Search

A new alternate absorption scheme of both horizontal tubular cooling absorption and mesh layer adiabatic absorption was investigated with longitudinal corrugated M–W mesh guiders inserted to the gaps of the staggered horizontal tube bundle, leading solution film flows from the lower edge of each tube to the upper edges of its lower position neighbouring tubes at both sides. The mirror symmetric M–W mesh guiders facilitate uniform distribution and dual-side exposing solution film to the vapour for adiabatic mass transfer. The VOF CFD models were established for vapour absorption with aqueous LiBr solution falling film on the alternate absorber and bare tube one. The distributions of liquid film, temperature and concentration of the solution and local heat transfer coefficient on the tube surfaces were demonstrated for both absorbers. The simulation results demonstrated that the average heat and mass transfer coefficients with the alternating absorber are respectively 33.4% and 55.4% higher than those of the bare tube one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The bursa of Fabricius is critical for the normal development of the B lymphocytes responsible for antibody production. However, the mechanism of the bursal-derived bioactive factor on B cell development is little reported. In this paper, chicks were immunized with BPP-II and AIV vaccine or AIV antigen, and antibody and IL-4 production were detected. The results showed that BPP-II played strongly inducing roles on the humoral immune responses. To investigate the gene expression at transcriptional level, avian pre-B lymphocyte DT40 cells were treated with BPP-II, and were analyzed with the gene microarray. The results proved that BPP-II treatment regulated 11 pathways, in which homologous recombination is a vital mechanism which is involved in antibody Ig gene conversion and diversification during B cell development. These results suggested Bursal-derived biological active factor BPP-II might be involved in the antibody production processes and B cell development, which is vital to the humoral central immune organ, the bursa of Fabricius. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Duck enteritis virus (DEV) is a herpesvirus that causes an acute, contagious, and fatal disease. In the present article, the DEV UL5 gene was cloned and sequenced from a vaccine virus. According to the consensus sequence of herpesvirus UL5 and UL3 gene degenerate oligonucleotide primers were designed and were used in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify DNA products with 4577bp in size. DNA sequence analysis revealed a 2568bp open reading frame (ORF) encoding a 855 amino acid polypeptide homologous to herpesvirus UL5 proteins. The DEV UL5 gene has a base composition of 769 adenine (29.95%), 556 cytosine (21.65%), 533 guanine (20.76%) and 710 thymine (27.65%). Sequence comparison revealed that the nucleotide sequence of the DEV UL5 gene was highly similar to other alphaherpesviruses. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the fifteen herpesviruses viruses analyzed fell into four large groups, and the duck enteritis virus itself branched and was most closely related to meleagrid herpesvirus 1, gallid herpesvirus 2 and gallid herpesvirus 3 subtrees. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Goose astrovirus type 2 (GAstV-2) is a novel pathogen causing visceral gout in goslings; it not only causes necrosis of renal epithelial cells but also causes spleen damage, indicating that GAstV-2 induces immunosuppression in goslings. However, to date, the interaction between GAstV-2 and immune cells remains unclear. In this study, peripheral blood lymphocytes and macrophages were isolated from goslings without GAstV-2 infection and then inoculated in vitro with GAstV-2, and the virus localization in the lymphocytes and macrophages, proliferation and apoptosis of lymphocytes, and phagocytic activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) production, and cell polarity in macrophages were determined. The results showed that GAstV-2 was observed in the cytoplasm of CD4 and CD8 T cells and macrophages, indicating that GAstV-2 can infect both lymphocytes and macrophages. GAstV-2 infection reduced the lymphocyte proliferation induced by Concanavalin A and lipopolysaccharide stimulation and increased the lymphocyte apoptosis rate and mRNA expression of Fas, demonstrating that GAstV-2 causes damage to lymphocytes. Moreover, GAstV-2 infection enhanced phagocytic activity and production of ROS and NO and induced a proinflammatory phenotype in macrophages (M1 macrophages), indicating that macrophages play an antiviral role during GAstV-2 infection. In