Real-time reverse transcriptase PCR for the endogenous koala retrovirus reveals an association between plasma viral load and neoplastic disease in koalas

Koala retrovirus (KoRV) is a newly described endogenous retrovirus and is unusual in that inserts comprise a full-length replication competent genome. As koalas are known to suffer from an extremely high incidence of leukaemia/lymphoma, the association between this retrovirus and disease in koalas was examined. Using quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase PCR it was demonstrated that KoRV RNA levels in plasma are significantly increased in animals suffering from leukaemia or lymphoma when compared with healthy animals. Increased levels of KoRV were also seen for animals with clinical chlamydiosis. A significant positive association between viral RNA levels and age was also demonstrated. Real-time PCR demonstrated as much as 5 log variation in KoRV proviral DNA levels in genomic DNA extracted from whole blood from different animals. Taken together these data indicate that KoRV is an active endogenous retrovirus and suggests that it may be causally linked to neoplastic disease in koalas.

Equivalence between two-mode spin squeezed states and pure entangled states with equal spin

We prove that a pure entangled state of two subsystems with equal spin is equivalent to a two-mode spin-squeezed state under local operations except for a set of bipartite states with measure zero, and provide a counterexample to the generalization of this result to two subsystems of unequal spin.

Modified nicotine metabolism in transgenic tobacco plants expressing the human cytochrome P450 2A6 cDNA

In this study, the human cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2A6 was used in order to modify the alkaloid production of tobacco plants. The cDNA for human CYP2A6 was placed under the control of the constitutive 35S promoter and transferred into Nicotiana tabacum via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Transgenic plants showed formation of the recombinant CYP2A6 enzyme but no obvious phenotypic changes. Unlike wild-type tobacco, the transgenic plants accumulated cotinine, a metabolite which is usually formed from nicotine in humans. This result substantiates that metabolic engineering of the plant secondary metabolism via mammalian P450 enzymes is possible in vivo. (c) 2005 Federation of European Biochemical Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cadmium-induced nephropathy in the development of high blood pressure

In recognition of a central role of the kidney in long-term blood pressure control, we undertook an in-depth analysis of the relationship between blood pressure and kidney damage caused by environmental exposure to the common pollutants cadmium and lead. The subjects were 200 healthy Thais, 16 and 60 years of age (100 female non-smokers, 53 male non-smokers, and 47 male smokers). None of these subjects had been exposed to Cd or Pb in the workplace and their urinary Cd concentrations ranged from 0.4 to 37 nM, whereas their urinary Pb concentrations ranged from 0.1 to 30 nM. The prevalence of high blood pressure was 2%, 8% and 19%, respectively in subjects with low, average and high Cd-burden (linear trend chi(2) = 6.4, P = 0.01). Multiple regression analysis revealed a significant positive association between Cd-burden and blood pressure in male nonsmokers (adjusted beta = 0.31, P = 0.02) and an inverse association between blood pressure and urinary Pb excretion rate in male smokers (adjusted beta = -0.38, P = 0.005). Associations between Cd-burden and nephropathies were evidenced by increases in urinary excretion of beta 2-microglobutin (P = 0.02) and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (P = 0.005) in subjects with high Cd-burden, compared with the subjects with average Cd-burden. In addition, an association between Cd-related nephropathy and high blood pressure was evidenced by a 20% increase in the prevalence of high blood pressure in people with NAG-uria (linear trend chi(2) = 4.3, P = 0.04). Our present study provides first evidence for a possible link between renal tubular damage and dysfunction caused by environmental Cd exposure and increased risk of high blood pressure. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Fusing subunit antigens to interleukin-2 and encapsulating them in liposomes improves their antigenicity but not their protective efficacy

Subunit vaccines commonly lack sufficient immunogenicity to stimulate a comprehensive protective immune response in vivo. We have investigated the potential of specific cytokines (interleukin-2) and particulate delivery systems (liposomes) to enhance antigenicity. Here we report that the IgG1 and IFN-gamma responses to a subunit antigen, consisting of a T and B-cell epitope from Influenza haemagglutinin, can be improved when it is both fused to interelukin-2 and encapsulated in liposomes. However, this vaccine formulation was not able to protect animals against a challenge with live Influenza A/PR/8/34 virus. The addition of more potent immune stimulators may be necessary to improve responses. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physicians' attitudes towards end-of-life decisions: a comparison between seven countries

In the context of an European collaborative research project (EURELD), a study on attitudes towards medical end-of-life decisions was conducted among physicians in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. Australia also joined the consortium. A written questionnaire with structured questions was sent to practising physicians from specialties frequently involved in the care of dying patients. 10,139 questionnaires were studied. Response rate was equal to or larger than 50% in all countries except Italy (39%). Apart from general agreement with respect to the alleviation of pain and symptoms with possible life-shortening effect, there was large variation in support-between and within countries-for medical decision that may result in the hastening of death. A principal component factor analysis found that 58% of the variance of the responses is explained by four factors. 'Country' explained the largest part of the variation of the standardized factor scores. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identification of new flaviviruses in the Kokobera virus complex

Novel flavivirus isolates from mosquitoes collected in northern Australia were analysed by partial genomic sequencing, monoclonal antibody-binding assays and polyclonal cross-neutralization tests. Two isolates were found to be antigenically distinct from, but related to, viruses of the Kokobera virus complex, which currently contains Kokobera (KOKV) and Stratford (STRV) viruses. Nucleotide sequence comparison of two separate regions of the genome revealed that an isolate from Saibai Island in the Torres Strait in 2000 (TS5273) was related closely to KOKV and STRV, with 74-80 and 75-76% nucleotide similarity, respectively. An isolate from mainland Cape York in 1998 (CY1014) was found to be more divergent from KOKV and STRV, with

