Charity

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Spatial Modeling in Emergency Medical Systems : Analysis of a Regional Trauma System With Two Centers

The allocation of trauma patients to one of two trauma centers based on multiple criteria presents significant challenges in modeling network-based solutions for Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Capabilities in a desktop Geographic Information Systems (GIS) include spatial analysis and map visualizations that contribute to improved understanding of EMS and the trauma allocation. Using a common desktop GIS application and a statistical analysis application, key spatial and temporal characteristics of both penetrating and blunt trauma are described, and the EMS allocation system is analyzed. As a sub-group of all emergencies, trauma-system patients represent the most severely injured. Understanding the spatial-temporal distributions of traumas are paramount in the planning and management of such a system. Concentrations of trauma vary widely over the study area. The highest concentrations are not necessarily associated with the highest residential population densities. The two-center system is highly balanced in terms of both overall allocation and in type of trauma. Average travel times to each center are nearly equal overall. However, analysis shows there is no correlation between predicted and observed travel times. Spatial modeling of address-matched trauma calls, discriminating by the nature of the trauma (penetrating or blunt), shows that penetrating traumas are concentrated in certain hours of the day (peaking around midnight) and in certain areas of the region, with highest concentrations in and near Oldtown and close-in Northeast neighborhoods. Blunt traumas also demonstrated varying concentrations with clustering in the Downtown and Old Town areas, but were more related to the street network and traffic along arterials

20 Years of Progress in Malaria Research

U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 2 Detachment (NAMRU), in collaboration with National Institute of Health Research and Development (NIHRD) and many other Indonesian government agencies and universities, has conducted studies of malaria throughout Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Flores, Timor, and Irian Jaya. Most studies have characterized the disease epidemiologically by defining the parasitologic distribution of the disease in the population, and by defining the entomologic parameters of local transmission. Studies of patterns of resistance to antimalarials have also been done at many field sites. Several studies on the clinical management of malaria occurred in Rumah Sakit Umum Propinsi in Jayapura. In addition to these studies which impact upon local public health planning policy, immunologic studies routinely occurred in support of the global effort to develop a vaccine against malaria. This report summarizes the progress made in these areas of research during the first 20 years of NAMRU in Indonesia

Ecology And Infection Rates Of Natural Vectors Of Filariasis In Tanah Intan, South Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia

Data ekologi nyamuk vektor dan tingkat infeksi filaría secara alami dan secara buatan telah diperoleh dari perkebunan karet di Kalimantan Selatan, Indonesia. Berbagai macam cara penangkapan dalam kondisi ekologi yang berbeda telah dipakai dalam pengumpulan 51 jenis nyamuk (N = 95.735). Pembedahan nyamuk, infeksi buatan dan identifikasi larva filaría mengikuti prosedur dan kunci yang sudah baku. Infeksi filaría Brugia, Breinlia dan Cardiofílaria secara alami ditemukan pada nyamuk Coquillettidia crassipes. Dari penelitian ini dapat dijelaskan hasil infeksi buatan, kepadatan populasi nyamuk secara musiman dan perbandingan cara penangkapan nyamuk

Identification and functional characterization of a highly divergent N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (TbGnTI) in <em>Trypanosoma brucei</em>

Trypanosoma brucei expresses a diverse repertoire of N-glycans, ranging from oligomannose and paucimannose structures to exceptionally large complex N-glycans. Despite the presence of the latter, no obvious homologues of known β1–4-galactosyltransferase or β1–2- or β1–6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase genes have been found in the parasite genome. However, we previously reported a family of putative UDP-sugar-dependent glycosyltransferases with similarity to the mammalian β1–3-glycosyltransferase family. Here we characterize one of these genes, TbGT11, and show that it encodes a Golgi apparatus resident UDP-GlcNAc:α3-d-mannoside β1–2-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I activity (TbGnTI). The bloodstream-form TbGT11 null mutant exhibited significantly modified protein N-glycans but normal growth in vitro and infectivity to rodents. In contrast to multicellular organisms, where the GnTI reaction is essential for biosynthesis of both complex and hybrid N-glycans, T. brucei TbGT11 null mutants expressed atypical “pseudohybrid” glycans, indicating that TbGnTII activity is not dependent on prior TbGnTI action. Using a functional in vitro assay, we showed that TbGnTI transfers UDP-GlcNAc to biantennary Man(3)GlcNAc(2), but not to triantennary Man(5)GlcNAc(2), which is the preferred substrate for metazoan GnTIs. Sequence alignment reveals that the T. brucei enzyme is far removed from the metazoan GnTI family and suggests that the parasite has adapted the β3-glycosyltransferase family to catalyze β1–2 linkages

