Prevalence and risk factors of hepatitis C among former blood donors in rural China

SummaryBackgroundIllegal commercial plasma and blood donation activities in the late 1980s and early 1990s caused a large number of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections in rural areas of China.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was carried out in 2008, in which all residents in a former blood donation village in rural Hebei Province were invited for a questionnaire interview and testing for HCV antibodies. Questionnaires were administered to collect information about their personal status and commercial blood donation history, and HCV antibodies were tested by enzyme immunoassay.ResultsOf 520 villagers who participated in the interviews, 236 (45.4%) reported a history of selling whole blood or plasma. HCV seropositivity was confirmed in 148/520 (28.5%) interviewees and 101/236 (42.8%) former commercial plasma and blood donors. Selling plasma was the strongest independent predictor of HCV seropositivity (p=0.0037). Past history of an operation was also independently associated with HCV infection (p=0.0270).ConclusionsUnsafe practices during illegal plasma donation led to a high risk of HCV seropositivity for donors during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many infected people suffered chronic hepatitis from that time onwards and urgently needed treatment and care

Evolutionarily distinct bacteriophage endolysins featuring conserved peptidoglycan cleavage sites protect mice from MRSA infection

Objectives In the light of increasing drug resistance in Staphylococcus aureus, bacteriophage endolysins [peptidoglycan hydrolases (PGHs)] have been suggested as promising antimicrobial agents. The aim of this study was to determine the antimicrobial activity of nine enzymes representing unique homology groups within a diverse class of staphylococcal PGHs. Methods PGHs were recombinantly expressed, purified and tested for staphylolytic activity in multiple in vitro assays (zymogram, turbidity reduction assay and plate lysis) and against a comprehensive set of strains (S. aureus and CoNS). PGH cut sites in the staphylococcal peptidoglycan were determined by biochemical assays (Park-Johnson and Ghuysen procedures) and MS analysis. The enzymes were tested for their ability to eradicate static S. aureus biofilms and compared for their efficacy against systemic MRSA infection in a mouse model. Results Despite similar modular architectures and unexpectedly conserved cleavage sites in the peptidoglycan (conferred by evolutionarily divergent catalytic domains), the enzymes displayed varying degrees of in vitro lytic activity against numerous staphylococcal strains, including cell surface mutants and drug-resistant strains, and proved effective against static biofilms. In a mouse model of systemic MRSA infection, six PGHs provided 100% protection from death, with animals being free of clinical signs at the end of the experiment. Conclusions Our results corroborate the high potential of PGHs for treatment of S. aureus infections and reveal unique antimicrobial and biochemical properties of the different enzymes, suggesting a high diversity of potential applications despite highly conserved peptidoglycan target site

Imaging the initial condition of heavy-ion collisions and nuclear structure across the nuclide chart

A major goal of the hot QCD program, the extraction of the properties of the quark gluon plasma (QGP), is currently limited by our poor knowledge of the initial condition of the QGP, in particular how it is shaped from the colliding nuclei. To attack this limitation, we propose to exploit collisions of selected species to precisely assess how the initial condition changes under variations of the structure of the colliding ions. This knowledge, combined with event-by-event measures of particle correlations in the final state of heavy-ion collisions, will provide in turn a new way to probe the collective structure of nuclei, and to confront and exploit the predictions of state-of-the-art ab initio nuclear structure theories. The US nuclear community should capitalize on this interdisciplinary connection by pursuing collisions of well-motivated species at high-energy colliders.Comment: 23 pages, 6 figure

Dietary Modulation of Gut Microbiota Contributes to Alleviation of Both Genetic and Simple Obesity in Children

Gut microbiota has been implicated as a pivotal contributing factor in diet-related obesity; however, its role in development of disease phenotypes in human genetic obesity such as Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) remains elusive. In this hospitalized intervention trial with PWS (n = 17) and simple obesity (n = 21) children, a diet rich in non-digestible carbohydrates induced significant weight loss and concomitant structural changes of the gut microbiota together with reduction of serum antigen load and alleviation of inflammation. Co-abundance network analysis of 161 prevalent bacterial draft genomes assembled directly from metagenomic datasets showed relative increase of functional genome groups for acetate production from carbohydrates fermentation. NMR-based metabolomic profiling of urine showed diet-induced overall changes of host metabotypes and identified significantly reduced trimethylamine N-oxide and indoxyl sulfate, host-bacteria co-metabolites known to induce metabolic deteriorations. Specific bacterial genomes that were correlated with urine levels of these detrimental co-metabolites were found to encode enzyme genes for production of their precursors by fermentation of choline or tryptophan in the gut. When transplanted into germ-free mice, the pre-intervention gut microbiota induced higher inflammation and larger adipocytes compared with the post-intervention microbiota from the same volunteer. Our multi-omics-based systems analysis indicates a significant etiological contribution of dysbiotic gut microbiota to both genetic and simple obesity in children, implicating a potentially effective target for alleviation

