Westmoreland’s War: Reassessing American Strategy in Vietnam,by Gregory Daddis

General William Westmoreland, the American commander of Military As- sistance Command Vietnam (MACV) from 1964 through 1968, remains one of the most contentious personalities of the Vietnam War, still the subject of intense debate among veterans and historians of the war. Prevalent still is the view that “Westy” could not see the forest for the trees, or vice versa, and disastrously lacked strategic vision and operational creativity owing to his parochial focus on employing Cold War “big unit” doctrine and attrition to combat an insurgent war of unification

Book Review: War in the Villages: The U.S. Marine Corps Combined Action Platoons in the Vietnam War

Author: Ted N. Easterling Reviewed by Dr. William Thomas Allison, professor of history, Georgia Southern University Published on April 20, 2023. Former Marine and Vietnam War veteran Ted Easterling evaluates the Marine Combined Action Platoons and their effectiveness, calling them an “appropriate counterinsurgency method” whose potential was squandered during the Vietnam War.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/parameters_bookshelf/1003/thumbnail.jp

A nucleotide resolution map of Top2-linked DNA breaks in the yeast and human genome

DNA topoisomerases are required to resolve DNA topological stress. Despite this essential role, abortive topoisomerase activity generates aberrant protein-linked DNA breaks, jeopardising genome stability. Here, to understand the genomic distribution and mechanisms underpinning topoisomerase-induced DNA breaks, we map Top2 DNA cleavage with strand-specific nucleotide resolution across the S. cerevisiae and human genomes—and use the meiotic Spo11 protein to validate the broad applicability of this method to explore the role of diverse topoisomerase family members. Our data characterises Mre11-dependent repair in yeast and defines two strikingly different fractions of Top2 activity in humans: tightly localised CTCF-proximal, and broadly distributed transcription-proximal, the latter correlated with gene length and expression. Moreover, single nucleotide accuracy reveals the influence primary DNA sequence has upon Top2 cleavage—distinguishing sites likely to form canonical DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) from those predisposed to form strand-biased DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) induced by etoposide (VP16) in vivo

Improving Navy MPTE Studies with Model-Driven Big Data

The goal of this research was to improve upon the ability of OPNAV N1 analysts to quickly and efficiently obtain experiment-based information from their computational models. The enhanced information will enable N1’s analysts to better support Navy leadership in resource and policy decisions that shape the future Navy and help it retain and develop its most talented Sailors. This project built on previous collaborations with N1 using data farming to enhance the information gleaned from their Navy talent management models, such as the Officer Strategic Analysis Model (OSAM) model, the Production Resource Optimization (PRO) model, and the Navy Total Force Strength Model (NTFSM). During this research period, (1) Ensign William Desousa (2015) investigated the behavior of economic inputs in NTFSM; (2) Lieutenant Peter Bazalaki (2016) used the new data farming capabilities we developed in OSAM to investigate Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) inventory across a breadth of possibilities; and (3) Lieutenant Allison Hogarth (2016) built, tested, and demonstrated a user interface in Excel that enables users of the PRO model to automatically execute a sophisticated design of experiments—the tool that enables this new capability is known as Production Resource Optimization Model With Experimental Design (PROMWED). In addition to working with the student-officers, the faculty supporting this project performed an empirical study of statistical software packages that may provide better understanding of the high-dimensional behavior of manpower models in the future (Erickson, Ankenman, & Sanchez 2016).Naval Research ProgramPrepared for Topic Sponsor: OPNAV N1; Research POC Name: Mr. Ian AndersoNPS-N16-N154-

Optical Fiber Distributed Sensing Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) Strain Measurements Taken During Cryotank Y-Joint Test Article Load Cycling at Liquid Helium Temperatures

This paper outlines cryogenic Y-joint testing at Langley Research Center (LaRC) to validate the performance of optical fiber Bragg grating strain sensors for measuring strain at liquid helium temperature (-240 C). This testing also verified survivability of fiber sensors after experiencing 10 thermal cool-down, warm-up cycles and 400 limit load cycles. Graphite composite skins bonded to a honeycomb substrate in a sandwich configuration comprised the Y-joint specimens. To enable SHM of composite cryotanks for consideration to future spacecraft, a light-weight, durable monitoring technology is needed. The fiber optic distributed Bragg grating strain sensing system developed at LaRC is a viable substitute for conventional strain gauges which are not practical for SHM. This distributed sensing technology uses an Optical Frequency Domain Reflectometer (OFDR). This measurement approach has the advantage that it can measure hundreds of Bragg grating sensors per fiber and the sensors are all written at one frequency, greatly simplifying fiber manufacturing. Fiber optic strain measurements compared well to conventional strain gauge measurements obtained during these tests. These results demonstrated a high potential for a successful implementation of a SHM system incorporating LaRC's fiber optic sensing system on the composite cryotank and other future cryogenic applications

