Fastener starter tool

A fastener starter tool includes a number of spring retention fingers for retaining a small part, or combination of parts. The tool has an inner housing, which holds the spring retention fingers, a hand grip, and an outer housing configured to slide over the inner housing and the spring retention fingers toward and away from the hand grip, exposing and opening, or respectively, covering and closing, the spring retention fingers. By sliding the outer housing toward (away from) the hand grip, a part can be released from (retained by) the tool. The tool may include replaceable inserts, for retaining parts, such as screws, and configured to limit the torque applied to the part, to prevent cross threading. The inner housing has means to transfer torque from the hand grip to the insert. The tool may include replaceable bits, the inner housing having means for transferring torque to the replaceable bit

The innate immune response to coxsackievirus B3 predicts progression to cardiovascular disease and heart failure in male mice

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Men are at an increased risk of dying from heart failure caused by inflammatory heart diseases such as atherosclerosis, myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). We previously showed that macrophages in the spleen are phenotypically distinct in male compared to female mice at 12 h after infection. This innate immune profile mirrors and predicts the cardiac immune response during acute myocarditis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In order to study sex differences in the innate immune response, five male and female BALB/c mice were infected intraperitoneally with coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) or phosphate buffered saline and their spleens were harvested 12 h later for microarray analysis. Gene expression was determined using an Affymetrix Mouse Gene 1.0 ST Array. Significant gene changes were verified by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction or ELISA.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>During the innate immune response to CVB3 infection, infected males had higher splenic expression of genes which are important in regulating the influx of cholesterol into macrophages, such as phospholipase A₂(PLA₂) and the macrophage scavenger receptor compared to the infected females. We also observed a higher expression in infected males compared to infected females of squalene synthase, an enzyme used to generate cholesterol within cells, and Cyp2e1, an enzyme important in metabolizing cholesterol and steroids. Infected males also had decreased levels of the translocator protein 18 kDa (TSPO), which binds PLA₂and is the rate-limiting step for steroidogenesis, as well as decreased expression of the androgen receptor (AR), which indicates receptor activation. Gene differences were not due to increased viral replication, which was unaltered between sexes.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We found that, compared to females, male mice had a greater splenic expression of genes which are important for cholesterol metabolism and activation of the AR at 12 h after infection. Activation of the AR has been linked to increased cardiac hypertrophy, atherosclerosis, myocarditis/DCM and heart failure in male mice and humans.</p

Revolution and the end of history: Caryl Churchill's Mad Forest

Caryl Churchill’s Mad Forest, written and performed very soon after the Romanian revolution in 1990 and performed both in London and Bucharest, is a dynamic, inter-cultural play that represents a variety of perspectives on the revolutionary events, as well as oscillating between English and Romanian cultural and language coordinates. It has a peculiar topicality in its detailed and specific usages of different aspects of the revolutionary narrative, its sketches of family life before and after the revolution, and the inclusion of the revolution as reported in quasi-documentary-style testimony. The perspective in this article is one that places the play within a framework that thinks through Mad Forest’s relationship to the triumphant, neoliberalist heralding of “the end of history,” most famously argued by Francis Fukuyama in his 1989 article of that name. This discourse gained further confidence from the collapse of Eastern Europe, a collapse that was viewed by proponents of the end-of-history argument as signalling the permanent disintegration of communism and a victory for capitalism. However, Mad Forest is considered here as a play that reflects multiple perspectives on the revolutionary period and, while declining to provide political solutions as such, simultaneously refuses to accede to the implications of the end-of-history argument

Cytological and transcript analyses reveal fat and lazy persister-like bacilli in tuberculous sputum

As nonreplicating tubercle bacilli are tolerant to the cidal action of antibiotics and resistant to multiple stresses, identification of this persister-like population of tubercle bacilli in sputum presents exciting and tractable new opportunities to investigate both responses to chemotherapy and the transmission of tuberculosis

A novel strategy for the identification of genomic islands by comparative analysis of the contents and contexts of tRNA sites in closely related bacteria

We devised software tools to systematically investigate the contents and contexts of bacterial tRNA and tmRNA genes, which are known insertion hotspots for genomic islands (GIs). The strategy, based on MAUVE-facilitated multigenome comparisons, was used to examine 87 Escherichia coli MG1655 tRNA and tmRNA genes and their orthologues in E.coli EDL933, E.coli CFT073 and Shigella flexneri Sf301. Our approach identified 49 GIs occupying ∼1.7 Mb that mapped to 18 tRNA genes, missing 2 but identifying a further 30 GIs as compared with Islander [Y. Mantri and K. P. Williams (2004), Nucleic Acids Res., 32, D55–D58]. All these GIs had many strain-specific CDS, anomalous GC contents and/or significant dinucleotide biases, consistent with foreign origins. Our analysis demonstrated marked conservation of sequences flanking both empty tRNA sites and tRNA-associated GIs across all four genomes. Remarkably, there were only 2 upstream and 5 downstream deletions adjacent to the 328 loci investigated. In silico PCR analysis based on conserved flanking regions was also used to interrogate hotspots in another eight completely or partially sequenced E.coli and Shigella genomes. The tools developed are ideal for the analysis of other bacterial species and will lead to in silico and experimental discovery of new genomic islands

Integrating Machine Learning for Planetary Science: Perspectives for the Next Decade

Machine learning (ML) methods can expand our ability to construct, and draw insight from large datasets. Despite the increasing volume of planetary observations, our field has seen few applications of ML in comparison to other sciences. To support these methods, we propose ten recommendations for bolstering a data-rich future in planetary science.Comment: 10 pages (expanded citations compared to 8 page submitted version for decadal survey), 3 figures, white paper submitted to the Planetary Science and Astrobiology Decadal Survey 2023-203

Exhaled SARS-CoV-2 RNA viral load kinetics measured by facemask sampling associates with household transmission

Objectives No studies have examined longitudinal patterns of naturally exhaled SARS-CoV-2 RNA viral load (VL) during acute infection. We report this using facemask sampling (FMS) and assessed the relationship between emitted RNA VL and household transmission. Methods Between December 2020 and February 2021, we recruited participants within 24 hours of a positive RT-qPCR on upper respiratory tract sampling (URTS) (day 0). Participants gave FMS (for 1 hour) and URTS (self-taken) on seven occasions up to day 21. Samples were analysed by RT-qPCR (from sampling matrix strips within the mask) and symptom diaries were recorded. Household transmission was assessed through reporting of positive URTS RT-qPCR in household contacts. Results Analysis of 203 FMS and 190 URTS from 34 participants showed that RNA VL peaked within the first 5 days following sampling. Concomitant URTS, FMS RNA VL, and symptom scores, however, were poorly correlated, but a higher severity of reported symptoms was associated with FMS positivity up to day 5. Of 28 participants who had household contacts, 12 (43%) reported transmission. Frequency of household transmission was associated with the highest (peak) FMS RNA VL obtained (negative genome copies/strip: 0% household transmission; 1 to 1000 copies/strip: 20%; 1001 to 10 000 copies/strip: 57%; >10 000 copies/strip: 75%; p = 0.048; age adjusted OR of household transmission per log increase in copies/strip: 4.97; 95% CI, 1.20–20.55; p = 0.02) but not observed with peak URTS RNA VL. Discussion Exhaled RNA VL measured by FMS is highest in early infection, can be positive in symptomatic patients with concomitantly negative URTS, and is strongly associated with household transmission