Habitat Comparisons and Geographic Distribution of La Crosse Encephalitis in Eastern Tennessee Utilizing Geographic Information Systems

In eastern Tennessee there was a total of 17 cases of a La Crosse (LAC) encephalitis viral infection reported to the East Tennessee Department of Health in 2000. During that same time, 25 cases of other Central Nervous System Infection (CNSI) that were not La Crosse were also reported. Out of those 42 cases 11 were chosen to be revisited (6 Control and 5 LAC) and the nearby wooded habitats were surveyed. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was utilized to plot each case location on various maps. The sites were all in eastern Tennessee, in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge geographical area, across four counties. There was no difference in amount of precipitation that the LAC and Control Sites received. Control Sites had 8 species of exotic trees but the same soil categories as the LAC Sites. LAC Sites were mixed hardwood habitats and more mosquitoes were collected from them than the Control Sites which were not mixed hardwood. There was a total of 24 cases of a LAC encephalitis viral infection reported to the East Tennessee Department of Health from 1999-2001. During that same time, 78 cases of other CNSI that were not LAC were also reported. Geographic Information Systems was utilized to plot each case location on various maps. Case site locations were divided into LAC Sites for La Crosse cases and Control Sites for CNSI cases that were not due to LAC. The sites fell into one of the four physical regions of eastern Tennessee: Blue Ridge, Appalachian Valley and Ridge, Cumberland Plateau, and Eastern Highland Rim. There was no difference in amount of precipitation that the LAC and Control Sites received. A High LAC Area and a Low LAC Area were noted and included parts of four counties. The High Lac Area had a similar incidence as the Low LAC Area for CNSI but the High LAC Area had 12 cases of La Crosse while the Low LAC Area had none. The difference between the two areas was the LAC case site proximity to larges wooded areas. In all counties except Hamblen County, LAC Sites were found to be in close proximity to large wooded areas unlike the Control Sites that occurred whether or not they were in close proximity to large wooded areas

Fitness motivations in United States Airmen

The increased consumer use of wearable fitness trackers which began in the early 2010s, has provided researchers with the opportunity to better understand human motivations for fitness. While physical fitness remains vital to health and is recognized as a predictor of long-term healthcare cost, it is crucial to better understand how to influence lasting changes in behavior and how those changes are associated with different motivation. The United States Air Force requires members to adhere to certain fitness standards as a means to measure mission readiness as well as in consideration of healthcare costs throughout an Airmen’s career and into their retirement. Wearable fitness trackers offer an opportunity for the Air Force to increase physical fitness among Airmen by tailoring motivation tactics to fit their individual needs. This article will review the differing types of human motivation that drive fitness by examining them in relation to self-determination theory and exploring how wearable fitness trackers can be utilized in conjunction with this to improve fitness among Airmen

A New Class of Heavy-Tailed Distribution in GARCH Models for the Silver Returns

After serving as a medium of exchange for the human society, silver is still widely used in our daily life. From the jewellery, electronic and electrical industries as well as medicine, optics, the power industry, automotive industry and many other industries, silver is still playing a very active role. In addition to the industrial usage, silver also serves as an investment tool for many financial institutions. Thus, it is crucial to develop effective quantitative risk management tool for those financial institutions. In this paper, we investigate the conditional heavy tails of daily silver spot returns under the GARCH framework. Our results indicate that that it is important to introduce heavy-tailed distributions to the GARCH framework and the normal reciprocal inverse Gaussian (NRIG) distribution, a newly-developed distribution, has the best empirical performance in capture the daily silver spot returns dynamics

