title: Temporal Latent Space Modeling for Community Prediction

text: We propose a temporal latent space model for user community prediction in social networks, whose goal is to predict future emerging user communities based on past history of users’ topics of interest. Our model assumes that each user lies within an unobserved latent space, and similar users in the latent space representation are more likely to be members of the same user community. The model allows each user to adjust its location in the latent space as her topics of interest evolve over time. Empirically, we demonstrate that our model, when evaluated on a Twitter dataset, outperforms existing approaches under two application scenarios, namely news recommendation and user prediction on a host of metrics such as mrr, ndcg as well as precision and f-measure.


title: Graph-Embedding Empowered Entity Retrieval

text: In this research, we improve upon the current state of the art in entity retrieval by re-ranking the result list using graph embeddings. The paper shows that graph embeddings are useful for entity-oriented search tasks. We demonstrate empirically that encoding information from the knowledge graph into (graph) embeddings contributes to a higher increase in effectiveness of entity retrieval results than using plain word embeddings. We analyze the impact of the accuracy of the entity linker on the overall retrieval effectiveness. Our analysis further deploys the cluster hypothesis to explain the observed advantages of graph embeddings over the more widely used word embeddings, for user tasks involving ranking entities.


title: Curriculum Learning Strategies for IR: An Empirical Study on Conversation Response Ranking

text: Neural ranking models are traditionally trained on a series of random batches, sampled uniformly from the entire training set. Curriculum learning has recently been shown to improve neural models’ effectiveness by sampling batches non-uniformly, going from easy to difficult instances during training. In the context of neural Information Retrieval (IR) curriculum learning has not been explored yet, and so it remains unclear (1) how to measure the difficulty of training instances and (2) how to transition from easy to difficult instances during training. To address both challenges and determine whether curriculum learning is beneficial for neural ranking models, we need large-scale datasets and a retrieval task that allows us to conduct a wide range of experiments. For this purpose, we resort to the task of conversation response ranking: ranking responses given the conversation history. In order to deal with challenge (1), we explore scoring functions to measure the difficulty of conversations based on different input spaces. To address challenge (2) we evaluate different pacing functions, which determine the velocity in which we go from easy to difficult instances. We find that, overall, by just intelligently sorting the training data (i.e., by performing curriculum learning) we can improve the retrieval effectiveness by up to 2% (The source code is available at https://github.com/Guzpenha/transformers_cl.).


title: Counterfactual Online Learning to Rank

text: Exploiting users’ implicit feedback, such as clicks, to learn rankers is attractive as it does not require editorial labelling effort, and adapts to users’ changing preferences, among other benefits. However, directly learning a ranker from implicit data is challenging, as users’ implicit feedback usually contains bias (e.g., position bias, selection bias) and noise (e.g., clicking on irrelevant but attractive snippets, adversarial clicks). Two main methods have arisen for optimizing rankers based on implicit feedback: counterfactual learning to rank (CLTR), which learns a ranker from the historical click-through data collected from a deployed, logging ranker; and online learning to rank (OLTR), where a ranker is updated by recording user interaction with a result list produced by multiple rankers (usually via interleaving). In this paper, we propose a counterfactual online learning to rank algorithm (COLTR) that combines the key components of both CLTR and OLTR. It does so by replacing the online evaluation required by traditional OLTR methods with the counterfactual evaluation common in CLTR. Compared to traditional OLTR approaches based on interleaving, COLTR can evaluate a large number of candidate rankers in a more efficient manner. Our empirical results show that COLTR significantly outperforms traditional OLTR methods. Furthermore, COLTR can reach the same effectiveness of the current state-of-the-art, under noisy click settings, and has room for future extensions.


title: Context-Guided Learning to Rank Entities

text: We propose a method for learning entity orders, for example, safety, popularity, and livability orders of countries. We train linear functions by using samples of ordered entities as training data, and attributes of entities as features. An example of such functions is f(Entity) [Formula: see text] (Police budget) [Formula: see text] (Crime rate), for ordering countries in terms of safety. As the size of training data is typically small in this task, we propose a machine learning method referred to as context-guided learning (CGL) to overcome the over-fitting problem. Exploiting a large amount of contexts regarding relations between the labeling criteria (e.g. safety) and attributes, CGL guides learning in the correct direction by estimating a roughly appropriate weight for each attribute by the contexts. This idea was implemented by a regularization approach similar to support vector machines. Experiments were conducted with 158 kinds of orders in three datasets. The experimental results showed high effectiveness of the contextual guidance over existing ranking methods.


title: Using Image Captions and Multitask Learning for Recommending Query Reformulations

text: Interactive search sessions often contain multiple queries, where the user submits a reformulated version of the previous query in response to the original results. We aim to enhance the query recommendation experience for a commercial image search engine. Our proposed methodology incorporates current state-of-the-art practices from relevant literature – the use of generation-based sequence-to-sequence models that capture session context, and a multitask architecture that simultaneously optimizes the ranking of results. We extend this setup by driving the learning of such a model with captions of clicked images as the target, instead of using the subsequent query within the session. Since these captions tend to be linguistically richer, the reformulation mechanism can be seen as assistance to construct more descriptive queries. In addition, via the use of a pairwise loss for the secondary ranking task, we show that the generated reformulations are more diverse.


title: Quantum-Like Structure in Multidimensional Relevance Judgements

text: A large number of studies in cognitive science have revealed that probabilistic outcomes of certain human decisions do not agree with the axioms of classical probability theory. The field of Quantum Cognition provides an alternative probabilistic model to explain such paradoxical findings. It posits that cognitive systems have an underlying quantum-like structure, especially in decision-making under uncertainty. In this paper, we hypothesise that relevance judgement, being a multidimensional, cognitive concept, can be used to probe the quantum-like structure for modelling users’ cognitive states in information seeking. Extending from an experiment protocol inspired by the Stern-Gerlach experiment in Quantum Physics, we design a crowd-sourced user study to show violation of the Kolmogorovian probability axioms as a proof of the quantum-like structure, and provide a comparison between a quantum probabilistic model and a Bayesian model for predictions of relevance.


title: ReadNet: A Hierarchical Transformer Framework for Web Article Readability Analysis

text: Analyzing the readability of articles has been an important sociolinguistic task. Addressing this task is necessary to the automatic recommendation of appropriate articles to readers with different comprehension abilities, and it further benefits education systems, web information systems, and digital libraries. Current methods for assessing readability employ empirical measures or statistical learning techniques that are limited by their ability to characterize complex patterns such as article structures and semantic meanings of sentences. In this paper, we propose a new and comprehensive framework which uses a hierarchical self-attention model to analyze document readability. In this model, measurements of sentence-level difficulty are captured along with the semantic meanings of each sentence. Additionally, the sentence-level features are incorporated to characterize the overall readability of an article with consideration of article structures. We evaluate our proposed approach on three widely-used benchmark datasets against several strong baseline approaches. Experimental results show that our proposed method achieves the state-of-the-art performance on estimating the readability for various web articles and literature.


title: Accelerating Substructure Similarity Search for Formula Retrieval

text: Formula retrieval systems using substructure matching are effective, but suffer from slow retrieval times caused by the complexity of structure matching. We present a specialized inverted index and rank-safe dynamic pruning algorithm for faster substructure retrieval. Formulas are indexed from their Operator Tree (OPT) representations. Our model is evaluated using the NTCIR-12 Wikipedia Formula Browsing Task and a new formula corpus produced from Math StackExchange posts. Our approach preserves the effectiveness of structure matching while allowing queries to be executed in real-time.


title: Patch-Based Identification of Lexical Semantic Relations

text: The identification of lexical semantic relations is of the utmost importance to enhance reasoning capacities of Natural Language Processing and Information Retrieval systems. Within this context, successful results have been achieved based on the distributional hypothesis and/or the paradigmatic assumption. However, both strategies solely rely on the input words to predict the lexical semantic relation. In this paper, we make the hypothesis that the decision process should not only rely on the input words but also on their K closest neighbors in some semantic space. For that purpose, we present different binary and multi-task classification strategies that include two distinct attention mechanisms based on PageRank. Evaluation results over four gold-standard datasets show that average improvements of 10.6% for binary and 8% for multi-task classification can be achieved over baseline approaches in terms of F[Formula: see text]. The code and the datasets are available upon demand.


title: A Regularised Intent Model for Discovering Multiple Intents in E-Commerce Tail Queries

text: A substantial portion of the query volume for e-commerce search engines consists of infrequent queries and identifying user intent in such tail queries is critical in retrieving relevant products. The intent of a query is defined as a labelling of its tokens with the product attributes whose values are matched against the query tokens during retrieval. Tail queries in e-commerce search tend to have multiple correct attribute labels for their tokens due to multiple valid matches in the product catalog. In this paper, we propose a latent variable generative model along with a novel data dependent regularisation technique for identifying multiple intents in such queries. We demonstrate the superior performance of our proposed model against several strong baseline models on an editorially labelled data set as well as in a large scale online A/B experiment at Flipkart, a major Indian e-commerce company.


title: Moving from Formal Towards Coherent Concept Analysis: Why, When and How

text: Formal concept analysis has been largely applied to explore taxonomic relationships and derive ontologies from text collections. Despite its recognized relevance, it generally misses relevant concept associations and suffers from the need to learn from Boolean space models. Biclustering, the discovery of coherent concept associations (subsets of documents correlated on subsets of terms and topics), is here suggested to address the aforementioned problems. This work proposes a structured view on why, when and how to apply biclustering for concept analysis, a subject remaining largely unexplored up to date. Gathered results from a large text collection confirm the relevance of biclustering to find less-trivial, yet actionable and statistically significant concept associations.


title: Axiomatic Analysis of Contact Recommendation Methods in Social Networks: An IR Perspective

text: Contact recommendation is an important functionality in many social network scenarios including Twitter and Facebook, since they can help grow the social networks of users by suggesting, to a given user, people they might wish to follow. Recently, it has been shown that classical information retrieval (IR) weighting models – such as BM25 – can be adapted to effectively recommend new social contacts to a given user. However, the exact properties that make such adapted contact recommendation models effective at the task are as yet unknown. In this paper, inspired by new advances in the axiomatic theory of IR, we study the existing IR axioms for the contact recommendation task. Our theoretical analysis and empirical findings show that while the classical axioms related to term frequencies and term discrimination seem to have a positive impact on the recommendation effectiveness, those related to length normalization tend to be not desirable for the task.


