ALBERT

Description: The Ebola virus disease epidemic in West Africa is the largest on record, responsible for over 28,599 cases and more than 11,299 deaths. Genome sequencing in viral outbreaks is desirable to characterize the infectious agent and determine its evolutionary rate. Genome sequencing also allows the identification of signatures of host adaptation, identification and monitoring of diagnostic targets, and characterization of responses to vaccines and treatments. The Ebola virus (EBOV) genome substitution rate in the Makona strain has been estimated at between 0.87 x 10(-3) and 1.42 x 10(-3) mutations per site per year. This is equivalent to 16-27 mutations in each genome, meaning that sequences diverge rapidly enough to identify distinct sub-lineages during a prolonged epidemic. Genome sequencing provides a high-resolution view of pathogen evolution and is increasingly sought after for outbreak surveillance. Sequence data may be used to guide control measures, but only if the results are generated quickly enough to inform interventions. Genomic surveillance during the epidemic has been sporadic owing to a lack of local sequencing capacity coupled with practical difficulties transporting samples to remote sequencing facilities. To address this problem, here we devise a genomic surveillance system that utilizes a novel nanopore DNA sequencing instrument. In April 2015 this system was transported in standard airline luggage to Guinea and used for real-time genomic surveillance of the ongoing epidemic. We present sequence data and analysis of 142 EBOV samples collected during the period March to October 2015. We were able to generate results less than 24 h after receiving an Ebola-positive sample, with the sequencing process taking as little as 15-60 min. We show that real-time genomic surveillance is possible in resource-limited settings and can be established rapidly to monitor outbreaks.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Quick, Joshua -- Loman, Nicholas J -- Duraffour, Sophie -- Simpson, Jared T -- Severi, Ettore -- Cowley, Lauren -- Bore, Joseph Akoi -- Koundouno, Raymond -- Dudas, Gytis -- Mikhail, Amy -- Ouedraogo, Nobila -- Afrough, Babak -- Bah, Amadou -- Baum, Jonathan H J -- Becker-Ziaja, Beate -- Boettcher, Jan Peter -- Cabeza-Cabrerizo, Mar -- Camino-Sanchez, Alvaro -- Carter, Lisa L -- Doerrbecker, Juliane -- Enkirch, Theresa -- Garcia-Dorival, Isabel -- Hetzelt, Nicole -- Hinzmann, Julia -- Holm, Tobias -- Kafetzopoulou, Liana Eleni -- Koropogui, Michel -- Kosgey, Abigael -- Kuisma, Eeva -- Logue, Christopher H -- Mazzarelli, Antonio -- Meisel, Sarah -- Mertens, Marc -- Michel, Janine -- Ngabo, Didier -- Nitzsche, Katja -- Pallasch, Elisa -- Patrono, Livia Victoria -- Portmann, Jasmine -- Repits, Johanna Gabriella -- Rickett, Natasha Y -- Sachse, Andreas -- Singethan, Katrin -- Vitoriano, Ines -- Yemanaberhan, Rahel L -- Zekeng, Elsa G -- Racine, Trina -- Bello, Alexander -- Sall, Amadou Alpha -- Faye, Ousmane -- Faye, Oumar -- Magassouba, N'Faly -- Williams, Cecelia V -- Amburgey, Victoria -- Winona, Linda -- Davis, Emily -- Gerlach, Jon -- Washington, Frank -- Monteil, Vanessa -- Jourdain, Marine -- Bererd, Marion -- Camara, Alimou -- Somlare, Hermann -- Camara, Abdoulaye -- Gerard, Marianne -- Bado, Guillaume -- Baillet, Bernard -- Delaune, Deborah -- Nebie, Koumpingnin Yacouba -- Diarra, Abdoulaye -- Savane, Yacouba -- Pallawo, Raymond Bernard -- Gutierrez, Giovanna Jaramillo -- Milhano, Natacha -- Roger, Isabelle -- Williams, Christopher J -- Yattara, Facinet -- Lewandowski, Kuiama -- Taylor, James -- Rachwal, Phillip -- Turner, Daniel J -- Pollakis, Georgios -- Hiscox, Julian A -- Matthews, David A -- O'Shea, Matthew K -- Johnston, Andrew McD -- Wilson, Duncan -- Hutley, Emma -- Smit, Erasmus -- Di Caro, Antonino -- Wolfel, Roman -- Stoecker, Kilian -- Fleischmann, Erna -- Gabriel, Martin -- Weller, Simon A -- Koivogui, Lamine -- Diallo, Boubacar -- Keita, Sakoba -- Rambaut, Andrew -- Formenty, Pierre -- Gunther, Stephan -- Carroll, Miles W -- Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2016 Feb 11;530(7589):228-32. doi: 10.1038/nature16996. Epub 2016 Feb 3.