Swine Flu
What is Swine Influenza?

Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza virus that regularly causes outbreaks of influenza in pigs. Swine flu viruses cause high levels of illness and low death rates in pigs. Swine influenza viruses may circulate among swine throughout the year, but most outbreaks occur during the late fall and winter months similar to outbreaks in humans. The classical swine flu virus (an influenza type A H1N1 virus) was first isolated from a pig in 1930.

How many swine flu viruses are there?

Like all influenza viruses, swine flu viruses change constantly. Pigs can be infected by avian influenza and human influenza viruses as well as swine influenza viruses. When influenza viruses from different species infect pigs, the viruses can reassort (i.e. swap genes) and new viruses that are a mix of swine, human and/or avian influenza viruses can emerge. Over the years, different variations of swine flu viruses have emerged. At this time, there are four main influenza type A virus subtypes that have been isolated in pigs: H1N1, H1N2, H3N2, and H3N1. However, most of the recently isolated influenza viruses from pigs have been H1N1 viruses.
Swine Flu in Humans
Can humans catch swine flu?

Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. However, sporadic human infections with swine flu have occurred. Most commonly, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs (e.g. children near pigs at a fair or workers in the swine industry). In addition, there have been documented cases of one person spreading swine flu to others. For example, an outbreak of apparent swine flu infection in pigs in Wisconsin in 1988 resulted in multiple human infections, and, although no community outbreak resulted, there was antibody evidence of virus transmission from the patient to health care workers who had close contact with the patient.How common is swine flu infection in humans?In the past, CDC received reports of approximately one human swine influenza virus infection every one to two years in the U.S., but from December 2005 through February 2009, 12 cases of human infection with swine influenza have been reported.

What are the symptoms of swine flu in humans?

The symptoms of swine flu in people are expected to be similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza and include fever, lethargy, lack of appetite and coughing. Some people with swine flu also have reported runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Can people catch swine flu from eating pork?No. Swine influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. You can not get swine influenza from eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork and pork products is safe. Cooking pork to an internal temperature of 160°F kills the swine flu virus as it does other bacteria and viruses.

How does swine flu spread?

Influenza viruses can be directly transmitted from pigs to people and from people to pigs. Human infection with flu viruses from pigs are most likely to occur when people are in close proximity to infected pigs, such as in pig barns and livestock exhibits housing pigs at fairs. Human-to-human transmission of swine flu can also occur. This is thought to occur in the same way as seasonal flu occurs in people, which is mainly person-to-person transmission through coughing or sneezing of people infected with the influenza virus. People may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose.
What do we know about human-to-human spread of swine flu?In September 1988, a previously healthy 32-year-old pregnant woman was hospitalized for pneumonia and died 8 days later. A swine H1N1 flu virus was detected. Four days before getting sick, the patient visited a county fair swine exhibition where there was widespread influenza-like illness among the swine.
In follow-up studies, 76% of swine exhibitors tested had antibody evidence of swine flu infection but no serious illnesses were detected among this group. Additional studies suggest that one to three health care personnel who had contact with the patient developed mild influenza-like illnesses with antibody evidence of swine flu infection.

How can human infections with swine influenza be diagnosed?

To diagnose swine influenza A infection, a respiratory specimen would generally need to be collected within the first 4 to 5 days of illness (when an infected person is most likely to be shedding virus). However, some persons, especially children, may shed virus for 7 days or longer. Identification as a swine flu influenza A virus requires sending the specimen to CDC for laboratory testing.

What medications are available to treat swine flu infections in humans?

There are four different antiviral drugs that are licensed for use in the US for the treatment of influenza: amantadine, rimantadine, oseltamivir and zanamivir. While most swine influenza viruses have been susceptible to all four drugs, the most recent H1N1 influenza viruses isolated from humans are resistant to amantadine and rimantadine.

What other examples of swine flu outbreaks are there?

