Exposure of Phlebotomus Argentipes to Alpha-Cypermethrin, Permethrin, and DDT Using CDC Bottle Bioassays to Assess Insecticide Susceptibility

Background: Insecticide resistance for sand flies is a concern since sand flies are vectors for Leishmania spp. parasites which cause leishmaniasis affecting millions of people each year. The CDC bottle bioassay is used to assess resistance by comparing known insecticide diagnostic doses and diagnostic times from an insecticide-susceptible population. The objective of this study was to determine diagnostic doses and diagnostic times for α-cypermethrin and the lethal dose for 50% and 90% mortality for α-cypermethrin, permethrin, and DDT for Phlebotomus argentipes. Methods: The CDC bottle bioassays were performed in 1,000 mL glass bottles with 15-25 sand flies from a laboratory strain of insecticide-susceptible P. argentipes. A range of concentrations of α-cypermethrin, permethrin, and DDT were evaluated. Approximately four replicates at each concentration were completed with a 24-hour recovery period after the exposure tests. 24-hour mortality dose-response survival curves were created. A time-to-knockdown test was conducted withα-cypermethrin to determine the diagnostic doses with diagnostic times. Results: α-Cypermethrin had the lowest LD50 and LD90 followed by permethrin and then DDT with the highest values. Diagnostic doses with (diagnostic times) for α-cypermethrin were 7.5 μg/mL (30 minutes), 5.0 μg/mL (35 minutes), and 3.0 μg/mL (45 minutes). Conclusions: The dose-response survival curves, diagnostic doses, and diagnostic times can be utilized by control programs in assessing insecticide resistance in field populations of P. argentipes. The control programs can apply the appropriate insecticide and dose to effectively manage the population. The data presented can also be used a starting point for determining diagnostic doses and diagnostic times for other sand fly species

Computing Scalable Multivariate Glocal Invariants of Large (Brain-) Graphs

Graphs are quickly emerging as a leading abstraction for the representation of data. One important application domain originates from an emerging discipline called "connectomics". Connectomics studies the brain as a graph; vertices correspond to neurons (or collections thereof) and edges correspond to structural or functional connections between them. To explore the variability of connectomes---to address both basic science questions regarding the structure of the brain, and medical health questions about psychiatry and neurology---one can study the topological properties of these brain-graphs. We define multivariate glocal graph invariants: these are features of the graph that capture various local and global topological properties of the graphs. We show that the collection of features can collectively be computed via a combination of daisy-chaining, sparse matrix representation and computations, and efficient approximations. Our custom open-source Python package serves as a back-end to a Web-service that we have created to enable researchers to upload graphs, and download the corresponding invariants in a number of different formats. Moreover, we built this package to support distributed processing on multicore machines. This is therefore an enabling technology for network science, lowering the barrier of entry by providing tools to biologists and analysts who otherwise lack these capabilities. As a demonstration, we run our code on 120 brain-graphs, each with approximately 16M vertices and up to 90M edges.Comment: Published as part of 2013 IEEE GlobalSIP conferenc

Dale Rex Coman Correspondence

Entries include brief biographical information and a typed letter on University of Pennsylvania, The School of Medicine, stationery

Is the Effect of Forest Structure on Bird Diversity Modified by Forest Productivity?

