The outer monolayer of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria consists of the lipid A component of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a glucosamine-based saccharolipid that is assembled on the inner surface of the inner membrane. The first six enzymes of the lipid A pathway are required for bacterial growth and are excellent targets for the development of new antibiotics. Following assembly, the ABC transporter MsbA flips nascent LPS to the periplasmic side of the inner membrane, whereupon additional transport proteins direct it to the outer surface of the outer membrane. Depending on the bacterium, various covalent modifications of the lipid A moiety may occur during the transit of LPS to the outer membrane. These extra-cytoplasmic modification enzymes are therefore useful as reporters for monitoring LPS trafficking. Because of its conserved structure in diverse Gram-negative pathogens, lipid A is recognized as foreign by the TLR4/MD2 receptor of the mammalian innate immune system, resulting in rapid macrophage activation and robust cytokine production

Background: For decades, studies have been performed to evaluate the association between ABO blood groups and risk of cancer. However, whether ABO blood groups are associated with overall cancer risk remains unclear. We therefore conducted a meta-analysis of observational studies to assess this association. Materials and Methods: A search of Pubmed, Embase, ScienceDirect, Wiley, and Web of Knowledge databases (to May 2013) was supplemented by manual searches of bibliographies of key retrieved articles and relevant reviews. We included case-control studies and cohort studies with more than 100 cancer cases. Results: The search yielded 89 eligible studies that reported 100,554 cases at 30 cancer sites. For overall cancer risk, the pooled OR was 1.12 (95%CI: between ABO blood groups and overall cancer risk still remains unclear. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the association between ABO blood groups and overall cancer risk, as well as the risk of individual cancer sites.1 Materials and Methods Search strategyWe performed a systematic literature search (up to May 2013) of Pubmed, Embase, ScienceDirect, Wiley, and Web of Knowledge for studies reporting the association between ABO blood groups (self-reported or lab tested) and cancer risk. In addition, we searched the reference lists of relevant articles and reviews. Only articles published in English were considered. Two search themes were combined using the Boolean operator 'and'. The first theme, cancer, combined exploded versions of the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) cancer, tumor, carcinoma, neoplasm or malignancy. The second theme, blood group, combined exploded versions of MeSH terms blood group, or blood type.

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Objective Close contacts of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients may suffer from physical and psychological problems. Few studies have investigated the quarantine experiences of close contacts of COVID-19 patients. The objective of this study was to best capture participants' quarantine experiences during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Methods A descriptive, qualitative design was used. All interviews were recorded and coded using thematic analysis. Results Fifteen participants took part in this study. The following five themes emerged: (1) experience in the early stage of quarantine; (2) experience in the middle stage of quarantine; (3) experience in the late stage of quarantine; (4) self-coping persisted throughout the quarantine period; and (5) external support was evident throughout the quarantine period. Conclusion Our study highlights the need to assess the psychological state of close contacts in the early stage of quarantine and to provide psychological support for them, especially for the older and the less educated. Although close contacts had physical symptoms and psychological issues, they adopted positive coping strategies, which indicated that they were vulnerable but strong. Furthermore, external support from the Chinese government helped them cope with the quarantine effectively. Learning from the quarantine experience is expected to help the Chinese government and institutions from other parts of the world to better care for close contacts.

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HpaG(Xooc), produced by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola, is a member of harpin group of proteins that stimulate plant growth, hypersensitive cell death (HCD), and pathogen defense. The protein contains two copies of the glycine-rich motif (GRM), a characteristic of harpins, and a cysteine, which is absent in other harpins. Genetic modification generated the pro-tein mutants HpaG(Xooc)MG (MG) by deleting GRMs and HpaG(Xooc)C47T (C47T) by replacing cysteine with threonine. When applied to tobacco plants, C47T and MG were 1.2- and 1.7-fold stronger, respectively, than HpaG(Xooc) in inducing HCD, which occurred consistently with expression of the marker genes hin1 and hsr203. The proteins markedly alleviated infection of tobacco by Tobacco mosaic virus and Arabidopsis and tomato by Pseudomonas syringae. Treating tobacco plants with HpaG(Xooc), C47T, and MG decreased the viral infection by 58, 81, and 92%, respectively. In Arabidopsis and tomato plants treated with HpaG(Xooc), C47T, or MG, P. syringae multiplication was inhibited; bacterial population multiplied in 5 days in these plants were ca. 160-, 1,260-, or 15,860-fold smaller than that in control plants. So pathogen defense was induced in both plants. Defense-related genes Chia5, NPR1, and PR-1a were expressed consistently with resistance. In response to HpaG(Xooc), C47T, and MG, aerial parts and roots of tomato plants increased growth by 15 and 53%, 25 and 77%, and 46 and 106%, relative to controls. The expansin gene, EXP2, involved in the cell expansion and plant growth was expressed coordinately with plant growth promotion. These results suggest that the presence of GRM and cysteine in HpaG(Xooc) represses the effects of the protein in plants.

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logical and reporting problems were widespread, including failure to report full results, missing population details, multiple testing, and over-reliance on subgroup analysis. In summary, the complex phenotypes of OA and SDD may have made it difficult for researchers to focus their efforts. The field is dominated by isolated analyses of disparate potential associations, a problem that is amplified by the frequent analysis of different polymorphisms within individual genes. Flaws in study methodology and interpretation undoubtedly increase the risk of publication bias. Closer adherence to published recommendations (in particular those produced by HuGENet) will help to ensure that future studies are well-designed and build on current understanding, rather than simply adding to the growing bank of potential associations.