Construction of and evaluation of the immune response to two recombinant pseudorabies viruses expressing the B119L and EP364R proteins of African swine fever virus.

African swine fever (ASF) is an infectious disease caused by ASF virus (ASFV), which is characterized by high infectivity, rapid onset of disease, and a high mortality rate. Outbreaks of ASFV have caused great economic losses to the global pig industry, and there is a need to develop safe and effective vaccines. In this study, two recombinant pseudorabies virus (PRV) strains, rGXGG-2016-ΔgI/ΔgE-EP364R and rGXGG-2016-ΔgI/ΔgE-B119L, expressing the EP364R and B119L protein, respectively, of ASFV, were constructed by homologous recombination technology. Western blotting and immunofluorescence analysis showed that these foreign proteins were expressed in cells infected with the recombinant strains. The strains showed good genetic stability and proliferative characteristics for 20 passages in BHK-21 cells. Both of these strains were immunogenic in mice, inducing the production of specific antibodies against the expressed ASFV proteins while providing protection against lethal challenge with PRV. Thus, the recombinant strains rGXGG-2016-ΔgI/ΔgE-EP364R and rGXGG-2016-ΔgI/ΔgE-B119L could be used as candidate vaccines for both ASFV and PRV. In addition, our study identifies two potential target genes for the development of safe and efficient ASFV vaccines, provides a reference for the construction of bivalent ASFV and PRV vaccines, and demonstrates the feasibility of developing a live ASFV vector vaccine.

[Landscape regionalization of agro-pastoral transitional zone using self-organizing feature maps (SOFM) network: a case study of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China].

Taking the agro-pastoral transitional zone of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, which has the most extrusive landscape differentiation in Northern China, as the object, a landscape spatial differentiation index was established based on the NDVI, integrated index of land use degree, and aridity index, and the characteristics of the landscape spatial differentiation were quantitatively identified by using SOFM network. The study area could be divided into six landscape zones, i. e., forest zone, forest-steppe transitional zone, agro-steppe mixed zone, typical steppe zone, steppe-desert transitional zone, and desert zone. As compared with the traditional schemes of physical geographical regionalization, our landscape regionalization could quickly regionalize the large scale landscape spatial differentiation in a quantitative way, and the regionalization results were basically in accordance with the original landscape characteristics and the landscape spatial differentiation pattern of the study area.

Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of ethyl acetate fraction from Zanthoxylum armatum in mice.

Zanthoxylum armatum DC. is a traditional Chinese medicine that is prescribed to alleviate pain and treat inflammatory disorders. This species is distributed mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of China. In the present study, we found that ethyl acetate fraction of ethanolic extract of Z. armatum could significantly decrease acetic acid-induced writhing numbers, and suppress formalin induced licking times in the first phase at the highest dose and in the second phase at all tested doses. This observation revealed that Z. armatum extract possessed powerful antinociceptive activity. The mechanisms of the antinociceptive effect might be mainly involved in the periphery inflammatory analgesic. In addition, the ethyl acetate fraction also inhibited xylene-induced ear swelling in a dose-dependent manner in mice. Eight lignans [eudesmin, horsfieldin, fargesin, kobusin, sesamin, asarinin, planispine A, and pinoresinol-di-3,3-dimethylallyl] were identified as major components of the ethyl acetate fraction. Considering related studies reporting the anti-inflammatory activity for the identified lignans, lignan might be responsible for its anti-inflammatory activity. Our results confirm that the traditional use of Z. armatum in the treatment of inflammation and pain is warranted.

[Relationships between landscape pattern and water quality at western reservoir area in Shenzhen City].

In this paper, the relationships between landscape pattern and water quality at western reservoir area in Shenzhen City were studied with grey connection method, and the influences of source' and 'sink' landscape patterns on non-point pollution were probed. The results showed that the dominance, adjacency, and fragmentation of 'source' and 'sink' landscapes could markedly influence the water quality. From 2000 to 2001, due to the changes of the 'source' and 'sink' landscape patterns in research areas, the output of pollutants increased and the reduction of pollution decreased, resulting in the deterioration of water quality of three reservoirs. According to the spatial distribution of 'source' and 'sink' landscapes, it was found that the distribution of 'sink' landscapes at the middle-lower reaches of the watersheds had close relationships with the changes of reservoir water quality, suggesting that 'sink' landscape pattern was of significance in the management of non-point pollution.

[Research progress on urban green space].

Nature, diversity, and openness are what we demand from urban green space in the 21st century. Based on the summary of urban green space connotation, types and significance, this paper reviewed the research hotspots of urban green space, i.e., conservation and planning of urban-rural fringe, restoration and preservation of natural areas and indigenous vegetation, ecological restoration and planning of green way, biodiversity conservation, ecosystem structure and services, and management policy. The difference between foreign and domestic urban green space researches and practices were summarized, and some preferential urban green space research aspects in the future were proposed. It was suggested that in China, urban green space strategy should be integrated into urban planning and land use planning.

Landscape eco-environmental research on littoral zone in China.

Littoral zone is a special land/landscape type. As an important kind of land resource in support, the use of littoral zone is vital to eastern coastal areas in China. And the research on littoral zone relates to the key theory of landscape ecology. Based on the theory of landscape ecology, the littoral zone was divided into four types: mud flat, sand beach, bench, and biological flat. The distribution of each type in China is pointed out. As a typical open system, littoral zone has six landscape ecological characteristics: (1) high sensitivity to disturbance; (2) distinct edge effect; (3) spatial aggregation of natural resources; (4) frequently spatial oscillation; (5) obviously spatial heterogeneity; and (6) noticeably spatial differentiation. Some proposals are also put forward on the land use and development of littoral zone for environmental protection and environmental management.