Quantitative PCR of ear discharge from Indigenous Australian children with acute otitis media with perforation supports a role for Alloiococcus otitidis as a secondary pathogen

Otitis media is endemic in remote Indigenous communities of Australia’s Northern Territory. Alloiococcus otitidis is an outer ear commensal and putative middle ear pathogen that has not previously been described in acute otitis media (AOM) in this population. The aims of this study were to determine the presence, antibiotic susceptibility and bacterial load of A. otitidis in nasopharyngeal and ear discharge swabs collected from Indigenous Australian children with AOM with perforation.Financial support for this study was provided by the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation; The Trust Foundation; and the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia)

Retrospective analysis for phase I statistical process control and process capability study using revised sample entropy

[[abstract]]This study explored a new nonparametric analytical method for identifying heterogeneous segments in time-series data for data-abundant processes. A sample entropy (SampEn) algorithm often used in signal processing and information theory can also be used in a time series or a signal stream, but the original SampEn is only capable of quantifying process variation changes. The proposed algorithm, the adjusted sample entropy (AdSEn), is capable of identifying process mean shifts, variance changes, or mixture of both. A simulation study showed that the proposed method is capable of identifying heterogeneous segments in a time series. Once segments of change points are identified, any existing change-point algorithms can be used to precisely identify exact locations of potential change points. The proposed method is especially applicable for long time series with many change points. Properties of the proposed AdSEn are provided to demonstrate the algorithm’s multi-scale capability. A table of critical values is also provided to help users accurately interpret entropy results.[[notice]]補正完

A gonogenic stimulated transition of mouse embryonic stem cells with enhanced control of diverse differentiation pathways

Embryonic stem (ES) cells share markers with undifferentiated primordial germ cells (PGCs). Here, we discovered that a cellular state with some molecular markers of male gonocyte induction, including a G1/S phase arrest and upregulation of specific genes such as Nanos2, Tdrd1, Ddx4, Zbtb16 and Plk1s1, can be chemically induced in male mouse ES cells in vitro, which we termed gonogenic stimulated transition (GoST). After longer culture of the resulting GoST cells without chemical stimulation, several molecular markers typical for early gonocytes were detected including the early gonocyte marker Tex101. Motivated by previous studies that found multipotency in cell lines derived from neonatal male germ cells in vitro, we then compared the differentiation potential of GoST cells to that of ES cells in vitro. Interestingly, GoST cells showed equal neurogenic, but enhanced cardiogenic and hepatogenic differentiation compared to ES cells in vitro. This work shows for the first time that some important molecular markers of the first developmental sexual differentiation program can be induced in male mouse ES cells in vitro and defines a novel concept to generate cells with enhanced multipotency