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Classical swine fever is an important swine disease in China, and sporadic outbreaks with mild clinical signs despite compulsory vaccination have raised questions about the virulence and pathogenicity of prevalent subgenotype 2.1 strains, and the ability of C-strain vaccines to cross-protect against them. To investigate this, three field isolates were evaluated in experimentally infected piglets and compared with the highly virulent reference Shimen strain. Clinical signs for the field strains ranged from mild to severe, and mortality ranged from 0 to 80 %. These data show differences in virulence among the subgenotype 2.1 field isolates and support the use of field strain GD191 as a genotype 2 challenge virus to assess efficacy of C-strain vaccines. In contrast to the historical genotype 1 strain, which caused acute infection with significant virus shedding in non-vaccinated animals, the subgenotype 2.1 GD191 strain produced different clinical manifestations in weaned piglets and adults. Adult pigs showed subclinical infection with viral shedding, whereas weaned piglets showed overt signs of infection. Efficacy of, and duration of immunity conferred by a C-strain vaccine were assessed using the reference Shimen strain and field isolate GD191 at 12 and 15 months after vaccination. A robust antibody response and sterilising protection were seen in all vaccinated animals and lasted up to 15 months post-vaccination. This study confirms that C-strain vaccines confer both clinical and virological protection against the historical genotype 1 Shimen strain and cross-protection against the prevalent genotype 2 field strain.

OBJECTIVE The study aimed to evaluate the effect of virtual reality on balance, motor function, gait, and the ability to perform activities of daily living in patients with Parkinson disease. METHODS We searched Cochran Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, PubMed, Wanfang Data, VIP Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure from their inception to June 2019. Two authors independently screened articles for inclusion, extracted data, and evaluated quality. RESULTS Twelve randomized clinical trials involving 360 patients were included. It demonstrated that virtual reality can improve balance, measured by the Berg Balance Scale (fixed model weighted mean difference = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.39 to 3.16, P < 0.00001); strengthen motor function, assessed by the Timed Up and Go test (fixed model weighted mean difference = -1.66, 95% CI = -2.74 to 0.58, P = 0.003); enhance gait ability, assessed by the 10-Meter Walk Test Time (fixed model weighted mean difference = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.02 to 0.24, P = 0.02) in patients with Parkinson disease. It also showed that virtual reality can improve individuals' ability to perform activities of daily living, assessed by modified Barthel Index (fixed model weighted mean difference = 2.93, 95% CI = 0.8 to 5.06, P = 0.007). CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that virtual reality rehabilitation may be valuable in improving the balance, motor function, gait, and ability to perform activities of daily living in patients with Parkinson disease.

In this study, three active compounds isolated from Oceanobacillus sp. XC22919 were identified as 2-methyl-N-(2′-phenylethyl) butyramide (1), 3-methyl-N-(2′-phenylethyl)-butyramide (2) and benzyl benzoate (3), and were first reported to exhibit the apparent quorum sensing inhibitory activities against C. violaceum 026 and P. aeruginosa. Compounds 1–3 inhibited violacein production of C. violaceum 026 by 10.5–55.7, 11.2–55.7, and 27.2%–95.7%, respectively, and inhibited pyocyanin production of P. aeruginosa by 1.7–50.8, 39.1–90.7, and 57.2%–98.7%, respectively. The azocasein-degrading proteolytic rates of P. aeruginosa were observed by 13.4–31.5, 13.4–28.8, and 11.3%–21.1%, respectively. With respect to elastase, the range of inhibition of activity of compounds 1–3 was 2.1–30.3, 4.2–18.2, and 8.9%–15.7%, respectively. Compounds 1 and 3 also showed a concentration-dependent attenuation in biofilm formation, with the maximum of 50.6% inhibition, and 37.7% inhibition at 100 μg/mL, respectively.

