1,383 research outputs found
Intra- and interspecies transmission of H7N7 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus during the avian influenza epidemic in the Netherlands in 2003
The poultry epidemic of H7N7 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus in the Netherlands in 2003 was probably the result of the introduction of an H7N7 low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) virus (by interspecies transmission from wild birds) and the subsequent intraspecies transmission of this virus in poultry. The intraspecies transmission of the ensuing H7N7 HPAI virus was very successful both within and between flocks. Consequently, in the two poultry-dense areas that were affected, the epidemic could only be stopped by eliminating all poultry in the region. According to the spatial models these are the only areas where this was the case in the Netherlands. There was also interspecies transmission to mammals, i.e. to pigs and to humans. For pigs it was shown that possible subsequent intraspecies transmission was negligible (R0 <1). With hindsight the same was probably also true for human
Field trial for assessment of avian influenza vaccination effectiveness in Indonesia
The aim of this field study was to determine the efficacy of vaccination against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus strain H5N1 in Indonesia. A limited, prototype clinical trial was performed using a standardised treatment group, in which poultry flocks were vaccinated at least twice with a selected H5N1 vaccine, and a control group comprising flocks treated with nonstandardised procedures chosen by the farmer. Each group consisted of six flocks comprising either layers or native chickens. Haemagglutination inhibition (HI) antibody levels were determined by regular serum sampling, and outbreak surveillance relied on non-Al-vaccinated sentinel birds. After three vaccinations high antibody titres were produced in the treatment group, and the percentage of layers with an HI titre > 40 was approximately 90%. Although no conclusions can be drawn regarding reduction of virus transmission, this study demonstrated that 11 farms remained free from Al during the observation period, and that a surveillance programme based on differentiating infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) can be implemented
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Attributing synergies and trade-offs in water resources planning and management in the Volta River basin under climate change
To feed the growing population, achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and fulfil the commitments of the Paris Agreement, West African countries need to invest in agricultural development and renewable energy, among other sectors. Irrigated agriculture, feeding millions of people, and hydropower, generating clean electricity, depend on water availability and compete for the resource. In the Volta basin, the planned 105 000 ha of irrigated land in Burkina Faso and Ghana could feed hundreds of thousands of people. However, irrigation in the dry season depends on upstream dams that change the river’s flow regime from intermittent to permanent, and at the same time irrigation water is no longer available for hydropower generation. Using an integrated eco-hydrological and water management model, we investigated the water demand and supply of three planned irrigation projects and the impacts of the planned Pwalugu multi-purpose dam on the hydropower potentials and water availability in the entire Volta basin. We found that future irrigation withdrawals would reduce the hydropower potential in the Volta basin by 79 GWh a−1 and the operation of Pwalugu by another 86 GWh a−1. Hence, Pwalugu contributes only about 101 GWh a−1 of its potential of 187 GWh a−1. Under climate change simulations, using an ensemble of eight bias-adjusted and downscaled GCMs, irrigation demand surprisingly did not increase. The higher evaporation losses due to higher temperatures were compensated by increasing precipitation while favouring hydropower generation. However, water availability at the irrigation site in Burkina Faso is clearly at its limit, while capacity in Ghana is not yet exhausted. Due to hydro-climatic differences in the Volta basin, the cost of irrigating one hectare of land in terms of lost hydropower potential follows a north-south gradient from the hot and dry north to the humid south. Nevertheless, food production should have priority over hydropower, which can be compensated by other renewables energies
Validation of diagnostic tests for detection of avian influenza in vaccinated chickens using Bayesian analysis
Toward Open-Closed String Theoretical Description of Rolling Tachyon
We consider how the time-dependent decay process of an unstable D-brane
should be described in the full (quantum) open-closed string theory. It is
argued that the system, starting from the unstable D-brane configuration, will
evolve in time into the time-independent open string tachyon vacuum
configuration which we assume to be finite, with the total energy conserved. As
a concrete realization of this idea, we construct a toy model describing the
open and closed string tachyons which admits such a time-dependent solution.
The structure of our model has some resemblance to that of open-closed string
field theory.Comment: 1+10 pages, 6 figures. v2: a reference adde
Periodic UV modulation of X1850-087: a double degenerate binary in the globular cluster NGC 6712?
Giant Gravitons - with Strings Attached (III)
We develop techniques to compute the one-loop anomalous dimensions of
operators in the super Yang-Mills theory that are dual to open
strings ending on boundstates of sphere giant gravitons. Our results, which are
applicable to excitations involving an arbitrary number of open strings,
generalize the single string results of hep-th/0701067. The open strings we
consider carry angular momentum on an S embedded in the S of the
AdSS background. The problem of computing the one loop anomalous
dimensions is replaced with the problem of diagonalizing an interacting Cuntz
oscillator Hamiltonian. Our Cuntz oscillator dynamics illustrates how the
Chan-Paton factors for open strings propagating on multiple branes can arise
dynamically.Comment: 66 pages; v2: improved presentatio
Universal Scaling of Strong-Field Localization in an Integer Quantum Hall Liquid
We study the Landau level localization and scaling properties of a disordered
two-dimensional electron gas in the presence of a strong external magnetic
field. The impurities are treated as random distributed scattering centers with
parameterized potentials. Using a transfer matrix for a finite-width strip
geometry, we calculate the localization length as a function of system size and
electron energy. The finite-size localization length is determined by
calculating the Lyapunov exponents of the transfer matrix. A detailed
finite-size scaling analysis is used to study the critical behavior near the
center of the Landau bands. The influence of varying the impurity
concentration, the scattering potential range and its nature, and the Landau
level index on the scaling behavior and on the critical exponent is
systematically investigated. Particular emphasis is put on studying the effects
of finite range of the disorder potential and Landau level coupling on the
quantum localization behavior. Our numerical results, which are carried out on
systems much larger than those studied before, indicate that pure
-function disorder in the absence of any Landau level coupling gives
rise to non-universal localization properties with the critical exponents in
the lowest two Landau levels being substantially different. Inclusion of a
finite potential range and/or Landau level mixing may be essential in producing
universality in the localization.Comment: 28 pages, Latex, 17 figures (available upon request), #phd0
The electron-nucleon cross section in reactions
We examine commonly used approaches to deal with the scattering of electrons
from a bound nucleon. Several prescriptions are shown to be related by gauge
transformations. Nevertheless, due to current non-conservation, they yield
different results. These differences reflect the size of the uncertainty that
persists in the interpretation of experiments.Comment: 6 pp (10 in preprint form), ReVTeX, (+ 4 figures, uuencoded
Non-critical, near extremal AdS_6 background as a holographic laboratory of four dimensional YM theory
We study certain properties of the low energy regime of a theory which
resembles four dimensional YM theory in the framework of a non-critical
holographic gravity dual. We use for the latter the near extremal
non-critical SUGRA. We extract the glueball spectra that associates with the
fluctuations of the dilaton, one form and the graviton and compare the results
to those of the critical near extremal model and lattice simulations. We
show an area law behavior for the Wilson loop and screening for the 't Hooft
loop. The Luscher term is found to be . We derive the
Regge trajectories of glueballs associated with the spinning folded string
configurations.Comment: 25 pages, JHEP styl
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