Seasonality of the transmissibility of hand, foot and mouth disease: a modelling study in Xiamen City, China.

This study attempts to figure out the seasonality of the transmissibility of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). A mathematical model was established to calculate the transmissibility based on the reported data for HFMD in Xiamen City, China from 2014 to 2018. The transmissibility was measured by effective reproduction number (Reff) in order to evaluate the seasonal characteristics of HFMD. A total of 43 659 HFMD cases were reported in Xiamen, for the period 2014 to 2018. The median of annual incidence was 221.87 per 100 000 persons (range: 167.98/100,000-283.34/100 000). The reported data had a great fitting effect with the model (R2 = 0.9212, P < 0.0001), it has been shown that there are two epidemic peaks of HFMD in Xiamen every year. Both incidence and effective reproduction number had seasonal characteristics. The peak of incidence, 1-2 months later than the effective reproduction number, occurred in Summer and Autumn, that is, June and October each year. Both the incidence and transmissibility of HFMD have obvious seasonal characteristics, and two annual epidemic peaks as well. The peak of incidence is 1-2 months later than Reff

Gene-environment interactions between GSTs polymorphisms and targeted epigenetic alterations in hepatocellular carcinoma following organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) exposure

Exposure to environmental pollutant organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and the role of tumour suppressor GSTs gene polymorphisms as well as epigenetic alterations have all been well reported in hepatocarcinogenesis. However, the interplay between environmental risk factors and polymorphic tumour suppressor genes or epigenetic factors in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development remains ambiguous. Herein, we investigated the relationship of three GSTs polymorphisms (GSTT1 deletion, GSTM1 deletion, GSTP1 rs1695) as well as GSTP1 promoter region DNA methylation and HCC risk with a particular focus on the interaction with OCPs exposure among 90 HCC cases and 99 controls in a Chinese population. Serum samples were analysed for OCPs exposure employing gas chromatography coupled with mass selective detector (GC-MS). GSTs polymorphisms and epigenetic alterations were determined using high-resolution melting PCR (HRM PCR) and DNA sequencing. After adjusting for confounders (HBV infection, smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI, age, gender), OCPs exposure and GSTP1 methylation is significantly associated with elevated risk of HCC, while no significance is observed for GSTs polymorphisms. Moreover, the effects of OCPs exposure on HCC risk are more pronounced amongst GSTP1 (Ile/Val + Val/Val) and GSTP1 promoter methylation subjects than those who were GSTP1 (Ile/Ile) and unmethylated subjects. The interactions between OCPs exposure and GSTP1 genotype as well as GSTP1 epigenetic status are statistically significant. The current study demonstrates the importance of gene-environment interactions in the multifactorial development of HCC. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Detecting influenza and emerging avian influenza virus by influenza and pneumonia surveillance systems in a large city in China, 2005 to 2016.

BACKGROUND(#br)Detecting avian influenza virus has become an important public health strategy for controlling the emerging infectious disease.(#br)METHODS(#br)The HIS (hospital information system) modified influenza surveillance system (ISS) and a newly built pneumonia surveillance system (PSS) were used to monitor the influenza viruses in Changsha City, China. The ISS was used to monitor outpatients in two sentinel hospitals and to detect mild influenza and avian influenza cases, and PSS was used to monitor inpatients in 49 hospitals and to detect severe and death influenza cases.(#br)RESULTS(#br)From 2005 to 2016, there were 3,551,917 outpatients monitored by the ISS system, among whom 126,076 were influenza-like illness (ILI) cases, with the ILI proportion (ILI%) of 3.55%. After the HIS was used, the reported incident cases of ILI and ILI% were increased significantly. From March, 2009 to September, 2016, there were 5,491,560 inpatient cases monitored by the PSS system, among which 362,743 were pneumonia cases, with a proportion of 6.61%. Among pneumonia cases, about 10.55% (38,260/362,743) of cases were severe or death cases. The pneumonia incidence increased each year in the city. Among 15 avian influenza cases reported from January, 2005 to September, 2016, there were 26.7% (4/15) mild cases detected by the HIS-modified ISS system, while 60.0% (9/15) were severe or death cases detected by the PSS system. Two H5N1 severe cases were missed by the ISS system in January, 2009 when the PSS system was not available.(#br)CONCLUSIONS(#br)The HIS was able to improve the efficiency of the ISS for monitoring ILI and emerging avian influenza virus. However, the efficiency of the system needs to be verified in a wider area for a longer time span in China

