Behavioral Response to an Anti Malaria Spraying Campaign, with Evidence from Eritrea

It is sometimes argued that introducing Indoor Residual Spray (IRS) in areas with high coverage of mosquito bed nets may discourage net ownership and use, which would hinder Malaria eradication rather than promote it. We analyze new data from a Randomized Control Trial conducted in Eritrea in 2009, and we show that this does not happen in practice. IRS actually induced households to acquire more nets and even led to increased net use among certain demographic groups. IRS was further not associated to any perverse behavioral response. We explore two arguments that can explain this. The IRS campaign may have conveyed information about the importance of preventing Malaria and about how to do so, and people adjusted their behavior accordingly. Alternatively, people may perceive bed nets and spray as complements, even though they are substitutes. Further research is needed to disentangle these two effects. --Malaria,Bednets,Spray,Information,Beliefs,Behavior

A Complex Systems Perspective of Risk Mitigation and Modeling in Development and Acquisition Programs

Naval Postgraduate School Acquisition Research Progra

Histology and affinity of anaspids, and the early evolution of the vertebrate dermal skeleton

The assembly of the gnathostome bodyplan constitutes a formative episode in vertebrate evolutionary history, an interval in which the mineralized skeleton and its canonical suite of cell and tissue types originated. Fossil jawless fishes, assigned to the gnathostome stem-lineage, provide an unparalleled insight into the origin and evolution of the skeleton, hindered only by uncertainty over the phylogenetic position and evolutionary significance of key clades. Chief among these are the jawless anaspids, whose skeletal composition, a rich source of phylogenetic information, is poorly characterized. Here we survey the histology of representatives spanning anaspid diversity and infer their generalized skeletal architecture. The anaspid dermal skeleton is composed of odontodes comprising spheritic dentine and enameloid, overlying a basal layer of acellular parallel fibre bone containing an extensive shallow canal network. A recoded and revised phylogenetic analysis using equal and implied weights parsimony resolves anaspids as monophyletic, nested among stem-gnathostomes. Our results suggest the anaspid dermal skeleton is a degenerate derivative of a histologically more complex ancestral vertebrate skeleton, rather than reflecting primitive simplicity. Hypotheses that anaspids are ancestral skeletonizing lampreys, or a derived lineage of jawless vertebrates with paired fins, are rejected

The Extirpation of Idolatry in Peru

Long recognized as a classic account of the early Spanish efforts to convert the Indians of Peru, Father De Arriaga’s book, originally published in 1621, has become comparatively rare even in its Spanish editions. This translation now makes available for the first time in English a unique record of the customs and religious practices that prevailed after the Spanish conquest. In his book, which was designed as a manual for the rooting out of paganism, De Arriaga sets down plainly and methodically what he found among the Indians—their objects of worship, their priests and sorcerers, their festivals and sacrifices, and their superstitions—and how these things are to be recognized and combated. Moreover, he evinces a steady awareness of the hold of custom and of the plight of the Indians who are torn between the demands of their old life and their new masters. The Extirpation of Idolatry in Peru is an invaluable source for historians and anthropologists. L. Clark Keating is professor of modern languages at the University of Kentucky.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_latin_american_history/1004/thumbnail.jp

Improving HPV Vaccine Series Compliance with Text Message Reminders in Military Women

