The Epidemiology and Characteristics of Q fever and Co‐infections with Scrub Typhus,Murine Typhus or Leptospirosis in Taiwan: A Nationwide Database Study

Q fever (QF) is a worldwide zoonosis associated with outbreaks. Only a few nationwide studies regarding the surveillance and epidemiology of human QF have been reported. Although QF is endemic in Taiwan, a nationwide database investigation of the epidemiology and characteristics of QF and its associations with scrub typhus (ST), murine typhus (MT) and leptospirosis (LS) has never been reported. We analysed nationwide databases of suspected QF, ST, MT and LS cases from October 2007 to December 2014 obtained from the Centers for Disease Control, Taiwan. A total of 468 (4.2%) QF cases were identified among 11 109 suspected QF cases. QF cases were mainly distributed in the southern and Kaohsiung–Pingtung regions but rarely in the eastern region. Compared to non‐QF cases, QF cases had significantly higher percentages of males (88.7 versus 66.2%) and high‐risk occupations (farming, animal husbandry or veterinary medicine) (16.2 versus 10.5%). But the percentages of specific animal contact, including cattle (0.6 versus 0.8%) and goats (0.9 versus 1.0%), were low in both. The majority of suspected QF cases (89.4%) were simultaneously suspected with ST, MT or LS, and the combinations of suspected diseases differed between regions. The number of suspected QF cases from the eastern region decreased since 2009, which was not observed in other regions. A total of 1420 (12.8%) cases had confirmed diseases, including QF (453, 4.1%), QF+ST (7, 0.06%), QF+MT (4, 0.04%), QF+LS (4, 0.04%), MT (186, 1.7%), ST (545, 4.9%), ST+LS (11, 0.1%) and LS (210, 1.9%). Compared to cases of unknown disease, QF cases had larger percentages of high‐risk occupations (16.2 versus 9.6%) but similar histories of animal contact (29.8 versus 25.1%). QF is an endemic disease in southern Taiwan. It is difficult to differentiate QF from ST, MT or LS only by high‐risk occupations and history of animal contact, and co‐infection of QF with these diseases should be considered.     

肉牛同期发情效果影响因素的研究

[目的]为了研究同期发情处理方法、繁殖状况、品种、体重等对肉牛同期发情效果的影响,[方法]选择140头不同繁殖状况、品种、体重的肉牛,随机分为3组,分别采用CIDR+第10天肌注PMSG+第11天肌注PGF_2α（埋栓Ⅰ组）、CIDR+第9天肌注PMSG+第11天肌注PGF_2α（埋栓Ⅱ组）、肌注PGF_2α+PMSG(PGF_2α组)的方法进行同期发情处理。[结果]3种不同处理方法相比,PGF_2α组发情率为87.10%,埋栓Ⅰ组、Ⅱ组母牛发情率分别为97.83%、98.41%,显著高于PGF_2α组（P<0.05）;PGF_2α组处理牛受胎率为83.87%,埋栓Ⅰ组、Ⅱ组处理牛受胎率分别为89.13%、84.13%,高于PGF_2α组,但差异不显著（P>0.05）;育成牛与经产牛发情时间相比,埋栓组12～24 h内出现发情症状的经产牛占比为27.27%,育成牛占比为60%,显著高于经产牛（P<0.05）,2...     

小菜蛾鱼尼丁受体基因克隆及序列分析

利用RT-PCR和RACE技术克隆了小菜蛾(Plutella xylostella)鱼尼丁受体(Px-RyR)基因,其核苷酸序列全长15 748bp,5′非编码区267bp,3′端非编码区109bp,开放阅读区全长为15 372bp(GenBank登录号:JF927788),编码5 123个氨基酸残基。估测其蛋白分子量为579.39ku,等电点为5.45。该基因编码氨基酸序列和其他鳞翅目昆虫RyR氨基酸序列比对相似性较高(92%),与哺乳动物3种亚型RyRs的相似性为45%～47%。此外,二级结构预测,其C-末端存在6个跨膜区域;且Px-RyR中存在一个出现4次重复,长度为89～95个氨基酸的RyR结构域,平均相似性为33%。     

