Avian and Human Influenza Pandemic, How Prepared is the Developing World?

The history of avian and human influenza pandemics showed a high case fatality and devastating socioeconomic impact on the developing world. The global epidemiology of the human influenza of 1918, 1957 and 1968 pandemics had few similarities. One of which was mass human migration, whether it being troop deployment or trade routes. How much the perennial flight patterns of wild bird had on its spread is another question for consideration? The avian influenza virus does not readily cross the species barrier, though there is a potential for genetic re-assortment and cross infection. The main finding of this review suggest a lack of historic epidemiological data from the developing world on previous influenza pandemics, a poorly developed surveillance system and lack of health service delivery capacity to effectively combat an outbreak of influenza, should it occur. The developing world already heavily burdened with endemic diseases such as malaria, HIV, Tuberculosis and other respiratory tract infections will find it difficult to cope with an influenza pandemic. A preparedness plan for developing countries should include health systems strengthening especially that providing expertise and improved surveillance tools. Keywords: Influenza, Pandemic, Preparedness, Health system

A Similarity Measure for GPU Kernel Subgraph Matching

Accelerator architectures specialize in executing SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) in lockstep. Because the majority of CUDA applications are parallelized loops, control flow information can provide an in-depth characterization of a kernel. CUDAflow is a tool that statically separates CUDA binaries into basic block regions and dynamically measures instruction and basic block frequencies. CUDAflow captures this information in a control flow graph (CFG) and performs subgraph matching across various kernel's CFGs to gain insights to an application's resource requirements, based on the shape and traversal of the graph, instruction operations executed and registers allocated, among other information. The utility of CUDAflow is demonstrated with SHOC and Rodinia application case studies on a variety of GPU architectures, revealing novel thread divergence characteristics that facilitates end users, autotuners and compilers in generating high performing code

Advances in reproductive biology and seed production systems of Eucalyptus: The case of Eucalyptus globulus

Eucalyptus globulus is the main eucalypt species grown in Australian plantations. The focus on seedling deployment systems, coupled with exploitation of large, open-pollinated base populations for breeding purposes over the last two decades, has required a detailed understanding of the reproductive biology of this species. We review our research on the reproductive biology of E. globulus, with a focus on it’s breeding system and advances made in seed production systems. While most improved seed is still obtained from open-pollinated seedling or grafted seed orchards, the development of the one-stop/single-visit pollination procedure has revolutionised the breeding and deployment of this species. The reduced costs of controlled pollination has meant full pedigree-control can now be maintained in large advanced generation breeding populations and E. globulus is one of the few eucalypt species where large-scale production of manually pollinated seed for family forestry is being undertaken

Reliability and validity of using the global school-based student health survey to assess 24 hour movement behaviours in adolescents from Saudi Arabia

This is the final version, Available on open access from Routledge via the DOI in this recordThis study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) to measure 24-hour movement behaviours (moderate-to-vigorous physical activity - MVPA; sedentary behaviour in the form of recreational screen time - ST; and sleep) in Saudi Arabian youths. A total of 120 (50% female) participants aged 12-15 years old were recruited from eight Saudi public middle schools. Participants completed GSHS survey twice and wore GENEActiv accelerometers for seven consecutive days and completed a diary log. ICC indicated moderate reliability in all 24-hour movement behaviours (ICC = 0.41 - 0.60), whereas ST and sleep were strongly reliable for females only (ICC = 0.61 - 0.80). Kappa agreements for all 24-hr movement behaviours were moderate (k = 0.41 - 0.60), but fair in MVPA and ST for males only (k = 0.21 - 0.40). Spearman's indicated low validity (r = 0.1 - 0.3) in MVPA and sleep between GSHS and GENEActiv. However, kappa test results indicated poor-to-slight agreements (k = <0.00 - 0.2) in MVPA and sleep, but fair in MVPA for males only (k = 0.21 - 0.4). GSHS provided good reliability for single items of 24-hour movement behaviours, and the validity was acceptable and in line with other comparable questionnaires.Ministry of Education, Saudi Arabi