Kardiologie in Corona-Zeiten


"Gut eingestellte Diabetiker haben kein erhöhtes Infektionsrisiko"


title: Tourism in Africa: Issues and Prospects

text: This chapter sets out the current state of tourism to and within Africa, highlighting the key themes and issues that confront the industry across the continent. The trend issues have human resource consequences for the tourism sector there, in terms of attracting the quality staff to meet the increasingly globalized service standards.


PATHOGENESIS | Animal Viruses


Biological Control of Vertebrate Pests


title: Place de l’assistance extracorporelle en pathologie respiratoire()()

text: Extra-corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) effectively replaces the lung in providing oxygenation and carbon dioxide (CO(2)) removal. For some years, and in parallel to the H1N1 influenza pandemic, this technique has gained interest in relation to significant technological improvements, leading to new concepts of “awake and mobile ECMO” or rehabilitation with ECMO. Finally, the publication of randomized controlled trials giving encouraging results in the adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has helped to validate this technique and further studies are warranted. This general review aims to outline the definition, classification and principles of ECMO and to give some current information about the indications and possibilities of the technique to the pulmonologist and intensivist. Further possible uses for this technique include extra-corporeal removal of CO(2) during hypercapnic respiratory failure and assistance during lung transplantation from the preoperative to the early postoperative period.


Emergency Preparedness — Planning and Management


Acute Diarrhea


Virology


title: Arrival and Duration

text: This chapter focuses on what happens once you have safely arrived at the destination; security risks relating to online acquisition of currency, in-country transportation, etc. will be discussed. We will also discuss those pesky customs officers and the very real threat of corruption that can lead to confiscated technology and nefarious fees. Security for you, your technology, and your data is next as we discuss how to protect those through various personal health and medical management apps, Wi-Fi security awareness in foreign states and hotels, Tripit, online censorship laws, etc.


Case Detection, Outbreak Detection, and Outbreak Characterization


Event Vision and Programming


VIRAL MEMBRANES


The uvea


Disorders of the Spinal Cord


title: Effects of geographic scale on population factors in acute disease diffusion analysis

text: OBJECTIVE: To explore socio-demographic data of the population as proxies for risk factors in disease transmission modeling at different geographic scales. METHODS: Patient records of confirmed H1N1 influenza were analyzed at three geographic aggregation levels together with population census statistics. RESULTS: The study confirmed that four population factors were related in different degrees to disease incidence, but the results varied according to spatial resolution. The degree of association actually decreased when data of a higher spatial resolution were used. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that variables at suitable spatial resolution may be useful in improving the predictive powers of models for disease outbreaks.


TOROVIRUSES (CORONAVIRIDAE)


Syndromic and Point-of-Care Molecular Testing


Global health and the Belt and Road Initiative


NCoV, nouveau coronavirus, de l’Arabie à la France


title: Encéphalomyélite aiguë disséminée et encéphalites post-infectieuses graves

text: Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) is an inflammatory demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system (CNS). Also known as post-infectious encephalomyelitis, it typically follows a minor infection with a latency period of 2–30 days and is thought to be immune-mediated. ADEM is clinically characterized by the acute onset of focal neurological signs and encephalopathy. Patients can require intensive care unit admission because of encephalopathy, coma, seizures or tetraplegia. Cerebrospinal fluid analysis usually shows lymphocytic pleocytosis but, unlike viral or bacterial encephalitis, no evidence of direct CNS infection is found. There are no biologic markers of the disease and cerebral magnetic resonance imaging is essential to ADEM diagnosis, detecting diffuse or multifocal asymmetrical lesions throughout the white matter on T2- and FLAIR-weighted sequences. High-dose intravenous steroids are accepted as first-line ADEM therapy and several studies also reported beneficial effects of plasma exchanges and intravenous immunoglobulins. Outcome of ADEM patients is usually favorable but recurrent or multiphasic forms have been reported.


Thermal imaging – a hotspot for the future?: A case report


title: Il percorso diagnostico-assistenziale della broncopneumopatia cronica ostruttiva riacutizzata in Medicina Interna

text: INTRODUCTION: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the second leading cause of hospitalization in Internal Medicine departments in Italy and the fourth leading cause of death all over the word. By 2020, COPD will be the third leading cause of death and the fifth leading cause of disability. It is – along with chronic congestive heart failure – one of the most common causes of unscheduled hospital readmissions, and as such it represents a significant economic burden for the health-care system. Exacerbations of COPD are important events in the natural history of this prevalent condition. DISCUSSION: This review provides a comprehensive state-of-the-art look at prevention and management of COPD exacerbations. Treatment of these episodes has to be tailored to the severity of the clinical presentation. We now have a wide range of therapeutic available options, based on the results of clinical trials. Management of the acute event should include the necessary measures (mainly the administration of inhaled short-acting bronchodilators, inhaled or oral corticosteroids, and antibiotics), with or without oxygen and ventilator support. CONCLUSIONS: To improve the management of COPD exacerbations, the focus of care must be shifted from the episodic acute complications to their systematic prevention. The management of COPD, which is often associated with multiple co-morbidities, is complex and requires a tailored, multifaceted and multidisciplinary approach. Integrated care for COPD also requires that patients be informed about their condition, that they participate actively in their care, and that they have easy access to the necessary health-care services.


Virus émergents à tropisme respiratoire


Ceramic nanotubes could be cure for HIV


Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) : risque aussi pour les professionnels de santé


title: Antigen Delivery System II: Development of Live Attenuated Bacterial Vectors

text: This chapter reviews papers mostly written since 2005 that report results using live attenuated bacterial vectors to deliver after administration through mucosal surfaces, protective antigens, and DNA vaccines, encoding protective antigens to induce immune responses and/or protective immunity to pathogens that colonize on or invade through mucosal surfaces. Papers that report use of such vaccine vector systems for parenteral vaccination or to deal with nonmucosal pathogens or do not address induction of mucosal antibody and/or cellular immune responses are not reviewed.


Infections associated with neutropenia and transplantation


Diarrhea, Pediatric


Combining Multiple Signals for Biosurveillance


Mucosal Immunity in the Ocular System


Gene Therapy


title: Viral infections of the developing nervous system

text: Both clinical and experimental studies indicate that viruses can interact with the developing nervous system to produce a spectrum of neurological damage and brain malformations. Following infection of the pregnant woman, virus may indirectly or directly involve the fetus. Direct involvement is generally due to transplacental passage of the virus and invasion of fetal tissue. Resultant disease is determined by a variety of virus-host factors, including the developmental stage of the fetus at the time it is infected, the neural cell populations which are susceptible to infection, the consequent virus-infected cell interactions, and the mechanism and timing of viral clearance. There is a growing list of human viruses which injure the developing nervous system. There are also several experimental models in which congenital viral infections have been shown to result in a variety of brain malformations but with no evidence of the prior infection remaining at the time of birth.


Capacità globale di rilevamento delle malattie infettive emergenti


SARS: premier pas vers un vaccin


List of compounds chromatographed


Revue de presse scientifique


Revue de presse scintifique


The Over-Reaction to SARS and the Collapse of Asian Tourism


SARS: détecter les patients asymptomatiques


Les consultations du Concours Médical


SARS routs China trade shows as visitors shun travel


Un nouveau virus découvert


Colonisation par S. aureus et S. pneumoniae


Gastro-entérites à norovirus


Zoonosis emergentes. un reto interdisciplinar


The role of electron microscopy in the identification of viruses in medical and veterinary specimens


Actualités


“Viruses” in suspected canine parvovirus specimens


Les avortements n'augmenteraient pas les risque de cancer du sein


Syndrome respiratoire aigu sévère ou SRAS


Cancer de la prostate: le PSA au centre du dépistage précoce


Prévention cardiovasculaire : mangez indien


La lettre du club des laboratoires Ostéoporose


Maladie d'Alzheimer et implants cellulaires cérébraux


SARS: un Coronavirus formellement impliqué


JIB 2003: fidèlesàelles-mêmes


TiO(2) suppliers face disappointing demand & find it hard to raise prices


ANSIG: A program for the assignment of protein (1)H 2D NMR spectra by interactive computer graphics


Le virus Chandipura est de retour


Peptides antibactériens buccaux


Bréve : Coronavirus : retour par la Chine


Revues de presse scientifiquel


LENS repairs pass key engine test


Essai d’éradication de la filariose de Bancroft


title: Chapter 12 Compound Biopolymers and Biooligomers

text: This chapter is devoted to the separation of simple saccharides. In this chapter, the rapid chromatographic separation of natural oligomeric or polymeric compounds containing important molecular moieties of a different type are discussed, such as nucleoprotein complexes, glycolipids, glycopeptides and glycoside oligomeric derivatives. In addition, separations of several natural complex substances that are not well known are discussed. This chapter concludes with a brief discussion on the separation techniques used for the miscellaneous polymeric and oligomeric substances.


