ZEBRAFISH: AN EMERGING MODEL SYSTEM FOR DRUG DISCOVERY

ABSTRACTThe zebrafish is no doubt a powerful model organism with a combination of forward and reverse genetics, low cost, amenable high throughput, andrapid in vivo analysis. With these unique features, it can be expected that the zebrafish will become more frequently used for drug discovery. Thisreview outlines the potential of zebrafish to contribute to drug discovery through the identification of novel drug targets, validation of those targetsand screening for new therapeutic compounds and assay development.Keywords: Zebrafish, Drug screening, Drug target, Development

Improving data quality for the CAADP biennial review: a partnership initiative piloted in five countries

This paper presents results of a data partnership framework for strengthening evidence-based planning and implementation that was initiated in 2019 in five selected African countries (Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, and Togo) during the second round of the CAADP biennial review (BR) process. It analyzes the effect of the activities conducted on the data reporting rate and the quality of data reported in the five pilot countries, compared with what was achieved in like-pilot countries. The like-pilot countries are non-pilot countries that have characteristics like the pilot countries at the baseline which affect selection into the pilot or the data reporting and quality outcomes. Different methods (standard deviations, propensity score matching, and two-stage weighted regression) are used to identify the like-pilot countries, and a difference-in-difference method is used to estimate the effect of the pilot activities on the outcomes. The capacity-strengthening activities focused on working with the country Biennial Review (BR) team to: assess the inaugural or 2018 BR process and identify the data gaps; constitute and train members of data clusters to compile and check the data for the 2020 BR; and then validate and submit the data. The findings show that the activities helped the pilot countries to improve their performance in the data reporting rate and the quality of data reported in the 2020 BR. The largest improvement is observed in Togo and Senegal, followed by Kenya and Malawi, and then Mozambique. The average increase in the data reporting rate between 2018 and 2020 BRs for the pilot countries is greater than the average progress made in the like-pilot countries by about 6 to 9 % pts. This derives mostly from improvements in the data reporting rate for the indicators under theme 3 on ending hunger. Regarding the quality of data reported (measured as the percent of the data reported that have issues) too, the pilot countries on average performed better than the like-pilot countries, especially with respect to the data reported under themes 2 on investment in agriculture and 3 on ending hunger. But most of the estimated differences have low or no statistical significance. Implications for sustaining the progress made in the pilot countries, as well as for extending the activities to other countries, for the next rounds of the BR are discussed

Laboratory-based evaluation of legionellosis epidemiology in Ontario, Canada, 1978 to 2006

BACKGROUND: Legionellosis is a common cause of severe community acquired pneumonia and respiratory disease outbreaks. The Ontario Public Health Laboratory (OPHL) has conducted most testing for Legionella species in the Canadian province of Ontario since 1978, and represents a multi-decade repository of population-based data on legionellosis epidemiology. We sought to provide a laboratory-based review of the epidemiology of legionellosis in Ontario over the past 3 decades, with a focus on changing rates of disease and species associated with legionellosis during that time period. METHODS: We analyzed cases that were submitted and tested positive for legionellosis from 1978 to 2006 using Poisson regression models incorporating temporal, spatial, and demographic covariates. Predictors of infection with culture-confirmed L. pneumophila serogroup 1 (LP1) were evaluated with logistic regression models. Results: 1,401 cases of legionellosis tested positive from 1978 to 2006. As in other studies, we found a late summer to early autumn seasonality in disease occurrence with disease risk increasing with age and in males. In contrast to other studies, we found a decreasing trend in cases in the recent decade (IRR 0.93, 95% CI 0.91 to 0.95, P-value = 0.001); only 66% of culture-confirmed isolates were found to be LP1. CONCLUSION: Despite similarities with disease epidemiology in other regions, legionellosis appears to have declined in the past decade in Ontario, in contrast to trends observed in the United States and parts of Europe. Furthermore, a different range of Legionella species is responsible for illness, suggesting a distinctive legionellosis epidemiology in this North American region

Reducing Legionella Colonization of Water Systems with Monochloramine

Monochloramine reduced colonization in building hot water systems

Restaurant outbreak of Legionnaires' disease associated with a decorative fountain: an environmental and case-control study

