ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ANTI-DENGUE VIRUS PROTEINS FROM CHROMOBACTERIUM PANAMA

Dengue virus (DENV) is the most important viral pathogen transmitted by Aedes sp. mosquitoes and the causative agent of dengue fever. According to WHO, over 40% of the world population is at risk from dengue and about 2.5% of those affected die each year. Our laboratory has previously identified a novel bacterium in the gut of field caught Aedes mosquitoes that had interesting properties with regards to vector competence. It was identified as Chromobacterium Panama (Csp_P), and studies have shown that it inhibit DENV infection in the mosquito. Further studies showed that the Csp_P culture supernatant could inhibit DENV infection in vitro. Based on these findings, we characterized several biochemical features and the mode of action of the putative anti-DENV factors. The Csp_P-derived anti-DENV factors were heat-stable at 70°C and the activity was enriched in the protein fraction, with molecular weights ranging from 50-100kDa. The activity seems to be associated with a Csp_P secreted multiprotein complex or protein oligomer. We also documented an apparent loss of the DENV envelope protein upon exposure to this protein fraction, which most likely account for abolished viral attachment to host cells. Additionally, proteomic analysis of the fraction identified 33 unique Csp_P proteins, including an extracellular cholesterol oxidase that has been indirectly linked to viral replication in several studies. Several bacterial metalloproteases were also identified, and may be responsible for the proteolytic degradation of the DENV envelope protein. Together, our study characterized an important microbial-derived protein extract with anti-DENV activity in vitro

Cardiovascular disease and subsequent risk of psychiatric disorders: a nationwide sibling-controlled study

Background: The association between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and selected psychiatric disorders has frequently been suggested while the potential role of familial factors and comorbidities in such association has rarely been investigated. Methods: We identified 869 056 patients newly diagnosed with CVD from 1987 to 2016 in Sweden with no history of psychiatric disorders, and 910 178 full siblings of these patients as well as 10 individually age- and sex-matched unrelated population controls (N=8 690 560). Adjusting for multiple comorbid conditions, we used flexible parametric models and Cox models to estimate the association of CVD with risk of all subsequent psychiatric disorders, comparing rates of first incident psychiatric disorder among CVD patients with rates among unaffected full siblings and population controls. Results: The median age at diagnosis was 60 years for patients with CVD and 59.2% were male. During up to thirty years of follow-up, the crude incidence rates of psychiatric disorder were 7.1, 4.6 and 4.0 per 1000 person-years for patients with CVD, their siblings and population controls. In the sibling comparison, we observed an increased risk of psychiatric disorder during the first year after CVD diagnosis (hazard ratio [HR], 2.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.62-2.87) and thereafter (1.45; 95% CI, 1.42-1.48). Increased risks were observed for all types of psychiatric disorders and among all diagnoses of CVD. We observed similar associations in the population comparison. CVD patients who developed a comorbid psychiatric disorder during the first year after diagnosis were at elevated risk of subsequent CVD death compared to patients without such comorbidity (HR 1.55; 95% CI 1.44-1.67). Conclusions: Patients diagnosed with CVD are at an elevated risk for subsequent psychiatric disorders independent of shared familial factors and comorbid conditions. Comorbid psychiatric disorders in patients with CVD are associated with higher risk of cardiovascular mortality suggesting that surveillance and treatment of psychiatric comorbidities should be considered as an integral part of clinical management of newly diagnosed CVD patients. Funding: This work was supported by the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action Grant (CoMorMent, grant no. 847776 to UV, PFS and FF), Grant of Excellence, Icelandic Research Fund (grant no. 163362-051 to UV), ERC Consolidator Grant (StressGene, grant no: 726413 to UV), Swedish Research Council (grant no. D0886501 to PFS) and US NIMH R01 MH123724 (to PFS)

Protecting Compressive Ghost Imaging with Hyperchaotic System and DNA Encoding

As computational ghost imaging is widely used in the military, radar, and other fields, its security and efficiency became more and more important. In this paper, we propose a compressive ghost imaging encryption scheme based on the hyper-chaotic system, DNA encoding, and KSVD algorithm for the first time. First, a 4-dimensional hyper-chaotic system is used to generate four long pseudorandom sequences and diffuse the sequences with DNA operation to get the phase mask sequence, and then N phase mask matrixes are generated from the sequences. Second, in order to improve the reconstruction efficiency, KSVD algorithm is used to generate dictionary D to sparse the image. The transmission key of the proposed scheme includes the initial values of hyper-chaotic and dictionary D, which has plaintext correlation and big key space. Compared with the existing compressive ghost imaging encryption scheme, the proposed scheme is more sensitive to initial values and more complexity and has smaller transmission key, which makes the encryption scheme more secure, and the reconstruction efficiency is higher too. Simulation results and security analysis demonstrate the good performance of the proposed scheme

Reliability assessment of integrated energy systems based on complex network theory

Abstract As integrated energy systems (IES) continue to undergo development and advancement, the degree of coupling between subsystems and their complexity are also on the rise, posing a challenge for the reliability assessment of such systems. The conventional method is unable to explain the interaction between subsystems as well as system‐level phenomena. The complex network theory is needed to provide a deeper analysis. Firstly, this paper introduces the basic concept and analysis tools of complex network theory. Secondly, the topological network model and the identification indexes of weak links for the IES are summarized as the basis for reliability assessment. Then, the reliability assessment indexes and assessment methods are sorted out for the IES based on the complex network theory; and further, the measures to optimize the reliability of the IES are put forward. Finally, from the perspective of complex network theory, directions for future research on the reliability assessment of IES are suggested

