Peace Corps

With the advent of the Heliophysics/Geospace System Observatory (H/GSO), a complement of multi-spacecraft missions and ground-based observatories to study the space environment, data retrieval, analysis, and visualization of space physics data can be daunting. The Space Physics Environment Data Analysis System (SPEDAS), a grass-roots software development platform (www.spedas.org), is now officially supported by NASA Heliophysics as part of its data environment infrastructure. It serves more than a dozen space missions and ground observatories and can integrate the full complement of past and upcoming space physics missions with minimal resources, following clear, simple, and well-proven guidelines. Free, modular and configurable to the needs of individual missions, it works in both command-line (ideal for experienced users) and Graphical User Interface (GUI) mode (reducing the learning curve for first-time users). Both options have "crib-sheets," user-command sequences in ASCII format that can facilitate record-and-repeat actions, especially for complex operations and plotting. Crib-sheets enhance scientific interactions, as users can move rapidly and accurately from exchanges of technical information on data processing to efficient discussions regarding data interpretation and science. SPEDAS can readily query and ingest all International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP)-compatible products from the Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF), enabling access to a vast collection of historic and current mission data. The planned incorporation of Heliophysics Application Programmer's Interface (HAPI) standards will facilitate data ingestion from distributed datasets that adhere to these standards. Although SPEDAS is currently Interactive Data Language (IDL)-based (and interfaces to Java-based tools such as Autoplot), efforts are under-way to expand it further to work with python (first as an interface tool and potentially even receiving an under-the-hood replacement). We review the SPEDAS development history, goals, and current implementation. We explain its "modes of use" with examples geared for users and outline its technical implementation and requirements with software developers in mind. We also describe SPEDAS personnel and software management, interfaces with other organizations, resources and support structure available to the community, and future development plans. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s11214-018-0576-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Next week, more than 200 science journals throughout the world will simultaneously publish papers on global poverty and human development--a collaborative effort to increase awareness, interest, and research about these important issues of our time. Some 800 million people still experience chronic and transitory hunger each year. Over the next 50 years, we face the daunting job of feeding 3.5 billion additional people, most of whom will begin life in poverty. The battle to alleviate poverty and improve human health and productivity will require dynamic agricultural development.

We measured levels of virus in sequential specimens from 137 patients with Lassa fever. The probability of fatal disease increased significantly with the level of viremia measured either on admission or during the course of illness. The odds ratio of death in patients with viremia greater than 10 TCID50/ml was 3.7 (90% confidence interval, 1.9-7.2). The same ratio in patients with viremia greater than 10 TCID50/ml and with levels of aspartate aminotransferase greater than or equal to 150 IU/liter was 21.5 (95% confidence interval, 5.2-99.0). Virus was found in throat cultures from 39% of viremic patients, compared with 14% of nonviremic patients (P less than .002); however, the level of virus was usually less than or equal to TCID50/ml. Fewer than 3% of patients were viruric during acute illness, and virus was isolated from three of three samples of cerebrospinal fluid. On admission, 53% of patients had IgG antibodies, and 67% had IgM antibodies. Recovery was not associated with the presence of either IgG or IgM. Virus was isolated from greater than 100 serum specimens that also contained high titers of IgG. Clinical Lassa fever was shown to be a disseminated systemic, primary viral infection, with an outcome highly associated with viremia but not with development of antibody.

Loiasis in residents of endemic areas is generally manifested by microfilaremia, episodic angioedema, periocular migration of adult worms, modest eosinophilia, and variable antibody levels. In 20 temporary residents who acquired loiasis in West Africa, however, the clinical presentations were markedly different. Only three of the 20 had detectable microfilaremia. Furthermore, these patients often showed a state of marked immunological hyperresponsiveness manifested by very high titers of antibody to filariae, increased levels of serum IgE, and profound hypereosinophilia--to levels greater than 3,000/mm3 in 18 of the 20. These patients were also notable for the increased severity, frequency, and pruritic nature of their angioedema. Also, significant complications occurred in seven of the 20; one patient developed endomyocardial fibrosis and six, renal disease after treatment with diethylcarbamazine. Thirteen of the 20 developed subcutaneous nodules; adult parasites were recovered from three of five of these patients who underwent biopsy. All of the patients responded to therapy with diminution of their clinical symptoms and decreases in levels of eosinophils, IgE, and antibody to filariae.

