Ross River virus (RRV) is a mosquito-borne member of the genus Alphavirus that causes epidemic polyarthritis in humans, costing the Australian health system at least US$10 million annually. Recent progress in RRV vaccine development requires accurate assessment of RRV genetic diversity and evolution, particularly as they may affect the utility of future vaccination. In this study, we provide no...

Homologous rotaviruses (RV) are, in general, more virulent and replicate more efficiently than heterologous RV in the intestine of the homologous host. The genetic basis for RV host range restriction is not fully understood and is likely to be multigenic. In previous studies, RV genes encoding VP3, VP4, VP7, nonstructural protein 1 (NSP1), and NSP4 have all been implicated in strain- and host s...

Water environmental risk is the probability of the occurrence of events caused by human activities or the interaction of human activities and natural processes that will damage a water environment. This study proposed a water environmental risk index (WERI) model to assess the water environmental risk in the Yinma River Basin based on hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and regional management ab...

Tangible, embedded, and reality-based interaction are among novel concepts of interaction design that will change our usage of computers and be part of our daily life in coming years. In this article, we present an overview of the research area of tangible, embedded, and reality-based interaction as an area ofmedia informatics. Potentials andchallengesaredemonstrated with four selected case stu...

Programmer/Analyst Lara Hilton, BA Database Manager Shannon Rhodes, MFA Research Assistant Hsien Seow, BS Staff Assistant Cony Rolón, BA Director Paul G. Shekelle, MD, PhD Senior Statistician/Co-Director Sally C. Morton, PhD Project Manager/Policy Analyst Margaret Maglione, MPP Reviewers Sydney Dy, PhD Ronda Hughes, PhD, MHS, RN Richard Mularski, MD Lisa Shugarman, PhD Virginia Sun, RN Anne M. ...

OBJECTIVES (1) To examine the feasibility to link climate data with monthly incidence of Ross River virus (RRv). (2) To assess the impact of climate variability on the RRv transmission. DESIGN An ecological time series analysis was performed on the data collected between 1985 to 1996 in Queensland, Australia. METHODS Information on the notified RRv cases was obtained from the Queensland Dep...

AIMS To examine the potential impact of climate variability on the transmission of Ross River virus (RRv) infection, and to assess the difference in the potential predictors of RRv incidence in coastline and inland regions, Queensland, Australia. METHODS Information on the RRv cases notified between 1985 to 1996 was obtained from the Queensland Department of Health. Climate and population dat...

Surface sediment samples collected from twenty-one sites of Yellow River Estuary and Yangtze River Estuary were determined for sixteen priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) by isotope dilution GC-MS method. The total PAH contents varied from 10.8 to 252 ng/g in Yellow River Estuary sediment, and from 84.6 to 620 ng/g in Yangtze River Estuary sediment. The mean total PAH content of Ya...

OBJECTIVE On August 31, 1998, the rhesus-human reassortant rotavirus vaccine (RRV-TV) was licensed for use in the U.S. During the next nine months, 15 cases of intussusception were reported among infants who received the vaccine. Case-control and cohort studies showed a significantly increased risk of developing intussusception within one week of receiving the vaccine; subsequent ecologic studi...

Both nonlinear and fractal properties of beat-to-beat R-R interval variability signal (RRV) of freely moving lizards (Gallotia galloti) were studied in baseline and under autonomic nervous system blockade. Nonlinear techniques allowed us to study the complexity, chaotic behavior, nonlinearity, stationarity, and regularity over time of RRV. Scaling behavior of RRV was studied by means of fractal...