The Growing Problem of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis in North Korea

Kwonjune Seung and Stephen Linton from the non-governmental organization EugeneBell discuss the worryingly high levels of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis they have observed in North Korea's tuberculosis sanatoria. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summar

Malaria vectors of Timor-Leste

Background: The island of Timor lies at the south-eastern edge of Indonesia on the boundary of the Oriental and Australian faunal regions. The country of Timor-Leste, which occupies the eastern part of the island, is malarious but anopheline faunal surveys and malaria vector incrimination date back to the 1960 s. Over the last decade the malaria vectors of south-east Asia and the south-west Pacific have been intensely studied using molecular techniques that can confirm identification within complexes of isomorphic species. The aim of this study is to accurately identify the Anopheles fauna of Timor-Leste using these techniques

Qualitative modelling via constraint programming

Qualitative modelling is a technique integrating the fields of theoretical computer science, artificial intelligence and the physical and biological sciences. The aim is to be able to model the behaviour of systems without estimating parameter values and fixing the exact quantitative dynamics. Traditional applications are the study of the dynamics of physical and biological systems at a higher level of abstraction than that obtained by estimation of numerical parameter values for a fixed quantitative model. Qualitative modelling has been studied and implemented to varying degrees of sophistication in Petri nets, process calculi and constraint programming. In this paper we reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of existing frameworks, we demonstrate how recent advances in constraint programming can be leveraged to produce high quality qualitative models, and we describe the advances in theory and technology that would be needed to make constraint programming the best option for scientific investigation in the broadest sense

Non-Standard Errors

In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence-generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty: Non-standard errors (NSEs). We study NSEs by letting 164 teams test the same hypotheses on the same data. NSEs turn out to be sizable, but smaller for better reproducible or higher rated research. Adding peer-review stages reduces NSEs. We further find that this type of uncertainty is underestimated by participants

Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Treatment in North Korea: Is Scale-Up Possible?

Kwonjune Seung and colleagues describe the Eugene Bell Foundation's experience of treating MDR-TB in North Korea

Drug resistance in North Korean sanatorium patients (<i>n</i> = 245).

<p>The TB Ag MPT64 Rapid kit (SD Bioline), an immunochromatographic test using mouse monoclonal antibodies to detect the MPT64 protein, was used on positive cultures for identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Critical concentrations were as follows (mcg/ml): isoniazid 0.2, rifampicin 40.0, ethambutol 2.0, streptomycin 10.0, kanamycin 40.0, amikacin 40.0, capreomycin 40.0, ofloxacin 2.0, prothionamide 40.0, cycloserine 30.0, para-aminosalicylic acid (PAS) 1.0. Pyrazinamide susceptibility was determined using the pyrazinamidase test.</p

Common MDR patterns in North Korean sanatorium patients (<i>n</i> = 245).

<p>Common MDR patterns in North Korean sanatorium patients (<i>n</i> = 245).</p

Baseline DST patterns of patients with MDR TB in North Korean treatment sites supported by EBF (<i>n</i> = 283).

<p>Baseline DST patterns of patients with MDR TB in North Korean treatment sites supported by EBF (<i>n</i> = 283).</p

DPRK MDR TB treatment centers supported by the Eugene Bell Foundation (2015).

<p>DPRK MDR TB treatment centers supported by the Eugene Bell Foundation (2015).</p