Stationary Distributions for Retarded Stochastic Differential Equations without Dissipativity

Retarded stochastic differential equations (SDEs) constitute a large collection of systems arising in various real-life applications. Most of the existing results make crucial use of dissipative conditions. Dealing with "pure delay" systems in which both the drift and the diffusion coefficients depend only on the arguments with delays, the existing results become not applicable. This work uses a variation-of-constants formula to overcome the difficulties due to the lack of the information at the current time. This paper establishes existence and uniqueness of stationary distributions for retarded SDEs that need not satisfy dissipative conditions. The retarded SDEs considered in this paper also cover SDEs of neutral type and SDEs driven by L\'{e}vy processes that might not admit finite second moments.Comment: page 2

Exponential Mixing for Retarded Stochastic Differential Equations

In this paper, we discuss exponential mixing property for Markovian semigroups generated by segment processes associated with several class of retarded Stochastic Differential Equations (SDEs) which cover SDEs with constant/variable/distributed time-lags. In particular, we investigate the exponential mixing property for (a) non-autonomous retarded SDEs by the Arzel\`{a}--Ascoli tightness characterization of the space \C equipped with the uniform topology (b) neutral SDEs with continuous sample paths by a generalized Razumikhin-type argument and a stability-in-distribution approach and (c) jump-diffusion retarded SDEs by the Kurtz criterion of tightness for the space \D endowed with the Skorohod topology.Comment: 20 page

Burden of Cryptosporidium Infections in the Yangtze River Delta in China in the 21st Century: A One Health Perspective

Cryptosporidiosis is a leading cause of diarrheal disease in some populations, including young children and people with compromised immune systems. The epidemiology of Cryptosporidium , which is transmitted mainly through waterborne routes, has been a serious public health concern. Cryptosporidiosis is closely associated with animals and the shared environment, and is well suited to a One Health approach to prevention and control. In China, Cryptosporidium investigations in humans, various animal species, water bodies and other environments have been widely conducted, including in the Yangtze River Delta, which encompasses Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui. With the increasing integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, advance preparation and effective monitoring are necessary to prevent outbreaks of neglected tropical diseases, such as cryptosporidiosis, and to contribute to infectious disease prevention and control in the entire region. Moreover, the epidemiological surveillance of infectious diseases is a critical public health measure. This article reviews the burden of Cryptosporidium in the Yangtze River Delta at the human-animal-environment interface, as reported since 2001, and identifies the deficiencies and challenges in epidemiological studies of Cryptosporidium in this region from a One Health perspective, to provide basic information for the formulation of prevention and control strategies

Extracellular vesicles secreted by Echinococcus multilocularis:Important players inangiogenesis promotion

The involvement of Echinococcus multilocularis, and other parasitic helminths, in regulating host physiology is well recognized, but molecular mechanisms remain unclear. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by helminths play important roles in regulating parasite-host interactions by transferring materials to the host. Analysis of protein cargo of EVs from E. multilocularis protoscoleces in the present study revealed a unique composition exclusively associated with vesicle biogenesis. Common proteins in various Echinococcus species were identified, including the classical EVs markers tetraspanins, TSG101 and Alix. Further, unique tegumental antigens were identified which could be exploited as Echinococcus EV markers. Parasite- and host-derived proteins within these EVs are predicted to support important roles in parasite-parasite and parasite-host communication. In addition, the enriched host-derived protein pay loads identified in parasite EVs in the present study suggested that they can beinvolved in focal adhesion and potentially promote angiogenesis. Further, increase dangiogenesis was observed in livers of mice infected with E. multilocularis and the expression of several angiogenesis-regulated molecules, including VEGF, MMP9,MCP-1, SDF-1 and serpin E1 were increased. Significantly, EVs released by the E.multilocularis protoscolex promoted proliferation and tube formation by humanumbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in vitro. Taken together, we present the first evidence that tapeworm-secreted EVs may promote angiogenesis in Echinococcus-infections, identifying central mechanisms of Echinococcus-host interaction

Prevalence of different tick species on livestock and associated equines and canine from different agro-ecological zones of Pakistan

