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Detecting temperature and concentration fields within engine combustors holds paramount significance in enhancing combustion efficiency and ensuring operational safety. Within the realm of engine combustors, the laminar absorption spectroscopy technique has garnered considerable attention. Particularly crucial is the optimization of the optical path configuration to enhance the efficacy of reconstruction. This study presents a flame parameter field reconstruction model founded on laminar absorption spectroscopy. Furthermore, an optimization approach for refining the optical path configuration is delineated. In addressing non-axisymmetric flames, the simulated annealing algorithm (SA) and Harris's Hawk algorithm (HHO) are employed to optimize the optical path layout across varying beam quantities. The findings underscore a marked reduction in imaging errors with the optimized optical path configuration compared to conventional setups, thereby elevating detection precision. Notably, the HHO algorithm demonstrates superior performance over the SA algorithm in terms of optimization outcomes and computational efficiency. Compared with the parallel optical path, the optimized optical path of the HHO algorithm reduces the temperature field error by 25.5% and the concentration field error by 26.5%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the realm of high-tech materials and energy applications, accurately measuring the transient heat flow at media boundaries and the internal thermal conductivity of materials in harsh heat exchange environments poses a significant challenge when using conventional direct measurement methods. Consequently, the study of photothermal parameter reconstruction in translucent media, which relies on indirect measurement techniques, has crucial practical value. Current research on reconstructing photothermal properties within participating media typically focuses on single-objective or time-invariant properties. There is a pressing need to develop effective methods for the simultaneous reconstruction of time-varying thermal flow fields and internal thermal conductivity at the boundaries of participating media. This paper introduces a computational model based on the numerical simulation theory of internal heat transfer systems in participating media, stochastic particle swarm optimization algorithms, and Kalman filter technology. The model aims to enable the simultaneous reconstruction of various thermal parameters within the target medium. Our results demonstrate that under varying levels of measurement noise, the inversion results for different target parameters exhibit slight oscillations around the true values, leading to a reduction in reconstruction accuracy. However, overall, the model demonstrates robustness and accuracy in ideal conditions, validating its effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remarkable efficacy of cancer immunotherapy has been established in several tumor types. Of the various immunotherapies, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors are most extensively used in the treatment of many cancers in clinics. These inhibitors restore the suppressed antitumor immune response and inhibit tumor progression by blocking the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling. However, the low response rate is a major limitation in the clinical application of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors. Therefore, combination strategies that enhance the response rate are the need of the hour. In this investigation, PT-100 (also referred to as Talabostat, Val-boroPro, and BXCL701), an orally administered and nonselective dipeptidyl peptidase inhibitor, not only augmented the effectiveness of anti-PD-1 therapy but also significantly improved T immune cell infiltration and reversed the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The combination of PT-100 and anti-PD-1 antibody increased the number of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Moreover, the mRNA expression of T cell-associated molecules was elevated in the tumor microenvironment. The results further suggested that PT-100 dramatically reduced the ratio of tumor-associated macrophages. These findings provide a promising combination strategy for immunotherapy in lung cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the first time, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on bis(8-hydroxyquinoline) zinc with a styryl group (ZnStq) dispersed in poly(N-vinylcarbazole) matrix (ZnStq_R:PVK, where R = H, Cl, OCH3) were fabricated. The ZnStq_R:PVK films made via the spin-coating method were used as the active layer in these devices. The produced OLEDs showed strong electroluminescence with yellow emissions at 590, 587 and 578 nm for the ZnStq_H:PVK, ZnStq_Cl:PVK and ZnStq_OCH3:PVK, respectively. For all the studied thin films, the main photoluminescence emission bands were observed between 565 and 571 nm. The OLED with the ZnStq_OCH3:PVK layer with a narrow electroluminescence spectrum was found to have sufficient color purity to produce ultra-high-resolution displays with reduced power consumption (full width at half maximum of 59 nm, maximum brightness of 2244 cd/m2 and maximum current efficiency of 1.24 cd/A, with a turn-on voltage of 6.94 V and a threshold voltage of 7.35 V). To characterize the photophysical properties of the active layer, the ZnStq_R:PVK layers samples were additionally