Paenibacillus harenae sp. nov., isolated from desert sand in China

Jeon, C. O.,Lim, J.-M.,Lee, S. S.,Chung, B. S.,Park, D.-J.,Xu, L.-H.,Jiang, C.-L.,Kim, C.-J. Microbiology Society 2009 International journal of systematic and evolutiona Vol.59 No.1

<P>A Gram-positive, endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain B519T, was isolated from a desert sand sample of Gansu Province, China. Strain B519T was strictly aerobic and cells were motile by means of peritrichous flagella. The strain grew optimally at 32-35 degrees C and pH 6.5-7.0. Chemotaxonomic data supported the affiliation of the new isolate to the genus Paenibacillus, including menaquinone-7 (MK-7) as the major isoprenoid quinone, DNA G+C content of 49.9 mol%, cell-wall type A1gamma (meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid) and anteiso-C(15 : 0), iso-C(15 : 0), C(16 : 0) and iso-C(16 : 0) as the major fatty acids. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain B519T was most closely related to Paenibacillus alkaliterrae KSL-134T (98.0 % similarity). DNA-DNA relatedness between strain B519T and P. alkaliterrae KSL-134T was about 12.3 %. On the basis of phenotypic characteristics and molecular properties, strain B519T is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus harenae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is B519T (=KCTC 3951T =DSM 16969T).</P>

Investigation of PCR-RFLPs within Major Histocompatibility Complex B-G Genes Using Two Restriction Enzymes in Eight Breeds of Chinese Indigenous Chickens

R. F. Xu,K. Li,G. H. Chen,B. Y. Z. Qiang,D. L. Mo,B. Fan,C. C. Li,M. Yu,M. J. Zhu,T. A. Xiong,B. Liu 아세아·태평양축산학회 2005 Animal Bioscience Vol.18 No.7

New polymorphism of major histocompatibility complex B-G genes was investigated by amplification and digestion of a 401bp fragment including intron 1 and exon 2 using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCRRFLP) technique with two restriction enzymes of Msp I and Tas I in eight breeds of Chinese indigenous chickens and one exotic breed. In the fragment region of the gene, three novel single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected at the two restriction sites. We found the transition of two nucleotides of A294G and T295C occurred at Tas I restriction site, and consequently led to a nonsynonymous substitution of asparagine into serine at position 54 within the deduced amino acid sequence of immunoglobulin variableregion- like domain encoded by the exon 2 of B-G gene. It was observed at rare frequency that a single mutation of A294G occurring at the site, also caused an identical substitution of amino acid, asparagine 54-to-serine, to that we described previously. And the transversion of G319C at Msp I site led to a non-synonymous substitution, glutamine 62-to-histidine. The new alleles and allele frequencies identified by the PCR-RFLP method with the two enzymes were characterized, of which the allele A and B frequencies at Msp I and Tas I loci were given disequilibrium distribution either in the eight Chinese local breeds or in the exotic breed. By comparison, allele A at Msp I locus tended to be dominant, while, the allele B at Tas I locus tended to be dominant in all of the breeds analyzed. In Tibetan chickens, the preliminary association analysis revealed that no significant difference was observed between the different genotypes identified at the Msp I and Tas I loci and the laying performance traits, respectively.

Five-year clinical outcomes in patients with significant coronary artery spasm: A propensity score-matched analysis

Choi, B.G.,Park, S.H.,Rha, S.W.,Park, J.Y.,Choi, S.Y.,Park, Y.,Xu, S.,Ngow, H.A.,Ali, J.,Li, H.,Kim, J.B.,Lee, S.,Na, J.O.,Choi, C.U.,Lim, H.E.,Kim, J.W.,Kim, E.J.,Park, C.G.,Seo, H.S.,Oh, D.J. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press 2015 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY Vol.184 No.-