BACKGROUND: From June to November 2005, 18 cases of community-acquired Legionnaires' disease (LD) were reported in Rapid City South Dakota. We conducted epidemiologic and environmental investigations to identify the source of the outbreak. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study that included the first 13 cases and 52 controls randomly selected from emergency department records and matched on underlying illness. We collected information about activities of case-patients and controls during the 14 days before symptom onset. Environmental samples (n = 291) were cultured for Legionella. Clinical and environmental isolates were compared using monoclonal antibody subtyping and sequence based typing (SBT). RESULTS: Case-patients were significantly more likely than controls to have passed through several city areas that contained or were adjacent to areas with cooling towers positive for Legionella. Six of 11 case-patients (matched odds ratio (mOR) 32.7, 95% CI 4.7-infinity) reported eating in Restaurant A versus 0 controls. Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 was isolated from four clinical specimens: 3 were Benidorm type strains and 1 was a Denver type strain. Legionella were identified from several environmental sites including 24 (56%) of 43 cooling towers tested, but only one site, a small decorative fountain in Restaurant A, contained Benidorm, the outbreak strain. Clinical and environmental Benidorm isolates had identical SBT patterns. CONCLUSION: This is the first time that small fountain without obvious aerosol-generating capability has been implicated as the source of a LD outbreak. Removal of the fountain halted transmission

How the Colonial legacy frames state audit institutions in Benin that fail to curb corruption

Supreme audit institutions are an important pillar of governance and government resource management, particularly for controlling corruption. Francophone African countries inherited these from their former colonial power, France, but their role and function are limited. This paper argues that this is partly a legacy of their colonial experience. It investigates the Chamber of Accounts in Benin, the country’s supreme audit institution, using the lenses of Ekeh (1975) two publics and legitimacy theory. Nonetheless, Ekeh’s theory needed extending to incorporate changes affecting governance after Benin’s independence. The amorality of political officials, accepted by much of Benin society, rendered the institution largely ineffective in controlling corruption. Nevertheless, civil society organizations, donors, and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have attempted to redress this. Politicians and government officials responded by engaging in symbolic compliance to meet stakeholders’ expectations. A separate audit institution – the General Inspectorate of State – was established under the sole control of the President to gain external legitimacy and retain donors’ budget support, whilst persistent corruption and rising poverty continue. Benin’s auditing institutions have become empty crates, which sometimes facilitate rather than control corruption

Unified distribution of pseudonyms in hybrid ephemeral vehicular networks

This research devises a unified method for the distribution of pseudonyms in hybrid ephemeral vehicular networks (VNs), which are often referred to as vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs), for the purposes of refill, intra-regional, and inter-regional movement. This work addresses a significant impediment to the use of pseudonyms, which has been almost universally accepted (and is on the verge of being standardized by the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and the Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE) as the best means to balance attribution and privacy to maximize the value of infrastructure deployment and citizen acceptability (i.e. use). The results include a pseudonym distribution protocol that maximizes ease of use while not compromising the security or privacy pseudonyms afford. These results contribute to the solution, in a scalable, adaptive, and bandwidth efficient manner, one of the remaining impediments to the adoption of VANETs. The new method shows improved performance compared to a baseline pseudonym distribution method that does not take these factors into consideration.PhDCommittee Chair: Owen, Henry; Committee Member: Ahamad, Mustaque; Committee Member: Beyah, Raheem; Committee Member: Copeland, John; Committee Member: Riley, Georg

Interactive primary structure reduction

The function of the Iterative Primary Structure Reduction (IPSR) project was to evaluate the practicality of utilizing alternative packaging techniques to launch a spacecraft. A model spacecraft was created based on previous missions. This spacecraft was analyzed and redesigned, via an iterative process, to determine if the alternative packaging techniques could be used to reduce the weight of the spacecraft's primary structure. The primary technique explored was packaging the spacecraft against the fairing for lateral support. The iterations consisted of a redesign and an analysis to insure that the new packaging technique supplied the necessary support for the modified spacecraft

Evaluation of Communication Delay Based Attack against the Smart Grid

The smart grid is becoming increasingly reliant on communications systems for measurement and control data. A simple cyber-physical attack on the power grid is to introduce delays in the delivery of these measurement and control messages to the control centers of the grid. This paper investigates the consequences of delay using the IEEE 30 bus standard benchmark. The Power System Simulation software PSCAD is used to model the power system. A case study to introduce delays and line cuts and measure the line voltage is presented. The case study is designed to pinpoint the amount of delay that can be tolerated before the system becomes unstable