Phenotypic and Genotypic Characteristics of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Related to Persistent Endovascular Infection.

Persistent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia (PB) represents an important subset of S. aureus infection and correlates with poor clinical outcomes. MRSA isolates from patients with PB differ significantly from those of resolving bacteremia (RB) with regard to several in vitro phenotypic and genotypic profiles. For instance, PB strains exhibit less susceptibility to cationic host defense peptides and vancomycin (VAN) killing under in vivo-like conditions, greater damage to endothelial cells, thicker biofilm formation, altered growth rates, early activation of many global virulence regulons (e.g., sigB, sarA, sae and agr) and higher expression of purine biosynthesis genes (e.g., purF) than RB strains. Importantly, PB strains are significantly more resistant to VAN treatment in experimental infective endocarditis as compared to RB strains, despite similar VAN minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) in vitro. Here, we review relevant phenotypic and genotypic characteristics related to the PB outcome. These and future insights may improve our understanding of the specific mechanism(s) contributing to the PB outcome, and aid in the development of novel therapeutic and preventative measures against this life-threatening infection

KDM2B/FBXL10 targets c-Fos for ubiquitylation and degradation in response to mitogenic stimulation.

KDM2B (also known as FBXL10) controls stem cell self-renewal, somatic cell reprogramming and senescence, and tumorigenesis. KDM2B contains multiple functional domains, including a JmjC domain that catalyzes H3K36 demethylation and a CxxC zinc-finger that recognizes CpG islands and recruits the polycomb repressive complex 1. Here, we report that KDM2B, via its F-box domain, functions as a subunit of the CUL1-RING ubiquitin ligase (CRL1/SCF(KDM2B)) complex. KDM2B targets c-Fos for polyubiquitylation and regulates c-Fos protein levels. Unlike the phosphorylation of other SCF (SKP1-CUL1-F-box)/CRL1 substrates that promotes substrates binding to F-box, epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced c-Fos S374 phosphorylation dissociates c-Fos from KDM2B and stabilizes c-Fos protein. Non-phosphorylatable and phosphomimetic mutations at S374 result in c-Fos protein which cannot be induced by EGF or accumulates constitutively and lead to decreased or increased cell proliferation, respectively. Multiple tumor-derived KDM2B mutations impaired the function of KDM2B to target c-Fos degradation and to suppress cell proliferation. These results reveal a novel function of KDM2B in the negative regulation of cell proliferation by assembling an E3 ligase to targeting c-Fos protein degradation that is antagonized by mitogenic stimulations

Monte Carlo Calculations for Liquid 4^4He at Negative Pressure

A Quadratic Diffusion Monte Carlo method has been used to obtain the equation of state of liquid $^4$He including the negative pressure region down to the spinodal point. The atomic interaction used is a renewed version (HFD-B(HE)) of the Aziz potential, which reproduces quite accurately the features of the experimental equation of state. The spinodal pressure has been calculated and the behavior of the sound velociy around the spinodal density has been analyzed.Comment: 10 pages, RevTex 3.0, with 4 PostScript figures include

Soil greenhouse gas fluxes and net global warming potential from intensively cultivated vegetable fields in southwestern China

Session 2: Nitrogen, Green House Gasses and Agricultur

Bibliometric Analysis of the Top-100 Cited Articles on Postoperative Delirium

Qingyuan Miao,* Rui Zhou,* Xinyang Li, Lize Xiong Shanghai Key Laboratory of Anesthesiology and Brain Functional Modulation, Clinical Research Center for Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Translational Research Institute of Brain and Brain-Like Intelligence, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Shanghai Fourth People’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai City, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Lize Xiong, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Shanghai Fourth People’s Hospital, No. 1279, Sanmen Road, Shanghai, 200434, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86-21-55603002, Fax +86-21-56660851, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Postoperative delirium (POD), a common complication affecting short- and long-term prognosis in elderly patients, leads to a heavy burden on social economy and health care. The main purpose of this study is to conduct a bibliometric analysis of the 100 most frequently cited articles on POD.Methods: “Postoperative delirium” and its synonyms were searched in the Web of Science (WoS) core database. The top-100 cited articles were automatically selected by sorting the records in descending order. Key information such as author, journal, article type, publication year, citations, since 2013 usage count, institution, country, and keywords were extracted and analyzed. VOSviewer software was applied to do the visualization analyses of institution co-operation, author interaction, author co-citation, and keywords co-occurrence. The CiteSpace software was used to analyze keywords burst.Results: Most articles were published by authors and institutions in the United States of America (USA). Inouye was the most influential author of this field. The journals that recorded these articles had a high impact factor (IF), with a highest IF of 168.9 and an average IF of 18.04. Cohort studies were the main document type in this field (42 publications), followed by randomized controlled trial (RCT) and systematic reviews or meta-analysis (18 and 14, respectively). The 10 keywords with the highest appearance were “delirium”, “risk-factors”, “surgery”, “confusion assessment method”, “elderly patients”, “hip fracture”, “intensive care unit”, “cardiac surgery”, “general anesthesia”, and “risk”. Moreover, “double blind” and “cardiac surgery” were the most recent booming keywords.Conclusion: We indicated the current research status and tendency of POD by analyzing the 100 most influential articles on POD. The USA is the leader in this field. Prospective study is the preference for authors to cite. Cardiac surgery remains the primary research carrier and the hotspots in the near future may be double-blind studies.Keywords: bibliometric analysis, postoperative delirium, psychiatry, postoperative cognitive disorder, top-10

Humanoid Balancing Behavior Featured by Underactuated Foot Motion

A novel control synthesis is proposed for humanoids to demonstrate unique foot-tilting behaviors that are comparable to humans in balance recovery. Our study of model-based behaviors explains the underlying mechanism and the significance of foot tilting well. Our main algorithms are composed of impedance control at the center of mass, virtual stoppers that prevent overtilting of the feet, and postural control for the torso. The proof of concept focuses on the sagittal scenario and the proposed control is effective to produce human-like balancing behaviors characterized by active foot tilting. The successful replication of this behavior on a real humanoid proves the feasibility of deliberately controlled underactuation. The experimental validation was rigorously performed, and the data from the submodules and the entire control were presented and analyzed

Spectral fingerprint of quantum confinement in single CsPbBr3_3 nanocrystals

Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) are promising materials for classical and quantum lightemission applications. To gain a better understanding of their outstanding properties, a thorough understanding of the band-edge exciton emission is needed which is not reachable in ensemble and room temperature studies because of broadening effects. Here, we report on a study of the photoluminescence (PL) of single CsPbBr$_3$ NCs in the intermediate quantum confinement regime at cryogenic temperature. We reveal the size-dependence of the spectral features observed in single NCs PL: the bright-triplet exciton energy splittings, the trion and biexciton binding energies as well as the optical phonon replica spectrum. In addition, we show that the bright triplet energy splittings are consistent with a pure exchange model and that the variety of polarisation properties and PL spectra of single CsPbBr$_3$ NCs can be simply rationalised by considering the orientation of the emitting dipoles and the thermal populations of the emitting states