The Thermal Design, Characterization, and Performance of the SPIDER Long-Duration Balloon Cryostat

We describe the SPIDER flight cryostat, which is designed to cool six millimeter-wavelength telescopes during an Antarctic long-duration balloon flight. The cryostat, one of the largest to have flown on a stratospheric payload, uses liquid helium-4 to deliver cooling power to stages at 4.2 and 1.6 K. Stainless steel capillaries facilitate a high flow impedance connection between the main liquid helium tank and a smaller superfluid tank, allowing the latter to operate at 1.6 K as long as there is liquid in the 4.2 K main tank. Each telescope houses a closed cycle helium-3 adsorption refrigerator that further cools the focal planes down to 300 mK. Liquid helium vapor from the main tank is routed through heat exchangers that cool radiation shields, providing negative thermal feedback. The system performed successfully during a 17 day flight in the 2014-2015 Antarctic summer. The cryostat had a total hold time of 16.8 days, with 15.9 days occurring during flight.Comment: 15 pgs, 17 fig

Liver Enzyme Abnormalities and Associated Risk Factors in HIV Patients on Efavirenz-Based HAART with or without Tuberculosis Co-Infection in Tanzania.

To investigate the timing, incidence, clinical presentation, pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenetic predictors for antiretroviral and anti-tuberculosis drug induced liver injury (DILI) in HIV patients with or without TB co-infection. A total of 473 treatment naïve HIV patients (253 HIV only and 220 with HIV-TB co-infection) were enrolled prospectively. Plasma efavirenz concentration and CYP2B6*6, CYP3A5*3, *6 and *7, ABCB1 3435C/T and SLCO1B1 genotypes were determined. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data were collected at baseline and up to 48 weeks of antiretroviral therapy. DILI case definition was according to Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences (CIOMS). Incidence of DILI and identification of predictors was evaluated using Cox Proportional Hazards Model. The overall incidence of DILI was 7.8% (8.3 per 1000 person-week), being non-significantly higher among patients receiving concomitant anti-TB and HAART (10.0%, 10.7 per 1000 person-week) than those receiving HAART alone (5.9%, 6.3 per 1000 person-week). Frequency of CYP2B6*6 allele (p = 0.03) and CYP2B6*6/*6 genotype (p = 0.06) was significantly higher in patients with DILI than those without. Multivariate cox regression model indicated that CYP2B6*6/*6 genotype and anti-HCV IgG antibody positive as significant predictors of DILI. Median time to DILI was 2 weeks after HAART initiation and no DILI onset was observed after 12 weeks. No severe DILI was seen and the gain in CD4 was similar in patients with or without DILI. Antiretroviral and anti-tuberculosis DILI does occur in our setting, presenting early following HAART initiation. DILI seen is mild, transient and may not require treatment interruption. There is good tolerance to HAART and anti-TB with similar immunological outcomes. Genetic make-up mainly CYP2B6 genotype influences the development of efavirenz based HAART liver injury in Tanzanians

IL28B, HLA-C, and KIR Variants Additively Predict Response to Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection in a European Cohort: A Cross-Sectional Study

Vijayaprakash Suppiah and colleagues show that genotyping hepatitis C patients for the IL28B, HLA-C, and KIR genes improves the ability to predict whether or not patients will respond to antiviral treatment