Background: Coronary artery spasm (CAS) is known to be a risk factor of acute coronary syndrome and angina pectoris. However, there is no currently available data with larger study population regarding long-term clinical outcomes of CAS in real world clinical practice. Objectives: We evaluated the prevalence of CAS and the impact of CAS on 5-year clinical outcomes in a series of Asian CAS patients documented by intracoronary acetylcholine (Ach) provocation test. Methods: A total of 1413 consecutive patients without significant coronary artery disease (CAD) who underwent Ach provocation test between Nov. 2004 and Oct. 2008 were enrolled. Significant CAS was defined as >70% of narrowing by incremental intracoronary injection of 20, 50 and 100μg. Patients were divided into two groups based on the presence of significant CAS (the non-CAS group: n=640, the CAS group; n=773). To adjust potential confounders, a propensity score matched (PSM) analysis was performed using the logistic regression model. Results: A total of 54.7% (773/1413) patients were diagnosed as CAS documented by Ach provocation test. After PSM analysis, 2 propensity-matched groups (451 pairs, n=902, C-statistic=0.677) were generated. Despite of similar incidence of individual hard endpoints including mortality, myocardial infarction and revascularization, the CAS group showed the higher trend of recurrent angina requiring follow up angiography than the non-CAS group up to 5years (HR; 1.56, 95% C.I.; 0.99-2.46, p=0.054). Conclusions: The prevalence of CAS was 54.7%. Although the cumulative incidence of recurrent angina requiring follow up coronary angiography seems to be increased up to 5years in CAS patients, CAS patients was not associated with major individual and composite clinical outcomes such as mortality, MI, PCI, CVA with optimal medical therapy as compared with patients without CAS.

Expression Analysis of the Mx Gene and Its Genome Structure in Chickens

Yin, C.G.,Du, L.X.,Li, S.G.,Zhao, G.P.,Zhang, J.,Wei, C.H.,Xu, L.Y.,Liu, T.,Li, H.B. Asian Australasian Association of Animal Productio 2010 Animal Bioscience Vol.23 No.7

Among the known interferon-induced antiviral mechanisms, the Mx pathway is one of the most powerful pathways. The Mx protein has direct antiviral activity and inhibits a wide range of viruses by blocking an early stage of the viral replication cycle. Cloning, characterization, and expression of Mx in vivo and in vitro have been conducted. The chicken Mx gene spans 21 kb and is made up of 14 exons and 13 introns, of which the promoter region was analyzed. The real-time PCR results showed that Mx expression was increased in chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) after 12- and 24-h induction with polyI: C. Induction of Mx expression by poly I: C in vivo revealed tissue-specific patterns among the chicken tissues tested. A trace expression of Mx was detected in healthy chicken liver tissues from adult chickens without inducement; the expression levels in the liver, heart, and gizzard were higher than in the muscle and kidney. This is the first report to demonstrate the expression of a glutathione-S-transferase-tagged-Mx fusion protein of 75 KDa, as well as the biological activity tested by SDS-PAGE and western blotting.

Numerical simulation of fully nonlinear sloshing waves in three-dimensional tank under random excitation

Xu, Gang,Hamouda, A.M.S.,Khoo, B.C. Techno-Press 2011 Ocean systems engineering Vol.1 No.4

Based on the fully nonlinear velocity potential theory, the liquid sloshing in a three dimensional tank under random excitation is studied. The governing Laplace equation with fully nonlinear boundary conditions on the moving free surface is solved using the indirect desingularized boundary integral equation method (DBIEM). The fourth-order predictor-corrector Adams-Bashforth-Moulton scheme (ABM4) and mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian (MEL) method are used for the time-stepping integration of the free surface boundary conditions. A smoothing scheme, B-spline curve, is applied to both the longitudinal and transverse directions of the tank to eliminate the possible saw-tooth instabilities. When the tank is undergoing one dimensional regular motion of small amplitude, the calculated results are found to be in very good agreement with linear analytical solution. In the simulation, the normal standing waves, travelling waves and bores are observed. The extensive calculation has been made for the tank undergoing specified random oscillation. The nonlinear effect of random sloshing wave is studied and the effect of peak frequency used for the generation of random oscillation is investigated. It is found that, even as the peak value of spectrum for oscillation becomes smaller, the maximum wave elevation on the side wall becomes bigger when the peak frequency is closer to the natural frequency.