Women and children bear the greatest burden in the midst of war and long-term disasters. Complex humanitarian emergencies are characterized by social disruption, armed conflict, population displacement, collapse of public health infrastructure, and food shortages. Humanitarian assistance for refugees and internally displaced populations requires particular attention to the common issues affecting morbidity and mortality in women and infants. Gender-based violence and reproductive health concerns are discussed within the context of populations affected by conflict and forced migration. Recommendations for midwives and women's health care providers engaging in care for women and children in complex humanitarian emergencies are discussed.

OBJECTIVES: To examine four different types of computer-aided endoscopic sinus surgical devices--the ISG Viewing Wand, the ISG infrared OptoTrak, the IGT FlashPoint 5000, and the VTI InstaTrak--with emphasis on their accuracy and ease of use. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study utilizing laboratory experiments and intraoperative data collection. METHODS: A review of the literature is presented. Patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery during the study period were enlisted under FDA protocols with IRB consent. Groups of patients had surgery performed with each of the above devices--except the FlashPoint 5000. Accuracy measurements were recorded, and user and operating staff comments about ease of use were collected. The FlashPoint 5000 was used exclusively in the laboratory setting, where accuracy measurements were obtained on a cadaver skull. RESULTS: The systems all demonstrated accuracy to within 2.00 mm. Ease of use was somewhat variable, but following a learning curve by the surgeon and operating department personnel, all of the units were considered to be relatively user friendly. CONCLUSIONS: Computer-aided endoscopic sinus surgery appears to be the wave of the future. Nevertheless, the modern endoscopic sinus surgeon must have thorough training in the basic anatomy of the paranasal sinuses as well as the various surgical techniques.

IR’s dominant theoretical and methodological approaches are, to varying degrees, compliance oriented. IR needs a theory of resistance if it is to survive its current methodological and ethical crisis. Resistance, read from a broadly Foucaultian perspective, is a process in which hidden, small-scale and marginal agencies have an impact on power, on norms, civil society, the state and the ‘international’. This may be in the form of individual or grass-roots critical agency not coordinated or mobilized on a large scale but still globally connected. Such agency is often discursive and aimed at peaceful change and transformation. Through such critical agency a post-colonial civil society has emerged, which is transversal, transnational, fragmented, but may be constitutive of new, hybrid and post-liberal forms of peace.

Continental-scale studies of western North America have attributed recent increases in annual area burned and fire size to a warming climate, but these studies have focussed on large fires and have left the issues of fire severity and ignition frequency unaddressed. Lightning ignitions, any of which could burn a large area given appropriate conditions for fire spread, could be the first indication of more frequent fire. We examined the relationship between snowpack and the ignition and size of fires that occurred in Yosemite National Park, California (area 3027 km2), between 1984 and 2005. During this period, 1870 fires burned 77 718 ha. Decreased spring snowpack exponentially increased the number of lightning-ignited fires. Snowpack mediated lightning-ignited fires by decreasing the proportion of lightning strikes that caused lightning-ignited fires and through fewer lightning strikes in years with deep snowpack. We also quantified fire severity for the 103 fires >40 ha with satellite fire-severity indices using 23 years of Landsat Thematic Mapper data. The proportion of the landscape that burned at higher severities and the complexity of higher-severity burn patches increased with the log10 of annual area burned. Using one snowpack forecast, we project that the number of lightning-ignited fires will increase 19.1% by 2020 to 2049 and the annual area burned at high severity will increase 21.9%. Climate-induced decreases in snowpack and the concomitant increase in fire severity suggest that existing assumptions may be understated – fires may become more frequent and more severe.

Excess foundry sands from gray-iron casting are a mixture of sand, bentonite, and additives that can have properties desirable for structural fills and hydraulic barriers, depending on their bentonite content. To facilitate beneficial reuse of foundry sands, typical strength parameters need to be available so that designers can make comparisons with designs employing virgin earthen materials. To provide typical design parameters, a testing program was conducted to characterize the strength of foundry sands and their interaction with geosynthetics. Small-scale direct shear tests, large-scale multistage interface shear tests, and pullout tests were conducted using foundry sands with bentonite contents representing the range normally found in the casting industry and three geosynthetics (geotextile, geogrid, and geomembrane). The results indicate that foundry sands can be used effectively in geotechnical construction. Friction angles of the as-compacted foundry sands generally ranged between 39° and 43°, and the as-compacted cohesions ranged between 17 and 28 kPa. Drained friction angles were similar to as-compacted friction angles except at high bentonite content. Typical interface friction angles ranged between 25° and 35°, with efficiencies ranging between 0.5 and 0.9. Interaction coefficients from the pullout tests ranged between 0.2 and 1.7.

