In vitro assessment of the potency of some Newcastle disease vaccine brands in Ibadan, Nigeria

Background: Newcastle disease (ND) is a very common and economically important disease of poultry. There is no drug for treatment of the disease during an outbreak in poultry flocks, and prevention by vaccination is one of the recommended control measures. However, post vaccination outbreaks have been observed on many occasions in chicken flocks and one of the causes has been attributed to possible failure of vaccine to confer immunity. This study was designed to evaluate the potency of ND vaccines available in Ibadan, Nigeria. Methodology: Haemagglutination (HA) technique and elution phenomenon were employed to evaluate the potency of ND vaccines randomly selected in Ibadan. A total of 45 vaccines comprising 9 brands and 5 different strains were selected for potency test. The vaccine brands included ‘Vireo 116’ (n=10), ‘ABIC’ (n=5), ‘Biovac’(n=9), ‘Nobilis’(n=3), ‘NVRI’(n=12), ‘R2B’ (n=2), ‘BAL-ND’ (n=2), ‘Forte dodge’(n=1) and ‘Jovac’ (n=1), while the vaccine strains in the brands included Lasota, B1, Clone, Komarov, Hitcher, and an unknown strain. Results: Thirty-five of the 45 (77.8%) ND vaccines tested had more than 4 HA titer (>64) and were therefore regarded as potent. All the 15 (100%) ND Lasota vaccine strain, 7 out of 10 (70%) ND Komarov strain, 4 out of 5 (80%) ND clone and 5 out of 8 (62.5%) ND B1 strains were potent. None of the ND brand ‘R2B’ vaccine as well as Hitchner strain from ‘Nobilis’ brand was potent, but all 5, 2, 1 and 1 vaccines tested from brands ‘ABIC’, ‘BAL-ND’, ‘Fort dodge’ and ‘Jovac’ respectively were potent. Similarly, 9 of 10, 6 of 9, 2 of 3 and 9 of 12 vaccine strains tested from brands ‘Vireo 116’, ‘Biovac’, ‘Nobilis’ and ‘NVRI’ were respectively potent Conclusion: The occurrence of ND vaccines that are not potent in this study may be contributing to post vaccination failure. It is advisable to subject vaccines to potency test before use. Key words: in vitro, assessment, potency, Newcastle disease, vaccine brands, vaccine strains   French Title; Évaluation in vitro de la puissance de certaines marques de vaccins contre la maladie de Newcastle à Ibadan, Nigéria Contexte: La maladie de Newcastle (ND) est une maladie très courante et économiquement importante des volailles. Il n'existe aucun médicament pour le traitement de la maladie lors d'une épidémie dans des troupeaux de volailles, et la prévention par vaccination est l'une des mesures de contrôle recommandées. Cependant, des flambées post-vaccination ont été observées à de nombreuses reprises dans des troupeaux de poulets et l'une des causes a été attribuée à un éventuel échec du vaccin à conférer l'immunité. Cette étude a été conçue pour évaluer la puissance des vaccins contre la MN disponibles à Ibadan, au Nigéria. Méthodologie: La technique d'hémagglutination (HA) et le phénomène d'élution ont été utilisés pour évaluer la puissance des vaccins contre la MN sélectionnés au hasard à Ibadan. Un total de 45 vaccins comprenant 9 marques et 5 souches différentes ont été sélectionnés pour le test d'activité. Les marques de vaccins comprenaient 'Vireo 116' (n=10), 'ABIC' (n=5), 'Biovac' (n=9), 'Nobilis' (n=3), 'NVRI' (n=12), 'R2B' (n=2), 'BAL-ND' (n=2), 'Forte dodge' (n=1) et 'Jovac' (n=1), tandis que les souches vaccinales des marques comprenaient Lasota, B1, Clone, Komarov, Hitcher et une souche inconnue. Résultats: Trente-cinq des 45 vaccins contre la MN testés (77,8%) avaient plus de 4 titres en HA (>64) et étaient donc considérés comme puissants. Toutes les 15 (100%) souches de vaccin ND Lasota, 7 souches sur 10 (70%) ND Komarov, 4 sur 5 (80%) clones ND et 5 sur 8 (62,5%) souches ND B1 étaient puissantes. Aucun des vaccins ’R2B’ de marque ND ni la souche Hitchner de la marque ’Nobilis’ n'étaient puissants, mais tous les vaccins 5, 2, 1 et 1 testés des marques ‘ABIC’, ‘BAL-ND’, ‘Fort dodge’ et ‘Jovac’ respectivement était puissant. De même, 9 des 10, 6 des 9, 2 des 3 et 9 des 12 souches vaccinales testées des marques ’Vireo 116’, ‘Biovac’, ‘Nobilis’ et ‘NVRI’ étaient respectivement puissantes Conclusion: La présence de vaccins contre la MN qui ne sont pas puissants dans cette étude peut contribuer à l'échec post-vaccinal. Il est conseillé de soumettre les vaccins à un test de puissance avant utilisation. Mots-clés: in vitro, évaluation, puissance, maladie de Newcastle, marques de vaccin, souches vaccinale

