The development of a cislunar space infrastructure

The primary objective of this Advanced Mission Design Program is to define the general characteristics and phased evolution of a near-Earth space infrastructure. The envisioned foundation includes a permanently manned, self-sustaining base on the lunar surface, a space station at the Libration Point between earth and the moon (L1), and a transportation system that anchors these elements to the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) station. The implementation of this conceptual design was carried out with the idea that the infrastructure is an important step in a larger plan to expand man's capabilities in space science and technology. Such expansion depends on low cost, reliable, and frequent access to space for those who wish to use the multiple benefits of this environment. The presence of a cislunar space infrastructure would greatly facilitate the staging of future planetary missions, as well as the full exploration of the lunar potential for science and industry. The rationale for, and a proposed detailed scenario in support of, the cislunar space infrastructure are discussed

Smarter irrigation scheduling in the sugarcane farming system using the Internet of Things

Better irrigation practices can lead to improved yields through less water stress and reduced water usage to deliver economic benefits for farmers. More and more sugarcane growers are transitioning to automated irrigation in the Burdekin and other regions. Automated irrigation systems can save farmers a significant amount of time by remotely turning on and off pumps and valves. However, the system could be improved if it could be integrated with tools that factor in the weather, crop growing conditions, water deficit, and crop stress, to improve irrigation use efficiency. IrrigWeb is a decision-support tool that is turned to as a solution to this problem. IrrigWeb uses CANEGRO to help farmers decide when to irrigate and how much to apply. Farmers can then use this information to plan their irrigation management. However, managing irrigation is a considerable time investment for Burdekin farmers. A tool is needed to integrate the auto-irrigation system (e.g., WiSA) and IrrigWeb to provide a smarter irrigation solution. An uplink program (WiSA to IrrigWeb) has been successfully developed and implemented as part of a pilot study. It saves farmers a significant amount of time by uploading irrigation and rainfall data automatically instead of the farmer having to input them manually. This paper focuses on developing a smarter irrigation-scheduling tool that connects IrrigWeb to WiSA. A downlink program was developed to download, calculate and apply irrigation schedules automatically. In this process, sugarcane irrigators will spend less time manually setting up irrigation schedules as it will happen automatically. The simulation results demonstrated that the downlink program could improve the scheduling by incorporating practical limitations, such as pumping capacity or pumping time constraints, that are found on the farm

A characterization of Gaucher iPS-derived astrocytes: Potential implications for Parkinson\u27s disease

While astrocytes, the most abundant cells found in the brain, have many diverse functions, their role in the lysosomal storage disorder Gaucher disease (GD) has not been explored. GD, resulting from the inherited deficiency of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase and subsequent accumulation of glucosylceramide and its acylated derivative glucosylsphingosine, has both non-neuronopathic (GD1) and neuronopathic forms (GD2 and 3). Furthermore, mutations in GBA1, the gene mutated in GD, are an important risk factor for Parkinson\u27s disease (PD). To elucidate the role of astrocytes in the disease pathogenesis, we generated iAstrocytes from induced pluripotent stem cells made from fibroblasts taken from controls and patients with GD1, with and without PD. We also made iAstrocytes from an infant with GD2, the most severe and progressive form, manifesting in infancy. Gaucher iAstrocytes appropriately showed deficient glucocerebrosidase activity and levels and substrate accumulation. These cells exhibited varying degrees of astrogliosis, Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP) up-regulation and cellular proliferation, depending on the level of residual glucocerebrosidase activity. Glutamte uptake assays demonstrated that the cells were functionally active, although the glutamine transporter EEAT2 was upregulated and EEAT1 downregulated in the GD2 samples. GD2 iAstrocytes were morphologically different, with severe cytoskeletal hypertrophy, overlapping of astrocyte processes, pronounced up-regulation of GFAP and S100β, and significant astrocyte proliferation, recapitulating the neuropathology observed in patients with GD2. Although astrocytes do not express α-synuclein, when the iAstrocytes were co-cultured with dopaminergic neurons generated from the same iPSC lines, excessive α-synuclein released from neurons was endocytosed by astrocytes, translocating into lysosomes. Levels of aggregated α-synuclein increased significantly when cells were treated with monomeric or fibrillar α-synuclein. GD1-PD and GD2 iAstrocytes also exhibited impaired Cathepsin D activity, leading to further α-synuclein accumulation. Cytokine and chemokine profiling of the iAstrocytes demonstrated an inflammatory response. Thus, in patients with GBA1-associated parkinsonism, astrocytes appear to play a role in α-synuclein accumulation and processing, contributing to neuroinflammation

Coexistence of supravalvular aortic stenosis and osteogenesis imperfecta.