Probably the most well known is an outbreak of swine flu among soldiers in Fort Dix, New Jersey in 1976. The virus caused disease with x-ray evidence of pneumonia in at least 4 soldiers and 1 death; all of these patients had previously been healthy. The virus was transmitted to close contacts in a basic training environment, with limited transmission outside the basic training group. The virus is thought to have circulated for a month and disappeared. The source of the virus, the exact time of its introduction into Fort Dix, and factors limiting its spread and duration are unknown. The Fort Dix outbreak may have been caused by introduction of an animal virus into a stressed human population in close contact in crowded facilities during the winter. The swine influenza A virus collected from a Fort Dix soldier was named A/New Jersey/76 (Hsw1N1).

Swine Flu in Pigs
How does swine flu spread among pigs?

Swine flu viruses are thought to be spread mostly through close contact among pigs and possibly from contaminated objects moving between infected and uninfected pigs. Herds with continuous swine flu infections and herds that are vaccinated against swine flu may have sporadic disease, or may show only mild or no symptoms of infection.

What are signs of swine flu in pigs?

Signs of swine flu in pigs can include sudden onset of fever, depression, coughing (barking), discharge from the nose or eyes, sneezing, breathing difficulties, eye redness or inflammation, and going off feed.

How common is swine flu among pigs?

H1N1 and H3N2 swine flu viruses are endemic among pig populations in the United States and something that the industry deals with routinely. Outbreaks among pigs normally occur in colder weather months (late fall and winter) and sometimes with the introduction of new pigs into susceptible herds. Studies have shown that the swine flu H1N1 is common throughout pig populations worldwide, with 25 percent of animals showing antibody evidence of infection. In the U.S. studies have shown that 30 percent of the pig population has antibody evidence of having had H1N1 infection. More specifically, 51 percent of pigs in the north-central U.S. have been shown to have antibody evidence of infection with swine H1N1. Human infections with swine flu H1N1 viruses are rare. There is currently no way to differentiate antibody produced in response to flu vaccination in pigs from antibody made in response to pig infections with swine H1N1 influenza.
While H1N1 swine viruses have been known to circulate among pig populations since at least 1930, H3N2 influenza viruses did not begin circulating among US pigs until 1998. The H3N2 viruses initially were introduced into the pig population from humans. The current swine flu H3N2 viruses are closely related to human H3N2 viruses.

Is there a vaccine for swine flu?

Vaccines are available to be given to pigs to prevent swine influenza. There is no vaccine to protect humans from swine flu. The seasonal influenza vaccine will likely help provide partial protection against swine H3N2, but not swine H1N1 viruses.

What is Swine Flu ? It's Signs and Symptoms.

Swine Influenza (swine flu) is a respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza viruses that causes regular outbreaks in pigs. People do not normally get swine flu, but human infections can and do happen. Swine flu viruses have been reported to spread from person-to-person, but in the past, this transmission was limited and not sustained beyond three people.

It's Signs and Symptoms

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in humans the symptoms of swine flu are similar to those of influenza and of influenza-like illness in general. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. A few more patients than usual have also reported diarrhea and vomiting. Because these symptoms are not specific to swine flu, a differential diagnosis of probable swine flu requires not only symptoms but also a high likelihood of swine flu due to the person's recent history. For example, during the 2009 swine flu outbreak in the United States, CDC advised physicians to "consider swine influenza infection in the differential diagnosis of patients with acute febrile respiratory illness who have either been in contact with persons with confirmed swine flu, or who were in one of the five U.S. states that have reported swine flu cases or in Mexico during the 7 days preceding their illness onset." A diagnosis of confirmed swine flu requires laboratory testing of a respiratory sample (a simple nose and throat swab).

