Existence of positive periodic solution of a hepatitis B virus infection model

In this paper, a periodic model for hepatitis B virus infection is proposed. The model describes the breeding of the infected cells and the periodic variation of the environment. On the basis of the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory, a condition for the existence of a positive periodic solution to the model is established. The result can be used to explain the wave phenomenon on the density of the pathogens in patients blood and the occurrence of superinfection in hepatitis B virus infections. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of an HIV model with post-treatment control

Recent investigation indicated that latent reservoir and immune impairment are responsible for the post-treatment control of HIV infection. In this paper, we simplify the disease model with latent reservoir and immune impairment and perform a series of mathematical analysis. We obtain the basic infection reproductive number $R_{0}$ to characterize the viral dynamics. We prove that when $R_{0}<1$, the uninfected equilibrium of the proposed model is globally asymptotically stable. When $R_{0}>1$, we obtain two thresholds, the post-treatment immune control threshold and the elite control threshold. The model has bistable behaviors in the interval between the two thresholds. If the proliferation rate of CTLs is less than the post-treatment immune control threshold, the model does not have positive equilibria. In this case, the immune free equilibrium is stable and the system will have virus rebound. On the other hand, when the proliferation rate of CTLs is greater than the elite control threshold, the system has stable positive immune equilibrium and unstable immune free equilibrium. Thus, the system is under elite control.     

Discovery and Syntheses of “Superbug Challengers”—Platensimycin and Platencin

Bacteria have developed resistance to almost all existing antibiotics known today and this has been a major issue over the last few decades. The search for a new class of antibiotics with a new mode of action to fight these multiply‐drug‐resistant strains, or “superbugs”, allowed a team of scientists at Merck to discover two novel antibiotics, platensimycin and platencin using advanced screening strategies, as inhibitors of bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis, which is essential for the survival of bacteria. Though both these antibiotics are structurally related, they work by slightly different mechanisms and target different enzymes conserved in the bacterial fatty acid biosynthesis. This Focus Review summarizes the synthetic and biological aspects of these natural products and their analogues and congeners.     

Properties of stability and Hopf bifurcation for a HIV infection model with time delay

In this paper, we consider the classical mathematical model with saturation response of the infection rate and time delay. By stability analysis we obtain sufficient conditions for the global stability of the infection-free steady state and the permanence of the infected steady state. Numerical simulations are carried out to explain the mathematical conclusions.     

温度对中性红与小牛胸腺DNA相互作用的影响

用光谱法和电化学法研究了温度对中性红 (NR)与小牛胸腺DNA (CTDNA)相互作用的影响 ,在低温下和在低浓度下NR嵌入到CTDNA碱基内部 ,NR的显色团嵌入G -C碱基对并与核酸双螺旋的对称轴垂直 (γ =90°) ,当温度升高时 ,部分NR从DNA双螺旋中脱出 ,嵌入的NR发色团的长轴转变为与DNA双螺旋的对称轴成 45°角 (γ =45°)。     

肺脾气虚挟痰型复感儿100例人发微量元素分析

“复感儿”即呼吸道反复感染患儿，为探求复感儿体内微量元素变化及与其病因的关系，随机选择成都地区100例肺脾气虚挟痰型复感儿发样，测定其中8种微量元素含量，结果表明：镁缺乏高达83％，锌缺乏占68%，铁缺乏占53%，硒缺乏占15．2%，钙缺乏占14%，磷缺乏占10.1%，铜缺乏5％，锰缺乏占1．63%，提示：此型复感儿不仅有锌、铁缺乏外，更应重视镁缺乏，也应重视硒、钙、磷缺乏，采用中药羔方治疗，效果最佳。     

Dynamics of an HIV infection model with virus diffusion and latently infected cell activation

Effective combination therapy usually reduces the plasma viral load of HIV to below the detection limit, but it cannot eradicate the virus. The latently infected cell activation is considered to be the main obstacle to completely eradicating HIV infection. In this paper, we consider an HIV infection model with latently infected cell activation, virus diffusion and spatial heterogeneity under Neumann boundary condition. The basic reproduction ratio is characterized by the principal eigenvalue of the related elliptic eigenvalue problem. Besides, by constructing Lyapunov functionals and using Green’s first identity, the global threshold dynamics of the system are completely established. Numerical simulations are carried out to illustrate the theoretical results, in particular, the influence of virus diffusion rate on the basic reproduction ratio is addressed.     

Metabolomic Characterization of Cerebrospinal Fluid from Intracranial Bacterial Infection Pediatric Patients: A Pilot Study

Intracranial bacterial infection remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neurosurgical cases. Metabolomic profiling of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) holds great promise to gain insights into the pathogenesis of central neural system (CNS) bacterial infections. In this pilot study, we analyzed the metabolites in CSF of CNS infection patients and controls in a pseudo-targeted manner, aiming at elucidating the metabolic dysregulation in response to postoperative intracranial bacterial infection of pediatric cases. Untargeted analysis uncovered 597 metabolites, and screened out 206 differential metabolites in case of infection. Targeted verification and pathway analysis filtered out the glycolysis, amino acids metabolism and purine metabolism pathways as potential pathological pathways. These perturbed pathways are involved in the infection-induced oxidative stress and immune response. Characterization of the infection-induced metabolic changes can provide robust biomarkers of CNS bacterial infection for clinical diagnosis, novel pathways for pathological investigation, and new targets for treatment.     

Determination of vancomycin and meropenem in serum and synovial fluid of patients with prosthetic joint infections using UPLC–MS/MS

Numerous studies have suggested that intra-articular administration of antibiotics following primary revision surgery may be one of the methods for treating prosthetic joint infection (PJI). Vancomycin and meropenem are the two most commonly used antibiotics for local application. Determining the concentrations of vancomycin and meropenem in the serum and synovial fluid of patients with PJI plays a significant role in further optimizing local medication schemes and effectively eradicating biofilm infections. This study aimed to establish a rapid, sensitive, and accurate ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC–MS/MS) method for determining the concentrations of vancomycin and meropenem in human serum and synovial fluid. Serum samples were processed using acetonitrile precipitation of proteins and dichloromethane extraction, while synovial fluid samples were diluted before analysis. Chromatographic separation was achieved in 6 min on a Waters Acquity UPLC BEH C18 column, with the mobile phase consisting of 0.1% formic acid in water (solvent A) and acetonitrile (solvent B). Quantification was carried out using a Waters XEVO TQD triple quadrupole mass spectrometer with an electrospray ionization (ESI) source in positive ion mode. The multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode was employed to detect the following quantifier ion transitions: 717.95–99.97 (norvancomycin), 725.90–100.04 (vancomycin), 384.16–67.99 (meropenem). The method validation conformed to the guidelines of the FDA and the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The method demonstrated good linearity within the range of 0.5–50 μg/ml for serum and 0.5–100 μg/ml for synovial fluid. Selectivity, intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy, extraction recovery, matrix effect, and stability validation results all met the required standards. This method has been successfully applied in the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) studies of patients with PJI.     

叶绿素荧光成像技术的葡萄霜霉病早期检测

葡萄霜霉病对葡萄生产构成严重威胁,尽早防治是治理霜霉病的关键.为了对该病进行早期检测,以PCR检测获取的霜霉病相对生物量作为霜霉病侵染的依据,从暗适应—光适应—暗弛豫3个光合生理状态连续变化过程中,采集80个人工接种霜霉菌叶片和80个健康对照叶片连续6 d的叶绿素荧光图像.对比健康和接种叶片叶绿素荧光动力学曲线、参数图...