Community College FEMA Citizen Preparedness Training Initiative

This 45 Minute presentation will highlight College opportunities through a recent joint Federal Grant Program (Department of Homeland Security- FEMA) entitled: The Community College Citizen Preparedness Program (3CP2). The presentation will be from one of the lead community colleges and include the training material development, expansion of the program via community resources and related homeland security programs and resources available to colleges. The program is now available in an online format and colleges and communities are free to use it via the web link for their students, faculty and the general population. The 3CP2 program is a 2 hour program designed to train students, faculty, staff and others on how to be prepared for up to 72 hours of a natural or artificial disaster. The course is entirely free. At the conclusion of the presentation, attendees will be provided with the information on how to participate in the program and join a tremendous forum for collaboration among colleges/communities. This program can easily transition into a College or Community CERT Program. The presentation includes an online demo of the program

THE MORPHOGENISIS AND ANALYSIS OF PORCINE FEMORAL HEAD MAMMILLARY PROCESSES. A COMPUTATIONAL STUDY OF THE STRUCTURAL MECHANISIMS OF BIOMECHANICAL STABILITY

The capital femoral physis is a growth plate located between the head of the femur and the femoral neck and forms a temporary joint where growth cartilage differentiates into bone by endochondral ossification during development. A slip occurs when a shear stress across the physis overcomes the mechanical integrity of the bone-cartilage-bone interface, known as slipped capital femoral epiphysis. Though this disorder is widely studied the etiology is not completely understood. Joint morphology may play a critical role in stability, until the joint closes in early adulthood. During development morphological changes in the joint emerge and provide natural mechanical mechanisms resistant to shear: At first a large, eccentrically located epiphyseal tuberosity (tubercle), which projects into a corresponding metaphyseal fossa followed by epiphyseal cupping, which envelops the metaphysis. These features have also been observed in the domestic pig where the tubercle starts as an elongated ridge in early development, decreasing in length to a peaked structure in the caudal-lateral region as age increases. A shear component of the hip joint force acting in a plane parallel to the growth plate, through the center of the femoral head, could produce a moment around the pivot point provided by the tubercle and induce rotation of the femoral head relative to the neck unless the joint develops additional structures for stability. This work examined the development of domestic pig joint morphology from birth to adolescence through a comprehensive analysis of biomodels created from laser scans of pig femoral bones. Finite element models of idealized geometries were developed to examine the structure-function relationship of the peripheral secondary mammillary processes. The comprehensive analysis showed secondary mammillary processes in the periphery developed in a radial pattern with a degree of periodicity, well suited to resist torsional loading by interlocking the joint. Computational results showed that the radial mammillary processes acted to limit the translations and tilting of the head but had reduced effectiveness when the growth plate thickness was doubled. This suggests their radial pattern develops specifically to resist torsion and enhance stability of the joint, protecting the growth plate against torsional loading during development

Community College FEMA Citizen Preparedness Training Initiative

This 45 Minute presentation will highlight College opportunities through a recent joint Federal Grant Program (Department of Homeland Security- FEMA) entitled: The Community College Citizen Preparedness Program (3CP2). The presentation will be from one of the lead community colleges and include the training material development, expansion of the program via community resources and related homeland security programs and resources available to colleges. The program is now available in an online format and colleges and communities are free to use it via the web link for their students, faculty and the general population. The 3CP2 program is a 2 hour program designed to train students, faculty, staff and others on how to be prepared for up to 72 hours of a natural or artificial disaster. The course is entirely free. At the conclusion of the presentation, attendees will be provided with the information on how to participate in the program and join a tremendous forum for collaboration among colleges/communities. This program can easily transition into a College or Community CERT Program. The presentation includes an online demo of the program

Fluorescence and Hybrid Detection Aperture of the Pierre Auger Observatory

The aperture of the Fluorescence Detector (FD) of the Pierre Auger Observatory is evaluated from simulated events using different detector configurations: mono, stereo, 3-FD and 4-FD. The trigger efficiency has been modeled using shower profiles with ground impacts in the field of view of a single telescope and studying the trigger response (at the different levels) by that telescope and by its neighbours. In addition, analysis cuts imposed by event reconstruction have been applied. The hybrid aperture is then derived for the Auger final extension. Taking into account the actual Surface Detector (SD) array configuration and its trigger response, the aperture is also calculated for a typical configuration of the present phase.Comment: contribution to the 29th International Cosmic Ray Conference, Pune, India, 3-10 August 200

Introduction to Special Section: The Quest for Sustainability of Heavily Stressed Aquifers at Regional to Global Scales

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Butler, J. J., Gomez-Hernandez, J. J., Perrone, D., & Hyndman, D. (2021). Introduction to special section: The quest for sustainability of heavily stressed aquifers at regional to global scales. Water Resources Research, 57, e2021WR030446, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030446. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.The authors acknowledge financial support from the United States National Science Foundation (NSF), via grant EAR 1542320, to organize the Chapman meeting. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.Butler Jr., JJ.; Gómez-Hernández, JJ.; Perrone, D.; Hyndman, DW. (2021). Introduction to Special Section: The Quest for Sustainability of Heavily Stressed Aquifers at Regional to Global Scales. Water Resources Research. 57(8):1-4. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR030446S1457