conclusion, these results demonstrate that GAstV-2 infection causes damages to lymphocytes, and host macrophages inhibit GAstV-2 invasion during infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tibetan pig is a geographically isolated pig breed that inhabits high-altitude areas of the Qinghai–Tibetan plateau. At present, there is limited research on viral diseases in Tibetan pigs. This study provides a novel metagenomic exploration of the gut virome in Tibetan pigs (altitude ≈ 3000 m) across three critical developmental stages, including lactation, nursery, and fattening. The composition of viral communities in the Tibetan pig intestine, with a dominant presence of Microviridae phages observed across all stages of development, in combination with the previous literature, suggest that it may be associated with geographical locations with high altitude. Functional annotation of viral operational taxonomic units (vOTUs) highlights that, among the constantly increasing vOTUs groups, the adaptability of viruses to environmental stressors such as salt and heat indicates an evolutionary response to high-altitude conditions. It shows that the lactation group has more abundant viral auxiliary metabolic genes (vAMGs) than the nursery and fattening groups. During the nursery and fattening stages, this leaves only DNMT1 at a high level. which may be a contributing factor in promoting gut health. The study found that viruses preferentially adopt lytic lifestyles at all three developmental stages. These findings not only elucidate the dynamic interplay between the gut virome and host development, offering novel insights into the virome ecology of Tibetan pigs and their adaptation to high-altitude environments, but also provide a theoretical basis for further studies on pig production and epidemic prevention under extreme environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), a mosquito-borne zoonotic virus, is one of the most important causes of human viral encephalitis. JEV relies on various attachment or entry co-factors to enter host cells. Among these co-factors, hTIM-1 has been identified as an attachment factor to promote JEV infection through interacting with phosphatidylserine (PS) on the viral envelope. However, the reasons why JEV prefers to use hTIM-1 over other PS binding receptors are unknown. Here, we demonstrated that hTIM-1 can directly interact with JEV E protein. The interaction between hTIM-1 and JEV relies on specific binding sites, respectively, ND114115 in the hTIM-1 IgV domain and K38 of the E protein. Furthermore, during the early stage of infection, hTIM-1 and JEV are co-internalized into cells and transported into early and late endosomes. Additionally, we found that the hTIM-1 soluble ectodomain protein effectively inhibits JEV infection in vitro. Moreover, hTIM-1-specific antibodies have been shown to downregulate JEV infectivity in cells. Taken together, these findings suggested that hTIM-1 protein directly interacts with JEV E protein and mediates JEV infection, in addition to the PS-TIM-1 interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV), the predominant cause of viral encephalitis in many Asian countries, affects approximately 68,000 people annually. Lysosomes are dynamic structures that regulate cellular metabolism by mediating lysosomal biogenesis and autophagy. Here, we showed that lysosome-associated membrane protein 1 (LAMP1) and LAMP2 were downregulated in cells after JEV infection, resulting in a decrease in the quantity of acidified lysosomes and impaired lysosomal catabolism. What's more, JEV nonstructural protein 4B plays key roles in the reduction of LAMP1/2 via the autophagy-lysosome pathway. JEV NS4B also promoted abnormal aggregation of SLA-DR, an important component of the swine MHC-II molecule family involved in antigen presentation and CD4+ cell activation initiation. Mechanistically, NS4B localized to the ER during JEV infection and interacted with GRP78, leading to the activation of ER stress-mediated autophagy. The 131–204 amino acid (aa) region of NS4B is essential for autophagy induction and LAMP1/2 reduction. In summary, our findings reveal a novel pathway by which JEV induces autophagy and disrupts lysosomal function. • JEV infection leads to downregulation of the LAMP1 and LAMP2 proteins. • JEV NS4B downregulates LAMP1 and LAMP2 through the autophagy-lysosome pathway. • JEV NS4B amino acids 131–204 are essential for the induction of autophagy and the downregulation of LAMP1 and LAMP2. • JEV NS4B triggers dysfunction of lysosomal and abnormal aggregation of SLA DR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goose astrovirus (GAstV) is a novel pathogen