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Institute of Microbiology and Infection, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. ; The European Mobile Laboratory Consortium, Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, D-20359 Hamburg, Germany. ; Bernhard-Nocht-Institute for Tropical Medicine, D-20359 Hamburg, Germany. ; Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto M5G 0A3, Canada. ; Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto M5S 3G4, Canada. ; European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 171 65 Solna, Sweden. ; National Infection Service, Public Health England, London NW9 5EQ, UK. ; Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 2FL, UK. ; Postgraduate Training for Applied Epidemiology (PAE, German FETP), Robert Koch Institute, D-13302 Berlin, Germany. ; National Infection Service, Public Health England, Porton Down, Wiltshire SP4 0JG, UK. ; Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4002 Basel, Switzerland. ; Robert Koch Institute, D-13302 Berlin, Germany. ; University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK. ; Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, Division of Veterinary Medicine, D-63225 Langen, Germany. ; Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7BE, UK. ; Laboratory for Clinical and Epidemiological Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, KU Leuven, Leuven B-3000, Belgium. ; Ministry of Health Guinea, Conakry BP 585, Guinea. ; Kenya Medical Research Institute, Nairobi P.O. BOX 54840 - 00200, Kenya. ; National Institute for Infectious Diseases L. Spallanzani, 00149 Rome, Italy. ; Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute, D-17493 Greifswald, Germany. ; Federal Office for Civil Protection, Spiez Laboratory, 3700 Spiez, Switzerland. ; Janssen-Cilag, Stockholm, Box 7073 - 19207, Sweden. ; NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7BE, UK. ; Institute of Virology, Technische Universitat Munchen, D-81675 Munich, Germany. ; Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3E 3R2, Canada. ; Institut Pasteur Dakar, Dakar, DP 220 Senegal. ; Laboratoire de Fievres Hemorragiques de Guinee, Conakry BP 5680, Guinea. ; Sandia National Laboratories, PO Box 5800 MS1363, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87185-1363, USA. ; Ratoma Ebola Diagnostic Center, Conakry, Guinea. ; MRIGlobal, Kansas City, Missouri 64110-2241, USA. ; Expertise France, Laboratoire K-plan de Forecariah en Guinee, 75006 Paris, France. ; Federation des Laboratoires - HIA Begin, 94163 Saint-Mande cedex, France. ; Laboratoire de Biologie - Centre de Traitement des Soignants, Conakry, Guinea. ; World Health Organization, Conakry BP 817, Guinea. ; London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London EC1E 7HT, UK. ; Norwegian Institute of Public Health, PO Box 4404 Nydalen, 0403 Oslo, Norway. ; Public Health Wales, Cardiff CF11 9LJ, UK. ; Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) Porton Down, Salisbury SP4 0JQ, UK. ; Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Oxford OX4 4GA, UK. ; Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TD, UK. ; Academic Department of Military Medicine, Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK. ; Centre of Defence Pathology, Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK. ; Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham B12 2TH, UK. ; Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, D-80937 Munich, Germany. ; Institut National de Sante Publique, Conakry BP 1147, Guinea. ; Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-2220, USA. ; Centre for Immunology, Infection and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 2FL, UK. ; University of Southampton, South General Hospital, Southampton SO16 6YD, UK. ; NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging and Zoonotic Infections, PHE Porton Down, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26840485" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Tropical reef systems are transitioning to a new era in which the interval between recurrent bouts of coral bleaching is too short for a full recovery of mature assemblages. We analyzed bleaching records at 100 globally distributed reef locations from 1980 to 2016. The median return time between pairs of severe bleaching events has diminished steadily since 1980 and is now only 6 years. As global warming has progressed, tropical sea surface temperatures are warmer now during current La Niña conditions than they were during El Niño events three decades ago. Consequently, as we transition to the Anthropocene, coral bleaching is occurring more frequently in all El Niño–Southern Oscillation phases, increasing the likelihood of annual bleaching in the coming decades.

Description: Estimates of neutron fluxes in different energy ranges are reported for the Skylab spacecraft. Detectors composed of uranium, thorium, and bismuth foils with mica as a fission track recorder, as well as boron foils with cellulose acetate as an alpha-particle recorder, were deployed at different positions in the Orbital Workshop. It was found that the Skylab neutron flux was dominated by high energy (greater than 1 MeV) contributions and that there was no significant time variation in the fluxes. Firm upper limits of 7-15 neutrons/sq cm-sec, depending on the detector location in the spacecraft, were established for fluxes above 1 MeV. Below 1 MeV, the neutron fluxes were about an order of magnitude lower. The neutrons are interpreted as originating from the interactions of leakage protons from the radiation belt with the spacecraft.