Importance Of Recruitment To Accurately Predict The Impacts Of Human-Caused Mortality On Wolf Populations

Reliable analyses can help wildlife managers make good decisions, which are particularly critical for controversial decisions such as wolf (Canis lupus) harvest. Creel and Rotella (2010) recently predicted substantial population declines in Montana wolf populations due to harvest, in contrast to predictions made by Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP). Here we replicate their analyses considering only those years in which field monitoring was consistent, and we consider the effect of annual variation in recruitment on wolf population growth. We also use model selection to evaluate models of recruitment and human-caused mortality rates in wolf populations in the Northern Rocky Mountains. Using data from 27 area-years of intensive wolf monitoring, we show that variation in both recruitment and human-caused mortality affect annual wolf population growth rates and that human-caused mortality rates have increased with the sizes of wolf populations. We also show that either recruitment rates have decreased with population sizes or that the ability of current field resources to document recruitment rates has recently become less successful as the number of wolves in the region has increased. Predictions of wolf population growth in Montana from our top models are consistent with field observations and estimates previously made by MFWP. Familiarity with limitations of raw data helps generate more reliable inferences and conclusions in analyses of publicly-available datasets. Additionally, development of efficient monitoring methods for wolves is a pressing need, so that analyses such as ours will be possible in future years when fewer resources will be available for monitoring

Ddt Resistance in Anopheles Koliensis (Diptera: Culicidae) From Northeastern Irian Jaya, Indonesia

Nyamuk Anopheles koliensis, adalah perantara (vektor) penyakit malaria yang penting di daerah pedalaman Irian Jaya, Indonesia, yang telah dievaluasi kerentanannya terhadap DDT dengan menggunakan test kit diagnostik dan kertas yang telah diresapi sesuai dengan standar WHO. Serangkaian tes telah dilakukan di ARSO PIR I, yang merupakan tempat pemukiman para transmigran yang terletak 60 km sebelah selatan Jayapura. Pemeriksaan tersebut dilakukan mulai bulan Januari 1988 sampai dengan Mei 1989. DDT telah diuji pada dosis diagnostik yang telah direkomendasikan untuk jangka waktu tertentu pula. Daya tahan terhadap DDT diamati baik pada populasi nyamuk An koliensis maupun nyamuk Culex quinquefasciatus. Kira-kira 30% dari populasi nyamuk An. koliensis (sejumlah 468) ternyata tahan terhadap 4% DDT dalam kurun waktu 1 dan 2 jam paparan. Penemuan ini menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan DDT secara rutin di ARSO PIR I untuk penyemprotan di dalam mmah diperkirakan efektivitasnya terbatas, antara lain disebabkan oleh daya tahan fisiologik. Walaupun demikian, penggunaan insektisida alternatif ini akan lebih mahal dan mungkin terbukti sama tidak efektifnya karena sifat eksofilik dari jenis nyamuk tersebut. Makalah ini merupakan laporan pertama yang diperkuat dengan pengamatan yang dilakukan secara berulang-ulang mengenai kerentanan nyamuk Anopheles koliensis asal Indonesia terhadap DDT

Wolf Management In The Northwestern United States

Gray wolves (Canis lupus) were deliberately eliminated from the northern Rocky Mountains (NRM) by 1930. Restoration began in 1986. There are currently nearly 120 breeding pair and 1800 wolves. Wolf restoration initially proceeded with more benefits and fewer problems than predicted. However, conflicts have steadily increased since 2002 when the population first met its minimum recovery goal. About 40 million has been spent since 1974 and the management program currently costs >4 million/yr. Wolves were delisted in 2008 and 2009 but relisted by federal court order in 2009 and 2010. While the NRM wolf population is biologically recovered, public opinion remains divisive and the legal, political, and policy decisions will continue to be litigated by a diversity of interests. Science is a poor tool to resolve the differing human values that continue to be debated with great passion through wolf symbolism