that was discovered in 2018. It has two genotypes, GAstV-1 and GAstV-2, and both can cause visceral gout of goslings and result in significant economic losses. The present work aimed to develop a duplex TaqMan real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) assay to distinguish the two genotypes. MegAlign software was used to design two pairs of primers and a pair of matched probes based on the open reading frame 2 (ORF2) sequence with the greatest difference between GAstV-1 and GAstV-2, and primer and probe concentrations and annealing temperatures were optimised. Fluorescence signals were obtained for GAstV-1 and GAstV-2 in the FAM and VIC channels, respectively, but no fluorescent signal was observed for other pathogens. The detection limit for GAstV-1 and GAstV-2 was 33.3 and 33.7 DNA copies/μL, respectively. Intra- and inter-assay variability tests revealed excellent reproducibility. Furthermore, the assay detected GAstV-1 and GAstV-2 in allantoic fluids (100% positive) spiked with viruses, and 70 clinical gout gosling samples were examined, of which 11.4% were positive for GAstV-1, 74.3% were positive for GAstV-2%, and 5.7% were positive for mixed infection. In summary, the developed duplex RT-qPCR assay has high specificity, sensitivity, and reproducibility, and can be used in the clinic for detection of GAstV-1 and GAstV-2. • A TaqMan real-time PCR assay for GAstV-1 and GAstV-2 detection is established. • The assay has high specificity, sensitivity and reproducibility. • Single and mixed infection of GAstV-1 and GAstV-2 was found in clinic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Goose astrovirus (GAstV)-2, a novel pathogen identified in 2018, mainly causes visceral gout in goslings, leading to approximately 50% mortality. At present, no commercial veterinary products are available to prevent and treat the disease. Our previous studies showed that nitric oxide (NO) and inducible NO synthase (iNOS) were markedly higher in the kidney and spleen of goslings infected with GAstV-2, but their effects during GAstV-2 infection remain unclear. In the present study, goslings were intraperitoneally injected with aminoguanidine (AG)—an iNOS inhibitor—to examine the role of NO during GAstV-2 infection. AG significantly decreased the serum NO concentration and iNOS mRNA expression in the kidney. Moreover, AG reduced the mortality, serum uric acid and creatinine content, and urate deposition in visceral organs and joints. Histopathological analysis demonstrated that AG reduced renal tubular cell necrosis, inflammatory cell infiltration, glycogen deposition in glomerular mesangium, and interstitial fibrosis, suggesting alleviation of kidney lesions. Furthermore, AG decreased the expression of renal injury markers such as KIM-1 and desmin; inflammatory cytokine-related genes such as IL-1β, IL-8, and MMP-9; and autophagy-related genes and proteins such as LC3II, ATG5, and Beclin1. However, quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry showed that treatment with AG did not affect the kidney and liver viral load. These findings suggest that AG decreases the mortality rate and kidney lesions in goslings infected with GAstV-2 through mechanisms associated with autophagy and inhibition of inflammatory cytokine production in the kidney but not with GAstV-2 replication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community participation is considered an effective measure to protect the eco-environment and to improve people's livelihoods in protected areas. However, it has not received enough attention at the practical level in most developing countries, and it is unclear how important it is in stimulating locals' pro-environmental behaviours to achieve eco-environmental protection goals. This study focuses on the relationship among community participation, perception changes in livelihood capitals and place attachment, which are related to residents' production, livelihoods, and pro-environmental behaviours. The study uses a convenience sampling method in the Nanling National Nature Reserve, China. Regression analysis results show that community participation is the most powerful predictor of pro-environmental behaviours. Furthermore, community participation moderates the relationship between place attachment and pro-environmental behaviours. In addition, perception changes in livelihood capitals positively affect pro-environmental behaviours in the high-level community participation group while having negative or positive results in the low-level community participation group. The findings, which emphasize the importance of community participation in conservation, provide a better understanding of the