Long-peptide therapeutic vaccination against CRPV-induced papillomas in HLA-A2.1 transgenic rabbits

AbstractLong peptide immunization is a promising strategy to clear established tumors. In the current study, we investigated the therapeutic effect of a naturally existing long peptide that contained two HLA-A2.1 restricted epitopes (CRPVE1/149–157 and CRPVE1/161–169) from cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV) E1 using our CRPV/HLA-A2.1 transgenic rabbit model. A universal Tetanus Toxin helper motif (TT helper) was tagged at either the N-terminus or the carboxyl-terminus of this long peptide and designated as TT-E1 peptide and E1 peptide-TT, respectively. Four groups of HLA-A2.1 transgenic rabbits were infected with wild type CRPV DNA. Three weeks post-infection, the rabbits were immunized four times with TT-E1 peptide, E1 peptide only, E1 peptide-TT or TT-control peptide with two-week intervals between immunizations. Tumor outgrowth was monitored and recorded weekly. After the third booster immunization, tumors on two of the four E1 peptide-TT immunized rabbits began to shrink. One animal from this group was free of tumors at the termination of the study. The mean papilloma size of E1 peptide-TT immunized rabbits was significantly smaller when compared with that of the three other groups (P<0.05, one way ANOVA analysis). It is interesting that E1 peptide-TT vaccination not only stimulated stronger T cell mediated immune responses but also stronger antibody generations. We conclude that the location of a TT helper motif tagged at the long peptide vaccine is critical for the outcome of therapeutic responses to persistent tumors in our HLA-A2.1 transgenic rabbit model

Modeling Hydro-Dynamics in a Harbor Area in the Daishan Island, China

This study presents an incorporation and application of a two-dimensional, unstructured-grid hydrodynamic model with a suspended sediment transport module in Daishan, China. The model is verified with field measurement data from 2017: water level, flow velocities and suspended sediment concentration (SSC). In the application on the Daishan, the performance of the hydrodynamic model has been satisfactorily validated against observed variations of available measurement stations. Coupled with the hydrodynamic model, a sediment transport model has been developed and tested. The simulations agreed quantitatively with the observations. The validated model was applied to the construction of breakwaters and docks under a different plan. The model can calculate the flow field and siltation situation under different breakwater settings. After we have analyzed the impact of existing breakwater layout schemes and sediment transport, a reasonable plan will be selected. The results show that the sea area near the north of Yanwo Shan and Dongken Shan has a large flow velocity exceeding 2.0 m/s and the flow velocity within the isobath of 5 m is small, within 0.6 m/s. According to the sediment calculation, the dock project is feasible. However, the designed width of the fairway should be increased to ensure the navigation safety of the ship according to variation characteristics of cross flow velocity in channel

Association between hypertension and prognosis of patients with COVID-19: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background To investigate the association between hypertension and clinical outcomes, including in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and invasive ventilation in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia. Methods We implemented a systematic search of PubMed for articles that assessed clinical outcomes of hypertensive patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. The primary outcomes evaluated included: in-hospital mortality, ICU admission, and the use of invasive ventilation. Results A total of 18 studies were included, involving 13,293 patients and covering from January 25, 2020, to April 20, 2020. The relationship between hypertension and prognosis in COVID-19 patients was evaluated. Results showed that hypertension was a risk factor for in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients (RR: 2.20, 95% CI, 1.83–2.65, P < .001). Moreover, patients with hypertension were more likely to be admitted to ICU (RR: 1.86, 95% CI, 1.13–3.07, P = .001) and to use invasive ventilation (RR: 2.99, 95% CI, 1.73–5.17, P < .001). Conclusions Among COVID-19 patients, those combined with hypertension had a significantly higher risk of in-hospital deaths, admission to ICU, and need for invasive ventilation

XGB-SEGA coupled energy saving method for wastewater treatment plants

Abstract To reduce the amount of energy consumed in wastewater treatment plants, nine methods were used to select the key operation parameters that affected energy consumption according to daily operation records, and an intelligent operation management system based on a genetic algorithm was constructed by mapping the relationships between energy consumption and the key operation parameters. The results showed that the prediction and management of energy consumption could be achieved by incorporating the strengthened elastic genetic algorithm into the extreme gradient boosting model. The main parameters affecting energy consumption were the influent flow rate, effluent total nitrogen, NH4 +–N loading rate, etc., and the energy consumption could be reduced by 13–27% (with an average of 22%). The parameters were all selected from the daily operation records of the wastewater treatment plant, and no additional complex data acquisition system was needed to collect specific parameters. This study provided a cost-effective strategy to reduce energy consumption in wastewater treatment plants