Nontyphoid Salmonella is the most common bacterial pathogen causing gastrointestinal infection worldwide. Most nontyphoid Salmonella infection is limited to uncomplicated gastroenteritis that seldom requires antimicrobial treatment. Nevertheless, invasive infections, such as bacteremia, osteomyelitis, and meningitis, may occur and require antimicrobial therapy. Continuous genetic and genomic evolution in Salmonella leading to increased virulence and resistance to multiple drugs are of significant public health concern. Two major changes in the epidemiology of nontyphoid salmonellosis in Europe and in the USA occurred in the second half of the 20(th) century: the emergence of foodborne human infections caused by Salmonella enterica serotype Enteriditis and by multidrug-resistant strains of Salmonella enterica serotype Typhimurium. In the 21(st) century, a worsening situation is the increasing resistance to fluoroquinolones and third-generation cephalosporins in nontyphoid Salmonella. Clinical isolates showing carbapenem resistance also have been identified. Although antimicrobial therapy is usually not indicated for uncomplicated Salmonella gastroenteritis, recent studies indicated that a short-course ceftriaxone therapy (3-5 days) for patients with severe gastroenteritis would lead to a faster clinical recovery. Continuous surveillance of Salmonella in both humans and animals is mandatory. A better understanding of the mechanisms that lead to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella may help in the devising of better interventional strategies to reduce the spread of resistant Salmonella between humans and reservoirs along the food chain.

Maternal exposures to environmental factors during pregnancy influence the risk of many chronic adult-onset diseases in the offspring. Here we investigate whether feeding pregnant rats a high-fat (HF)- or ethinyl-oestradiol (EE2)-supplemented diet affects carcinogen-induced mammary cancer risk in daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters. We show that mammary tumourigenesis is higher in daughters and granddaughters of HF rat dams and in daughters and great-granddaughters of EE2 rat dams. Outcross experiments suggest that the increase in mammary cancer risk is transmitted to HF granddaughters equally through the female or male germ lines, but it is only transmitted to EE2 granddaughters through the female germ line. The effects of maternal EE2 exposure on offspring's mammary cancer risk are associated with changes in the DNA methylation machinery and methylation patterns in mammary tissue of all three EE2 generations. We conclude that dietary and oestrogenic exposures in pregnancy increase breast cancer risk in multiple generations of offspring, possibly through epigenetic means.

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BackgroundViral hepatitis is a serious health burden worldwide. To date, few reports have addressed the prevalence of hepatitis A, B, C, and E in China. Therefore, the general epidemiological parameters of viral hepatitis remain unknown.Principal FindingsIn this cross-sectional study, we performed a serological prevalence analysis of viral hepatitis A, B, C, and E in 8,762 randomly selected Chinese subjects, which represented six areas of China. The overall prevalence of anti-Hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) was 0.58%, which was much lower than was estimated by WHO. The prevalences of Hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-Hepatitis B virus surface protein antibody (HBsAb), and anti-Hepatitis B virus core protein antibody (HBcAb) were 5.84%, 41.31%, and 35.92%, respectively, whereas in the group of subjects less than 5 years old, these prevalences were 1.16%, 46.77%, and 8.69% respectively, which suggests that the Hepatitis B virus (HBV)-carrier population is decreasing, and the nationwide HBV vaccine program has contributed to the lowered HBV prevalence in the younger generation in China. Meanwhile, a large deficit remains in coverage provided by the national HBV immune program. In addition, our data suggested the possibility that HBsAb may not last long enough to protect people from HBV infection throughout life. The overall prevalence of anti-Hepatitis A virus antibody (anti-HAV) and anti-Hepatitis E virus antibody (anti-HEV) were as high as 72.87% and 17.66%, respectively. The indices increased with age, which suggests that a large proportion of Chinese adults are protected by latent infection. Furthermore, the pattern of HEV infection was significantly different among ethnic groups in China.ConclusionsOur study provided much important information concerning hepatitis A, B, C, and E prevalence in China and will contribute to worldwide oversight of viral hepatitis.

Carbon-coated α-Fe2O3 hollow nanospindles and varied-phase Fe2O3@C (γ-Fe2O3@C, αγ-Fe2O3@C, and α-Fe2O3@C) nanobipyramids were prepared by controlling pyrolysis of MIL-88A nanobipyramids at different temperature and time in air or nitrogen, exhibiting advanced lithium storage capacities.