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Recent studies indicate that many foreign students now choose to go to the Philippines for university and language education. In this paper, we examine how Filipino Teachers' English (FTE) is represented on English language schools' webpages to market the Philippines as an alternative destination for acquiring "good" English among Japanese nationals. By examining a combination of online texts, photos, and videos through the lens of multimodal discourse analysis, we found that FTE is often presented as affordable and native-like or somewhat akin to American English. While on the surface the shift of focus to the Philippines as a place for English education may appear to dismantle Japanese learners' strong preference for native speakers of English, the schools reinforce the hierarchization of English by invoking American English and/or native-speakerist ideals. In short, FTE is promoted as a desirable option because it can pass as native-like and is affordable. Unlike the less prestigious varieties of English spoken by the majority of Filipinos, which are implicitly stigmatized as impure and therefore inferior and undesirable, FTE is constructed as high quality at low cost. Through this representation, English language schools in the Philippines participate in the complex process of legitimating and illegitimating Philippine English, while at the same time reinforcing the hierarchization of English and the ideology of native speakerness.

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During 2014, henipavirus infection caused severe illness among humans and horses in southern Philippines; fatality rates among humans were high. Horse-to-human and human-to-human transmission occurred. The most likely source of horse infection was fruit bats. Ongoing surveillance is needed for rapid diagnosis, risk factor investigation, control measure implementation, and further virus characterization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifty-two bats captured during July 2008 in the Philippines were tested by reverse transcription-PCR to detect bat coronavirus (CoV) RNA. The overall prevalence of virus RNA was 55.8%. We found 2 groups of sequences that belonged to group 1 (genus Alphacoronavirus) and group 2 (genus Betacoronavirus) CoVs. Phylogenetic analysis of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase gene showed that groups 1 and 2 CoVs were similar to Bat-CoV/China/ A515/2005 (95% nt sequence identity) and Bat-CoV/ HKU9-1/China/2007 (83% identity), respectively. To propagate group 2 CoVs obtained from a lesser dog-faced fruit bat (Cynopterus brachyotis), we administered intestine samples orally to Leschenault rousette bats (Rousettus leschenaulti) maintained in our laboratory. After virus replication in the bats was confirmed, an additional passage of the virus was made in Leschenault rousette bats, and bat pathogenesis was investigated. Fruit bats infected with virus did not show clinical signs of infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. We determined the complete genome sequence of Ebola virus subtype Reston (EBO-R) in the Philippines in 1996. The deduced transcriptional signals were highly conserved among Ebola viruses except for the stop signal of L genes. The intergenic regions were composed of 4 to 7 nucleotides, and of 2 characteristic overlaps and a long intergenic region. The glycoprotein (GP) had several amino acid differences from EBO-R isolated in 1989 and 1992. The variety of GP sequences strongly suggests the independent introduction of EBO-R from unknown natural reservoirs in 1996. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented about a study which examined the prevalence of Reston Ebolavirus (REBOV) antibody-positive bats in the Philippines.

• An indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFAT) using HeLa 229 cells expressing NiV-N was developed to detect anti-NiV-N IgM antibody. • Reactivity of the IFAT was evaluated using serum samples of NiV-N immunized macaques, Nipah patients and non-exposed humans. • The IFAT utilizing HeLa 229 cells with stable NiV-N expression could be readily supplied to local laboratories in NiV-affected countries. A novel indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) for detection of IgM against Nipah virus (NiV) was developed using HeLa 229 cells expressing recombinant NiV nucleocapsid protein (NiV-N). The NiV IFAT was evaluated using three panels of sera: a) experimentally produced sera from NiV-N-immunized/pre-immunized macaques, b) post-infection human sera associated with a Nipah disease outbreak in the Philippines in 2014, and c) human sera from a non-exposed Malaysian population. Immunized macaque sera showed a characteristic granular staining pattern of the NiV-N expressed antigen in HeLa 229 cells, which was readily distinguished from negative-binding results of the pre-immunized macaque sera. The IgM antibody titers in sequential serum samples (n = 7) obtained from three Nipah patients correlated well with previously published results using conventional IgM capture ELISA and SNT serology. The 90 human serum samples from unexposed persons were unreactive by IFAT. The IFAT utilizing NiV-N-expressing HeLa 229 cells to detect IgM antibody in an early stage of NiV infection is an effective approach, which could be utilized readily in local laboratories to complement other capabilities in NiV-affected countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterization of resistance genes is essential for the development of a new variety resistant to blast (Magnaporthe grisea) in rice (Oryza sativa L.). In this study, we found that an indica variety, Kasalath, harbored a resistance gene that showed a broad spectrum of resistance reactions against standard differentia] blast isolates from the Philippines and Japan. Quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis was conducted using backcross inbred lines derived from crosses between Kasalath and the japonica cultivar. Koshihikari, to detect the QTL for blast resistance. QTLs were detected on chromosomes 6 and 8. Further, QTL analysis of chromosome segment substitution lines of Kasalath in the Koshihikari genetic background revealed that the Kasalath allele at the QTL on chromosome 6 strongly contributed to blast resistance. These results suggested that the gene locus might be identical to Pil3(t) that had already been reported. By marker-assisted breeding, a near-isogenic line, Koshihikari Toyama BL7, with a Kasalath chromosome segment containing Pil3(t) introduced into Koshihikari genetic background, was developed. The reaction of Koshihikari Toyama BL7 to the differential blast isolates indicated that Pil3(t) was a broad-spectrum and moderate resistance gene. Since Pil3(t) showed single-gene segregation and was characterized, the gene was re-designated as Pil3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]