The influence of ship motion of manual control skills

The effects of ship motion on a range of typical manual control skills were examined on the Warren Spring ship motion simulator driven in heave, pitch, and roll by signals taken from the frigate HMS Avenger at 13 m/s (25 knots) into a force 4 wind. The motion produced a vertical r.m.s. acceleration of 0.024g, mostly between 0.1 and 0.3 Hz, with comparatively little pitch or roll. A task involving unsupported arm movements was seriously affected by the motion; a pursuit tracking task showed a reliable decrement although it was still performed reasonably well (pressure and free moving tracking controls were affected equally by the motion); a digit keying task requiring ballistic hand movements was unaffected. There was no evidence that these effects were caused by sea sickness. The differing response to motion of the different tasks, from virtual destruction to no effect, suggests that a major benefit could come from an attempt to design the man/control interface onboard ship around motion resistant tasks

Natural resources inventory and monitoring in Oregon with ERTS imagery

Multidiscipline team interpretation of ERTS satellite and highflight imagery is providing resource and land use information needed for land use planning in Oregon. A coordinated inventory of geology, soil-landscapes, forest and range vegetation, and land use for Crook County, illustrates the value of this approach for broad area and state planning. Other applications include mapping fault zones, inventory of forest clearcut areas, location of forest insect damage, and monitoring irrigation development. Computer classification is being developed for use in conjunction with visual interpretation

Effect of pressure on the quantum spin ladder material IPA-CuCl3

Inelastic neutron scattering and bulk magnetic susceptibility studies of the quantum S=1/2 spin ladder system IPA-CuCl3 are performed under hydrostatic pressure. The pressure dependence of the spin gap $\Delta$ is determined. At $P=1.5$ GPa it is reduced to $\Delta=0.79$ meV from $\Delta=1.17$ meV at ambient pressure. The results allow us to predict a soft-mode quantum phase transition in this system at P$_\mathrm{c}\sim 4$ GPa. The measurements are complicated by a proximity of a structural phase transition that leads to a deterioration of the sample.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Safety and immunogenicity of a new tuberculosis vaccine, MVA85A, in mycobacterium tuberculosis–infected individuals

Copyright © 2009 by the American Thoracic Society.Rationale: An effective new tuberculosis (TB) vaccine regimen must be safe in individuals with latent TB infection (LTBI) and is a priority for global health care. Objectives: To evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a leading new TB vaccine, recombinant Modified Vaccinia Ankara expressing Antigen 85A (MVA85A) in individuals with LTBI. Methods: An open-label, phase I trial of MVA85A was performed in 12 subjects with LTBI recruited from TB contact clinics in Oxford and London or by poster advertisements in Oxford hospitals. Patients were assessed clinically and had blood samples drawn for immunological analysis over a 52-week period after vaccination with MVA85A. Thoracic computed tomography scans were performed at baseline and at 10 weeks after vaccination. Safety of MVA85A was assessed by clinical, radiological, and inflammatory markers. The immunogenicity of MVA85A was assessed by IFNγ and IL-2 ELISpot assays and FACS. Measurements and Main Results: MVA85A was safe in subjects with LTBI, with comparable adverse events to previous trials of MVA85A. There were no clinically significant changes in inflammatory markers or thoracic computed tomography scans after vaccination. MVA85A induced a strong antigen-specific IFN-γ and IL-2 response that was durable for 52 weeks. The magnitude of IFN-γ response was comparable to previous trials of MVA85A in bacillus Calmette-Guérin–vaccinated individuals. Antigen 85A–specific polyfunctional CD4+ T cells were detectable prior to vaccination with statistically significant increases in cell numbers after vaccination. Conclusions: MVA85A is safe and highly immunogenic in individuals with LTBI. These results will facilitate further trials in TB-endemic areas.Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Wellcome Trust, and AFTBVAC

Actions of Camptothecin Derivatives on Larvae and Adults of the Arboviral Vector Aedes aegypti

Mosquito-borne viruses including dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya viruses, and parasites such as malaria and Onchocerca volvulus endanger health and economic security around the globe, and emerging mosquito-borne pathogens have pandemic potential. However, the rapid spread of insecticide resistance threatens our ability to control mosquito vectors. Larvae of Aedes aegypti were screened with the Medicines for Malaria Venture Pandemic Response Box, an open-source compound library, using INVAPP, an invertebrate automated phenotyping platform suited to high-throughput chemical screening of larval motility. We identified rubitecan (a synthetic derivative of camptothecin) as a hit compound that reduced A. aegypti larval motility. Both rubitecan and camptothecin displayed concentration dependent reduction in larval motility with estimated EC50 of 25.5 ± 5.0 µM and 22.3 ± 5.4 µM, respectively. We extended our investigation to adult mosquitoes and found that camptothecin increased lethality when delivered in a blood meal to A. aegypti adults at 100 µM and 10 µM, and completely blocked egg laying when fed at 100 µM. Camptothecin and its derivatives are inhibitors of topoisomerase I, have known activity against several agricultural pests, and are also approved for the treatment of several cancers. Crucially, they can inhibit Zika virus replication in human cells, so there is potential for dual targeting of both the vector and an important arbovirus that it carries

