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Background/AimsThe importance of viral respiratory infections (VRI) in exacerbations of bronchiectasis is poorly understood. However, they have been proposed as the microbiological ‘trigger’ for bronchiectasis exacerbations.The aims of this study were to describe the rate of VRI in patients hospitalized with bronchiectasis exacerbations and evaluate their effects on exacerbation severity.MethodsAdult patients hospitalised with acute respiratory illness to two hospitals in Auckland, New Zealand between 2012–2015 were screened for inclusion in the Southern Hemisphere Influenza and Vaccine Effectiveness Research and Surveillance (SHIVERS) project, a population-based virus surveillance study. Nasopharyngeal sampling was used to test for respiratory viruses using real-time PCR. Patients with bronchiectasis were identified using ICD-10 code J47, ‘bronchiectasis’.Individual patient data and electronic patient records were reviewed; patients with bronchiectasis due to cystic fibrosis were excluded, as were patients with no clinical evidence of bronchiectasis. Pre-specified parameters were used to describe severity of exacerbation.Results526 patients with bronchiectasis experienced 979 admissions with acute respiratory illnesses. Nasopharyngeal sampling for VRI was performed in 429 admissions (43.8%). Of these, 154 (35.9%) tested positive for VRI, including 62 (14.4%) cases of influenza, 59 rhinovirus (13.8%) and 20 RSV (4.7%). 11 patients (2.5%) tested positive for more than one respiratory virus.Median LOS was longer for patients with VRI (5 [3–7] vs 4 days [2–6] respectively, p=0.032). Patients with VRI were more likely to receive non-invasive ventilation (3.9% vs. 0.8%, p=0.022), and more likely to have a fever (76% vs. 66%, p=0.034). 4.4% of patients died within 30 days of their first recorded admission, and 16.2% died within a year, with no difference between patients testing positive or negative for VRI.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the largest study to investigate the role of viral respiratory infection in patients with bronchiectasis exacerbations. VRI is common in exacerbations requiring hospitalisation and is associated with some markers of more severe illness, including longer duration of hospital admission. Influenza was the most common viral infection, highlighting the importance of public health measures against influenza and other viruses, including vaccination and testing, to limit the effects of viral respiratory infection in bronchiectasis.

Spotted knapweed is an important weed of rangeland in the northwestern United States. A study was conducted near Corvallis, MT, during 1992 to 1994 in order to assess the relationship among the growth attributes of spotted knapweed to identify a minimum set of measurable plant characteristics that are representative of spotted knapweed vigor. Spotted knapweed growth attributes that were examined included plant age, root diameter, plant height, number of stems per plant, aboveground biomass, number of capitula (seed heads) per plant, and number of capitula per stem. Spotted knapweed age was positively correlated with root diameter, number of stems per plant, aboveground biomass, and proportion of bolted plants. Most spotted knapweed plants did not bolt until the third or fourth year. Although plant age is not measured easily in the field, it may be useful as a covariate in an analysis of experiments involving plant competition or nonlethal biological control agents. Root diameter can be used as a nondestructive measure of approximate plant age, especially for the first 5 yr of growth. Root diameter was also highly correlated with many growth measurements, including number of capitula per plant and aboveground biomass, which are most relevant to assessing overall plant vigor. Plant height was positively correlated with aboveground biomass, number of capitula per plant, and mean number of capitula per stem. Number of stems per plant was positively correlated with plant height, aboveground biomass, and number of capitula per plant. Aboveground biomass was positively correlated to number of capitula per plant and mean number of capitula per stem. Measurements of root diameter, plant height, and number of stems are easy to perform and should proyide a good indication of plant vigor.

This open-label, randomised, two-way crossover study compared the steady-state bioavailability of oestradiol administered by way of a new oestradiol matrix transdermal delivery system (Alora 0.1 mg/day) with that of Estraderm (0.1 mg/day) in 24 subjects. Serum oestradiol, oestrone and oestrone sulphate concentrations were determined by measurement of blood samples. Mean SD pre-dosing, nonadjusted oestradiol levels for Alora (71.9 27.0 pg/ml) were substantially higher than those for Estraderm (26.7 9.7 pg/ml), while peak oestradiol concentrations were comparable. Consequently, fluctuations in steady-state levels were substantially smaller for Alora than for Estraderm; the fluctuation index values (\\[C- C ])/ max min C ) were significantly lower for Alora (0.97 0.23) than av for Estraderm (1.68 0.45). Oestradiol levels remained constant over the dosing interval with Alora but decreased significantly after 48 hours with Estraderm. The bioavailability of oestradiol with Alora was 127 56% that of Estraderm. Oestrone and oestrone sulphate data showed the same qualitative and quantitative differences between the two systems. Both systems were well tolerated. In summary, Alora delivered more oestradiol to the systemic circulation with greater consistency and over a longer time than did Estraderm.

