Directing diarrhoeal disease research towards disease-burden reduction

Despite gains in controlling mortality relating to diarrhoeal disease, the burden of disease remains unacceptably high. To refocus health research to target disease-burden reduction as the goal of research in child health, the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative developed a systematic strategy to rank health research options. This priority-setting exercise included listing of 46 competitive research options in diarrhoeal disease and their critical and quantitative appraisal by 10 experts based on five criteria for research that reflect the ability of the research to be translated into interventions and achieved disease-burden reduction. These criteria included the answerability of the research questions, the efficacy and effectiveness of the intervention resulting from the research, the maximal potential for disease-burden reduction of the interventions derived from the research, the affordability, deliverability, and sustainability of the intervention supported by the research, and the overall effect of the research-derived intervention on equity. Experts scored each research option independently to delineate the best investments for diarrhoeal disease control in the developing world to reduce the burden of disease by 2015. Priority scores obtained for health policy and systems research obtained eight of the top 10 rankings in overall scores, indicating that current investments in health research are significantly different from those estimated to be the most effective in reducing the global burden of diarrhoeal disease by 2015

Active learning approach to simulations of strongly correlated matter with the ghost Gutzwiller approximation

Quantum embedding (QE) methods such as the ghost Gutzwiller approximation (gGA) offer a powerful approach to simulating strongly correlated systems, but come with the computational bottleneck of computing the ground state of an auxiliary embedding Hamiltonian (EH) iteratively. In this work, we introduce an active learning (AL) framework integrated within the gGA to address this challenge. The methodology is applied to the single-band Hubbard model and results in a significant reduction in the number of instances where the EH must be solved. Through a principal component analysis (PCA), we find that the EH parameters form a low-dimensional structure that is largely independent of the geometric specifics of the systems, especially in the strongly correlated regime. Our AL strategy enables us to discover this low-dimensionality structure on the fly, while leveraging it for reducing the computational cost of gGA, laying the groundwork for more efficient simulations of complex strongly correlated materials

Instantaneous Assessment of Hedonic Olfactory Perception using Heartbeat Nonlinear Dynamics: A Preliminary Study

Emotional perception to hedonic olfactory stimuli is un- der direct control of the limbic system, whose dynam- ics is known to affect autonomic nervous system activity on cardiovascular control. Mainly due to methodologi- cal limitations, previous investigations failed to uncover specific trends in heartbeat dynamics between ultra short- time (i.e., lasting < 10s), pleasant and unpleasant olfac- tory stimuli. To this extent, in this study we computed in- stantaneous estimates from heartbeat series gathered from 32 healthy subjects (age: 26±2; 16M) undergoing hedo- nic olfactory elicitation. Each subject exhibited a simi- lar olfactory perception threshold, and scored five 5s stim- uli in terms of arousal and valence level using the self- assessment manikin test. We analyzed the heartbeat series using our recently proposed inhomogeneous point-process nonlinear framework, obtaining instantaneous estimates defined in the time (mean and standard deviation), fre- quency (power in the LF and HF bands, as well as LF/HF ratio), and nonlinear/complexity (bispectra, sample and approximate entropy, and Lyapunov exponent) domains. A feature set comprising average estimates within the 5s win- dows was taken as an input of a K-Nearest Neighborhood classification algorithm, whose cross-validation relied on a leave-one-subject-out procedure. Results demonstrate that our framework allows to finely characterize affective olfactory elicitation with an average recognition accuracy of 71.88%. Feature selection highlighted that the most dis- criminating power was contributed by instantaneous LF power, instantaneous Lyapunov exponents, and instanta- neous approximate entropy

Studi Eksperimental Variasi Tinggi Tabung Udara dan Jarak Lubang Tekan dengan Katup Pengantar terhadap Efisiensi Pompa Hidram 3 Inchi

Abstrak Penelitian tentang pengaruh tinggi tabung udara dan jarak lubang tekan terhadap katup penghantar dalam konstruksi pompa hidram yang secara teoritis dimaksudkan untuk mendapatkan aliran yang kontinyu. Oleh karena itu, penulis melakukan penelitian tentang variasi tinggi tabung udara dan jarak lubang tekan dengan katup pengantar sehingga debit hasil yang diharapkan lebih efisien. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa variasi tinggi tabung udara dan jarak lubang tekan terhadap katup pengantar dapat mempengaruhi efisiensi pompa hidram. Efisiensi tertinggi terdapat pada variasi tinggi tabung udara 0,5 m dan jarak lubang tekan 0,16 m. Perhitungan efisiensi D’Aubuisson sebesar 64,79 % dan perhitungan efisiensi&nbsp; Rankine menunjukan tingkat efisiensi sebesar&nbsp; 62,40 %.&nbsp

The case for launch of an international DNA-based birth cohort study

The global health agenda beyond 2015 will inevitably need to broaden its focus from mortality reduction to the social determinants of deaths, growing inequities among children and mothers, and ensuring the sustainability of the progress made against the infectious diseases. New research tools, including technologies that enable high-throughput genetic and ‘-omics’ research, could be deployed for better understanding of the aetiology of maternal and child health problems. The research needed to address those challenges will require conceptually different studies than those used in the past. It should be guided by stringent ethical frameworks related to the emerging collections of biological specimens and other health related information. We will aim to establish an international birth cohort which should assist low- and middle-income countries to use emerging genomic research technologies to address the main problems in maternal and child health, which are still major contributors to the burden of disease globally

