Wide Distribution Research Articles

ANÁLISE DE PERFIS EPIDEMIOLÓGICOS DA LEISHMANIOSE TEGUMENTAR AMERICANA: UMA REVISÃO INTEGRATIVA

American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL) is an infectious disease caused by protozoa of the genus Leishmania, transmitted by sandflies of the genus Lutzomyia. ATL has a wide geographical distribution and is endemic in several tropical and subtropical regions, including Latin America. This study is an integrative review aimed at gathering and synthesizing information about American tegumentary leishmaniasis in terms of its epidemiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, and treatment. Eleven articles published between 2019 and 2021 were selected from the SciELO, LILACS, Google Scholar, and BVS Saúde databases. The integration of public health actions with continuous monitoring, vector control strategies, and community awareness initiatives can contribute to reducing the incidence and impact of the disease in the region. An expanded understanding of the determinants of ATL supports the development of more effective public policies, capable of mitigating the impact of this neglected disease and promoting better health conditions for vulnerable populations.

The radiative torque spin-up efficiency of ballistic dust-grain aggregates

It is quintessential for the analysis of the observed dust polarization signal to understand the rotational dynamics of interstellar dust grains. Additionally, high rotation velocities may rotationally disrupt the grains, which impacts the grain-size distribution. We aim to constrain the set of parameters for an accurate description of the rotational spin-up process of ballistic dust grain aggregates driven by radiative torques (RATs). We modeled the dust grains as complex fractal aggregates grown by the ballistic aggregation of uniform spherical particles (monomers) of different sizes. A broad variation of dust materials, shapes, and sizes were studied in the presence of different radiation sources. We find that the canonical parameterization for the torque efficiency overestimates the maximum angular velocity $ RAT $ caused by RATs acting on ballistic grain aggregates. To resolve this problem, we propose a new parameterization that predicts $ RAT $ more accurately. We find that RATs are most efficient for larger grains with a lower monomer density. This manifests itself as a size- and monomer-density dependence in the constant part of the parameterization. Following the constant part, the parameterization has two power laws with different slopes that retain universality for all grain sizes. The maximum grain rotation does not scale linearly with radiation strength because different drag mechanisms dominate, depending on the grain material and environment. The angular velocity $ RAT $ of individual single dust grains has a wide distribution and may even differ from the mean by up to two orders of magnitude. Even though ballistic aggregates have a lower RAT efficiency, strong sources of radiation (stronger than $ 100$ times the typical interstellar radiation field) may still produce rotation velocities high enough to cause the rotational disruption of dust grains.

3 nm-sized porous graphene-based anion exchange membranes for efficient and stable water electrolysis

Alkaline water electrolysis is one of the primary drivers of hydrogen energy development, and anion exchange membranes (AEMs) play a dual role in ensuring both conductivity and safety. However, traditional polymer AEMs have a wide pore size distribution and poor chemical stability, making it difficult to achieve a long-term balance between conductivity and safety of the water electrolysis system. Here, we select inorganic two-dimensional multilayer graphene oxide (GO) membranes as AEMs, using carboxylated wrinkled graphene (WG) and ethylenediamine (EDA) to create a cation-modified porous EDA-WG/GO (E-W/G) composite membrane with a 3 nm pore size. The enlarged channel size and enhanced hydrophilicity improve OH− permeability compared to the pristine GO membrane, while the strengthened hydration layer acts as a barrier to hydrophobic gases for O2/H2 separation. The results show that the prepared E-W/G membrane exhibits superior current density (600 mA cm−2) and gas impermeability (gas purity 99.99%) compared to the commercial Fumasep FAA-3-50 membrane (590 mA cm−2 and 99.81%, respectively). Furthermore, after continuous testing for 168 h in high-temperature and alkaline environments, the E-W/G membrane maintained conductivity comparable to its initial state and showed enhanced gas impermeability. Our strategy provides new insights into the design of high-performance AEMs and is expected to contribute to the advancement of the hydrogen energy industry.

Transcriptome and metabolome reveal the primary and secondary metabolism changes in Larix gmelinii seedlings under abiotic stress.

