Flow-electrode capacitive deionization (FCDI) provides the opportunity for continuous desalination operation of high concentration saline water. In this study, we firstly report the application of a ...battery material (a Prussian blue analogue, copper hexacyanoferrate, CuHCF) as flowable electrode in FCDI system, where it is coupled with activated carbon (AC). Its desalination performance under different voltage is evaluated when dealing with 10 g L−1 NaCl solution. Results show that the salt removal rate and salt removal efficiency of the designed FCDI is enhanced as increasing in applied voltage from 1.2 to 2.8 V. Moreover, benefiting from the high capacity of CuHCF material, the novel FCDI based on CuHCF-AC pair shows superiority over conventional FCDI with AC-AC pair when operates at high voltage over 2.0 V (e.g. salt removal rate of 0.12 vs. 0.11 mg cm−2 min−1, salt removal efficiency of ~91 vs. 84% and current efficiency of ~96 vs. 95% at 2.8 V), even though the pH of the concentrated water changes more significantly. The results indicate that FCDI based on CuHCF-AC electrode pair is effective in dealing with high saline water at high voltage. Other sodium ion intercalation material may also be applied in FCDI.
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•Copper hexacyanoferrate (CuHCF) is firstly used as flowable electrode in FCDI.•FCDI with CuHCF-AC pair works better than that with AC-AC pair at high voltage.•Desalination performance in FCDI was enhanced as increase in voltage from 1.2 to 2.8 V.
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•Three-dimensional superhydrophobic membranes were fabricated via one-step electrospinning.•Silica nanoparticles decorated on PVDF fiber formed superhydrophobic structure.•Doping of ...silica nanoparticles improved the mechanical properties of the membrane.•The prepared membranes show durable wetting-resistance and high water vapor flux.
The practical applications of membrane distillation (MD) are hindered by the absence of effective membranes with high porosity, sufficient strength, and durable wetting repellency for long term operation. In this study, we developed a facile method to construct composite membranes with high MD performance via one-step electrospinning of PVDF solutions blended with hydrophobic silica nanoparticles (NPs). The characterizations reveal that the incorporation of silica NPs have altered the membrane surface morphology and endowed the composite membrane with hierarchical structure on both surface and bulk layers (three-dimensional (3D) superhydrophobic membrane). The hydrophobicity of the membranes can be easily tailored by the dosage of silica NPs, and the water contact angle (WCA) of the membranes can be optimized to be 157±1°, which was close to that of the lotus leaf (160°). Furthermore, the incorporation of silica NPs have promoted the mechanical strength, salt rejection, and water permeation flux of the membranes. The composite membrane containing 7.47wt% silica NPs (designated as SIL40) can achieve a high MD performance with a water flux of 25.73kgm−2h−1 and a permeate conductivity below 5.0μScm−1 during a 100h test-period. The SIL40 also shows a tensile strength and a Young’s modulus of 3.18 and 12.8MPa, respectively; the values surpassed those of the pristine PVDF membrane (1.5 and 5.4MPa, respectively). In addition, the MD test indicates that the 3D superhydrophobic membrane exhibits a more durable wetting resistance and a more stable MD performance than the surface-modified superhydrophobic membranes.
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► Guidelines are provided for analyzing new genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii and categorizing those using population genetic tools. ► Analysis of strains of T. gondii previously ...designated as “atypical” reveals a new clonal lineage in North America referred to as group 12. ► Group 12 has a strongly clonal population structure. ► The abundant type 2 lineage has been the parental strain for at least three examples of natural recombinations that led to clonal expansion.
Toxoplasma gondii is a widespread parasite of animals that causes zoonotic infections in humans. Previous studies have revealed a strongly clonal population structure in North America and Europe, while strains from South America are genetically separate and more diverse. However, the composition within North America has been questioned by recent descriptions of genetically more variable strains from this region. Here, we examined an expanded set of isolates using sequenced-based phylogenetic and population analyses to re-evaluate the population structure of T. gondii in North America. Our findings reveal that isolates previously defined by atypical restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns fall into two discrete groups. In one case, these new isolates represent variants of an existing lineage, from which they differ only by minor mutational drift. However, in the second case, it is evident that these isolates define a completely new lineage that is common in North America. Support for this new lineage was based on phylogeny, principle components analysis, STRUCTURE analyses, and statistical analysis of gene flow between groups. This new group, referred to as haplogroup 12, contains divergent genotypes previously referred to as A and X, isolated from sea otters. Consistent with this, group 12 was found primarily in wild animals, as well as occasionally in humans. This new lineage also has a highly clonal population structure. Analysis of the inheritance of multilocus genotypes revealed that different strains within group 12 are the products of a single recombination event between type 2 and a unique parental lineage. Collectively, the archetypal type 2 has been associated with clonal expansion of a small number of lineages in the North, as a consequence of separate but infrequent genetic crosses with several different parental lines.
