Emergence of Autochthonous Melioidosis in Two Inland PLADs - China, 2021.

What is already known about this topic?: Melioidosis, a tropical infectious disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei (BP) infection, is endemic in the southern coastal provincial-level administrative divisions (PLADs) of China. What is added by this report?: Three melioidosis cases, including two in young children and one in a 19-year-old female, were reported in Anhui and Jiangxi (two inland PLADs of China) respectively, in 2021. None of the patients had a travel history to a melioidosis-endemic area. All the BP isolates belonged to the same sequence type (ST51), which had been reported from elsewhere in Southeast Asia. What are the implications for public health practice?: This is the first report of autochthonous melioidosis cases in inland Chinese PLADs. Surveillance and prevention and control work should be strengthened in this region.

One-pot synthesis of quaternary carbon centered cyclobutanes via Pd(ii)-catalyzed cascade C(sp3)-H activations.

A novel approach toward quaternary carbon centered cyclobutanes through Pd(ii)-catalyzed sequential intramolecular methylene C-H alkylation and intermolecular methine C-H bond arylation, alkenylation, alkylation, alkynylation, allylation, benzylation or alkoxylation is described. These quaternary carbon centered cyclobutanes could be further diversified through Pd(ii)-catalyzed γ-C(sp3)-H bond activations. The synthetic utility of this novel approach was exemplified by its application to the synthesis of a bioactive small molecule.

Palladium-catalyzed unactivated ß-methylene C(sp(3))-H bond alkenylation of aliphatic amides and its application in a sequential C(sp(3))-H/C(sp(2))-H bond alkenylation.

A palladium(II)-catalyzed ß-methylene C(sp(3))-H bond alkenylation of acyclic aliphatic amides with alkenyl halides has been developed. Both (E)-olefins and (Z)-olefins can be readily accessed using this method and a possible (Z)/(E)-olefin isomerization pathway is proposed. A solvent effect-promoted sequential C(sp(3))-H bond alkenylation and C(sp(2))-H bond alkenylation was also studied, and can provide a convenient route to novel diene compounds.

snf1lk encodes a protein kinase that may function in cell cycle regulation.

msk, myocardial SNF1-like kinase, was originally isolated in a screen for kinases expressed during early cardiogenesis in the mouse. msk maps to the proximal end of mouse chromosome 17 in a region that is syntenic with human chromosome 21q22.3, where the gene for SNF1LK, a predicted protein that shares 80% identity at the amino acid level with Msk, is located. Accordingly, msk has been redesignated snf1lk. Interestingly, the region encompassing the SNF1LK locus has been implicated in congenital heart defects often observed in patients with Down syndrome. snf1lk is also expressed in skeletal muscle progenitor cells of the somite beginning at 9.5 dpc. These data suggest a more general role for snf1lk in the earliest stages of muscle growth and/or differentiation. Consistent with a role in cell cycling, we observe that Chinese hamster ovary cells that express a tetracycline-inducible SNF1LK kinase domain do not divide, but undergo additional rounds of replication to yield 8N and 16N cells. These data suggest a possible function for SNF1LK in G2/M regulation. We show data that indicate that SNF1LK does not share functional homology with other SNF1-related kinases, but represents a new subclass with novel molecular activities.