Collecting with a Plan: The Arthur S. Obermayer Personal Library

This presentation describes the acquisition, conservation, cataloging, and classification of a personal library that was donated to The Henry Ford in 2016. The size of the collection, as well as the decision to preserve the donor’s numbering scheme, produced unexpected challenges

Cross-platform validation of notional baseline architecture models of naval electric ship power systems

To support efforts in assessing the relative merit of alternative power system architectures for future naval combatants, the Electric Ship Research and Development Consortium (ESRDC) has developed notional baseline models for each of the primary candidate architectures currently considered, medium-voltage DC (MVDC), conventional 60 Hz medium-voltage (MVAC), and high-frequency medium-voltage (HFAC). Initial efforts have focused on the development of a consistent set of component models, of which the system models can be comprised, and the basic definition of the system models. The broader objectives of the consortium, however, go beyond the definition of the baseline models. The focus is on the process by which the models are implemented in software and validated, the process by which the performance of the disparate system models are objectively and quantitatively assessed and compared, and, ultimately, the process by which the relative merits of the architectures may be assessed. This paper focuses specifically on cross-platform component validation.Center for Electromechanic

Consideraciones para la vacunación en caso de una pandemia de influenza

ResumenLa influenza es una de las enfermedades infecciosas que resulta en una alta carga de enfermedad por las epidemias estaciónales que produce cada año. Tambien puede producir pandemias con alta disrupción socialy pérdidas económicas. La pandemia de gripe española de 1918 ocasionó entre 40 y 50 millones de muertes a nivel mundial. Ante la inminencia de una pandemia producida probablemente producida por la cepa A/H5N1, la elavoración de los planes de preparación contra la pandemia de influenza debe ser una prioridad en todos los países.[Ropero AM, Andrus J. Consideraciones para la vacunación en caso de una pandemia de influenza. MedUNAB 2005; 8:191-6].Palabras clave: Influenza, Pandemia, Vacunación

The Ocean Lifeguard Intervention Continuum: A Cognitive Aid for Surf Lifeguard Education

Ocean lifeguards are constantly engaged in beach risk analysis, required to efficiently evaluate a variety of environmental and other factors quickly in order to triage and prioritize who needs help. Teaching these skills is a challenge for introductory training programs. We sought to improve new lifeguards’ understanding of the interaction of various risk components in the beach environment and aid decision-making related to when a lifeguard should intervene in a situation. We developed a two-part cognitive aid for introductory ocean lifeguard education depicting individual and interacting elements of a beach goer’s risk of drowning or injury and the process by which that risk increases with associated lifeguard interventions on a continuum from low risk and no distress to drowning. This new cognitive aid represented an advancement in the presentation of complex material in introductory training programs for those involved in aquatic rescue

UVB radiation induced effects on cells studied by FTIR spectroscopy

We have made a preliminary analysis of the results about the eVects on tumoral cell line (lymphoid T cell line Jurkat) induced by UVB radiation (dose of 310 mJ/cm^2) with and without a vegetable mixture. In the present study, we have used two techniques: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and flow cytometry. FTIR spectroscopy has the potential to provide the identiWcation of the vibrational modes of some of the major compounds (lipid, proteins and nucleic acids) without being invasive in the biomaterials. The second technique has allowed us to perform measurements of cytotoxicity and to assess the percentage of apoptosis. We already studied the induction of apoptotic process in the same cell line by UVB radiation; in particular, we looked for correspondences and correlations between FTIR spetroscopy and flow cytometry data finding three highly probable spectroscopic markers of apoptosis (Pozzi et al. in Radiat Res 168:698-705, 2007). In the present work, the results have shown significant changes in the absorbance and spectral pattern in the wavenumber protein and nucleic acids regions after the treatments

Differentiation of Bulinus senegalensis and Bulinus forskalii Snails in West Africa Using Morphometric Analysis

Purpose: Accurate identification of medically important intermediate host and vector species is crucial for understanding disease transmission and control. Identifying Bulinus snails which act as intermediate host species for the transmission of schistosomiasis is typically undertaken using conchological and genital morphology as well as molecular methods. Methods: Here, a landmark-based morphometric analysis of shell morphology was undertaken to determine its utility to distinguish the closely related and morphologically similar sister species Bulinus senegalensis and Bulinus forskalii. The method was developed to increase the accuracy of conchological morphology methods to identify Bulinus species in the field. Both species are found in West Africa, but only B. senegalensis is implicated in the transmission of urogenital schistosomiasis. Results: We found when scaled down to the same length, 3-whorl and 4-whorl (juvenile) B. senegalensis shells had a longer spire, narrower body whorl and shorter aperture than B. forskalii. In contrast, 5-whorl (adult) B. senegalensis had a shorter spire, but still had a shorter aperture and narrower body whorl than B. forskalii. Canonical Variate Analysis (CVA) showed minimal overlap between B. senegalensis and B. forskalii for 3-whorl and 4-whorl shells, with a clear separation for 5-whorl shells. Overall, B. senegalensis had a consistently shorter aperture size and narrower body whorl than B. forskalii for all development stages. Spire length was variable depending on the stage of development, with 3-whorl and 4-whorl shells having the opposite trends of adult shells. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the applicability of landmark-based morphometrics in distinguishing the medically important, Bulinus senegalensis from its morphologically similar sister species, Bulinus forskalii. We recommend using measurements based on spire length, penultimate whorl length, body whorl width and aperture size to differentiate B. senegalensis and B. forskalii, when used with the appropriate information for each shell’s development stage

