Computing with bacterial constituents, cells and populations: from bioputing to bactoputing

The relevance of biological materials and processes to computing—aliasbioputing—has been explored for decades. These materials include DNA, RNA and proteins, while the processes include transcription, translation, signal transduction and regulation. Recently, the use of bacteria themselves as living computers has been explored but this use generally falls within the classical paradigm of computing. Computer scientists, however, have a variety of problems to which they seek solutions, while microbiologists are having new insights into the problems bacteria are solving and how they are solving them. Here, we envisage that bacteria might be used for new sorts of computing. These could be based on the capacity of bacteria to grow, move and adapt to a myriad different fickle environments both as individuals and as populations of bacteria plus bacteriophage. New principles might be based on the way that bacteria explore phenotype space via hyperstructure dynamics and the fundamental nature of the cell cycle. This computing might even extend to developing a high level language appropriate to using populations of bacteria and bacteriophage. Here, we offer a speculative tour of what we term bactoputing, namely the use of the natural behaviour of bacteria for calculating

Gamma-ray and radio properties of six pulsars detected by the fermi large area telescope

We report the detection of pulsed γ-rays for PSRs J0631+1036, J0659+1414, J0742-2822, J1420-6048, J1509-5850, and J1718-3825 using the Large Area Telescope on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly known as GLAST). Although these six pulsars are diverse in terms of their spin parameters, they share an important feature: their γ-ray light curves are (at least given the current count statistics) single peaked. For two pulsars, there are hints for a double-peaked structure in the light curves. The shapes of the observed light curves of this group of pulsars are discussed in the light of models for which the emission originates from high up in the magnetosphere. The observed phases of the γ-ray light curves are, in general, consistent with those predicted by high-altitude models, although we speculate that the γ-ray emission of PSR J0659+1414, possibly featuring the softest spectrum of all Fermi pulsars coupled with a very low efficiency, arises from relatively low down in the magnetosphere. High-quality radio polarization data are available showing that all but one have a high degree of linear polarization. This allows us to place some constraints on the viewing geometry and aids the comparison of the γ-ray light curves with high-energy beam models

The Changing Landscape for Stroke\ua0Prevention in AF: Findings From the GLORIA-AF Registry Phase 2

Background GLORIA-AF (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation) is a prospective, global registry program describing antithrombotic treatment patterns in patients with newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation at risk of stroke. Phase 2 began when dabigatran, the first non\u2013vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC), became available. Objectives This study sought to describe phase 2 baseline data and compare these with the pre-NOAC era collected during phase 1. Methods During phase 2, 15,641 consenting patients were enrolled (November 2011 to December 2014); 15,092 were eligible. This pre-specified cross-sectional analysis describes eligible patients\u2019 baseline characteristics. Atrial fibrillation disease characteristics, medical outcomes, and concomitant diseases and medications were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Of the total patients, 45.5% were female; median age was 71 (interquartile range: 64, 78) years. Patients were from Europe (47.1%), North America (22.5%), Asia (20.3%), Latin America (6.0%), and the Middle East/Africa (4.0%). Most had high stroke risk (CHA2DS2-VASc [Congestive heart failure, Hypertension, Age  6575 years, Diabetes mellitus, previous Stroke, Vascular disease, Age 65 to 74 years, Sex category] score  652; 86.1%); 13.9% had moderate risk (CHA2DS2-VASc = 1). Overall, 79.9% received oral anticoagulants, of whom 47.6% received NOAC and 32.3% vitamin K antagonists (VKA); 12.1% received antiplatelet agents; 7.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. For comparison, the proportion of phase 1 patients (of N = 1,063 all eligible) prescribed VKA was 32.8%, acetylsalicylic acid 41.7%, and no therapy 20.2%. In Europe in phase 2, treatment with NOAC was more common than VKA (52.3% and 37.8%, respectively); 6.0% of patients received antiplatelet treatment; and 3.8% received no antithrombotic treatment. In North America, 52.1%, 26.2%, and 14.0% of patients received NOAC, VKA, and antiplatelet drugs, respectively; 7.5% received no antithrombotic treatment. NOAC use was less common in Asia (27.7%), where 27.5% of patients received VKA, 25.0% antiplatelet drugs, and 19.8% no antithrombotic treatment. Conclusions The baseline data from GLORIA-AF phase 2 demonstrate that in newly diagnosed nonvalvular atrial fibrillation patients, NOAC have been highly adopted into practice, becoming more frequently prescribed than VKA in Europe and North America. Worldwide, however, a large proportion of patients remain undertreated, particularly in Asia and North America. (Global Registry on Long-Term Oral Antithrombotic Treatment in Patients With Atrial Fibrillation [GLORIA-AF]; NCT01468701