High-throughput metal susceptibility testing of microbial biofilms

BACKGROUND: Microbial biofilms exist all over the natural world, a distribution that is paralleled by metal cations and oxyanions. Despite this reality, very few studies have examined how biofilms withstand exposure to these toxic compounds. This article describes a batch culture technique for biofilm and planktonic cell metal susceptibility testing using the MBEC assay. This device is compatible with standard 96-well microtiter plate technology. As part of this method, a two part, metal specific neutralization protocol is summarized. This procedure minimizes residual biological toxicity arising from the carry-over of metals from challenge to recovery media. Neutralization consists of treating cultures with a chemical compound known to react with or to chelate the metal. Treated cultures are plated onto rich agar to allow metal complexes to diffuse into the recovery medium while bacteria remain on top to recover. Two difficulties associated with metal susceptibility testing were the focus of two applications of this technique. First, assays were calibrated to allow comparisons of the susceptibility of different organisms to metals. Second, the effects of exposure time and growth medium composition on the susceptibility of E. coli JM109 biofilms to metals were investigated. RESULTS: This high-throughput method generated 96-statistically equivalent biofilms in a single device and thus allowed for comparative and combinatorial experiments of media, microbial strains, exposure times and metals. By adjusting growth conditions, it was possible to examine biofilms of different microorganisms that had similar cell densities. In one example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 was up to 80 times more resistant to heavy metalloid oxyanions than Escherichia coli TG1. Further, biofilms were up to 133 times more tolerant to tellurite (TeO(3)(2-)) than corresponding planktonic cultures. Regardless of the growth medium, the tolerance of biofilm and planktonic cell E. coli JM109 to metals was time-dependent. CONCLUSION: This method results in accurate, easily reproducible comparisons between the susceptibility of planktonic cells and biofilms to metals. Further, it was possible to make direct comparisons of the ability of different microbial strains to withstand metal toxicity. The data presented here also indicate that exposure time is an important variable in metal susceptibility testing of bacteria

Low-Dose Continuous 5-Fluorouracil Combined with Leucovorin, nab-Paclitaxel, Oxaliplatin, and Bevacizumab for Patients with Advanced Pancreatic Cancer: A Retrospective Analysis.

BackgroundContinuous-infusion 5-fluorouracil (5FU) and calcium leucovorin plus nab-paclitaxel and oxaliplatin have been shown to be active in patients with pancreatic cancer. As a protracted low-dose infusion, 5FU is antiangiogenic, and has synergy with bevacizumab. As shown in the treatment of breast cancer, bevacizumab and nab-paclitaxel are also synergetic.ObjectiveIn this paper we retrospectively analyze the survival of 65 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who were treated with low-dose continuous (metronomic) chemotherapy given in conjunction with conventional anti-VEGF therapy.Patients and methodsSince July of 2008, we have treated 65 patients with 5FU (180 mg/m2/day × 14 days) via an ambulatory pump. Calcium leucovorin (20 mg/m2 IV), nab-paclitaxel (60 mg/m2) IV as a 30-min infusion, and oxaliplatin (50 mg/m2) IV as a 60-min infusion were given on days 1, 8, and 15. Bevacizumab (5 mg/kg) IV over 30 min was administered on days 1 and 15. Cycles were repeated every 28-35 days. There were 42 women and 23 men, and the median age was 59 years. Forty-six patients had stage IV disease.ResultsThe median survival was 19 months, with 82% of patients surviving 12 months or longer. The overall response rate was 49%. There were 28 patients who had received prior treatment, 15 of whom responded to therapy. Fifty-two patients had elevated CA 19-9 prior to treatment. Of these, 21 patients had 90% or greater reduction in CA 19-9 levels. This cohort had an objective response rate of 71% and a median survival of 27 months. Thirty patients stopped treatment due to disease progression, and an additional 22 stopped because of toxicity. One patient died while on therapy.ConclusionsThis non-gemcitabine-based regimen resulted in higher response rates and better survival than what is commonly observed with therapy given at conventional dosing schedules. Low-dose continuous (metronomic therapy) cytotoxic chemotherapy combined with antiangiogenic therapy is safe and effective

Alignment-Insensitive Lower-Cost Telescope Architecture

This architecture features an active wavefront sensing and control scheme along with methods for measuring the relative positions of the primary to aft optics, such as the secondary mirror, and should enable larger and cheaper telescope architectures needed for future applications. A wavefront source/sensor is placed at the center of curvature of the primary mirror. The system provides continuous light onto a primary mirror that is retro-reflected onto itself. This allows the wavefront controller to constantly update the positions of the primary mirror segments (or deformable mirror actuators). Another function of this innovation involves using a concave mirror on the back of the secondary mirror (or other aft optic) that has the same center-of-curvature location (in defocus) as the primary mirror. The two return beams can be aligned next to each other on a detector, or radially on top of each other. This provides a means with which to measure the relative position of the primary to the secondary (or other aft optics), thus allowing for the removal of misalignment of the center-of-curvature source/sensor (meaning it doesn't need precision placement) and also provides a means with which to monitor the relative alignment over time. This innovation does not require extremely good thermal stability on the primary mirror and can thus be used in any thermal environment and with cheaper materials. In addition to this, the architecture lets one phase (or align) the primary mirror independent of whether a star or scene is in the field. The segmented, spherical primary allows for cost-effective three-meter class (e.g. Midex and Discovery) missions as well as enabling 30-meter telescope solutions that can be manufactured in a reasonable amount of time. The continuous wavefront sensing and control architecture enables missions for low-Earth-orbit