Low distribution of genes encoding virulence factors in serotypes 1b clinical isolates from eastern Chinese populations.

Background: The ability of to invade, colonize, and eventually kill host cells is influenced by many virulence factors. However, there is no analysis of related genes in Jiangsu Province of China so far. was collected from 13 cities of Jiangsu Province through the provincial Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for analysis of distribution of major virulence genes (H, BCD, , F, B, A, 1A, A, , , 1B and ) detected by PCR technology.

Epidemiology of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Infections: Report from the China CRE Network.

Carbapenem-resistant (CRE) infection is highly endemic in China, but estimates of the infection burden are lacking. We established the incidence of CRE infection from a multicenter study that covered 25 tertiary hospitals in 14 provinces. CRE cases defined as carbapenem-nonsusceptible , , , or infections during January to December 2015 were collected and reviewed from medical records.

The emerging problem of linezolid-resistant enterococci.

Enterococcus is a significant pathogen in numerous infections, particularly in nosocomial infections, and is thus a great challenge to clinicians. Linezolid (LNZ), an oxazolidinone antibiotic, is an important therapeutic option for infections caused by Gram-positive bacterial pathogens, especially vancomycin-resistant enterococci. A systematic review was performed of the available literature on LNZ-resistant enterococci (LRE) to characterise these infections with respect to epidemiological, microbiological and clinical features.

Trapping and manipulation of nanoparticles using multifocal optical vortex metalens.

Optical trapping and manipulation have emerged as a powerful tool in the biological and physical sciences. In this work, we present a miniature optical tweezers device based on multifocal optical vortex metalens (MOVM). The MOVM is capable of generating multiple focal fields with specific orbital angular momentum at arbitrary position.

Methotrexate combined with methylprednisolone for the recovery of motor function and differential gene expression in rats with spinal cord injury.

Methylprednisolone is a commonly used drug for the treatment of spinal cord injury, but high doses of methylprednisolone can increase the incidence of infectious diseases. Methotrexate has anti-inflammatory activity and immunosuppressive effects, and can reduce inflammation after spinal cord injury. To analyze gene expression changes and the molecular mechanism of methotrexate combined with methylprednisolone in the treatment of spinal cord injury, a rat model of spinal cord contusion was prepared using the PinPoint™ precision cortical impactor technique.

Radial-variant nonlinear ellipse rotation.

The nonlinear ellipse rotation usually occurs when an elliptically polarized beam propagates through an isotropic nonlinear medium owing to the existence of χ1221(3). Here we report the radial-variant nonlinear ellipse rotation of a vector beam with structured elliptical polarization through isotropic Kerr nonlinearities. Due to the interaction of elliptically polarized vector beams (EPVBs) with isotropic nonlinear media, the distributions of both the orientation angle and the ellipticity angle of beams at the far-field observational plane exhibit multiple concentric ring structures with the circularly symmetry.

Newest data on fluoroquinolone resistance mechanism of isolates in Jiangsu Province of China.

Background: To determine the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and related presence of mutations in quinolone resistance-determining region (QRDR) genes and plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR) among isolates obtained from Jiangsu Province, China.

Methods: A total of 400  clinical isolates collected during 2012-2015 were identified by biochemical and serological methods, and the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern was evaluated using the disc-diffusion method. PCR and DNA sequencing were accomplished to identify mutations in , , and , and the presence of , , , , , and genes were also detected.

Plasmonic trapping of nanoparticles by metaholograms.

Manipulation of nanoparticles in solution is of great importance for a wide range of applications in biomedical, environmental, and material sciences. In this work, we present a novel plasmonic tweezers based on metahologram. We show that various kinds of nanoparticles can be stably trapped in a surface plasmon (SP) standing wave generated by the constructive interference between two coherent focusing SPs.

Quantifying Early Time Quantum Decoherence Dynamics through Fluctuations.

We introduce a general but simple relation between the timescale for quantum coherence loss and the initial fluctuations of operators that couple a quantum system with a surrounding bath. The relation allows the prediction and measurement of early time decoherence dynamics for any open quantum system, through purity, without reconstructing the system's many-body density matrix. It is applied to predict the decoherence time for basic models-the Holstein chain, spin-boson and Caldeira-Legget models-commonly employed to capture electronic, vibrational, and vibronic dynamics in molecules.

Clinical application of simultaneous detection of cystatin C, cathepsin S, and IL-1 in classification of coronary artery disease.

Unlabelled: Cystatin C, cathepsin S, and IL-1 are three important biomarkers of atherosclerosis. Previous studies emphasized the relationship between individual biomarkers in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients and severity of atherosclerostic lesions of the coronary arteries, while combined cystatin C, cathepsin S, and IL-1 have not been reported for clinical classification of CAD. We aimed to establish a link between cystatin C, cathepsin S, IL-1 and CAD in this cohort study.

Creation of identical multiple focal spots with three-dimensional arbitrary shifting.

We propose a simple and flexible method to create identical multiple focal spots with three-dimensional arbitrary shifting without moving lenses or laser beams. The incident cylindrical vector (CV) beam superposed with predesigned phase and amplitude modulations is tightly focused by a single lens. The multiple focal spots with predetermined number and positions are generated and the identical intensity distribution as well as the polarization distribution for each individual focal spot is demonstrated.

A 10-year surveillance of antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in Shigella sonnei isolates circulating in Jiangsu Province, China.

Objectives: The rapid emergence of drug-resistant Shigella sonnei is a serious public health problem. This study aimed to characterise the antimicrobial resistance patterns, molecular subtypes, and integron types and resistance gene cassettes in S. sonnei from Jiangsu Province, China.

