Fiber-optic three axis magnetometer prototype development

The goal of this research program was to develop a high sensitivity, fiber optic, interferometric, three-axis magnetometer for interplanetary spacecraft applications. Dynamics Technology, Inc. (DTI) has successfully integrated a low noise, high bandwidth interferometer with high sensitivity metallic glass transducers. Also, DTI has developed sophisticated signal processing electronics and complete data acquisition, filtering, and display software. The sensor was packaged in a compact, low power and weight unit which facilitates deployment. The magnetic field sensor had subgamma sensitivity and a dynamic range of 10(exp 5) gamma in a 10 Hz bandwidth. Furthermore, the vector instrument exhibited the lowest noise level when only one axis was in operation. A system noise level of 1 gamma rms was observed in a 1 Hz bandwidth. However, with the other two channels operating, the noise level increased by about one order of magnitude. Higher system noise was attributed to cross-channel interference among the dither fields

Cytogenetic studies of early myeloid progenitor compartments in Ph<SUP>1</SUP>- positive chronic myeloid leukemia. II. Long-term culture reveals the persistence of Ph<SUP>1</SUP>-negative progenitors in treated as well as newly diagnosed patients

We recently showed that long-term marrow cultures can be used to demonstrate the presence of Philadelphia (Ph1) negative progenitors in patients with newly diagnosed Ph1-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). We now report results for 6 chronic phase patients studied 5-83 mo postdiagnosis and an additional 3 newly diagnosed patients. Marrow metaphases were exclusively Ph1-positive. Clonogenic assays revealed a minor population of Ph1-negative progenitors in 3 cases (1 treated, 2 untreated). Long-term marrow culture adherent layers contained Ph1- negative progenitors in 6 cases (3 treated, 3 untreated). Whenever this occurred, the Ph1-negative population had become the only one detectable within 3-4 wk, and this was always associated with a rapid decline of the Ph1-positive population. For 2 of the 3 cases where Ph1- negative progenitors were not detected, there was a similar rapid decline in the Ph1-positive population in culture. In the other case, Ph1-positive progenitors were maintained at levels typically seen in normal long-term marrow cultures. These results suggest that chromosomally normal stem cells may persist for a considerable period in the marrow of some, but perhaps not all, patients with CML, even in the face of maintenance chemotherapy. In addition, they provide new evidence of heterogeneity in this disease, as shown by the variable ability of Ph1-positive progenitor populations to be maintained in vitro

PO and ID BCG vaccination in humans induce distinct mucosal and systemic immune responses and CD4(+) T cell transcriptomal molecular signatures.

Protective efficacy of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) may be affected by the methods and routes of vaccine administration. We have studied the safety and immunogenicity of oral (PO) and/or intradermal (ID) administration of BCG in healthy human subjects. No major safety concerns were detected in the 68 healthy adults vaccinated with PO and/or ID BCG. Although both PO and ID BCG could induce systemic Th1 responses capable of IFN-γ production, ID BCG more strongly induced systemic Th1 responses. In contrast, stronger mucosal responses (TB-specific secretory IgA and bronchoalveolar lavage T cells) were induced by PO BCG vaccination. To generate preliminary data comparing the early gene signatures induced by mucosal and systemic BCG vaccination, CD4(+) memory T cells were isolated from subsets of BCG vaccinated subjects pre- (Day 0) and post-vaccination (Days 7 and 56), rested or stimulated with BCG infected dendritic cells, and then studied by Illumina BeadArray transcriptomal analysis. Notably, distinct gene expression profiles were identified both on Day 7 and Day 56 comparing the PO and ID BCG vaccinated groups by GSEA analysis. Future correlation analyses between specific gene expression patterns and distinct mucosal and systemic immune responses induced will be highly informative for TB vaccine development.Mucosal Immunology advance online publication 30 August 2017; doi:10.1038/mi.2017.67

From kitchen to classroom: Assessing the impact of cleaner burning biomass-fuelled cookstoves on primary school attendance in Karonga district, northern Malawi

Household air pollution from burning solid fuels is responsible for an estimated 2.9 million premature deaths worldwide each year and 4.5% of global disability-adjusted life years, while cooking and fuel collection pose a considerable time burden, particularly for women and children. Cleaner burning biomass-fuelled cookstoves have the potential to lower exposure to household air pollution as well as reduce fuelwood demand by increasing the combustion efficiency of cooking fires, which may in turn yield ancillary benefits in other domains. The present paper capitalises on opportunities offered by the Cooking and Pneumonia Study (CAPS), the largest randomised trial of biomass-fuelled cookstoves on health outcomes conducted to date, the design of which allows for the evaluation of additional outcomes at scale. This mixed methods study assesses the impact of cookstoves on primary school absenteeism in Karonga district, northern Malawi, in particular by conferring health and time and resource gains on young people aged 5–18. The analysis combines quantitative data from 6168 primary school students with in-depth interviews and focus group discussions carried out among 48 students in the same catchment area in 2016. Negative binomial regression models find no evidence that the cookstoves affected primary school absenteeism overall [IRR 0.92 (0.71–1.18), p = 0.51]. Qualitative analysis suggests that the cookstoves did not sufficiently improve household health to influence school attendance, while the time and resource burdens associated with cooking activities—although reduced in intervention households—were considered to be compatible with school attendance in both trial arms. More research is needed to assess whether the cookstoves influenced educational outcomes not captured by the attendance measure available, such as timely arrival to school or hours spent on homework

Vulnerability from storm surges and cyclone wind fields on the coast of Andhra Pradesh, India

The results presented here are from a study conducted for the government of the state of Andhra Pradesh (GOAP) in India, as part of a World Bank project on cyclone mitigation. A set of detailed maps were prepared depicting the Physical Vulnerability (PV), specifically storm surge inundation zones are shown for frequent occurrence, 50-year return period, likely scenario for global warming and extreme global warming. Similarly vulnerable areas from strong wind field from tropical cyclones (TCS) are also presented for the same four parameters. Vulnerability zones are presented from a social point of view also based upon certain socio-economic parameters that were included in determining the overall vulnerability of each Mandal in a coastal district (a Mandal represents a group of villages and towns) include: population, senior citizens, women, children under different age groups, type of housing, income level, cyclone shelters, hospitals and medical centres, schools and caste based population. The study is about scenarios that could happen if global warming and the predicted intensification of TCS actually occur as predicted by some numerical models

Complex microwave conductivity of Na-DNA powders

We report the complex microwave conductivity, $\sigma=\sigma_1-i\sigma_2$, of Na-DNA powders, which was measured from 80 K to 300 K by using a microwave cavity perturbation technique. We found that the magnitude of $\sigma_1$ near room temperature was much larger than the contribution of the surrounding water molecules, and that the decrease of $\sigma_1$ with decreasing temperature was sufficiently stronger than that of the conduction of counterions. These results clearly suggest that the electrical conduction of Na-DNA is intrinsically semiconductive.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure