Reappearance of Chikungunya, Formerly Called Dengue, in the Americas.

After an absence of ≈200 years, chikungunya returned to the American tropics in 2013. The virus is maintained in a complex African zoonotic cycle but escapes into an urban cycle at 40- to 50-year intervals, causing global pandemics. In 1823, classical chikungunya, a viral exanthem in humans, occurred on Zanzibar, and in 1827, it arrived in the Caribbean and spread to North and South America. In Zanzibar, the disease was known as kidenga pepo, Swahili for a sudden cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit; in Cuba, it was known as dengue, a Spanish homonym of denga. During the eighteenth century, dengue (present-day chikungunya) was distinguished from breakbone fever (present-day dengue), another febrile exanthem. In the twentieth century, experiments resulted in the recovery and naming of present-day dengue viruses. In 1952, chikungunya virus was recovered during an outbreak in Tanzania, but by then, the virus had lost its original name to present-day dengue viruses

The effect of landfills on rural residential property values: Some empirical evidence.

Abstract The question of whether solid waste landfills affect residential property values has long been a subject of debate. Past research has resulted in mixed conclusions. The current study examines six landfills, which differ in size, operating status, and history of contamination. The effect of each landfill is estimated by the use of multiple regression. In five of the landfills, no statistically significant evidence of an effect was found. In the remaining case, evidence of an effect was found, indicating that houses in close proximity to this landfill suffered an average loss of about six percent in value

Iterative Method for Solution of the One‐Dimensional Wave Equation: Eigenvalues and Eigenfunctions for L‐J (12, 6) and Exponential (α, 6) Interatomic Potentials

A method of direct numerical integration of the one‐dimensional wave equation is described and illustrated by calculations of the radial wavefunctions, vibrational energy levels, and numbers of bound states for diatomic molecules. Within the validity of the Born—Oppenheimer approximation, the procedure yields arbitrarily accurate eigenvalues. Several potentials involving long‐range, inverse‐sixth‐power attractions are examined. Results are compared with those from the first‐order WKBJ integral and with the Dunham form of the second‐order WKBJ approximation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/70222/2/JCPSA6-38-9-2135-1.pd

Assessing the prognosis of dengue-infected patients

Dengue infections pose a huge burden to health care providers in most tropical countries. Careful clinical examination and history-taking supplemented by newer rapid diagnostic tests may lead to early etiological diagnosis. For severe dengue, early recognition of vascular permeability followed by rapid physiological replacement of fluids is life-saving. Prognosis of patients depends upon optimum management, an outcome that requires preparation via organization, training, and use of evidence-based practice guidelines