Rapid methods for antimicrobial resistance diagnosis in contaminated soils for effective remediation strategy

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment is a global concern for public health and recent studies have shown that various soil pollutants (e.g. heavy metals, petroleum hydrocarbons) can cause the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic-resistance genes in the soil. This emergence of AMR in soil is therefore prompting the research community for the development of rapid and real-time monitoring tools to better understand the source, fate and transfer pathway of AMR in contaminated soils. In this respect, the recent development of rapid sensors-based methods has been critically reviewed. The analytical performance of each sensing technique along with their advantages and limitations is further discussed to inform future development needs for the next generation sensors that would allow rapid and multiplexed detection of AMR in contaminated soils. By doing so, it would assist the decision making during remediation project and provide crucial insights into the risk assessment for contaminated sites

Strain-based tunable optical microresonator with an in-fiber rectangular air bubble

We demonstrate a strain-based fully tunable, near-lossless, whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator made of an in-fiber rectangular air bubble, which is fabricated by splicing two segments of standard single-mode fibers. Such a resonator, with a 39 μm order radius and 1 μm order wall thickness, contributes to a high quality factor exceeding 106. The tuning in resonant wavelength is achieved by applying tensile strain to the resonator, and the voltage-tuning rate of the WGM resonance peaks is about 31.96 pm/V (strain-tuning rate ∼14.12 pm∕με), and the corresponding tuning accuracy is better than 0.03 pm. Since the tensile strain applied on the resonator can reach 1000 με, the achievable total tunable bandwidth of ∼14.12 nm is more than two times that of its azimuthal free spectral range

Establishment of prediction models to predict survival among patients with cervical cancer based on socioeconomic factors: a retrospective cohort study based on the SEER Database

Objective To construct and validate predictive models based on socioeconomic factors for predicting overall survival (OS) in cervical cancer and compare them with the American Joint Council on Cancer (AJCC) staging system.Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting and participants We extracted data from 5954 patients who were diagnosed with cervical cancer between 2007 and 2011 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Database. This database holds data related to cancer incidence from 18 population-based cancer registries in the USA.Outcome measures 1-year and 5-year OS.Results Of the total 5954 patients, 5820 patients had 1-year mortality and 5460 patients had 5-year mortality. Lower local education level [Hazard ratios (HR): 1.15, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04 to 1.27, p= 0.005] and being widowed (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.55, p=0.009) were associated with a worse OS for patients with cervical cancer. Having insurance (HR 0.75, 95% CI 0.62 to 0.90, p=0.002), earning a local median annual income of ≥US$56 270 (HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.75 to 0.92, p<0.001) and being married (HR 0.79, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.89, p<0.001) were related to better OS in patients with cervical cancer. The predictive models based on socioeconomic factors and the AJCC staging system had a favourable performance for predicting OS in cervical cancer compared with the AJCC staging system alone.Conclusion Our proposed predictive models exhibit superior predictive performance, which may highlight the potential clinical application of incorporating socioeconomic factors in predicting OS in cervical cancer

Evaluation of Three Reanalysis Soil Temperature Datasets with Observation Data over China

Soil temperature is a crucial parameter in surface emissions of carbon, water, and energy exchanges. This study utilized the soil temperature of 836 national basic meteorological observing stations over China to evaluate three soil temperature products. Soil temperature data from the China Meteorology Administration Land Data Assimilation System (CLDAS), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ERA-Interim), and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) during 2017 are evaluated. The results showed that soil temperature reanalysis datasets display a significant north-to-south difference over eastern China with generally underestimated magnitudes. CLDAS data perform soil temperature assessment best at different depths and can be reproduced well in most areas of China. CLDAS slightly overestimates soil temperature in summer. The most significant deviation of ERA-Interim (GLDAS) appears in summer (summer and autumn). As soil depth increases, the soil temperature errors of all three datasets increase. The CLDAS represents the soil temperature over China but owns a more considerable bias in barren or sparsely vegetated croplands. ERA-Interim performs poorest in urban and built-up and barren or sparsely vegetated areas. GLDAS overall owns an enormous bias at the mixed forest, grassland, and croplands areas, which should be improved, especially in summer. However, it performs better in open shrublands and barren or sparsely vegetated areas. The ST of mixed forests shows better results in the south region than the north region. For grasslands, smaller MEs are located in the north and northwest regions. The ST of croplands shows the poorest performance over the northwest region