Two hundred subjects aged 60-89 were selected for a study aimed at defining a reference range for the erythrocyte sedimentation rate in the elderly. The study extended a previous survey in subjects aged 20-65. The results confirmed that the sedimentation rate increases with age and that women have higher values than men but suggested that over half of elderly patients with disease would have rates within the previously defined \"normal\" range. It is therefore suggested that an erythrocyte sedimentation rate exceeding 19 mm in the first hour in elderly men and 22 mm in the first hour in elderly women warrants investigation.

We compared voxel-based morphometry (VBM) with independent accurate region-of-interest (ROI) measurements of temporal lobe structures in order to validate the usefulness of this fully automated and unbiased technique in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and semantic dementia (SD). In AD, ROI analyses appear more sensitive to volume loss in the amygdalae, whereas VBM analyses appear more sensitive to right middle temporal gyrus and regional hippocampal volume loss. In SD, ROI analyses appear more sensitive to left middle and inferior temporal gyrus volume loss, whereas VBM appears more sensitive to regional hippocampal volume loss. In addition the significance of volume reductions was generally less in VBM owing to more stringent corrections for multiple comparisons. In conclusion, the automated technique detects a general trend of atrophy similar to that of expertly labeled ROI measurements in AD and SD, although there are discrepancies in the ranking of severity and in the significance of volume reductions that are more marked in AD.

Widespread use of insecticides has led to insecticide resistance in many populations of insects. In some populations, resistance has evolved to multiple pesticides. In Drosophila melanogaster, resistance to multiple classes of insecticide is due to the overexpression of a single cytochrome P450 gene, Cyp6g1. Overexpression of Cyp6g1 appears to have evolved in parallel in Drosophila simulans, a sibling species of D. melanogaster, where it is also associated with insecticide resistance. However, it is not known whether the ability of the CYP6G1 enzyme to provide resistance to multiple insecticides evolved recently in D. melanogaster or if this function is present in all Drosophila species. Here we show that duplication of the Cyp6g1 gene occurred at least four times during the evolution of different Drosophila species, and the ability of CYP6G1 to confer resistance to multiple insecticides exists in D. melanogaster and D. simulans but not in Drosophila willistoni or Drosophila virilis. In D. virilis, which has multiple copies of Cyp6g1, one copy confers resistance to DDT and another to nitenpyram, suggesting that the divergence of protein sequence between copies subsequent to the duplication affected the activity of the enzyme. All orthologs tested conferred resistance to one or more insecticides, suggesting that CYP6G1 had the capacity to provide resistance to anthropogenic chemicals before they existed. Finally, we show that expression of Cyp6g1 in the Malpighian tubules, which contributes to DDT resistance in D. melanogaster, is specific to the D. melanogaster-D. simulans lineage. Our results suggest that a combination of gene duplication, regulatory changes and protein coding changes has taken place at the Cyp6g1 locus during evolution and this locus may play a role in providing resistance to different environmental toxins in different Drosophila species.

In recent malaria sporozoite vaccine trials in humans and mice, antibodies to the sporozoite coat protein have given only modest protection against sporozoite challenge. In contrast, irradiated sporozoites can protect mice against massive sporozoite infections. Evidence suggests that immunity in these mice is mediated by T cells. To identify the mechanism of immunity, we used monoclonal antibodies specific for either the CD4 or CD8 molecule to selectively deplete sporozoite-immunized mice of T-cell subsets. Though in vivo depletion of CD4+ T cells did not reduce immunity, depletion of CD8+ T cells abolished protection. Monoclonal antibody treatment did not affect anti-sporozoite antibody levels. Our data indicate that cytotoxic T cells are critical for immunity to large numbers of sporozoites and suggest that vaccine development should be reoriented toward stimulating cellular as well as humoral immunity.

A unique population of southern wild rice (Zizania aquatica L.) is described from the estuary of the Wading River in Burlington County, New Jersey. Individuals of this population grow below low tide in shallow protected areas and broad, slip-off slopes of river meanders. The substrate of these habitats is a mud or soft, black muck. The decumbent stems of these plants root at the lower 3 to 6 nodes and have 2 to 6 branches with axillary panicles on the upper nodes. The submerged, floating and aerial leaves have an unusually narrow mean width of about 8 mm. The emergent inflorescences bear pistillate florets with long lemma awns (maximum 10.5 cm), averaging 6.5 cm. These long awns assist in the method of non-dispersal of the ripened caryopsis. The Wading River plants also flower, produce mature grain and shatter over a longer period later in the fall than do plants from any other New Jersey population. This population is, perhaps, an ccotype of Z. aquatica.