scholarly journals Rapid Spread of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus by Parthenogenetic Asian Longhorned Ticks

2022 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xing Zhang ◽  
Chaoyue Zhao ◽  
Chaoyuan Cheng ◽  
Guogang Zhang ◽  
Tao Yu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aihua Zheng ◽  
Zhibin Zhang ◽  
Guogang Zhang ◽  
Xiangjiang Zhan Zhan ◽  
Xing Zhang ◽  
...  

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is spreading rapidly in Asia. It is transmitted by Haemaphysalis longicornis (Asian longhorned tick, ALT), which has both parthenogenetically and sexually reproducing populations. Parthenogenetic populations were found in at least 15 provinces in China and strongly correlated with the distribution of SFTS. The distribution of SFTS cases was however poorly correlated with the distribution of populations of bisexual ALTs. Phylogeographic analysis suggested that the parthenogenetic population spread much faster than bisexual population because colonization is independent of sexual reproduction. A higher proportion of parthenogenetic ALTs were collected from migratory birds captured at an SFTS endemic area, implicating the contribution to the long-range movement of ALTs in China. The SFTSV susceptibility of parthenogenetic females was like that of bisexual females under laboratory conditions. These results suggest that parthenogenetic ALT, probably transported by migratory birds, play a major role in the rapid spread of SFTSV.


2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-160
Author(s):  
Kanami SAITO ◽  
Toshihiro SATO ◽  
Takashi TAKAGI ◽  
Masanori KAWAGUCHI ◽  
Syogo URABE ◽  
...  

Coronaviruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 01 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvana Mirella Aliberti ◽  
Francesco De Caro ◽  
Giovanni Boccia ◽  
Rosario Caruso ◽  
Mario Capunzo

: Italy was the first western nation affected by the pandemic and was observed as a pilot case in the management of the new coronavirus epidemic. The outbreak of COVID-19 disease has been very difficult in Italy, on June 25, 2020 there are 239,821 total cases of which 33,592 deaths nationwide. Three lessons emerged from this experience that can serve as a blueprint to improve future plans for the outbreak of viruses. First, early reports on the spread of COVID-19 can help inform public health officials and medical practitioners in effort to combat its progression; second, inadequate risk assessment related to the urgency of the situation and limited reporting to the virus has led the rapid spread of COVID-19; third, an effective response to the virus had to be undertaken with coherent system of actions and simultaneously.


1977 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia J. Hallam

Following several discussions in recent numbers of Quaternary Research on the peopling of the Americas, this paper suggests that movements into the New World should be viewed in the wider context of subsistence, technology, and movement around the western littorals of the Pacific, resulting in the colonization not of one but of two new continents by men out of Asia. Specific points which have been raised by these recent papers are reviewed in the light of Australian, Wallacian, and East Asian data.(1) The earliness of watercraft is evidenced by chronology of the human diaspora through Wallacia and Greater Australia.(2) The simplistic nomenclature of chopper-flake traditions masks considerable complexity and technological potential, revealed in detailed Antipodean studies.(3) These traditions also have great potential for adapting to differing ecological zones, evidenced within Greater Australia; and for technological and economic innovation there, through Southeast Asia, and to Japan and the north Asian littoral.(4) The history of discovery and the nature of the evidence from Australia cannot validly be used to controvert early dates in the Americas.(5) Demographic data from Australia suggest that total commitment to a rapid-spread “bowwave” model for the peopling of new continents may be unwise.


Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1370
Author(s):  
Igor Vuković ◽  
Kristijan Kuk ◽  
Petar Čisar ◽  
Miloš Banđur ◽  
Đoko Banđur ◽  
...  

Moodle is a widely deployed distance learning platform that provides numerous opportunities to enhance the learning process. Moodle’s importance in maintaining the continuity of education in states of emergency and other circumstances has been particularly demonstrated in the context of the COVID-19 virus’ rapid spread. However, there is a problem with personalizing the learning and monitoring of students’ work. There is room for upgrading the system by applying data mining and different machine-learning methods. The multi-agent Observer system proposed in our paper supports students engaged in learning by monitoring their work and making suggestions based on the prediction of their final course success, using indicators of engagement and machine-learning algorithms. A novelty is that Observer collects data independently of the Moodle database, autonomously creates a training set, and learns from gathered data. Since the data are anonymized, researchers and lecturers can freely use them for purposes broader than that specified for Observer. The paper shows how the methodology, technologies, and techniques used in Observer provide an autonomous system of personalized assistance for students within Moodle platforms.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Abdellatif Bouazzaoui ◽  
Ahmed A. H. Abdellatif ◽  
Faisal A. Al-Allaf ◽  
Neda M. Bogari ◽  
Saied Al-Dehlawi ◽  
...  