Currently, the most common strategy when managing forests for biodiversity at the landscape scale is to maintain structural complexity within stands and provide a variety of seral stages across landscapes. Advances in ecological theory reveal that biodiversity at continental scales is strongly influenced by available energy (i.e., climate factors relating to heat and light and primary productivity). This paper explores how available energy and forest structural complexity may interact to drive biodiversity at a regional scale. We hypothesized that bird species richness exhibits a hump-shaped relationship with energy at the regional scale of the northwestern United States. As a result, we hypothesized that the relationship between energy and richness within a landscape is positive in energy-limited landscapes and flat or decreasing in energy-rich landscapes. Additionally, we hypothesized that structural complexity explains less of the variation in species richness in energy-limited environments and more in energy-rich environments and that the slope of the relationship between structural complexity and richness is greatest in energy-rich environments. We sampled bird communities and vegetation across seral stages and biophysical settings at each of five landscapes arrayed across a productivity gradient from the Pacific Coast to the Rocky Mountains within the five northwestern states of the contiguous United States. We analyzed the response of richness to structural complexity and energy covariates at each landscape. We found that (1) richness had a hump-shaped relationship with available energy across the northwestern United States, (2) the landscape-scale relationships between energy and richness were positive or hump shaped in energy-limited locations and were flat or negative in energy-rich locations, (3) forest structural complexity explained more of the variation in bird species richness in energy-rich landscapes, and (4) the slope of the relationship between forest structural complexity and richness was steepest in energy-limited locations. In energy-rich locations, forest managers will likely increase landscape-scale bird diversity by providing a range of forest structural complexity across all seral stages. In low-energy environments, bird diversity will likely be maximized by managing local high-energy hotspots judiciously and adjusting harvest intensities in other locations to compensate for slower regeneration rates

Just Bust a Move; Relating Subjective Evaluation to Objective Measurements in Hip – Hop Dance

Being globally recognized as a performance art and mode of expression, Hip - hop dance is becoming more prevalent in today’s modern dance and popular culture. With multiple renditions across the globe on what encompasses Hip - hop dance on various social media platforms and the different sub styles of hip-hop dance that currently exist, there are a limited number of ways to assess a dancer and their ability without relying on a high amount of subjectivity from those that are watching it. PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between common dance moves (like the Arm Wave & Inverted Happy Feet) implemented into Hip - hop dance choreography and whether certain biomechanical aspects of those moves can predict how well a dancer may be evaluated in a competition. METHODS: Participants learned a brief Hip - hop dance routine, incorporating the aforementioned dance moves, for one week before data collection. After a brief warm up, the participants performed the learned dance choreography in a lab space while under a 3D motion capture system with force plates collecting kinematic and kinetic data. Video footage of each participant was also collected at this time. Videos of each participant’s performance footage was then sent out to judges for scoring, and a series of regression models were run to determine how well judge’s scores predicted discrete biomechanical variables related to performance of dance moves. RESULTS: Preliminary results suggest that displacement of the arm wave, propagation velocity of the arm wave, shape deviation of the arm wave, and ground reaction force symmetry during foot work have a significant role in predicting how a judge may score a dancer. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that the mechanical aspects of performing certain hip-hop dance moves are significant predictors of judges’ scoring, lending insight into the degree to which scoring is related to the mechanics of Hip – hop dance itself. Thus, a certain level of objectivity in judges’ scoring of hip-hop dance exists. Future work should consider how subjective factors such as age, sex/gender, and clothing choice may also influence judges’ scoring

Dynamic and volumetric variables reliably predict fluid responsiveness in a porcine model with pleural effusion

Background: The ability of stroke volume variation (SVV), pulse pressure variation (PPV) and global end-diastolic volume (GEDV) for prediction of fluid responsiveness in presence of pleural effusion is unknown. The aim of the present study was to challenge the ability of SVV, PPV and GEDV to predict fluid responsiveness in a porcine model with pleural effusions. Methods: Pigs were studied at baseline and after fluid loading with 8 ml kg−1 6% hydroxyethyl starch. After withdrawal of 8 ml kg−1 blood and induction of pleural effusion up to 50 ml kg−1 on either side, measurements at baseline and after fluid loading were repeated. Cardiac output, stroke volume, central venous pressure (CVP) and pulmonary occlusion pressure (PAOP) were obtained by pulmonary thermodilution, whereas GEDV was determined by transpulmonary thermodilution. SVV and PPV were monitored continuously by pulse contour analysis. Results: Pleural effusion was associated with significant changes in lung compliance, peak airway pressure and stroke volume in both responders and non-responders. At baseline, SVV, PPV and GEDV reliably predicted fluid responsiveness (area under the curve 0.85 (p<0.001), 0.88 (p<0.001), 0.77 (p = 0.007). After induction of pleural effusion the ability of SVV, PPV and GEDV to predict fluid responsiveness was well preserved and also PAOP was predictive. Threshold values for SVV and PPV increased in presence of pleural effusion. Conclusions: In this porcine model, bilateral pleural effusion did not affect the ability of SVV, PPV and GEDV to predict fluid responsiveness

