Development of \u3ci\u3eOrius Insidiosus\u3c/i\u3e (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) in Relation to Temperature

A developmental threshold of lO.3°C and a thermal constant of 307 day-degrees C were estimated for a Wisconsin population of Orius insidiosus (Say) (Hemiptera: Anthocoridae) by rearing eggs and nymphs at various constant temperatures

The Canon as Provocation: Partnering with Museums for the Future of Art History

Understanding the art-historical canon as socially embedded and historically negotiated is a threshold concept for art history but there is a paucity of research on how to position students to examine the formation of the academic disciplines and negotiate the performance of their canons in academic and public space. Art history has an advantage over other disciplines in this regard due to the close relationship it enjoys with art museums, which make the discipline and its history present in space. This article presents two case studies in support of partnering with museums to move histories of the discipline to the forefront of students’ art-historical investigations. Drawing on Community Based Learning (CBL) with critical perspectives based in critical pedagogy and institutional critique, the article shares findings from two courses developed in partnership with a local public art museum that successfully promoted students’ “canonical critical consciousness” and empowered them to develop original, research-based interpretations of individual artworks with that perspective. One course focused on black arts and the other course drew on a European masterpiece collection and a larger collection of African art. In these courses students demonstrated increased awareness of the canon as a social construct, the ability to evaluate its value propositions, and applied ethical judgment to their interpretive choices

One Health: parasites and beyond

The field of parasitism is broad, encompassing relationships between organisms where one benefits at the expense of another. Traditionally the discipline focuses on eukaryotes, with the study of bacteria and viruses complementary but distinct. Nonetheless, parasites vary in size and complexity from single celled protozoa, to enormous plants like those in the genus Rafflesia. Lifecycles range from obligate intracellular to extensive exoparasitism. Examples of parasites include high profile medical and zoonotic pathogens such as Plasmodium, veterinary pathogens of wild and captive animals and many of the agents which cause neglected tropical diseases, stretching to parasites which infect plants and other parasites (e.g. (Blake et al., 2015; Hemingway, 2015; Hotez et al., 2014; Kikuchi et al., 2011; Meekums et al., 2015; Sandlund et al., 2015). The breadth of parasitology has been matched by the variety of ways in which parasites are studied, drawing upon biological, chemical, molecular, epidemiological and other expertise. Despite such breadth bridging between disciplines has commonly been problematic, regardless of extensive encouragement from government agencies, peer audiences and funding bodies promoting multi-disciplinary research. Now, progress in understanding and collaboration can benefit from establishment of the One Health concept (Stark et al., 2015; Zinsstag et al., 2012). One Health draws upon biological, environmental, medical, veterinary and social science disciplines in order to improve human, animal and environmental health, although it remains tantalizingly difficult to engage many relevant parties. For infectious diseases traditional divides have been exacerbated as the importance of wildlife reservoirs, climate change, food production systems and socio-economic diversity have been recognised but often not addressed in a multi-disciplinary manner. In response the 2015 Autumn Symposium organized by the British Society for Parasitology (BSP; https://www.bsp.uk.net/home/) was focused on One Health, running under the title ‘One Health: parasites and beyond…’. The meeting, held at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in Camden, London from September 14th to 15th, drew upon a blend of specialist parasitology reinforced with additional complementary expertise. Scientists, advocates, policy makers and industry representatives were invited to present at the meeting, promoting and developing One Health understanding with relevance to parasitology. The decision to widen the scope of the meeting to non-parasitological, but informative topics, is reflected in the diversity of the articles included in this special issue. A key feature of the meeting was encouragement of early career scientists, with more than 35% of the delegates registered as students and 25 posters

Multimedia Object Modelling and Storage Allocation Strategies for Heterogeneous Parallel Access Storage Devices in Real Time Multimedia Computing Systems

The improvements in disk speeds have not kept up with improvements in processor and memory speeds. Conventional storage techniques, in the face of multimedia data, are inefficient and/or inadequate. Here, an efficient multimedia object allocation strategy is presented. We describe a multimedia object model, the object and storage device characteristics, and the fragmentation strategy. A bipartite graph approach is used for mapping fragments to storage devices and a cost function is used to determine an efficient allocation of an object and to balance the loads on the devices

Anatomic Fat Depots and Coronary Plaque Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected and Uninfected Men in the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study.

Methods.  In a cross-sectional substudy of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, noncontrast cardiac computed tomography (CT) scanning for coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring was performed on all men, and, for men with normal renal function, coronary CT angiography (CTA) was performed. Associations between fat depots (visceral adipose tissue [VAT], abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue [aSAT], and thigh subcutaneous adipose tissue [tSAT]) with coronary plaque presence and extent were assessed with logistic and linear regression adjusted for age, race, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, body mass index (BMI), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) parameters. Results.  Among HIV-infected men (n = 597) but not HIV-uninfected men (n = 343), having greater VAT was positively associated with noncalcified plaque presence (odds ratio [OR] = 1.04, P < .05), with a significant interaction (P < .05) by HIV serostatus. Human immunodeficiency virus-infected men had lower median aSAT and tSAT and greater median VAT among men with BMI <25 and 25-29.9 kg/m(2). Among HIV-infected men, VAT was positively associated with presence of coronary plaque on CTA after adjustment for CVD risk factors (OR = 1.04, P < .05), but not after additional adjustment for BMI. There was an inverse association between aSAT and extent of total plaque among HIV-infected men, but not among HIV-uninfected men. Lower tSAT was associated with greater CAC and total plaque score extent regardless of HIV serostatus. Conclusions.  The presence of greater amounts of VAT and lower SAT may contribute to increased risk for coronary artery disease among HIV-infected persons