Biological Breathalyzer

The aim of this research is the construction of a biological breathalyzer through synthetic biology, specifically through use of the metabolic pathways of a species of the Pichia taxa. The yeast utilized is able to metabolize both ethanol and methanol. However, when both ethanol and methanol are present, the yeast prefers to metabolize ethanol such that an AOX gene is not expressed because the first known by-product of methanol metabolism is the AO enzyme from the AOX gene. The AOX gene promoter is fused with a fluorescence protein gene so expression of the AOX gene can be visually detected. When the cell is supplied with both ethanol and methanol, the amount of time before fluorescence will correspond to the amount of ethanol given to the cell. In this way, the concentration of ethanol can be determined

Construction and Testing of a Biological Breathalyzer

The ultimate goal of this research was the construction of a biological breathalyzer using methods of synthetic biology. The metabolic pathways of Pichia taxa were utilized for this research. This yeast is able to metabolize both ethanol and methanol present in the environment. The first known by-product of methanol metabolism is the AO enzyme from the AOX gene. When both ethanol and methanol are present, the yeast preferentially metabolizes ethanol and the AOX gene is not expressed. By fusing the AOX gene promoter with a fluorescence protein gene, the expression of the AOX gene may be visually detected. When the organism is supplied with both ethanol and methanol, the amount of time before fluorescence will correspond to the amount of ethanol fed to the cell. In this way, the concentration of ethanol can be determined

Towards a “One Health” strategy against leptospirosis

Leptospirosis is an emerging disease; affecting animals, humans and the natural environment, it is a “one health threat”. In spite of its global distribution, its epidemic potential due to climate/ environment changes, its high human mortality rate and socio economic burden, this zoonosis is neglected. For mobilizing more investments in its prevention and control, a global multi- disciplinary and multi-sector network called ”Global Leptospirosis Environmental Action Network,”(GLEAN) has been established. This article reports recent expert’s discussions on prevention and control strategies, based on a One Health concept. It provides an innovative agenda for operational research and for veterinary and public health cooperation

The Iowa Homemaker vol.36, no.16

Clothes for College, Jackie Andre, page 5 Home Economics has Grown, Jackie Andre, page 6 This is Your Future, Lee Klinzman, page 7 From College to Internship to Job, Donna Schneider, page 8 Another Catering Party is Underway, Ginny Joy, page 9 Opportunities in Home Economics, Bonnie Rollins, page 10 A Part-Time Job, Pat McBride, page 12 Scholarships are Available, Jan Anderson, page 14 Creative Holiday in Mexico, Nancy Fox, page 15 The Kashmir Goat, Norma Scholes, page 16 Religious Customs Concerning Food, Ann Baur, page 1

Constraining the Physical Properties of Stellar Coronal Mass Ejections with Coronal Dimming: Application to Far Ultraviolet Data of ϵ\epsilon Eridani

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are a prominent contributor to solar system space weather and might have impacted the Sun's early angular momentum evolution. A signal diagnostic of CMEs on the Sun is coronal dimming: a drop in coronal emission, tied to the mass of the CME, that is the direct result of removing emitting plasma from the corona. We present the results of a coronal dimming analysis of Fe XII 1349 A and Fe XXI 1354 A emission from $\epsilon$ Eridani ($\epsilon$ Eri), a young K2 dwarf, with archival far-ultraviolet observations by the Hubble Space Telescope's Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. Following a flare in February 2015, $\epsilon$ Eri's Fe XXI emission declined by $81\pm5$%. Although enticing, a scant 3.8 min of preflare observations allows for the possibility that the Fe XXI decline was the decay of an earlier, unseen flare. Dimming nondetections following each of three prominent flares constrain the possible mass of ejected Fe XII-emitting (1 MK) plasma to less than a few $\times10^{15}$ g. This implies that CMEs ejecting this much or more 1 MK plasma occur less than a few times per day on $\epsilon$ Eri. On the Sun, $10^{15}$ g CMEs occur once every few days. For $\epsilon$ Eri, the mass loss rate due to CME-ejected 1 MK plasma could be $<0.6$ $\dot{M}_\odot$, well below the star's estimated 30 $\dot{M}_\odot$ mass loss rate (wind + CMEs). The order-of-magnitude formalism we developed for these mass estimates can be broadly applied to coronal dimming observations of any star.Comment: 27 pages, 22 figures, accepted to Ap

Windows of Opportunity - The Transformation of State Media to Public Service Media in Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Moldova and Serbia

The transformation of state media to public service media (PSM) is one of the most ambitious endeavors in the field of media development. Not many efforts to free the national media from government control have succeeded in the past decades. In this paper the comparatively promising cases of Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Moldova and Serbia are discussed. The PSM in these countries all have a new legal basis, including a public service remit and a relatively independent governing body in which civil society is represented. The services delivered to the public by these media are analyzed according to a number of societal functions which are assembled under two general headings: “creating a public sphere” and “supporting integration”. Based on this analysis, a differentiation between “PSM in initial transformation” and “PSM in advanced transformation” is suggested. In all cases studied, different actors successfully used windows of opportunity: general political agendas to reform the media, a specific engagement from the management as well as support from the population and civil society. Media development actors here helped to advance the processes of change in different ways. Recommendations for future media development include strategic planning, inclusion of local actors, the pooling of legal expertise as well as structured processes of organizational development and capacity building

Global survey of the frequency of atrial fibrillation-associated stroke: embolic stroke of undetermined source global registry