Découverte fondamentale en cancérologie: une protéine pro-migration


Infections graves à streptocoques A: moins rares qu'on pensait


News and comment on recent developments from around the world


title: News in brief

text: Information available. Conference cancelled. Measuring performance. QMP's ISO success. APMI award.


Cas clinique au laboratoire l'enfant, la diarrhée et le chien


La formation continue des médecins généralistes


title: IMPACT OF AN ECONOMIC CRISIS Evidence from Turkey

text: This paper evaluates the impact of the 2001 economic crisis on the tourism industry in Turkey. The research findings reveal that neither the government nor private organizations had any plans for dealing with the crisis before or after the event. It had both negative and positive impacts although its benefits were often overlooked. The overall implication of the study is that national culture, the level of economic development of a country, the availability of financial resources, and the ability and knowledge of its government officials and managers of private firms have a direct impact on how such an event is responded to and managed.


title: Chapter 13 The immobilization of immunoreactants on solid phases

text: The simple manipulations required to separate free antibody or antigen from immune complexes immobilized non-covalently on plastic solid phase are probably the most important reason for the rapid increase in popularity of enzyme immunoassay techniques. The desired traits of the solid phase are (1) high capacity for binding immunoreactants (high surface/volume ratio), (2) the possibility of immobilization of many different immunoreactants, (3) minimal dissociation, (4) negligible denaturation of immobilized molecule, and (5) the orientation of immobilized antibody with binding sites toward the solution and the crystalline orientation function (Fc) to the solid phase. Thus, the chapter discusses the immobilization of immunoreactants on solid phases. It also describes the use of plastics as solid phases. The covalent attachment of antibodies or antigens to plastic is also highlighted. While covalent coupling is obligatory for the coating of solid phases other than plastics, it may also be advantageous for plastics. Some of the methods for the covalent linkage of proteins are quite undemanding and convenient for the large-scale preparation of immunoreactant-coated solid phases. Such methods are also necessary for the attachment of antigens that are poorly adsorbed on plastic, such as native DNA, small oligopeptides, and haptens.


title: Chapter 1 Allelochemical Properties or the Raison D'être of Alkaloids

text: This chapter provides evidence that alkaloids are not waste products or functionless molecules as formerly assumed, but rather defense compounds employed by plants for survival against herbivores and against microorganisms and competing plants. These molecules were developed during evolution through natural selection in that they fit many important molecular targets, often receptors, of cells, which are seen in molecules that mimic endogenous neurotransmitters. The chapter discusses that microorganisms and herbivores rely on plants as a food source. Since both have survived, there must be mechanisms of adaptations toward the defensive chemistry of plants. Many herbivores have evolved strategies to avoid the extremely toxic plants and prefer the less toxic ones. Many herbivores have potent mechanisms to detoxify xenobiotics, which allow the exploitation of at least the less toxic plants. In insects, many specialists evolved that are adapted to the defense chemicals of their host plant, in that they accumulate these compounds and exploit them for their own defense. Alkaloids function as defense molecules against insect predators in the examples studied, and this is further support for the hypothesis that the same compound also serves for chemical defense in the host plant. It needs more experimental data to understand fully the intricate interconnections between plants, their alkaloids, and herbivores, microorganisms, and other plants.


Infections in the tropics- is the bane of yesteryears waning?


Bréve: Nouveau coronavirus: plus de 100 cas enregistrés


La qPCR identifie plus de virus respiratoires


Coronavirus : conseils de la HAS


Le NT-proBNP, comme marqueur pronostique chez les enfants atteints de drépanocytose


title: Virus-like particles with T = 19 icosahedral symmetry in a human gastroenteritis stool

text: Virus-like particles not previously described were observed in a human gastroenteritis stool using negative-stain TEM. The stool was among a number of acute-phase illness stools which had been collected in Egypt during 1980. The particles measured 65–70 nm in diameter, and it was possible to detect individual capsomeres on many of these particles. The capsomeric pattern identified on the particles corresponded to an icosahedrally symmetric T = 19 capsid. Distinctive five-fold vertices, usually appearing as darker spots on the capsid, were an additional feature of these particles. The capsid structure, which is skew, could readily be distinguished from the T = 25 capsid of adenovirus and the holey capsids of rotavirus and reovirus. Antibody to the particles was detected in both the shedding individual's acute- and convalescent-phase serum specimens using IEM, although an antibody increase was not demonstrated.


title: 1 Management of Immunocompromised and Infected Animals

text: This chapter discusses the management of immunocompromized and infected animals. The microbiological quality of laboratory animals is a direct result of colony management practices, and monitoring provides an after-the-fact assessment of the adequacy of those practices. In the case of immunocompromised animals or in infection experiments, however, monitoring for a comprehensive list of micro-organisms is reasonable. The testing of animals usually starts with necropsy and blood sampling for serology, followed by microscopic examination for parasites and sampling of organs for bacteriology, pathology, and, in rare cases, virological examinations. Biological materials represent a high risk, if they originate from or have been propagated in animals. In particular, tumors, viruses, or parasites that are serially passaged in animals often pick up pathogens, and therefore a high percentage of these are contaminated. It has been shown in mice and rats that all preimplantational stages can be revitalized successfully upon freezethaw procedures. For long-term storage, eight-cell stages have been recommended in the chapter, while two-cell stages were considered to be less suitable. One embryo batch (inbred strain) derived from a single pedigree donor pair may be regarded as a prospective breeding nucleus, if one fertile breeding pair is obtained upon revitalization. Assuming an average revitalization rate of 20% (fertile breeders), one embryo batch should contain a minimum number of 10 embryos to obtain at least one breeding pair with a 50% chance of revitalization.


title: NEWS COMMENT — Answering the telecom industry’s call

text: In last month’s issue of Ctt, one of the industry’s leading associations, Eurosmart, released predictions for the year ahead that must have made even the most pessimistic smart card executive contemplate a return to the good times. This is a short news story only. Visit www.compseconline.com for the latest computer security industry news


Épidémiologie en France des GEA


title: Comparison of six commercial kits for the diagnosis of rotavirus infection in man and calves

text: Seventy-two human and 72 bovine faecal specimens were tested for rotavirus by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), four commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits (Rotascreen, Wellcozyme, Rotazyme II and IDEIA) and two latex agglutination (LA) kits (RotaScreen and Wellcome). Specimens which were negative by PAGE but positive by one or more of the kits were further examined by direct and immuno-electron microscopy (DEM and IEM). If also negative by DEM and IEM the kit result was considered to be a false positive. Three kits (RotaScreen and IDEIA ELISAs and RotaScreen LA) had specificity and sensitivity greater than 90% on the human specimens but only two (RotaScreen ELISA and LA) had specificity and sensitivity over 80% on the bovine specimens. These kits can therefore be used with reasonable confidence for rotavirus diagnosis, but none of them has any advantage over PAGE other tha speed.


Immunoelectron microscopy in diagnostic virology


Les uvéites félines : prévalence de l’infection par les coronavirus, les rétrovirus, l’herpès virus félin et Toxoplasma gondii dans les prélèvements d’humeur aqueuse, évaluée à partir de 91 cas


Report II: Second international TNO meeting on the biology of the interferon system April 18–22, 1983 Rotterdam, The Netherlands


Un cas de lupus érythémateux systémique chez un chat


Intérêts des diagnostics biologiques des virus entériques


Lien entre asthme et virus : la piste génétique


title: 16 Methods for Detecting Microbial Pathogens in Food and Water

text: Newly developed methods for the detection of bacteria and viruses have provided microbiologists with the means to rapidly identify and monitor specific microorganisms in food and water. Traditional methods of testing involve culture techniques to increase the numbers of the organism to a detectable level, followed by isolation and biochemical identification. This chapter focuses on the methodologies to detect pathogens and indicator organisms; however, the methods described are applicable to most bacteria. As detection and isolation methods have improved, a growing number of pathogens have been identified as important food- and waterborne pathogens. This chapter describes the use of nucleic acid and antibody probes that have the potential to circumvent the need to culture the organism prior to identification. Nucleic acid probes have become a valuable diagnostic reagent in the identification of human and animal pathogens and have made possible the identification of viruses and bacteria that are difficult, if not impossible, to cultivate. DNA probes have also proved to be a useful tool for identifying and monitoring the organisms in food and the environment.


Un nouveau type d’arénavirus


Virus émergents responsables de GEA


title: Negative staining in the detection of viruses in clinical specimens

text: Viruses have unique morphology and are therefore good candidates for negative staining. Negative staining with phosphotungstic acid (PTA) or uranyl acetate has facilitated the detection of many viruses in clinical specimens. Enhancement procedures have included the use of centrifugation and agar diffusion for concentrating virus particles, the use of solid phase capture reagents to trap virus particles and the use of secondary antibodies and electron dense markers to help visualize them. Techniques currently in use and employing negative staining include direct EM, immune electron microscopy (IEM), solid phase immune electron microscopy (SPIEM), colloidal gold-labeled protein A (PAG), solid phase IEM employing a second decorator antibody (SPIEMDAT), and solid phase IEM using colloided gold-labeled secondary antibodies (SPEIMDAGT). IEM methods assist with the detection of small viruses or viruses present in low numbers while PAG offers increased sensitivity over direct EM and IEM. In our experience the serum-in-agar (SIA) method is the most sensitive of the PAG IEM techniques for detection of rotavirus particles in clinical specimens. SPIEMDAT enhances the detection of small viruses which are often missed by other techniques due to background staining in specimens. SPEIMDAGT employing colloidal gold-labeled secondary antibody has increased sensitivity and offers the advantage of detecting viral antigen when whole virus particles are not visible. IEM techniques have recently been used for typing viruses using either monospecific antisera or monoclonal antibodies and colloidal gold-labeled secondary antibody.


Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases: A perpetual threat


Report III: International symposium on interferon September 28–30, 1983, Bethesda, Maryland


Cancer du col de l’utérus et contraception orale


The immunological diagnosis of rotavirus


Nouveau coronavirus issu d’Arabie


Tests sanguins de la tuberculose chez l’enfant, complémentaires de l’IDR


Diagnostic virologique moléculaire des infections pulmonaires communautaires


Pneumonies et Coronavirus


title: La grippe est-elle encore le modèle des infections virales émergentes ?

text: Emerging viral infections are a crucial challenge to the organization of human public health policies. In the past decades, numerous viral pathogens have barged into the field of medicine, being viruses either newly appeared in the population or newly identified or exhibiting unexpected epidemiological properties. Several factors have been reported to promote such emergences, including viral traffic from animals, ongoing viral genetic evolution, host factors, environmental and social changes. As an example, HIV-1 pandemic perfectly illustrates the evolutionary success of a simian retrovirus introduced into the human population as well as its dramatic impact both on the demographic and economic status of many countries. Influenza viruses remain a classic persisting model of emerging pathogens, which is supported by the coalescence of many contributing characteristics, particularly an animal reservoir consisting of birds and mammals and a segmented RNA genome prone to point mutations and reassortments. Two recent examples, the avian flu due to A/H5N1 virus and the pandemic flu due to A/H1N1 2009, show the difficulties both for predicting the outcome of flu emergences and defining the right strategy for their control. Despite their complexity, influenza virus infections provide a permanent incitement to improve our knowledge and monitoring of viral emergences.


Avian flu focuses minds


Atypical and incomplete Kawasaki disease in the pediatric age()


Le nouveau virus MERS-CoV : attention danger !


Diagnostic des infections respiratoires par approche syndromique


Nouveaux virus responsables de gastro-entérites


La FDA approuve le premier essai clinique évaluant le vaccin anti-Zika


MERS-CoV : la piste chameau (re)confirmée


Anciens et nouveaux virus


Aportaciones de la anatomía patológica en el diagnóstico de las infecciones cutáneas: una perspectiva histórica


title: Colite ulcéreuse chez un chat : infection à Anaerobiospirillum spp. ?()

text: A 4-year-old female, Exotic Shortair cat presented for diarrhea with hematochezia and tenesmus for 2 years. Further diagnostic (biology, endoscopy) revealed an ulcerative and granulomatous colitis with Anaerobiospirillum spp. infection. Medical treatment with antibiotics and corticosteroids was implemented: the symptoms resolved and no relapse was noted. This case report discuss the pathogenic role of Anaerobiospirillum spp. infection in human and veterinary medicines: the “asymptomatic carriage” concept in evoked; moreover, it shows that make a diagnosis of this infection is difficult in the dog and the need for it to resort to further diagnostic like histological and coprologic analyses; it focuses on the therapy and the data of the medical literature.


IP017 Detection of MHC class I restricted T-cell responses in patients with cervical cancer


Inaugural editorial: Towards evidence-based biosafety and biosecurity


Glossary


title: The immune system response to viral infection of the CNS

text: In immunological terms the CNS is at a severe disadvantage in its ability to respond to infection by virus. First, both glial and neuronal cells normally do not express molecules of the major histocompatibility complex. Second, the most efficient cells for stimulating an immune response (leucocyte dendritic cells) are not present in the healthy CNS; and third, there is no specialized lymphatic drainage from the CNS to lymph nodes to enable the immune system to be quickly informed of the presence of an infection. Nevertheless, the immune system apparently copes with the vast majority of viral infections in the CNS. This is clearly evidenced by the reactivation of latent CNS viral infections in some immunosuppressed patients and the dramatic increase in the seventy of CNS disease in young or otherwise immunologically incompetent experimental animals infected with neurotropic viruses. The routes by which the CNS and the immune system may communicate and the varied ways in which an immune response may affect the outcome of a viral infection of the CNS are discussed.


Anti-bacterial, anti-viral switches developed


Comparison of two multiplex PCR techniques for the study of respiratory viruses in Mexican children with pneumonia()


Encephalitis outbreaks in India: A cluttered landscape


EFP enters face mask agreement with Weise labs


title: Volatility transmissions between renminbi and Asia-Pacific on-shore and off-shore U.S. dollar futures

text: This paper uses multivariate GARCH techniques to study volatility spillovers between the Chinese non-deliverable forward market and seven of its Asia-Pacific counterparts over the period January 1998 to March 2005. To account for the time-variability of conditional correlation, a dynamic correlation structure is included in the volatility model specification. The empirical results demonstrate that the renminbi non-deliverable forward (NDF) has been a driver of various Asian currency markets but that such co-movements exhibit a substantial degree of heterogeneity. As to the determinants of the magnitude of these co-movements, we test the relevance of potential factors and find that it is the degree of real and financial integration, in particular, that exerts the largest influence on volatility transmission.


title: Chapter 18 The advantages of liposome-based gene therapy: A comparison of viral versus liposome-based gene delivery

text: Viruses have evolved in such a way they are able to efficiently introduce and express exogenous genes in eukaryotic cells. Most viruses need to maintain high-level expression of their proteins for only a short time and need not be concerned with the viability of the host cell after infection. Attempts to modify a virus into a gene therapy vector can be hampered by this conflict. Virus-based methods of gene therapy are likely to be most useful in applications that require a burst of high-level expression in many of the patient's cells, such as in cancer therapy. Liposomal methods of gene therapy are flexible in that all the components of the system are controlled by designers. As these systems have become more sophisticated, they have begun to take on several characteristics of the viruses that they are intended to replace. The use of basic substances to condense DNA has increased the efficiency of encapsulation. The addition of nucleophilic proteins raises the efficiency of transfection. By adding antibodies or other targeting molecules to the surface of liposomes, preferential binding of vesicles to a desired cell type has been increased.


Peste à Madagascar


New Product Developments


title: Experimental Design and Analysis of Microarray Data

text: The advent of microarray technology has significantly changed the way we can quantitatively measure and observe gene expression at the mRNA level within a given biological sample of interest, allowing for the monitoring of tens to hundreds of thousands of genes within a single experiment. The two main array platforms are spotted two-colour arrays and one-colour in situ-synthesized arrays. Microarrays are used for a wide range of applications including gene annotation, investigation of gene-gene interactions, elucidation of gene regulatory networks and gene-expression profiling of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other fungal organisms. Academic researchers and both the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries have an enormous interest in developing microarrays both as diagnostic tools and for use in basic research into how pathogens, such as fungi, interact with their host. Microarray experiments generate vast quantities of raw gene expression data, therefore good experimental design and statistical analysis is required for the extraction of accurate and useful information regarding the expression of genes. In this review we firstly provide an overview of the arrival and development of microarray technology. We then focus on the issues surrounding experimental design and the processing of microarray images, followed by a discussion on methods for cleaning and normalizing raw gene expression data and a final discussion of the importance statistical analysis plays in identifying differentially expressed genes.


Infection control during epidemics & pandemics


title: Viral pathogenesis and central nervous system infection

text: Both host defense and viral genetic factors influence the development of viral infection and disease. Due to the presence of the blood-brain barrier, infection of the central nervous system creates additional complexities in interactions between a virus and its host. Stages in viral pathogenesis defined as (1) virus entry, (2) spread, (3) tropism, (4) virulence and injury to the host, and (5) the outcome of infection are discussed for viral infections in general and those aspects unique to infections of the central nervous system. Information about neuronal physiology and function has also been revealed through studying virus infection. An increased understanding of viral pathogenetic mechanisms and host response to infection raises interesting possibilities for vaccine development and for basic studies in neurology and neurobiology.


title: Chapter 16 Production and gene expression of brush border disaccharidases and peptidases during development in pigs and calves

text: This chapter reviews the expression of intestinal brush-border disaccharidases (maltase-glucoamylase, sucrase-isomaltase, lactase, and trehalase) and peptidases (aminopeptidases A and N and dipeptidyl peptidase IV) during development in growing animals. It describes the roles of intestinal enzymes, focussing on complementarity with salivary, gastric, and pancreatic digestive enzymes and their hydrolytic function in the process of absorption. Gene expression of the enzymes and nutritional regulation of their expression appear during postnatal development up to maturity. After translation of the specific mRNA, a single precursor of maltaseglucoamylase (pro-MG), rich in mannose, is produced in the rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER). In contrast to the relatively small number of carbohydrases, the number of peptidases found in enterocytes in the small intestine is large, because of the large number of different peptide bonds in oligopeptides produced by the action of pancreatic proteases. The digestive function (disaccharidase and peptidase activities) of the enterocytes and their microvilli begins when structural differentiation is complete, that is, during the period of migration over the cryptvillus junction. Modern techniques and investigations are expected to yield relevant data for elaborating feeding strategies that take into account the complex interactions between the diet, the microflora, the luminal milieu and the physiology of the small intestine, including the optimal functioning of the immunological and endocrine systems.


