Furthering Entomological Outreach and Education for High School Aged Students with Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches

This project was designed and conducted as an entomological educational outreach program for high school students. I was given access to an environmental science class at Kaiserslautern High School (KHS) under the guidance and supervision of a licensed teacher. Environmental Science is an elective class that fulfills the course requirement at the school for a science course with a laboratory component. I was given three groups of students, and I taught four classes to each of these groups. Each class had students in their freshman, sophomore, and junior years. During these class periods, I composed a food preference experiment that involved Madagascar hissing cockroaches (MHCs). This experiment drew heavily on my own experiences during my studies (i.e., ENTO 115 at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln). This project aimed to increase entomological education at this school. Lastly, I highlighted the use of technology in the classroom to better assist the instructor. My name is Robert Guy Lefevre, and I am currently in my 17th year of active-duty service in the United States Army. I have served as an artilleryman, a transportation coordinator, and a bandsman. I am currently serving as a guitarist in the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus garrisoned at Sembach, Germany, and I am currently a Staff Sergeant. I hold a Bachelor of Arts in History from California State University at San Bernardino. I was accepted into the Master of Science in Entomology program at UNL in 2015. I can attest that crossing over from the arts side to the science side of campus was a particularly arduous undertaking. In this paper, I further expand on how my experiences as a soldier and an academic greatly facilitated my connection with the students in such a short timeframe. My sponsor teacher was Ms. Nancy Hoehn. Ms. Hoehn holds a Bachelor of Science in Food Science from Purdue University and a Master of Arts in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma. She is credentialed in Texas as a licensed physical science teacher and is currently employed by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) as an environmental science and physics teacher. Ms. Hoehn has been recognized as a National Geographic Certified Educator, a NASA Solar System Ambassador Master Teacher, and is a Google Certified Educator (Level 1). It cannot be expressed how her experience and education aided this project, particularly her Google certification. Kaiserslautern High School is a secondary education facility that is in the Kaiserslautern military community. It is located on the United States Army Garrison Rheinland-Pfalz, Vogelweh. Vogelweh, as it is colloquially known, serves the greater Ramstein Airbase community. This area of Germany has approximately 30,000 American uniformed personnel and their families. Kaiserslautern High School is one of two DoDEA high schools. Kaiserslautern High School has a student body population of approximately 550 students. It is the newest school to be built in the DoDEA Europe area

Observation of an Excited Bc+ State

Using pp collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.5 fb-1 recorded by the LHCb experiment at center-of-mass energies of s=7, 8, and 13 TeV, the observation of an excited Bc+ state in the Bc+π+π- invariant-mass spectrum is reported. The observed peak has a mass of 6841.2±0.6(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, where the last uncertainty is due to the limited knowledge of the Bc+ mass. It is consistent with expectations of the Bc∗(2S31)+ state reconstructed without the low-energy photon from the Bc∗(1S31)+→Bc+γ decay following Bc∗(2S31)+→Bc∗(1S31)+π+π-. A second state is seen with a global (local) statistical significance of 2.2σ (3.2σ) and a mass of 6872.1±1.3(stat)±0.1(syst)±0.8(Bc+) MeV/c2, and is consistent with the Bc(2S10)+ state. These mass measurements are the most precise to date

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus ST9 in Pigs in Thailand

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is an important nosocomial and community-associated pathogen. Recently, livestock-associated MRSA (LA-MRSA) has emerged and disseminated in Europe and North America and now constitutes a considerable zoonotic burden in humans with risk factors of pig exposure, whereas the extent of the livestock reservoir is relatively unknown on other continents. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: From March through April 2011, MRSA was identified in pigs from 3 out of 30 production holdings in Chang Mai Province, Thailand. Representative isolates were subjected to molecular characterization and antimicrobial susceptibility testing; all isolates had genotypic and phenotypic characteristics of LA-MRSA previously characterized in the region: they belonged to ST9, lacked the lukF-lukS genes encoding Panton-Valentine leukocidin, and were resistant to multiple non-β-lactam antimicrobials. However, unlike other Asian LA-MRSA-ST9 variants, they were spa type t337 and harbored a different staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec IX. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: A novel MRSA-ST9 lineage has been established in the pig population of Thailand, which differs substantially from LA-MRSA lineages found in other areas of the continent. The emergence of novel LA-MRSA lineages in the animal agriculture setting is worrisome and poses a serious threat to global public health

Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotype-2 Childhood Meningitis in Bangladesh: A Newly Recognized Pneumococcal Infection Threat

BACKGROUND: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of meningitis in countries where pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) targeting commonly occurring serotypes are not routinely used. However, effectiveness of PCV would be jeopardized by emergence of invasive pneumococcal diseases (IPD) caused by serotypes which are not included in PCV. Systematic hospital based surveillance in Bangladesh was established and progressively improved to determine the pathogens causing childhood sepsis and meningitis. This also provided the foundation for determining the spectrum of serotypes causing IPD. This article reports an unprecedented upsurge of serotype 2, an uncommon pneumococcal serotype, without any known intervention. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Cases with suspected IPD had blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collected from the beginning of 2001 till 2009. Pneumococcal serotypes were determined by capsular swelling of isolates or PCR of culture-negative CSF specimens. Multicenter national surveillance, expanded from 2004, identified 45,437 patients with suspected bacteremia who were blood cultured and 10,618 suspected meningitis cases who had a lumber puncture. Pneumococcus accounted for 230 culture positive cases of meningitis in children <5 years. Serotype-2 was the leading cause of pneumococcal meningitis, accounting for 20.4% (45/221; 95% CI 15%-26%) of cases. Ninety eight percent (45/46) of these serotype-2 strains were isolated from meningitis cases, yielding the highest serotype-specific odds ratio for meningitis (29.6; 95% CI 3.4-256.3). The serotype-2 strains had three closely related pulsed field gel electrophoresis types. CONCLUSIONS: S. pneumoniae serotype-2 was found to possess an unusually high potential for causing meningitis and was the leading serotype-specific cause of childhood meningitis in Bangladesh over the past decade. Persisting disease occurrence or progressive spread would represent a major potential infection threat since serotype-2 is not included in PCVs currently licensed or under development

Caloric Restriction Alters the Metabolic Response to a Mixed-Meal: Results from a Randomized, Controlled Trial

OBJECTIVES: To determine if caloric restriction (CR) would cause changes in plasma metabolic intermediates in response to a mixed meal, suggestive of changes in the capacity to adapt fuel oxidation to fuel availability or metabolic flexibility, and to determine how any such changes relate to insulin sensitivity (S(I)). METHODS: Forty-six volunteers were randomized to a weight maintenance diet (Control), 25% CR, or 12.5% CR plus 12.5% energy deficit from structured aerobic exercise (CR+EX), or a liquid calorie diet (890 kcal/d until 15% reduction in body weight)for six months. Fasting and postprandial plasma samples were obtained at baseline, three, and six months. A targeted mass spectrometry-based platform was used to measure concentrations of individual free fatty acids (FFA), amino acids (AA), and acylcarnitines (AC). S(I) was measured with an intravenous glucose tolerance test. RESULTS: Over three and six months, there were significantly larger differences in fasting-to-postprandial (FPP) concentrations of medium and long chain AC (byproducts of FA oxidation) in the CR relative to Control and a tendency for the same in CR+EX (CR-3 month P = 0.02; CR-6 month P = 0.002; CR+EX-3 month P = 0.09; CR+EX-6 month P = 0.08). After three months of CR, there was a trend towards a larger difference in FPP FFA concentrations (P = 0.07; CR-3 month P = 0.08). Time-varying differences in FPP concentrations of AC and AA were independently related to time-varying S(I) (P<0.05 for both). CONCLUSIONS: Based on changes in intermediates of FA oxidation following a food challenge, CR imparted improvements in metabolic flexibility that correlated with improvements in S(I). TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00099151

From chloroquine to artemether-lumefantrine: the process of drug policy change in Zambia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Following the recognition that morbidity and mortality due to malaria had dramatically increased in the last three decades, in 2002 the government of Zambia reviewed its efforts to prevent and treat malaria. Convincing evidence of the failing efficacy of chloroquine resulted in the initiation of a process that eventually led to the development and implementation of a new national drug policy based on artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All published and unpublished documented evidence dealing with the antimalarial drug policy change was reviewed. These data were supplemented by the authors' observations of the policy change process. The information has been structured to capture the timing of events, the challenges encountered, and the resolutions reached in order to achieve implementation of the new treatment policy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A decision was made to change national drug policy to artemether-lumefantrine (AL) in the first quarter of 2002, with a formal announcement made in October 2002. During this period, efforts were undertaken to identify funding for the procurement of AL and to develop new malaria treatment guidelines, training materials, and plans for implementation of the policy. In order to avoid a delay in implementation, the policy change decision required a formal adoption within existing legislation. Starting with donated drug, a phased deployment of AL began in January 2003 with initial use in seven districts followed by scaling up to 28 districts in the second half of 2003 and then to all 72 districts countrywide in early 2004.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Drug policy changes are not without difficulties and demand a sustained international financing strategy for them to succeed. The Zambian experience demonstrates the need for a harmonized national consensus among many stakeholders and a political commitment to ensure that new policies are translated into practice quickly. To guarantee effective policies requires more effort and recognition that this becomes a health system and not a drug issue. This case study attempts to document the successful experience of change to ACT in Zambia and provides a realistic overview of some of the painful experiences and important lessons learnt.</p