Fiber Coil Resonator for Optical Gain

We have developed a cheap design for a device using 3D printed parts and simple motors to fabricate a rare earth metal doped fiber coil amplifier. We also have measurements for bending losses in a small coil and absorption of the solar spectrum in an EDFA. This research will result in the creation of a design researchers can download, 3D print, and assemble to create their own fiber coils to whatever specifications are needed. These fabricated optical devices can be used for military laser defense systems, optical concentration such as solar concentrators, microfiber resonator coils or fiber coil gyroscopes. A rare earth metal doped fiber will be tightly wrapped around an acrylic tube with no gap between rings of the coil so that when the rings are epoxied together with a similar refractive index epoxy and removed from the glass tube, it creates an effective cylinder. Because this fiber is wrapped around in many windings, a long path is created for the signal wavelength to be amplified through while the device itself is compact enough to be portable and implemented in smaller areas. This will allow for very large gain in a device that is structured to take up little space in a small volume as opposed to a cumbersome great length in a fiber many meters long

Comparative analysis of genome-wide association studies signals for lipids, diabetes, and coronary heart disease: Cardiovascular Biomarker Genetics Collaboration

AIMS: To evaluate the associations of emergent genome-wide-association study-derived coronary heart disease (CHD)-associated single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with established and emerging risk factors, and the association of genome-wide-association study-derived lipid-associated SNPs with other risk factors and CHD events. METHODS AND RESULTS: Using two case–control studies, three cross-sectional, and seven prospective studies with up to 25 000 individuals and 5794 CHD events we evaluated associations of 34 genome-wide-association study-identified SNPs with CHD risk and 16 CHD-associated risk factors or biomarkers. The Ch9p21 SNPs rs1333049 (OR 1.17; 95% confidence limits 1.11–1.24) and rs10757274 (OR 1.17; 1.09–1.26), MIA3 rs17465637 (OR 1.10; 1.04–1.15), Ch2q36 rs2943634 (OR 1.08; 1.03–1.14), APC rs383830 (OR 1.10; 1.02, 1.18), MTHFD1L rs6922269 (OR 1.10; 1.03, 1.16), CXCL12 rs501120 (OR 1.12; 1.04, 1.20), and SMAD3 rs17228212 (OR 1.11; 1.05, 1.17) were all associated with CHD risk, but not with the CHD biomarkers and risk factors measured. Among the 20 blood lipid-related SNPs, LPL rs17411031 was associated with a lower risk of CHD (OR 0.91; 0.84–0.97), an increase in Apolipoprotein AI and HDL-cholesterol, and reduced triglycerides. SORT1 rs599839 was associated with CHD risk (OR 1.20; 1.15–1.26) as well as total- and LDL-cholesterol, and apolipoprotein B. ANGPTL3 rs12042319 was associated with CHD risk (OR 1.11; 1.03, 1.19), total- and LDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, and interleukin-6. CONCLUSION: Several SNPs predicting CHD events appear to involve pathways not currently indexed by the established or emerging risk factors; others involved changes in blood lipids including triglycerides or HDL-cholesterol as well as LDL-cholesterol. The overlapping association of SNPs with multiple risk factors and biomarkers supports the existence of shared points of regulation for these phenotypes

Functional polymorphism in ABCA1 influences age of symptom onset in coronary artery disease patients

ATP-binding-cassette-transporter-A1 (ABCA1) plays a pivotal role in intracellular cholesterol removal, exerting a protective effect against atherosclerosis. ABCA1 gene severe mutations underlie Tangier disease, a rare Mendelian disorder that can lead to premature coronary artery disease (CAD), with age of CAD onset being two decades earlier in mutant homozygotes and one decade earlier in heterozygotes than in mutation non-carriers. It is unknown whether common polymorphisms in ABCA1 could influence age of symptom onset of CAD in the general population. We examined common promoter and non-synonymous coding polymorphisms in relation to age of symptom onset in a group of CAD patients (n = 1164), and also carried out in vitro assays to test effects of the promoter variations on ABCA1 promoter transcriptional activity and effects of the coding variations on ABCA1 function in mediating cellular cholesterol efflux. Age of symptom onset was found to be associated with the promoter − 407G > C polymorphism, being 2.82 years higher in C allele homozygotes than in G allele homozygotes and intermediate in heterozygotes (61.54, 59.79 and 58.72 years, respectively; P = 0.002). In agreement, patients carrying ABCA1 haplotypes containing the −407C allele had higher age of symptom onset. Patients of the G/G or G/C genotype of the −407G > C polymorphism had significant coronary artery stenosis (>75%) at a younger age than those of the C/C genotype (P = 0.003). Reporter gene assays showed that ABCA1 haplotypes bearing the −407C allele had higher promoter activity than haplotypes with the −407G allele. Functional analyses of the coding polymorphisms showed an effect of the V825I substitution on ABCA1 function, with the 825I variant having higher activity in mediating cholesterol efflux than the wild-type (825V). A trend towards higher symptom onset age in 825I allele carriers was observed. The data indicate an influence of common ABCA1 functional polymorphisms on age of symptom onset in CAD patient

