Establishment of Influenza A Virus (H6N1) in minor poultry in Southern China

Oral Presentations: Animal Influenza EcologyAn H6N1 virus, A/teal/Hong Kong/W312/97 (W312), was isolated during the ‘bird flu’ incident of Hong Kong in 1997. Genetic analysis suggested that this virus might be the progenitor of the A/Hong Kong/156/97 (HK/97) H5N1 virus as seven of eight gene segments of those viruses had a common source. Continuing surveillance in Hong Kong showed that a W312-like virus was prevalent in quail and pheasant in 1999; however, the further development of H6N1 viruses has not been investigated since 2001. Here we report influenza surveillance data from 2000 to 2005 in southern China that shows H6N1 viruses have become established and endemic in minor poultry, and mainly replicated in the respiratory tract. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that all H6N1 isolates had W312-like hemagglutinin and neuraminidase genes. However, reassortment of internal genes between different subtype virus lineages, including H5N1, H9N2 and other avian viruses, generated multiple novel H6N1 genotypes in different types of poultry. These novel viruses are double, triple or even quadruple reassortants. Molecular analyses suggest that W312-like viruses may not be a precursor of HK/97 virus but a reassortant from HK/97-like virus and another unidentified H6 subtype virus. These results provide further evidence of the pivotal role of the live-poultry market system of southern China in generating increased genetic diversity of influenza viruses in this region.postprin

Ecology and evolution of influenza A (H5N1) virus in Asia: Evidence from systematic influenza surveillance

Oral Presentations - Genetic and Antigenic EvolutionThe development of highly pathogenic avian influenza A (H5N1) viruses in poultry in Eurasia accompanied with the increase in human infection in 2006 and the recent reemergence of poultry outbreaks throughout the region, suggests that the virus has not been effectively contained and that the pandemic threat persists. Virological and epidemiological findings from our surveillance in live-poultry markets conducted over the last seven years in southern China has provided a comprehensive view of the ecology and evolution of H5N1 influenza viruses and revealed that they are endemic in different types of market poultry. Genetic and antigenic analyses have also demonstrated the dynamic evolution of these viruses in the region, with repeated introductions from southern China to neighboring regions, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. A further dramatic spread of the virus westwards throughout Central and Southern Asia, Europe and Africa was also seen after detection of an initial outbreak in wild birds at Qinghai Lake in Central China, in line with our predictions. Genetic analyses revealed that after the H5N1 influenza viruses had established and been endemic several years, they developed into regionally distinct sublineages that allowed us to further trace their transmission pathways. However, recent surveillance data has revealed the emergence and predominance of a single H5N1 virus sublineage in poultry since late 2005 that has gradually replaced those previously detected multiple regional distinct sublineages in China. These viruses have already transmitted to neighboring regions thereby resulting in a new transmission and outbreak wave in Southeast Asia. The persistence of H5N1 virus since it first caused human disease in Hong Kong 11 years ago, as demonstrated by its endemicity over a large geographical region, along with repeated disease outbreaks in both poultry and humans indicates that it will be a long-term and difficult task to bring this virus under control in the absence of well developed disease control systems.postprin

Sample entropy analysis of EEG signals via artificial neural networks to model patients' consciousness level based on anesthesiologists experience.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals, as it can express the human brain's activities and reflect awareness, have been widely used in many research and medical equipment to build a noninvasive monitoring index to the depth of anesthesia (DOA). Bispectral (BIS) index monitor is one of the famous and important indicators for anesthesiologists primarily using EEG signals when assessing the DOA. In this study, an attempt is made to build a new indicator using EEG signals to provide a more valuable reference to the DOA for clinical researchers. The EEG signals are collected from patients under anesthetic surgery which are filtered using multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) method and analyzed using sample entropy (SampEn) analysis. The calculated signals from SampEn are utilized to train an artificial neural network (ANN) model through using expert assessment of consciousness level (EACL) which is assessed by experienced anesthesiologists as the target to train, validate, and test the ANN. The results that are achieved using the proposed system are compared to BIS index. The proposed system results show that it is not only having similar characteristic to BIS index but also more close to experienced anesthesiologists which illustrates the consciousness level and reflects the DOA successfully.This research is supported by the Center forDynamical Biomarkers and Translational Medicine, National Central University, Taiwan, which is sponsored by Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant no. MOST103-2911-I-008-001). Also, it is supported by National Chung-Shan Institute of Science & Technology in Taiwan (Grant nos. CSIST-095-V301 and CSIST-095-V302)

