From working in the wheat field to managing wheat: women innovators in Nepal

This article presents research conducted in Nepal’s Terai plains in 2014-15 showing that women are innovating in wheat to the extent that wheat farming is experiencing a shift from feminization of agricultural labor towards women taking control over decision making. Processes accounting for this include male out-migration, non-governmental organizations working on promoting women’s equality that has developed women’s confidence, individual support from extension agents, and strong cooperation between women to foster each other’s “innovation journeys.

Impact of routine cryptococcal antigen screening and targeted pre-emptive fluconazole therapy in antiretroviral naive HIV-infected adults with less than 100 CD4 cells/μL: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) screening and targeted pre-emptive fluconazole in antiretroviral naive HIV-infected adults with less than 100 CD4 cells/μL seems promising to reduce the burden of cryptococcal meningitis (CM). We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science and used random-effect meta-analysis to assess the prevalence of blood CrAg-positivity (31 studies; 35,644 participants) and asymptomatic CM in CrAg-positives, incidence of CM and all-cause mortality in screened participants. Pooled prevalence of blood CrAg-positivity was 6% (95%CI: 5 - 7) and asymptomatic CM in CrAg-positives was 33% (95%CI: 21 - 45). Incidence of CM without pre-emptive fluconazole was 21.4% (95%CI: 11.6 - 34.4) and 5.7% (95%CI: 3.0 - 9.7) with pre-emptive fluconazole initiated at 800 mg/day. In CrAg-positives, post-screening lumbar puncture prior to initiating pre-emptive fluconazole at 800 mg/day further reduced incidence of CM to null and showed some survival benefits. However, all-cause mortality remained significantly higher in CrAg-positives than CrAg-negatives: RR: 2.2 (95%CI: 1.7 - 2.9, p<0.001)

Pneumatic compression devices for in-home management of lymphedema: two case reports

The two patients in this case series had experienced long-term difficulty controlling lymphedema at home. Both patients had used numerous home therapies, including older-generation intermittent pneumatic compression devices, without success. The Flexitouch® system, an advanced pneumatic device, was prescribed to assist them with in-home efforts by providing therapy to their affected limbs in addition to the lower trunk area for the patient with lymphedema of the lower extremity; and the trunk, chest wall, and shoulder areas for the patient with lymphedema of the upper extremity. Both patients achieved successful home maintenance of lymphedema, as judged by limb volume, clinical observations, and subjective patient impressions, after incorporating the Flexitouch® system. Neither patient experienced the deleterious effects (worsening genital edema; fibrotic cuff development) that they had experienced with the older-generation intermittent pneumatic compression devices they had previously used. Incorporating the Flexitouch® system as part of maintenance may improve success for lymphedema patients who have previously struggled with in-home management

Internal and external cooling methods and their effect on body temperature, thermal perception and dexterity

© 2018 The Authors. Published by PLOS. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence. The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191416© 2018 Maley et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Objective The present study aimed to compare a range of cooling methods possibly utilised by occupational workers, focusing on their effect on body temperature, perception and manual dexterity. Methods Ten male participants completed eight trials involving 30 min of seated rest followed by 30 min of cooling or control of no cooling (CON) (34C, 58% relative humidity). The cooling methods utilised were: ice cooling vest (CV0), phase change cooling vest melting at 14C (CV14), evaporative cooling vest (CVEV), arm immersion in 10C water (AI), portable water-perfused suit (WPS), heliox inhalation (HE) and ice slushy ingestion (SL). Immediately before and after cooling, participants were assessed for fine (Purdue pegboard task) and gross (grip and pinch strength) manual dexterity. Rectal and skin temperature, as well as thermal sensation and comfort, were monitored throughout. Results Compared with CON, SL was the only method to reduce rectal temperature (P = 0.012). All externally applied cooling methods reduced skin temperature (P0.05). Conclusion The present study observed that ice ingestion or ice applied to the skin produced the greatest effect on rectal and skin temperature, respectively. AI should not be utilised if workers require subsequent fine manual dexterity. These results will help inform future studies investigating appropriate pre-cooling methods for the occupational worker.This project is financially supported by the US Government through the Technical Support Working Group within the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office.Published versio

A novel isolator-based system promotes viability of human embryos during laboratory processing

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) and related technologies are arguably the most challenging of all cell culture applications. The starting material is a single cell from which one aims to produce an embryo capable of establishing a pregnancy eventually leading to a live birth. Laboratory processing during IVF treatment requires open manipulations of gametes and embryos, which typically involves exposure to ambient conditions. To reduce the risk of cellular stress, we have developed a totally enclosed system of interlinked isolator-based workstations designed to maintain oocytes and embryos in a physiological environment throughout the IVF process. Comparison of clinical and laboratory data before and after the introduction of the new system revealed that significantly more embryos developed to the blastocyst stage in the enclosed isolator-based system compared with conventional open-fronted laminar flow hoods. Moreover, blastocysts produced in the isolator-based system contained significantly more cells and their development was accelerated. Consistent with this, the introduction of the enclosed system was accompanied by a significant increase in the clinical pregnancy rate and in the proportion of embryos implanting following transfer to the uterus. The data indicate that protection from ambient conditions promotes improved development of human embryos. Importantly, we found that it was entirely feasible to conduct all IVF-related procedures in the isolator-based workstations

