Editorial: Presence and beyond: Evaluating user experience in AR/MR/VR

The call for this Research Topic was intentionally broad: We sought papers that identify or propose constructs that can be used to describe AR/MR/VR, and papers that evaluate the utility of those constructs; we sought papers that discussed measures relating to user experience in AR/MR/VR - including, but not limited to, presence. In the end, we were very happy to publish fifteen articles addressing a variety of these questions - but, notably, not all of them. In the remainder of this editorial, we briefly introduce each of the fifteen articles, loosely grouping them into relevant categories. We then discuss each of the three categories in turn, and close with a call to action for our AR/MR/VR research community to more actively engage with human-computer interaction (HCI) and user experience (UX) researchers

Chickenpox outbreak in Herrera del Duque, Badajoz, Spain.

Introducción. La varicela es una enfermedad de distribución mundial con una elevada morbilidad y pocas complicaciones, aunque puede presentar cuadros clínicos graves en inmunodeprimidos y adultos sanos. El objeto de este estudio es identificar y describir las características y los costes de un brote epidémico en Extremadura, cuya tasa anual de casos declarados al sistema de Enfermedades de Declaración Obligatoria (EDO) oscila en alrededor de 5 por 1.000 habitantes. Métodos.Estudio descriptivo con búsqueda activa de casos entre los meses de noviembre del año 2000 y marzo de 2001, y de la susceptibilidad de la cohorte escolarizada del colegio de Herrera del Duque (Badajoz). Las definiciones de casos fueron recogidas de los protocolos de la Red de Vigilancia de la comunidad extremeña. La confirmación microbiológica se realizó por aislamiento del virus y por presencia de marcadores IgM e IgG en el suero del enfermo. Se analizaron los costes tangibles directos e indirectos y los no tangibles del brote. Resultados.De los 75 casos identificados, 71 (94,7%) eran niños de entre uno y 9 años, predominando el sexo masculino. La tasa de ataque fue de 18,5 casos por 1.000 habitantes, y del 68,2% en convivientes menores de 10 años. La evolución fue benigna, sin ingresos hospitalarios ni complicaciones. Se encontró un 71,6% de niños susceptibles en los de entre 3 y 8 años. Se analizó una posible agregación temporal de casos en el colegio, obteniéndose un riesgo relativo (RR) de 5,01 (p < 0,001). Se aisló el virus en las 4 muestras de vesículas estudiadas y la serología (IgM) fue positiva en los 9 sueros estudiados. El coste total de brote fue de 927,21 e, con una media de 12,53 e por caso, y 205 días de pérdida escolar. Conclusión. Se confirmó la existencia de un brote de varicela en el colegio de la localidad de Herrera del Duque, con transmisión persona a persona, que afectó a niños de entre uno y 9 años. La elevada susceptibilidad del alumnado, las características de la docencia y las reuniones previas a los carnavales tuvieron un papel determinante en la propagación de la epidemia. El coste estimado para este brote se corresponde con un gasto un 76% menor del producido por la vacunación con una dosis de los 75 casos de este brote.S

Engineered nanomaterials: toward effective safety management in research laboratories

It is still unknown which types of nanomaterials and associated doses represent an actual danger to humans and environment. Meanwhile, there is consensus on applying the precautionary principle to these novel materials until more information is available. To deal with the rapid evolution of research, including the fast turnover of collaborators, a user-friendly and easy-to-apply risk assessment tool offering adequate preventive and protective measures has to be provided.Results: Based on new information concerning the hazards of engineered nanomaterials, we improved a previously developed risk assessment tool by following a simple scheme to gain in efficiency. In the first step, using a logical decision tree, one of the three hazard levels, from H1 to H3, is assigned to the nanomaterial. Using a combination of decision trees and matrices, the second step links the hazard with the emission and exposure potential to assign one of the three nanorisk levels (Nano 3 highest risk; Nano 1 lowest risk) to the activity. These operations are repeated at each process step, leading to the laboratory classification. The third step provides detailed preventive and protective measures for the determined level of nanorisk.Conclusions: We developed an adapted simple and intuitive method for nanomaterial risk management in research laboratories. It allows classifying the nanoactivities into three levels, additionally proposing concrete preventive and protective measures and associated actions. This method is a valuable tool for all the participants in nanomaterial safety. The users experience an essential learning opportunity and increase their safety awareness. Laboratory managers have a reliable tool to obtain an overview of the operations involving nanomaterials in their laboratories; this is essential, as they are responsible for the employee safety, but are sometimes unaware of the works performed. Bringing this risk to a three-band scale (like other types of risks such as biological, radiation, chemical, etc.) facilitates the management for occupational health and safety specialists. Institutes and school managers can obtain the necessary information to implement an adequate safety management system. Having an easy-to-use tool enables a dialog between all these partners, whose semantic and priorities in terms of safety are often different

