The Dynamic Interactive Vulnerability Assessment Wetland Change Model (DIVA_WCM) comprises a dataset of contemporary global coastal wetland stocks (estimated at 756×103km2 (in 2011)), mapped to a ...one-dimensional global database, and a model of the macro-scale controls on wetland response to sea-level rise. Three key drivers of wetland response to sea-level rise are considered: 1) rate of sea-level rise relative to tidal range; 2) lateral accommodation space; and 3) sediment supply. The model is tuned by expert knowledge, parameterised with quantitative data where possible, and validated against mapping associated with two large-scale mangrove and saltmarsh vulnerability studies. It is applied across 12,148 coastal segments (mean length 85km) to the year 2100. The model provides better-informed macro-scale projections of likely patterns of future coastal wetland losses across a range of sea-level rise scenarios and varying assumptions about the construction of coastal dikes to prevent sea flooding (as dikes limit lateral accommodation space and cause coastal squeeze). With 50cm of sea-level rise by 2100, the model predicts a loss of 46–59% of global coastal wetland stocks. A global coastal wetland loss of 78% is estimated under high sea-level rise (110cm by 2100) accompanied by maximum dike construction. The primary driver for high vulnerability of coastal wetlands to sea-level rise is coastal squeeze, a consequence of long-term coastal protection strategies. Under low sea-level rise (29cm by 2100) losses do not exceed ca. 50% of the total stock, even for the same adverse dike construction assumptions. The model results confirm that the widespread paradigm that wetlands subject to a micro-tidal regime are likely to be more vulnerable to loss than macro-tidal environments. Countering these potential losses will require both climate mitigation (a global response) to minimise sea-level rise and maximisation of accommodation space and sediment supply (a regional response) on low-lying coasts.
•Database identifies estimated (in 2011) 756×103km2 global coastal wetland stock.•With 50cm of sea-level rise by 2100, losses of 46–59% of global coastal wetlands•Under high sea-level rise (110cm by 2100), global wetland losses may reach 78%.•Under low sea-level rise, micro-tidal wetlands more vulnerable to loss•Wetland loss likely to be exacerbated by non-climate related, anthropogenic impacts
Across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) places a huge disease burden on agriculture, affecting, in particular, small ruminant production. The recent PPR ...outbreaks in Northern Africa, the European part of Turkey, and Bulgaria represent a significant threat to mainland Europe, as a source of disease. Although two safe and efficacious live attenuated vaccines (Sungri/96 and Nigeria/75/1) are available for the control of PPR, current serological tests do not enable the differentiation between naturally infected and vaccinated animals (DIVA). The vaccinated animals develop a full range of immune responses to viral proteins and, therefore, cannot be distinguished serologically from those that have recovered from a natural infection. This poses a serious problem for the post-vaccinal sero-surveillance during the ongoing PPR eradication program. Furthermore, during the latter stages of any eradication program, vaccination is only possible if the vaccine used is fully DIVA compliant. Using reverse genetics, we have developed two live attenuated PPR DIVA vaccines (Sungri/96 DIVA and Nigeria/75/1 DIVA), in which the C-terminal variable region of the PPRV N-protein has been replaced with dolphin morbillivirus (DMV). As a proof of principle, both the DIVA vaccines were evaluated in goats in pilot studies for safety and efficacy, and all the animals were clinically protected against the intranasal virulent virus challenge, similar to the parent vaccines. Furthermore, it is possible to differentiate between infected animals and vaccinated animals using two newly developed ELISAs. Therefore, these DIVA vaccines and associated tests can facilitate the sero-monitoring process and speed up the implementation of global PPR eradication through vaccination.
The bulk trap-induced component of current collapse (CC) in GaN/AlGaN heterojunction field-effect transistors is studied in drift diffusion simulations, distinguishing between acceptor traps situated ...in the top and the bottom half of the bandgap, with Fe and C used as specific examples. It is shown that Fe doping results in an inherent but relatively minor contribution to dispersion under pulse conditions. This simulation is in reasonable quantitative agreement with double pulse experiments. Simulations using deep-level intrinsic growth defects produced a similar result. By contrast, carbon can induce a strong CC which is dependent on doping density. The difference is attributed to whether the trap levels, whether intrinsic or extrinsic dopants, result in a resistive n-type buffer or a p-type floating buffer with bias-dependent depletion regions. This insight provides a key design concept for compensation schemes needed to ensure semi-insulating buffer doping for either RF or power applications.
•ASFV is currently spreading across Russia, Europe and China.•No effective and safe vaccine against ASFV is currently available.•Advances in subunit and live attenuated vaccines are reviewed.
An ...outbreak in the Caucasus in 2007 initiated the spread of ASFV through Russia and Eastern Europe, subsequently affecting Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, the Baltic States, the Czech Republic, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria. The declaration of outbreaks in China and Central Europe in August 2018, definitely confirms the serious threat that the extension of ASF represents for the global swine industry and the environment. Despite the efforts of several groups to generate a vaccine against ASFV, currently only control and eradication measures are available based mainly on the early detection and implementation of strict sanitary procedures, including the mass slaughter of animals, both domestic and wild boar. However, the rapid spread of the disease shows that these actions are clearly insufficient to control the current pandemic situation, and the development of a vaccine is urgently required.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess for the first time the criterion validity of the semi-structured Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in adults (DIVA 2.0), and its concurrent validity in ...comparison with the Conners’ Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for DSM-IV (CAADID) and other ADHD severity scales, following the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV) criteria. Method: A transversal study was performed on 40 out-patients with ADHD to check the criteria and concurrent validity of the DIVA 2.0 compared with the CAADID. Results: The DIVA 2.0 interview showed a diagnostic accuracy of 100% when compared with the diagnoses obtained with the CAADID interview. The concurrent validity demonstrated good correlations with three self-reported rating scales: the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS; r = .544, p < .0001), the ADHD-Rating Scale (r = .720, p < .0001), and Sheehan’s Dysfunction Inventory (r = .674, p < .0001). Conclusion: The DIVA 2.0 is a reliable tool for assessing and diagnosing Adult ADHD and is the only one that offers free online access for clinical and research purposes.
