Development and application of an antigen capture ELISA assay for diagnosis of Japanese encephalitis virus in swine, human and mosquito

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a serious zoonosis caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) which is a mosquito-borne pathogen of the family <it>Flavivirus</it>. However, the application of several developed laboratory methods for the detection of JEV antigens or antibodies are limited by their requirements of laboratory operations, skilled technicians and special facilities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To develop a method for detecting JEV antigen in swine, human, mosquito and other clinical specimens specifically, conveniently and effectively, an antigen capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was established in this study. Sensitivity, specificity, repeatability and stability of the developed method were evaluated, and 60 clinical samples were tested in this study. The results demonstrated that the antigen capture ELISA was capable in detecting JEV antigen with high sensitivity and specificity compared with conventional methods. 14 samples showed the positive result with coincidence rate of 70%, and 46 displayed negative result with coincidence rate of 100% as compared to that of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The developed ELISA assay provides a convenient and specific method for the large-scale determination of JEV antigen in infected swine, human and mosquito samples with high sensitivity and specificity.</p

Research on concentration and distribution of cadmium in crabs sold in Wenzhou

Objective To investigate the contamination and distribution of cadmium (Cd) in crabs sold in Wenzhou, and instruct consumers to eat healthily. Methods Three crab species were collected from 51 markets in 6 counties and districts of Wenzhou. The content of Cd was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry based on GB 5009.268-2016. Results The detection rate of Cd was 100% in 235 samples. The Cd pollution in Portunus crab increase during 2013, 2015 to 2017. The Cd content of muscle and hepatopancreas in Portunus crab and Scylla serrata was higher than that in Eriocheir sinensis Milne-Edwards (P0.05). The distribution of Cd in Portunus crab was hepatopancreas and gonad> pectoral muscle > leg muscle, there was no significant difference of cadmium content in different parts between female and male crabs (P>0.05). Conclusion Cd was mainly concentrated in hepatopancreas, which was irrelevant to crab species, sex and individual difference. Cd content of Portunus crab and Scylla serrata exceeded the standard seriously, especially in hepatopancreas. People should pay more attention to the Cd pollution of crabs, and reduce the intake of hepatopancreas if necessary

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals cell subpopulations in the tumor microenvironment contributing to hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is among the deadliest cancers worldwide, and advanced HCC is difficult to treat. Identifying specific cell subpopulations in the tumor microenvironment and exploring interactions between the cells and their environment are crucial for understanding the development, prognosis, and treatment of tumors.Methods: In this study, we constructed a tumor ecological landscape of 14 patients with HCC from 43 tumor tissue samples and 14 adjacent control samples. We used bioinformatics analysis to reveal cell subpopulations with potentially specific functions in the tumor microenvironment and to explore the interactions between tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment.Results: Immune cell infiltration was evident in the tumor tissues, and BTG1+RGS1+ central memory T cells (Tcms) interact with tumor cells through CCL5-SDC4/1 axis. HSPA1B may be associated with remodeling of the tumor ecological niche in HCC. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) and macrophages (TAMs) were closely associated with tumor cells. APOC1+SPP1+ TAM secretes SPP1, which binds to ITGF1 secreted by CAFs to remodel the tumor microenvironment. More interestingly, FAP+ CAF interacts with naïve T cells via the CXCL12–CXCR4 axis, which may lead to resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy.Conclusion: Our study suggests the presence of tumor cells with drug-resistant potential in the HCC microenvironment. Among non-tumor cells, high NDUFA4L2 expression in fibroblasts may promote tumor progression, while high HSPA1B expression in central memory T cells may exert anti-tumor effects. In addition, the CCL5–SDC4/1 interaction between BTG1+RGS1+ Tcms and tumor cells may promote tumor progression. Focusing on the roles of CAFs and TAMs, which are closely related to tumor cells, in tumors would be beneficial to the progress of systemic therapy research