Larix gmelinii is an excellent stress resistant coniferous tree species with a wide distribution and important economic and ecological value. However, at seedling stage, L. gmelinii is extremely susceptible to abiotic stresses, and systematic research on the adaptation mechanisms of L. gmelinii seedlings to abiotic stress is still lacking. Phenotypic observation and physiological index detection showed that L. gmelinii seedlings wilted with needles withered and yellowish at later stages of drought and salt stress; Under low temperature, the seedlings grew slowly and turned red at later stage. Under all 3 abiotic stresses, the chlorophyll content in seedlings significantly decreased, while the MDA content significantly increased; The activity of SOD and CAT showed a trend of increasing first and then decreasing. Transcriptome analysis revealed that DEGs were mainly involved in carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and flavonoid synthesis metabolism. Metabolomic analysis found unique DAMs under 3 stress treatments. The combined analysis of transcriptome and metabolome showed that the changing patterns of DEGs and DAMs in primary and secondary metabolism were consistent: carbohydrate were significantly accumulated under low temperature stress; amino acids showed the most significant changes under salt stress. The variation pattern of secondary metabolism was similar under both drought and salt stress, while anthocyanin accumulation was the most obvious only under low temperature stress. Our study provides insightful information about the different mechanisms that L. gmelinii seedlings employ in response to drought, low temperature or salt stress.

Habitat Type-Based Assemblage and Distribution Prediction of Small Mammals and Chigger Mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) in Chuncheon City, Republic of Korea.

While urbanization leads to habitat loss for medium and large mammals, small mammals can survive in fragmented habitats. As they are known to be the primary hosts of chigger mites (Acari: Trombiculidae) that transmit scrub typhus, their habitat can be considered the primary distribution area for chigger mites. This study aims to examine the distribution of small mammals and chigger mites in four habitat types and analyzed species richness, mean intensity (MI), dominance, and infestation rate (IR). A total of six small mammal species were captured, 76.8% of which were identified as Apodemus agrarius. Species richness of small mammals was highest in forests, followed by ecotones, grasslands, and agricultural lands. Apodemus agrarius accounted for 61% of the captures in forests, 80% in ecotones, 84% in grasslands, and 50% in agricultural lands, highlighting its varying dominance across habitat types. The MI of chigger mites was higher in grasslands (215.41 ± 20.70) and ecotones (171.67 ± 30.33) and lower in forests (76.67 ± 32.11). The MI of chigger mites was higher in the fall than that in the spring, and according to the MaxEnt model, they had a narrow, dense distribution in the fall and a wide distribution in the spring. These results suggest that inducing increased species richness of small mammalian hosts by habitat management and vegetation diversification may contribute to a reduction in the MI of chigger mites.

Floristic Diversity and Distribution Pattern along an Altitudinal Gradient in the Central Andes: A Case Study of Cajatambo, Peru.

This study focuses on the central mountain region of the Peruvian Andes, particularly its western slopes, high-altitude areas, and inter-Andean valleys situated above 3000 m.a.s.l. Despite its ecological importance, the region remains understudied, resulting in significant information gaps. To identify flora species along an altitudinal gradient in the Cajatambo district. Sampling was carried out at five distinct altitudinal levels using a combination of sampling techniques. Taxonomic identification was performed, and statistical analyses including ANOVA, the Mantel test, and NMDS were applied. 424 plant species were identified, revealing the dominance of Asteraceae. The approach used allowed for the identification of floristic and structural patterns in various habitats, ranging from arid montane scrub to puna grassland. Surprisingly, Asteraceae richness had a significant impact on species diversity, while altitude did not. Additionally, floristic similarity between nearby altitudinal levels was not related to geographical distance. The analysis of ecosystems has shown that certain families are adaptable. Additionally, floristic diversity has been affected by human activity near the district capital. The distribution of medicinal species has been limited due to selective extraction. The shrubland and thorny scrub was the most diverse ecosystem and had the widest distribution across the altitudinal gradient.