Background and Purpose—Atrial fibrillation (AF) is increasingly recognized as the single most important cause of disabling ischemic stroke in the elderly. We undertook an international survey to characterize the frequency of AF-associated stroke, methods of AF detection, and patient features. Methods—Consecutive patients hospitalized for ischemic stroke in 2013 to 2014 were surveyed from 19 stroke research centers in 19 different countries. Data were analyzed by global regions and World Bank income levels. Results—Of 2144 patients with ischemic stroke, 590 (28%; 95% confidence interval, 25.6–29.5) had AF-associated stroke, with highest frequencies in North America (35%) and Europe (33%) and lowest in Latin America (17%). Most had a history of AF before stroke (15%) or newly detected AF on electrocardiography (10%); only 2% of patients with ischemic stroke had unsuspected AF detected by poststroke cardiac rhythm monitoring. The mean age and 30-day mortality rate of patients with AF-associated stroke (75 years; SD, 11.5 years; 10%; 95% confidence interval, 7.6–12.6, respectively) were substantially higher than those of patients without AF (64 years; SD, 15.58 years; 4%; 95% confidence interval, 3.3–5.4; P&lt;0.001 for both comparisons). There was a strong positive correlation between the mean age and the frequency of AF (r=0.76; P=0.0002). Conclusions—This cross-sectional global sample of patients with recent ischemic stroke shows a substantial frequency of AF-associated stroke throughout the world in proportion to the mean age of the stroke population. Most AF is identified by history or electrocardiography; the yield of conventional short-duration cardiac rhythm monitoring is relatively low. Patients with AF-associated stroke were typically elderly (&gt;75 years old) and more often women

Multiparametric MRI for Characterization of the Basal Ganglia and the Midbrain

Objectives To characterize subcortical nuclei by multi-parametric quantitative magnetic resonance imaging.Materials and Methods: The following quantitative multiparametric MR data of five healthy volunteers were acquired on a 7T MRI system: 3D gradient echo (GRE) data for the calculation of quantitative susceptibility maps (QSM), GRE sequences with and without off-resonant magnetic transfer pulse for magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) calculation, a magnetization−prepared 2 rapid acquisition gradient echo sequence for T1 mapping, and (after a coil change) a density-adapted 3D radial pulse sequence for 23Na imaging. First, all data were co-registered to the GRE data, volumes of interest (VOIs) for 21 subcortical structures were drawn manually for each volunteer, and a combined voxel-wise analysis of the four MR contrasts (QSM, MTR, T1, 23Na) in each structure was conducted to assess the quantitative, MR value-based differentiability of structures. Second, a machine learning algorithm based on random forests was trained to automatically classify the groups of multi-parametric voxel values from each VOI according to their association to one of the 21 subcortical structures.Results The analysis of the integrated multimodal visualization of quantitative MR values in each structure yielded a successful classification among nuclei of the ascending reticular activation system (ARAS), the limbic system and the extrapyramidal system, while classification among (epi-)thalamic nuclei was less successful. The machine learning-based approach facilitated quantitative MR value-based structure classification especially in the group of extrapyramidal nuclei and reached an overall accuracy of 85% regarding all selected nuclei.Conclusion Multimodal quantitative MR enabled excellent differentiation of a wide spectrum of subcortical nuclei with reasonable accuracy and may thus enable sensitive detection of disease and nucleus-specific MR-based contrast alterations in the future

BHPR research: qualitative1. Complex reasoning determines patients' perception of outcome following foot surgery in rheumatoid arhtritis

Background: Foot surgery is common in patients with RA but research into surgical outcomes is limited and conceptually flawed as current outcome measures lack face validity: to date no one has asked patients what is important to them. This study aimed to determine which factors are important to patients when evaluating the success of foot surgery in RA Methods: Semi structured interviews of RA patients who had undergone foot surgery were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted to explore issues that were important to patients. Results: 11 RA patients (9 ♂, mean age 59, dis dur = 22yrs, mean of 3 yrs post op) with mixed experiences of foot surgery were interviewed. Patients interpreted outcome in respect to a multitude of factors, frequently positive change in one aspect contrasted with negative opinions about another. Overall, four major themes emerged. Function: Functional ability & participation in valued activities were very important to patients. Walking ability was a key concern but patients interpreted levels of activity in light of other aspects of their disease, reflecting on change in functional ability more than overall level. Positive feelings of improved mobility were often moderated by negative self perception ("I mean, I still walk like a waddling duck”). Appearance: Appearance was important to almost all patients but perhaps the most complex theme of all. Physical appearance, foot shape, and footwear were closely interlinked, yet patients saw these as distinct separate concepts. Patients need to legitimize these feelings was clear and they frequently entered into a defensive repertoire ("it's not cosmetic surgery; it's something that's more important than that, you know?”). Clinician opinion: Surgeons' post operative evaluation of the procedure was very influential. The impact of this appraisal continued to affect patients' lasting impression irrespective of how the outcome compared to their initial goals ("when he'd done it ... he said that hasn't worked as good as he'd wanted to ... but the pain has gone”). Pain: Whilst pain was important to almost all patients, it appeared to be less important than the other themes. Pain was predominately raised when it influenced other themes, such as function; many still felt the need to legitimize their foot pain in order for health professionals to take it seriously ("in the end I went to my GP because it had happened a few times and I went to an orthopaedic surgeon who was quite dismissive of it, it was like what are you complaining about”). Conclusions: Patients interpret the outcome of foot surgery using a multitude of interrelated factors, particularly functional ability, appearance and surgeons' appraisal of the procedure. While pain was often noted, this appeared less important than other factors in the overall outcome of the surgery. Future research into foot surgery should incorporate the complexity of how patients determine their outcome Disclosure statement: All authors have declared no conflicts of interes