The Lick AGN Monitoring Project 2011: Dynamical Modeling of the Broad-Line Region

We present models of the H$\beta$-emitting broad-line region (BLR) in seven Seyfert 1 galaxies from the Lick AGN (Active Galactic Nucleus) Monitoring Project 2011 sample, drawing inferences on the BLR structure and dynamics as well as the mass of the central supermassive black hole. We find that the BLR is generally a thick disk, viewed close to face-on, with preferential emission back toward the ionizing source. The dynamics in our sample range from near-circular elliptical orbits to inflowing or outflowing trajectories. We measure black hole masses of $\log_{10}(M_{\rm BH}/M_\odot) = 6.48^{+0.21}_{-0.18}$ for PG 1310$-$108, $7.50^{+0.25}_{-0.18}$ for Mrk 50, $7.46^{+0.15}_{-0.21}$ for Mrk 141, $7.58^{+0.08}_{-0.08}$ for Mrk 279, $7.11^{+0.20}_{-0.17}$ for Mrk 1511, $6.65^{+0.27}_{-0.15}$ for NGC 4593, and $6.94^{+0.14}_{-0.14}$ for Zw 229$-$015. We use these black hole mass measurements along with cross-correlation time lags and line widths to recover the scale factor $f$ used in traditional reverberation mapping measurements. Combining our results with other studies that use this modeling technique, bringing our sample size to 16, we calculate a scale factor that can be used for measuring black hole masses in other reverberation mapping campaigns. When using the root-mean-square (rms) spectrum and using the line dispersion to measure the line width, we find $\log_{10}(f_{{\rm rms},\sigma})_{\rm pred} = 0.57 \pm 0.19$. Finally, we search for correlations between $f$ and other AGN and BLR parameters and find marginal evidence that $f$ is correlated with $M_{\rm BH}$ and the BLR inclination angle, but no significant evidence of a correlation with the AGN luminosity or Eddington ratio.Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap

Gluteal Muscle Activation During Common Yoga Poses

# Background Approximately 24% of physical therapists report regularly using yoga to strengthen major muscle groups. Although clinicians and athletes often use yoga as a form of strength training, little is known about the activation of specific muscle groups during yoga poses, including the gluteus maximus and medius. # Hypothesis/Purpose The purpose of this study was to measure gluteus maximimus and gluteus medius activation via electromyography (EMG) during five common yoga poses. A secondary purpose of the current study was to examine differences in muscle activation between sexes and experience levels. # Study Design Cross-Sectional # Methods Thirty-one healthy males and females aged 18-35 years were tested during five yoga poses performed in a randomized order. Surface EMG electrodes were placed on subjects’ right gluteus maximus and gluteus medius. Subjects performed the poses on both sides following a maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) test for each muscle. All yoga pose EMG data were normalized to the corresponding muscle MVIC data. # Results Highest gluteus maximus activation occurred during Half Moon Pose on the lifted/back leg (63.3% MVIC), followed by the stance/front leg during Half Moon Pose (61.7%), then the lifted/back leg during Warrior Three Pose (46.1%). Highest gluteus medius activation occurred during Half Moon Pose on the lifted/back leg (41.9%), followed by the lifted/back leg during the Warrior Three Pose (41.6%). A significant difference was found in %MVIC of gluteus medius activity between male and female subjects (p = 0.026), and between experienced and inexperienced subjects (p = 0.050), indicating higher activation among males and inexperienced subjects, respectively. # Conclusion Half Moon Pose and Warrior Three Pose elicited the highest activation for both the gluteus maximus and the gluteus medius. Higher gluteus medius activation was seen in males and inexperienced subjects compared to their female and experienced counterparts. # Level of Evidence