Identification of a novel porcine Teschovirus 2 strain as causative agent of encephalomyelitis in suckling piglets with high mortality in China.

BACKGROUND: Porcine Teschovirus (PTV), also named Teschovirus A, is prevalent in pig populations, mainly causing neurological symptoms, diarrhea, pneumonia, and reproductive failure, however the morbidity and mortality are usually low in pig farms. CASE PRESENTATION: In this study, we reported a PTV outbreak investigation in one large-scale pig farm in China with severe symptoms including diarrhea, lethargy, locomotor ataxia, nystagmus, paralysis of the hind limbs, and coma in piglets. More importantly, the mortality reached 38% in suckling pigs, which is remarkably high in PTV history. A novel PTV strain, named HeNZ1, was isolated from cerebral samples of one suckling pig and the genome sequence was obtained by NGS sequencing. Phylogenetic and evolutionary divergence analyses revealed that HeNZ1 belongs to PTV genotype 2. Surprisingly, the VP1 coding region of HeNZ1 shares the highest sequence similarity with European PTV-2 strains, instead of China domestic PTV-2 strains, implying it may not derive from China local PTV-2 strains. Multiple sequence alignment and B cell epitope prediction of PTV VP1 and VP2 protein revealed 10 B cell epitopes, 5 mutant clusters and 36 unique mutation sites, of which 19 unique mutation sites are located in B cell epitopes and exposed on the surface of VP1 or VP2, implying significant antigenic drift potential of HeNZ1. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that HeNZ1 is a highly virulent PTV-2 strain, which capable of causing severe neurological symptoms and high mortality in piglets. Bioinformatic analysis suggest that HeNZ1 is genetically and antigenically different from other Chinese PTV-2 strains. Overall, current case expanded our understanding of PTV-2 clinical spectrum and revealed the emergence of a highly virulent PTV-2 strain with substantial genetic diversity and antigenic drift potential in VP1 and VP2.

Effects of dietary protein on gut development, microbial compositions and mucin expressions in mice.

AIMS: Dietary protein, as an important macronutrient, widely participates in host growth and metabolism. In this study, effects of different protein levels (14, 20 and 26%) on the gut development, microbial compositions and mucin expressions were studied in C57BL/6 mice. METHODS AND RESULTS: The results showed that body weight and the relative weight of stomach and gut were decreased in low-protein diet-fed mice, whereas high-protein diet significantly reduced the villus length and area of jejunum. Goblet cells number in the jejunum was reduced in the low-protein group, which was reversed by dietary a high-protein diet. In addition, high-protein diet notably reduced microbial diversity and changed the microbial compositions at the phylum level, such as Bacteroides, Proteobacteria, Actinomycetes and Deferribacteres. Furthermore, high-protein diet significantly increased mucin2, mucin3 and mucin4 expressions in the jejunum, but downregulated mucin1, mucin2, mucin4 and TFF3 in the ileum, indicating a tissue-dependent manner. CONCLUSIONS: Together, high-protein diet may impair gut development, microbial balance and mucin system, and a low-protein diet is suggested to promote a healthy lifestyle. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF STUDY: Mucin influenced gut development (villus index and goblet cell number) through remodelling gut microbes, as low and high protein levels resulted in contrary expression levels of mucin in jejunum and ileum.

Management system for engineering and decoration waste: An exploratory study in Shenzhen.

Rapid urban development and renewal have caused large amounts of engineering and decoration waste to be produced. These wastes pose serious risks to the environment. Disposal and management of this waste have become problematic. A mean of 11.4 × 106 m3 of engineering and decoration waste will be produced each year in Shenzhen between 2018 and 2035. Engineering and decoration waste are currently mainly sent to landfill, but this requires large amounts of land and can cause serious environmental pollution. There are problems including irregular emissions, a disorderly transportation market, and inadequate disposal facilities, so policies for managing engineering and decoration waste need to be established. In this study, a hybrid approach was used to develop a system for managing the whole engineering and decoration waste system (generation, collection & transportation, and disposal). The system was developed after determining waste emission and disposal requirements through site visits, clarifying problems involved in waste collection and transportation through interviews, identifying suitable management practices in an expert seminar, and developing a management system through desktop surveys. It was found that new buildings produce 0.02-0.04 (m3 waste)/(m2 building) and 0.11-0.13 (m3 decoration waste)/(m2 building) and that emission limits are required. Construction enterprises employ private trucks to transport waste, and illegal dumping occurs. Directed collection and transportation is required. Public welfare requires a mechanism for managing engineering and decoration waste with clear responsibilities. Government-authorized construction and operation should be explored and implemented. A propagable engineering and decoration waste management system is proposed with three management modules, generation, collection & transportation, and disposal, to act as a strategy for improving engineering and decoration waste.

