Biodegradation of alkaline lignin by Bacillus ligniniphilus L1

BACKGROUND

Lignin is the most abundant aromatic biopolymer in the biosphere and it comprises up to 30% of plant biomass. Although lignin is the most recalcitrant component of the plant cell wall, still there are microorganisms able to decompose it or degrade it. Fungi are recognized as the most widely used microbes for lignin degradation. However, bacteria have also been known to be able to utilize lignin as a carbon or energy source. Bacillus ligniniphilus L1 was selected in this study due to its capability to utilize alkaline lignin as a single carbon or energy source and its excellent ability to survive in extreme environments.

RESULTS

To investigate the aromatic metabolites of strain L1 decomposing alkaline lignin, GC-MS analysis was performed and fifteen single phenol ring aromatic compounds were identified. The dominant absorption peak included phenylacetic acid, 4-hydroxy-benzoicacid, and vanillic acid with the highest proportion of metabolites resulting in 42%. Comparison proteomic analysis was carried out for further study showed that approximately 1447 kinds of proteins were produced, 141 of which were at least twofold up-regulated with alkaline lignin as the single carbon source. The up-regulated proteins contents different categories in the biological functions of protein including lignin degradation, ABC transport system, environmental response factors, protein synthesis, assembly, etc.

CONCLUSIONS

GC-MS analysis showed that alkaline lignin degradation of strain L1 produced 15 kinds of aromatic compounds. Comparison proteomic data and metabolic analysis showed that to ensure the degradation of lignin and growth of strain L1, multiple aspects of cells metabolism including transporter, environmental response factors, and protein synthesis were enhanced. Based on genome and proteomic analysis, at least four kinds of lignin degradation pathway might be present in strain L1, including a Gentisate pathway, the benzoic acid pathway and the β-ketoadipate pathway. The study provides an important basis for lignin degradation by bacteria.

The endophytic bacteria isolated from elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) promote plant growth and enhance salt tolerance of Hybrid Pennisetum

BACKGROUND

Elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) and Hybrid Pennisetum (Pennisetum americanum × P. purpureum Schumach) are tall, fast-growing perennial C4 bunchgrasses that have been in recent developed as the most appropriate biomass feedstock in many countries for exploring various biofuel products. However, the challenges of increasing plant biomass yield and enhancing their stress tolerance, especially on marginal lands, have been existed for a long while. In the past several years, bacterial endophytes used as bio-fertilizers for improving crop production have offered an opportunity to facilitate high biomass yield of energy crops in a more sustainable manner.

RESULTS

A total of 16 endophytic bacteria strains were isolated and purified from the roots of elephant grass, which were classified into four bacterial genera: Sphingomonas, Pantoea, Bacillus, and Enterobacter. Four strains, pp01, pp02, pp04, and pp06, represented four different genera, were then selected and tested in vitro for their plant growth promoting properties, effects on plant growth and salt stress tolerance of Hybrid Pennisetum. The inoculation with these four bacterial mixture demonstrated a significant plant growth promotion for Hybrid Pennisetum from the normal to salt stress conditions at 0, 50, 100, and 200 mM NaCl, respectively. The highest promotion rate for biomass yield was 116.01 and 81.72 % for shoot fresh weight and dry weight, respectively. The bacterial strains tested were shown to solubilize insoluble phosphate, fix nitrogen, produce indole acetic acid and ammonia, but only strains from Sphingomonas, Bacillus, and Enterobacter can produce siderophore. In addition, the endophyte strains tested were all able to successfully colonize the roots of Hybrid Pennisetum, reaching upto 12.12 ± 0.98 CFU/g fresh roots at the 3rd day of inoculation.

CONCLUSION

The four endophytic bacteria from elephant grass significantly promoted plant growth and biomass yield, alleviated the harmful effects of salt stress on Hybrid Pennisetum. These bacteria have indicated some unique properties that are very valuable for exploiting bio-inoculants aiding in the efforts to establish a sustainable and large-scale feedstock production system for Hybrid Pennisetum, particularly, on the saline marginal lands.

