9 research outputs found
A new anti-feedant clerodane diterpenoid from tinospora cordifolia
Phytochemical investigation of the chloroform extract of Tinospora cordifolia yielded a new clerodane diterpenoid tincordin (1) along with tinosporide (2), 8-hydroxytinosporide (3), columbin (4), 8-hydroxycolumbin (5) and 10-hydroxycolumbin (6). The structure of the new compound was elucidated comprehensively using 1D and 2D NMR methods. All major clerodane diterpenoids isolated were tested for their efficacy as insect antifeedants against Earias vitella, Plutella xylostella and Spodoptera litura.Department of Science and Technology, Government of Indi
Microscope 2.0: An Augmented Reality Microscope with Real-time Artificial Intelligence Integration
The brightfield microscope is instrumental in the visual examination of both
biological and physical samples at sub-millimeter scales. One key clinical
application has been in cancer histopathology, where the microscopic assessment
of the tissue samples is used for the diagnosis and staging of cancer and thus
guides clinical therapy. However, the interpretation of these samples is
inherently subjective, resulting in significant diagnostic variability.
Moreover, in many regions of the world, access to pathologists is severely
limited due to lack of trained personnel. In this regard, Artificial
Intelligence (AI) based tools promise to improve the access and quality of
healthcare. However, despite significant advances in AI research, integration
of these tools into real-world cancer diagnosis workflows remains challenging
because of the costs of image digitization and difficulties in deploying AI
solutions. Here we propose a cost-effective solution to the integration of AI:
the Augmented Reality Microscope (ARM). The ARM overlays AI-based information
onto the current view of the sample through the optical pathway in real-time,
enabling seamless integration of AI into the regular microscopy workflow. We
demonstrate the utility of ARM in the detection of lymph node metastases in
breast cancer and the identification of prostate cancer with a latency that
supports real-time workflows. We anticipate that ARM will remove barriers
towards the use of AI in microscopic analysis and thus improve the accuracy and
efficiency of cancer diagnosis. This approach is applicable to other microscopy
tasks and AI algorithms in the life sciences and beyond
Early social distancing policies in Europe, changes in mobility & COVID-19 case trajectories: insights from Spring 2020
Background Social distancing have been widely used to mitigate community spread of SARS-CoV-2. We sought to quantify the impact of COVID-19 social distancing policies across 27 European counties in spring 2020 on population mobility and the subsequent trajectory of disease. Methods We obtained data on national social distancing policies from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker and aggregated and anonymized mobility data from Google. We used a pre-post comparison and two linear mixed-effects models to first assess the relationship between implementation of national policies and observed changes in mobility, and then to assess the relationship between changes in mobility and rates of COVID-19 infections in subsequent weeks. Results Compared to a pre-COVID baseline, Spain saw the largest decrease in aggregate population mobility (~70%), as measured by the time spent away from residence, while Sweden saw the smallest decrease (~20%). The largest declines in mobility were associated with mandatory stay-at-home orders, followed by mandatory workplace closures, school closures, and non-mandatory workplace closures. While mandatory shelter-in-place orders were associated with 16.7% less mobility (95% CI: -23.7% to -9.7%), non-mandatory orders were only associated with an 8.4% decrease (95% CI: -14.9% to -1.8%). Large-gathering bans were associated with the smallest change in mobility compared with other policy types. Changes in mobility were in turn associated with changes in COVID-19 case growth. For example, a 10% decrease in time spent away from places of residence was associated with 11.8% (95% CI: 3.8%, 19.1%) fewer new COVID-19 cases. Discussion This comprehensive evaluation across Europe suggests that mandatory stay-at-home orders and workplace closures had the largest impacts on population mobility and subsequent COVID-19 cases at the onset of the pandemic. With a better understanding of policies’ relative performance, countries can more effectively invest in, and target, early nonpharmacological interventions
Impacts of Social Distancing Policies on Mobility and COVID-19 Case Growth in the US
Social distancing remains an important strategy to combat the COVID-19
pandemic in the United States. However, the impacts of specific state-level
policies on mobility and subsequent COVID-19 case trajectories have not been
completely quantified. Using anonymized and aggregated mobility data from
opted-in Google users, we found that state-level emergency declarations
resulted in a 9.9% reduction in time spent away from places of residence.
Implementation of one or more social distancing policies resulted in an
additional 24.5% reduction in mobility the following week, and subsequent
shelter-in-place mandates yielded an additional 29.0% reduction. Decreases in
mobility were associated with substantial reductions in case growth 2 to 4
weeks later. For example, a 10% reduction in mobility was associated with a
17.5% reduction in case growth 2 weeks later. Given the continued reliance on
social distancing policies to limit the spread of COVID-19, these results may
be helpful to public health officials trying to balance infection control with
the economic and social consequences of these policies.Comment: Co-first Authors: GAW, SV, VE, and AF contributed equally.
Corresponding Author: Dr. Evgeniy Gabrilovich, [email protected] 32 pages
(including supplemental material), 4 figures in the main text, additional
figures in the supplemental materia