Ticks are ectoparasites that act as vectors for transmission of various pathogens to wild and domesticated animals and pose a serious threat to human health. Because of the hot and humid conditions in different agro-ecological zones of Pakistan, ticks are abundant and parasitize a variety of animals. The aim of this study was to identify different tick species and distribution on different hosts especially livestock, such as sheep, goat, cattle, buffalo, and camel, and livestock associated canines and equines, such as horse, donkey, and dog, across different agro-ecological zones of Pakistan. The ticks samples were collected and morphologically identified at genus and species level using morphological keys under stereomicroscope. A total of 2,846 animals were examined for the tick infestation, and 408 animals were tick-infested. Eleven tick species belonging to 4 genera were identified: Hyalomma anatolicum, Hyalomma scupense, Hyalomma dromedarii, Hyalomma isaaci, Rhipicephalus microplus, Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides, Rhipicephalus turanicus, Haemaphysalis cornupunctata, Haemaphysalis montgomeryi, Haemaphysalis bispinosa, and Ixodes kashmiricus. The overall tick prevalence was 14.3%; host-wise infestation rate was 12.2% in sheep; 12.6%, goat; 11.7%, buffalo; 11.7%, cattle; 19.6%, camel; 27.4%, donkey; 23.5%, horse; and 24.3%, dog. Tick infestation of different animals differed on the basis of the zones. Camels showed the highest tick infestation rate in zones 1 and 2 (21.4 and 26.7%, respectively), whereas donkeys showed the highest infestation rate in zones 3, 4, 6, and 7 (25, 39.3, 3.3, and 21.4%, respectively). The infestation rates of Hyalomma and Rhipicephalus were the highest in zone 2 (71.4 and 52.9%, respectively). The infestation rate of Hyalomma was the highest (47.4%) in sheep; Haemaphysalis (46.9%), goat; Rhipicephalus (69.7%), buffalo; Rhipicephalus (62.3%), cattle; Hyalomma (70%), camel; Ixodes (60.9%), donkey; Ixodes (75%), horse; and Rhipicephalus (61.1%), dog. This study showed the diversity and infestation rate of different ticks with respect to their hosts and agro-ecological zones of Pakistan. High tick burdens and infestation rates are responsible for the spread of different tick-borne infections, resulting in loss of animal productivity and posing a threat to animal and human health. Understanding different tick species and their distribution across different zones will be helpful for developing efficient control strategies against different tick born infections

Competitive Lotka-Volterra Population Dynamics with Jumps

This paper considers competitive Lotka-Volterra population dynamics with jumps. The contributions of this paper are as follows. (a) We show stochastic differential equation (SDE) with jumps associated with the model has a unique global positive solution; (b) We discuss the uniform boundedness of $p$th moment with $p>0$ and reveal the sample Lyapunov exponents; (c) Using a variation-of-constants formula for a class of SDEs with jumps, we provide explicit solution for 1-dimensional competitive Lotka-Volterra population dynamics with jumps, and investigate the sample Lyapunov exponent for each component and the extinction of our $n$-dimensional model.Comment: 25 page

Malaria Elimination in the People’s Republic of China: Current Progress, Challenges, and Prospects

In China, the malaria elimination program was launched in 2010 with the objective to eliminate this disease by 2020. Large-scale malaria control and elimination actions have been conducted with significant success since inception of the nationwide program. The incidence of locally acquired malaria has declined sharply along with the concomitant decrease of malaria-endemic areas from 762 counties reporting malaria in 2010 to just two counties adjacent to border areas (Yunnan, China-Myanmar and Tibet, China-India) in 2016. In total, 1723 counties (79%) and 134 prefectures (52%) had completed the malaria elimination internal assessment by the end of 2016. The year 2017 was the first year without report of indigenous malaria cases throughout the country. Hence, this chapter is meant to share the lessons learned from malaria elimination in China benefiting countries on the way to malaria elimination

Altered Gut Microbiota Composition in Subjects Infected With Clonorchis sinensis

Clonorchiasis is an infectious disease caused by helminths of Clonorchis sinensis (C. sinensis). The adult parasite mainly inhabits the bile duct and gall bladder, and results in various complications to the hepatobiliary system. The amount of bile secreted into the intestine is reduced in cases of C. sinensis infection, which may alter the pH of the gut and decrease the amount of surfactant protein D released from the gallbladder. However, the impact of parasitic infection on the human gut microbiome remains unclear. To this end, we examined the gut microbiota composition in 47 modified Kato–Katz thick smear-positive (egg-positive) volunteers and 42 healthy controls from five rural communities. Subjects were grouped into four sub-populations based on age and infection status. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed significant changes in alpha diversity between EP1 and EN1. The beta diversity showed alterations between C. sinensis-infected subjects and healthy controls. In C. sinensis infected patients, we found the significant reduction of certain taxa, such as Bacteroides and anti-inflammatory Bifidobacterium (P < 0.05). Bacteroides, a predominant gut bacteria in healthy populations, was negatively correlated with the number of C. sinensis eggs per gram (EPG, r = −0.37, P adjust < 0.01 in 20–60 years old group; r = −0.64, P adjust = 0.04 in the 60+ years old group). What’s more, the reduction in the abundance of Bifidobacterium, a common probiotic, was decreased particularly in the 60 + years old group (r = −0.50, P = 0.04). The abundance of Dorea, a potentially pro-inflammatory microbe, was higher in infected subjects than in healthy individuals (P < 0.05). Variovorax was a unique bacteria that was only detected in infected subjects. These results clearly demonstrate the significant influence of C. sinensis infection on the human gut microbiota and provided new insights into the control, prevention, diagnosis, and clinical study of clonorchiasis through the human gut microbiota