deposited on glass and silicon substrates. We found that the obtained results predestine ZnStq_R:PVK layers for use in the lighting industry in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurement of thermal properties of thin films is challenging. In particular, thermal characterization is very difficult in semi-transparent samples. Here, we use two photothermal methods to obtain information about the thermal diffusivity as well as thermal conductivity of azoheteroarene functionalized polymer thin layers. The photothermal beam deflection (PBD) method is employed to gather data directly on thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity, while the thermal lens (TL) method is employed to measure the effective thermal diffusivity. Consequently, the thermal diffusivity of the layers is indirectly estimated from the effective thermal diffusivity using a well-established theoretical relationship. Despite the utilization of distinct methods, our study reveals a remarkable consistency in the highly accurate results obtained from both approaches. This remarkable agreement reaffirms the reliability and mutual compatibility of the employed methods, highlighting their shared ability to provide accurate and congruent outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purple soil is a type of global soil that is referred to by various names in different countries, which makes it difficult to understand, utilize, and ameliorate purple soil internationally. Soil Taxonomy (ST) and the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) are the most widely used soil classification systems in the world. The aim of this study was to clarify the classification of purple soil in ST and the WRB and to establish a reference between different classification systems of purple soil. Therefore, based on the current principles and methods of the ST and WRB systems, 18 typical purple soil profiles in the eastern Sichuan Basin were identified, retrieved, and classified. Then, the soil units of the WRB were compared with those of ST and the Chinese Soil Taxonomy (CST). The results revealed that the 18 typical purple soil profiles could be classified into three soil orders, four soil group orders, and seven soil subgroups in ST and four reference soil groups (RSGs) in the WRB; each profile had its own unique principal and supplementary qualifier combinations within the soil units. It was found that when compared with the ST system, the WRB and CST systems had stronger abilities to distinguish purple soil. In addition, the WRB system was able to more comprehensively consider soil characteristics such as soil layer thickness, ferric horizon, soil color, texture mutations, and carbonate through qualifiers. However, the CST system added diagnostic characteristics, such as the lithologic characteristics of purplish sandstones and shales and the ferric properties and alic properties at the soil group and subgroup levels, which enhanced the differentiation ability of the purple soil at the subgroup level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nondestructive detection method that combines convolutional neural network (CNN) and photoluminescence (PL) imaging was proposed for the multi-classification and multi-grading of defects during the fabrication process of silicon solar cells. In this paper, the PL was applied to collect the images of the defects of solar cells, and an image pre-processing method was introduced for enhancing the features of the defect images. Simultaneously, the defects were defined by 13 categories and three divided grades of each under the definition rules of defects that were proposed in accordance with distribution and characteristics of each defect category, and expand data were processed by various data augmentation. The model was therefore improved and optimized based on the YOLOv5 as the feature extractor and classifier. The capability of the model on distinguishing categories and grades of solar cell defects was improved via parameter tuning and image pre-processing. Through experimental analysis, the optimal combination of hyperparameters and the actual effect of data sample pre-processing on the training results of the neural network were determined. Conclusively, the reasons for the poor recognition results of the small target defects and complex feature defects by the current model were found and further work was confirmed under the foundation of the differences in recognition results between different categories and grades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This report is on convolution neural network (CNN) fusion lock-in thermography, which can implement the intelligent identification of defects for aviation honeycomb sandwich composites (HSCs). First, HSCs specimens with subsurface delamination defects were fabricated and stimulated by halogen lamps according to sinusoidal modulation, and the defects were reliably inspected using lock-in thermography. The amplitude and phase images (commonly referred to as feature images) were obtained by using a digital lock-in correlation algorithm. Furthermore, these feature images were changed into gray or color-level image formalism datasets, which is pre-processed in ways including contrast enhancement, threshold segmentation as well as mosaic data augmentation. Finally, the four-layer feature pyramid structure and ransformer are combined and introduced to the popular YOLOv5 CNN model, and a YOLOLT CNN model is formed to