differences in pro-environmental behaviours between high and low community participation groups and will aid future development and conservation planning of these initiatives. Unlabelled Image • Community participation is the most powerful tool for environmental conservation in protected areas. • Community participation modulates the relation between place attachment and PEB. • PCLC positively affect residents' PEB in high-level community participation group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2′, 5′-Oligoadenylate synthetase-lilke (OASL) protein is an atypical oligoadenylate synthetase (OAS) family member, which possesses antiviral activity but lacks 2′, 5′-oligoadenylate synthetase activity. Here, a novel variant of porcine OASL (pOASL2) was identified through RT-PCR amplification. This gene is distinguishable from the previously described wild-type porcine OASL (pOASL1). The gene appears to be derived from a truncation of exon 4 plus 8 nucleotides of exon 5 with a premature termination, measuring only 633 bp in length, although its position corresponds to that of pOASL1. Given this novel gene appears to be a variant of pOASL, we assayed for antiviral activity of the protein. We demonstrated that pOASL2 could inhibit Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) proliferation as well as pOASL1 in a transient overexpression assay of pOASL1 and pOASL2 in PK-15 and Vero cells. In addition to JEV, pOASL1 and pOASL2 also decreased the proliferations of Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), but did not exhibit antiviral activity against pseudorabies virus (PRV). Structural analysis showed that the pOASL2 gene retained only the first three exons at the 5′-. To investigate the role of the αN4 helix in pOASL in antiviral responses like that in hOASL, we mutated key residues in the anchor domain of the αN4 helix in pOASL2, based on the domain’s location in hOASL. However, the antiviral activity of pOASL2 was not affected. Thus, the αN4 helix of pOASL likely does not play a significant role in its antiviral activity. In conclusion, pOASL2 acts as a new splice isoform of pOASL that plays a role in resistance to infection of several kinds of RNA viruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a major causative agent of neurological infection affecting humans and pigs. Human T Cell Immunoglobulin and Mucin Domain 1 (hTIM-1) enhances the infection of JEV through virion-associated phosphatidylserine (PS) binding. Here, five swine TIM-1 (sTIM-1) gene variants were cloned from pig lung tissues by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Sequence alignment analysis revealed that the gene homology between the sTIM-1 and hTIM-1 was 42.3–43.8%. Furthermore, ectopic expression of all five sTIM-1 variants in 293 T cells can promote JEV entry and infection. However, sTIM-1 V3 exhibited significantly less potent at promoting virus entry compared to the other four variants. Further studies revealed that the 34th amino acid of sTIM-1is critical for the entry of JEV, which is Pro34 in sTIM-1V3 while Leu34 in other four sTIM-1 variants. Mechanically, leucine at locus 34 was associated with the membrane distribution of sTIM-1, thereby affecting viral entry and infection. In total, our findings provide evidence that the PS receptor sTIM-1 promotes the infection of JEV and that the 34th amino acid position is critical for sTIM-1 to mediate viral infection. • The sTIM-1 gene amplified from pig lung tissues is highly polymorphic. • The P34L mutation of sTIM-1 enhances JEV entry and infection. • sTIM-1 promotes JEV infection via the PS-dependent pathway. • The P34L mutation increases the distribution of sTIM-1 on the cell membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is the most common cause of the prevalent encephalitis in Asia-Pacific region and poses a serious risk to public health. Here, we developed a reliable reverse genetics system based on the JEV SA 14 -14-2 strain to further explore the mechanism for the synthesis of NS1′ protein and to investigate the function of NS1′ protein during virus infection. NS1′ is an additional form of NS1 protein with 52 amino acid carboxy-terminal extension and is expressed by the members of the Japanese encephalitis (JE) serogroup due to the translation frameshift. A66G substitution in NS2A gene of JEV SA 14 -14-2 strain contributed to recover the GC-rich pseudoknot and resulted in the formation of the NS1′. The NS1′ protein has no significant effect on the virus replication properties in BHK-21 cells. Animal experiments demonstrated that the NS1′ protein had a rather minor effect on neurovirulence of JEV SA 14 -14-2 strain. But the NS1′-expressing virus (rA66G) could induce a higher humoral immune response than the NS1′-non-expressing virus (rSA 14 -14-2). NS1′ protein can be detected in the serum of JEV rA66G infected animal and in the cultural media of that infected mammalian cells. Interesting, only the dimer of NS1′ can be detected in the cultural media of the infected BHK-21 cells and the amount of the secreted NS1′ was in agreement with that of the secreted virion. In comparison with the live-attenuated JE vaccine strain which is incapable of formation of NS1′, most of the virulent JEV strains produce the NS1′ protein. And the secreted NS1′ may serve as an early surrogate biomarker for viremia to distinguish the field infection from the vaccine inoculation. In total, in the present study, we identified the nt 66 in the viral NS2A gene as one of the critical site for the −1 programmed ribosomal frameshift to produce the NS1′ protein and demonstrated the secreted NS1′ could be used for diagnostic biomarker during JEV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To elucidate the role of microRNAs (miRNA) in the regulation of gene expression in Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infected swine testis (ST) cells, we analyzed miRNA and mRNA expression profiles of JEV infected ST cells by high-throughput sequencing technology as compared to uninfected controls. The results showed that 104 known miRNAs and 9 new miRNA candidates were differentially expressed in ST cells after JEV infection. We identified 396 differentially expressed mRNAs. Bioinformatics analysis identified 435 known miRNA–mRNA interaction pairs and 94 novel miRNA–mRNA interaction pairs involving miRNAs inversely correlated with the expression of their predicted target mRNAs. The known miRNAs inversely correlated with their target genes were involved in the biological processes of immunity, cytokine production, inflammation, and apoptosis. Selected miRNA–mRNA interactions were validated by luciferase reporter assay. Overall, our findings indicate that miRNAs may play critical roles in the pathogenesis of JEV infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For enhancing the vapour absorption in LiBr solution systems, a novel absorber with tube and mesh packing alternating structure is designed and investigated. Stainless steel mesh screens are folded as the longitudinal trough mesh packing, and inserted to the gaps of horizontal tubes to make the absorbent flow through the tube and mesh packing regimes successively, thus forming an alternating heat and mass transfer absorption process. Experimental investigation is conducted to characterize the absorption performance of the absorption bodies of this alternating structure and conventional horizontal coils. The results show that the average mass transfer rate and cooling load are increased by 17.2% and 6.23% respectively, which confirms that the alternating structures can promote the absorption. The mesh packing provides extended absorption area, slows down the flow and well mingles the solution, which are all beneficial for vapour absorption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During investigations into the outbreak of duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV) infection in 2011 in China, a DTMUV strain (DTMUV-AH2011) was isolated from the affected ducks. The length of the genome of the DTMUV-AH2011 strain was found to be 11,064 nucleotides and to possess 10,278 nucleotides of one open reading frame (ORF), flanked by 94 nucleotides of the 5′ non-translated region (NTR) and 692 nucleotides of the 3′ NTR. In comparison with five fully sequenced TMUV genomes, the genome of DTMUV-AH2011 had a 74 nucleotide insertion in the 3′ NTR. Comparison of the DTMUV-AH2011 fully deduced amino acid sequences with those of other Tembusu virus strains reported recently in China showed they had a highly conserved polyprotein precursor, sharing 98.9% amino acid identities, at least. The overall divergences of amino acid substitutions were randomly distributed among viral proteins except for the protein NS4B, the protein NS4B was unchanged. Knowledge of the biological characters of DTMUV and the potential role of the insertion in the 3′ NTR in RNA replication will be useful for further studies of the mechanisms of virus replication and pathogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

