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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health

Sources Of Blood Meals Of Sylvatic Triatoma Guasayana Near Zurima, Bolivia, Assayed With Qpcr And 12s Cloning, David E. Lucero, Wilma Ribera, Juan Carlos Pizarro, Carlos Plaza, Levi W. Gordon, Reynaldo Peña, Leslie A. Morrissey, Donna M. Rizzo, Lori Stevens Dec 2014

Sources Of Blood Meals Of Sylvatic Triatoma Guasayana Near Zurima, Bolivia, Assayed With Qpcr And 12s Cloning, David E. Lucero, Wilma Ribera, Juan Carlos Pizarro, Carlos Plaza, Levi W. Gordon, Reynaldo Peña, Leslie A. Morrissey, Donna M. Rizzo, Lori Stevens

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

In this study we compared the utility of two molecular biology techniques, cloning of the mitochondrial 12S ribosomal RNA gene and hydrolysis probe-based qPCR, to identify blood meal sources of sylvatic Chagas disease insect vectors collected with live-bait mouse traps (also known as Noireau traps). Fourteen T. guasayana were collected from six georeferenced trap locations in the Andean highlands of the department of Chuquisaca, Bolivia.We detected four blood meals sources with the cloning assay: seven samples were positive for human (Homo sapiens), five for chicken (Gallus gallus) and unicolored blackbird (Agelasticus cyanopus), and one for opossum (Monodelphis domestica). Using the …


Estimation Of Global Network Statistics From Incomplete Data, Catherine A. Bliss, Christopher M. Danforth, Peter Sheridan Dodds Oct 2014

Estimation Of Global Network Statistics From Incomplete Data, Catherine A. Bliss, Christopher M. Danforth, Peter Sheridan Dodds

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Complex networks underlie an enormous variety of social, biological, physical, and virtual systems. A profound complication for the science of complex networks is that in most cases, observing all nodes and all network interactions is impossible. Previous work addressing the impacts of partial network data is surprisingly limited, focuses primarily on missing nodes, and suggests that network statistics derived from subsampled data are not suitable estimators for the same network statistics describing the overall network topology. We generate scaling methods to predict true network statistics, including the degree distribution, from only partial knowledge of nodes, links, or weights. Our methods …


Agent-Based Modeling Of Malaria Vectors: The Importance Of Spatial Simulation, Arne Bomblies Jul 2014

Agent-Based Modeling Of Malaria Vectors: The Importance Of Spatial Simulation, Arne Bomblies

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: The modeling of malaria vector mosquito populations yields great insight into drivers of malaria transmission at the village scale. Simulation of individual mosquitoes as "agents" in a distributed, dynamic model domain may be greatly beneficial for simulation of spatial relationships of vectors and hosts. Methods. In this study, an agent-based model is used to simulate the life cycle and movement of individual malaria vector mosquitoes in a Niger Sahel village, with individual simulated mosquitoes interacting with their physical environment as well as humans. Various processes that are known to be epidemiologically important, such as the dependence of parity on …


Computational Studies Of Multiple-Particle Nonlinear Dynamics In A Spatio-Temporally Periodic Potential, Owen D. Myers, Junru Wu, Jeffrey S. Marshall, Christopher M. Danforth Jun 2014

Computational Studies Of Multiple-Particle Nonlinear Dynamics In A Spatio-Temporally Periodic Potential, Owen D. Myers, Junru Wu, Jeffrey S. Marshall, Christopher M. Danforth

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

The spatio-temporally periodic (STP) potential is interesting in Physics due to the intimate coupling between its time and spatial components. In this paper, we begin with a brief discussion of the dynamical behaviors of a single particle in a STP potential and then examine the dynamics of multiple particles interacting in a STP potential via the electric Coulomb potential. For the multiple particles' case, we focus on the occurrence of bifurcations when the amplitude of the STP potential varies. It is found that the particle concentration of the system plays an important role; the type of bifurcations that occur and …


Developing An Agenda For Research About Policies To Improve Access To Healthy Foods In Rural Communities: A Concept Mapping Study, Donna B. Johnson, Emilee Quinn, Marilyn Sitaker, Alice Ammerman, Carmen Byker, Wesley Dean, Sheila Fleischhacker, Jane Kolodinsky, Courtney Pinard, Stephanie B.Jilcott Pitts, Joseph Sharkey Jun 2014

Developing An Agenda For Research About Policies To Improve Access To Healthy Foods In Rural Communities: A Concept Mapping Study, Donna B. Johnson, Emilee Quinn, Marilyn Sitaker, Alice Ammerman, Carmen Byker, Wesley Dean, Sheila Fleischhacker, Jane Kolodinsky, Courtney Pinard, Stephanie B.Jilcott Pitts, Joseph Sharkey

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Policies that improve access to healthy, affordable foods may improve population health and reduce health disparities. In the United States most food access policy research focuses on urban communities even though residents of rural communities face disproportionately higher risk for nutrition-related chronic diseases compared to residents of urban communities. The purpose of this study was to (1) identify the factors associated with access to healthy, affordable food in rural communities in the United States; and (2) prioritize a meaningful and feasible rural food policy research agenda. Methods. This study was conducted by the Rural Food Access Workgroup (RFAWG), a …


Crowdsourcing Novel Childhood Predictors Of Adult Obesity, Kirsten E. Bevelander, Kirsikka Kaipainen, Robert Swain, Simone Dohle, Josh C. Bongard, Paul D.H. Hines, Brian Wansink Feb 2014

Crowdsourcing Novel Childhood Predictors Of Adult Obesity, Kirsten E. Bevelander, Kirsikka Kaipainen, Robert Swain, Simone Dohle, Josh C. Bongard, Paul D.H. Hines, Brian Wansink

College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Faculty Publications

Effective and simple screening tools are needed to detect behaviors that are established early in life and have a significant influence on weight gain later in life. Crowdsourcing could be a novel and potentially useful tool to assess childhood predictors of adult obesity. This exploratory study examined whether crowdsourcing could generate well-documented predictors in obesity research and, moreover, whether new directions for future research could be uncovered. Participants were recruited through social media to a question-generation website, on which they answered questions and were able to pose new questions that they thought could predict obesity. During the two weeks of …


The Forest Has A Story: Cultural Ecosystem Services In Kona, Hawai‘I, Rachelle K. Gould, Nicole M. Ardoin, Ulalia Woodside, Terre Satterfield, Neil Hannahs, Gretchen C. Daily Jan 2014

The Forest Has A Story: Cultural Ecosystem Services In Kona, Hawai‘I, Rachelle K. Gould, Nicole M. Ardoin, Ulalia Woodside, Terre Satterfield, Neil Hannahs, Gretchen C. Daily

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources Faculty Publications

Understanding cultural dimensions of human/environment relationships is now widely seen as key to effective management, yet characterizing these dimensions remains a challenge. We report on an approach for considering the nonmaterial values associated with ecosystems, i.e., cultural ecosystem services. We applied the approach in Kona, Hawai‘i, using 30 semistructured interviews and 205 in-person surveys, striving to balance pragmatism and depth. We found spirituality, heritage, and identity-related values to be particularly salient, with expression of some of these values varying among respondents by ethnicity and duration of residence in Hawai‘i. Although people of various backgrounds reported strong spirituality and heritage-related values, …