The velocity of collateral filling predicts recanalization in acute ischemic stroke after intravenous thrombolysis

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of pretreatment quality of collaterals, involving velocity and extent of collateral filling, on recanalization after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). A retrospective analysis was performed of 66 patients with acute middle cerebral artery (MCA) M1 segment occlusion who underwent MR perfusion (MRP) imaging before IVT. The velocity of collateral filling was defined as arrival time delay (ATD) of contrast bolus to Sylvian fissure between the normal and the affected hemisphere. The extent of collateral filling was assessed according to the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT (ASPECT) score on temporally fused maximum intensity projections (tMIP). Arterial occlusive lesion (AOL) score was used to assess the degree of arterial recanalization. ATD (OR = 0.775, 95% CI = 0.626–0.960, p = 0.020), but not tMIP-ASPECT score (OR = 1.073, 95% CI = 0.820–1.405, p = 0.607), was independently associated with recanalization (AOL score of 2 and 3) at 24 hours after IVT. When recanalization was achieved, hemorrhagic transformation (HT) occurred more frequently in patients with slow collaterals (ATD ≥ 2.3 seconds) than those with rapid collaterals (ATD < 2.3 seconds) (88.9% vs 38.1%, p = 0.011). In conclusion, the velocity of collaterals related to recanalization, which may guide the decision-making of revascularization therapy in acute ischemic stroke.

Blood Brain Barrier Disruption in Diabetic Stroke Related to Unfavorable Outcome

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with a wide range of microvascular abnormalities in the brain. These include the dysfunction of the blood brain barrier (BBB). In this study, we test the hypotheses that disruption of the BBB in patients presenting with acute stroke is common in patients with DM and is related to outcome. Methods: Sixty-two consecutive patients with ischemic stroke in the middle cerebral artery territory were enrolled within 3-7 days after onset. In ischemic lesion, BBB disruption was detected by parenchymal enhancement (PE) on 5 min delayed post-contrast T1 weighted imaging. National Institute of Health Stroke Score (NIHSS) assessed neurologic impairment on admission. Clinical outcome at 3 months was classified as unfavorable if the modified Rankin scale was >1. The independent factors associated with clinical outcome were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression analysis and OR with its 95% CIs were estimated. Results: An unfavorable stroke outcome was found in 19 diabetic patients and 21 non-diabetic patients. Diabetic patients had a significantly higher frequency of PE than non-diabetic patients (58.6 vs. 27.3%, p = 0.013) and DM was independently associated with PE (OR 4.40; 95% CI 1.22-15.83; p = 0.023). PE was significantly more common in diabetic patients with unfavorable stroke outcome (73.7%) than in other 3 subgroups: diabetic patients with favorable stroke outcome (30.0%), non-diabetic patients with favorable stroke outcome (38.1%) and unfavorable stroke outcome (8.3%; p = 0.002). PE was independently associated with unfavorable outcome (UO) in diabetic stroke (DS; OR 7.04; 95% CI 1.20-41.52; p = 0.031). Admission NIHSS score was associated with UO in non-DS (NDS) (OR 1.71; 95% CI 1.10-2.66; p = 0.017). Conclusions: Compared with NDS, DS had increased BBB disruption defined by the presence of PE. A different form of the relationship between admission NIHSS and UO in NDS, BBB disruption was related with UO in diabetic patients after stroke.

Impact of Body Mass Index on Outcomes in Cardiac Surgery

OBJECTIVES

Body mass index (BMI) commonly is used in obesity classification as a surrogate measure, and obesity is associated with a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of BMI on short-term outcomes after cardiac surgery.

DESIGN

A retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

University teaching hospital, 2 centers.

PARTICIPANTS

The study comprised 4,740 patients who underwent cardiac surgery at 2 hospitals-from July 1, 2001, to June 30, 2013, in 1 hospital and from September 1, 2003, to August 31, 2014, in a second hospital.

INTERVENTIONS

No changes to standard practice were required.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Patients were assigned into 6 BMI groups as follows: underweight (BMI<18.5 kg/m(2)), normal weight (≥18.5 to<25 kg/m(2)), overweight (≥25 to<30 kg/m(2)), class I obese (≥30 to<35 kg/m(2)), class II obese (≥35 to<40 kg/m(2)), and class III obese (BMI≥40 kg/m(2)). Short-term major postoperative complications (postoperative stroke, cardiac arrest, new atrial fibrillation/flutter, permanent rhythm device insertion, deep sternal infection, sepsis, prolonged ventilation, pneumonia, renal dialysis, renal failure, intensive care unit readmission, total intensive care unit hours, and readmission in 30 days, and mortalities (in-hospital mortality, 30-day mortality, surgical mortality) were compared among various BMI groups after cardiac surgery. Age, sex, surgery type, family history of coronary artery disease, diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, and lipid-lowering medication were the risk factors for early outcomes. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that the underweight and class III obese BMI groups demonstrated significant, adverse differences in some short-term outcomes, including deep sternal infection, prolonged ventilation, new atrial fibrillation/flutter, and renal failure. However, being in the overweight or class I obese group demonstrated a positive effect on discharge and surgical mortality.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study demonstrated that extreme obesity and underweight were significantly associated with early major adverse clinical outcomes. However, there was an "obese paradox" in short-term mortality after cardiac surgery.