Ultrasonic Detection Method for Grouted Defects in Grouted Splice Sleeve Connector Based on Wavelet Pack Energy.

Grouted splice sleeve (GSS) connectors are mainly used in precast concrete structures. However, errors in manual operation during construction cause grouted defects in the GSS connector, which can lead to a negative effect on the overall mechanical properties of the structures. Owing to the complex structure of precast concrete members with a GSS connector, it is difficult to detect grouted defects effectively using traditional ultrasonic parameters. In this paper, a wavelet packet analysis algorithm was developed to effectively detect grouted defects using the ultrasonic method, and a verified experiment was carried out. Laboratory detection was performed on the concrete specimens with a GSS connector before grouting, in which the grouted defects were mimicked with five sizes in five GSS connectors of each specimen group. A simple and convenient ultrasonic detection system was developed, and the specimens were detected. According to the proposed grouted defect index, the results demonstrated that when the grouted defects reached certain sizes, the proposed method could detect the grouted defects effectively. The proposed method is effective and easy to implement at a construction site with simple instruments, and so provides an innovative method for grouted defects detection of precast concrete members.

Influence of Uniaxial Stress on the Shear-Wave Spectrum Propagating in Steel Members.

Structural health monitoring technologies have provided extensive methods to sense the stress of steel structures. However, monitored stress is a relative value rather than an absolute value in the structure's current state. Among all the stress measurement methods, ultrasonic methods have shown great promise. The shear-wave amplitude spectrum and phase spectrum contain stress information along the propagation path. In this study, the influence of uniaxial stress on the amplitude and phase spectra of a shear wave propagating in steel members was investigated. Furthermore, the shear-wave amplitude spectrum and phase spectrum were compared in terms of characteristic frequency (CF) collection, parametric calibration, and absolute stress measurement principles. Specifically, the theoretical expressions of the shear-wave amplitude and phase spectra were derived. Three steel members were used to investigate the effect of the uniaxial stress on the shear-wave amplitude and phase spectra. CFs were extracted and used to calibrate the parameters in the stress measurement formula. A linear relationship was established between the inverse of the CF and its corresponding stress value. The test results show that both the shear-wave amplitude and phase spectra can be used to evaluate uniaxial stress in structural steel members.

Feature Extraction and Mapping Construction for Mobile Robot via Ultrasonic MDP and Fuzzy Model.

This paper presents a modeling approach to feature classification and environment mapping for indoor mobile robotics via a rotary ultrasonic array and fuzzy modeling. To compensate for the distance error detected by the ultrasonic sensor, a novel feature extraction approach termed "minimum distance of point" (MDP) is proposed to determine the accurate distance and location of target objects. A fuzzy model is established to recognize and classify the features of objects such as flat surfaces, corner, and cylinder. An environmental map is constructed for automated robot navigation based on this fuzzy classification, combined with a cluster algorithm and least-squares fitting. Firstly, the platform of the rotary ultrasonic array is established by using four low-cost ultrasonic sensors and a motor. Fundamental measurements, such as the distance of objects at different rotary angles and with different object materials, are carried out. Secondly, the MDP feature extraction algorithm is proposed to extract precise object locations. Compared with the conventional range of constant distance (RCD) method, the MDP method can compensate for errors in feature location and feature matching. With the data clustering algorithm, a range of ultrasonic distances is attained and used as the input dataset. The fuzzy classification model-including rules regarding data fuzzification, reasoning, and defuzzification-is established to effectively recognize and classify the object feature types. Finally, accurate environment mapping of a service robot, based on MDP and fuzzy modeling of the measurements from the ultrasonic array, is demonstrated. Experimentally, our present approach can realize environment mapping for mobile robotics with the advantages of acceptable accuracy and low cost.

Epidermal Growth Factor and Intestinal Barrier Function.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a 53-amino acid peptide that plays an important role in regulating cell growth, survival, migration, apoptosis, proliferation, and differentiation. In addition, EGF has been established to be an effective intestinal regulator helping to protect intestinal barrier integrity, which was essential for the absorption of nutrients and health in humans and animals. Several researches have demonstrated that EGF via binding to the EGF receptor and subsequent activation of Ras/MAPK, PI3K/AKT, PLC-γ/PKC, and STATS signal pathways regulates intestinal barrier function. In this review, the relationship between epidermal growth factor and intestinal development and intestinal barrier is described, to provide a better understanding of the effects of EGF on intestine development and health.

