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Acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a syndrome with a high rate of short-term mortality, and clinically it is important to identify patients at high risk of mortality. The present study evaluated the value of osteopontin (OPN) in the prediction of 90-day mortality in patients with ACLF. A total of 54 patients with HBV-associated ACLF were enrolled, and serum OPN levels were determined in a prospective, observational study design. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier curves, and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression was used to analyze independent risk factors of mortality. Serum OPN was significantly higher in HBV-ACLF patients compared with patients with chronic hepatitis B and healthy controls (both P<0.01), and furthermore, was higher in those patients who succumbed to HBV-ACLF compared with surviving patients (P<0.05). OPN level positively correlated with total bilirubin (r=0.554, P<0.001), Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (r=0.234, P=0.038), MELD-Na score (r=0.379, P=0.005) and monocyte count (r=0.282, P=0.039), and OPN was an independent risk factor for 90-day mortality in ACLF (P=0.021, odds ratio=1.104, 95% confidence interval: 1.003-1.116). Furthermore, ACLF patients were stratified into three groups according to serum OPN levels (low mortality risk: <6,135 ng/ml; intermediate risk: 6,135-9,043 ng/ml; and high risk: >9,043 ng/ml), for which the 90-day mortality rates were 27.78 (5/18), 52.94 (9/17) and 73.68% (14/19), respectively, and those in the high risk had a poorer prognosis compared with the low risk group (P=0.009). In conclusion, serum OPN may be an independent risk factor associated with HBV-ACLF prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzes the concentration and flux transportation of bioaerosol in Nanjign, China. Cycle of the solar radiation and atmospheric turbulent intensity; Factors affecting the bioaerosol concentration; Use of Bowen ration method.

The present study focuses on the effects of three different sampling solutions, namely distilled water, phosphatic buffer solution, and suspension medium (SM), adding antifoam or not, on the survival probability of several different bacteriophages (EcP1,PhiX174,SM702, and F2) as surrogates for the mammalian viruses in the bubbling process. AGI-10 impinger was used as the representative for all the impingers which would bubble during operation. It was found that the survival probability of the same bacteriophage bubbling with different sampling solutions was different except that there was no significant difference observed for the bacteriophage F2. The use of SM as the collection fluid was relative to a high survival probability for the four bacteriophages. And the endurance or resistance of different kinds of bacteriophages in the same sampling solution was different. We conclude that SM is a promising sampling solution for liquid impingers in the process of sampling phages., (© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009.)

Objective: To isolate the bacteriophage of Serratia marcescens (8039) from sewage, and to study on its biological characteristics., Methods: We used Serratia marcescens (8039) as the host to isolate phage from raw sewage from the Sewage Treatment Center of Hospital. Phage SM701 was examined in electron microscope. The genome of SM701 was extracted and the size of its nucleic acid was identified with restriction enzyme analysis. Phage isolated was subjected to plaque forming unit (PFU) assay using double layer agar medium plate method and morphological properties of plaque was observed, and finally optimal MOI multiplicity of infection and one-step growth experiments were carried out., Results: Phage SM701 specific to Serratia marcescens (8039) was isolated successfully from the raw sewage. SM701 had an isometric polyhedral head (about 64 nm in diameter) and a long noncontractile tail (about 143 nm long). The nucleic acid could be cut off by dsDNA restriction enzyme BamH I or HindIII and its complete size was about 57kb. The plaque of SM701 was transparent about 1mm in diameter at the 12th hour. When MOI equaled 10, the number of phage offspring was higher. One-stepgrowth kinetics was determined according to the results of one-step growth experiment, which showed that the latent period was about 30 min, the rise period was about 100 min, and the average bust size was about 63 pfu/cell., Conclusion: Phage SM701 belonged to tailed family: siphoviridae and lytic bacteriophage. It was quite easy to observe and count the plaques due to existing color differences between lytic and nonlytic zone.