• The deletion of 1 ∼x223C 13 bp of PK does not significantly affect the replication of PRV. • PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02 is safe for PRV antibody negative neonatal piglets. • PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02 can provide complete protection against virulent PRV variants. A variant of pseudorabies virus (PRV) with enhanced pathogenicity have emerged in many vaccinated swine herds in China since 2011. PRVΔTK&gE-AH02, a previously described TK/gE deletion PRV strain arising from the PRV variant AH02LA, has been shown to be safe for PRV antibody positive piglets, and could provide protection against emerging PRV variants. However, inoculation of PRVΔTK&gE-AH02 into PRV antibody negative neonatal piglets caused lethal infection. In the study, in order to attenuate the virulence of PRVΔTK&gE-AH02, an additional deletion of 1∼x223C13 bp of US3 (the serine/threonine kinase, PK) gene was performed to generate a TK/PK/gE deletion PRV variant (PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02). We found that the growth kinetics of PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02 was similar to that of PRVΔTK&gE-AH02. Mice inoculated with PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02 in different dose (104.0∼x223C107.0 TCID 50) survived and showed no observable clinical symptoms. No virus was detected in the brains or lungs of the mice inoculated with PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02. Moreover, mice inoculated with PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02 and PRVΔTK&gE-AH02 showed similar survival against virulent PRV AH02LA strain. Importantly, safety test showed no clinical symptoms in PRV antibody negative neonatal piglets that were intranasally inoculated with PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02 at a dose of 106.5 TCID 50 , indicating that the virulence of PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02 was significantly mitigated. Piglets immunized with PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02 exhibited a high serum neutralization index. All piglets inoculated intramuscularly (I.M.) with 1 mL (105.0 TCID 50) PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02 were completely protected against challenge intranasally (I.N.) with 2LD 50 (106.5TCID 50) PRV AH02LA strain. In summary, our results indicate that deletion of 1∼x223C13 bp of US3 (PK) can provide a useful way for further attenuation of PRV and the PRVΔTK&PK&gE-AH02 might be a promising vaccine candidate for controlling of the virulent PRV variants in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a serious mosquito-borne flavivirus that causes acute encephalitis in humans and many animals, with a high fatality rate. RNA interference (RNAi) is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism for the specific suppression of gene expression, which can be used as a reasonable antiviral strategy. In this study, 10 shRNAs targeting different regions of the JEV genome were designed, and their inhibition of viral replication in vitro and in vivo was determined. Treatment with these shRNAs significantly inhibited JEV replication in BHK-21 and SK-N-SH cells. An immunohistochemical analysis of suckling mice showed that brain sections pretreated with pGP-JE-1, pGP-JE-2 or pGP-JE-3 lacked viral particles. The survival of BALB/c mice challenged with 20 LD50 of the JEV NJ2008 strain at 24h post-injection or simultaneously with pGP-JE-2 was 83.3% and 66.7%, respectively. The results demonstrated that the efficiency of gene silencing and virus inhibition varied between shRNAs to different target genes and sites. Meanwhile, the shRNA-mediated antiviral effect was dose- and time-dependent, including prophylactic and therapeutic effect on virus infection both in vitro and in vivo. The whole results indicate that these shRNAs can inhibit JEV infection sufficiently in vitro and in vivo and might be a potential new tool for controlling JEV infection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Nonuniformity factors of thermal resistance and capacitance are proposed. • The transmission load is reduced by ∼35% after optimizing nonuniformity factors. • Optimal nonuniformity factors of resistance/capacitance are 0.8 and 0.6 respectively. To increase the energy efficiency of buildings and lower carbon emissions, heat losses through exterior walls could be considerably decreased by using high-performance thermal insulation materials with superlow thermal conductivities or superhigh heat capacities. A superinsulating layer would result in a highly nonuniform distribution of thermal resistance and capacitance within the exterior wall. An interesting problem concerns how to engineer the nonuniform thermal distribution for given total resistances and capacitances to improve energy efficiency. This paper proposes using a thermal nonuniformity factor to quantitatively characterize the nonuniform distribution of thermal resistance and capacitance in an exterior wall