Search

There is growing awareness that nature-based solutions (NBS) prevent negative effects and secure ecosystem services. However, the potential of NBS to provide intended benefits has not been rigorously assessed. Water, food, and energy (WFE) are essential for human well-being. This study highlights the importance of NBS in terms of water, food, and energy. A set of on-site NBS that includes permeable pavements, plant microbial fuel cells, bio-filtration basins, and rain gardens is used to determine the contribution of NBS to the environmental and economic development of urban environments. The results of this study show that NBSs benefit an urban environment in terms of water treatment, stormwater retention, food production and energy generation, carbon sequestration, pollination, sedimentation retention, and cultural services dimension. This research highlights an urgent need for the integration of water, food, and energy plans to ensure that NBSs contribute to the environment and for the conservation of ecosystem services.

Background Candidemia is an invasive and deadly infectious disease. The associated risk factors of candidemia include immunosuppression, broad-spectrum antibiotics, catheters, glucocorticoids, critical illness, surgery, neonates, previous candida colonization, and illicit drug use. In previous studies, the characteristic of community-onset candidemia was distinct from nosocomial candidemia. Methods We selected patients who were admitted for equal or more than two days in Taichung Veterans General Hospital of Taiwan from 2015 to 2018 with electronic medical charts. The diagnosis of candidemia was defined as Candida species identified in blood cultures by commercial identification systems. We applied Kaplan-Meier survival curves with a log-rank test and built multivariate Cox proportional-hazards models for risk factors associated with in-hospital mortality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the difference in the characteristics, outcomes, and associated risks of death between community-onset and nosocomial candidemia. Results A total of 339 patients were included for analysis. The incidence was 1.50 per 1000 admission person-years. 64.60% of patients were male, and the mean age was 64.24-year-old. The characteristics of patients were similar in both groups except for the status of port-A, glucocorticoid usage, and diabetes mellitus. In the community-onset group, a higher proportion of C. glabrata and C. parapsilosis, but fewer C. albicans and C. tropicalis were identified than in the nosocomial group. The all-cause mortality rate was 55.75%. Multivariate Cox proportional-hazards model showed that nosocomial (hazard ratio; HR, 1.96; 95CI, 1.291 - 2.97 ; p =0.002), glucocorticoids within seven days before candidemia (HR, 1.68; 95CI, 1.21 -2.32, p = 0.002), and septic shock (HR, 1.85; 95CI, 1.292 - 2.641, p < 0.001) were associated with poor outcome whereas treatment with an echinocandin within two days after candidemia was a protective factor (HR, 0.65; 95CI, 0.466 - 0.911, p = 0.012). Survival curves analysis between community-onset candidemia and nosocomial candidemia A log-rank test was applied to assess the statistical significance, and a p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Conclusion In conclusion, candidemia is a lethal disease with a better outcome noted in those with community-onset candidemia. Species diversity existed in both groups, and Early initiation of echinocandin therapy within two days could reduce 35% mortality. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures.

This study analyzed global data and provides insights how economic conditions in various countries associate with epidemic control measures during different epidemic periods by mutant strains. In this study, the elasticity coefficient is estimated through a log-log model, which represents the percent change of the confirmed case number with respect to a percent change of the total number of screening tests in a country for epidemic control. The elasticity estimate was used to show the effectiveness of epidemic control by community screening. The 7-day rolling data of screening tests and confirmed cases from the Our World in Data (OWID) database for the pandemic periods of Alpha strain in 2020, Delta strain in 2021, and Omicron strain in 2022, suggests that the magnitude of the elasticity was associated with the economic condition of a country. Compared with the result s during either Alpha - or Delta- pandemic period, the Omicron pandemic has a much higher estimated elasticity coefficient of 1.317 (Alpha: 0.827 and Delta: 0.885). Further comparison of economic conditions that were classified by quartile ranges, the result reveals the elasticity in countries with GDP per capita between $11,354 and $26,651 or GDP per capita above $26,651 is statistically significantly lower than that in countries having GDP per capita below $3,335. The findings of this study imply that the performance of epidemic control in a country is not only dependent on epidemiological measures applied, but is also influenced by the economic condition of a country.

