Expounding the role of tick in Africa swine fever virus transmission and seeking effective prevention measures: A review

African swine fever (ASF), a highly contagious, deadly infectious disease, has caused huge economic losses to animal husbandry with a 100% mortality rate of the most acute and acute infection, which is listed as a legally reported animal disease by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE). African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the causative agent of ASF, which is the only member of the Asfarviridae family. Ornithodoros soft ticks play an important role in ASFV transmission by active biological or mechanical transmission or by passive transport or ingestion, particularly in Africa, Europe, and the United States. First, this review summarized recent reports on (1) tick species capable of transmitting ASFV, (2) the importance of ticks in the transmission and epidemiological cycle of ASFV, and (3) the ASFV strains of tick transmission, to provide a detailed description of tick-borne ASFV. Second, the dynamics of tick infection with ASFV and the tick-induced immune suppression were further elaborated to explain how ticks spread ASFV. Third, the development of the anti-tick vaccine was summarized, and the prospect of the anti-tick vaccine was recapitulated. Then, the marked attenuated vaccine, ASFV-G-ΔI177L, was compared with those of the anti-tick vaccine to represent potential therapeutic or strategies to combat ASF

Applying Data-Driven-Based Logistic Function and Prediction-Area Plot to Map Mineral Prospectivity in the Qinling Orogenic Belt, Central China

This study combines data-driven-based logistic functions with prediction–area (P–A) plot for delineating target areas of orogenic Au deposits in the eastern margin of the Qinling metallogenic belt, central China. First, appropriate geological and geochemical factors were identified, optimized, and transformed into a series of fuzzy numbers with a range of 0–1 through a data-driven-based logistic function in order to determine the evidence layer for prospecting orogenic Au. In addition, the P–A plot was derived on the above evidence layers and their corresponding fuzzy overlay layers to pick out a proper prediction scheme, in the process of which acidic magmatic activity proved to be the most important factor of ore-controlling. Moreover, to further prove the advantages of this method, a traditional linear knowledge-driven approach was carried out for comparative purposes. Finally, based on concentration–area (C–A) fractal theory, the fractal thresholds were determined and a mineral prospecting map was generated. The obtained prediction map consisted of high, medium, low, and weak metallogenic potential areas, accounting for 2.5%, 16.1%, 38.4%, and 43% of the study area, containing 2, 3, 1, and 0 of the 6 known mine occurrences contained, respectively. The P–A plot indicated that the result predicted 83% of Au deposits with 17% of the area, confirming the joint application of the data-driven-based logistic function and P–A plot to be a simple, effective, and low-cost method for mineral prospectivity mapping, that can be a guidance for further work in the study area

The pre-activated immune response induced by LPS protects host from leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis is an important global zoonosis caused by pathogenic Leptospira. It is estimated that more than 1 million people are infected by Leptospira each year, and the death toll is about 60,000. Some studies showed that delayed immune response was associated with severe leptospirosis, and TLR4 was very important in the control of leptospirosis. In this study, we aimed to explore the effect of the classical activator (LPS) of TLR4 on leptospirosis in susceptible and resistant hosts. The results showed that LPS pretreatment increased the survival rate of hamsters to 80%. And LPS pre-treatment also significantly reduced the leptospiral load and alleviated the pathological injury in organs of hamsters and mice. The result detected by ELISA in mice showed that the levels of TNF-α and IL-1β were increased in the LPS-treated group compared to the control group before infection. However, two days after infection, the level of cytokines in LPS group was down-regulated compared with that in control group. In addition, in vitro results showed that LPS pre-treatment enhanced the phagocytosis and bactericidal ability of macrophages on Leptospira. Collectively, our results indicated that the pre-activated immune response induced by LPS enhanced the ability of host against leptospirosis

Clostridium butyricum and Its Culture Supernatant Alleviate the Escherichia coli-Induced Endometritis in Mice

