Atmospheric connections with the North Atlantic enhanced the deglacial warming in northeast China

Variations in atmospheric circulation across the last deglaciation in the northernmost monsoon-influenced regions of Asia are not well constrained, highlighting a fundamental gap in our understanding of Asian climate. Here we reconstruct continental air temperatures for northeast China across the last deglaciation (past 16 k. y.), based on the distribution of bacterial branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers in a sequence of the Hani peat (Jilin Province, northeast China). Our results indicate large (as much as 10 degrees C) oscillations in temperature in northeast China across the deglaciation, oscillations significantly larger than observed in other temperature records from low-latitude or same-latitude East Asia, but consistent with climate model simulations. This enhanced magnitude, as well as the timing of temperature variations, provides evidence for atmospheric teleconnections with high latitudes; in particular, we suggest that highlatitude cooling associated with Arctic ice expansion and changes in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation enhanced the intensity and lowered the temperature of Eurasian mid-latitude westerlies and northwesterly winds over East Asia during the last glacial, delivering cold air masses to northeast China. During the deglaciation the westerlies and therefore delivery of cold air masses weakened, amplifying the deglacial warming in this region. We conclude that changes in North Atlantic climate had a particularly strong impact on the northernmost parts of the East Asian monsoon-influenced area

Rapid diagnosis of duck Tembusu virus and goose astrovirus with TaqMan-based duplex real-time PCR

The mixed infection of duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV) and goose astrovirus (GoAstV) is an important problem that endangers the goose industry. Although quantitative PCR has been widely used in monitoring these two viruses, there is no reliable method to detect them at the same time. In this study, by analyzing the published genomes of DTMUV and goose astrovirus genotype 2 (GoAstV-2) isolated in China, we found that both viruses have high conservation, showing 96.5 to 99.5% identities within different strains of DTMUV and GoAstV, respectively. Subsequently, PCR primers and TaqMan probes were designed to identify DTMUV and GoAstV-2, and different fluorescent reporters were given to two probes for differential diagnosis. Through the optimization and verification, this study finally developed a duplex TaqMan qPCR method that can simultaneously detect the above two viruses. The lower limits of detection were 100 copies/μL and 10 copies/μL for DTMUV and GoAstV-2 under optimal condition. The assay was also highly specific in detecting one or two viruses in various combinations in specimens, and provide tool for clinical diagnosis of mixed infections of viruses in goose

Microsomal Ca²⁺ flux modulation as an indicator of heavy metal toxicity

737-743Inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphatee (IP3), an intracellular messenger, releases Ca2+ from microsomes. Ca2+ plays a major role in regulating various cellular events like neural transmission and regulation of hormones and growth factors. Aluminum (Al), lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) were reported to alter Ca2+-regulated events thereby causing neurotoxicity. Hence, an attempt was made characterize IP3 mediated Ca2+ release from rat brain microsomes under the influence of Al, Pb and Hg. Different concentrations of metals were tested over a designated time scale and their effects on IP3 mediated Ca2+ release from microsomes were monitored using Fura-2 technique. All the three metals inhibited IP3 mediated Ca2+ release, Pb being more potent. The order of potency of these three metals was Pb>Hg>Al. Except for Al, both Hg and Pb independently released Ca2+ from microsomes. Re-uptake of Ca2+ into microsomes was inhibited by all the three metals, Pb being more potent. Microsomal Ca2+-ATPase activity was also inhibited by all the three metals. These results suggest that neurotoxicity exerted by Al, Pb and Hg may be due to the interference of these metals with IP3 mediated calcium release and also interfering with the microsomal Ca2+ sequestration mechanism. Differential effects of heavy metal induced changes in Ca2+ flux can be used as an index of relative toxicity

Peatland GDGT records of Holocene climatic and biogeochemical responses to the Asian Monsoon

