A national policy for malaria elimination in Swaziland: a first for sub-Saharan Africa

Swaziland is working to be the first country in mainland sub-Saharan Africa to eliminate malaria. The highest level of Swaziland's government recently approved a national elimination policy, which endorses Swaziland's robust national elimination strategic plan. This commentary outlines Swaziland's progress towards elimination as well as the challenges that remain, primarily around securing long-term financial resources and managing imported cases from neighbouring countries

An enzymatically inactive variant of human lactate dehydrogenase-LDHBGUA-1 Study of subunit interaction

The LDHBGUA-1 variant is an electrophoretic variant which is enzymatically inactive. It is only detectable because of its ability to form heterotetramers with A and/or active B subunits and alter the electrophoretic pattern, although all evidence suggests the B-GUA-1 subunits are always enzymatically inactive. All tetrameric combinatious of active plus inactive subunits including either an A or active B plus three inactive B subunits possess enzymatic activity. The heterotetramers composed of A and B-GUA-1 subunits are more thermostable than A4 homotetramers but less thermostable than normal AB heterotetramers. The AB-GUA-1 heterotetramers composed of active A and inactive B subunits have a Km for pyruvate, for lactate and for NADH which is similar to that observed for normal AB heterotetramers. The substrate specificity of the A plus normal B heterotetramer and the A plus variant B heterotetramer with [alpha]-hydroxybutyrate or the acetylpyridine analog of NAD as substrate are similar, while differences between the normal and variant erythrocyte isozymes are observed when glyoxalate is the substrate. Interaction with the B-GUA-I subunit reduces the sensitivity of the A subunit to urea inhibition (independent of dissociation), as does the active B subunit, but the inactive B subunit does not modulate the inhibition by oxalate. Although a single active subunit in a tetrameric conformation is sufficient for enzymatic activity, many of the kinetic properties of the lactate dehydrogenase molecule reflect the tetrameric structure rather than the sum of independent subunits. Thus communication among the subunits must exist and conformational changes which affect the catalytic properties of the enzyme (-lactate:NAD+ oxidoreductase, EC 1.1.1.27) must occur during tetramer formation.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24030/1/0000279.pd

iSDF: Real-Time Neural Signed Distance Fields for Robot Perception

We present iSDF, a continual learning system for real-time signed distance field (SDF) reconstruction. Given a stream of posed depth images from a moving camera, it trains a randomly initialised neural network to map input 3D coordinate to approximate signed distance. The model is self-supervised by minimising a loss that bounds the predicted signed distance using the distance to the closest sampled point in a batch of query points that are actively sampled. In contrast to prior work based on voxel grids, our neural method is able to provide adaptive levels of detail with plausible filling in of partially observed regions and denoising of observations, all while having a more compact representation. In evaluations against alternative methods on real and synthetic datasets of indoor environments, we find that iSDF produces more accurate reconstructions, and better approximations of collision costs and gradients useful for downstream planners in domains from navigation to manipulation. Code and video results can be found at our project page: https://joeaortiz.github.io/iSDF/ .Comment: Project page: https://joeaortiz.github.io/iSDF

Low-Quality Housing Is Associated With Increased Risk of Malaria Infection: A National Population-Based Study From the Low Transmission Setting of Swaziland.

BackgroundLow-quality housing may confer risk of malaria infection, but evidence in low transmission settings is limited.MethodsTo examine the relationship between individual level housing quality and locally acquired infection in children and adults, a population-based cross-sectional analysis was performed using existing surveillance data from the low transmission setting of Swaziland. From 2012 to 2015, cases were identified through standard diagnostics in health facilities and by loop-mediated isothermal amplification in active surveillance, with uninfected subjects being household members and neighbors. Housing was visually assessed in a home visit and then classified as low, high, or medium quality, based on housing components being traditional, modern, or both, respectively.ResultsOverall, 11426 individuals were included in the study: 10960 uninfected and 466 infected (301 symptomatic and 165 asymptomatic). Six percent resided in low-quality houses, 26% in medium-quality houses, and 68% in high-quality houses. In adjusted models, low- and medium-quality construction was associated with increased risk of malaria compared with high-quality construction (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.11 and 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.26-3.53 for low vs high; AOR, 1.56 and 95% CI, 1.15-2.11 for medium vs high). The relationship was independent of vector control, which also conferred a protective effect (AOR, 0.67; 95% CI, .50-.90) for sleeping under an insecticide-treated bed net or a sprayed structure compared with neither.ConclusionsOur study adds to the limited literature on housing quality and malaria risk from low transmission settings. Housing improvements may offer an attractive and sustainable additional strategy to support countries in malaria elimination

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emission Comparison of Steel Products with Other Materials

