New NDV-H5NX avian influenza vaccine has potential for mass vaccination of poultry.

Researchers have developed and tested a new vaccine that protects chickens and other poultry from multiple strains of avian influenza found in the U.S., including H5N1, H5N2 and H5N8. A team of researchers at Kansas State University, in collaboration with Garcia-Sastre of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has developed a vaccine that protects poultry from multiple strains of avian influenza found in the U.S., including H5N1, H5N2 and H5N8. The vaccine has the potential to be administered through water or into embryonated eggs, making it easier for poultry producers to vaccinate flocks.The vaccine, called NDV-H5Nx, protects chickens and likely other poultry against the three recently introduced U.S. avian influenza strains H5N1, H5N2 and H5N8, as well as against Newcastle disease virus -- a virus that naturally affects poultry. Avian influenza killed millions of chickens and turkeys in the U.S. in spring and summer 2015, leading to billions in lost revenue for the U.S. poultry industry. The NDV-H5Nx vaccine also has the potential to be administered to millions of birds at a time through water, said Jürgen Richt, Regents distinguished professor of veterinary medicine, director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases at Kansas State University and one of the researchers involved in the discovery. "The vaccine we produced is a live vaccine, which means it replicates in birds," Richt said. "Because it's live, we believe that the vaccine could be sprayed into the air or put in the water supply so that when the chickens need a drink, they could be vaccinated. A poultry farm could vaccinate all of its birds in a single day because all living creatures need water to live." The vaccine also has potential to be administered to developing chicks in eggs, resulting in offspring being automatically vaccinated for the diseases, said Wenjun Ma, Kansas State University assistant professor of diagnostic medicine and patho biology and one of the researchers involved. The NDV-H5Nx vaccine has the ability to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals, or DIVA. This compatibility is critical for the U.S. poultry industry because it provides evidence to trade partners that poultry have been vaccinated and is free of H5, Richt said. H5 vaccines currently on the market require that each chicken be injected by hand. Many poultry operations have millions of birds and it would take many hours to vaccinate every chicken, Richt said.This is a major advantage as many birds can be vaccinated per time. Story source; science daily.

ELEPHANT INFECTED 7 ZOO WORKERS WITH TUBERCULOSIS.

Seven employees of an Oregon zoo contracted tuberculosis from three elephants in their care in 2013, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.The staff members at the Oregon Zoo in Portland were infected with a latent form of the respiratory illness and therefore displayed no symptoms and were not contagious, a report published by the CDC said. The CDC report on the outbreak pointed to a lack of research about tuberculosis in elephants. It also called for improved screening to detect the disease because the present method of detection – taking cultures – may miss some cases or result in false positives.Jennifer Vines, deputy health officer for Multnomah County, whose office worked with the CDC on its report, said the investigation did not conclude that tuberculosis is highly transmissible between elephants and people. About 5 percent of captive Asian elephants in North America, like the ones in Portland, are believed to have tuberculosis, the CDC said. Human-to-elephant transmission was first identified in 1996 and there have been a handful of cases in recent years in Tennessee and elsewhere.The outbreak prompted the Portland zoo to say it would conduct more frequent tuberculosis tests of both animals and staff through at least June 2016. The outbreak was identified in May 2013 when a routine annual check of elephants found that a 20-year-old bull named Rama was infected.Rama’s father, 51-year-old Packy, also tested positive as did Tusko, a 44-year-old former circus performer. Public health officials do not know the cause of the outbreak. The CDC said it was possible that a zoo volunteer diagnosed with tuberculosis in 2012 may have spread the disease to the elephants.The zoo’s other elephants were not infected, nor were another roughly 100 people who were near the three sickened bull elephants. story source;http://newsdaily.com/2016/01/elephants-infected-seven-oregon-zoo-workers-with-tuberculosis-cdc/

NANOTECHNOLOGY TO TREAT HUMAN WASTE AND REMOVE STENCH.

