Fibrinogen-related proteins in ixodid ticks

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fibrinogen-related proteins with lectin activity are believed to be part of the tick innate immune system. Several fibrinogen-related proteins have been described and characterised mainly on the basis of their cDNA sequences while direct biochemical evidence is missing. One of them, the haemolymph lectin Dorin M from the tick <it>Ornithodoros moubata </it>was isolated and characterised in more depth.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Several fibrinogen-related proteins were detected in the haemolymph of ixodid ticks <it>Dermacentor marginatus</it>, <it>Rhipicephalus appendiculatus</it>, <it>R. pulchellus</it>, and <it>R. sanguineus</it>. These proteins were recognised by sera directed against the tick lectin Dorin M and the haemagglutination activity of the ticks <it>R. appendiculatus </it>and <it>D. marginatus</it>. Cross-reactivity of the identified proteins with antibodies against the fibrinogen domain of the human ficolin was also shown. The carbohydrate-binding ability of tick haemolymph was confirmed by haemagglutination activity assays, and this activity was shown to be inhibited by neuraminic acid and sialylated glycoproteins as well as by N-acetylated hexosamines. The fibrinogen-related proteins were shown to be glycosylated and they were localised in salivary glands, midguts, and haemocytes of <it>D. marginatus</it>. Hemelipoglycoprotein was also recognised by sera directed against the fibrinogen-related proteins in all three <it>Rhipicephalus </it>species as well as in <it>D. marginatus</it>. However, this protein does not contain the fibrinogen domain and thus, the binding possibly results from the structure similarity between hemelipoglycoprotein and the fibrinogen domain.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The presence of fibrinogen-related proteins was shown in the haemolymph of four tick species in high abundance. Reactivity of antibodies directed against ficolin or fibrinogen-related proteins with proteins which do not contain the fibrinogen domain points out the importance of sequence analysis of the identified proteins in further studies. Previously observed expression of fibrinogen-related proteins in haemocytes together with the results of this study suggest involvement of fibrinogen-related proteins in tick immunity processes. Thus, they have potential as targets for anti-tick vaccines and as antimicrobial proteins in pharmacology. Research on fibrinogen-related proteins could reveal further details of tick innate immunity processes.</p

New ventilation schemes of car cabin evaluated by CFD simulations

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to investigate new ways of air conditioning of a car cabin during summer conditions. Three different schemes of ventilation were considered: classical mixing ventilation (dashboard vents), large-area ceiling vents, and underfloor vents delivering air under the seats. The Star-CCM+ was used to carry out unsteady RANS simulations and resulting temperature and velocity fields were compared. Furthermore, the draft risk and age of air were evaluated for each scheme. For air conditioning of the cabin, mixing ventilation had the best results

A parametric study of influence of material properties on car cabin environment

Recently the author presented the paper describing a car cabin heat load model for the prediction of the car cabin environment. The model allowed to simulate a transient behavior of the car cabin, i.e. radiant temperature of surfaces, air temperature and relative humidity. The model was developed in Dymola and was built on the basic principles of thermodynamics and heat balance equations. The model was validated by experiments performed on the Škoda Felicia during various operational conditions. In this paper the authors present a parametric study investigating influence of material properties on a car cabin environment. The Matlab version of the car cabin heat load model has been developed and used. The model was extended by simple graphical user interface and it was deployed into the stand alone executable application. The aim of this parametric study is to identify most important material properties and its effect on the cabin environment during specific operational conditions of car. By means of a sensitive analysis it can identified which material parameters have to be defined precisely and which parameters are not so important for the prediction of the air temperature inside cabin

Pollution and moisture infiltration effect assessment based on data-driven analysis for aircraft heritage protection

International audienceThe paper deals with monitoring and analyzing the indoor environmental parameters through remote data collection to evaluate the pollution and moisture infiltration effects on aircraft heritage conservation. First, based on the meteorological and pollution data, the moisture penetration and airborne pollution infiltration into indoor spaces of a heritage site (hangar) with stored historic aircrafts are determined. The hangar under investigation is located in the Aviation museum Kbely, Prague, Czech Republic. The determination is performed by wet/dry cycles (fluctuations) evaluation and applying ISO 11844 methodology to outdoor pollution infiltration into the interior. Next, a time of wetness (ToW) is determined indoors according to ISO 9223, rather as an environmental than a surface parameter as dewing and exceeding high humidity level (approxl RH 80% at T>0 °C) are considered. The actual moisture adsorption onto polluted surfaces of aircraft artifacts is then dependent on the hygroscopic corrosion products developed. Such an adsorption prolongs actual surface ToW. In addition to ToW, even the deposition rate of indoor pollutants, particularly sulphur dioxide and chlorides, are considered and the atmosphere corrosivity is estimated by applying the ISO standardized statistical models for aluminium. The resulting iso-corrosivity figures out the aggressiveness of the hangar environment from the point of view of aircraft material susceptibility to corrosion and degradation

Observation of ionospherically reflected quasiperiodic emissions by the DEMETER spacecraft

International audienceQuasiperiodic (QP) electromagnetic emissions are whistler mode waves at typical frequencies of a few kHz characterized by a periodic time modulation of their intensity. The DEMETER spacecraft observed events where the QP emissions exhibit a sudden change in the wave vector and Poynting vector directions. The change happens in a short interval of latitudes. We explain this behavior by ionospheric reflection and present a ray-tracing simulation which matches resulting wave vector directions. We also attempt to locate the source region of these emissions and conclude that they are most probably generated at the inner boundary of the plasmapause which also acts as a guide during the propagation of the QP emissions

To ventilate or not to ventilate during bystander CPR — A EuReCa TWO analysis

Background: Survival after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is still low. For every minute without resuscitation the likelihood of survival decreases. One critical step is initiation of immediate, high quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The aim of this subgroup analysis of data collected for the European Registry of Cardiac Arrest Study number 2 (EuReCa TWO) was to investigate the association between OHCA survival and two types of bystander CPR namely: chest compression only CPR (CConly) and CPR with chest compressions and ventilations (FullCPR). Method: In this subgroup analysis of EuReCa TWO, all patients who received bystander CPR were included. Outcomes were return of spontaneous circulation and survival to 30-days or hospital discharge. A multilevel binary logistic regression analysis with survival as the dependent variable was performed. Results: A total of 5884 patients were included in the analysis, varying between countries from 21 to 1444. Survival was 320 (8%) in the CConly group and 174 (13%) in the FullCPR group. After adjustment for age, sex, location, rhythm, cause, time to scene, witnessed collapse and country, patients who received FullCPR had a significantly higher survival rate when compared to those who received CConly (adjusted odds ration 1.46, 95% confidence interval 1.17–1.83). Conclusion: In this analysis, FullCPR was associated with higher survival compared to CConly. Guidelines should continue to emphasise the importance of compressions and ventilations during resuscitation for patients who suffer OHCA and CPR courses should continue to teach both