Why It Is Important To Speak English In Foreign Countries

If you are planning to visit any foreign country, one important thing you should have, along with a passport, air tickets, and an international credit/debit card, is a functional knowledge of English. No other language is as widespread as English. In terms of the number of speakers, the Chinese Mandarin is the most popular language in the world. However, it is rarely spoken or written outside the People's Republic of China. On the other hand, the number of English speakers has steadily been increasing all over the world. In the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, and a host of Commonwealth countries, English is the first-choice language. English is also widely used and well understood in many other countries including India, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and many former British colonies. Even in the countries where it does not have great penetration such as the Middle East, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, you can get things done if you have a working knowledge of English. It was reported recently that even the Chinese government had incorporated English education in the curriculum to pluck the benefits of outsourcing.

All these indicate the necessity to learn the language. Reasons For The Global Dominance Of English English is the official language of correspondence in most countries by default when it comes to communication among other countries. French, Arabic, and Spanish are also used for this purpose, but none comes close to English. In addition, English is usually the official language for international business conferences, meetings and symposiums of the scientific and academic communities, film and art festivals, trade shows, and international summits. Moreover, English is by far the most popular language over the internet and other forms of electronic communication. There are two reasons for its omnipresence on our planet and three, if you could add the widespread popularity of the internet as well. The first is the colonization agenda of the British empire in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. During the course of the three centuries, the British Empire had expanded to large swathes of land all over the world. It was often remarked that the sun never set in the British Empire. In the process, the British rulers and missionaries established educational institutions in their colonies and laid a foundation for English teaching. When the power and reach of the British Empire diminished, in came the USA as a global superpower. The dominance of the USA, not just the political dominance, but the cultural dominance as well, catalyzed the spread of the English language. Pop music, Hollywood movies, and pulp fiction became available in almost every country. In all these cultural aspects, English was, and still is, the default medium of communication. The recent phenomena such as the spread of the internet and the growth of the outsourcing industry also provided momentum to the rise in popularity of English.

Therefore, if you plan to visit another country, you must have a basic knowledge of English. Even if you do not, it is always beneficial to learn to speak, read, and write English.

Software Testing Course-As Computer Career

Software testing is the process of testing of software. In simple terms software testing is to identify the correctness, completeness, security, and quality of developed software. It is useful to identify software bugs and help to fix them. As software developing is the important information technology field, software testing is also important one. Because with the help of software testing process you can identify the quality of software and it is also helpful to rectify or fix up the software bugs. Software testing is the process of technical investigation, performed on the behalf of stakeholders that is intended to reveal quality related information about the product with respect to the context in which it is intended to operate. This includes, but is not limited to, the process of executing the program or application with intent of finding errors. In software testing mainly two methods are used widely Black box testing and second one is white box testing. In short Black box being an external view of the test objects and white box being an internal view. Both are equally important for overall software testing process. Software testing is used in association with Verification and validation. Software testing is as important aspect as software development. There are lots of job opportunities are there for good software testing person. If you want to consider software testing as a career then it is good and you can easily find nice job with software testing. What you should do that learn software testing from reputed IT educational institute and after completing software testing course go for nice and better job in IT industry. Software testing and project management are both equivalent course. The profession of software testing emerged in the early nineties when personal computers became more popular as they became more affordable. The fast-growing population of PC users created new opportunities for software companies as well as strong competition for the consumers business. The new generation of software users quite naturally expected their applications to work as advertised. At the same time, market forces encouraged the fast release of new software often at the sacrifice of thorough testing. Defective software does not sell. So they needed good software testing methods and software testing experts. You can easily find job after learning software testing course in IT companies. Software companies equally needed good software developers and better software testing experts. So there are huge opportunities are there for software testing experts. You can even get nice salary in software companies after completing software testing course. If you want to learn software testing at affordable price and with reputed institute then visit http://www.lcit.co.uk .

Specific Academic Regulations of BPUT - Clarification

BIJU PATNAIK UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, ORISSA
ROURKELA

Notice No. BPUT-RKL/610/09 dated April 25, 2009

NOTICE
[A] SOME FACTS ON SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMINATIONS
[1] A total year of 365 days is broken down as follows for the calendar of activities of BPUT.

