Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) variants constantly emerge and pose economic threats to poultry farms worldwide. Numerous studies on the molecular and pathogenic characterization of IBV variants ...have been performed between 2007 and 2017, which we have reviewed herein. We noted that viral genetic mutations and recombination events commonly gave rise to distinct IBV genotypes, serotypes and pathotypes. In addition to characterizing the
genes, full viral genomic sequencing, comprehensive antigenicity, and pathogenicity studies on emerging variants have advanced our understanding of IBV infections, which is valuable for developing countermeasures against IBV field outbreaks. This review of IBV variants provides practical value for understanding their phylogenetic relationships and epidemiology from both regional and worldwide viewpoints.
The continued threat of emerging, highly lethal infectious pathogens such as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV) calls for the development of novel vaccine technology that offers ...safe and effective prophylactic measures. Here, a novel nanoparticle vaccine is developed to deliver subunit viral antigens and STING agonists in a virus‐like fashion. STING agonists are first encapsulated into capsid‐like hollow polymeric nanoparticles, which show multiple favorable attributes, including a pH‐responsive release profile, prominent local immune activation, and reduced systemic reactogenicity. Upon subsequent antigen conjugation, the nanoparticles carry morphological semblance to native virions and facilitate codelivery of antigens and STING agonists to draining lymph nodes and immune cells for immune potentiation. Nanoparticle vaccine effectiveness is supported by the elicitation of potent neutralization antibody and antigen‐specific T cell responses in mice immunized with a MERS‐CoV nanoparticle vaccine candidate. Using a MERS‐CoV‐permissive transgenic mouse model, it is shown that mice immunized with this nanoparticle‐based MERS‐CoV vaccine are protected against a lethal challenge of MERS‐CoV without triggering undesirable eosinophilic immunopathology. Together, the biocompatible hollow nanoparticle described herein provides an excellent strategy for delivering both subunit vaccine candidates and novel adjuvants, enabling accelerated development of effective and safe vaccines against emerging viral pathogens.
To improve vaccination efforts against Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS‐CoV), a virus‐mimicking vaccine is herein prepared with a capsid‐like hollow polymeric nanoparticle loaded with STING agonists and coated in MERS‐CoV antigens. The viromimetic nanoparticle facilitates safe and effective vaccination against the lethal virus and offers a versatile platform for combatting emerging infectious threats.
Accurate distance estimation is a requirement for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to provide drivers with safety-related functions such as adaptive cruise control and collision avoidance. ...Radars and lidars can be used for providing distance information; however, they are either expensive or provide poor object information compared to image sensors. In this study, we propose a lightweight convolutional deep learning model that can extract object-specific distance information from monocular images. We explore a variety of training and five structural settings of the model and conduct various tests on the KITTI dataset for evaluating seven different road agents, namely, person, bicycle, car, motorcycle, bus, train, and truck. Additionally, in all experiments, a comparison with the Monodepth2 model is carried out. Experimental results show that the proposed model outperforms Monodepth2 by 15% in terms of the average weighted mean absolute error (MAE).
Distribution system restoration is a process of finding backup feeders to restore the load in out-of-service zones by switching operations. A feasible restoration plan must satisfy some practical ...objectives under operational constraints. Since there may be a tradeoff between objectives, and decision preferences vary from one situation to another, how to evaluate and choose a suitable restoration plan under system emergency has become a real challenge in modern power system operation. Conventional approaches can find feasible restoration plans but fail to identify their relative performance as it is unable to make a quantitative comparison among them. In this paper, we propose a quantitative evaluation framework for ranking restoration plans with their performance indexes, using the analytical hierarchy process-based fuzzy-grey approach. Experimental results showed that the proposed method was effective and helpful in assisting operators during the restoration process.
Cisplatin (DDP) is one of the first‐line chemotherapeutic agents for non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, repeated use of cisplatin in clinical practice often induces chemoresistance. The ...aims of this study were to investigate whether rosmarinic acid (RA) could reverse multidrug resistance (MDR) in NSCLC and to explore the underlying mechanisms. Our data demonstrated that RA significantly inhibited NSCLC cell proliferation and cell colony formation in a dose‐dependent manner, induced G1 phase cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, and increased the sensitivity of cell lines resistant to DDP. Mechanistically, RA inhibited NSCLC cell growth, arrested cell cycle, and induced apoptosis by activating MAPK and inhibiting the expression of P‐gp and MDR1, which correspondingly enhanced p21 and p53 expression. We observed that the growth of xenograft tumors derived from NSCLC cell lines in nude mice was significantly inhibited by combination therapy. We demonstrate that RA is a potentially effective MDR reversal agent for NSCLC, based on downregulation of MDR1 mRNA expression and P‐gp. Together, these results emphasize the putative role of RA as a resistance reversal agent in NSCLC.
This study aimed to establish an effective prognostic nomogram with or without plasma Epstein-Barr virus DNA (EBV DNA) for nondisseminated nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
The nomogram was based on a ...retrospective study of 4630 patients who underwent radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center from 2007 to 2009. The predictive accuracy and discriminative ability of the nomogram were determined by a concordance index (C-index) and calibration curve and were compared with EBV DNA and the current staging system. The results were validated using bootstrap resampling and a prospective cohort study on 1819 patients consecutively enrolled from 2011 to 2012 at the same institution. All statistical tests were two-sided.
