Genetic Recombination in the 1918 “Spanish Flu” Virus Influenza viral sequences have been obtained from preserved tissues of victims of the “Spanish flu” pandemic that killed over 20 million people from 1918 to 1919 (1, 2). Phylogenetic analysis of hemagglutinin (HA) gene sequences has indicated that the 1918 Spanish flu virus was more closely related to the human lineage than to the swine or a...

Several viscosupplement treatments are available for patients suffering from painful osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, but few comparative clinical trials have been conducted. The primary objective trial was to demonstrate non-inferiority Synolis VA (80 mg hyaluronic acid and 160 sorbitol) (Group HA1) Synvisc-One (48 hylan GF-20) HA2) at Day 168 in terms pain relief efficacy with knee OA (Kellgr...

Poincare polinomials of hyperbolic Lie algebras, which are given by HA2 and HA3 in the Kac’s notation, are calculated explicitly. The results show that there is a significant form for hyperbolic Poincare polinomials. Their explicit forms tend to be seen as the ratio of a properly chosen finite Poincare polinomial and a polinomial of finite degree. To this end, by choosing the Poincare polinomia...

Pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus (2009 H1N1) differs from H1N1 strains that circulated in the past 50 years, but resembles the A/New Jersey/1976 H1N1 strain used in the 1976 swine influenza vaccine. We investigated whether sera from persons immunized with the 1976 swine influenza or recent seasonal influenza vaccines, or both, neutralize 2009 H1N1. Using retroviral pseudovirions bearing hem...

Fusion of influenza viruses with target membranes is induced by acid and involves complex changes in the viral fusion protein hemagglutinin (HA) and in the contact sites between viruses and target membranes (Stegmann, T., White, J. M., and Helenius, A. (1990) EMBO J. 9, 4231-4241). At 0 degrees C, in a first, kinetically distinct step, target membranes irreversibly adhere to the viruses. Fusion...

UNLABELLED In 1999, after circulation for a few months in poultry in Italy, low-pathogenic (LP) avian influenza (AI) H7N1 virus mutated into a highly pathogenic (HP) form by acquisition of a unique multibasic cleavage site (mCS), PEIPKGSRVRR*GLF (asterisk indicates the cleavage site), in the hemagglutinin (HA) and additional alterations with hitherto unknown biological function. To elucidate th...

BACKGROUND Avian influenza (AI) caused by H7 AI viruses (AIVs) of both low pathogenicity (LP) and high pathogenicity (HP) are notifiable poultry diseases. OBJECTIVES Design and validate two RealTime reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reactions (RRT PCRs) for Eurasian H7 AIV detection and pathotyping. METHODS The H7 RRT PCRs amplified within the (i) HA2 and (ii) cleavage site CS regions ...

A new class of N-(1-thia-4-azaspiro[4.5]decan-4-yl)carboxamide inhibitors of influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA)-mediated membrane fusion that has a narrow and defined structure-activity relationship was identified. In Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells infected with different strains of human influenza virus A/H3N2, the lead compound, 4c, displayed a 50% effective concentration of 3 to 23 m...

PURPOSE To investigate the effects of prolonged hypoxia and antioxidant supplementation on ventilatory threshold (VT) during high-altitude (HA) exposure (4300 m). METHODS Sixteen physically fit males (25 +/- 5 yr; 77.8 +/- 8.5 kg) performed an incremental test to maximal exertion on a cycle ergometer at sea level (SL). Subjects were then matched on VO2peak, ventilatory chemosensitivity, and b...