605 research outputs found

    Development and validation of a prokaryotically expressed foot-and-mouth disease virus non-structural protein 2C'3AB-based immunochromatographic strip to differentiate between infected and vaccinated animals

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    <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an extremely contagious viral disease of cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and many cloven-hoofed wild animals. FMDV serotypes O and Asia 1 have circulated separately in China during the last fifty years, and eliminating infected animals and vaccination are the main policies to prevent and control FMD. Antibodies to NSPs exist in infected animals, and were utilized to differentiate between infected and vaccinated animals. The reliability of detection of 3AB or 3ABC antibodies is higher than that of other NSPs. The test of 3AB is still credible because 3C protein's immunogenicity is the weakest. The 2C protein, immediately N-terminal of 3AB, was used to differentiate between infected and vaccinated animals. The use of the immunochromatographic strip is facile for clinical laboratories lacking specialized equipment and for rapid field diagnosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, an immunochromatographic strip with non-structural protein (NSP) 2C'3AB was developed and validated to differentiate foot-and-mouth disease infected from vaccinated animals. A part of N-terminal of 2C protein gene and whole 3AB gene were connected and prokaryotically expressed as the antigens labeled with colloidal gold was used as the detector, the 2C'3AB protein and rabbits anti-2C'3AB antibodies were blotted on the nitrocellulose(NC) membrane for the test and control lines, respectively. 387 serum samples were collected to evaluate the characteristics of the strip in comparison with existing commercial 3ABC antibody ELISA kit. The coincidence rate of pigs negative serum, pigs vaccinated serum, pigs infected serum was 100%, 97.2%, 95.0%, respectively. The coincidence rate of cattle negative serum, cattle vaccinated serum, cattle infected serum was 100%, 96.7%, 98.0%, respectively. The <b>c</b>oincidence rate of sheep negative serum, sheep infected <b>s</b>erum was 97.6%, 96.3%, respectively. The strip was shown to be of high specificity and sensitivity, good repeatability and stability.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data suggest that the immunochromatographic strip is a useful tool for rapid on-site diagnosing animals infected foot-and-mouth disease virus.</p

    Preventive Effect of Crocin on Osteoporosis in an Ovariectomized Rat Model

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    The purpose of this study was to investigate the therapeutic effects of crocin on ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis in rats. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a sham-operated group (sham) and five ovariectomy (OVX) subgroups, that is, OVX with vehicle (OVX), OVX with 17β-estradiol (E2, 25 μg/kg/day), and OVX with graded crocin doses (5, 10, or 20 mg/kg/day). Daily oral administration of E2 or crocin started 4 weeks after OVX and lasted for 16 weeks. Our results showed that crocin dose-dependently inhibited the BMD reduction of L4 vertebrae and femurs caused by OVX and prevented the deterioration of trabecular microarchitecture, which were accompanied by a significant decrease in skeletal remodeling as evidenced by the lower levels of bone turnover markers. Furthermore, crocin reversed the oxidative stress status in both serum and bone tissue. The present study indicates that the administration of crocin at higher doses over a 16-week period can prevent OVX-induced osteoporosis in rats without hyperplastic effects on the uterus, which may, at least partially, be attributed to crocin’s antioxidative property. In brief, crocin is a natural alternative for postmenopausal osteoporosis treatment in elderly women

    Increasing incidence of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome could be associated with livestock husbandry in Changchun, Northeastern China

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    Background: Since the end of the 1990s, the incidence of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) has been increasing dramatically in Changchun, northeastern China. However, it is unknown which, and how, underlying risk factors have been involved in the reemergence of the disease.Methods: Data on HFRS cases at the county scale were collected from 1998 to 2012. Data on livestock husbandry including the numbers of large animals (cattle, horses, donkeys and mules), sheep, and deer, and on climatic and land cover variables were also collected. Epidemiological features, including the spatial, temporal and human patterns of disease were characterized. The potential factors related to spatial heterogeneity and temporal trends were analyzed using standard and time-series Poisson regression analysis, respectively.Results: Annual incidence varied among the 10 counties. Shuangyang County in southeastern Changchun had the highest number of cases (1,525 cases; 35.9% of all cases), but its population only accounted for 5.6% of the total population. Based on seasonal pattern in HFRS incidence, two epidemic phases were identified. One was a single epidemic peak at the end of each year from 1988 to 1997 and the other consisted of dual epidemic peaks at both the end and the beginning of each year from 1998 to the end of the study period. HFRS incidence was higher in males compared to females, and most of the HFRS cases occurred in peasant populations. The results of the Poisson regression analysis indicated that the spatial distribution and the increasing incidence of HFRS were significantly associated with livestock husbandry and climate factors, particularly with deer cultivation.Conclusions: Our results indicate that the re-emergence of HFRS in Changchun has been accompanied by changing seasonal patterns over the past 25 years. Integrated measures focusing on areas related to local livestock husbandry could be helpful for the prevention and control of HFRS

    Unveiling the additive-assisted oriented growth of perovskite crystallite for high performance light-emitting diodes.