A demographic study carried out in a rural area of the Gambia between January 1993 and December 1998 recorded 74 deaths among women aged 15-49 years. Reported here is an estimation of maternal mortality among these 74 deaths based on a survey of reproductive age mortality, which identified 18 maternal deaths by verbal autopsy. Over the same period there were 4245 live births in the study area, giving a maternal mortality ratio of 424 per 100,000 live births. This maternal mortality estimate is substantially lower than estimates made in the 1980s, which ranged from 1005 to 2362 per 100,000 live births, in the same area. A total of 9 of the 18 deaths had a direct obstetric cause--haemorrhage (6 deaths), early pregnancy (2), and obstructed labour (1). Indirect causes of obstetric deaths were anaemia (4 deaths), hepatitis (1), and undetermined (4). Low standards of health care for obstetric referrals, failure to recognize the severity of the problem at the community level, delays in starting the decision-making process to seek health care, lack of transport, and substandard primary health care were identified more than once as probable or possible contributing factors to these maternal deaths.

AIM: To describe experiences and perceptions of theory-practice gap in nursing in a resource-constrained setting. Theory-practice gap is extensively discussed and studied in some parts of the world. Interventions to bridge the theory-practice gap have been varied and depend on an understanding of the contextual healthcare environment. Experiences and perceptions of the theory-practice gap in a resource-constrained setting have not been comprehensively described. DESIGN: A qualitative description methodology was used. METHODS: Maximum variation sampling based on role in the events of theory-practice gap was used to recruit student nurses, nurse faculty and clinicians from two study sites for focus group discussions. Data were analysed using conventional content analysis. RESULTS: Five themes were identified: system inadequacies; resource constraints; challenges of the clinical learning environment; clinical placement and supervision; and nurse faculty factors. Systems inadequacy and resource constraints formed the spine of the challenges contributing to the theory-practice gap in the research setting.

Abstract This study examines per trip consumer surplus associated with guided Whitewater rafting on two southern rivers. First, household recreation demand functions are estimated based on the individual travel cost model using truncated count data regression methods and alternative price specifications. Findings show mean per trip consumer surplus point estimates between $89 and $286, depending on modeling assumptions and river quality. Magnitudes of these surpluses are very dependent on assumptions about the opportunity cost of time.

Abstract Camera traps are standard tools for assessing populations of medium–large terrestrial mammals, particularly for rare, elusive or cryptic species, yet few researchers have attempted to employ camera traps to document rare primates in arboreal settings. We examined different arboreal camera-trap techniques to document the Critically Endangered greater bamboo lemur Prolemur simus in Madagascar. We documented P. simus at two sites, confirming presence at one site. Most species, including 86% of all lemur occurrences, were documented in low light conditions (c. < 105 lux). Our study suggests that camera traps can be effective in validating unconfirmed sightings of rare or secretive primate species. We recommend that future work with cameras in arboreal settings considers seasonal activity patterns, targets sites with high food densities, uses local knowledge, and utilizes available techniques (e.g. traditional trapping techniques) and landscape topography to concentrate animal movement (e.g. steep slopes or ridge lines).

BACKGROUND: Evidence is increasing of high HIV risks among southern African men who have sex with men (MSM). This represents the first study of HIV risks and human rights contexts among MSM in Lesotho. METHODS: Two hundred and fifty-two men who reported ever having anal sex with another man were accrued with snowball sampling and were administered a structured quantitative instrument in October and November 2009. RESULTS: Of the participants, 96.4% (240/249) were ethnic Basotho with a mean age of 26.3 years (range 18-56), 49.6% (124/250) were currently employed, and 95.2% (238/250) had at least a secondary-level education. Self-reported HIV prevalence was 11.6% (22/190); 54.5% (128/235) reported being tested for HIV in the last year. HIV knowledge was low; only 3.7% (8/212) of MSM knew that receptive anal intercourse was the highest risk for HIV and that a water-based lubricant was most appropriate to use with condoms.Bivariate associations of wearing condoms during last intercourse with men include: having easy access to condoms (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.2-8.5, p < 0.05); being older than 26 years (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.3-4.2, p < 0.01); knowing that receptive anal intercourse is higher risk than insertive anal intercourse (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.2-5.9, p < 0.05); wearing condoms with female sexual partners (OR 3.5, 95% 1.4-8.3, p < 0.01); using water-based lubricants (OR 2.8, 95% CI 1.4-5.5, p < 0.01); being less likely to report having been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infecton (OR 0.21, 95% CI 0.06-0.76, p < 0.05); and being more likely to have been tested for HIV in the last year (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.2-3.6, p > 0.05).Human rights abuses were common: 76.2% (170/223) reported at least one abuse, including rape (9.8%, 22/225), blackmail (21.3%, 47/221), fear of seeking healthcare (22.2%, 49/221), police discrimination (16.4%, 36/219), verbal or physical harassment (59.8%, 140/234), or having been beaten (18.9%, 43/228). CONCLUSIONS: MSM in Lesotho are at high risk for HIV infection and human rights abuses. Evidence-based and rights-affirming HIV prevention programmes supporting the needs of MSM should be developed and implemented.

