Infection tracking in travellers using a mobile app (ITIT): the pilot study

BACKGROUND: Current surveillance of travellers' health captures only a small proportion of illness events. We aimed to evaluate the usability and feasibility of using an app to enable travellers to self-report illness. METHOD: This pilot study assesses a novel mobile application called Infection Tracking in Travellers (ITIT) that records travel-related symptoms with associated geolocation and weather data. Participants were recruited in three Swiss travel clinics between December 2021 and March 2022. A feedback survey was used to examine app ease of use, and data from the app was used to examine travel and illness patterns as a proof-of-concept for the larger ITIT study. RESULTS: Participants were recruited from Zurich, Basel, and Geneva, with 37 individuals completing a total of 394 questionnaires in 116 locations in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Illness symptoms were reported by 41% of participants, 67% of which were respiratory. The post travel questionnaire showed that all participants found the app easy to use and 63% said they would recommend it to others. Several users provided suggestions for improved usability. CONCLUSION: The app fulfilled its function as a research tool linking infection symptoms with geolocation and climate data

Closing the Loop: Engaging in a Sustainable and Continuous Cycle of Authentic Assessment to Improve Library Instruction

This study demonstrates how a team of librarians sustained authentic assessment across multiple studies in order to inform changes to an information literacy curriculum. It demonstrates the cyclical and action-based nature of assessment, including closing one loop only to reopen another and begin the assessment process again, emphasizing the importance of sustainability and making changes that increase student learning. Researchers analyzed 79 English composition papers for evidence of information literacy skills, expanding upon a previous study which established information literacy skill benchmarks. Findings from the previous study led to the development of new library instruction lessons, which targeted skills students struggled with – mainly topic refinement and information synthesis. To measure the impact of the modifications, the authors used two rubrics as well as a citation analysis to identify shifts in student learning. Findings indicate that the new lessons contribute to student improvements in synthesis, topic refinement, and source variety. This study illustrates the importance of engaging in an ongoing cycle of assessment and continually making improvements to instruction practices while implementing evidence-based decisions

Panel sequencing links rare, likely damaging gene variants with distinct clinical phenotypes and outcomes in juvenile-onset SLE

OBJECTIVES: Juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (jSLE) affects 15–20% of lupus patients. Clinical heterogeneity between racial groups, age groups and individual patients suggests variable pathophysiology. This study aimed to identify highly penetrant damaging mutations in genes associated with SLE/SLE-like disease in a large national cohort (UK JSLE Cohort Study) and compare demographic, clinical and laboratory features in patient sub-cohorts with ‘genetic’ SLE vs remaining SLE patients. METHODS: Based on a sequencing panel designed in 2018, target enrichment and next-generation sequencing were performed in 348 patients to identify damaging gene variants. Findings were integrated with demographic, clinical and treatment related datasets. RESULTS: Damaging gene variants were identified in ∼3.5% of jSLE patients. When compared with the remaining cohort, ‘genetic’ SLE affected younger children and more Black African/Caribbean patients. ‘Genetic’ SLE patients exhibited less organ involvement and damage, and neuropsychiatric involvement developed over time. Less aggressive first line treatment was chosen in ‘genetic’ SLE patients, but more second and third line agents were used. ‘Genetic’ SLE associated with anti-dsDNA antibody positivity at diagnosis and reduced ANA, anti-LA and anti-Sm antibody positivity at last visit. CONCLUSION: Approximately 3.5% of jSLE patients present damaging gene variants associated with younger age at onset, and distinct clinical features. As less commonly observed after treatment induction, in ‘genetic’ SLE, autoantibody positivity may be the result of tissue damage and explain reduced immune complex-mediated renal and haematological involvement. Routine sequencing could allow for patient stratification, risk assessment and target-directed treatment, thereby increasing efficacy and reducing toxicity

Is the Multiverse Hypothesis capable of explaining the Fine Tuning of Nature Laws and Constants? The Case of Cellular Automata

The objective of this paper is analyzing to which extent the multiverse hypothesis provides a real explanation of the peculiarities of the laws and constants in our universe. First we argue in favor of the thesis that all multiverses except Tegmark's > are too small to explain the fine tuning, so that they merely shift the problem up one level. But the > is surely too large. To prove this assessment, we have performed a number of experiments with cellular automata of complex behavior, which can be considered as universes in the mathematical multiverse. The analogy between what happens in some automata (in particular Conway's >) and the real world is very strong. But if the results of our experiments can be extrapolated to our universe, we should expect to inhabit -- in the context of the multiverse -- a world in which at least some of the laws and constants of nature should show a certain time dependence. Actually, the probability of our existence in a world such as ours would be mathematically equal to zero. In consequence, the results presented in this paper can be considered as an inkling that the hypothesis of the multiverse, whatever its type, does not offer an adequate explanation for the peculiarities of the physical laws in our world. A slightly reduced version of this paper has been published in the Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Springer, March 2013, DOI: 10.1007/s10838-013-9215-7.Comment: 30 pages, 16 figures, 5 tables. Slightly reduced version published in Journal for General Philosophy of Scienc