Effects of colour-coded compartmentalised syringe trays on anaesthetic drug error detection under cognitive load

oai:repository.derby.ac.uk:q4qv7Background Anaesthetic drug administration is complex, and typical clinical environments can entail significant cognitive load. Colour-coded anaesthetic drug trays have shown promising results for error identification and reducing cognitive load. Methods We used experimental psychology methods to test the potential benefits of colour-coded compartmentalised trays compared with conventional trays in a simulated visual search task. Effects of cognitive load were also explored through an accompanying working memory-based task. We hypothesised that colour-coded compartmentalised trays would improve drug-detection error, reduce search time, and reduce cognitive load. This comprised a cognitive load memory task presented alongside a visual search task to detect drug errors. Results All 53 participants completed 36 trials, which were counterbalanced across the two tray types and 18 different vignettes. There were 16 error-present and 20 error-absent trials, with 18 trials presented for each preloaded tray type. Syringe errors were detected more often in the colour-coded trays than in the conventional trays (91% vs 83%, respectively; P=0.006). In signal detection analysis, colour-coded trays resulted in more sensitivity to the error signal (2.28 vs 1.50, respectively; P<0.001). Confidence in response accuracy correlated more strongly with task performance for the colour-coded tray condition, indicating improved metacognitive sensitivity to task performance (r=0.696 vs r=0.447). Conclusions Colour coding and compartmentalisation enhanced visual search efficacy of drug trays. This is further evidence that introducing standardised colour-coded trays into operating theatres and procedural suites would add an additional layer of safety for anaesthetic procedures

Spatiotemporal variation in harbor porpoise distribution and foraging across a landscape of fear

Funding information: Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland; Marine Scotland Science; University of AberdeenPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Single-cell chemoproteomics identifies metastatic activity signatures in breast cancer

Protein activity state, rather than protein or mRNA abundance, is a biologically regulated and relevant input to many processes in signaling, differentiation, development, and diseases such as cancer. While there are numerous methods to detect and quantify mRNA and protein abundance in biological samples, there are no general approaches to detect and quantify endogenous protein activity with single-cell resolution. Here, we report the development of a chemoproteomic platform, single-cell activity-dependent proximity ligation, which uses automated, microfluidics-based single-cell capture and nanoliter volume manipulations to convert the interactions of family-wide chemical activity probes with native protein targets into multiplexed, amplifiable oligonucleotide barcodes. We demonstrate accurate, reproducible, and multiplexed quantitation of a six-enzyme (Ag-6) panel with known ties to cancer cell aggressiveness directly in single cells. We further identified increased Ag-6 enzyme activity across breast cancer cell lines of increasing metastatic potential, as well as in primary patient-derived tumor cells and organoids from patients with breast cancer

Spatiotemporal variation in harbor porpoise distribution and foraging across a landscape of fear

Understanding spatiotemporally varying animal distributions can inform ecological understanding of species' behavior (e.g., foraging and predator/prey interactions) and support development of management and conservation measures. Data from an array of echolocation‐click detectors (C‐PODs) were analyzed using Bayesian spatiotemporal modeling to investigate spatial and temporal variation in occurrence and foraging activity of harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and how this variation was influenced by daylight and presence of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). The probability of occurrence of porpoises was highest on an offshore sandbank, where the proportion of detections with foraging clicks was relatively low. The porpoises' overall distribution shifted throughout the summer and autumn, likely influenced by seasonal prey availability. Probability of porpoise occurrence was lowest in areas close to the coast, where dolphin detections were highest and declined prior to dolphin detection, leading potentially to avoidance of spatiotemporal overlap between porpoises and dolphins. Increased understanding of porpoises' seasonal distribution, key foraging areas, and their relationship with competitors can shed light on management options and potential interactions with offshore industries