African Journal of Biotechnology

In this study, we aimed to evaluate the global scientific production of Taxus (yew) research, study the characteristics of Taxus research activities, and identify patterns, tendencies, and regularities of Taxusrelated articles. Data were based on the online version of Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIExpanded), from the Web of Science database. Articles referring to Taxus were assessed by the trend of publication output during 1991 to 2010. Globally, 2,916 papers were published during the 20-year study period. The most productive countries, institutions, Web of Science subject categories, and journals, as well as the most cited articles, were identified. The mainstream research on Taxus was in the plant sciences, biochemistry and molecular biology, cardiac and cardiovascular systems, biotechnology and applied microbiology. The G7 industrial countries, as well as China and India held the majority of total world production. Research on the various economically important Taxus species remained the hotspot during the 20-year study period, whereas that on the related topic "paclitaxel eluting stents" increased dramatically since 2002. With synthetic analysis of word in article title, author keyword, abstract, and key words Plus, it can be concluded that application of compounds derived from Taxus in clinical cardiology, pharmacology and oncology, and research related to Taxus chemistry, metabolism, cytology and microbiology is the ongoing Taxus-related research in the 21st century. Gaps are present in knowledge about the genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics of Taxus and their endophytic fungi

The effect of drainage tube on bleeding and prognosis after total knee arthroplasty: a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the effect of drainage tube on prognosis after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and explore an effective treatment with favorable prognosis. METHODS: In a prospective study, 18 patients with TKA for the first time were included and randomly divided into three groups, group A (no placement of drainage tube), group B (negative pressure drainage), and group C (4 h clamping drainage). Intraoperative and postoperative blood loss, operation time, and the drainage volume were recorded and analyzed. Arthrocele, ecchymosis, and range of motion (ROM) were examined postoperatively. The degree of pain was scored by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) after 6, 12, and 24 h of operation. The complications were examined and HSS (hospital for special surgery) knee score was taken during the follow-up period. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in operation time, total blood loss, intraoperative blood loss, and VAS score among three groups. Meanwhile, the hidden blood loss in group B was significantly decreased compared with group A (P = 0.0015). The postoperative drainage volume of group B was significantly increased compared with group C (P = 0.0002). No drainage increased the rate of arthrocele and ecchymosis. Compared with group A, ROM after 3 days of operation in groups B and C was significantly increased (P = 0.0357, P = 0.0372, respectively). During follow-up study, no deep infection or deep venous thrombosis was found. CONCLUSION: After TKA, early clamping of the drainage tube reduced the bleeding loss without adverse effect on prognosis, which might be useful for clinical application in future

Functional and Transcriptomic Characterization of a Dye-decolorizing Fungus from Taxus Rhizosphere

We isolated three laccase-producing fungus strains from Taxus rhizosphere. Myrotheium verrucaria strain DJTU-sh7 had the highest laccase activity of 216.2 U/ml, which was increased to above 300 U/ml after optimization. DJTU-sh7 had the best decolorizing effect for three classes of reactive dyes. The DJTU-sh7-containing fungal consortium displayed the robust decolorizing ability. Both color removal efficiency and chemical oxygen demand were increased in the consortium mediated biotransformation. Transcriptome changes of M. verrucaria elicited by azo dye and phenolic were quantified by the high throughput transcriptome sequencing, and the activities of the selected oxidases and reductases were determined. The possible involvement of oxidases and reductases, especially laccase, aryl alcohol oxidase, and ferric reductase in the biotransformation of dye and phenolic compounds was revealed at both transcriptomic and phenotypic levels. Revealing the transcriptomic mechanisms of fungi in dealing with organic pollutants facilitates the fine-tuned manipulation of strains in developing novel bioremediation and biodegradation strategies

Anxiety in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke: Risk Factors and Effects on Functional Status

Background: Anxiety is prevalent after a stroke. The pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the development of poststroke anxiety (PSA) remain unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and neuroimaging risk factors for development of PSA and examine the effects of PSA on activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL) in Chinese patients with ischemic stroke.Methods: Two hundred nineteen patients with acute ischemic stroke were recruited to the study. A series of comprehensive assessments, including Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), Lawton ADL Scale, and the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life (SSQOL) Scale, were conducted in the acute stage and 3 months after stroke. Magnetic resonance imaging assessment focused on evaluation of infarctions, white matter lesions, and brain atrophy.Results: In the acute stage and 3 months after stroke, 34 (16%) and 33 (15%) patients had PSA, respectively. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that HDRS (OR = 1.269, 95% CI = 1.182–1.364, P < 0.001) and acute infarcts in cerebral hemispheric white matter (CHWM; OR = 2.902, 95% CI = 1.052–8.007, P = 0.040) were significant correlates of PSA in the acute stage of stroke. Three months after stroke, these correlates remained significant predictors, along with male sex. Multiple linear regressions showed that age, NIHSS, HARS, and HDRS in the acute stage were significant predictors for both ADL and SSQOL at 3 months after stroke.Conclusion: Depressive symptoms are the major correlates of PSA while more severe PSA is associated with poorer ADL and health-related QOL. Acute lesions involving CHWM may correlate with PSA in ischemic stroke patients with mild-to-moderate neurologic deficits, supporting a lesion-location hypothesis in PSA

Functional building blocks for scalable multipartite entanglement in optical lattices

Featuring excellent coherence and operated parallelly, ultracold atoms in optical lattices form a competitive candidate for quantum computation. For this, a massive number of parallel entangled atom pairs have been realized in superlattices. However, the more formidable challenge is to scale-up and detect multipartite entanglement due to the lack of manipulations over local atomic spins in retro-reflected bichromatic superlattices. Here we developed a new architecture based on a cross-angle spin-dependent superlattice for implementing layers of quantum gates over moderately-separated atoms incorporated with a quantum gas microscope for single-atom manipulation. We created and verified functional building blocks for scalable multipartite entanglement by connecting Bell pairs to one-dimensional 10-atom chains and two-dimensional plaquettes of $2\times4$ atoms. This offers a new platform towards scalable quantum computation and simulation

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat