Predicting Fatigue Impairment for Industry

Human performance can be critically impacted by fatigue resulting from inadequate sleep. In a technological society, the consequences of fatigue related inattention or impaired response time are greater than ever. Industries such as aviation, rail, trucking, and medicine are mandated to have a Fatigue Management System (FMS) in place to ensure their personnel are ready for duty. We are testing the idea that a commercial, off the shelf (COTS) smart watch application using a new biomathematical model can provide continuous, obvious, real-time predictions about the wearer’s level of fatigue impairment. Our evidence shows that the correlation between a clinically approved measure with that of our smart watch application is strong enough to warrant applied trials with industry. We will also report on the correlation between subjective fatigue measures and the model’s fatigue predictions of subjective fatigue score throughout the waking hours. The conclusion of this study may show that continuous prediction of fatigue is possible hours before the point of endangerment, particularly for those industries requiring FMS to ensure public safety

Phase I/II Archaeological Testing on Fleet Street (18AP111), Cornhill Street (18AP112), and 26 Market Space (18AP109), for the Proposed Fleet and Cornhill Streets Reconstruction Project, Annapolis, Maryland, 2008

From 3/31/08 to 5/30/08 staff from the Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), Archaeology in Annapolis Project, conducted archaeological testing on city-owned public right-of-ways at 26 Market Space (18AP109), on Fleet Street (18AP111), and on Cornhill Street (18AP112) prior to the upcoming undergrounding and replacement of city-owned utilities along and beneath these streets. In addition, from 06/02/08 to 06/20/08, undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the University of Maryland, Field School in Urban Archaeology conducted further testing of city-owned public right-of-ways on Cornhill Street (18AP112). This Phase II investigation has been conducted at the request of the City of Annapolis, Department of Public Works (DPW) as part of the Fleet and Cornhill Streets Reconstruction Project. The project area comprises the streetscapes of what is referred to as the Fleet-Cornhill neighborhood. Eleven test units were used to evaluate archaeological integrity and significance of these sites and to evaluate the potential effects of planned construction on archaeological resources. Background research shows that the Fleet Street neighborhood was initially developed in the late 17th and early 18th century. Throughout the later 18th, 19th and 20th centuries the area became known as an ethnically diverse working class neighborhood in the heart of the city. Historical residents of the project area have included in the early 20th century native people of European, African descent, and a community of Russian Ashkenazi Jews in the early 20th century. Previous archaeological investigations found evidence of intact archaeological resources within the project area dating from the 18th to 20th centuries. In addition to providing evidence of patterns of Annapolis’ historical urbanization, several features excavated in the course of this project have shed light on the development of public space within this working class neighborhood. These features include a corduroy or log road dating to the first quarter of the 18th century; what is believed to be a Yoruba ritual bundle dating to the first quarter of the 18th century; and a series of city improvements (i.e. curbs, sidewalks, and a public well) dating from the 18th through 20th centuries. A high degree of archaeological integrity at all three sites has the potential to add considerable knowledge concerning both Annapolis city development, and an ethnically diverse working class community. All three sites are eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D. Because of the integrity and uniqueness of the archaeological record within the project area, it is recommended that further archaeological research be done. Included within this recommendation is the need to process flotation and macrobotanical samples recovered in the fiel

Development of high amylose wheat through TILLING

BACKGROUND: Wheat (Triticum spp.) is an important source of food worldwide and the focus of considerable efforts to identify new combinations of genetic diversity for crop improvement. In particular, wheat starch composition is a major target for changes that could benefit human health. Starches with increased levels of amylose are of interest because of the correlation between higher amylose content and elevated levels of resistant starch, which has been shown to have beneficial effects on health for combating obesity and diabetes. TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes) is a means to identify novel genetic variation without the need for direct selection of phenotypes. RESULTS: Using TILLING to identify novel genetic variation in each of the A and B genomes in tetraploid durum wheat and the A, B and D genomes in hexaploid bread wheat, we have identified mutations in the form of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in starch branching enzyme IIa genes (SBEIIa). Combining these new alleles of SBEIIa through breeding resulted in the development of high amylose durum and bread wheat varieties containing 47-55% amylose and having elevated resistant starch levels compared to wild-type wheat. High amylose lines also had reduced expression of SBEIIa RNA, changes in starch granule morphology and altered starch granule protein profiles as evaluated by mass spectrometry. CONCLUSIONS: We report the use of TILLING to develop new traits in crops with complex genomes without the use of transgenic modifications. Combined mutations in SBEIIa in durum and bread wheat varieties resulted in lines with significantly increased amylose and resistant starch contents

Survey of Treponemal Infections in Free-Ranging and Captive Macaques, 1999-2012.

Survey results showed treponemal infection among pet macaques in Southeast Asia, a region with a high prevalence of human yaws. This finding, along with studies showing treponemal infection in nonhuman primates in Africa, should encourage a One Health approach to yaws eradication and surveillance activities, possibly including monitoring of nonhuman primates in yaws-endemic regions

Proto-oncogene PBF/PTTG1IP regulates thyroid cell growth and represses radioiodide treatment

Pituitary tumor transforming gene (PTTG)-binding factor (PBF or PTTG1IP) is a little characterized protooncogene that has been implicated in the etiology of breast and thyroid tumors. In this study, we created a murine transgenic model to target PBF expression to the thyroid gland (PBF-Tg mice) and found that these mice exhibited normal thyroid function, but a striking enlargement of the thyroid gland associated with hyperplastic and macrofollicular lesions. Expression of the sodium iodide symporter (NIS), a gene essential to the radioiodine ablation of thyroid hyperplasia, neoplasia, and metastasis, was also potently inhibited in PBF-Tg mice. Critically, iodide uptake was repressed in primary thyroid cultures from PBF-Tg mice, which could be rescued by PBF depletion. PBF-Tg thyroids exhibited upregulation of Akt and the TSH receptor (TSHR), each known regulators of thyrocyte proliferation, along with upregulation of the downstream proliferative marker cyclin D1. We extended and confirmed findings from the mouse model by examining PBF expression in human multinodular goiters (MNG), a hyperproliferative thyroid disorder, where PBF and TSHR was strongly upregulated relative to normal thyroid tissue. Furthermore, we showed that depleting PBF in human primary thyrocytes was sufficient to increase radioiodine uptake. Together, our findings indicate that overexpression of PBF causes thyroid cell proliferation, macrofollicular lesions, and hyperplasia, as well as repression of the critical therapeutic route for radioiodide uptake