Low-Level miR-199 Contribute to Neuropathic Low Back Pain via TRPV1 by Regulating the Production of Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines on Macrophage.

AIM: To explore the post-translational regulation of TRPV1, which plays an important role in neuropathic low back pain (NLBP). MATERIAL AND METHODS: qPCR was used to examine the gene mRNA levels. Western blot was used to examine the protein level. NLBP rat model was established for confirming what we observed in clinical samples. Dual-luciferase assay was used to verify the miR-199 targets on the 3'UTR of TRPV1. Cell coculture was used to explore the interaction between macrophages and nerve cells. RESULTS: We found the mRNA level of TRVP1 decreased in the sinuvertebral nerve biopsy of NLBP. With bioinformatics prediction, miR199 would involve the post-transcription regulation of TRPV1. As the prediction, the miR199 level decreased in the clinical samples. Correlation regression analysis showed a negative correlation between miR-199 and TRPV1. The same phenomenon was confirmed in the rat NLBP model. With dual-luciferase assay, we confirmed that miR199 directly binds to the 3'UTR of TRPV1. Through co-culture of macrophage (THP1) and sNF96.2, we found that up or down-regulates miR-199 in macrophage and sNF96.2 could relieve or aggravate the injury of nerve cells strain. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the occurrence of NLBP may be caused by the lower expression of miR-199 in macrophages and nerve via TRPV1.

An intelligent identification and classification system of decoration waste based on deep learning model.

Efficient sorting and recycling of decoration waste are crucial for the industry's transformation, upgrading, and high-quality development. However, decoration waste can contain toxic materials and has greatly varying compositions. The traditional method of manual sorting for decoration waste is inefficient and poses health risks to sorting workers. It is therefore imperative to develop an accurate and efficient intelligent classification method to address these issues. To meet the demand for intelligent identification and classification of decoration waste, this paper applied the deep learning method You Only Look Once X (YOLOX) to the task and proposed an identification and classification framework of decoration waste (YOLOX-DW framework). The proposed framework was validated and compared using a multi-label image dataset of decoration waste, and a robot automatic sorting system was constructed for practical sorting experiments. The research results show that the proposed framework achieved a mean average precision (mAP) of 99.16 % for different components of decoration waste, with a detection speed of 39.23 FPS. Its classification efficiency on the robot sorting experimental platform reached 95.06 %, indicating a high potential for application and promotion. This provides a strategy for the intelligent detection, identification, and classification of decoration waste.

Intracellular electron competition in response to the oxygen pressure of the aerobic denitrification process in an O2-based membrane biofilm reactor (MBfR) for nitrate removal.

This study quantitatively investigated the effect of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration on aerobic denitrification, and showed the mechanism of aerobic denitrification from the perspective of electron competition by cultivating Pseudomonas stutzeri T13, a typical aerobic denitrifier, in an oxygen-based membrane biofilm reactor (O2-based MBfR). The experiments showed that when the O2 pressure increased from 2 to 10 psig , the average effluent DO concentration during steady-state phases increased from 0.02 to 4.23 mg/L, and the corresponding mean NO3--N removal efficiency slightly decreased from 97.2 % to 90.9 %. Compared to the maximum theoretical flux of O2 in various phases, the actual O2 transfer flux increased from a limited status (2.07 e- eq m-2 d-1 at 2 psig) to an excessive status (5.58 e- eq m-2 d-1 at 10 psig). The increase of DO inhibited the electron availability for aerobic denitrification, which decreased from 23.97 % to 11.46 %, accompanying the increased electron availability for aerobic respiration from 15.87 % to 28.36 %. Unlike the napA and norB genes, the expression of the nirS and nosZ genes was significantly affected by DO, with the highest relative fold-changes of 6.5 and 6.13 at 4 psig O2, respectively. The results contribute to clarifying the mechanism of aerobic denitrification from the quantitative perspective of electron distribution and the qualitative perspective of gene expression, which benefits the control and practical application of aerobic denitrification for wastewater treatment.

Whole-Genome Sequence Analysis of Pseudorabies Virus Clinical Isolates from Pigs in China between 2012 and 2017 in China.

Pseudorabies virus (PRV) is an economically significant swine infectious agent. A PRV outbreak took place in China in 2011 with novel virulent variants. Although the association of viral genomic variability with pathogenicity is not fully confirmed, the knowledge concerning PRV genomic diversity and evolution is still limited. Here, we sequenced 54 genomes of novel PRV variants isolated in China from 2012 to 2017. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that China strains and US/Europe strains were classified into two separate genotypes. PRV strains isolated from 2012 to 2017 in China are highly related to each other and genetically close to classic China strains such as Ea, Fa, and SC. RDP analysis revealed 23 recombination events within novel PRV variants, indicating that recombination contributes significantly to the viral evolution. The selection pressure analysis indicated that most ORFs were under evolutionary constraint, and 19 amino acid residue sites in 15 ORFs were identified under positive selection. Additionally, 37 unique mutations were identified in 19 ORFs, which distinguish the novel variants from classic strains. Overall, our study suggested that novel PRV variants might evolve from classical PRV strains through point mutation and recombination mechanisms.