Index des mots cles


139 Viral epididymitis and orchitis – myth or reality?


This winter, make the common cold less common: Advice to help you stay healthy


title: Chapter 8 Adhesins and receptors for colonization by different pathotypes of Escherichia coli in calves and young pigs

text: This chapter provides an overview of the virulence factors and their genetic regulators in Escherichia coli. The most important adhesins and their receptors playing a role in the pathogenesis of different pathotypes of enteric E. coli are also described. The main pathotypes involved in enteric colibacillosis of pigs and calves are the enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), verotoxigenic E. coli (VTEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), and necrotoxigenic E. coli (NTEC). Adhesion and colonization are the first (but not the only) functional prerequisites for a mucosal bacterium to be pathogenic. The adhesins represent surface proteins, governed by specific operons and constructed in ways according to the particular adhesin. Besides their structure, the adhesins can also be grouped according to their receptors present on the intestinal mucosal epithelium and on the urinary epithelium. Apart from direct practical applications, there are further significant scientific developments and applications expected in the area of neonatal biology and comparative human pathobacteriology.


title: Aspects cliniques, physiopathologiques, et thérapeutiques de la sclérose en plaques

text: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterized by multiple demyelinating lesions disseminated in the central nervous system. The clinical course of MS involves acute attacks leading to permanent disability and a chronic progressive stage occurring at the beginning of the disease or after a relapsing-remitting phase. Investigations that provide supportive evidence for the diagnosis of MS are magnetic resonance imaging and cerebrospinal fluid examination. Recent pathological studies showed evidence of early axonal pathology, remyelination in some cases, and diffuse pathology. Genetic and immunological studies suggest that MS is an auto-immune disease, partially genetically determined but the role of an environmental factor, possibly infectious is possible. Cumulative evidence of the efficacy of interferon beta and other disease-modifying drug therapy has completely modified the therapeutic approach of MS.


Anti-bacterial, anti-SARS moulding compounds from Perstorp


title: Progress in the synthesis of iridoids and related natural products

text: A number of iridoids and secoiridoids, which possess a wide range of biological activity, have been isolated from plants and insects—for example, dihydronepetalactone, isodihydronepetalactone, iridomyrmecin, isoiridomyrmecin, neoneptalactone, nepetalactone, actinidine (iridoid alkaloid), and dihydroactinidiolid (carotenoid metabolite), the mixture being a potent attractant for cat, have been isolated from Actinidia polygama Miq. Similarly, neomatatabiol, isoneomatatabiol, dehydroiridodiol, iridodiol, and matatabiol have been isolated from the same plant and the mixture serves as a potent attractant for lacewing. From a synthetic and biosynthetic point of view, dehydroiridodial, chrysomelidial, and iridodial are considered to be the central intermediates for the biosynthesis of other iridoids from Actinidia polygama Miq. The chemical interconversion of these iridoids is presented in the chapter. The broad diversity of both structure and biological activity exhibited by iridoids and secoiridoids has generated much interest in their general synthesis starting from a common intermediate. The chapter introduces two general methodologies for the synthesis of polyfunctional iridoids and related natural products.


Revista de Senología y Patología Mamaria. Nueva década, nuevos retos y declaración de intenciones


title: Major histocompatibility complex molecules on glial cells

text: While glial cells of the central nervous system do not constitutively express class I or II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, astrocytes and microglial cells can be induced by a variety of factors to express these antigens. Oligodendrocytes have inducible class I but not class II elements. There are considerable differences in regulation of MHC antigen expression between glial cells from rodent and human brains, both in situ and in vitro. The consequence of glial cell MHC expression for immune interactions in the CNS is discussed in the context of glial cell antigen presentation capacity and neural cell susceptibility to cell-mediated immune effector mechanisms.


Cumulative general subject index: Volumes 1–20


Early Warning Systems A State of the Art Analysis and Future Directions


Training in pediatric infectious disease: Need of the time


title: Chapter 5 Role of lysosomes in cell injury

text: Lysosomes are acidic intracellular vacuoles of heterogeneous shape, size, and content. Lysosomes contain hydrolytic enzymes that degrade proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids derived from intracellular (through autophagy) and extracellular (through heterophagy) sources. Lysosomal degradation regulates several physiological cell functions. These include turnover of cellular organelles and extracellular constituents; amino acid and glucose homeostasis; processing of proteins; lipid metabolism; cell growth, differentiation, and involution; host defenses against microorganisms and other pathogens; and removal of necrotic and foreign material from the circulation and from tissues. Lysosomal degradation also plays an important role in the pathophysiology of acute and chronic cell injury, inflammation and repair, and tumor growth and metastasis. The participation of the lysosomes in the specific types of cell injury we have discussed is due to altered regulation of one or more of the following processes: turnover of cellular organelles by autophagic degradation; levels and activities of lysosomal hydrolases; levels of intracellular and extracellular lysosomal hydrolase inhibitors; transport of degradation products from the lysosomal matrix to the cytosol; permeability of the lysosomal membrane to hydrolases; lysosomal vacuolar acidification; transport of degradable substrates and of pathogens to the lysosomes; transport and processing of secretory proteins and lysosomal hydrolases during biogenesis; traffic and fusion of lysosomal vacuoles and vesicles; secretion of lysosomal hydrolases; and accumulation of metals, particularly iron, acidotropic agents, and undegraded and/or undegradable materials in lysosomes.


title: 70 Jahre WHO — Kampf mit Höhen und Tiefen

text: Seit nunmehr sieben Dekaden setzt sich die Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) mit ihren 194 Mitgliedstaaten dafür ein, dass allen Menschen das höchstmögliche Gesundheitsniveau zuteil wird. Der wohl größte Erfolg in diesen Jahren ist die Ausrottung der Pocken. Als nächstes Ziel soll die Welt poliofrei werden.


The World Economy in the Autumn of 2003


ECR – Final Programme: Scientific and Educational Exhibits


title: Awaiting the Second Big Data Revolution: From Digital Noise to Value Creation

text: “Big data”—the collection of vast quantities of data about individual behavior via online, mobile, and other data-driven services—has been heralded as the agent of a third industrial revolution—one with raw materials measured in bits, rather than tons of steel or barrels of oil. Yet the industrial revolution transformed not just how firms made things, but the fundamental approach to value creation in industrial economies. To date, big data has not achieved this distinction. Instead, today’s successful big data business models largely use data to scale old modes of value creation, rather than invent new ones altogether. Moreover, today’s big data cannot deliver the promised revolution. In this way, today’s big data landscape resembles the early phases of the first industrial revolution, rather than the culmination of the second a century later. Realizing the second big data revolution will require fundamentally different kinds of data, different innovations, and different business models than those seen to date. That fact has profound consequences for the kinds of investments and innovations firms must seek, and the economic, political, and social consequences that those innovations portend.


ECR – Final Programme: Postgraduate Educational programme


Viele Kontakte — großes Risiko: Patientenbetreuung auf einer Intermediate Care Station erfordert hohes Hygiene-Bewusstsein


title: Synthesis and characterization of fluorinated polyurethane containing carborane in the main chain: Thermal, mechanical and chemical resistance properties

text: In this study, two fluorinated polyurethanes (FPU) containing carborane groups in the main chains were firstly designed and synthesized via the reaction of hexamethylene diisocyanate trimer (HDI trimer) with fluorinated polyesters (CFPETs) having hydroxyl-terminated carborane groups at room temperature. The structures of carborane fluorinated polyesters (CFPETs) and polyurethanes (CFPUs) were characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements. The thermal stability, mechanical properties, Shore A hardness, solvent resistance and acid-alkali resistance of the carborane fluorinated polyurethane films were also studied. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) tests manifested that the introduction of carborane groups into the main chain of fluorinated polyurethane endowed the obtained fluorinated polyurethane with excellent thermal stability. The thermal decomposition temperature of carborane fluorinated polyurethane (CFPU) increased by 190 °C compared with that of the carborane-free fluorinated polyurethane (FPU). Even at 800 °C, CFPU showed the char yield of 66.5%, which was higher than that of FPU (34.3%). The carborane-containing fluorinated polyurethanes also showed excellent chemical resistance and prominent mechanical property even after the cured films being immersed into Jet aircraft oil or 37% HCl for 168 h or at high temperature (700 °C). It is found that the structural characteristics of carborane group and the compacted structure of CFPU effectively improve the thermal stability, mechanical property, solvent resistance and acid-alkali resistance of the carborane-free fluorinated polyurethane. These excellent properties make CFPU as the useful raw materials to prepare the high temperature resistant coatings or adhesives for automotive engines, engine or fuel tank of aircraft and other equipment working in high-temperature or high concentrations of acid-alkali environments.


title: Die Ei- und Embryonalentwicklung vonCorydendrium parasiticum mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Oocyten-Feinstruktur während der Vitellogenese

text: Egg and embryo development ofCorydendrium parasiticum (L.) (Hydroida, Athecata) has been examined with special regard to ultrastructural changes of the oocytes during vitellogenesis. It has been established that ectodermal interstitial cells migrate through the mesolamella into the endoderm and differentiate there to germ cells. Despite differences in the origin of the interstitial cells during early development there is still justification to speak of ectodermal descent of hydroid germ cells. The gonophores are equivalent to hydranth buds. By early immigration, oocytes determine the development of buds into gonophores. After completion of vitellogenesis and rupture of the follicle epithelium eggs undergo meiosis. The total and equal segmentation starts already during spawning. After forming a solid morula, gastrulation takes place as moruladelamination. Interstitial cells and cnidoblasts are formed in the prospective endoderm and migrate early into the ectoderm. A polar differentiation becomes evident shortly before hatching of the planula. The planulae keep their solid endoderm until their transformation into primary polyps. Metamorphosis can occur after one day. The delayed beginning of metamorphosis up to 12 days under lab conditions is probably due to the absence of certain bacteria. According to developmental stages of the oocytes ultrastructural changes during vitellogenesis are described. The endproducts of vitellogenesis are heterogeneous yolk (“Komplexdotter”), lipid droplets and glycogen. The “Komplexdotter” represents the bulk of reserve material which is formed by several components of different origin. Of special interest in this respect are the cytosomes resembling the microbodies of liver and kidney because of their paracristalline core and close relationship to the rough endoplasmic reticulum. Comparable cores exist in the “Komplexdotter” which may correspond to enzymes histochemically identified in the yolk of other species.


