Genetic variation analysis of reemerging porcine epidemic diarrhea virus prevailing in central China from 2010 to 2011

Porcine epidemic diarrhea has re-emerged with devastating impact in central China since October 2010. To investigate and analyze the reason of this outbreak, the M and ORF3 genes of 15 porcine epidemic diarrhea viruses (PEDV), which were collected from different areas of central China during October 2010 and December 2011, were amplified by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction, cloned, sequenced, and analyzed. Sequence analyses showed that the nucleotides and amino acids were changed at some sites in the M and ORF3 genes of the 15 PEDV strains compared with those genes of CV777 reference strain. Based on the phylogenetic analyses, PEDVs in central China and reference strains could be separated into three groups: G1, G2, and G3. The 15 PEDV strains belonged to G3 group and showed a close relationship with Korean strains (2007), Thai strains (2007–2008), and partial other Chinese strains (2010–2011), but differed genetically from European strains (Br1/87) and the vaccine strain (CV777 vs) being used in China. Furthermore, all 15 PEDV strains from central China and some other isolates in China from 2003 to 2007 (LJB-03, QH, and LZC) belonged to different group. Therefore, PEDV exhibits rapid variation and genetic evolution, and the currently prevailing PEDV strains in central China are a new genotype

Specific N-glycans of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Surface and the Abnormal Increase of Core-α-1, 6-fucosylated Triantennary Glycan via N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases-IVa Regulation

Glycosylation alterations of cell surface proteins are often observed during the progression of malignancies. The specific cell surface N-glycans were profiled in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with clinical tissues (88 tumor and adjacent normal tissues) and the corresponding serum samples of HCC patients. The level of core-α-1,6-fucosylated triantennary glycan (NA3Fb) increased both on the cell surface and in the serum samples of HCC patients (p \u3c 0.01). Additionally, the change of NA3Fb was not influenced by Hepatitis B virus (HBV)and cirrhosis. Furthermore, the mRNA and protein expression of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase IVa (GnT-IVa), which was related to the synthesis of the NA3Fb, was substantially increased in HCC tissues. Knockdown of GnT-IVa leads to a decreased level of NA3Fb and decreased ability of invasion and migration in HCC cells. NA3Fb can be regarded as a specific cell surface N-glycan of HCC. The high expression of GnT-IVa is the cause of the abnormal increase of NA3Fb on the HCC cell surface, which regulates cell migration. This study demonstrated the specific N-glycans of the cell surface and the mechanisms of altered glycoform related with HCC. These findings lead to better understanding of the function of glycan and glycosyltransferase in the tumorigenesis, progression and metastasis of HCC

Specific N-glycans of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Surface and the Abnormal Increase of Core-α-1, 6-fucosylated Triantennary Glycan via N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases-IVa Regulation

Glycosylation alterations of cell surface proteins are often observed during the progression of malignancies. The specific cell surface N-glycans were profiled in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with clinical tissues (88 tumor and adjacent normal tissues) and the corresponding serum samples of HCC patients. The level of core-α-1,6-fucosylated triantennary glycan (NA3Fb) increased both on the cell surface and in the serum samples of HCC patients (p \u3c 0.01). Additionally, the change of NA3Fb was not influenced by Hepatitis B virus (HBV)and cirrhosis. Furthermore, the mRNA and protein expression of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase IVa (GnT-IVa), which was related to the synthesis of the NA3Fb, was substantially increased in HCC tissues. Knockdown of GnT-IVa leads to a decreased level of NA3Fb and decreased ability of invasion and migration in HCC cells. NA3Fb can be regarded as a specific cell surface N-glycan of HCC. The high expression of GnT-IVa is the cause of the abnormal increase of NA3Fb on the HCC cell surface, which regulates cell migration. This study demonstrated the specific N-glycans of the cell surface and the mechanisms of altered glycoform related with HCC. These findings lead to better understanding of the function of glycan and glycosyltransferase in the tumorigenesis, progression and metastasis of HCC

The Large Sky Area Multi-object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) Quasar Survey: Quasar Properties from Data Release Six to Nine

We report the fourth installment in the series of the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) Quasar Survey, which includes quasars observed between September, 2017 and June, 2021. There are in total 13,066 quasars reliably identified, of which 6,685 are newly discovered that are not reported in the SDSS DR14 quasar catalog or Million Quasars catalog. Because LAMOST does not provide accurate absolute flux calibration, we re-calibrate the spectra with the SDSS/Pan-STARRS1 multi-band photometric data. The emission line properties of H$\alpha$, H$\beta$, Mg\,{\sc ii} and C\,{\sc iv}, and the continuum luminosities are measured by fitting the re-calibrated spectra. We also estimate the single-epoch virial black hole masses ($\rm M_{BH}$) using the derived emission line and continuum parameters. This is the first time that the emission line and continuum fluxes were estimated based on LAMOST re-calibrated quasar spectra. The catalog and spectra for these quasars are available online. After the nine-year LAMOST quasar survey, there are in total 56,175 identified quasars, of which 24,127 are newly discovered. The LAMOST quasar survey not only discovers a great number of new quasars, but also provides a database for investigating the spectral variability of the quasars observed by both LAMOST and SDSS, and finding rare quasars including changing-look quasars and broad absorption line quasars.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1811.01570, Accepted by ApJ

Refining the accuracy of validated target identification through coding variant fine-mapping in type 2 diabetes.