Double-heterostructure cavities: from theory to design

We derive a frequency-domain-based approach for radiation (FAR) from double-heterostructure cavity (DHC) modes. We use this to compute the quality factors and radiation patterns of DHC modes. The semi-analytic nature of our method enables us to provide a general relationship between the radiation pattern of the cavity and its geometry. We use this to provide general designs for ultrahigh quality factor DHCs with radiation patterns that are engineered to emit vertically

Targeted Sorting of Single Virus-Infected Cells of the Coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi

Discriminating infected from healthy cells is the first step to understanding the mechanisms and ecological implications of viral infection. We have developed a method for detecting, sorting, and performing molecular analysis of individual, infected cells of the important microalga Emiliania huxleyi, based on known physiological responses to viral infection. Of three fluorescent dyes tested, FM 1-43 (for detecting membrane blebbing) gave the most unequivocal and earliest separation of cells. Furthermore, we were able to amplify the genomes of single infected cells using Multiple Displacement Amplification. This novel method to reliably discriminate infected from healthy cells in cultures will allow researchers to answer numerous questions regarding the mechanisms and implications of viral infection of E. huxleyi. The method may be transferable to other virus-host systems

High-frequency homogenization for periodic media

This article is available open access through the publisher’s website at the link below. Copyright @ 2010 The Royal Society.An asymptotic procedure based upon a two-scale approach is developed for wave propagation in a doubly periodic inhomogeneous medium with a characteristic length scale of microstructure far less than that of the macrostructure. In periodic media, there are frequencies for which standing waves, periodic with the period or double period of the cell, on the microscale emerge. These frequencies do not belong to the low-frequency range of validity covered by the classical homogenization theory, which motivates our use of the term ‘high-frequency homogenization’ when perturbing about these standing waves. The resulting long-wave equations are deduced only explicitly dependent upon the macroscale, with the microscale represented by integral quantities. These equations accurately reproduce the behaviour of the Bloch mode spectrum near the edges of the Brillouin zone, hence yielding an explicit way for homogenizing periodic media in the vicinity of ‘cell resonances’. The similarity of such model equations to high-frequency long wavelength asymptotics, for homogeneous acoustic and elastic waveguides, valid in the vicinities of thickness resonances is emphasized. Several illustrative examples are considered and show the efficacy of the developed techniques.NSERC (Canada) and the EPSRC

Actions of Camptothecin Derivatives on Larvae and Adults of the Arboviral Vector Aedes aegypti

Mosquito-borne viruses including dengue, Zika, and Chikungunya viruses, and parasites such as malaria and Onchocerca volvulus endanger health and economic security around the globe, and emerging mosquito-borne pathogens have pandemic potential. However, the rapid spread of insecticide resistance threatens our ability to control mosquito vectors. Larvae of Aedes aegypti were screened with the Medicines for Malaria Venture Pandemic Response Box, an open-source compound library, using INVAPP, an invertebrate automated phenotyping platform suited to high-throughput chemical screening of larval motility. We identified rubitecan (a synthetic derivative of camptothecin) as a hit compound that reduced A. aegypti larval motility. Both rubitecan and camptothecin displayed concentration dependent reduction in larval motility with estimated EC_{50} of 25.5 ± 5.0 µM and 22.3 ± 5.4 µM, respectively. We extended our investigation to adult mosquitoes and found that camptothecin increased lethality when delivered in a blood meal to A. aegypti adults at 100 µM and 10 µM, and completely blocked egg laying when fed at 100 µM. Camptothecin and its derivatives are inhibitors of topoisomerase I, have known activity against several agricultural pests, and are also approved for the treatment of several cancers. Crucially, they can inhibit Zika virus replication in human cells, so there is potential for dual targeting of both the vector and an important arbovirus that it carries

The effect of age and font size on reading text on handheld computers

Though there have been many studies of computer based text reading, only a few have considered the small screens of handheld computers. This paper presents an investigation into the effect of varying font size between 2 and 16 point on reading text on a handheld computer. By using both older and younger participants the possible effects of age were examined. Reading speed and accuracy were measured and subjective views of participants recorded. Objective results showed that there was little difference in reading performance above 6 point, but subjective comments from participants showed a preference for sizes in the middle range. We therefore suggest, for reading tasks, that designers of interfaces for mobile computers provide fonts in the range of 8-12 point to maximize readability for the widest range of users