realize the defect identification. The average precision (AP) in the defect identification of HSCs in complex environments (contains noise and other objects) reached 93.2% and achieved an average recognition speed of 0.6 s/image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review entitled "A Review of Biofilm Formation of I Staphylococcus aureus i and Its Regulation Mechanism" discusses an overview of I S. aureus i biofilms, including the formation process, structural and functional properties of the biofilm matrix, and the mechanism that regulates biofilm formation [[5]]. I Escherichia coli i is also a common biofilm former, which normally colonizes in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and animals a few hours after birth, and pathogenic I E. coli i , which is the most common cause of gastrointestinal infections, such as diarrheal disease caused by enterotoxigenic I E. coli i (ETEC), and extraintestinal infections, such as urinary tract infections (UTI) caused by uropathogenic I E. coli i (UPEC). As concluded, the above manuscripts published in this topical collection provided comprehensive knowledge and insight, which contributes to our understanding of antimicrobial resistance epidemiology and molecular mechanisms, new antibiofilm strategies, and novel natural compounds for biofilm eradication, covering food and clinical fields. As a result, novel antibiofilm strategies that are able to interfere with cells inside and disassemble the biofilm matrix are needed in order to inhibit biofilm formation and/or disrupt persistent biofilms. [Extracted from the article]

With the rapid development of urbanization and industrialization, water contamination has gradually become a big problem. Relevant studies show that adsorption is an efficient strategy to treat pollutants in water. MOFs are a class of porous materials with a three-dimensional frame structure shaped by the self-assembly of metal centers and organic ligands. Because of its unique performance advantages, it has become a promising adsorbent. At present, single MOFs cannot meet the needs, but the introduction of familiar functional groups on MOFs can promote the adsorption performance of MOFs on the target. In this review, the main advantages, adsorption mechanism, and specific applications of various functional MOF adsorbents for pollutants in water are reviewed. At the end of the article, we summarize and discuss the future development direction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus infections is of worldwide concern, phenotype and genotype in prevalent MRSA strains require longitudinal investigation. In this study, the antibiotic resistance, virulence gene acquisition, and molecular type were determined on a large scale of nosocomial S. aureus strains in Southern China during 2009–2015. Bacterial identification and antimicrobial susceptibility to 10 antibiotics were tested by Vitek-2. Virulence genes encoding staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEA, SEB, SEC, SED, and SEE), exfoliative toxins (ETA and ETB), Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL), and toxic shock syndrome toxin (TSST) were detected by PCR, with SCCmec typing also conducted by multiplex PCR strategy. Genotypes were discriminated by MLST and spaA typing. MLST was performed by amplification of the internal region of seven housekeeping genes. PCR amplification targeting the spa gene was performed for spa typing. No resistance to vancomycin, linezolid, or quinupristin and increase in the resistance to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (55.5%) were identified. A total of nine SCCmec types and subtypes, thirteen STs clustered into thirteen spa types were identified, with ST239-SCCmec III-t037 presenting the predominant methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) clone. Typically, SCCmec type IX and ST546 were emergent types in China. Isolates positive for both pvl and tsst genes and for both eta and etb genes were also identified. Important findings in this study include: firstly, we have provided comprehensive knowledge on the molecular epidemiology of MRSA in Southern China which fills the gap since 2006 or 2010 from previous studies. Secondly, we have presented the correlation between virulence factors (four major groups) and genotypes (SCCmec, ST and spa types). Thirdly, we have shown evidence for earliest emergence of type I SCCmec from 2012, type VI from 2009 and type XI from 2012 in MRSA from Southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of P3HT:PCBM ratio on thermal and transport properties of solar cells were determined by photothermal beam deflection spectrometry, which is advantageous tool for non-destructively study of bulk heterojunction layers of organic solar cells. P3HT:PCBM layers of different P3HT:PCBM ratios were deposited on top of PEDOT:PSS/ITO layers which were included in organic bulk-heterojunction solar cells. The thermal diffusivity, energy gap and charge carrier lifetime were measured at different illumination conditions and with a different P3HT:PCBM ratios. As expected, it was found that the energy band gap depends on the P3HT:PCBM ratio. Thermal diffusivity is decreasing, while charge carrier lifetime is increasing with PCBM concentration. Energy band gap was found to be independent on illumination intensity, while thermal diffusivity was increasing and carrier lifetime was decreasing with illumination intensity. The carrier lifetime exhibits qualitatively