Modeling highly pathogenic avian influenza transmission in wild birds and poultry in West Bengal, India.

Wild birds are suspected to have played a role in highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 outbreaks in West Bengal. Cluster analysis showed that H5N1 was introduced in West Bengal at least 3 times between 2008 and 2010. We simulated the introduction of H5N1 by wild birds and their contact with poultry through a stochastic continuous-time mathematical model. Results showed that reducing contact between wild birds and domestic poultry, and increasing the culling rate of infected domestic poultry communities will reduce the probability of outbreaks. Poultry communities that shared habitat with wild birds or those indistricts with previous outbreaks were more likely to suffer an outbreak. These results indicate that wild birds can introduce HPAI to domestic poultry and that limiting their contact at shared habitats together with swift culling of infected domestic poultry can greatly reduce the likelihood of HPAI outbreaks

Anemia in Antiretroviral Naïve HIV/AIDS Patients: A Study from Eastern India

Background: Hematological manifestations are common throughout the course of HIV infection. Impact of anemia is the most significant among them. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the etiologies underlying anemia in HIV/AIDS. Methods This was a non randomized cross sectional observational study conducted in a tertiary care hospital of India over a period of 2 years. One hundred and fifty HIV patients were screened. Thorough clinical and laboratory evaluation was done in 50 randomly selected anemic cases. Results: Proper etiological diagnosis could be reached in 46 patients. Among them correlation between Hb% and CD4 count was statistically insignificant (p = 0.074, r = 0.47) whereas it was significant with absolute lymphocyte and CD4 count (p = 0.006, r = 0.41). There was better correlation of bone marrow iron status with percent saturation of transferrin (p = 0.003, r = 0.54) than with serum ferritin (p = 0.055, r = 0.09). Bone marrow iron status did not have any relationship with CD4 count. Anemia of chronic disease was the commonest etiology (37%) followed by HIV related myelodysplastic syndrome (31%), iron deficiency anemia (13%), bone marrow suppression due to direct involvement by some infective process (7%). Aplastic anemia, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin’s disease, pure red cell aplasia, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and vitamin B12 deficiency were detected in one case (2%) each. Conclusions: Etiologies of anemia in HIV/AIDS are multifactorial with anemia of chronic disease being the commonest. For screening of iron deficiency in this group, percent saturation is a better tool than serum ferritin. Absolute lymphocyte count can sometimes be used as a surrogate marker of immunological status in antiretroviral naïve HIV patients, particularly in resource poor areas

Freezing Transition of Random Heteropolymers Consisting of an Arbitrary Set of Monomers

Mean field replica theory is employed to analyze the freezing transition of random heteropolymers comprised of an arbitrary number ($q$) of types of monomers. Our formalism assumes that interactions are short range and heterogeneity comes only from pairwise interactions, which are defined by an arbitrary $q \times q$ matrix. We show that, in general, there exists a freezing transition from a random globule, in which the thermodynamic equilibrium is comprised of an essentially infinite number polymer conformations, to a frozen globule, in which equilibrium ensemble is dominated by one or very few conformations. We also examine some special cases of interaction matrices to analyze the relationship between the freezing transition and the nature of interactions involved.Comment: 30 pages, 1 postscript figur

The Universe With Bulk Viscosity

Exact solutions for a model with variable $G$, $\Lambda$ and bulk viscosity are obtained. Inflationary solutions with constant (de Sitter-type) and variable energy density are found. An expanding anisotropic universe is found to isotropize during its course of expansion but a static universe is not. The gravitational constant is found to increase with time and the cosmological constant decreases with time as $\Lambda \propto t^{-2}$.Comment: 7 LateX pages, no figure

Evaluation of red-light camera enforcement using traffic violations

The State of Qatar started to use red-light cameras in 2007 at key signalized intersections and the rate of installation has subsequently increased. In 2017, 19.2% of signalized intersections are equipped with red-light cameras. In many cases, the cameras are not installed on all approaches to the intersections. The purpose of this study is to compare the red-light running violations on approaches with and without red-light running enforcement cameras at the same intersections. Actual field observations were used in this study. Different variables were investigated, including the day of the week, time of day, traffic volume, the possibility of glare on an approach, and the lengths of the yellow and all-red times. A regression tree model was used to explain the characteristics associated with the violations. The results showed that the number of violations on low-volume approaches was five times higher than on high-volume approaches. The results also showed that the presence of the cameras significantly lowered red-light running violations. High-volume approaches without cameras had an approximately eight times higher rate of violations than high-volume approaches with cameras. The analysis also showed that bringing the all-red interval closer to the values recommended by the Institute of Transportation Engineers formula may bring down the rates of violations for low-volume approaches. As with any observational data mining method, the study could benefit from a larger sample size. The method used in the study was effective and is easily transferable to other locations. The results of this study can be used in developing new strategies to improve safety at signalized intersections. 2018 The AuthorsScopu

Study of genetic diversity in finger millet (Eleusine coracana L. Gaertn) using RAPD markers

Germplasm identification and characterization is an important link between conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources. The present study was conducted to characterize the genetic diversity using twelve germplasm of finger millet including two of the same variety (VL-149) but from different regions. Three replica of each germplasm was amplified using seventeen random primers. A total of 113 distinct fragments ranging from 117 bp to 2621 bp were amplified. Of these, 70 (61.9%) were found to bepolymorphic. A fingerprint for GPU-28 was obtained. Another fingerprint for genotype VL-315 was generated where two primers (T10S6, T20S4) could distinguish it from other genotypes either by absence or presence of an allele, respectively. In addition to this, another interesting allele which wasabsent in genotypes of high altitudes (VL-324, VL-315, and VL-149) was discovered. The lowest and highest polymorphisms were obtained within individuals belonging to genotypes OUAT-2 and VL-324. Nei’s analysis revealed the highest similarity between OUAT-2 and JWM-1 and the highest distance between BM-1 and VL-315. OUAT-2 and JWM-1, both white seeded germplasms, showed maximum closeness. The study helped in identifying the germplasm in a quick and reproducible manner andstudying their relatedness