We aimed to determine whether dexmedetomidine administration with or without atropine increases cardiac troponin I (cTnI) level in healthy dogs. We hypothesized that 10 µg/kg dexmedetomidine + atropine increases the cTnI level, whereas 5 µg/kg dexmedetomidine + atropine does not. Eighteen healthy, pet dogs that underwent an orthopedic surgery or ovariohysterectomy were included in this study. The dogs were randomly assigned to atropine (0.02 mg/kg)–dexmedetomidine (10 µg/kg), saline–dexmedetomidine (10 µg/kg), and atropine (0.02 mg/kg)–dexmedetomidine (5 µg/kg) groups. Each dog was premedicated with atropine or saline intramuscularly (IM). After 10 min, they were IM injected with dexmedetomidine (10 or 5 µg/kg)–morphine (0.5 mg/kg)–midazolam (0.2 mg/kg). Following this, anesthesia was induced after 10 min with propofol and maintained with isoflurane in 100% oxygen. The median plasma cTnI level at 6, 12 and 24 hr after premedication was significantly higher than that at baseline. The cTnI level in the atropine–dexmedetomidine (10 µg/kg) group was significantly higher than that in the saline–dexmedetomidine (10 µg/kg) and atropine–dexmedetomidine (5 µg/kg) groups at 6 and 12 hr after premedication. The cTnI level returned to normal within 72 hr after premedication in all groups. The administration of atropine in combination with 10 µg/kg dexmedetomidine increased the cTnI level, indicating subclinical myocardial damage.

Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a tumor- forming disease that afflicts all marine turtles and is the most common in green turtles (Chelonia mydas). In this study, the morphometric characteristics, blood gas, biochemistry, and hematological profiles of 28 (6 FP-positive and 22 FP-negative) green turtles from the coast of Taiwan were investigated. The results indicated that body weight ( P < 0.001) and curved carapace length (CCL; P < 0.001) in green turtles with FP were significantly higher than in turtles without FP. Furthermore, green turtles with FP had a significantly lower value of hemoglobin (HB; P = 0.010) and packed cell volume (PCV; P = 0.005) than turtles without FP. Blood cell counts of white blood cells (WBC; P = 0.008) and lymphocytes ( P = 0.022) were observed with significant difference; green turtles with FP had lower counts than turtles without FP. In addition, turtles with FP had significantly higher pH ( P = 0.036), base excess in extracellular fluid (BEecf; P = 0.012), bicarbonate (HCO3– ; P = 0.008), and total carbon dioxide (TCO2 ; P = 0.025) values than turtles without FP. The findings of this study provide valuable clinical parameters for the medical care of the species in sea turtle rehabilitation centers and help us to understand the physiological response of green turtles to different tumor-forming conditions.

To determine the influence of midsole hardness on ground reaction force (GRF) features during badminton scissor jump takeoff and landing and the interactive effect of midsole hardness with playing and nonplaying limbs, data were collected from badminton athletes who performed scissor jumps while wearing shoes with two levels of midsole hardness. Temporal-spatial and GRF variables were calculated. Measurements of the soft and hard midsole conditions for playing versus non-playing sides were compared using two-way repeated measure analyses of variance. The playing and non-playing limbs showed different GRF features while performing scissor jump. During takeoff, no significant differences between the soft and hard midsole conditions were identified for the jump height in any of the GRF variables. During landing, the cushioning capacity might be affected by harder midsole indicated by higher vertical impact peak (p = 0.008). Meanwhile, the longer time-to-vertical impact peak (p = 0.007) and the lower loading rate of the vertical impact peak (p = 0.013) may be plausible indicators for cushioning. Current study indicated the playing-limb consistently showed dominance on both the propulsion and shock attenuation behaviours during scissor jump and that, for the footwear selection between 62C and 68C midsoles, expectation would be more on effects on landing characteristics than on propulsion performance.

