A new long-read mitochondrial-genome protocol (PacBio HiFi) for haemosporidian parasites: a tool for population and biodiversity studies.

Background: Studies on haemosporidian diversity, including origin of human malaria parasites, malaria's zoonotic dynamic, and regional biodiversity patterns, have used target gene approaches. However, current methods have a trade-off between scalability and data quality. Here, a long-read Next-Generation Sequencing protocol using PacBio HiFi is presented.

Rapid-Response Electroencephalography in Seizure Diagnosis and Patient Care: Lessons From a Community Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Nonconvulsive seizures are a major source of in-hospital morbidity and a cause of unexplained encephalopathy in critically ill patients. Electroencephalography (EEG) is essential to confirm nonconvulsive seizures and can guide patient-specific workup, treatment, and prognostication. In a 208-bed community hospital, EEG services were limited to 1 part-time EEG technician and 1 EEG machine shared between inpatient and outpatient settings.

Emergency Department Diagnosis of Multiple Mycotic Aneurysms in an HIV-Positive Patient Using Point-of-Care Ultrasound.

We report the case of a transgender woman with HIV (CD4 349), shortness of breath, and chest pain, who was found to have multiple mycotic aortic aneurysms by point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS). This report highlights the utility of point-of-care ultrasonography in the diagnosis and management of this rare clinical entity.Multiple mycotic aortic aneurysms and purulent pericarditis are uncommon.

Factors and costs associated with removal of a newly established population of invasive wild pigs in Northern U.S.

The human-mediated spread of exotic and invasive species often leads to unintentional and harmful consequences. Invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) are one such species that have been repeatedly translocated throughout the United States and cause extensive damage to natural ecosystems, threatened and endangered species, agricultural resources, and private lands. In 2005, a newly established population of wild pigs was confirmed in Fulton County, Illinois, U.

The life history of human foraging: Cross-cultural and individual variation.

Human adaptation depends on the integration of slow life history, complex production skills, and extensive sociality. Refining and testing models of the evolution of human life history and cultural learning benefit from increasingly accurate measurement of knowledge, skills, and rates of production with age. We pursue this goal by inferring hunters' increases and declines of skill from approximately 23,000 hunting records generated by more than 1800 individuals at 40 locations.

The Proximate Causes of Waorani Warfare.

In response to recent work on the nature of human aggression, and to shed light on the proximate, as opposed to ultimate, causes of tribal warfare, we present a record of events leading to a fatal Waorani raid on a family from another tribe, followed by a detailed first-person observation of the behavior of the raiders as they prepared themselves for war, and upon their return. We contrast this attack with other Waorani aggressions and speculate on evidence regarding their hormonal underpinnings. On-the-ground ethnographic observations are examined in light of the neuroendocrinological literature.

Locating and eliminating feral swine from a large area of fragmented mixed forest and agriculture habitats in north-central USA.

Illinois is one of the US states where elimination of feral swine (Sus scrofa) was determined practical, as only a few isolated populations were established. A particularly important step towards feral swine elimination from Illinois was to eliminate the population in Fulton County. We describe the approaches applied to systematically detect, locate, and eliminate feral swine in a successful county-wide elimination.

Bands of brothers and in-laws: Waorani warfare, marriage and alliance formation.

The root of modern human warfare lies in the lethal coalitionary violence of males in small-scale societies. However, there is a paucity of quantitative data concerning the form and function of coalitionary violence in this setting. Debates exist over how lethal coalitions are constituted, as well as the motivations and benefits for males to join such groups.

Barriers and Enablers to the Implementation of School Wellness Policies: An Economic Perspective.

Background: Local wellness policies (LWPs) are mandated among school systems to enhance nutrition/physical activity opportunities in schools. Prior research notes disparities in LWP implementation. This study uses mixed methods to examine barriers/enablers to LWP implementation, comparing responses by student body income.

In vitro models of axon regeneration.

A variety of in vitro models have been developed to understand the mechanisms underlying the regenerative failure of central nervous system (CNS) axons, and to guide pre-clinical development of regeneration-promoting therapeutics. These range from single-cell based assays that typically focus on molecular mechanisms to organotypic assays that aim to recapitulate in vivo behavior. By utilizing a combination of models, researchers can balance the speed, convenience, and mechanistic resolution of simpler models with the biological relevance of more complex models.

Phenotypic assays to identify agents that induce reactive gliosis: a counter-screen to prioritize compounds for preclinical animal studies.

Astrocyte phenotypes change in a process called reactive gliosis after traumatic central nervous system (CNS) injury. Astrogliosis is characterized by expansion of the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) cytoskeleton, adoption of stellate morphologies, and differential expression of some extracellular matrix molecules. The astrocytic response immediately after injury is beneficial, but in the chronic injury phase, reactive astrocytes produce inhibitory factors (i.

Micro and regular saccades across the lifespan during a visual search of "Where's Waldo" puzzles.

Despite the fact that different aspects of visual-motor control mature at different rates and aging is associated with declines in both sensory and motor function, little is known about the relationship between microsaccades and either development or aging. Using a sample of 343 individuals ranging in age from 4 to 66 and a task that has been shown to elicit a high frequency of microsaccades (solving Where's Waldo puzzles), we explored microsaccade frequency and kinematics (main sequence curves) as a function of age. Taking advantage of the large size of our dataset (183,893 saccades), we also address (a) the saccade amplitude limit at which video eye trackers are able to accurately measure microsaccades and (b) the degree and consistency of saccade kinematics at varying amplitudes and directions.

