Evidence Of Chemotaxis By Quantitative Measurement Of The Force Vectors Of Trypanossoma Cruzi In The Vicinity Of The Rhodnius Prolixus Midgut Wall Cell

In this work we used a methodology to study chemotaxis of Trypanossoma cruzi (T. Cruzi) in real time using an Optical Tweezers system. Trapped beads were used as a force transducer for measuring forces of the same order of magnitude as typical forces induced by flagellar motion. Optical Tweezers allowed real time measurements of the force vectors, strength and direction, of living parasites under chemical or other kinds of gradients. This seems to be the ideal tool to perform observations of taxis response of cells and microorganisms with high sensitivity to capture instantaneous responses to a given stimulus. We applied this methodology to investigate the T. cruzi under distinct situations: the parasite alone and in the presence of its insect-vector Rhodnius prolixus (R. prolixus). © 2009 SPIE.7400http://www.who.int/tdr/diseases/chagas/diseaseinfo.htmlAnna, B., Carole, A.P., Eukaryotic chemotaxis at a glance (2008) J. Cell Science, 121, pp. 2621-2624Laszlo, K., Chemotaxis: The proper physiological response to evaluate phylogeny of signal molecules (1999) Acta Biol Hung, 50, pp. 375-394Law, A.M.J., Aitken, M.D., Continuous-flow capillary assay for measuring bacterial chemotaxis (2005) Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 71, pp. 3137-3143Khan, S., Jain, S., Reid, G.P., Trentham, D.R., The fast tumble signal in bacterial chemotaxis (2004) Biophys. J., 86, pp. 4049-4058Neuman, K.C., Chadd, E.H., Liou, G.F., Bergman, K., Block, S.M., Characterization of photodamage to escherichia coli in optical traps (1999) Biophys. J., 77, pp. 2856-2863Bleul, C.C., Farzan, M., Choe, H., Parolin, C., Clark-Lewis, I., Sodroski, J., Springer, T.A., The lymphocyte chemoattractant SDF-1 is a ligand for LESTR/fusin and blocks HIV-1 entry (1996) Nature, 382 (6594), pp. 829-833. , DOI 10.1038/382829a0Nagasawa, T., Hirota, S., Tachibana, K., Takakura, N., Nishikawa, S., Kitamura, Y., Yoshida, N., Kishimoto, T., Defects of B-cell lymphopoiesis and bone-marrow myelopoiesis in mice lacking the CXC chemokine PBSF/SDF- 1 (1996) Nature, 382, pp. 635-638Nelson, R.D., Quie, P.G., Simmons, R.L., Spontaneous migration of human polymorphonuclear leukocytes and monocytes, chemotaxis under agarose-new and simple method for measuring chemotaxis and (1975) J. Immunol., 115, pp. 1650-1656Blair, D.F., How bacteria sense and swim (1999) Annu. Rev. Microbiol, 49, pp. 489-522Rao, C.V., Glekas, G.D., Ordal, G.W., The three adaptation systems of bacillus subtilis chemotaxis (2008) Trends Microbiol, 16, pp. 480-487Barros, V.C., Oliveira, J.S., Melo, M.N., Gontijo, N.F., Leishmania amazonensis: Chemotaxic and osmotaxic responses in promastigotes and their probable role in development in the phlebotomine gut (2006) Exp. Parasitol., 112, pp. 152-157Pfeffer, W., (1888) Unters. Botan. Inst., 2, pp. 582-661. , TubingenAdler, J., A method for measuring chemotaxis and use of the method to determine optimum conditions for chemotaxis by escherichia coli (1973) J. Gen. Microbiol., 74, pp. 77-91Alves, C.R., Albuquerque-Cunha, J.M., Mello, C.B., Nogueira, E.S.G.D.N.F., Bourguingnon, S.C., Souza, W.D., Azambuja, P., Gonzalez, M.S., Trypanosoma cruzi: Attachment to perimicrovillar membrane glycoproteins of rhodnius prolixus (2007) Experimental Parasitology, 116, pp. 44-52Fontes, A., Giorgio, S., De Castro Jr., A.B., Neto, V.M., De Pozzo, L.Y., Marques, G.P., Barbosa, L.C., Cesar, C.L., Determination of Femto Newton forces and fluid viscosity using optical tweezers - Application to Leishmania amazonensis (2005) Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE, 5699, pp. 419-425. , DOI 10.1117/12.586427, 59, Imaging, Manipulation, and Analysis of Biomolecules and Cells: Fundamentals and Applications II

Age at first birth in women is genetically associated with increased risk of schizophrenia