The plant microbial fuel cell (PMFC) is a novel technology that can be used to convert solar energy into electrical energy using microbes in the rhizosphere of plants. However, low power density is one of the major obstacles to the development of PMFCs. In this study, we show that the Trapa natans husk-derived carbon (TNH-GBG) is a potential sustainable electrode material for the Canna indica-based PMFCs. The results of the polarization curve measurements showed that the maximum power density of the PMFC utilizing the TNH-GBG-coated graphite felt as the electrodes could reach 55 mW m−2. This was considerably higher than that of the PMFC with pure graphite felt electrodes (22 mW m−2). The enhanced power density of the TNH-GBG was attributed to its high surface area and high content of oxygen-containing groups on the surface of carbon, which enhanced the hydrophilicity and possibly enhanced the microbial attachment, thereby reducing the activation polarization. Furthermore, when the PMFC (with TNH-GBG-coated graphite felt electrodes) was connected to an external load (1000 Ω), a power density of 20 mW m−2 was maintained for over 10 days, which is also higher than that of the PMFC with the graphite felt electrodes. The PMFC with the TNH-GBG-coated graphite felt electrodes shows a similar performance with the one with commercial activated carbon-coated graphite felt electrodes. However, the price of the TNH-GBG is only one-fifth of the commercially activated carbon. Furthermore, the TNH-based PMFC-supercapacitor system was assembled, and it demonstrated that TNH is a potential low-cost electrode material for sustainable power generation-energy storage applications.

Bovine leukaemia virus (BLV), which is classified as a Deltaretrovirus, is the aetiologic agent of enzootic bovine leukosis (EBL), a chronic lymphoproliferative disorder with a worldwide distribution. EBL is widespread in dairy herds and causes a direct economic impact due to reduced milk production and the early culling of BLV-infected cattle. The BLV infection status in Taiwan remains largely unknown; a high prevalence of BLV in dairy cows was recently revealed. The present study further investigated BLV infections in beef cattle. Surprisingly, the prevalence of BLV proviral DNA was as low as 11.8% (23/195), which is significantly lower than that noted in dairy cows, which was 42.5% (102/240) (p < 0.001). Factors associated with BLV infections were subsequently investigated. Due to the differences in herd management, an analysis of risk factors for a BLV infection was independently conducted in these two sectors. Several factors associated with a BLV infection were identified. Age was significantly associated with BLV infection status in dairy cows (p < 0.001) but not in beef cattle. A high prevalence of BLV was observed in cattle >15.5 months old (57.8%) compared with those ≤15.5 months old (11.4%). Moreover, after stratification analysis, based on the critical age of 15.5 months, as determined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, a significantly higher BLV prevalence was demonstrated in lactating dairy cows, cattle undergoing bull breeding, heifers at older ages, and those undergoing routine rectal palpation. Due to the high prevalence of BLV in Taiwan, the development of an effective control program, based on the identified risk factors, is important for interrupting the routes of BLV transmission within herds.

Laminar-flow microfluidic microbial fuel cell (LMMFC) has attracted attention due to the advantage of the liquid-liquid interface between anolyte and catholyte without the use of membrane as a separator resulting in less fabrication cost. Unlike previous studies of LMMFC using syringe pumps, this study proposes the use of osmotic pumps to feed anolyte and catholyte in the microchannel without any additional power supply. The osmotic pump was constructed with two cylindrical chambers separated by a forward osmosis membrane, with the initial draw solution concentration of 90 g l

