Anaplasma, Babesia and Theileria are tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) that affect livestock worldwide. However, information on these pathogens in yaks (Bos grunniens) and Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries) on the ...Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), China, is limited. In this study, Anaplasma spp., Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. infections were assessed in yaks and Tibetan sheep from Qinghai Province.
A total of 734 blood samples were collected from 425 yaks and 309 Tibetan sheep at nine sampling sites. Standard or nested polymerase chain reaction was employed to screen all the blood samples using species- or genus-specific primers.
The results showed that 14.1% (60/425) of yaks and 79.9% (247/309) of Tibetan sheep were infected with at least one pathogen. Anaplasma ovis, Anaplasma bovis, Anaplasma capra, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia bovis and Theileria spp. were detected in this study, with total infection rates for all the assessed animals of 22.1% (162/734), 16.3% (120/734), 23.6% (173/734), 8.2% (60/734), 2.7% (20/734) and 19.3% (142/734), respectively. For yaks, the infection rate of A. bovis was 6.4% (27/425), that of B. bovis was 4.7% (20/425) and that of Theileria spp. was 3.3% (14/425). Moreover, 52.4% (162/309) of the Tibetan sheep samples were infected with A. ovis, 30.1% (93/309) with A. bovis, 56.0% (173/309) with A. capra, 19.4% (60/309) with A. phagocytophilum and 41.4% (128/309) with Theileria spp.
This study revealed the prevalence of Anaplasma spp., Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. in yaks and Tibetan sheep in Qinghai Province, China, and provides new data for a better understanding of the epidemiology of TBPs in these animals in this area of the QTP, China.
As an environmentally friendly oxidant, H2O2 is widely utilized in various fields; however, its production methods remain limited to the chemical anthraquinone process. Alternatively, ...electrocatalytic oxygen reduction possesses numerous notable advantages (e.g., cost‐effectiveness, small‐scale, and distributed nature). As electrocatalytic oxygen reduction has been widely investigated in the fields of fuel cells and metal‐air batteries, the mechanism of the 2e−‐ORR pathway for producing H2O2 is not sufficiently clear. Herein, we explore the effect of the cobalt (Co) coordination environment on the electrochemical production of H2O2. The detailed investigation on N‐, P‐, and S‐coordinated Co catalysts (Co1N1N3, Co1P1N3, and Co1S1N3) demonstrates that changing the coordination environment evidently affects the H2O2 selectivity, and the S‐coordinated Co exhibits the best catalytic performance. This finding would lead to the design and selection of catalysts at atomic level for producing H2O2 via electrocatalytic oxygen reduction.
By rationally modulating the coordination environment of the metal active center, the performance of the ORR catalyst is effectively tuned. The electrochemical tests and the chemical quantification of H2O2 demonstrate that Co1S1N3 possesses the best catalytic performance at 0.2 V, which is highly sensitive to the applied voltage.
Several animal models have been used to assist the development of vaccines and therapeutics since the COVID-19 outbreak. Due to the lack of binding affinity of mouse angiotensin-converting enzyme II ...(ACE2) to the S protein of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), increasing the susceptibility of mice to SARS-CoV-2 infection was considered in several ways. Here, we generated a COVID-19 mouse model expressing human ACE2 (hACE2) under the control of the CAG promoter. Overexpression of hACE2 did not pose a significant effect on weight growth. After SARS-CoV-2 inoculation, mice showed obvious viral replication and production of inflammation within 7 days, with a gradual decrease in body weight until death. Virological testing found that the virus can replicate in the respiratory system, small intestine, and brain. Additionally, this mouse model was applied to compare two antibody drug candidates, the anti-RBD antibody (MW06) and the mouse CD24-conjugated anti-RBD antibody (mCD24-MW06). Differences in antiviral effects between these two antibodies can be demonstrated in this mouse model when a challenge dose that invalidates the anti-RBD antibody treatment was used. This study provided a new mouse model for studying SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis and evaluating potential interventions.