Quantitative EEG analysis in minimally conscious state patients during postural changes

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New taphonomic approach applied to the Late Pleistocene bone remains from Pikimachay Cave, Ayacucho Basin, Peru: possible implications for the debate on human colonisation of western South America

La grotte de Pikimachay dans le sud-est du Pérou a joué un rôle important dans les discussions concernant le premier peuplement de l’archéologie sud-américaine, et en particulier dans les Andes du Sud. Les fouilles effectuées par Richard MacNeish en 1969-1970 ont permis l’identification d’une séquence d’occupations humaines possibles et controversées du Pléistocène tardif aux temps historiques. Dans le cadre d’un programme de recherche visant à réévaluer les vestiges du Pléistocène supérieur de ce site, nous avons effectué des observations taphonomiques sur un échantillon osseux (n=40) appartenant à ses strates inférieures (couches h à k) comme suit : h (n=17), h1 (n=6), i (n=4), i1 (n=7), j (n=5) et k (n=1). Les datations au radiocarbone conventionnelles non calibrées initialement obtenues suggèrent que ces couches couvrent une période d’environ 14 à 25000 ans avant le présent (kybp). Chaque os a été minutieusement étudié pour connaître la nature de ses modifications, décrire l’état général des spécimens et les altérations, dans le but d’identifier une éventuelle intervention anthropique. À cette fin, nous avons considéré les modifications de surface enregistrant des fractures fraîches et post-dépositionnelles, différents types de marques, l’altération et la présence de taches de manganèse. Nous avons conclu que divers os (n=8) de la couche h étaient affectés par diverses modifications d’origine humaine. On peut donc supposer que ces nouvelles informations justifient l’hypothèse selon laquelle les os et les matériaux lithiques de la couche h auraient été produits au cours de l’Holocène inférieur/Pléistocène terminal entre ~≥9,0/10,0 et ~14,1, probablement à ~14,1 kybp ; un fait qui peut être considéré pour les restes de pierre des strates sous-jacentes h1 qui ont donné une date similaire. Les restes osseux des strates j à k ne présentent pas de modifications humaines. Ensuite, si la chronologie rapportée et son association avec les restes anthropiques sont vraies, Pikimachay pourrait encore être pertinent en ce qui concerne la discussion sur la question de la colonisation humaine dans l’ouest de l’Amérique du Sud à une époque acceptable pendant la période postglaciaire.The Pikimachay cave in south-eastern Peru had an important role in archaeological discussions concerning the first peopling of South America, and the Southern Andes in particular. The excavations by Richard MacNeish in 1969-1970 identified a sequence of possible but controversial Late Pleistocene human occupations up to historical times. As a part of a research programme aiming to re-assess the Late Pleistocene remains from this site, we made taphonomic observations on a sample of bones (n=40) from the lower strata (layers h to k) as follows: h (n=17), h1 (n=6), i (n=4), i1 (n=7), j (n=5), and k (n=1). The conventional uncalibrated radiocarbon dates initially obtained suggest that these layers span a period of ~14.0 to 25.0 thousand years before present (kybp). Each bone was thoroughly examined to determine the nature of modifications to them, and to describe alterations and the general condition of the specimens in order to identify possible anthropic intervention. For this purpose, we examined the surface modifications indicating fresh or post-depositional fractures, the different kinds of marks, weathering, and the presence of manganese staining. We concluded that several bones (n=8) from layer h showed various human-made modifications. We can therefore suggest that this new information justifies the assumption that the bones and lithic materials from layer h would have been produced during the Early Holocene/Late Pleistocene between ~≥9.0/10.0 and ~14.1, probably at ~14.1 kybp; an assumption that can also be considered for the stone remains from the underlying strata h1 that yielded a similar date. The bone remains from strata j to k do not show any human modifications. Furthermore, if the reported chronology and its association with the anthropic remains are true, the Pikimachay cave could still be relevant to the debate over the human colonisation of western South America that occurred within a similar timeframe during the postglacial era

Cohort Profile: The Study of Respiratory Pathogens in Andean Children

We investigated respiratory pathogens in a prospective cohort study of young children living in the Peruvian Andes. In the study we assessed viral respiratory infections among young children, and explored interactions of viruses with common respiratory bacteria, especially Streptococcus pneumoniae. Through weekly household visits, data were collected on the signs and symptoms of acute respiratory illness (ARI), nasal samples were collected to test for viruses during episodes of ARI, and nasopharyngeal samples were collected on a monthly basis to monitor bacterial colonisation. We also collected data on vaccination coverage, patterns of social mixing, geographic information, and environmental and socio-demographic variables. Understanding the interaction of respiratory viruses with bacteria and its impact on the burden and severity of ARIs in rural areas of developing countries is critical to designing strategies for preventing such infections. Investigators interested in more details about this study or in accessing these resources should contact Dr. Carlos G. Grijalva at Vanderbilt University ([email protected]