Diagnostic accuracy of TB-LAMP for pulmonary tuberculosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND:The need for a rapid, molecular test to diagnose tuberculosis (TB) has prompted exploration of TB-LAMP (Eiken; Tokyo, Japan) for use in resource-limited settings. We conducted a systematic review to assess the accuracy of TB-LAMP as a diagnostic test for pulmonary TB. METHODS:We analyzed individual-level data for eligible patients from all studies of TB-LAMP conducted between Jan 2012 and October 2015 to compare the diagnostic accuracy of TB-LAMP with that of smear microscopy and Xpert MTB/RIF® using 3 reference standards of varying stringency. Pooled sensitivity and specificity and pooled differences in sensitivity and specificity were estimated using random effects meta-analysis. Study quality was evaluated using QUADAS-2. RESULTS:Four thousand seven hundred sixty individuals across 13 studies met eligibility criteria. Methodological quality was judged to be low for all studies. TB-LAMP had higher sensitivity than sputum smear microscopy (pooled sensitivity difference + 13·2, 95% CI 4·5-21·9%) and similar sensitivity to Xpert MTB/RIF (pooled sensitivity difference - 2·5, 95% CI -8·0 to + 2·9) using the most stringent reference standard available. Specificity of TB-LAMP was similar to that of sputum smear microscopy (pooled specificity difference - 1·8, 95% CI -3·8 to + 0·2) and Xpert MTB/RIF (pooled specificity difference 0·5, 95% CI -0·9 to + 1·8). CONCLUSIONS:From the perspective of diagnostic accuracy, TB-LAMP may be considered as an alternative test for sputum smear microscopy. Additional factors such as cost, feasibility, and acceptability in settings that continue to rely on sputum smear microscopy should be considered when deciding to adopt this technology. Xpert MTB/RIF should continue to be preferred in settings where resource and infrastructure requirements are adequate and where HIV co-infection or drug-resistance is of concern

Let it grow: urban gardens and food access in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Community gardens are a grassroots, collective land use institution developed in urban neighborhoods as a strategy to address the loss of personal agency associated with suburbanization and food insecurity by engaging citizens in producing their own food. In their best operational form, gardens are idealized as a tool to transform vacant land in the built environment to democratize food access and combat hunger in neighborhoods with limited access to healthy and affordable groceries. This study used a door-to-door survey to interview residents in six neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and measure the impact of community gardens on their perceptions of food access. The nuanced illustration of the food system produced calls into question the traditional toolset to eliminate “food deserts,” as personal definitions of economic security and cultural perceptions trump simple spatial distance to the grocery store, implicating the need for an integrative methodology to address compounding deficiencies in production, distribution, and consumption. Gardeners represent a range of socioeconomic backgrounds and motivations, but many do not consider gardening to improve their personal food security. The survey also finds a high prevalence of home gardeners and low rates of community garden participation, despite the geographic proximity of the sample population to community gardens. Although two-thirds of residents could identify the garden in their neighborhood and one-half expressed interest in participation, social and emotional barriers appear to prevent the transition of passive, urban consumers into active producers and participants in the food system. These barriers include lack of gardening knowledge and racial prejudice, suggesting that community organizing models that integrate gardening skills training and create a comfortable place to socialize and play are needed to institutionalize community gardens and open more paths for participation

Development of a selection to recover improved DNA ligase enzymes during directed evolution

DNA ligases are essential enzymes used in many molecular biology applications. Of particular note, they are important enzymes in next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. The improved speed, efficiency, and affordability of NGS over Sanger sequencing has greatly expanded the applications of DNA sequencing. In most NGS technologies ligase enzymes play a crucial role, for instance in ligating adaptors onto sequence fragments during sample preparation. This key step requires a blunt-ended ligation reaction, with highly efficient ligases required in order to create a sample library of high quality. The current go-to enzyme is T4 DNA ligase, which has not evolved in Nature to perform blunt ended ligations, and as such has relatively poor levels of activity when compared to other substrates. There is therefore potential to improve upon this enzyme and engineer a ligase that is more efficient with blunt-ended substrates. We have developed a novel function-based directed evolution selection to evolve blunt-ended ligases that have greater catalytic efficiency. The basis for this approach is the over-expression of a ligase enzyme variant which is then incubated with a linearised plasmid encoding for that same ligase variant. More efficient ligases will ligate the plasmid encoding for their own gene variant more efficiently (in a blunt-ended ligation), and so greater numbers of the circularised plasmid will be produced. Through successive rounds of transformation, amplification and ligation the most improved enzyme variants are enriched. This selection approach is being used to evaluate a panel of ligase variants in order to identify the best ligases for blunt-ended ligation applications. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Establishing a Research Framework to Assess Permeable Pavement Sites at Ohio State