Partial hydrodynamic representation of quantum molecular dynamics.

A hybrid method is proposed to propagate system-bath quantum dynamics that use both basis functions and coupled quantum trajectories. In it, the bath is represented with an ensemble of Bohmian trajectories while the system degrees of freedom are accounted through reduced density matrices. By retaining the Hilbert space structure for the system, the method is able to capture interference processes that are challenging to describe in Bohmian dynamics due to singularities that these processes introduce in the quantum potential.

When can time-dependent currents be reproduced by the Landauer steady-state approximation?

We establish well-defined limits in which the time-dependent electronic currents across a molecular junction subject to a fluctuating environment can be quantitatively captured via the Landauer steady-state approximation. For this, we calculate the exact time-dependent non-equilibrium Green's function (TD-NEGF) current along a model two-site molecular junction, in which the site energies are subject to correlated noise, and contrast it with that obtained from the Landauer approach. The ability of the steady-state approximation to capture the TD-NEGF behavior at each instant of time is quantified via the same-time correlation function of the currents obtained from the two methods, while their global agreement is quantified by examining differences in the average currents.

Novel mutations in gyrA and parC among Shigella sonnei strains from Jiangsu Province of China, 2002-2011.

Background: To investigate fluoroquinolone resistance and associated mechanisms of Shigella sonnei isolates in Jiangsu Province of China between 2002 and 2011.

Methods: All 337 unduplicated S. sonnei isolates were collected from hospitals in Jiangsu Province from January 2002 to December 2011.

Red blood cell distribution width and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio are correlated with disease activity of dermatomyositis and polymyositis.

Background: Previous studies indicated that both red blood cell distribution width (RDW) and neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were useful indices in assessing the disease activity of autoimmune diseases. However, the evidence for the association between RDW, NLR and dermatomyositis (DM) and polymyositis (PM) is limited. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between the disease activity of PM/DM and both RDW and NLR.

The impact of advanced proteomics in the search for markers and therapeutic targets of bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer is the most common cancer of the urinary tract and can be avoided through proper surveillance and monitoring. Several genetic factors are known to contribute to the progression of bladder cancer, many of which produce molecules that serve as cancer biomarkers. Blood, urine, and tissue are commonly analyzed for the presence of biomarkers, which can be derived from either the nucleus or the mitochondria.

Study on the Polarization of Random Lasers from Dye-Doped Nematic Liquid Crystals.

Random lasers from dye-doped nematic liquid crystal (DDNLC) cells with different rubbing methods were observed due to different random ring cavities that were formed. Through constructing cells with different rubbing methods on the forward and backward surfaces of light-emitting sides, we can get two random laser beams with different polarization directions from one DDNLC cell at the same time, and the polarization direction is along the rubbing direction of the light-emitting sides. Additionally, the influence of external electric field on the polarization degree of random lasers was also studied.

Polarization rotation of hybridly polarized beams in a uniaxial crystal orthogonal to the optical axis: theory and experiment.

The polarization rotation of hybridly polarized beams passing through a uniaxial crystal whose optical axis is orthogonal to the beam axis is theoretically and experimentally investigated. Based on the existing theory, analytical expressions of hybridly polarized beams in uniaxial crystals orthogonal to the optical axis are derived. Simulation results show that the distributions of the intensity patterns, the states of polarization, and the spin angular momentum of hybridly polarized beams in uniaxial crystals depend strongly on the beam radius, the propagation distance in the crystal, and the ratio of the extraordinary refractive index to the ordinary refractive index.

Nonlinear polarization evolution of hybridly polarized vector beams through isotropic Kerr nonlinearities.

Structured intense laser interacting with matter will result in a variety of novel nonlinear optical effects, modulate the light propagation behavior, and change the structural property of a material. In this work, we theoretically investigate the spatial self-phase modulation (SSPM) effect, nonlinear ellipse rotation, and spin angular momentum (SAM) flux redistribution of hybridly polarized vector beams through isotropic Kerr nonlinearities. Experimentally, we observe the SSPM effect of the femtosecond-pulsed hybridly polarized vector beam in carbon disulfide at 800 nm, which is in agreement with the theoretical predictions.

Manipulation of resonant metallic nanoparticle using 4Pi focusing system.

Metallic nanoparticles have fascinated scientists for over a century and are now heavily utilized in biomedical sciences and engineering. Due to its noncontact and holding nature, optical trapping is suitable to be combined with various applications to manipulate metallic nanoparticles. However, stable trapping of resonant metallic nanoparticles remains challenging due to the strong axial scattering force and severe optical heating effect.

Synthesis of focused beam with controllable arbitrary homogeneous polarization using engineered vectorial optical fields.

The propagation and focusing properties of light beams continue to remain a research interest owning to their promising applications in physics, chemistry and biological sciences. One of the main challenges to these applications is the control of polarization distribution within the focal volume. In this work, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a method for generating a focused beam with arbitrary homogeneous polarization at any transverse plane.

Multi-channel orbital angular momentum detection with metahologram.

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) is an intrinsic property of light that has attracted increasing attention recently. In a wide range of applications that involve OAM, it is often crucial to discern the OAM states with high fidelity. In this Letter, we propose a novel method to extend the detectable range of the OAM states by adopting a multi-sector metahologram.

Characterization of integrons and novel cassette arrays in bacteria from clinical isloates in China, 2000-2014.

Rapid dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes among bacterial isolates is an increasing problem in China. Integron, a conserved DNA sequence, which is carried on episomal genetic structures, plays a very important role in development of antibiotic resistance. This systematic analysis was based on MEDLINE and EMBASE databases.