Optimizing the colour and fabric of targets for the control of the tsetse fly Glossina fuscipes fuscipes

Background: Most cases of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) start with a bite from one of the subspecies of Glossina fuscipes. Tsetse use a range of olfactory and visual stimuli to locate their hosts and this response can be exploited to lure tsetse to insecticide-treated targets thereby reducing transmission. To provide a rational basis for cost-effective designs of target, we undertook studies to identify the optimal target colour. Methodology/Principal Findings: On the Chamaunga islands of Lake Victoria , Kenya, studies were made of the numbers of G. fuscipes fuscipes attracted to targets consisting of a panel (25 cm square) of various coloured fabrics flanked by a panel (also 25 cm square) of fine black netting. Both panels were covered with an electrocuting grid to catch tsetse as they contacted the target. The reflectances of the 37 different-coloured cloth panels utilised in the study were measured spectrophotometrically. Catch was positively correlated with percentage reflectance at the blue (460 nm) wavelength and negatively correlated with reflectance at UV (360 nm) and green (520 nm) wavelengths. The best target was subjectively blue, with percentage reflectances of 3%, 29%, and 20% at 360 nm, 460 nm and 520 nm respectively. The worst target was also, subjectively, blue, but with high reflectances at UV (35% reflectance at 360 nm) wavelengths as well as blue (36% reflectance at 460 nm); the best low UV-reflecting blue caught 3× more tsetse than the high UV-reflecting blue. Conclusions/Significance: Insecticide-treated targets to control G. f. fuscipes should be blue with low reflectance in both the UV and green bands of the spectrum. Targets that are subjectively blue will perform poorly if they also reflect UV strongly. The selection of fabrics for targets should be guided by spectral analysis of the cloth across both the spectrum visible to humans and the UV region

Towards a slime Mould-FPGA interface

© 2015, Korean Society of Medical and Biological Engineering and Springer. Purpose: The plasmodium of slime mouldPhysarum polycephalum: is a multinucleate single celled organism which behaves as a living amorphous unconventional computing substrate. As an excitable, memristive cell that typically assumes a branching or stellate morphology, slime mould is a unique model organism that shares many key properties of mammalian neurons. There are numerous studies that reveal the computing abilities of the plasmodium realized by the formation of tubular networks connecting points of interest. Recent research demonstrating typical responses in electrical behaviour of the plasmodium to certain chemical and physical stimuli has generated interest in creating an interface between.P. polycephalum: and digital logic, with the aim to perform computational tasks with the resulting device.Methods: Through a range of laboratory experiments, wemeasure plasmodial membrane potential via a non-invasive method and use this signal to interface the organism with a digital system.Results: This digital system was demonstrated to perform predefined basic arithmetic operations and is implemented in a field-programmable gate array (FPGA). These basic arithmetic operations, i.e. counting, addition, multiplying, use data that were derived by digital recognition of membrane potential oscillation and are used here to make basic hybrid biologicalartificial sensing devices.Conclusions: We present here a low-cost, energy efficient and highly adaptable platform for developing next-generation machine-organism interfaces. These results are therefore applicable to a wide range of biological/medical and computing/electronics fields

Non-medical use of methylphenidate among medical students of the University of the Free State

Background: Faced with demanding training programmes, medical students may be more prone to use methylphenidate for non-medical purposes in order to improve concentration, alertness and academic performance. Aim: The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of the non-medical use of methylphenidate and knowledge of this drug among undergraduate medical students of the University of the Free State. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A self-administered, anonymous questionnaire was distributed during lectures to all students in the five year groups of the undergraduate medical programme. Results: Of the 643 undergraduate medical students, 541 completed the questionnaire (response rate: 84.1%). Approximately 11.0% of surveyed students were using methylphenidate at the time of the study, of which the majority (67.9%) used it for academic purposes and 70.6% received it from a medical health professional. Less than a third of users had been diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Methylphenidate users’ median knowledge was greater than non-users, and methylphenidate knowledge increased from first-year and second-year students to third-year to fifth-year students. Median knowledge scores per year group ranged from 52.0% to 60.0%. Conclusion: Methylphenidate is mainly used for non-medical purposes by medical students. Students generally have a low level of knowledge on methylphenidate. Specific information on methylphenidate should be included in lectures on stress management and study methods during the course of the medical curriculum

