Rediscovery of the Australian strain of infectious hypodermal and haematopoietic necrosis virus

In this study we rediscovered and verified the presence of an infectious hypodermal and haematopoietic necrosis virus (IHHNV) strain amongst cultured penaeid prawns Penaeus monodon from 1993 in Australia on the basis of a PCR analysis with IHHNV specific primers and sequencing of the resulting amplicons. A total of 7 previously published diagnostic primers specific to IHHNV were tested against Australian penaeid prawns and only 1 elicited a positive IHHNV PCR result with 16 out of 20 Australian P. monodon samples examined. In comparison, all 7 primers produced IHHNVpositive amplicons from the New Caledonian control samples. Analysis and comparison of the 392 bp fragment derived from the Australian IHHNV strain (AY590120) with other geographical isolates revealed that the Madagascar isolate shared the highest nucleotide similarity (96.2%) and the Hawaiian and New Caledonian strain the highest nucleotide divergence (90.1 and 90.3% respectively). The high nucleotide variation observed between the Australian and Hawaiian strains provides an explanation for the lack of IHHNV detection amongst Australian prawns with published IHHNV PCRs and commercially available gene probes as they are primarily designed on the basis of the Hawaiian strain (AF218266). Results indicated that IHHNV has been present in Australia for a long (geological and contemporary) time and that the virus is endemic in penaeid prawns in the Australian environment

The advantages of chaos1 : myth-making and Covid-19 in Hungary

The COVID-19 pandemic has created new opportunities and challenges for populist regimes. A growing body of work has explored the formation of populist and nationalist political reactions in the wake of a global health crisis. This article explores mythmaking and the Covid 19 pandemic in populist Hungary. We identify pandemic ‘mythogenic’ narratives that reconfigure and replay older ethno-nationalist myths, those of the ‘polluting’ alien other, Hungarian exceptionalism, and treachery and betrayal. Thus, the power of global crisis is drawn into extant myths to support local political ends and the interests of Hungary’s governing party. The article cites examples of mythologising practice from Hungary’s hybrid media landscape, suggesting Hungarian politics is as much contested within the mythic and symbolic as in other domains

Whole genome expression analysis within the angiotensin II-apolipoprotein E deficient mouse model of abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abstract\ud Background: An animal model commonly used to investigate pathways and potential therapeutic\ud interventions relevant to abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) involves subcutaneous infusion of\ud angiotensin II within the apolipoprotein E deficient mouse. The aim of this study was to investigate\ud genes differentially expressed in aneurysms forming within this mouse model in order to assess the\ud relevance of this model to human AAA.\ud Results: Using microarrays we identified genes relevant to aneurysm formation within\ud apolipoprotein E deficient mice. Firstly we investigated genes differentially expressed in the\ud aneurysm prone segment of the suprarenal aorta in these mice. Secondly we investigated genes that\ud were differentially expressed in the aortas of mice developing aneurysms relative to those that did\ud not develop aneurysms in response to angiotensin II infusion. Our findings suggest that a host of\ud inflammation and extracellular matrix remodelling pathways are upregulated within the aorta in\ud mice developing aneurysms. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome categories enriched in the\ud aortas of mice with aneurysms included cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, leukocyte\ud transendothelial migration, natural killer cell mediated cytotoxicity and hematopoietic cell lineage.\ud Genes associated with extracellular matrix remodelling, such as a range of matrix\ud metalloproteinases were also differentially expressed in relation to aneurysm formation.\ud Conclusion: This study is the first report describing whole genome expression arrays in the\ud apolipoprotein E deficient mice in relation to aneurysm formation. The findings suggest that the\ud pathways believed to be critical in human AAA are also relevant to aneurysm formation in this\ud mouse model. The findings therefore support the value of this model to investigate interventions\ud and mechanisms of human AAA

STAKCERT Framework in Eradicating Worms Attack

Abstrac

Label Free Inhibitor Screening of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) NS5B Viral Protein Using RNA Oligonucleotide

Globally, over 170 million people (ca. 3% of the World’s population) are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), which can cause serious liver diseases such as chronic hepatitis, evolving into subsequent health problems. Driven by the need to detect the presence of HCV, as an essential factor in diagnostic medicine, the monitoring of viral protein has been of great interest in developing simple and reliable HCV detection methods. Despite considerable advances in viral protein detection as an HCV disease marker, the current enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based detection methods using antibody treatment have several drawbacks. To overcome this bottleneck, an RNA aptamer become to be emerged as an antibody substitute in the application of biosensor for detection of viral protein. In this study, we demonstrated a streptavidin-biotin conjugation method, namely, the RNA aptamer sensor system that can quantify viral protein with detection level of 700 pg mL−1 using a biotinylated RNA oligonucleotide on an Octet optical biosensor. Also, we showed this method can be used to screen inhibitors of viral protein rapidly and simply on a biotinylated RNA oligonucleotide biosensor. Among the inhibitors screened, (−)-Epigallocatechin gallate showed high binding inhibition effect on HCV NS5B viral protein. The proposed method can be considered a real-time monitoring method for inhibitor screening of HCV viral protein and is expected to be applicable to other types of diseases

