Spatio-Temporal Magnitude and Direction of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (H5N1) Outbreaks in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: The number of outbreaks of HPAI-H5N1 reported by Bangladesh from 2007 through 2011 placed the country among the highest reported numbers worldwide. However, so far, the understanding of the epidemic progression, direction, intensity, persistence and risk variation of HPAI-H5N1 outbreaks over space and time in Bangladesh remains limited. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To determine the magnitude and spatial pattern of the highly pathogenic avian influenza A subtype H5N1 virus outbreaks over space and time in poultry from 2007 to 2009 in Bangladesh, we applied descriptive and analytical spatial statistics. Temporal distribution of the outbreaks revealed three independent waves of outbreaks that were clustered during winter and spring. The descriptive analyses revealed that the magnitude of the second wave was the highest as compared to the first and third waves. Exploratory mapping of the infected flocks revealed that the highest intensity and magnitude of the outbreaks was systematic and persistent in an oblique line that connects south-east to north-west through the central part of the country. The line follows the Brahmaputra-Meghna river system, the junction between Central Asian and East Asian flyways, and the major poultry trading route in Bangladesh. Moreover, several important migratory bird areas were identified along the line. Geostatistical analysis revealed significant latitudinal directions of outbreak progressions that have similarity to the detected line of intensity and magnitude. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: The line of magnitude and direction indicate the necessity of mobilizing maximum resources on this line to strengthen the existing surveillance

Tratamento do bagaço de cana-de-açúcar com uréia

O bagaço de cana contendo 55% de matéria seca (MS) foi tratado com cinco níveis de uréia (0; 2,5; 5; 7,5; e 10%) e 5% de soja crua moída como fonte de urease, ambos com base na MS. O material foi armazenado por 97 dias em sacos plásticos (8 kg/saco de 50 L).e, após abertura, amostras foram coletadas em três períodos de aeração (2, 9 e 16 dias). Foi usado delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado com três repetições. Não houve efeito de níveis de uréia para teor de MS; entretanto, a matéria seca elevou-se com o aumento dos períodos de aeração. Houve também aumento dos teores de proteína bruta e nitrogênio insolúvel em detergente ácido com o aumento dos níveis de uréia e redução com o aumento dos períodos de aeração. Não houve efeito para a fibra em detergente ácido, em função de níveis de uréia e períodos de aeração. A fibra em detergente neutro e a hemicelulose diminuíram com adição de uréia, mas elevaram-se com o aumentos dos períodos de aeração. A digestibilidade in vitro da matéria seca aumentou com a adição de uréia. Os tratamentos com uréia alteraram a composição química, melhorando a qualidade do bagaço.Sugarcane bagasse with 55% of dry matter (DM) was treated with five levels of urea (0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10%) and 5% ground whole soybean as a source of urease both, on a DM basis. The material was stored in plastic bags for 97 days (8 kg/ 50 L plastic bag), and after plastic bag opening, samples were collected at three aeration period (2, 9, and 16 days). A completely randomized design with three replicates was used. There was no effect of urea levels on dry matter content; however, dry matter increased with the increase of the aeration time. There were also increase of crude protein and acid detergent insoluble nitrogen (ADIN) with the increase of urea levels and reduction with the aeration periods increase. There was effect for ADF content as function of the urea levels and aeration periods. The neutral detergent fiber and hemicellulose contents decreased with the urea addition, but increased with the aeration periods. The in vitro dry matter disappearance increased with the addition of urea. The treatment with urea changed the chemical composition and improved the bagasse quality

Non-randomness of the anatomical distribution of tumors

Background: Why does a tumor start where it does within an organ? Location is traditionally viewed as a random event, yet the statistics of the location of tumors argues against this being a random occurrence. There are numerous examples including that of breast cancer. More than half of invasive breast cancer tumors start in the upper outer quadrant of the breast near the armpit, even though it is estimated that only 35 to 40% of breast tissue is in this quadrant. This suggests that there is an unknown microenvironmental factor that significantly increases the risk of cancer in a spatial manner and that is not solely due to genes or toxins. We hypothesize that tumors are more prone to form in healthy tissue at microvascular ‘hot spots’ where there is a high local concentration of microvessels providing an increased blood flow that ensures an ample supply of oxygen, nutrients, and receptors for growth factors that promote the generation of new blood vessels. Results: To show the plausibility of our hypothesis, we calculated the fractional probability that there is at least one microvascular hot spot in each region of the breast assuming a Poisson distribution of microvessels in two-dimensional cross sections of breast tissue. We modulated the microvessel density in various regions of the breast according to the total hemoglobin concentration measured by near infrared diffuse optical spectroscopy in different regions of the breast. Defining a hot spot to be a circle of radius 200 μm with at least 5 microvessels, and using a previously measured mean microvessel density of 1 microvessel/mm2, we find good agreement of the fractional probability of at least one hot spot in different regions of the breast with the observed invasive tumor occurrence. However, there is no reason to believe that the microvascular distribution obeys a Poisson distribution. Conclusions: The spatial location of a tumor in an organ is not entirely random, indicating an unknown risk factor. Much work needs to be done to understand why a tumor occurs where it does. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s41236-017-0006-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Microenvironmental regulation of metastasis

Metastasis is a multistage process that requires cancer cells to escape from the primary tumour, survive in the circulation, seed at distant sites and grow. Each of these processes involves rate-limiting steps that are influenced by non-malignant cells of the tumour microenvironment. Many of these cells are derived from the bone marrow, particularly the myeloid lineage, and are recruited by cancer cells to enhance their survival, growth, invasion and dissemination. This Review describes experimental data demonstrating the role of the microenvironment in metastasis, identifies areas for future research and suggests possible new therapeutic avenues