Evaluating the importation of yellow fever cases into China in 2016 and strategies used to prevent and control the spread of the disease

During the yellow fever epidemic in Angola in 2016, cases of yellow fever were reported in China for the first time. The 11 cases, all Chinese nationals returning from Angola, were identified in March and April 2016, one to two weeks after the peak of the Angolan epidemic. One patient died; the other 10 cases recovered after treatment. This paper reviews the epidemiological characteristics of the 11 yellow fever cases imported into China. It examines case detection and disease control and surveillance, and presents recommendations for further action to prevent additional importation of yellow fever into China

MICALs in control of the cytoskeleton, exocytosis, and cell death

MICALs form an evolutionary conserved family of multidomain signal transduction proteins characterized by a flavoprotein monooxygenase domain. MICALs are being implicated in the regulation of an increasing number of molecular and cellular processes including cytoskeletal dynamics and intracellular trafficking. Intriguingly, some of these effects are dependent on the MICAL monooxygenase enzyme and redox signaling, while other functions rely on other parts of the MICAL protein. Recent breakthroughs in our understanding of MICAL signaling identify the ability of MICALs to bind and directly modify the actin cytoskeleton, link MICALs to the docking and fusion of exocytotic vesicles, and uncover MICALs as anti-apoptotic proteins. These discoveries could lead to therapeutic advances in neural regeneration, cancer, and other diseases

Advances in structure elucidation of small molecules using mass spectrometry

The structural elucidation of small molecules using mass spectrometry plays an important role in modern life sciences and bioanalytical approaches. This review covers different soft and hard ionization techniques and figures of merit for modern mass spectrometers, such as mass resolving power, mass accuracy, isotopic abundance accuracy, accurate mass multiple-stage MS(n) capability, as well as hybrid mass spectrometric and orthogonal chromatographic approaches. The latter part discusses mass spectral data handling strategies, which includes background and noise subtraction, adduct formation and detection, charge state determination, accurate mass measurements, elemental composition determinations, and complex data-dependent setups with ion maps and ion trees. The importance of mass spectral library search algorithms for tandem mass spectra and multiple-stage MS(n) mass spectra as well as mass spectral tree libraries that combine multiple-stage mass spectra are outlined. The successive chapter discusses mass spectral fragmentation pathways, biotransformation reactions and drug metabolism studies, the mass spectral simulation and generation of in silico mass spectra, expert systems for mass spectral interpretation, and the use of computational chemistry to explain gas-phase phenomena. A single chapter discusses data handling for hyphenated approaches including mass spectral deconvolution for clean mass spectra, cheminformatics approaches and structure retention relationships, and retention index predictions for gas and liquid chromatography. The last section reviews the current state of electronic data sharing of mass spectra and discusses the importance of software development for the advancement of structure elucidation of small molecules

Study on Wear Resistance of Polyurea Coating on Metal Structures of Lifting Machinery

In view of the problem that the metal structures of lifting machinery are easy to be aged and worn in harsh environment， the effects of coating thickness and load on the wear resistance of the coating on the surface of metal structure of crane were studied by using the newly formulated polyurea as spray material， and the wear mechanism of the coating was also discussed. Results showed that under certain conditions，when the coating thickness increased from 0 to 0.6mm，the wear amount and wear rate of the substrate were significantly reduced，and the polyurea coating significantly improved the wear resistance of the metal structure. When other conditions were unchanged and the load was lower than 100 N， the wear resistance of polyurea coating was good. But when the load increased to 150 N， the wear resistance of polyurea coating decreased gradually and the wear amount was large. Under low load， the main wear pattern of the coating was abrasive wear， and with the increase of load， the wear pattern was changed into adhesive wear

Estrogen stimulates Th2 cytokine production and regulates the compartmentalisation of eosinophils during allergen challenge in a mouse model of asthma

