Role of position 627 of PB2 and the multibasic cleavage site of the hemagglutinin in the virulence of H5N1 avian influenza virus in chickens and ducks

Highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses have caused major disease outbreaks in domestic and free-living birds with transmission to humans resulting in 59% mortality amongst 564 cases. The mutation of the amino acid at position 627 of the viral polymerase basic-2 protein (PB2) from glutamic acid (E) in avian isolates to lysine (K) in human isolates is frequently found, but it is not known if this change affects the fitness and pathogenicity of the virus in birds. We show here that horizontal transmission of A/Vietnam/1203/2004 H5N1 (VN/1203) virus in chickens and ducks was not affected by the change of K to E at PB2-627. All chickens died between 21 to 48 hours post infection (pi), while 70% of the ducks survived infection. Virus replication was detected in chickens within 12 hours pi and reached peak titers in spleen, lung and brain between 18 to 24 hours for both viruses. Viral antigen in chickens was predominantly in the endothelium, while in ducks it was present in multiple cell types, including neurons, myocardium, skeletal muscle and connective tissues. Virus replicated to a high titer in chicken thrombocytes and caused upregulation of TLR3 and several cell adhesion molecules, which may explain the rapid virus dissemination and location of viral antigen in endothelium. Virus replication in ducks reached peak values between 2 and 4 days pi in spleen, lung and brain tissues and in contrast to infection in chickens, thrombocytes were not involved. In addition, infection of chickens with low pathogenic VN/1203 caused neuropathology, with E at position PB2-627 causing significantly higher infection rates than K, indicating that it enhances virulence in chickens.

Adoption and rejection : re-appraising the Soviet influence on townscape formation in Indochina

The Soviet socialist form of urban development was implanted in countries that came under the Soviet Union's influence in the Cold War period, including Vietnam,. Laos and post-Pol Pot Cambodia. These environmental impacts were not only out of tune with traditional cultural patterns when first built, but also now add to the hurdles of urban readjstment facing these countries as they struggle to prepare themselves for reintegratioin into the twenty-first century world.

On memory, affect and atonement : the Long Tan memorial cross(es)

This article analyses the history of the Long Tan Memorial in Vietnam in order to open up a space for engaging with the memorialisation of war as something that can go beyond nationalistic sentimentality and create a space for more complex political and social engagements. In doing so I am concerned with exploring the value of an approach to heritage significance that prioritises relationships between places and peoples rather than authenticity and originality. I explore this question by making use of the fact that the Australian War Memorial has borrowed the original Long Tan Cross now in the custodianship of the Dong Nai Museum for a special exhibition to commemorate the Vietnam War. The Australian Vietnam Volunteers Reconstruction Group, who has official custodianship of the replica cross at the Long Tan Memorial site in Vietnam, has expressed disquiet over the loan. I use the Acting Director’s reply to the AVVRG’s Chairman to open up a discussion about the differences in meanings between these two crosses, what underlies these and how we might theorise them in order to open up an understanding of war heritage that recognises its potentials and its limitations.

Down under and in between : Australian security perspectives in the 'Asian Century'

This chapter will provide an overview of Australian perspectives on the US alliance in light of ongoing and emerging challenges in the Asia-Pacific region. After a brief discussion of the motivations behind the signing of the ANZUS treaty, the first part of the chapter examines the historical context of the alliance, with a particular focus on the longstanding and ongoing tussle in Australia between independence in foreign policy making vis-à-vis broader structural constraints. While this debate has been a constant feature of the political scene in Australia, it has come into particular focus since the US withdrawal from Vietnam, which marked a turning point in Australian perspectives with regard to its own role in Asia. The collision of ideas surrounding Australian identity and Australian national interest has been reflected in policy approaches as successive governments have sought to strike a balance between the two exigencies and thus, most optimally ensure Australia’s strategic future. The chapter concludes by examining current perspectives through the lens of an ongoing debate taking place in Australian academic circles about what the rise of China means for Australia and its commitment to the US alliance, and considers options for caucus-style cooperation with fellow US allies beyond the hub-and-spokes model.

