97 research outputs found
Identification of microbial community in the urban environment: The concordance between conventional culture and nanopore 16S rRNA sequencing
IntroductionMicrobes in the built environment have been implicated as a source of infectious diseases. Bacterial culture is the standard method for assessing the risk of exposure to pathogens in urban environments, but this method only accounts for <1% of the diversity of bacteria. Recently, full-length 16S rRNA gene analysis using nanopore sequencing has been applied for microbial evaluations, resulting in a rise in the development of long-read taxonomic tools for species-level classification. Regarding their comparative performance, there is, however, a lack of information.MethodsHere, we aim to analyze the concordance of the microbial community in the urban environment inferred by multiple taxonomic classifiers, including ARGpore2, Emu, Kraken2/Bracken and NanoCLUST, using our 16S-nanopore dataset generated by MegaBLAST, as well as assess their abilities to identify culturable species based on the conventional culture results.ResultsAccording to our results, NanoCLUST was preferred for 16S microbial profiling because it had a high concordance of dominant species and a similar microbial profile to MegaBLAST, whereas Kraken2/Bracken, which had similar clustering results as NanoCLUST, was also desirable. Second, for culturable species identification, Emu with the highest accuracy (81.2%) and F1 score (29%) for the detection of culturable species was suggested.DiscussionIn addition to generating datasets in complex communities for future benchmarking studies, our comprehensive evaluation of the taxonomic classifiers offers recommendations for ongoing microbial community research, particularly for complex communities using nanopore 16S rRNA sequencing
A Brief Mindfulness-Based Family Psychoeducation Intervention for Chinese Young Adults With First Episode Psychosis: A Study Protocol
Family psychoeducation (FPE) has been recommended as a major component in the treatment of psychosis. Many previous studies have implemented an intensive program design that often only emphasized improvements in patientsâ illness outcomes but the benefits for caregivers were limited. There have been calls for a time-limited but cost-effective FPE program to mitigate the looming reality of the suffering of people with psychosis and their families. A Brief Mindfulness-Based Family Psychoeducation for psychosis program is developed to reduce caregiversâ burden and promote young adultâs recovery. A randomized controlled trial will be conducted to compare this intervention with an ordinary FPE intervention. Both arms will involve six sessions, with a total contact time of 12 h. 300 caregivers of young adults who have experienced first episode psychosis within last 3 years will be recruited. Program effectiveness will be assessed by comparing outcomes measuring the caregiversâ burden, mental health symptoms, positive well-being, and the young adultâs mental health symptoms during the study and at 9-month post-randomization. The role of expressed emotions, interpersonal mindfulness, and non-attachment in mediating these outcomes will be explored. An additional qualitative approach Photovoice is selected to explore the complex family experiences and the benefits of mindfulness from the caregiversâ personal perspectives.Trial Registration: The trial is registered with the United States Clinical Trials Registry (ClinicalTrials.gov): NCT03688009
Creative Destruction: The Rise of Entrepreneurial Society in China
Lâentrepreneuriat est aujourdâhui en plein essor en Chine, alors quâil existait Ă peine sur le continent chinois il y a quarante ans. Comment cette nouvelle force entrepreneuriale a-t-elle pu Ă©merger de lâĂ©conomie socialiste planifiĂ©e de la RĂ©publique populaire de Chine (RPC) ? Le chapitre montre que cette dynamique trouve son origine dans deux Ă©vĂ©nements importants : la Grande RĂ©volution culturelle prolĂ©tarienne et la rĂ©trocession de Hong Kong Ă la Chine. La RĂ©volution culturelle a stimulĂ© lâentrepreneuriat de trois façons diffĂ©rentes : en affaiblissant le contrĂŽle de lâĂ©tat sur la paysannerie entreprenante, en modifiant les structures dâopportunitĂ© au sein de la sociĂ©tĂ© par un processus de dĂ©centralisation, enfin, en crĂ©ant une migration interne massive qui a donnĂ© naissance Ă de nouveaux entrepreneurs. Dâautre part, les nĂ©gociations sur le futur de Hong Kong qui ont commencĂ© au dĂ©but des annĂ©es 1980 ont lancĂ© un dĂ©fiaux dirigeants chinois. Les communistes chinois ont dĂ» rapidement se familiariser avec les rouages du systĂšme capitaliste pratiquĂ© dans la colonie britannique. Lâattrait nationaliste pour le rĂ©tablissement de la souverainetĂ© chinoise Ă Hong Kong a lĂ©gitimĂ© lâadhĂ©sion des cadres de lâadministration de la RPC Ă une coexistence paisible dâĂ©lĂ©ments capitalistes au sein du systĂšme socialiste. Lâauteur conclut par quelques remarques sur les tensions et les problĂšmes liĂ©s Ă cette explosion dâĂ©nergie entrepreneuriale dans la Chine contemporaine
Functional characterization of Cdk5-mediated phosphorylation of endophilin B1 in macroautophagy in models of parkinson's disease
Macroautophagy is a cellular process that sequesters cytoplasmic content into autophagosomes for subsequent degradation. Precise regulation of macroautophagy ensures cell survival, with either excessive or insufficient level of macroautophagy leading to cell death. In addition, deregulation of macroautophagy has been implicated in the pathophysiology of various neurodegenerative disorders. Nonetheless, the mechanism by which macroautophagy deregulation contributes to neuronal death in these disorders remains largely unclear. Cdk5 is a serine/threonine kinase that is aberrantly activated in a number of neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinsonâs disease. While basal Cdk5 activity is important for neuronal survival, aberrant activation of Cdk5 triggers neuronal death. The present study reveals a novel role of Cdk5 in regulating macroautophagy induction in neurons. Cdk5 phosphorylates endophilin B1 at Thr145 to mediate macroautophagy induction in starved neurons. Moreover, Thr145 phosphorylation of endophilin B1 by Cdk5 promotes endophilin B1 dimerization and recruitment of macroautophagy proteins UVRAG and Beclin 1, whereas this phosphorylation does not alter endophilin B1âs lipid binding property or facilitate its localization to pre-autophagosomal membranes. Importantly, macroautophagy induction is essential for neuronal death in two Parkinsonâs disease models involving either MPTP toxicity or mutant A53T alpha-synuclein expression. Furthermore, Cdk5-mediated Thr145 endophilin B1 phosphorylation is required for macroautophagy induction and neuronal death in these Parkinsonâs disease models. This study thus reveals an unanticipated role of Cdk5 and endophilin B1 in the pathogenesis of Parkinsonâs disease through the regulation of macroautophagy
Challenges for log based detection of privacy violations during healthcare emergencies
The widespread adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) increases the requirement for sufficient auditing mechanisms enabled with health information technologies to protect against deliberate and accidental information misuses. Shared information environments improve the quality of healthcare. Healthcare environments are characterized by unanticipated emergency situations where access to information is essential. The ordinary work-flow of the health system may need to be violated in emergency situations in a \textit{break-the-glass} approach. Hence, a purely preventive approach for information access use is not adequate for the current trends of electronic healthcare systems. Instead, after-the-fact justification of patient data access violations is required. Assessing root causes for unusual human behaviours is feasible through maintenance and analysis of appropriate event logs. Here we describe the challenges of detecting information privacy violations of current EHR systems during emergency situations. We define how a log file with additional information could be used to detect deviations from expected sequences of events during emergency situations in healthcare
- âŠ