Stability, resolution, and ultra-low wear amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy of DNA: Small amplitude small set-point imaging

A way to operate fundamental mode amplitude modulation atomic force microscopy is introduced which optimizes stability and resolution for a given tip size and shows negligible tip wear over extended time periods (∼24 h). In small amplitude small set-point (SASS) imaging, the cantilever oscillates with sub-nanometer amplitudes in the proximity of the sample, without the requirement of using large drive forces, as the dynamics smoothly lead the tip to the surface through the water layer. SASS is demonstrated on single molecules of double-stranded DNA in ambient conditions where sharp silicon tips (R ∼ 2-5 nm) can resolve the right-handed double helix

A randomised controlled trial and cost-consequence analysis of traditional and digital foot orthoses supply chains in a National Health Service setting : application to feet at risk of diabetic plantar ulceration

Background: Diabetic foot ulceration is a considerable cost to the NHS and foot orthotic provision is a core strategy for the management of the people with diabetes and a moderate to high risk of foot ulceration. The traditional process to produce a custom-made foot orthotic device is to use manual casting of foot shape and physical moulding of orthoses materials. Parts of this process can be undertaken using digital tools rather than manual processes with potential advantages. The aim of this trial was to provide the first comparison of a traditional orthoses supply chain to a digital supply chain over a 6 month period. The trial used plantar pressure, health status, and health service time and cost data to compare the two supply chains. Methods: 57 participants with diabetes were randomly allocated to each supply chain. Plantar pressure data and health status (EQ5D, ICECAP) was assessed at point of supply and at sixmonths. The costs for orthoses and clinical services accessed by participants were assessed over the 6 months of the trial. Primary outcomes were: reduction in peak plantar pressure at the site of highest pressure, assessed for non-inferiority to current care. Secondary outcomes were: reduction in plantar pressure at foot regions identified as at risk (>200kPa), costconsequence analysis (supply chain, clinician time, service use) and health status. Results: At point of supply pressure reduction for the digital supply chain was non-inferior to a predefined margin and superior (p<0.1) to the traditional supply chain, but both supply chains were inferior to the margin after six months. Custom-made orthoses significantly reduced pressure for at risk regions compared to a flat control (traditional -13.85%, digital -20.52%). The digital supply chain was more expensive (+£13.17) and required more clinician time (+35minutes). There were no significant differences in health status or service use between supply chains. Conclusions: Custom made foot orthoses reduce pressure as expected. Given some assumptions about the cost models we used, the supply chain process adopted to produce the orthoses seems to have marginal impact on overall costs and health status. Trial Registration: retrospectively registered on ISRCTN registry (ISRCTN10978940, 04/11/2015). Key Words: Foot Orthotic, Biomechanics, Diabetes, Plantar Pressure, Cost, Health Economics, Supply Chai

Sequential action of JNK genes establishes the embryonic left-right axis

\ua9 2022. Published by The Company of Biologists LtdThe establishment of the left-right axis is crucial for the placement, morphogenesis and function of internal organs. Left-right specification is proposed to be dependent on cilia-driven fluid flow in the embryonic node. Planar cell polarity (PCP) signalling is crucial for patterning of nodal cilia, yet downstream effectors driving this process remain elusive. We have examined the role of the JNK gene family, a proposed downstream component of PCP signalling, in the development and function of the zebrafish node. We show jnk1 and jnk2 specify length of nodal cilia, generate flow in the node and restrict southpaw to the left lateral plate mesoderm. Moreover, loss of asymmetric southpaw expression does not result in disturbances to asymmetric organ placement, supporting a model in which nodal flow may be dispensable for organ laterality. Later, jnk3 is required to restrict pitx2c expression to the left side and permit correct endodermal organ placement. This work uncovers multiple roles for the JNK gene family acting at different points during left-right axis establishment. It highlights extensive redundancy and indicates JNK activity is distinct from the PCP signalling pathway

The role of surface oxidation and Fe-Ni synergy in Fe-Ni-S catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation.

Increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, resulting in climate change, have driven the motivation to achieve the effective and sustainable conversion of CO2 into useful chemicals and fuels. Taking inspiration from biological processes, synthetic iron-nickel-sulfides have been proposed as suitable catalysts for the hydrogenation of CO2. In order to experimentally validate this hypothesis, here we report violarite (Fe,Ni)3S4 as a cheap and economically viable catalyst for the hydrogenation of CO2 into formate under mild, alkaline conditions at 125 °C and 20 bar (CO2 : H2 = 1 : 1). Calcination of violarite at 200 °C resulted in excellent catalytic activity, far superior to that of Fe-only and Ni-only sulfides. We further report first principles simulations of the CO2 conversion on the partially oxidised (001) and (111) surfaces of stoichiometric violarite (FeNi2S4) and polydymite (Ni3S4) to rationalise the experimentally observed trends. We have obtained the thermodynamic and kinetic profiles for the reaction of carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) on the catalyst surfaces via substitution and dissociation mechanisms. We report that the partially oxidised (111) surface of FeNi2S4 is the best catalyst in the series and that the dissociation mechanism is the most favourable. Our study reveals that the partial oxidation of the FeNi2S4 surface, as well as the synergy of the Fe and Ni ions, are important in the catalytic activity of the material for the effective hydrogenation of CO2 to formate

To explore or to exploit? Learning humans' behaviour to maximize interactions with them

