Shewanella soft tissue infection: case report and literature review

SummaryObjectiveTo better understand the clinical characteristics of soft tissue infections caused by Shewanella in humans.MethodsWe report a case of Shewanella soft tissue infection and review the English literature from a search of PubMed.ResultsA total of 27 adults (mean age 61.1±16.0 years) with soft tissue infections caused by Shewanella were included for analysis. Limb involvement was found in 22 (81.5%) patients, while scalp, face, perineum, lacrimal sac, and abdominal wall involvement were each found in one patient. Chronic ulcer over the leg (14 cases (51.9%)), steroid use (four cases (14.8%)), and liver cirrhosis (three cases (11.1%)) were the major underlying conditions. Shewanella bacteremia was found in 14 out of 22 patients with soft tissue infections involving the limbs. Two patients died of septicemia, giving a mortality rate of 7.4%.ConclusionsShewanella soft tissue infections usually develop in immunocompromised patients with a preexisting cutaneous ulcer (particularly over the legs) after marine environment or seawater exposure. In view of the possible catastrophic consequences, education on the prevention of Shewanella soft tissue infections in at-risk people (e.g., the immunocompromised or elderly with a cutaneous ulcer) relating the need to avoid exposure to the marine environment or seawater may be of importance

Identification of the GRAS gene family in the Brassica juncea genome provides insight into its role in stem swelling in stem mustard

GRAS transcription factors are known to play important roles in plant signal transduction and development. A comprehensive study was conducted to explore the GRAS family in the Brassica juncea genome. A total of 88 GRAS genes were identified which were categorized into nine groups according to the phylogenetic analysis. Gene structure analysis showed a high group-specificity, which corroborated the gene grouping results. The chromosome distribution and sequence analysis suggested that gene duplication events are vital for the expansion of GRAS genes in the B. juncea genome. The changes in evolution rates and amino acid properties among groups might be responsible for their functional divergence. Interaction networks and cis-regulatory elements were analyzed including DELLA and eight interaction proteins (including four GID1, two SLY1, and two PIF3 proteins) that are primarily involved in light and hormone signaling. To understand their regulatory role in growth and development, the expression profiles of BjuGRASs and interaction genes were examined based on transcriptome data and qRT-PCR, and selected genes (BjuGRAS3, 5, 7, 8, 10, BjuB006276, BjuB037910, and BjuA021658) had distinct temporal expression patterns during stem swelling, indicating that they possessed diverse regulatory functions during the developmental process. These results contribute to our understanding on the GRAS gene family and provide the basis for further investigations on the evolution and functional characterization of GRAS genes

Ultrasound measurement of vastus lateralis and vastus medialis muscle parameters to identify chronic thyrotoxic myopathy

Introduction: Chronic thyrotoxic myopathy (CTM) is a common, easily neglected complication of hyperthyroidism. There are currently no standard diagnostic criteria for CTM, and the ultrasonic characteristics of CTM-affected skeletal muscle remain unclear. Herein, we aimed to evaluate hyperthyroid patients for CTM by ultrasound and identify ultrasonic muscle parameter cutoffs for CTM diagnosis. Materials and methods: Each participant underwent ultrasonography. The original (muscle thickness (MT), pennation angle (PA), and cross-sectional area (CSA)) and corrected (MT/height (HT), MT/body mass index (BMI), CSA/HT, and CSA/BMI) parameters of the vastus lateralis and vastus medialis (VM) were evaluated. The diagnostic effectiveness of ultrasound for predicting CTM was determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Our study included 203 participants: 67 CTM patients (18 males, 49 females), 67 non-CTM patients (28 males, 39 females) and 69 healthy controls (20 males, 49 females). Results: The CTM group had lower muscular ultrasonic and anthropometric parameters, higher thyroid hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone receptor antibody (TRAb) levels, and a longer duration of hyperthyroidism than the non-CTM group (P < 0.05). The VM-PA, VM-CSA, VM-CSA/HT, and VM-CSA/BMI were lower in females than in males (P < 0.05). Free thyroxine (FT4) and TRAb both showed significant negative correlations with VM-MT, VM-MT/HT, VM-CSA, and VM-CSA/HT (P < 0.05). VM-MT/BMI and VM-CSA/HT, respectively, best predicted male and female CTM (AUC = 0.84, 0.85; cutoff ≤ 0.07, < 4.01). Conclusion: Ultrasound measurement of muscular parameters, especially in the VM, is a valid and feasible way of diagnosing and characterizing possible CTM in hyperthyroidism

Reciprocal Interaction between Macrophages and T cells Stimulates IFN-γ and MCP-1 Production in Ang II-induced Cardiac Inflammation and Fibrosis