Provision of foot health services for people with rheumatoid arthritis in New South Wales: a web-based survey of local podiatrists

Background: It is unclear if podiatric foot care for people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in New South Wales (NSW) meets current clinical recommendations. The objective of this study was to survey podiatrists' perceptions of the nature of podiatric foot care provision for people who have RA in NSW.Methods: An anonymous, cross-sectional survey with a web-based questionnaire was conducted. The survey questionnaire was developed according to clinical experience and current foot care recommendations. State registered podiatrists practising in the state of NSW were invited to participate. The survey link was distributed initially via email to members of the Australian Podiatry Association (NSW), and distributed further through snowballing techniques using professional networks. Data was analysed to assess significant associations between adherence to clinical practice guidelines, and private/public podiatry practices.Results: 86 podiatrists participated in the survey (78% from private practice, 22% from public practice). Respondents largely did not adhere to formal guidelines to manage their patients (88%). Only one respondent offered a dedicated service for patients with RA. Respondents indicated that the primary mode of accessing podiatry was by self-referral (68%). Significant variation was observed regarding access to disease and foot specific assessments and treatment strategies. Assessment methods such as administration of patient reported outcome measures, vascular and neurological assessments were not conducted by all respondents. Similarly, routine foot care strategies such as prescription of foot orthoses, foot health advice and footwear were not employed by all respondents.Conclusions: The results identified issues in foot care provision which should be explored through further research. Foot care provision in NSW does not appear to meet the current recommended standards for the management of foot problems in people who have RA. Improvements to foot care could be undertaken in terms of providing better access to examination techniques and treatment strategies that are recommended by evidence based treatment paradigms. © 2013 Hendry et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd

Biological control of broad mites (Polyphagotarsonemus latus) with the generalist predator Amblyseius swirskii

The broad mite is a serious pest of a variety of crops worldwide. Several phytoseiid mites have been described to control these mites. However, broad mites are still one of the major pest problems on greenhouse pepper in South-eastern Spain. The generalist predatory mite A. swirskii is widely used against other pests of pepper plants such as thrips and whiteflies, the latter being a vector of broad mites. We assessed the potential of A. swirskii to control broad mites. The oviposition rate of A. swirskii on a diet of broad mites was lower than on a diet of pollen, but higher than oviposition in the absence of food. Population-dynamical experiments with A. swirskii on single sweet pepper plants in a greenhouse compartment showed successful control of broad mites

Four patients with a history of acute exacerbations of COPD: implementing the CHEST/Canadian Thoracic Society guidelines for preventing exacerbations

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Seedless Pattern Growth of Quasi-Aligned ZnO Nanorod Arrays on Cover Glass Substrates in Solution

A hybrid technique for the selective growth of ZnO nanorod arrays on wanted areas of thin cover glass substrates was developed without the use of seed layer of ZnO. This method utilizes electron-beam lithography for pattern transfer on seedless substrate, followed by solution method for the bottom-up growth of ZnO nanorod arrays on the patterned substrates. The arrays of highly crystalline ZnO nanorods having diameter of 60 ± 10 nm and length of 750 ± 50 nm were selectively grown on different shape patterns and exhibited a remarkable uniformity in terms of diameter, length, and density. The room temperature cathodluminescence measurements showed a strong ultraviolet emission at 381 nm and broad visible emission at 585–610 nm were observed in the spectrum

High speed e-beam writing for large area photonic nanostructures-a choice of parameters

Photonic nanostructures are used for many optical systems and applications. However, some high-end applications require the use of electron-beam lithography (EBL) to generate such nanostructures. An important technological bottleneck is the exposure time of the EBL systems, which can exceed 24 hours per 1 cm2. Here, we have developed a method based on a target function to systematically increase the writing speed of EBL. As an example, we use as the target function the fidelity of the Fourier Transform spectra of nanostructures that are designed for thin film light trapping applications, and optimize the full parameter space of the lithography process. Finally, we are able to reduce the exposure time by a factor of 5.5 without loss of photonic performance. We show that the performances of the fastest written structures are identical to the original ones within experimental error. As the target function can be varied according to different purposes, the method is also applicable to guided mode resonant grating and many other areas. These findings contribute to the advancement of EBL and point towards making the technology more attractive for commercial applications