Animals ; Ctenophora ; Nervous System ; Neurons

Pathogens like bacteria and protozoa, which affect human and animal health worldwide, can be transmitted by vectors like ticks. To investigate the epidemiology and genetic diversity of bacteria and protozoans carried by ticks in Chengmai county of Hainan province, China, 285 adult hard ticks belonging to two species [
Anaplasmataceae/isolation & purification* ; Animals ; Chaperonin 60/genetics* ; China ; Citrate (si)-Synthase/genetics* ; Coccidia/isolation & purification* ; Coxiellaceae/isolation & purification* ; Insect Vectors/microbiology* ; Islands ; Ixodidae/microbiology* ; Phylogeny ; Piroplasmia/isolation & purification* ; RNA, Ribosomal, 16S/genetics* ; RNA, Ribosomal, 18S/genetics*

Bluetongue virus (BTV) causes Bluetongue (BT) of ruminants vectored by culicoides midges. It is also a classic model for studying the release mechanism of non-enveloped virus. This review begins with the infection and assembly of BTV, then summarizes the advances of different ways of releasing BTV. This includes BTV-induced autophagy and the release as extracellular vesicles via multivesicular bodies, BTV-induced apoptosis and the lytic release, as well as different pathways of release through budding via plasma membrane. The regulatory mechanisms of NS3 which is a key non-structural protein during the release of BTV are also discussed, providing a basis for further understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning the infection, proliferation and release of BTV.
Animals ; Bluetongue ; Bluetongue virus ; Ceratopogonidae ; Sheep ; Viral Nonstructural Proteins

The Aspongopus chinensis is an insect of the genus Hemiptera, which can be used both as a medicinal and as a gourmet in the folk. It has a long history as a drug, which has the effect of regulating Qi and relieving pain, and warming the Yang. It is mainly used to treat stomach cold and pain, liver and stomach pain, kidney deficiency and impotence, and waist and knee pain. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that A. chinensis has a variety of pharmacological activities. For example, it can be used to fight tumors, improve reproductive damage, and antibacterial, anti-oxidation, anti-coagulation, anti-ulcer, anti-fatigue and so on. The chemical constituents of A. chinensis currently reported mainly include odorous components, vitamins, fatty acids and proteins, amino acids, and other nutrients, as well as nucleosides and dopamines. This study summarizes and analyzes the related research literatures of A. chinensis in China and abroad, and provides a reference for its further development and research from the aspects of chemical composition, pharmacological action and clinical application.
Animals ; Biological Products/chemistry* ; China ; Heteroptera/chemistry* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

The seasonal abundance of hard ticks that transmit severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus was monitored with a collection trap method every April to November during 2015–2018 and with a flagging method every July and August during 2015–2018 in Ganghwa-do (island) of Incheon Metropolitan City, Republic of Korea. This monitoring was performed in a copse, a short grass field, coniferous forest and broad-leaved forest. A total of 17,457 ticks (8,277 larvae, 4,137 nymphs, 3,389 females, and 1,654 males) of the ixodid ticks comprising 3 species (Haemaphysalis longicornis, H. flava, and Ixodes nipponensis) were collected with collection traps. Of the identified ticks, H. longicornis was the most frequently collected ticks (except larval ticks) (94.26%, 8,653/9,180 ticks (nymphs and adults)), followed by H. flava (5.71%, 524/9,180) and Ix. nipponensis (less than 0.04%, 3/9,180). The ticks collected with collecting traps were pooled and assayed for the presence of SFTS virus with negative results. In addition, for monitoring the prevalence of hard ticks, a total of 7,461 ticks (5,529 larvae, 1,272 nymphs, 469 females, and 191 males) of the ixodid ticks comprising 3 species (H. longicornis, H. flava, and Ix. nipponensis) were collected with flagging method. H. longicornis was the highest collected ticks (except larval ticks) (99.53%, 1,908/1,917 ticks (nymphs and adults)), followed by H. flava (1.15%, 22/1,917).
Climate Change ; Coniferophyta ; Female ; Fever ; Forests ; Humans ; Incheon ; Ixodes ; Ixodidae ; Larva ; Methods ; Nymph ; Poaceae ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Seasons ; Thrombocytopenia ; Ticks

The study of coprolites has been a theme of archaeology in the American Southwest. A feature of archaeoparasitology on the Colorado Plateau is the ubiquity of pinworm infection. As a crowd parasite, this ubiquity signals varying concentrations of populations. Our recent analysis of coprolite deposits from 2 sites revealed the highest prevalence of infection ever recorded for the region. For Salmon Ruins, the deposits date from AD 1140 to 1280. For Aztec Ruins, the samples can be dated by artifact association between AD 1182–1253. Both sites can be placed in the Ancestral Pueblo III occupation (AD 1100–1300), which included a period of cultural stress associated with warfare. Although neither of these sites show evidence of warfare, they are typical of large, defensible towns that survived this time of threat by virtue of large populations in stonewalled villages with easily accessible water. We hypothesize that the concentration of large numbers of people promoted pinworm infection and, therefore, explains the phenomenal levels of infection at these sites.
Archaeology ; Artifacts ; Colorado ; Enterobius ; Occupations ; Parasites ; Prevalence ; Salmon ; Violence ; Virtues ; Warfare ; Water

