BackgroundIn 2017, an outbreak of onychomadesis occurred in kindergarten H, Hubei province, China. We investigated the field to learn about the magnitude and reason of the outbreak.MethodsThe case definition was that a child with onychomadesis or transverse ridging (Beau’s line) in fingernails and toenails without previous traumatic or systemic disease in kindergarten H from Sep. 1st to Nov. 30th, 2017. A retrospective cohort study was carried out to analyze the epidemiological relationship between onychomadesis and the hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) in Primary Class #2, kindergarten H. We also performed a serological survey for neutralizing antibodies against coxsackie virus A6 (CVA6), coxsackie virus A10 (CVA10) among 15 cases and six healthy children in the kindergarten. Meanwhile, some children were carried out with routine blood, fungal microscopic and microelement tests. Indoor environment examinations had been done for all classes.ResultsA total of 20 cases were identified in Kindergarten H. Seventy-five percent (15/20) cases occurred in Primary Class #2. Fifty-five percent of the cases (11/20) had suffered from HFMD within two months. The median time between onychomadesis and HFMD was 45 days (ranging from 31 to 58 days). A retrospective cohort study in Primary Class #2 showed the attack rate was 90.0% among 10 children who suffered from HFMD in the past two months compared to 30.0% among 20 children who didn’t (Rate Ratio [RR] =3.0, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] =1.5–6.0). The positive rates of neutralizing antibodies were 66.7% for CVA6 and 26.7% for CVA10 in tested cases. The result of routine blood, fungal microscopic, microelements tests were normal in cases. The indicators of environment were within the normal range.ConclusionThe results of this study suggested that the outbreak of onychomadesis in Hubei province was probably associated with HFMD epidemic within two months.

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Background: Brahmophthalma hearseyi (Lepidoptera: Brahmaeidae) is widely distributed across China. Its larvae damage the leaves of many plants such as those belonging to the Oleaceae family, causing significant economic losses and seriously affecting the survival and reproduction of Cervus nippon; however, genetic data for this species are scarce. Methods: The complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of B. hearseyi was sequenced using long-PCR and primer-walking methods. Phylogenetic analysis that was based on 13 PCGs and two rRNAs was carried out using the neighbor-joining and Bayesian interference methods. Results: The mitogenome is a typical circular molecule that is made up of 15,442 bp, which includes 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 2 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, 22 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, and an A + T-rich region (456 bp). All of the PCGs, except for COX1 and COX2, start with ATN codons. COX2 and ND5 use the incomplete termination codon T, and 11 other PCGs use the typical stop codon TAA. All tRNA genes, except for trnS1 and trnS2, display a typical cloverleaf structure; trnS1 lacks the “DHU” arm, whereas trnS2 exhibits two mismatched base pairs in the anticodon stem. Phylogenetic analysis showed that B. hearseyi is clustered into Brahmaeidae, and the phylogenetic relationships are (Brahmaeidae + Lasiocampidae) + (Bombycidae + (Sphingidae + Saturniidae)). Conclusions: This study provides the first mitogenomic resources for the Brahmaeidae.

Vitellogenin (Vg) and Vitellogenin receptor (VgR) play key roles in the reproductive process and development of many arthropod species, including Amblyseius eharai, a dominant natural enemy of spider mites and other small pests. In this study, impacts of different food on A. eharai fecundity were investigated. Two Vg genes (AeVg1 and AeVg2) and AeVgR genes were cloned, with their expression pattern analyzed. When fed with different foods including Tetranychus cinnabarinus, Aleuroglyphus ovatus and Camellia oleifera pollen, the number of eggs for each female of A. eharai was influenced significantly (P<0.05), while the hatching rate of eggs not significantly (P>0.05). The open reading frames of AeVg1, AeVg2 and AeVgR were 5673, 5634 and 5597 bp, encoding 1857, 1851 and 1830 amino acids, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis of the amino acid sequences between the AeVgs and AeVgR and 35 other Vg and VgRs from other arthropod species showed that A. eharai AeVg1 was related most closely to Neoseiulus barkeri Vg1, AeVg2 was related most closely to Neoseiulus cucumeris Vg2, AeVgR was most similar to Varroa jacobsori VgR. AeVgs and AeVgR had similar expression patterns: the highest expression was observed in the oviposition female stage, and the highest expression was observed in A. eharai fed with C. oleifera pollen. Positive correlations between expression of AeVgs and AeVgR and fecundity were observed. These results will help us understand the molecular mechanism of the reproductive capacity in A. eharai.