Independent factors derived from multivariable analysis of the primary cohort to predict recurrence were age, sex, body mass index (BMI), T stage, N stage, plasma EBV DNA, pretreatment high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and hemoglobin level (HGB), which were all assembled into the nomogram with (nomogram B) or without EBV DNA (nomogram A). The calibration curve for the probability of recurrence showed that the nomogram-based predictions were in good agreement with actual observations. The C-index of nomogram B for predicting recurrence was 0.728 (P < .001), which was statistically higher than the C-index values for nomogram A (0.690), EBV DNA (0.680), and the current staging system (0.609). The C-index of nomogram B (0.730) and nomogram A (0.681) remained higher for predicting recurrence among patients treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (P < .001). The results were confirmed in the validation cohort.
The proposed nomogram with or without plasma EBV DNA resulted in more accurate prognostic prediction for NPC patients.
This paper presents an effective method for online fault diagnosis, in power transmission networks, based on fuzzy directed graph (digraph) models. When the relationships between fault sections and ...protective devices are represented by a digraph model, the possible fault sections can be traced through the proposed fuzzy inference algorithm. The main features of the proposed method include its ease of implementation, parallel information-processing capability, and uncertainty reasoning capabilities. Upon testing in two systems, the proposed method was demonstrated to be feasible and yielded satisfactory results, even with complex fault scenarios.
Globally, there are over half a million new patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) every year. The current therapeutic approaches to HNSCC are surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy. ...These approaches carry a high incidence of metastasis or recurrence from HNSCC cells' radioresistance. Recent studies have revealed that a combination with radiosensitizers can be used to improve the radioresistance in HNSCC; however, few agents are approved as radiosensitizers. The constitutive activation of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is a vitally oncogenic type of signaling that promotes tumorigenesis, metastasis, and radiotherapy resistance in HNSCC. Pharmacological targeting of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway is considered a promising strategy of radiosensitization in HNSCC. In this review, we summarize the oncogenic significance of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling in HNSCC with radiotherapy resistance and highlight the therapeutic potential of small molecule inhibitors against PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling for the radiosensitization in HNSCC treatment. It provides a mechanistic framework for the development of new drugs for radiosensitization in HNSCC radiotherapy via targeting PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.
Considering the importance of the canine cancer model of human disease, as well as the need for strategies for canine cancer management, the properties of exosomes are an emerging topic in canine ...oncology. In our study, exosomal RNA was isolated and investigated by next‐generation sequencing. We identified several differentially expressed microRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) in the exosomes of two melanoma cell lines compared with non‐tumor reference exosomes. We explored these potential melanoma‐specific exosomal miRNAs further and found that miR‐143 and let‐7b increased in primary, whereas miR‐210, 708, 221, and 222 increased in metastatic site originated melanoma cells. Further analysis showed miR‐143 and 221 significantly increased in plasma exosomes of metastatic melanoma patients. Moreover, the sensitivity and specificity are >85% for differentiating the non‐metastatic and metastatic patients. Therefore, these miRNAs can be an incredible biomarker candidate to identify metastatic melanoma and facilitate a better prognosis.
Mastitis is a common inflammatory infectious disease in dairy cows. To understand the microRNA (miRNA) expression profile changes during bovine mastitis, we undertook a genome‐wide miRNA study of ...normal milk and milk that tested positive on the California mastitis test for bovine mastitis (CMT+). Twenty‐five miRNAs were differentially expressed (23 miRNAs upregulated and two downregulated) during bovine mastitis relative to their expression in normal milk. Upregulated mature miR‐1246 probably derived from a U2 small nuclear RNA rather than an miR‐1246 precursor. The significantly upregulated miRNA precursors and RNU2 were significantly enriched on bovine chromosome 19, which is homologous to human chromosome 17. A gene ontology analysis of the putative mRNA targets of the significantly upregulated miRNAs showed that these miRNAs were involved in binding target mRNA transcripts and regulating target gene expression, and a Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis showed that the upregulated miRNAs were predominantly related to cancer and immune system pathways. Three novel miRNAs were associated with bovine mastitis and were relatively highly expressed in milk. We confirmed that one of the novel mastitis‐related miRNAs was significantly upregulated using a digital PCR system. The differentially expressed miRNAs were involved in human cancers, infections, and immune‐related diseases. The genome‐wide analysis of miRNA profiles in this study provides insight into bovine mastitis and inflammatory diseases.
Databases
The miRNAseq generated for this study can be found in the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) under BioProject Number PRJNA421075 and SRA Study Number SRP126134 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bioproject/PRJNA421075).
Mastitis is an inflammatory disease, which affects dairy cows and humans. This study found mastitis‐related miRNAs, and upregulated miRNAs were significantly enriched on the bovine chromosome 19, which is homologous to human chromosome 17. Therefore, we infer that the miRNA profiles associated with human chromosome 17 and bovine chromosome 19 play important roles in breast‐related diseases, including breast cancer and mastitis.
PDF