similar dependence on the PCBM concentration when compared to the open-circuit voltage of operating solar cells under AM1.5 illumination. BDS and standard I-V measurement yielded comparable results arguing that the former is suitable for characterization of organic solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its commonly overlooked role as a commensal, Ralstonia mannitolilytica becomes an emerging global opportunistic human pathogen and a causative agent of various infections and diseases. In respiratory illnesses, including cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), R. mannitolilytica is also identified presumably as colonizer. In this study, one distinctive clone of R. mannitolilytica was firstly identified as colonizer for the first 20 days during hospitalization of a patient. It was then identified as a causative agent for catheter-related bloodstream infection with negative identification after effective treatment, verifying its transition from commensal to pathogen. In conclusion, we provide convincing evidence that during hospitalization of a patient, R. mannitolilytica transitioned from commensal to pathogen in the respiratory tract leading to catheter-related bloodstream infection (CRBSI). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-derived carbon nanofiber mats were fabricated using electrospinning and further carbonization. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electrochemical characterization were used to investigate the effects of precursor concentration, thermal stabilization and carbonization temperature, addition of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), activation of nitric acid and sulfuric acid on the morphologies, conductivity, flexibility and electrochemical properties of the fabricated carbon nanofiber mats. The results reveal that the carbon nanofiber mats with uniform fiber diameter of 200 nm and sheet resistance of 154 Ω/sq could be achieved with a PAN mass fraction of 12 wt% and a thermal stabilization and carbonization temperature of 270 °C and 900 °C, respectively. Due to the good conductivity and high strength of the MWCNTs, the sheet resistance of the carbon nanofiber mats decreases to around 60 Ω/sq by adding MWCNTs to precursor, and the mats exhibit excellent bend and fold flexibility. The electrochemical performance of the co-spun carbon nanofiber mats could be further improved by the activation treatment of acids, and the maximum specific capacitance of the carbon mat reaches 113.5 F/g at a current density of 0.1 mA/cm2 in the case of 1:3 HNO3:H2SO4. The investigation provides a reference for improving the performance of spun carbon nanofiber mats, which can be used as the electrodes or current collectors to further load other active materials in the applications of energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The normal vector estimation of the large-scale scattered point cloud (LSSPC) plays an important role in point-based shape editing. However, the normal vector estimation for LSSPC cannot meet the great challenge of the sharp increase of the point cloud that is mainly attributed to its low computational efficiency. In this paper, a novel, fast method-based on bi-linear interpolation is reported on the normal vector estimation for LSSPC. We divide the point sets into many small cubes to speed up the local point search and construct interpolation nodes on the isosurface expressed by the point cloud. On the premise of calculating the normal vectors of these interpolated nodes, a normal vector bi-linear interpolation of the points in the cube is realized. The proposed approach has the merits of accurate, simple, and high efficiency, because the algorithm only needs to search neighbor and calculates normal vectors for interpolation nodes that are usually far less than the point cloud. The experimental results of several real and simulated point sets show that our method is over three times faster than the Elliptic Gabriel Graph-based method, and the average deviation is less than 0.01 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Animals adjust their resource allocation strategies to maximize their reproductive benefit under dynamic socio-sexual environments. For example, male insect adults increase their testicular investment with the perceived increase of rivals to gain a competitive advantage in fathering offspring. To date, it is not clear whether insect pupae, which do not feed and crawl, can fine-tune their investment in sperm and testis size according to their social-sexual settings. This knowledge is vital to understanding how male insects respond to their surroundings experienced at different life stages. Using a moth which produces both fertile and unfertile sperm, we demonstrated for the first time that after detecting cues from conspecific pupae regardless of sex, male pupae increased production of both types of sperm at the same rate but kept testis size unchanged. Because most morphological traits are formed during the larval stage in insects, testis size may be fixed after pupation, allowing little room for the pupae to adjust testis size with social changes. Like adults, male pupae with fully grown testes have sufficient resources to produce more sperm of both types according to the perceived increase of sperm competition risk. Theoretic and empirical studies show that social surroundings experienced by male insects during their larval or adult stage can influence their testicular