Adherence to Triple Single-Pill Combination of Perindopril/Indapamide/Amlodipine: Findings from Real-World Analysis in Italy

Introduction: Single-pill combination therapy for hypertension is recognized to improve adherence to treatment. However, less is known about the benefits of triple single-pill combinations. This retrospective observational analysis aimed to assess changes in adherence when treatment was switched from perindopril (PER)/indapamide (IND) + amlodipine (AML) to PER/IND/AML single-pill combination, in Italian clinical practice. Methods: This analysis used data extracted from administrative databases of Italian healthcare entities. Adult patients receiving PER/IND/AML were selected, and the prescription date was considered as the index date. Among them, those who had a prescription for PER/IND + AML during the 12 months before the index date and a prescription of PER/IND/AML during 6 months of follow-up were included. Adherence was calculated as the proportion of days covered (PDC: PDC < 40%, non-adherent; PDC = 40-79%, partially adherent; PDC ≥ 80%, adherent). Results: Among the identified patients, 158 were exposed users and were included in the analysis. When patients were compared before and after switch to triple single-pill combination, the proportion of adherent patients was significantly higher with PER/IND/AML single-pill combination (75.3%) than with PER/IND + AML combination (44.3%) (P < 0.05). Conversely, the proportion of non-adherent patients was lower with the PER/IND/AML single-pill combination (14.6%) vs PER/IND + AML (17.7%) (P < 0.001). Conclusion: This real-world analysis showed that switching to a triple single-pill combination could offer an opportunity to improve adherence to antihypertensive treatment in real-life clinical practice

Direct comparison of methionine restriction with leucine restriction on the metabolic health of C57BL/6J mice

EKL was the recipient of a BBSRC postgraduate studentship. This work was funded by Tenovus Scotland project grant to MD and NM (G13/07) and BBSRC DTG. MD is also supported by the British Heart Foundation (PG/09/048/27675, PG/11/8/28703 and PG/14/43/30889) and Diabetes UK (14/0004853). NM is funded by British Heart Foundation (PG/16/90/32518).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Predator Mimicry: Metalmark Moths Mimic Their Jumping Spider Predators

Cases of mimicry provide many of the nature's most convincing examples of natural selection. Here we report evidence for a case of predator mimicry in which metalmark moths in the genus Brenthia mimic jumping spiders, one of their predators. In controlled trials, Brenthia had higher survival rates than other similarly sized moths in the presence of jumping spiders and jumping spiders responded to Brenthia with territorial displays, indicating that Brenthia were sometimes mistaken for jumping spiders, and not recognized as prey. Our experimental results and a review of wing patterns of other insects indicate that jumping spider mimicry is more widespread than heretofore appreciated, and that jumping spiders are probably an important selective pressure shaping the evolution of diurnal insects that perch on vegetation

The contribution of PA-X to the virulence of pandemic 2009 H1N1 and highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses

PA-X is a novel protein encoded by PA mRNA and is found to decrease the pathogenicity of pandemic 1918 H1N1 virus in mice. However, the importance of PA-X proteins in current epidemiologically important influenza A virus strains is not known. In this study, we report on the pathogenicity and pathological effects of PA-X deficient 2009 pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) and highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses. We found that loss of PA-X expression in pH1N1 and H5N1 viruses increased viral replication and apoptosis in A549 cells and increased virulence and host inflammatory response in mice. In addition, PA-X deficient pH1N1 and H5N1 viruses up-regulated PA mRNA and protein synthesis and increased viral polymerase activity. Loss of PA-X was also accompanied by accelerated nuclear accumulation of PA protein and reduced suppression of PA on non-viral protein expression. Our study highlights the effects of PA-X on the moderation of viral pathogenesis and pathogenicity

A Single E627K Mutation in the PB2 Protein of H9N2 Avian Influenza Virus Increases Virulence by Inducing Higher Glucocorticoids (GCs) Level

While repeated infection of humans and enhanced replication and transmission in mice has attracted more attention to it, the pathogenesis of H9N2 virus was less known in mice. PB2 residue 627 as the virulent determinant of H5N1 virus is associated with systemic infection and impaired TCR activation, but the impact of this position in H9N2 virus on the host immune response has not been evaluated. In this study, we quantified the cellular immune response to infection in the mouse lung and demonstrate that VK627 and rTsE627K infection caused a significant reduction in the numbers of T cells and inflammatory cells (Macrophage, Neutrophils, Dendritic cells) compared to mice infected with rVK627E and TsE627. Further, we discovered (i) a high level of thymocyte apoptosis resulted in impaired T cell development, which led to the reduced amount of mature T cells into lung, and (ii) the reduced inflammatory cells entering into lung was attributed to the diminished levels in pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Thereafter, we recognized that higher GCs level in plasma induced by VK627 and rTsE627K infection was associated with the increased apoptosis in thymus and the reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines levels in lung. These data demonstrated that VK627 and rTsE627K infection contributing to higher GCs level would decrease the magnitude of antiviral response in lung, which may be offered as a novel mechanism of enhanced pathogenicity for H9N2 AIV