A Large-Scale Investigation of Hypoxia-Preconditioned Allogeneic Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Myocardial Repair in Nonhuman Primates: Paracrine Activity Without Remuscularization

RATIONALE

The effectiveness of transplanted bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for cardiac repair has been limited; thus, strategies for optimizing stem-cell-based myocardial therapy are needed.

OBJECTIVE

The present study was designed to test our central hypothesis that hypoxia-preconditioned MSCs (HP-MSCs) are more effective than MSCs cultured under ambient oxygen levels for the treatment of myocardial injury in a large-scale (N=49), long-term (9 months), nonhuman primate (Cynomolgous monkeys) investigation.

METHODS AND RESULTS

MSCs were engineered to express green fluorescent protein, cultured under ambient oxygen or 0.5% oxygen (HP-MSCs) for 24 hours and then tested in the infarcted hearts of Cynomolgus monkeys (1×10(7) cells per heart). Hypoxia preconditioning increased the expression of several prosurvival/proangiogenic factors in cultured MSCs, and measurements of infarct size and left-ventricular function at day 90 after myocardial infarction were significantly more improved in monkeys treated with HP-MSCs than in monkeys treated with the control vehicle; functional improvements in normal cultured bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells-treated monkeys were not significant. HP-MSCs transplantation was also associated with increases in cardiomyocyte proliferation, vascular density, myocardial glucose uptake, and engraftment of the transplanted cells and with declines in endogenous cell apoptosis, but did not increase the occurrence of arrhythmogenic complications.

CONCLUSIONS

Hypoxia preconditioning improved the effectiveness of MSCs transplantation for the treatment of myocardial infarction in nonhuman primates without increasing the occurrence of arrhythmogenic complications, which suggests that future clinical trials of HP-MSCs transplantation are warranted.

Thrombus Length Estimation on Delayed Gadolinium-Enhanced T1

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Previous studies revealed a close relationship between thrombus length and recanalization rate after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). As a novel approach, we prospectively adjusted the order of sequence acquisition to obtain delayed gadolinium-enhanced T1 (dGE-T1) and thereby assess thrombus length on dGE-T1 to evaluate its predictive value for recanalization after IVT.

METHODS

We reviewed prospectively collected clinical and imaging data from acute ischemic stroke patients with middle cerebral artery occlusion who underwent multimodal magnetic resonance imaging before and 24 hours after IVT. Perfusion-weighted imaging was performed followed by conventional T1. We measured thrombus length on dGE-T1 and examined its association with middle cerebral artery recanalization.

RESULTS

Of the included 74 patients, the median age was 66 years and 28 (37.8%) were women. Thrombus length was 8.18±4.56 mm on dGE-T1, which was an acceptable predictor for no recanalization (odds ratio, 1.196; 95% confidence interval, 1.015-1.409; P=0.033), with a receiver-operator characteristic of 0.732 (95% confidence interval, 0.619-0.845; P=0.001). The optimal cut-off point was identified at 6.77 mm, which yielded a sensitivity of 77.8%, a specificity of 57.9%, and an odds ratio of 4.81 (95% confidence interval, 1.742-13.292; P=0.002). Moreover, no one achieved recanalization after IVT when length of thrombus exceeded 14 mm on dGE-T1.

CONCLUSIONS

The dGE-T1, obtained by simply adjusting scanning order in multimodal magnetic resonance imaging protocol, is a useful tool for thrombus length estimation and middle cerebral artery recanalization prediction after IVT.