BACKGROUND: A key goal of malaria control is to achieve universal access to, and use of, long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) among people at risk for malaria. Quantifying the number of LLINs needed to achieve and maintain universal coverage requires knowing when nets need replacement. Longitudinal studies have observed physical deterioration in LLINs well before the assumed net lifespan of 3 years. The objective of this study was to describe attrition, physical integrity and insecticide persistence of LLINs over time to assist with better quantification of nets needing replacement. METHODS: 999 LLINs distributed in 2011 in two highly endemic provinces in Zambia were randomly selected, and were enrolled at 12 months old. LLINs were followed every 6 months up to 30 months of age. Holes were counted and measured (finger, fist, and head method) and a proportional hole index (pHI) was calculated. Households were surveyed about net care and repair and if applicable, reasons for attrition. Functional survival was defined as nets with a pHI <643 and present for follow-up. At 12 and 24 months of age, 74 LLINs were randomly selected for examination of insecticidal activity and content using bioassay and chemical analysis methods previously described by the World Health Organization (WHO). RESULTS: A total of 999 LLINs were enrolled; 505 deltamethrin-treated polyester nets and 494 permethrin-treated polyethylene nets. With 74 used to examine insecticide activity, 925 were available for full follow-up. At 30 months, 325 (33 %) LLINs remained. Net attrition was primarily due to disposal (29 %). Presence of repairs and use over a reed mat were significantly associated with larger pHIs. By 30 months, only 56 % of remaining nets met criteria for functional survival. A shorter functional survival was associated with having been washed. At 24 months, nets had reduced insecticidal activity (57 % met WHO minimal criteria) and content (5 % met WHO target insecticide content). CONCLUSIONS: The median functional survival time for LLINs observed the study was 2.5-3 years and insecticide activity and content were markedly decreased by 2 years. A better measure of net survival incorporating insecticidal field effectiveness, net physical integrity, and attrition is needed.

Between January and March 1971, an unusual outbreak of hemorrhagic fever occurred in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The index case was apparently infected elsewhere, but became ill in Cochabamba, where hemorrhagic fever had never been reported. Four secondary cases occurred among hospital contacts of the index case, and a pathologist was infected after cutting himself during an autopsy of one of the secondary cases. Clinical manifestations were typical of Bolivian hemorrhagic fever, except that jaundice occurred in three cases. An arenavirus of the Tacaribe complex was isolated from three cases. One isolate was studied in detail and shown to be closely related antigenically to the prototype strains of Machupo virus.

Seasonal changes in the population ecology of Anolis cupreus, a sexually dimorphic lizard, were studied over a 2—yr period in a deciduous and riparian forest ecosystem in western Costa Rica. This tropical environment undergoes strong seasonal changes, including a 6—mo yr dry season during which maximum air temperatures, hours of daily sunshine, and heavy winds occur. Many aspects of the ecology of A. cupreus undergo striking seasonal changes in response to this climatic seasonality. Both sexes were sexually active for about 6 mo of the year, with the ♀ cycle coinciding with the wet season. Fat body cycles in both sexes were inversely related to the reproductive cycles. Males and ♀ ♀ attain sexual maturity at 1 yr or less, and the population apparently undergoes an annual turnover. Population density was high (&gt; 1,200 anoles/ha) in the dry season, but in part because of changes in the structural habitat of ♂ ♂ and territorial behavior, density was much lower in the wet season. In the dry season social interactions were rarely seen, both sexes perched at or near ground level, and ♀ ♀. In contrast, in the wet season social interactions occupied a majority of the ♂ ♂ time as they defended territories and courted ♀ ♀. At this time of the year ♂ ♂ perched much higher than ♀ ♀ fed primarily on the ground; ♂ ♂ obtained at least half their food up to 6 m aboveground in the wet season. Because of seasonal changes in perch heights and size of prey items eaten, intrasexual (seasonal) values of place x food niche overlap were lower than intersexual values. The response of this anole to stressful climatic conditions is analogous to that of its Temperate Zone congener, Anolis carolinensis. Whereas A. carolinensis hibernates to avoid low winter temperatures, A. cupreus becomes inactive during periods of high winds and air temperatures.

