Sexually reproducing pathogens such as Cyclospora cayetanensis often produce genetically heterogeneous infections where the number of unique sequence types detected at any given locus varies depending on which locus is sequenced. The genotypes assigned to these infections quickly become complex when additional loci are analysed. This genetic heterogeneity confounds the utility of traditional sequence-typing and phylogenetic approaches for aiding epidemiological trace-back, and requires new methods to address this complexity. Here, we describe an ensemble of two similarity-based classification algorithms, including a Bayesian and heuristic component that infer the relatedness of C. cayetanensis infections. The ensemble requires a set of haplotypes as input and assigns arbitrary distances to specimen pairs reflecting their most likely relationships. The approach was applied to data generated from a test cohort of 88 human fecal specimens containing C. cayetanensis, including 30 from patients whose infections were associated with epidemiologically defined outbreak clusters of cyclosporiasis. The ensemble assigned specimens to plausible clusters of genetically related infections despite their complex haplotype composition. These relationships were corroborated by a significant number of epidemiological linkages (P < 0.0001) suggesting the ensemble's utility for aiding epidemiological trace-back investigations of cyclosporiasis.

SN1987A is the best-studied core-collapse supernova in the sky. We know what the progenitor was, what the circumstellar environment was, and what the explosion looked like over a broad electromagnetic bandpass and in neutrinos. For over a decade, the Chandra X-ray Observatory has been monitoring SN1987A on a regular basis, obtaining resolved images of the developing interaction with the circumstellar material, as well as high resolution grating spectroscopy of the X-ray emission. We highlight the latest results from this campaign and discuss the overall picture of the remnant's structure that emerges from these observations.

Our resources for the analysis and dissemination of information on Asia have expanded greatly since the beginning of World War II. The record reveals an astounding amount of popular and scholarly publication on almost every aspect of the continent's civilizations, with the quality rising over the decades. It is doubtful, however, that these contributions have had a meaningful impact either on public opinion or on the attitudes of those key persons who determine policy. The critical cases of China, Korea, and Indochina are the most vivid examples of recent failures in effective communication. Although in recent times no Asian country has escaped violent power struggles arising from internal or external causes, or their combined effects, in none of these conflicts has professional reporting been adequate. If readily available information and a carefully considered interpretation of that information can ameliorate conditions leading to conflict, we students of Asia, among others, cannot be proud of our achievements. The common academic response that scholarship must be disinterested and thus must bear little or no relationship to public policy is, to my mind, quite unacceptable.

Eyes turned toward India can see a new pattern emerging. Whatever other political readjustments may result from future negotiations, it appears certain that at least two main political units are to replace the area formerly known as British India. Hindustan will cover those areas predominantly Hindu; Pakistan will include those areas with Muslim majority. The differences of opinion concerning the desirability of effecting this division are now part of history, since both of the major political parties have agreed to the principle of division. Only the boundaries of the split remain to be worked out.