Reformulation of Boundary String Field Theory in terms of Boundary State

We reformulate bosonic boundary string field theory in terms of boundary state. In our formulation, we can formally perform the integration of target space equations of motion for arbitrary field configurations without assuming decoupling of matter and ghost. Thus, we obtain the general form of the action of bosonic boundary string field theory. This formulation may help us to understand possible interactions between boundary string field theory and the closed string sector.Comment: 13 page

Acidic leaching of iron from Kaoje Goethite ore by hydrochloric acid: Kinetics modelling

Considering the recent focus of the Nigeria Government to grow and develop the nation’s economy through the solid minerals sector reform, this study has been devoted to the kinetics of a Nigerian goethite ore by hydrochloric acid leaching for improved iron and steel industries applications. This study was performed in three different phases. In the first phase, acidic leaching of iron from a goethite ore was examined and the influence of the operating variables including: HCl concentration, leaching temperature, stirring speed and particle sizes was examined experimentally. The optimum condition was found to be HCl concentration of 1.81M, temperature of 80°C, 200 rpm stirring speed and particle size 0.09 μm for iron in the range of investigated parameters. Under those conditions, the highest iron recovery was obtained to be 95.67 %. In the second phase, the dissolution kinetics of iron was evaluated by the shrinking core models. The finding reveals that diffusion through the fluid was the leaching kinetics rate controlling step of the iron. The activation energy (Ea) was found to be 14.54 kJmol-1 for iron. Equation representing the leaching kinetic of iron was achieved to be 1−2/3α - (1 − x)2/3 = 0.7272 × e−38.29/8.314×T × t. The final stage of the experiment was carried out by characterizing the leached residues by X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the result showed majorly the presence of rutile (TiO2), anglesite (PbSO4), and traces of iron-silicate face like pyrite (FeS), quartz (SiO2). Keywords: kinetics modelling, leaching, low-grade, recovery, shrinking cor

Constraints on the structure and seasonal variations of Triton's atmosphere from the 5 October 2017 stellar occultation and previous observations

