The complete genomic sequence of Duck hepatitis virus 1 (DHV-1) ZJ-V isolate was sequenced and determined to be 7 691 nucleotides (nt) in length with a 5'-terminal un-translated region (UTR) of 626 nt and a 3'-terminal UTR of 315 nt (not including the poly(A) tail). One large open reading frame (ORF) was found within the genome (nt 627 to 7 373) coding for a polypeptide of 2 249amino acids. Our data also showed that the poly (A) tail of DHV-1 has at least 22 A's. Sequence comparison revealed significant homology (from 91.9% to 95.7%) between the protein sequences of the virus in the Picornaviridae family, its genome showed some unique characteristics. DHV-1 contains 3copies of the 2A gene and only 1 copy of the 3B gene, and its 3'-NCR is longer than those of other picornaviruses. Phylogenetic analysis to do sequence homology based on the VP1 protein sequences showed that the ZJ-V isolate shares high sequence homology with the reported DHV-1 isolates (from 92.9% to 99.2%), indicating that DHV-1 is genetically stable.

This paper reviews the advances of DNA detection on three types of difficult biological specimens including degraded samples, trace evidences and mixed samples. The source of different samples, processing methods and announcements were analyzed. New methods such as mitochondrial test system, changing the original experimental conditions, low-volume PCR amplification and new technologies such as whole genome amplification techniques, laser capture micro-dissection, and mini-STR technology in recent years are introduced.
Biomarkers ; Body Fluids/chemistry* ; DNA/genetics* ; DNA Fingerprinting/methods* ; DNA, Mitochondrial/genetics* ; Forensic Medicine/methods* ; Genome, Human ; Humans ; Laser Capture Microdissection/methods* ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques/methods* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods* ; Reproducibility of Results ; Sample Size

OBJECTIVETo investigate and compare the protective effects of Astragaloside IV (AST) and Quercetin (QUE) on rat myocardial cells after their exposure to hypoxia, and to determine their dose-effect relationship.

METHODSMyocardial cells from fetal SD rat were cultured in vitro and divided into 7 groups: i.e. A (hypoxia), B (hypoxia and 100 mg/L of QUE), C (hypoxia and 50 mg/L of QUE), D (hypoxia and 25 mg/L of QUE), E (hypoxia and 50.0 mg/L of AST), F (hypoxia and 25.0 mg/L of AST), G (hypoxia and 12.5 mg/L AST) H(hypoxia and 10 mg/L of VitE) groups. Different doses of AST and QUE were added into the culture media cells in each group before the myocardial cells receiving hypoxia for 12 hrs. The number of viable cells (CCK-8) and the content of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), active oxygen (ROS, with detection only in A, C, F and H groups) were determined after hypoxia.

RESULTSThe amount of LDH, MDA, ROS (C, F groups) in group B - G decreased significantly compared with those of group A, while the number of viable cells and the SOD content increased significantly. The protective effects were better in group B - G than that of the group H. With the same dosage, levels of LDH, CCK-8 in AST-treated groups were significantly lower than those in QUE-treated group (the number of viable cells in group C, F was 0.454 +/- 0.018, 0.471 +/- 0.017, and the content of lactate dehydrogenase was 2800 +/- 9,2312 +/- 52). There were no significant differences in MDA, SOD and ROS levels between AST and QUE treated groups (ROS in C and F groups were 16.0 +/- 5.3 vs 22.4 +/- 8.7, P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAST and QUE might be beneficial in the protection of myocardial cells against hypoxia because of attenuation of oxidative damage. The protective effects of both AST and QUE are better than that of VitE, and that of AST is better than QUE as shown by a decrease in the amount of LDH and increase in the number of viable cells with the same dosage, but no obvious difference is shown between them in attenuating oxidative damage.

Animals ; Cell Hypoxia ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Quercetin ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Saponins ; pharmacology ; Triterpenes ; pharmacology

Objective: To analyze the clinical epidemiological characteristics including composition of pathogens , clinical characteristics, and disease prognosis acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) in Chinese children. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical and laboratory data of 1 610 children <15 years of age with ABM in 33 tertiary hospitals in China from January 2019 to December 2020. Patients were divided into different groups according to age,<28 days group, 28 days to <3 months group, 3 months to <1 year group, 1-<5 years of age group, 5-<15 years of age group; etiology confirmed group and clinically diagnosed group according to etiology diagnosis. Non-numeric variables were analyzed with the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, while non-normal distrituction numeric variables were compared with nonparametric test. Results: Among 1 610 children with ABM, 955 were male and 650 were female (5 cases were not provided with gender information), and the age of onset was 1.5 (0.5, 5.5) months. There were 588 cases age from <28 days, 462 cases age from 28 days to <3 months, 302 cases age from 3 months to <1 year of age group, 156 cases in the 1-<5 years of age and 101 cases in the 5-<15 years of age. The detection rates were 38.8% (95/245) and 31.5% (70/222) of Escherichia coli and 27.8% (68/245) and 35.1% (78/222) of Streptococcus agalactiae in infants younger than 28 days of age and 28 days to 3 months of age; the detection rates of Streptococcus pneumonia, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus agalactiae were 34.3% (61/178), 14.0% (25/178) and 13.5% (24/178) in the 3 months of age to <1 year of age group; the dominant pathogens were Streptococcus pneumoniae and the detection rate were 67.9% (74/109) and 44.4% (16/36) in the 1-<5 years of age and 5-<15 years of age . There were 9.7% (19/195) strains of Escherichia coli producing ultra-broad-spectrum β-lactamases. The positive rates of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture and blood culture were 32.2% (515/1 598) and 25.0% (400/1 598), while 38.2% (126/330)and 25.3% (21/83) in CSF metagenomics next generation sequencing and Streptococcus pneumoniae antigen detection. There were 4.3% (32/790) cases of which CSF white blood cell counts were normal in etiology confirmed group. Among 1 610 children with ABM, main intracranial imaging complications were subdural effusion and (or) empyema in 349 cases (21.7%), hydrocephalus in 233 cases (14.5%), brain abscess in 178 cases (11.1%), and other cerebrovascular diseases, including encephalomalacia, cerebral infarction, and encephalatrophy, in 174 cases (10.8%). Among the 166 cases (10.3%) with unfavorable outcome, 32 cases (2.0%) died among whom 24 cases died before 1 year of age, and 37 cases (2.3%) had recurrence among whom 25 cases had recurrence within 3 weeks. The incidences of subdural effusion and (or) empyema, brain abscess and ependymitis in the etiology confirmed group were significantly higher than those in the clinically diagnosed group (26.2% (207/790) vs. 17.3% (142/820), 13.0% (103/790) vs. 9.1% (75/820), 4.6% (36/790) vs. 2.7% (22/820), χ²=18.71, 6.20, 4.07, all P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the unfavorable outcomes, mortility, and recurrence between these 2 groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions: The onset age of ABM in children is usually within 1 year of age, especially <3 months. The common pathogens in infants <3 months of age are Escherichia coli and Streptococcus agalactiae, and the dominant pathogen in infant ≥3 months is Streptococcus pneumoniae. Subdural effusion and (or) empyema and hydrocephalus are common complications. ABM should not be excluded even if CSF white blood cell counts is within normal range. Standardized bacteriological examination should be paid more attention to increase the pathogenic detection rate. Non-culture CSF detection methods may facilitate the pathogenic diagnosis.
Adolescent ; Brain Abscess ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Escherichia coli ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Meningitis, Bacterial/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Streptococcus agalactiae ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; Subdural Effusion ; beta-Lactamases