title: An empirical investigation of organizational memetic variation

text: The potential of a theory based on organizational memes in coevolution with the environment has been postulated, but remains empirically under-developed. This study explores whether understanding organizational memetic variation is empirically possible and, if so, whether it might, with further development, provide managers with early indications of a misalignment between organizational action (operationalized as memetic variation) and strategic intent—the amount of memetic variation needed to stay aligned with the competitive environment. A method for empirically identifying knowledge-based memes in everyday practice is developed. It stems from modern advances in genetics allowing micro-level changes in genes to be linked to macro-environmental dynamics. Using the concept that memetic variation is caused by everyday, uncontrollable uncertainties of interpretation, memetic variation is reduced to seven categorical types. A highly exploratory quasi-experimental design allows a preliminary comparison of a would-be innovative ‘Portfolio Management Committee’ with self-organizing Internet chat-room settings that are representational of open-source innovation. Results are consistent with predictions showing that higher levels of variation are seen in the latter, despite the former’s strategic intent of innovating to stay aligned with a dynamic environment. Further work is needed, however, to test reliability and validity.


title: Environmental effects of intensification of agriculture: livestock production and regulation

text: This article deals with the relationship between industrialization of agriculture and the environment in developing countries. We specifically focus on livestock production and regulation. We develop a simple economic framework to demonstrate the effect of location on intensification of industrial activity in farming, and discuss this issue in the context of urbanization and economic growth in developing countries. Policy implications of the model are discussed in light of the experience of developed countries in regulating livestock pollution and other externalities. We argue that environmental problems from agricultural industrialization in developing countries may pose major challenges. In the case of livestock production, these are compounded by production intensity, high population densities in periurban and urban areas, and the generally lower public health standards. As the recent outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza epidemics in Asia suggest, the new era of globalization and the onset of a free world trade regime points to the urgent need for developing countries to install inspection and enforcement mechanisms that ensure product safety and quality, as well as minimize the adverse effects on the environment.


ECR 2006 - A - Postgraduate Educations Programme


ECR 2006 - B - Scientific Sessions


title: The context of multiple in-text references and their signification

text: In this paper, we consider sentences that contain multiple in-text references (MIR) and their position in the rhetorical structure of articles. We carry out the analysis of MIR in a large-scale dataset of about 80,000 research articles published by the Public Library of Science in 7 journals. We analyze two major characteristics of MIR: their positions in the IMRaD structure of articles and the number of in-text references that make up a MIR in the different journals. We show that MIR are rather frequent in all sections of the rhetorical structure. In the Introduction section, sentences containing MIR account for more than half of the sentences with references. We examine the syntactic patterns that are most used in the contexts of both multiple and single in-text references and show that they are composed, for the most part, of noun groups. We point out the specificity of the Methods section in this respect.


title: Regime-switching shot-noise processes and longevity bond pricing

text: In this paper, we consider the valuation of longevity bonds under a regime-switching interest rate and a regimeswitching force of mortality model. The model assumes that the interest rate is driven by economic and environmental conditions described by a homogenous Markov chain and that the stochastic force of mortality is modeled by the sum of a regime-switching Gompertz–Makeham model and a regime-switching shot-noise process. Using the conditional Laplace transform of the regime-switching shot-noise process, we give a formula for the longevity bond price in terms of a couple of system partial differential equations. The pricing formula is also derived by using the concept of stochastic flows and the idea of change of measure.


ECR – Final Programme: Scientific Sessions


Current and future of technologies and services in smart e-learning


title: Current research, key performances and future development of search and rescue robots

text: Frequent natural disasters and man-made catastrophes have threatened the safety of citizens and have attracted much more attention. The rescue mission under disaster environment is very complicated and dangerous for a rescue team. Search and rescue (SAR) robots can not only improve the efficiency of rescue operations but also reduce the casualty of rescuers. Robots can help rescue teams and even replace rescuers to perform dangerous missions. Search and rescue robots will play a more and more important role in the rescue operations. A survey of the research status of search and rescue robots in Japan, USA, China and other countries has been provided. According to current research, experiences and the lessons learned from applications, the five key performances of a search and rescue robot are survivability, mobility, sensing, communicability and operability. Multi-technique fusion and multi-agent intelligent network are considered to be requirements for the future development of the search and rescue robot. Disaster prevention, disaster reduction and disaster rescue are the important parts of national public safety. They are also crucial for the safety of citizens and their estates. Search and rescue robotic technique is an urgent needed, strategic and core technique for national development. It will be important and strategic for national economy and safety.


title: Diagnostic des infections bactériennes par les puces à ADN

text: The diagnosis of bacterial infections relies on isolation of the pathogen, which cannot be achieved in the time of care. Also, culture is poorly suited to the diagnosis of polymicrobial infections. An alternative is the detection of specific DNA sequences in clinical specimen by DNA microarrays. The first use of microarrays as a diagnostic tool dates from 1995. This review focuses on the development of different DNA chips for diagnosing bacterial infections such as respiratory, digestive or systemic diseases. These studies demonstrated that DNA microarrays are a reliable, rapid and reproducible for the diagnosis of infectious diseases caused by bacteria. High cost and technicity are two limits for the actual use of DNA microarray for the routine diagnosis of bacterial infections.


title: Biologie moléculaire automatisée en microbiologie: quoi de neuf?

text: De plus en plus de biologistes s’intéressent à la biologie moléculaire mais n’ont pas franchi le pas. Les automates d’extraction et de PCR en temps réel ainsi que les kits de réactifs simplifient et sécurisent de façon croissante la technique. Cet article présente les évolutions récentes dans ce domaine.


title: Regional public goods and international organizations

text: This article focuses on the provision prognosis for regional public goods (RPGs) and the role of international organizations in fostering supply in developing countries. All three properties of publicness—i.e., nonrivalry of benefits, nonexcludability of nonpayers, and the aggregation technology—play a role in this prognosis. The paper highlights many provision impediments, not faced by national or global public goods. When intervention is necessary, the analysis distinguishes the role of global, regional, and other institutional arrangements (e.g., networks and public-private partnerships). The pros and cons of subsidiarity are addressed.


title: Mathematical analysis of a disease-resistant model with imperfect vaccine, quarantine and treatment

text: In this paper, we develop a new disease-resistant mathematical model with a fraction of the susceptible class under imperfect vaccine and treatment of both the symptomatic and quarantine classes. With standard incidence when the associated reproduction threshold is less than unity, the model exhibits the phenomenon of backward bifurcation, where a stable disease-free equilibrium co-exists with a stable endemic equilibrium. It is then proved that this phenomenon vanishes either when the vaccine is assumed to be 100% potent and perfect or the Standard Incidence is replaced with a Mass Action Incidence in the model development. Furthermore, the model has a unique endemic and disease-free equilibria. Using a suitable Lyapunov function, the endemic equilibrium and disease free equilibrium are proved to be globally-asymptotically stable depending on whether the control reproduction number is less or greater than unity. Some numerical simulations are presented to validate the analytic results.


title: Le pré-analytique en biologie médicale: Importance du pré-analytique en biologie médicale

text: Dans la réalisation d’une analyse, le pré-analytique occupe plus de la moitié du temps. Il s’agit d’une phase essentielle dont une partie est interne au laboratoire et une autre se situe en amont, du patient jusqu’à l’arrivée de l’échantillon. Les acteurs du pré-analytique sont nombreux, incluant le préleveur, le transporteur et l’équipe du laboratoire.


title: Effect of solvent type and concentration on size and morphology of arbidol microparticles obtained by supercritical antisolvent precipitation

text: The capability of arbidol microparticle preparation by supercritical antisolvent (SAS) precipitation was demonstrated. A nonmonotonic dependence of the average particle size on the concentration was found, while the position of the minimum is dependent on the type of solvent used. It is possible to prepare Arbidol particles of various morphology and size from several microns to several hundred microns depending on the conditions.


title: Esophageal cancer spatial and correlation analyses: Water pollution, mortality rates, and safe buffer distances in China

text: Esophageal cancer exhibits one of the highest incidence and mortality rates in China. Malignant tumors caused by esophageal cancer, and the relationship to environmental factors has been the focus of many public health studies. This study applied spatial analysis to ascertain the relationship between water pollution and esophageal cancer mortality rates nationwide. We employed two datasets, including a national investigation of esophageal cancer rates and distribution, and national water quality grades in China’s primary rivers and lakes. Esophageal cancer data were grouped based on different water quality grades, which included a scaled buffer distance from rivers and lakes. Non-parametric correlation analyses were performed to examine the presence or absence of the following correlations: (i) esophageal cancer mortality and buffer distance from rivers and lakes; and (ii) esophageal cancer mortality and water quality grade values. The present study revealed a significant positive correlation between widespread water pollution and esophageal cancer mortality nationwide; and a significant negative correlation between esophageal cancer mortality, and buffer distance from rivers and lakes.


title: Stochastic cellular automata modeling of excitable systems

text: A stochastic cellular automaton is developed for modeling waves in excitable media. A scale of key features of excitation waves can be reproduced in the presented framework such as the shape, the propagation velocity, the curvature effect and spontaneous appearance of target patterns. Some well-understood phenomena such as waves originating from a point source, double spiral waves and waves around some obstacles of various geometries are simulated. We point out that unlike the deterministic approaches, the present model captures the curvature effect and the presence of target patterns without permanent excitation. Spontaneous appearance of patterns, which have been observed in a new experimental system and a chemical lens effect, which has been reported recently can also be easily reproduced. In all cases, the presented model results in a fast computer simulation.


