Paper Session III-D - The Effects of Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Coatings and Container Shape on Fluids and Containers in a Microgravity Environment

This experiment demonstrates the fluid property of hydrophilic attraction and hydrophobic repulsion and their relation to surface tension. This study gives an approximation of the amount of control that can be exerted passively over a mass system of fluid. By using cylinders of various sizes and shapes that are coated with various substances, in various patterns, containers along with baffles, a demonstration of the force of attraction between fluid and coating can be observed. The properties studied in this experiment are of great use to the aerospace industry. The control of fluids in a microgravity environment is of major concern to any space project. In the case of a rocket or similar launch vehicle, the fuel of the spacecraft can make up to 70 percent of the weight. If this fluid were to start oscillating, the results would be catastrophic. If the fluid drifted away from the side of the fuel tank that the fuel need to be drawn from while in orbit, the spacecraft would have no way of using the fuel. Life support systems can also benefit from this technology. Water must be stored aboard just like fuel. In fact, the storage of water might be considered even more crucial because it is carried throughout the entire flight, where fuel is usually spent in the initial stages of the flight. Water and other life supporting fluids are a direct necessity for astronauts and cosmonauts and must be readily available. By studying the relationship between fluid, coatings of containers, and the shape of the container, NASA, the aerospace industry, and science in general will learn to control fluids passively, not actively, conserving energy weight, and increasing efficiency

CD36 deficiency attenuates experimental mycobacterial infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Members of the CD36 scavenger receptor family have been implicated as sensors of microbial products that mediate phagocytosis and inflammation in response to a broad range of pathogens. We investigated the role of CD36 in host response to mycobacterial infection.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Experimental <it>Mycobacterium bovis </it>Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) infection in <it>Cd36^+/+</it>and <it>Cd36^-/-</it>mice, and <it>in vitro </it>co-cultivation of <it>M. tuberculosis</it>, BCG and <it>M. marinum </it>with <it>Cd36^+/+</it>and <it>Cd36^-/-</it>murine macrophages.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using an <it>in vivo </it>model of BCG infection in <it>Cd36^+/+</it>and <it>Cd36^-/-</it>mice, we found that mycobacterial burden in liver and spleen is reduced (83% lower peak splenic colony forming units, p < 0.001), as well as the density of granulomas, and circulating tumor necrosis factor (TNF) levels in <it>Cd36^-/-</it>animals. Intracellular growth of all three mycobacterial species was reduced in <it>Cd36^-/-</it>relative to wild type <it>Cd36^+/+</it>macrophages <it>in vitro</it>. This difference was not attributable to alterations in mycobacterial uptake, macrophage viability, rate of macrophage apoptosis, production of reactive oxygen and/or nitrogen species, TNF or interleukin-10. Using an <it>in vitro </it>model designed to recapitulate cellular events implicated in mycobacterial infection and dissemination <it>in vivo </it>(i.e., phagocytosis of apoptotic macrophages containing mycobacteria), we demonstrated reduced recovery of viable mycobacteria within <it>Cd36^-/-</it>macrophages.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Together, these data indicate that CD36 deficiency confers resistance to mycobacterial infection. This observation is best explained by reduced intracellular survival of mycobacteria in the <it>Cd36^-/-</it>macrophage and a role for CD36 in the cellular events involved in granuloma formation that promote early bacterial expansion and dissemination.</p

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

PEW: 'dances with budgies': the development of the Planning and Evaluation Wizard - a cautionary tale

The following account is based on the reflections of the authors1 of the Planning and Evaluation Wizard (PEW), a software tool produced by the South Australian Community Health Research Unit (SACHRU), which aims to assist project officers working in primary health care. Accessible from the SACHRU website2 or on CD-ROM, PEW takes the user through the steps of developing grant applications, project and evaluation plans, (including budgets) and project reports. PEW provides practical suggestions as users progress through the stages, based on the experience of project officers, SACHRU staff, and drawing on relevant literature. This paper is a cautionary tale of hope, struggle, compromise and endurance, a tale where the PEW protagonists were drawn into a series of prolonged and contorted ‘dances’ in the honourable pursuit of developing a software tool to enhance evaluation in primary health care3. </jats:p

The Cognitive Foundations of Fictional Stories

We hypothesize that fictional stories are highly successful in human cultures partly because they activate evolved cognitive mechanisms, for instance for finding mates (e.g., in romance fiction), exploring the world (e.g., in adventure and speculative fiction), or avoiding predators (e.g., in horror fiction). In this paper, we put forward a comprehensive framework to study fiction through this evolutionary lens. The primary goal of this framework is to carve fictional stories at their cognitive joints using an evolutionary framework. Reviewing a wide range of adaptive variations in human psychology – in personality and developmental psychology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary biology, among other disciplines –, this framework also addresses the question of interindividual differences in preferences for different features in fictional stories. It generates a wide range of predictions about the patterns of combinations of such features, according to the pattenrs of variations in the mechanisms triggered by fictional stories. As a result of a highly collaborative effort, we present a comprehensive review of evolved cognitive mechanisms that fictional stories activate. To generate this review, we (1) listed more than 70 adaptive challenges humans faced in the course of their evolution, (2) identified the adaptive psychological mechanisms that evolved in response to such challenges, (3) specified four sources of adaptive variability for the sensitivity of each mechanism (i.e., personality traits, sex, age, and ecological conditions), and (4) linked these mechanisms to the story features that trigger them. This comprehensive framework lays the ground for a theory-driven research program for the study of fictional stories, their content, distribution, structure, and cultural evolution

The Cognitive Foundations of Fictional Stories

We hypothesize that fictional storiesare highly successful in human cultures partly because they activateevolved cognitive mechanisms, for instance for finding mates (e.g., in romance fiction), exploring the world (e.g., in adventure and speculative fiction), or avoiding predators (e.g., in horror fiction). In this paper, we put forward a comprehensive framework to study fiction through this evolutionary lens.The primary goal of this framework is to carve fictional storiesat their cognitive jointsusing an evolutionary framework. Reviewinga wide range of adaptive variations in human psychology–in personality and developmental psychology, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary biology, among other disciplines –, this framework also addresses the question ofinterindividual differences in preferences for different features in fictional stories. It generates a wide range of predictions about the patterns ofcombinations of such features, according to the pattenrs of variations in the mechanisms triggered by fictional stories. As a result of a highly collaborative effort, we present a comprehensive review of evolved cognitive mechanisms that fictional stories activate.To generate this review, we (1) listedmore than 70adaptivechallengeshumans faced in the course of their evolution, (2) identifiedthe adaptive psychological mechanisms that evolved in response to such challenges, (3) specifiedfoursources ofadaptive variabilityfor the sensitivity of each mechanism(i.e., personality traits, sex, age, and ecological conditions), and (4) linkedthese mechanismsto the story features that trigger them. This comprehensive framework lays the ground for a theory-driven research program for the study of fictional stories, their content, distribution, structure, andculturalevolution