Seasonal patterns of Schistosoma mansoni infection within Biomphalaria snails at the Ugandan shorelines of Lake Albert and Lake Victoria

Intestinal schistosomiasis is hyperendemic in many sub-Saharan African countries. In Uganda, it is endemic at both Lake Albert (LA) and Lake Victoria (LV) and caused by S. mansoni that uses Biomphalaria snails as obligatory intermediate snail hosts. To shed light on local patterns of infection, we utilised two PCR-based methods to detect S. mansoni within Biomphalaria spp. as collected at the Ugandan shorelines of Lake Albert and Lake Victoria from 2009–2010. Overall, at our Lake Albert sites, the mean infection prevalence was 12.5% (15 of 120 snails), while at our Lake Victoria sites the prevalence was 5% (3 of 60 snails). At our Lake Albert sites, the highest infection prevalence of 13.3% (8 of 60 snails) was at Walukuba, while at our Lake Victoria sites, the highest infection prevalence of 10% (2 of 20 snails) was at Lwanika. Three species of Biomphalaria, B. pfeifferi, B. stanleyi and B. sudanica, were identified at our Lake Albert collection sites, while only a single species, B. choanomphala, was identified at our Lake Victoria collection sites. Biomphalaria stanleyi (2 of 20 snails; 15%) had the highest infection prevalence, followed by B. sudanica (5 of 60 snails; 13.3%), B. pfeifferi (4 of 40 snails; 10%) and B. choanomphala (3 of 60 snails; 5%). Of the Biomphalaria species identified, B. choanomphala had the highest haplotype (gene) diversity score, followed by B. stanleyi, B. sudanica and B. pfeifferi. Sites with a higher mean prevalence of S. mansoni infection had higher intra-species haplotype diversity scores than sites with a lower mean prevalence. The wet seasons (LA: 13.3%; LV: 8.7%) had a consistently higher mean infection prevalence of S. mansoni than the dry seasons (LA: 9.5%; LV: 5%) for all species and all sites tested at both Lake Albert (n = 480) and Lake Victoria (n = 320), though the difference was not statistically significant

Seasonal patterns of Schistosoma mansoni infection within Biomphalaria snails at the Ugandan shorelines of Lake Albert and Lake Victoria

Intestinal schistosomiasis is hyperendemic in many sub-Saharan African countries. In Uganda, it is endemic at both Lake Albert (LA) and Lake Victoria (LV) and caused by S. mansoni that uses Biomphalaria snails as obligatory intermediate snail hosts. To shed light on local patterns of infection, we utilised two PCR-based methods to detect S. mansoni within Biomphalaria spp. as collected at the Ugandan shorelines of Lake Albert and Lake Victoria from 2009–2010. Overall, at our Lake Albert sites, the mean infection prevalence was 12.5% (15 of 120 snails), while at our Lake Victoria sites the prevalence was 5% (3 of 60 snails). At our Lake Albert sites, the highest infection prevalence of 13.3% (8 of 60 snails) was at Walukuba, while at our Lake Victoria sites, the highest infection prevalence of 10% (2 of 20 snails) was at Lwanika. Three species of Biomphalaria, B. pfeifferi, B. stanleyi and B. sudanica, were identified at our Lake Albert collection sites, while only a single species, B. choanomphala, was identified at our Lake Victoria collection sites. Biomphalaria stanleyi (2 of 20 snails; 15%) had the highest infection prevalence, followed by B. sudanica (5 of 60 snails; 13.3%), B. pfeifferi (4 of 40 snails; 10%) and B. choanomphala (3 of 60 snails; 5%). Of the Biomphalaria species identified, B. choanomphala had the highest haplotype (gene) diversity score, followed by B. stanleyi, B. sudanica and B. pfeifferi. Sites with a higher mean prevalence of S. mansoni infection had higher intra-species haplotype diversity scores than sites with a lower mean prevalence. The wet seasons (LA: 13.3%; LV: 8.7%) had a consistently higher mean infection prevalence of S. mansoni than the dry seasons (LA: 9.5%; LV: 5%) for all species and all sites tested at both Lake Albert (n = 480) and Lake Victoria (n = 320), though the difference was not statistically significant

Phylogenetic insights into the terrestrial snails Helicoidei (Gastropoda: Stylommatophora) with special emphasis on the Camaenidae

The superfamily Helicoidei are a widely distributed and diverse infraorder of land snails and slugs. Here, we constructed a phylogenetic tree based on sequences of the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene to investigate the relationships within the Helicoidei. Based on our phylogenetic tree, the family Camaenidae, as currently recognized, is not monophyletic, with the Polygyridae falling within the group. Likewise, the family Hygromiidae as currently defined is not monophyletic and incorporates the Geomitridae. The family Xanthoncyhidae form a monophyletic group that is sister to the Pleurodontidae. Likewise, the family Helicidae form a monophyletic group; it is sister to the branch incorporating Hygromiidae, Geomitridae, Pleurodontidae, Helicodontidae, and Xanthonychidae. The Solaropsidae are the sister group to a clade comprising other Sagdoidea. Our findings suggest that the Hygromiidae s.l. families should be restored to their previous name, Hygromiidae. A new genus of Bradybaeninae, Jiaoliaous Zhang gen. nov., is described here, with a simple genital system, single dart sac with multi-branched mucous glands, and a penis with a penial sheath