The current study quantified the risk of releasing African swine fever virus (ASFV) into Taiwan from pork products illegally carried by international travellers from 157 countries or territories through six international airports and three international seaports. The association between various factors and the number of pork products detected by the border control authorities was also examined. The risk was estimated with a stochastic process after modelling the number of undetected illegal pork products, probability of pork product detection at international airports and seaports and probability of ASFV contamination of pork products from various countries. The overall annual probability of ASFV release to Taiwan was estimated to be 1 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1-1] under no enhanced mitigation measures. All the median airport-level risks were higher than .921, and four of them reached 1. The total annual risk was .570 (95% CI: .109-.937) for international seaports. The country or territory level risk was estimated to be 1 for Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and South Korea, .999 (95% CI: .628-1) for Macao and .967 (95% CI: .359-1) for Indonesia. After the total number of travellers was factored in, the number of detected illegal pork products was the highest in January and February, and travellers from Vietnam [risk ratio to Japan (RR): 80.45; 95% CI: 58.68-110.3], the Philippines (RR: 37.67; 95% CI: 26.9-52.74) and Cambodia (RR: 28.39; 95% CI: 12.69-63.51) were most likely to bring pork products to Taiwan. Our study indicated a high risk of ASFV introduction through international travellers and also identified the factors associated with the risk. This information can be used as empirical evidence for cost-effective risk mitigation practices.

The vastus medialis oblique (VMO) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles at the knee joint play important roles for coordination, stability, and posture control. However, no currently available device records muscle activity while simultaneously warning users regarding abnormal muscle activity. This study used a commercialized electromyography sensors placed on the VL and VMO to monitor muscle activity while triggering warnings and vibration feedback to the muscles when an undesired ratio of VL/VMO muscular activation level set by current study was detected. The system was able to trigger alarms when the subject performed moderate-intensity activity and avoid triggering during low-intensity activity. Further research is needed of high-intensity exercises, such as running or weightlifting, to determine the effects of increased muscle activity on the judgment of the undesired ratio of VL/VMO muscular activation level using the device reported in the current study.

A novel method for efficiently removing low levels of ammonium contamination from the aqueous solution using clinoptilolite in a high-gravity rotating packed bed (HGRPB) was developed. Our batch experiments have shown that irregular clinoptilolite gave better ammonium removal efficiencies due to higher specific surface area, and the adsorption data fitted better using pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetics than pseudo-first-order adsorption kinetics. HGRPB experiments have demonstrated that increasing rotating speeds will improve ammonium removal due to higher mass transfer of ammonium between the liquid and solid phases. The removal efficiency was 90% at the end of the fifth cycle (∼54 min) at a rotating speed of 1500 rpm using irregular clinoptilolite, with an initial ammonium concentration of 12.5 mg-N/L in distilled water and a flow rate of 180 mL/min. However, the removal efficiency was obviously lower in pond water than that in distilled water because of possible competitive adsorption of other cations in the pond water, suggesting modification of clinoptilolite to increase its selectivity for ammonium will be critical. This study has demonstrated the potential of using clinoptilolite in the HGRPB system to remove low levels of ammonium contamination in water and warrants the research need of HGRPB for biphasic liquid–solid adsorption processes.

