Revisiting the clinal concept of evolution and dispersal for the tick-borne flaviviruses by using phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses.

Tick-borne flaviviruses (TBF) are widely dispersed across Africa, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and North America, and some present a significant threat to human health. Seminal studies on tick-borne encephalitis viruses (TBEV), based on partial envelope gene sequences, predicted a westward clinal pattern of evolution and dispersal across northern Eurasia, terminating in the British Isles. We tested this hypothesis using all available full-length open reading frame (ORF) TBF sequences. Phylogenetic analysis was consistent with current reports. However, linear and nonlinear regression analysis of genetic versus geographic distance combined with BEAST analysis identified two separate clines, suggesting that TBEV spread both east and west from a central point. In addition, BEAST analysis suggested that TBF emerged and dispersed more than 16,000 years ago, significantly earlier than previously predicted. Thus, climatic and ecological changes may have played a greater role in TBF dispersal than humans.

Nonlinear down-conversion in a single quantum dot.

Tailored nanoscale quantum light sources, matching the specific needs of use cases, are crucial building blocks for photonic quantum technologies. Several different approaches to realize solid-state quantum emitters with high performance have been pursued and different concepts for energy tuning have been established. However, the properties of the emitted photons are always defined by the individual quantum emitter and can therefore not be controlled with full flexibility. Here we introduce an all-optical nonlinear method to tailor and control the single photon emission. We demonstrate a laser-controlled down-conversion process from an excited state of a semiconductor quantum three-level system. Based on this concept, we realize energy tuning and polarization control of the single photon emission with a control-laser field. Our results mark an important step towards tailored single photon emission from a photonic quantum system based on quantum optical principles.

Rapid loss of genetic variation in an endangered possum.

The endangered mountain pygmy possum is the only Australian marsupial that hibernates under snow cover. Most of its alpine habitat was burnt by a rare fire in 2003, and habitat loss and disturbance have also occurred owing to ski resort development. Here we show that there has been a rapid loss of genetic variation following habitat loss associated with resort development, but no detectable loss of alleles or decrease in heterozygosity following the fire.

High levels of variation despite genetic fragmentation in populations of the endangered mountain pygmy-possum, Burramys parvus, in alpine Australia.

In endangered mammals, levels of genetic variation are often low and this is accompanied by genetic divergence among populations. The mountain pygmy-possum (Burramys parvus) is an endangered marsupial restricted to the alpine region of Victoria and New South Wales, Australia. By scoring variation at eight microsatellite loci, we found that B. parvus populations exhibit high levels of genetic divergence and fall into three distinct groups from the northern, central and southern areas of the distribution of this species, consistent with previous assessments of mitochondrial DNA variation. F(ST) values between populations from these regions ranged from 0.19 to 0.54. Within the central area, there was further genetic fragmentation, and a linear association between genetic and geographical distance. This pattern is likely to reflect limited dispersal across barriers despite the fact that individual B. parvus can move several kilometres. Levels of genetic variation within populations were high with the exception of a southern population where there was evidence of inbreeding. From a conservation perspective, all three areas where B. parvus are found should be considered as separate gene pools; management of populations within these areas needs to take into account the low gene flow between populations, as well as threats posed by roads, resorts and other developments in the alpine region. The low genetic variability and inbreeding in the southern population is of particular concern given the high levels of variability in other B. parvus populations.

[Proteinase inhibiting agents and glucagon in acute pancreatitis (author's transl)]. / Ergebnisse prospektiver Untersuchungen über den Wert der Proteinaseninhibitoren und des Glukagons bei der akuten Pankreatitis.

In two prospective studies the effect of proteinase inhibiting agents and glucagon in acute pancreatitis have been studied by a randomised series. Moreover the effect of the basic therapy was examined in additional 103 patients. Symptoms, clinical and laboratory chemical findings correspond to each other in all collectives. The results seem to be the best ones in those patients having been treated by basic therapy only.

Mining free-text medical records.

Text mining projects can be characterized along four parameters: 1) the demands of the market in terms of target domain and specificity and depth of queries; 2) the volume and quality of text in the target domain; 3) the text mining process requirements; and 4) the quality assurance process that validates the extracted data. In this paper, we provide lessons learned and results from a large-scale commercial project using Natural Language Processing (NLP) for mining the transcriptions of dictated clinical records in a variety of medical specialties. We conclude that the current state-of-the-art in NLP is suitable for mining information of moderate content depth across a diverse collection of medical settings and specialties.

Flow-induced pressure differentially regulates endothelin-1, urotensin II, adrenomedullin, and relaxin in pulmonary vascular endothelium.

We hypothesized that increased pulmonary vascular pressure--one of the characteristics of congestive heart failure--directly regulates pulmonary endothelial vasoconstrictors (endothelin-1, urotensin II) and vasodilators (adrenomedullin, relaxin). To this end, we subjected pulmonary artery endothelial cells in a novel flow-chamber model to different shear stresses (17, 29, and 46 dyn/cm(2)) at low and elevated levels of downstream pressure (10 and 30 mm Hg). Application of elevated pressure over 16 h increased gene expression and peptide secretion of endothelin-1 at all shear levels, whereas secretion of adrenomedullin rose via decreased expression of its clearance receptor. In contrast, preprourotensin II mRNA and urotensin II peptide decreased in response to elevated pressure, and relaxin remained unaffected. This is the first study to identify pressure as key regulator of mediator synthesis by pulmonary vascular endothelium. Pressure-induced mediator regulation may represent an early event in the development of secondary pulmonary hypertension.

Assessing the accuracy of an automated coding system in emergency medicine.

Accuracy and speed are imperative when it comes to coding medical records. Completely automated approaches to coding are faster than human coders, but are they as accurate? To measure accuracy, a "gold standard" is required; however, establishing a standard for medical records coding is problematic given the inherent ambiguity in some of the coding rules and guidelines. This paper presents statistics regarding the variability amongst experienced coders and compares this variability with an automated system, LifeCode. The authors conclude that LifeCode is as accurate as the human coders used in this study and offers the potential for increased coding consistency and productivity.