Study of Combined Multi-Point Constraint Multi-Scale Modeling Strategy for Ultra-High-Performance Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Structures.

Compared with normal strength concrete (NSC), ultra-high-performance steel fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) shows superior performance. The concrete damage plasticity (CDP) model in ABAQUS can predict the mechanical properties of UHPFRC components well after calibration. However, the simulation of the whole structure is seriously restricted by the computational capability. In this study, a novel multi-scale modeling strategy for UHPFRC structure was proposed, which used a calibrated CDP model. A novel combined multi-point constraint (CMPC) was established by the simultaneous equations of displacement coordination and energy balance in different degrees of freedom of interface nodes. The advantage is to eliminate the problem of the tangential over-constraint of displacement coordination equation at the interface and to avoid stress iteration of the energy balance equation in the plastic stage. The expressions of CMPC equations of typical multi-scale interface connection were derived. The multi-scale models of UHPFRC components under several load cases were established. The results show that the proposed strategy can well predict the strain distribution and damage distribution of UHPFRC while significantly reducing the number of model elements and improving the computational efficiency. This study provides an accurate and efficient finite element modeling strategy for the design and analysis of UHPFRC structures.

[SLOT Scan imaging in teenagers with scoliosis].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the improvement effect of SLOT Scan technology (narrow seam exposure capture technology) and the radiography techniques on the quality of the scoliosis X-ray films in teenagers. METHODS: The Sonialvision Safire II equipment of Shimadzu corporation and SLOT Scan were applied to take the radiography for 60 patients taller than 1.50 metres. All the data were collected through a continual exposure, and the images were sewn up through a seamless connection software. RESULTS: Cervical, thoracic, and lumbar and sacral segments could clearly present at the same time on one X-ray film by seamless splicing,and the quality of one time radiograph was as good as one film. CONCLUSION: As a new radiology technique, SLOT Scan can wipe off splitting artifact effectively and make the whole spine seamless present on one X-ray film. It helps the spinal surgeons to observe, calculate and measure accurately. It is useful to choose the operation mode and judge the curative effect.

Thermodynamic modeling of the essential physicochemical interactions between the pore solution and the cement hydrates in chloride-contaminated cement-based materials.

The chloride transport properties of cement-based materials are determined via the physicochemical interactions between the pore solution and the cement hydrates. Herein, a thermodynamic model based on surface complexation reactions and dissolution/precipitation reactions was established to investigate the essential physicochemical interactions. The effects of chloride concentration, temperature, and saturation degree (the ratio of water volume to pore volume) on the physicochemical interactions were studied in detail using the resulting thermodynamic model. The published experimental results indicate that the resulting thermodynamic model accurately reflects the adsorption capacity of cement hydrates for chloride ions. Thus, this thermodynamic model can be coupled to the transport equations to achieve the durable designs for new reinforced concrete structures (RCSs) or to predict the service life of existing RCSs. It can also optimize corrosion control strategies for RCSs based on the thermodynamics and kinetics of the material.

Hysteresis compensation of the Prandtl-Ishlinskii model for piezoelectric actuators using modified particle swarm optimization with chaotic map.

Piezoelectric actuators invariably exhibit hysteresis nonlinearities that tend to become significant under the open-loop condition and could cause oscillations and errors in nanometer-positioning tasks. Chaotic map modified particle swarm optimization (MPSO) is proposed and implemented to identify the Prandtl-Ishlinskii model for piezoelectric actuators. Hysteresis compensation is attained through application of an inverse Prandtl-Ishlinskii model, in which the parameters are formulated based on the original model with chaotic map MPSO. To strengthen the diversity and improve the searching ergodicity of the swarm, an initial method of adaptive inertia weight based on a chaotic map is proposed. To compare and prove that the swarm's convergence occurs before stochastic initialization and to attain an optimal particle swarm optimization algorithm, the parameters of a proportional-integral-derivative controller are searched using self-tuning, and the simulated results are used to verify the search effectiveness of chaotic map MPSO. The results show that chaotic map MPSO is superior to its competitors for identifying the Prandtl-Ishlinskii model and that the inverse Prandtl-Ishlinskii model can provide hysteresis compensation under different conditions in a simple and effective manner.