Caso de Rabia canina importada de Marruecos a España. Junio de 2013.

El 5 de junio de 2013, el servicio de epidemiología de Castilla-La Mancha notificó al Centro de Coordinación de Alertas y Emergencias Sanitarias (CCAES) un caso confirmado de rabia en un perro abatido por la policía en la ciudad de Toledo el 1 de junio. El animal había mordido a cuatro niños y un adulto. Uno de los niños requirió hospitalización e ingresó en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos. El Laboratorio Nacional de Referencia para lyssavirus realizó el diagnóstico por inmunofluorescencia, PCR y cultivo celular, así como la secuenciación genómica de la cepa del virus y su comparación con las cepas circulantes en países endémicos. Inmediatamente tras conocerse los resultados, los cuatro niños y el adulto recibieron profilaxis post-exposición con vacuna e inmunoglobulina1 . Las investigaciones preliminares revelaron que el perro había viajado con sus dueños el 22 de mayo desde Cataluña a una pequeña localidad a 10 km de Toledo. Según los dueños, el perro había escapado unos días antes de ser localizado en Toledo. En ese momento existía la sospecha, aún sin confirmar, de que el perro hubiera estado unos meses antes en Marruecos. España (territorio peninsular, Islas Baleares y Canarias) ha estado libre de rabia terrestre desde 1978. Tras recibir la notificación y según lo establecido en el Plan de Contingencia para el control de la rabia en España2 , se constituyó una comisión técnica formada por representantes de la Dirección General de Salud Pública, Calidad e Innovación del Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad (DGSPCI), la Dirección General de Sanidad de la Producción Agrícola y Ganadera del Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (DGSPA), las Comunidades Autónomas afectadas, el Laboratorio Nacional de Referencia de rabia y el Centro Nacional de Epidemiología (CNE). Los objetivos de esta comisión eran coordinar la investigación del suceso, evaluar el riesgo para la salud humana y animal, proponer la activación de los correspondientes niveles de alerta y coordinar la aplicación de las medidas de control apropiadas.N

Pathogen Proteins Eliciting Antibodies Do Not Share Epitopes with Host Proteins: A Bioinformatics Approach

The best way to prevent diseases caused by pathogens is by the use of vaccines. The advent of genomics enables genome-wide searches of new vaccine candidates, called reverse vaccinology. The most common strategy to apply reverse vaccinology is by designing subunit recombinant vaccines, which usually generate an humoral immune response due to B-cell epitopes in proteins. A major problem for this strategy is the identification of protective immunogenic proteins from the surfome of the pathogen. Epitope mimicry may lead to auto-immune phenomena related to several human diseases. A sequence-based computational analysis has been carried out applying the BLASTP algorithm. Therefore, two huge databases have been created, one with the most complete and current linear B-cell epitopes, and the other one with the surface-protein sequences of the main human respiratory bacterial pathogens. We found that none of the 7353 linear B-cell epitopes analysed shares any sequence identity region with human proteins capable of generating antibodies, and that only 1% of the 2175 exposed proteins analysed contain a stretch of shared sequence with the human proteome. These findings suggest the existence of a mechanism to avoid autoimmunity. We also propose a strategy for corroborating or warning about the viability of a protein linear B-cell epitope as a putative vaccine candidate in a reverse vaccinology study; so, epitopes without any sequence identity with human proteins should be very good vaccine candidates, and the other way around

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery