(Press-News.org) New Rochelle, NY, July 28, 2011—Avian influenza virus is a threat to the commercial chicken industry and, with its recent rapid spread across China, has also shown the ability for transmission from chickens to humans and other mammals. In an article in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., Chinese researchers report that oral chicken interferon-alpha may significantly reduce influenza virus levels when given either preventively or therapeutically. The article is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/jir
Chickens can serve as a reservoir for epidemic avian viruses such as avian influenza virus (AIV), which can then be transmitted to mammals such as humans. AIV causes mild to severe respiratory illness in chickens. Interferon-alpha is a cytokine, a chemical produced by immune cells that has a role in inducing antiviral immunity.
Shanshan Meng and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, and Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan, People's Republic of China, present the results of a study in which healthy chicks 7 or 33 days old were given chicken interferon-alpha either before or after exposure to AIV. The level of virus in their respiratory tracts was then measured and compared. The authors report their findings in the article "Recombinant Chicken Interferon-α Inhibits H9N2 Avian Influenza Virus Replication In Vivo by Oral Administration."
"The poultry industry is vulnerable to infection of the birds by pathogenic viruses such as avian influenza virus. This study shows that interferon can be used for both treating the infected chickens as well as protecting the neighboring uninfected ones; moreover oral administration, which is convenient and inexpensive, is effective," says Ganes C. Sen, PhD, Chairman, Department of Molecular Genetics, Cleveland Clinic Foundation and Co-Editor in Chief of Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research.
INFORMATION:
Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research, edited by Ganes C. Sen, PhD, and Thomas A. Hamilton, PhD, Chairman, Department of Immunology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly in print and online that covers all aspects of interferons and cytokines from basic science to clinical applications. Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Research is the official journal of the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research. Complete tables of content and a free sample issue may be viewed online at www.liebertpub.com/jir
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Viral Immunology, AIDS Research and Human Retroviruses, and Vector-Borne & Zoonotic Diseases. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at www.liebertpub.com
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 140 Huguenot St., New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215 www.liebertpub.com
Phone: (914) 740-2100 (800) M-LIEBERT Fax: (914) 740-2101
Oral interferon may prevent and control avian influenza virus infection
2011-08-01
[Attachments] See images for this press release:
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Endorsements matter but voters are wise to media bias
2011-08-01
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Newspaper endorsements for presidential candidates can influence voting decisions, according to newly published research co-authored by Brown University economist Brian Knight. The paper, co-authored by Chun Fang Chiang, demonstrates that voters are more likely to support the recommended candidate following a newspaper's endorsement, but any degree of influence depends on the credibility of the paper's pick. The findings are published in The Review of Economic Studies.
The researchers take into account that newspapers are potentially ...
Elusive prey
2011-08-01
WORCESTER, Mass. – Escape responses are some of the most studied behaviors by neurobiologists who want to understand how the brain processes sensory information. The ability to evade predators plays a vital role in the process of natural selection. Animals explore their environment to find food, find mates and locate new habitats, and have developed distinct escape responses to avoid predators, thereby increasing their chances for survival. Yet there are few examples that illustrate a complete understanding of the basic biological mechanisms of behavior with its ecological ...
Geographic analysis offers new insight into coral disease spread
2011-08-01
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In the last 30 years, more than 90 percent of the reef-building coral responsible for maintaining major marine habitats and providing a natural barrier against hurricanes in the Caribbean has disappeared because of a disease of unknown origin.
Now a University of Florida geographer and his colleagues applied Geographic Information Systems, known as GIS — as well as software previously used to examine human illness — to show where clusters of diseased coral exist. Their findings, published this month in the journal PLoS One, may help scientists derive ...
NASA identifies the areas of Tropical Storm Muifa's strength
2011-08-01
The strongest thunderstorms that make up tropical storm Muifa are on the storm's eastern and southern sides, according to infrared imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite. The northern side is being weakened by a nearby weather system.
Tropical Storm Muifa is moving through the western North Pacific Ocean, and had strengthened during the early morning hours of July 28. On July 27, it was tropical depression 11W and winds have since increased to 40 knots (46 mph/74 kmh).
When NASA's Aqua satellite passed over Tropical Storm Muifa the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument ...
NASA eyes Tropical Storm Nock-Ten's heavy rains for Hainan Island and Vietnam
2011-08-01
Infrared satellite imagery from NASA's Aqua satellite shows bands of strong thunderstorms wrapping around the center of Tropical Storm Nock-Ten as it makes its way through the South China Sea and two landfalls on Hainan Island and in Vietnam.
Bands of strong thunderstorms that make up tropical storm Nock-ten were visible in an infrared image captured on July 28 by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument that flies on NASA's Aqua satellite. The colder the cloud tops, the higher the thunderstorms and the stronger they are, and cloud top temperatures over a large ...
NASA measures wildfire pollution pour over Niagara Falls
2011-08-01
Water isn't the only thing pouring over Niagara Falls. Pollution from fires in Ontario, Canada is also making the one thousand mile trip, while being measured by NASA's Aqua satellite.
One instrument that flies aboard two of NASA's satellites has provided two views of the pollution from the fires in Ontario. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS instrument, flies onboard NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. MODIS has provided a visible look at the smoke and pollution that has spread over Niagara Falls and east to Nova Scotia.
As of July 20, the Canadian ...
Cash Advances US Provides Fast Cash Loans Online With No Credit Check
2011-08-01
Less-than-perfect credit score can wipe off any opportunity to get some cash you need at the moment as most of the lenders consider people with bad credit history as high-risk borrowers. However, Cash Advances US offers particular cash loans with no credit check which are available online. The service was actually designed specially for consumers with damaged credit report who often face troubles applying for some extra money.
It's fast and simple to take out online payday advance loans performed by the company as the application process is held totally on the Internet. ...
Using a 'systems biology' approach to look under the hood of an aggressive form of breast cancer
2011-08-01
SEATTLE – Using a "systems biology" approach – which focuses on understanding the complex relationships between biological systems – to look under the hood of an aggressive form of breast cancer, researchers for the first time have identified a set of proteins in the blood that change in abundance long before the cancer is clinically detectable. The findings, by co-authors Christopher Kemp, Ph.D., and Samir Hanash, M.D., Ph.D., members of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Human Biology and Public Health Sciences divisions, respectively, are published online ahead ...
SOHO watches a comet fading away
2011-08-01
On Nov. 4, 2010, NASA's EPOXI spacecraft came within 450 miles of Comet Hartley 2, a small comet not even a mile in diameter, which takes about six and a half years to orbit the sun. Designated officially as 103P/Hartley 2, the comet thus became the fifth for which scientists have collected close-up images.
But the comet was also observed from another spacecraft: the Solar and Heliospheric Observer (SOHO), better known for its observations of the sun. Together, the two returned data about what appears to be an irregular comet, belching chunks of ice and losing water at ...
Fresh Produce Clothing's Summer-Fall Collections Feature Unique Pieces of Wearable Works of Art
2011-08-01
Fresh Produce customers can make an artful statement when they wear the eclectic prints featured in its latest collections of effortless and spirited looks. The inspired prints are available in a variety of new styles and fabrications from cool cotton voile to comfy cotton jersey and versatile rayon-lycra.
This summer's standout print is the Blue Tahitian Flower. Fresh Produce women adore this romantic watercolor-inspired motif. Its look and feel is "pure summer" with beautiful tropical flowers captured in soft, watery hues and translated to new chic tunics, ...