Defining Key Genes Regulating Morphogenesis of Apocrine Sweat Gland in Sheepskin

The apocrine sweat gland is a unique skin appendage in humans compared to mouse and chicken models. The absence of apocrine sweat glands in chicken and murine skin largely restrains further understanding of the complexity of human skin biology and skin diseases, like hircismus. Sheep may serve as an additional system for skin appendage investigation owing to the distributions and histological similarities between the apocrine sweat glands of sheep trunk skin and human armpit skin. To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying morphogenesis of apocrine sweat glands in sheepskin, transcriptome analyses were conducted to reveal 1631 differentially expressed genes that were mainly enriched in three functional groups (cellular component, molecular function and biological process), particularly in gland, epithelial, hair follicle and skin development. There were 7 Gene Ontology (GO) terms enriched in epithelial cell migration and morphogenesis of branching epithelium that were potentially correlated with the wool follicle peg elongation. An additional 5 GO terms were enriched in gland morphogenesis (20 genes), gland development (42 genes), salivary gland morphogenesis and development (8 genes), branching involved in salivary gland morphogenesis (6 genes) and mammary gland epithelial cell differentiation (4 genes). The enriched gland-related genes and two Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway genes (WNT and TGF-β) were potentially involved in the induction of apocrine sweat glands. Genes named BMPR1A, BMP7, SMAD4, TGFB3, WIF1, and WNT10B were selected to validate transcript expression by qRT-PCR. Immunohistochemistry was performed to localize markers for hair follicle (SOX2), skin fibroblast (PDGFRB), stem cells (SOX9) and BMP signaling (SMAD5) in sheepskin. SOX2 and PDGFRB were absent in apocrine sweat glands. SOX9 and SMAD5 were both observed in precursor cells of apocrine sweat glands and later in gland ducts. These results combined with the upregulation of BMP signaling genes indicate that apocrine sweat glands were originated from outer root sheath of primary wool follicle and positively regulated by BMP signaling. This report established the primary network regulating early development of apocrine sweat glands in sheepskin and will facilitate the further understanding of histology and pathology of apocrine sweat glands in human and companion animal skin

Robust Rumor Detection based on Multi-Defense Model Ensemble

The development of adversarial technology, represented by adversarial text, has brought new challenges to rumor detection based on deep learning. In order to improve the robustness of rumor detection models under adversarial conditions, we propose a robust detection method based on the ensemble of multi-defense model on the basis of several mainstream defense methods such as data enhancement, random smoothing, and adversarial training. First, multiple robust detection models are trained based on different defense principles; then, two different ensemble strategies are used to integrate the above models, and the detection effect under different ensemble strategies is studied. The test results on the open-source dataset Twitter15 show that the proposed method is able to compensate for the shortcomings of a single model by ensembling different decision boundaries to effectively defend against mainstream adversarial text attacks and improve the robustness of rumor detection models compared to existing defense methods

Physical Activity Types, Physical Activity Levels and Risk of Diabetes in General Adults: The NHANES 2007–2018

Background: Recreational activities show benefits for diabetes prevention, but work-related activity and the total amount of individual physical activity is rarely discussed. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the participation in five typical physical activities (vigorous work activity, vigorous recreational activities, moderate work activity, moderate recreational activities, and walk/bicycle for transportation), as well as the weekly distribution of total physical activity intensity, and to explore the relationships between physical activity types, physical activity levels, and risk of diabetes. Study design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: The self-reported physical activity data on specific domains of physical activity were acquired from individuals in the 2007–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) using the Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ). Diabetes status was assessed by self-reported medical diagnosis or medication usage, or a fasting glucose concentration ≥ 126 mg/dL (fasting is defined as no caloric intake for at least 8 h) or HbA1c ≥ 6.5%. Weighted logistic regression was used to investigate the associations between physical activity types, physical activity levels, and risk of diabetes. Results: Diabetes was less prevalent in people who participated in physical activity and the risk of diabetes reduced progressively as total physical activity levels increased. Younger adults (20–44 years) and males reported a higher proportion of high-intensity physical activity participation. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of a physically active lifestyle for preventing diabetes. Distinct types of physical activity had different effects on the risk of diabetes. A greater total physical activity level was related to a substantial reduction in diabetes risk

X-NIndex: A High Performance Stable and Large XML Document Query Approach and Experience in TOP500 List Data

Abstract. This article describes X-NIndex, a novel approach for large XML documents with stable structure. The definition for the large XML document with stable structure is given while the concept of XML document tree coordinate(X-DTC) is introduced. The significant advantage of X-NIndex to other XML query schemas is shown and the experimental results are present.