The current COVID-19 pandemic, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has raised significant economic, social, and psychological concerns. The rapid spread of the virus, coupled with the absence of vaccines and antiviral treatments for SARS-CoV-2, has galvanized a major global endeavor to develop effective vaccines. Within a matter of just a few months of the initial outbreak, research teams worldwide, adopting a range of different strategies, embarked on a quest to develop effective vaccine that could be effectively used to suppress this virulent pathogen. In this review, we describe conventional approaches to vaccine development, including strategies employing proteins, peptides, and attenuated or inactivated pathogens in combination with adjuvants (including genetic adjuvants). We also present details of the novel strategies that were adopted by different research groups to successfully transfer recombinantly expressed antigens while using viral vectors (adenoviral and retroviral) and non-viral delivery systems, and how recently developed methods have been applied in order to produce vaccines that are based on mRNA, self-amplifying RNA (saRNA), and trans-amplifying RNA (taRNA). Moreover, we discuss the methods that are being used to enhance mRNA stability and protein production, the advantages and disadvantages of different methods, and the challenges that are encountered during the development of effective vaccines.


Author(s):  
Xiaoxia Huang ◽  
Jiandong Li ◽  
Aqian Li ◽  
Shiwen Wang ◽  
Dexin Li

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease that is a severe threat to public health considering its high fatality and person-to-person transmission. In order to obtain an updated and deep understanding of the epidemiological characteristics of SFTS in mainland China, we used Pearson’s chi-squared test to compare the fatality rate and demographic characteristics in different groups. Data were analyzed in R3.6.1 (R Development Core Team 2018), while the visualization was performed in ArcGIS 10 (ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA), and the statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. A total of 13,824 SFTS cases involving 8899 lab-confirmed cases and 4925 probable cases were reported and included in the epidemiological analysis. Our study found that the number of SFTS cases showed an increasing trend with a small decrease in the past three years. The laboratory-confirmed rate was about 64.4%, which varied between different years and areas. Although most cases (99.3%) were distributed in 7 provinces (Henan, Shandong, Anhui, Hubei, Liaoning, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu), the regional distribution of SFTS gradually expanded from 5 provinces in 2010 to 25 provinces by 2019, especially at the town level. The SFTS cases were mainly sporadic. A total of 96.5% occurred from April to October, and 93.3% of cases were concentrated in middle-aged and elderly people (40–84 years old). Farmers were the main high-risk population. Female cases were slightly more than male cases; however, there were differences between different provinces. The mortality rate showed an increasing trend with age. Overall, the SFTS cases were mainly middle-aged and elderly farmers that sporadically distributed throughout seven provinces with a spatially expanding trend. The laboratory-confirmed rate varied in different years and provinces, which implied that the diagnosis and report criteria for SFTS should be further updated and unified in order to get a better understanding of its epidemiological characteristics and provide scientific data for SFTS control.


Author(s):  
M. John Plodinec

Abstract Over the last decade, communities have become increasingly aware of the risks they face. They are threatened by natural disasters, which may be exacerbated by climate change and the movement of land masses. Growing globalization has made a pandemic due to the rapid spread of highly infectious diseases ever more likely. Societal discord breeds its own threats, not the least of which is the spread of radical ideologies giving rise to terrorism. The accelerating rate of technological change has bred its own social and economic risks. This widening spectrum of risk poses a difficult question to every community – how resilient will the community be to the extreme events it faces. In this paper, we present a new approach to answering that question. It is based on the stress testing of financial institutions required by regulators in the United States and elsewhere. It generalizes stress testing by expanding the concept of “capital” beyond finance to include the other “capitals” (e.g., human, social) possessed by a community. Through use of this approach, communities can determine which investments of its capitals are most likely to improve its resilience. We provide an example of using the approach, and discuss its potential benefits.


Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Alicja Buczek ◽  
Weronika Buczek

Increased human mobility elevates the risk of exposure of companion animals travelling with their owners or imported from other regions to tick attacks. In this study, we highlight the potential role of dogs and cats taken for tourist trips or imported animals in the spread of ticks and tick-borne pathogens. The Rhipicephalus sanguineus tick, which is a vector of numerous pathogens causing diseases in animals and humans, is imported most frequently from endemic areas to many European countries. Additionally, alien tick species with high epizootic and epidemiological importance can be imported on dogs from other continents. Companion animals play an even greater role in the spread of autochthonous tick species and transmission of tick pathogens to other animals and humans. Although the veterinary and medical effects of the parasitism of ticks carried by companion animals travelling with owners or imported animals are poorly assessed, these animals seem to play a role in the rapid spread of tick-borne diseases. Development of strategies for protection of the health of companion animals in different geographic regions should take into account the potential emergence of unknown animal tick-borne diseases that can be transmitted by imported ticks.


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