Wave propagation in a 3D fully nonlinear NWT based on MTF coupled with DZ method for the downstream boundary

Xu, G.,Hamouda, A.M.S.,Khoo, B.C. Techno-Press 2014 Ocean systems engineering Vol.4 No.2

Wave propagation in a three-dimensional (3D) fully nonlinear numerical wave tank (NWT) is studied based on velocity potential theory. The governing Laplace equation with fully nonlinear boundary conditions on the moving free surface is solved using the indirect desingularized boundary integral equation method (DBIEM). The fourth-order predictor-corrector Adams-Bashforth-Moulton scheme (ABM4) and mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian (MEL) method are used for the time-stepping integration of the free surface boundary conditions. A smoothing algorithm, B-spline, is applied to eliminate the possible saw-tooth instabilities. The artificial wave speed employed in MTF (multi-transmitting formula) approach is investigated for fully nonlinear wave problem. The numerical results from incorporating the damping zone (DZ), MTF and MTF coupled DZ (MTF+DZ) methods as radiation condition are compared with analytical solution. An effective MTF+DZ method is finally adopted to simulate the 3D linear wave, second-order wave and irregular wave propagation. It is shown that the MTF+DZ method can be used for simulating fully nonlinear wave propagation very efficiently.

Impact of low dose atorvastatin on development of new-onset diabetes mellitus in Asian population: Three-year clinical outcomes

Park, J.Y.,Rha, S.W.,Choi, B.,Choi, J.W.,Ryu, S.K.,Kim, S.,Noh, Y.K.,Choi, S.Y.,Akkala, R.G.,Li, H.,Ali, J.,Xu, S.,Ngow, H.A.,Lee, J.J.,Lee, G.N.,Kim, J.,Lee, S.,Na, J.O.,Choi, C.U.,Lim, H.E.,Kim, J.W Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press 2015 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY Vol.184 No.-

Background: High dose atorvastatin is known to be associated with new onset diabetes mellitus (NODM) in patients with high risk for developing diabetes mellitus (DM). However, low dose atorvastatin is more commonly used as compared with high dose atorvastatin. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of low dose atorvastatin (LDA, 10mg or 20mg) on the development of NODM up to three years in Asian patients. Methods: From January 2004 to September 2009, we investigated a total of 3566 patients who did not have DM. To adjust for potential confounders, a propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was performed using the logistic regression model. After PSM (C-statistics: 0.851), a total of 818 patients (LDA group, n=409 patients and control group, n=409 patients) were enrolled for analysis. Results: Before PSM, the cumulative incidence of NODM (5.8% vs. 2.1%, p<0.001), myocardial infarction (0.5% vs. 0.1%, p-value=0.007), and major adverse cardio-cerebral event (MACCE, 1.8% vs. 0.7%, p-value=0.012) at three-years were higher in the LAD group. However, after PSM, there was a trend toward higher incidence of NODM (5.9% vs. 3.2%, p=0.064) in the LDA group, but the incidence of MACCE (1.2% vs. 1.5%, p-value=1.000) was similar between the two groups. In multivariable analysis, the LDA administration was tended to be an independent predictor of NODM (OR: 1.99, 95% CI: 1.00-3.98, p-value 0.050). Conclusions: In this study, the use of LDA tended to be a risk factor for NODM in Asian patients and reduced clinical events similar to the control group. However, large-scale randomized controlled trials will be needed to get the final conclusion.

NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF HOMOGENEOUS MIXTURE FORMATION FOR A DIRECT INJECTION LIQUID LPG ENGINE

B. Y. XU,X. C. ZHANG,J. XU,Y. L. QI,S. L. CAI 한국자동차공학회 2013 International journal of automotive technology Vol.14 No.6

A method to form a homogeneous mixture using low pressure direct injection of liquid phase LPG, pent-roof combustion chamber, flat-top piston and center-located injector layout is presented. To validate the method, the mixture formation processes in the cylinder were investigated using the CFD code. The effect of different injection timing and engine loads on the mixture formation processes were researched. The simulated results showed that, the intake tumble for high load conditions or the inclined intake swirl for part load conditions would break into small-scale vortex (turbulence) near the end of compression stroke, which enhanced the homogeneous mixture formation. The results also showed that if the liquid phase LPG was injected at 60-80oCA ATDC in intake stroke even at different loads, the homogeneous mixture would be formed under any engine load conditions.

Microwave Absorption and Magnetic Properties of Cobalt Ferrites/Carbon Nanotubes Nanocomposites

B. B. Zhang,P. F. Wang,J. C. Xu,Y. B. Han,H. X. Jin,D. F. Jin,X. L. Peng,B. Hong,J. Li,J. Gong,H. L. Ge,Z. W. Zhu,X. Q. Wang 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2015 NANO Vol.10 No.5

Owing to the unique microstructure and the excellent dielectric properties, carbon nanotubes(CNTs) were decorated with CoFe2O4 nanoparticles to synthesize the CoFe2O4/CNTs nanocomposites by the solvothermal method. The phase structure, morphology, magnetic properties and microwave absorption performance of the as-prepared CoFe2O4/CNTs were characterized and discussed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravity analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscope (TEM), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and vector network analyzer (VNA). All results indicated that the diameter of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles decorating on the surface of CNTs increased with the solvothermal temperature. CoFe2O4/CNTs prepared at 180℃, 200℃ and 220℃ exhibited superparamagnetism, while the other samples presented ferromagnetism at room temperature. And with the increasing solvothermal temperature, the saturation magnetization and coercivity increased up to 72 emu/g and 2000 Oe for the sample prepared at 260℃ (S-26). And the reflection loss of CoFe2O4/CNTs nanocomposites increased with the solvothermal temperature up to -15.7 dB for S-26 with the bandwidth of 2.5 GHz.

Polymorphism of Ghrelin Gene in Twelve Chinese Indigenous Chicken Breeds and Its Relationship with Chicken Growth Traits

C. C. Li,K. Li,J. Li,D. L. Mo,R. F. Xu,G. H. Chen,Y. Z. Qiangba,S. L. Ji,X. H. Tang,B. Fan,M. J. Zhu,T. A. Xiong,X. Guan,B. Liu 아세아·태평양축산학회 2006 Animal Bioscience Vol.19 No.2

A 2,656 bp fragment of chicken ghrelin gene was cloned and SNPs were detected by PCR-RFLP and Allele Specific PCR (ASP) in 12 Chinese indigenous chicken breeds and a commercial chicken population. The results showed that there were 23 base variations and an amino acid change (Gln->Arg) in cloned chicken ghrelin gene. Three SNPs were confirmed in 13 populations and associations between this gene and growth traits of Tibetan chicken (TC) and Recessive White chicken (RW) were investigated. The results of haplotype analysis revealed that 26 haplotype genotypes were composed of eight haplotypes. The results of x2 tests indicated that there were significant differences between genotypes or haplotype genotype frequencies in some of the breeds or sexes at 0.05 or 0.01 levels. The results of ANOVA revealed that there were significant differences between genotypes or haplotype genotypes on some growth traits of TC and RW chicken breeds at 0.05 or 0.01 levels. Multiple comparisons showed that there were significant associations between genotype CT at site 71 and some growth traits of two chicken breeds and between genotype AG at site 1,215 and body weight at 16 wk of two chicken breeds, and there was a significant association between haplotype genotype CAA/CAG and body weight and shank girth at 16 wk of two chicken breeds.