Abstract
Major challenges encountered when developing manganese-based materials for ozone decomposition are related to the low stability and water inactivation. To solve these problems, a ...hierarchical structure consisted of graphene encapsulating α-MnO
2
nanofiber was developed. The optimized catalyst exhibited a stable ozone conversion efficiency of 80% and excellent stability over 100 h under a relative humidity (RH) of 20%. Even though the RH increased to 50%, the ozone conversion also reached 70%, well beyond the performance of α-MnO
2
nanofiber. Here, surface graphite carbon was activated by capturing the electron from inner unsaturated Mn atoms. The excellent stability originated from the moderate local work function, which compromised the reaction barriers in the adsorption of ozone molecule and the desorption of the intermediate oxygen species. The hydrophobic graphene shells hindered the chemisorption of water vapour, consequently enhanced its water resistance. This work offered insights for catalyst design and would promote the practical application of manganese-based catalysts in ozone decomposition.
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) caused an outbreak in Wuhan, China, and soon spread to other parts of the world. It was believed that 2019-nCoV was transmitted through respiratory ...tract and then induced pneumonia, thus molecular diagnosis based on oral swabs was used for confirmation of this disease. Likewise, patient will be released upon two times of negative detection from oral swabs. However, many coronaviruses can also be transmitted through oral-fecal route by infecting intestines. Whether 2019-nCoV infected patients also carry virus in other organs like intestine need to be tested. We conducted investigation on patients in a local hospital who were infected with this virus. We found the presence of 2019-nCoV in anal swabs and blood as well, and more anal swab positives than oral swab positives in a later stage of infection, suggesting shedding and thereby transmitted through oral-fecal route. We also showed serology test can improve detection positive rate thus should be used in future epidemiology. Our report provides a cautionary warning that 2019-nCoV may be shed through multiple routes.
A large number of SARS-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoV) have been detected in horseshoe bats since 2005 in different areas of China. However, these bat SARSr-CoVs show sequence differences from SARS ...coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in different genes (S, ORF8, ORF3, etc) and are considered unlikely to represent the direct progenitor of SARS-CoV. Herein, we report the findings of our 5-year surveillance of SARSr-CoVs in a cave inhabited by multiple species of horseshoe bats in Yunnan Province, China. The full-length genomes of 11 newly discovered SARSr-CoV strains, together with our previous findings, reveals that the SARSr-CoVs circulating in this single location are highly diverse in the S gene, ORF3 and ORF8. Importantly, strains with high genetic similarity to SARS-CoV in the hypervariable N-terminal domain (NTD) and receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the S1 gene, the ORF3 and ORF8 region, respectively, were all discovered in this cave. In addition, we report the first discovery of bat SARSr-CoVs highly similar to human SARS-CoV in ORF3b and in the split ORF8a and 8b. Moreover, SARSr-CoV strains from this cave were more closely related to SARS-CoV in the non-structural protein genes ORF1a and 1b compared with those detected elsewhere. Recombination analysis shows evidence of frequent recombination events within the S gene and around the ORF8 between these SARSr-CoVs. We hypothesize that the direct progenitor of SARS-CoV may have originated after sequential recombination events between the precursors of these SARSr-CoVs. Cell entry studies demonstrated that three newly identified SARSr-CoVs with different S protein sequences are all able to use human ACE2 as the receptor, further exhibiting the close relationship between strains in this cave and SARS-CoV. This work provides new insights into the origin and evolution of SARS-CoV and highlights the necessity of preparedness for future emergence of SARS-like diseases.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
A new complex network model, called q -snapback network, is introduced. Basic topological characteristics of the network, such as degree distribution, average path length, clustering coefficient, and ...Pearson correlation coefficient, are evaluated. The typical 4-motifs of the network are simulated. The robustness of both state and structural controllabilities of the network against targeted and random node- and edge-removal attacks, with comparisons to the multiplex congruence network and the generic scale-free network, are presented. It is shown that the q -snapback network has the strongest robustness of controllabilities due to its advantageous inherent structure with many chain and loop motifs.
Homologs of the human hepatitis E virus (HEV) have been identified in more than a dozen animal species. Some of them have been evidenced to cross species barriers and infect humans. Zoonotic HEV ...infections cause chronic liver diseases as well as a broad range of extrahepatic manifestations, which increasingly become significant clinical problems. Bats comprise approximately one-fifth of all named mammal species and are unique in their distinct immune response to viral infection. Most importantly, they are natural reservoirs of several highly pathogenic viruses, which have induced severe human diseases. Since the first discovery of HEV-related viruses in bats in 2012, multiple genetically divergent HEV variants have been reported in a total of 12 bat species over the last decade, which markedly expanded the host range of the HEV family and shed light on the evolutionary origin of human HEV. Meanwhile, bat-borne HEV also raised critical public health concerns about its zoonotic potential. Bat HEV strains resemble genomic features but exhibit considerable heterogeneity. Due to the close evolutionary relationships, bat HEV altogether has been recently assigned to an independent genus,
. This review focuses on the current state of bat HEV and provides novel insights into HEV genetic diversity and molecular evolution.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
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•The roles of acid nature of ZSM-5 were investigated during methane combustion.•Direct activation of methane on Brønsted acid sites was negligible.•Lewis acid sites were more decisive ...in dispersing and anchoring PdOx.•The high activity was contributed to the highly dispersed Pd on ZSM-5.•Pd/NaZSM-5 presented an outstanding durability and water-resistance.
