The lion's share of bacteria in various environments cannot be cloned in the laboratory and thus cannot be sequenced using existing technologies. A major goal of single-cell genomics is to complement gene-centric metagenomic data with whole-genome assemblies of uncultivated organisms. Assembly of single-cell data is challenging because of highly non-uniform read coverage as well as elevated levels of sequencing errors and chimeric reads. We describe SPAdes, a new assembler for both single-cell and standard (multicell) assembly, and demonstrate that it improves on the recently released E+V-SC assembler (specialized for single-cell data) and on popular assemblers Velvet and SoapDeNovo (for multicell data). SPAdes generates single-cell assemblies, providing information about genomes of uncultivatable bacteria that vastly exceeds what may be obtained via traditional metagenomics studies. SPAdes is available online ( http://bioinf.spbau.ru/spades ). It is distributed as open source software.

SPAdes, a new genome assembly algorithm and its applications to single-cell sequencing ( 7th Annual SFAF Meeting, 2012)

Objectives: Lao Juan (LJ, 劳倦) is a syndrome described in Chinese medicine (CM) that manifests with : Lao Juan (LJ, 劳倦) is a syndrome described in Chinese medicine (CM) that manifests with fatigue, fever, spontaneous sweating, indigestion, work-induced pain, weakness of the limbs, and shortness of breath. fatigue, fever, spontaneous sweating, indigestion, work-induced pain, weakness of the limbs, and shortness of breath. The present study was conducted to examine the reliability and validity of a Lao Juan Questionnaire (LJQ). The present study was conducted to examine the reliability and validity of a Lao Juan Questionnaire (LJQ). Methods: A total of 151 outpatients and 73 normal subjects were asked to complete the LJQ. Seventy-three normal subjects A total of 151 outpatients and 73 normal subjects were asked to complete the LJQ. Seventy-three normal subjects were additionally asked to complete the Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS). Twelve clinicians determined whether the were additionally asked to complete the Chalder Fatigue Scale (CFS). Twelve clinicians determined whether the 151 outpatients exhibited LJ or not. The internal consistency and construct validity for the LJQ were estimated using 151 outpatients exhibited LJ or not. The internal consistency and construct validity for the LJQ were estimated using data from the outpatient subjects. The CFS data were used to examine the concurrent validity of the LJQ. Total LJQ data from the outpatient subjects. The CFS data were used to examine the concurrent validity of the LJQ. Total LJQ scores and the clinicians' diagnoses of the outpatients were used to perform receiver operating characteristics (ROC) scores and the clinicians' diagnoses of the outpatients were used to perform receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analyses and to defi ne an optimum cut-off score for the LJQ. curve analyses and to defi ne an optimum cut-off score for the LJQ. Results: The 19-item LJQ had satisfactory internal : The 19-item LJQ had satisfactory internal consistency (α=0.828) and concurrent validity, with signifi cant correlations between the LJQ and the CFS subscales. consistency (α=0.828) and concurrent validity, with signifi cant correlations between the LJQ and the CFS subscales. In the test of construct validity using principal component analysis, a total of six factors were extracted, and the overall In the test of construct validity using principal component analysis, a total of six factors were extracted, and the overall variance explained by all factors was 59.5%. In ROC curve analyses, the sensitivity, specifi city, and area under the variance explained by all factors was 59.5%. In ROC curve analyses, the sensitivity, specifi city, and area under the curve were 76.0%, 59.2%, and 0.709, respectively. The optimum cut-off score was defi ned as six points. curve were 76.0%, 59.2%, and 0.709, respectively. The optimum cut-off score was defi ned as six points. Conclusions: Our results suggest that the LJQ is a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating LJ. Our results suggest that the LJQ is a reliable and valid instrument for evaluating LJ. KEYWORDS Chinese medicine, chronic fatigue syndrome, Chinese medicine-pattern Chinese medicine, chronic fatigue syndrome, Chinese medicine-pattern

Development and Validation of A

This paper reviews the literature on the Nl wave of the human auditory evoked potential. It concludes that at least six different cerebral processes can contribute to (he negative wave recorded from the scalp with a peak latency between 50 and 150 ms: a component generated in the auditory-cortex on the supratemporal plane, a component generated in the association cortex on the lateral aspect of the temporal and parietal cortex, a component generated in the motor and premotor cortices, the mismatch negativity, a temporal component of the processing negativity, and a frontal component of the processing negativity, The first three, which can be considered ‘true’ N1 components, are controlled by the physical and temporal aspects of the stimulus and by the general state of the subject. The other three components are not necessarily elicited by a stimulus but depend on the conditions in which the stimulus occurs. They often last much longer than the true N1 components that they overlap.

