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Currently, the efficacy of vaccination for preventing and controlling PRRSV is insufficient. Therefore, there is an urgent need for novel effective preventive strategies. This study aimed to investigate the antiviral effect of Eucalyptus essential oil (EEO) against PRRSV in vitro. Marc-145 cells were infected with PRRSV (rJXA1-R), and the toxicity of EEO in the cells was measured using the Cell Counting Kit-8 method. Additionally, the antiviral effect of EEO on PRRSVinfected cells was assessed using three treatment methods: drug administration post-PRRSV inoculation (post-treatment), drug administration before PRRSV inoculation (pre-treatment), and simultaneous drug administration and PRRSV inoculation (co-treatment). The EEO could not inhibit virus adsorption and/ or replication since post-treatment and pre-treatment did not prevent viral infectivity. However, EEO exerted a significant virucidal effect on PRRSV. When PRRSV-infected cells were treated with 0.0156, 0.0312, and 0.0625% EEO, the cell survival rates were 55.37, 118.96, and 121.67%, respectively, and the titer of progeny virions decreased from 5.77 Log10TCID50 to 5.21 Log10TCID50, 0.55 Log10TCID50, and less than 0.167 Log10TCID50, respectively (where TCID50 is the 50% tissue culture infected dose). The fluorescence intensity of the PRRSV N protein significantly decreased in the indirect immunofluorescence assay. When cells were co-treated with EEO (0.0625%) and PRRSV (1000 TCID50) for 15 min, the viral particles were inactivated, and PRRSV (1000 TCID50) particles loss infectivity when the co-treatment time reached 60 min. In a word, EEO has no obvious therapeutic effect on PRRSV infection, but it can effectively inactivate virus particles and make them lose the ability to infect cells. These findings provide insights for the development and use of EEO to treat PRRS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Background: The increase in antibiotic resistance of bacteria has become a major concern in clinical treatment. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have significant antibacterial effects against Streptococcus suis. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the antibacterial activity and mechanism of action of AgNPs against multidrug-resistant S. suis. Methods: The effect of AgNPs on the morphology of multidrug-resistant S. suis was observed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Differentially expressed proteins were analyzed by iTRAQ quantitative proteomics, and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assayed by H2DCF-DA staining. Results: SEM showed that AgNPs disrupted the normal morphology of multidrugresistant S. suis and the integrity of the biofilm structure. Quantitative proteomic analysis revealed that a large number of cell wall synthesis-related proteins, such as penicillin-binding protein and some cell cycle proteins, such as the cell division protein FtsZ and chromosomal replication initiator protein DnaA, were downregulated after treatment with 25 μg/mL AgNPs. Significant changes were also observed in the expression of the antioxidant enzymes glutathione reductase, alkyl hydroperoxides-like protein, α/β superfamily hydrolases/acyltransferases, and glutathione disulfide reductases. ROS production in S. suis positively correlated with AgNP concentration. Conclusion: The potential antibacterial mechanism of AgNPs may involve disrupting the normal morphology of bacteria by inhibiting the synthesis of cell wall peptidoglycans and inhibiting the growth of bacteria by inhibiting the cell division protein FtsZ and Chromosomal replication initiator protein DnaA. High oxidative stress may be a significant cause of bacterial death. The potential mechanism by which AgNPs inhibit S. suis biofilm formation may involve affecting bacterial adhesion and interfering with the quorum sensing system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

The article highlights a study we used a low dose of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) combined with a high dose of methylprednisolone (MPS) to induce a model of femoral head necrosis in tree shrews. It discusses that the model was established in 12 weeks as determined by biochemical analysis, micro-CT examinations, histological analyses, and scanning electron microscopy; and concludes that it replicated a tree shrew model of human hormone-induced osteonecrosis. more...

Plant-specific GRAS transcription factors regulate various biological processes in plant growth, development and stress responses. However, this important gene family was not fully characterized in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), an economically important vegetable crop. Here, a total of 50 CaGRAS members were identified in pepper genome and renamed by their respective chromosomal distribution. Genomic organization revealed that most CaGRAS genes (84%) have no intron. Phylogenetic analysis divided pepper CaGRAS members into 10 subfamilies, with each having distinct conserved domains and functions. For the expansion of the GRAS genes in pepper, segmental duplication contributed more than tandem duplication did. Gene expression analysis in various tissues demonstrated that most of CaGRAS genes exhibited a tissue- and development stage-specific expression pattern, uncovering their potential functions in pepper growth and development. Moreover, 21 CaGRAS genes were differentially expressed under cold, drought, salt and gibberellin acid (GA) treatments, indicating that they may implicated in plant response to abiotic stress. Notably, GA responsive cis-elements were detected in the promoter regions of the majority of CaGRAS genes, suggesting that CaGRAS may involve in signal cross-talking. The first comprehensive analysis of GRAS gene family in pepper genome by this study provide insights into understanding the GRAS-mediated regulation network, benefiting the genetic improvements in pepper and some other relative plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

Plant-specific GRAS transcription factors regulate various biological processes in plant growth, development and stress responses. However, this important gene family was not fully characterized in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), an economically important vegetable crop. Here, a total of 50 CaGRAS members were identified in pepper genome and renamed by their respective chromosomal distribution. Genomic organization revealed that most CaGRAS genes (84%) have no intron. Phylogenetic analysis divided pepper CaGRAS members into 10 subfamilies, with each having distinct conserved domains and functions. For the expansion of the GRAS genes in pepper, segmental duplication contributed more than tandem duplication did. Gene expression analysis in various tissues demonstrated that most of CaGRAS genes exhibited a tissue- and development stage-specific expression pattern, uncovering their potential functions in pepper growth and development. Moreover, 21 CaGRAS genes were differentially expressed under cold, drought, salt and gibberellin acid (GA) treatments, indicating that they may implicated in plant response to abiotic stress. Notably, GA responsive cis-elements were detected in the promoter regions of the majority of CaGRAS genes, suggesting that CaGRAS may involve in signal cross-talking. The first comprehensive analysis of GRAS gene family in pepper genome by this study provide insights into understanding the GRAS-mediated regulation network, benefiting the genetic improvements in pepper and some other relative plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This paper proposes a novel radial basis function (RBF) algorithm based on the subtractive clustering method (SCM) optimised by Akaike information criterion (AIC), which aims to achieve defect identification of conductive structures with the use of eddy current. The proposed AIC-SCM algorithm can obtain the optimum clustering information in accordance with the AIC of the intra-cluster distance variance and cluster model. Therefore, the proposed algorithm can effectively overcome the limitations of the traditional SCM, which requires many parameters to be determined before clustering and can reduce the dispersion of clustering results. The optimised clustering results would provide the initial value of key parameters for building the RBF model and determine the optimum number of hidden nodes and RBF parameters, such as position and width, to improve the adaptability of the RBF model. Experimental results show that the improved algorithm can identify defects with a high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...