The first full-scale software implementation of the dynamic data evaluation concept {ThermoData Engine (TDE)} is described for thermophysical property data. This concept requires the development of large electronic databases capable of storing essentially all experimental data known to date with detailed descriptions of relevant metadata and uncertainties. The combination of these electronic databases with expert-system software, designed to automatically generate recommended data based on available experimental data, leads to the ability to produce critically evaluated data dynamically or 'to order'. Six major design tasks are described with emphasis on the software architecture for automated critical evaluation including dynamic selection and application of prediction methods and enforcement of thermodynamic consistency. The direction of future enhancements is discussed.

The development, scope, and functionality of the Web-based ionic liquids database, ILThermo, are described. The database is available free to the public and aims to provide users worldwide with up to date information from publications of experimental thermophysical properties for ionic liquids, including numerical property values, measurement methods, sample purities, purification methods, and uncertainties. The database can be searched in terms of the ions constituting the ionic liquids, the ionic liquids themselves, and their properties and through literature citation information

A disease of Macrobrachium rosenbergii, the giant freshwater prawn, farmed in China was recently recorded in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces. The clinical sign of the disease, which develops in post-larvae (PL), is a whitish appearance of the muscles, particularly noticeable in the abdomen. Mortalities may reach 100% in some hatcheries. Investigations by transmission electron microscopy after negative staining of diseased PL homogenates showed the presence of two types of viral particles: one, unenveloped, icosahedral in shape, 26-27 nm in diameter, the second, much smaller, about 14-16 nm in diameter, designated extra small virus particle (XSV). The large virus has a genome with two pieces of ssRNA (RNA-1 and RNA-2), of 3 and 1.2 kb, respectively. Hybridization tests confirmed that this large virus is closely related to M. rosenbergii nodavirus (MrNV) which was isolated from diseased prawns in a hatchery in the French West Indies. Its very small size and hypothesized biochemical and biological characteristics suggest XSV is a new type of crustacean virus. As XSV has always been found associated with the larger virus (nodavirus) and is located in muscle and connective cells of diseased animals, it could be an autonomous virus, a helper-type virus or a satellite-like virus.

The significance of Aeromonas hydrophila in association with disease outbreaks in aquaculture production in the Zhejiang province of China was investigated. Bacteriological examination of moribund fish and crabs resulted in 95 bacterial isolates: 88 bacterial isolates from fish and 7 isolates from crabs. PCR and traditional biochemical methods were used for identification of A. hydrophila. Out of 69 motile aeromonads, 35 isolates were identified as A. hydrophila by biochemical tests. However, 6 of those were not identified as A. hydrophila by a species specific PCR method. Serotyping revealed 2 dominant serotypes (O9 and O97) among A. hydrophila isolates. The data presented show that approximately 42% of the motile aeromonads isolated from disease outbreaks among various fish species were A. hydrophila. It is noteworthy that A. hydrophila accounted for more than 50% of the isolated aeromonands isolated from crucian carp Carassius carassius and Wuchang bream Megalobrama amblycephala with haemorrhagic septicaemia. Although this species was the most frequently isolated organism from internal organs of diseased fish and crabs in the present study, other motile Aeromonas spp. were also found. The PCR assay was useful in preventing misidentification of A. hydrophila, which may occur when only phenotypic tests are employed. KEY WORDS: Aeromonas hydrophila · PCR · China · Haemorrhagic septicaemia · Fish diseases Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherDis Aquat Org 46: [23][24][25][26][27][28][29] 2001 primary pathogen of freshwater fish or a secondary opportunistic pathogen of compromised or stressed hosts (Jeney & Jeney 1995). A. hydrophila has been associated with tail and fin rot, haemorrhagic septicaemia and epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) (Austin & Adams 1996, Roberts 1997. A. hydrophila has also been described as the dominant infectious agent of 'fish-bacterial-septicaemia' in freshwater cultured cyprinid fishes, mainly crucian carp Carassius carassius, Wuchang bream Megalobrama amblycephala and silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix in the Zhejiang province and other provinces in the Southeast of China between 1989to 1993(Qian et al. 1997. 'Fish-bacterial-septicaemia' occurs each summer in the Zhejiang province and results in significant losses for the fish farmers of the region; from 1989 to 1991 the losses were estimated to have been approximately 2200 tons of fish per year (D. Qian pers. comm.).The taxonomy of the genus Aeromonas has been revised, and new motile, mesophilic species have been identified: A. allosaccharophila, A. veronii biogroups sobria and veronii and A. encheleia have been reported as fish pathogens (Toranzo et al. 1989, Paniagua et al. 1990, Joseph & Carnahan 1994, Esteve et al. 1995. Still, A. hydrophila is regarded as the predominant fish pathogen within the mesophilic aeromonads, although its importance may have been overestimated in the past.Thus, the purpose of the present study was to estimate the actual significance of Aeromonas...