Two porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) strains (Binh21 and HaNoi6) were isolated from two pig farms in North Vietnam. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete genomes and the Spike and Membrane genes revealed that the two Vietnam PDCoVs belong to the same lineage as PDCoVs from Thailand and Laos; however, the N genes belonged to the same lineage as PDCoVs from the USA, Korea, China, and Hong Kong. The recombination detection program subsequently identified the major parent (S5011 strain) and minor parent (HKU15-44 strain) of the two Vietnam PDCoV strains (p < 0.01).

Maintaining the balance between neuronal excitation and inhibition is essential for proper function of the central nervous system. Inhibitory synaptic transmission plays an important role in maintaining this balance. Although inhibitory transmission has higher kinetic demands compared to excitatory transmission, its properties are poorly understood. In particular, the dynamics and exocytosis of single inhibitory vesicles have not been investigated, due largely to both technical and practical limitations. Using a combination of quantum dots (QDs) conjugated to antibodies against the luminal domain of the vesicular GABA transporter to selectively label GABAergic (i.e., predominantly inhibitory) vesicles together with dual-focus imaging optics, we tracked the real-time three-dimensional position of single GABAergic vesicles up to the moment of exocytosis (i.e., fusion). Using three-dimensional trajectories, we found that GABAergic synaptic vesicles traveled a shorter distance prior to fusion and had a shorter time to fusion compared to synaptotagmin-1 (Syt1)-labeled vesicles, which were mostly from excitatory neurons. Moreover, our analysis revealed that GABAergic synaptic vesicles move more straightly to their release sites than Syt1-labeled vesicles. Finally, we found that GABAergic vesicles have a higher prevalence of kiss-and-run fusion than Syt1-labeled vesicles. These results indicate that inhibitory synaptic vesicles have a unique set of dynamics and exocytosis properties to support rapid synaptic inhibition, thereby maintaining a tightly regulated coordination between excitation and inhibition in the central nervous system.

No abstract

An adaptive optics system can be simulated or analyzed to predict its closed-loop performance. However, this type of prediction based on various assumptions can occasionally produce outcomes which are far from actual experience. Thus, every adaptive optics system is desired to be tested in a closed loop on an optical test bench before its application to a telescope. In the close-loop test bench, we need an atmospheric simulator that simulates atmospheric disturbances, mostly in phase, in terms of spatial and temporal behavior. We report the development of an atmospheric turbulence simulator consisting of two point sources, a commercially available deformable mirror with a 12×12 actuator array, and two random phase plates. The simulator generates an atmospherically distorted single or binary star with varying stellar magnitudes and angular separations. We conduct a simulation of a binary star by optically combining two point sources mounted on independent precision stages. The light intensity of each source (an LED with a pin hole) is adjustable to the corresponding stellar magnitude, while its angular separation is precisely adjusted by moving the corresponding stage. First, the atmospheric phase disturbance at a single instance, i.e., a phase screen, is generated via a computer simulation based on the thin-layer Kolmogorov atmospheric model and its temporal evolution is predicted based on the frozen flow hypothesis. The deformable mirror is then continuously best-fitted to the time-sequenced phase screens based on the least square method. Similarly, we also implement another simulation by rotating two random phase plates which were manufactured to have atmospheric-disturbance-like residual aberrations. This later method is limited in its ability to simulate atmospheric disturbances, but it is easy and inexpensive to implement. With these two methods, individually or in unison, we can simulate typical atmospheric disturbances observed at the Bohyun Observatory in South Korea, which corresponds to an area from 7 to 15 cm with regard to the Fried parameter at a telescope pupil plane of 500 nm.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) chronically cause hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, and biomarkers related to liver damage are elevated in HBV and HCV patients. However, comparisons of biomarkers between HBV and HCV patients have not previously been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate differences in hematological biomarker in the sera of HBV and HCV patients and to find a key biomarker to differentiate between HBV and HCV infections. HBV (n=115) and HCV (n=128) samples (serum and whole blood) were collected and tested using a biochemical analysis system. The obtained data were analyzed with SPSS 18.0 statistical software. The mean age of the HCV group (60.3±14.1) was much higher than that of the HBV group (51.1±12.4). Male and female rates were 71.3% and 28.7% in the HBV group and 53.9% and 46.1% in the HCV group, respectively (p = 0.005). AST, ALT, and TG values were higher in the HCV group than in the HBV group. Although γ-GTP and LDL levels were higher in the HBV group than in the HCV group, apoB and apoE levels were much higher in HCV group than in HBV group (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the other hematological biomarkers between the HBV and HCV groups.In conclusion, HBV rates were higher in male patients, and HCV rates were higher in older patients. In particular, apoE and apoB were more highly expressed in HCV patients, and they might be key markers to differentiate HCV infection.