One Health is a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort that seeks optimal health for people, animals, plants, and the environment. Toxoplasmosis, caused by
Toxoplasma gondii
, is an intracellular ...protozoan infection distributed worldwide, with a heteroxenous life cycle that practically affects all homeotherms and in which felines act as definitive reservoirs. Herein, we review the natural history of
T. gondii
, its transmission and impacts in humans, domestic animals, wildlife both terrestrial and aquatic, and ecosystems. The epidemiology, prevention, and control strategies are reviewed, with the objective of facilitating awareness of this disease and promoting transdisciplinary collaborations, integrative research, and capacity building among universities, government agencies, NGOs, policy makers, practicing physicians, veterinarians, and the general public.
All about Toxoplasma gondii infections in pigs: 2009–2020 Dubey, Jitender P.; Cerqueira-Cézar, Camila K.; Murata, Fernando H.A. ...
Veterinary parasitology,
December 2020, 2020-12-00, 20201201, 2020-12-01, Letnik:
288, Številka:
C
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
•Pigs are considered as the main meat source of Toxoplasma gondii infections in humans in some countries.•This paper reviews biology of T. gondii in pigs in the last decade (2009–2019).•Information ...on the spread of Chinese 1, ToxoDB genotype #9 in pigs in China is reviewed.•Safety of ready to eat pork products with respect to T. gondii infection is discussed.
Toxoplasma gondii infections are common in humans and animals worldwide. Toxoplasma gondii infection in pigs continues to be of public health concern. Pigs are important for the economy of many countries, particularly, USA, China, and European countries. Among the many food animals, pigs are considered the most important for T. gondii transmission in USA and China because viable parasites have rarely been isolated from beef or indoor raised chickens. Besides public health issues, T. gondii causes outbreaks of clinical toxoplasmosis in pigs in China, associated with a unique genotype of T. gondii (ToxoDB genotype #9 or Chinese 1), rarely found in other countries. The safety of ready to eat pork products with respect to T. gondii infection is a matter of recent debate. Here, we review in detail seroprevalence, prevalence of viable and nonviable T. gondii, epidemiology, risk assessment, diagnosis, and curing of pork products containing T. gondii for the past decade. This review will be of interest to biologists, parasitologists, veterinarians, and public health workers.
Marked phenotypic variation characterizes isolates of Toxoplasma gondii, a ubiquitous zoonotic parasite that serves as an important experimental model for studying apicomplexan parasites. Progress in ...identifying the heritable basis for clinically and epidemiologically significant differences requires a robust system for describing and interpreting evolutionary subdivisions in this prevalent pathogen. To develop such a system, we have examined more than 950 isolates collected from around the world and genotyped them using three independent sets of polymorphic DNA markers, sampling 30 loci distributed across all nuclear chromosomes as well as the plastid genome. Our studies reveal a biphasic pattern consisting of regions in the Northern Hemisphere where a few, highly clonal and abundant lineages predominate; elsewhere, and especially in portions of South America are characterized by a diverse assemblage of less common genotypes that show greater evidence of recombination. Clustering methods were used to organize the marked genetic diversity of 138 unique genotypes into 15 haplogroups that collectively define six major clades. Analysis of gene flow indicates that a small number of ancestral lineages gave rise to the existing diversity through a process of limited admixture. Identification of reference strains for these major groups should facilitate future studies on comparative genomics and identification of genes that control important biological phenotypes including pathogenesis and transmission.
We developed a kind of macropore- and micropore-dominated carbon (HPAC) derived from poly(vinyl alcohol) and polyvinylpyrrolidone for electric double-layer capacitive (EDLC) applications, e.g., ...supercapacitors and capacitive deionization (CDI). By comparing the EDLC performance of HPAC with those of ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) and commercial activated carbon (AC), we evaluated the pore size effects. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was employed for static and flowing CDI processes to identify the disparities between supercapacitors and CDI. HPAC exhibits a specific capacitance of 309 F g–1 at a specific current of 0.5 A g–1 (6 M KOH) in a three-electrode half-cell and has a salt removal capacity of 16.3 mg g–1 (1.2 V, 500 mg L–1 NaCl), which is better than those of AC and OMC. Cycling tests of HPAC in supercapacitors and CDI show excellent stability. The properties of HPAC, fine, hydrophilic, macroporous, and microporous, endow HPAC with the promising possibility of use in supercapacitors and capacitive deionization. The disparities of supercapacitors and CDI include ionic species and concentrations and solution hydromechanics. CV analysis of static and flowing CDI equipped with HPAC electrodes suggests that increasing the salt concentration in CDI is beneficial for the carbon electrode to show high capacitance and to reduce the pumping energy during the CDI process.