A metaproteomic approach to study human-microbial ecosystems at the mucosal luminal interface

Aberrant interactions between the host and the intestinal bacteria are thought to contribute to the pathogenesis of many digestive diseases. However, studying the complex ecosystem at the human mucosal-luminal interface (MLI) is challenging and requires an integrative systems biology approach. Therefore, we developed a novel method integrating lavage sampling of the human mucosal surface, high-throughput proteomics, and a unique suite of bioinformatic and statistical analyses. Shotgun proteomic analysis of secreted proteins recovered from the MLI confirmed the presence of both human and bacterial components. To profile the MLI metaproteome, we collected 205 mucosal lavage samples from 38 healthy subjects, and subjected them to high-throughput proteomics. The spectral data were subjected to a rigorous data processing pipeline to optimize suitability for quantitation and analysis, and then were evaluated using a set of biostatistical tools. Compared to the mucosal transcriptome, the MLI metaproteome was enriched for extracellular proteins involved in response to stimulus and immune system processes. Analysis of the metaproteome revealed significant individual-related as well as anatomic region-related (biogeographic) features. Quantitative shotgun proteomics established the identity and confirmed the biogeographic association of 49 proteins (including 3 functional protein networks) demarcating the proximal and distal colon. This robust and integrated proteomic approach is thus effective for identifying functional features of the human mucosal ecosystem, and a fresh understanding of the basic biology and disease processes at the MLI. © 2011 Li et al

Medication intensification in diabetes in rural primary care: a cluster-randomised effectiveness trial

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of a provider-based intervention to improve medication intensification among patients with diabetes. DESIGN: Effectiveness cluster-randomised trial. Baseline and follow-up cross-sections of diabetes physicians\u27 patients. SETTING: Eleven U.S. Southeastern states, 2006-2008. PARTICIPANTS: 205 Rural primary care physicians, 95 completed the study. INTERVENTION: Multicomponent interactive intervention including web-based continuing medical education (CME), performance feedback and quality improvement tools. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Medication intensification, a dose increase of an existing medication or the addition of a new class of medication for glucose, blood pressure and lipids control on any of the three most recent office visits. RESULTS: Of 364 physicians attempting to register, 102 were randomised to the intervention and 103 to the control arms; 95 physicians (intervention, n=48; control, n=47) provided data on their 1182 of their patients at baseline (intervention, n=715; control, n=467) and 945 patients at follow-up (intervention, n=479; control, n=466). For A1c control, medication intensification increased in both groups (intervention, pre 26.4% vs post 32.6%, p=0.022; control, pre 24.8% vs post 31.1%, p=0.033) (intervention, adjusted OR (AOR) 1.37; 95% CI 1.06 to 1.76; control, AOR 1.41 (95% CI 1.06 to 1.89)); however, we observed no incremental benefit solely due to the intervention (group-by-time interaction, p=0.948). Among patients with the worst glucose control (A1c \u3e9%), intensification increased in both groups (intervention, pre 34.8% vs post 62.5%, p=0.002; control, pre 35.7% vs post 61.4%, p=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: A wide-reach, low-intensity, web-based interactive multicomponent intervention had no significant incremental effect on medication intensification for control of glucose, blood pressure or lipids for patients with diabetes of physicians practising in the rural Southeastern USA. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00403091

Practice Patterns and Preferences Among Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Clinicians

Hematopoietic cell transplantation can cure many high-risk diseases but is associated with complexity, cost, and risk. Several areas in transplantation practice were identified in the 2014 Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network State of the Science Symposium (BMT CTN SOSS) as high priorities for further study. We developed a survey for hematopoietic cell transplantation clinicians to identify current practices in BMT CTN SOSS priority areas and to understand, more generally, the variation in approach to transplantation and estimation of transplantation benefit in current medical practice. Of 1439 transplantation clinicians surveyed, 305 responded (20% response rate). Clinicians were well represented by age, experience, geography, and size of practice. We found that several techniques identified in the BMT CTN SOSS, such as maintenance therapy for acute myeloid leukemia or myelodysplastic syndromes after allogeneic transplantation, were already being utilized in practice on and off study, with higher rates of use in higher-volume centers. There was significant variation among clinicians in use of transplantation technologies and approaches to common transplantation scenarios. Appraisals of risks and benefits of transplantation appeared to converge upon similar estimates despite the presentation of different hypothetical scenarios. These results suggest overall equipoise in several BMT CTN SOSS high-priority areas and support the need for better data to inform clinical practice