Rodents and shrews are major reservoirs of various pathogens that are related to zoonotic infectious diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate co-infections of zoonotic pathogens in rodents and shrews trapped in four provinces of China. We sampled different rodent and shrew communities within and around human settlements in four provinces of China and characterised several important zoonotic viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens by PCR methods and phylogenetic analysis. A total of 864 rodents and shrews belonging to 24 and 13 species from RODENTIA and EULIPOTYPHLA orders were captured, respectively. For viral pathogens, two species of hantavirus (Hantaan orthohantavirus and Caobang orthohantavirus) were identified in 3.47% of rodents and shrews. The overall prevalence of Bartonella spp., Anaplasmataceae, Babesia spp., Leptospira spp., Spotted fever group Rickettsiae, Borrelia spp., and Coxiella burnetii were 31.25%, 8.91%, 4.17%, 3.94%, 3.59%, 3.47%, and 0.58%, respectively. Furthermore, the highest co-infection status of three pathogens was observed among Bartonella spp., Leptospira spp., and Anaplasmataceae with a co-infection rate of 0.46%. Our results suggested that species distribution and co-infections of zoonotic pathogens were prevalent in rodents and shrews, highlighting the necessity of active surveillance for zoonotic pathogens in wild mammals in wider regions.

Due to the lack of research between the inner layers in the structure of colonic mucous and the metabolism of fatty acid in the constipation model, we aim to determine the changes in the mucous phenotype of the colonic glycocalyx and the microbial community structure following treatment with Rhubarb extract in our research. The constipation and treatment models are generated using adult male C57BL/6N mice. We perform light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to detect a Muc2-rich inner mucus layer attached to mice colon under different conditions. In addition, 16S rDNA sequencing is performed to examine the intestinal flora. According to TEM images, we demonstrate that Rhubarb can promote mucin secretion and find direct evidence of dendritic structure-linked mucus structures with its assembly into a lamellar network in a pore size distribution in the isolated colon section. Moreover, the diversity of intestinal flora has noticeable changes in constipated mice. The present study characterizes a dendritic structure and persistent cross-links have significant changes accompanied by the alteration of intestinal flora in feces in models of constipation and pretreatment with Rhubarb extract.

Sarcopenic obesity is regarded as a risk factor for the progression and development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Since male sex is a risk factor for NAFLD and skeletal muscle mass markedly varies between the sexes, we examined whether sex influences the association between appendicular skeletal muscle mass to visceral fat area ratio (SVR), that is, an index of skeletal muscle mass combined with abdominal obesity, and the histological severity of NAFLD. The SVR was measured by bioelectrical impedance in a cohort of 613 (M/F = 443/170) Chinese middle-aged individuals with biopsy-proven NAFLD. Multivariable logistic regression and subgroup analyses were used to test the association between SVR and the severity of NAFLD (i.e. non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) or NASH with the presence of any stage of liver fibrosis). NASH was identified by a NAFLD activity score ≥5, with a minimum score of 1 for each of its categories. The presence of fibrosis was classified as having a histological stage ≥1. The SVR was inversely associated with NASH in men (adjusted OR 0·62; 95 % CI 0·42, 0·92, P = 0·017 for NASH, adjusted OR 0·65; 95 % CI 0·43, 0·99, P = 0·043 for NASH with the presence of fibrosis), but not in women (1·47 (95 % CI 0·76, 2·83), P = 0·25 for NASH, and 1·45 (95 % CI 0·74, 2·83), P = 0·28 for NASH with the presence of fibrosis). There was a significant interaction for sex and SVR (Pinteraction = 0·017 for NASH and Pinteraction = 0·033 for NASH with the presence of fibrosis). Our findings show that lower skeletal muscle mass combined with abdominal obesity is strongly associated with the presence of NASH only in men.

Cinnamomum chago is a woody species of the family Lauraceae endemic to Yunnan province, China, previously known from only one location, and categorized as a Plant Species with Extremely Small Population. We surveyed to determine the distribution and population size of C. chago, characterize its habitat, identify any threats, assess its conservation status, and provide guidelines for its management and conservation. During 2014–2017 we found only 64 mature C. chago, in five locations. These small, fragmented populations occur along Lancang River in Dali Prefecture at altitudes of 2,200–2,400 m. The species' extent of occurrence is c. 923 km2, with an area of occupancy of c. 60 km2. The habitat of the species has been degraded by expansion of pastoral activities and deforestation. We recommend categorization of C. chago as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, prevention of the collection of seeds and wood of the species, protection and monitoring, and ex situ propagation for future reintroductions.

The present study was undertaken to investigate the antiparasitic activity of extracellular products of Streptomyces albus. Bioactivity-guided isolation of chloroform extracts affording a compound showing potent activity. The structure of the compound was elucidated as salinomycin (SAL) by EI-MS, 1H NMR and 13C NMR. In vitro test showed that SAL has potent anti-parasitic efficacy against theronts of Ichthyophthirius multifiliis with 10 min, 1, 2, 3 and 4 h (effective concentration) EC50 (95% confidence intervals) of 2.12 (2.22–2.02), 1.93 (1.98–1.88), 1.42 (1.47–1.37), 1.35 (1.41–1.31) and 1.11 (1.21–1.01) mg L−1. In vitro antiparasitic assays revealed that SAL could be 100% effective against I. multifiliis encysted tomonts at a concentration of 8.0 mg L−1. In vivo test demonstrated that the number of I. multifiliis trophonts on Erythroculter ilishaeformis treated with SAL was markedly lower than that of control group at 10 days after exposed to theronts (P < 0.05). In the control group, 80% mortality was observed owing to heavy I. multifiliis infection at 10 days. On the other hand, only 30.0% mortality was recorded in the group treated with 8.0 mg L−1 SAL. The median lethal dose (LD50) of SAL for E. ilishaeformis was 32.9 mg L−1.

