Development of monoclonal antibody-coated immunomagnetic beads for separation and detection of norovirus (genogroup II) in faecal extract samples.

Aims: The aim of this study is to develop an RT-PCR assay combined with immunomagnetic beads (IMS/RT-PCR) coating monoclonal antibody (Mab) for separation and detection of norovirus (genogroup II) in faecal samples. We furthermore compare its detection limits with IMS/RT-PCR using polyclonal antibody (Pab) and the TRIzol extraction method followed by RT-PCR (TRIzol-RT-PCR).

Methods And Results: Mab-coated beads and Pab-coated beads were added to a series of tenfold dilutions of faecal extract containing norovirus in 1 ml PBS.

Preparation and antioxidative properties of a rapeseed ( Brassica napus ) protein hydrolysate and three peptide fractions.

This study investigated the possibility of converting the insoluble rapeseed meal protein into functionally active ingredients for food applications. The rapeseed ( Brassica napus ) meal protein isolates were first digested by Alcalase and Flavourzyme, and the resultant rapeseed crude hydrolysate (RSCH) exhibited a dose-dependent reducing antioxidant power and hydroxyl radical scavenging ability. RSCH could also inhibit the malonyldialdehyde (MDA) generation by 50% in blood serum at 150 mg/mL.

[Studies on chemical constituents from Grewia biloba].

Objective: To investigate the chemical constituents of Grewia biloba and find its bioactive compounds.

Methods: Compounds were isolated by silica gel, MCI, Sephadex LH-20 and Rp-18 column chromatography, and purified by recrystallization. Their structures were elucidated by spectral analysis and other methods.

Tailoring longitudinal surface plasmon wavelengths, scattering and absorption cross sections of gold nanorods.

Tailoring the longitudinal surface plasmon wavelengths (LSPWs), scattering, and absorption cross sections of gold nanorods has been demonstrated by combining anisotropic shortening and transverse overgrowth and judiciously choosing starting Au nanorods. Shortening yields Au nanorods with decreasing lengths but a fixed diameter, while overgrowth produces nanorods with increasing diameters but a nearly unchanged length. Two series of Au nanorods with LSPWs varying in the same spectral range but distinct extinction coefficients are thus obtained.

Sandwiched sodium and half-sandwiched copper carbonyl complexes featuring polyfluorinated tris(triazolyl)borate [HB(3,5-(CF(3))(2)Tz)(3)](-).

Fluorinated tris(triazolyl)borate [HB(3,5-(CF(3))(2)Tz)(3)](-) (Tz = triazolyl) affords the isolation of [Na(THF)(6)]{[HB(3,5-(CF(3))(2)Tz)(3)](2)Na} with a ligand sandwiched sodium ion and a copper carbonyl complex [HB(3,5-(CF(3))(2)Tz)(3)]CuCO with a high C-O stretching frequency.

New target tissue for food-borne virus detection in oysters.

Aim: To evaluate the different tissues of naturally contaminated oyster for food-borne virus detection.

Methods And Results: The different tissues of 136 field oyster samples were analysed for norovirus (NV), hepatitis A virus (HAV) and rotavirus (RV) by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and were confirmed by sequencing. These viruses were detected in 20 samples (14.

Distribution of norovirus in oyster tissues.

Aims: To study the distribution of norovirus (NV) in oyster tissues.

Methods And Results: Five monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against VP1 were selected from Balb/c mice. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to detect native NV in different tissues of artificially contaminated oysters using the MAbs.

Bis(2,2-dinitro-prop-yl)formal.

The complete mol-ecule of the title compound [systematic name: bis(2,2-dinitro-prop-oxy)methane], C(7)H(12)N(4)O(10), which was synthesized by the condensation reaction between 2,2-dinitro-propanol and paraformaldehyde in methyl-ene chloride, is generated by crystallographic twofold symmetry with one C atom lying on the rotation axis. In the crystal structure, mol-ecules are linked into chains running parallel to the b axis by inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen-bond inter-actions, generating rings of graph-set motif R(2) (2)(14).

Curvature-directed assembly of gold nanocubes, nanobranches, and nanospheres.

Gold nanocubes, nanobranches, and nanospheres were prepared in high yields using a seeded growth method in the presence of cationic surfactants. The resultant Au nanostructures are encapsulated with a surfactant bilayer and positively charged. The nanocubes are single-crystalline and enclosed with low-index facets.

[Studies on simultaneous detection of four foodborneviruses by multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction].

Objective: To establish a method for simultaneous detection of norovirus (NV), rotavirus (RV), astrovirus (AV) and hepatitis A virus (HAV) by multiplex reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Methods: Specific primers of the four viruses were designed based on the high conserved sequences, the reaction system and conditions optimized and the specificity and sensitivity confirmed. The method was then applied to detect the four viruses in clinical samples.

Antioxidant activity of a water-soluble polysaccharide purified from Pteridium aquilinum.

A water-soluble crude polysaccharide, obtained from fern Pteridium aquilinum, was fractionated by DEAE-Sepharose Fast-Flow column chromatography, and purified by Sephacryl S-400 HR column chromatography. The average molecular weight (M(w)) of the purified polysaccharide (PLP) is 458,000 Da. The monosaccharide components of PLP were characterized by gas chromatography (GC), and the majority of the monosaccharide components was glucose (relative mass 58.