A 54 year old woman was admitted for cardiac catheterisation. She had-been attending the outpatient clinic since 1975, with regular review. She had diagnoses of type I osteogenesis imperfecta, and of supravalvular aortic stenosis. Osteogenesis imperfecta was diagnosed in early life on clinical grounds including the presence of blue sclerae and the occurrence of several bone fractures secondary to minimal trauma. A number of family members have been diagnosed with the same condition (figure 1-family pedigree). The supravalvular aortic stenosis was not diagnosed until later. She was initially referred to the cardiology clinic for further evaluation following the discovery of a systolic murmu

Understanding the lived experiences of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic : an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Background: Little research has examined the impact of working within the context of COVID-19 on UK healthcare professionals (HCPs) mental health and well-being, despite previous pandemic findings indicating that HCPs are particularly vulnerable to suffering PTSD and other mental health difficulties due to the nature of healthcare work. Specifically, it appears that no research has employed qualitative methodologies to explore the effects of working amidst COVID-19 on mental health for HCPs in the UK. Objective: To qualitatively examining the lived experiences of HCPs in Northern Ireland, working during the early stages of the pandemic and lockdown period (14.04.20 and 29.04.20). Method: Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) was used to explore the experiences of healthcare professionals, who were working during the COVID-19 outbreak. Ten HCPs were recruited via a social media campaign and snowball sampling. All interviews were conducted via telephone and transcribed verbatim. Results: Three superordinate themes with subordinate themes were elicited through the analysis. Theme one centred on specific challenges of HCPs working during the pandemic, such as redeployment, isolation from loved ones, infection concerns, lack of PPE and impact on patient interpersonal care. Theme two offered insights into the mental health and wellbeing of HCPs, while many experienced feelings of fear, sadness and hypervigilance, all also demonstrated a marked resilience. Finally, many felt undervalued and misunderstood, and wished to press upon the general public seriousness of the disease. Conclusion: To the authors’ knowledge this is the first study to explore in depth, the unique experiences of frontline HCPs in Northern Ireland, offering a detailed account of the challenges confronted in these unprecedented circumstances and highlighting support needs within this cohort

Systematic evaluation of differential splicing tools for RNA-seq studies

Differential splicing (DS) is a post-transcriptional biological process with critical, wide-ranging effects on a plethora of cellular activities and disease processes. To date, a number of computational approaches have been developed to identify and quantify differentially spliced genes from RNA-seq data, but a comprehensive intercomparison and appraisal of these approaches is currently lacking. In this study, we systematically evaluated 10 DS analysis tools for consistency and reproducibility, precision, recall and false discovery rate, agreement upon reported differentially spliced genes and functional enrichment. The tools were selected to represent the three different methodological categories: exon-based (DEXSeq, edgeR, JunctionSeq, limma), isoform-based (cuffdiff2, DiffSplice) and event-based methods (dSpliceType, MAJIQ, rMATS, SUPPA). Overall, all the exon-based methods and two event-based methods (MAJIQ and rMATS) scored well on the selected measures. Of the 10 tools tested, the exon-based methods performed generally better than the isoform-based and event-based methods. However, overall, the different data analysis tools performed strikingly differently across different data sets or numbers of samples

Identification of Digital Health Priorities for Palliative Care Research: Modified Delphi Study.

Background: Developments in digital health have the potential to transform the delivery of health and social care to help citizens manage their health. Currently, there is a lack of consensus about digital health research priorities in palliative care and a lack of theories about how these technologies might improve care outcomes. Therefore, it is important for health care leaders to identify innovations to ensure that an increasingly frail population has appropriate access to palliative care services. Consequently, it is important to articulate research priorities as the first step in determining how finite resources should be allocated to a field saturated with rapidly developing innovation. Objective: The aim of this study is to identify research priority areas for digital health in palliative care. Methods: We selected digital health trends, most relevant to palliative care, from a list of emerging trends reported by a leading institute of quantitative futurists. We conducted 2 rounds of the Delphi questionnaire, followed by a consensus meeting and public engagement workshop to establish a final consensus on research priorities for digital technology in palliative care. We used the views of public representatives to gain their perspectives on the agreed priorities. Results: A total of 103 experts (representing 11 countries) participated in the first Delphi round. Of the 103 experts, 55 (53.3%) participated in the second round. The final consensus meetings were attended by 10.7% (11/103) of the experts. We identified 16 priority areas, which involved many applications of technologies, including care for patients and caregivers, self-management and reporting of diseases, education and training, communication, care coordination, and research methodology. We summarized the priority areas into eight topics: big data, mobile devices, telehealth and telemedicine, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, smart home, biotechnology, and digital legacy. Conclusions:The priorities identified in this study represent a wide range of important emerging areas in the fields of digital health, personalized medicine, and data science. Human-centered design and robust governance systems should be considered in future research. It is important that the risks of using these technologies in palliative care are properly addressed to ensure that these tools are used meaningfully, wisely, and safely and do not cause unintentional harm