Prof. Paunio on PGC:n jäsenPrevious studies have shown an increased risk for mental health problems in children born to both younger and older parents compared to children of average-aged parents. We previously used a novel design to reveal a latent mechanism of genetic association between schizophrenia and age at first birth in women (AFB). Here, we use independent data from the UK Biobank (N = 38,892) to replicate the finding of an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women, and to estimate the genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in women stratified into younger and older groups. We find evidence for an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women (P-value = 1.12E-05), and we show genetic heterogeneity between younger and older AFB groups (P-value = 3.45E-03). The genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in the younger AFB group is -0.16 (SE = 0.04) while that between schizophrenia and AFB in the older AFB group is 0.14 (SE = 0.08). Our results suggest that early, and perhaps also late, age at first birth in women is associated with increased genetic risk for schizophrenia in the UK Biobank sample. These findings contribute new insights into factors contributing to the complex bio-social risk architecture underpinning the association between parental age and offspring mental health.Peer reviewe

Search for jet extinction in the inclusive jet-pT spectrum from proton-proton collisions at s=8 TeV

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published articles title, journal citation, and DOI.The first search at the LHC for the extinction of QCD jet production is presented, using data collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 10.7  fb−1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The extinction model studied in this analysis is motivated by the search for signatures of strong gravity at the TeV scale (terascale gravity) and assumes the existence of string couplings in the strong-coupling limit. In this limit, the string model predicts the suppression of all high-transverse-momentum standard model processes, including jet production, beyond a certain energy scale. To test this prediction, the measured transverse-momentum spectrum is compared to the theoretical prediction of the standard model. No significant deficit of events is found at high transverse momentum. A 95% confidence level lower limit of 3.3 TeV is set on the extinction mass scale

Searches for electroweak neutralino and chargino production in channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons in pp collisions at 8 TeV

Searches for supersymmetry (SUSY) are presented based on the electroweak pair production of neutralinos and charginos, leading to decay channels with Higgs, Z, and W bosons and undetected lightest SUSY particles (LSPs). The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of about 19.5 fb(-1) of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected in 2012 with the CMS detector at the LHC. The main emphasis is neutralino pair production in which each neutralino decays either to a Higgs boson (h) and an LSP or to a Z boson and an LSP, leading to hh, hZ, and ZZ states with missing transverse energy (E-T(miss)). A second aspect is chargino-neutralino pair production, leading to hW states with E-T(miss). The decays of a Higgs boson to a bottom-quark pair, to a photon pair, and to final states with leptons are considered in conjunction with hadronic and leptonic decay modes of the Z and W bosons. No evidence is found for supersymmetric particles, and 95% confidence level upper limits are evaluated for the respective pair production cross sections and for neutralino and chargino mass values

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale. Objectives: To report the retinoblastoma stage at diagnosis in patients across the world during a single year, to investigate associations between clinical variables and national income level, and to investigate risk factors for advanced disease at diagnosis. Design, Setting, and Participants: A total of 278 retinoblastoma treatment centers were recruited from June 2017 through December 2018 to participate in a cross-sectional analysis of treatment-naive patients with retinoblastoma who were diagnosed in 2017. Main Outcomes and Measures: Age at presentation, proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, and tumor stage and metastasis. Results: The cohort included 4351 new patients from 153 countries; the median age at diagnosis was 30.5 (interquartile range, 18.3-45.9) months, and 1976 patients (45.4) were female. Most patients (n = 3685 84.7%) were from low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Globally, the most common indication for referral was leukocoria (n = 2638 62.8%), followed by strabismus (n = 429 10.2%) and proptosis (n = 309 7.4%). Patients from high-income countries (HICs) were diagnosed at a median age of 14.1 months, with 656 of 666 (98.5%) patients having intraocular retinoblastoma and 2 (0.3%) having metastasis. Patients from low-income countries were diagnosed at a median age of 30.5 months, with 256 of 521 (49.1%) having extraocular retinoblastoma and 94 of 498 (18.9%) having metastasis. Lower national income level was associated with older presentation age, higher proportion of locally advanced disease and distant metastasis, and smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma. Advanced disease at diagnosis was more common in LMICs even after adjusting for age (odds ratio for low-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 17.92 95% CI, 12.94-24.80, and for lower-middle-income countries vs upper-middle-income countries and HICs, 5.74 95% CI, 4.30-7.68). Conclusions and Relevance: This study is estimated to have included more than half of all new retinoblastoma cases worldwide in 2017. Children from LMICs, where the main global retinoblastoma burden lies, presented at an older age with more advanced disease and demonstrated a smaller proportion of familial history of retinoblastoma, likely because many do not reach a childbearing age. Given that retinoblastoma is curable, these data are concerning and mandate intervention at national and international levels. Further studies are needed to investigate factors, other than age at presentation, that may be associated with advanced disease in LMICs. © 2020 American Medical Association. All rights reserved

