Narrow Results

The paper is devoted to analyzing the mechanisms of spread and prevention of epidemics, based on a discrete model that takes into account the infection spread because of contacts among infected and susceptible individuals, disease-induced mortality, and the factor of treatment. Pathways leading to the complete extinction, complete recovery, and nontrivial coexistence of susceptible and infected individuals are revealed by bifurcation analysis. Parametric conditions of nontrivial modes of coexistence in the form of equilibrium, discrete cycle, quasiperiodic closed invariant curve and chaos are found. An extended analysis on transformation scenarios of these regimes in dependence of the variation of the rate of the infection spread and the treatment intensity is performed. Phenomena of infection-induced chaos and its suppression by treatment are discussed.

In this paper, we consider a Hepatitis C model characterized by acute and chronic infections, treatment as a health-protective measure for the chronically infected is proposed, and its effect on the population is further highlighted. The model is perturbed by white noise and we incorporate Lévy jumps as means to depict abrupt fluctuations. We demonstrate the solution’s existence and uniqueness and deduce adequate criteria for the disease’s extinction and persistence. The importance of treatment as a protective strategy is manifested in its ability to eradicate or mitigate the propagation of the disease. We present numerical simulations to demonstrate the theoretical findings we have obtained.

We investigate the switching feeding behavior of predators in the context of one single prey population, which is disease affected. We consider the case of hunting indiscriminately both types of prey, when the infected prey causes no harm to their predators, but assume also in another model that feeding on the infected individuals has a negative return on the predators. Some counterintuitive results are obtained and discussed.

Korean and American Research Institutes Combine Approaches in Analysis of Viral Infectivity

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Arana Announces Issuance of Key European Patent for Evibodies.

Living Cell Technologies Reports Interim Results Showing Sustained Beneft with DIABECELL^® Implants for Insulin Dependent Diabetes.

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WuXi PharmaTech Honored on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacifc 2008 List for the Fifth Consecutive Year.

Syngenta Enters into Research Collaboration with Anhui Academy, China.

Bayer Schering Pharma to Invest 100 Million Euro in China to Build a Global R&D Center.

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NUS Partners International Rice Research Institute to Address Global Food Security Challenge.

Singapore Research Organizations Team up to Advance Drug Discovery Using Brain Tumor Stem Cells.

AUSTRALIA – World-Class Cancer Center to be Built in Parkville.

AUSTRALIA – Cure Found for Devastating Muscle Disease.

AUSTRALIA – HIV Test to Help Monitor Sufferers.

AUSTRALIA – Radium Weed Weeds Out Sun Spots, Skin Cancer.

AUSTRALIA – Kava Safe and Effective in Reducing Anxiety.

CHINA – CAS Develops New Salt-tolerant Wheat.

CHINA – Search for Passengers on Flights with Flu Case.

HONG KONG – Hong Kong Confirms Asia's 1st Swine Flu Case.

INDIA – Indian Healthcare Market to Grow Despite Slowdown.

INDIA – WHO Lifts Vaccine Embargo on India.

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JAPAN – Japan Swine Flu Cases Surge.

NEW ZEALAND – New Frontiers in Gene Behavior.

NEW ZEALAND – Innovative Pet Food Research Consortium Launched.

SINGAPORE – 50 Receive Healthcare Humanity Awards.

SINGAPORE – No-Go for Swine Flu Parties.

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SINGAPORE – Singapore to Host Conference on Tobacco or Health.

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TAIWAN – Team Makes Breakthrough in Therapy for Childhood Cancer.

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THAILAND – Thailand and Taiwan to Begin Biotech Cooperation Plan.

VIETNAM – US gives Vietnam Protective Bird Flu Equipment.

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CHINA – New Center at Chinese Academy of Sciences Pushes Life Science Innovation.

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SINGAPORE – NUS Gets World's Most High-Tech Microscope.

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VIETNAM – U.S. Provides Aid to Vietnam for Pandemic Preparedness.

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The following topics are under this section:

• A general framework for predictive maintenance of manufacturing systems
• A remote-controlled smart platform for organ repair
• COVID-19 and its genetic relationship with other coronaviruses
• East meets West: cancer therapy using acupuncture and electrochemistry
• A triple-function bismuth oxochromate photocatalyst
• AI enables whole-slide imaging for diagnosis of nasal polyps

A new non-autonomous predator-prey system with the effect of viruses on the prey is investigated. By using the method of coincidence degree, some sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence of a positive periodic solution. Moreover, with the help of an appropriately chosen Lyapunov function, the global attractivity of the positive periodic solution is discussed. In the end, a numerical simulation is used to illustrate the feasibility of our results.

One crucial feature of almost all bacterial infections is the need for the invading pathogen to reach a critical cell population density sufficient to overcome host defences and establish the infection. Controlling the expression of virulence determinants in concert with cell population density may therefore confer a significant survival advantage on the pathogen such that the host is overwhelmed before a defence response can be fully initiated. Many different bacterial pathogens are now known to regulate diverse physiological processes including virulence in a cell-density-dependent manner through cell–cell communication. This phenomenon, which relies on the interaction of a diffusible signal molecule (e.g. an N-acylhomoserine lactone) with a sensor or transcriptional activator to couple gene expression with cell population density, has become known as 'quorum sensing'. Although the size of the 'quorum' is likely to be highly variable and influenced by the diffusibility of the signal molecule within infected tissues, nevertheless quorum-sensing signal molecules can be detected in vivo in both experimental animal model and human infections. Furthermore, certain quorum-sensing molecules have been shown to possess pharmacological and immunomodulatory activity such that they may function as virulence determinants per se. As a consequence, quorum sensing constitutes a novel therapeutic target for the design of small molecular antagonists capable of attenuating virulence through the blockade of bacterial cell–cell communication.

Cells of the innate immune system perform a number for functions that range from clearing apoptotic cell corpses during normal organ development to removing invading pathogens and helping regulate the immune response to infection. Traditional approaches to assessment of these immune cell behaviors have relied upon histological analysis of fixed tissue samples complemented by in vitro functional data. Despite providing significant insights, translating the results from such studies into a multicellular whole animal context is difficult. Recent advances in cell labeling techniques and imaging technologies has given researchers unprecedented ability to directly observe immune cell activities within a live whole animal context. Such live imaging approaches are essential to completely appreciate these activities within their intact normal physiological setting. The zebrafish embryo, with its optical transparency and fully functional innate and adaptive immune systems, represents an ideal system in which to live image innate immune cells. When this is coupled with the relative ease with which specific immune cells can be fluorescently labeled within transgenic reporter lines and the ability to both genetically and chemically interfere with genetic pathways, the zebrafish is emerging as a strong vertebrate platform in which to make novel contributions to understanding immune cell biology. This chapter will discuss how our group and others use live imaging to assess the behavior of myeloid leukocytes during normal development and in response to different inflammatory stimuli, including wounding and pathogenic challenge.