Detection of human bocavirus from children and adults with acute respiratory tract illness in Guangzhou, southern China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human bocavirus (HBoV) is a newly discovered parvovirus associated with acute respiratory tract illness (ARTI) and gastrointestinal illness. Our study is the first to analyze the characteristics of HBoV-positive samples from ARTI patients with a wide age distribution from Guangzhou, southern China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Throat swabs (n=2811) were collected and analyzed from children and adults with ARTI over a 13-month period. The HBoV complete genome from a 60 year-old female patient isolate was also determined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HBoV DNA was detected in 65/2811 (2.3%) samples, of which 61/1797 were from children (<18 years old) and 4/1014 from adults (≥18 years old). Seasonal peaks of 4.8% and 7.7% were detected in May and June, respectively. 28 of 65 (43.1%) HBoV-positive samples were co-detected with 11/16 other potential pathogens. <it>Mycoplasma pneumoniae </it>had the highest frequency of 16.9% (11/65). Upper and lower respiratory tract illness were common symptoms, with 19/65 (29.2%) patients diagnosed with pneumonia by chest radiography. All four adult patients had systemic influenza-like symptoms. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete genome revealed a close relationship with other HBoVs, and a more distant relationship with HBoV2 and HBoV3.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>HBoV was detected from children and adults with ARTI from Guangzhou, southern China. Elderly people were also susceptive to HBoV. A single lineage of HBoV was detected among a wide age distribution of patients with ARTI.</p

HIV/STD pattern and its associated risk factors among male STD clinic attendees in China: a foci for HIV intervention

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies suggested a high prevalence of STDs including HIV among female sex workers and men who have sex with men in China, but little was known about the prevalence in male patients attending public STD clinics. The aim of this study was to investigate STD patterns and HIV prevalence among male STD clinic attendees in different areas in China and the associated risk factors. The feasibility of Provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling (PITC) was evaluated as well.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was conducted at 46 public STD clinics in 4 provinces in China. Between July 2009 and September 2009, a total of 3243 eligible subjects were invited to participate in an interview with a structured-questionnaire for collecting socio-demographic characteristics and sexual behavioral information. They also were asked to provide venous blood samples for serological determinations of HIV and syphilis infection, and first void urine specimens for detecting Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections,</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of the 3243 eligible patients, 2951(91%) men agreed to take part in the HIV and syphilis testing. The overall prevalence rate of HIV infection was 0.7% while the rates of syphilis, <it>N. gonorrhoeae, C. trachomatis </it>infections were 10.7%, 4.3% and 6.9%, respectively, with the highest syphilis and <it>N. gonorrhoeae </it>rates in Jiangsu Province. Patients from Guangxi province, homosexual/bisexual practices and intravenous drug use were significantly associated with HIV infection in multivariate logistic regression analyses. Provider-initiated HIV testing and counseling (PITC) was well accepted by attendees, with 91% of eligible attendees agreeing to undergo HIV testing and counseling. All HIV positive patients were properly managed accordingly.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A modest prevalence of HIV infection and substantial prevalence of other STD infections were found among male patients attending public STD clinics in China. The findings further support the introduction of HIV and syphilis PITC strategy into this important setting.</p

Association between Alcohol Consumption and Cancers in the Chinese Population—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Alcohol consumption is increasing worldwide and is associated with numerous cancers. This systematic review examined the role of alcohol in the incidence of cancer in the Chinese population.Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, CNKI and VIP were searched to identify relevant studies. Cohort and case-control studies on the effect of alcohol use on cancers in Chinese were included. Study quality was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Data were independently abstracted by two reviewers. Odds ratios (OR) or relative risks (RR) were pooled using RevMan 5.0. Heterogeneity was evaluated using the Q test and I-squared statistic. P<.01 was considered statistically significant.Pooled results from cohort studies indicated that alcohol consumption was not associated with gastric cancer, esophageal cancers (EC) or lung cancer. Meta-analysis of case-control studies showed that alcohol consumption was a significant risk factor for five cancers; the pooled ORs were 1.79 (99% CI, 1.47–2.17) EC, 1.40 (99% CI, 1.19–1.64) gastric cancer, 1.56 (99% CI, 1.16–2.09) hepatocellular carcinoma, 1.21 (99% CI, 1.00–1.46) nasopharyngeal cancer and 1.71 (99% CI, 1.20–2.44) oral cancer. Pooled ORs of the case-control studies showed that alcohol consumption was protective for female breast cancer and gallbladder cancer: OR 0.76 (99% CI, 0.60–0.97) and 0.70 (99% CI, 0.49–1.00) respectively. There was no significant correlation between alcohol consumption and lung cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, cancer of the ampulla of Vater, prostate cancer or extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. Combined results of case-control and cohort studies showed that alcohol consumption was associated with 1.78- and 1.40-fold higher risks of EC and gastric cancer but was not significantly associated with lung cancer.Health programs focused on limiting alcohol intake may be important for cancer control in China. Further studies are needed to examine the interaction between alcohol consumption and other risk factors for cancers in Chinese and other populations

