The latest avian influenzavirus strain added to the list of agents causing “bird flu” is called avian influenza A(H7N9) virus – a colourfully exciting reference to its key surface proteins (see influenza background). H7N9 is considered a low pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV)…at least in its feathered hosts. Avian influenza A(H7N9) virus (which I may shorten to H7N9 to save my fingers) was once considered a relatively rare cause of infection although how extensively and routinely it was looked for in the past is unclear. Avian influenza A(H7N9) virus is similar to its closer cousins, H7N2, H7N3 and H7N7 and its more distant cousin H5N1 in that they are all IFAVs and they usually infect birds. However, they are each quite distinct and made up of different genes
Phi Beta Iota: Obama has done nothing to disappoint Wall Street. His assassination would be high theater that could be played out for months, but nothing would change in the White House. Those who wish to achieve radical transformation in and of the USA need to be focused on non-violent educational networking with the students, workers, veterans, and soccer moms. A violent assassination furthers the agenda of the financial cabal and the perpetual war cabal — it does nothing at all for the restoration of the Republic.
President Obama's budget for the Department of Defense for 2014 is a strange document. As if to justify its disconnect from reality, someone in the administration advertised it to the press as basic to Obama's overall negotiations with Republicans. If true, that does not augur well for needed change in the Pentagon.
What the Defense budget request really shows is that there is no new thinking in the Pentagon for putting defense spending on a constructive path. There is not even anything that promises a departure from the last-minute, hysterical decision making we observed in the denouement of the 2013 defense budget process.
As submitted, the new Defense plan simply wishes away the statutory reality of sequestration, and to pretend to save money, it trots out only tired old ideas.
9 best ways to socially network your next live conference
By Joe McKendrick | April 16, 2013, 7:07 PM PDT
While social networks and technology have made it possible for anyone on the globe to connect and learn electronically, there is still a need for onsite conferences. There’s an immeasurable value to connecting with colleagues on a face-to-face basis that cannot be replaced by social media.
Still, social networking can greatly enhance your conference experience. In a new post at the Vocus blog, Brian Conlin does a good job of detailing the role social can play in… well, being social. The bottom line is social media now starts conferences weeks before the official opening session, and then keeps the conference going months after the meeting rooms are swept up and vacuumed.