Infection status and etiological characteristics of diarrheogenic Escherichia coli among diarrhea patients in sentinel hospitals of Fujian Province in 2019

Objective To investigate the infectious status, virulence gene, molecular typing and antibiotic resistance of diarrheogenic Escherichia coli (DEC) in sentinel hospitals of Fujian Province in 2019. Methods Fluorescent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to identify 210 fecal samples of diarrhea patients after isolation of E. coli according to GB 4789. 6-2016, and then pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) molecular traceability and antibiotic resistance test were conducted on the isolated DEC. Results Thirty two strains of bacteria were detected, with a detection rate of 15.2% (32/210). Among them, enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) accounted for 37.5% (12/32), enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) for 37.5% (12/32), and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) for 25.0% (8/32). The results of antibiotic resistance test showed that these 32 strains of bacteria were most resistant to ampicillin, with a resistance rate of 78.1% (25/32), followed by tetracycline and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, with resistance rates of 62.5% (20/32) and 59.4% (19/32), respectively. The multiple antibiotic resistance rate was 50.0% (16/32). The results of PFGE showed that 32 strains of bacteria causing diarrhea were divided into 28 PFGE banding patterns. Among them, 12 strains of EPEC and 12 strains of EAEC were divided into 10 PFGE banding patterns, respectively, and 8 strains of ETEC were divided into 8 PFGE banding patterns. The results of cluster analysis showed that two groups of EPEC strains had 100.0% similar banding patterns, one group of EAEC strains had 100.0% similar banding patterns, and ETEC strains did not have completely consistent banding pattern. Conclusion EPEC and EAEC were the main pathogens of diarrhea in surveillance points of Fujian Province in 2019. The genetic diversity of the strains showed that the genetic relationship between them was relatively distant. The antibiotic resistance of DEC was severe, and the rate of multiple antibiotic resistance was high

Analysis of serotypes and pulsed field gel electrophoresis molecular type of Listeria monocytogenes in Fujian Province from 2000 to 2018

Objective To analyze the serotypes and molecular type of Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated from food, clinical case and environment in Fujian Province, so as to provide reference for the outbreak identification and traceability of foodborne diseases. Methods Using multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) serotyping, immune serum agglutination and pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) to classify the strains. Results The 117 strains of Listeria monocytogenes strains were divided into 4 PCR serotypes, 67.5% (79/117) of which were 1/2a (3a), 23.1% (27/117) were 1/2b (3b), 5.1% (6/117) were 1/2c (3c) and 4.3% (5/117) were 4b (4d, 4e). Among the 9 strains isolated from cases, 6 strains were 1/2a, 2 strains were 4b and 1 strain was 1/2b. 117 Listeria monocytogenes strains were divided into 83 different PFGE types by Asc I restriction endonucleases, and 10 strains of which had unique and single types. Nine clinical case isolates were divided into 8 different PFGE types. Conclusion 1/2a serotype was dominant in Listeria monocytogenes isolated from food and clinical specimens in Fujian Province, and 4b serotype should be concerned

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Design of a Structural Health Monitoring System and Performance Evaluation for a Jacket Offshore Platform in East China Sea

Offshore platform plays an important role in ocean strategy, and the construction of structural health monitoring (SHM) system could significantly improve the safety of the platform. In this paper, complete SHM system architecture design for offshore platform is presented, including the sensor subsystem, data reading and transferring subsystem, data administration subsystem, and assessment subsystem. First, the sensor subsystem is determined to include the structure information, component information, and vibration information monitoring of the offshore platform. Based on the monitoring target, three sensor types including incline sensor, acceleration sensor, and strain sensor are initially selected. Second, the assessment subsystem is determined to include safety monitoring and early warning evaluation using static measurements, overall performance evaluation based on frequency variation, and damage identification based on strain modal using strain monitoring. Overall performance evaluation based on frequency variation and damage identification based on Strain modal are illustrated. Finally, an offshore platform in the East China Sea is selected to establish a finite-element model to discuss the application and feasibility of the SHM system, the frequency variation due to scouring, corrosion, the growth of marine organisms, and temperature variation was investigated, and the overall performance of the platform was also evaluated. This work can provide a reference for installation and implementation of SHM system for offshore platform

