Message Dissemination in Social Networks for Support of Information Operations Planning

Message dissemination is often an important part of many provincial reconstruction efforts. This dissemination is affected by many factors that may only be partly known, such as the impact of the information, the social network structure, socio-cultural factors that affect the information dissemination, and at what point the information looses its news value in verbal communication. Understanding and managing how all factors that affect the message dissemination may interact pose a complex problem even for experienced Psychological Operations (PsyOps) officers. This paper therefore proposes that modelling and simulation (MoS) techniques based on epidemiological modelling can be used to cope with the complexity when planning information operations. Particularly, regarding what portion of the target population is reached by a message and within what timeframe. The paper describes how the epidemiological framework can be applied to a scenario that is used for combined staff exercises within the Swedish Armed Forces. The main focus is how cross-cultural dimensions, such as Hofstede's five dimensions, and other socio-cultural factors can be used to derive the social network structure and contact rate for message dissemination. The results illustrate the assumed effects of socio-cultural factors on message dissemination and the need for a coherent theoretical framework that provides some understanding of how the social network and contact rates are shaped by socio-cultural factors

Bioavailability of lutein from a lutein-enriched egg-yolk beverage and its dried re-suspended versions

Drying a fresh lutein-enriched egg-yolk beverage would extend its shelf life, however, functional properties should not be affected. It was investigated whether consumption of a dried beverage containing lutein-enriched egg-yolk significantly increases serum lutein. One-hundred healthy young subjects participated in this 6-weeks randomized controlled study. Subjects consumed either a “plain” control beverage (n¿=¿26), a fresh lutein-enriched egg-yolk beverage (n¿=¿25), a dried version of this beverage (n¿=¿25), or a beverage composed of the dried individual components of the drink (n¿=¿24). The fresh and both dried versions of the lutein-enriched egg-yolk beverage were able to increase serum lutein levels after 6 weeks of consumption (lutein change: -38¿±¿47¿nmol/L, +304¿±¿113¿nmol/L, +148¿±¿79¿nmol/L and +178¿±¿83¿nmol/L for control, fresh, dried and combined dried group respectively; p

A macaque model for hantavirus infection.

Cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were experimentally infected with Puumala virus (strain Hallnas), which causes nephropathia epidemica in humans in western Europe. During the first week after intratracheal inoculation, the monkeys exhibited signs of lethargy followed by mild proteinuria and microhematuria. Histopathologic changes during the first 7 weeks after infection were largely confined to abnormalities in medullary tubular cells of the kidneys, which coincided with the demonstration of viral antigen and viral RNA. The development of different classes of virus-specific plasma antibodies to the respective viral antigens were similar to those observed in humans with nephropathia epidemica. This first description of a nonhuman primate model for hantavirus infection shows that the cynomolgus macaque provides a suitable model with which to study the pathogenesis of Puumala virus infections and to evaluate new diagnostic methods, immunization strategies, and therapies

Recombinant soluble, multimeric HA and NA exhibit distinctive types of protection against pandemic swine-origin 2009 A(H1N1) influenza virus infection in ferrets

The emergence and subsequent swift and global spread of the swine-origin influenza virus A(H1N1) in 2009 once again emphasizes the strong need for effective vaccines that can be developed rapidly and applied safely. With this aim, we produced soluble, multimeric forms of the 2009 A(H1N1) HA (sHA3) and NA (sNA4) surface glycoproteins using a virus-free mammalian expression system and evaluated their efficacy as vaccines in ferrets. Immunization twice with 3.75-μg doses of these antigens elicited strong antibody responses, which were adjuvant dependent. Interestingly, coadministration of both antigens strongly enhanced the HA-specific but not the NA-specific responses. Distinct patterns of protection were observed upon challenge inoculation with the homologous H1N1 virus. Whereas vaccination with sHA3dramatically reduced virus replication (e.g., by lowering pulmonary titers by about 5 log10units), immunization with sNA4markedly decreased the clinical effects of infection, such as body weight loss and lung pathology. Clearly, optimal protection was achieved by the combination of the two antigens. Our observations demonstrate the great vaccine potential of multimeric HA and NA ectodomains, as these can be easily, rapidly, flexibly, and safely produced in high quantities. In particular, our study underscores the underrated importance of NA in influenza vaccination, which we found to profoundly and specifically contribute to protection by HA. Its inclusion in a vaccine is likely to reduce the HA dose required and to broaden the protective immunity. Copyrigh

Adenosine deaminase acts as a natural antagonist for dipeptidyl peptidase 4-mediated entry of the middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) replicates in cells of different species using dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) as a