Open Access

Background: Acute gastroenteritis caused by bacteria, virus and parasite is an important cause of childhood morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Rotavirus and norovirus have been recognized as the most common pathogens causing acute gastroenteritis among children. However, there is still no valuable data about infections of rotavirus and norovirus in children in Ji’nan, an eastern city in China. The aims of the present study are to determine the incidence of rotavirus and norovirus associated acute gastroenteritis in Ji’nan among children, to characterize rotavirus and norovirus strains circulating during this period; and to provide useful epidemiological and clinical data. Methods: Fecal specimens and clinical data were collected from 767 children (502 outpatients and 265 inpatients) under 5 years of age with acute diarrhea at Shandong University Qilu Hospital and Qilu children’s HospitalinJi’nan, China between February 2011 and January 2012. Virus RNA was extracted, amplified, electrophoresed, sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed to determine the prevalent genotypes. Chi-square and U test were used to compare characteristics of clinical manifestation in each group. Results: Of the 767 specimens 263 (34.3%) were positive for rotavirus and 80 (10.4%) were positive for norovirus. Among 263 rotavirus positive cases, G3 (40.7%) was the most prevalent serotype, P[8] (46.8%) was the dominant genotype and G3P[8] (31.9%) was the most common combination. All of the norovirus strains belonged to GI

Community acquired Stenotrophomonas maltophilia discitis: Diagnosis aided by shotgun metagenomic sequencing

We report a rare case of culture negative L4-L5 discitis and epidural abscess in an immunocompetent child who had dry cupping therapy performed to treat low back strain. The causative pathogen was identified as Stenotrophomonas maltophilia by shotgun metagenomic sequencing of spinal cord aspirate after more than one month of unsuccessful empirical treatment with 6 different antibiotics. The patient was successfully treated with Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim and minocycline. Cupping therapy is a very popular medical procedure widely used in China, but the potential risk for severe infections such as discitis and epidural abscess described in this case should be recognized. Keywords: Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Discitis, Epidural abscess, Shotgun metagenomic sequencing, Dry cupping therap

Highly Luminescent and Stable CsPbI3 Perovskite Nanocrystals with Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Ligand Passivation for Red-Light-Emitting Diodes

CsPbI3 perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) have recently emerged as promising materials for optoelectronic devices because of their superior properties. However, the poor stability of the CsPbI3 NCs induced by easy ligand desorption represents a key issue limiting their practical applications. Herein, we report stable and highly luminescent black-phase CsPbI3 NCs passivated by novel ligands of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Theoretical calculation results reveal a stronger adsorption energy of SDS molecules at the CsPbI3 surface than that of commonly used oleic acid. As a result, the defect formation caused by the ligand loss during the purification process is greatly suppressed. The optimized SDS- CsPbI3 NCs exhibit significantly reduced surface defects, much enhanced stability, and superior photoluminescence efficiency. The red perovskite light-emitting diodes based on the SDS-CsPbI3 NCs demonstrate an external quantum efficiency of 8.4%, which shows a 4-fold improvement compared to the devices based on the oleic acid-modified CsPbI3 NCs.Funding Agencies|NSFCNational Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [61774077]; Key Projects of Joint Fund of Basic and Applied Basic Research Fund of Guangdong Province [2019B1515120073, 2019B090921002]; Guangzhou Key laboratory of Vacuum Coating Technologies and New Energy Materials Open Projects Fund [KFVE20200006]; National Key R&amp;D Program of China [2018YFA0209200]; National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [21574049]; China Postdoctoral Science FoundationChina Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2020M683191]; Swedish Research Council VetenskapsradetSwedish Research Council [2020-03564]; Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation [2020A1414010036, 2020A1515110527, 2020A1515110384]</p