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Tapeworms (Cestoda) cause neglected diseases that can be fatal and are difficult to treat, owing to inefficient drugs. Here we present an analysis of tapeworm genome sequences using the human-infective species Echinococcus multilocularis, E. granulosus, Taenia solium and the laboratory model Hymenolepis microstoma as examples. The 115- to 141-megabase genomes offer insights into the evolution of parasitism. Synteny is maintained with distantly related blood flukes but we find extreme losses of genes and pathways that are ubiquitous in other animals, including 34 homeobox families and several determinants of stem cell fate. Tapeworms have specialized detoxification pathways, metabolism that is finely tuned to rely on nutrients scavenged from their hosts, and species-specific expansions of non-canonical heat shock proteins and families of known antigens. We identify new potential drug targets, including some on which existing pharmaceuticals may act. The genomes provide a rich resource to underpin the development of urgently needed treatments and control.

Introduction: Stroke is the second most common cause of death worldwide and a leading cause of adult disability. Prevention, early recognition and treatment are paramount in optimizing stroke care. Public knowledge about stroke is an important contributor to improving stroke care. Method(s): People without prior stroke who attended outpatient departments in Melbourne and Diyatalawa were asked to answer questionnaires on stroke symptoms and risk factors (RFs). The interviews were conducted by a trained medical student (Melbourne) and a trained Senior House Officer (Diyatalawa). Result(s): The interview was completed by 353 participants in Melbourne and 66 in Diyatalawa. The response rate was > 90% in both centres. In Melbourne 63% (224) could name 3 RFs but only 31% (109) could name 3 symptoms of stroke; 7% (25) could not identify a single RF, 19% (67) could not identify a single stroke symptom, and 12% identified chest pain as a symptom of stroke. In Diyatalawa 34% (24) could name 3 RFs and 32% (21) could name 3 symptoms; 21% (14) could not identify a single RF and 11% (7) could not identify a single stroke symptom. In the Melbourne group people with known RFs for stroke generally showed a greater awareness of stroke symptoms than those without risk factors. Conclusion(s): This study demonstrates the need to improve public awareness of stroke RFs and symptoms in Melbourne and Diyatalawa. Community based education programs serve to improve public knowledge of stroke, enhancing the recognition of stroke symptoms, therefore presentation to hospital is not delayed after stroke onset.

BACKGROUND: The Kato-Katz thick smear (Kato-Katz) is the diagnostic method recommended for monitoring large-scale treatment programs implemented for the control of soil-transmitted helminths (STH) in public health, yet it is difficult to standardize. A promising alternative is the McMaster egg counting method (McMaster), commonly used in veterinary parasitology, but rarely so for the detection of STH in human stool. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The Kato-Katz and McMaster methods were compared for the detection of STH in 1,543 subjects resident in five countries across Africa, Asia and South America. The consistency of the performance of both methods in different trials, the validity of the fixed multiplication factor employed in the Kato-Katz method and the accuracy of these methods for estimating 'true' drug efficacies were assessed. The Kato-Katz method detected significantly more Ascaris lumbricoides infections (88.1% vs. 75.6%, p<0.001), whereas the difference in sensitivity between the two methods was non-significant for hookworm (78.3% vs. 72.4%) and Trichuris trichiura (82.6% vs. 80.3%). The sensitivity of the methods varied significantly across trials and magnitude of fecal egg counts (FEC). Quantitative comparison revealed a significant correlation (Rs >0.32) in FEC between both methods, and indicated no significant difference in FEC, except for A. lumbricoides, where the Kato-Katz resulted in significantly higher FEC (14,197 eggs per gram of stool (EPG) vs. 5,982 EPG). For the Kato-Katz, the fixed multiplication factor resulted in significantly higher FEC than the multiplication factor adjusted for mass of feces examined for A. lumbricoides (16,538 EPG vs. 15,396 EPG) and T. trichiura (1,490 EPG vs. 1,363 EPG), but not for hookworm. The McMaster provided more accurate efficacy results (absolute difference to 'true' drug efficacy: 1.7% vs. 4.5%). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The McMaster is an alternative method for monitoring large-scale treatment programs

Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDI) dampen cellular innate immune response by decreasing interferon production and have been shown to increase the growth of vesicular stomatitis virus and HSV. As attenuated tumour-selective oncolytic vaccinia viruses (VV) are already undergoing clinical evaluation, the goal of this study is to determine whether HDI can also enhance the potency of these poxviruses in infection-resistant cancer cell lines. Multiple HDIs were tested and Trichostatin A (TSA) was found to potently enhance the spread and replication of a tumour selective vaccinia virus in several infection-resistant cancer cell lines. TSA significantly decreased the number of lung metastases in a syngeneic B16F10LacZ lung metastasis model yet did not increase the replication of vaccinia in normal tissues. The combination of TSA and VV increased survival of mice harbouring human HCT116 colon tumour xenografts as compared to mice treated with either agent alone. We conclude that TSA can selectively and effectively enhance the replication and spread of oncolytic vaccinia virus in cancer cells. © 2010 MacTavish et al.

In the last couple of years, many e-Science infrastructures have begun to offer production services to e- Scientists with an increasing number of applications that require access to different kinds of computational resources. Within Europe two rather different multi-national e-Science infrastructures evolved over time namely Distributed European Infrastructure for Supercomputing Applications (DEISA) and Enabling Grids for E-SciencE (EGEE). DEISA provides access to massively parallel systems such as supercomputers that are well suited for scientific applications that require many interactions between their typically high numbers of CPUs. EGEE on the other hand provides access to a world-wide Grid of university clusters and PC pools that are well suited for farming applications that require less or even no interactions between the distributed CPUs. While DEISA uses the HPC-driven Grid technology UNICORE, EGEE is based on the gLite Grid middleware optimized for farming jobs. Both have less adoption of open standards and therefore both systems are technically non-interoperable, which means that no e-Scientist can easily leverage the DEISA and EGEE infrastructure with one suitable client environment for scientific applications. This paper argues that future interoperability of such large e-Science infrastructures is required to improve e-Science in general and to increase the real scientific impact of world-wide Grids in particular. We discuss the interoperability achieved by the OMII-Europe project that fundamentally improved the interoperability between UNICORE and gLite by using open standards. We also outline one specific scientific scenario of the WISDOM initiative that actually benefits from the recently established interoperability., QC 20150417

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has introduced as international labeling scheme for forest products, which provides a credible guarantee that the product comes from environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable sustainably managed forest. The demand for certified forest products is on the increase particularly in Europe and UK. However, green labeling or forest certification is a fairly a new concept to Sri Lanka and at present, there are only a handful of companies who are FSC certified. Most companies wish to join FSC scheme are uncertain about the benefits and opportunities they can derive through such scheme. Therefore it was necessary to conduct a survey on the benefits and opportunities mainly from financial perspective that FSC certification would provide a holder. Under the present survey, the views and ideas of representatives from all the FSC certified Sri Lankan wood based export manufacturers and plantation companies as well as parties who have interests in FSC certification scheme were gathered through questioners and interviews. According to the findings of the present survey, price premiums seems to be difficult to find and illusive thing for most plantation companies. At present they do not enjoy any significant financial benefit because of having FSC certification, and they find it difficult to justify the cost of certification. But most of them believed that if the market mechanism is properly worked out and benefits spread through the entire supply chain FSC certified woods can fetch a better price in the market. For plantation companies it’s the high end timber that would bring most financial benefits. Respondents from export manufacturing sector had different views of the role of FSC certification as a marketing tool and the availability of price premiums for certified products. The findings of the survey suggest that some potential for price premiums exists in specific market niches and the financial benefit to t

Sri Lanka is self-sufficient in meeting its domestic requirements for most forest products with the exception of plywood, paper, and paperboard. The wood-based manufacturing sector in Sri Lanka consists of a variety of industries. Many producers have the potential to meet International quality standards, but most do not participate in export markets because of limited production capacity. Although there is growing demand for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified timber in international market niches, FSC certification is a concept new to Sri Lanka. At present, certification is confined mainly to the rubber plantation sectors in Sri Lanka. When promoting certification, it should not be viewed only as a marketing tool to find price premiums. Other benefits of certification such as cost savings through improved production and processing, increasing overall efficiency through better management, deflecting a negative…