Hepatitis delta virus which causes severe acute and chronic liver disease was discovered following the detection of a novel antigen-antibody system in hepatitis B virus carriers. Currently, HDV is classified as a subviral satellite of hepatitis B virus. However, unlike other satellite viruses, the dependence of HDV on HBV is limited solely to the provision of an envelope of hepatitis B surface antigen for virus assembly. Research into the molecular virology of the HDV life cycle has revealed a fascinating collection of biology. These insights are now beginning to be translated into new potential treatment strategies. There are currently still an estimated 15 million HDV carriers worldwide.

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Climate change has been a perplexing problem for years. In Dark Winter, author John L. Casey, a former White House national space policy advisor, NASA headquarters consultant, and space shuttle engineer tells the truth about ominous changes taking place in the climate and the Sun. Casey's research into the Sun's activity, which began almost a decade ago, resulted in discovery of a solar cycle that is now reversing from its global warming phase to that of dangerous global cooling for the next thirty years or more. This new cold climate will dramatically impact the world's citizens. In Dark Winter, he provides evidence of the following: The end of global warming The beginning of a "solar hibernation," a historic reduction in the energy output of the Sun A long-term drop in Earth's temperatures The start of the next climate change to decades of dangerously cold weather The high probability of record earthquakes and volcanic eruptions A sobering look at Earth's future, Dark Winter predicts worldwide, crop-destroying cold; food shortages and riots in the United States and abroad; significant global loss of life; and social, political, and economic upheaval.