A Mosquito Pick-and-Place System for PfSPZ-based Malaria Vaccine Production

The treatment of malaria is a global health challenge that stands to benefit from the widespread introduction of a vaccine for the disease. A method has been developed to create a live organism vaccine using the sporozoites (SPZ) of the parasite Plasmodium falciparum (Pf), which are concentrated in the salivary glands of infected mosquitoes. Current manual dissection methods to obtain these PfSPZ are not optimally efficient for large-scale vaccine production. We propose an improved dissection procedure and a mechanical fixture that increases the rate of mosquito dissection and helps to deskill this stage of the production process. We further demonstrate the automation of a key step in this production process, the picking and placing of mosquitoes from a staging apparatus into a dissection assembly. This unit test of a robotic mosquito pick-and-place system is performed using a custom-designed micro-gripper attached to a four degree of freedom (4-DOF) robot under the guidance of a computer vision system. Mosquitoes are autonomously grasped and pulled to a pair of notched dissection blades to remove the head of the mosquito, allowing access to the salivary glands. Placement into these blades is adapted based on output from computer vision to accommodate for the unique anatomy and orientation of each grasped mosquito. In this pilot test of the system on 50 mosquitoes, we demonstrate a 100% grasping accuracy and a 90% accuracy in placing the mosquito with its neck within the blade notches such that the head can be removed. This is a promising result for this difficult and non-standard pick-and-place task.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures, Manuscript submitted for Special Issue of IEEE CASE 2019 for IEEE T-AS

IGR J17254-3257, a new bursting neutron star

The study of the observational properties of uncommonly long bursts from low luminosity sources with extended decay times up to several tens of minutes is important when investigating the transition from a hydrogen-rich bursting regime to a pure helium regime and from helium burning to carbon burning as predicted by current burst theories. IGR J17254-3257 is a recently discovered X-ray burster of which only two bursts have been recorded: an ordinary short type I X-ray burst, and a 15 min long burst. An upper limit to its distance is estimated to about 14.5 kpc. The broad-band spectrum of the persistent emission in the 0.3-100 keV energy band obtained using contemporaneous INTEGRAL and XMM-Newton data indicates a bolometric flux of 1.1x10^-10 erg/cm2/s corresponding, at the canonical distance of 8 kpc, to a luminosity about 8.4x10^35 erg/s between 0.1-100 keV, which translates to a mean accretion rate of about 7x10^-11 solar masses per year. The low X-ray persistent luminosity of IGR J17254-3257 seems to indicate the source may be in a state of low accretion rate usually associated with a hard spectrum in the X-ray range. The nuclear burning regime may be intermediate between pure He and mixed H/He burning. The long burst is the result of the accumulation of a thick He layer, while the short one is a prematurate H-triggered He burning burst at a slightly lower accretion rate.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in A&A Letters. 1 reference (Cooper & Narayan, 2007) correcte

Long-term survival in people with transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy who took tafamidis: A Plain Language Summary

WHAT IS THIS PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY ABOUT?: This summary presents the results from an ongoing, long-term extension study that followed an earlier study called ATTR-ACT. People who took part in this extension study and ATTR-ACT have a type of heart disease known as transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM for short), which causes heart failure and death. In ATTR-ACT, people took either a medicine called tafamidis or a placebo (a pill that looks like the study drug but does not contain any active ingredients) for up to 2½ years. So far, in the long-term extension study, people have continued taking tafamidis, or switched from taking a placebo to tafamidis, for another 2½ years. Researchers looked at how many people died in ATTR-ACT and the extension study. The long-term extension study is expected to end in 2027, so these are interim (not final) results. WHAT DID RESEARCHERS FIND OUT?: In the extension study of ATTR-ACT, the risk of dying was lower in people who took tafamidis continuously throughout ATTR-ACT and the extension study than in people who took placebo in ATTR-ACT and switched to tafamidis in the extension study. WHAT DO THE RESULTS MEAN?: Taking tafamidis increases how long people with ATTR-CM live. People with ATTR-CM who take tafamidis early and continuously are more likely to live longer than those who do not. These results highlight the importance of early detection and treatment in people with ATTR-CM. Clinical Trial Registration: NCT01994889 (ClinicalTrials.gov) Clinical Trial Registration: NCT02791230 (ClinicalTrials.gov)

Clinical Laboratory Parameters Among Adult Males During a Primaquine Chemoprophylaxis Trial in Irian Jaya, Indonesia

Primakuin yang digunakan sebagai profilaksis malaria terbukti efektif dan diterima dengan baik oleh tubuh manusia yang normal terhadap aktivitas enzim 6 glukosa-6 fosfat dehidrogenase (G-6PD). Pemeriksaan laboratoris klinik adalah bagian dari uji coba secara acak dengan kontrol plasebo dalam rangka mengevaluasi penggunaan primakuin sebagai profilaksis pada penduduk transmigran yang tidak kebal di Irian Jaya. Penelitian ini dilakukan terhadap 129 pria Jawa dewasa yang normal G-6PDnya. Pemeriksaan hematologi, fungsi hati dan ginjal, dan pemeriksaan limfosit dilakukan berulang kali selama waktu penelitian profilaksis dilakukan untuk menjamin keamanan dari sukarelawan tersebut dan mengawasi Perubahan yang mungkin terjadi akibat obat profilaksis. Seperti yang diperkirakan, pengguna primakuin tidak menunjukkan gejala peningkatan methemoglobin yang kembali dalam batas normal setelah 7 hari pemberian dosis terakhir. Pada akhir penelitian (12 bulan profilaksis) nilai hematologi, fungsi hati dan ginjal, dan nilai limfosit dari kelompok primakuin sebanding dengan kelompok plasebo, dan berada dalam batas nilai normal untuk orang Indonesia.Hasil penelitian ini memberikan masukan adanya keluhan fisik yang sedikit dari sukarelawan pengguna profilaksis primakuin. Untuk membuktikan hasil penelitian ini dan mempersiapkan penggunaan secara umum primakuin untuk profilaksis malaria, perlu dilakukan uji coba lebih lanjut keamanan primakuin. Di Indonesia, primakuin tidak digunakan sebagai profilaksis dan laporan hasil penelitian ini hendaknya tidak ditafsirkan sebagai laporan keamanan dari primakuin