Anaplasma genus infects the blood cells of humans and animals by biting, causing zoonotic anaplasmosis. However, limited data are available on carrier animals for Anaplasma spp. antibodies in the ...Qinghai−Tibetan Plateau Area. Therefore, a serological indirect ELISA diagnostic method based on the major surface protein 5 (MSP5), derived from Anaplasma phagocytophilum, was developed in this study to analyze both IgG and IgM antibodies of Anaplasma spp. in a total of 3952 animals from the Qinghai−Tibetan Plateau, including yaks (Bos grunniens), cows (Bos taurus), cattle (Bos taurus domesticus), Tibetan sheep (Ovis aries), horses (Equus ferus caballus), pigs (Sus domesticus), chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), donkeys (Equus asinus), stray dogs (Canis sp.), and stray cats (Felis sp.). The results showed that recombinant MSP5 protein was expressed and was successfully used to establish the indirect ELISA methods. The overall positivity for Anaplasma IgG and IgM antibodies was 14.6% (578/3952) and 7.9% (312/3952), respectively, and a total of 123 animals (3.1%) were both IgG- and IgM-positive. Moreover, the most prevalent Anaplasma IgG positivity was exhibited by donkeys (82.5%), followed by stray dogs, Tibetan sheep, pigs, chickens, horses, yaks, cows, cattle, and stray cats. The analysis for IgM antibody positivity revealed that IgM positivity was the most prevalent in the stray dogs (30.1%), followed by horses, yaks, Tibetan sheep, cows, stray cats, and cattle. Moreover, the results revealed significant differences (p < 0.05) at different altitudes in Anaplasma-specific IgG in the yaks, Tibetan sheep, and horses, and in IgM in the yaks and Tibetan sheep. In conclusion, this study is the first to demonstrate that yaks, cows, cattle, Tibetan sheep, horses, donkeys, stray dogs, stray cats, pigs, and chickens living in the Qinghai−Tibet Plateau are carrier animals for Anaplasma spp. IgG or IgM antibodies. The current findings provide valuable current data on the seroepidemiology of anaplasmosis in China and for plateau areas of the world.
Improper lane-change manoeuvre can cause traffic safety issues and even lead to serious traffic collisions. Quantifying the decision behaviour and eye movements can provide a deeper understanding of ...lane-change manoeuvre in vehicle interaction environment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of lane-change scenarios defined by gaps on lane-change decision and eye movements. Twenty-eight participants were recruited to complete a naturalistic driving experiment. Eye movements and lane-change decision duration (LDD) were recorded and analysed. Results suggested that the scanning frequency (SF) and saccade duration (SD) were the sensitive parameters to respond to lane-change scenarios. LDD was significantly affected by the scenario, SF, and SD. The increase in LDD was related to the high difficulty gap and high frequency scanning of multiple regions. These findings evaluated the driver's decision performance in response to different lane-change environments and provided valuable information for measuring the driver's scenario perception ability.
Practitioner summary: A naturalistic driving experiment was conducted to evaluate the interaction of lane-change decision, eye movement, and lane changing gap in a lane-change task. The results reveal the sensitive eye movement parameters to lane-change scenario, which provide guidelines for driver's perception ability test and professional driver assessment.
Neutrophil elastase (NE) is associated with sepsis occurrence and progression. We hypothesized that the NE inhibitor Sivelestat might modulate abnormal gut microbiota and metabolites during sepsis.
...Sixty Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into sham control (SC), sepsis (CLP), and sepsis+Sivelestat (Sive) groups. The rats' survival status was monitored for 24 hours postoperatively, and feces were collected for microbiome and non-targeted metabolomics analyses.
Sivelestat administration significantly improved the survival of septic rats (80% vs 50%,
= 0.047). Microbiome analysis showed that the microbiota composition of rats in the CLP group was significantly disturbed, as potential pathogens such as
and
became dominant, and the beneficial microbiota represented by
decreased. These changes were reversed in Sive group, and the overall microbial status was restored to a similar composition to SC group. Differential analysis identified 36 differential operational taxonomic units and 11 metabolites between the Sive and CLP groups, such as 6-Aminopenicillanic acid, gamma-Glutamyl-leucine, and cortisone (variable importance in projection>1and
<0.05). These discriminatory metabolites were highly correlated with each other and mainly involved in the phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis pathways. Integrated microbiome and metabolome analyses found that almost all Sivelestat-modulated microbes were associated with differential metabolites (
< 0.05), such as
s and some amino acids, suggesting that the Sivelestat-induced metabolic profile differences were in part due to its influence on the gut microbiome.
