A novel Betaretrovirus discovered in cattle with neurological disease and encephalitis

Background The majority of emerging infectious diseases in humans are of animal origin, and many of them are caused by neuropathogenic viruses. Many cases of neurological disease and encephalitis in livestock remain etiologically unresolved, posing a constant threat to animal and human health. Thus, continuous extension of our knowledge of the repertoire of viruses prone to infect the central nervous system (CNS) is vital for pathogen monitoring and the early detection of emerging viruses. Using high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and bioinformatics, we discovered a new retrovirus, bovine retrovirus CH15 (BoRV CH15), in the CNS of a cow with non-suppurative encephalitis. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the affiliation of BoRV CH15 to the genus Betaretrovirus. Results BoRV CH15 genomes were identified prospectively and retrospectively by PCR, RT-PCR, and HTS, with targeting of viral RNA and proviral DNA, in six additional diseased cows investigated over a period of > 20 years and of different geographical origins. The virus was not found in brain samples from healthy slaughtered control animals (n = 130). We determined the full-length proviral genomes from six of the seven investigated animals and, using in situ hybridization, identified viral RNA in the cytoplasm of cells morphologically compatible with neurons in diseased brains. Conclusions Further screening of brain samples, virus isolation, and infection studies are needed to estimate the significance of these findings and the causative association of BoRV CH15 with neurological disease and encephalitis in cattle. However, with the full-length proviral sequences of BoRV CH15 genomes, we provide the basis for a molecular clone and further in vitro investigation. Graphical Abstract

Proving the Availability of Ni-Fe Anode for Electro-Reduction of Solid V2O3 in Molten Fluoride Salts

The availability of casting Ni-Fe alloy as inert anode for direct electro-reduction of V2O3 in molten Na3AlF6-K3AlF6-AlF3 was investigated. The electrochemical oxidation behavior of anode as well as microstructural evolutions of formed oxide scale were systematically studied. The electrochemical characterization and reaction mechanism of cathode oxide were also investigated to evaluate the influence of alloy anode on cathodic reduction process. The in situ formed three-layered oxide scale is compact and coherent, which is composed of an outermost Fe2O3+FeAl2O4 skin layer, a Fe2O3 middle layer and a FeAl2O4 inner layer. The skin layer has a continuous, smooth structure and shows electrochemical activity. The Fe2O3 layer with compact structure prevents inward diffusion of electrolyte and outward migration of metal cations. The innermost FeAl2O4 layer shows a loose structure and functions as buffer layer to improve the peeling resistance of oxide scale. With the continuous extension of polarization time, the inner FeAl2O4 layer is slowly oxidized and becomes thinner, simultaneously, the dense Fe2O3 layer becomes thicker. Ultimately, metal vanadium product with fine rod-like particles can be obtained and the oxygen content in the metal vanadium is below 0.3 mass% within electrolyzing time of 2 h. The corresponding current efficiency is around 63%.

A Novel Betaretrovirus Discovered in Cattle With Neurological Disease and Encephalitis

Background: The majority of emerging infectious diseases in humans are of animal origin, and many of them are caused by neuropathogenic viruses. Many cases of neurological disease and encephalitis in livestock remain etiologically unresolved, posing a constant threat to animal and human health. Thus, continuous extension of our knowledge of the repertoire of viruses prone to infect the central nervous system (CNS) is vital for pathogen monitoring and the early detection of emerging viruses. Using high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and bioinformatics, we discovered a new retrovirus, bovine retrovirus CH15 (BoRV CH15), in the CNS of a cow with non-suppurative encephalitis. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the affiliation of BoRV CH15 to the genus Betaretrovirus.Results: BoRV CH15 genomes were identified prospectively and retrospectively by PCR, RT-PCR, and HTS, with targeting of viral RNA and proviral DNA, in six additional diseased cows investigated over a period of >20 years and of different geographical origins. The virus was not found in brain samples from healthy slaughtered control animals (n=134). We determined the full-length proviral genomes from six of the seven investigated animals and, using in situ hybridization, identified viral RNA in the cytoplasm of cells morphologically compatible with neurons in diseased brains.Conclusions: Further screening of brain samples, virus isolation, and infection studies are needed to estimate the significance of these findings and the causative association of BoRV CH15 with neurological disease and encephalitis in cattle. However, with the full-length proviral sequences of BoRV CH15 genomes, we provide the basis for a molecular clone and further in vitro investigation.

