Direct sequencing of Cryptosporidium in stool samples for public health

The protozoan parasite Cryptosporidium is an important cause of diarrheal disease (cryptosporidiosis) in humans and animals, with significant morbidity and mortality especially in severely immunocompromised people and in young children in low-resource settings. Due to the sexual life cycle of the parasite, transmission is complex. There are no restrictions on sexual recombination between sub-populations, meaning that large-scale genetic recombination may occur within a host, potentially confounding epidemiological analysis. To clarify the relationships between infections in different hosts, it is first necessary to correctly identify species and genotypes, but these differentiations are not made by standard diagnostic tests and more sophisticated molecular methods have been developed. For instance, multilocus genotyping has been utilized to differentiate isolates within the major human pathogens, Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis. This has allowed mixed populations with multiple alleles to be identified: recombination events are considered to be the driving force of increased variation and the emergence of new subtypes. As yet, whole genome sequencing (WGS) is having limited impact on public health investigations, due in part to insufficient numbers of oocysts and purity of DNA derived from clinical samples. Moreover, because public health agencies have not prioritized parasites, validation has not been performed on user-friendly data analysis pipelines suitable for public health practitioners. Nonetheless, since the first whole genome assembly in 2004 there are now numerous genomes of human and animal-derived cryptosporidia publically available, spanning nine species. It has also been demonstrated that WGS from very low numbers of oocysts is possible, through the use of amplification procedures. These data and approaches are providing new insights into host-adapted infectivity, the presence and frequency of multiple sub-populations of Cryptosporidium spp. within single clinical samples, and transmission of infection. Analyses show that although whole genome sequences do indeed contain many alleles, they are invariably dominated by a single highly abundant allele. These insights are helping to better understand population structures within hosts, which will be important to develop novel prevention strategies in the fight against cryptosporidiosis

Assessing and Teaching Critical Thinking in Communication Science and Disorders

Critical thinking is considered to be an important aspect in the training of communication science and disorders students. This paper provides information on the definition, assessment, and teaching of critical thinking. Important critical thinking skills and dispositions include challenging assumptions underlying statements, recognizing the effect of context on perceptions, understandings, and interpretations of the world, developing alternative explanations for observed data they observe, and exhibiting reflective skepticism. Increasing these skills and dispositions help a student develop into a skilled clinician. Assessing students’ clinical thinking skills can be done with tests of general skills, but these often lack validity and reliability. Assessments also can test content or discipline specific thinking skills. Teaching critical skills and dispositions has been done in stand-alone courses and as material embedded within other courses. Within the courses, techniques such as problem-based learning, team-based learning, and case presentations have been effective with mind and concept mapping as tools to visualize how the students think about the material

Skin and subcutaneous mycoses in tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) caused by fusarium oxyspoum in coinfection with Aeromonas hydrophila

Subcutaneous mycoses in freshwater fish are rare infections usually caused by oomycetes of the genus Saprolegnia and some filamentous fungi. To date, Fusarium infections in farmed fish have only been described in marine fish. Here, we report the presence of Fusarium oxysporum in subcutaneous lesions of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). Histopathologic evaluation revealed granuloma formation with fungal structures, and the identity of the etiological agent was demonstrated by morphological and molecular analyses. Some of the animals died as a result of systemic coinfection with Aeromonashydrophila

Evaluating Performance of Web Applications in (Cloud) Virtualized Environments

Web applications usually involve a number of different software libraries and tools (usually referred to as frameworks) each carrying out specific task/s and generating the corresponding overhead. In this paper, we show how to evaluate and even find out several configuration performance characteristics by using virtualized environments which are now used in data centers and cloud environments. We use specific and simple web software architectures as proof of concept, and explain several experiments that show performance issues not always expected from a conceptual point of view. We also explain that adding software libraries and tools also generate performance analysis complexities. We also shown that as an application is shown to scale, the problems to identify performance details and bottlenecks also scale, and the performance analysis also requires deeper levels of details.Instituto de Investigación en Informátic

Shock fronts in the symbiotic system BI Crucis

We investigate the symbiotic star BI Crucis through a comprehensive and self-consistent analysis of the spectra emitted in three different epochs: 60's, 70's, and late 80's. In particular, we would like to find out the physical conditions in the shocked nebula and in the dust shells, as well as their location within the symbiotic system, by exploiting both photometric and spectroscopic data from radio to UV. We suggest a model which, on the basis of optical imaging, emission line ratios and spectral energy distribution profile, is able to account for collision of the winds, formation of lobes and jets by accretion onto the WD, as well as for the interaction of the blast wave from a past, unrecorded outburst with the ISM. We have found that the spectra observed throughout the years show the marks of the different processes at work within BI Cru, perhaps signatures of a post-outburst evolution. We then call for new infrared and millimeter observations, potentially able to resolve the inner structure of the symbiotic nebula.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables; accepted for publication in MNRA

Urban informality and confinement: toward a relational framework

In the 21st century, a growing number of people live ‘informal’ lives within fissures between legality and informality. Concomitantly, power relations are increasingly expressed through devices of confinement. While urban informality and confinement are on the rise often occurring simultaneously, scholars have so far studied them separately. By contrast, this article proposes a new framework for analysing urban informality and confinement relationally. It generates new insights into the role of informality in the (re)production of confinement and, vice versa, the role of confinement in shaping informal practices. While these insights are valuable for urban studies in general, the article charts new lines of research on urban marginality. It also discusses how the six articles included in this special issue signal the heuristic potential of this relational framework by empirically examining distinct urban configurations of ‘confined informalities’ and ‘informal confinements’ across the Global North and the Global South

Exploring the costs and outcomes of sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening interventions targeting men in football club settings: preliminary cost-consequence analysis of the SPORTSMART pilot randomised controlled trial

Background: The objective of this study was to compare the costs and outcomes of two sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening interventions targeted at men in football club settings in England, including screening promoted by team captains. Methods: A comparison of costs and outcomes was undertaken alongside a pilot cluster randomised control trial involving three trial arms: (1) captain-led and poster STI screening promotion; (2) sexual health advisor-led and poster STI screening promotion and (3) poster-only STI screening promotion (control/comparator). For all study arms, resource use and cost data were collected prospectively. Results: There was considerable variation in uptake rates between clubs, but results were broadly comparable across study arms with 50% of men accepting the screening offer in the captain-led arm, 67% in the sexual health advisor-led arm and 61% in the poster-only control arm. The overall costs associated with the intervention arms were similar. The average cost per player tested was comparable, with the average cost per player tested for the captain-led promotion estimated to be £88.99 compared with £88.33 for the sexual health advisor-led promotion and £81.87 for the poster-only (control) arm. Conclusions: Costs and outcomes were similar across intervention arms. The target sample size was not achieved, and we found a greater than anticipated variability between clubs in the acceptability of screening, which limited our ability to estimate acceptability for intervention arms. Further evidence is needed about the public health benefits associated with screening interventions in non-clinical settings so that their cost-effectiveness can be fully evaluated

Spatially Resolved Observations of the Galactic Center Source, IRS 21

We present diffraction-limited 2-25 micron images obtained with the W. M. Keck 10-m telescopes that spatially resolve the cool source, IRS 21, one of a small group of enigmatic objects in the central parsec of our Galaxy that have eluded classification. Modeled as a Gaussian, the azimuthally-averaged intensity profile of IRS 21 has a half-width half-maximum (HWHM) size of 650+/-80 AU at 2.2 microns and an average HWHM size of 1600+/-200 AU at mid-infrared wavelengths. These large apparent sizes imply an extended distribution of dust. The mid-infrared color map indicates that IRS 21 is a self-luminous source rather than an externally heated dust clump as originally suggested. The spectral energy distribution has distinct near- and mid-infrared components. A simple radiative transfer code, which simultaneously fits the near- and mid- infrared photometry and intensity profiles, supports a model in which the near-infrared radiation is scattered and extincted light from an embedded central source, while the mid-infrared emission is from thermally re-radiating silicate dust. We argue that IRS 21 (and by analogy the other luminous sources along the Northern Arm) is a massive star experiencing rapid mass loss and plowing through the Northern Arm, thereby generating a bow shock, which is spatially resolved in our observations.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures, Latex. Astrophysical Journal, accepte

'Chardonel' Grape

'Chardonel' resulted from the cross, 'SeyvaT x 'Chardonnay,' made in 1953. Fruit were first observed in 1958, and the original vine was propagated in 1960 under the number NY 45010. In later testing, it was re-named GW 9 (Geneva White 9) for ease of identification in cooperatively run yield trials. The vine was initially described as vigorous and productive with large clusters

Research on the Geography of Agricultural Change: Redundant or Revitalized?

Future research directions for agricultural geography were the subject of debate in Area in the late 1980s. The subsequent application of political economy ideas undoubtedly revived interest in agricultural research. This paper argues that agricultural geography contains greater diversity than the dominant political economy discourse would suggest. It reviews ‘other’ areas of agricultural research on policy, post-productivism, people, culture and animals, presenting future suggestions for research. They should ensure that agricultural research continues revitalized rather than redundant into the next millennium