Learners’ motivation and identity in the Vietnamese EFL writing classroom

The study reported in this paper explores issues of motivation and learners’ identity in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) writing classroom in Vietnam from the perspectives of the learners. It was conducted with thirty English-major students at a university in central Vietnam. While relevant literature appears to place much emphasis on students’ extrinsic motivations related to institutional needs, their linguistic needs, and social needs in learning EFL writing, students are not only concerned with these but more significantly, with their intrinsic motivations such as their interest, passion and inspiration, which are linked to their personal and cultural needs in writing. Students in this study show their potential to write independently, creatively and passionately if they are really motivated. This reflects an image of students who are able and ready to write with a sense of authorship in a foreign language, which is different from how they appear to be in the routine described with writing as imitating the model and developing some preconceived ideas. The research also suggests that decisions about appropriate methods and materials for teaching writing in the study context need to be based on a comprehensive interpretation of not only the visible signs or visible needs mainly shaped by institutional requirements and social expectations but also what is deep inside students’ act of writing in a foreign language involving their own cognitive and affective process embedded in their unrecognised needs.

Different shades of the collective way of thinking: Vietnamese and Chinese international students' reflection on academic writing

Investigating ELF/ESL students' experiences in constructing their academic written texts seems to be of great significance in EFL/ESL writing syllabus design and teaching. The case study reported in this paper explores the underlying factors which shape students' ways of supporting ideas in academic essays in English. Drawing on Lillis' (2001) framework for exploring student writing, the study examines the writing experiences of students from Vietnam and mainland China at an Australian university. Based on the students' reflection on their different ways of meaning making, this paper argues for the need to challenge the tendency to essentialize cultural rhetoric patterns and their effects upon Chinese and Vietnamese students' writing in English as a foreign or second language. Several implications for teaching EFL/ESL writing have also been drawn from the findings of this study.

Silencing host genes using RNAi to impact virus growth in vitro

Using short interfering RNAs to silence individual human host genes we were able to demonstrate that alpha coatamer protein (COPA) is important for the replication of highly pathogenic Avian Influenza A/chicken/Vietnam/008/2004 H5N1 in vitro and may therefore hold potential as a target for novel antiviral therapeutics.

Students' intercultural development through language learning in Vietnamese tertiary education: a case study on the use of film as an innovative approach

Vietnam's open-door policy, its socialist-oriented market economy, recent growth in cross-border education and skills mobility, regionalisation and globalisation have created an increasing demand for Vietnamese graduates to develop not only their English language but also their intercultural competence. This paper discusses the issue of student intercultural learning and development in the Vietnamese English as a foreign language (EFL) class. Especially, it addresses the use of film as an innovative approach to engage Vietnamese students in intercultural learning and development in the EFL classroom. The study reported in this paper draws on rich sources of data which include in-depth interviews with students, student reflective journals and video-recorded class observations at a university in central Vietnam. Overall, five key themes relating to student intercultural learning through film have been identified in this study. These include enhancing knowledge about cultural differences, engaging in cross-cultural comparison, breaking cultural stereotypes, immersing students in authentic learning and living in the world of ‘other’ culture and the integrated mode of intercultural language learning. The study is a significant contribution to scholarly research on the use of media objects to enhance student intercultural learning in language classrooms in developing countries.

Applying the theory of resource curse to disadvantaged migrant communities and criminal offending: Vietnamese Australians and the heroin trade as a case study

Australia has a substantial Vietnamese community, a consequence of the refugee exodus from Southeast Asia which followed the Communist victory in Vietnam in 1975. While Vietnamese Australians have contributed greatly to their host society, they are also stigmatised because of an association with the trade in illicit drugs, particularly heroin. Drug-related offending remains very high in Vietnamese Australian communities, with resultant high rates of incarceration and social exclusion. In its formative years the Vietnamese Australian community was faced with exclusion from economic and social opportunity, but was uniquely well-positioned as an ethnic enclave economy to take advantage of the growing demand for illicit drugs, especially heroin. I argue that the heroin trade had an effect analogous to ‘resource curse’, and has been a major source of continuing disadvantage and social harm to the Vietnamese Australian community.

