Nucleic Acid Preservation Card Surveillance Is Effective for Monitoring Arbovirus Transmission on Crocodile Farms and Provides a One Health Benefit to Northern Australia

The Kunjin strain of West Nile virus (WNV_KUN) is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that can infect farmed saltwater crocodiles in Australia and cause skin lesions that devalue the hides of harvested animals. We implemented a surveillance system using honey-baited nucleic acid preservation cards to monitor WNV_KUN and another endemic flavivirus pathogen, Murray Valley encephalitis virus (MVEV), on crocodile farms in northern Australia. The traps were set between February 2018 and July 2020 on three crocodile farms in Darwin (Northern Territory) and one in Cairns (North Queensland) at fortnightly intervals with reduced trapping during the winter months. WNV_KUN RNA was detected on all three crocodile farms near Darwin, predominantly between March and May of each year. Two of the NT crocodile farms also yielded the detection of MVE viral RNA sporadically spread between April and November in 2018 and 2020. In contrast, no viral RNA was detected on crocodile farms in Cairns during the entire trapping period. The detection of WNV_KUN and MVEV transmission by FTA^TM cards on farms in the Northern Territory generally correlated with the detection of their transmission to sentinel chicken flocks in nearby localities around Darwin as part of a separate public health surveillance program. While no isolates of WNV_KUN or MVEV were obtained from mosquitoes collected on Darwin crocodile farms immediately following the FTA^TM card detections, we did isolate another flavivirus, Kokobera virus (KOKV), from Culex annulirostris mosquitoes. Our studies support the use of the FTA^TM card system as a sensitive and accurate method to monitor the transmission of WNV_KUN and other arboviruses on crocodile farms to enable the timely implementation of mosquito control measures. Our detection of MVEV transmission and isolation of KOKV from mosquitoes also warrants further investigation of their potential role in causing diseases in crocodiles and highlights a “One Health” issue concerning arbovirus transmission to crocodile farm workers. In this context, the introduction of FTA^TM cards onto crocodile farms appears to provide an additional surveillance tool to detect arbovirus transmission in the Darwin region, allowing for a more timely intervention of vector control by relevant authorities.     

Postinjury Primary Abdominal Compartment Syndrome

Postinjury abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) has evolved during the 1980s together with the introduction of damage control surgery (DCS) principles. DCS made it possible to salvage severely injured trauma patients who previously would have exsanguinated due to uncontrollable coagulopathic bleeding. These patients had severe hemorrhagic shock; their abdomens were tightly packed and had ongoing massive resuscitation. ACS is a lethal complication of the damage control patients. For today the pathophysiological characteristics of ACS are described, the intra-abdominal pressure is measured on many intensive care units. Postinjury ACS (primary and secondary) is one of the better characterized etiological types of ACS: risk factors, diagnostic criteria, independent predictors and preventive strategies are all well documented. Since the mortality of full-blown postinjury ACS is still unacceptably high and does not seem to improve with earlier decompression, prevention is the recommended strategy to decrease the morbidity and mortality. Open abdomen is one of the important preventive strategies but it is not free from morbidity and mortality. With aggressive open abdomen management in postinjury ACS these complications can be minimized. More importantly, timely hemorrhage control and hemostatic resuscitation are the likely solutions for more efficient prevention of the postinjury ACS.     

The factorial structure of personal development mechanisms in unmarried mothers,college, alcoholic,and schizophrenic populations,

The Personal Development Study (PDS) was administered to four diagnostic groups, which included 89 hospitalized alcoholics, 336 unmarried mothers, 159 college students, and 387 chronic institutionalized schizophrenics. The PDS data from the four groups were factor analyzed separately by Varimax rotation of principal component factors. Cluster analysis methods were used to compare the separate diagnostic group factors with the overall factors previously reported by Pishkin and Thorne (1977). Only a few close fits of the diagnostic group factors showed large differences in item composition, order of emergence of factors and size of loadings between groups. Because many items and factors could be interpreted in terms of several alternative theoretical systems, interpretations were based on the clinical meanings of items and clusters in terms of integration theory (Thorne, 1976).     

The personal development study

Factorial findings on the Personal Development Study (PDS) were reported in an overall population of 972 Ss in four diagnostic subgroups. The general results indicate that several mechanisms were extracted factorially. Five overall factors were identified, but their item contents and meanings were not identical with the postulated empirical factors. Large subgroup variability occurred in the nature of factors identified, in the order of factor appearance, in the size of item loadings, and in the clinical meanings of item clusters. One conclusion is that the factorial structure of psychological states is very complex and changes constantly under different conditions and situations.     

The citation index: Another case of spurious validity

Citation indices potentially are very invalid because they are susceptible to manipulations and irrelevant weightings when utilized as indices of merit. The whole process of citing references is very idiosyncratic and a reflection of author biases because references can be cited on either side of any contention. On the basis of more than 30 years of editorial experience, a listing is made of ways in which eitation indices can be manipulated by factors irrelevant to merit. Genuine merit can be assessed only by long-term validity and predictive usefulness after many replications by independent studies.     

Effect of sepsis or cytokine administration on release of gut peptides.

The effect of sepsis on plasma levels of various gut peptides was studied in rats. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP); control animals underwent sham operation. Sixteen hours after CLP or sham operation, portal and systemic blood was drawn, and plasma levels of gastrin, vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), secretin, peptide YY (PYY), gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP), and substance P were determined by radioimmunoassay. Plasma levels of gastrin, VIP, PYY, and secretin were elevated in septic rats compared with nonseptic animals, with the highest levels noted in portal blood. There was no effect of sepsis on GRP or substance P levels. In other experiments, human recombinant interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) or recombinant tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) was injected intraperitoneally (300 micrograms/kg body weight in 3 divided doses over 16 hours). There was no change in plasma levels of gut peptides after IL-1 alpha injection. TNF alpha induced elevation of PYY levels in portal plasma with no change in other gut peptide levels. The results suggest that sepsis stimulates release of certain gut peptides and that TNF, but not IL-1, may be partly responsible for this response. The mechanism of the release of gut peptides and its significance in the pathophysiologic changes induced by sepsis remain to be determined.