Moisture Content Vegetation Seasonal Variability Based on a Multiscale Remote Sensing Approach

Water content is one of the most critical characteristics in plant physiological development. Therefore, this information is a crucial factor in determining the water stress conditions of vegetation, which is essential for assessing the wildfire risk and land management decision-making. Remote sensing can be vital for obtaining information over large, limited access areas with global coverage. This is important since conventional techniques for collecting vegetation water content are expensive, time-consuming, and spatially limited. This work aims to evaluate the vegetation live fuel moisture content (LFMC) seasonal variability using a multiscale remote sensing approach, particularly on rockroses, the Cistus ladanifer species, a Western Mediterranean basin native species with wide spatial distribution, over the Herdade da Mitra at the University of Évora, Portugal. This work used four dataset sources, collected monthly between June 2022 and July 2023: (i) Vegetation samples used to calculate the LFMC; (ii) Vegetation reflectance spectral signature using the portable spectroradiometer FieldSpec HandHeld-2 (HH2); (iii) Multispectral optical imagery obtained from the Multispectral Instrument (MSI) sensor onboard the Sentinel-2 satellite; and (iv) Multispectral optical imagery derived from a camera onboard an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Phantom 4 Multispectral (P4M). Several temporal analyses were performed based on datasets from different sensors and on their intercomparison. Furthermore, the Random Forest (RF) classifier, a machine learning model, was used to estimate the LFMC considering each sensor approach. MSI sensor presented the best results (R2 = 0.94) due to the presence of bands on the Short-Wave Infrared Imagery region. However, despite having information only in the Visible and Near Infrared spectral regions, the HH2 presents promising results (R2 = 0.86). This suggests that by combining these spectral regions with a RF classifier, it is possible to effectively estimate the LFMC. This work shows how different spatial scales, from remote sensing observations, affect the LFMC estimation through machine learning techniques.

A review of the genus Kalanchoe (Crassulaceae subfam. Cotyledonoideae) in the Euro-Mediterranean area, with an annotated catalogue and identification key

The genus Kalanchoe (with Bryophyllum included in its synonymy) (Crassulaceae subfam. Cotyledonoideae) has a wide natural geographical distribution range that stretches from Madagascar to some islands in the Indian Ocean off the east coast of Africa, to most of sub-Saharan and northern North Africa, and to the Near, Middle, and Far East. However, several representatives of the genus have been spread across mild-climate and even temperate parts of the world well beyond their natural distribution ranges because of their medicinal uses and because they are cultivated for ornamental (both indoor and outdoor) horticultural purposes. In addition, a number of taxa have become notorious in invasions biology as a result of casual introductions that probably resulted from surplus horticultural material being irresponsibly discarded. In the Euro-Mediterranean region 13 Kalanchoe taxa have spread widely into the natural and built environment. In the present paper the nomenclature of the 13 variously naturalised taxa is updated and corrected, and their country-level presence and spread in the Euro-Mediterranean are recorded. An analytical key is provided to facilitate the identification of the taxa that have escaped from cultivation in the Euro-Mediterranean region. A list of taxa that are cultivated but that have not become weedy, nor naturalised or invasive in the study area is provided. Most of the kalanchoes recorded here is illustrated.

Fabrication of PBAT Membranes with High Separation Accuracy Based on Inverse-Opal-Structural Photonic Crystals.

Membrane technology is one of the most effective ways to cope with the filtration and separation. However, most polymer membranes are not uniform in pore size and have wide pore size distributions and low porosities, which restrict their application. A high-porosity homogeneous membrane with high filtration accuracy is an effective solution. Photonic crystals (PCs) with an inverse-opal (IO) structure provide a new way for preparing high-porosity homogeneous porous membranes. In this study, a rapid shear-induced assembly method for preparing biodegradable poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) membranes based on PCs with an IO structure was proposed, and the design principles of the IO-structured PBAT membrane were investigated. Moreover, the effects of polymer solution concentrations, solvent evaporation temperature, and SiO2/PBAT mass ratio on the SiO2/PBAT PC structure, formation mechanism of shear-induced assembly, and the filtering efficiency of resultant PBAT membranes for solid-liquid separation were investigated. The study underscored the point that when the polymer concentration is in the range of 15-20 wt % and the drying temperature is at 80 °C, as the SiO2-to-PBAT mass ratio increases, the pore of the membrane increases, the porosity is as high as to 84.11%, and pure water flux is up to 756.19 L m-2 h-1. After five cycles, the rejection rate of PBAT membranes for the contaminant still reached more than 99%. This study proposes a simple and rapid method for constructing an IO-structured membrane that is expected to address challenges encountered in achieving efficient and high-precision separation.

