Integrated circuit-based electrochemical sensor for spatially resolved detection of redox-active metabolites in biofilms

Despite advances in monitoring spatiotemporal expression patterns of genes and proteins with fluorescent probes, direct detection of metabolites and small molecules remains challenging. A technique for spatially resolved detection of small molecules would benefit the study of redox-active metabolites that are produced by microbial biofilms and can affect their development. Here we present an integrated circuit-based electrochemical sensing platform featuring an array of working electrodes and parallel potentiostat channels. ‘Images’ over a 3.25 0.9 mm2 area can be captured with a diffusion-limited spatial resolution of 750 mm. We demonstrate that square wave voltammetry can be used to detect, identify and quantify (for concentrations as low as 2.6 mM) four distinct redox-active metabolites called phenazines. We characterize phenazine production in both wild-type and mutant Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14 colony biofilms, and find correlations with fluorescent reporter imaging of phenazine biosynthetic gene expression

Barking up the same tree: a comparison of ethnomedicine and canine ethnoveterinary medicine among the Aguaruna

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This work focuses on plant-based preparations that the Aguaruna Jivaro of Peru give to hunting dogs. Many plants are considered to improve dogs' sense of smell or stimulate them to hunt better, while others treat common illnesses that prevent dogs from hunting. This work places canine ethnoveterinary medicine within the larger context of Aguaruna ethnomedicine, by testing the following hypotheses: H1 -- Plants that the Aguaruna use to treat dogs will be the same plants that they use to treat people and H2 -- Plants that are used to treat both people and dogs will be used for the same illnesses in both cases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Structured interviews with nine key informants were carried out in 2007, in Aguaruna communities in the Peruvian department of Amazonas. Informants provided freelists of plants given to dogs and explained the purpose, preparation and route of administration used. For each plant, informants also described any uses for treating people. Botanical voucher specimens were collected and additional informal observations were made, accompanying people on hunting trips.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Out of 35 plant species given to dogs, 29 (83%) are also given to humans for some medicinal purpose, while five are used only for dogs. However, the same plant is used to treat the same illness in both humans and dogs in only 53% of the cases. Forty-three percent of plants used to treat a particular illness for both dogs and people are administered in the same manner for both.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Results suggest that Aguaruna canine ethnoveterinary medicine is, at least partly, an independent cognitive domain. Some of the difference in plant use between dogs and people can be explained by the fact that certain diseases mentioned only apply to dogs. Although reports of canine ethnoveterinary medicine are very sparse in the literature, Aguaruna practices show some similarities with a few trends reported for other Amazonian societies, particularly, in the prevalence of the nasal route of administration, the use of plant-based psychoactives and in the importance of ants and wasps, in some form, for training dogs.</p

Pharmacokinetics of Intravenously Administered Levofloxacin in Men and Women

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90350/1/phco.2005.25.10.1310.pd

Agenda for Translating Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Weight Management Interventions for Cancer Survivors into Clinical and Community Practice.

Evidence supporting physical activity, diet, and weight management for cancer survivors has grown, leading to the development of guidelines and interventions. The next step is to identify necessary practice and policy changes and to develop a research agenda to inform how interventions can be delivered to survivors most effectively and efficiently in health care settings and by community-based organizations. Here, an agenda is proposed for research, practice, and policy that incorporates recommendations for a range of programming options, a patient-centered, tailored screening and referral approach, and training needs for survivorship care providers and providers of exercise, nutrition, and weight management services. Research needs to focus on sustainability, dissemination, and implementation. Needed policy changes are presented, as well as opportunities to leverage current health care policies

Tubular Compression Fossils from the Ediacaran Nama Group, Namibia

Abundant tubular macrofossils occur in finely laminated siltstones and shales of the 548-542 Ma Schwarzrand Subgroup. Nama Group, Namibia. The Nama tubes occur in both the Vingerbreek and Feldschuhhorn members commonly in dense populations and always in fine-grained, lower shore-face lithologies deposited below fair-weather wave base. The tubes are preserved mostly as compressed casts and molds that range in width from 0.6 to 2.1 mm: apparently incomplete specimens reach lengths up to 10 cm. All specimens show sinuous bending and occasional brittle fracture, indicating an original construction of strong but flexible organic matter. Feldschuhhorn specimens preserve fine longitudinal pleats or folds that record pliant organic walls, but the older Vingerbreek Populations do not. Similarly. some specimens in the Feldschuhhorn Member display branching. while Vingerbreek tubes do not. The abundant Feldschuhhorn tubes are assigned to the widespread Ediacaran problematicum Vendotaertia antiqua: however, the distinctive Vingerbreek population remains in open nomenclature. The most abundant fossils in Nama rocks, these tubes resemble populations in Ediacaran successions front Russia. China. Spain, and elsewhere. Beyond their local importance, then. such tubes may turn Out to be the most abundant record of Ediacaran life.Earth and Planetary SciencesOrganismic and Evolutionary Biolog

