Diagnosis of Neurological Infections in Pediatric Patients from Cell-Free DNA Specimens by Using Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing.

Central nervous system (CNS) infections can cause significant morbidity and mortality, especially in children. Rapid and accurate pathogenic detection in suspected CNS infections is essential for disease control at the early stage of infection. To evaluate the performance of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in pediatric patients, we retrospectively analyzed the efficiency of cfDNA mNGS in children with CNS infections ( = 257) or noninfectious neurological disorders ( = 81).

Combinational benefit of antihistamines and remdesivir for reducing SARS-CoV-2 replication and alleviating inflammation-induced lung injury in mice.

COVID-19 is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection, the combination of anti-inflammatory and antiviral therapy is predicted to provide clinical benefits. We recently demonstrated that mast cells (MCs) are an essential mediator of SARS-CoV-2-initiated hyperinflammation. We also showed that spike protein-induced MC degranulation initiates alveolar epithelial inflammation for barrier disruption and suggested an off-label use of antihistamines as MC stabilizers to block degranulation and consequently suppress inflammation and prevent lung injury.

An oriental melon 9-lipoxygenase gene CmLOX09 response to stresses, hormones, and signal substances.

In plants, lipoxygenases (LOXs) play a crucial role in biotic and abiotic stresses. In our previous study, five 13-LOX genes of oriental melon were regulated by abiotic stress but it is unclear whether the 9-LOX is involved in biotic and abiotic stresses. The promoter analysis revealed that CmLOX09 (type of 9-LOX) has hormone elements, signal substances, and stress elements.

Expression and clinical significance of periostin in oral lichen planus.

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory lesion involving the oral mucosa, which has a high likelihood of progressing to cancer. The present study investigated the periostin expression in the mucosa and serum of patients with OLP and its correlation with serum cytokines. A total of 117 patients with OLP and 110 healthy controls were included in the study.

[Regulation of different calcium forms on the photosynthesis of tomato leaves under heat stress].

The regulation of different calcium forms, namely CaCl2, Nano-calcium and Manntiol-calcuim, on the gas exchange and fluorescence of tomato leaves under heat stress was investigated. The results showed that all forms of calcium alleviated the decrease of chlorophyll a and carotenoid contents in leaves of tomato seedlings under heat stress, enhanced the net photosynthesis rate (Pn), transpiration rate (Tr) and stomatal conductance (g(s)) to varying degrees, reduced the quantum yield of non-regulated energy dissipation [Y(NO)] of PSII and quantum yield of non-photochemical energy dissipation in PSI due to acceptor side limitation [Y(NA)], promoted the regulated energy dissipation [Y(NPQ)] and quantum yield of non-photochemical energy dissipation in PSI due to donor side limitation [Y(ND)], and increased the calcium content in leaves. Generally, manntiol-calcium and nano-calcium were more effective than CaCl2, and more suitable to enhance the photosynthesis of leaves oftomato seedlings under heat stress.

[Bioconversion of cellulose to methane by a consortium consisting of four microbial strains].

Cellulose was usually degraded by microbial communities in natural habitats. Construction of a simple cellulolytic consortium is necessary to understand the underlying interaction within microorganisms involved in cellulose conversion. A screening approach was developed to obtain a simple microbial community with the ability of cellulose degradation to methane.

[Microbial community structure analysis of unexploited oil and gas fields by PCR-DGGE].

Microbial communities of different depths (30, 60, 100, 150, 200cm) from the unexploited oilfield, gas field and control area were studied by PCR-DGGE and sequencing methods. The objectives of this study were to understand the microbial distribution in the regions of unexploited oil and gas fields, and to investigate the potential microbial indicators of oil and gas resources. The results showed that the Dice coefficients between different depths were very low (26-69.

Grafting helps improve photosynthesis and carbohydrate metabolism in leaves of muskmelon.

The most important quality for muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) is their sweetness which is closely related to the soluble sugars content. Leaves are the main photosynthetic organs in plants and thus the source of sugar accumulation in fruits since sugars are translocated from leaves to fruits.

[Biosorption of Ag+ by heavy metals hyperresistant Bacillus cereus strain HQ-1].

A newly isolated Bacillus cereus strain HQ-1 was found to possess high capability to absorb silver ions. The study showed that the biosorption process could be described well by pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Freundlich isotherm model. Higher cell concentration was favorable to the biosorption.

Bacterial diversity in soils around a lead and zinc mine.

Five samples of soil collected from a lead and zinc mine were used to assess the effect of combined contamination of heavy metals on soil bacterial communities using a polyphasic approach including characterization of isolates by culture method, community level catabolic profiling in BIOLOG GN microplates, and genetic community fingerprinting by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of 16S rDNA fragments amplified by PCR from community DNA (PCR-DGGE). The structure of the bacterial community was affected to a certain extent by heavy metals. The PCR-DGGE analysis of 16S rRNA genes showed that there were significant differences in the structure of the microbial community among the soil samples, which were related to the contamination levels.

[Isolation, molecular characterization and resistance mechanism study on a cadmium hyperresistant Bacillus cereus].

A Gram-positive, aerobic, motile, spore-forming bacterium was isolated from a Pb-Zn mine tailing at suburb of Beijing City. The bacterial strain isolated could resist cadmium efficiently and it was able to grow well on media plates containing 1 000 mg/L cadmium. The DNA G + C content were found to be 60%.

Localization of S genes on extended DNA fibers (EDFs) in Brassica oleracea by high-resolution FISH.

The compactness of plant chromosome and the structures of plant cell wall and cytoplasm pose a great resistance to fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and consequently many new methods for improving spatial resolution are being exploited to overcome these problems. However, for plants with small chromosomes like rice and Brassica, there are still many difficulties. In this article a new and effective technique for preparation of extended DNA fibers (EDFs), using a series of treatments to prophase I chromosomes of Brassica oleracea PMCs, is presented.

Diversity surveys of soil bacterial community by cultivation--based methods and molecular fingerprinting techniques.

By combining the cultivation methods with molecular fingerprinting techniques, the diversity surveys of soil bacterial community in 13 areas of China were carried out. The cultivable heterotrophic diversity was investigated by colony morphology on solid LB medium. Genetic diversity was measured as bands on denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis(DGGE) by the extraction and purification of the total soil DNA, and amplification of bacterial 16S rDNA fragments by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).