A large-scale study of a poultry trading network in Bangladesh: implications for control and surveillance of avian influenza viruses

Since its first report in 2007, avian influenza (AI) has been endemic in Bangladesh. While live poultry marketing is widespread throughout the country and known to influence AI dissemination and persistence, trading patterns have not been described. The aim of this study is to assess poultry trading practices and features of the poultry trading networks which could promote AI spread, and their potential implications for disease control and surveillance. Data on poultry trading practices was collected from 849 poultry traders during a cross-sectional survey in 138 live bird markets (LBMs) across 17 different districts of Bangladesh. The quantity and origins of traded poultry were assessed for each poultry type in surveyed LBMs. The network of contacts between farms and LBMs resulting from commercial movements of live poultry was constructed to assess its connectivity and to identify the key premises influencing it

Prevalence of avian influenza A(H5) and A(H9) in live bird markets in Bangladesh

We conducted a cross-sectional study in live bird markets (LBMs) in Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh, to estimate the prevalence of avian influenza A(H5) and A(H9) viruses in different types of poultry and environmental areas by using Bayesian hierarchical logistic regression models. We detected these viruses in nearly all LBMs. Prevalence of A(H5) virus was higher in waterfowl than in chickens, whereas prevalence of A(H9) virus was higher in chickens than in waterfowl and, among chicken types, in industrial broilers than in cross-breeds and indigenous breeds. LBMs with >1 wholesaler were more frequently contaminated by A(H5) virus than retail-only LBMs. Prevalence of A(H9) virus in poultry and level of environmental contamination were also higher in LBMs with >1 wholesaler. We found a high level of circulation of both avian influenza viruses in surveyed LBMs. Prevalence was influenced by type of poultry, environmental site, and trading patterns because our study included previously collected data

Evaluation of drug administration errors in a teaching hospital

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Medication errors can occur at any of the three steps of the medication use process: prescribing, dispensing and administration. We aimed to determine the incidence, type and clinical importance of drug administration errors and to identify risk factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Prospective study based on disguised observation technique in four wards in a teaching hospital in Paris, France (800 beds). A pharmacist accompanied nurses and witnessed the preparation and administration of drugs to all patients during the three drug rounds on each of six days per ward. Main outcomes were number, type and clinical importance of errors and associated risk factors. Drug administration error rate was calculated with and without wrong time errors. Relationship between the occurrence of errors and potential risk factors were investigated using logistic regression models with random effects.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty-eight nurses caring for 108 patients were observed. Among 1501 opportunities for error, 415 administrations (430 errors) with one or more errors were detected (27.6%). There were 312 wrong time errors, ten simultaneously with another type of error, resulting in an error rate without wrong time error of 7.5% (113/1501). The most frequently administered drugs were the cardiovascular drugs (425/1501, 28.3%). The highest risks of error in a drug administration were for dermatological drugs. No potentially life-threatening errors were witnessed and 6% of errors were classified as having a serious or significant impact on patients (mainly omission). In multivariate analysis, the occurrence of errors was associated with drug administration route, drug classification (ATC) and the number of patient under the nurse's care.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Medication administration errors are frequent. The identification of its determinants helps to undertake designed interventions.</p

Feedback between deformation and magmatism in the Lloyds River Fault Zone : an example of episodic fault reactivation in an accretionary setting, Newfoundland Appalachians

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2006. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Tectonics 25 (2006): TC4004, doi:10.1029/2005TC001789.The Lloyds River Fault Zone is a 10–15 km wide amphibolite-grade shear zone that formed during the Ordovician Taconic Orogeny. It separates ophiolites and arc–back-arc complexes formed in Iapetus from a peri-Laurentian microcontinent (Dashwoods microcontinent). The Lloyds River Fault Zone comprises three high-strain zones, dominantly composed of mylonitic amphibolites, separated by less deformed plutonic rocks. Structural, age and metamorphic data suggest the Lloyds River Fault Zone accommodated sinistral-oblique underthrusting of ophiolites underneath the Dashwoods microcontinent prior to 471 ± 5 Ma at 800°C and 6 kbar. Plutonic rocks within the Lloyds River Fault Zone comprise two suites dated at 464 ± 2 plus 462 ± 2 and 459 ± 3 Ma, respectively. The younger age of the plutons with respect to some of the amphibolites, evidence for magmatic deformation, and the elongate nature of the plutons parallel to the Lloyds River Fault Zone suggest they were emplaced within the fault zone during deformation. Both intrusive episodes triggered renewed deformation at high temperatures (770–750°C), illustrating the positive feedback between deformation and magmatism. Offshoots of the plutons intruded undeformed ophiolitic gabbros outside the Lloyds River Fault Zone. Deformation localized within the intrusive sheets, coeval with static contact metamorphism of the host gabbros, leading to the development of new, small-scale shear zones. This illustrates that channeling of plutons into shear zones and nucleation of shear zones in melt-rich zones may occur simultaneously within the same fault system.This research is funded by a scholarship from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, University of Ottawa, to C.J.L. and a NSERC grant to C.v.S in his position as Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa

Aequorin-based measurements of intracellular Ca(2+)-signatures in plant cells

Due to the involvement of calcium as a main second messenger in the plant signaling pathway, increasing interest has been focused on the calcium signatures supposed to be involved in the patterning of the specific response associated to a given stimulus. In order to follow these signatures we described here the practical approach to use the non-invasive method based on the aequorin technology. Besides reviewing the advantages and disadvantages of this method we report on results showing the usefulness of aequorin to study the calcium response to biotic (elicitors) and abiotic stimuli (osmotic shocks) in various compartments of plant cells such as cytosol and nucleus