Background: The inflammatory response plays a critical role in hypertension-induced cardiac remodeling. We aimed to study how interaction among inflammatory cells causes inflammatory responses in the process of hypertensive cardiac fibrosis. Methodology/Principal Findings: Infusion of angiotensin II (Ang II, 1500 ng/kg/min) in mice rapidly induced the expression of interferon c (IFN-c) and leukocytes infiltration into the heart. To determine the role of IFN-c on cardiac inflammation and remodeling, both wild-type (WT) and IFN-c-knockout (KO) mice were infused Ang II for 7 days, and were found an equal blood pressure increase. However, knockout of IFN-c prevented Ang II-induced: 1) infiltration of macrophages and T cells into cardiac tissue; 2) expression of tumor necrosis factor a and monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1), and 3) cardiac fibrosis, including the expression of a-smooth muscle actin and collagen I (all p,0.05). Cultured T cells or macrophages alone expressed very low level of IFN-c, however, co-culture of T cells and macrophages increased IFN-c expression by 19.860.95 folds (vs. WT macrophage, p,0.001) and 20.9 6 2.09 folds (vs. WT T cells, p,0.001). In vitro co-culture studies using T cells and macrophages from WT or IFN-c KO mice demonstrated that T cells were primary source for IFN-c production. Co-culture of WT macrophages with WT T cells, but not with IFN-c-knockout T cells, increased IFN-c production (p,0.01). Moreover, IFN-c produced by T cells amplified MCP-1 expression in macrophages and stimulated macrophag

Revealing the Functions of the Transketolase Enzyme Isoforms in Rhodopseudomonas palustris Using a Systems Biology Approach

BACKGROUND: Rhodopseudomonas palustris (R. palustris) is a purple non-sulfur anoxygenic phototrophic bacterium that belongs to the class of proteobacteria. It is capable of absorbing atmospheric carbon dioxide and converting it to biomass via the process of photosynthesis and the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle. Transketolase is a key enzyme involved in the CBB cycle. Here, we reveal the functions of transketolase isoforms I and II in R. palustris using a systems biology approach. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: By measuring growth ability, we found that transketolase could enhance the autotrophic growth and biomass production of R. palustris. Microarray and real-time quantitative PCR revealed that transketolase isoforms I and II were involved in different carbon metabolic pathways. In addition, immunogold staining demonstrated that the two transketolase isoforms had different spatial localizations: transketolase I was primarily associated with the intracytoplasmic membrane (ICM) but transketolase II was mostly distributed in the cytoplasm. Comparative proteomic analysis and network construction of transketolase over-expression and negative control (NC) strains revealed that protein folding, transcriptional regulation, amino acid transport and CBB cycle-associated carbon metabolism were enriched in the transketolase I over-expressed strain. In contrast, ATP synthesis, carbohydrate transport, glycolysis-associated carbon metabolism and CBB cycle-associated carbon metabolism were enriched in the transketolase II over-expressed strain. Furthermore, ATP synthesis assays showed a significant increase in ATP synthesis in the transketolase II over-expressed strain. A PEPCK activity assay showed that PEPCK activity was higher in transketolase over-expressed strains than in the negative control strain. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Taken together, our results indicate that the two isoforms of transketolase in R. palustris could affect photoautotrophic growth through both common and divergent metabolic mechanisms

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Cooperative Capacity - A Prerequisite Potential for Selecting Collaborative NPD Partner Cooperative Relationship Quality and Project Performance

[[abstract]]摘要 台灣資訊產業在全世界產業鏈上扮演關鍵角色，委託代工設計製造(ODM)的新產品專案的獨特合作模式為其主因。過去研究類似聯盟合作關係皆强調廠商與合作夥伴之間的互動關係，本研究採組織適配觀點，提出「合作能耐 (cooperative capacity)」構念，強調廠商與合作夥伴的先驗能力，此能耐可提供廠商在選擇合作夥伴時之重要參考決策因子。在聯盟夥伴選擇後，利用「合作關係品質」的觀點進而探討影響長期夥伴關係與促進新產品開發的關鍵績效中介因素，並以台灣資訊電子廠商為實證對象研究。本研究冀希建立ㄧ整合性的夥伴選擇觀念性架構，為台灣資訊電子廠商作為合作專案夥伴策略規劃時之依據。 總計蒐集116組OEM/ODM新產品專案。實證研究發現，合作能耐對信任具有顯著的直接效果，且對新產品專案績效具間接的影響效果，顯示夥伴選擇的先驗因素-合作能耐-在合作專案的過程中扮演者重要前置角色。合作關係品質中信任、關係承諾與溝通品質對新產品專案優勢(成本、品質績效)具有顯著的直接效果；而溝通品質對新產品專案績效(交期績效)不具影響效果，顯示出合作夥伴透過彼此的信任、有效的溝通及專屬性資產的投入是維持夥伴關係的關鍵因素，同時也是達成新產品專案優勢的重要因子。本研究結果可供資訊電子廠商在選擇合作夥伴時，除了考量雙方的合作能耐之外，過程中檢視信任、溝通品質與關係承諾等因素，以期順利完成專案，共創雙贏結果。[[abstract]]Abstract Taiwanese IT firms have developed themselves as major players in the global IT market through ODM (Original Design and Maunfacturing) business model However in term of NPD(New Product Development) projects on alliances focus on mutual interaction relationship among alliance firms This research has developed a construct-“cooperative capacity” a prerequisite potential that can lead to a better performance of co-alliance NPD project The development of cooperative capacity intends to offer firms NPD projects priori indicators for selecting partners From a NPD process point of view this study propose that cooperative capacity can facilitate a co-alliance team’s communication quality and relationship commitment resulting in better project performances Based on 116 ODM NPD projects in Taiwanese firms the empirical test finds trust as the most influential mediating variable on the relationship between cooperative capacity(except for culture similarity) and the NPD project’s performance Commitment and communication quality also significantly mediate the relationship between trust and NPD project’s performance except the insignificant impact of communication quality on delivery The study conforms cooperative capacity as the key factor contributing to mutual trust effective communication and commitment of co-alliance NPD projects and learning to lwge project performance The study helps Taiwanse IT firms some guidance to screen ODM partners In other words co-alliance firms may select their ODM partners by judging the quality of cooperative capacit