Inhibition of reactive oxygen species production ameliorates inflammation induced by influenza A viruses via upregulation of SOCS1 and SOCS3.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus infection is associated with severe mortality in both humans and poultry. The mechanisms of disease pathogenesis and immunity are poorly understood although recent evidence suggests that cytokine/chemokine dysregulation contributes to disease severity following H5N1 infection. Influenza A virus infection causes a rapid influx of inflammatory cells, resulting in increased reactive oxygen species production, cytokine expression, and acute lung injury. Proinflammatory stimuli are known to induce intracellular reactive oxygen species by activating NADPH oxidase activity. We therefore hypothesized that inhibition of this activity would restore host cytokine homeostasis following avian influenza virus infection. A panel of airway epithelial and immune cells from mammalian and avian species were infected with A/Puerto Rico/8/1934 H1N1 virus, low-pathogenicity avian influenza H5N3 virus (A/duck/Victoria/0305-2/2012), highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus (A/chicken/Vietnam/0008/2004), or low-pathogenicity avian influenza H7N9 virus (A/Anhui/1/2013). Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase PCR showed that H5N1 and H7N9 viruses significantly stimulated cytokine (interleukin-6, beta interferon, CXCL10, and CCL5) production. Among the influenza-induced cytokines, CCL5 was identified as a potential marker for overactive immunity. Apocynin, a Nox2 inhibitor, inhibited influenza-induced cytokines and reactive oxygen species production, although viral replication was not significantly altered in vitro. Interestingly, apocynin treatment significantly increased influenza virus-induced mRNA and protein expression of SOCS1 and SOCS3, enhancing negative regulation of cytokine signaling. These findings suggest that apocynin or its derivatives (targeting host responses) could be used in combination with antiviral strategies (targeting viruses) as therapeutic agents to ameliorate disease severity in susceptible species.

From chemical warfare to peace

Following the horrors of chemical warfare in two World Wars and the Vietnam War (see box), the international community worked to develop an encompassing treaty to prevent the use of chemical weapons. After extensive work, the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction came into force in 1997. Commonly known as the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), it requires member states to declare and destroy chemical weapons and provides for inspection of facilities and investigation into alleged use. The CWC has been ratified by 190 countries and is administered by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Warfare (OPCW). In 2013, the OPCW won the Nobel Peace prize "for its extensive efforts to eliminate chemical weapons". Notable in the official announcement is the reminder that neither the US nor Russia met the 2012 deadline for destruction of their stockpiles of chemical weapons, although both have made significant progress. In July 2005, an invitational joint International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)/OPCW Conference concluded that for the work of OPCW to succeed and be sustainable, engagement in formal educational contexts and public outreach was needed. To this end, the Multiple Uses of Chemicals website

Asia and the autobiographical picture book

The Asia literacy curriculum objectives in Australian primary school classrooms are currently hampered by the scarcity of quality narrative picture books about Asian countries. Few books engage children without also representing Asia problematically. Anh Do’s The Little Refugee asserts an authentic cultural insider perspective on both Vietnam and Australia. In fact, it presents a paternalistic view of Asia and a self-congratulatory vision of Australia. This presentation engages with the picture book and life-writing genres to highlight the pitfalls and possibilities of using the autobiographical picture book to promote Asia literacy.

Public relations practice in ASEAN nations: local, regional, global visions

 This thesis examines the views, concerns and outlooks of public relations practitioners in six countries of South East Asia, seeking to understand the extent to which their views about their work and their world correspond with those of practitioners in the developed countries of the west. It reveals a range of distinctive issues and concerns requiring greater recognition in international public relations literature.

Has China displaced its competitors in high tech trade?

This paper empirically investigated the extent to which China displaced its competitors in high-tech exports using disaggregated data for the period 1992–2013. To address the endogeneity problem, we used a comprehensive set of instruments for Chinese high-tech exports in relevant markets, including China's GDP and distances to those markets. Results of our IV regressions revealed that in most of the high-tech sectors, Chinese exports had displaced the exports of its developing competitors such as India, South American exporters like Brazil and Mexico, and South-East Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, especially in the period prior to the 2007–08 global financial crisis. Yet, Chinese exports had been associated with more high-tech exports of developed exporters like OECD countries, South Korea and Japan. Our findings suggest that while China became the world's top high-tech exporter, its high-tech exported products had been substitutes to those of other developing and emerging economies but complementary to that of developed economies.