title: SRAS: Leçons d’une épidémie maîtrisée

text: En février 2003, nous apprenions que depuis mi-novembre 2002 étaient observés en Chine des cas de pneumopathies aiguës sévères sur lesquels aucun diagnostic étiologique n’avait pu être établi en dépit de la recherche de multiples agents. Au moins 7 foyers de départ, non liés épidémiologiquement étaient identifiés, tous localisés dans la province de Guandong. Très rapidement, il est apparu que la maladie était transférable entre humains et que le personnel hospitalier était particulièrement touché.


title: Assessment of in vitro bioactivities of Pis v 1 (2S albumin) and Pis v 2.0101 (11S globulin) proteins derived from pistachio (Pistacia vera L.)

text: We studied the biological activity of Pis v 1 (2S albumin) and Pis v 2.0101 (11S globulin) against Coxsackie viruses (CV) B2, B3, B4 and B5 as well as their cytotoxicity against six cell lines. Results showed that the two allergens of pistachio significantly reduce the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) against four Gram-positive and four Gram-negative bacteria as well as two fungi. Moreover, they exerted significant in vitro cytotoxic activities against Human ovarian carcinoma (A2780), human colon carcinoma (HTC), human glioblastoma (U-87-MG), human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7), and human prostate cell lines (PC3 and DU-145). Our findings revealed that the highest antimicrobial effect of the allergens was found against M. loteus (MIC = 10 µg/mL). The lowest IC(50) value was found for Pis v 2.0101 allergen (11S globulin) against CV-B4 (30.20 ± 1.01 µg/mL). Furthermore, in vitro cytotoxicity assay showed IC(50) values ranging from 21.09 ± 0.55 to 34.52 ± 0.90 and 26.34 ± 0.88 to 38.63 ± 0.80 µg/mL for Pis v 2.0101 (11S globulin) and Pis v 1 (2S albumin), respectively. As these allergens presented considerable effects against biofilm-related infections, CV-B2-5, and several cell lines, they might be employed as alternative/complementary treatments after further preclinical and clinical studies.


title: Divine omniscience, privacy, and the state

text: Traditional theism teaches that God engages in a relentless form of observation for every human being. If, as is widely supposed, humans have a right to privacy, then it seems that God constantly violates this right. In this paper we argue that there is both a defensible philosophical excuse and justification for this infringement. We also argue that this defense is extensible to human social and political contexts; it provides the vital elements of a theory of just privacy infringement. This theory is broadly compatible both with major forms of political theory (except anarchistic ones) and with the main conceptions of privacy defended in recent philosophical and jurisprudential literature.


title: Risk factors at the travel destination: their impact on air travel satisfaction and repurchase intention

text: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of four travel risk factors (natural disaster risk, physical risk, political risk, and performance risk) on traveler groups with different characteristics and the relationship among these risk factors, travel satisfaction, and travelers’ repurchase intention. For the research purpose, this study analyzed the data from passengers of a major international airline. The results suggest that traveler groups with different characteristics (gender, airline seat class, travel purpose, travel destination, travel duration, travel companion, and income level) respond differently to some risk factors, while they show the same response to other risk factors. The results also show that each risk factor affects travel satisfaction and repurchase intention differently. These findings imply that airlines should develop different strategies based on risk factors and travelers’ characteristics.


title: Molecular dynamics simulation of RNA pseudoknot unfolding pathway

text: Many biological functions of RNA molecules are related to their pseudoknot structures. It is significant for predicting the structure and function of RNA that learning about the stability and the process of RNA pseudoknot folding and unfolding. The structural features of mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) RNA pseudoknot in different ion concentration, the unfolding process of the RNA pseudoknot, and the two hairpin helices that constitute the RNA pseudoknot were studied with all atom molecule dynamics simulation method in this paper. We found that the higher cation concentration can cause structure of the RNA molecules more stable, and ions played an indispensable role in keeping the structure of RNA molecules stable; the unfolding process of hairpin structure was corresponding to the antiprocess of its folding process. The main pathway of pseudoknot unfolding was that the inner base pair opened first, and then, the two helices, which formed the RNA pseudoknot opened decussately, while the folding pathway of the RNA pseudoknot was a helix folding after formation of the other helix. Therefore, the unfolding process of RNA pseudoknot is different from the antiprocess of its folding process, and the unfolding process of each helix in the RNA pseudoknot is similar to the hairpin structure’s unfolding process, which means that both are the unzipping process.


title: Viral Contagion and Anti-Terrorism: Notes on Medical Emergency, Legality and Diplomacy

text: The dominant imagery in current international relations seems to betray the emergence of an imperialist imaginary that differs markedly from an earlier one. This paper traces the main outlines of this emerging imaginary that has left notions of Empire as spheres of integrative production firmly behind, and is now geared towards imagining Empire as a complete, organic body of free-but-organic-and-therefore-orderly flows that however needs to be kept intact by means of epidemiological interventions aimed at excluding or neutralizing viral entities. Dealing with terrorism, or invading states that allegedly breed them, in this imaginary, is first and foremost a matter of medical necessity and urgency. The legal and diplomatic 'logic' of UN resolutions (Resolution 1441 for example), in this imaginary space, can only be imagined as being of secondary importance. Cooperation and `cosmopolitan' negotiation, as alternatives, disappear in this imaginary that projects an imperialist globalism of epidemiological purity.


title: Domestic politics and the WHO’s International Health Regulations: Explaining the use of trade and travel barriers during disease outbreaks

text: During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO), acting under the authority of the International Health Regulations (IHR), recommended against the imposition of trade or travel restrictions because, according to WHO, these barriers would not prevent disease spread. Why did 47 states impose barriers anyway? This article argues that states use barriers as political cover to prevent a loss of domestic political support. This logic suggests that governments anticipating high domestic political benefits for imposing barriers during an outbreak will be likely to do so. Logistic regression and duration analysis of an original dataset coding state behavior during H1N1 provide support for this argument: democracies with weak health infrastructure—those that stand to gain the most from imposing barriers during an outbreak because they are particularly vulnerable to a negative public reaction—are more likely than others to impose barriers and to do so quickly. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11558-016-9260-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.


title: Enhancing bio-recovery of bioactive compounds extracted from Citrus medica L. Var. sarcodactylis: optimization performance of integrated of pulsed-ultrasonic/microwave technique

text: ABSTRACT: This study mainly aimed to optimize a sustainable and green process for extracting bioactive compounds from Foshou fruit by using an integrated technique based on ultrasonic-microwave assisted extraction (UMAE). Response surface methodology (RSM) based on a Box–Behnken design was applied to determine optimal conditions. The following optimized UMAE processing parameters were obtained: sonication time (96.13 s), microwave power (305.28 W), and solid/solvent ratio (1:37). Based on a total phenolic compound extraction yield of 9.21 mg gallic acid (GA) equ/g dry weight (DW), a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 27.52 μg GA equ, and an antioxidant capacity detected by 2,2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS) assay of 8.79 mg trolox equ/g DW. The optimized UMAE extract was superior to those obtained using microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) or conventional solvent extraction (CSE) methods. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed that the three extraction methods affected the sample tissue microstructure. Among them, UMAE caused the most marked structural disruption. UPLC-PDA-Q-TOF-MS analysis identified 67 phenolic compounds in the optimized UMAE extract of the Foshou fruit extract. This study indicated that the integrated UMAE technique is a suitable and safe technique to enhance the qualitative and quantitative extraction of phenolic compounds from Foshou fruit. These phenolic compounds can be used as a functional food ingredient in industrial production. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT: [Image: see text]


Report


title: Global Health. Die Gesundheit der Welt in der internationalen Politik

text: With the adoption of the Millenium Development Goals in 2000, global health attracted notice to a worldwide public. This article analyzes the origins, the concept and the universal relevance of global health, discusses several international development programs (supported by the USA, the UN, as well as and by private organizations) and examines their effects and their sustainability.


title: The use of comb-type copolymers to sustain the surface bactericidal effect of highly water-soluble cationic biocides

text: A series of free radical comb-type acrylic copolymers was prepared in a solution incorporating charged and/or neutral stabilising species on the backbone. The polymer solutions were formulated with cationic biocides to give physically stable formulations with a long shelf life. Furthermore, through the control of polymer architecture of both the side-chain and the backbone, hydrophobicity, a controlled release of a biocide could be achieved. This technology has resulted in the design of temporary coatings demonstrating a sustained surface disinfecting effect. In laboratory trials, coated surfaces with polymeric/biocidal formulations continued to show a disinfection effect after several washes.


title: Advances in the science and technology of paints, inks and related coatings: 2005

text: This review summarises the developments in adhesion, VOC emissions, coatings, transparent conductive coatings, hybrid organic-inorganic coatings, UV curing, biocidal coatings, paints, weathering, wood coatings, surface treatment of concrete, metal corrosion, pigments, film formation, printing, modelling fluid flow in printing, dot gain and inkjet printing reported inSurface Coatings International Part B: Coatings Transactions,88, 2005.


title: Acceptance of human remains for carriage by air– some concerns in security and safety

text: The carriage by air of human remains has primarily concerned the global community in the context of sanitation and safety. However, some jurisdictions, particularly the United States, have provisions and procedures for screening human remains along the same lines as they do cargo. As this article will discuss, the trouble with this subject is that it has not been given the attention it requires, which has led to a hopelessly fragmented approach in regulating this aspect of air cargo. The High Level Conference on Aviation Security, convened by the International Civil Aviation Organization from 12 to 14 September 2012 in Montreal, focused on three overarching themes - cargo security, sustainability of security measures and innovation in addressing threats to aviation security. The Conference did not address the carriage by air of human remains from a security perspective. However, if one were to apply one of the key principles recognized by the Conference – that each State should ensure that appropriate security controls, including screening where applicable, are applied to cargo and mail, prior to their being loaded onto an aircraft engaged in passenger commercial air transport operations, the operative words would be “security controls” which bring to bear the reality that different States could have different security controls and that they should be harmonized. This article discusses the manner in which such controls can be harmonized from a regulatory perspective in the context of the carriage by air of human remains.


