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Additional file 1. Feasibility Assessment questionnaire.

We aimed to estimate the prevalence and correlates of QT interval prolongation in rural Uganda.Major electrocardiographic abnormalities, including prolonged QT interval, have been shown to be independently predictive of adverse cardiovascular events among Western populations. Cardiovascular diseases are on the rise in sub-Saharan Africa with poorly characterized context-specific risk factors. An important question is whether ECG screening might have value in cardiovascular disease risk stratification in SSA.We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a sample of adults participating in an ongoing whole-population cohort in Mbarara, Uganda, in 2015. Of 1,814 subjects enrolled in the parent whole-population cohort, 856 (47%) participated in the study. Participants completed 12-lead electrocardiography and cardiovascular disease risk factors assessment. We summarized sex-specific, heart rate variation-adjusted QT (QTa) defining prolonged QTa as460 ms in women and450 ms in men. We fit linear and logistic regression models to estimate correlates of (continuous) QTa interval length and (dichotomous) prolonged QTa. Models included inverse probability of sampling weights to generate population-level estimates accounting for study nonparticipation.We assessed data from 828 participants with electrocardiograms. The weighted population mean age was 38.4 years (95% confidence interval: 36.3-40.4). The weighted population was 50.4% female, 11.5% had elevated blood pressure, and 57.6% had a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein1 mg/dl. The population mean QTa was 409.1 ms (95% confidence interval: 405.1-413.1), and 10.3% (95% confidence interval: 7.8-13.5) met criteria for prolonged QTa. Women had a higher mean QTa (421.6 ms vs. 396.3 ms; p0.001), and a higher proportion of women had a prolonged QTa (14.0% vs. 9.3%; p = 0.122) than did men. In multivariable-adjusted regression models, female sex and hypertension correlated with higher mean QTa and meeting criteria for prolonged QTa, respectively.QT interval prolongation is highly prevalent in rural Uganda and may be more common than in high-income settings. Female sex, age, and high blood pressure correlated with QT interval prolongation. Future work should assess whether genetic predisposition or environmental factors in sub-Saharan African populations contribute to prolonged QT and clarify consequences.

The territorial-expansion model, recently proposed as a general model to explain the development of first-generation states, is tested in the Virú Valley of Peru. The Virú state developed around 200 BC and is the earliest known state on the north coast of Peru. The settlement patterns and settlement hierarchies of the Virú Period (ca. 200 BC – 600 AD) are compared with those of the earlier Puerto Morin Period (ca. 400 – 200 BC) to investigate processes of territorial expansion. Two independent polities and several outlying communities occupied the valley during the Puerto Morin Period whereas settlement during the Virú Period was extensive, populations surged, and large swaths of the valley were settled for the first time. Evidence is presented to show that the Virú state incorporated the earlier Puerto Morin polities and that a three-tiered settlement hierarchy existed at this time. Drawing from cross-cultural evidence and recent studies on Virú expansionary dynamics, I propose a hypothesis that the Virú state expanded rapidly throughout the valley early in its developmental history and pursued a policy of territorial consolidation later in its history. Ultimately, the Virú case supports the territorial-expansion model of early state development.

Since the first case of the 2014 Ebola epidemic that occurred in Guinea in December 2013, the virus has spread rapidly through several countries, decimating already weak health systems in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia and killing 11,325 people. In order to better prepare for future large-scale disease epidemics, health systems must be strengthened, governmental roles and funding systems must be critically evaluated, and communities must be mobilized to alleviate debilitating stigma and improve quality of life after contracting the disease. This paper explores the successes and failures of the global community in handling this deadly epidemic, and presents lessons learned and initiatives developed (such as the reforms undertaken by the World Health Organization, as well as other emergency preparedness initiatives) to aid in preventing future epidemics of this scale, with a focus on strengthening of local and international systems. International support provided to the three most affected countries was generous but characterized by slow response times and poor coordination, rendering it insufficient in terms of health systems strengthening., The Journal of Global Health at Columbia University, Vol. 8 No. 1 (2018): Spring 2018