茶树病程相关蛋白基因CsPR5的克隆及表达分析

为探究茶树中病程相关蛋白5(pathogenesis-related protein 5,PR5)在茶树中的功能,采用cDNA末端快速扩增(rapid amplification of cDNA end,RACE)技术克隆了PR5基因的全长;通过荧光定量PCR方法检测了CsPR5在龙井43茶树不同组织部位、植物激素(茉莉酸、乙烯利和水杨酸)处理、茶炭疽病菌Colletotrichum camelliae侵染和小贯小绿叶蝉Empoasca onukii为害后的表达特征。结果表明,CsPR5基因开放阅读框为843 bp,编码281个氨基酸。CsPR5基因在茶树根、茎、嫩叶、花和种子5个组织中的相对表达量分别为0.187、3.093、0.928、0.045和0.012,且五者之间差异显著,主要在茎和叶中表达,其分别为根中相对表达量的16.54倍与4.96倍。水杨酸处理6 h及乙烯利处理6、12 h后,茶树CsPR5基因的相对表达量分别为1.622、2.344和1.845,分别比对照显著上调2.20倍、3.18倍和2.35倍;但是外施茉莉酸对茶树CsPR5基因的相对表达量无影响。茶炭疽病菌侵染显著诱导了茶树CsPR5基因的相对表达量,处理后的相对表达量为1.977,是对照的1.90倍;小贯小绿叶蝉取食显著抑制了其为害部位CsPR5的相对表达量,为7.273,仅为对照的38.80%,但该诱导不具系统性。     

Energy metabolism and apoptotic effect of microwave radiation on rat myocardial cells

AIM: To investigate the effect of microwave radiation at different intensities on the rat myocardium and its possible mechanism.METHODS: The rats were radiated by the intensity of 500, 1 000, 1 500 and 2 000 W/m² with 2 450 MHz microwave for 6 min. The heart tissue was collected 6 h after microwave radiation. ATP and mitochondria complex Ⅳ and Ⅴ were measured. The changes of the tissue structures were observed under transmission electron microscope. The apoptosis of the myocardial cells was detected by a cell analyzer. The protein level of cleaved caspase-3 was determined by Western blotting.RESULTS: The concentration of ATP and activity of mitochondria complex Ⅳand Ⅴ signi-ficantly decreased compared with control group in the cardiac tissues. The decreased number, morphological abnormalities such as dissolved cavitation, matrix and obvious tumefaction of mitochondria were observed under transmission electron microscope. The microwave radiation induced the apoptosis of myocardial cells in the rats. The cell apoptotic rate and the protein level of cleaved caspase-3 increased with increasing intensity of microwave radiation(P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Microwave radiation has obvious injury effect on the rat heart, which can cause cardiac energy metabolism dysregulation and cardiac myocyte apoptosis.     

Effects of dietary oregano essential oil supplementation on growth performance,intestinal antioxidative capacity,immunity, and intestinal microbiota in yellow-feathered chickens

Essential oils are plant-derived aromatic volatile oils, and they contain bioactive compounds that have been shown to improve poultry nutrition. In this study, we investigated the effects of oregano essential oil (OEO) on intestinal antioxidative capacity, immunity, and gut microbiota of young yellow-feathered chickens. A total of nine hundred and sixty 1-d-old female Qingyuan partridge chickens were randomly allocated to four treatment groups with six replicates of 40 birds each, and the feeding trial was lasted for 30 d. The controls were fed on a basal diet without in-feed antibiotics; the birds in the antibiotic group were fed the basal diet supplemented with 20 mg/kg virginiamycin; the remaining birds were fed the basal diet containing 150 or 300 mg/kg OEO, respectively. Dietary supplementation with 150 or 300 mg/kg OEO increased average daily feed intake (P = 0.057) and average daily gain (P < 0.05). The activities of glutathione peroxidase and total antioxidative capacity in plasma, jejuna, and ileal mucosa were increased by OEO supplementation (P < 0.05), with a trend of lower jejunal content of malonaldehyde (P = 0.062). Moreover, dietary OEO increased the content of secretory immunoglobulin A (P = 0.078) and the relative expression of Claudin 1, Mucin 2, and Avain beta-defensin 1 in ileum (P < 0.05). Sequencing data of 16S rRNA indicated that dietary OEO increased the relative abundance of Firmicutes phylum, and Clostridium and Lactobacillus genera, and decreasing that of Romboutsia. Functional analyses indicated that microbial amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, replication, and repair systems were higher in OEO groups than those of controls and antibiotic treatment. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with OEO enhanced growth performance, alleviated local oxidative stress in intestine, improved production of natural antibodies, and favorably modulated intestinal microbiota composition.     

