Background
New Zealand's (NZ) complete absence of community transmission of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) after May 2020, likely due to COVID‐19 elimination measures, provided a ...rare opportunity to assess the impact of border restrictions on common respiratory viral infections over the ensuing 2 years.
Methods
We collected the data from multiple surveillance systems, including hospital‐based severe acute respiratory infection surveillance, SHIVERS‐II, ‐III and ‐IV community cohorts for acute respiratory infection (ARI) surveillance, HealthStat sentinel general practice (GP) based influenza‐like illness surveillance and SHIVERS‐V sentinel GP‐based ARI surveillance, SHIVERS‐V traveller ARI surveillance and laboratory‐based surveillance. We described the data on influenza, RSV and other respiratory viral infections in NZ before, during and after various stages of the COVID related border restrictions.
Results
We observed that border closure to most people, and mandatory government‐managed isolation and quarantine on arrival for those allowed to enter, appeared to be effective in keeping influenza and RSV infections out of the NZ community. Border restrictions did not affect community transmission of other respiratory viruses such as rhinovirus and parainfluenza virus type‐1. Partial border relaxations through quarantine‐free travel with Australia and other countries were quickly followed by importation of RSV in 2021 and influenza in 2022.
Conclusion
Our findings inform future pandemic preparedness and strategies to model and manage the impact of influenza and other respiratory viral threats.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Various paradigms can make visual stimuli disappear from awareness, but they often involve stimuli that are either relatively weak, competing with other salient inputs, and/or presented for a ...prolonged period of time. Here we explore a phenomenon that involves controlled perceptual disappearance of a peripheral visual stimulus without these limitations. It occurs when one eye's stimulus is abruptly removed during a binocular rivalry situation. This manipulation renders the remaining stimulus, which is still being presented to the other eye, invisible for up to several seconds. Our results suggest that this perceptual disappearance depends on a visual offset-transient that promotes dominance of the eye in which it occurs regardless of whether the eye is dominant or suppressed at the moment of the transient event. Using computational modeling, we demonstrate that standard rivalry mechanisms of interocular inhibition can indeed be complemented by a hypothesized transient-driven gating mechanism to explain the phenomenon. In essence, such a system suggests that visual awareness is dominated by the eye that receives transients and "sticks with" this eye-based dominance for some time in the absence of further transient events. We refer to this phenomenon as the "disrupted rivalry effect" and suggest that it is a potentially powerful paradigm for the study of cortical suppression mechanisms and the neural correlates of visual awareness.
Recently, simultaneous biventricular pacing has been proposed as an alternative treatment in patients with drug refractory heart failure. The clinical benefit of biventricular pacing has been ...demonstrated in various studies; improvement in heart failure symptoms, quality-of-life, exercise capacity, and left ventricular (LV) systolic performance have been shown. It has been suggested that the success of biventricular pacing is mainly related to resynchronization of the ventricular septum to the LV lateral free wall. Myocardial tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) is an echocardiographic technique that allows noninvasive quantification of the peak systolic myocardial velocity and the timing of this peak velocity in relation to electrical activity (QRS on electrocardiogram). Theoretically, this technique could be very useful in evaluating the dyssynchrony in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy and the resynchronization after biventricular pacing; initial data are promising. Accordingly, consecutive patients with drug refractory heart failure who underwent implantation of a biventricular pacemaker were evaluated with TDI before and after implantation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
The influenza A virus is an RNA virus that is responsible for seasonal epidemics worldwide with up to five million cases of severe illness and 500,000 deaths annually according to the World Health ...Organization estimates. The factors associated with severe diseases are not well defined, but more severe disease is more often seen among persons aged >65 years, infants, pregnant women, and individuals of any age with underlying health conditions.
Using gene expression microarrays, the transcriptomic profiles of influenza-infected patients with severe (N = 11), moderate (N = 40) and mild (N = 83) symptoms were compared with the febrile patients of unknown etiology (N = 73). We found that influenza-infected patients, regardless of their clinical outcomes, had a stronger induction of antiviral and cytokine responses and a stronger attenuation of NK and T cell responses in comparison with those with unknown etiology. More importantly, we found that both interferon and ubiquitination signaling were strongly attenuated in patients with the most severe outcomes in comparison with those with moderate and mild outcomes, suggesting the protective roles of these pathways in disease pathogenesis.
The attenuation of interferon and ubiquitination pathways may associate with the clinical outcomes of influenza patients.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background Fruit and vegetable intakes have been associated with a reduced risk of colon cancer; however, in more recent studies associations have been less consistent. Statistical power to examine ...associations by colon site has been limited in previous studies. Methods Fruit and vegetable intakes in relation to colon cancer risk were examined in the Pooling Project of Prospective Studies of Diet and Cancer. Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated separately in 14 studies using Cox proportional hazards model and then pooled using a random-effects model. Intakes of total fruits and vegetables, total fruits, and total vegetables were categorized according to quintiles and absolute cutpoints. Analyses were conducted for colon cancer overall and for proximal and distal colon cancer separately. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results Among 756217 men and women followed for up to 6 to 20 years, depending on the study, 5838 were diagnosed with colon cancer. The pooled multivariable RRs (95% CIs) of colon cancer for the highest versus lowest quintiles of intake were 0.91 (0.82 to 1.01, Ptrend = .19) for total fruits and vegetables, 0.93 (0.85 to 1.02, Ptrend = .28) for total fruits, and 0.94 (0.86 to 1.02, Ptrend = .17) for total vegetables. Similar results were observed when intakes were categorized by identical absolute cut points across studies (pooled multivariable RR = 0.90, 95% CI = 0.77 to 1.05 for 800 or more versus <200 g/day of total fruits and vegetables, Ptrend = .06). The age-standardized incidence rates of colon cancer for these two intake categories were 54 and 61 per 100000 person-years, respectively. When analyzed by colon site, the pooled multivariable RRs (95% CIs) comparing total fruit and vegetable intakes of 800 or more versus less than 200 g/day were 0.74 (0.57 to 0.95, Ptrend = .02) for distal colon cancers and 1.02 (0.82 to 1.27, Ptrend = .57) for proximal colon cancers. Similar site-specific associations were observed for total fruits and total vegetables. Conclusion Fruit and vegetable intakes were not strongly associated with colon cancer risk overall but may be associated with a lower risk of distal colon cancer.
