Human immunodeficiency virus-1 genotypic drug resistance among volunteer blood donors in Yunnan, China

BACKGROUND: Drug resistance profiles of human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) in treatment-naive infections have been reported in developed countries. However, little is known in developing countries, including China, especially in treatment-naive volunt

Complete genomic sequences for hepatitis C virus subtypes 6e and 6g isolated from Chinese patients with injection drug use and HIV-1 co-infection

In one of our recent studies, two HCV genotype 6 variants were identified in patients from Hong Kong and Guangxi in southern China, with injection drug use and HIV-1 co-infection. We report the complete genomic sequences for these two variants: GX004 and

Abnormal regional homogeneity of drug-naive obsessive-compulsive patients

To explore the possible abnormal resting-state activity in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the regional homogeneity (ReHo) of 22 pairs of patients and well-matched healthy controls was calculated. Compared with controls, the patients showed higher ReHo in the left anterior cingulate cortex, but lower ReHo in the left inferior temporal gyrus. These findings supported the abnormal resting-state brain activity in drug-naive OCD patients. No significant correlations between ReHo value and four clinical characteristics were found, suggesting that abnormal ReHo might be trait-related in OCD. NeuroReport 21:786-790 (C) 2010 Wolters Kluwer Health vertical bar Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

High prevalence of HIV-1 and hepatitis C virus coinfection among injection drug users in the southeastern region of Yunnan, China

The southeastern region of Yunnan province is a key site for drug trafficking and HIV-1 infection spread from the west of Yunnan and Laos to southeastern China. To investigate the prevalence of HIV-1 infection and hepatitis C virus (HCV) coinfection among injection drug users (IDUs) in southeastern Yunnan, three cohorts of 285 addicts, including 242 IDUs and 43 oral drug users, living in the cities of Gejiu and Kaiyuan and the county of Yanshan were studied. HIV-1 and HCV infections were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and/or polymerase chain reaction. Data on the age, sex, risk behavior, drug use history, employment, ethnic background, and marriage status were obtained by interview. The overall prevalence of HIV-1 infection was 71.9%. The rate of HCV coinfection among 138 HIV-1-infected IDUs was 99.3%. Most HIV-infected IDUs were 20 to 35 years old (86.7%) and were ethnic Han (75.9%), suggesting that the epidemic in Yunnan is no longer confined to non-Han ethnic minorities, HIV prevalence in female IDUs (81.2%) was significantly higher than in male IDUs (68.2%) (p <.05). The prevalence of HIV infection reached 68.4% after 1 year of injection drug use. Needle/syringe sharing is the major high risk factor for the spread of HIV-1 and HCV infections. Large-scale educational campaigns are urgently needed to reduce the spread of HIV and HCV infection in these regions.

In vitro activities of small peptides from snake venom against clinical isolates of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The recent re-emergence of tuberculosis, especially the multidrug-resistant cases, has highlighted the importance of screening effective novel drugs against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, the in vitro activities of small peptides isolated from snake venom were investigated against multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined by the Bactec TB-460 radiometric method. A small peptide with the amino acid sequence ECYRKSDIVTCEPWQKFCYREVTFFPNHPVYLSGCASECTETNSKWCCTTDKCNRARGG (designated as vgf-1) from Naja atra (isolated from Yunnan province of China) venom had in vitro activity against clinically isolated multidrug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. The MIC was 8.5 mg/l. The antimycobacterial domain of this 60aa peptide is under investigation. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. and the International Society of Chemotherapy. All rights reserved.

Retention of the developmental pluripotency in medaka embryonic stem cells after gene transfer and long-term drug selection for gene targeting in fish

Embryonic stem (ES) cells provide a unique tool for introducing random or targeted genetic alterations, because it is possible that the desired, but extremely rare recombinant genotypes can be screened by drug selection. ES cell-mediated transgenesis has so far been limited to the mouse. In the fish medaka (Oryzias latipes) several ES cell lines have been made available. Here we report the optimized conditions for gene transfer and drug selection in the medaka ES cell line MES1 as a prelude for gene targeting in fish. MES1 cells gave rise to a moderate to high transfection efficiency by the calcium phosphate co-precipitation (5%), commercial reagents Fugene (11%), GeneJuice (21%) and electroporation (>30%). Transient gene transfer and CAT reporter assay revealed that several enhancers/promoters and their combinations including CMV, RSV and ST (the SV40 virus early gene enhancer linked to the thymidine kinase promoter) were suitable regulatory sequences to drive transgene expression in the MES1 cells. We show that neo, hyg or pac conferred resistance to G418, hygromycin or puromycin for positive selection, while the HSV-tk generated sensitivity to ganciclovir for negative selection. The positive-negative selection procedure that is widely used for gene targeting in mouse ES cells was found to be effective also in MES1 cells. Importantly, we demonstrate that MES1 cells after gene transfer and long-term drug selection retained the developmental pluripotency, as they were able to undergo induced differentiation in vitro and to contribute to various tissues and organs during chimeric embryogenesis.