The N1 wave of the human electric and magnetic response to sound: a review and an analysis of the component structure

A global perspective on the use, sales, exposure pathways, occurrence, fate and effects of veterinary antibiotics (VAs) in the environment

Summary: Staphylococcus aureus is an important cause of skin and soft-tissue infections (SSTIs), endovascular infections, pneumonia, septic arthritis, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, foreign-body infections, and sepsis. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates were once confined largely to hospitals, other health care environments, and patients frequenting these facilities. Since the mid-1990s, however, there has been an explosion in the number of MRSA infections reported in populations lacking risk factors for exposure to the health care system. This increase in the incidence of MRSA infection has been associated with the recognition of new MRSA clones known as community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). CA-MRSA strains differ from the older, health care-associated MRSA strains; they infect a different group of patients, they cause different clinical syndromes, they differ in antimicrobial susceptibility patterns, they spread rapidly among healthy people in the community, and they frequently cause infections in health care environments as well. This review details what is known about the epidemiology of CA-MRSA strains and the clinical spectrum of infectious syndromes associated with them that ranges from a commensal state to severe, overwhelming infection. It also addresses the therapy of these infections and strategies for their prevention.

Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: epidemiology and clinical consequences of an emerging epidemic.

Given the significant increase in consumer interest in organic food products, there is a need to determine to what extent there is a scientific basis for claims made for organic produce. Studies comparing foods derived from organic and conventional growing systems were assessed for three key areas: nutritional value, sensory quality, and food safety. It is evident from this assessment that there are few well-controlled studies that are capable of making a valid comparison. With the possible exception of nitrate content, there is no strong evidence that organic and conventional foods differ in concentrations of various nutrients. Considerations of the impact of organic growing systems on nutrient bioavailability and nonnutrient components have received little attention and are important directions for future research. While there are reports indicating that organic and conventional fruits and vegetables may differ on a variety of sensory qualities, the findings are inconsistent. In future studies, the possibility that typical organic distribution or harvesting systems may deliver products differing in freshness or maturity should be evaluated. There is no evidence that organic foods may be more susceptible to microbiological contamination than conventional foods. While it is likely that organically grown foods are lower in pesticide residues, there has been very little documentation of residue levels.

A comparison of the nutritional value, sensory qualities, and food safety of organically and conventionally produced foods

Antimicrobial therapy in veterinary medicine.

Recent isolations of Rhodococcus equi from cavitatory pulmonary disease in patients with AIDS have aroused interest among medical microbiologists in this unusual organism. Earlier isolations from humans had also been in immunosuppressed patients following hemolymphatic tumors or renal transplantation. This organism has been recognized for many years as a cause of a serious pyogranulomatous pneumonia of young foals and is occasionally isolated from granulomatous lesions in several other species, in some cases following immunosuppression. The last decade has seen many advances in understanding of the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and immunity to infection in foals. The particular susceptibility of the foal is not understood but can be explained in part by a combination of heavy challenge through the respiratory route coinciding with declining maternally derived antibody in the absence of fully competent foal cellular immune mechanisms. R. equi is largely a soil organism but is widespread in the feces of herbivores. Its growth in soil is considerably improved by simple nutrients it obtains from herbivore manure. About one-third of human patients who have developed R. equi infections had contact in some way with herbivores or their manure. Others may have acquired infection from contact with soil or wild bird manure. R. equi is an intracellular parasite, which explains the typical pyogranulomatous nature of R. equi infections, the predisposition to infection in human patients with defective cell-mediated immune mechanisms, and the efficacy of antimicrobial drugs that penetrate phagocytic cells.

Rhodococcus equi: an animal and human pathogen.

Perceptions of the flavors of foods or beverages reflect information derived from multiple sensory afferents, including gustatory, olfactory, and somatosensory fibers. Although flavor perception therefore arises from the central integration of multiple sensory inputs, it is possible to distinguish the different modalities contributing to flavor, especially when attention is drawn to particular sensory characteristics. Nevertheless, our experiences of the flavor of a food or beverage are also simultaneously of an overall unitary perception. Research aimed at understanding the mechanisms behind this integrated flavor perception is, for the most part, relatively recent. However, psychophysical, neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies on cross-modal sensory interactions involved in flavor perception have started to provide an understanding of the integrated activity of sensory systems that generate such unitary perceptions, and hence the mechanisms by which these signals are "functionally united when anatomically separated". Here we review this recent research on odor/taste integration, and propose a model of flavor processing that depends on prior experience with the particular combination of sensory inputs, temporal and spatial concurrence, and attentional allocation. We propose that flavor perception depends upon neural processes occurring in chemosensory regions of the brain, including the anterior insula, frontal operculum, orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex, as well as upon the interaction of this chemosensory "flavor network" with other heteromodal regions including the posterior parietal cortex and possibly the ventral lateral prefrontal cortex.

John F. Prescott

Papers

A comparison of the nutritional value, sensory qualities, and food safety of organically and conventionally produced foods

Antimicrobial therapy in veterinary medicine.

Rhodococcus equi: an animal and human pathogen.

Odor/taste integration and the perception of flavor

Motives for food choice: a comparison of consumers from Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia and New Zealand