Asthma imposes a substantial burden on individuals and societies. Patients with asthma need high-quality primary care management; however, evidence suggests the quality of this care can be highly ...variable. Here we identify and report factors contributing to high-quality management. Twelve primary care global asthma experts, representing nine countries, identified key factors. A literature review (past 10 years) was performed to validate or refute the expert viewpoint. Key driving factors identified were: policy, clinical guidelines, rewards for performance, practice organisation and workforce. Further analysis established the relevant factor components. Review evidence supported the validity of each driver; however, impact on patient outcomes was uncertain. Single interventions (e.g. healthcare practitioner education) showed little effect; interventions driven by national policy (e.g. incentive schemes and teamworking) were more effective. The panel's opinion, supported by literature review, concluded that multiple primary care interventions offer greater benefit than any single intervention in asthma management.
Alcohol and tobacco consumption are closely correlated and published results on their association with breast cancer have not always allowed adequately for confounding between these exposures. Over ...80% of the relevant information worldwide on alcohol and tobacco consumption and breast cancer were collated, checked and analysed centrally. Analyses included 58515 women with invasive breast cancer and 95067 controls from 53 studies. Relative risks of breast cancer were estimated, after stratifying by study, age, parity and, where appropriate, women's age when their first child was born and consumption of alcohol and tobacco. The average consumption of alcohol reported by controls from developed countries was 6.0 g per day, i.e. about half a unit/drink of alcohol per day, and was greater in ever-smokers than never-smokers, (8.4 g per day and 5.0 g per day, respectively). Compared with women who reported drinking no alcohol, the relative risk of breast cancer was 1.32 (1.19 - 1.45, P < 0.00001) for an intake of 35 - 44 g per day alcohol, and 1.46 (1.33 - 1.61, P < 0.00001) for greater than or equal to 45 g per day alcohol. The relative risk of breast cancer increased by 7.1% (95% CI 5.5-8.7%; P<0.00001) for each additional 10 g per day intake of alcohol, i.e. for each extra unit or drink of alcohol consumed on a daily basis. This increase was the same in ever-smokers and never-smokers (7.1 % per 10 g per day, P < 0.00001, in each group). By contrast, the relationship between smoking and breast cancer was substantially confounded by the effect of alcohol. When analyses were restricted to 22 255 women with breast cancer and 40 832 controls who reported drinking no alcohol, smoking was not associated with breast cancer (compared to never-smokers, relative risk for ever-smokers= 1.03, 95% CI 0.98 - 1.07, and for current smokers=0.99, 0.92 - 1.05). The results for alcohol and for tobacco did not vary substantially across studies, study designs, or according to 15 personal characteristics of the women; nor were the findings materially confounded by any of these factors. If the observed relationship for alcohol is causal, these results suggest that about 4% of the breast cancers in developed countries are attributable to alcohol. In developing countries, where alcohol consumption among controls averaged only 0.4 g per day, alcohol would have a negligible effect on the incidence of breast cancer. In conclusion, smoking has little or no independent effect on the risk of developing breast cancer; the effect of alcohol on breast cancer needs to be interpreted in the context of its beneficial effects, in moderation, on cardiovascular disease and its harmful effects on cirrhosis and cancers of the mouth, larynx, oesophagus and liver. (C) 2002 Cancer Research UK.
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DOBA, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, IZUM, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Numerous quantitative trait loci (QTLs) affecting bone traits have been identified in the mouse; however, few of the underlying genes have been discovered. To improve the process of transitioning ...from QTL to gene, we describe an integrative genetics approach, which combines linkage analysis, expression QTL (eQTL) mapping, causality modeling, and genetic association in outbred mice. In C57BL/6J × C3H/HeJ (BXH) F2 mice, nine QTLs regulating femoral BMD were identified. To select candidate genes from within each QTL region, microarray gene expression profiles from individual F2 mice were used to identify 148 genes whose expression was correlated with BMD and regulated by local eQTLs. Many of the genes that were the most highly correlated with BMD have been previously shown to modulate bone mass or skeletal development. Candidates were further prioritized by determining whether their expression was predicted to underlie variation in BMD. Using network edge orienting (NEO), a causality modeling algorithm, 18 of the 148 candidates were predicted to be causally related to differences in BMD. To fine‐map QTLs, markers in outbred MF1 mice were tested for association with BMD. Three chromosome 11 SNPs were identified that were associated with BMD within the Bmd11 QTL. Finally, our approach provides strong support for Wnt9a, Rasd1, or both underlying Bmd11. Integration of multiple genetic and genomic data sets can substantially improve the efficiency of QTL fine‐mapping and candidate gene identification.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
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