An ESCRT-dependent step in fatty acid transfer from lipid droplets to mitochondria through VPS13D−TSG101 interactions

Metabolic rewiring requires the mobilization of fatty acids (FA) from lipid droplets (LDs) at membrane contact sites (MCSs), although the details of FA transfer remain unclear. Here, the authors show that VPS13D and the ESCRT complex remodel LD membranes to promote FA trafficking to mitochondria

Study on the Agricultural Air Pollution Aggravated by the Rural Labor Migration

In recent years, air pollution has received serious concerns from researchers, media, and the public sectors, but air pollution from agricultural production activities has not received enough attention. This paper focuses on agricultural air pollution in central China, which is aggravated by the ongoing rural labor migration trend. With a set of panel data released from Hubei and Hunan provinces in China, we adopt the mediating effect model to explore the relationship between rural labor migration and air pollution caused by agricultural activity in China. First, we use the inventory analysis method and principal component analysis method to calculate the comprehensive index of the air pollution of agriculture in 152 counties and districts from Hubei and Hunan provinces, and we empirically test the impact of labor migration on air pollution with a mediating effect model as well as carry out regional heterogeneity analysis on the pollution effect of these two provinces mentioned above. The analysis above indicates that the increase of labor migration has intensified the comprehensive index of air pollution caused by agricultural activity by changing the supply of labor force in the agricultural sector, the budget line of rural residents, and the scale of agricultural production and crop planting structure, but there is a difference in the indirect total effect between the two provinces mentioned above according to our regional heterogeneity analysis. This study is a necessary extension to studies on alleviating and controlling air pollution in China

Effective Preservation of Chilled Pork Using Photodynamic Antibacterial Film Based on Curcumin-β-Cyclodextrin Complex

A biodegradable photodynamic antibacterial film (PS-CF) was prepared using the casting method, with κ-Carrageenan (κ-Car) as the film-forming substrate and curcumin-β-cyclodextrin (Cur-β-CD) complex as photosensitizer. Chilled pork samples were coated with PS-CF and stored at 4 °C to investigate the effects of PS-CF combined with LED light irradiation (425 nm, 45 min) (PS+L+) on pork preservation during 10 days of storage. The total viable count (TVC) of bacteria, total volatile basic nitrogen value (TVB-N) and the pH of pork treated with PS+L+ were all lower than the control, and the water-holding capacity (WHC) was higher. Ten days later, the TVB-N value was 12.35 ± 0.57 mg/100 g and the TVC value was 5.78 ± 0.17 log CFU/g, which was within the acceptable range. Sensory evaluation determined that the color, odor, and overall acceptability of pork treated with PS+L+ were significantly better than the control. These findings suggest that PS+L+ treatment effectively extended the shelf life of chilled pork from ~4–5 to 10 days. Correlation analysis showed that the sensory quality of the chilled pork significantly correlated with total bacterial counts, TVB-N and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) (p < 0.05), suggesting that these biomarkers could be used as standard indicators for evaluating the freshness of chilled pork. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of Cur-β-CD photodynamic antibacterial film for the preservation of chilled pork and provide a theoretical basis for the application of the film for the preservation of fresh food in general

Study on the Agricultural Air Pollution Aggravated by the Rural Labor Migration

In recent years, air pollution has received serious concerns from researchers, media, and the public sectors, but air pollution from agricultural production activities has not received enough attention. This paper focuses on agricultural air pollution in central China, which is aggravated by the ongoing rural labor migration trend. With a set of panel data released from Hubei and Hunan provinces in China, we adopt the mediating effect model to explore the relationship between rural labor migration and air pollution caused by agricultural activity in China. First, we use the inventory analysis method and principal component analysis method to calculate the comprehensive index of the air pollution of agriculture in 152 counties and districts from Hubei and Hunan provinces, and we empirically test the impact of labor migration on air pollution with a mediating effect model as well as carry out regional heterogeneity analysis on the pollution effect of these two provinces mentioned above. The analysis above indicates that the increase of labor migration has intensified the comprehensive index of air pollution caused by agricultural activity by changing the supply of labor force in the agricultural sector, the budget line of rural residents, and the scale of agricultural production and crop planting structure, but there is a difference in the indirect total effect between the two provinces mentioned above according to our regional heterogeneity analysis. This study is a necessary extension to studies on alleviating and controlling air pollution in China

Study on the linkage between macro policy and market effectiveness in China's stock market: Based on run test of China's stock market index.

The macro policy of the stock market is an important market information. The implementation goal of the macro policy of the stock market is mainly to improve the effectiveness of the stock market. However, whether this effectiveness has achieved the goal is worth verifying through empirical data. The exertion of this information utility is closely related to the effectiveness of the stock market. Use the run test method in statistics to collect and sort out the daily data of stock price index in recent 30 years, the linkage between 75 macro policy events and 35 trading days of market efficiencies before and after the macro event are tested since 1992 to 2022. The results show that 50.66% of the macro policies are positively linked to the effectiveness of the stock market, while 49.34% of the macro policies have reduced the effectiveness of the market operation. This shows that the effectiveness of China's stock market is not high, and the nonlinear characteristics are obvious, so the policy formulation of the stock market needs further improvement