Fowl adenovirus serotype 4 (FAdV-4) is recognized as an economically important pathogen for the poultry industry worldwide. FAdV-4 infection causes a metabolic disturbance of hepatocytes, leading to hydropericardium-hepatitis syndrome (HHS) in poultry. However, the metabolic response of hepatocytes to FAdV-4 infection remains poorly investigated. Here, a tandem mass tag (TMT)-based approach was first used to quantitatively identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) in leghorn male hepatoma (LMH) cells infected with the virulent FAdV-4 strain GY. We identified 666 DEPs associated with many biological processes and pathways, according to Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses. Functional enrichment analysis revealed that three pathways, including metabolism-related signaling pathways, apoptosis, and autophagy responses, were enriched during FAdV-4 infection. Moreover, excessive induction of metabolism-related signaling pathways by FAdV-4 infection might be associated with HHS induced by the virus. Meanwhile, among the proteins in these pathways, RRM2, SAE1, AEN, and RAD50 were verified through western blotting to be markedly altered in FAdV-4-infected LMH cells. Notably, overexpression of SAE1 inhibited the replication of FAdV-4 in vitro, whereas silencing of SAE1 expression promoted the replication of the virus. Collectively, our findings show for the first time that SAE1 is a host cellular protein that plays roles in regulating the life cycle of FAdV-4.

Superior environmental and thermal stabilities and well-defined electrochemical performances of lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide cathode materials are needed for next-generation high-performance and safe lithium-ion batteries, to which appropriate modification means have been proven to be crucial for enhancing the properties for these materials. Herein, we develop a facile in-situ approach to co-modify LiNi0.5Co0.2Mn0.3O2 (NCM523) cathode material with simultaneous lithium aluminum oxide (LiAlO2) coating and Al doping. Without any additional steps and reagents, the co-modification begins during the preparation of the hydroxide precursor of NCM523 and ends upon the calcination of the cathode material. Combining the synergistic effects from LiAlO2 coating and Al doping, the resultant Al-modified NCM523 possesses a robust protective layer as well as a well-ordered layered structure with enlarged lattice spacing, restrained cation mixing, and concentration-gradient-distributed Ni, thus exhibiting significantly enhanced environmental and thermal stabilities and electrochemical performances over its pristine counterpart. At a high active material content of 94.0 wt.% and a high mass loading of 19.5 mg cm−2 for the testing electrode, the optimized Al-modified NCM523 shows a high discharge capacity (168.4 mAh g−1 at 0.1 C), a high rate capability (capacity retains 67.8% at 3.0 C vs. 0.1 C), and a long cycle life (capacity retains 62.3% after charge / discharge at 0.5 C for 120 cycles). Reasonably, the unique in-situ co-modification approach developed in the present work can be applied for other NCMs with simultaneous LiAlO2 coating and Al doping. More broadly, apart from Al, this approach may be further extended to utilize other modification chemistries to co-modify NCMs and other cathode materials in situ for enhancing their stabilities and electrochemical performances.

In this study, α-FeOOH on reduced graphene oxide (rGO-α-FeOOH) supported on an Al-doped MCM-41 catalyst (RFAM) was optimized for the visible-light photo-Fenton oxidation of phenol at neutral pH. The stability of the catalysts, effect of bubbling aeration, and degradation intermediates were investigated. Results indicated that RFAM with a large Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) area and mesoporous structure displayed excellent catalytic activity for the visible-light-driven (VLD) photo-Fenton process. Phenol degradation was well described by a pseudo-first-order reaction kinetics model. Raman analysis demonstrated that an rGO-α-FeOOH (RF) composite is formed during the ferrous-ion-induced self-assembly process. Al-MCM-41 could uniformly disperse RF nanosheets and promote the mobility and diffusion of matter. The activity of the main catalyst α-FeOOH was enhanced after the incorporation of rGO nanosheets. The α-FeOOH crystal in RFAM showed catalytic activity superior to those of Fe3O4 and Fe2O3. The RFAM catalyst, with an optimal GO-Fe2+mass ratio of 2.33, exhibited a larger BET area, pore size, and pore volume, and thus exhibited high performance and energy utilization efficiency in the VLD photo-Fenton reaction with remarkable stability. Bubbling N2 inhibited catalytic performance, while bubbling O2 or air only slightly accelerated the phenol degradation. Visible light played an important role in accelerating the formation of reactive oxygen species (·OH) for the highly efficient phenol degradation. Analysis of degradation intermediates indicated a high phenol mineralization level and the formation of low-molecular-weight organic acids. This work would be helpful in providing an insight into a new type of catalyst assembly and a possible route to a promising heterogeneous catalyst applicable in the visible light photo-Fenton process for effective wastewater remediation at neutral pH.