Brevibacterium limosum sp. nov., Brevibacterium pigmenatum sp. nov., and Brevibacterium atlanticum sp. nov., three novel dye decolorizing actinobacteria isolated from ocean sediments

Pei Shengxiang,Niu Siwen,Xie Fuquan,Wang Wenjing,Zhang Shuang,Zhang Gaiyun 한국미생물학회 2021 The journal of microbiology Vol.59 No.10

During a study of the marine actinobacterial biodiversity, a large number of Brevibacterium strains were isolated. Of these, five that have relatively low 16S rRNA gene similarity (98.5– 99.3%) with validly published Brevibacterium species, were chosen to determine taxonomic positions. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and BOX-PCR fingerprinting, strains o2T, YB235T, and WO024T were selected as representative strains. Genomic analyses, including average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH), clearly differentiated the three strains from each other and from their closest relatives, with values ranging from 82.8% to 91.5% for ANI and from 26.7% to 46.5% for dDDH that below the threshold for species delineation. Strains YB235T, WO024T, and o2T all exhibited strong and efficient decolorization activity in congo red (CR) dyes, moderate decolorization activity in toluidine blue (TB) dyes and poor decolorization in reactive blue (RB) dyes. Genes coding for peroxidases and laccases were identified and accounted for these strains’ ability to effectively oxidize a variety of dyes with different chemical structures. Mining of the whole genome for secondary metabolite biosynthesis gene clusters revealed the presence of gene clusters encoding for bacteriocin, ectoine, NRPS, siderophore, T3PKS, terpene, and thiopeptide. Based on the phylogenetic, genotypic and phenotypic data, strains o2T, YB235T and WO024T clearly represent three novel taxa within the genus Brevibacterium, for which the names Brevibacterium limosum sp. nov. (type strain o2T = JCM 33844T = MCCC 1A09961T), Brevibacterium pigmenatum sp. nov. (type strain YB235T = JCM 33843T = MCCC 1A09842T) and Brevibacterium atlanticum sp. nov. (type strain WO024T = JCM 33846T = MCCC 1A16743T) are proposed.

Investigating Medical Cost and Mortality Among Psychiatric Patients Involuntary Admissions: A Nationwide Propensity Score-Matched Study

Pei-Ying Tseng,Xin-Yu Xie,Ching-Chi Hsu,Sarina Hui-Lin Chien,Jen-De Chen,Jong-Yi Wang 대한신경정신의학회 2022 PSYCHIATRY INVESTIGATION Vol.19 No.7

Objective Involuntary admission to psychiatric inpatient care can protect both patients with severe mental illnesses and individuals around them. This study analyzed annual healthcare costs per person for involuntary psychiatric admission and examined categories of mental disorders and other factors associated with mortality.Methods This retrospective cohort study collected 1 million randomly sampled beneficiaries from the National Health Insurance Database for 2002–2013. It identified and matched 181 patients with involuntary psychiatric admissions (research group) with 724 patients with voluntary psychiatric admissions (control group) through 1:4 propensity-score matching for sex, age, comorbidities, mental disorder category, and index year of diagnosis.Results Mean life expectancy of patients with involuntary psychiatric admissions was 33.13 years less than the general population. Average annual healthcare costs per person for involuntary psychiatric admissions were 3.94 times higher compared with voluntary admissions. The general linear model demonstrated that average annual medical costs per person per compulsory hospitalization were 5.8 times that of voluntary hospitalization. Survival analysis using the Cox proportional hazards model found no significant association between type of psychiatric admission (involuntary or voluntary) and death.Conclusion This study revealed no significant difference in mortality between involuntary and voluntary psychiatric admissions, indicating involuntary treatment’s effectiveness.

SARSEvaluation of CRISPR-Based Assays for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Pei-Ying Huang,Xin Yin,Yue-Ting Huang,Qi-Qing Ye,Si-Qing Chen,Xun-Jie Cao,Tian-Ao Xie,Xu-Guang Guo 연세대학교의과대학 2022 Yonsei medical journal Vol.63 No.5

Purpose: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019. Diagnosticmethods based on the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) have been developed to detect SARSCoV-2 rapidly. Therefore, a systematic review and meta-analysis were performed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of CRISPR fordetecting SARS-CoV-2 infection. Materials and Methods: Studies published before August 2021 were retrieved from four databases, using the keywords “SARS-CoV-2”and “CRISPR.” Data were collected from these publications, and the sensitivity, specificity, negative likelihood ratio (NLR), positivelikelihood ratio (PLR), and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were calculated. The summary receiver operating characteristic curve wasplotted for analysis with MetaDiSc 1.4. The Stata 15.0 software was used to draw Deeks’ funnel plots to evaluate publication bias. Results: We performed a pooled analysis of 38 independent studies shown in 30 publications. The reference standard was reversetranscription-quantitative PCR. The results indicated that the sensitivity of CRISPR-based methods for diagnosis was 0.94 (95% CI0.93–0.95), the specificity was 0.98 (95% CI 0.97–0.99), the PLR was 34.03 (95% CI 20.81–55.66), the NLR was 0.08 (95% CI 0.06–0.10), and the DOR was 575.74 (95% CI 382.36–866.95). The area under the curve was 0.9894. Conclusion: Studies indicate that a diagnostic method based on CRISPR has high sensitivity and specificity. Therefore, this wouldbe a potential diagnostic tool to improve the accuracy of SARS-CoV-2 detection.