Shape- and size-dependent refractive index sensitivity of gold nanoparticles.

Gold nanoparticles of different shapes and sizes, including nanospheres, nanocubes, nanobranches, nanorods, and nanobipyramids, were dispersed into water-glycerol mixtures of varying volume ratios to investigate the response of their surface plasmon peaks to the refractive index of the surrounding medium. The refractive index sensitivities and figures of merit were found to be dependent on both the shape and the size of the Au nanoparticles. The index sensitivities generally increase as Au nanoparticles become elongated and their apexes become sharper.

[Development of noroviruses].

Noroviruses (NVs) were one of the new borne viruses, which was found firstly in the Unit States of America in 1972 and reported in China in 1995. The main food-borne viral pathogens affect people badly and cause the epidemic acute gastroenteritis in all kinds of people. And to this day, however, no cell lines and animal models have been found, which has hampered the study of these viruses.

Growth of gold bipyramids with improved yield and their curvature-directed oxidation.

The surface-plasmon properties of Au bipyramids are investigated using the finite-difference time-domain method. It is found that both the extinction cross sections and local electric-field enhancements of Au bipyramids are larger than those of Au nanorods that have longitudinal surface plasmon (LSP) wavelengths close to those of Au bipyramids. Following this result the growth of Au bipyramids using cationic surfactants of variously sized headgroups as stabilizing agents is carried out.

[Determination of trace heavy metal elements in cortex Phellodendron chinense by ICP-MS after microwave-assisted digestion].

An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for determination of the contents of 8 trace heavy metal elements in cortex Phellodendron chinense after microwave-assisted digestion of the sample has been developed. The accuracy of the method was evaluated by the analysis of corresponding trace heavy metal elements in standard reference materials (GBW 07604 and GBW 07605). By applying the proposed method, the contents of 8 trace heavy metal elements in cortex Phellodendron chinense cultivated in different areas (in Bazhong, Yibin and Yingjing, respectively) of Sichuan and different growth period (6, 8 and 10 years of samples from Yingjing) were determined.

Nanonecklaces assembled from gold rods, spheres, and bipyramids.

Gold nanorods, nanospheres, and bipyramids have been assembled using glutathione and cysteine into three types of necklace structures, which might be useful for the fabrication of nanoscale photonic, electronic, and optoelectronic devices.

Development of a virus concentration method and its application for the detection of noroviruses in drinking water in China.

A new procedure for the concentration of nonoviruses from water samples has been developed. This procedure (calcium flocculation-citrate dissolution method) uses the following steps: virus flocculation formed by treatment with 1 M CaCl2 and 1 M Na2HPO4, virus release by sodium citrate dissolution (0.3 M Na citrate, pH 3.

One-step synthesis of large-aspect-ratio single-crystalline gold nanorods by using CTPAB and CTBAB surfactants.

Gold nanorods were prepared in high yields by using a one-step seed-mediated process in aqueous cetyltripropylammonium bromide (CTPAB) and cetyltributylammonium bromide (CTBAB) solutions in the presence of silver nitrate. The diameters of the nanorods range from 3 to 11 nm, their lengths are in the range of 15 to 350 nm, and their aspect ratios are in the range of 2 to 70. The diameters of the Au nanorods obtained from one growth batch in CTPAB solutions decrease as their lengths increase, and their volumes decrease as the aspect ratios increase.

Effect of traditional chinese medicine on survival and quality of life in patients with esophageal carcinoma after esophagectomy.

Objective: To explore the effect and possible mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) on survival and quality of life (QOL) in patients with esophageal carcinoma after esophagectomy.

Methods: Adopting prospective controlled method of study, the authors had 128 post-esophagectomy patients, hospitalized from February 2001 to February 2002, randomly divided into 3 groups: the TCM group, treated with TCM drugs alone; the chemotherapy group, with chemotherapy alone applied; and the synthetic group, treated with chemotherapy combined with Chinese medicine. Their survival rate and QOL were compared.

Rapid detection of noroviruses in fecal samples and shellfish by nucleic acid sequence-based amplification.

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of a nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) method of detecting noroviruses in artificially and naturally contaminated shellfish. We used 58 fecal samples that tested positive for noroviruses with electron microscopy (EM) to develop an NASBA assay for these viruses. Oligonucleotide primers targeting the polymerase coding region were used to amplify the viral RNA in an isothermal process that resulted in the accumulation of RNA amplicons.

Growth of gold nanorods and bipyramids using CTEAB surfactant.

Gold nanorods and bipyramids have been synthesized using the seed-mediated approach in aqueous cetyltriethylammonium bromide (CTEAB) solutions in the presence of silver nitrate. Gold nanoparticle seeds that are stabilized with either CTEAB or sodium citrate have been used. The use of the CTEAB-stabilized seeds gives gold nanorods in high yield in one step with the longitudinal plasmon wavelength ranging from 750 to 1030 nm, depending on the amount of the seeds.