Physico-chemical pretreatment and fungal biotreatment for park wastes and cattle dung for biogas production

With the rising demand for renewable energy and environmental protection, anaerobic digestion of biogas technology has attracted considerable attention within the scientific community. The effect of physico-chemical pretreatment on cellulose degradation followed by fungal treatment by Aspergillus terreus and Trichoderma viride to treat cellulosic biomass for enhancing its digestibility was investigated. The tested substrate was digested with and without physical, chemical, and biological treatment. Fresh leaves, dry leaves and cattle dung were characterized by a total solids content 35, 84 and 17 %, volatile solids content 81.2, 59.49 and 64.5 % and C/N ratio 31, 45.4 and 13.6, respectively. Biogas total volume was determined using water replacement technique, while methane volume was determined using precipitation of CO₂ in 20 % NaOH solution. Pretreatment steps were carried out by using mechanical and chemical pretreatments using 2.5 % NaOH mixed with 2.5 % NH₄OH for 15 days, followed by biological treatment of A. terreus and T. viride. The potential of pretreatment of substrate was studied at regular intervals of 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, 49, 56, 63 and 70 days determining the change in chemical and physical compositions of used substrates. Biogas production was 102.6 and 125.9 L/KgVS from untreated and pretreated substrate, respectively. On the other hand, methane production was 61.4 and 79.8 L/KgVS from untreated and pretreated substrate, respectively. In conclusion, Physical (milling), chemical (NaOH and NH₄OH) pretreatment in addition to fungal (A. terreus and T. viride) treatment for the tested substrate prior to AD was an efficient process for improvement of biogas and methane production.

Bacillus ectoiniformans sp. nov., a halotolerant bacterium isolated from deep-sea sediments

A halotolerant, Gram-positive bacterium (strain NE-14^T), which was isolated from sediment samples of the South China Sea, was subjected to a taxonomic study. Strain NE-14^T grew well at wide temperature and pH ranges, 10.0-45.0 °C and pH 6-10, with an optimum at 30 °C and pH 8.0, respectively. Growth of strain NE-14^T was observed at total salt concentrations of 0-10 % (w/v) with optimum at 2 % (w/v). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparison indicated that the isolate belongs to the genus Bacillus. Strain NE-14^T was related most closely to Bacillus shackletonii LMG 18435^T, Bacillus bataviensis LMG 21833^T, Bacillus idriensis SMC 4352-2^T and Bacillus drentensis LMG 21831^T with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 96.2, 95.9, 95.8 and 95.7 %, respectively. DNA-DNA hybridization between strain NE-14^T and B. shackletonii LMG 18435^T, B. bataviensis LMG 21833^T, B. idriensis SMC 4352-2^T and B. drentensis LMG 21831^T gave reassociation values of about 27.4, 22.4, 16.4 and 15.9 %, respectively. The DNA G+C content of strain NE-14^T was 39.2 mol%. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was menaquinone 7 (MK-7). The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid. The predominant cellular fatty acids of strain NE-14^T were iso-C_15 : 0 and anteiso-C_15 : 0. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and phospholipid. Based on the phenotypic and phylogenetic characteristics, it is proposed that strain NE-14^T be classified as representing a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus ectoiniformans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NE-14^T ( = DSM 28970^T = JCM 30397^T).

[Signifiance of brush sign on susceptibility-weighted imaging predicts hemorrhagic transformation after intravenous thrombolysis in patients with acute ischemic stroke]

OBJECTIVE

To assess brush sign (BS) on susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) in prediction of hemorrhagic transformation (HT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) after intravenous thrombolysis(IVT).

METHODS

Patients with acute cerebral ischemic stroke, who had major cerebral artery occlusion (internal carotid artery, middle cerebral artery M1 and M2), treated with intravenous recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) from August 2009 to October 2014 in the Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent SWI scanning. The asymmetry index (AI) was defined as the difference of intensity between ischemic and normal hemispheres on the SWI phase map; according to AI values patients were divided into 3 groups: BS=0(n=9), BS=1 (n=39) and BS=2 (n=18). The relationships between BS and HT and the clinical outcome among the 3 groups were analyzed.

RESULTS

Sixty-six patients aged 68 ± 13 years were included in the study, including 44 males (67%) and 22 females (33%), and 44 (67%) with acute ischemic stroke. The mean pre-treatment National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score was 13 (6-17), and the onset to needle time was (252 ± 88) min. Twenty-six (39.4%) patients had HT, including 18 cases (27.3%) with HI and 8 cases (12.1%) with PH; BS was observed more frequently in HT group than non-HT group. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that BS was independently associated with HT of patients with acute ischemic stroke following IVT (OR=2.589, 95% CI: 1.080-6.210, P=0.033). In those without reperfusion after IVT, patients with higher BS grade had higher HT rate (P=0.023).

CONCLUSION

Brush sign on SWI can be used for predicting hemorrhagic transformation after intravenous thrombolysis in patients with acute ischemic stroke.

