Culicids on the move: a genetic characterization of two mosquito disease vector species in eastern insular Newfoundland

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are some of the most significant carriers of human and animal disease causing pathogens on our planet. However in regions where the prevalence of nuisance mosquitoes or diagnosed mosquito-borne illness is low, the motivation for efforts to monitor mosquito populations is often lacking, even though less well-known viral agents, capable of causing significant human or animal diseases, may be active. Recently, populations of two container breeding disease carrying mosquito species have been reported in St. John’s, the capital city of the Atlantic Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The first, Culex pipiens, is the primary vector of West Nile virus along the northeast seaboard of North America, while the second, Aedes japonicus, is a highly invasive mosquito species reported to play a role in the transmission of West Nile and La Crosse viruses. Here I report the results of two genetic analyses focused on investigating taxonomic identity, genetic diversity, and connectivity of these populations of medically important species. The first chapter utilizes a set of rapid molecular assays to describe the composition of two populations of Cx. pipiens on the Island of Newfoundland; that is, populations on the Island are a mix of the behavioural/physiological forms of Cx. pipiens. The second chapter uses population genetic techniques to describe the genetic characteristics of a population of Ae. japonicus in Newfoundland, as well as how this population may or may not be connected to other population in Canada and Europe. Results of this study indicate a level of genetic diversity within the recently discovered Newfoundland population comparable to populations in other regions and a general lack of structure between Canadian populations and those in Europe

General-Purpose Computing on Graphics Processing Units for Storage Networks

The purpose of this Major Qualifying Project was to investigate different areas in which Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) could be used by EMC to increase performance. The project researched various CUDA GPU programming tools and libraries that could be of use to EMC. CUDA implementations of linear algebra operations such as dot products, matrix multiplication, and SAXPY, which were of interest to multiple teams at EMC, were investigated. Finally, this paper discusses a SQLite3 virtual table using CUDA to accelerate SQL queries

Official American Thoracic Society/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Infectious Diseases Society of America Clinical Practice Guidelines: Treatment of Drug-Susceptible Tuberculosis

The American Thoracic Society, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Infectious Diseases Society of America jointly sponsored the development of this guideline for the treatment of drug-susceptible tuberculosis, which is also endorsed by the European Respiratory Society and the US National Tuberculosis Controllers Association. Representatives from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Canadian Thoracic Society, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, and the World Health Organization also participated in the development of the guideline. This guideline provides recommendations on the clinical and public health management of tuberculosis in children and adults in settings in which mycobacterial cultures, molecular and phenotypic drug susceptibility tests, and radiographic studies, among other diagnostic tools, are available on a routine basis. For all recommendations, literature reviews were performed, followed by discussion by an expert committee according to the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation methodology. Given the public health implications of prompt diagnosis and effective management of tuberculosis, empiric multidrug treatment is initiated in almost all situations in which active tuberculosis is suspected. Additional characteristics such as presence of comorbidities, severity of disease, and response to treatment influence management decisions. Specific recommendations on the use of case management strategies (including directly observed therapy), regimen and dosing selection in adults and children (daily vs intermittent), treatment of tuberculosis in the presence of HIV infection (duration of tuberculosis treatment and timing of initiation of antiretroviral therapy), as well as treatment of extrapulmonary disease (central nervous system, pericardial among other sites) are provided. The development of more potent and better-tolerated drug regimens, optimization of drug exposure for the component drugs, optimal management of tuberculosis in special populations, identification of accurate biomarkers of treatment effect, and the assessment of new strategies for implementing regimens in the field remain key priority areas for research. See the full-text online version of the document for detailed discussion of the management of tuberculosis and recommendations for practice