Domestic Pigs and Japanese Encephalitis Virus Infection, Australia

To determine whether relocating domestic pigs, the amplifying host of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), decreased the risk for JEV transmission to humans in northern Australia, we collected mosquitoes for virus detection. Detection of JEV in mosquitoes after pig relocation indicates that pig relocation did not eliminate JEV risk

Societal burden and quality of life in patients with Lisfranc Injuries

Background: The incidence of Lisfranc fractures is rising, along with the incidence of foot fractures in general. These injuries can lead to long-term healthcare use and societal costs. Current economic evaluation studies are scarce in Lisfranc fracture research, and only investigate the healthcare costs. The aim of the present study was to accurately measure the monetary societal burden of disease and quality of life in the first 6 months after the injury in patients with Lisfranc fractures in the Netherlands. Materials and methods: This study used a prevalence-based, bottom-up approach. Patients were included through thirteen medical centres in the Netherlands. Both stable and unstable injuries were included. The societal perspective was used. The costs were measured at baseline, 12 weeks and 6 months using the iMTA MCQ and PCQ questionnaires. Reference prices were used for valuation. Quality-of-life was measured using the EQ-5D-5 L and VAS scores. Results: 214 patients were included. The mean age was 45.9 years, and 24.3% of patients had comorbidities. The baseline questionnaires yielded approximately €2023 as the total societal costs in the 3 months prior to injury. The follow-up questionnaires and surgery costs assessment yielded approximately €17,083 as the total costs in the first 6 months after injury. Of these costs, approximately two thirds could be attributed to productivity losses. The EQ-5D-5 L found a mean index value of 0.449 at baseline and an index value of 0.737 at the 6-month follow-up. Conclusion: The total monetary societal costs in the first 6 months after injury are approximately €17,083. Approximately two thirds of these costs can be attributed to productivity losses. These costs appear to be somewhat higher than those found in other studies. However, these studies only included the healthcare costs. Furthermore, the baseline costs indicate relatively low healthcare usage before the injury compared to the average Dutch patient. The mean QoL index was 0.462 at baseline and 0.737 at 6 months, indicating a rise in QoL after treatment as well as a long-lasting impact on QoL. To our knowledge, this is only the first study investigating the societal costs of Lisfranc injuries, so more research is needed.</p

Does teachers' pedagogical content knowledge affect their fluency instruction?

The relation is studied between teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of reading and the quality of their subsequent classroom behaviour in teaching fluent reading. A confirmatory factor analysis model with two latent variables is tested and shows adequate goodness-of-fit indices. Contrary to our expectations, the results of structural equation modelling reveal a small but significant gamma-value of .29, indicating that only 8% of the variance in teachers' classroom behaviour in teaching fluent reading is accounted for by teachers' pedagogical content knowledge of reading. Presumably teacher knowledge is not as stable and conclusive as one might think. More research is needed in determining the factors that work restricting for teachers in putting their knowledge into classroom practice. It is recommended that preservice and in-service teacher training should not be limited to transfer of knowledge, but should also assist teachers in designing and performing effective fluent reading instruction

Evolution of mosquito-based arbovirus surveillance systems in Australia

Control of arboviral disease is dependent on the sensitive and timely detection of elevated virus activity or the identification of emergent or exotic viruses. The emergence of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in northern Australia revealed numerous problems with performing arbovirus surveillance in remote locations. A sentinel pig programme detected JEV activity, although there were a number of financial, logistical, diagnostic and ethical limitations. A system was developed which detected viral RNA in mosquitoes collected by solar or propane powered CO₂-baited traps. However, this method was hampered by trap-component malfunction, microbial contamination and large mosquito numbers which overwhelmed diagnostic capabilities. A novel approach involves allowing mosquitoes within a box trap to probe a sugar-baited nucleic-acid preservation card that is processed for expectorated arboviruses. In a longitudinal field trial, both Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses were detected numerous times from multiple traps over different weeks. Further refinements, including the development of unpowered traps and use of yeast-generated CO₂, could enhance the applicability of this system to remote locations. New diagnostic technology, such as next generation sequencing and biosensors, will increase the capacity for recognizing emergent or exotic viruses, while cloud computing platforms will facilitate rapid dissemination of data

Evolution of Mosquito-Based Arbovirus Surveillance Systems in Australia

Control of arboviral disease is dependent on the sensitive and timely detection of elevated virus activity or the identification of emergent or exotic viruses. The emergence of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) in northern Australia revealed numerous problems with performing arbovirus surveillance in remote locations. A sentinel pig programme detected JEV activity, although there were a number of financial, logistical, diagnostic and ethical limitations. A system was developed which detected viral RNA in mosquitoes collected by solar or propane powered CO2-baited traps. However, this method was hampered by trap-component malfunction, microbial contamination and large mosquito numbers which overwhelmed diagnostic capabilities. A novel approach involves allowing mosquitoes within a box trap to probe a sugar-baited nucleic-acid preservation card that is processed for expectorated arboviruses. In a longitudinal field trial, both Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses were detected numerous times from multiple traps over different weeks. Further refinements, including the development of unpowered traps and use of yeast-generated CO2, could enhance the applicability of this system to remote locations. New diagnostic technology, such as next generation sequencing and biosensors, will increase the capacity for recognizing emergent or exotic viruses, while cloud computing platforms will facilitate rapid dissemination of data

Экспериментальный анализ фонетических изменений в английской речи датско-английских билингвов

Одним из ключевых показателей, присущих двуязычному речевому поведению молодых датчан, является специфическая маркированность их английского произношения, что обращает на себя внимание уже с первых минут общения с ними. Эта маркированность произношения проявляется как следствие фонологической интерференции, которая возникает под влиянием артикуляции, интонации, ритмики, ударения первого (датского) языка на соответствующие параметры произношения второго (английского) языка.Одним з ключових показників, властивих двомовній мовній поведінці молодих данців, є специфічна маркированість їх англійської вимови, що звертає на себе увагу вже з перших хвилин спілкування з ними. Ця маркированість вимови виявляється як наслідок фонологічної інтерференції, яка виникає під впливом артикуляції, інтонації, ритміки, наголосу першої (данської) мови на відповідні параметри вимови другої (англійської) мови

Релігійний чинник у процесі вдосконалення Конституції України

Multiple states of woody cover under similar climate conditions are found in both conceptual models and observations. Due to the limitation of the observed woody cover data set, it is unclear whether the observed bimodality is caused by the presence of multiple stable states or is due to dynamic growth processes of vegetation. In this study, we combine a woody cover data set with an above ground biomass data set to investigate the simultaneous occurrences of savanna and forest states under different precipitation forcing. To interpret the results we use a recently developed vegetation dynamics model (the Balanced Optimality Structure Vegetation Model), in which the effect of fires is included. Our results show that bimodality also exists in above ground biomass and retrieved vegetation structure. In addition, the observed savanna distribution can be understood as derived from a stable state and a slightly drifting (transient) state, the latter having the potential to shift to the forest state. Finally, the results indicate that vegetation structure (horizontal vs. vertical leaf extent) is a crucial component for the existence of bimodality