An hydrodynamic shear instability in stratified disks

We discuss the possibility that astrophysical accretion disks are dynamically unstable to non-axisymmetric disturbances with characteristic scales much smaller than the vertical scale height. The instability is studied using three methods: one based on the energy integral, which allows the determination of a sufficient condition of stability, one using a WKB approach, which allows the determination of the necessary and sufficient condition for instability and a last one by numerical solution. This linear instability occurs in any inviscid stably stratified differential rotating fluid for rigid, stress-free or periodic boundary conditions, provided the angular velocity $\Omega$ decreases outwards with radius $r$. At not too small stratification, its growth rate is a fraction of $\Omega$. The influence of viscous dissipation and thermal diffusivity on the instability is studied numerically, with emphasis on the case when $d \ln \Omega / d \ln r =-3/2$ (Keplerian case). Strong stratification and large diffusivity are found to have a stabilizing effect. The corresponding critical stratification and Reynolds number for the onset of the instability in a typical disk are derived. We propose that the spontaneous generation of these linear modes is the source of turbulence in disks, especially in weakly ionized disks.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, to appear in A&

EVALUASI KETERSEDIAAN RUANG TERBUKA HIJAU DALAM MEWUJUDKAN KOTA HIJAU (P2KH)

Berbagai upaya dilakukan pemerintah guna meningkatkan jumlah RTH perkotaan agar tercipta keseimbangan lingkungan yang berkelanjutan dan  meningkatkan kualitas lingkungan hidup di perkotaan salah satunya yaitu Program Pengembangan Kota Hijau (P2KH). Kota Kotamobagu sejak tahun 2013 merupakan salah satu kota yang termasuk dalam program P2KH. Beberapa program telah di jalankan guna untuk menambah jumlah ruang terbuka hijau yang ada di Kota Kotamobagu. Namun,  beberapa program yang di jalankan terkesan tidak  terealisasi dan  terkelola dengan baik.  Oleh karena itu, Tujuan penelitian ini adalah perlu dievaluasi apa-apa saja ruang terbuka hijau yang ada di Kota Kotamobagu, serta sejauh apa Program Pengembangan Kota Hijau (P2KH) dalam hal ini atribut Green open space dan atribut Green community di Kota Kotamobagu berjalan. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode deskriptif, SIG, dan AHP dibantu dengan software ArcGIS 9.2 dan Expert choice. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian RTH di Kota Kotamobagu terdiri dari RTH Publik  dan RTH Private dengan luasan keseluruhan 4664 hektar atau 67,92% dari luas wilayah Kota Kotamobagu. Sedangkan Untuk Program (P2KH) telah di jalankan dengan baik oleh pemerintah kota, atribut Green open space telah menjalankan 5 program dan atribut Green community telah menjalankan 3 program namun pengelolaan masih menjadi masalah utama. Kata Kunci     : Ruang terbuka hijau, Program Pengembangan Kota Hija

Cathelicidin preserves intestinal barrier function in polymicrobial sepsis.

ObjectivesThe intestinal epithelium compartmentalizes the sterile bloodstream and the commensal bacteria in the gut. Accumulating evidence suggests that this barrier is impaired in sepsis, aggravating systemic inflammation. Previous studies reported that cathelicidin is differentially expressed in various tissues in sepsis. However, its role in sepsis-induced intestinal barrier dysfunction has not been investigated.DesignTo examine the role of cathelicidin in polymicrobial sepsis, cathelicidin wild-(Cnlp+/+) and knockout (Cnlp-/-) mice underwent cecal-ligation and puncture (CLP) followed by the assessment of septic mortality and morbidity as well as histological, biochemical, immunological, and transcriptomic analyses in the ileal tissues. We also evaluated the prophylactic and therapeutic efficacies of vitamin D3 (an inducer of endogenous cathelicidin) in the CLP-induced murine polymicrobial sepsis model.ResultsThe ileal expression of cathelicidin was increased by three-fold after CLP, peaking at 4 h. Knockout of Cnlp significantly increased 7-day mortality and was associated with a higher murine sepsis score. Alcian-blue staining revealed a reduced number of mucin-positive goblet cells, accompanied by reduced mucin expression. Increased number of apoptotic cells and cleavage of caspase-3 were observed. Cnlp deletion increased intestinal permeability to 4kD fluorescein-labeled dextran and reduced the expression of tight junction proteins claudin-1 and occludin. Notably, circulating bacterial DNA load increased more than two-fold. Transcriptome analysis revealed upregulation of cytokine/inflammatory pathway. Depletion of Cnlp induced more M1 macrophages and neutrophils compared with the wild-type mice after CLP. Mice pre-treated with cholecalciferol (an inactive form of vitamin D3) or treated with 1alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (an active form of VD3) had decreased 7-day mortality and significantly less severe symptoms. Intriguingly, the administration of cholecalciferol after CLP led to worsened 7-day mortality and the associated symptoms.ConclusionsEndogenous cathelicidin promotes intestinal barrier integrity accompanied by modulating the infiltration of neutrophils and macrophages in polymicrobial sepsis. Our data suggested that 1alpha, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 but not cholecalciferol is a potential therapeutic agent for treating sepsis