(i) Each Semester-90 days per Sem. 2 x 90 = 180 days

(ii) Sundays = 52 days

(iii) Government & other Holidays= 25 days

(iv) Exam duration for Odd & Even Sems.(30x2) = 60 days

(v) Semester-break after Odd Semester = 07 days

(vi) Summer Vacation (May 21 – July 07) = 41 days

(should be a minimum of 45 days

-----------------------

Total= 365 days
[2] The Even-Semester regular examination as well as Supplementary examinations were of much shorter duration with the Year-Back system, as a student was not allowed to go to a higher year without clearing the papers of lower years (e.g. one could not go to 3rd year without clearing all First Year subjects; similarly, one could not go to 4th year without clearing all papers of second year).
[3] With the present system, a student can have any number of back papers, is still promoted to the higher years and is allowed to clear back papers of all previous semesters. Therefore, one cannot have overlapping examinations, as far as possible.
[4] Consequently, under the present system, the duration of regular semester examinations is very high and accommodating the supplementary examinations will make the system unsustainable. Attempts are being made to cut down the evaluation-time drastically by requesting colleges to send more teachers for evaluation.
[5] Once the Year Back was removed, the only way to run the system was to introduce the Special Examinations after the 8th Semester. Now, all back papers from 3rd semester to 8th semester, are included in the Special Examinations. However, as wanted by the students, this item (supplementary exams.) would once again be deliberated at the Academic Council Meeting of April 25th.

[B] SOME FACTS ON THE ‘NFT’ SYSTEM
[1] Any student getting lower than 4.5 SGPA (Semester Grade Point Average) in 3 consecutive (1st, 2nd and 3rd) semesters is declared ‘Not Fit for Technical education’ (NFT) and has to quit BPUT at the second year. A student can avoid the above situation if:
He passes in only 2-3 subjects out of 18 theory subjects (in 3 semesters) for which he is getting 30 chances.

He should attend all the internal tests, laboratories/ sessionals.
[2] The students who face the risk of quitting under NFT after the 3rd semester (Second year), are those who opted for promotion from 1st year to 2nd year, through an undertaking, that if they do not fulfill the 4.5 condition, they would be prepared to leave.
Several students who were admitted (in 2007) along with the above category of students, opted to stay back and repeat the first year knowing that getting promoted to the 3rd semester involved the risk of quitting. Some of these students have gone to the High Court already against any change of NFT-Rule (one such case of Orissa High Court WPC 6276/2009).
[3] The present NFT system may affect less than 250 (two hundred fifty) students out of around 16000 students of the same batch & from a total of about 62,000 students in the BPUT’s engineering streams.
[4] BPUT’s promotion system perhaps represents one of the most lenient of systems in the entire country amongst the state level technical universities and any further dilution would bring down the reputation of BPUT; this would adversely affect the placement of our graduates.
[5] The University has convened its Academic Council Meeting on April 25, 2009 to discuss the above situation. Incidentally, the Academic Council had met recently on March 28, 2009 and after deliberating on all the issues relating to NFT, had withdrawn the NFT in the 3rd and 4th years. It had also included all the second year subjects as well, in the Special Examination held after the 8th semester.
REGISTRAR I/C.

Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Orissa
Rourkela
Notice No. BPUT/4129/09 dated April 11, 2009
NOTICE

Specific Academic Regulations of BPUT
[ Including Clarification on Recent Demands ]

Recently, a section of students have handed over a list of demands to BPUT. A point-by-point response would be provided here.

Before that, a few General Remarks are required to be made so that ALL STUDENTS of the University are fully apprised of the background situation. Further, the attention of the Parents and the General Public is also requested to these issues in order that every body may arrive at a rational conclusion.

[A] Background
· In 2007, the entire Promotion System was reviewed by BPUT with the help of an expert committee, also comprising members from IIT Kharagpur and NIT Rourkela.

