British carboniferous bryozoan biogeography

The geographical and temporal distributions of the British Carboniferous Bryozoa have been determined, incorporating data from fieldwork (including localities in Scotland, North England, North Wales, South Wales, and Avon), museum collections, and literature searches. A total of 126 species has been recognised, though further work may reveal some synonymies within this list. The forty species collected during the fieldwork have been identified by reference to previous taxonomic work; most species can be assigned to established taxonomic descriptions, but two new species, Rhombopora bancrofti and Polypora hexagonaria, are proposed, and the descriptions of Rhombopora incrassata and Rhombopora similis are emended. The applicability of Student's t-test to the morphometric analysis of Carboniferous bryozoan species has been studied, and a computer program written to perforin this task, incorporating a database of species measurements. A new statistical method, the division t-test, is presented in this thesis; this method is useful in comparing the relative ratios of bryozoan colony parameters. Both the t-test and the division t-test were found to be of use in identifying bryozoan species. Analysis of the bryozoan faunas in nine regional areas of Britain has been made using the Simpson and Jaccard coefficients of similarity. The resulting coefficients are consistent with the limited distribution capability of many bryozoan taxa, and also match with the known palaeogeography and palaeocurrents of the Carboniferous of northwest Europe. Plots of species diversity against geographical distribution show a similar pattern to that produced by Tertiary non-planktotrophic larvae-bearing neogastropods. Further, additional plots of species diversity against species longevity produced a pattern consistent with normal background extinction events. A study of bryozoan morphology between different areas and different stages within the Carboniferous indicated that species showed no measurable temporal evolutionary or lateral geographical changes through the Lower Carboniferous. Rather, local environmental stresses are the major architects of bryozoan colony morphology

Genomic investigations of unexplained acute hepatitis in children

Since its first identification in Scotland, over 1,000 cases of unexplained paediatric hepatitis in children have been reported worldwide, including 278 cases in the UK1. Here we report an investigation of 38 cases, 66 age-matched immunocompetent controls and 21 immunocompromised comparator participants, using a combination of genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and immunohistochemical methods. We detected high levels of adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) DNA in the liver, blood, plasma or stool from 27 of 28 cases. We found low levels of adenovirus (HAdV) and human herpesvirus 6B (HHV-6B) in 23 of 31 and 16 of 23, respectively, of the cases tested. By contrast, AAV2 was infrequently detected and at low titre in the blood or the liver from control children with HAdV, even when profoundly immunosuppressed. AAV2, HAdV and HHV-6 phylogeny excluded the emergence of novel strains in cases. Histological analyses of explanted livers showed enrichment for T cells and B lineage cells. Proteomic comparison of liver tissue from cases and healthy controls identified increased expression of HLA class 2, immunoglobulin variable regions and complement proteins. HAdV and AAV2 proteins were not detected in the livers. Instead, we identified AAV2 DNA complexes reflecting both HAdV-mediated and HHV-6B-mediated replication. We hypothesize that high levels of abnormal AAV2 replication products aided by HAdV and, in severe cases, HHV-6B may have triggered immune-mediated hepatic disease in genetically and immunologically predisposed children

Effects of Influenza Vaccination in the United States During the 2017-2018 Influenza Season.

BACKGROUND: The severity of the 2017-2018 influenza season in the United States was high, with influenza A(H3N2) viruses predominating. Here, we report influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) and estimate the number of vaccine-prevented influenza-associated illnesses, medical visits, hospitalizations, and deaths for the 2017-2018 influenza season. METHODS: We used national age-specific estimates of 2017-2018 influenza vaccine coverage and disease burden. We estimated VE against medically attended reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction-confirmed influenza virus infection in the ambulatory setting using a test-negative design. We used a compartmental model to estimate numbers of influenza-associated outcomes prevented by vaccination. RESULTS: The VE against outpatient, medically attended, laboratory-confirmed influenza was 38% (95% confidence interval [CI], 31%-43%), including 22% (95% CI, 12%-31%) against influenza A(H3N2), 62% (95% CI, 50%-71%) against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, and 50% (95% CI, 41%-57%) against influenza B. We estimated that influenza vaccination prevented 7.1 million (95% CrI, 5.4 million-9.3 million) illnesses, 3.7 million (95% CrI, 2.8 million-4.9 million) medical visits, 109 000 (95% CrI, 39 000-231 000) hospitalizations, and 8000 (95% credible interval [CrI], 1100-21 000) deaths. Vaccination prevented 10% of expected hospitalizations overall and 41% among young children (6 months-4 years). CONCLUSIONS: Despite 38% VE, influenza vaccination reduced a substantial burden of influenza-associated illness, medical visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States during the 2017-2018 season. Our results demonstrate the benefit of current influenza vaccination and the need for improved vaccines