Context. A stellar occultation by Neptune's main satellite, Triton, was observed on 5 October 2017 from Europe, North Africa, and the USA. We derived 90 light curves from this event, 42 of which yielded a central flash detection. Aims. We aimed at constraining Triton's atmospheric structure and the seasonal variations of its atmospheric pressure since the Voyager 2 epoch (1989). We also derived the shape of the lower atmosphere from central flash analysis. Methods. We used Abel inversions and direct ray-tracing code to provide the density, pressure, and temperature profiles in the altitude range similar to 8 km to similar to 190 km, corresponding to pressure levels from 9 mu bar down to a few nanobars. Results. (i) A pressure of 1.18 +/- 0.03 mu bar is found at a reference radius of 1400 km (47 km altitude). (ii) A new analysis of the Voyager 2 radio science occultation shows that this is consistent with an extrapolation of pressure down to the surface pressure obtained in 1989. (iii) A survey of occultations obtained between 1989 and 2017 suggests that an enhancement in surface pressure as reported during the 1990s might be real, but debatable, due to very few high S/N light curves and data accessible for reanalysis. The volatile transport model analysed supports a moderate increase in surface pressure, with a maximum value around 2005-2015 no higher than 23 mu bar. The pressures observed in 1995-1997 and 2017 appear mutually inconsistent with the volatile transport model presented here. (iv) The central flash structure does not show evidence of an atmospheric distortion. We find an upper limit of 0.0011 for the apparent oblateness of the atmosphere near the 8 km altitude.J.M.O. acknowledges financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the European Social Fund (ESF) through the PhD grant SFRH/BD/131700/2017. The work leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Community's H2020 2014-2021 ERC grant Agreement nffi 669416 "Lucky Star". We thank S. Para who supported some travels to observe the 5 October 2017 occultation. T.B. was supported for this research by an appointment to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Post-Doctoral Program at the Ames Research Center administered by Universities Space Research Association (USRA) through a contract with NASA. We acknowledge useful exchanges with Mark Gurwell on the ALMA CO observations. This work has made use of data from the European Space Agency (ESA) mission Gaia (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/gaia), processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/gaia/dpac/consortium).Funding for the DPAC has been provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia Multilateral Agreement. J.L.O., P.S.-S., N.M. and R.D. acknowledge financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish MCIU through the "Center of Excellence Severo Ochoa" award to the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709), they also acknowledge the financial support by the Spanish grant AYA-2017-84637-R and the Proyecto de Excelencia de la Junta de Andalucia J.A. 2012-FQM1776. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement no. 687378, as part of the project "Small Bodies Near and Far" (SBNAF). P.S.-S. acknowledges financial support by the Spanish grant AYA-RTI2018-098657-J-I00 "LEO-SBNAF". The work was partially based on observations made at the Laboratorio Nacional de Astrofisica (LNA), Itajuba-MG, Brazil. The following authors acknowledge the respective CNPq grants: F.B.-R. 309578/2017-5; R.V.-M. 304544/2017-5, 401903/2016-8; J.I.B.C. 308150/2016-3 and 305917/2019-6; M.A. 427700/20183, 310683/2017-3, 473002/2013-2. This study was financed in part by the Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior -Brasil (CAPES) -Finance Code 001 and the National Institute of Science and Technology of the e-Universe project (INCT do e-Universo, CNPq grant 465376/2014-2). G.B.R. acknowledges CAPES-FAPERJ/PAPDRJ grant E26/203.173/2016 and CAPES-PRINT/UNESP grant 88887.571156/2020-00, M.A. FAPERJ grant E26/111.488/2013 and A.R.G.Jr. FAPESP grant 2018/11239-8. B.E.M. thanks CNPq 150612/2020-6 and CAPES/Cofecub-394/2016-05 grants. Part of the photometric data used in this study were collected in the frame of the photometric observations with the robotic and remotely controlled telescope at the University of Athens Observatory (UOAO; Gazeas 2016). The 2.3 m Aristarchos telescope is operated on Helmos Observatory by the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens. Observations with the 2.3 m Aristarchos telescope were carried out under OPTICON programme. This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 730890. This material reflects only the authors views and the Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein. The 1. 2m Kryoneri telescope is operated by the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens. The Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley (OAVdA) is managed by the Fondazione Clement Fillietroz-ONLUS, which is supported by the Regional Government of the Aosta Valley, the Town Municipality of Nus and the "Unite des Communes valdotaines Mont-Emilius". The 0.81 m Main Telescope at the OAVdA was upgraded thanks to a Shoemaker NEO Grant 2013 from The Planetary Society. D.C. and J.M.C. acknowledge funds from a 2017 'Research and Education' grant from Fondazione CRT-Cassa di Risparmio di Torino. P.M. acknowledges support from the Portuguese Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia ref. PTDC/FISAST/29942/2017 through national funds and by FEDER through COMPETE 2020 (ref. POCI010145 FEDER007672). F.J. acknowledges Jean Luc Plouvier for his help. S.J.F. and C.A. would like to thank the UCL student support observers: Helen Dai, Elise Darragh-Ford, Ross Dobson, Max Hipperson, Edward Kerr-Dineen, Isaac Langley, Emese Meder, Roman Gerasimov, Javier Sanjuan, and Manasvee Saraf. We are grateful to the CAHA, OSN and La Hita Observatory staffs. This research is partially based on observations collected at Centro Astronomico HispanoAleman (CAHA) at Calar Alto, operated jointly by Junta de Andalucia and Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (IAA-CSIC). This research was also partially based on observation carried out at the Observatorio de Sierra Nevada (OSN) operated by Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (CSIC). This article is also based on observations made with the Liverpool Telescope operated on the island of La Palma by Liverpool John Moores University in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias with financial support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. Partially based on observations made with the Tx40 and Excalibur telescopes at the Observatorio Astrofisico de Javalambre in Teruel, a Spanish Infraestructura Cientifico-Tecnica Singular (ICTS) owned, managed and operated by the Centro de Estudios de Fisica del Cosmos de Aragon (CEFCA). Tx40 and Excalibur are funded with the Fondos de Inversiones de Teruel (FITE). A.R.R. would like to thank Gustavo Roman for the mechanical adaptation of the camera to the telescope to allow for the observation to be recorded. R.H., J.F.R., S.P.H. and A.S.L. have been supported by the Spanish projects AYA2015-65041P and PID2019-109467GB-100 (MINECO/FEDER, UE) and Grupos Gobierno Vasco IT1366-19. Our great thanks to Omar Hila and their collaborators in Atlas Golf Marrakech Observatory for providing access to the T60cm telescope. TRAPPIST is a project funded by the Belgian Fonds (National) de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS) under grant PDR T.0120.21. TRAPPIST-North is a project funded by the University of Liege, and performed in collaboration with Cadi Ayyad University of Marrakesh. E.J. is a FNRS Senior Research Associate

