Project description:We determined whether we could identify clusters of children with critical asthma by functional immunophenotyping using an intracellular viral analog stimulus. We performed a single-center, prospective, observational cohort study of 43 children ages 6 – 17 years admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit for an asthma attack between July 2019 to February 2021.
Project description:We determined whether we could identify clusters of children with critical asthma by plasma cytokine concentration. Differences in gene expression between the two clusters were analyzed using a targeted Nanostring immunology array. We performed a single-center, prospective, observational cohort study of 64 children ages 6 – 17 years admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit for an asthma attack between July 2019 to February 2021.
Project description:The abundance of bacterial (AOB) and archaeal (AOA) ammonia oxidisers, assessed using quantitative PCR measurements of their respective a-subunit of the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) genes, and ammonia oxidation rates were measured in four contrasting coastal sediments in the Western English Channel. Sediment was sampled bimonthly from July 2008 to May 2011, and measurements of ammonia oxidiser abundance and activity compared to a range of environmental variables including salinity, temperature, water column nutrients and sediment carbon and nitrogen content. Despite a higher abundance of AOA amoA genes within all sediments, and at all time-points, rates of ammonia oxidation correlated with AOB and not AOA amoA gene abundance. Other than ammonia oxidation rate, sediment particle size was the only variable that correlated with the spatial and temporal patterns of AOB amoA gene abundance, implying a preference of the AOB for larger sediment particles. This is possibly due to deeper oxygen penetration into the sandier sediments, increasing the area available for ammonia oxidation to occur, higher concentrations of inhibitory sulphide with pore waters of muddier sediments or a combination of both oxygen and sulphide concentrations. Similar to many other temporal studies of nitrification within estuarine and coastal sediments, decreases in AOB amoA gene abundance were evident during summer and autumn, with maximum abundance and ammonia oxidation rates occurring in winter and early spring. The lack of correlation between AOA amoA gene abundance and ammonium oxidation rate suggests an alternative role for amoA-carrying AOA within these sediments.
Project description:Lysinibacillus varians GY32 was isolated from river sediment of electronic waste recycling site. Its invariably filament-to-rod cell cycle represents a novel bacteria morphogenesis that is crucial in understanding cell division coordination with lifecycle and environmental bacteria adaptation. A description of genes and biological processes involved in the special filament-to-rod cell cycle of L. varians GY32 is within reach.