Many natural underwater adhesives harness hierarchically assembled amyloid nanostructures to achieve strong and robust interfacial adhesion under dynamic and turbulent environments. Despite recent advances, our understanding of the molecular design, self-assembly, and structure-function relationship of those natural amyloid fibers remains limited. Thus, designing biomimetic amyloid-based adhesives remains challenging. Here, we report strong and multi-functional underwater adhesives obtained from fusing mussel foot proteins (Mfps) of Mytilus galloprovincialis with CsgA proteins, the major subunit of Escherichia coli amyloid curli fibers. These hybrid molecular materials hierarchically self-assemble into higher-order structures, in which, according to molecular dynamics simulations, disordered adhesive Mfp domains are exposed on the exterior of amyloid cores formed by CsgA. Our fibers have an underwater adhesion energy approaching 20.9 mJ/m2, which is 1.5 times greater than the maximum of bio-inspired and bio-derived protein-based underwater adhesives reported thus far. Moreover, they outperform Mfps or curli fibers taken on their own at all pHs and exhibit better tolerance to auto-oxidation than Mfps at pH ≥7.0. This work establishes a platform for engineering multi-component self-assembling materials inspired by nature.

Many natural underwater adhesives harness hierarchically assembled amyloid nanostructures to achieve strong and robust interfacial adhesion under dynamic and turbulent environments. Despite recent advances, our understanding of the molecular design, self-assembly and structure–function relationships of these natural amyloid fibres remains limited. Thus, designing biomimetic amyloid-based adhesives remains challenging. Here, we report strong and multi-functional underwater adhesives obtained from fusing mussel foot proteins (Mfps) of Mytilus galloprovincialis with CsgA proteins, the major subunit of Escherichia coli amyloid curli fibres. These hybrid molecular materials hierarchically self-assemble into higher-order structures, in which, according to molecular dynamics simulations, disordered adhesive Mfp domains are exposed on the exterior of amyloid cores formed by CsgA. Our fibres have an underwater adhesion energy approaching 20.9 mJ m[superscript −2], which is 1.5 times greater than the maximum of bio-inspired and bio-derived protein-based underwater adhesives reported thus far. Moreover, they outperform Mfps or curli fibres taken on their own and exhibit better tolerance to auto-oxidation than Mfps at pH ≥ 7.0., United States. Office of Naval Research (N000141310647), National Science Foundation (U.S.). Materials Research Science and Engineering Centers (Program) (Award DMR-0819762), National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (New Innovator Award 1DP2OD008435)

This dissertation is an archaeological study of statecraft in the Virú Valley, Peru, during the Early Intermediate Period (ca. 400 B.C. – A.D. 800). Virú was the subject of an influential research program in the 1940s (the Virú Valley Project), which produced important datasets for studying early complex societies in the region. But recent work has begun to upend many of the original conclusions, pointing to the need for a thorough review of the chronological foundation on which they rested, and calling for the re-analysis of ancient settlement patterns and infrastructure projects as proxies of the increasing centralization of authority during this key period of Andean prehistory. The starting point for this research is Gordon Willey’s (1953) settlement pattern study and James Ford’s (1949) ceramic seriation—what I call the Ford-Willey sequence. These were seminal works but their conclusions are no longer entirely tenable. The first part of this dissertation re-analyses and updates Ford’s work. It is concluded that corporate and domestic ware ceramics are fundamentally different classes of object that developed along separate timescales and should not be seriated together, that the Virú Valley sequence shows far more continuity than the Ford-Willey sequence indicated, and that the period from ca. 400 B.C. – A.D. 750 should be considered a single cultural sequence—Virú—with an Early, Middle, and Late phase. This updated cultural sequence for Virú provides a more reliable scheme for dating settlement patterns than was previously available. The second part of this dissertation explores Early and Middle Virú statecraft by mapping sites using satellite photography and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software. It is concluded that the valley was unified into a single polity with its capital at the Gallinazo Group during the Middle Virú Period, and that this polity sponsored a program of infrastructure building to materialize its power and to develop political authority over valley.