There is often the risk of confusing pollen grains with helminth eggs from archaeological sites. Thousands to millions of pollen grains can be recovered from archaeological burial sediments that represent past ritual, medication and environment. Some pollen grain types can be similar to parasite eggs. Such a confusion is represented by the diagnosis of enterobiasis in ancient Iran. The authors of this study confused a joint-pine (Ephedra spp.) pollen grain with a pinworm egg. This paper describes the specific Ephedra pollen morphology that can be confused with pinworm eggs.
Adolescent ; Archaeology ; Burial ; Diagnosis ; Eggs ; Enterobiasis ; Enterobius ; Ephedra ; Female ; Helminths ; Humans ; Iran ; Ovum ; Parasites ; Pollen

The aim of this parasitological study is examining contemporary (the late 20th century) specimens of the arctic or subarctic areas in Western Siberia and comparing them with the information acquired from archaeological samples from the same area. In the contemporary specimens, we observed the parasite eggs of 3 different species: Opisthochis felineus, Ascaris lumbricoides, and Enterobius vermicularis. Meanwhile, in archaeoparasitological results of Vesakoyakha, Kikki-Akki, and Nyamboyto I burial grounds, the eggs of Diphyllobothrium and Taenia spp. were found while no nematode (soil-transmitted) eggs were observed in the same samples. In this study, we concluded helminth infection pattern among the arctic and subarctic peoples of Western Siberia throughout history as follows: the raw fish-eating tradition did not undergo radical change in the area at least since the 18th century; and A. lumbricoides or E. vermicularis did not infect the inhabitants of this area before 20th century. With respect to the Western Siberia, we caught glimpse of the parasite infection pattern prevalent therein via investigations on contemporary and archaeoparasitological specimens.
Ascaris lumbricoides ; Burial ; Diphyllobothrium ; Eggs ; Enterobius ; Helminths ; Ovum ; Parasites ; Siberia ; Taenia

The nineteenth century neuroscience studied the instinct of animal to understand the human mind. In particular, it has been found that the inheritance of unconscious behavior like instinct is mediated through ganglion chains, such as the spinal cord or sympathetic nervous system, which control unconscious reflexes. At the same time, the theory of Inheritance of Acquired Characteristics (hereafter ‘IAC’) widely known as Lamarck's evolutionary theory provided the theoretical frame on the origin of instinct and the heredity of action that the parental generation's habits were converted into the nature of the offspring generation. Contrary to conventional knowledge, this theory was not originally invented by Lamarck, and Darwin also did not discard this theory even after discovering the theory of natural selection in 1838 and maintained it throughout his intellectual life. Above all, in the field of epigenetics, the theory of ‘IAC’ has gained attention as a reliable scientific theory today. Darwin discovered crucial errors in the late 1830s that the Lamarck version's theory of ‘IAC’ did not adequately account for the principle of the inheritance of unconscious behavior like instinct. Lamarck's theory regarded habits as conscious and willful acts and saw that those habits are transmitted through the brain to control conscious actions. Lamarck's theory could not account for the complex and elaborate instincts of invertebrate animals, such as brainless ants. Contrary to Lamarck's view, Darwin established the new theory of ‘IAC’ that could be combined with contemporary neurological theory, which explains the heredity of unconscious behavior. Based on the knowledge of neurology, Darwin was able to translate the ‘principle of habit’ into a neurological term called ‘principle of reflex’. This article focuses on how Darwin join the theory of ‘IAC’ with nineteenth century neuroscience and how the neurological knowledge from the nineteenth century contributed to Darwin's overcoming of Lamarck's ‘IAC’. The significance of this study is to elucidate Darwin's notion of ‘IAC’ theory rather than natural selection theory as a principle of heredity of behavior. The theory of ‘IAC’ was able to account for the rapid variation of instincts in a relatively short period of time, unlike natural selection, which operates slowly in geological time spans of tens of millions of years. The nineteenth century neurological theory also provided neurological principles for ‘plasticity of instinct,’ empirically supporting the fact that all nervous systems responsible for reflexes respond sensitively to very fine stimuli. However, researchers of neo-Darwinian tendencies, such as Richard Dawkins and evolutionary psychologists advocating the ‘selfish gene’ hypothesis, which today claim to be Darwin's descendants, are characterized by human nature embedded in biological information, such as the brain and genes, so that it cannot change at all. This study aims to contribute to reconstructing the evolutionary discourse by illuminating Darwin's insights into the “plasticity of nature” that instincts can change relatively easily even at the level of invertebrates such as earthworms.
Animals ; Ants ; Brain ; Epigenomics ; Ganglion Cysts ; Heredity ; Human Characteristics ; Humans ; Instinct ; Invertebrates ; Nervous System ; Neurology ; Neurosciences ; Oligochaeta ; Parents ; Psychology ; Reflex ; Selection, Genetic ; Spinal Cord ; Sympathetic Nervous System ; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation ; Wills

Five secondary metabolites, including a new isopimarane derivative xylaroisopimaranin A (1), were isolated from the endophytic fungus Xylaralyce sp. (HM-1), and their structures were elucidated by 1D, 2D NMR, MS and CD spectra. Their bioactivities were performed to antibacterial, Hep G2 cells cytotoxicity and brine shrimp inhibition. The biological evaluation results showed that the xylaroisopimaranin A (1), xylabisboein B (2), griseofulvin (3) , 5-methylmellein (4) and mellein-5-carboxlic acid (5) displayed no significant Hep G2 cells cytotoxicity and antibacterial acitivity, but they inhibited the brine shrimp with IC₅₀ from 0.5 to 25 µmol/mL.
Artemia ; Fungi ; Griseofulvin ; Hep G2 Cells