An H5N1 M2e-based multiple antigenic peptide vaccine confers heterosubtypic protection from lethal infection with pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus

Background. A 2009 global influenza pandemic caused by a novel swine-origin H1N1 influenza A virus has posted an increasing threat of a potential pandemic by the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus, driving us to develop an influenza vaccine which confers cross-protection against both H5N1 and H1N1 viruses. Previously, we have shown that a tetra-branched multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) vaccine based on the extracellular domain of M2 protein (M2e) from H5N1 virus (H5N1-M2e-MAP) induced strong immune responses and cross-protection against different clades of HPAI H5N1 viruses. In this report, we investigated whether such M2e-MAP presenting the H5N1-M2e consensus sequence can afford heterosubtypic protection from lethal challenge with the pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus. Results. Our results demonstrated that H5N1-M2e-MAP plus Freund's or aluminum adjuvant induced strong cross-reactive IgG antibody responses against M2e of the pandemic H1N1 virus which contains one amino acid variation with M2e of H5N1 at position 13. These cross-reactive antibodies may maintain for 6 months and bounced back quickly to the previous high level after the 2nd boost administered 2 weeks before virus challenge. H5N1-M2e-MAP could afford heterosubtypic protection against lethal challenge with pandemic H1N1 virus, showing significant decrease of viral replications and obvious alleviation of histopathological damages in the challenged mouse lungs. 100% and 80% of the H5N1-M2e-MAP-vaccinated mice with Freund's and aluminum adjuvant, respectively, survived the lethal challenge with pandemic H1N1 virus. Conclusions. Our results suggest that H5N1-M2e-MAP has a great potential to prevent the threat from re-emergence of pandemic H1N1 influenza and possible novel influenza pandemic due to the reassortment of HPAI H5N1 virus with the 2009 swine-origin H1N1 influenza virus. © 2010 Zhao et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.published_or_final_versio

Comparison of genetic impact on growth and wood traits between seedlings and clones from the same plus trees of Pinus koraiensis

To evaluate the relationships among clones and open pollinated families from the same plus trees and to select elite breeding materials, growth, and wood characteristics of 33-year-old Pinus koraiensis clones and families were measured and analyzed. The results show that growth and wood characters varied significantly. The variation due to clonal effects was higher than that of family effects. The ratio of genetic to phenotypic coefficient of variation of clones in growth and wood traits was above 90%, and the repeatability of these characteristics was more than 0.8, whereas the ratio of genetic to phenotypic coefficient of variation of families was above 90%. The broad-sense heritability of all characteristics exceeded 0.4, and the narrow-sense family heritability of growth traits was less than 0.3. Growth characteristics were positively correlated with each other, but most wood properties were weakly correlated in both clones and families. Fiber length and width were positively correlated between clones and families. Using the membership function method, eleven clones and four families were selected as superior material for improved diameter growth and wood production, and two families from clonal and open-pollinated trees showed consistently better performance. Generally, selection of the best clones is an effective alternative to deployment of families as the repeatability estimates from clonal trees were higher than narrow-sense heritability estimates from open pollinated families. The results provide valuable insight for improving P. koraiensis breeding programs and subsequent genetic improvement

Three Gorges Dam: Friend or Foe of Riverine Greenhouse Gases?

International audienceDams are often regarded as greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. However, our study indicated that the world's largest dam, the Three Gorges Dam (TGD), has caused significant drops in annual average emissions of CO$_2$, CH$_4$ and N$_2$O over 4300 km along the Yangtze River, accompanied by remarkable reductions in the annual export of CO$_2$ (79%), CH$_4$ (50%) and N$_2$O (9%) to the sea. Since the commencement of its operation in 2003, the TGD has altered the carbonate equilibrium in the reservoir area, enhanced methanogenesis in the upstream, and restrained methanogenesis and denitrification via modifying anoxic habitats through long-distance scouring in the downstream. These findings suggest that 'large-dam effects' are far beyond our previous understanding spatiotemporally, which highlights the fundamental importance of whole-system budgeting of GHGs under the profound impacts of huge dams

Bacteroides acidifaciens and its derived extracellular vesicles improve DSS-induced colitis

Introduction“Probiotic therapy” to regulate gut microbiota and intervene in intestinal diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has become a research hotspot. Bacteroides acidifaciens, as a new generation of probiotics, has shown beneficial effects on various diseases.MethodsIn this study, we utilized a mouse colitis model induced by dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) to investigate how B. acidifaciens positively affects IBD. We evaluated the effects ofB. acidifaciens, fecal microbiota transplantation, and bacterial extracellular vesicles (EVs) on DSS-induced colitis in mice. We monitored the phenotype of mouse colitis, detected serum inflammatory factors using ELISA, evaluated intestinal mucosal barrier function using Western blotting and tissue staining, evaluated gut microbiota using 16S rRNA sequencing, and analyzed differences in EVs protein composition derived from B. acidifaciens using proteomics to explore how B. acidifaciens has a positive impact on mouse colitis.ResultsWe confirmed that B. acidifaciens has a protective effect on colitis, including alleviating the colitis phenotype, reducing inflammatory response, and improving intestinal barrier function, accompanied by an increase in the relative abundance of B. acidifaciens and Ruminococcus callidus but a decrease in the relative abundance of B. fragilis. Further fecal bacterial transplantation or fecal filtrate transplantation confirmed the protective effect of eosinophil-regulated gut microbiota and metabolites on DSS-induced colitis. Finally, we validated that EVs derived from B. acidifaciens contain rich functional proteins that can contribute to the relief of colitis.ConclusionTherefore, B. acidifaciens and its derived EVs can alleviate DSS-induced colitis by reducing mucosal damage to colon tissue, reducing inflammatory response, promoting mucosal barrier repair, restoring gut microbiota diversity, and restoring gut microbiota balance in mice. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for the preclinical application of the new generation of probiotics

