fill slopes

[[abstract]]This paper presents the result of a field study on the influence of topography on the distribution of the matric suction of the soil in unsaturated slopes subjected to rainfall. The matric suction was measured in the lower, middle and upper parts of planar, ridge-like and gullied slopes before and after two significant rainfall events. Jet-filled tensiometers were used for depths of >1.2 m and the filter paper method at depths of <0.9 m. It was found that in the dry season the matric suction of the soil at a shallow depth in the gullied slope is significantly less than that in the planar and ridge-like slopes while following a rainfall event the decrease in the matric suction is smallest in the gullied slope and greatest in the ridge-like slope, irrespective of the amount of the accumulated precipitation

Predictors for early HBeAg loss during lamivudine therapy in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients with acute exacerbation

Purpose To examine the rate of early HBeAg loss and predictors of HBeAg loss in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with acute exacerbation (AE) treated with lamivudine. Methods A total of 146 patients diagnosed with CHB and AEs were included in this retrospective study. Patients were divided into two groups: decompensated and compensated. Results The mean treatment duration for the decompensated and compensated groups was 18.1 and 19.9 months, respectively. Decompensated patients were significantly older and had a higher prevalence of cirrhosis and genotype B infection than compensated patients. Compared to compensated patients, decompensated patients achieved a higher rate of HBeAg loss (25.8 vs. 14.3%; P = 0.0805) at 3 months of therapy, a higher rate of serum HBV DNA negativity (53.2 vs. 29.8%; P = 0.0042), and a lower rate of rtM204V/I mutation (3.2 vs. 16.7%; P = 0.0139) after 12 months of lamivudine therapy. The rates of HBeAg loss after 6 and 12 months of lamivudine therapy were similar between the two groups. Logistic regression analysis revealed that female gender and baseline ALT level >= 1,000 IU/L, but not decompensations, were significant predictors of HBeAg loss at 3 months; however, only female gender was a significant predictor of HBeAg loss after 6 and 12 months of lamivudine therapy. The early HBeAg losers showed a significantly higher sustained remission rate off lamivudine therapy. Conclusions Female gender and baseline serum ALT level >= 1,000 IU/L were independent predictors of early HBeAg loss during lamivudine therapy in HBeAg-positive CHB patients with AE