This paper outlines the background of Life-Cycle Inventory/ Life-Cycle Assessment (LCI/LCA) and reviews an undergraduate design project in progress at the University of Missouri - Rolla (UMR) comparing LCI/LCA of steel products with similar products produced from competing materials. GaBi 4 LCI/LCA software is being used to model LCI/LCA with a demonstration of the use of the software for a typical steelmaking operation.1 Future research utilizing the LCI/LCA methodology is being applied to compare the environmental impact of steel products to other alternative engineering materials. This work involves 13 undergraduate students working in four design teams under a FeMET design grant provided by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the Association of Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) Foundation

Stand-off 3D face imaging and vibrometry for biometric identification using digital holography

Lockheed Martin Coherent Technologies (LMCT) has demonstrated 3D face imaging at ~ 1-2 mm lateral resolution and range precision at stand-off distances up to 100 m using digital holography. LMCT has also demonstrated the digital holography technique in a multi-pixel vibrometry mode in the laboratory. In this paper, we report on 3D face imaging using multiple-source (MS) and multiple-wavelength (MW) digital holography breadboards. We will briefly discuss the theory of 3D imaging using MS and MW digital holography with references to the literature. We will also briefly discuss the theory of vibrometry using a digital holographic setup. We then describe our implementation of these techniques in breadboard setups operating at 1550 nm wavelength (for MS digital holography) and at wavelengths near 1617 nm (for MW digital holography). We also present experimental results for 3D imaging and for vibrometry with these digital holographic setups

Studies of the purine analog associated modulation of human erythrocyte acid phosphatase activity

The activity of the human erythrocyte acid phosphatase is modulated by a series of structural analogs of purine. The unsubstituted purine base does not affect the enzyme activity. Addition of a substituent at the number six position usually generates an analog which activates the enzyme while similar substitutions at the two position usually generate an inhibitor. Pyrimidines are generally ineffective as modulators while several modifications of the imidazole ring of the purine analogs do not abolish the modulator activity of the purine analog. The level of response to all active analogs is isozyme specific. Differences in apparent relative affinities among the modulators are noted. The modulators with a positive effect on enzyme activity, are effective in the presence of methanol which is more effective than H 2 0 as a phosphate acceptor. These analogs act by enhancing the rate of transfer of phosphate to H 2 O, while decreasing the rate of transfer to methanol. The results suggest that the purine analogs may act by altering the rate of hydrolysis of the phosphoenzyme intermediate by H 2 0 or may change the rate-limiting step in the catalytic mechanism.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45350/1/11010_2004_Article_BF00220780.pd

Single Versus Multi-Center Surgeons\u27 Risk-Adjusted Mitral Valve Repair Procedural Outcomes

The purpose of this study is to explore strategies to improve mitral valve repair (MVr) outcomes. This research explores postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing MVr surgery by single center surgeons versus patients of multicenter surgeons. Specific outcomes of interest include 30-day operative mortality, major operative complications (e.g., deep sternal wound infection, permanent stroke, renal dysfunction requiring dialysis, reoperation, and prolonged ventilation), length of stay, and 30-day readmissions. In brief, the serisk-adjusted outcome rates for surgeons that perform mitral valve repair procedures will be compared for surgeons that operate at a single center [i.e. SC surgeons] versus multiple centers [i.e. MC surgeons]. The overarching study hypothesis is: H(0) There will be no difference in the risk-adjusted outcome rates between surgeons that operate at a single center [i.e. SC surgeons] versus multiple centers [i.e. MC surgeons]. Based on prior research, however, it is anticipated that single center surgeons may have superior outcomes compared to multi-center surgeons

Respiratory sequelae of COVID-19: pulmonary and extrapulmonary origins, and approaches to clinical care and rehabilitation

Although the exact prevalence of post-COVID-19 condition (also known as long COVID) is unknown, more than a third of patients with COVID-19 develop symptoms that persist for more than 3 months after SARS-CoV-2 infection. These sequelae are highly heterogeneous in nature and adversely affect multiple biological systems, although breathlessness is a frequently cited symptom. Specific pulmonary sequelae, including pulmonary fibrosis and thromboembolic disease, need careful assessment and might require particular investigations and treatments. COVID-19 outcomes in people with pre-existing respiratory conditions vary according to the nature and severity of the respiratory disease and how well it is controlled. Extrapulmonary complications such as reduced exercise tolerance and frailty might contribute to breathlessness in post-COVID-19 condition. Non-pharmacological therapeutic options, including adapted pulmonary rehabilitation programmes and physiotherapy techniques for breathing management, might help to attenuate breathlessness in people with post-COVID-19 condition. Further research is needed to understand the origins and course of respiratory symptoms and to develop effective therapeutic and rehabilitative strategies