[Cerebral lesions of DWI hyperintensity in patients with subacute stroke assessed by intravoxel incoherent motion technique]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the cerebral lesions of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) hyperintensity in patients with subacute stroke with intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) technique.

METHODS

The clinical data of 20 patients with ischemic stroke (3 to 7 d after onset) who underwent DWI and IVIM scanning between June 2014 and July 2015, were retrospectively analyzed. The parameters from IVIM including slow diffusion coefficient (D), fast diffusion coefficient (D(*)) and perfusion fraction (f) were processed. DWI hyperintensity was segmented by its signal intensity greater than the mean+2 standard deviations of the value in the homologous contralateral region. Then, DWI hyperintensity was classified into two regions of interest (ROIs): infarction core and peri-core with the ADC threshold of 0.55 × 10⁻³ mm²/s. The mirrored ROIs of infarction core and peri-core were also obtained. Then, we measured the values of ADC and D, D(*) and f in these ROIs. The ratios of ADC (rADC), D (rD), D(*) (rD(*)) and f (rf) were also calculated (e.g., rADC=ADCinfarction core/ADCmirrored region).

RESULTS

Compared with mirrored region, ADC, D and f in the infarction core region decreased by 45% (P<0.001), 42% (P<0.001) and 32% (P<0.001), respectively; while ADC, D and f in the peri-core region decreased by 22% (P<0.001), 32% (P<0.001) and 8% (P=0.009), respectively. The values of rADC, rD, rD(*) and rf in the infarction core region were significantly lower than those in the peri-core region (all P<0.001). Pearson analysis showed that rADC was positively correlated with rf in the peri-core region (r=0.467, P=0.038).

CONCLUSION

During subacute stage of stroke, compared to the infarction core region within DWI hyperintensity, D and f increase in the peri-core region of DWI hyperintensity, reflecting the increased water diffusion in microstructure and perfusion volume in microvasculature. This result shows that the potential reason for the heterogeneous ADC signal is associated with the disappearance of cellular edema and microvascular compensatory with increased blood volume.

Assessment of liver fibrosis in the early stages with perfusion CT

OBJECTIVES

This work aims to assess the feasibility of perfusion CT in diagnosis of liver fibrosis in the early stage.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Solutions of carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) were injected into the peritoneum of 45 rabbits to establish rabbit models of liver fibrosis. Perfusion CT were performed at 4-, 8-, 12- and 16- week after injection. The parametric perfusion indices of blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), arterial liver perfusion (ALP), portal venous perfusion (PVP), and hepatic perfusion index (HPI) on perfusion maps were measured. Liver samples were scored as F0, F1, F2, F3, F4 for fibrosis.

RESULTS

In 50 rabbits, 23 rabbits survived. Of these survival rabbits, 5 rabbits were histopathologically scored as F0, 7 rabbits were F1, 8 rabbits were F2, and 3 rabbits were F3. For relatively small number of F3, multiple comparisons were made for F0 vs. F1, F1 vs. F2 and F0 vs. F2. A statistically significant difference was observed in PVP, BV, BF, ALP and HPI between F1 vs. F2 and F0 vs. F2, whereas a significant statistical difference was only achieved in PVP between F0 vs. F1. In the early stage of liver fibrosis PVP decreased with the progression of liver fibrosis, whereas HPI, ALP and BF increased with the progression of liver fibrosis. BV had no marked change.

CONCLUSIONS

Perfusion CT is feasible in diagnosis of early stage of liver fibrosis. PVP appears to be the most promising parametric perfusion index.

The Effect of Aspirin on Bleeding and Transfusion in Contemporary Cardiac Surgery

OBJECTIVE

Despite evidence that preoperative aspirin improves outcomes in cardiac surgery, recommendations for aspirin use are inconsistent due to aspirin's anti-platelet effect and concern for bleeding. The purpose of this study was to investigate preoperative aspirin use and its effect on bleeding and transfusion in cardiac surgery.

METHODS

This retrospective study involved consecutive patients (n=1571) who underwent CABG, valve, or combined CABG and valve surgery at a single center between March 2007 and July 2012. Of all patients, 728 met the inclusion criteria and were divided into two groups: those using (n=603) or not using (n=125) aspirin within 5 days of surgery. Data were collected on chest tube drainage, re-operation for bleeding, and transfusion of red blood cells (RBCs), fresh frozen plasma (FFP), and platelets.

