A Woman Named Fulvia: Life, Actions, and Perceptions

In this study I discuss Fulvia in four, mostly chronological, stages of her life. I separate her, quite intentionally, into her roles as a daughter, wife and mother, politician, and eventually a military leader. Categorizing our subject in this manner highlights the typical way in which modern scholars treat Fulvia, as a one-dimensional caricature, and demonstrates that such limited and shallow assessments are flawed. This organizational irony, if you will, shall be utilized to prove Fulvia was never simply a wife or mother or politician or general. At various points in her life, she expressed and acted in relation to many or all of these roles and their unique responsibilities simultaneously. This multiplicity of motive and role will be demonstrated in each section by noting the times and events when Fulvia’s roles overlapped, in many cases potentially influencing her decisions and actions. The goal of this work is both to challenge various methodologies of studying ancient figures (i.e., Champlin’s lens, the limited methods of Fulvia’s modern scholars, and the biased approaches of the ancient sources) and to illuminate a richer, more nuanced portrait of the oft-maligned or ignored Fulvia

Rationale and design of an endocrinology education program for primary care in Maine: initiation of MaineHealth Endo ECHO Maine

Introduction: Population health and quality of care initiatives for the management of common endocrine disorders often include algorithmic and protocol-driven workflows in primary care practices. Endo ECHO is a division of Project ECHO at University of New Mexico that engages primary care clinicians in didactic presentations and case discussions to augment conceptual (experiential, nuanced) rather than algorithmic (rote) learning. Research Design and Methods: MaineHealth Endo ECHO was designed using the Project ECHO model. Project ECHO® is an interactive learning opportunity that uses video conferencing to connect specialty and primary care to share best practices for delivering care. Using a hub and spoke model, providers connect for an hour each month. During each session there is a short didactic component and then 45 minutes of case presentation and discussion. MMP Endocrinology and Diabetes Center serves as a subspecialty “hub” that has engaged 8 “spoke” sites at 8 hospitals in Maine and New Hampshire. In video-networked clinics, a didactic presentation providing state-of-the-art information on management of endocrine disorders precedes discussion of complex patients presented by primary care clinicians from spoke sites. Indispensable resources for executing MaineHealth Endo ECHO included video networking support, program management, an administrator at the hub site, and a physician facilitator to moderate sessions. Results: Feedback from surveys of clinicians at spoke sites have been used to modify the curriculum for subsequent years of the program. Self-efficacy for disease management and appropriate referral improved. Conclusions: Endo ECHO has been successfully introduced in Maine, improves physician confidence, and may be replicated for other specialties

Snapshots in time: MicroCT scanning of pottery sherds determines early domestication of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) in East Africa

MicroCT visualisations of organic inclusions within pottery sherds from Khashm el Girba 23 (KG23), Sudan, reveal domesticated sorghum (Sorghum bicolor subsp. bicolor) at c. 3700–2900 BCE. The percentage of non-shattering spikelet bases was c. 73% of identifiable visualizations, with c. 27% representing wild types. These analyses demonstrate the domestication of sorghum is significantly earlier than suggested by previous archaeological research. These results also demonstrate that microCT scanning is a major qualitative and quantitative advance on pre-existing methods for the investigation of crop remains in pottery sherds, which hitherto have been reliant on surface impressions; it is non-destructive, provides higher resolution 3D imaging of organic inclusions, and enables greater archaeobotanical recovery of inclusions within a sherd. MicroCT analysis of ceramics, mudbrick and other building materials has considerable potential for improving the chronologies and resolution for the domestication of other cereals in the past

Measuring and preliminary modeling of drift interception by plant species

Currently, the concept of plant capture efficiency is not quantitatively considered in the evaluation of off-target drift for the purposes of pesticide risk assessment in the United States. For on-target pesticide applications, canopy capture efficiency is managed by optimizing formulations or tank-mixing with adjuvants to maximize retention of spray droplets. These efforts take into consideration the fact that plant species have diverse morphology and surface characteristics, and as such will retain varying levels of applied pesticides. This work aims to combine plant surface wettability potential, spray droplet characteristics, and plant morphology into describing the plant capture efficiency of drifted spray droplets. In this study, we used wind tunnel experiments and individual plants grown to 10–20 cm to show that at two downwind distances and with two distinct nozzles capture efficiency for sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.), and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is consistently higher than rice (Oryza sativa L.), peas (Pisum sativum L). and onions (Allium cepa L.), with carrots (Daucus carota L.) showing high variability and falling between the two groups. We also present a novel method for three-dimensional modeling of plants from photogrammetric scanning and use the results in the first known computational fluid dynamics simulations of drift capture efficiency on plants. The mean simulated drift capture efficiency rates were within the same order of magnitude of the mean observed rates of sunflower and lettuce, and differed by one to two orders for rice and onion. We identify simulating the effects of surface roughness on droplet behavior, and the effects of wind flow on plant movement as potential model improvements requiring further species-specific data collection