Internal Stress Monitoring of In-Service Structural Steel Members with Ultrasonic Method.

Internal stress in structural steel members is an important parameter for steel structures in their design, construction, and service stages. However, it is hard to measure via traditional approaches. Among the existing non-destructive testing (NDT) methods, the ultrasonic method has received the most research attention. Longitudinal critically refracted (Lcr) waves, which propagate parallel to the surface of the material within an effective depth, have shown great potential as an effective stress measurement approach. This paper presents a systematic non-destructive evaluation method to determine the internal stress in in-service structural steel members using Lcr waves. Based on theory of acoustoelasticity, a stress evaluation formula is derived. Factor of stress to acoustic time difference is used to describe the relationship between stress and measurable acoustic results. A testing facility is developed and used to demonstrate the performance of the proposed method. Two steel members are measured by using the proposed method and the traditional strain gauge method for verification. Parametric studies are performed on three steel members and the aluminum plate to investigate the factors that influence the testing results. The results show that the proposed method is effective and accurate for determining stress in in-service structural steel members.

Experimental Study of Damage Evolution in Circular Stirrup-Confined Concrete.

This paper presents an experimental study on circular stirrup-confined concrete specimens under uniaxial and monotonic load. The effects of stirrup volume ratio, stirrup yield strength and concrete strength on damage evolution of stirrup-confined concrete were investigated. The experimental results showed that the strength and ductility of concrete are improved by appropriate arrangement of the stirrup confinement. Firstly, the concrete damage evolution can be relatively restrained with the increase of the stirrup volume ratio. Secondly, higher stirrup yield strength usually causes larger confining pressures and slower concrete damage evolution. In contrast, higher concrete strength leads to higher brittleness, which accelerates the concrete damage evolution. A plastic strain expression is obtained through curve fitting, and a damage evolution equation for circular stirrup-confined concrete is proposed by introducing a confinement factor (C) based on the experimental data. The comparison results demonstrate that the proposed damage evolution model can accurately describe the experimental results.

Fabrication of (Co,Mn)3O4/rGO Composite for Lithium Ion Battery Anode by a One-Step Hydrothermal Process with H2O2 as Additive.

Binary transition metal oxides have been regarded as one of the most promising candidates for high-performance electrodes in energy storage devices, since they can offer high electrochemical activity and high capacity. Rational designing nanosized metal oxide/carbon composite architectures has been proven to be an effective way to improve the electrochemical performance. In this work, the (Co,Mn)3O4 spinel was synthesized and anchored on reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets using a facile and single hydrothermal step with H2O2 as additive, no further additional calcination required. Analysis showed that this method gives a mixed spinel, i.e. (Co,Mn)3O4, having 2+ and 3+ Co and Mn ions in both the octahedral and tetrahedral sites of the spinel structure, with a nanocubic morphology roughly 20 nm in size. The nanocubes are bound onto the rGO nanosheet uniformly in a single hydrothermal process, then the as-prepared (Co,Mn)3O4/rGO composite was characterized as the anode materials for Li-ion battery (LIB). It can deliver 1130.6 mAh g-1 at current density of 100 mA g-1 with 98% of coulombic efficiency after 140 cycles. At 1000 mA g-1, the capacity can still maintain 750 mAh g-1, demonstrating excellent rate capabilities. Therefore, the one-step process is a facile and promising method to fabricate metal oxide/rGO composite materials for energy storage applications.

Facile Synthesis of Platelike Hierarchical Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 with Exposed {010} Planes for High-Rate and Long Cycling-Stable Lithium Ion Batteries.

Lithium-rich layered oxides are promising cathode candidates for the production of high-energy and high-power electronic devices with high specific capacity and high discharge voltage. However, unstable cycling performance, especially at high charge-recharge rate, is the most challenge issue which needs to be solved to foster the diffusion of these materials. In this paper, hierarchical platelike Li1.2Mn0.54Ni0.13Co0.13O2 cathode materials were synthesized by a facile solvothermal method followed by calcination. Calcination time was found to be a key parameter to obtain pure layered oxide phase and tailor its hierarchical morphology. The Li-rich material consists of primary nanoparticles with exposed {010} planes assembled to form platelike layers which exhibit low resistance to Li+ diffusion. In detail, the product by calcination at 900 °C for 12 h exhibits specific capacity of 228, 218, and 204 mA h g-1 at 200, 400, and 1000 mA g-1, respectively, whereas after 100 cycles at 1000 mA g-1 rate of charge and recharge the specific capacity was retained by about 91%.