[Serum antigens assay combined with chest CT scan in diagnosis of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis].

Objective: To evaluate serum antigens assay combined with chest CT scan in the diagnosis of patients of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) without neutropenia.

Methods: One hundred and thirteen patients with suspected IPA admitted in Department of Respiratory Medicine, Infectious Diseased, Kidney Disease Centre and ICU were included in the study. Serum levels of 1-3-β-D-glucan (G) antigen and galactomannan antigen (GM) were assayed and chest CT scans were performed in all cases.

Isolation and characterization of a novel filamentous phage from Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.

In this study, a novel filamentous phage, φSHP1, of the environmental Stenotrophomonas maltophilia strain P2 was isolated and characterized. Electron microscopy showed that φSHP1 resembled members of the family Inoviridae and was about 2.1 μm long.

Analysis of feeding behavior of Drosophila larvae on solid food.

The food responses of Drosophila larvae offer an excellent opportunity to study the genetic and neural regulation of feeding behavior. Compared with fed larvae, hungry larvae are more likely to display aggressive foraging, rapid food intake, compensatory feeding, and stress-resistant food procurement. Behavioral assays have been developed to quantitatively assess particular aspects of the hunger-driven food response.

Analysis of feeding behavior of Drosophila larvae on liquid food.

The food responses of Drosophila larvae offer an excellent opportunity to study the genetic and neural regulation of feeding behavior. Compared with fed larvae, hungry larvae are more likely to display aggressive foraging, rapid food intake, compensatory feeding, and stress-resistant food procurement. Behavioral assays have been developed to quantitatively assess particular aspects of the hunger-driven food response.

Preparing Drosophila larvae for feeding assays.

The food responses of Drosophila larvae offer an excellent opportunity to study the genetic and neural regulation of feeding behavior. Compared with fed larvae, hungry larvae are more likely to display aggressive foraging, rapid food intake, compensatory feeding, and stress-resistant food procurement. Behavioral assays have been developed to quantitatively assess particular aspects of the hunger-driven food response.

B cell depletion therapy ameliorates autoimmune disease through ablation of IL-6-producing B cells.

B cells have paradoxical roles in autoimmunity, exerting both pathogenic and protective effects. Pathogenesis may be antibody independent, as B cell depletion therapy (BCDT) leads to amelioration of disease irrespective of autoantibody ablation. However, the mechanisms of pathogenesis are poorly understood.

Activation of CD4⁺ Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cells proceeds normally in the absence of B cells during EAE.

B cells and regulatory T (Treg) cells can both facilitate remission from experimental auto immune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a disease of the central nervous system (CNS) used as a model for multiple sclerosis (MS). Considering that B-cell-depletion therapy (BCDT) is used to treat MS patients, we asked whether Treg-cell activation depended on B cells during EAE. Treg-cell proliferation, accumulation in CNS, and augmentation of suppressive activity in the CNS were normal in B-cell-deficient mice, indicating that B cells are not essential for activation of the protective Treg-cell response and thus provide an independent layer of regulation.

Functional interactions between B lymphocytes and the innate immune system.

The immune system is composed of multiple cell types, which together improve the resistance of the organism against infections. The unfolding of a successful host response ensuring effective protection against pathogens requires an appropriate coordination of the different players of the immune system. Innate cells and T cells extensively communicate during immune reactions, providing multiple opportunities for the mutual coordination of these two defense pathways.

Novel vancomycin-resistance transposon, plasmid replicon types, and virulence factors of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci in Zhejiang, China.

Forty-seven vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) strains were isolated from clinical samples in 13 Zhejiang hospitals and fecal samples from ICU patients in a large teaching hospital in China. No VRE isolates were detected in healthy human subjects. CC17 was the main clonal complex in clinical Enterococcus faecium isolates but not in isolates from healthy human subjects.

Axonal fiber terminations concentrate on gyri.

Convoluted cortical folding and neuronal wiring are 2 prominent attributes of the mammalian brain. However, the macroscale intrinsic relationship between these 2 general cross-species attributes, as well as the underlying principles that sculpt the architecture of the cerebral cortex, remains unclear. Here, we show that the axonal fibers connected to gyri are significantly denser than those connected to sulci.

[Facial paralysis induced by herpes simplex virus type 1 and the study of facial neurons apoptosis in mice].

Objective: To study the apoptosis of facial motor neurons and the expression of apoptosis-related genes, Bcl-2 and Bax, in the animal model of viral facial paralysis.

Methods: Total of 84 Balb/c mice were divided into viral inoculation group and nerve transaction group. The animals were executed 1, 3, 7, 10, 15, 20 and 30 days after being operated respectively.

Self-propagating high-temperature synthesis of nano-TiCx particles with different shapes by using carbon nano-tube as C source.

With using the carbon nano-tube (CNT) of high chemical activity, nano-TiCx particles with different growth shapes were synthesized through the self-propagating high temperature in the 80 wt.% metal (Cu, Al, and Fe)-Ti-CNT systems. The growth shapes of the TiCx particles are mainly octahedron in the Cu- and Al-Ti-CNT systems, while mainly cube- and sphere-like in the Fe-Ti-CNT system.

Epidemiology and characteristics of antimicrobial resistance in China.

A comprehensive surveillance system for bacterial resistance in tertiary hospitals has been established in China that involves tertiary hospitals in distinct regions nationwide, enabling the collection of a large amount of antimicrobial surveillance data. Antimicrobial resistance in China has become a serious healthcare problem, with high resistance rates of most common bacteria to clinically important antimicrobial agents. Methicillin-resistant S.