Branched and isoprenoidal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) membrane lipids have been widely used to reconstruct past climate and environmental change. They are not, however, widely applied to peat deposits and the controls on their distributions in peats remain unclear. Here, we present a high resolution record of branched and isoprenoid GDGT concentrations and distributions from a peat core from the Tibetan Plateau that spans the last 13 kyr, a period characterised by distinct dry and wet periods in the region. The lowest concentrations of total branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) occurred during a presumably dry interval in the mid-Holocene, suggesting that brGDGTs-producing bacteria are less productive under such conditions, perhaps reflecting their putative anaerobic ecology. The mean annual air temperature (MAT) estimates derived from the methylation index of brGDGTs and cyclisation ratio of brGDGTs (MBT&#39;/CBT) are higher than present mean annual temperature in the region and closer to summer temperatures, perhaps due to seasonal production of brGDGTs. The downcore distributions of isoprenoidal and branched GDGTs are dominated by GDGT-0 and brGDGT II, respectively. The high fractional abundances of GDGT-0 in warm and especially wet intervals suggest that these conditions are favourable for some groups of methanogenic archaea. The mid-Holocene dry interval is associated with an increase in the fractional and absolute abundance of crenarchaeol, which could be indicative of enhanced ammonia-oxidising archaeal-mediated nitrogen cycling under these conditions. Taken together, variations of GDGT concentrations in peats appear to document the response of microbial processes to climate change and variations in the biogeochemical environment. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p

Rapid detection of goose astrovirus genotypes 2 using real-time reverse transcription recombinase polymerase amplification

Abstract Background Goose astrovirus (GoAstV) is an important pathogen that causes joint and visceral gout in goslings. It has been circulating in many provinces of China since 2017. Goose astrovirus genotypes 2 (GoAstV-2) is the main epidemic strain, and its high morbidity and mortality have caused huge economic losses to the goose industry. An accurate point-of-care detection for GoAstV-2 is of great significance. In this study, we developed a real-time reverse transcription recombinase polymerase amplification (RT-RPA) method for the on-site detection of GoAstV-2 infection. Results The real-time RT-RPA reaction was carried out at a constant temperature of 39 °C, and the entire detection time from nucleic acid preparation to the end of amplification was only 25 min using the portable device. The results of a specificity analysis showed that no cross-reaction was observed with other related pathogens. The detection limit of the assay was 100 RNA copies/μL. The low coefficient of variation value indicated excellent repeatability. We used 270 clinical samples to evaluate the performance of our established method, the positive concordance rates with RT-qPCR were 99.6%, and the linear regression analysis revealed a strong correlation. Conclusions The established real-time RT-RPA assay showed high rapidity, specificity and sensitivity, which can be widely applied in the laboratory, field and especially in the resource-limited settings for GoAstV-2 point-of-care diagnosis

Expert consensus statement on therapeutic drug monitoring and individualization of linezolid

Linezolid is an oxazolidinone antibacterial drug, and its therapeutic drug monitoring and individualized treatment have been challenged since its approval. With the in-depth clinical research of linezolid, we have changed our attitude toward its therapeutic drug monitoring and our view of individualized treatment. On the basis of summarizing the existing clinical studies, and based on the practical experience of each expert in their respective professional fields, we have formed this expert consensus. Our team of specialists is a multidisciplinary team that includes pharmacotherapists, clinical pharmacology specialists, critical care medicine specialists, respiratory specialists, infectious disease specialists, emergency medicine specialists and more. We are committed to the safe and effective use of linezolid in patients in need, and the promotion of its therapeutic drug monitoring

Targeted next-generation sequencing as a comprehensive test for patients with and female carriers of DMD/BMD:a multi-population diagnostic study

Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies (DMD/BMD) are the most commonly inherited neuromuscular disease. However, accurate and convenient molecular diagnosis cannot be achieved easily because of the enormous size of the dystrophin gene and complex causative mutation spectrum. Such traditional methods as multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification plus Sanger sequencing require multiple steps to fulfill the diagnosis of DMD/BMD. Here, we introduce a new single-step method for the genetic analysis of DMD patients and female carriers in real clinical settings and demonstrate the validation of its accuracy. A total of 89 patients, 18 female carriers and 245 non-DMD patients were evaluated using our targeted NGS approaches. Compared with traditional methods, our new method yielded 99.99% specificity and 98.96% sensitivity for copy number variations detection and 100% accuracy for the identification of single-nucleotide variation mutations. Additionally, this method is able to detect partial deletions/duplications, thus offering precise personal DMD gene information for gene therapy. We detected novel partial deletions of exons in nine samples for which the breakpoints were located within exonic regions. The results proved that our new method is suitable for routine clinical practice, with shorter turnaround time, higher accuracy, and better insight into comprehensive genetic information (detailed breakpoints) for ensuing gene therapy