The Cyprinodon variegatus genome reveals gene expression changes underlying differences in skull morphology among closely related species

Genes in durophage intersection set at 15 dpf. This is a comma separated table of the genes in the 15 dpf durophage intersection set. Given are edgeR results for each pairwise comparison. Columns indicating whether a gene is included in the intersection set at a threshold of 1.5 or 2 fold are provided. (CSV 13 kb

Rancang bangun alat pendeteksi intensitas cahaya berbasis Sensor Light Dependent Resistance (LDR)

Telah dibuat alat pendeteksi intensitas cahaya berbasis Sensor Light Dependent Resistance (LDR) dengan modul arduino Nano V3. Alat ini dibuat dengan memanfaatkan perubahan resistansi pada sensor LDR ketika dikenakan cahaya. Sensor Light Dependent Resistance (LDR) ini belum dikalibrasi sesuai standar pabrik, sehingga digunakan alat ukur intensitas cahaya luxmeter L200 yang sudah terstandarisasi untuk proses kalibrasi alat. Alat kemudian di program dengan software Open-Source arduino agar hasil pembacaaan alat dapat ditampilkan pada layar LCD 16x2. Hasil yang didapat yaitu pada saat belum terkalibrasi, alat luxmeter berbasis sensor LDR ini pembacaannya berbeda jauh dengan Luxmeter yang terstandar berkisar antara 1:1,5 dan setelah dikalibrasi error yang dihasilkan pada sensor ini mengecil dan pembacaan sensor LDR mendekati dengan alat ukur luxmeter L200 yang sudah terstandarisasi.Light intensity detection devices have been developed based on Light Dependent Resistance (LDR) sensor with arduino Nano V3 module. This tool is made by exploiting the resistance change in the LDR sensor when it is applied with light. This Light Dependent Resistance (LDR) sensor has not been calibrated to factory standards, so a standard L200 luxmeter L200 intensity gauge has been employed for calibration process. The tool is then in the program with the arduino Open-Source software so that the reading results of the tool can be displayed on the 16x2 LCD screen. The results obtained when not yet calibrated, are differ greatly with the standardized Luxmeter which ranged from 1: 1.5 and after been calibrated the error result in this sensor is become smaller and the constructed LDR sensor readings are close to standardized luxmeter L200

Returning home: heritage work among the Stl'atl'imx of the Lower Lillooet River Valley

This article focusses on heritage practices in the tensioned landscape of the Stl’atl’imx (pronounced Stat-lee-um) people of the Lower Lillooet River Valley, British Columbia, Canada. Displaced from their traditional territories and cultural traditions through the colonial encounter, they are enacting, challenging and remaking their heritage as part of their long term goal to reclaim their land and return ‘home’. I draw on three examples of their heritage work: graveyard cleaning, the shifting ‘official’/‘unofficial’ heritage of a wagon road, and marshalling of the mountain named Nsvq’ts (pronounced In-SHUCK-ch) in order to illustrate how the past is strategically mobilised in order to substantiate positions in the present. While this paper focusses on heritage in an Indigenous and postcolonial context, I contend that the dynamics of heritage practices outlined here are applicable to all heritage practices