Development of a new benzo(1,2-b:4,5-b')dithiophene-based copolymer with conjugated dithienylbenzothiadiazole-vinylene side chains for efficient solar cells.

A new benzodithiophene-based copolymer PTG1 with dithienylbenzothiadiazole-vinylene side chains exhibits excellent film-forming ability, a deep HOMO energy level, and a good miscibility with PC(71)BM. Bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells fabricated from PTG1 and PC(71)BM showed a promising power conversion efficiency over 4.0%.

Wettability of amorphous and nanocrystalline Fe78B13Si9 substrates by molten Sn and Bi.

The wettability of amorphous and annealing-induced nanocrystalline Fe78B13Si9 ribbons by molten Sn and Bi at 600 K was measured using an improved sessile drop method. The results demonstrate that the structural relaxation and crystallization in the amorphous substrates do not substantially change the wettability with molten Bi because of their invariable physical interaction, but remarkably deteriorate the wettability and interfacial bonding with molten Sn as a result of changing a chemical interaction to a physical one for the atoms at the interface.

[The value of short daytime ApneaGraph in assessing obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome].

Objective: To determine whether there was agreement between the short daytime ApneaGraph (dAG) and nocturnal ApneaGraph (nAG) in diagnosing sleep respiratory events initially and identifying the site of obstruction in airway.

Method: Twenty four patients diagnosed OSAHS by PSG were enrolled. The apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), apnea index (AI), obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (OAHI), central apnea hypopnea index (CAHI), mixed apnea index (MAHI), lowest oxygen saturation (LSaO2) and the proportion of upper/lower obstruction (UPPER, LOWER) of patients were measured using both dAG and nAG.

[Correlation between typing of peripheral neuroblastic tumors and prognosis: a clinicopathologic study of 135 cases].

Objective: To study the clinicopathologic characteristics of peripheral neuroblastic tumors and to investigate the prognostic significance of International Neuroblastoma Pathology Classification (INPC).

Methods: One hundred and thirty-five cases of peripheral neuroblastic tumors encountered in Shanghai Children's Medical Center were enrolled into the study. All the cases were classified according to INPC and International Neuroblastoma Staging System (INSS).

Reprogrammed quiescent B cells provide an effective cellular therapy against chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Activated B cells can regulate immunity and have been envisaged as a potential cell-based therapy for treating autoimmune diseases. However, activated human B cells can also propagate immune responses, and the effects resulting from their infusion into patients cannot be predicted. This led us to consider resting B cells, which in contrast are poorly immunogenic, as an alternative cellular platform for the suppression of unwanted immunity.

Studies of O,O-dimethyl α-(2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetoxy)ethylphosphonate (HW02) as a new herbicide. 1. Synthesis and herbicidal activity of HW02 and analogues as novel inhibitors of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex.

On the basis of the previous work for optimization of O,O-diethyl α-(substituted phenoxyacetoxy)alkylphosphonates, further extensive synthetic modifications were made to the substituents in alkylphosphonate and phenoxy moieties of the title compounds. New O,O-dimethyl α-(substituted phenoxyacetoxy)alkylphosphonates were synthesized as potential inhibitors of pyruvate dehydorogenase complex (PDHc). Their herbicidal activity and efficacy in vitro against PDHc were examined.

Short daytime ApneaGraph for initial case selection of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome before surgery.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the 2-h daytime ApneaGraph (dAG) for patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) can be used initially to diagnose and identify the site of obstruction before surgery. Fifty patients with OSAHS diagnosed by polysomnogram were enrolled in this prospective study. Sleep-related parameters, which include the indices for apnea-hypopnea (AHI), apnea index (AI), obstructive, central and mixed AHI (OAHI, CAHI and MAHI, respectively), the lowest oxygen saturation (LSaO₂) and the proportion of upper and lower airway obstruction (UPPER and LOWER, respectively), were measured by both daytime and nocturnal AG (nAG).

[A simplified Chinese version of the Quebec sleep questionnaire was evaluated for reliability and validity].

Objective: To develop a simplified Chinese version of the 32-item Quebec sleep questionnaire (QSQ) and to examine the reliability and validity.

Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 141 patients [22 simple snorers and 119 obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS)] and a longitudinal sample of 55 patients [35 in uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) group and 20 in control group] completed the simplified Chinese version of QSQ for assessment of its feasibility, reliability, validity and responsiveness.

Results: QSQ had good feasibility.

High sensitive detection of Cry1Ab protein using a quantum dot-based fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay.

Protein-based detection methods, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and lateral flow strip, have been widely used for rapid, spot, and sensitive detection of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Herein, one novel quantum dot-based fluorescence-linked immunosorbent assay (QD-FLISA) was developed employing quantum dots (QDs) as the fluorescent marker for the detection of the Cry1Ab protein in MON810 maize. The end-point fluorescent detection system was carried out using QDs conjugated with goat anti-rabbit secondary antibody.

[Outcomes of upper airway reconstructive surgery for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome based on upper airway pressure measurements].

Objective: To assess the effect of upper airway reconstructive surgery for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) with the obstructive sites determined by pressure measurements, and to evaluate the clinical value of upper airway manometry in localizing the obstructive sites.

Methods: Fifty-one moderate to severe OSAHS patients were examined using whole night recording, including airway continuous pressure measurements (ApneaGraph, MRA-Medical Ltd, UK). ApneaGraph (AG) transducer catheter contains two pressure and two temperature sensors used for obstruction site determination and detection of apnoeic events during sleep.