Sivelestat administration in septic rats improved survival, gut microbiota composition and associated metabolites, which could provide new options for sepsis treatment.
A method was developed for the determination of platinum‐group elements (PGE) in geological samples by isotope dilution‐inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry combined with sulfide fire assay ...preconcentration. Samples were fused and PGE analytes were concentrated in sulfide buttons. The buttons were dissolved using HCl leaving PGE analytes in insoluble residues, which were digested in HNO3 and simultaneously processed for the distillation of Os. The remaining solutions were further prepared for the purification of Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir and Pt using a tandem assembly of cation and Ln resin columns. The eluents were directly analysed by membrane desolvation‐ICP‐MS. Ruthenium, Pd, Os, Ir and Pt were determined by isotope dilution, whereas Rh was determined by conventional reference material calibration combined with 193Ir as the internal standard element. The method was validated using a series of PGE reference materials, and the measurement data were consistent with the recommended and the literature values. The measurement precision was better than 10% RSD. The procedural blanks were 0.121 ng for Ru, 0.204 for Rh, 0.960 ng for Pd, 0.111 ng for Os, 0.045 ng for Ir and 0.661 ng for Pt, and the limits of detection (3s) were 0.011 ng g−1 for Ru, 0.008 ng g−1 for Rh, 0.045 ng g−1 for Pd, 0.009 ng g−1 for Os, 0.006 ng g−1 for Ir and 0.016 ng g−1 for Pt when a test portion mass of 10 g was used. This indicates that the proposed method can be used for the determination of trace amounts of PGE in geological samples.
Une méthode a été développée pour la détermination des éléments du groupe du platine (EGP) dans les échantillons géologiques en utilisant la dilution isotopique par spectrométrie de masse couplée à un plasma inductif, combinée avec la pré‐concentration des sulfures par pyroanalyse. Les échantillons ont été fondus et les EGP à analyser ont été concentrés dans des boutons de sulfure. Ces derniers ont été dissous en utilisant HCl en laissant des résidus insolubles contenant les EGP à analyser. Les résidus ont été dissous dans HNO3 et simultanément utilisés pour la distillation de l'Os. Les solutions résiduelles ont été ensuite préparées pour la purification de Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir t Pt en utilisant un assemblage en tandem de colonnes de résines cationiques et de résines Ln. Les éluants ont été directement analysés par ICP‐MS avec une membrane de désolvatation. Ru, Pd, Os, Ir et Pt ont été déterminés par dilution isotopique tandis que Rh a été déterminé en utilisant une méthode conventionnelle de calibration avec matériel de référence associé à l'élément 193Ir comme standard interne. La méthode a été validée en utilisant une série de matériaux de référence pour les EGP et les données mesurées sont conformes aux valeurs recommandées et de la littérature. La précision des mesures est supérieure à 10% RSD. Les blancs utilisés sont de 0,121 ng pour Ru, 0,204 pour Rh, 0.960 pour Pd, 0,111 pour Os, 0,045 pour Ir et 0,661 pour Pt et les limites de détection (3s) sont de 0,011 ng g−1 pour Ru, 0,008 ng g−1 pour Rh, 0,045 ng g−1 pour Pd, 0,009 ng g−1 pour Os, 0,006 ng g−1 pour Ir et 0,016 ng g−1 pour Pt lorsque une portion test d'une masse de 10 g a été utilisée. Ceci indique que la méthode proposée peut être utilisée pour la détermination des concentrations à l'état de traces des EGP dans les échantillons géologiques.
