Potential impact of a maternal vaccine for RSV: a mathematical modelling study

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of respiratory morbidity and one of the main causes of hospitalisation in young children. While there is currently no licensed vaccine for RSV, a vaccine candidate for pregnant women is undergoing phase 3 trials. We developed a compartmental age-structured model for RSV transmission, validated using linked laboratory-confirmed RSV hospitalisation records for metropolitan Western Australia. We adapted the model to incorporate a maternal RSV vaccine, and estimated the expected reduction in RSV hospitalisations arising from such a program. The introduction of a vaccine was estimated to reduce RSV hospitalisations in Western Australia by 6-37% for 0-2month old children, and 30-46% for 3-5month old children, for a range of vaccine effectiveness levels. Our model shows that, provided a vaccine is demonstrated to extend protection against RSV disease beyond the first three months of life, a policy using a maternal RSV vaccine could be effective in reducing RSV hospitalisations in children up to six months of age, meeting the objective of a maternal vaccine in delaying an infant's first RSV infection to an age at which severe disease is less likely

Local Charge of the nu=5/2 Fractional Quantum Hall State

Electrons in two dimensions and strong magnetic fields effectively lose their kinetic energy and display exotic behavior dominated by Coulomb forces. When the ratio of electrons to magnetic flux quanta in the system is near 5/2, the unique correlated phase that emerges is predicted to be gapped with fractionally charged quasiparticles and a ground state degeneracy that grows exponentially as these quasiparticles are introduced. Interestingly, the only way to transform between the many ground states would be to braid the fractional excitations around each other, a property with applications in quantum information processing. Here we present the first observation of localized quasiparticles at nu=5/2, confined to puddles by disorder. Using a local electrometer to compare how quasiparticles at nu=5/2 and nu=7/3 charge these puddles, we are able to extract the ratio of local charges for these states. Averaged over several disorder configurations and samples, we find the ratio to be 4/3, suggesting that the local charges are e/3 at seven thirds and e/4 at five halves, in agreement with theoretical predictions. This confirmation of localized e/4 quasiparticles is necessary for proposed interferometry experiments to test statistics and computational ability of the state at nu=5/2.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures corrected titl

A Modified Newcastle-Ottawa Scale for Assessment of Study Quality in Genetic Urological Research

Our modification of the traditional Newcastle-Ottawa scale enables urological researchers to effectively appraise and communicate the quality of genetic-based research in urology

Galaxy Harassment and the Evolution of Clusters of Galaxies

Disturbed spiral galaxies with high rates of star formation pervaded clusters of galaxies just a few billion years ago, but nearby clusters exclude spirals in favor of ellipticals. ``Galaxy harassment" (frequent high speed galaxy encounters) drives the morphological transformation of galaxies in clusters, provides fuel for quasars in subluminous hosts and leaves detectable debris arcs. Simulated images of harassed galaxies are strikingly similar to the distorted spirals in clusters at $z \sim 0.4$ observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.Comment: Submitted to Nature. Latex file, 7 pages, 10 photographs in gif and jpeg format included. 10 compressed postscript figures and text available using anonymous ftp from ftp://ftp-hpcc.astro.washington.edu/pub/hpcc/moore/ (mget *) Also available at http://www-hpcc.astro.washington.edu/papers

Standardization of epidemiological surveillance of acute rheumatic fever

Acute rheumatic fever (ARF) is a multiorgan inflammatory disorder that results from the body’s autoimmune response to pharyngitis or a skin infection caused by Streptococcus pyogenes (Strep A). Acute rheumatic fever mainly affects those in low- and middle-income nations, as well as in indigenous populations in wealthy nations, where initial Strep A infections may go undetected. A single episode of ARF puts a person at increased risk of developing long-term cardiac damage known as rheumatic heart disease. We present case definitions for both definite and possible ARF, including initial and recurrent episodes, according to the 2015 Jones Criteria, and we discuss current tests available to aid in the diagnosis. We outline the considerations specific to ARF surveillance methodology, including discussion on where and how to conduct active or passive surveillance (eg, early childhood centers/schools, households, primary healthcare, administrative database review), participant eligibility, and the surveillance population. Additional considerations for ARF surveillance, including implications for secondary prophylaxis and follow-up, ARF registers, community engagement, and the impact of surveillance, are addressed. Finally, the core elements of case report forms for ARF, monitoring and audit requirements, quality control and assurance, and the ethics of conducting surveillance are discussed

A Simple PCR Method for Rapid Genotype Analysis of the TH-MYCN Transgenic Mouse

BACKGROUND: The TH-MYCN transgenic mouse is the most widely used murine model of human neuroblastoma, in which a human MYCN oncogene is targeted to neuroectodermal cells of developing mice under the influence of the rat tyrosine hydroxylase promoter. So far, homozygous transgenic mice have been identified by either Southern blot or quantitative real-time PCR. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To establish a simple and reliable genotyping method by conventional PCR, we confirmed the integration of the transgene in the TH-MYCN transgenic mouse by Southern blot and inverse PCR analyses. Our results showed that either five or six copies were found to be inserted in a head-to-tail tandem configuration at a single locus. The MYCN transgene/host DNA junction was sequenced and the integration site was identified at chromosome 18qE4. Finally, we succeeded in designing rapid, simple and reliable genotyping method by common PCR using primers flanking the integrated TH-MYCN transgene. CONCLUSION: We established a simple and reliable genotyping PCR method for determining the integration site of the TH-MYCN transgene that enables all possible genotypes to be distinguished within several hours. TH-MYCN mice are excellent model for human neuroblastoma study, thus our results will largely be useful for facilitating the pace of neuroblastoma study, including in the study of the tumourigenic process, and in the development of therapies to treat patients suffering from neuroblastoma