Project Purpose: The purpose of the project was to improve the rate of Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination compliance among military women aged 18-26 years utilizing clinical reminder via text messages. Background: Specific populations have been particularly effected by low HPV vaccine completion rates including active duty military women. The incidence of high risk sexual behavior in this population is noted to be higher than the general public and sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates are seven times higher in active duty military women compared to the general public. In addition, HPV is the most prevalent STI in this population with an incidence rate of 333.9 per 10,000 person-years. In 2011, research at the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) found that the vaccine series completion rate in active duty military members was only 16%. The use of reminders for multi-dose vaccine series has demonstrated effective increases in compliance rates since the 1980s. Practice Change: Clinical reminders via text message were sent out to each woman who received her first dose of HPV vaccine in November or December 2014 and January 2015. The text was sent to all women who had not yet returned to the clinic to receive the second or third dose. The reminder notified them that their next vaccine dose was due and to obtain it within the next month. The Iowa model was used as a framework for this project. Project effectiveness was evaluated based on changes in HPV immunizations series compliance rates before and after the text message intervention. Outcomes: There was an increase in vaccination rates among the women receiving the text message reminders for both the second and third dose. This project followed an initial effort three months before to educate patients about need for the HPV vaccine and the provider to offer a strong recommendation for obtaining the vaccine. An increase from the previously reported rate of HPV vaccine series compliance among active duty military women was achieved. However, even with the education and provider recommendation, the rates were below the national averages. With the implementation of the clinical reminders via text message, there was an increase from 50% to 65% for the 2nd dose after the text message reminder with 17 out of 26 women receiving at least 2 HPV vaccine doses. In addition, the completion rate for all 3 doses increased from 34% to 42% (11 out of 26 women) exceeding the national average of 39.7% for HPV vaccine completion by U.S. girls according to the CDC (2015). Implications and Conclusions: Clinical reminders, specifically text message reminders, increased HPV vaccination rates for active duty military women in addition to patient education and provider recommendation. Long-term benefits will include a decrease in HPV infection rates, a decrease in HPV-related medical costs, and a decrease in the incidence of cervical cancer in this population

Search for Electromagnetic Counterparts to LIGO-Virgo Candidates: Expanded Very Large Array

This paper summarizes a search for radio wavelength counterparts to candidate gravitational wave events. The identification of an electromagnetic counterpart could provide a more complete understanding of a gravitational wave event, including such characteristics as the location and the nature of the progenitor. We used the Expanded Very Large Array (EVLA) to search six galaxies which were identified as potential hosts for two candidate gravitational wave events. We summarize our procedures and discuss preliminary results.Comment: 4 pages; to appear in the New Horizons in Time Domain Astronomy, Proceedings of IAU Symposium 285, eds. R. E. M. Griffin, R. J. Hanisch & R. Seama

Genome-Wide Prediction and Validation of Peptides That Bind Human Prosurvival Bcl-2 Proteins

Programmed cell death is regulated by interactions between pro-apoptotic and prosurvival members of the Bcl-2 family. Pro-apoptotic family members contain a weakly conserved BH3 motif that can adopt an alpha-helical structure and bind to a groove on prosurvival partners Bcl-x[subscript L], Bcl-w, Bcl-2, Mcl-1 and Bfl-1. Peptides corresponding to roughly 13 reported BH3 motifs have been verified to bind in this manner. Due to their short lengths and low sequence conservation, BH3 motifs are not detected using standard sequence-based bioinformatics approaches. Thus, it is possible that many additional proteins harbor BH3-like sequences that can mediate interactions with the Bcl-2 family. In this work, we used structure-based and data-based Bcl-2 interaction models to find new BH3-like peptides in the human proteome. We used peptide SPOT arrays to test candidate peptides for interaction with one or more of the prosurvival proteins Bcl-x[subscript L], Bcl-w, Bcl-2, Mcl-1 and Bfl-1. For the 36 most promising array candidates, we quantified binding to all five human receptors using direct and competition binding assays in solution. All 36 peptides showed evidence of interaction with at least one prosurvival protein, and 22 peptides bound at least one prosurvival protein with a dissociation constant between 1 and 500 nM; many peptides had specificity profiles not previously observed. We also screened the full-length parent proteins of a subset of array-tested peptides for binding to Bcl-x[subscript L] and Mcl-1. Finally, we used the peptide binding data, in conjunction with previously reported interactions, to assess the affinity and specificity prediction performance of different models.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Award GM084181)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 0821391)American Cancer Society (Postdoctoral Fellowship PF-12-155-01-DMC