Boosting Superior Lithium Storage Performance of Alloy‐Based Anode Materials via Ultraconformal Sb Coating–Derived Favorable Solid‐Electrolyte Interphase

Alloy materials such as Si and Ge are attractive as high‐capacity anodes for rechargeable batteries, but such anodes undergo severe capacity degradation during discharge–charge processes. Compared to the over‐emphasized efforts on the electrode structure design to mitigate the volume changes, understanding and engineering of the solid‐electrolyte interphase (SEI) are significantly lacking. This work demonstrates that modifying the surface of alloy‐based anode materials by building an ultraconformal layer of Sb can significantly enhance their structural and interfacial stability during cycling. Combined experimental and theoretical studies consistently reveal that the ultraconformal Sb layer is dynamically converted to Li3Sb during cycling, which can selectively adsorb and catalytically decompose electrolyte additives to form a robust, thin, and dense LiF‐dominated SEI, and simultaneously restrain the decomposition of electrolyte solvents. Hence, the Sb‐coated porous Ge electrode delivers much higher initial Coulombic efficiency of 85% and higher reversible capacity of 1046 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 500 mA g−1, compared to only 72% and 170 mAh g−1 for bare porous Ge. The present finding has indicated that tailoring surface structures of electrode materials is an appealing approach to construct a robust SEI and achieve long‐term cycling stability for alloy‐based anode materials

Denudation outpaced by crustal thickening in the eastern Tianshan

The modern high topography of the Tianshan resulted from the reactivation of a Paleozoic orogenic belt by the India/Asia collision. Today, the range exhibits tectonically active forelands and intermontane basins. Based on quantitative morphotectonic observations and age constraints derived from cosmogenic 10Be dating, single-grain post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (p-IR IRSL) dating and modeling of fault scarp degradation, we quantify the deformation in the Nalati and Bayanbulak intermontane basins in the central Eastern Tianshan. Our results indicate that at least 1.4 mm/yr of horizontal crustal shortening is accommodated within these two basins. This shortening represents over 15% of the 8.5 ± 0.5 mm/yr total shortening rate across the entire range at this longitude. This shortening rate implies that the Eastern Central Tianshan is thickening at a mean rate of ∼1.4 mm/yr, a rate that is significantly higher than the average denudation rate of 0.14 mm/yr derived from our cosmogenic analysis. This discrepancy suggests that the Tianshan range has not yet reached a steady-state topography and remains in a transient state of topographic growth, most likely due to limited denudation rates driven by the arid climate of Central Asia

Modification effect of changes in cardiometabolic traits in association between kidney stones and cardiovascular events

BackgroundsWhether longitudinal changes in metabolic status influence the effect of kidney stones on cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains unclarified. We investigated the modification effect of status changes in metabolic syndrome (MetS) in the association of kidney stones with risk of incident CVD events.MethodsWe performed a prospective association and interaction study in a nationwide cohort including 129,172 participants aged ≥ 40 years without CVDs at baseline and followed up for an average of 3.8 years. Kidney stones information was collected by using a questionnaire and validated by medical records. The repeated biochemical measurements were performed to ascertain the metabolic status at both baseline and follow-up.Results4,017 incident total CVDs, 1,413 coronary heart diseases (CHDs) and 2,682 strokes were documented and ascertained during follow-up. Kidney stones presence was significantly associated with 44%, 70% and 31% higher risk of CVDs, CHDs and stroke, respectively. The stratified analysis showed significant associations were found in the incident and sustained MetS patients, while no significant associations were found in the non-MetS at both baseline and follow-up subjects or the MetS remission ones, especially in women. For the change status of each single component of the MetS, though the trends were not always the same, the associations with CVD were consistently significant in those with sustained metabolic disorders, except for the sustained high blood glucose group, while the associations were consistently significant in those with incident metabolic disorders except for the incident blood pressure group. We also found a significant association of kidney stone and CVD or CHD risk in the remain normal glucose or triglycerides groups; while the associations were consistently significant in those with incident metabolic disorders except for the incident blood pressure group. We also found a significant association of kidney stone and CVD or CHD risk in the remain normal glucose or triglycerides groups.ConclusionsA history of kidney stones in women with newly developed MetS or long-standing MetS associated with increased risk of CVD. The mechanisms link kidney stones and CVD risk in the metabolic and non-metabolic pathways were warranted for further studies