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ABSTRACTHuman cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection is prevalent worldwide, and there is currently no licenced HCMV vaccine to control it. Therefore, developing an effective HCMV vaccine is a significant priority. Because of their excellent immunogenicity, the crucial components of HCMV, phosphoprotein 65 (pp65) and glycoproteins H (gH) are potential target proteins for HCMV vaccine design. In this study, we predicted and screened the dominant antigenic epitopes of B and T cells from pp65 and gH conjugated with the carrier protein cross-reacting material 197 (CRM197) to form three peptide-CRM197 vaccines (pp65-CRM197, gH-CRM197, and pp65-CRM197+gH-CRM197). Furthermore, the immunogenicity of the peptide-CRM197 vaccines and their effects on dendritic cells (DCs) were explored. The results showed that three peptide-CRM197 vaccines could induce maturation of DCs through the p38 MAPK signalling pathway and promote the release of proinflammatory factors, such as TNF-α and interleukin (IL) −6. Meanwhile, the peptide-CRM197 vaccines could effectively activate T cell and humoral immunity, which were far better than the inactivated HCMV vaccine. In conclusion, we constructed three peptide-CRM197 vaccines, which could induce multiple immune effects, providing a novel approach for HCMV vaccine design.

Large quantities of phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are released and migrate into the environment continuously and become ubiquitous in soil, surface water, groundwater and other areas, eventually leading to serious environmental pollution. Therefore, the methods of PAEs mineralization have become a hot research topic. In this study, a highly efficient dimethyl phthalate (DMP)-degrading bacterium capable of utilizing DMP as the sole source of carbon and energy was isolated from frozen soil collected from a refuse disposal station. The DMP-degrading bacterium was identified as Pseudomonas sp. QDF12 according to the phylogeny of 16S rDNA sequence. The degradation process well fitted a first-order kinetic model, with a half-life of 9.8 h and the highest degradation rate of 20.19 mg/L•h at 15.0 °C. The fermentation conditions that enhanced the fermentation of biomass were optimized via Plackett-Burman design and response surface methodology. Finally, the carbon-nitrogen ratio, CaCO3, temperature and shaking speed were identified as key factors. Verification experiments indicated that the maximal biomass was 1.85 × 109 cfu/mL under the optimized conditions, which was 134.18% and 66.67% higher than those obtained under the Luria broth medium and the basic fermentation conditions, respectively. The time and temperature of fermentation were reduced to 12 h and 12.0 °C respectively. In conclusion, the strain QDF12 is more suitable for application in low-temperature areas owing to its fast, efficient fermentation and low-temperature resistance. Because of the shorter fermentation period and lower fermentation temperature, the large-scale commercial application of strain QDF12 will reduce the production costs and accelerate the fermentation speed.

Automated remote sensing methods have not gained widespread usage for damage assessment after hurricane events, especially for low-rise buildings, such as individual houses and small businesses. Hurricane wind, storm surge with waves, and inland flooding have unique damage signatures, further complicating the development of robust automated assessment methodologies. As a step toward realizing automated damage assessment for multi-hazard hurricane events, this paper presents a mono-temporal image classification methodology that quickly and accurately differentiates urban debris from non-debris areas using post-event images. Three classification approaches are presented: spectral, textural, and combined spectral–textural. The methodology is demonstrated for Gulfport, Mississippi, using IKONOS panchromatic satellite and NOAA aerial colour imagery collected after 2005 Hurricane Katrina. The results show that multivariate texture information significantly improves debris class detection performance by decreasing the confusion between debris and other land cover types, and the extracted debris zone accurately captures debris distribution. Additionally, the extracted debris boundary is approximately equivalent regardless of imagery type, demonstrating the flexibility and robustness of the debris mapping methodology. While the test case presents results for hurricane hazards, the proposed methodology is generally developed and expected to be effective in delineating debris zones for other natural hazards, including tsunamis, tornadoes, and earthquakes.