A toilet that does not need water, a sewage system or external power but instead uses nanotechnology to treat human waste, produce clean water and keep smells at bay is being developed by a British university.The innovative toilet uses a rotating mechanism to move waste into a holding chamber containing nano elements. The mechanism also blocks odors and keeps waste out of sight. “Once the waste is in the holding chamber we use membranes that take water out as vapor, which can then be condensed and available for people to use in their homes,” Alison Parker, lead researcher on the project, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The pathogens remain in the waste at the bottom of the holding chamber, so the water is basically pure and clean.”Cranfield University is developing the toilet as part of the global “Reinvent the toilet Challenge” launched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Nanotechnology is the science of creating and working with materials about one nanometer wide, or one-billionth of a meter. A human hair is about 80,000 nanometers wide. According to the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) 2.4 billion people, mostly in rural areas, live without adequate toilets.Poor sanitation is linked to transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio, the WHO says. A replaceable bag containing solid waste coated with a biodegradable nano-polymer which blocks odor will be collected periodically by a local operator, it says. story courtesy;News daily. http://newsdaily.com/2016/01/waterless-toilet-uses-nanotechnology-to-treat-waste-banish-smells/

BIO-DIGESTER. SUPPLIES ENERGY TO FARMS.

The digestive system of a cow served as a model to researchers to create a container that receives organic waste, mostly livestock manure, where it is mixed with millions of bacteria to obtain natural gas integrated mostly of methane, called biogas, as well as a high quality bio-fertilizer. The principle of action of the digestive system of a cow served as a model to Camilo Pagés and Alexander Eaton to create a container that receives organic waste, mostly livestock manure, where it is mixed with millions of bacteria to obtain natural gas integrated mostly of methane, called biogas, as well as a high quality bio-fertilizer. The biodigester, commercially called Biobolsa (bio-bag), transform the waste in a container made of high density geomembrane where polyethylene components and bacteria generate gas that is used as fuel for stoves or heaters, and even in the form of electricity. In very simple terms, Alex Eaton explains that his technology is a huge bag of 15 meters long and two meters wide and two more in height, which can contain up to 40,000 liters of liquid capacity, and treat one ton waste per day. However, they have adapted it to specific needs and created smaller Bio-bags of two by two meters, working with 20 kilos of manure. "The system is modular and can interface, it also is deployable and adjustable. On average, the return on investment is contemplated in a year and a half, and if you consider that the material used for the Biobolsa lasts longer than 20 years, there is much room for profit," says the journalist with a graduate degree in environmental protection. Source; science daily.

Remote-controlled robot inspects suitcase bombs.

Abandoned items of luggage are frequently found at airports and train stations. This is a case for the emergency services, who have to assume that these items might contain bombs. They must assess the potential threat quickly, avert any possible danger, and preserve evidence for criminal proceedings. In the future, police will have the support of a remote-controlled sensor system as they go about their duties, say researchers who are developing this sensor suite in cooperation with industry partners and criminal investigation authorities. Emergency services do not have to enter the danger zone,the system the researchers have developed comprises a multimodal sensor suite consisting of a millimeter wave scanner, a high-resolution digital camera, and a 3D environment monitoring system. The components are contained in a housing and mounted on a robot platform. Bomb disposal engineers remotely control the robot from a safe distance. Its swiveling 3D sensors make a three-dimensional survey of the crime scene, and the digital camera provides high-resolution images for later optical evidence preservation. Meanwhile the millimeter wave sensor scans the source of danger and creates an image of what's inside. A built-in embedded PC on the robot collects the data and sends it to the investigators, where it will be merged on the computer by means of sensor data fusion. Up to now our techniques have not allowed us to form a 3D outline of suitcase bombs, and it has been impossible -- or only partially possible -- to make a spatial map of the contents. With the sensor suite we can visualize in three dimensions what's inside a luggage item, and so determine the composition of the bomb and how the parts are arranged in the luggage," explains Stefan A. Lang, team leader at the FHR and the project's coordinator. This lets the explosives experts quickly assess the threat, and going forward they will also be able to preserve as much evidence as possible about the bomb. Until now, specialists were often forced to destroy suitcase bombs -- making it difficult to identify the perpetrators. Other advantages of the contact-free detection system: it is light, compact, and platform independent, which means it can be mounted on any robot. story credit; science daily.