Digital Natives’ Reading Preference: A Differential Study of the Paper-reading and the Web-reading

本研究探討數位原生代不同閱讀傾向者紙本與網路閱讀態度、網路使用行為、紙本與網路閱讀素養的表現差異與結構關係，以全臺各縣市國民中學學生為研究母群，共有1,952位國中生參與問卷調查。問卷所得資料以 檢定、獨立樣本平均數檢定、驗證性因素分析、結構方程式模型進行分析，統計分析結果如下：1.臺灣數位原生代網路閱讀傾向者的觀察個數為(974) > 期望個數(848) > 紙本閱讀傾向者的觀察個數為(723)。2.不同閱讀傾向者的紙本與網路閱讀態度、網路使用行為與紙本閱讀素養具有顯著差異；紙本閱讀傾向者在紙本閱讀態度與紙本閱讀素養的表現顯著高於網路閱讀傾向者，而網路閱讀傾向者在網路閱讀態度、上網時間與娛樂性網路閱讀的得分顯著高於紙本閱讀傾向者。3.紙本與網路閱讀態度、網路使用行為、紙本與網路閱讀素養的結構方程式模型大致上符合研究假設方向，不同閱讀傾向者的結構方程式模型僅在網路使用行為與紙本閱讀素養關係上有所差異。This study investigated the differences and relationships of paper-reading attitude, web-reading attitude, Internet usage behavior, paper-reading literacy, and web-reading literacy between paper-oriented and web-oriented digital native readers. The 1,952 samples gathered by a questionnaire survey were from the Junior High Schools in Taiwan. The collected data analyzed by Chi-square test, t-test, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) showed the results as follow: 1. According to the test, it shows the following relationship: Among Taiwanese digital natives, the observed number of the web-oriented (974) > the expected number (848.5) > that of the paper-oriented (723). 2. There exist differences between the web-oriented and the paper-oriented readers on paper- and web-reading attitude, Internet usage behavior, and paper- and web-reading literacy. The paper-oriented outperformed the web-oriented in paper-reading attitude and literacy; partially as expected, the web-oriented scored higher than the paper-oriented in web-reading attitude, time spent online, and entertaining web-reading activities. 3. Basically, except the relationship of Internet usage behavior and paper reading literacy, SEM supported our research hypotheses

Increased financial burdens and lengths of stay in patients with healthcare-associated infections due to multidrug-resistant bacteria in intensive care units: A propensity-matched case-control study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Incidence rates of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) depend upon infection control policy and practices, and the effectiveness of the implementation of antibiotic stewardship. Amongst intensive care unit (ICU) patients with HAIs, a substantial number of pathogens were reported to be multidrug-resistant bacteria (MDRB). However, impacts of ICU HAIs due to MDRB (MDRB-HAIs) remain understudied. Our study aimed to evaluate the negative impacts of MRDB-HAIs versus HAIs due to non-MDRB (non-MRDB-HAIs). METHODS:Among 60,317 adult patients admitted at ICUs of a 2680-bed medical centre in Taiwan between January 2010 and December 2017, 279 pairs of propensity-score matched MRDB-HAI and non-MRDB-HAI were analyzed. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:Between the MDRB-HAI group and the non-MDRB-HAI group, significant differences were found in overall hospital costs, costs of medical and nursing services, medication, and rooms/beds, and in ICU length-of-stay (LOS). As compared with the non-MDRB-HAI group, the mean of the overall hospital costs of patients in the MDRB-HAI group was increased by 26%; for categorized expenditures, the mean of costs of medical and nursing services of patients in the MDRB-HAI group was increased by 8%, of medication by 26.9%, of rooms/beds by 10.3%. The mean ICU LOS in the MDRB-HAI group was increased by 13%. Mortality rates in both groups did not significantly differ. CONCLUSIONS:These data clearly demonstrate more negative impacts of MDRB-HAIs in ICUs. The quantified financial burdens will be helpful for hospital/government policymakers in allocating resources to mitigate MDRB-HAIs in ICUs; in case of need for clarification/verification of the medico-economic burdens of MDRB-HAIs in different healthcare systems, this study provides a model to facilitate the evaluations