Solitary fibrous tumors of the oral and maxillofacial region: a case series from a single-center

BackgroundSolitary fibrous tumor (SFT) is a rare mesenchymal lesion that has a wide anatomic distribution. However, this lesion rarely occurs in the oral or maxillofacial region.MethodsA retrospective review was performed to evaluate the clinical symptoms, radiological images, pathology and immunohistochemistry results of 9 patients with SFTs treated between January 2015 to April 2024 in our institute. Surgical tumor resection was administered to all patients. Follow-up for these patients spanned until the conclusion of April 2024.ResultsThe series contained 3 males and 6 females, with the mean age 50.6 years (range: 25 to 73 years). The tumors were distributed at six different sites, including the tongue, submandibular region, cheek, sublingual gland, mandible, and hard palate. Clinically, the mass grew gradually and usually without obvious clinical symptoms. On imaging examination, the boundaries of all the tumors were clear, except for one patient with a mandibular tumor. Surgical excision was performed in all patients. Histological characteristics and positive immunostaining for STAT6, CD99, CD34 and Bcl-2 were the most important criteria for a final diagnosis. All tumors were positive for CD34 and Bcl-2. Only one tumor was negative for STAT6. While CD99 was negative in one case and weakly positive in two cases. All patients had no local recurrence during the follow-up period ranging from 1 to 100 months (mean 41.4 months).ConclusionsBenign SFTs occurring in the oral and maxillofacial region are rare, and surgery is the primary treatment for this tumor. It usually presents as a distinctly bordered heterogeneous mass on imaging. The tumors can compress surrounding bone tissue leading to bone resorption, and in rare cases, it may exhibit invasive resorption. SFTs should be included in the differential diagnosis of lesions in the oral and maxillofacial region.

Frequencies of an IFNL4 Variant in an Admixed Population from Amazonia and Its Influence on Hepatitis C Infection.

The rs12979860 polymorphism, related to the IFNL4 gene, is suggested as a factor that impacts fibrosis progression in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and exhibits a wide distribution pattern across global populations. In this retrospective cross-sectional study, we aimed to investigate the frequency of this variant in an Amazonian population from Brazil, as well as its association with liver fibrosis development and its staging in HCV carriers. Our results show a significant association of the TT genotype in the sample of patients with HCV (OR = 2.291; 95% CI = 1.088-4.826; p = 0.033) and the greater frequency of the T allele (62.1%), which is similar to the those of African populational groups. Populational genetics analysis showed significant differences in allele frequencies on global levels. The frequency of the C allele in the study population (37.8%) was like that of the African population (39.7%), and differed from all other populations, which ranged from 62.5% to 92.9%. These findings suggest that rs12979860 plays a role in susceptibility to hepatitis C. Additionally, they allow us to propose that the response to hepatitis C infection in this group may resemble that of the African population.

Characteristics of Mudflow Distribution and Evolution of Mudflow Fan in Erlian Village

Debris flow in the upper Yellow River is very developed and is generally characterized by wide distribution with large numbers and a high frequency of occurrence. This paper analyses the distribution characteristics, material composition, and formation causes of the Erlian debris flow fan in the eastern part of the Guide Basin and discusses the relationship between debris flow fan and river evolution. Results show that: (1) At least 66 debris flow gullies and 20 large debris flow accumulation fans have been developed on both sides of the Yellow River in the eastern Guide Basin. (2) In the Erlian Village area, the Yellow River channel has experienced the accumulation, erosion, destruction, and accumulation process of debris flow fans in 16 kaB.P., 16 ka B.P.–8 ka B.P., and 8 kaB.P., respectively, the late-accumulation fan has been continuously extruding the Yellow River channel since 8 kaB.P., and the Yellow River channel has been shifted to the south by at least 1.25 km during the period of 8 ka. (3) Five accumulation periods for the Late Mudslide Fan were identified by classifying the 16 kaB.P. and 8 kaB.P. early and late mudslide fans. This study can provide theoretical and technical support for preventing debris flow disasters in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and has certain reference and reference values.