Plant microbial fuel cell (PMFC) is a novel bioelectrochemical system that integrates the photosynthetic reaction from the living plants to generate electricity via microorganisms at the rhizosphere of the plant roots. To elucidate factors which are critical for PMFCs operation, this study investigated the effects of different plants and soil conditioners on PMFCs performance. The experiment was done in a controlled lighting incubator at 27 °C and 75% of humidity for 200 days. Two waterlogged agricultural plants, paddy (Oryza sativa) and water bamboo (Zizania latifolia), were applied in PMFC systems; besides, the compost made from food waste and biochar made from waste wood biomass were selected as soil conditioners. Results showed that varied electricity generation during the operation was observed for different PMFC systems, but the Paddy-PMFC with compost (PC-PMFC) demonstrated relatively more stable electricity generation for 200 days (15.57 ± 8.15 mW/m2) and significantly higher voltage production, reaching the highest output voltage of 894.39 ± 53.44 mV (34.78 mW/m2) among all PMFCs. It was observed that the output voltage of PMFCs was significantly higher than soil-MFC, and the output voltage of P-PMFC was significantly higher than water bamboo-PMFC, implying rhizodeposition of different plant roots could be important for the performance of electricity production in PMFCs. However, Paddy-PMFC with biochar (PB-PMFC) demonstrated significantly lower voltage production than those without biochar, likely due to the inhibitory effect of biochar made by waste wood biomass. The taxonomic identification of the microbial community at the anode showed that Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum, and Gammaproteobacteria and Deltaproteobacteria were the most dominant classes of the microbial communities. Further analysis showed that the PB-PMFC had the most distinct anode microbial community structure, with the predominant family of Gallionellaceae, instead of Geobacteraceae as in other PMFCs. Geobacter was the major genus of the microbial population in all samples and showed the highest relative abundance in PC-PMFC, suggesting that it was the main exoelectrogen involved in electricity generation in our PMFC systems. This study has demonstrated that the power output of PMFC systems can be influenced by different agricultural plants and soil conditioners made from waste biomass, which warrants the need to better understand the underlying interaction among the anode microbial community, the rhizodeposition of different plant roots, and electrochemical mechanisms for the future scale-up application of PMFCs. Graphic abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.]

The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is listed as a globally endangered species and is vulnerable to anthropogenic threats, including environmental pollution. This study investigated the antimicrobial resistance of Gram-negative bacteria isolated from wild green turtles admitted to a sea turtle rehabilitation center in Taiwan. For this investigation, cloacal and nasal swab samples were collected from 28 green turtles between 2018 and 2020, from which a total of 47 Gram-negative bacterial isolates were identified. Among these, Vibrio spp. were the most dominant isolate (31.91%), and 89.36% of the 47 isolates showed resistance to at least one of 18 antimicrobial agents tested. Isolates resistant to one (6.38%), two (8.51%), and multiple (74.47%) antimicrobials were observed. The antimicrobial agents to which isolates showed the greatest resistance were penicillin (74.47%), followed by spiramycin, amoxicillin, and cephalexin. The antimicrobial-resistance profiles identified in this study provide useful information for the clinical treatment of sea turtles in rehabilitation facilities. The results of our study also imply that wild green turtles may be exposed to polluting effluents containing antimicrobials when the turtles traverse migratory corridors or forage in feeding habitats. To benefit sea turtle conservation, future research should focus on (1) how to prevent pollution from antimicrobials in major green turtle activity areas and (2) identifying sources of antimicrobial-resistant bacterial strains in coastal waters of Taiwan.

International audience; Bartonella genus includes an increasing number of species and subspecies, especially among wild felids, the positioning of which, with regards to the zoonotic species Bartonella henselae, is important to determine.The aim of this study was to test the ability of a molecular typing technique to distinguish between various Bartonella isolates obtained from four different species of free-ranging and captive wild felids and to identify key profiles or markers allowing differentiating them from each other and/or from B. henselae or B. koehlerae.A molecular typing technique for B. henselae based on the polymorphism of variable number tandem repeat units (VNTR) called MLVA (Multiple Locus VNTR Analysis) was applied to 24 Bartonella isolates from free-ranging or captive wild felids, 19 of which were obtained from California and five from three countries in Southern Africa, and compared with 49 B. henselae isolates from cats, dog or humans from the United States including the human ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) reference strain, B. henselae Houston 1.MLVA allowed distinguishing Bartonella isolates from wild felids from either B. henselae or B. koehlerae. We confirmed infection of semi-captive cheetahs with an isolate similar to a Californian bobcat isolate. MLVA also confirmed the unique profile of a free-ranging cheetah isolate from Namibia.Specific profiles were observed making MVLA a useful identification/classification tool of these wild felid isolates and suggesting that they are highly adapted to a specific feline reservoir. Finally, circulation of B. henselae isolates between domestic cats, wild felids and humans is likely occurring, based on the close allelic profiles of some isolates.

