Increased severity and spread of Mycobacterium ulcerans, Southeastern Australia

Reported cases of Mycobacterium ulcerans disease (Buruli ulcer) have been increasing in southeastern Australia and spreading into new geographic areas. We analyzed 426 cases of M. ulcerans disease during January 1998–May 2017 in the established disease-endemic region of the Bellarine Peninsula and the emerging endemic region of the Mornington Peninsula. A total of 20.4% of cases patients had severe disease. Over time, there has been an increase in the number of cases managed per year and the proportion associated with severe disease. Risk factors associated with severe disease included age, time period (range of years of diagnosis), and location of lesions over a joint. We highlight the changing epidemiology and pathogenicity of M. ulcerans disease in Australia. Further research, including genomic studies of emergent strains with increased pathogenicity, is urgently needed to improve the understanding of this disease to facilitate implementation of effective public health measures to halt its spread

From pandemic response to portable population health: A formative evaluation of the Detroit mobile health unit program

This article describes our experience developing a novel mobile health unit (MHU) program in the Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area. Our main objectives were to improve healthcare accessibility, quality and equity in our community during the novel coronavirus pandemic. While initially focused on SARS-CoV-2 testing, our program quickly evolved to include preventive health services. The MHU program began as a location-based SARS-CoV-2 testing strategy coordinated with local and state public health agencies. Community needs motivated further program expansion to include additional preventive healthcare and social services. MHU deployment was targeted to disease “hotspots” based on publicly available SARS-CoV-2 testing data and community-level information about social vulnerability. This formative evaluation explores whether our MHU deployment strategy enabled us to reach patients from communities with heightened social vulnerability as intended. From 3/20/20-3/24/21, the Detroit MHU program reached a total of 32,523 people. The proportion of patients who resided in communities with top quartile Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index rankings increased from 25% during location-based “drive-through” SARS-CoV-2 testing (3/20/20-4/13/20) to 27% after pivoting to a mobile platform (4/13/20-to-8/31/20; p = 0.01). The adoption of a data-driven deployment strategy resulted in further improvement; 41% of the patients who sought MHU services from 9/1/20-to-3/24/21 lived in vulnerable communities (Cochrane Armitage test for trend, p\u3c0.001). Since 10/1/21, 1,837 people received social service referrals and, as of 3/15/21, 4,603 were administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Our MHU program demonstrates the capacity to provide needed healthcare and social services to difficult-to-reach populations from areas with heightened social vulnerability. This model can be expanded to meet emerging pandemic needs, but it is also uniquely capable of improving health equity by addressing longstanding gaps in primary care and social services in vulnerable communities

The Rutgers Presbyterian, Syracuse University School of Architecture Design Studio Project, Spring 1988

The School wishes to give special thanks to Mr. James Britton, a member of the Rutgers Presbyterian Church and friend of the School of Architecture at Syracuse University. It was in May of 1986 that Mr. Britton suggested this project to Dean Werner Seligmann and myself as a possible studio project for our students. His belief that this project could be of educational benefit to our students was accurate, and all those who participated have a sense of indebtedness to him for his insights and encouragement. The Rutgers Presbyterian Church located on West 73rd Street wishes to develop the parcel of land that it owns adjacent to its sanctuary space. The site is presently occupied by buildings of five and two-story heights and could be considered underdeveloped in light of recent real estate developments in this area of Manhattan. The land use in the area is mixed, basically comprised of residential streets with commercial, office and institutional uses on the avenues. The development strategy of this parcel is seen as one which should continue the existing rich mixture of the surrounding urban environment and neighborhood qualities. In its development plans for this site, the church wishes to house all of its administrative offices in the new building along with an expanded program of spaces for public assembly. The purpose of these assembly spaces will be to provide the church and its congregation with new and improved facilities for church-related activities and to provide an opportunity to better serve the neighborhood as a community center. Hence the visibility of the church and its ancillary facilities is a very important issue in the proposed new structure. The present first two stories of the corner building on West 73rd Street and Broadway are leased to Chase Manhattan Bank for a main branch banking space. It is anticipated that the bank will remain as a tenant with new facilities built for their purposes. Rentable office space and housing will complete the proposed building program. A portion of the office space might be given over to the future needs of the church, should its programs outgrow the planned accommodations. The housing will most likely be middle-income apartments ranging from studio type to three-bedroom units. The current zoning regulations for this site and the building codes of New York City will provide the guidelines and governing restrictions for the proposed building. In addition, the acceptable standards of practice that apply in the design of the proposed building will provide information and methods of construction which shall act as determinants for systems such as structural, mechanical, enclosure, vertical circulation, and all-dimensional criteria

Jazz Convocation

Program listing performers and works performed

Jazz Convocation

Program listing performers and works performe

Pangolins in Global Camera Trap Data: Implications for Ecological Monitoring

Despite being heavily exploited, pangolins (Pholidota: Manidae) have been subject to limited research, resulting in a lack of reliable population estimates and standardised survey methods for the eight extant species. Camera trapping represents a unique opportunity for broad-scale collaborative species monitoring due to its largely non-discriminatory nature, which creates considerable volumes of data on a relatively wide range of species. This has the potential to shed light on the ecology of rare, cryptic and understudied taxa, with implications for conservation decision-making. We undertook a global analysis of available pangolin data from camera trapping studies across their range in Africa and Asia. Our aims were (1) to assess the utility of existing camera trapping efforts as a method for monitoring pangolin populations, and (2) to gain insights into the distribution and ecology of pangolins. We analysed data collated from 103 camera trap surveys undertaken across 22 countries that fell within the range of seven of the eight pangolin species, which yielded more than half a million trap nights and 888 pangolin encounters. We ran occupancy analyses on three species (Sunda pangolin Manis javanica, white-bellied pangolin Phataginus tricuspis and giant pangolin Smutsia gigantea). Detection probabilities varied with forest cover and levels of human influence for P. tricuspis, but were low (M. javanica and S. gigantea, elevation for P. tricuspis and S. gigantea, forest cover for P. tricuspis and protected area status for M. javanica and P. tricuspis. We conclude that camera traps are suitable for the detection of pangolins and large-scale assessment of their distributions. However, the trapping effort required to monitor populations at any given study site using existing methods appears prohibitively high. This may change in the future should anticipated technological and methodological advances in camera trapping facilitate greater sampling efforts and/or higher probabilities of detection. In particular, targeted camera placement for pangolins is likely to make pangolin monitoring more feasible with moderate sampling efforts

2016 Research & Innovation Day Program

A one day showcase of applied research, social innovation, scholarship projects and activities.https://first.fanshawec.ca/cri_cripublications/1003/thumbnail.jp

Main Reduction Gear Debris Identification and Removal Device

This report details the development of a tool to remove objects and debris from a large gearbox found on ships of the United States Navy, specifically to be used by NAVSEA. The tool is to be used in situations where an object or contaminant cannot easily be removed or found without completely disassembling the gearbox. This will be done using a boom arm, a cable, a gripper and a borescope. This combination will allow for a large amount of mobility and versatility when searching for the object or contaminant, which is necessary for use in different gearboxes. The process we followed to arrive at our final design can be found below. This includes background research, similar product comparison, concept generation and detailed design, followed by prototype construction and testing