Hand, foot and mouth disease and herpangina caused by enterovirus A71 infections: a review of enterovirus A71 molecular epidemiology, pathogenesis, and current vaccine development

Enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) infections are one of the main etiological agents of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and herpangina worldwide. EV-A71 infection is a life-threatening communicable disease and there is an urgent global need for the development of vaccines for its prevention and control. The morbidity rate of EV-A71 infection differs between countries. The pathogen’s genetic lineages are undergoing rapid evolutionary changes. An association between the occurrence of EV-A71 infection and the circulation of different genetic strains of EV-A71 virus has been identified around the world. In this review, we present and discuss the molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of the human disease caused by EV-A71 infection, as well as current prospects for the development of an EV-A71 vaccine

Optimization of 3D ZnO brush-like nanorods for dye-sensitized solar cells

© 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Unported 3.0 license (CC BY 3.0), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedIn a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) the amount of adsorbed dye on the photoanode surface is a key factor that must be maximized in order to obtain enhanced DSSC performance. In this study 3D ZnO nanostructures, named brush-like, are demonstrated as alternative photoanodes. In these structures, long ZnO nanorods are covered with a metal-organic precursor, known as a layered-hydroxide zinc salt (LHZS), which is subsequently converted to crystalline ZnO using two-step annealing. The LHZS is able to easily grow on any surface, such as the ZnO nanorod surface, without needing the assistance of a seed-layer. Brush-like structures synthesized using different citrate concentrations in the growth solutions and different annealing conditions are characterized and tested as DSSC photoanodes. The best-performing structure reported in this study was obtained using the highest citrate concentration (1.808 mM) and the lowest temperature annealing condition in an oxidative environment. Conversion efficiency as high as 1.95% was obtained when these brush-like structures were employed as DSSC photoanodes. These results are extremely promising for the implementation of these innovative structures in enhanced DSSCs, as well as in other applications that require the maximization of surface area exposed by ZnO or similar semiconductors, such as gas- or bio-sensing or photocatalysis.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Monitoring the Training Effect in Different Periods in Elite Athletes

Performance of elite athletes depends on their technical, physiological and psychological abilities. Different sports require various levels of aerobic, anaerobic, speed, power, agility, and strength capacities. Elite athletes and athletes who aim to bec