Intracranial Myroides odoratimimus Infection After EVD Successfully Treated with Intravenous Plus Intraventricular Tigecycline: A Case Report.

Intracranial infections are the most serious and common postoperative complications with significant mortality and morbidity. Myroides odoratimimus (M. odoratimimus), a Gram-negative environmental species and an opportunistic microorganism, predominantly infects immunocompromised individuals. Limited clinical experiences and documented multidrug resistance have resulted in a scarcity of data on the treatment of M. odoratimimus infections. As far as we know, this is the first reported case of an intracranial M. odoratimimus infection with external ventricular drains (EVD) that was effectively treated with a combination of intravenous and intraventricular tigecycline in an immunocompetent adult host.

Stacked bilayer phosphorene: strain-induced quantum spin Hall state and optical measurement.

Bilayer phosphorene attracted considerable interest, giving a potential application in nanoelectronics owing to its natural bandgap and high carrier mobility. However, very little is known regarding the possible usefulness in spintronics as a quantum spin Hall (QSH) state of material characterized by a bulk energy gap and gapless spin-filtered edge states. Here, we report a strain-induced topological phase transition from normal to QSH state in bilayer phosphorene, accompanied by band-inversion that changes number from 0 to 1, which is highly dependent on interlayer stacking. When the bottom layer is shifted by 1/2 unit-cell along zigzag/armchair direction with respect to the top layer, the maximum topological bandgap 92.5 meV is sufficiently large to realize QSH effect even at room-temperature. An optical measurement of QSH effect is therefore suggested in view of the wide optical absorption spectrum extending to far infra-red, making bilayer phosphorene a promising candidate for opto-spintronic devices.

Two-dimensional liquid crystalline growth within a phase-field-crystal model.

By using a two-dimensional phase-field-crystal (PFC) model, the liquid crystalline growth of the plastic triangular phase is simulated with emphasis on crystal shape and topological defect formation. The equilibrium shape of a plastic triangular crystal (PTC) grown from an isotropic phase is compared with that grown from a columnar or smectic-A (CSA) phase. While the shape of a PTC nucleus in the isotropic phase is almost identical to that of the classical PFC model, the shape of a PTC nucleus in CSA is affected by the orientation of stripes in the CSA phase, and irregular hexagonal, elliptical, octagonal, and rectangular shapes are obtained. Concerning the dynamics of the growth process, we analyze the topological structure of the nematic order, which starts from nucleation of +1/2 and -1/2 disclination pairs at the PTC growth front and evolves into hexagonal cells consisting of +1 vortices surrounded by six satellite -1/2 disclinations. It is found that the orientational and the positional order do not evolve simultaneously; the orientational order evolves behind the positional order, leading to a large transition zone, which can span over several lattice spacings.

Role of initial system-bath correlation on coherence trapping.

We study the coherence trapping of a qubit correlated initially with a non-Markovian bath in a pure dephasing channel. By considering the initial qubit-bath correlation and the bath spectral density, we find that the initial qubit-bath correlation can lead to a more efficient coherence trapping than that of the initially separable qubit-bath state. The stationary coherence in the long time limit can be maximized by optimizing the parameters of the initially correlated qubit-bath state and the bath spectral density. In addition, the effects of this initial correlation on the maximal evolution speed for the qubit trapped to its stationary coherence state are also explored.

Relativistic configuration interaction calculation on the ground and excited states of iridium monoxide.

We present the fully relativistic multi-reference configuration interaction calculations of the ground and low-lying excited electronic states of IrO for individual spin-orbit component. The lowest-lying state is calculated for Ω = 1/2, 3/2, 5/2, and 7/2 in order to clarify the ground state of IrO. Our calculation suggests that the ground state is of Ω = 1/2, which is highly mixed with (4)Σ(-) and (2)Π states in Λ - S notation. The two low-lying states 5/2 and 7/2 are nearly degenerate with the ground state and locate only 234 and 260 cm(-1) above, respectively. The equilibrium bond length 1.712 Å and the harmonic vibrational frequency 903 cm(-1) of the 5/2 state are close to the experimental measurement of 1.724 Å and 909 cm(-1), which suggests that the 5/2 state should be the low-lying state that contributes to the experimental spectra. Moreover, the electronic states that give rise to the observed transition bands are assigned for Ω = 5/2 and 7/2 in terms of the obtained excited energies and oscillator strengths.

Phase-field-crystal simulation of nonequilibrium crystal growth.

By using the phase field crystal model, we simulate the morphological transition of the crystal growth of equilibrium crystal shape, dendrite, and spherical crystal shape. The relationship among growth morphology, velocity, and density distribution is investigated. The competition between interface energy anisotropy and interface kinetic anisotropy gives rise to the pattern selection of dendritic growth in the diffusion controlled regime under low-crystal-growth velocities. The trapping effect in density diffusion suppresses morphological instabilities under high-crystal-growth velocities, resulting in isotropic growth of spherical crystal. Finally, a morphological phase diagram of crystal growth is constructed as function of the phase field crystal model parameters.

