Effects Of Simultaneous CO2 Addition To The Fuel And Oxidizer Streams On Soot Formation In Co-flow Diffusion Ethylene Flame

Soot formation in a co-flow diffusion ethylene flame with the addition of CO2 to the fuel (the CO2-F), oxidizer (the CO2-O), and fuel/oxidizer (the CO2-F/O) streams was numerically and experimentally investigated in this study. The effects of different CO2 addition ways on soot inception, soot condensation, H-abstraction-C2H2-addition (HACA) and oxidation by O2/OH processes, were quantitatively analyzed by introducing the integrated reaction rates over the whole computational domain. The simulated and experimental results showed that the CO2-F/O was the most effective in inhibiting soot formation and flame temperature, followed by the CO2-O, and the CO2-F. Compared with the CO2-F, the suppression effect of the CO2-O on soot inception was weaker due to the higher concentration of benzo(ghi) fluoranthene (BGHIF). Since the rate of C4H2 formation via C2H4 → C2H3 → C2H2 → C4H2 was inhibited by the CO2-O, lowering the consumption rate of acenaphthalene (A2R5) via C4H2 + A2R5=\u3eA4, more A2R5 converted to BGHIF via A2R5 → A2- → A2 → BGHIF. The suppression effects of different ways of CO2 addition on HACA surface growth and soot condensation were identical: CO2-F \u3c CO2-O \u3c CO2-F/O. The decrease of benzo(a)pyrene (BAPYR) mole fraction accounted for the decline of soot condensation rate, and the decreases of H and OH mole fractions were responsible for the drop of HACA surface growth rate. Compared with the CO2-F, the CO2-O and the CO2-F/O had stronger suppression effects on the soot oxidation by O2 process due to the lower concentration of O2 in the oxidizer stream. Whichever CO2 addition ways were adopted, the soot oxidation by O2 process was more sensitive than the soot oxidation by OH process with the CO2 addition

Aflatoxin B₁ Exposure in Sheep: Insights into Hepatotoxicity Based on Oxidative Stress, Inflammatory Injury, Apoptosis, and Gut Microbiota Analysis

The widespread fungal toxin Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) is an inevitable pollutant affecting the health of humans, poultry, and livestock. Although studies indicate that AFB1 is hepatotoxic, there are few studies on AFB1-induced hepatotoxicity in sheep. Thus, this study examined how AFB1 affected sheep liver function 24 h after the animals received 1 mg/kg bw of AFB1 orally (dissolved in 20 mL, 4% v/v ethanol). The acute AFB1 poisoning caused histopathological injuries to the liver and increased total bilirubin (TBIL) and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) levels. AFB1 also markedly elevated the levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 while considerably reducing the expression of antioxidation-related genes (SOD-1 and SOD-2) and the anti-inflammatory gene IL-10 in the liver. Additionally, it caused apoptosis by dramatically altering the expression of genes associated with apoptosis including Bax, Caspase-3, and Bcl-2/Bax. Notably, AFB1 exposure altered the gut microbiota composition, mainly manifested by BF311 spp. and Alistipes spp. abundance, which are associated with liver injury. In conclusion, AFB1 can cause liver injury and liver dysfunction in sheep via oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis, and gut-microbiota disturbance

Molecular epidemiology of Enterocytozoon bieneusi from foxes and raccoon dogs in the Henan and Hebei provinces in China

Abstract Background Enterocytozoon bieneusi is a zoonotic pathogen widely distributed in animals and humans. It can cause diarrhea and even death in immunocompromised hosts. Approximately 800 internal transcribed spacer (ITS) genotypes have been identified in E. bieneusi. Farmed foxes and raccoon dogs are closely associated to humans and might be the reservoir of E. bieneusi which is known to have zoonotic potential. However, there are only a few studies about E. bieneusi genotype identification and epidemiological survey in foxes and raccoon dogs in Henan and Hebei province. Thus, the present study investigated the infection rates and genotypes of E. bieneusi in farmed foxes and raccoon dogs in the Henan and Hebei provinces. Result A total of 704 and 884 fecal specimens were collected from foxes and raccoon dogs, respectively. Nested PCR was conducted based on ITS of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), and then multilocus sequence typing (MLST) was conducted to analyze the genotypes. The result showed that infection rates of E. bieneusi in foxes and raccoon dogs were 18.32% and 5.54%, respectively. Ten E. bieneusi genotypes with zoonotic potential (NCF2, NCF3, D, EbpC, CHN-DC1, SCF2, CHN-F1, Type IV, BEB4, and BEB6) were identified in foxes and raccoon dogs. Totally 178 ITS-positive DNA specimens were identified from foxes and raccoon dogs and these specimens were then subjected to MLST analysis. In the MLST analysis, 12, 2, 7 and 8 genotypes were identified in at the mini-/ micro-satellite loci MS1, MS3, MS4 and MS7, respectively. A total of 14 multilocus genotypes were generated using ClustalX 2.1 software. Overall, the present study evaluated the infection of E. bieneusi in foxes and raccoon dogs in the Henan and Hebei province, and investigated the zoonotic potential of the E. bieneusi in foxes and raccoon dogs. Conclusions These findings expand the geographic distribution information of E. bieneusi’ host in China and was helpful in preventing against the infection of E. bieneusi with zoonotic potential in foxes and raccoon dogs

Additional file 1 of Molecular epidemiology of Enterocytozoon bieneusi from foxes and raccoon dogs in the Henan and Hebei provinces in China

Supplementary Table S1: Names of the farms where the samples were collecte