Perioperative medicine and UK plc.

No abstract available

Tick Extracellular Vesicles Enable Arthropod Feeding and Promote Distinct Outcomes of Bacterial Infection

Extracellular vesicles are thought to facilitate pathogen transmission from arthropods to humans and other animals. Here, we reveal that pathogen spreading from arthropods to the mammalian host is multifaceted. Extracellular vesicles from Ixodes scapularis enable tick feeding and promote infection of the mildly virulent rickettsial agent Anaplasma phagocytophilum through the SNARE proteins Vamp33 and Synaptobrevin 2 and dendritic epidermal T cells. However, extracellular vesicles from the tick Dermacentor andersoni mitigate microbial spreading caused by the lethal pathogen Francisella tularensis. Collectively, we establish that tick extracellular vesicles foster distinct outcomes of bacterial infection and assist in vector feeding by acting on skin immunity. Thus, the biology of arthropods should be taken into consideration when developing strategies to control vector-borne diseases

Botanical Exploration of Southern Africa : :An illustrated history of early botanical literature on the Cape Flora, Biographical accounts of the leading plant collectors and their activities in southern Africa form the days of the East India Company until the modern times.

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Engineering inclined orientations of piezoelectric films for integrated acoustofluidics and lab-on-a-chip operated in liquid environments

Different acoustic wave modes are required for effective implementation of biosensing and liquid actuation functions in an acoustic wave based lab-on-a-chip. For efficient sensing in liquids, shear waves (either a thickness-shear bulk wave or a shear-horizontal surface acoustic wave) can achieve a high sensitivity, without significant loss of acoustic wave energy. On the other hand, longitudinal bulk waves or out-of-plane displacement waves (such as Rayleigh waves) enable efficient sampling functions and liquid manipulation. However, there are significant challenges in developing a lab-on-a-chip to efficiently generate multiple wave modes and perform both these functions on a single piezoelectric substrate, especially when a single crystalline orientation is available. This paper highlights the latest progress of the theories and techniques to deliver both sensing and microfluidic manipulation functions using engineered incline-angled piezoelectric films, allowing for the simultaneous generation of longitudinal (or Rayleigh) and thickness-shear bulk (or shear-horizontal surface acoustic) waves. Challenges and theoretical constraints for generating various wave modes in the inclined films and techniques to efficiently produce inclined columnar and inclined crystalline piezoelectric films using sputtering deposition methods are presented. Applications of different wave modes in the inclined film-based lab-on-chips with multiple sensing and acoustofluidic functions are also discussed