Toxoplasma gondii is among the most prevalent parasites worldwide, infecting many wild and domestic animals and causing zoonotic infections in humans. T. gondii differs substantially in its broad ...distribution from closely related parasites that typically have narrow, specialized host ranges. To elucidate the genetic basis for these differences, we compared the genomes of 62 globally distributed T. gondii isolates to several closely related coccidian parasites. Our findings reveal that tandem amplification and diversification of secretory pathogenesis determinants is the primary feature that distinguishes the closely related genomes of these biologically diverse parasites. We further show that the unusual population structure of T. gondii is characterized by clade-specific inheritance of large conserved haploblocks that are significantly enriched in tandemly clustered secretory pathogenesis determinants. The shared inheritance of these conserved haploblocks, which show a different ancestry than the genome as a whole, may thus influence transmission, host range and pathogenicity.
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•A diversity of alleles for the rhoptry protein encoding genes ROP18, ROP5, ROP16 and ROP17 exist.•RFLP genotyping can readily be used to distinguish allele types among these ...genes.•Alleles of the ROP18 and ROP5 loci correlate strongly with the virulence of Toxoplasma gondii strains.•RFLP typing of ROP18 and ROP5 loci may be used to identify potentially virulent strains.
The protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most successful known eukaryotic pathogens on Earth. Virulence of T. gondii strains varies greatly in mice, and mounting evidence suggests that such variations may be relevant to the manifestation of human toxoplasmosis. Polymorphic rhoptry-secreted kinases and pseudokinases (ROP) have been demonstrated to account for murine virulence among the archetypal clonal parasite lineages that dominate the populations of North America and Europe. However, the distribution of virulence gene alleles in natural populations and the broad influence of these allele combinations on T. gondii virulence have not been examined in depth. In the present study, we performed PCR-RFLP genotyping analysis on a diverse array of globally distributed T. gondii strains at four ROP gene loci including ROP18, ROP5, ROP16 and ROP17 that were previously implicated in influencing T. gondii virulence and pathogenesis. We demonstrated through correlation with published virulence data that the combination of ROP18 and ROP5 allele types is highly predictive of T. gondii virulence across a broad range of global T. gondii isolates. These findings indicate that the importance of ROP18 and ROP5 in determining strain virulence is not limited to the North American/European archetypal lineages most commonly used in molecular studies, but also appears to apply to diverse isolates from South/central America and Asia. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of these loci may thus serve as a valuable tool in determining the potential virulence of uncharacterized T. gondii strains in future studies.
Toxoplasma gondii causes lifelong infection in most definitive and intermediate hosts. Clinical cases of toxoplasmosis in captive cheetahs have been reported. However, there are few reports of viable ...T. gondii strains isolated from cheetahs. Here, T. gondii infection was investigated using molecular and serological assays in cheetahs from China. Modified agglutination test (MAT) (cut-off: 1:25) indicated that all six examined cheetahs (n = 6) showed T. gondii antibodies. Toxoplasma gondii DNA was detected in three out of five cheetahs. Two viable T. gondii strains were isolated from the striated muscles of two cheetahs using mice bioassay. They were designated as TgCheetahCHn1 and TgCheetahCHn2. Genetic characterization of DNA derived from tachyzoites was performed using RFLP-PCR of 10 markers. Toxoplasma gondii TgCheetahCHn1 is ToxoDB PCR-RFLP genotype #319, and the alleles of ROP18/ROP5 types were 3/7. TgCheetahCHn2 is ToxoDB genotype #9, and the alleles of ROP18/ROP5 were 3/6. The average survival time of TgCheetahCHn1-infected Swiss mice was 22 ± 1 days (n = 23), and the mice did not have detectable T. gondii-specific antibodies until 117 ± 30 days post-inoculation (n = 8), therefore, TgCheetahCHn1 had intermediate virulence. TgCheetahCHn2 was avirulent for Swiss mice. Few brain tissue cysts (0-50) were observed in the mice inoculated with TgCheetahCHn1 or TgCheetahCHn2. The results provide direct evidence of cheetah as intermediate host of T. gondii.
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