To determine whether infection with Loa loa could be prevented in temporary residents of endemic areas, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of diethylcarbamazine as a chemoprophylactic agent. Diethylcarbamazine (300 mg) or placebo was taken orally once a week by Peace Corps volunteers serving in Gabon, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic. The participants were assessed clinically and with serologic and parasitologic testing before and yearly during their two years of service. One hundred one persons satisfactorily completed the study. In Gabon (where exposure to the parasite was heaviest), 6 of 20 volunteers (30 percent) in the placebo group had clinical disease, as compared with none of 16 (0 percent) in the diethylcarbamazine-treated group (P less than 0.02). Of those taking placebo, 10 of 20 (50 percent) became seropositive for antifilarial IgG antibody, as compared with 2 of 16 (12 percent) in the drug-treated group (P less than 0.02). Exposure to the parasite appeared to be much lower among the 65 Peace Corps volunteers in Cameroon and the Central African Republic. No volunteer in either group in these countries had overt loiasis; 2 of 40 (5 percent) in the placebo groups in Cameroon and the Central African Republic seroconverted, as compared with none of 25 (0 percent) of those receiving diethylcarbamazine. Occasional nausea was the only symptom significantly associated with the prophylactic drug regimen. We conclude that diethylcarbamazine given orally once weekly can be an effective, acceptable chemoprophylactic agent to prevent loiasis in temporary residents of regions of Africa where Loa loa is endemic.

We studied habitat use by desert mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus eremicus) in the Sonoran Desert to understand the relative importance of vegetation, terrain characteristics, human disturbances, and water sources in determining their distribution. We located 44 radiocollared female mule deer weekly over 5 years. In spring, when water was most scarce, deer were in areas with lower elevations, shallower slopes, and greater normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) rates, when compared to random locations. Use of water developments (i.e., catchments) during spring was evident but their effect on deer distribution was small relative to other factors, and their importance varied by animal. More deer locations were recorded in areas of higher NDVI rate in spring, summer, and autumn, but they were also further from washes in autumn. The deer we monitored used lower elevations in spring and higher elevations during the rest of the year. The effect of slope was strong in all seasons. However, deer tended to select shallow slopes in spring and steep slopes during the rest of the year. Deer avoided roads in summer and autumn but were closer to them in winter. They avoided rivers or canals in summer but were closer to those features in autumn. Our results suggest that terrain characteristics in all seasons (slope and elevation), as well as forage quality in 3 of 4 seasons (as indexed by NDVI rate) were most important in determining distribution of deer. Concomitantly water catchments had a measurable, but minor, role during hot, dry conditions. We recommend investigators continue to evaluate the importance of water developments relative to other habitat factors, particularly via the use of multivariate studies, global positioning system technology, adaptive management, and temporary closure of water developments known to be used by radiocollared deer.

INTRODUCTION: Depression is common, disabling, and the single most important factor leading to suicide, yet it is underdiagnosed in busy primary care settings. A key challenge facing primary care clinicians in Asia is the selection of instruments to facilitate depression screening. Although the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and 16-item Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology - Self-Report (QIDS-SR16 ) are used internationally, they have not been directly compared or widely validated in Asian primary care populations. This study aimed to validate the PHQ-9 and QIDS-SR16 against a structured interview diagnosis of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th Edition, depression based on the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview in a multiethnic Asian sample. METHODS: From April through August 2011, we enrolled 400 English-speaking Singaporean primary care patients. Participants completed a demographic data form, the PHQ-9, and the QIDS-SR16 . They were assessed independently for major and minor depression using the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. RESULTS: Sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing major depression were 91.7% and 72.2%, respectively, for the PHQ-9 (optimal cutoff score of 6), and 83.3% and 84.7%, respectively, for the QIDS-SR16 (optimal cutoff score of 9). The QIDS-SR16 also detected minor depression at an optimal cutoff score of 7, with a sensitivity of 94.4% and specificity of 77.9%. The PHQ-9 and QIDS-SR16 showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α: 0.87 and 0.79, respectively) and good convergent validity (correlation coefficient: r = 0.73, P < 0.001). The overall prevalence of major and minor depressive disorders was 9%. DISCUSSION: The PHQ-9 and QIDS-SR16 appear to be valid and reliable for depression screening in Asian primary care settings.