Endometritis is a disease with a high incidence in dairy cows and causes great economic loss to milk production. This study examined the therapeutic effects of Clostridium butyricum and its culture supernatant on Escherichia coli-induced endometritis in mice. The results showed that Clostridium butyricum and its culture supernatant effectively suppressed inflammatory responses of uterine tissues, such as uterine morphological changes, pathological damage, and the production of inflammatory cytokines. Clostridium butyricum and its culture supernatant significantly decreased uterine microbial loads. In addition, Clostridium butyricum and its culture supernatant restored reproduction outcomes in Escherichia coli-induced endometritis mice. Western blot analysis showed that Clostridium butyricum and its culture supernatant suppressed the NF-κB signaling pathway. Therefore, the anti-inflammatory mechanism of Clostridium butyricum and its culture supernatant may occur through the anti-bacterial activity and regulation of the expression of NF-κB in the uterus. The anti-inflammatory effect of the culture supernatant of C. butyricum was slightly better than that of viable C. butyricum. Therefore, our experimental results showed that Clostridium butyricum culture supernatant may be an effective drug for treating endometritis

Applying Data-Driven-Based Logistic Function and Prediction-Area Plot to Map Mineral Prospectivity in the Qinling Orogenic Belt, Central China

This study combines data-driven-based logistic functions with prediction–area (P–A) plot for delineating target areas of orogenic Au deposits in the eastern margin of the Qinling metallogenic belt, central China. First, appropriate geological and geochemical factors were identified, optimized, and transformed into a series of fuzzy numbers with a range of 0–1 through a data-driven-based logistic function in order to determine the evidence layer for prospecting orogenic Au. In addition, the P–A plot was derived on the above evidence layers and their corresponding fuzzy overlay layers to pick out a proper prediction scheme, in the process of which acidic magmatic activity proved to be the most important factor of ore-controlling. Moreover, to further prove the advantages of this method, a traditional linear knowledge-driven approach was carried out for comparative purposes. Finally, based on concentration–area (C–A) fractal theory, the fractal thresholds were determined and a mineral prospecting map was generated. The obtained prediction map consisted of high, medium, low, and weak metallogenic potential areas, accounting for 2.5%, 16.1%, 38.4%, and 43% of the study area, containing 2, 3, 1, and 0 of the 6 known mine occurrences contained, respectively. The P–A plot indicated that the result predicted 83% of Au deposits with 17% of the area, confirming the joint application of the data-driven-based logistic function and P–A plot to be a simple, effective, and low-cost method for mineral prospectivity mapping, that can be a guidance for further work in the study area

The preventable efficacy of β-glucan against leptospirosis.

Leptospirosis, caused by pathogenic Leptospira species, has emerged as an important neglected zoonotic disease. Few studies have reported the preventable effects of immunoregulators, except for antibiotics, against leptospirosis. Generally, immunostimulatory agents are considered effective for enhancing innate immune responses. Many studies have found that beta-glucan (β-glucan) could be a potent and valuable immunostimulant for improving immune responses and controlling diseases. In this study, we investigated the preventable role of β-glucan against Leptospira infection in hamsters. First, β-glucan was administered 24 h prior to, during and after infection. The results showed that β-glucan increased the survival rate to 100%, alleviated tissue injury, and decreased leptospire loads in target organs. Additionally, we found using quantitative real-time PCR that application of β-glucan significantly enhanced the expression of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, interleukin (IL)-1β and iNOS at 2 dpi (days post infection) and reduced the increase of TLR2, IL-1β and iNOS induced by Leptospira at 5 dpi. Furthermore, to induce memory immunity, β-glucan was administered 5 days prior to infection. β-Glucan also significantly increased the survival rates and ameliorated pathological damage to organs. Moreover, we demonstrated that β-glucan-trained macrophages exhibited elevated expression of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-1β and IL-6) in vitro, indicating that β-glucan induces an enhanced inflammatory response against Leptospira infection. These results indicate that administration of β-glucan and other immunostimulants could be potential valuable options for the control of Leptospira infection