CD4 cell isolation from blood using finger-actuated on-chip magnetophoresis for rapid HIV/AIDS diagnostics

With timely diagnosis and correct treatment, people living with HIV/AIDS can consider the disease as a chronic rather than a terminal illness. Still, in regions were HIV is endemic, rapid diagnosis is a challenge due to the complexity of the instrumentation required, the poor infrastructure in these countries, as well as the technical expertise required to carry out the diagnosis. This paper presents a microfluidic chip based approach allowing semi-quantitative CD4+ cell coun¬ting on a cheap, rapid, highly portable and instrumentation-free Point-of-Care HIV diagnostic device. Flow is driven by finger-pressing a flexible reservoir, and the target cells are immobilized through magnetophoresis. The fluidic test completes within ca. 30 seconds of sample application to the chip

Highly scalable combinatorial mixing of samples with target-specific primers for rapid pathogen detection on a centrifugal platform

In application areas such as crop genotyping, plant diagnostics, pharmaceuticals and forensics, screening a large number of M samples for specific responses to a library of N active agents in a time- and cost-efficient manner is of critical importance. Parameters of interest include response of cells to a specific drug compound, identification of specific genes or plant pathogens in crops using DNA markers and DNA traceability for food safety. The cost of reagents as well as the liquid handling ro-botics required to perform the enormous number of pipetting steps severely hamper the proliferation of such key technologies into smaller laboratories

On-site methods within DECATHLON – towards point-of-use molecular analysis and next generation sequencing

There is an increasing need for on-site applications of DNA-based methods, both, for inspection services by public authorities, as well as for companies that wish to monitor their supply chain. The capability to apply DNA-based methods in the field, or at ‘point-of-use’, is critical where centralised laboratories are inadequate to meet the demand of prompt answers for early intervention. The application fields addressed by DECATHLON are food analysis with specific emphasis on pathogen detection for food safety, GMO identification and customs issues. In recent years much progress has been made in the development of different types of on-site devices that can accommodate DNA-based methods. Within the DECATHLON project, two primary approaches for on-site use of DNA-based methods are developed in parallel; sample preparation and nucleic acid identification using a centrifugal microfluidic platform, and development of a novel graphene nano-gap sensor for next generation sequencing

Wellness Domains for Residency Training Programs

In this editorial, we describe a residency-specific wellness framework that residency leadership can utilize in developing their local wellness programs

Development and Implementation of a Pharmacist-managed Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy Program

Purpose The development and implementation of a pharmacist-managed outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) program in a county teaching hospital are described. Summary A pharmacist-managed OPAT program was developed and implemented at a county teaching hospital to provide consistent evaluation, approval, and monitoring of patients requiring OPAT for the treatment of infection. The developmental and implementation stages of the OPAT program included (1) a needs assessment, (2) the identification of resources necessary for program operation, (3) delineation of general OPAT program operations and activities of individual OPAT clinicians, (4) the development of patient selection criteria, including a plan of care algorithm, and (5) acquisition of administrative support to approve the program. In this program, the OPAT pharmacist plays an integral role in the management and oversight of OPAT patients, working under a collaborative agreement with infectious diseases physicians. The OPAT pharmacist assists with appropriate patient and regimen selection, confirmation of orders on discharge, assuring that laboratory tests for safety surveillance are performed and evaluated, performing routine monitoring for adverse events and line complications, and assuring the removal of the vascular access device upon the completion of OPAT. Conclusion: The OPAT program provides structured monitoring, patient follow-up, and led to improvements in patient outcome with minimization of treatment and line-related adverse events

SPHERES Tethered Formation Flight Testbed: Advancements in Enabling NASA’s SPECS Mission

This paper reports on efforts to control a tethered formation flight spacecraft array for NASA's SPECS mission using the SPHERES test-bed developed by the MIT Space Systems Laboratory. Specifically, advances in methodology and experimental results realized since the 2005 SPIE paper are emphasized. These include a new test-bed setup with a reaction wheel assembly, a novel relative attitude measurement system using force torque sensors, and modeling of non-ideal tethers to account for tether vibration modes. The nonlinear equations of motion of multi-vehicle tethered spacecraft with elastic flexible tethers are derived from Lagrange's equations. The controllability analysis indicates that both array resizing and spin-up are fully controllable by the reaction wheels and the tether motor, thereby saving thruster fuel consumption. Based upon this analysis, linear and nonlinear controllers have been successfully implemented on the tethered SPHERES testbed, and tested at the NASA MSFC's flat floor facility using two and three SPHERES configurations

Global and Entrepreneurial Perspectives for Enhancing Retailing Education: Development of a Hybrid Graduate Course Focused on U.S. and Indian Small Businesses.

