Canada Communicable Disease Report 2016 readership survey.

BACKGROUND: The Canada Communicable Disease Report (CCDR) is a peer reviewed scientific journal published since 1975. In 2011, a readership survey was conducted to inform a revitalization process. In late 2016, this survey was repeated to assess progress. OBJECTIVE: To provide information about the results of the CCDR 2016 readership survey, which identified CCDR's readership and their needs, obtained feedback on the journal's revitalization and sought suggestions for further improvement. METHODS: An online readership survey was conducted from September 7 to 28, 2016. Invitations were sent via email to CCDR subscribers. The survey was based on the 2011 version and checked for face-validity. Analysis included descriptive statistics and a qualitative assessment of comments for themes. RESULTS: A total of 549 people responded to the survey (12% participation rate). The majority of respondents worked in public health (61%), clinical care (23%), academia (16%) and laboratory medicine (9%). Approximately 45% of respondents had received CCDR for less than four years, which is consistent with the fact that the number of subscribers more than doubled over this time. Over 90% of respondents reported they read the articles in CCDR (always 15%, often 43%, sometimes 35%). When asked about their primary source of infectious disease information in Canada, CCDR was the number one response, identified by 72% of respondents. When asked "What do you like best about CCDR?" typical comments were that it provided Canadian content, was well written, evidence-based, interesting and relevant. The number one suggestion for improvement was that CCDR should be listed with PubMed. CONCLUSION: The survey results suggest that CCDR has been successfully revitalized and is meeting its readership's needs for a scientific journal on infectious disease with Canadian content, high quality and relevance. Consistent with suggestions for improvement, CCDR will be joining the PubMed database over the next year.

Interspecific comparisons of the structure and regulation of the Drosophila ecdysone-inducible gene E74.

The Drosophila melanogaster E74 gene is induced directly by the steroid hormone ecdysone and is a member of a small set of "early" genes that appear to trigger the onset of metamorphosis. The gene consists of three overlapping transcription units encoding two proteins, E74A and E74B, which possess a common C terminus. According to the Ashburner model for ecdysone's action, an E74 protein product potentially functions as a transcriptional activator of "late" genes as well as a repressor of early genes. We have taken an evolutionary approach to understand the function and regulation of E74 by isolating the homologous genes from Drosophila pseudoobscura and Drosophila virilis and comparing them to D. melanogaster E74 sequences. Conserved characteristics of the E74 genes include ecdysone inducibility, localization to ecdysone-induced polytene chromosome puffs, and gene size. Amino acid sequence comparisons of the E74A protein reveal a highly conserved C-terminal region that is rich in basic amino acid residues and which has been proposed to possess sequence-specific DNA binding activity. The moderately conserved N-terminal region has maintained its overall acidic character and is a potential transcriptional activator domain. The central region contains conserved glutamine and alanine homopolymeric repeats of variable lengths. Nucleotide sequence comparisons of the E74A promoter region fail to reveal ecdysone-response elements but do identify conserved sequences that may function in E74A regulation.

Chloroquine sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum in Ethiopia. II. Results of an in vitro test.

Field trials were performed in two areas of Ethiopia with the Rieckmann in vitro test for chloroquine sensitivity of Plasmodium falciparum. Blood cultures from 82 test subjects showed growth of trophozoites to the schizont stage in control vials. Growth in test vials occurred in 21 cultures incubated with chloroquine at concentrations of 0.5 nanomoles or more per ml of blood. In vitro results confirm previous results obtained with an in vivo test.