Dietary Modulation of Gut Microbiota Contributes to Alleviation of Both Genetic and Simple Obesity in Children

Gut microbiota has been implicated as a pivotal contributing factor in diet-related obesity; however, its role in development of disease phenotypes in human genetic obesity such as Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) remains elusive. In this hospitalized intervention trial with PWS (n = 17) and simple obesity (n = 21) children, a diet rich in non-digestible carbohydrates induced significant weight loss and concomitant structural changes of the gut microbiota together with reduction of serum antigen load and alleviation of inflammation. Co-abundance network analysis of 161 prevalent bacterial draft genomes assembled directly from metagenomic datasets showed relative increase of functional genome groups for acetate production from carbohydrates fermentation. NMR-based metabolomic profiling of urine showed diet-induced overall changes of host metabotypes and identified significantly reduced trimethylamine N-oxide and indoxyl sulfate, host-bacteria co-metabolites known to induce metabolic deteriorations. Specific bacterial genomes that were correlated with urine levels of these detrimental co-metabolites were found to encode enzyme genes for production of their precursors by fermentation of choline or tryptophan in the gut. When transplanted into germ-free mice, the pre-intervention gut microbiota induced higher inflammation and larger adipocytes compared with the post-intervention microbiota from the same volunteer. Our multi-omics-based systems analysis indicates a significant etiological contribution of dysbiotic gut microbiota to both genetic and simple obesity in children, implicating a potentially effective target for alleviation

Metabolite identification in fecal microbiota transplantation mouse livers and combined proteomics with chronic unpredictive mild stress mouse livers

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common mood disorder. Gut microbiota may be involved in the pathogenesis of depression via the microbe–gut–brain axis. Liver is vulnerable to exposure of bacterial products translocated from the gut via the portal vein and may be involved in the axis. In this study, germ-free mice underwent fecal microbiota transplantation from MDD patients and healthy controls. Behavioral tests verified the depression model. Metabolomics using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry determined the influence of microbes on liver metabolism. With multivariate statistical analysis, 191 metabolites were distinguishable in MDD mice from control (CON) mice. Compared with CON mice, MDD mice showed lower levels for 106 metabolites and higher levels for 85 metabolites. These metabolites are associated with lipid and energy metabolism and oxidative stress. Combined analyses of significantly changed proteins in livers from another depression model induced by chronic unpredictive mild stress returned a high score for the Lipid Metabolism, Free Radical Scavenging, and Molecule Transports network, and canonical pathways were involved in energy metabolism and tryptophan degradation. The two mouse models of depression suggest that changes in liver metabolism might be involved in the pathogenesis of MDD. Conjoint analyses of fecal, serum, liver, and hippocampal metabolites from fecal microbiota transplantation mice suggested that aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis significantly changed and fecal metabolites showed a close relationship with the liver. These findings may help determine the biological mechanisms of depression and provide evidence about “depression microbes” impacting on liver metabolism

Investigation of Low-molecular Weight Phenol Formaldehyde Distribution in Tracheid Cell Walls of Chinese Fir Wood

Treatment with water-soluble low-molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde resin is an effective method to improve wood properties. In this paper, plantation wood of Chinese fir was modified with low-molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde resin. The absorbance by tracheid cell walls of phenol-formaldehyde resin in treated and untreated reference samples were measured with an ultraviolet micro-spectrophotometer. The UV absorbance values of earlywood tracheids and middle lamella in treated wood were significantly increased, with an average increase of 49% and 23%, respectively. Moreover, after treatment with low-molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde resin, the UV absorbance of the earlywood tracheid cell walls of Chinese fir increased to more than 47%, regardless of whether or not the cell lumens were filled with resin. After treatment with low-molecular weight phenol-formaldehyde resin, the UV absorbance of earlywood tracheid cell walls at different locations did not vary greatly. This study provides direct support for the improvement of the physical and mechanical properties of resin-modified Chinese fir in terms of penetration of the resin into the cell walls

Design of a Variable Stiffness Gecko-Inspired Foot and Adhesion Performance Test on Flexible Surface