Benefits to rare plants and highway safety from annual population reductions of a "native invader," white-tailed deer, in a Chicago-area woodland.

Overabundant white-tailed deer are one of the most serious threats to woodland plant communities in the Chicago area. Moreover, the abundant deer in a highly populated area causes economic harm and poses hazards to human safety through collisions with vehicles. The artificial conditions causing the overabundance and resulting consequences qualify the white-tailed deer in the Chicago area to be considered as "native invaders".

Management of simultaneous traumatic brain injury and aortic injury.

Object: Simultaneous traumatic brain injury (TBI) and aortic injury has been considered unsurvivable for many years because treatments such as sedation and blood pressure goals conflict for these 2 conditions. Additionally, surgical interventions for aortic injury often require full anticoagulation, which is contraindicated in patients with TBI. For these reasons, and due to the relative rarity of aortic injury/TBI, little data are available to guide treating physicians.

Three-dimensional evaluation of retinal ganglion cell axon regeneration and pathfinding in whole mouse tissue after injury.

Injured retinal ganglion cell (RGC) axons do not regenerate spontaneously, causing loss of vision in glaucoma and after trauma. Recent studies have identified several strategies that induce long distance regeneration in the optic nerve. Thus, a pressing question now is whether regenerating RGC axons can find their appropriate targets.

The cultural shaping of revenge.

There are interesting parallelisms between McCullough et al.’s article and studies of revenge presented by French legal anthropologist Raymond Verdier, particularly as regards the discussion of the increasing likelihood of revenge with increasing social distance. Additionally, the observation that many peoples speak of revenge in the language of debt and repayment, links it with exchanges of benefits as well as costs.

Egg oiling to reduce hatch-year ring-billed gull numbers on Chicago's beaches during swim season and water quality test results.

A burgeoning ring-billed gull population along Chicago's Lake Michigan beaches contributes to degraded water quality through fecal contamination. Egg oiling was conducted at Chicago's gull colonies to reduce production and the influx of hatch-year (HY) gulls using Chicago's beaches, with a second, long-term objective of eventually reducing adult gull numbers through attrition. We also investigated swim season water quality trends through the course of this work.

Evaluation of diagnostic performance of 18F-FDG-PET compared to CT in detecting potential causes of fever of unknown origin in an academic centre.

Determining the cause of fever of unknown origin (FUO) often proves challenging to attending physicians and the role of conventional imaging in this setting has been uncertain. In this retrospective study, we examined the role of fluorine-18 fluorodesoxyglucose-positron emission tomography ((18)F-FDG-PET) compared to computed tomography (CT) in diagnosing the potential etiology of FUO. To accomplish this task, we identified patients with FUO who underwent (18)F-FDG-PET for detecting the source of fever.

Life histories, blood revenge, and reproductive success among the Waorani of Ecuador.

The Waorani may have the highest rate of homicide of any society known to anthropology. We interviewed 121 Waorani elders of both sexes to obtain genealogical information and recollections of raids in which they and their relatives participated. We also obtained complete raiding histories of 95 warriors.

Testing safety eyewear: how frame and lens design affect lens retention.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine the role that frame and lens design play in lens retention during high-impact testing of safety eyewear that advertises conformance to the performance-based ANSI Z87.1-2003 standard.

Methods: A total of 75 Z87 safety eyeglass frames (3 each of 25 frame models) were used in this study, procured from 5 of the leading U.

Sports vision testing of selected athletic participants in the 1997 and 1998 AAU Junior Olympic Games.

Background: Sports vision researchers have attempted to establish the need for vision care services for athletes and the relationship between visual skills and athletic success.

Methods: Data collected from sports vision screenings at the 1997 and 1998 Amateur Athletic Union AAU Junior Olympic Games was compiled for analysis. Four hundred forty-nine athletes, ranging in ages from 5 to 19 years old and representing 12 sports, were part of the sports vision epidemiology project conducted by the American Optometric Association Sports Vision Section.

Attitudes toward integration of complementary and alternative medicine with hospital-based care.

Objective: To characterize those who have used, expect to use, or are opposed to the use of holistic therapies, especially in a conventional medical (hospital) setting. SAMPLE DESCRIPTION AND METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of a random sample of Hamilton-Wentworth residents between March and June 1998 (n = 416; response rate, 63%); analysis used logistic regression.

Results: Thirty-seven percent (37%) used at least one holistic therapy in the previous year: the three most common were chiropractic, massage, and herbal/phytology.

The ocular and visual characteristics of an athletic population.

Background: Nine hundred and thirty-nine athletes of various ages and from varying levels of competition were part of a sports vision epidemiology project conducted by the Sports Vision Service at the Illinois Eye Institute, Chicago, Illinois.

Methods: Data were collected from sports vision screenings conducted from 1992 to 1995. The population consisted of participants in the 1994 and 1995 AAU Junior Olympic Games, members of the DePaul, Elmhurst, Illinois and College of DuPage athletic departments, and members of two local high school basketball programs, DuSable and Dunbar.

Vision profile of the athletes of the 1995 Special Olympics World Summer Games.

Background: Special Olympics were organized in 1968 by Eunice Shriver as a program of physical fitness for individuals with mental handicaps. Numerous epidemiologic studies report an increase in visual problems in this population.

Methods: A comprehensive vision screening was conducted at the 1995 Special Olympic World Summer Games to identify the prevalence of visual anomalies in this select group.