Birds as Cultural Ambassadors: Bridging Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity Conservation in Wetland Planning

Coastal wetlands deliver essential ecosystem services, including cultural services, which provide non-material benefits such as recreation, education, and spiritual enrichment that are crucial for human well-being. This study investigates the cultural ecosystem services provided by a 40 ha coastal wetland in the Gulf of Manfredonia, southern Italy, within the Gargano National Park. By integrating an ecological survey of the bird community with a social survey of visitors to the King’s Lagoon Nature Reserve, the content of tailored planning strategies and management tools for the conservation of wetland biodiversity was developed. An ecological analysis of the bird community was carried out on the assumption that it could be representative of the total biodiversity observed in the wetland. On the other hand, a questionnaire was used to collect information from visitors to the reserve, highlighting the aspects of the wetland that they found most interesting and attractive according to their judgement and beliefs, and thus targeting a specific set of cultural ecological services. The two approaches were then combined to develop a comprehensive strategy. The bird community analysis led to the identification of the mixed biotope category (a combination of wetlands, aquatic/riparian ecosystems, semi-natural vegetated areas, and meadows together with agricultural areas) as the reference biotope for prioritizing wetland management. The Ardeidae family was chosen as a bird flagship group because of its high visibility, ease of identification, attractiveness to visitors, wide local distribution, and fairly constant presence in the study area throughout the year. Flagship species have a dual function: to guide conservation measures and actions by wetland managers, and to attract the interest, curiosity and active participation of potential visitors to the wetland. Based on the results, a list of guidelines for improving the birds’ habitats and providing them with resources (feeding, breeding, shelter, roosting, etc.) has been proposed. The aim of these measures is to optimize the presence and abundance of Ardeidae as flagship species, thereby preserving the biodiversity heritage in general and increasing the provision of cultural ecosystem services in the wetland. The resulting dynamic interplay ensures that both natural and cultural resources are fully and appropriately valued, protected, and maintained for the benefit of present and future generations.

Photoregulatory functions drive variation in eye coloration across macaque species

Primates, the most colorful mammalian radiation, have previously served as an interesting model to test the functions and evolutionary drivers of variation in eye color. We assess the contribution of photo-regulatory and communicative functions to the external eye appearance of nine macaque species representing all the branches of their radiation. Macaques’ well described social structure and wide geographical distribution make them interesting to explore. We find that (1) the posterior option of the anterior eyeball is more pigmented closer to the equator, suggesting photoprotective functions. We also find that (2) the temporal side of the eyeball is more heavily pigmented than the nasal side. This suggests that eyeball pigmentation in macaques is distributed to reduce damage to the corneal limbus. The inclusion of a translocated population of M. fuscata in our analyses also suggests that external eye appearance may change quickly, perhaps owing to phenotypic plasticity. We find no evidence that communicative functions drive variation in external eye appearance in macaques. These results suggest that the amount of light in a species’ environment drives variation in eye coloration across macaque species. Furthermore, the geographical distribution of macaques hints at important factors that have yet to be accounted for, such as the reflectivity of the terrain a given species inhabits.

Zigbee Based Monitoring System for Shiitake Mushroom Growing Environment

In response to the complex terrain and climate, the wide distribution of shiitake mushroom greenhouses, and the difficulty in collecting data in Qingyuan, China Mushroom City, and considering the difficulty of wiring in cultivation bases, a zigbee based monitoring system for shiitake mushroom growing environment was designed. Combined with the advantages of Internet of Things technology, multi-sensor technology, computer processing technology, it can precisely measure and record environmental factors data in mushroom growing greenhouses, providing monitoring conditions for precise cultivation strategies of shiitake mushroom and effectively improving the intelligent and precise production process of edible mushroom factories.

C/Ni/N Nanocomposites Based on Hydrolysis Lignin: Synthesis, Study of Structural and Magnetic Properties.

