A SYBR-Green I quantitative Real-time Reverse Transcription-PCR assay for rabies viruses with different virulence

Dear Editor,To establish a more specific diagnostic assay than thecurrent methods for rabies virus(RABV)infection in ca-nines and wildlife species,we developed a SYBR-GreenI quantitative real-time reverse transcription-PCR(RT-PCR).Three primers were designed and synthesized:oneof which,located within the leader sequences and target-ed for the whole viral genome amplification to obtain

Fox- and raccoon-dog–associated rabies outbreaks in northern China

Dear Editor,Rabies is a generally fatal disease caused by the rabies virus(RABV),and is transmitted mainly by Carnivora and Chiroptera(Fooks A R,et al.,2014;Tao X,et al.,2013).In China,stray dogs and some wild animals(e.g.,Chinese ferret badgers,foxes,and raccoon dogs)are the principal reservoirs for RABV(Hu R L,et al.,2009).Historically,rabies in wild foxes and raccoon dogs(Nyctereutes procyonoides)was recorded in the

A Semi-quantitative Serological Method to Assess the Potency of Inactivated Rabies Vaccine for Veterinary Use

Potency is one of the most important indexes of inactivated vaccines.A number of methods have been established to assay the potency,of which the NIH test and single-dose mouse protection test are the "prescribed methods".Here,we report a method to semi-quantitatively assay the potency of an inactivated rabies vaccine,which uses fewer animals and takes less time to complete.Depending on the quality requirements of a vaccine(e.g.minimum potency),a rabies reference vaccine is,for example,diluted to the minimum potency,and 50 μL of the dilution is taken to inoculate 10 mice.The same amount of the test rabies vaccine is inoculated into another 10 mice.After two weeks,all mice are bled and serum samples are assayed for viral neutralizing antibody by the fluorescent antibody virus neutralization(FAVN) test.By comparing the median and interquartile range of antibody titers of the reference vaccine with those of the test vaccine,the test vaccine potency can be semi-quantitatively judged as to whether it is in accord with the required quality.The reliability of this method was also confirmed in dogs.The procedure can be recommended for batch potency testing during inactivated rabies vaccine production.

Two-Dimensional Metal-Halide Perovskite-based Optoelectronics: Synthesis, Structure, Properties and Applications

In the past decade, metal-halide perovskites have attracted increasing attention in optoelectronics, due to their superior optoelectronic properties.However, inherent instabilities of conventional three-dimensional(3D)perovskites over moisture, heat, and light remain a severe challenge before the realization of commercial application of metal-halide perovskites.Interestingly, when the dimensions of metal-halide perovskites are reduced to two dimensions(2D), many of the novel properties will arise, such as enlarged bandgap, high photoluminescence quantum yield, and large exciton binding energy. As a result, 2D metal-halide perovskite-based optoelectronic devices display excellent performance, particularly as ambient stable solar cells with excellent power conversion efficiency(PCE), high-performance light-emitting diodes(LEDs) with sharp emission peak, and high-sensitive photodetectors. In this review, we first introduce the synthesis, structure,and physical properties of 2D perovskites. Then, the 2D perovskite-based solar cells, LEDs, and photodetectors are discussed. Finally, a brief overview of the opportunities and challenges for 2D perovskite optoelectronics is presented.

Epidemic and Maintenance of Rabies in Chinese Ferret Badgers (Melogale moschata) indicated by Epidemiology and the Molecular Signatures of Rabies Viruses

An epidemic of Chinese ferret badger-associated human rabies was investigated in Wuyuan county, Jiangxi province and rabies viruses isolates from ferret badgers in different districts in Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces were sequenced with their nucleotides and amino acids and aligned for epidemiological analysis. The results showed that the human rabies in Wuyuan are only associated with ferret badger bites; the rabies virus can be isolated in a high percentage of ferret badgers in the epidemic areas in Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces; the isolates share the same molecular features in nucleotides and have characteristic amino acid signatures, i.e., 2 sites in the nucleoprotein and 3 sites in the glycoprotein, that are distinct from virus isolates from dogs in the same region. We conclude that rabies in Chinese ferret badgers has formed an independent transmission cycle and ferret badgers may serve as another important rabies reservoir independent of dog rabies in China.

Unraveling the decomposition mechanism of Li_(2)CO_(3)in the aprotic medium by isotope-labeled differential electrochemical mass spectrometry

Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)represent the highest energy density in the contemporary energy storage community,typically delivering a practical energy density of 150-350 Wh kg-1in the current technique,which can hardly satisfy the evergrowing demand for the portable electronic devices and power tools requiring long service time[1-3].