built with superthermal aerogel insulating panels and given total resistance and capacitance values. Various thermal nonuniformity factors for several insulation modes were investigated by calculating the relevant transmission loads through the walls. The effect of the thermal nonuniformity factor on the wall transmission load was explored to improve the energy efficiency of a building. The results indicated that the wall heat flux could be greatly decreased by engineering walls with a high nonuniformity factor. For instance, engineering a wall in a sandwich mode with thermal nonuniformity factor of 0.97 could decrease the wall heat flux by ∼35% compared to a uniform wall. These findings on engineering walls based on thermal nonuniformity factors to decrease the wall heat flux could be a useful reference for superinsulated buildings and for further improving thermal insulating performance and building energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome is an important infectious disease of pigs and has a significant harmful effect on the livestock industry, especially in China. PRRSV ORF1b gene encodes primary proteins which play a vital role during PRRSV replication. In this paper, various 12-amino-acid peptides were displayed. These peptides could bind to the polymerase and helicase of PRRSV ORF1b protein, respectively, in which p9 exerted the highest antiviral activity with an IC50 of 56μM, and the minimum toxicity to cells. It was proved that p9 inhibited PRRSV replication in infected MARC-145 cells in a dose-dependent manner, and the amino acid sequence of HRILMRIR was important for antiviral activity of p9. Also, p9 could bind to the cell membrane and penetrated into cells. These result suggested that p9 might be a potential therapeutic drug for PRRSV infection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The bursa of Fabricius (BF) is acknowledged as central humoral immune organ unique to birds. Our purpose was to identify the potential function of a novel bursal-derived bioactive peptide. A bursal septpeptide (BSP-I), EPASGMM, first isolated from BF, reduced MCF and Hela tumor cells proliferation, and enhanced antitumor factor p53 luciferase activity and protein expression. Further, we found the significantly immune inducing function of BSP-I on antigen-specific immune response in BALB/c mice intraperitoneally immunized with inactivated avian influence virus (AIV, H9N2 subtype) vaccine, including of enhancing the antibody (IgG, the isotypes IgG1 and IgG2a) production, and stimulating cytokines IL-4 and IFN-γ level, and inducing T cell immunophenotyping and lymphocyte proliferation. These results suggested that as the bioactive peptide from avian humoral immune system, various biological function of BSP-I may have far-reaching implication on immune system significance, which might provide novel insight on linking between humoral immune system and development of effective immunotherapeutic strategies for treating human cancers diseases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The bursa of Fabricius is central immune organ unique to birds, and the extract is immunocompetent in stimulating B cell differentiation and enhancing antibody production. However, except for bursin, the active peptides from the bursa of Fabricius are little reported. In the paper, a novel bursal septpeptide (BSP-II) with the amino acids sequence of TPSGLVY was identified and similar to the MGC53864 protein of Gallus gallus. We investigated the effects of BSP-II on the immune response in terms of the antibodies titers (IgG1 and IgG2α), the levels of interferon-γ and interleukin-4 cytokines, spleen cell lymphocyte proliferation, and the T-lymphocyte subtype composition. It was noteworthy that BSP-II potentiates the Th1 and Th2-type immune responses in dose-dependent manner. BSP-II had specific enhancing effects on the hybridoma SP2/0 cell proliferation at two different serum concentrations (20% and 5%), but had no connection with the dose of BSP-II. The antibody secreting level of hybridoma SP2/0 cells rose in 5% and 20% serum when the concentrations of BSP-II increased. Also, BSP-II had effect on the viabilities of tumor cells (Hela and SP2/0). All the results indicated that BSP-II was able to significantly induce various immune responses and involved in the cell viability of different tumor cell lines. Our observations implied that BSP-II might be a novel biological active factor from the bursa of Fabricius with immunomodulatory activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Antibacterial peptides from various sources express different antibacterial activity. In order to obtain a high activity antibacterial peptide, the