Bats, Bat-Borne Viruses, and Environmental Changes

During the past decade, bats were shown to a major source for new viruses. Among them are well known coronaviruses such as SRAS or MERS but also Ebola. At the same time, no direct infection from bat to human has been demonstrated. The dynamic of transmission of bat-borne viruses is therefore a complex process involving both sylvatic and urban cycles, and intermediate hosts not always identified. The threat potentially exists, and drivers must be sought for man-made environmental changes. Anthropized environments are mosaic landscapes attracting at the same place different bat species usually not found together. Anthropized landscape is also characterized by a higher density of bat-borne viruses. The threat of new bat-borne virus outbreaks has greatly increased in the recent years along with media anthropization and the extremely rapid deforestation process. Deforestation could be a major contributing factor to new viral emergences due to more frequent contacts of livestock and humans with bats possibly containing infectious viruses

Evaluation of the utility of surfactin produced by the native strain of Bacillus subtilis natto BS19 in reducing the feeding and development of Oulema melanopus and Oulema gallaeciana

The study objective was to investigate the influence of microbiologically obtained surfactin on the feeding and development of Oulema melanopus and Oulema gallaeciana on spring wheat ( Triticum aestivum) and spring barley ( Hordeum vulgare). The purified bioproduct was applied to the leaves of cereal plants at a concentration of 660.5 mg · l –1. The tests were conducted as a no-choice test and a choice test. Pest feeding and egg-laying were analyzed. The addition of surfactin to the food reduced the feeding of female and male tested insects as compared to controls. Male pests caused less damage to plants than females. Insect feeding on surfactin-treated plants was low in the first days of the experiment. The tested insects laid fewer eggs on plants treated with the biosurfactant. In terms of food selection, both female and male Oulema spp. were much more likely to choose food to which surfactin had not been applied. It can thus be concluded that surfactin can contribute positively to the biological control of beetles of the genus Oulema under natural conditions. However, further research is needed to better understand the mechanisms by which analogues of this compound limit the development of this cereal pest in its natural environment

Incidence of dengue and chikungunya viruses in mosquitoes and human patients in border provinces of Vietnam

Background: Dengue virus remains a major threat in Vietnam, while chikungunya virus is expected to become one. Surveillance was conducted from 2012 to 2014 in Vietnam to assess the presence of dengue and chikungunya viruses in patients hospitalized with acute fever in five Vietnam provinces neighboring Lao PDR and Cambodia. Surveillance was extended to mosquitoes present in the vicinity of the patients' households. Results: A total 558 human serum samples were collected along with 1104 adult mosquitoes and 12,041 larvae from 2250 households. Dengue virus was found in 17 (3%) human serum samples and in 9 (0.8%) adult mosquitoes. Chikungunya virus was detected in 2 adult mosquitoes (0.18%) while no chikungunya virus was detected in humans. Differing densities of mosquito populations were found, with the highest in the Long An Province border with Cambodia. Long An Province also displayed the lowest rate of infection, despite a very high Breteau Index, high human population density and presence of the main cross border road system. The highest incidence was found in Dac Nong Province, where the Breteau and Container indices were the second lowest. Dengue virus was detected in five Aedes albopictus, three Aedes aegypti and one Culex vishnui. Chikungunya virus was detected in two Ae. aegypti. All infected mosquitoes belonged to haplotypes described in other parts of the world and a number of novel haplotypes were found among uninfected mosquitoes. Conclusions: Dengue is considered to be regularly introduced to Vietnam from Cambodia, mostly through human movement. The data reported here provides a complementary picture. Due to intensive international trade, long-distance transportation of mosquito populations may play a role in the regular importation of dengue in Vietnam through Ho Chi Minh City. It is important to decipher the movement of mosquitoes in Vietnam, not only at the Lao PDR and Cambodia borders but also through international trade routes. Mosquito surveillance programs should address and follow mosquito populations instead of mosquito species

Temporal patterns in artificial reaction networks.

The Artificial Reaction Network (ARN) is a bio-inspired connectionist paradigm based on the emerging field of Cellular Intelligence. It has properties in common with both AI and Systems Biology techniques including Artificial Neural Networks, Petri Nets, and S-Systems. This paper discusses the temporal aspects of the ARN model using robotic gaits as an example and compares it with properties of Artificial Neural Networks. The comparison shows that the ARN based network has similar functionality

Pandemic chronicles 2020-2021

Kroniki pandemii to zbiór 27 stanowisk opublikowanych przez interdyscyplinarny Zespół doradczy ds. COVID-19 przy Prezesie Polskiej Akademii Nauk, działający od lipca 2020 roku. Jest to już drugie po Zrozumieć COVID-19 obszerniejsze opracowanie naszego zespołu porządkujące wiadomości dotyczące wirusa SARS-CoV-2 i powodowanej przez niego choroby COVID-19. Wydane we wrześniu 2020 roku Zrozumieć COVID-19 miało na celu podsumowanie przebiegu pierwszych miesięcy pandemii i przygotowanie społeczeństwa w Polsce do ciężkiego sezonu jesienno-zimowego 2020/2021. Niniejsze opracowanie powstaje po dwóch latach trwania pandemii, która rozpoczęła się w Wuhan w grudniu 2019 roku. Mamy nadzieję, że dzięki na bieżąco tworzonym tekstom raportującym przebieg pandemii i dylematy, przed którymi stawało społeczeństwo, w przypadku kolejnych podobnych wyzwań skorzystamy z tych trudnych i ważnych doświadczeń