High-frequency characterization of packaging network in to-can photodiode modules

A simple method for analyzing the effects of TO packaging network on the high-frequency response of photodiode modules is presented. This method is established based on the relations of the scattering parameters of the packaging network, photodiode chip, and module. It is shown that the results obtained by this method agree well with those obtained by the conventional comparison method. The proposed method is much more convenient since only the electrical domain measurements are required. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Frequency bandwidth estimation of TO packaging techniques for laser modules

Two simple methods for estimating the potential modulation bandwidth of TO packaging technique are presented. The first method is based upon the comparison of the measured frequency responses of the laser diodes and the TO laser modules, and the second is from the equivalent circuit for the test fixture, the TO header, the submount and the bonding wire. It is shown that the TO packaging techniques used in the experiments can potentially achieve a frequency bandwidth of over 10.5 GHz, and the two proposed methods give similar results.

Methods for characterization of packaging parasitics of semiconductor lasers

Two novel methods for analyzing the parasitics of packaging networks are proposed based on the relations between the scattering parameters of a semiconductor laser before and after packaging, and the experiments are designed and performed using our methods. It is found that the analysis results of the two methods are in good agreement with the measurements. Either of the two methods can provide an alternative approach for characterizing the packaging parasitics for semiconductor lasers, and both are convenient due to the developed measurement techniques. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Silicon bench for passive coupling and packaging of high-frequency optoelectronic devices

Coupling and packaging have become decisive factors in the final performance and cost of high-frequency optoelectronic devices. Here, we report the design and successful fabrication of a silicon bench that integrates a V-groove and high-frequency coplanar waveguide (CPW) on the same high-resistivity silicon wafer as an effective optoelectronic packaging solution.

Potential frequency bandwidth estimation of TO packaging techniques for photodiode modules

Scattering parameters of photodiode chip, TO header and TO packaged module are measured, and the effects of TO packaging network on the high-frequency response of photodiode are investigated. Based on the analysis, the potential bandwidth of TO packaging techniques is estimated from the scattering parameters of the TO packaging network. Another method for estimating the potential bandwidth from the equivalent circuit for the TO packaged photodiode model is also presented. The results obtained using both methods show that the TO packaging techniques used in the experiments can potentially achieve a frequency bandwidth of 22 GHz.

Bonding-wire compensation effect on the packaging parasitics of optoelectronic devices

The effect of bonding-wire compensation on the capacitances of both the submount and the laser diode is demonstrated in this paper. The measured results show that the small-signal magnitude-frequency responses of the TO packaged laser and photodiode modules can be improved by properly choosing the length of the bonding wire. After packaging, the phase-frequency responses of the laser modules can also be significantly improved (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Microwave packaging for 10 Gb/s EML modulators - art. no. 60201O

A novel microwave packaging technique for 10Gb/s electro-absorption modulator integrated with distributed feedback laser (EML) is presented. The packaging parasitics and intrinsic parasitics are both well considered, and the packaging circuit was synthetically designed to compensate for the intrinsic parasitic of the chip. A butterfly-packaged EMI module has been successfully developed to prove that. The small-signal modulation bandwidth of the butterfly-packaged module is about 10 GHz. Optical fiber transmission experiments have shown that the module can be used for 10Gb/s optical transmission system. After transmission through 40km,. the power penalty is less than 1 dBm at a bit-error-rate of 10-12.

Design and Fabrication of Low-microwave loss Coplannar Waveguide and precise V groove on Silicon Substrate for Optoelectronic Packaging - art. no. 601938

Optoelectronic packaging has become a most important factor that influences the final performance and cost of the module. In this paper, low microwave loss coplanar waveguide(CPW) on high resistivity silicon(HRS) and precise V groove in silicon substrate were successfully fabricated. The microwave attenuation of the CPW made on HRS with the simple process is lower than 2 dB/cm in the frequency range of 0 similar to 26GHz, and V groove has the accuracy in micro level and smooth surface. These two techniques built a good foundation for high frequency packaging and passive coupling of the optoelectronic devices. Based on these two techniques, a simple high resistivity silicon substrate that integrated V groove and CPW for flip-chip packaging of lasers was completed. It set a good example for more complicate optoelectronic packaging.

The effect of Fabry-Perot interference on the packaging of SOI-based optoelectronic devices

During the packaging of optoelectrome device, a problem always met is the instability of output power. The main effect causing this problem, Fabry-Perot interference, is discussed in this paper. Both theoretical analysis and experimental test are carried out and in good agreement. As an example of avoiding the disadvantage of Fabry-Perot interference, the packaging process of Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) based Variable Optical Attenuator(VOA) is shown at last.