sequences of four antimicrobial peptides—Protegrin-1, 4kDa Scorpion Defensin, Metalnikowin-2A and Sheep Myeloid Antibacterial Peptide SMAP-29—were exploited to generate a synthetic antimicrobial peptide cp gene, which was then cloned into the expression vector pPICZα-A. The constructed recombinant expression vector pPICZα-cp was transformed into Pichia pastoris X-33, in which the synthetic antimicrobial peptide (CP) could be expressed under the control of the inducible AOX1 promoter and secreted via the α mating factor leader of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Results showed that recombinant plasmid is highly stable, and In vitro experiments showed that the recombinant antimicrobial peptide CP is heat and acid-stable, and it has high antibacterial activity against several Gram-positive and -negative bacteria. Only 1μg of the recombinant antimicrobial peptide CP has an antibacterial activity equivalent to 64U ampicillin. Thus, this recombinant antimicrobial peptide could serve as an attractive candidate for the development of therapeutic antimicrobial drugs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

TRIM26, a member of the tripartite motif (TRIM) family has been shown to be involved in modulation of innate antiviral response. However, the functional characteristics of porcine TRIM26 (porTRIM26) are unclear. In this study, we used a synthesized antigen peptide to generate a polyclonal antibody against porTRIM26 with which to study the expression and function of porTRIM26. We demonstrated that polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid (poly (I:C)) stimulation and viral infection (vesicular stomatitis (VSV) or porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV)) induce expression of porTRIM26, whereas knock-down expression of porTRIM26 promotes interferon (IFN)-β production after poly (I:C) stimulation and virus infection (VSV or PRRSV). The importance of the porTRIM26-mediated modulation of the antiviral response was also shown in VSV- or PRRSV-infected cells. In summary, these findings show that porTRIM26 has an inhibitory role in IFN-β expression and the antiviral response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV), a pathogenic member of the Flavivirus family, was first discovered in the coastal provinces of South-Eastern China in 2010. Many previous reports have clearly shown that some Flaviviruses utilize several endocytic pathways to enter the host cells, however, the detailed mechanism of DTMUV entry into BHK-21 cells, which is usually employed to produce commercial veterinary vaccines for DTMUV, as well as of other Flaviviruses by serial passages, is still unknown. In this study, DTMUV entry into BHK-21 cells was found to be inhibited by noncytotoxic concentrations of the agents chloroquine, NH4Cl, and Bafilomycin A1, which blocked the acidification of the endosomes. Inactivation of virions by acid pretreatment is a hallmark of viruses that utilize a low-pH-mediated entry pathway. Exposure of DTMUV virions to pH 5.0 in the absence of host cell membranes decreased entry into cells by 65%. Furthermore, DTMUV infection was significantly decreased by chlorpromazine treatment, or by knockdown of the clathrin heavy chain (CHC) through RNA interference, which suggested that DTMUV entry depends on clathrin. Taken together, these findings highlight that a low endosomal pH is an important route of entry for DTMUV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a mosquito-borne Flavivirus, the leading cause of viral-induced encephalitis. Several host molecules have been identified as the JEV attachment factor; however, the molecules involved in JEV entry remain poorly understood. In the present study, we demonstrate that TIM-1 is important for efficient infection by JEV. Firstly, three TIM-1 variants (V1, V2, and V3) were cloned from A549 cells, and we revealed that only ectopically TIM-1 V2 expression in 293T cells significantly promotes JEV attachment, entry and infection. Point mutation of phosphatidylserine (Ptdser) binding pocket in the TIM-1 IgV domain dampened JEV entry, indicating that TIM-1-mediated JEV infection is Ptdser-dependent. Furthermore, we found the cytoplasmic domain of TIM-1 is also required for enhancing JEV entry. Additionally, knock down of TIM-1 expression in A549 cells impaired JEV entry and infection, but not attachment, suggesting that additional factors exist in A549 cells that allow the virus to bind. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that TIM-1 promotes JEV infection as an entry cofactor, and the polymorphism of TIM-1 is associated with JEV susceptibility to host cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]