Inhibition of porcine circovirus type 1 and type 2 production in PK-15 cells by small interfering RNAs targeting the Rep gene

Porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV1) and type 2 (PCV2) are two genotypes of porcine circovirus. Both of them are presumed to be widespread in the swine population. Currently, there is no specific treatment for their infections. RNA interference (RNAi) is a sequence-specific RNA degradation mechanism mediated by small interfering RNA (siRNA), which represents a possible therapeutic application for the treatment of viral infections. In this study, three siRNA expression plasmids (pS-RepA, pS-RepB and pS-RepC) were generated to target three different coding regions of the Rep protein (Rep) of PCV. These siRNAs were used to inhibit PCV production in a porcine kidney cell line, PK-15 cells. Our results revealed that Rep gene expression was inhibited by pS-RepA, pS-RepB and pS-RepC to different degrees. Moreover, our study also showed that the production of PCV1 and PCV2 was reduced by these siRNAs. pS-RepC, which targets the middle region of Rep gene, proved to be the most efficient siRNA for inhibition of Rep expression and viral production. Taken together, our data suggest that RNAi could be investigated as a potential treatment for PCV infection.     

曲拉通和硝酸混合溶液直接提取快速测定草鱼中铅含量

为建立快速测定草鱼中铅含量的方法,通过分析曲拉通和硝酸混合溶液浓度、提取时间、称样定容体积比例等因素的影响,以及基体改进剂的使用效果,确定了草鱼中铅元素提取测定的最佳条件。验证结果显示：采用曲拉通和硝酸混合溶液提取草鱼中铅元素方法的提取率为86.5%～95.6%,加标回收率为91.5%～95.6%,精密度均小于4.0%,检出限和定量限分别为0.011和0.032 mg/kg,满足了国家标准GB 5009.12—2017第一法石墨炉原子吸收光谱法的要求。与国家标准方法比较,本研究建立方法的样品前处理时间从4～12 h缩短至0.2 h内,酸试剂用量从湿法消解的7～12 mL减少至1～2 mL;前处理过程无需高温消解,无需其他前处理设备,避免了样品污染和待测元素损失,实现了降低分析成本以及保护环境和试验人员的目的。结果表明,该方法是一种简单、准确、绿色、快速测定草鱼中铅含量的方法,尤其适合大量样品检测。     

半挂牵引车车架异常断裂原因分析

建立了以板壳单元为基本单元的半挂牵引车车架有限元分析模型,针对半挂牵引车在使用过程中车架异常断裂问题,应用NASTRAN有限元分析软件对车架强度进行了静态及模态分析。有限元分析结果表明,车架断裂现象是由于第4横梁与纵梁连接铆钉处和侧翼板前部的第1个铆钉连接处,应力值已大于或接近材料的最小屈服强度,及在该处出现较大的交变应力而产生的。有限元计算结果与实车车架断裂结果相吻合,证明所采取的建模方法和分析方法是可行的。根据实际工艺要求,给出了该车架结构的改造方法,实际改造结果表明改造方法是非常有效的,断裂区的强度有明显提高。与原结构相比,在弯曲和扭转工况下,最大应力值分别下降38%和57%。