High-speed rail – highway 2.0?

High-speed rail lines should make it possible to fully replace air transport over the medium distances of Europe (about 500 km). In the Czech Republic, they are beginning to design. Estimates suggest that in five years, the first sections could begin to physically originate and within ten years, they will begin to ride on them. Is it possible that the scenario and the continuous extension of deadlines accompanying the completion of the backbone network will be repeated? This article discusses the options from the project management perspective and the idea of construction 4.0 to prevent this.

Isolated singularities of mappings with the inverse Poletsky inequality

The manuscript is devoted to the study of mappingswith finite distortion, which have been actively studied recently.We consider mappings satisfying the inverse Poletsky inequality,which can have branch points. Note that mappings with the reversePoletsky inequality include the classes of con\-for\-mal,quasiconformal, and quasiregular mappings. The subject of thisarticle is the question of removability an isolated singularity of amapping. The main result is as follows. Suppose that $f$ is an opendiscrete mapping between domains of a Euclidean $n$-dimensionalspace satisfying the inverse Poletsky inequality with someintegrable majorant $Q.$ If the cluster set of $f$ at some isolatedboundary point $x_0$ is a subset of the boundary of the image of thedomain, and, in addition, the function $Q$ is integrable, then $f$has a continuous extension to $x_0.$ Moreover, if $f$ is finite at$x_0,$ then $f$ is logarithmic H\"{o}lder continuous at $x_0$ withthe exponent $1/n.$

Fuzzy recognition of LDPE weathering risk based on environmental parameters

The environmental adaptabilities of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) play an important role for high-speed trains’ reliability and comfort. The weathering of LDPE depends on environment factors, while the complexity of the weathering processes inhibits the evaluation of environmental weathering risks. To elucidate the correlation between weathering and environmental factors, and to predict the weathering risk of target areas of interest, three-year-long natural weathering tests were conducted at twelve natural exposure stations in China. Properties of weathered LDPE were compared and analysed using factor analysis. The fuzzy recognition method based on analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was established and used to predict the weathering risk based on environmental database. The results indicate that the factor scores can partitioned the atmospheric environments into five weathering risk grades. This article used the accumulated cumulative temperature of the daily maximum temperature for weathering risk evaluation, which is more scientific than the annual average temperature widely used and is useful for revealing the difference in LDPE weathering in Turpan and Korla. A comparative chart of LDPE’s weathering risk in China was established by this fuzzy recognition method for the first time, which caters to the continuous extension of high-speed railway to new regions.

On certain compactification of an arbitrary subset of $\mathbb{R}^m$ and its applications to DiPerna-Majda measures theory

We present a constructive proof of the fact, that for any subset $A \subseteq \R^m$ and a countable family $F$ of bounded functions $f: A \to R$ there exists a compactification $A' \subset \ell^2$ of $A$ such that every function $f \in F$ possesses a continuous extension to a function $\bar{f}: A' \to \R$. However related to some classical theorems, our result is direct and hence applicable in Calculus of Variations. Our construction is then used to represent limits of weakly convergent sequences $\{f(u^\nu)\}$ via methods related to DiPerna-Majda measures. In particular, as our main application, we generalise the Representation Theorem from the Calculus of Variations due to Kałamajska.

On Global Solvability of Nonlinear Equations with Parameters

We consider smooth mappings acting from one Banach space to another and depending on a parameter belonging to a topological space. Under various regularity assumptions, sufficient conditions for the existence of global and semilocal continuous inverse and implicit functions are obtained. We consider applications of these results to the problem of continuous extension of implicit functions and to the problem of coincidence points of smooth and continuous compact mappings.