Mirror Symmetry and Other Miracles in Superstring Theory

The dominance of string theory in the research landscape of quantum gravity physics (despite any direct experimental evidence) can, I think, be justified in a variety of ways. Here I focus on an argument from mathematical fertility, broadly similar to Hilary Putnam's 'no miracles argument' that, I argue, many string theorists in fact espouse. String theory leads to many surprising, useful, and well-confirmed mathematical 'predictions' - here I focus on mirror symmetry. These predictions are made on the basis of general physical principles entering into string theory. The success of the mathematical predictions are then seen as evidence for framework that generated them. I attempt to defend this argument, but there are nonetheless some serious objections to be faced. These objections can only be evaded at a high (philosophical) price.Comment: For submission to a Foundations of Physics special issue on "Forty Years Of String Theory: Reflecting On the Foundations" (edited by G. `t Hooft, E. Verlinde, D. Dieks and S. de Haro)

TrainMiC® Presentations Translated in Albanian

TrainMiC® is a European programme for life-long learning about how to interpret the metrological requirements in chemistry. It is operational across many parts of Europe via national teams. These teams use shareware pedagogic tools which have been harmonized at European level by a joint effort of many experts across Europe working in an editorial board. The material has been translated into fourteen different languages. In this publication, TrainMiC® presentations translated in Albanian language by the Albanian TrainMiC® team are published.JRC.D.3-Knowledge Transfer and Standards for Securit

Arabidopsis thaliana POLYOL/MONOSACCHARIDE TRANSPORTERS 1 and 2: fructose and xylitol/H+ symporters in pollen and young xylem cells

The genome of Arabidopsis thaliana contains six genes, AtPMT1 to AtPMT6 (Arabidopsis thaliana POLYOL/MONOSACCHARIDE TRANSPORTER 1–6), which form a distinct subfamily within the large family of more than 50 monosaccharide transporter-like (MST-like) genes. So far, only AtPMT5 [formerly named AtPLT5 (At3g18830)] has been characterized and was shown to be a plasma membrane-localized H+-symporter with broad substrate specificity. The characterization of AtPMT1 (At2g16120) and AtPMT2 (At2g16130), two other, almost identical, members of this transporter subfamily, are presented here. Expression of the AtPMT1 and AtPMT2 cDNAs in baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) revealed that these proteins catalyse the energy-dependent, high-capacity transport of fructose and xylitol, and the transport of several other compounds with lower rates. Expression of their cRNAs in Xenopus laevis oocytes showed that both proteins are voltage-dependent and catalyse the symport of their substrates with protons. Fusions of AtPMT1 or AtPMT2 with the green fluorescent protein (GFP) localized to Arabidopsis plasma membranes. Analyses of reporter genes performed with AtPMT1 or AtPMT2 promoter sequences showed expression in mature (AtPMT2) or germinating (AtPMT1) pollen grains, as well as in growing pollen tubes, hydathodes, and young xylem cells (both genes). The expression was confirmed with an anti-AtPMT1/AtPMT2 antiserum (αAtPMT1/2) raised against peptides conserved in AtPMT1 and AtPMT2. The physiological roles of the proteins are discussed and related to plant cell wall modifications

4-Aminopyridine is a promising treatment option for patients with gain-of-function KCNA2-encephalopathy

Developmental and epileptic encephalopathies are devastating disorders characterized by epilepsy, intellectual disability, and other neuropsychiatric symptoms, for which available treatments are largely ineffective. Following a precision medicine approach, we show for KCNA2-encephalopathy that the K+ channel blocker 4-aminopyridine can antagonize gain-of-function defects caused by variants in the KV1.2 subunit in vitro, by reducing current amplitudes and negative shifts of steady-state activation and increasing the firing rate of transfected neurons. In n-of-1 trials carried out in nine different centers, 9 of 11 patients carrying such variants benefitted from treatment with 4-aminopyridine. All six patients experiencing daily absence, myoclonic, or atonic seizures became seizure-free (except some remaining provoked seizures). Two of six patients experiencing generalized tonic-clonic seizures showed marked improvement, three showed no effect, and one worsening. Nine patients showed improved gait, ataxia, alertness, cognition, or speech. 4-Aminopyridine was well tolerated up to 2.6 mg/kg per day. We suggest 4-aminopyridine as a promising tailored treatment in KCNA2-(gain-of-function)–encephalopathy and provide an online tool assisting physicians to select patients with gain-of-function mutations suited to this treatment