Adhesion robots have broad application prospects in the field of spacecraft inspection, repair, and maintenance, but the stable adhesion and climbing on the flexible surface covering the spacecraft has not been achieved. The flexible surface is easily deformed when subjected to external force, which makes it difficult to ensure a sufficient contact area and then detach from it. To achieve stable attachment and easy detachment on the flexible surface under microgravity, an adhesion model is established based on the applied adhesive material, and the relationship between peeling force and the rigidity of the base material, peeling angle, and working surface stiffness is obtained. Combined with the characteristics of variable stiffness structure, the adhesion and detachment force of the foot is asymmetric. Inspired by the adhesion-detachment mechanism of the foot of the gecko, an active adhesion-detachment control compliant mechanism is designed to achieve the stable attachment and safe detachment of the foot on the flexible surface and to adapt to surfaces with different rigidity. The experimental results indicate that a maximum normal adhesion force of 7.66 N can be generated when fully extended, and the safe detachment is achieved without external force on a flexible surface. Finally, an air floating platform is used to build a microgravity environment, and the crawling experiment of a gecko-inspired robot on a flexible surface under microgravity is completed. The experimental results show that the gecko-inspired foot with variable stiffness can satisfy the requirements of stable crawling on flexible surfaces

Cell Wall Property Changes of White Rot Larch during Decay Process

Larch flakes infested with white rot fungus were examined following several infestation durations with respect to the mass loss, tensile strength, hardness, porosity, and change in cell wall components. Nano-indentation, X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy testing methods were employed to investigate the property changes during the decay process. The testing results showed that the mass loss was greater and the longitudinal tensile strength decreased following the first three-week infestation. Nano-indentation measurements revealed that the average MOE of infested larch flakes decreased from 24.0 to 17.1 GPa and the average hardness declined from 528.47 to 427.87 MPa following 12 weeks of infestation. After the first three weeks, the relative crystallinity, surface area, and micropore area of the infested samples increased. These parameters decreased after three weeks had elapsed. Changes in the absorption peaks observed in FTIR explained that the first three-week infestation had a strong effect on the mass loss and strength changes. This suggests that white rot fungus intensely attacked the lignin component of the biomass during the first three weeks of infestation

MODULUS OF ELASTICITY AND HARDNESS OF COMPRESSION AND OPPOSITE WOOD CELL WALLS OF MASSON PINE

Compression wood is commonly found in Masson pine. To evaluate the mechanical properties of the cell wall of Masson pine compression and opposite wood, nanoindentation was used. The results showed that the average values of hardness and cell wall modulus of elasticity of opposite wood were slightly higher than those of compression wood. With increasing age of the annual ring, the modulus of elasticity showed a negative correlation with microfibril angle, but a weak correlation was observed for hardness. In opposite and compression wood from the same annual ring, the differences in average values of modulus of elasticity and hardness were small. These slight differences were explained by the change of microfibril angle (MFA), the press-in mode of nanoindentation, and the special structure of compression wood. The mechanical properties were almost the same for early, transition, and late wood in a mature annual ring of opposite wood. It can therefore be inferred that the average modulus of elasticity (MOE) and hardness of the cell walls in a mature annual ring were not being affected by cell wall thickness

Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Waterborne Polyurethane Coating Modified through One-Step Cellulose Nanocrystals/Graphene Materials Sols Method

Developing multifunctional coatings with excellent mechanical and thermal properties is highly desirable for wood-based composite application. The recent development of waterborne coatings for wood products suggests that a promising thermosetting material needs to also have properties like low volatile organic contents (VOCs), hardness, and fast curing. The cellulose nanocrystals/graphene materials (CNC/GM) sols were prepared through the one-step method as the thermally conductive and reinforced modifier for preparing waterborne polyurethane (WPU) coatings. The influence of this modifier on the thermal and mechanical properties such as thermal conductivity, abrasion resistance, and adhesion of WPU coatings was investigated. The results indicated that adding CNC/GM sols increased the hardness, abrasion resistance, and thermal conductivity of the WPU coatings, and meanwhile maintained the coating adhesion at the highest grade (level 1). The highest abrasion resistance value of 0.023 g/100 r was obtained for the modified WPU coating when the addition of GM was 3%