Underway surface water data during the Tara Oceans expedition in 2013

The Tara Oceans Expedition (2009-2013) sampled the world oceans on board a 36 m long schooner, collecting environmental data and organisms from viruses to planktonic metazoans for later analyses using modern sequencing and state-of-the-art imaging technologies. Tara Oceans Data are particularly suited to study the genetic, morphological and functional diversity of plankton. During the entire expedition (2009-2013), underway measurements were obtained from a meteorological station (BATOS), a thermosalinograph (TSG, SBE 45), a Fast Repetition Rate Flurometer (FRRF, LIFT-FRR01), and a spectrophotometer (WETLabs AC-S). In 2013 underway measurements were enhanced by adding a Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR) sensor (QCP2350, Biospherical Instruments, Inc.), a laser spectrofluorometer (WETLabs ALFA, Chekalyuk et al., 2012) that replaced the FRRF, a spectral backscattering sensor (WETLabs Eco-bb3), a pCO2 sensor (ProOceanus CO2-Pro), a pH sensor (Satlantic, SeaFET) and a particle imaging system triggered by chlorophyll-a fluorescence (a prototype of McLane Research Laboratories' Imaging FlowCytobot, Sosik Lab, WHOI). Discrete measurements of CDOM absorption measurements were made using an Ultrapath (WPI Inc.) to calibrate the in-line AC-S. Hence the AC-S was also used to provide CDOM absorption in addition to particulate matter properties. The present dataset contains surface water data measured during the 2013 campaigns of the Tara Oceans Expedition. Latitude and Longitude were obtained from TSG data. The time stamp of this data set is harmonised with that of other underway data in this collection

Harmonised data from underway navigation, meteorology and surface water measurements during the Tara Oceans expedition in 2009-2013

The Tara Oceans Expedition (2009-2013) sampled the world oceans on board a 36 m long schooner, collecting environmental data and organisms from viruses to planktonic metazoans for later analyses using modern sequencing and state-of-the-art imaging technologies. Tara Oceans Data are particularly suited to study the genetic, morphological and functional diversity of plankton. During the entire expedition (2009-2013), underway measurements were obtained from a meteorological station (BATOS), a thermosalinograph (TSG, SBE 45), a Fast Repetition Rate Flurometer (FRRF, LIFT-FRR01), and a spectrophotometer (WETLabs AC-S). In 2013 underway measurements were enhanced by adding a Photosynthetically Available Radiation (PAR) sensor (QCP2350, Biospherical Instruments, Inc.), a laser spectrofluorometer (WETLabs ALFA, Chekalyuk et al., 2012) that replaced the FRRF, a spectral backscattering sensor (WETLabs Eco-bb3), a pCO2 sensor (ProOceanus CO2-Pro), a pH sensor (Satlantic, SeaFET) and a particle imaging system triggered by chlorophyll-a fluorescence (a prototype of McLane Research Laboratories' Imaging FlowCytobot, Sosik Lab, WHOI). Discrete measurements of CDOM absorption measurements were made using an Ultrapath (WPI Inc.) to calibrate the in-line AC-S. Hence the AC-S was also used to provide CDOM absorption in addition to particulate matter properties. The present collection includes three data sets that are harmonised with a common time stamp. The source data sets given in the reference section