Sexual abuse in childhood and sexual dysfunction in adulthood: An Australian population-based study

This study examined self-reported adult sexual functioning in individuals reporting a history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) in a representative sample of the Australian population. A sample of 1793 persons, aged 18-59 years, were randomly selected from the electoral roll for Australian states and territories in April 2000. Respondents were interviewed about their health status and sexual experiences, including unwanted sexual experiences before the age of 16 years. More than one-third of women and approximately one-sixth of men reported a history of CSA. Women were more likely than men to report both non-penetrative and penetrative experiences of CSA. For both sexes, there was a significant association between CSA and symptoms of sexual dysfunction. In assessing the specific nature of the relationship between sexual abuse and sexual dysfunction, statistically significant associations were, in general, evident for women only. CSA was not associated with the level of physical or emotional satisfaction respondents experienced with their sexual activity. The total number of lifetime sexual partners was significantly and positively associated with CSA for females, but not for males; however, the number of sexual partners in the last year was not related to CSA. CSA in the Australian population is common and contributes to significant impairment in the sexual functioning of adults, especially women. These consequences appear not to extend to the other areas of sexual activity considered in this study.

A new approach to control of MIMO processes with static nonlinearities using an extended IMC framework

In this paper, a new control design method is proposed for stable processes which can be described using Hammerstein-Wiener models. The internal model control (IMC) framework is extended to accommodate multiple IMC controllers, one for each subsystem. The concept of passive systems is used to construct the IMC controllers which approximate the inverses of the subsystems to achieve dynamic control performance. The Passivity Theorem is used to ensure the closed-loop stability. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cognitive fit between conceptual schemas and internal problem representations: The case of geospatio-temporal conceptual schema comprehension

Geospatio-temporal conceptual models provide a mechanism to explicitly represent geospatial and temporal aspects of applications. Such models, which focus on both what and when/where, need to be more expressive than conventional conceptual models (e.g., the ER model), which primarily focus on what is important for a given application. In this study, we view conceptual schema comprehension of geospatio-temporal data semantics in terms of matching the external problem representation (that is, the conceptual schema) to the problem-solving task (that is, syntactic and semantic comprehension tasks), an argument based on the theory of cognitive fit. Our theory suggests that an external problem representation that matches the problem solver's internal task representation will enhance performance, for example, in comprehending such schemas. To assess performance on geospatio-temporal schema comprehension tasks, we conducted a laboratory experiment using two semantically identical conceptual schemas, one of which mapped closely to the internal task representation while the other did not. As expected, we found that the geospatio-temporal conceptual schema that corresponded to the internal representation of the task enhanced the accuracy of schema comprehension; comprehension time was equivalent for both. Cognitive fit between the internal representation of the task and conceptual schemas with geospatio-temporal annotations was, therefore, manifested in accuracy of schema comprehension and not in time for problem solution. Our findings suggest that the annotated schemas facilitate understanding of data semantics represented on the schema.

Axial Anomaly for Eguchi-Hanson Metrics with Nonzero Total Mass

We compute the Dirac indexes for. the two spin structures kappa(0) and kappa(1) for Eguchi-Hanson metrics with nonzero total mass. It shows that the Dirac indexes do not vanish in general, and axial anomaly exists. When the metric has zero total mass, the Dirac index vanishes for the spin structure no, and no axial anomaly exists in this case.

Existence of complementary pairs of proportionally balanced designs

Proportionally balanced designs (pi BDs) were introduced by Gray and Matters in response to a need for the allocation of markers of the Queensland Core Skills Test to have a certain property. Subsequent papers extended the theoretical results relating to such designs and provided further instances and general constructions. This work focused on designs comprising blocks of precisely two sizes, and when each variety occurs with one of precisely two possible frequencies. Two designs based on the set V of varieties are complementary if, whenever B is a block of one, then its complement with regard to the set V is a block of the other. Here we present necessary conditions for the existence of complementary pairs of such pi BDs and provide lists of some restricted parameter sets satisfying these necessary conditions. The lists are arranged according to the number of blocks. We demonstrate that not all of these parameter sets give rise to designs. However we establish by construction of the sets of blocks that, for every feasible number of blocks less than or equal to 100, with the possible exception of 63, there exists at least one pair of complementary pi BDs. We also investigate the conditions under which the complementary design can be isomorphic to the original design, and again provide a list of feasible parameters for pairs of such designs with at most 400 blocks.

Wireless telemedicine for the delivery of specialist paediatric services to the bedside

A mobile interactive online health system was used to conduct virtual ward rounds at a regional hospital which had no specialist paediatrician. The system was wireless, which allowed telepaediatric services to be delivered direct to the bedside. Between December 2004 and May 2005, 43 virtual ward rounds were coordinated between specialists based in Brisbane and local staff at the Gladstone Hospital. Eighty-six consultations were provided for 64 patients. The most common conditions included asthma (27%), chest infections (12%), gastroenteritis (10%) and urinary tract infections (10%). In the majority of cases, there were partial (67%) or complete changes (11%) in the clinical management of patients. Specialist services were offered by a team of 13 clinicians at the Royal Children's Hospital: 10 general paediatricians, two physiotherapists and one registered nurse. Feedback from all consultants involved in the service and local staff in Gladstone was extremely positive. In 43 videoconference calls there were three technical problems, probably due to an intermittent mains power supply at the regional hospital. There appears to be potential for other rural and regional hospitals to adopt this model of service delivery.