A total of 49 patients with hemorrhagic fever caused by HYSV were included; 8 (16.3%) patients died. A fatal outcome was associated with high viral RNA load in blood at admission, as well as higher serum liver transaminase levels, more pronounced coagulation disturbances (activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time), and higher levels of acute phase proteins (phospholipase A, fibrinogen, hepcidin), cytokines (interleukin [IL]-6, IL-10, interferon-γ), and chemokines (IL-8, monocyte chemotactic protein 1, macrophage inflammatory protein 1b). The levels of these host parameters correlated with viral RNA levels. Blood viral RNA levels gradually declined over 3-4 weeks after illness onset, accompanied by resolution of symptoms and laboratory abnormalities. Viral RNA was also detectable in throat, urine, and fecal specimens of a substantial proportion of patients, including all fatal cases assayed. CONCLUSIONS. Viral replication and host immune responses play an important role in determining the severity and clinical outcome in patients with infection by HYSV.

Surveys were carried out to better understand the tick vector ecology and genetic diversity of Huaiyangshan virus (HYSV) in both regions of endemicity and regions of nonendemicity. Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks were dominant in regions of endemicity, while Rhipicephalus microplus is more abundant in regions of nonendemicity. HYSV RNA was found in human and both tick species, with greater prevalence in H. longicornis and lesser prevalence in R. microplus. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that HYSV is a novel species of the genus Phlebovirus. Recently, a hemorrhagic fever-like disease caused by a novel bunyavirus occurred in China (14, 16). Yu et al. reported the disease as severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) (14). As thrombocytopenia is not specific for this disease and is present in nearly all hemorrhagic fevers caused by viruses (11) or Rickettsia (15), we previously proposed naming the syndrome Huaiyangshan hemorrhagic fever (HYSHF) and the virus Huaiyangshan virus (HYSV) (16). Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks might be the vector of HYSV (14, 16). However, less is known about the arthropod vector ecology, the genetic diversity, and the phylogeny of HYSV. Thus, we performed an investigation in regions of endemicity and nonendemicity in Henan and Hubei provinces ( Fig. 1).A total of 17,731 adult ticks were collected (Table 1). After morphological examination and sequence analysis of mitochondrial 12S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) as described previously (2, 16), only H. longicornis and Rhipicephalus microplus were found. In the regions of endemicity, 4,501 ticks (3,498 H. longicornis and 1,003 R. microplus) were collected from 15 counties of Henan and Hubei. In the regions of nonendemicity, 13,230 ticks (400 H. longicornis and 12,830 R. microplus) were collected from 23 counties of Hubei. These data suggested that H. longicornis and R. microplus were the dominant species in regions of endemicity and regions of nonendemicity, respectively.All ticks were grouped into 1,180 pools (450 pools from a region of endemicity and 730 pools from a region of nonendemicity) according to species, host, and geographic origin. H. longicornis and R. microplus represented 365 (30.93%) and 815 (69.07%) pools, respectively. For screening HYSV and sequencing the partial S segment (nucleotides [nt] 63 to 663) or L segment (nt 2208 to 3121) and whole-genome sequences of HYSV, total RNA was extracted from ticks and human sera and was then subjected to reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) as described previously (16). As a result, HYSV RNA was identified in 18 (4.93%) H. longicornis pools and in 5 (0.613%) R. microplus pools, suggesting that both species can carry HYSV. Remarkably, the HYSV RNA-positive H. longicornis ticks were found only in the regions of endemicity, whereas HYSV RNA was identified in R. microplus ticks from both the regions of endemicity (2 pools) and neighboring regions of nonendemicity (3 pools) (Fig. 1). Obviously, the prevalence of HYSV was higher in H. longicornis ticks than in R. microplus ticks and higher in...

The electronic metal–support interaction (EMSI) plays a crucial role in promoting catalytic performance toward interface electronic structure sensitive reactions, such as the low temperature water gas shift reaction (LT-WGSR). Herein, a mixed metal oxide support (ZnTi-MMO) was obtained via structural topological transformation from a zinc–titanium layered double hydroxides (ZnTi-LDHs) precursor, which was used for the immobilization of Au nanoparticles (NPs). Following a reduction pretreatment at 300 °C in a H2 atmosphere, the resulting optimal catalyst Au@TiO2–x /ZnO­(H300) exhibits a WGSR rate up to 0.15 molco molAu –1 s–1, which is at a high level compared with previously reported gold-based catalyst systems. Ac-HAADF-STEM combined with CO pulse chemisorption measurements verifies a TiO2–x overlayer on the surface of Au NPs. Quasi in situ XPS, EPR, in situ EXAFS, and in situ DRIFTS demonstrate the formation of interface dual-active-site (Auδ−–Ov–Ti3+; Ov: oxygen vacancy) based on electron transfer from the TiO2–x overlayer to Au atoms, in which the electron-enriched Auδ− species enhance CO chemisorption while Ov–Ti3+ accelerates the dissociation of the H2O molecule, accounting for the largely enhanced catalytic activity and stability of Au@TiO2–x /ZnO­(H300) compared with the traditional Au/TiO2 system. In situ/operando EXAFS further confirms that Auδ−–Ov–Ti3+ interfacial site serves as the optimal active site toward WGSR: both Auδ− species and Ov directly participate in the rate-determining step of LT-WGSR (water dissociation). The discovery and identification of the interfacial active site in this system can be extended to other metal catalysts with largely promoted performance in heterogeneous catalysis.