This study assessed the effects of two hormones, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), on ovulatory responses during different diestrous stages in lactating dairy cows. Estrous cycles of 21 cows were synchronized and were enrolled in stage 1 of the experiment. The cows were treated with a prostaglandin (PG) F2α analog either 9 to 10 days [mid-diestrus (MD) group] or 5.5 to 6.5 days [early-diestrus (ED) group] after synchronized ovulation (day 0 = first PGF2α administration). On day 2, the cows were administrated 250 μg GnRH or 3000 IU hCG. Ovulation was determined every 2 h from 24 to 36 h after GnRH or hCG administration, and then every 4 h up to 72 h until ovulation. Cows in stage 2 were administered these treatments in the reverse order. The results indicated that average ovulation times in cows treated with GnRH in the MD group (GnRH-MD group) and cows treated with GnRH in the ED group (GnRH-ED group) were 30.0 ± 1.0 h and 28.8 ± 0.4 h, respectively. However, ovulation times for cows treated with hCG in the MD group (hCG-MD group) and cows treated with hCG in the ED group (hCG-ED group) were 35.8 ± 4.6 h and 32.8 ± 2.2 h, respectively, and ovulation occurred significantly later in the hCG-treated groups than in the GnRH-treated groups. In summary, we found that hCG-induced ovulation occurred later than GnRH-induced ovulation regardless of different diestrous peroids; however, the two treatments did not differ in terms of percentage of ovulation.

Fibropapillomatosis (FP), a debilitating tumor disease of sea turtles, was first identified in green turtles [Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus, 1758)] in Florida in 1938. In recent decades, FP has been observed globally and is an emerging panzootic disease in sea turtles. However, few reports of FP in Asia exist. Here, we provide the first evidence of Chelonid herpesvirus 5 (ChHV5) DNA associated with FP in endangered green turtles from Taiwan, through molecular characterization, phylogenetic analysis, and histopathological examination. In our study, ChHV5 was successfully detected by PCR in the FP tumor lesions of green turtles. The sequences were found to be consistent with those of tumor-inducing viruses shown to affect sea turtles in the other parts of the world. ChHV5 RNA from the FP tissues was further detected by RT-PCR, indicating active replication of the viruses inside FP tumors. In addition to the molecular evidence of ChHV5 in FP, epidermal intranuclear inclusions were identified in tumor lesions upon histopathological examination. This further suggests that ChHV5 should be in a transcriptionally active (i.e., non-latent) state in FP tumors of affected green turtles. The phylogenetic tree revealed that ChHV5 from the green turtles in Taiwan were closest to the ChHV5 from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Sao Tome. For conservation of endangered sea turtles, ChHV5 should be considered an emerging virus, which threatens sea turtles in marine waters in Asia.

There has recently been an alarming increase in the prevalence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in marine environments. In this study, an Enterococcus sp. was isolated from bacteriologic cultures of the elbow joint of an olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea ). The enterococci isolate was identified at the species level as Enterococcus faecalis using PCR and the RAPID ID 32 STREP system. Analysis of the antimicrobial resistance patterns and the antibiotic-resistance genes of the E. faecalis isolated in this study revealed multiple-antibiotic-resistance (MAR). Specifically, the isolate presented resistance to doxycycline, enrofloxacin, erythromycin, neomycin, oxytetracycline, gentamicin, amikacin, ciprofloxacin, spiramycin, chloramphenicol, ceftiofur, and azithromycin. We also identified the tetracycline resistance gene tet(M) in the E. faecalis isolate. Further research into the antimicrobial resistance patterns of Enterococcus spp. should be conducted to promote the conservation of sea turtles.