Escherichia albertii is an emerging foodborne enteropathogen associated with infectious diarrhoea in humans. In February 2023, an outbreak of acute gastroenteric cases was reported in a junior high school located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China. Twenty-two investigated patients presented diarrhoea (22/22, 100%), abdominal pain (21/22, 95.5%), nausea (6/22, 27.3%), and vomiting (3/22, 13.6%). E. albertii strains were successfully isolated from anal swabs collected from six patients. Each isolate was classified as sequence type ST2686, harboured eae-β gene, and carried both cdtB-I and cdtB-II subtypes, being serotyped as EAOg32:EAHg4 serotype. A comprehensive whole-genome phylogenetic analysis revealed that the six isolates formed a distinct cluster, separate from other strains. These isolates exhibited minimal genetic variation, differing from one another by 0 to 1 single nucleotide polymorphism, suggesting a common origin from a single clone. To the best of our knowledge, this represented the first reported outbreak of gastroenteritis attributed to E. albertii outside of Japan on a global scale.

The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) guidelines recommend the Royal Free Hospital-Nutritional Prioritizing Tool (RFH-NPT) to identify malnutrition risk in patients with liver disease. However, little is known about the application of the RFH-NPT to screen for the risk of malnutrition in China, where patients primarily suffer from hepatitis virus-related cirrhosis. A total of 155 cirrhosis patients without liver cancer or uncontrolled co-morbid illness were enrolled in this prospective study. We administered the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002), RFH-NPT, Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) and Liver Disease Undernutrition Screening Tool (LDUST) to the patients within 24 h after admission and performed follow-up observations for 1·5 years. The RFH-NPT and NRS-2002 had higher sensitivities (64·8 and 52·4 %) and specificities (60 and 70 %) than the other tools with regard to screening for malnutrition risk in cirrhotic patients. The prevalence of nutritional risk was higher under the use of the RFH-NPT against the NRS-2002 (63 v. 51 %). The RFH-NPT tended more easily to detect malnutrition risk in patients with advanced Child–Pugh classes (B and C) and lower Model for End-stage Liver Disease scores (<15) compared with NRS-2002. RFH-NPT score was an independent predictive factor for mortality. Patients identified as being at high malnutrition risk with the RFH-NPT had a higher mortality rate than those at low risk; the same result was not obtained with the NRS-2002. Therefore, we suggest that using the RFH-NPT improves the ability of clinicians to predict malnutrition risk in patients with cirrhosis primarily caused by hepatitis virus infection at an earlier stage.

Background: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system mainly affecting the motor system. Presently, there is no effective and safe drug to treat patients with PD. Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE), obtained from leaves of the Ginkgo biloba tree, is a complex mixture of ingredients primarily containing two active components: flavonoids and terpenoids. In this study, we investigated the effects of GBE on A53T α-synuclein transgenic mice, a PD model that has better simulated the progression of PD patients than other models such as the 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine–induced PD model. Methods: Fifty α-synuclein A53T transgenic mice were fed and treated with GBE, and locomotor activity was detected by pole test, forced swim test, and wire-hang test. The expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine transporters was detected using immunohistochemistry. Superoxide dismutase activity, glutathione peroxidase activity, and malondialdehyde expression were detected using an assay kit. Results: Our results show that GBE treatment improved locomotor activity and that superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase inhibited the expression of methane dicarboxylic aldehyde and recovered the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and dopamine transporters. Conclusions: The GBE treatment improved locomotor activity and inhibited the development of PD in the A53T α-synuclein transgenic mice, which may be partly responsible for decreased oxidative damage and maintain the normal dopamine homeostasis.

In this paper, we report on the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of a 5052 Al alloy processed by rotationally accelerated shot peening (RASP). A thick deformation layer of ∼2 mm was formed after the RASP process. Nano-sized grains, equiaxed subgrains, and elongated subgrains were observed along the depth of the deformation layer. Dislocation accumulation and dynamic recrystallization were found primarily responsible for the grain refinement process. An obvious microhardness gradient was observed for all of the samples with different RASP processing parameters, and the microhardness in the top surface of 50 m/s-5 min RASP-processed sample is twice that of its coarse-grained (CG) counterpart. The yield strengths of the RASP-processed 5052 Al alloy samples were 1.4–2.6 times that of CG counterparts, while retaining a decent ductility (25–84% that of CG). The superior properties imparted by the gradient structure are expected to expand the application of the 5052 Al alloy as a structural material.

In this study, the mechanism of ferrite grain refinement during warm compression deformation in the (γ + α) region of Cu–P–Cr–Ni–Mo weathering steel was analyzed by optical microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. Results showed that fine equiaxed ferrite grains surrounded by high-angle boundaries (HABs) formed along the initial boundaries as the strain is increased. As the deformation temperature decreased, some low-angle boundaries shifted to HABs in intragranular ferrite, and ferrite grain refinement was promoted by continuous dynamic recrystallization. Microstructural observations also indicated that the fine ferrite grains of approximately 1.4–3 μm in size can be obtained by deformation at 750 °C with a strain over 0.69 because of ferrite dynamic recrystallization. Moreover, both strain and deformation temperature influenced the ferrite grain size and volume fraction. Thus, the predominant mechanism for ferrite grain refinement in the (γ + α) region was continuous dynamic recrystallization.