investment in diverse ways. Although insect pupae do not feed and crawl, they can communicate using sex-specific and/or non-sex specific cues. Yet, it is unknown, in any insect, whether and how male pupae can fine-tune their resource allocation to sperm production and testis size in response to socio-sexual environments. We investigated this question using a moth, Ephestia kuehniella, which produces fertile eupyrene sperm and unfertile apyrene sperm. We held male pupae individually or in groups with different sex ratios, and dissected adults upon eclosion, measured their testis size, and counted both types of sperm. We demonstrated that after exposure to conspecific pupal cues regardless of sex, male pupae increased production of eupyrenes and apyrenes at the same rate but kept testis size unchanged. We suggest that testis size is fixed after pupation because most morphological traits are formed during the larval stage, allowing little room for pupae to adjust testis size. Like adults, male pupae with fully grown testes have sufficient resources to produce more sperm of both types according to the perceived increase in sperm competition risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent conductive films with hexagonal and square patterns were fabricated on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrates by screen printing technology utilizing a poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and silver nanowire (Ag NWs) composite ink. The printing parameters—mesh number, printing layer, mass ratio of PEDOT:PSS to Ag NWs and pattern shape—have a significant influence on the photoelectric properties of the composite films. The screen mesh with a mesh number of 200 possesses a suitable mesh size of 74 µm for printing clear and integrated grids with high transparency. With an increase in the printing layer and a decrease in the mass ratio of PEDOT:PSS to Ag NWs, the transmittance and resistance of the printed grids both decreased. When the printing layer is 1, the transmittance and resistance are 85.6% and 2.23 kΩ for the hexagonal grid and 77.3% and 8.78 kΩ for the square grid, indicating that the more compact arrangement of square grids reduces the transmittance, and the greater number of connections of the square grid increases the resistance. Therefore, it is believed that improved photoelectric properties of transparent electrodes could be obtained by designing a printing pattern with optimized printing parameters. Additionally, the Ag NWs/PEDOT:PSS composite films with hexagonal and square patterns exhibit high transparency and good uniformity, suggesting promising applications in large-area and uniform heaters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calmodulin (CaM) is well known as an activator of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) are basic signaling molecules in excitable cells and are crucial molecular targets for nervous system agents. However, the way in which Ca2+/CaM/CaMKII cascade modulates NaV1.1 IQ (isoleucine and glutamine) domain of VGSCs remains obscure. In this study, the binding of CaM, its mutants at calcium binding sites (CaM12, CaM34, and CaM1234), and truncated proteins (N-lobe and C-lobe) to NaV1.1 IQ domain were detected by pull-down assay. Our data showed that the binding of Ca2+/CaM to the NaV1.1 IQ was concentration-dependent. ApoCaM (Ca2+-free form of calmodulin) bound to NaV1.1 IQ domain preferentially more than Ca2+/CaM. Additionally, the C-lobe of CaM was the predominant domain involved in apoCaM binding to NaV1.1 IQ domain. By contrast, the N-lobe of CaM was predominant in the binding of Ca2+/CaM to NaV1.1 IQ domain. Moreover, CaMKII-mediated phosphorylation increased the binding of Ca2+/CaM to NaV1.1 IQ domain due to one or several phosphorylation sites in T1909, S1918, and T1934 of NaV1.1 IQ domain. This study provides novel mechanisms for the modulation of NaV1.1 by the Ca2+/CaM/CaMKII axis. For the first time, we uncover the effect of Ca2+, lobe-specificity and CaMKII on CaM binding to NaV1.1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calmodulin (CaM) is well known as an activator of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII). Voltage-gated sodium channels (VGSCs) are basic signaling molecules in excitable cells and are crucial molecular targets for nervous system agents. However, the way in which Ca 2+ /CaM/CaMKII cascade modulates Na V 1.1 IQ (isoleucine and glutamine) domain of VGSCs remains obscure. In this study, the binding of CaM, its mutants at calcium binding sites (CaM 12 , CaM 34 , and CaM 1234 ), and truncated proteins (N-lobe and C-lobe) to Na V 1.1 IQ domain were detected by pull-down assay. Our data showed that the binding of Ca 2+ /CaM to the Na V 1.1 IQ was concentration-dependent. ApoCaM (Ca 2+ -free form of calmodulin) bound to Na V 1.1 IQ domain preferentially more than Ca 2+ /CaM. Additionally, the C-lobe of CaM was the predominant domain involved in apoCaM binding to Na V 1.1 IQ domain. By contrast, the N-lobe of CaM was predominant in the binding of Ca 2+ /CaM to Na V 1.1 IQ domain. Moreover, CaMKII-mediated phosphorylation increased the binding of Ca 2+ /CaM to Na V 1.1 IQ domain due to one or several phosphorylation sites in T1909, S1918, and T1934 of Na V 1.1 IQ domain. This study provides novel mechanisms for the modulation of Na V 1.1 by the Ca 2+ /CaM/CaMKII axis. For the first time, we uncover the effect of Ca 2+ , lobe-specificity and CaMKII on CaM binding to Na V 1.1.