ENR 2367Ohio State has several permeable pavement sites, but university officials are not convinced that permeable pavement is right for campus. This project is a framework for student-led research that will assess permeable pavement's durability and impact on soil quality at Ohio State.Academic Major: Environment, Economy, Development, and SustainabilityAcademic Major: Environmental Scienc

Kinetic and Kinematic Analysis of Male Collegiate Basketball Players with Patella Tendinosis

Patellar tendinopathy (PT) occurs in approximately 40% of elite jumping athletes. Players will typically play through the pain; however, if the condition is not successfully treated some are forced to retire from sport. Research has shown that there are no signs of chemical inflammation in the tendon, but rather the presence of a degenerative tendon with collagen disorientation and disorganization

Peer-to-peer support on Facebook for caregivers of children and youth with complex care needs in New Brunswick: An environmental scan

This environmental scan aimed to describe the purpose, use, and reach of health-related peer-to-peer support groups on Facebook for caregivers of children and youth with complex care needs in New Brunswick. A total of 3,104 searches on Facebook and consultations with thirty-two stakeholders led to the identification of forty-seven Facebook support groups (twenty-one active). Groups targeted a range of conditions, with autism and related intellectual disabilities appearing most frequently. Content analysis of posts indicated that groups were primarily used to exchange informational support. This study showed that Facebook-based peer-to-peer support groups are available to families of children and youth with complex care needs in the province. This work also lays a foundation for future scans of Facebook-based support groups in other Canadian provinces and beyond.La présente analyse du milieu visait à décrire l’objectif, l’utilisation et la portée des groupes de soutien entre pairs liés à la santé sur Facebook pour les personnes qui s’occupent d’enfants et de jeunes ayant des besoins de soins complexes au Nouveau-Brunswick. En tout, 3 104 recherches sur Facebook et des consultations auprès de 32 intervenants ont permis de repérer 47 groupes de soutien sur Facebook, dont 21 groupes actifs. Des groupes ciblaient un éventail de troubles; l’autisme et les déficiences intellectuelles connexes étaient ceux qui étaient les plus fréquents. Les analyses de contenu des messages ont révélé que les groupes étaient principalement utilisés pour échanger des informations de soutien. Selon cette étude, des groupes de soutien entre pairs sur Facebook sont offerts aux familles d’enfants et de jeunes ayant des besoins de soins complexes dans la province. De plus, ce travail jette les bases de futures analyses de groupes de soutien sur Facebook d’autres provinces canadiennes et d’ailleurs

#PassTheMicYouth Multimedia Program: Setting the Stage to Amplify Youth Voices

The #PassTheMicYouth multimedia program is a youth-centered, youth-led podcast and blog that amplifies the voices and lived experiences of young people across social identity groups. Grounded in a positive youth development framework and informed by a critical pedagogical tradition, #PassTheMicYouth shines a spotlight on sociopolitical issues important to young people and provides a platform that supports creativity and candor. Archived podcast episodes and blog posts are accompanied by lesson plans Extension professionals and other educators can use to promote dialogue and critical reflection among youth and adult audiences. This article introduces the #PassTheMicYouth program and examines potential applications for youth-serving professionals

Experimental Demonstration of >230{\deg} Phase Modulation in Gate-Tunable Graphene-Gold Reconfigurable Mid-Infrared Metasurfaces

Metasurfaces offer significant potential to control far-field light propagation through the engineering of amplitude, polarization, and phase at an interface. We report here phase modulation of an electronically reconfigurable metasurface and demonstrate its utility for mid-infrared beam steering. Using a gate-tunable graphene-gold resonator geometry, we demonstrate highly tunable reflected phase at multiple wavelengths and show up to 237{\deg} phase modulation range at an operating wavelength of 8.50 {\mu}m. We observe a smooth monotonic modulation of phase with applied voltage from 0{\deg} to 206{\deg} at a wavelength of 8.70 {\mu}m. Based on these experimental data, we demonstrate with antenna array calculations an average beam steering efficiency of 50% for reflected light for angles up to 30{\deg}, relative to an ideal metasurface, confirming the suitability of this geometry for reconfigurable mid-infrared beam steering devices

High Spectral Resolution Plasmonic Color Filters with Subwavelength Dimensions

Rapid advances in image sensor technology have generated a mismatch between the small size of image sensor pixels and the achievable filter spectral resolution. This mismatch has prevented the realization of chip-based image sensors with simultaneously high spatial and spectral resolution. We report here a concept that overcomes this trade-off, enabling high spectral resolution (transmission FWHM <31 nm) filters with subwavelength dimensions operating at optical and near-infrared wavelengths. An inverse design methodology was used to realize a new type of plasmonic cavity that efficiently couples an in-plane Fabry–Perot resonator to a single plasmonic slit that supports surface plasmon polaritons. This design principle, combined with a new metal imprinting method that yields metallic nanostructures with both top and bottom surfaces that are extremely smooth, enabled demonstration of high spectral resolution transmission filters with smaller area than any previously reported