Installation alignment of a multi-beam ICF target illumination system

Target illumination systems for inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments require precise alignment of a multitude of mirrors, usually spherically arranged around the ICF target. The mechanical support structure for these mirrors generally consists of a large space frame with many voids. This makes direct alignment or boresighting impossible, since alignment instruments and references cannot be placed at the coordinate centers representing the mirror arrays or focal points. Nevertheless, the structural members must be accurately aligned during the assembly phase, to provide the focusing precision required by the completed illumination system. This paper describes the techniques used to assemble and align the Antares Laser space frame where a total of 48 mirrors fold and focus 24 laser beams onto the ICF target, within a 7.3 meter space frame. The alignment procedures described use optical tooling and test techniques supplemented by surveying instruments and auxiliary devices, as required by the unique geometry of the space frame

Shock compression of polyurethane foams

Several shock studies have been made on polyurethane materials, both fully dense and distended in the form of foams. However, there is a lack of shock data between the densities of 0.321 and 1.264g/cm3 (fully dense). We present here data obtained from two different types of shock experiments at densities of 0.35, 0.5, 0.68, 0.78, and 0.9g/cm3 in order to fill in the density deficiencies and make it easier to develop an unreacted equation of state (EOS) for polyurethane as a function of density. A thermodynamically consistent EOS was developed, based on the Helmholtz free energy, and was used to predict the shock properties of polyurethane materials at densities from 1.264 to 0.348g/cm3. These estimates are compared to the available data. The data match quite close to the predictions and provide a basis for calculating polyurethane foam shock processes. Chemical reaction has been observed at relatively high pressure (21.7 GPa) in fully dense polyurethane in an earlier study, and the equation of state presented here is representative of the unreacted polyurethane foam. Lowering the density is expected to drop the shock pressure for chemical reaction, yet there is not enough data to address the low density shock reaction thresholds in this study

Shock compression of polyurethane foams

Several shock studies have been made on polyurethane materials, both fully dense and distended in the form of foams. However, there is a lack of shock data between the densities of 0.321 and 1.264g/cm3 (fully dense). We present here data obtained from two different types of shock experiments at densities of 0.35, 0.5, 0.68, 0.78, and 0.9g/cm3 in order to fill in the density deficiencies and make it easier to develop an unreacted equation of state (EOS) for polyurethane as a function of density. A thermodynamically consistent EOS was developed, based on the Helmholtz free energy, and was used to predict the shock properties of polyurethane materials at densities from 1.264 to 0.348g/cm3. These estimates are compared to the available data. The data match quite close to the predictions and provide a basis for calculating polyurethane foam shock processes. Chemical reaction has been observed at relatively high pressure (21.7 GPa) in fully dense polyurethane in an earlier study, and the equation of state presented here is representative of the unreacted polyurethane foam. Lowering the density is expected to drop the shock pressure for chemical reaction, yet there is not enough data to address the low density shock reaction thresholds in this study

Flyer Velocity Characteristics of the Laser-Driven Miniflyer System

The laser-driven MiniFlyer system is used to launch a small, thin flyer plate for impact on a target. Consequently, it is an indirect drive technique that de-couples the shock from the laser beam profile. The flyer velocity can be controlled by adjustment of the laser energy. The upper limits on the flyer velocity involve the ability of the substrate window to transmit the laser light without absorbing, reflecting, etc.; i.e., a maximum amount of laser energy is directly converted into kinetic energy of the flyer plate. We have investigated the use of sapphire, quartz, and BK-7 glass as substrate windows. In the past, a particular type of sapphire has been used for nearly all MiniFlyer experiments. Results of this study in terms of the performance of these window materials, based on flyer velocity, are discussed

Explanation oriented retrieval

Abstract. This paper is based on the observation that the nearest neighbour in a case-based prediction system may not be the best case to explain a prediction. This observation is based on the notion of a decision surface (i.e. class boundary) and the idea that cases located between the target case and the decision surface are more convincing as support for explanation. This motivates the idea of explanation utility, a metric that may be different to the similarity metric used for nearest neighbour retrieval. In this paper we present an explanation utility framework and present detailed examples of how it is used in two medical decision-support tasks. These examples show how this notion of explanation utility sometimes select cases other than the nearest neighbour for use in explanation and how these cases are more convincing as explanations.