Description of Microbacterium luteum sp. nov., Microbacterium cremeum sp. nov., and Microbacterium atlanticum sp. nov., three novel C50 carotenoid producing bacteria

Xie Fuquan,Niu Siwen,Lin Xihuang,Pei Shengxiang,Jiang Li,Tian Yun,Zhang Gaiyun 한국미생물학회 2021 The journal of microbiology Vol.59 No.10

We have identified three Microbacterium strains, A18JL200T, NY27T, and WY121T, that produce C50 carotenoids. Taxonomy shows they represent three novel species. These strains shared < 98.5% 16S rRNA gene sequence identity with each other and were closely related to Microbacterium aquimaris JCM 15625T, Microbacterium yannicii JCM 18959T, Microbacterium ureisolvens CFH S00084T, and Microbacterium hibisci CCTCC AB 2016180T. Digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values and average nucleotide identity (ANI) showed differences among the three strains and from their closest relatives, with values ranging from 20.4% to 34.6% and 75.5% to 87.6%, respectively. These values are below the threshold for species discrimination. Both morphology and physiology also differed from those of phylogenetically related Microbacterium species, supporting that they are indeed novel species. These strains produce C50 carotenoids (mainly decaprenoxanthin). Among the three novel species, A18JL200T had the highest total yield in carotenoids (6.1 mg/L or 1.2 mg/g dry cell weight). Unusual dual isoprenoid biosynthetic pathways (methylerythritol phosphate and mevalonate pathways) were annotated for strain A18JL200T. In summary, we found strains of the genus Microbacterium that are potential producers of C50 carotenoids, but their genome has to be investigated further.

Experimental study of reversal of multidrug resistance in human leukemia K562/DOX cells by toad venom

Hu, Pei,Qiu, Zhichao,Li, Yaohe,Liu, Anping,Chen, Zhixiong,Huliwen, Huliwen,Luo, Man,Guxuekui, Guxuekui,Xiaoyang, Xiaoyang,Xie, Ying,Lan, Hai Techno-Press 2021 Advances in nano research Vol.11 No.2

Acute leukemia is a malignant tumor originating from the hematopoietic system with the highest incidence and mortality. At present, the main clinical treatment of leukemia is still chemotherapy, during the course of which the multidrug resistance (MDR) will significantly reduce remission rate and disease-free survival rate of patients. MDR is the most important factor affecting refractory/recurrent acute leukemia. Therefore, reversing leukemia MDR is one of the best ways to improve the complete remission rate of refractory/recurrent acute leukemia, and the study of drugs and methods to overcome leukemia MDR has received extensive attention in the leukemia research field. This study was to primarily investigate the effects of Liushen pills on leukemia drug-resistant cell line K562/DOX in inhibiting growth, reversing resistance and inducing apoptosis in anticipation of providing useful cytological and molecular biological basis for the treatment of refractory/recurrent acute leukemia. The serum containing toad venom was prepared by means of Chinese drug serum pharmacology. MTT assay was used to detect the inhibitory rates of human leukemia cell line K562/DOX after being treated with the serum containing toad venom as well as daunorubicin, or with the serum containing toad venom alone at different time points. Real-time fluorescent quantitative analysis (RT-PCR) was performed to determine the effects of serum containing toad venom on the expression of BCL-2 mRNA in human leukemia cell line K562/DOX. Compared to the control group, toad venom showed inhibitory effects on K562/DOX cells; the expression level of BCL-2 mRNA in toad venom group were decreased, indicating that toad venom may reverse the resistance of K562/DOX cells by down-regulating the expression level of MDR1.