As per the recommendation of the above committee the YEAR BACK system was withdrawn; along with the same, the supplementary exams. were also withdrawn since a student is now allowed to carry unlimited number of back papers and move to higher semesters.

The expert committee also recommended and BPUT introduced Special Examinations for students who have completed the 8th, Semester and still have back papers in 3rd. / 4th. / 5th. / 6th. / 7th. / 8th. semesters.

In order to ease out extremely weak students from the BPUT system ( who would not have the capacity to complete a degree with a prescribed minimum of a final CGPA of 6.0 ), the committee had recommended that a student would have to quit if he has less than 4.5 SGPA in three consecutive semesters ( this was to apply for exams. held w.e.f Odd Semester 2007 ).
Recently on the 28th. of March, 2009 the Academic Council met and decided to withdraw the 4.5 SGPA rule from the 5th. semester onwards; that means no student would be asked to quit once he / she has crossed the 4th. semester .

Further, in the Special Exams. after the 8th. semester, all papers for 3rd. and 4th. semesters were also included. That means, all back papers of 2nd.; 3rd. and 4th. years can now be cleared in the Special Exams if a student has not been able to clear them already in the various previous regular exams. ( he carries unlimited number of back papers to higher semesters today.)

The results clearly show that very few students will actually be affected by the 4.5 rule at the end of 3rd. or 4th. semesters and that these are truly very weak and irregular students who are not likely to complete the B.Tech. / B.Pharm etc. in 7 years with a final CGPA of 6.0.

The results also show that if the 4.5 SGPA rule continues till the 4th. semesters, the students who have performed very poorly in the First Year ( 1st. Sem / 2nd. Sem. ) still have a good chance of climbing further without getting detained in the First Year (Originally, the only rule was that a student with CGPA of less than 4.5 must repeat the First Year); today he has an option due to the three consecutive SGPA rule.


[B] Demands Freshly Made and Our Comments

Now, Fresh Demands are being made only 9 days after the Academic Council had met and carefully considered all the demands for over 3 hours on March 28, 2009.


Even then, we would like to take up each demand and provide our response as follows:

1. ‘Demolition of NFT system totally for 2nd year students.’

(a) If this is done, the students going up will never be able to score the minimum CGPA required ( 6.0 ) and will get more and more frustrated as they move up. Further, this condition for NFT ( i.e. less than 4.5 SGPA consecutively in 1st,2nd. 3rd or 2nd. 3rd., 4th. semesters ) is far easier to avoid than to secure minimum CGPA of 4.5 at the end of First year, creating more serious problems for the First Year students. Our results of the students clearly demonstrates this point. The Academic Council therefore decided that this rule should continue till the end of 4th. semester only ( the recommendation of the earlier Expert Committee was to continue the rule for higher semesters as well, as was notified earlier by BPUT ).

(b) In addition, as per the 4.5 CGPA rule, several students having less than 4.5 CGPA in the 1st year (Entry-2007) are repeating the 1st year classes. On the other hand, some other students of the same batch having less than 4.5 CGPA in the 1st year have moved to the 3rd semester with an undertaking that if they secured less than 4.5 SGPA in consecutive 3 Semesters they will quit the BPUT system. If the NFT system is totally withdrawn from 2nd year, these students of Second Year who in terms of performance are no better than their batch mates who are repeating the First Year as 2008 batch, shall get an unfair advantage.


2. ‘We want full - fledged Supplementary Examination’


(a) The recent Academic Council of March 28th, did not accept the supplementary after a deliberation, since this would cause a total collapse of the University Calendar (please see the calculation of the total available number of days for various activities under item #4). In lieu of the same, the special exams. after the 8th. Sem. are being provided.

(b) The Academic Council felt that if the supplementary examinations are to be re-introduced, the Year-Back system must also return. It may be noted that two colleges which were part of BPUT until recently, viz. UCE Burla and ITER are continuing with supplementary along with Year Back. Would the student community of BPUT like to go back to the Year Back system ?