Transport and Retention of High Concentrated Nano-Fe/Cu Particles Through Highly Flow-Rated Packed Sand Column

The design of an efficient field-scale remediation based on the use of nanoscale zero valent iron (NZVI) requires an accurate assessment of the mobility of such particles in saturated porous media, both during injection in the subsurface (short-term mobility) and later (long-term mobility). In this study, the mobility of highly concentrated dispersions of bimetallic Fe/Cu nanoparticles (d50= 70±5 nm) in sand-packed columns (0.5 m length and 0.025 m inner diameter) was studied. In particular, the influence of flow rate (V = 5×10-4, 1×10-3, 2×10-3 m/s) and injected particle concentrations (2, 5, 8, 12 g/l) was addressed. Breakthrough curves and water pressure drop along the column, averaged effective porosity and final distribution of retained particles along the column were measured. Experimental results evidenced a good mobility of the Fe/Cu particles, with significant breakthrough in all explored experimental conditions of flow rate and C0, without requiring the addition of any stabilizing agent. Clogging phenomenon of the column and also the pore pressure variation during injection period are strongly affected by injected concentration. Clogging due to deposition of particles following a ripening dynamics was observed in particular for C0= 8 and 12 g/l. The experimental data were 23 modeled using the E-MNM1D software. The study has implications for field injection of bimetallic nanoparticles, suggesting that particular care is to be devoted when selecting injection concentration, to avoid porous medium clogging and control the radius of influenc

Continuum-based models and concepts for the transport of nanoparticles in saturated porous media: A state-of-the-science review

Environmental applications of nanoparticles (NP) increasingly result in widespread NP distribution within porous media where they are subject to various concurrent transport mechanisms including irreversible deposition, attachment/detachment (equilibrium or kinetic), agglomeration, physical straining, site-blocking, ripening, and size exclusion. Fundamental research in NP transport is typically conducted at small scale, and theoretical mechanistic modeling of particle transport in porous media faces challenges when considering the simultaneous effects of transport mechanisms. Continuum modeling approaches, in contrast, are scalable across various scales ranging from column experiments to aquifer. They have also been able to successfully describe the simultaneous occurrence of various transport mechanisms of NP in porous media such as blocking/straining or agglomeration/deposition/detachment. However, the diversity of model equations developed by different authors and the lack of effective approaches for their validation present obstacles to the successful robust application of these models for describing or predicting NP transport phenomena. This review aims to describe consistently all the important NP transport mechanisms along with their representative mathematical continuum models as found in the current scientific literature. Detailed characterizations of each transport phenomenon in regards to their manifestation in the column experiment outcomes, i.e., breakthrough curve (BTC) and residual concentration profile (RCP), are presented to facilitate future interpretations of BTCs and RCPs. The review highlights two NP transport mechanisms, agglomeration and size exclusion, which are potentially of great importance in controlling the fate and transport of NP in the subsurface media yet have been widely neglected in many existing modeling studies. A critical limitation of the continuum modeling approach is the number of parameters used upon application to larger scales and when a series of transport mechanisms are involved. We investigate the use of simplifying assumptions, such as the equilibrium assumption, in modeling the attachment/detachment mechanisms within a continuum modelling framework. While acknowledging criticisms about the use of this assumption for NP deposition on a mechanistic (process) basis, we found that its use as a description of dynamic deposition behavior in a continuum model yields broadly similar results to those arising from a kinetic model. Furthermore, we show that in two dimensional (2-D) continuum models the modeling efficiency based on the Akaike information criterion (AIC) is enhanced for equilibrium vs kinetic with no significant reduction in model performance. This is because fewer parameters are needed for the equilibrium model compared to the kinetic model. Two major transport regimes are identified in the transport of NP within porous media. The first regime is characterized by higher particle-surface attachment affinity than particle-particle attachment affinity, and operative transport mechanisms of physicochemical filtration, blocking, and physical retention. The second regime is characterized by the domination of particle-particle attachment tendency over particle-surface affinity. In this regime although physicochemical filtration as well as straining may still be operative, ripening is predominant together with agglomeration and further subsequent retention. In both regimes careful assessment of NP fate and transport is necessary since certain combinations of concurrent transport phenomena leading to large migration distances are possible in either case