Metabolic dysregulation in vitamin E and carnitine shuttle energy mechanisms associate with human frailty

Global ageing poses a substantial economic burden on health and social care costs. Enabling a greater proportion of older people to stay healthy for longer is key to the future sustainability of health, social and economic policy. Frailty and associated decrease in resilience plays a central role in poor health in later life. In this study, we present a population level assessment of the metabolic phenotype associated with frailty. Analysis of serum from 1191 older individuals (aged between 56 and 84 years old) and subsequent longitudinal validation (on 786 subjects) was carried out using liquid and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry metabolomics and stratified across a frailty index designed to quantitatively summarize vulnerability. Through multivariate regression and network modelling and mROC modeling we identified 12 significant metabolites (including three tocotrienols and six carnitines) that differentiate frail and non-frail phenotypes. Our study provides evidence that the dysregulation of carnitine shuttle and vitamin E pathways play a role in the risk of frailty

Mechanical Properties and Microstructures of Commercial-Purity Aluminum Processed by Rotational Accelerated Shot Peening Plus Cold Rolling

Commercial-purity aluminum with 99.7% purity is processed by rotational accelerated shot peening (RASP) and cold-rolling. RASP samples are rolled at room temperature to a thickness reduction of 20% and 30%, for the purpose of surface roughness reduction and strengthening. Detailed microstructural characterization and hardness tests reveal that cold-rolling cause grain growth at the surfaces of RASP samples from approximate to 472 to approximate to 1000 nm. Moderate cold-rolling is effective in smoothing the surface of RASP samples, while improving strength and maintaining ductility. However, cold-rolling to more than 30% thickness reduction eventually diminishes the gradient nanostructure. During cold-rolling of RASP samples, a transition zone with strong strain incompatibility is noticed by a sharp rise in hardness at some point of the hardness-distribution curve from the surface to the core of the sample. This transition zone is a result of quick generation of geometrically necessary dislocations. Although the transition zone with strong strain incompatibility is short-lived, it is anticipated to be common among gradient-nanostructured materials under cold-rolling condition.</p

Peptide-Directed Hierarchical Mineralized Silver Nanocages for Anti-Tumor Photothermal Therapy

The size and morphology of metals determine their plasmon resonances. How to elegantly tune their architectures to obtain optical properties as required (e.g., strong absorption in the near infrared (NIR) wavelengths) is a bottleneck for phototherapy. Inspired by biomineralization, we develop a simple but robust strategy to fabricate silver nanocages (Ag NCs) based on peptide-directed mineralization of silver. The Ag NCs are organic-inorganic hybrids with octreotide (OCT) templated decoration of Ag shells that are composed of Ag NPs. This hierarchical organization makes Ag NPs get together in close proximity, which facilitates ultrastrong plasmonic coupling to shift the resonant excitation from the visible (420 nm) to the NIR region (810 nm). In addition, the surface plasmon resonance peak of the Ag NCs in the NIR region can be subtly tuned by varying the volume of added silver nitrate (AgNO3) to control the size and morphology of mineralized Ag NCs. The Ag NCs have a light-to-heat conversion efficiency of 46.1%, which is to our knowledge the highest among Ag-based photothermal agents (PTAs). The Ag NCs can selectively induce death of cancer cells in vitro under NIR irradiation at 808 nm and show improved cytocompatibility for normal cells relative to pure Ag NPs. Following intratumor injection into uterine cervix cancer cells (U14) tumor-bearing mice, Ag NCs exert remarkable antitumor performance with tumor killing efficacy up to 82.7% and good biocompatibility in photothermal therapy, suggesting their potential application to work as photothermal nanomedicine for cancer therapy.</p

Measurements of bremsstrahlung spectra on SECRAL

The axial emitted bremsstrahlung spectra were measured on SECRAL (Superconducting ECR ion source with Advanced design in Lanzhou) using an HPGe detector. The spectral temperature T-spe was obtained from the linear fit of the spectra in the semi-log present. The evolution of T-spe with microwave power and magnetic field configuration is investigated in this paper.Supported by Knowledge Innovation Project of CAS (KJCX1-09) and National Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholar (10225523