Evaluation of Irradiated Mandibles Using Emission Tomography, Bone Scans, and Radiography

This study compared radiographs, bone scans, and computed emission tomograms with histologic findings in irradiated mandibles of adult Rhesus monkeys. Although osteocytes were lost in the path of the beam, many vessels were partially or totally occluded, the periosteum degenerated, the marrow became fibrotic, and cancellous bone proliferated abundantly, no changes were noted with radiography, conventional bone scanning, or computed emission tomograms. These clinical methods of examination may misrepresent the true condition of irradiated bone because of inadequate sensitivity or balance among factors that control radioactive tracer uptake in bone.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68112/2/10.1177_00220345800590120201.pd

Composition for personal growth : program design and evaluation.

<p>Two categories were used for cross-validation of the model, either type 1 or type 2. Clinical isolates were treated as an unknown class and cross-validated sensitivity, specificity, and class error were based on their classification prediction score with their respective reference strain control class. CV, cross-validated.</p><p>Cross-validated PLS-DA modeling statistics for the prediction performance for NA-SERS typing of individual type 1 and 2 <i>M</i>. <i>pneumoniae</i> clinical isolates.</p

Expression of Distal-less, dachshund, and optomotor blind in Neanthes arenaceodentata (Annelida, Nereididae) does not support homology of appendage-forming mechanisms across the Bilateria

The similarity in the genetic regulation of arthropod and vertebrate appendage formation has been interpreted as the product of a plesiomorphic gene network that was primitively involved in bilaterian appendage development and co-opted to build appendages (in modern phyla) that are not historically related as structures. Data from lophotrochozoans are needed to clarify the pervasiveness of plesiomorphic appendage forming mechanisms. We assayed the expression of three arthropod and vertebrate limb gene orthologs, Distal-less (Dll), dachshund (dac), and optomotor blind (omb), in direct-developing juveniles of the polychaete Neanthes arenaceodentata. Parapodial Dll expression marks premorphogenetic notopodia and neuropodia, becoming restricted to the bases of notopodial cirri and to ventral portions of neuropodia. In outgrowing cephalic appendages, Dll activity is primarily restricted to proximal domains. Dll expression is also prominent in the brain. dac expression occurs in the brain, nerve cord ganglia, a pair of pharyngeal ganglia, presumed interneurons linking a pair of segmental nerves, and in newly differentiating mesoderm. Domains of omb expression include the brain, nerve cord ganglia, one pair of anterior cirri, presumed precursors of dorsal musculature, and the same pharyngeal ganglia and presumed interneurons that express dac. Contrary to their roles in outgrowing arthropod and vertebrate appendages, Dll, dac, and omb lack comparable expression in Neanthes appendages, implying independent evolution of annelid appendage development. We infer that parapodia and arthropodia are not structurally or mechanistically homologous (but their primordia might be), that Dll’s ancestral bilaterian function was in sensory and central nervous system differentiation, and that locomotory appendages possibly evolved from sensory outgrowths

Measuring the Quality of Observational Study Data in an International HIV Research Network

Observational studies of health conditions and outcomes often combine clinical care data from many sites without explicitly assessing the accuracy and completeness of these data. In order to improve the quality of data in an international multi-site observational cohort of HIV-infected patients, the authors conducted on-site, Good Clinical Practice-based audits of the clinical care datasets submitted by participating HIV clinics. Discrepancies between data submitted for research and data in the clinical records were categorized using the audit codes published by the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer. Five of seven sites had error rates >10% in key study variables, notably laboratory data, weight measurements, and antiretroviral medications. All sites had significant discrepancies in medication start and stop dates. Clinical care data, particularly antiretroviral regimens and associated dates, are prone to substantial error. Verifying data against source documents through audits will improve the quality of databases and research and can be a technique for retraining staff responsible for clinical data collection. The authors recommend that all participants in observational cohorts use data audits to assess and improve the quality of data and to guide future data collection and abstraction efforts at the point of care

Real-Time Reverse Transcription–Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay for SARS-associated Coronavirus

A real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was developed to rapidly detect the severe acute respiratory syndrome–associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The assay, based on multiple primer and probe sets located in different regions of the SARS-CoV genome, could discriminate SARS-CoV from other human and animal coronaviruses with a potential detection limit of <10 genomic copies per reaction. The real-time RT-PCR assay was more sensitive than a conventional RT-PCR assay or culture isolation and proved suitable to detect SARS-CoV in clinical specimens. Application of this assay will aid in diagnosing SARS-CoV infection