WATERMELON FARMER SINGS TO GET THE SWEETEST FRUIT.

A Queensland watermelon grower says he sings and talks to his crop to ensure he gets the sweetest fruit, but the tastiest is left in the field. Grower Anthony Rehbein says he sings to his watermelons to ensure he gets the best fruit. (ABC Rural) Anthony Rehbein will harvest 100 tonne of the fruit per day for an eight week period over summer, and has used social media to allow consumers to follow the life cycle of a watermelon."Everyday since I planted them I talk to them, sing to them, look at them, touch them, make sure there's no stress so no matter what crop you grow you've got to nurture just like kids," he said.Despite the love and attention Mr Rehbein gives it, he said fussy consumers have forced him to leave behind a quarter of his crop, because the melons contain seeds."There's two types (of melon) and you can't grow one without the other," he said."There's a pollinator, which is a seeded watermelon, and then there's a seedless, which is three quarters of your crop. The bees come in, do their work and cross pollinate so the customer gets seedless watermelons."That's the only way you don't get seeds, is through bee pollination, and using the Red Tigers, which is a fantastic seeded watermelon, and the Royal Armarda, which is our seedless."You've got to have both."But Mr Rehbein still believes the seeded varieties are the better eating fruit. Mr Rehbein sais the busy harvest is an exciting time on the farm."The pickers go out and pick virtually every daylight hour that we have," he said."They're looking for the blush of the melon, like a slight yellowing or a sunburn on top, which tells you that the internal colour is nice and red and ready to go."They give it a little 'love tap' so that they know that the melon is solid and full inside. He said the melons hit the Sydney or Melbourne markets within three days of being picked."When it's hot, people like melon and it's a great time of year, we're coming out of winter, great to take to the beach," he said.Read the benefits of watermelon;www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7719362384747421432#editor/target=post;postID=1320249339715928435;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=6;src=postname Story credit; ABC NEWS.

TICK VACCINE FOR AFRICAN CATTLE .

Two Queensland scientists have been recruited as part of a global project to help develop a tick vaccine for the African cattle industry.The tick may be an enemy of the Australian beef industry, but the situation is even more dire in Africa.The research is part of a global project, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to help the overseas cattle producers combat tick infestation. Researcher Alicja Lew-Tabor said ticks were having a significant impact on domestic beef production in Africa.Unlike Australian producers, African producers generally only supply their domestic market and Dr Lew-Tabor said ticks caused significant problems in meat and milk supply. "Most of the countries in Africa have cattle of sorts, whether it is for milk or beef production, and most of them would be in regions that are affected by cattle tick and the diseases that they carry," Dr Lew-Tabor said."Ticks are resistant to a lot of the drugs that they use to put on the cattle; they become resistant to them in time."That chemical resistance was the very reason why Dr Lew-Tabor and fellow researcher Manuel Rodriguez-Valle were selected to join the worldwide project. For five years, they have worked on the development of many vaccine strains which could have potential in Africa.They started with 300 possibilities and have selected 25 vaccines which could be successful in controlling the tick infestation.Dr Rodriguez-Valle said the work was tedious, but the results looked good."We have two candidates that look very interesting [and] we will have results very quickly, at the end of February; we are very confident in them," he said.To control the results, the cattle are kept isolated in pens.The goal is to try to reduce the number of ticks per animal by 70 per cent. We infect the animals with around 5,000 tick larvae and wait until the ticks drop off each animal, then we collect the tick, weigh it and analyse the reduction in the number of ticks," Dr Rodriguez-Valle said.The vaccines inject antigens into the cattle, creating antibodies to attack the ticks."We got 80 per cent protection in a trial that we did in Brazil but what they [Gates Foundation] has wanted us to do is pull that mixture apart and work out what the most active components are," Dr Lew-Tabor said.The vaccine is expected to be ready to use within five years, and Dr Lew-Tabor said there could be benefits for Australian beef producers too."They will be able to bring the more susceptible breeds into regions where they don't have those breeds," she said. source; ABC NEWS.