Cash dividends and bonus issues in China: development, valuation effects and market efficiency

tocabstractpublished_or_final_versionEconomics and FinanceDoctoralDoctor of Philosoph

Economic Growth, regional disparities and core steel demand in China

Two of the processes underpinning China�s economic growth and development during the three decades between 1978 and 2008 have been industrialization and urbanization. As one of the key inputs into these two processes, Chinese crude steel demand has been strong throughout this period, outstripping domestic production and making China a net importer through to 2006. Domestic consumption is the key determinant of domestic production and, with China being the largest steel producer in the world at the time of writing, this makes understanding future trends in Chinese steel demand a matter of both national and global importance. Although we have the benefit of hindsight with regard to the relationship between economic growth and steel demand for a number of advanced economies, such as the United States, Japan and South Korea, it is unclear which of these relationships, if any, is likely to be most relevant to understanding that relationship for China. Indeed, it is most likely that China�s path will be unique because of a range of specific characteristics that are simply not replicated elsewhere

Data-Driven Joint Beam Selection and Power Allocation for Multiple Target Tracking

For the problem of joint beam selection and power allocation (JBSPA) for multiple target tracking (MTT), existing works tend to allocate resources only considering the MTT performance at the current tracking time instant. However, in this way, it cannot guarantee the long-term MTT performance in the future. If the JBSPA not only considers the tracking performance at the current tracking time instant but also at the future tracking time instant, the allocation results are theoretically able to enhance the long-term tracking performance and the robustness of tracking. Motivated by this, the JBSPA is formulated as a model-free Markov decision process (MDP) problem, and solved with a data-driven method in this article, i.e., deep reinforcement learning (DRL). With DRL, the optimal policy is given by learning from the massive interacting data of the DRL agent and environment. In addition, in order to ensure the information prediction performance of target state in maneuvering target scenarios, a data-driven method is developed based on Long-short term memory (LSTM) incorporating the Gaussian mixture model (GMM), which is called LSTM-GMM for short. This method can realize the state prediction by learning the regularity of nonlinear state transitions of maneuvering targets, where the GMM is used to describe the target motion uncertainty in LSTM. Simulation results have shown the effectiveness of the proposed method

Grade Setting of a Timber Logistics Center Based on a Complex Network: A Case Study of 47 Timber Trading Markets in China

The location and grade setting of a timber logistics center is an important link in the optimization of the timber logistics system, the rationality of which can effectively improve the efficiency of the timber logistics supply chain. There is a long distance between the main forested areas in China, and more than 55% of the timber demand depends on imports. Research and practice of systematically planning timber logistics centers in the whole country have not been well carried out, which reduces the efficiency of timber logistics. In this paper, 47 timber trading markets with a certain scale in China are selected as the basis for logistics center selection. Based on their transportation network relationship and the number of enterprises in the market, combined with the complex network theory and data analysis method, the network characteristics of three different transportation networks are measured. After determining the transportation capacity indicator, the logistics capacity coefficient is measured based on the freight volume of each node. Then, the important nodes are identified, and each node is graded to systematically set up the timber logistics center

Temporal Spatial Mutations of Soil Erosion in the Middle and Lower Reaches of the Lancang River Basin and Its Influencing Mechanisms

As a major threat to ecosystem functions and national food security, soil erosion also exerts an influence on the water quality in basins and the operation and maintenance of hydropower plants. Existing discussions about trends of soil erosion focus mainly on its variation and mutation over time. Few studies have addressed the spatial mutation of soil erosion and its influence mechanism. In this research, Sen’s slope estimation was coupled with a Mann–Kendall model to explore the spatiotemporal distribution, spatial mutation characteristics and influence mechanisms of soil erosion, and conduct a case study on the Middle and Lower reaches of the Lancang River Basin (ML-LRB) in China. There are three main conclusions from this study: (1) During 2000–2019, the annual soil erosion in the ML-LRB variation ranged from 0 to 7.00 × 103 t/(km2·a) with a multi-year mean of 1.53 × 103 t/(km2·a), decreasing year by year from north to south, while an increasing trend began to appear in the central above region after 2015. (2) The areas with decreased soil erosion were much larger than those with increased soil erosion during 2000–2019, and there was a concentrated increase in soil erosion in Dali and in Xishuangbanna. (3) The mutation of the soil erosion intensity was spatially consistent with that of the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Overall, this paper provides a new perspective for the study of factors affecting the trends and spatial mutation of soil erosion