We aggregated coding variant data for 81,412 type 2 diabetes cases and 370,832 controls of diverse ancestry, identifying 40 coding variant association signals (P < 2.2 × 10-7); of these, 16 map outside known risk-associated loci. We make two important observations. First, only five of these signals are driven by low-frequency variants: even for these, effect sizes are modest (odds ratio ≤1.29). Second, when we used large-scale genome-wide association data to fine-map the associated variants in their regional context, accounting for the global enrichment of complex trait associations in coding sequence, compelling evidence for coding variant causality was obtained for only 16 signals. At 13 others, the associated coding variants clearly represent 'false leads' with potential to generate erroneous mechanistic inference. Coding variant associations offer a direct route to biological insight for complex diseases and identification of validated therapeutic targets; however, appropriate mechanistic inference requires careful specification of their causal contribution to disease predisposition

Measurement of the Atmospheric Muon Spectrum from 20 to 3000 GeV

The absolute muon flux between 20 GeV and 3000 GeV is measured with the L3 magnetic muon spectrometer for zenith angles ranging from 0 degree to 58 degree. Due to the large exposure of about 150 m2 sr d, and the excellent momentum resolution of the L3 muon chambers, a precision of 2.3 % at 150 GeV in the vertical direction is achieved. The ratio of positive to negative muons is studied between 20 GeV and 500 GeV, and the average vertical muon charge ratio is found to be 1.285 +- 0.003 (stat.) +- 0.019 (syst.).Comment: Total 32 pages, 9Figure

Skin infectome of patients with a tick bite history

IntroductionTicks are the most important obligate blood-feeding vectors of human pathogens. With the advance of high-throughput sequencing, more and more bacterial community and virome in tick has been reported, which seems to pose a great threat to people.MethodsA total of 14 skin specimens collected from tick-bite patients with mild to severe symptoms were analyzed through meta-transcriptomic sequencings.ResultsFour bacteria genera were both detected in the skins and ticks, including Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Corynebacterium and Propionibacterium, and three tick-associated viruses, Jingmen tick virus (JMTV), Bole tick virus 4 (BLTV4) and Deer tick mononegavirales-like virus (DTMV) were identified in the skin samples. Except of known pathogens such as pathogenic rickettsia, Coxiella burnetii and JMTV, we suggest Roseomonas cervicalis and BLTV4 as potential new agents amplified in the skins and then disseminated into the blood. As early as 1 day after a tick-bite, these pathogens can transmit to skins and at most four ones can co-infect in skins.DiscussionAdvances in sequencing technologies have revealed that the diversity of tick microbiome and virome goes far beyond our previous understanding. This report not only identifies three new potential pathogens in humans but also shows that the skin barrier is vital in preventing horizontal transmissions of tick-associated bacteria or virus communities to the host. It is the first research on patients’ skin infectome after a tick bite and demonstrates that more attention should be paid to the cutaneous response to prevent tick-borne illness

A review of phase change heat transfer in shape-stabilized phase change materials (ss-PCMs) based on porous supports for thermal energy storage

Latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) uses phase change materials (PCMs) to store and release heat, and can effectively address the mismatch between energy supply and demand. However, it suffers from low thermal conductivity and the leakage problem. One of the solutions is integrating porous supports and PCMs to fabricate shape-stabilized phase change materials (ss-PCMs). The phase change heat transfer in porous ss-PCMs is of fundamental importance for determining thermal-fluidic behaviours and evaluating LHTES system performance. This paper reviews the recent experimental and numerical investigations on phase change heat transfer in porous ss-PCMs. Materials, methods, apparatuses and significant outcomes are included in the section of experimental studies and it is found that paraffin and metal foam are the most used PCM and porous support respectively in the current researches. Numerical advances are reviewed from the aspect of different simulation methods. Compared to representative elementary volume (REV)-scale simulation, the pore-scale simulation can provide extra flow and heat transfer characteristics in pores, exhibiting great potential for the simulation of mesoporous, microporous and hierarchical porous materials. Moreover, there exists a research gap between phase change heat transfer and material preparation. Finally, this review outlooks the future research topics of phase change heat transfer in porous ss-PCMs

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13