The transport of nanoparticles in subsurface with fractured, anisotropic porous media: Numerical simulations and parallelization

The flow of fluids through fractured porous media has been an important topic in the research of subsurface flow. The several orders of magnitude in size between the fractures and the rock matrix causes difficulties for simulating such flow scenario. The fluid velocities in fractures are also several orders of magnitude higher than that in the rock matrix due to high permeability and porosity. If there exists pollutant such as nanoparticles in the fluids, the pollutant may be transported rapidly and the rock matrix’s properties near the fractures are hence changed. In this research, we simulate the transport phenomena of nanoparticles in the fluid flow through fractured porous media. The permeability fields which contain different anisotropy angles are considered in the simulation. Fractures are represented explicitly by volumetric grid cells and the numerical algorithm is parallelized in order to reduce the simulation time. We investigate the effect of the appearance of fractures and rotated anisotropy on the transport of nanoparticles, particles deposition, entrapment and detachment. The results show that flow directions are affected by the direction of anisotropy and the transport of nanoparticles in the fractures is significantly faster than that in rock matrix due to high fluid velocities. The direction of anisotropy distorted the pressure field and changed the fluid flow directions, which determined the time needed for the pollutant front to reach the fractures. The parallel efficiency of the overall algorithm is also discussed and the experimental results show that it is deeply affected by the performance of the multigrid solver

TaSnRK2.4, an SNF1-type serine/threonine protein kinase of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), confers enhanced multistress tolerance in Arabidopsis

Osmotic stresses such as drought, salinity, and cold are major environmental factors that limit agricultural productivity worldwide. Protein phosphorylation/dephosphorylation are major signalling events induced by osmotic stress in higher plants. Sucrose non-fermenting 1-related protein kinase2 family members play essential roles in response to hyperosmotic stresses in Arabidopsis, rice, and maize. In this study, the function of TaSnRK2.4 in drought, salt, and freezing stresses in Arabidopsis was characterized. A translational fusion protein of TaSnRK2.4 with green fluorescent protein showed subcellular localization in the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus. To examine the role of TaSnRK2.4 under various environmental stresses, transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing wheat TaSnRK2.4 under control of the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter were generated. Overexpression of TaSnRK2.4 resulted in delayed seedling establishment, longer primary roots, and higher yield under normal growing conditions. Transgenic Arabidopsis overexpressing TaSnRK2.4 had enhanced tolerance to drought, salt, and freezing stresses, which were simultaneously supported by physiological results, including decreased rate of water loss, enhanced higher relative water content, strengthened cell membrane stability, improved photosynthesis potential, and significantly increased osmotic potential. The results show that TaSnRK2.4 is involved in the regulation of enhanced osmotic potential, growth, and development under both normal and stress conditions, and imply that TaSnRK2.4 is a multifunctional regulatory factor in Arabidopsis. Since the overexpression of TaSnRK2.4 can significantly strengthen tolerance to drought, salt, and freezing stresses and does not retard the growth of transgenic Arabidopsis plants under well-watered conditions, TaSnRK2.4 could be utilized in transgenic breeding to improve abiotic stresses in crops

Allosteric α1 adrenoceptor antagonism by the conopeptide ρ-TIA

A peptide contained in the venom of the predatory marine snail Conus tulipa, {rho}-TIA, has previously been shown to possess {alpha}1-adrenoreceptor antagonist activity. Here, we further characterize its pharmacological activity as well as its structure-activity relationships. In the isolated rat vas deferens, {rho}-TIA inhibited {alpha}1-adrenoreceptor-mediated increases in cytosolic Ca2+ concentration that were triggered by norepinephrine, but did not affect presynaptic {alpha}2-adrenoreceptor-mediated responses. In radioligand binding assays using [125I]HEAT, {rho}-TIA displayed slightly greater potency at the {alpha}1B than at the {alpha}1A or {alpha}1D subtypes. Moreover, although it did not affect the rate of association for [3H]prazosin binding to the {alpha}1B-adrenoreceptor, the dissociation rate was increased, indicating non-competitive antagonism by {rho}-TIA. N-terminally truncated analogs of {rho}-TIA were less active than the full-length peptide, with a large decline in activity observed upon removal of the fourth residue of {rho}-TIA (Arg4). An alanine walk of {rho}-TIA confirmed the importance of Arg4 for activity and revealed a number of other residues clustered around Arg4 that contribute to the potency of {rho}-TIA. The unique allosteric antagonism of {rho}-TIA resulting from its interaction with receptor residues that constitute a binding site that is distinct from that of the classical competitive {alpha}1-adrenoreceptor antagonists may allow the development of inhibitors that are highly subtype selective