Galaxy Clusters Associated with Short GRBs. II. Predictions for the Rate of Short GRBs in Field and Cluster Early-Type Galaxies

We determine the relative rates of short GRBs in cluster and field early-type galaxies as a function of the age probability distribution of their progenitors, P(\tau) \propto \tau^n. This analysis takes advantage of the difference in the growth of stellar mass in clusters and in the field, which arises from the combined effects of the galaxy stellar mass function, the early-type fraction, and the dependence of star formation history on mass and environment. This approach complements the use of the early- to late-type host galaxy ratio, with the added benefit that the star formation histories of early-type galaxies are simpler than those of late-type galaxies, and any systematic differences between progenitors in early- and late-type galaxies are removed. We find that the ratio varies from R(cluster)/R(field) ~ 0.5 for n = -2 to ~ 3 for n = 2. Current observations indicate a ratio of about 2, corresponding to n ~ 0 - 1. This is similar to the value inferred from the ratio of short GRBs in early- and late-type hosts, but it differs from the value of n ~ -1 for NS binaries in the Milky Way. We stress that this general approach can be easily modified with improved knowledge of the effects of environment and mass on the build-up of stellar mass, as well as the effect of globular clusters on the short GRB rate. It can also be used to assess the age distribution of Type Ia supernova progenitors.Comment: ApJ accepted versio

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Measurement of Z0 decays to hadrons, and a precise determination of the number of neutrino species

We have made a precise measurement of the cross section for e+e---&gt;Z0--&gt;hadrons with the L3 detector at LEP, covering the range from 88.28 to 95.04 GeV. From a fit to the Z0 mass, total width, and the hadronic cross section to be MZ0=91.160 +/- 0.024 (experiment) +/-0.030(LEP) GeV, [Gamma]Z0=2.539+/-0.054 GeV, and [sigma]h(MZ0)=29.5+/-0.7 nb. We also used the fit to the Z0 peak cross section and the width todetermine [Gamma]invisible=0.548+/-0.029 GeV, which corresponds to 3.29+/-0.17 species of light neutrinos. The possibility of four or more neutrino flavors is thus ruled out at the 4[sigma] confidence level.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28683/3/0000500.pd