Syndromics: A Bioinformatics Approach for Neurotrauma Research

Substantial scientific progress has been made in the past 50 years in delineating many of the biological mechanisms involved in the primary and secondary injuries following trauma to the spinal cord and brain. These advances have highlighted numerous potential therapeutic approaches that may help restore function after injury. Despite these advances, bench-to-bedside translation has remained elusive. Translational testing of novel therapies requires standardized measures of function for comparison across different laboratories, paradigms, and species. Although numerous functional assessments have been developed in animal models, it remains unclear how to best integrate this information to describe the complete translational “syndrome” produced by neurotrauma. The present paper describes a multivariate statistical framework for integrating diverse neurotrauma data and reviews the few papers to date that have taken an information-intensive approach for basic neurotrauma research. We argue that these papers can be described as the seminal works of a new field that we call “syndromics”, which aim to apply informatics tools to disease models to characterize the full set of mechanistic inter-relationships from multi-scale data. In the future, centralized databases of raw neurotrauma data will enable better syndromic approaches and aid future translational research, leading to more efficient testing regimens and more clinically relevant findings

Intensity of water erosion in the spring catchment of the Łyna river

Wstępne wyniki badań źródliska Łyny wskazują na proces intensywnego odprowadzania substancji mineralnej w postaci stałej – jako składowej erozji wodnej zachodzącej w krajobrazie młodoglacjalnym na styku wód podziemnych i powierzchniowych. Pomiary polowe eksportu substancji mineralnej w formie rumowiska wleczonego wykazały, iż sumarycznie w roku erozyjnie ze zlewni odprowadzane jest w przybliżeniu 840 kg materiału (okres badań lata 2008-2009). Oznacza to średnio ubytek masy rzędu 580 kg z 1 km2 powierzchni jednostkowej zlewni rocznie. Woda źródlana pełni bardzo ważną rolę w odprowadzaniu substancji nierozpuszczonej ze zlewni topograficznej. Erozja wodna – sterując intensywnością transportu rumowiska, stymuluje w źródlisku Łyny proces odgrzebywania lokalnej rynny polodowcowej.The spring area of the Łyna river is a geological reserve, where naturally occurring retrogressive erosion is protected. Intensity of removal of solid and dissolved mineral material from the spring area of the river is the study aim. The study area is exceptional for Polish lowlands due to its complexity, as it includes 9 spring niches and 4 effluents. Geological setting plays here a decisive role, because all springs are situated in a head of a deep, buried tunnel valley which is developed in older sediments. The tunnel valley is filled with sands and gravels deposited during the last phase of the Vistulian glaciation. Removal of solid and dissolved material by retrogressive erosion leads to enlargement of the spring area and to uncovering of the buried tunnel valley. Intensive increase of the flow rate occurs downstream as tributary streams join the main river. Data from 3 gouge profiles covering 850 m downstream are as follows; 8,5; 22,8 and 48,8 dm3/s on average (based on a period 2004-2010). Intensity of the dragged material increases from 0,01 up to 0,08 g/s (measured in 2007-2008), 0,027 g/s on average. Mineralization of river water ranges between 150 and 234 mg/dm3 (178 mg/dm3 on average). It is assessed that the dissolved material removed from the area equals to 630 kg per day (230 tons per annum). On the other hand, the solid dragged material equals to 2,3 kg per day (0,84 tons per annum) for 34,8 dm3/s discharge measured at the lowermost gouge profile and for average mineralization of spring waters. Springs of the Łyna river have a high and stabilized outflow leading to the dynamic removal of mineral material. Removal of the dissolved material by the spring waters represents denudational potential of the regional aquifers which feed the springs. On the other hand, removal of the dragged material represents only erosion occurring within the uppermost part of the topographic catchment adjacent to the spring area which supplies the river channel with the solid material

Conditions of appearance and hydrological characteristic of sources in the upper Radomka river basin

Springs - natural concentrated, self-acting outflows of subsurface water onto ground level are of interest of local populations for ages, making often the main source of farms water supply. The recognition of location and characteristics of spring's hydrological regime is often very unequal and the hest evidence exists for mountain and upland areas. The Świętokrzyski region, where drainage basin of Radomka river is placed was examined hy Czarnecka (1973, 1975). It's the Poland's northmost upland area, where krenological examinations weren't conducted. Only in middle 90's works on detailed 1 :50 000 scale geological map of this region have been finished. The following note completes examinations done with Master thesis (Kuc 1999)