Background: The observation that asthma becomes more prevalent following puberty in females suggests estrogen potentiates the development of this disease. However, most studies examining the role of estrogen in rodent models of asthma are complicated by their reliance on ovariectomised mice in which hormones other than estrogen are also attenuated. Methods: We aimed to understand the influence of estrogen on allergic airway disease by using type I (tamoxifen) or type II (ICI 182,780) antagonists in female mice or delivering estradiol to male mice during aeroallergen challenge. Results: The antagonists showed that estrogen promoted both the mobilisation of bone marrow eosinophils and egression of eosinophils to the airway lumen. These findings were corroborated in male mice treated with estradiol, which increased eosinophil numbers in both blood and airways. Estrogen stimulated goblet cell hyperplasia and baseline lung resistance, but had little effect on the number of eosinophils in the bronchial submucosa or methacholine-induced airway hyperreactivity. Estrogen receptor α was expressed by CD4+ T cells from allergic mice, and estrogen promoted the production of IL-5 and IL-13, and suppressed the production of the eicosanoid 12-HETE by mediastinal lymph node cells. Conclusions: These data show that during aeroallergen challenge, estrogen stimulates Th2 cytokine production, which may be linked to its ability to suppress 12-HETE. Lung resistance at baseline, goblet cell hyperplasia and the compartmentalisation of eosinophils was also influenced by estrogen. However, estrogen does not play a major role in stimulating enhanced sensitivity to methacholine-induced lung resistance

Treatment of mice with fenbendazole attenuates allergic airways inflammation and Th2 cytokine production in a model of asthma

Mouse models have provided a significant insight into the role of T-helper (Th) 2 cytokines such as IL-5 and IL-13 in regulating eosinophilia and other key features of asthma. However, the validity of these models can be compromised by inadvertent infection of experimental mouse colonies with pathogens such as oxyurid parasites (pinworms). While the benzimidazole derivative, fenbendazole (FBZ), is commonly used to treat such outbreaks, the effects of FBZ on mouse models of Th2 disease are largely unknown. In this investigation, we show that mice fed FBZ-supplemented food during the in utero and post-weaning period developed attenuated lung eosinophilia, antigen-specific IgG1 and Th2 cytokine responses in a model of asthma. Treatment of the mediastinal lymph node cells from allergic mice with FBZ in vitro attenuated cell proliferation, IL-5 and IL-13 production and expression of the early lymphocyte activation marker, CD69 on CD4+ T cells and CD19+ B cells. In addition, eosinophilia and Th2 responses remained attenuated after a 4-week withholding period in allergic mice treated preweaning with FBZ. Thus, FBZ modulates the amplitude of Th2 responses both in vivo and in vitro

a state-adaptive access control model for web-based idrs system

Huazhong Univ Sci & Technol, Natl Tech Univ Ukraine, Huazhong Normal Univ, Harbin Inst Technol, IEEE Ukraine Sect, I& M/CI Joint ChapterRole based access control reduces the cost of security administration of large-scale systems. However, it mainly abstracts a user from the function aspect, which is not enough for some complex large-scale systems. In web-based IDRS (Infectious Disease Reporting System), access control is based on not only the function attribute, but domain and category attributes of a user. Meanwhile, the domain and category attributes of a user need to adapt to state changes. We present a state-adaptive access control model that uses role, domain and category attributes to enforce access control. Moreover, it supports dynamic adjustment of domain and category attributes of a user based on state transition

First-Order Peaks Determination for Direction-Finding High-Frequency Radar

Direction-finding (DF) high-frequency radar (HFR) is preferred among the HFR family and is widely used around the world due to its compact structure. The correct determination of first-order peaks (FOPs) from Doppler spectra recorded by radar is a critical step toward attaining accurate mappings of surface currents. The commonly used FOPs determination method is generally sufficient for most situations. However, it needs six user-defined input parameters. These parameters result in complex procedures of optimizing the values of these six user-defined parameters. To simplify the FOPs determination for DF HFR, we propose an alternative method which only needs one user-defined parameter. To validate the reliability of the proposed method, we compare the FOPs determination results derived from the proposed method with those from the commonly used method on a data set covering a period of 256 days. The results indicate that the proposed method yields a similar FOPs determination result to the commonly used method. This proposed input-parameter-reduced method can greatly simplify the use of the HFR for users who are unprofessional in the HFR and promote the popularization and application of HFR