Most of the other state level universities in other provinces have Year Back system; we are one of the exceptions and today represent the most relaxed condition already. Therefore, many would start doubting our credibility in the job-market particularly.

3. ‘The date of examination of all the semesters shall be shifted.’

By shifting the date of examinations the final year students would not be able to get their provisional certificate by June and therefore cannot get good placement. Therefore, any delay in conducting the examination will jeopardize the career opportunity for the graduating students of 2009. In the current market scenario, this is going create a serious problem. Will the Final Year students like it ? Further, this would completely upset next year’s calendar. Thirdly, sufficient advance information about the upcoming Exam. Schedule has been given; why should one create problems by shifting all dates ? Every year, more or less around the same dates the exams. are held.

4. ‘Proper gaps between two semester examinations should be given’

The schedule was decided after a careful consideration. During a year that consists of 365 days, the following events are to be conducted :

(i) Each Semester – 90 days per Sem. 2X90 = 180 days
(ii) Sundays = 52 days
(iii) Government & other Holidays = 25 days
(iv) Exam duration for Odd & Even Sems. (30X2) = 60 days
(v) Semester-break after Odd Semester = 07 days
(vi) Summer Vacation (May 21 – July 07) = 41 days
(should be a minimum of 45 days)
-------------
Total = 365 days

[Evaluation of answer scripts tabulation of marks and declaration of results are also accommodated during the above activities].

The regular B.Tech. programme is of 4-year duration. By giving more gaps, the duration for completing the 8-semester academic programme would have to be extended. Considering that, further gaps in the semester examination does not appear feasible within the 4-year period. However, interested students could avail gaps and complete the B.Tech. programme within a total of 7-years.

5. ‘No merging of two semesters’ for examinations

As described above, there are only 30 days available for conducting odd semester (1,3,5 & 7) exams. and also 30 days for conducting even semester (2,4,6 & 8) examinations. Prior to October 2007, the examinations were conducted semester-wise i.e. after completion of examination for one semester, next semester examination was started. Because of demands from students to get gap in between the examinations, two consecutive odd semester or even semester exams. are held together during 2-weeks (approx.) time; this was done to benefit the students. However, if majority students want, the old pattern of examination-routine could be re-implemented from the next academic session after approval of the Academic Council.


Registrar I/C

Promotional Rule : Quit System based on 4.50 SGPA criterion

Biju Patnaik University of Technology, Orissa
Rourkela
Notice No. BPUT/4041/09 dated March 28, 2009
NOTICE
The following major decisions were taken at the Extra-ordinary Academic Council Meeting #1/09 held on Saturday, March 28, 2009.
[1] Promotional Rule : Quit System based on 4.50 SGPA criterion
1.1 This rule would now be confined up to 4th Semester only.
1.2 A student will be asked to quit the BPUT system if he secures lower than 4.50 SGPA in three consecutive semesters (in semesters 1,2 & 3 / 2,3 & 4).
1.3 No student shall be asked to quit the BPUT system based on the results (SGPA 4.50) in 5th semester onwards.

[2] Special Examinations after the 8th Semester
2.1 The special examinations being held for students who have completed their 8th semester examination shall include backlog subjects of 3rd and 4th semesters as well.
2.2 Therefore, backlog subjects may be at the 3rd , 4th , 5th , 6th , 7th & 8th semesters.
[3] Repeating Internal Tests & Lab/Sessional Assignments
3.1 If a student has secured less than 12 marks in the internal tests (out of 30) in a subject and has secured “F” Grade (declared at the BPUT level) in that subject, he/she may appear at additional internal tests at the college level.
3.2 A student having a backlog in lab/sessional subjects may appear at additional assignments at the college level.
3.3 Guidelines regarding the deadline for conducting the above tests/assignments shall be issued soon.
The Academic Regulations of BPUT will be suitably modified based on the above resolutions and shall be published soon.
Registrar I/C