H Harvest index (HI), ratio of seed yield to aboveground dry matter, is a very important parameter for estimating seed yield in several crop models. In this study, the importance, definition, variability and estimation methods of HI in crop models were discussed. HI estimation methods are categorized into two groups including: (i) complex methods that estimate HI from the beginning of seed gro...

The hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) assay is the main tool used by epidemiologists to quantify antigenic differences between circulating influenza virus strains, with the goal of selecting suitable vaccine strains. However, such quantitative measures of antigenic difference were recently shown to have poor predictive accuracy with respect to influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) in healthy adul...

Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) can self-renew indefinitely in vitro, and with the appropriate cues can be induced to differentiate into potentially all somatic cell lineages. Differentiated hESC derivatives can potentially be used in transplantation therapies to treat a variety of cell-degenerative diseases. However, hESC differentiation protocols usually yield a mixture of differentiated ta...

Previous work has shown that memory-phenotype CD44(hi) CD8(+) cells are controlled by a cytokine, interleukin (IL)-15. However, the dependency of CD44(hi) CD8(+) cells on IL-15 is partial rather than complete. Here, evidence is presented that CD44(hi) CD8(+) cells comprise a mixed population of IL-15-dependent and IL-15-independent cells. The major subset of CD122(hi) CD44(hi) CD8(+) cells is h...

BACKGROUND We determined influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 antibody levels before and after the first wave of the pandemic in an urban community in Dhaka, Bangladesh. METHODS We identified a cohort of households by stratified random sampling. We collected baseline serum specimens during July-August 2009, just prior to the initial wave of the 2009 pandemic in this community and a second specimen during N...

BACKGROUND Both high and low pathogenic subtype A avian influenza remain ongoing threats to the commercial poultry industry globally. The emergence of a novel low pathogenic H7N9 lineage in China presents itself as a new concern to both human and animal health and may necessitate additional surveillance in commercial poultry operations in affected regions. METHODS Sampling data was simulated ...