Assume a robot operating in a public space (e.g., a library, a museum) and serving visitors as a companion, a guide or an information stand. To do that, the robot has to interact with humans, which presumes that it actively searches for humans in order to interact with them. This paper addresses the problem how to plan robot's actions in order to maximize the number of such interactions in the case human behavior is not known in advance. We formulate this problem as the exploration/exploitation problem and design several strategies for the robot. The main contribution of the paper than lies in evaluation and comparison of the designed strategies on two datasets. The evaluation shows interesting properties of the strategies, which are discussed

Informática em enfermagem: desenvolvimento de software livre com aplicação assistencial e gerencial

O presente estudo teve como objetivo desenvolver um sistema de informação em enfermagem com aplicação na assistência de enfermagem e no gerenciamento do serviço. O SisEnf - Sistema de Informação em Enfermagem - é um software livre composto pelo módulo assistencial de enfermagem: histórico, exame clínico e plano de cuidados; o módulo gerencial compõe-se de: escala de serviço, gestão de pessoal, indicadores hospitalares e outros elementos. O sistema foi implementado na Clínica Médica do Hospital Universitário Lauro Wanderley, da Universidade Federal da Paraíba. Tendo em vista a necessidade de aproximação entre usuário e desenvolvedor, e a constante mudança de requisitos funcionais durante o processo iterativo, foi adotado o método do processo unificado. O SisEnf foi desenvolvido sobre plataforma WEB e com emprego de software livre. Portanto, o trabalho desenvolvido procurou auxiliar o processo de trabalho da enfermagem que agora terá oportunidade de incorporar a tecnologia da informação na sua rotina de trabalho.El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo desarrollar un sistema de información de enfermería con aplicación en la atención y en el gerenciamiento del servicio. El SisEnf -Sistema de Información en Enfermería- es un software libre compuesto por: a) el módulo asistencial de enfermería: historias clínicas, exámenes clínicos y plan de atención; y b) el módulo de gerenciamiento, que se compone de: escala de servicio, gestión de personal, indicadores hospitalarios y otros elementos. El sistema se puso en práctica en Clínica Médica en el Hospital Universitario Lauro Wanderley de la Universidad Federal de Paraíba. En vista de la necesidad de aproximación entre usuarios y desarrolladores y del cambio constante de las necesidades funcionales durante el proceso iterativo, fue adoptado el método de proceso unificado. El SisEnf fue desarrollado sobre una plataforma WEB con empleo de software libre. En conclusión, el trabajo desarrollado procura brindar auxilio en el proceso de trabajo de enfermería, que ahora tendrá la oportunidad de incorporar a la tecnología de la información en su rutina de trabajo.This study aimed at developing an information system in nursing with the implementation of nursing care and management of the service. The SisEnf - Information System in Nursing - is a free software module that comprises the care of nursing: history, clinical examination and care plan; the management module consists of: service shifts, personnel management, hospital indicators and other elements. The system was implemented at the Medical Clinic of the Lauro Wanderley University Hospital, at Universidade Federal da Paraiba. In view of the need to bring user and developer closer, in addition to the constant change of functional requirements during the interactive process, the method of unified process was used. The SisEnf was developed on a WEB platform and using free software. Hence, the work developed aimed at assisting in the working process of nursing, which will now have the opportunity to incorporate information technology in their work routine

Chimpanzees do not take into account what others can hear in a competitive situation

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) know what others can and cannot see in a competitive situation. Does this reflect a general understanding the perceptions of others? In a study by Hare et al. (2000) pairs of chimpanzees competed over two pieces of food. Subordinate individuals preferred to approach food that was behind a barrier that the dominant could not see, suggesting that chimpanzees can take the visual perspective of others. We extended this paradigm to the auditory modality to investigate whether chimpanzees are sensitive to whether a competitor can hear food rewards being hidden. Results suggested that the chimpanzees did not take what the competitor had heard into account, despite being able to locate the hiding place themselves by the noise

Learning and innovative elements of strategy adoption rules expand cooperative network topologies

Cooperation plays a key role in the evolution of complex systems. However, the level of cooperation extensively varies with the topology of agent networks in the widely used models of repeated games. Here we show that cooperation remains rather stable by applying the reinforcement learning strategy adoption rule, Q-learning on a variety of random, regular, small-word, scale-free and modular network models in repeated, multi-agent Prisoners Dilemma and Hawk-Dove games. Furthermore, we found that using the above model systems other long-term learning strategy adoption rules also promote cooperation, while introducing a low level of noise (as a model of innovation) to the strategy adoption rules makes the level of cooperation less dependent on the actual network topology. Our results demonstrate that long-term learning and random elements in the strategy adoption rules, when acting together, extend the range of network topologies enabling the development of cooperation at a wider range of costs and temptations. These results suggest that a balanced duo of learning and innovation may help to preserve cooperation during the re-organization of real-world networks, and may play a prominent role in the evolution of self-organizing, complex systems.Comment: 14 pages, 3 Figures + a Supplementary Material with 25 pages, 3 Tables, 12 Figures and 116 reference

Metal accumulation in the tissues and shells of the Rapanine Whelk Indothais gradata along an acidified estuarine gradient

Human ImpactsPoster presentation: P-74Acidification of estuaries results from microbial CO2 generation, acid sulphate groundwater discharge, and anthropogenic activities, in the context of weak buffering potential of hyposaline waters. The resulting acidification introduces an additional yet poorly studied factor influencing the ecology and distributions of biological populations and species. Furthermore, it has a complex influence on estuarine chemistry, including altering the speciation of metals and potentially their availability to the biotic component. With the aim of providing baseline information for metal accumulation in the shells and tissues of organisms inhabiting acidified turbid tropical Asian estuaries, we studied the rapanine whelk Indothais gradata from the mineral-acidified Sungai ...postprin