Effects of Supplementary Composts on Microbial Communities and Rice Productivity in Cold Water Paddy Fields

( Kai Zhi Xie ),( Pei Zhi Xu ),( Shao Hai Yang ),( Yu Sheng Lu ),( Rui Ping Jiang ),( Wen Jie Gu ),( Wen Ying Li ),( Li Li Sun ) 한국미생물 · 생명공학회 2015 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.25 No.5

Cold water paddy field soils are relatively unproductive, but can be ameliorated by supplementing with inorganic fertilizer from animal waste-based composts. The yield of two rice cultivars was significantly raised by providing either chicken manure or cow dung-based compost. The application of these composts raised the soil pH as well as both the total nitrogen and ammonium nitrogen content, which improved the soil’s fertility and raised its nitrification potential. The composts had a measurable effect on the abundance of nitrogencycling- related soil microbes, as measured by estimating the copy number of various bacterial and archaeal genes using quantitative real-time PCR. The abundance of ammonia oxidizing archaea and bacteria was markedly encouraged by the application of chicken manure-based compost. Supplementation with the composts helped promote the availability of soil nitrogen in the cold water paddy field, thereby improving the soil’s productivity and increasing the yield of the rice crop.

Spatial and Temporal Variability of Drought and Precipitation Using Cluster Analysis in Xinjiang, Northwest China

Yuhu Zhang,Pei Xie,Xiao Pu,Fuqiang Xia,Jialin An,Peng Wang,Qiwen Mei 한국기상학회 2019 Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences Vol.55 No.2

Analyses of drought and precipitation require long-term historical data and reasonable drought index to ensure reliable monitoring and prediction, especially for the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where is sensitive and vulnerable to drought disasters. Drought characteristic was expressed using the observational precipitation data and calculated precipitation threshold at 105 meteorological stations from 1979 to 2014. The results showed that the variation of drought and precipitation was not spatially uniform. Analysis in sub-areas was conducted based on mutli-statistical methods. The historical drought and precipitation situation in Xinjiang is better characterized by three clusters. Cluster 1 is the driest, cluster 2 has a clear increasing trend of precipitation, while cluster 3 is the wettest with the mean annual precipitation approximates to 300 mm. In addition, the precipitation concentration and distribution is becoming uniform, there is a faster rate of increasing precipitation in coolseason rather than in warm-season. The results provide critical support for the drought disasters management and mitigation, it also provide a base for in-depth investigation on the possible mechanisms of regional drought.

Further Education for Asian University Sports: AUSF Education and Development Centre

( Hao Cheng ),( Pei Liu ),( Jian Wang ),( Tieli Yang ),( Jun Xie ),( Bingshu Zhong ),( Qing Song ),( Cheng Fave Seetow ),( Yuetong Yan ),( Zhen Shen ),( Yanqing Xue ),( Kunning Chen ) 한국체육학회 2015 국제스포츠과학 학술대회 Vol.2015 No.1

Evolution of Discussion and Discovery in Chinese Engineering Classrooms: A Pilot Study

Jia Zhou,Pei-Luen Patrick Rau,Gavriel Salvendy,Anping Xie 대한사고개발학회 2011 The International Journal of Creativity & Problem Vol.21 No.2

This paper presents the description of a pilot experiment with three classes con ducted in Industrial Engineering classes at Tsinghua University in China (N=125), with the aim of increasing students’ discussions and discovery in the classroom and ultimately increasing students’ engineering creative process. Each class was divided randomly into experimental and control groups. Results indicated that students’ satisfaction increased with some level of discussions in the classroom. But the one semester’s study for the Chinese students did not seem to be sufficient to increase either their generic or engineering specific creativity.

Influence of Allyl Isothiocyanate on the Soil Microbial Community Structure and Composition during Pepper Cultivation

( Jingxia Gao ),( Hongxia Pei ),( Hua Xie ) 한국미생물생명공학회(구 한국산업미생물학회) 2021 Journal of microbiology and biotechnology Vol.31 No.7

Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC), as a fumigant, plays an important role in soil control of nematodes, soil-borne pathogens, and weeds, but its effects on soil microorganisms are unclear. In this study, the effects of AITC on microbial diversity and community composition of Capsicum annuum L. soil were investigated through Illumina high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that microbial diversity and community structure were significantly influenced by AITC. AITC reduced the diversity of soil bacteria, stimulated the diversity of the soil fungal community, and significantly changed the structure of fungal community. AITC decreased the relative abundance of dominant bacteria Planctomycetes, Acinetobacter, Pseudodeganella, and RB41, but increased that of Lysobacter, Sphingomonas, Pseudomonas, Luteimonas, Pseudoxanthomonas, and Bacillus at the genera level, while for fungi, Trichoderma, Neurospora, and Lasiodiplodia decreased significantly and Aspergillus, Cladosporium, Fusarium, Penicillium, and Saccharomyces were higher than the control. The correlation analysis suggested cellulase had a significant correlation with fungal operational taxonomic units and there was a significant correlation between cellulase and fungal diversity, while catalase, cellulose, sucrase, and urease were the major contributors in the shift of the community structure. Our results will provide useful information for the use of AITC in the assessment of environmental and ecological security.