RESULTS

No significant difference was observed between the two groups in chest tube drainage or re-operation for bleeding. An increase in patients transfused with RBCs was observed in the aspirin group (61.9 vs 51.2%, adjusted OR 1.77, p=0.027); however, among those transfused RBCs, no significant difference in mean units transfused or massive transfusion was observed. No significant difference was seen in transfusion requirement of FFP or platelets.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients undergoing CABG, valve, or combined CABG/valve surgery, preoperative aspirin, within 5 days of surgery, was associated with an increased probability of receiving an RBC transfusion. Preoperative aspirin was not associated with an increase in chest tube drainage, re-operation for bleeding complications, or transfusion of FFP or platelets.

Unfavorable neurological outcome in diabetic patients with acute ischemic stroke is associated with incomplete recanalization after intravenous thrombolysis

Objective

To assess the impact of diabetes on neurological outcome and recanalization in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) after intravenous thrombolysis (IVT).

Methods

Clinical data of 419 consecutive patients with AIS who received IVT between June 2009 and April 2014. Based on the medical history and new diagnosis, the patients were divided into groups with and without diabetes. Neurological outcomes at 24 h, 7 days and 3 months after IVT were evaluated. Favorable outcome was defined as National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score decrease ≥4 points from baseline or 0 at 24 h, NIHSS decrease ≥8 points or 0 at day 7, or modified Rankin scale ≤1 at 3 months after IVT. Recanalization on non-invasive imaging was evaluated in patients with large vessel occlusion (LVO) according to thrombolysis in myocardial infarction grades.

Results

Among 419 patients, 98 (23.4%) had diabetes. Multivariable analyses showed that comorbidity of diabetes was an independent predictor of unfavorable outcome at 24 h (OR=0.534, 95% CI 0.316 to 0.903, p=0.019), at day 7 (OR=0.382, 95% CI 0.220 to 0.665, p=0.001), and at 3 months (OR=0.464, 95% CI 0.266 to 0.808, p=0.007). In patients with LVO, diabetes was an independent predictor of incomplete recanalization 24 h after IVT (OR=0.268, 95% CI 0.075 to 0.955, p=0.042).

Conclusions

Diabetic patients with AIS had unfavorable neurological outcome, potentially linked to incomplete recanalization after IVT.

A Comprehensive Evaluation System for Military Hospitals' Response Capability to Bio-terrorism

The objective of this study is to establish a comprehensive evaluation system for military hospitals' response capacity to bio-terrorism. Literature research and Delphi method were utilized to establish the comprehensive evaluation system for military hospitals' response capacity to bio-terrorism. Questionnaires were designed and used to survey the status quo of 134 military hospitals' response capability to bio-terrorism. Survey indicated that factor analysis method was suitable to for analyzing the comprehensive evaluation system for military hospitals' response capacity to bio-terrorism. The constructed evaluation system was consisted of five first-class and 16 second-class indexes. Among them, medical response factor was considered as the most important factor with weight coefficient of 0.660, followed in turn by the emergency management factor with weight coefficient of 0.109, emergency management consciousness factor with weight coefficient of 0.093, hardware support factor with weight coefficient of 0.078, and improvement factor with weight coefficient of 0.059. The constructed comprehensive assessment model and system are scientific and practical.

Description of Comamonas serinivorans sp. nov., isolated from wheat straw compost

A Gram-stain-negative bacterium, designated SP-35T, was isolated from compost and was subjected to a taxonomic study. This isolate was short-rod-shaped and non-spore-forming. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA sequence comparison indicated the isolate was related to the genus Comamonas . 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that its closest neighbours were the type strains Comamonas odontotermitis Dant 3-8T (96.8 % similarity), Comamonas testosteroni DSM 50244T (96.5 %), Comamonas guangdongensis CY01T (95.9 %) and Comamonas composti YY287T (95.6 %). Using phylogenetic analysis, DNA–DNA hybridization, fatty acid composition data and a range of physiological and biochemical characteristics we could clearly distinguish strain SP-35T from type strains of the genus Comamonas . The genomic DNA G+C content of strain SP-35T was 63.1 mol%. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C16 : 0, C17 : 0 cyclo, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω6c and/or C16 : 1ω7c) and summed feature 8 (C18 : 1ω6c and/or C18 : 1ω7c). The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidlyglycerol. Differences in phenotypic and phylogenetic characteristics support the classification of strain SP-35T as a representative of a novel species in the genus Comamonas , for which the name Comamonas serinivorans sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SP-35T ( = DSM 26136T = JCM 18194T).