Design of a Structural Health Monitoring System and Performance Evaluation for a Jacket Offshore Platform in East China Sea

Offshore platform plays an important role in ocean strategy, and the construction of structural health monitoring (SHM) system could significantly improve the safety of the platform. In this paper, complete SHM system architecture design for offshore platform is presented, including the sensor subsystem, data reading and transferring subsystem, data administration subsystem, and assessment subsystem. First, the sensor subsystem is determined to include the structure information, component information, and vibration information monitoring of the offshore platform. Based on the monitoring target, three sensor types including incline sensor, acceleration sensor, and strain sensor are initially selected. Second, the assessment subsystem is determined to include safety monitoring and early warning evaluation using static measurements, overall performance evaluation based on frequency variation, and damage identification based on strain modal using strain monitoring. Overall performance evaluation based on frequency variation and damage identification based on Strain modal are illustrated. Finally, an offshore platform in the East China Sea is selected to establish a finite-element model to discuss the application and feasibility of the SHM system, the frequency variation due to scouring, corrosion, the growth of marine organisms, and temperature variation was investigated, and the overall performance of the platform was also evaluated. This work can provide a reference for installation and implementation of SHM system for offshore platform

The effects of chronic unpredicted mild stress on maternal negative emotions and gut microbiota and metabolites in pregnant rats

Background Chronic long-term stress is associated with a range of disorders, including depression and a variety of other chronic illnesses. It is well known that maternal exposure to psychosocial stress during pregnancy significantly increases the likelihood of adverse pregnancy outcomes. The gut microbiota has been a popular topic, it is a key mediator of the gut-brain axis and plays an important role in human health; changes in the gut microbiota have been related to chronic stress-induced health impairment, however, the relationship between maternal negative emotions and abnormal gut microbiota and its metabolites during maternal exposure to chronic stress during pregnancy remains unclear. Methods Pregnant rats were subjected to chronic unpredicted mild stress (CUMS) to establish the rat model of chronic stress during pregnancy. The behavioral changes were recorded using sucrose preference test (SPT) and open-field test (OFT), plasma corticosterone levels were determined by radioimmunoassay, and a comprehensive method combining 16S rRNA gene sequencing and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) metabolomics was used to study the effects of stress during pregnancy on the function of intestinal microbiota and its metabolites. Results Chronic stress during pregnancy not only increased maternal plasma corticosterone (P < 0.05), but also caused maternal depression-like behaviors (P < 0.05). Chronic stress during pregnancy changed the species composition at the family level of maternal gut microbiota, the species abundance of Ruminococcaceae in the stress group (23.45%) was lower than the control group (32.67%) and the species abundance of Prevotellaceae in the stress group (10.45%) was higher than the control group (0.03%) (P < 0.05). Vertical locomotion and 1% sucrose preference percentage in pregnant rats were negatively correlated with Prevotellaceae (r =  − 0.90, P < 0.05). Principal component analysis with partial least squares discriminant analysis showed that the integration points of metabolic components in the stress and control groups were completely separated, indicating that there were significant differences in the metabolic patterns of the two groups, and there were seven endogenous metabolites that differed (P < 0.05). Conclusions The negative emotional behaviors that occur in pregnant rats as a result of prenatal chronic stress may be associated with alterations in the gut microbiota and its metabolites. These findings provide a basis for future targeted metabolomics and gut flora studies on the effects of chronic stress during pregnancy on gut flora

Neighbor-joining phylogenetic tree of ZmJAZ proteins.

<p>The phylogenetic tree was constructed with the amino acid sequences of JAZ proteins from maize using the neighbor-joining method. The ZmJAZ proteins were classified into four subgroups, which were identified based on different colors.</p

Expression levels of genes involved in JA, ABA, and GA signaling pathways were altered in <i>ZmJAZ14</i> overexpression (OE) lines.

<p>The expression of marker genes in JA, ABA, and GA signaling pathways were analyzed in the wild-type and <i>ZmJAZ</i> OE lines. Seedlings were harvested after 1 week of treatments. Relative gene expression was normalized using <i>AtActin2</i>. The error bars indicate standard deviations.</p