Movement behaviors, cardiorespiratory fitness, and cardiovascular disease risk factors in children from the gulf cooperation council countries: A narrative review

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available on open access from Medknow via the DOI in this recordMovement behaviors inclusive of physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and sleep time (ST), and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in children. The aim of this narrative review is to synthesize data on movement behaviors (PA, SB, and ST) and CRF in relation to CVD risk factors in children from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Three online databases were searched up until August 2019. Movement behaviour studies were included if cut-offs were ≥60 min/day for PA, ≤2 or ≤≤3 h/day for SB (screen time), and ≥≥8 or ≥9 h/day for ST. Laboratory- and field-based CRF measures were included. Thirty-five studies were included in the review. Participants were aged 8–19 years old. Seven studies were on males and one study on female-only participants. PA was reported in 13 studies, with 28% considered physically active. SB was reported in 13 studies and 56% met the guidelines. Only one study measured ST, with 23% meeting the recommendation. Eight studies measured CRF, and in six of these studies, the mean maximal oxygen uptake (VO2 max) was 42 and 36 mL/kg/min for males and females, respectively. Two studies used the one-mile walk/run test on male participants, with a mean performance time of 10 min. One study investigated multiple CVD risk factors in relation to CRF, and four studies with body mass index (BMI) only. One study on PA and SB was examined in relation to BMI. Overall, weak correlations were found between movement behaviors and CRF in relation to CVD risk factors. The prevalence of meeting PA and ST guidelines among children from GCC is low. On average, CRF is slightly above the proposed healthy cut off points for both genders. Future prospective research is needed on children from the GCC to comprehensively examine the relationship between movement behaviors, CRF and CVD risk.King Saud Universit

Culture-Free Enumeration of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Mouse Tissues Using the Molecular Bacterial Load Assay for Preclinical Drug Development

BACKGROUND: The turnaround times for phenotypic tests used to monitor the bacterial load of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, in both clinical and preclinical studies, are delayed by the organism’s slow growth in culture media. The existence of differentially culturable populations of M.tuberculosis may result in an underestimate of the true number. Moreover, culture methods are susceptible to contamination resulting in loss of critical data points. Objectives: We report the adaptation of our robust, culture-free assay utilising 16S ribosomal RNA, developed for sputum, to enumerate the number of bacteria present in animal tissues as a tool to improve the read-outs in preclinical drug efficacy studies. METHODS: Initial assay adaptation was performed using naïve mouse lungs spiked with known quantities of M. tuberculosis and an internal RNA control. Tissues were homogenised, total RNA extracted, and enumeration performed using RT-qPCR. We then evaluated the utility of the assay, in comparison to bacterial counts estimated using growth assays on solid and liquid media, to accurately inform bacterial load in tissues from M. tuberculosis-infected mice before and during treatment with a panel of drug combinations. RESULTS: When tested on lung tissues derived from infected mice, the MBL assay produced comparable results to the bacterial counts in solid culture (colony forming units: CFU). Notably, under specific drug treatments, the MBL assay was able to detect a significantly higher number of M. tuberculosis compared to CFU, likely indicating the presence of bacteria that were unable to produce colonies in solid-based culture. Additionally, growth recovery in liquid media using the most probable number (MPN) assay was able to account for the discrepancy between the MBL assay and CFU number, suggesting that the MBL assay detects differentially culturable sub-populations of M. tuberculosis. CONCLUSIONS: The MBL assay can enumerate the bacterial load in animal tissues in real time without the need to wait for extended periods for cultures to grow. The readout correlates well with CFUs. Importantly, we have shown that the MBL is able to measure specific populations of bacteria not cultured on solid agar. The adaptation of this assay for preclinical studies has the potential to decrease the readout time of data acquisition from animal experiments and could represent a valuable tool for tuberculosis drug discovery and development