Daily Archives: November 1, 2009

New model may help scientists better predict and prevent influenza outbreaks

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Athens, Ga. – Each year, the influenza virus evolves. And each year, public health officials try to predict what the new strain will be and how it will affect the population in order to best combat it.

A new study by an international team of researchers, led by assistant professor Andrew W. Park, who holds a joint appointment in the University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology and in the College of Veterinary Medicine, may make their task a little easier. The study breaks ground by working across scales and linking sub-molecular changes in the influenza virus to the likelihood of influenza outbreaks. The paper, published in the Oct. 30 edition of the journal Science, shows the relationship between the evolution of the virus and immunization rates needed to prevent an outbreak in the population.

Park explained that these findings can help inform efforts to prevent future outbreaks. “Public health officials will be able to assess the usefulness of a vaccine based upon its relationship to the current influenza strain and the population’s immunity level,” he said.

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The Scoop on the Bay Bridge

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To me, the Oakland Bay Bridge was always one of those bridges that made you think about bridges when you drove over it. It is very long (one of the longest in the world) and spans an arm of the sea. It is old, and there are earthquakes in the region now and then. So as you drive from one end to the other, it is impossible to marvel that the bridge was even built, and that it is still standing.
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Trick circus bear kills one trainer, wounds another

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A Russian circus troupe were rehearsing for a performance in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, when the incident happened.

Workers had to drag the bear away during the attack, according to the director of the arena, Kurmangazy Isanayev.

The exits were closed off as staff waited for the emergency services.

Police shot the bear dead at the scene.

Russia has no animal cruelty laws that pertain to circuses.

story here

I am the angry left (Repost from last election season)

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“If the Hanoi Hilton could not break John McCain’s resolve to do what is best for his country, you can be sure the angry Left never will.” — President George Bush, addressing the RNC via satellite feed, September 1, 2008

“I Am The Angry Left.” — T-Shirt seen at demonstration outside RNC, September 2, 2008. *

A criminal trial against Eight American Patriots is about to start in Saint Paul. These eight patriots armed themselves with information and guts and planned to attack dogma and repressive politics at the Republican National Convention. They were arrested, treated like animals, and pressed with trumped up charges, including an accusation of terrorism under a Minnesota state law that mirrors the oppressive Bush Anti-Patriot Act.

The right to free speech, the right to assemble, the right to bear arms, and the right to due process are fundamental tenets of the American System of Democracy. The Original American Patriots carried out civil disobedience that culminated in the design and ratification of the Constitution that guarantees these rights. Please understand the connection. The original American Patriots knew what they had to do, they did it, then they built a system that would allow future generations a means to do the same thing if necessary. They made the American system one open to self-criticism and progressive change.
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