A two-step method for the synthesis of C/Ni/N nanocomposites based on hydrolysis lignin from wood chemical processing waste is proposed. These nanocomposites were found to have a well-developed porous structure with a wide pore size distribution. It was shown that doping hydrolysis lignin with urea-derived nitrogen leads to the appearance of ferromagnetic behavior in the carbon material. When nickel chloride was added during pyrolysis, the magnetic behavior of the C/Ni/N composite was provided by superparamagnetic Ni particles less than 30 nm in size and the magnetism of the carbon matrix. The addition of urea during the synthesis of the nanocomposite further promotes better integration of nickel into the carbon structure. According to the results of magnetic studies, the nickel content in the C/Ni/N nanocomposite was 19 wt.% compared to 15 wt.% in the C/Ni nanocomposite. The synthesized nanocomposite was demonstrated to have no residual magnetization, so its particles do not agglomerate after the external magnetic field is removed. Due to this property and the well-developed porous structure, C/Ni/N composites have the potential to be used as catalysts, active electrode materials for autonomous energy sources, and in environmental technologies as magnetically sensitive adsorbents.

Exploring the extensive movements and home range of one of North America’s most mobile fish: the freshwater drum (Aplodinotus grunniens)

Freshwater drum Aplodinotus grunniens are a unique and ubiquitous freshwater species of the family Sciaenidae. Despite the species’ wide distribution and unique biogeography, life history, and behavior, surprisingly little is known about freshwater drum movement ecology. In this study, we use passive acoustic telemetry tags and a broad-scale gridded receiver array to track the interannual and seasonal movement of freshwater drum tagged in tributaries of the North and South Basins of Lake Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada). First, tagged freshwater drum had lower survival in the south basin where higher fishing pressure is thought to be a cause of mortality. We found that freshwater drum in Lake Winnipeg are remarkably mobile, with mean monthly movement rates among the highest on record for any freshwater fish. In the spring, fish entered rivers prior to spawning. A few weeks later, most individuals moved into lake habitat where they made extensive lateral movements. Home range and hotspot analysis revealed seasonal and population-specific patterns of occupancy, with elevated densities in lake habitat during the ice-on period and dispersed distributions during open water. Both populations remained almost exclusively in their respective rivers and basins. Homing and site fidelity were apparent, with nearly all fish returning to their original tagging river during each successive spawning season. The results bolster the existing information on freshwater drum movement ecology and may help enhance conservation and management strategies, particularly toward addressing commercial bycatch.

From Useless to Useful - Particle Engineered Li6PS5Cl for Solid-State Pouch Cells

Solid-state batteries have been pointed out as a promising battery technology for the future, as it offers solutions to common issues with Li-ion batteries, especially regarding safety concerns due to the flammable nature of the liquid electrolyte. Additionally, the potential volumetric and gravimetric energy densities of solid-state batteries are expected to surpass the ones of Li-ion batteries.1 Despite significant progress in developing solid-state batteries, the pathway from successful lab-scale cells to more commercially viable pouch cells remains a major bottleneck towards their commercialisation. This is especially true with the use of inorganic solid electrolytes.2,3 Recent studies have shown that the particle size ratio between the cathode material and the solid electrolyte plays a key role to achieve low tortuosity, hence, increasing power density. However, commercially available products suffer from wide particle size distributions with chunks of particles even larger than the composite cathode thickness, which introduces challenges in respect of the densification, leading to poor kinetics.This study focuses on the optimisation of LPSCl particles and the subsequent densification of slurry-based casted LPSCl tapes and monolayer pouch cells (composed by Si anodes and NMC811 cathodes) as a function of the LPSCl particle size distribution and the pre-pressing conditions. A wide variety of characterization tools are applied, such as FIB-SEM, X-ray computed tomography, and temperature and pressure dependent impedance spectroscopy to correlate microstructure with Li-ion transport, as well as galvanostatic cycling to link them to cell performance. References Janek, J. & Zeier, W. G. A solid future for battery development. Nat Energy 1, (2016).Wang, C., Kim, J. T., Wang, C. & Sun, X. Progress and Prospects of Inorganic Solid‐State Electrolyte‐Based All‐Solid‐State Pouch Cells. Advanced Materials 35, (2023).Wang, C. et al. All-solid-state lithium batteries enabled by sulfide electrolytes: From fundamental research to practical engineering design. Energy and Environmental Science 14, (2021).