, 1a, 2a, 2b, 3a, 4a, 5b, X, and Y, found that all belong to a new sequence type (ST), ST91. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis revealed 154 pulse types with 655 S. flexneri isolates analyzed and identified 57 serotype switching events. The data suggest that S. flexneri epidemics in China have been caused by a single epidemic clone, ST91, with frequent serotype switching to evade infection-induced immunity to serotypes to which the population was exposed previously. The clone has also acquired resistance to multiple antibiotics. These findings underscore the challenges to the current vaccine development and control strategies for shigellosis.

Objective Action potentials and local field potentials (LFPs) recorded in primary motor cortex contain information about the direction of movement. LFPs are assumed to be more robust to signal instabilities than action potentials, which makes LFPs along with action potentials a promising signal source for brain-computer interface applications. Still, relatively little research has directly compared the utility of LFPs to action potentials in decoding movement direction in human motor cortex. Approach We conducted intracortical multielectrode recordings in motor cortex of two persons (T2 and [S3]) as they performed a motor imagery task. We then compared the offline decoding performance of LFPs and spiking extracted from the same data recorded across a one-year period in each participant. Main results We obtained offline prediction accuracy of movement direction and endpoint velocity in multiple LFP bands, with the best performance in the highest (200–400Hz) LFP frequency band, presumably also containing low-pass filtered action potentials. Cross-frequency correlations of preferred directions and directional modulation index showed high similarity of directional information between action potential firing rates (spiking) and high frequency LFPs (70–400Hz), and increasing disparity with lower frequency bands (0–7, 10–40 and 50–65Hz). Spikes predicted the direction of intended movement more accurately than any individual LFP band, however combined decoding of all LFPs was statistically indistinguishable from spike based performance. As the quality of spiking signals (i.e. signal amplitude) and the number of significantly modulated spiking units decreased, the offline decoding performance decreased 3.6[5.65]%/month (for T2 and [S3] respectively). The decrease in the number of significantly modulated LFP signals and their decoding accuracy followed a similar trend (2.4[2.85]%/month, ANCOVA, p=0.27[0.03]). Significance Field potentials provided comparable offline decoding performance to unsorted spikes. Thus, LFPs may provide useful external device control using current human intracortical recording technology. (Clinical trial registration number: NCT00912041)

No abstract

Shigella flexneri is the major Shigella species that causes diarrheal disease in developing countries. It is further subdivided into 15 serotypes based on O-antigen structure. Serotyping of S. flexneri is important for epidemiological purposes. In this study, we developed a multiplex PCR assay targeting the O-antigen synthesis gene wzx and the O-antigen modification genes gtrI, gtrIC, gtrII, oac, gtrIV, gtrV, and gtrX for molecular serotyping of S. flexneri. The multiplex PCR assay contained eight sets of specific PCRs in a single tube and can identify 14 of the 15 serotypes (the exception being serotype Xv) of S. flexneri recognized thus far. A nearly perfect concordance (97.8%) between multiplex PCR assay and slide agglutination was observed when 358 S. flexneri strains of various serotypes were analyzed, except that 8 strains were carrying additional cryptic and/or defective serotype-specific genes. The multiplex PCR assay provides a rapid and specific method for the serotype identification of S. flexneri.

Transparent electrodes that form seamless contact and enable optical interrogation at the electrode–brain interface are potentially of high significance for neuroscience studies. Silk hydrogels can offer an ideal platform for transparent neural interfaces owing to their superior biocompatibility. However, conventional silk hydrogels are too weak and have difficulties integrating with highly conductive and stretchable electronics. Here, a transparent and stretchable hydrogel electrode based on poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) and PEGylated silk protein is reported. PEGylated silk protein with poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PEGDE) improves the Young's modulus to 1.51–10.73 MPa and the stretchability to ≈400% from conventional silk hydrogels (<10 kPa). The PEGylated silk also helps form a robust interface with PEDOT:PSS thin film, making the hydrogel electrode synergistically incorporate superior stretchability (≈260%), stable electrical performance (≈4 months), and a low sheet resistance (≈160 ± 56 Ω sq−1). Finally, the electrode facilitates efficient electrical recording, and stimulation with unobstructed optical interrogation and rat‐brain imaging are demonstrated. The highly transparent and stretchable hydrogel electrode offers a practical tool for neuroscience and paves the way for a harmonized tissue–electrode interface.