Effect of prebiotic konjac mannanoligosaccharide on growth performances, intestinal microflora, and digestive enzyme activities in yellow catfish, Pelteobagrus fulvidraco.

In the present study, konjac mannanoligosaccharide (KMOS) was evaluated as a prebiotic in yellow catfish. The fish were fed with diets containing KMOS in four concentrations: 0 g kg(-1) (C), 1.0 g kg(-1) (KM1), 2.0 g kg(-1) (KM2), and 3.0 g kg(-1) (KM3) for 49 days, respectively. Another group fed with diets containing 3.0 g kg(-1) yeast cell wall mannanoligosaccharide (MOS) (M3) was set as positive control. The results indicated that fish receiving the diets supplemented with KMOS or MOS showed higher relative gain rate (RGR), specific growth rate (SGR), and lower feed conversion ratio (FCR) with significantly differences (P < 0.05) than those fed with the basal diets. Moreover, fish receiving the diets with 2.0 g kg(-1) KMOS inclusion showed higher RGR, SGR, and lower FCR (P < 0.05) than that feeding the diets supplemented with 3.0 g kg(-1) MOS. The quantities of Bifidobacterium spp. were significantly increased (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, Escherichia coli and Aeromonas spp. were significantly reduced (P < 0.05) in the fish-feeding diets with 2.0 g kg(-1) KMOS supplement. Compared with the control group, the significantly enhancement of protease and amylase activity (P < 0.05) in intestine and pancreas was observed in fish fed with diets containing KMOS or MOS. Collectively, an optimum level of KMOS inclusion in diets could modulate intestinal microflora, induce digestive enzyme activity, and improve the growth performance of yellow catfish significantly.

Effect of Coriolus versicolor polysaccharides on the hematological and biochemical parameters and protection against Aeromonas hydrophila in allogynogenetic crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio).

The effect of dietary intake of Coriolus versicolor Polysaccharides (CVP) on the hematological and biochemical indices of Allogynogenetic crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) was investigated. Fish were fed CVP supplemented diets (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, 2.0 or 4.0 g CVP kg(-1)) for 56 days. The RBC, WBC counts, hemoglobin content, ESR in blood and TP, ALT, AST, ALP, GLU, CHO, TG, and BUN in serum were measured on day 0, 14, 28, 42, and 56. After feeding of 56 days, fish were infected with Aeromonas hydrophila and mortalities were recorded. The results indicated that feeding crucian carp with suitable dose of CVP enhanced the RBC, WBC counts, hemoglobin and TP content, ALP activity, and decreased the ESR, ALT, AST, GLU, CHO, TG and BUN. There was no effect in fish at low dose (0.25 g kg(-1)). Unexpectedly, the higher CVP dose used here (2.0 and 4.0 g kg(-1)) has a negative effect in fish. The results of challenge experiment indicated that a moderate level of CVP in the diet (1.0 g kg(-1)) was the most effective to enhance the survival of fish after infected with A. hydrophila. In summary, the use of CVP, as dietary supplements, can improve the innate defense of crucian carp providing resistance to pathogens.

Phase-field simulation of stripe arrays on metal bcc(110) surfaces.

By using a phase-field model, we simulate formation and growth of stripe arrays starting with anisotropic growth of islands under the Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier on metal bcc(110) surfaces. The anisotropy is incorporated in terms of attachment kinetics that is locally limited at the island edge aligned to the y axis (or 100 ) and instantaneous at the island edge aligned to the x axis (or 110 ). By reproducing the stripe arrays under various anisotropy magnitudes, we investigate dynamics of formation and growth of the stripe arrays. While enhancing coarsening in the y direction, the anisotropy suppresses coarsening in the x direction at the early stage, which contributes to formation of stripe arrays. At long times, the stripe arrays develop the quasiperiodic uniaxial structure with the selected transversal slope and the decreasing longitudinal slope as consequence of competition between coarsening and roughening. At the case of the large anisotropy magnitude, the fast roughening is caused by the strongly limited attachment kinetics, where the transversal coarsening turns fast and then the uniaxial growth is broken finally. For the weak roughening at the case of the reduced anisotropy magnitude, the slow transversal coarsening is achieved with the fast longitudinal coarsening, which contributes to the stripe arrays of the regular period and the increasing uniaxial length. Such arrays have the potential to be used as templates to grow one-dimensional nanostructures.

Phase-field model of island growth in epitaxy.

Nucleation and growth of islands in epitaxy is simulated using a continuum phase-field model. In addition to local density of adatoms, a local phase-field variable, varying in the real space, is introduced to describe the epitaxial islands. Evolution of this phase field is determined by a time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau-like equation coupled to a diffusive transport equation of adatoms. When applied to nucleation and growth of islands in the submonolayer regime, this model reproduces both the scaling laws of island density and experimental size and spatial distributions of islands. For island growth in the multilayer regime, this phase-field model reproduces mound structures consistent with experimental images concerned. Accurate coarsening and roughening exponents of the mounds are obtained in this model. Compared with atomic models and mean-field models, this model can provide a fine visualized morphology of islands at large space and time scales of practical engineering interests.