title: One-dimensional nanostructures for electronic and optoelectronic devices

text: One-dimensional (1-D) nanostructures have been the focus of current researches due to their unique physical properties and potential applications in nanoscale electronics and optoelectronics. They address and overcome the physical and economic limits of current microelectronic industry and will lead to reduced power consumption and largely increased device speed in next generation electronics and optoelectronics. This paper reviews the recent development on the device applications of 1-D nanostructures in electronics and optoelectronics. First, typical 1-D nanostructure forms, including nanorods, nanowires, nanotubes, nanobelts, and hetero-nanowires, synthesized from different methods are briefly discussed. Then, some nanoscale electronic and optoelectronic devices built on 1-D nanostructures are presented, including field-effect transistors (FETs), p-n diodes, ultraviolet (UV) detectors, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), nanolasers, integrated nanodevices, single nanowire solar cells, chemical sensors, biosensors, and nanogenerators. We then finalize the paper with some perspectives and outlook towards the fast-growing topics.


title: ‘Het went nooit helemaal’

text: Zorgverlenen brengt veel en intense emoties met zich mee. In een serie van zes artikelen over emoties en hoe hulpverleners deze in hun werk beleven, dit keer aandacht voor walging, een onaangename emotie die vaker voorkomt dan we denken of zouden wensen.


title: Whither the Book Retailing Industry in China: A Historical Reflection

text: This article reviews the evolution of the book retailing industry in the mainland area of the People’s Republic of China since the late 1970s. It charts the history and development of the three principal types of booksellers in the general interest book market—the state-owned Xinhua bookstores, private booksellers, and online retailers. In doing this, the article hopes to consider some of the industry’s latest developments and its future by reflecting on them in a historical light.


title: Exposure to fear: Changes in travel behavior during MERS outbreak in Seoul

text: Disaster management teams could learn much from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak in South Korea in 2015. The virus outbreak provoked public fear, which resulted in a mass reduction in transit use in the Seoul Metropolitan Area (SMA). Its effect differed among socioeconomic groups and geographical areas. A typical way to analyze this is to associate individual reactions to the disaster with socioeconomic characteristics. However, a more structured approach, which considers behavioral characteristics resulting from the societal position of an individual, would identify the basic reason for such associations. The study hypothesized that the degree of fixity that individuals have in their daily life may elucidate these associations. When fear is prevalent, people having the flexibility to change their lifestyle will make more changes in daily activities and travels. The study examined the influence of public fear of a pandemic disease on travel behavior and the effect of life fixity on individual response to the fear. To this end, smart card data of transit use and changes in travel behavior during the MERS period were examined. The study found that fear was powerful and influenced travel behavior differently depending on life fixity levels and regional characteristics.


title: Elastic knits with different structures composed by using wrapped yarns: Function and comfort evaluations

text: In this study, the wrap yarns are made with antibacterial/green charcoal plied yarns as the wrap material and moisture management yarns as the core by using a rotary twisting machine. The wrap yarns and Tetoron(®) elastic yarns are then combined with different structures in order to form elastic knits. The elastic knits are then evaluated for their functions in terms of their antibacterial properties, far infrared radiation rate, and anion counts, as well as comfort in terms of settling time, wicking performance, water vapor permeability, softness, and air permeability, in order to examine the influences of jersey structure, stripe structures and mesh structures. The test results indicate that the combination of five green charcoal filaments and a mesh structure provides the elastic knits with the maximum functions and comfort, due to a high content of functional fibers per unit area. The optimal FIR emissivity reaches 0.89, maximum anion amount is 673±21.4, and the highest permeability is 63.9±2.6 cm(3)/cm(2)/s. As a result, the proposed elastic knits have an adjustable fabric structure that is feasible to meet any requirements and thus has a broad application range.


title: The Beijing Convention of 2010 on the suppression of unlawful acts relating to international civil aviation—an interpretative study

text: Aviation is an important global business and a significant driver of the global economy. It is vital, therefore, that stringent measures are taken to counter acts of unlawful interference with civil aviation. Following a diplomatic conference, held in Beijing from 30 August to 10 September 2010 under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization, representatives from more than 80 States adopted two international air law instruments for the suppression of unlawful acts relating to civil aviation. The two instruments are the Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation and the Protocol Supplementary to the Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft. The Beijing Convention serves international civil aviation well, by requiring parties to criminalize a number of new and emerging threats to the safety of civil aviation, including using aircraft as a weapon and organizing, directing and financing acts of terrorism. These new treaties reflect the international community’s shared effort to prevent acts of terrorism against civil aviation and to prosecute and punish those who would commit them. The treaties promote cooperation between States while emphasizing the human rights and fair treatment of terrorist suspects. The Convention also obligates States to criminalize the transport of biological, chemical, nuclear weapons and related material. However, many provisions of the Convention, which is a new comer to aviation security in the context of some new provisions it introduces, need interpretation. This article discusses the areas in the treaty which need interpretation and clarity.


title: The ePassport — new technology to counter security threats

text: The ePassport is the culmination of a sustained process of development of technical specifications for machine readable travel documents (MRTD). It introduces a new dimension to aviation security in that, within the conventional machine readable passport with its machine readable zone, an additional layer of verification of information contained in an electronic chip is placed, which verifies the information in the passport’s machine readable zone by the use of a special reader. Much research has gone into the areas of the technology and verification in the development of the ePassport. At a Symposium held at the International Civil Aviation Organization in early October 2012, the ePassport was subjected to much discussion by the various experts gathered from across the globe. This article discusses these deliberations and places them against the backdrop of the privacy of the individual and aviation security law.


title: Marmoset model of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection

text: The common marmoset could be useful as a model organism for studying MERS-CoV infection.


title: Prostaglandin D(2) (PGD(2)); PGD(2) receptor subtype DP1

text: Mouse studies suggest inhibiting PGD(2) could help treat viral infections in aged populations.


title: SARS RNA pseudoknot

text: In vitro studies identified an RNA-binding ligand that could help treat SARS-associated coronavirus infection.


Antibiotikaresistenz im Fokus der EU-Gesundheitspolitik


title: Full-length infectious cDNA clone of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)

text: A red fluorescent protein (RFP)-expressing, recombinant, full-length, infectious cDNA clone of MERS-CoV could be used to characterize viral pathogenesis and screen for antivirals.


title: CD14; lymphocyte antigen 96 (LY96; MD2)

text: In vitro and in vivo studies suggest that palmitoyl-oleoyl-phosphatidylglycerol (POPG) could help prevent or treat RSV infection.


title: Educating for Citizenship: Reappraising the Role of Science Education

text: New discoveries and technological inventions render the world increasingly complex. Fostering students’ scientific and technological literacy has, therefore, become a primary goal for many science educators. Yet the concept of scientific literacy is itself not at all clear. In this article, we contest the dominant approach, which defines scientific literacy in terms of what scientists produce or do. We argue that a more viable approach begins by framing a more general project of (democratic) citizenship and asks what kind of scientific literacy can contribute to this project. The different parts of our argument are illustrated with data from a three-year ethnographic study of science in one community. These data feature adult residents who were dealing with the contested issue of whether or not to extend the existing water main in order to supply with water a part of the community that, at the time, had to rely on seasonally contaminated wells. Irrespective of their science background, these citizens engaged scientists. We argue that educating for citizenship presupposes participation in democratic processes, a stance that has considerable implications for science education.


title: Translational tidbits

text: Merck KGaA enters the tankyrase race; Pluristem joins with Case Western to test its new cell therapy; Astellas' AIM unit targets Boston for innovation; the White House clamps down on gain-of-function studies; a round-up of public-private partnerships.


title: Not applicable

text: Mouse studies suggest a mutant form of SARS-associated coronavirus could be used to vaccinate against the infection.


title: Exoribonuclease in nonstructural protein 14 (nsp14-ExoN)

text: In vitro studies suggest nsp14-ExoN inhibitors could help sensitize coronaviruses to RNA mutagen therapeutics including ribavirin.


title: Crystal structures of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) spike protein

text: Crystal structures of the MERS-CoV spike protein in complex with its receptor could aid the development of therapeutics and vaccines against the disease.


title: Implementing One Health approaches to confront emerging and re-emerging zoonotic disease threats: lessons from PREDICT

text: Recurring outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging zoonoses, such as Ebola virus disease, avian influenza, and Nipah virus, serve as a reminder that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are interconnected and that early response to emerging zoonotic pathogens requires a coordinated, interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral approach. As our world becomes increasingly connected, emerging diseases pose a greater threat, requiring coordination at local, regional, and global levels. One Health is a multisectoral, transdisciplinary, and collaborative approach promoted to more effectively address these complex health threats. Despite strong advocacy for One Health, challenges for practical implementation remain. Here we discuss the value of the One Health approach for addressing global health challenges. We also share strategies applied to achieve successful outcomes through the USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats Program PREDICT project, which serve as useful case studies for implementing One Health approaches. Lastly, we explore methods for promoting more formal One Health implementation to capitalize on the added value of shared knowledge and leveraged resources.


title: Cyclophilin

text: In vitro studies suggest cyclosporine A derivatives could help treat coronaviruses such as SARS.