Secondary Metabolites and Antiradical Activity of Liquid Fermentation of <i>Morchella</i> sp. Isolated from Southwest China

Morels famous for their taste and nutrition are in short supply all over the world although they were considered as one of the most highly prized edible and medicinal mushrooms. Because of the limitation of resource and cultivation technology, fermentation of edible mushroom was gradually applied to nutrient, bioactivity and breeder seed preparation. At present, there are more reports on sugar and amino acid but less on other components. Morchella sp. YDJ-ZY-1 was isolated from the wild fruiting body by the spores releasing method in Zunyi Guizhou province in Southwest China and identified based on phenotype and genotype characteristics. Chemical compositions of YDJ-ZY-1 were investigated from liquid fermentation that will lay the foundation for further development and utilization. Four pyranoids (1&#8722;4) and 2-(1-oxo-2-hydroxyethyl) furan (5), linoleic acid (6), Morelin (2-hydroxy-cinnamic acid methyl ester, (7) and 1-O-&#946;-d-ribofuranose-Morelin (8) were obtained from EtOAc extraction and elucidated by spectral data. Product 4 and 8 were new compounds and 7 was isolated from nature for the first time. Antiradical activity was evaluated by free radical scavenging effect on DPPH (1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical 2,2-Diphenyl-1-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyl)hydrazyl). Compound 5 exhibited strong antiradical activity while compounds 1 and 2 exhibited moderate activity. Thus, incubation of Morchella sp YDJ-ZY-1 separated from the wild fruit body afforded eight compounds. Secondary metabolites with new structures were mined from fermentation of Morchella sp. and antiradical activity was evaluated

Optimization of the Curing Process of Large Yellow Croaker Roe

In order to study the optimal curing process of large yellow croaker roe, the effect of salt type, salt addition, curing time and curing temperature on the chloride content, volatile salt nitrogen (TVB-N) content, moisture, the total number of colonies, color, texture and sensory evaluation of cured large yellow croaker roe was investigated. On this basis, the curing process of large yellow croaker roe was optimized by response surface methodology with sensory evaluation and large yellow croaker roe as response values. The results showed that the TVB-N content and the total number of colonies of cured large yellow croaker roe with fine salt were lower than those cured with coarse salt. At 10% salt addition, L* value was the highest, and the sensory quality was better. At the curing temperature of 5 ℃, the hardness and chewiness were suitable, and the total number of colonies conformed to relevant standard. When curing for 55 d, the total number of colonies was lower and the sensory evaluation score was the highest. The best process for curing large yellow croaker roe was as follows: The salt addition was 10.69%, the curing temperature was 5.0 ℃, and the curing time was 55.51 d. Under this condition, the sensory score of cured large yellow croaker roe was 82.50 and the total number of colonies was 5.32 lg CFU/g. The obtained cured large yellow croaker roe products had good edible quality

Modulation of Calcium Oxalate Crystallization by Colloidal Selenium Nanoparticles–Polyphenol Complex

The nanoSe⁰-polyphenol complexes with a 3:1 polyphenol/nanoSe⁰ molar ratio were prepared by colloidal selenium nanoparticles (nanoSe⁰) modified with gallic acid (GA), propyl gallate (PG), and pyrogallic acid (PA), which were spherical with average diameter about 38–77 nm. On this basis, we studied the effect of nanoSe⁰-polyphenol on the CaC₂O₄ crystallization and also elaborated the modulation mechanism, which were compared with those for each polyphenol individually. NanoSe⁰-GA and nanoSe⁰-PA were easy to induce the formation of calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD) crystals, while nanoSe⁰-PG induced the formation of quasi-rectangular calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM), multilayered calcium oxalate trihydrate (COT) crystals, and an amount of COD crystals in a dose-dependent fashion by nanoSe⁰-PG. The strong effect of nanoSe⁰-polyphenol on the formation of COD and COT crystals could be attributed to electrostatic interaction between nanoSe⁰-polyphenol and CaC₂O₄ crystals. The results obtained in the polyphenol system were similar to, as well as different from, nanoSe⁰-polyphenol because the effect of the polyphenol on the CaC₂O₄ crystallization could result from not only electrostatic interaction between polyphenols and Ca²⁺ ions, but also hydrogen bonding interaction between the polyphenols and C₂O₄^2– groups. All the obtained COD crystals were thermostable even at 70 °C, while COT crystals were temperature dependent