Transparent, conductive, and flexible Ag nanowire (NW)-polyimide (PI) composite films were fabricated by a facile solution method. Well-dispersed Ag NWs result in percolation networks on the PI supporting layer. A series of films with transmittance values of 53-80% and sheet resistances of 2.8-16.5 Ω/sq were investigated. To further verify the practicability of the Ag NWs-PI film in optoelectronic devices, we utilized it in a film heater and a flexible solar cell. The film heater was able to generate a temperature of 58 °C at a driving voltage of 3.5 V within 20 s, indicating its potential application in heating devices that require low power consumption and fast response. The flexible solar cell based on the composite film with a transmittance value of 71% presented a power conversion efficiency of 3.53%. These successful applications proved that the fabricated Ag NWs-PI composite film is a good candidate for application in flexible optoelectronic devices., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

A transparent and flexible film heater was fabricated; based on a hybrid structure of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and silver nanowires (Ag NWs) using a screen printing; which is a scalable production technology. The resulting film integrates the advantages of the two conductive materials; easy film-forming and strong adhesion to the substrate of the polymer PEDOT:PSS; and high conductivity of the Ag NWs. The fabricated composite films with different NW densities exhibited the transmittance within the range from 82.3% to 74.1% at 550 nm. By applying 40 V potential on the films; a stable temperature from 49 °C to 99 °C was generated within 30 s to 50 s. However; the surface temperature of the pristine PEDOT:PSS film did not increase compared to the room temperature. The composite film with the transmittance of 74.1% could be heated to the temperatures from 41 °C to 99 °C at the driven voltages from 15 V to 40 V; indicating that the film heater exhibited uniform heating and rapid thermal response. Therefore; the PEDOT:PSS/Ag NW composite film is a promising candidate for the application of the transparent and large-scale film heaters.

Duck Tembusu virus (DTMUV) causes substantial egg drop disease. DTMUV was first identified in China and rapidly spread to Malaysia and Thailand. The antigenicity of the DTMUV E protein has not yet been characterized. Here, we investigated antigenic sites on the E protein using the non-neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) 1F3 and 1A5. Two minimal epitopes were mapped to 221 LD/NLPW 225 and 87 YAEYI 91 by using phage display and mutagenesis. DTMUV-positive duck sera reacted with the epitopes, thus indicating the importance of the minimal amino acids of the epitopes for antibody-epitope binding. The performance of the dot blotting assay with the corresponding positive sera indicated that YAEYI was DTMUV type-specific, whereas 221 LD/NLPW 225 was a cross-reactive epitope for West Nile virus (WNV), dengue virus (DENV), and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and corresponded to conserved and variable amino acid sequences among these strains. The structure model of the E protein revealed that YAEYI and LD/NLPW were located on domain (D) II, which confirmed that DII might contain a type-specific non-neutralizing epitope. The YAEYI epitope-based antigen demonstrated its diagnostic potential by reacting with high specificity to serum samples obtained from DTMUV-infected ducks. Based on these observations, a YAEYI-based serological test could be used for DTMUV surveillance and could differentiate DTMUV infections from JEV or WNV infections. These findings provide new insights into the organization of epitopes on flavivirus E proteins that might be valuable for the development of epitope-based serological diagnostic tests for DTMUV., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Platinum-based chemotherapy toxicity is always one of the serious problems from which lung cancer patients suffer. The genetic polymorphism of WISP1 was revealed to be associated with susceptibility and platinum-based chemotherapy response in our previous studies. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship of WISP1 genetic polymorphisms with platinum-based chemotherapy toxicity in lung cancer patients. A total of 412 lung cancer patients were enrolled in this study, and 28 polymorphisms of the WISP1 gene were genotyped by SequenomMassARRAY. We found that WISP1 polymorphisms (rs2929965, rs2929969, rs2929970, rs2929973 and rs754958) were related to the overall chemotherapy toxicity of lung cancer in subgroup analyses. Rs16904853, rs2929970, rs2977549 and rs2977551 (p = 0.021, 0.028, 0.024, 0.048, respectively) polymorphisms were significantly associated with hematologic toxicity. Rs2929946, rs2929970, rs2977519, rs2977536, rs3739262 and rs754958 (p = 0.031, 0.046, 0.029, 0.016, 0.042, 0.035, respectively) polymorphisms were significantly associated with the gastrointestinal toxicity of lung cancer. Genotypes of WISP1 may be novel and useful biomarkers for predicting platinum-based chemotherapy toxicity in lung cancer patients.