Simvastatin improves the sexual health-related quality of life in men aged 40 years and over with erectile dysfunction : Additional data from the Erectile Dysfunction and Statin trial

© 2014 Trivedi et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited.Background: Erectile dysfunction is prevalent in men over 40 years, affecting their quality of life and that of their partners. The aims of this study were:a)To evaluate the internal reliability of the male erectile dysfunction specific quality of life (MED-QoL) scale and explore its factor structure.b)To evaluate the effect of simvastatin on subscales of the MED-QoL in men over forty years with erectile dysfunction. Methods: This is a double blind randomised controlled trial of 40 mg simvastatin or placebo given once daily for six months to men over forty years with untreated erectile dysfunction, who were not at high cardiovascular risk and were not on anti-hypertensive or lipid-lowering medication. 173 eligible men were recruited from 10 general practices in East of England. Data were collected at two points over 30 weeks. We report on the factor structure of MED-QoL, the internal reliability of the scale and the derived subscales, and the effect of simvastatin on MED-QoL subscales. Results: An initial analysis of the MED-QoL items suggested that a number of items should be removed (MED-QoL-R). Exploratory factor analysis identified three subscales within the MED-QoL-R which accounted for 96% of the variance, related to feelings of Control, initiating Intimacy, and Emotional response to erectile dysfunction. The alpha value for the revised scale (MED-Qol-R) was >0.95 and exceeded .82 for each subscale. Regression analysis showed that patients in the placebo group experienced a significantly reduced feeling of Control over erectile dysfunction than those in the statin group. Those in the placebo group had significantly lower Emotional response than those in the statin group at the close of trial, but there was no significant treatment effect on Intimacy. Conclusions: Our revised MED-QoL-R identified three subscales. Secondary analysis showed a significant improvement in sexual health related quality of life, specifically in relation to perception of control and emotional health in men with untreated erectile dysfunction given 40 mg simvastatin for six months. Trial registration: Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN66772971.Peer reviewe

Spectral reflectance of whale skin above the sea surface: a proposed measurement protocol

Great whales have been detected using very-high-resolution satellite imagery, suggesting this technology could be used to monitor whales in remote areas. However, the application of this method to whale studies is at an early developmental stage and several technical factors need to be addressed, including capacity for species differentiation and the maximum depth of detection in the water column. Both require knowledge of the spectral reflectance of the various whale species just above the sea surface, as when whales bodies break the surface of the water to breath, log or breach, there is, theoretically, no sea water between the whale’s skin and the satellite sensor. Here we tested whether such reflectance could be measured on dead whale tissue. We measured the spectral reflectance of fresh integument collected during the bowhead subsistence harvest, and of thawed integument samples from various species obtained following strandings and stored at -20°C. We show that fresh and thawed samples of whale integument have different spectral properties. The reflectance of fresh samples was higher than the reflectance of thawed samples, as integument appears to darken after death and with time, even under frozen conditions. In this study, we present the first whale reflectance estimates (without the influence of sea water and for dead tissue). These provide a baseline for additional work, needed to advance the use of satellite imagery to monitor whales and facilitate their conservation.MAVA Foundation, B B Roberts Fund, Cambridge Philosophical Society, Prescott Stranding Grants

Graveyards on the Move: The Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Dead Ophiocordyceps-Infected Ants

Parasites are likely to play an important role in structuring host populations. Many adaptively manipulate host behaviour, so that the extended phenotypes of these parasites and their distributions in space and time are potentially important ecological variables. The fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which is pan-tropical in distribution, causes infected worker ants to leave their nest and die under leaves in the understory of tropical rainforests. Working in a forest dynamic plot in Southern Thailand we mapped the occurrence of these dead ants by examining every leaf in 1,360 m2 of primary rainforest. We established that high density aggregations exist (up to 26 dead ants/m2), which we coined graveyards. We further established that graveyards are patchily distributed in a landscape with no or very few O. unilateralis-killed ants. At some, but not all, spatial scales of analysis the density of dead ants correlated with temperature, humidity and vegetation cover. Remarkably, having found 2243 dead ants inside graveyards we only found 2 live ants of the principal host, ant Camponotus leonardi, suggesting that foraging host ants actively avoid graveyards. We discovered that the principal host ant builds nests in high canopy and its trails only occasionally descend to the forest floor where infection occurs. We advance the hypothesis that rare descents may be a function of limited canopy access to tree crowns and that resource profitability of such trees is potentially traded off against the risk of losing workers due to infection when forest floor trails are the only access routes. Our work underscores the need for an integrative approach that recognises multiple facets of parasitism, such as their extended phenotypes