G2i Knowledge Brief: A Knowledge Brief of the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience

Courts are daily confronted with admissibility issues – such as in cases involving neuroscientific testimony – that sometimes involve both the existence of a general phenomenon (i.e., “G”) and the question of whether a particular case represents a specific instance of that general phenomenon (i.e., “i”). Unfortunately, courts have yet to carefully consider the implications of “G2i” for their admissibility decisions. In some areas, courts limit an expert’s testimony to the general phenomenon. They insist that whether the case at hand is an instance of that phenomenon is exclusively a jury question, and thus not an appropriate subject of expert opinion. In other cases, in contrast, courts hold that expert evidence must be provided on both the group-data issue (i.e., that the phenomenon exists) and what is called the “diagnostic” issue (i.e., that this case is an instance of that phenomenon). Consequently, the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Law and Neuroscience has prepared this knowledge brief to help courts manage the G2i divide. Specifically, we recommend that courts first determine whether proffered expert testimony concerns only the existence of the general phenomenon or instead concerns both that and the diagnosis that a particular case represents an instance of that phenomenon. Only after making that determination should the court make its admissibility decision (guided, for instance, by the Daubert factors for admitting scientific evidence)

Clinical Significance of Bronchodilator Responsiveness Evaluated by Forced Vital Capacity in COPD: SPIROMICS Cohort Analysis.

ObjectiveBronchodilator responsiveness (BDR) is prevalent in COPD, but its clinical implications remain unclear. We explored the significance of BDR, defined by post-bronchodilator change in FEV1 (BDRFEV1) as a measure reflecting the change in flow and in FVC (BDRFVC) reflecting the change in volume.MethodsWe analyzed 2974 participants from a multicenter observational study designed to identify varying COPD phenotypes (SPIROMICS). We evaluated the association of BDR with baseline clinical characteristics, rate of prospective exacerbations and mortality using negative binomial regression and Cox proportional hazards models.ResultsA majority of COPD participants exhibited BDR (52.7%). BDRFEV1 occurred more often in earlier stages of COPD, while BDRFVC occurred more frequently in more advanced disease. When defined by increases in either FEV1 or FVC, BDR was associated with a self-reported history of asthma, but not with blood eosinophil counts. BDRFVC was more prevalent in subjects with greater emphysema and small airway disease on CT. In a univariate analysis, BDRFVC was associated with increased exacerbations and mortality, although no significance was found in a model adjusted for post-bronchodilator FEV1.ConclusionWith advanced airflow obstruction in COPD, BDRFVC is more prevalent in comparison to BDRFEV1 and correlates with the extent of emphysema and degree of small airway disease. Since these associations appear to be related to the impairment of FEV1, BDRFVC itself does not define a distinct phenotype nor can it be more predictive of outcomes, but it can offer additional insights into the pathophysiologic mechanism in advanced COPD.Clinical trials registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01969344T4

Different paths to the modern state in Europe: the interaction between domestic political economy and interstate competition

Theoretical work on state formation and capacity has focused mostly on early modern Europe and on the experience of western European states during this period. While a number of European states monopolized domestic tax collection and achieved gains in state capacity during the early modern era, for others revenues stagnated or even declined, and these variations motivated alternative hypotheses for determinants of fiscal and state capacity. In this study we test the basic hypotheses in the existing literature making use of the large date set we have compiled for all of the leading states across the continent. We find strong empirical support for two prevailing threads in the literature, arguing respectively that interstate wars and changes in economic structure towards an urbanized economy had positive fiscal impact. Regarding the main point of contention in the theoretical literature, whether it was representative or authoritarian political regimes that facilitated the gains in fiscal capacity, we do not find conclusive evidence that one performed better than the other. Instead, the empirical evidence we have gathered lends supports to the hypothesis that when under pressure of war, the fiscal performance of representative regimes was better in the more urbanized-commercial economies and the fiscal performance of authoritarian regimes was better in rural-agrarian economie

Christianity as Public Religion::A Justification for using a Christian Sociological Approach for Studying the Social Scientific Aspects of Sport

The vast majority of social scientific studies of sport have been secular in nature and/or have tended to ignore the importance of studying the religious aspects of sport. In light of this, Shilling and Mellor (2014) have sought to encourage sociologists of sport not to divorce the ‘religious’ and the ‘sacred’ from their studies. In response to this call, the goal of the current essay is to explore how the conception of Christianity as ‘public religion’ can be utilised to help justify the use of a Christian sociological approach for studying the social scientific aspects of sport. After making a case for Christianity as public religion, we conclude that many of the sociological issues inherent in modern sport are an indirect result of its increasing secularisation and argue that this justifies the need for a Christian sociological approach. We encourage researchers to use the Bible, the tools of Christian theology and sociological concepts together, so to inform analyses of modern sport from a Christian perspective