Monoclonal Antibodies against Accumulation-Associated Protein Affect EPS Biosynthesis and Enhance Bacterial Accumulation of Staphylococcus epidermidis

Because there is no effective antibiotic to eradicate Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilm infections that lead to the failure of medical device implantations, the development of anti-biofilm vaccines is necessary. Biofilm formation by S. epidermidis requires accumulation-associated protein (Aap) that contains sequence repeats known as G5 domains, which are responsible for the Zn2+-dependent dimerization of Aap to mediate intercellular adhesion. Antibodies against Aap have been reported to inhibit biofilm accumulation. In the present study, three monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against the Aap C-terminal single B-repeat construct followed by the 79-aa half repeat (AapBrpt1.5) were generated. MAb18B6 inhibited biofilm formation by S. epidermidis RP62A to 60% of the maximum, while MAb25C11 and MAb20B9 enhanced biofilm accumulation. All three MAbs aggregated the planktonic bacteria to form visible cell clusters. Epitope mapping revealed that the epitope of MAb18B6, which recognizes an identical area within AapBrpt constructs from S. epidermidis RP62A, was not shared by MAb25C11 and MAb20B9. Furthermore, all three MAbs were found to affect both Aap expression and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS, including extracellular DNA and PIA) biosynthesis in S. epidermidis and enhance the cell accumulation. These findings contribute to a better understanding of staphylococcal biofilm formation and will help to develop epitope-peptide vaccines against staphylococcal infections

Identifying personal physiological data risks to the Internet of Everything: the case of facial data breach risks

Abstract Personal physiological data is the digital representation of physical features that identify individuals in the Internet of Everything environment. Such data includes characteristics of uniqueness, identification, replicability, irreversibility of damage, and relevance of information, and this data can be collected, shared, and used in a wide range of applications. As facial recognition technology has become prevalent and smarter over time, facial data associated with critical personal information poses a potential security and privacy risk of being leaked in the Internet of Everything application platform. However, current research has not identified a systematic and effective method for identifying these risks. Thus, in this study, we adopted the fault tree analysis method to identify risks. Based on the risks identified, we then listed intermediate events and basic events according to the causal logic, and drew a complete fault tree diagram of facial data breaches. The study determined that personal factors, data management and supervision absence are the three intermediate events. Furthermore, the lack of laws and regulations and the immaturity of facial recognition technology are the two major basic events leading to facial data breaches. We anticipate that this study will explain the manageability and traceability of personal physiological data during its lifecycle. In addition, this study contributes to an understanding of what risks physiological data faces in order to inform individuals of how to manage their data carefully and to guide management parties on how to formulate robust policies and regulations that can ensure data security

Taxonomic study of the genus Unkanodes (Hemiptera, Fulgoroidea, Delphacidae) from Pakistan, with description of a new species

Unkanodes (Kwonianella) malamjabbensis sp. nov. (Hemiptera, Delphacidae) is described and illustrated and U. latespinosa (Dlabola, 1957) is newly recorded from Malamjabbah, Swat, Pakistan. These two species represent the first records of the genus Unkanodes Fennah, 1956 from Pakistan. A key to the world’s species of the genus Unkanodes is provided

On the Oriental leafhopper genus Takagioma Thapa, 1989 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae: Dikraneurini) with descriptions of six new species

Qin, Huimin, Kang, Juxia, Huang, Min, Zhang, Yalin (2020): On the Oriental leafhopper genus Takagioma Thapa, 1989 (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae: Typhlocybinae: Dikraneurini) with descriptions of six new species. Zootaxa 4742 (2): 299-310, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4742.2.

Protectin D1 alleviates cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats by up-regulating GPR37/JNK/PPAR-γ signaling pathway in cardiac macrophages

Objective To investigate the mechanism by which protectin D1 (PD1) alleviates cardiac ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury via GPR37/JNK/PPAR-γ signaling pathway. Methods Male adult SD rats (6-8 weeks old) were randomly divided into sham-operation group, IR group, IR+PD1 group, and IR+PD1+ cytochalasin B (CB) group. In the latter 3 groups, the rats were subjected to daily intraperitoneal injections of normal saline, PD1 (100 nmol/L), or PD1 and CB for consecutive 3 days before establishment of cardiac IR injury models. At 6, 24, and 48 h and at 2 weeks after the surgery, the hearts and blood samples were collected from each group, and the cardiac macrophages were isolated and cultured. The cardiac pathologies, changes in cardiac enzyme profile, cardiac fibrosis, serum inflammatory factors, phagocytic function of the cardiac macrophages, changes in the cell polarity, and the expressions of inflammatory factors and GPR37/JNK/ PPAR-γ signaling pathway in cultured cardiac macrophages were detected. Results In the rats with cardiac IR injury, PD1 treatment significantly alleviated the cardiac pathologies, lowered the expressions of the cardiac enzymes (P < 0.05), decreased the serum levels of IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 while increased the serum levels of IL-10 and TGF-β (P < 0.05). In the cultured cardiac macrophages, PD1 treatment significantly enhanced their phagocytosis of the apoptotic cells (P < 0.05) and M2-type polarization (P < 0.05), decreased the expressions of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, and increased the expressions of IL-10 and TGF-β (P < 0.05) and the expressions of GPR37, IRE1α, ATF6, PERK, p-JNK, and PPAR-γ (P < 0.05). Conclusion PD1 can alleviate cardiac IR injury in rats possibly by up-regulating the GPR37/JNK/PPAR-γ signaling pathway to enhance the phagocytic activity of the cardiac macrophages and the expressions of the anti-inflammatory factors

Gas-phase elemental mercury removal from flue gas by cobalt-modified fly ash at low temperatures

<div><p>Co modified fly ash (FA) prepared by the wet impregnation method was investigated for gas-phase elemental mercury capture under air at 80°C in this paper. X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, scanning electron micrographs, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to characterize the samples. Experimental results showed that the optimal Co loading was 9 wt%, which gave a Hg⁰ removal efficiency of 76% in a laboratory packed-bed reactor at low temperatures in the presence of O₂. The high removal efficiency was mainly attributed to oxidation of Hg⁰ by the enrichment of well-dispersed Co₃O₄ on the surface of FA. However, higher Co loading resulted in the decrease of removal efficiency due to the decline of surface area and Co₃O₄ agglomeration. TG and XPS characterization indicated that Hg⁰ was oxidized by Co₃O₄ and some of the oxidized mercury formed recombination mercury oxide with Co₃O₄, which could either exist stably at low temperature or be desorbed from the adsorbents at higher temperature. Finally, the possible adsorption mechanisms were proposed according to the observed phenomena.</p></div