This paper provides an approach, based on global and entrepreneurial perspectives, to enhance retailing education. The approach was operationalized through a hybrid graduate course, co-taught by U.S. and Indian faculty members, which focused on engaging Bloom\u27s higher order cognitive skills in learning about the operation of small retail businesses in U.S. and Indian cultural contexts. The courseincluded interactive learning modules, learning activities, and a student service-learning project. The project required the application of module content in the development of business enhancement plans for small retail businesses and in assessing the plans applicability to small businesses in an Indian contex

Suppression of hepcidin expression and iron overload mediate Salmonella susceptibility in ankyrin 1 ENU-induced mutant.

International audienceSalmonella, a ubiquitous Gram-negative intracellular bacterium, is a food borne pathogen that infects a broad range of hosts. Infection with Salmonella Typhimurium in mice is a broadly recognized experimental model resembling typhoid fever in humans. Using a N-ethyl-N-nitrosurea (ENU) mutagenesis recessive screen, we report the identification of Ity16 (Immunity to Typhimurium locus 16), a locus responsible for increased susceptibility to infection. The position of Ity16 was refined on chromosome 8 and a nonsense mutation was identified in the ankyrin 1 (Ank1) gene. ANK1 plays an important role in the formation and stabilization of the red cell cytoskeleton. The Ank1(Ity16/Ity16) mutation causes severe hemolytic anemia in uninfected mice resulting in splenomegaly, hyperbilirubinemia, jaundice, extramedullary erythropoiesis and iron overload in liver and kidneys. Ank1(Ity16/Ity16) mutant mice demonstrated low levels of hepcidin (Hamp) expression and significant increases in the expression of the growth differentiation factor 15 (Gdf15), erythropoietin (Epo) and heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1) exacerbating extramedullary erythropoiesis, tissue iron deposition and splenomegaly. As the infection progresses in Ank1(Ity16/Ity16), the anemia worsens and bacterial load were high in liver and kidneys compared to wild type mice. Heterozygous Ank1(+/Ity16) mice were also more susceptible to Salmonella infection although to a lesser extent than Ank1(Ity16/Ity16) and they did not inherently present anemia and splenomegaly. During infection, iron accumulated in the kidneys of Ank1(+/Ity16) mice where bacterial loads were high compared to littermate controls. The critical role of HAMP in the host response to Salmonella infection was validated by showing increased susceptibility to infection in Hamp-deficient mice and significant survival benefits in Ank1(+/Ity16) heterozygous mice treated with HAMP peptide. This study illustrates that the regulation of Hamp and iron balance are crucial in the host response to Salmonella infection in Ank1 mutants

Fruit and vegetable consumption is associated with lower prevalence of asymptomatic diverticulosis: a cross-sectional colonoscopy-based study.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies of the relationship between dietary factors and risk of diverticulosis have yielded inconsistent results. We therefore sought to investigate the association between consumption of fruit and vegetables and prevalent diverticulosis. METHODS: Our study population included participants in the Gastrointestinal Disease and Endoscopy Registry (GIDER), a colonoscopy-based longitudinal cohort at the Massachusetts General Hospital, who provided comprehensive information on dietary intake and lifestyle factors using validated questionnaires prior to colonoscopy. Information on presence and location of diverticula was obtained from the endoscopist at the end of each procedure. We used Poisson regression modeling to calculate the prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Among 549 participants with a mean age of 61 years enrolled in GIDER, we confirmed diverticulosis in 245 (44.6%). The prevalence of diverticulosis appeared to decrease with higher consumption of fruit and vegetables (P CONCLUSION: In a colonoscopy-based longitudinal cohort study, we show that higher consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with lower risk of prevalent diverticulosis