Planck intermediate results. XLI. A map of lensing-induced B-modes

The secondary cosmic microwave background (CMB) $B$-modes stem from the post-decoupling distortion of the polarization $E$-modes due to the gravitational lensing effect of large-scale structures. These lensing-induced $B$-modes constitute both a valuable probe of the dark matter distribution and an important contaminant for the extraction of the primary CMB $B$-modes from inflation. Planck provides accurate nearly all-sky measurements of both the polarization $E$-modes and the integrated mass distribution via the reconstruction of the CMB lensing potential. By combining these two data products, we have produced an all-sky template map of the lensing-induced $B$-modes using a real-space algorithm that minimizes the impact of sky masks. The cross-correlation of this template with an observed (primordial and secondary) $B$-mode map can be used to measure the lensing $B$-mode power spectrum at multipoles up to $2000$. In particular, when cross-correlating with the $B$-mode contribution directly derived from the Planck polarization maps, we obtain lensing-induced $B$-mode power spectrum measurement at a significance level of $12\,\sigma$, which agrees with the theoretical expectation derived from the Planck best-fit $\Lambda$CDM model. This unique nearly all-sky secondary $B$-mode template, which includes the lensing-induced information from intermediate to small ($10\lesssim \ell\lesssim 1000$) angular scales, is delivered as part of the Planck 2015 public data release. It will be particularly useful for experiments searching for primordial $B$-modes, such as BICEP2/Keck Array or LiteBIRD, since it will enable an estimate to be made of the lensing-induced contribution to the measured total CMB $B$-modes.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures; Accepted for publication in A&A; The B-mode map is part of the PR2-2015 Cosmology Products; available as Lensing Products in the Planck Legacy Archive http://pla.esac.esa.int/pla/#cosmology; and described in the 'Explanatory Supplement' https://wiki.cosmos.esa.int/planckpla2015/index.php/Specially_processed_maps#2015_Lensing-induced_B-mode_ma

Group B streptococcus serotype prevalence in reproductive-age women at a tertiary care military medical center relative to global serotype distribution

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Group B <it>Streptococcus </it>(GBS) serotype (Ia, Ib, II-IX) correlates with pathogen virulence and clinical prognosis. Epidemiological studies of seroprevalence are an important metric for determining the proportion of serotypes in a given population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of individual GBS serotypes at Madigan Healthcare System (Madigan), the largest military tertiary healthcare facility in the Pacific Northwestern United States, and to compare seroprevalences with international locations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To determine serotype distribution at Madigan, we obtained GBS isolates from standard-of-care anogenital swabs from 207 women of indeterminate gravidity between ages 18-40 during a five month interval. Serotype was determined using a recently described molecular method of polymerase chain reaction by capsular polysaccharide synthesis (cps) genes associated with pathogen virulence.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Serotypes Ia, III, and V were the most prevalent (28%, 27%, and 17%, respectively). A systematic review of global GBS seroprevalence, meta-analysis, and statistical comparison revealed strikingly similar serodistibution at Madigan relative to civilian-sector populations in Canada and the United States. Serotype Ia was the only serotype consistently higher in North American populations relative to other geographic regions (p < 0.005). The number of non-typeable isolates was significantly lower in the study (p < 0.005).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study establishes PCR-based serotyping as a viable strategy for GBS epidemiological surveillance. Our results suggest that GBS seroprevalence remains stable in North America over the past two decades.</p

The Prevalence of Sexually Transmitted Infections in Papua New Guinea: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Patellofemoral osteoarthritis (PF OA) is more prevalent than previously thought and contributes to patient's suffering from knee OA. Synthesis of prevalence data can provide estimates of the burden of PF OA

Dysregulation of Macrophage-Secreted Cathepsin B Contributes to HIV-1-Linked Neuronal Apoptosis

Chronic HIV infection leads to the development of cognitive impairments, designated as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND). The secretion of soluble neurotoxic factors by HIV-infected macrophages plays a central role in the neuronal dysfunction and cell death associated with HAND. One potentially neurotoxic protein secreted by HIV-1 infected macrophages is cathepsin B. To explore the potential role of cathepsin B in neuronal cell death after HIV infection, we cultured HIV-1ADA infected human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) and assayed them for expression and activity of cathepsin B and its inhibitors, cystatins B and C. The neurotoxic activity of the secreted cathepsin B was determined by incubating cells from the neuronal cell line SK-N-SH with MDM conditioned media (MCM) from HIV-1 infected cultures. We found that HIV-1 infected MDM secreted significantly higher levels of cathepsin B than did uninfected cells. Moreover, the activity of secreted cathepsin B was significantly increased in HIV-infected MDM at the peak of viral production. Incubation of neuronal cells with supernatants from HIV-infected MDM resulted in a significant increase in the numbers of apoptotic neurons, and this increase was reversed by the addition of either the cathepsin B inhibitor CA-074 or a monoclonal antibody to cathepsin B. In situ proximity ligation assays indicated that the increased neurotoxic activity of the cathepsin B secreted by HIV-infected MDM resulted from decreased interactions between the enzyme and its inhibitors, cystatins B and C. Furthermore, preliminary in vivo studies of human post-mortem brain tissue suggested an upregulation of cathepsin B immunoreactivity in the hippocampus and basal ganglia in individuals with HAND. Our results demonstrate that HIV-1 infection upregulates cathepsin B in macrophages, increases cathepsin B activity, and reduces cystatin-cathepsin interactions, contributing to neuronal apoptosis. These findings provide new evidence for the role of cathepsin B in neuronal cell death induced by HIV-infected macrophages