Pore Designing for the Anode Porous Electrode of the Direct Formic Acid Fuel Cell

Direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFCs) have received much attention since the formic acid used as their fuel is considered to be one of the promising energy carrier. Although it can generate higher power density comparing to the direct methanol fuel cell, direct ethanol fuel cell and the other direct liquid fuel cell., not only the activation overpotential but also the mass transport overpotential in anode should be reduced to achieve the higher power density [1]. Comparing to the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) using gas hydrogen as a fuel, the mass transport of the formic acid is much slower since it is a liquid which shows high viscosity and low diffusion coefficient. Moreover, CO2 is generated by the electrode reaction, and the generated CO2 inhibits a formic acid supplying to the catalyst layer since it should be excess to the channel thorough the catalyst layer and gas diffusion layer. Therefore, in order to improve the mass transport rate in anode porous layer, pore properties, such as pore diameter, porosity, shape, and amount of pore etc., should be appropriately designed to enhance the formic acid supplying and exhausting the CO2. In this context, the pore controlling the size and amount was designed and added to the conventional diffusion layer and catalyst layer of DFAFC in order to clarify the appropriate pore properties for the DFAFC anode porous layer in this study. As shown in Figure, the 80-200 μm pore was generated to the carbon paper (CP) by the needle punching machine. For the catalyst layer, the polystyrene fiber (PSF) having 1-5 μm in diameter and 10-40 μm in length, and polystyrene beads (PB) having 1-10μm of diameter were used as a pore former. Catalyst coated membrane (CCM) was prepared by direct painting of Pd/C for anode and Pt/C for the cathode using ultrasonic spraying system [2]. Using CP with adding pore as a diffusion layers for anode, DFAFC was fabricated and tested under 5 M formic acid and 60 oC. For the pore added CL, the CCM containing PSF and PB were prepared by similar procedure to the CCM without pore former. After fabricating the CCM, MEA was dipped in to the ethyl acetate to remove the pore former and make the pore. It was found that power density increased by adding the pore with enhancing the mass transport rate. In the case of the pore added to the diffusion layer, improvement of the power density by adding the pore was significant in the case using hydrophobic CP. Based on the result from the pore added to the CL, it was found that there were appropriate amount and pore size. From these results, it was found that the adding the pore to the porous electrode could contribute to improve the mass transport in the anode porous layer. Moreover, it was suggested that the improvement in the mass transport was given by two size and/or wide pore size distribution since the gas and liquid was transported separately through the different size of pore, i.e., the gas was easy to excess through a large pore due to a lower capillary force and liquid was easy to supply through a small pore due to a higher capillary force.AcknowledgementThis study was supported by Kakenhi 22H01858, 24H00478, and NEDO JPNP2004.Reference[1] Tsujiguchi et al., Electrochimica Acta, 197, 32–38 (2016)[2] Zainoodin, A. M.et al., Int. J. Hydrogen. Energy., 43(12), 6413–6420 (2018). Figure 1

Research note: Genetically diverse avian hepatitis E virus identified in chickens with hepatitis-splenomegaly syndrome in Guangdong Province, China

Avian hepatitis E virus (HEV) is recognized as the primary causative agent of big liver and spleen disease, hepatitis-splenomegaly syndrome, and hepatic rupture hemorrhage syndrome, resulting in substantial economic losses within the global poultry industry. Since its discovery in 1991, diverse strains of avian HEV have been extensively identified worldwide. Epidemiological investigations have demonstrated the wide distribution and genetic diversity of avian HEV strains in China. In this study, avian HEV strains were identified in chickens exhibiting hepatitis-splenomegaly syndrome in Guangdong province, China. Sequence analysis indicated that these strains shared the highest nucleotide sequence identities with genotype 3 strains, and phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that they clustered with strains belonging to avian HEV genotype 3. Moreover, a statistically supported recombination event was detected within one of the avian HEV strain identified in this study. These findings significantly enhance our understanding of the genetic diversity and evolution of avian HEV in chickens, providing new insights for disease prevention and control strategies.