Dispersal-Vicariance Analysis (DIVA) is one of the most widely used methods of inferring biogeographic histories. Here we present a simple tool that complements DIVA and uses a Statistical ...Dispersal-Vicariance Analysis (S-DIVA) to statistically evaluate the alternative ancestral ranges at each node in a tree accounting for phylogenetic uncertainty and uncertainty in DIVA optimization. S-DIVA provides a point-and-click user interface and displays results as, high-resolution, exportable graphics. S-DIVA is freely available for download for Windows at
http://mnh.scu.edu.cn/S-DIVA.
The primary objective of the European Vulvovaginal Epidemiological Survey (EVES) was to assess, at a country level, the prevalence of postmenopausal women with vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) confirmed by ...gynecological clinical assessment among all postmenopausal women attending menopause centers.
Women aged 45-75 years old with their last menstrual period more than 12 months before and who attended menopause or gynecology centers were included. If they had at least one VVA symptom, women filled a number of questionnaires including the EuroQoL-EQ-5D3L and Day-to-Day Impact of Vaginal Aging (DIVA). Then a gynecological examination was performed to confirm the VVA diagnosis.
A total of 2160 evaluable patients were included in the study. VVA was confirmed in 90% of the patients. Compared with patients without confirmed VVA (n = 206), patients with confirmed VVA (n = 1954) were significantly older (p < 0.001), had more severe symptoms (p < 0.001 for vaginal and vulvar symptoms, p < 0.05 for urinary ones) and had a lower quality of life as assessed by EQ-5D3L (p = 0.012) and DIVA (p < 0.001).
VVA is highly prevalent among postmenopausal women. Gynecological clinical assessment of VVA is associated with severe symptoms and impaired quality of life and therefore should be promoted for appropriate clinical assessment and early therapeutic intervention.
African horse sickness (AHS) is a highly infectious and often fatal disease caused by 9 serotypes of the orbivirus African horse sickness virus (AHSV). In March 2020, an AHS outbreak was reported in ...Thailand in which AHSV serotype 1 was identified as the causative agent. Trivalent live attenuated vaccines serotype 1, 3, and 4 were used in a targeted vaccination campaign within a 50-km radius surrounding the infected cases, which promptly controlled the spread of the disease. However, AHS-like symptoms in vaccinated horses required laboratory diagnostic methods to differentiate infected horses from vaccinated horses, especially for postvaccination surveillance. We describe a real-time reverse transcription PCR-based assay for rapid characterization of the affecting field strain. The development and validation of this assay should imbue confidence in differentiating AHS-vaccinated horses from nonvaccinated horses. This method should be applied to determining the epidemiology of AHSV in future outbreaks.
The extant kempynines, a strict “southern group,” are confined to South America and Australia, while their most fossil relatives are abundantly recorded in the Northern Hemisphere. This pattern of ...the biogeographic distribution implies the complicated evolutionary scenario of Kempyninae. Herein, a new northern species
Arbusella platyptera
Ma
et
Wang, sp. nov. is described from the Jiulongshan Formation in Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. Additionally, a key to the extinct species and extant genera of Kempyninae is provided. Integrating all extant and most fossil genera of Kempyninae, we conducted phylogenetic analyses to explore the inner relationships of Kempyninae for the first time. The results corroborate the monophyly of Kempyninae and retrieve three clades within the subfamily, namely, two northern fossil genera (†
Arbusellla
+ †
Jurakempynus
), constituting the basalmost clade and three other northern fossil genera (†
Sauktangida
+ †
Mirokempynus
+ †
Ponomarenkius
), forming a monophylic clade, which is sister to the third clade that includes all extant southern genera and the southern fossil genus of †
Euporismites
. Also, the extant kempynines were hypothesized to evolve independently from their northern Mesozoic relatives. The Dispersal-vicariance (DIVA) analysis revealed a northern and prepangean origin of Kempyninae, and the northern ancestral kempynines first colonized the Southern Hemisphere before the split of Pangea. Our results expose a more complicated evolutionary scenario of the insects with a long evolutionary history and provide new insights into the formation of distribution patterns in current relictual insects.
Recent Advances in Vaccine Technologies Francis, Michael James
The Veterinary clinics of North America. Small animal practice,
03/2018, Volume:
48, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
This brief review discusses some recent advances in vaccine technologies with particular reference to their application within veterinary medicine. It highlights some of the key inactivated/killed ...approaches to vaccination, including natural split-product and subunit vaccines, recombinant subunit and protein vaccines, and peptide vaccines. It also covers live/attenuated vaccine strategies, including modified live marker/differentiating infected from vaccinated animals vaccines, live vector vaccines, and nucleic acid vaccines.
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