Perspectives and Integration in SOLAS Science

Why a chapter on Perspectives and Integration in SOLAS Science in this book? SOLAS science by its nature deals with interactions that occur: across a wide spectrum of time and space scales, involve gases and particles, between the ocean and the atmosphere, across many disciplines including chemistry, biology, optics, physics, mathematics, computing, socio-economics and consequently interactions between many different scientists and across scientific generations. This chapter provides a guide through the remarkable diversity of cross-cutting approaches and tools in the gigantic puzzle of the SOLAS realm. Here we overview the existing prime components of atmospheric and oceanic observing systems, with the acquisition of ocean–atmosphere observables either from in situ or from satellites, the rich hierarchy of models to test our knowledge of Earth System functioning, and the tremendous efforts accomplished over the last decade within the COST Action 735 and SOLAS Integration project frameworks to understand, as best we can, the current physical and biogeochemical state of the atmosphere and ocean commons. A few SOLAS integrative studies illustrate the full meaning of interactions, paving the way for even tighter connections between thematic fields. Ultimately, SOLAS research will also develop with an enhanced consideration of societal demand while preserving fundamental research coherency. The exchange of energy, gases and particles across the air-sea interface is controlled by a variety of biological, chemical and physical processes that operate across broad spatial and temporal scales. These processes influence the composition, biogeochemical and chemical properties of both the oceanic and atmospheric boundary layers and ultimately shape the Earth system response to climate and environmental change, as detailed in the previous four chapters. In this cross-cutting chapter we present some of the SOLAS achievements over the last decade in terms of integration, upscaling observational information from process-oriented studies and expeditionary research with key tools such as remote sensing and modelling. Here we do not pretend to encompass the entire legacy of SOLAS efforts but rather offer a selective view of some of the major integrative SOLAS studies that combined available pieces of the immense jigsaw puzzle. These include, for instance, COST efforts to build up global climatologies of SOLAS relevant parameters such as dimethyl sulphide, interconnection between volcanic ash and ecosystem response in the eastern subarctic North Pacific, optimal strategy to derive basin-scale CO2 uptake with good precision, or significant reduction of the uncertainties in sea-salt aerosol source functions. Predicting the future trajectory of Earth’s climate and habitability is the main task ahead. Some possible routes for the SOLAS scientific community to reach this overarching goal conclude the chapter

Particle response of antenna-coupled TES arrays: results from SPIDER and the laboratory

Future mm-wave and sub-mm space missions will employ large arrays of multiplexed transition-edge-sensor (TES) bolometers. Such instruments must contend with the high flux of cosmic rays beyond our atmosphere that induce ‘glitches’ in bolometer data, which posed a challenge to data analysis from the Planck bolometers. Future instruments will face the additional challenges of shared substrate wafers and multiplexed readout wiring. In this work, we explore the susceptibility of modern TES arrays to the cosmic ray environment of space using two data sets: the 2015 long-duration balloon flight of the SPIDER cosmic microwave background polarimeter, and a laboratory exposure of SPIDER flight hardware to radioactive sources. We find manageable glitch rates and short glitch durations, leading to minimal effect on SPIDER analysis. We constrain energy propagation within the substrate through a study of multi-detector coincidences and give a preliminary look at pulse shapes in laboratory data