Exploring the Universe with Metal-Poor Stars

The early chemical evolution of the Galaxy and the Universe is vital to our understanding of a host of astrophysical phenomena. Since the most metal-poor Galactic stars (with metallicities down to [Fe/H]\sim-5.5) are relics from the high-redshift Universe, they probe the chemical and dynamical conditions of the Milky Way and the origin and evolution of the elements through nucleosynthesis. They also provide constraints on the nature of the first stars, their associated supernovae and initial mass function, and early star and galaxy formation. The Milky Way's dwarf satellites contain a large fraction (~30%) of the known most metal-poor stars that have chemical abundances that closely resemble those of equivalent halo stars. This suggests that chemical evolution may be universal, at least at early times, and that it is driven by massive, energetic SNe. Some of these surviving, ultra-faint systems may show the signature of just one such PopIII star; they may even be surviving first galaxies. Early analogs of the surviving dwarfs may thus have played an important role in the assembly of the old Galactic halo whose formation can now be studied with stellar chemistry. Following the cosmic evolution of small halos in simulations of structure formation enables tracing the cosmological origin of the most metal-poor stars in the halo and dwarf galaxies. Together with future observations and additional modeling, many of these issues, including the reionization history of the Milky Way, may be constrained this way. The chapter concludes with an outlook about upcoming observational challenges and ways forward is to use metal-poor stars to constrain theoretical studies.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figures. Book chapter to appear in "The First Galaxies - Theoretical Predictions and Observational Clues", 2012 by Springer, eds. V. Bromm, B. Mobasher, T. Wiklin

Sparsity-based single-shot sub-wavelength coherent diffractive imaging

We present the experimental reconstruction of sub-wavelength features from the far-field intensity of sparse optical objects: sparsity-based sub-wavelength imaging combined with phase-retrieval. As examples, we demonstrate the recovery of random and ordered arrangements of 100 nm features with the resolution of 30 nm, with an illuminating wavelength of 532 nm. Our algorithmic technique relies on minimizing the number of degrees of freedom; it works in real-time, requires no scanning, and can be implemented in all existing microscopes - optical and non-optical

Socio-cognitive scaffolding with collaboration scripts: a meta-analysis

Scripts for computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) offer socio-cognitive scaffolding for learners to engage in collaborative activities that are considered beneficial for learning. Yet, CSCL scripts are often criticized for hampering naturally emerging collaboration. Research on the effectiveness of CSCL scripts has shown divergent results. This article reports a meta-analysis about the effects of CSCL scripts on domain-specific knowledge and collaboration skills. Results indicate that CSCL scripts as a kind of socio-cognitive scaffolding can enhance learning outcomes substantially. Learning with CSCL scripts leads to a small positive effect on domain-specific knowledge (d = 0.20) and a large positive effect on collaboration skills (d = 0.95) compared to unstructured CSCL. Further analyses reveal that CSCL scripts are particularly effective for domain-specific learning when they prompt transactive activities (i.e., activities in which a learner’s reasoning builds on the contribution of a learning partner) and when they are combined with additional content-specific scaffolding (worked examples, concept maps, etc.). Future research on CSCL scripts should include measures of learners’ internal scripts (i.e., prior collaboration skills) and the transactivity of the actual learning process

Comprehensive Analysis of Leukocytes, Vascularization and Matrix Metalloproteinases in Human Menstrual Xenograft Model

In our previous study, menstrual-like changes in mouse were provoked through the pharmacologic withdrawal of progesterone with mifepristone following induction of decidualization. However, mouse is not a natural menstruation animal, and the menstruation model using external stimuli may not truly reflect the occurrence and development of the human menstrual process. Therefore, we established a model of menstruation based on human endometrial xenotransplantation. In this model, human endometrial tissues were transplanted subcutaneously into SCID mice that were ovarectomized and supplemented with estrogen and progestogen by silastic implants with a scheme imitating the endocrinological milieu of human menstrual cycle. Morphology, hormone levels, and expression of vimentin and cytokeratin markers were evaluated to confirm the menstrual-like changes in this model. With 28 days of hormone treatment, transplanted human endometrium survived and underwent proliferation, differentiation and disintegration, similar to human endometrium in vivo. Human CD45+ cells showed a peak of increase 28 days post-transplantation. Three days after progesterone withdrawal, mouse CD45+ cells increased rapidly in number and were significantly greater than human CD45+ cell counts. Mouse CD31+ blood vascular-like structures were detected in both transplanted and host tissues. After progesterone withdrawal, the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 1, 2, and 9 were increased. In summary, we successfully established a human endometrial xenotransplantation model in SCID mice, based on the results of menstrual-like changes in which MMP-1, 2 and 9 are involved. We showed that leukocytes are originated from in situ proliferation in human xenografts and involved in the occurrence of menstruation. This model will help to further understand the occurrence, growth, and differentiation of the endometrium and the underlying mechanisms of menstruation