Transmission of MDR and XDR Tuberculosis in Shanghai, China

Background: Multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis (TB) are global health problems. We sought to determine the characteristics, prevalence, and relative frequency of transmission of MDR and XDR TB in Shanghai, one of the largest cities in Asia. Methods: TB is diagnosed in district TB hospitals in Shanghai, China. Drug susceptibility testing for first-line drugs was performed for all culture positive TB cases, and tests for second-line drugs were performed for MDR cases. VNTR-7 and VNTR-16 were used to genotype the strains, and prior treatment history and treatment outcomes were determined for each patient. Results: There were 4,379 culture positive TB cases diagnosed with drug susceptibility test results available during March 2004 through November 2007. 247 (5.6%) were infected with a MDR strain of M. tuberculosis and 11 (6.3%) of the 175 MDR patients whose isolate was tested for susceptibility to second-line drugs, were XDR. More than half of the patients with MDR and XDR were newly diagnosed and had no prior history of TB treatment. Nearly 57 % of the patients with MDR were successfully treated. Discussion: Transmission of MDR and XDR strains is a serious problem in Shanghai. While a history of prior anti-TB treatment indicates which individuals may have acquired MDR or XDR TB, it does not accurately predict which TB patients have disease caused by transmission of MDR and XDR strains. Therefore, universal drug susceptibility testing i

Deaths among tuberculosis cases in Shanghai, China: who is at risk?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Information about the risk factors associated with death caused by tuberculosis (TB) or death with TB would allow improvements in the clinical care of TB patients and save lives. The present study sought to identify characteristics associated with increased risk of death during anti-TB treatment in Shanghai, a city in China with one of the country's highest TB mortality rates.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We evaluated deaths among culture positive pulmonary TB cases that were diagnosed in Shanghai during 2000–2004 and initiated anti-TB therapy. Demographic, clinical, mycobacteriological information and treatment outcomes were routinely collected through a mandatory reporting system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 7,999 culture positive pulmonary cases reported during the study period. The overall case fatality rate was 5.5% (440 cases), and approximately half (50.5%) of the deaths were attributed to causes other than TB. Eighty-six percent of the deaths were among TB cases age ≥ 60 years. The significant independent risk factors for mortality during anti-TB treatment were advancing age, male sex, sputum smear positivity, and the presence of a comorbidity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>More vigorous clinical management and prevention strategies by both the TB control program and other public health programs are essential to improve TB treatment outcomes. Earlier suspicion, diagnosis and treatment of TB, especially among persons older than 60 years of age and those with a comorbid condition, could reduce deaths among TB patients.</p

Integrated Profiling of MicroRNAs and mRNAs: MicroRNAs Located on Xq27.3 Associate with Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Background: With the advent of second-generation sequencing, the expression of gene transcripts can be digitally measured with high accuracy. The purpose of this study was to systematically profile the expression of both mRNA and miRNA genes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) using massively parallel sequencing technology. Methodology: The expression of mRNAs and miRNAs were analyzed in tumor tissues and matched normal adjacent tissues obtained from 10 ccRCC patients without distant metastases. In a prevalence screen, some of the most interesting results were validated in a large cohort of ccRCC patients. Principal Findings: A total of 404 miRNAs and 9,799 mRNAs were detected to be differentially expressed in the 10 ccRCC patients. We also identified 56 novel miRNA candidates in at least two samples. In addition to confirming that canonical cancer genes and miRNAs (including VEGFA, DUSP9 and ERBB4; miR-210, miR-184 and miR-206) play pivotal roles in ccRCC development, promising novel candidates (such as PNCK and miR-122) without previous annotation in ccRCC carcinogenesis were also discovered in this study. Pathways controlling cell fates (e. g., cell cycle and apoptosis pathways) and cell communication (e. g., focal adhesion and ECM-receptor interaction) were found to be significantly more likely to be disrupted in ccRCC. Additionally, the results of the prevalence screen revealed that the expression of a miRNA gene cluster located on Xq27.3 was consistently downregulated in at least 76.7% of similar to 50 ccRCC patients. Conclusions: Our study provided a two-dimensional map of the mRNA and miRNA expression profiles of ccRCC using deep sequencing technology. Our results indicate that the phenotypic status of ccRCC is characterized by a loss of normal renal function, downregulation of metabolic genes, and upregulation of many signal transduction genes in key pathways. Furthermore, it can be concluded that downregulation of miRNA genes clustered on Xq27.3 is associated with ccRCC

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Study on Inhibition Characteristics of Composite Structure with High-Temperature Heat Pipe and Metal Foam on Gas Explosion

The hazards caused by gas explosion are mainly due to high temperatures and shock waves. It is of great practical significance to explore a device that can restrain these two hazards at the same time. Through the establishment of the gas explosion calculation model, a numerical analysis of the flame propagation in the three types of pipelines, including the empty pipe, the single metal foam pipe, and the high-temperature heat pipe metal foam composite structure, was carried out. The numerical results are compared with the relevant experimental results. The accuracy, rationality, and accuracy of the calculation model is verified. The research results show that that the gas explosion flame propagation develops fastest and accelerates in the empty pipe, followed by a single metal foam pipe. The gas explosion flame in the pipe with the high-temperature heat pipe metal foam composite structure develops the slowest. The composite structure composed of the high-temperature heat pipe and metal foam is an obvious choice to attenuate the temperature and overpressure of gas explosion. The high-temperature heat pipe can rapidly transmit heat in the form of phase change, and metal foam can effectively reduce the explosion pressure wave. The composite structure with the high-temperature heat pipe, and metal foam, destroys the coupling between flame and pressure wave, which acts as a barrier to explosion. It can effectively reduce the energy of flammable and explosive gas in the rear part of the pipeline and restrain the occurrence of the two explosions. The research results provide a scientific basis for the technical application of new, effective anti-explosion devices in coal mines

Thermal analysis in thin-film fluid regions of rectangular microgroove

The effects of contact angle and superheat on thin-film thickness and heat flux distribution occurring in a rectangle microgroove are numerically simulated. Accordingly, physical, and mathematical models are built in detail. Numerical results indicate that meniscus radius and thin-film thickness increase with the improvement of contact angle. The heat flux distribution in the thin-film region increases non-linearly as the contact angle decreases. The total heat transfer through the thin-film region increases with the improvement of superheat, and decreases as the contact angle increases. When the contact angle is equal to zero, the heat transfer in the thin-film region accounts for more than 80% of the total heat transfer. Intensive evaporation in the thin-film region plays a key role in heat transfer for the rectangle capillary microgroove. The liquid with higher wetting performance is more capable of playing the advantages of higher intensity heat transfer in thin- film region. The current investigation will result in a better understanding of thin- -film evaporation and its effect on the effective thermal conductivity in the rectangle microgroove

Analysis on three-dimensional flow and heat transfer in a cross wavy primary surface recuperator for a microturbine system

In this paper, three-dimensional periodic numerical model for fully developed flow in a cross wavy primary surface recuperator for a microturbine system is built. The performance of flow and heat transfer is analyzed. The fields of flow and temperature in a gas and air channel are obtained. Different working conditions are numerically simulated. Numerical results are compared with experimental data concerned. Analysis results show that the flow in the gas and air channel is anti-symmetry along the centre of channel. The flow of fluid is fluctuant. The flow velocity of gas is much higher than that of air. The thermal ratio of cross wavy primary surface recuperator can reach 95.2%. The thermal ratio decreases with the improvement of gas inlet temperature. When gas inlet temperature increases by 100 K, the thermal ratio decreases by about 1%. The thermal ratio increases with the reduction of flow rate in the channel. When flow rate reduces by 40%, the thermal ratio increases by about 4%. The research results can be used to guide checking the performance of a recuperator