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A novel coagulase-negative Staphylococcus strain (H164T) was isolated from soymilk in Taiwan. Comparative sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene revealed that the H164T strain is a member of the genus Staphylococcus. We used multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) and phylogenomic analyses to demonstrate that the novel strain was closely related to Staphylococcus gallinarum, Staphylococcus nepalensis, Staphylococcus cohnii, and Staphylococcus urealyuticus. The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between H164T and its closest relatives were <95% and <70%, respectively. The H164T strain could also be distinguished from its closest relatives by the fermentation of d-fructose, d-maltose, d-trehalose, and d-mannitol, as well as by the activities of α-glucosidase and alkaline phosphatase. The major cellular fatty acids were C15:0 iso and C15:0 anteiso, and the predominant menaquinones were MK-7 and MK-8, respectively. The major cellular fatty acids and predominant menaquinones were C15:0 iso and C15:0 anteiso and MK-7 and MK-8, respectively. In conclusion, this strain represents a novel species, named Staphylococcus hsinchuensis sp. nov., with the type strain H164T (=BCRC 81404T = NBRC 116174T). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a potent toxin that exerts deleterious effects on human health via environmental contamination. Significant effects of MeHg on neuronal development in embryogenesis have been reported. Recently, our group demonstrated that MeHg exerts toxic effects on pre- and post-implantation embryonic development processes from zygote to blastocyst stage. Our results showed that MeHg impairs embryo development by induction of apoptosis through reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation that triggers caspase-3 cleavage and activation, which, in turn, stimulates p21-activated kinase 2 (PAK2) activity. Importantly, ROS were identified as a key upstream regulator of apoptotic events in MeHg-treated blastocysts. Data from the current study further confirmed that MeHg exerts hazardous effects on cell proliferation, apoptosis, implantation, and pre- and post-implantation embryo development. Notably, MeHg-induced injury was markedly prevented by co-culture with adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs) in vitro. Furthermore, ADMSC injection significantly reduced MeHg-mediated deleterious effects on embryo, placenta, and fetal development in vivo. Further investigation of the regulatory mechanisms by which co-cultured ADMSCs could prevent MeHg-induced impairment of embryo development revealed that ADMSCs effectively reduced ROS generation and its subsequent downstream apoptotic events, including loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and activation of caspase-3 and PAK2. The collective findings indicate that co-culture with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) or utilization of MSC-derived cell-conditioned medium offers an effective potential therapeutic strategy to prevent impairment of embryo development by MeHg. Graphical Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous reports suggested the clinical predictions of survival (CPS) and prognostic scores had similar accuracy in patients with days to weeks of life. Objective: We aimed to evaluate and compare the accuracy of CPS by attending physicians, residents, and nurses in an acute palliative care unit at a medical center. Methods: This was a 1-year prospective cohort study. Survival prediction was made within 3 days after patients' admission and re-evaluated every week until patients' discharge or death. Associated factors of accurate survival predictions were also explored by multivariate logistic regression. Results: A total of 179 inpatients were recruited and 115 of them were included in this analysis. The mean age of participants was 72.9 years and the average length of actual survival was 11.5 ± 12.0 days. For patients with survival within 30 days, the medical staff tended to overestimate their life span. The predictions made by physicians and nurses showed much closer to actual survival length through repeated estimations. Patients with metastatic cancer (odds ratio: OR 2.77, 95% CI 1.23-6.22) or cognitive impairment (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.12-5.11) had higher associations with accurate CPS. Poor performance status of ECOG (OR 1.82, 95% CI 1.09-3.02) and dysphagia (OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.07-3.77) were significant predictors for accurate CPS in patients with the survival of less than 2 weeks. Conclusions: The accuracy of CPS between different medical staff did not reveal significant differences in the study. The importance of re-evaluation for patients' survival length in clinical practice is worthy of attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]