Pattern recognition receptors in antifungal immunity

We thank the Wellcome Trust for funding this study.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Viola striata Aiton

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/herbarium_specimens_byname/20666/thumbnail.jp

Viola striata Aiton

https://thekeep.eiu.edu/herbarium_specimens_byname/20666/thumbnail.jp

Students' Attitudes Towards Facebook and Online Professionalism: Subject Discipline, Age and Gender Differences.

The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes towards the use of Facebook and online professionalism among students studying three health and social care courses at a UK university. The increasing popularity of social networking sites (SNS) has changed the way people manage information about their personal and professional lives. Previous studies have considered how medical students use Facebook, but there is a paucity of research looking at other professional disciplines; either individually or exploring whether there are inter-professional differences. An anonymous online survey was completed by 595 students at one UK university; pharmacy (n = 91, 15%), social work(n = 166, 28%) and nursing students (n = 338, 57%)across all years of the courses. Significant differences were found with regard to attitudes towards Facebook and online professionalism between the subject disciplines, year of study, age and gender of the students. Findings suggest more education and guidance is needed to provide students with the appropriate knowledge of how to maintain professionalism in an online context

Students as Educators

The aim of this study was to evaluate peer assisted learning (PAL) in a pharmacy course context. PAL is interesting for educationalists as the technique offers reciprocity in learning between the student tutor and the student tutee. Both student tutor and student tutee have the ability to learn through the process. 14 students volunteered to be student tutors on a first year pharmacy practice module. The results are discussed from the perspective of both the student tutee and tutor. Although a small pilot study, the results from this project echo the themes of perceived benefits identified in the literature on PAL, most obviously with the three themes of confidence, collaboration, and learning. Challenges to the process are also discussed

Synaptophysin Is Required for Synaptobrevin Retrieval during Synaptic Vesicle Endocytosis

The integral synaptic vesicle (SV) protein synaptophysin forms approximately 10% of total SV protein content, but has no known function in SV physiology. Synaptobrevin (sybII) is another abundant integral SV protein with an essential role in SV exocytosis. Synaptophysin and sybII form a complex in nerve terminals, suggesting this interaction may have a key role in presynaptic function. To determine how synaptophysin controls sybII traffic in nerve terminals, we used a combination of optical imaging techniques in cultures derived from synaptophysin knockout mice. We show that synaptophysin is specifically required for the retrieval of the pH-sensitive fluorescent reporter sybII-pHluorin from the plasma membrane during endocytosis. The retrieval of other SV protein cargo reporters still occurred, however their recapture proceeded with slower kinetics. This slowing of SV retrieval kinetics in the absence of synaptophysin did not impact on global SV turnover. These results identify a specific and selective requirement for synaptophysin in the retrieval of sybII during SV endocytosis and suggest that their interaction may act as an adjustable regulator of SV retrieval efficiency

Rival bishops, rival cathedrals : the election of Cormac, archdeacon of Sodor, as bishop in 1331

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Single-pixel phase-corrected fiber bundle endomicroscopy with lensless focussing capability.

In this paper a novel single-pixel method for coherent imaging through an endoscopic fiber bundle is presented. The use of a single-pixel detector allows greater sensitivity over a wider range of wavelengths, which could have significant applications in endoscopic fluorescence microscopy. First, the principle of lensless focussing at the distal end of a coherent fiber bundle is simulated to examine the impact of pixelation at microscopic scales. Next, an experimental optical correlator system using spatial light modulators (SLMs) is presented. A simple contrast imaging method of characterizing and compensating phase aberrations introduced by fiber bundles is described. Experimental results are then presented showing that our phase compensation method enables characterization of the optical phase profile of individual fiberlets. After applying this correction, early results demonstrating the ability of the system to electronically adjust the focal plane at the distal end of the fiber bundle are presented. The structural similarity index (SSIM) between the simulated image and the experimental focus-adjusted image increases noticeably when the phase correction is applied and the retrieved image is visually recognizable. Strategies to improve image quality are discussed.G. Gordon would like to acknowledge support from a Henslow Research Fellowship from the Cambridge Philosophical Society, as well as research funding from the Cambridge Cancer Centre and Cancer Research UK. S. Bohndiek would like to acknowledge research funding from a Cancer Research UK Career Establishment Award and the CRUK-EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre in Cambridge and Manchester.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from IEEE via http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/JLT.2015.243681

Federal Aid and Equality of Educational Opportunity: Evidence from the Introduction of Title I in the South

Title I of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act substantially increased federal aid for education, with the goal of expanding educational opportunity. Combining the timing of the program’s introduction with variation in its intensity, we find that Title I increased school spending by 46 cents on the dollar in the average school district in the South and increased spending nearly dollar-for-dollar in Southern districts with little scope for local offset. Based on this differential fiscal response, we find that increases in school budgets from Title I decreased high school dropout rates for whites, but not blacks.

Grayscale-to-Color: Scalable Fabrication of Custom Multispectral Filter Arrays.

Snapshot multispectral image (MSI) sensors have been proposed as a key enabler for a plethora of multispectral imaging applications, from diagnostic medical imaging to remote sensing. With each application requiring a different set, and number, of spectral bands, the absence of a scalable, cost-effective manufacturing solution for custom multispectral filter arrays (MSFAs) has prevented widespread MSI adoption. Despite recent nanophotonic-based efforts, such as plasmonic or high-index metasurface arrays, large-area MSFA manufacturing still consists of many-layer dielectric (Fabry-Perot) stacks, requiring separate complex lithography steps for each spectral band and multiple material compositions for each. It is an expensive, cumbersome, and inflexible undertaking, but yields optimal optical performance. Here, we demonstrate a manufacturing process that enables cost-effective wafer-level fabrication of custom MSFAs in a single lithographic step, maintaining high efficiencies (∼75%) and narrow line widths (∼25 nm) across the visible to near-infrared. By merging grayscale (analog) lithography with metal-insulator-metal (MIM) Fabry-Perot cavities, whereby exposure dose controls cavity thickness, we demonstrate simplified fabrication of MSFAs up to N-wavelength bands. The concept is first proven using low-volume electron beam lithography, followed by the demonstration of large-volume UV mask-based photolithography with MSFAs produced at the wafer level. Our framework provides an attractive alternative to conventional MSFA manufacture and metasurface-based spectral filters by reducing both fabrication complexity and cost of these intricate optical devices, while increasing customizability