The wayside acoustic defective bearing detector system (TADS) is located on both sides of the railway, so that the acoustic signals recorded by the microphone not only include the sound from the ...train bearings but also include it from the other disturbance sources. The heavy noise and multisource acoustic signals would badly reduce the reliability and accuracy of the detection result of the TADS. In order to extract the useful information from the recorded signal exactly and efficiently, a novel denoising method based on the Short-time Fourier transform (STFT) and improved Crazy Climber algorithm was improved in this paper. Firstly, the STFT was performed on the recorded acoustic signals in order to obtain the time-frequency distribution matrix. Based on the original algorithm, the novel movement rule and the fitting process of the ridge lines were presented which could extract the time-frequency ridge lines of the acoustic signal accurately and rapidly. In this way, the important information from the train bearings could be divided from the heavy noise and other signals. Finally, the simulation and experimental verifications were carried out, and the denoising method based on the STFT and improved Crazy Climber algorithm has proved to be effective in extracting ridge lines of the time-frequency distribution matrix and dividing the useful information form the recorded acoustic signals.
has been a focus of study because tick-borne pathogens have been widely identified in this tick from northern and southwestern China. The aim of this study was to characterize the life cycle of
under ...laboratory conditions and to detect spotted fever group (SFG)
in the midgut and salivary glands of both field-collected and first laboratory generation adults.
ticks were collected in the field on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau from March to April 2021 and their life cycle was studied under laboratory conditions. Tick identify was molecularly confirmed, and SFG
were detected in the midgut and salivary glands of males and females by PCR targeting different rickettsial genes. The results showed that the life cycle of
under laboratory conditions was completed in an average of 86.1 days. High positivity of
spp. was detected in the midgut and salivary glands of both males (92.0%) and females (93.0%) of field-collected
ticks. However, a relatively lower positivity (4.0-6.0%) was detected in first laboratory generation adults. Furthermore, sequencing analysis showed that the
sequences obtained in this study shared 98.6 to 100% nucleotide identity with
and
isolated from
spp. in China. Phylogenetic analysis of
spp. based on the
and
genes revealed that the
sequences obtained could be classified as belonging to
and
clades. This study described for the first time the life cycle of
from the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau under laboratory conditions. Two species of SFG
were detected in the midgut and salivary glands of males and females in both field-collected and first laboratory-generation adults of
. Our study provides new insights into pathogen detection in ticks in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and the relationships among hosts, ticks, and pathogens.
Introduction
We conducted a comprehensive literature review to synthesize evidence for the relationship between corticosteroid use and mortality in patients with COVID-19.
Methods
The PUBMED, EMBASE, ...and Cochrane Library were searched from inception to March 13, 2021. We searched and analyzed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies (OSs) that examined corticosteroid use in patients with COVID-19. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality, while the secondary outcome was the need for mechanical ventilation (MV) and serious adverse events.
Results
A total of 11 RCTs and 44 OSs involving 7893 and 41,164 patients with COVID-19 were included in the study. Corticosteroid use was associated with lower COVID-19 mortality in RCTs, but was not statistically significant (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.77–1.07;
I
2
= 63.4%). The subgroup analysis of pulse dose corticosteroid showed survival benefit statistically (OR 0.29, 95% CI 0.15–0.56). Moreover, the corticosteroid use may reduce the need for MV (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.51–0.90;
I
2
= 7.5%) with no significant increase in serious adverse reactions (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.30–2.37;
I
2
= 33.3%). In addition, the included OSs showed that the pulse dose (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.45–0.95;
I
2
= 30.8%) might lower the mortality in patients with COVID-19. The pulse dose of methylprednisolone (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.45–0.80;
I
2
= 0%) had a beneficial effect on survival. It was especially significant when the duration of pulse methylprednisolone use was less than 7 days (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.43–0.80;
I
2
= 0%).
Conclusions
This meta-analysis indicated that corticosteroid use might cause a slight reduction in COVID-19 mortality. However, it could significantly reduce the MV requirement in patients with COVID-19 and restrict serious adverse events. Additionally, the pulse dose of methylprednisolone for less than 7 days may be a good treatment choice for patients with COVID-19.
PDF