ZSM-5 zeolites (NaZSM-5, HZSM-5 and Silicalite-1) with different acid nature were synthesized and used as supports of Pd catalysts for catalytic combustion of methane. Moreover, the acid property of the as-synthesized Pd/NaZSM-5 catalyst was adjusted by a NH4+ ion-exchange process to post-generate Brønsted acid sites and different preparation methods were investigated. The potential roles of Brønsted acid sites (anchoring Pd species or activating methane molecules) were discussed, and the experimental results indicated that the anchoring effect of Brønsted acid sites on Pd species was not directly observed. However, the acid properties of supports (the presence of Al3+ as Lewis acid sites, especially coordinatively unsaturated Al3+) were crucial for the preparation of Pd/ZSM-5 catalysts with high Pd dispersion. Additionally, although Brønsted acid sites of ZSM-5 was contributed to the activation or even cracking of long-chain alkanes (such as n-decane), the direct adsorption/dissociation of methane on Brønsted acid sites was difficult and depended more on the dispersion and particle size of PdOx. Pd/NaZSM-5 catalyst presented an outstanding durability at low-temperature (350 °C) and high-temperature (800 °C), and the high Si/Al ratio could improve the water-resistance due to its good hydrophobicity, but the reversible deactivation owing to the formation of PdO into Pd(OH)2 under high concentration of water vapor was still unavoidable.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) 18 years ago, a large number of SARS-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoVs) have been discovered in their natural reservoir host, bats
. ...Previous studies have shown that some bat SARSr-CoVs have the potential to infect humans
. Here we report the identification and characterization of a new coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which caused an epidemic of acute respiratory syndrome in humans in Wuhan, China. The epidemic, which started on 12 December 2019, had caused 2,794 laboratory-confirmed infections including 80 deaths by 26 January 2020. Full-length genome sequences were obtained from five patients at an early stage of the outbreak. The sequences are almost identical and share 79.6% sequence identity to SARS-CoV. Furthermore, we show that 2019-nCoV is 96% identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus. Pairwise protein sequence analysis of seven conserved non-structural proteins domains show that this virus belongs to the species of SARSr-CoV. In addition, 2019-nCoV virus isolated from the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of a critically ill patient could be neutralized by sera from several patients. Notably, we confirmed that 2019-nCoV uses the same cell entry receptor-angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2)-as SARS-CoV.
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FZAB, GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
COVID-19 has spread worldwide since 2019 and is now a severe threat to public health. We previously identified the causative agent as a novel SARS-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that uses human ...angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2) as the entry receptor. Here, we successfully developed a SARS-CoV-2 hACE2 transgenic mouse (HFH4-hACE2 in C3B6 mice) infection model. The infected mice generated typical interstitial pneumonia and pathology that were similar to those of COVID-19 patients. Viral quantification revealed the lungs as the major site of infection, although viral RNA could also be found in the eye, heart, and brain in some mice. Virus identical to SARS-CoV-2 in full-genome sequences was isolated from the infected lung and brain tissues. Last, we showed that pre-exposure to SARS-CoV-2 could protect mice from severe pneumonia. Our results show that the hACE2 mouse would be a valuable tool for testing potential vaccines and therapeutics.
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•SARS-CoV-2 could infect HFH4-hACE2 mice and cause death•SARS-CoV-2 infection localizes to lungs of mice and causes typical interstitial pneumonia•Pre-exposure to SARS-CoV-2 protects mice from lethal challenge
A SARS-CoV-2 hACE2 transgenic mouse infection model recapitulates a number of infection symptoms and pathology in COVID-19 patients. Pre-exposure to SARS-CoV-2 was able to protect mice from severe pneumonia.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This brief introduces a quantitative measure of the robustness of network controllability, and presents an empirical comparison on 6 network models, i.e., random-graph network, scale-free network, ...multiplex concurrence network, q-snapback network, random triangle network, and random rectangle network, against 6 different attacks, i.e., betweenness-based and degree-based, random and targeted, node-removal, and edge-removal attacks, showing the overall good performances of the multi-ring structure in networks.
Constructing Pd-C bond between Pd particles and defective hollow nanocarbons (h-NCs) not only enables facile H2 dissociation but also diffusion of the dissociated H species, which makes the Pd/h-NC ...highly active with a TOF of 21 845 h-1 (>80 times higher than that of the best catalyst in literature), selective (97%), and stable (4 cycles) for selective hydrogenation of 3-nitrostyrene to 3-ethylnitrobenze.
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