Tomographic particle image velocimetry (TPIV) measurement with six high-resolution charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras is conducted to investigate flow structures over a finite circular cylinder with an aspect ratio of 2 ($h/d=2$). This short wall-mounted cylinder is fully immersed in a thick turbulent boundary layer ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}/h=1.025$). Focus is placed on the three-dimensional instantaneous vortex structures and their dynamic characteristics in the wake flow fields. Based on the present results, a refined topological model of the mean wake field behind the finite circular cylinder is proposed, where the spatial locations of the typical vortex structures and their interactions are described in more detail. Among the reported typical vortex structures (i.e. the horseshoe, tip, base, trailing and arch vortex), emphasis is laid on discussion of the tip and arch vortex. The instantaneous 3D M-shape arch vortex and an alternating large-scale streamwise vortex are first found in the present experiment, and their developments are also discussed. Therefore, it is suggested that the instantaneous finite-cylinder wake is dominated by the arch vortex system and the large-scale streamwise vortices. Moreover, in the instantaneous volumetric flow fields, both the antisymmetric and the symmetric wake behaviours are observed. With proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis, the dynamic characteristics of the wake field are clarified. Different from the flow around an infinite cylinder without control, the third and fourth POD modes are characterized by low-frequency symmetric shedding. The low-frequency feature shown in the second mode pair is observed and associated with the occurrence of instantaneous symmetric 3D wake behaviour triggered by the low-aspect-ratio effect and the extension of the separated shear layer. The low frequency seems be attributed to the flapping phenomenon, i.e. oscillation of the recirculation in the backward-facing step flow. It is found that the flapping motion has a modulating effect on the occurrence of the antisymmetric shedding vortex and thus the large-scale streamwise vortex.

Glacier albedo controls the surface energy budget, the variability of which affects the glacier surface melt rate and, in turn, impacts the mass balance of the glacier. During 2013 and 2014, spatial and temporal variations of albedo were investigated using 18 Landsat images of Urumqi Glacier No. 1. Factors influencing these spatiotemporal profiles were analyzed. An established retrieval process, including geolocation, radiometric calibration, atmospheric, topographic, and anisotropic correction and narrow- to broadband conversion, was applied for the first time to Landsat-8 images. Differences between Landsat image derived albedo values and albedo values measured using a handheld spectroradiometer ranged from −0.024 to 0.049. Spatial and temporal variations of surface albedo were significant, especially in the ablation area. The variability of the values of ice albedo ranged from 0.06 to 0.44 due to topographic effects and light-absorbing impurities. The results suggest that this retrieval method can be used to investigate the spatial and temporal variability of surface albedo from Landsat-8 images on mountain glaciers. Moreover, as constant albedo values for ice and snow cannot be assumed, the distribution of albedo was not completely dependent on altitude under conditions of more intense ablation, and by reason of light-absorbing impurities during the melt season.

In this paper, a remapping-free adaptive GRP method for one dimensional (1-D) compressible flows is developed. Based on the framework of finite volume method, the 1-D Euler equations are discretized on moving volumes and the resulting numerical fluxes are computed directly by the GRP method. Thus the remapping process in the earlier adaptive GRP algorithm [17,18] is omitted. By adopting a flexible moving mesh strategy, this method could be applied for multi-fluid problems. The interface of two fluids will be kept at the node of computational grids and the GRP solver is extended at the material interfaces of multi-fluid flows accordingly. Some typical numerical tests show competitive performances of the new method, especially for contact discontinuities of one fluid cases and the material interface tracking of multi-fluid cases.

The cloning and sequencing of two specific molecular markers linked to grape (Vitis vinifera) seedless gene indicated that the full lengths of the markers, 39970524-5-564 (GenBank accession number: AY327513) and 39970524-6-1538 (GenBank accession number: AY327514), were 564 bp and 1538 bp, respectively. The restriction sites of sequences 39970524-5-564 and 39970524-6-1538 were analysed with Wingene231 software. The results indicated that there were 29 and 130 restriction sites in 39970524-5-564 and 39970524-6-1538, respectively, digested by restriction enzymes with recognition sites of six or more than six bases. There was no cleavage site in 39970524-5-564 and there was one site at 135 bp of 39970524-6-1538 when these two markers were digested by EcoRI. Both markers can not be digested by HindIII. Therefore, the full length of 39970524-5-564 and of the two bands of 39970524-6-1538 (1400 bp and 135 bp) could be cut out from the pGEMR-T Easy Vector by EcoRI. The labelled DNA of 39970524-5-564, used as a probe for Southern blotting with genomic DNA from Red Globe, Flame Seedless, Thompson Seedless, four seedless hybrids and three seeded hybrids, showed a unique hybrid band present in all seedless individuals, but absent in all seeded individuals. It was further indicated that the specific marker 39970524-5-564 was derived from the genome of seedless grapes.

Dust charging in the sheath is investigated with the single dust model. The sheath profile and variation of dust charge are revealed under the effect of ion temperature. It is shown that the dust particles are rapidly positively charged in the pure ion sheath near the wall and that the ion motion effectively shifts the zero-point of the dust charge to the wall.