An FPGA-based infrastructure for fine-grained DVFS analysis in high-performance embedded systems

Emerging technologies provide SoCs with fine-grained DVFS capabilities both in space (number of domains) and time (transients in the order of tens of nanoseconds). Analyzing these systems requires cycle-accurate accounting of rapidly-changing dynamics and complex interactions among accelerators, interconnect, memory, and OS. We present an FPGA-based infrastructure that facilitates such analyses for high-performance embedded systems. We show how our infrastructure can be used to first generate SoCs with loosely-coupled accelerators, and then perform design-space exploration considering several DVFS policies under full-system workload scenarios, sweeping spatial and temporal domain granularity

The importance of chemosensory clues in Aguaruna tree classification and identification

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The ethnobotanical literature still contains few detailed descriptions of the sensory criteria people use for judging membership in taxonomic categories. Olfactory criteria in particular have been explored very little. This paper will describe the importance of odor for woody plant taxonomy and identification among the Aguaruna Jívaro of the northern Peruvian Amazon, focusing on the Aguaruna category <b><it>númi </it></b>(trees excluding palms). Aguaruna informants almost always place trees that they consider to have a similar odor together as <b><it>kumpají </it></b>– 'companions,' a metaphor they use to describe trees that they consider to be related.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The research took place in several Aguaruna communities in the upper Marañón region of the Peruvian Amazon. Structured interview data focus on informant criteria for membership in various folk taxa of trees. Informants were also asked to explain what members of each group of related companions had in common. This paper focuses on odor and taste criteria that came to light during these structured interviews. Botanical voucher specimens were collected, wherever possible.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 182 tree folk genera recorded in this study, 51 (28%) were widely considered to possess a distinctive odor. Thirty nine of those (76%) were said to have odors similar to some other tree, while the other 24% had unique odors. Aguaruna informants very rarely described tree odors in non-botanical terms. Taste was used mostly to describe trees with edible fruits. Trees judged to be related were nearly always in the same botanical family.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study illustrate that odor of bark, sap, flowers, fruit and leaves are important clues that help the Aguaruna to judge the relatedness of trees found in their local environment. In contrast, taste appears to play a more limited role. The results suggest a more general ethnobotanical hypothesis that could be tested in other cultural settings: people tend to consider plants with similar odors to be related, but say that plants with unique odors are unrelated to any other plants.</p

Estimating Individual Exposure to Malaria Using Local Prevalence of Malaria Infection in the Field

BACKGROUND: Heterogeneity in malaria exposure complicates survival analyses of vaccine efficacy trials and confounds the association between immune correlates of protection and malaria infection in longitudinal studies. Analysis may be facilitated by taking into account the variability in individual exposure levels, but it is unclear how exposure can be estimated at an individual level. METHOD AND FINDINGS: We studied three cohorts (Chonyi, Junju and Ngerenya) in Kilifi District, Kenya to assess measures of malaria exposure. Prospective data were available on malaria episodes, geospatial coordinates, proximity to infected and uninfected individuals and residence in predefined malaria hotspots for 2,425 individuals. Antibody levels to the malaria antigens AMA1 and MSP1(142) were available for 291 children from Junju. We calculated distance-weighted local prevalence of malaria infection within 1 km radius as a marker of individual's malaria exposure. We used multivariable modified Poisson regression model to assess the discriminatory power of these markers for malaria infection (i.e. asymptomatic parasitaemia or clinical malaria). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to assess the discriminatory power of the models. Local malaria prevalence within 1 km radius and AMA1 and MSP1(142) antibodies levels were independently associated with malaria infection. Weighted local malaria prevalence had an area under ROC curve of 0.72 (95%CI: 0.66-0.73), 0.71 (95%CI: 0.69-0.73) and 0.82 (95%CI: 0.80-0.83) among cohorts in Chonyi, Junju and Ngerenya respectively. In a small subset of children from Junju, a model incorporating weighted local malaria prevalence with AMA1 and MSP1(142) antibody levels provided an AUC of 0.83 (95%CI: 0.79-0.88). CONCLUSION: We have proposed an approach to estimating the intensity of an individual's malaria exposure in the field. The weighted local malaria prevalence can be used as individual marker of malaria exposure in malaria vaccine trials and longitudinal studies of natural immunity to malaria

Jazz Convocation

Program listing performers and works performed