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    Solution-processed metal halide perovskites have been recognized as one of the most promising semiconductors, with applications in light-emitting diodes (LEDs), solar cells and lasers. Various additives have been widely used in perovskite precursor solutions, aiming to improve the formed perovskite film quality through passivating defects and controlling the crystallinity. The additive's role of defect passivation has been intensively investigated, while a deep understanding of how additives influence the crystallization process of perovskites is lacking. Here, we reveal a general additive-assisted crystal formation pathway for FAPbI3 perovskite with vertical orientation, by tracking the chemical interaction in the precursor solution and crystallographic evolution during the film formation process. The resulting understanding motivates us to use a new additive with multi-functional groups, 2-(2-(2-Aminoethoxy)ethoxy)acetic acid, which can facilitate the orientated growth of perovskite and passivate defects, leading to perovskite layer with high crystallinity and low defect density and thereby record-high performance NIR perovskite LEDs (~800 nm emission peak, a peak external quantum efficiency of 22.2% with enhanced stability)

    CSRP2 transcript levels after consolidation therapy increase prognostic prediction ability in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

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    Quantification of measurable residual disease (MRD) correlates with the risk of leukemia recurrence in adults with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). However, it remains unknown whether collecting data on cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2 (CSRP2) transcript levels, after completing the second course of consolidation, improves prognosis prediction accuracy. A total of 204 subjects with B-cell ALL were tested for CSPR2 transcripts after completing the second course of consolidation using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and divided into high (N = 32) and low (N = 172) CSRP2 expression cohorts. In multivariable analyses, subjects with high expression of CSRP2 had a higher 5-year cumulative incidence of relapse (CIR) (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.57, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.38-4.76; P = 0.003), lower 5-year relapse-free survival (RFS) (HR = 3.22, 95% CI 1.75-5.93; P < 0.001), and overall survival (OS) (HR = 4.59, 95% CI 2.64-7.99; P < 0.001) in the whole cohort, as well as in the multi-parameter flow cytometry (MPFC) MRD-negative cohort (for CIR, HR = 2.70, 95% CI 1.19-6.12; for RFS, HR = 4.37, 95% CI 1.94-9.85; for OS, HR = 4.90, 95% CI 2.43-9.90; all P < 0.05). Prognostic analysis showed that allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) could significantly improve the prognosis of patients with high CSRP2 expression (allo-HSCT vs chemotherapy: 5-year CIR, 52% vs 91%; RFS, 41% vs 9%; OS, 38% vs 20%; all P < 0.05). Our data indicate that incorporating data from CSPR2 transcript levels to the MRD-testing at the end of the second course of consolidation therapy enhances prognosis prediction accuracy in adults with B-cell ALL

    Locally Administrated Perindopril Improves Healing in an Ovariectomized Rat Tibial Osteotomy Model

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    Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors are widely prescribed to regulate blood pressure. High doses of orally administered perindopril have previously been shown to improve fracture healing in a mouse femur fracture model. In this study, perindopril was administered directly to the fracture area with the goal of stimulating fracture repair. Three months after being ovariectomized (OVX), tibial fractures were produced in Sprague–Dawley rats and subsequently stabilized with intramedullary wires. Perindopril (0.4 mg/kg/day) was injected locally at the fractured site for a treatment period of 7 days. Vehicle reagent was used as a control. Callus quality was evaluated at 2 and 4 weeks post-fracture. Compared with the vehicle group, perindopril treatment significantly increased bone formation, increased biomechanical strength, and improved microstructural parameters of the callus. Newly woven bone was arranged more tightly and regularly at 4 weeks post-fracture. The ultimate load increased by 66.1 and 76.9% (p<0.01), and the bone volume over total volume (BV/TV) increased by 29.9% and 24.3% (p<0.01) at 2 and 4 weeks post-fracture, respectively. These findings suggest that local treatment with perindopril could promote fracture healing in ovariectomized rats

    Observation of the electromagnetic doubly OZI-suppressed decay J/ψϕπ0J/\psi \rightarrow \phi \pi^{0}

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    Using a sample of 1.311.31 billion J/ψJ/\psi events accumulated with the BESIII detector at the BEPCII collider, we report the observation of the decay J/ψϕπ0J/\psi \rightarrow \phi\pi^{0}, which is the first evidence for a doubly Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka suppressed electromagnetic J/ψJ/\psi decay. A clear structure is observed in the K+KK^{+} K^{-} mass spectrum around 1.02 GeV/c2c^2, which can be attributed to interference between J/ψϕπ0J/\psi \rightarrow \phi\pi^{0} and J/ψK+Kπ0J/\psi \rightarrow K^{+}K^{-}\pi^{0} decays. Due to this interference, two possible solutions are found. The corresponding measured values of the branching fraction of J/ψϕπ0J/\psi \to \phi\pi^{0} are [2.94±0.16(stat.)±0.16(syst.)]×106[2.94 \pm 0.16\text{(stat.)} \pm 0.16\text{(syst.)}] \times 10^{-6} and [1.24±0.33(stat.)±0.30(syst.)]×107[1.24 \pm 0.33\text{(stat.)} \pm 0.30\text{(syst.)}] \times 10^{-7}.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, published in Phys. Rev.
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