A Low Cost, Portable Fluorescence Correlation Spectrometer for Disease Diagnosis

People being treated for HIV need to periodically test to determine if their antiviral medication is effectively keeping their viral loads at a safe level. Individuals living in rural areas of developing countries would be more likely to get these viral load tests if an instrument existed which reduced costs and was small and rugged enough to be brought to the client rather than require the client to travel for hours to a clinic. The Diagnostics for Viral Disease team is developing such a device in cooperation with Dr. Edgar Simulundu and the Macha Research Trust in Zambia. Our design is based on advanced fluorescence spectroscopy utilizing a fluorescence protein probe, confocal optics, and low-cost, low-power electronics. This poster reviews work done in three subsystems of the overall instrument. First, we have optimized the program used during burst analysis spectroscopy for identification of individual viruses in dilute samples. Second, we have confirmed the operation of the amplifying and discriminating sections of the photon processing circuitry which converts light pulses into a digital signal ready to be processed in the signal analysis subsystem. Finally, we have completed the Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and Raspberry Pi programming allowing successful transfer of the results of the signal processing in the FPGA to the Raspberry Pi for display to the end user. Going forward we will integrate these subsystems into a fully functional exploded prototype ready for the final stage of condensing the design into a portable prototype that can be tested and delivered to our client. Funding for this work provided by The Collaboratory for Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research.https://mosaic.messiah.edu/engr2022/1003/thumbnail.jp

Advanced altimetry

The radar altimeter being developed for the Ocean Topography Experiment (TOPEX) will have an inherent instrument precision of 2 to 3 cm. While some minor refinements may be possible in the future, major geophysical advances could be made if altimetric measurements over a wide swath of the Earth's surface were possible. The NASA Headquarters Oceanic Processes Branch is supporting a 3-year investigation of the technological issues inherent in the precision measurement of topography from spaceborne platforms at angles off-nadir. To explore the off-nadir measurement of topography, a flexible, airborne radar instrument system is being developed. Its hardware design is now complete, and it is made up of several subsystems. The antenna selected is a dielectric lens of .894 m diameter. The RF subsystem uses phase-locked oscillators, FET solid-state amplifiers, and times four frequency multipliers to develop a transmit signal at a frequency of 36.0 GHz and a local oscillator signal at a frequency of 35.4 GHz. Lecroy 6880 digitizers under computer control digitize the five receiver outputs. The digital subsystem consists of six single-board Heurikon processors. At this time, the instrument construction continues with final system integration planned for November 1988

Experimental Bounds on Masses and Fluxes of Nontopological Solitons

We have re-analyzed the results of various experiments which were not originally interested as searches for the Q-ball or the Fermi-ball. Based on these analyses, in addition to the available data on Q-balls, we obtained rather stringent bounds on flux, mass and typical energy scale of Q-balls as well as Fermi-balls. In case these nontopological solitons are the main component of the dark matter of the Galaxy, we found that only such solitons with very large quantum numbers are allowed. We also estimate how sensitive future experiments will be in the search for Q-balls and Fermi-balls.Comment: 19 pages, 7 eps figures, RevTeX, psfig.st

Why growth equals power - and why it shouldn't : constructing visions of China

When discussing the success of China's transition from socialism, there is a tendency to focus on growth figures as an indication of performance. Whilst these figures are indeed impressive, we should not confuse growth with development and assume that the former necessarily automatically generates the latter. Much has been done to reduce poverty in China, but the task is not as complete as some observers would suggest; particularly in terms of access to health, education and welfare, and also in dealing with relative (rather than absolute) depravation and poverty. Visions of China have been constructed that exaggerate Chinese development and power in the global system partly to serve political interests, but partly due to the failure to consider the relationship between growth and development, partly due to the failure to disaggregate who gets what in China, and partly due to the persistence of inter-national conceptions of globalised production, trade, and financial flows

Results of the Search for Strange Quark Matter and Q-balls with the SLIM Experiment

The SLIM experiment at the Chacaltaya high altitude laboratory was sensitive to nuclearites and Q-balls, which could be present in the cosmic radiation as possible Dark Matter components. It was sensitive also to strangelets, i.e. small lumps of Strange Quark Matter predicted at such altitudes by various phenomenological models. The analysis of 427 m^2 of Nuclear Track Detectors exposed for 4.22 years showed no candidate event. New upper limits on the flux of downgoing nuclearites and Q-balls at the 90% C.L. were established. The null result also restricts models for strangelets propagation through the Earth atmosphere.Comment: 14 pages, 11 EPS figure

Ipl1/aurora kinase suppresses S-CDK-driven spindle formation during prophase I to ensure chromosome integrity during meiosis

Cells coordinate spindle formation with DNA repair and morphological modifications to chromosomes prior to their segregation to prevent cell division with damaged chromosomes. Here we uncover a novel and unexpected role for Aurora kinase in preventing the formation of spindles by Clb5-CDK (S-CDK) during meiotic prophase I and when the DDR is active in budding yeast. This is critical since S-CDK is essential for replication during premeiotic S-phase as well as double-strand break induction that facilitates meiotic recombination and, ultimately, chromosome segregation. Furthermore, we find that depletion of Cdc5 polo kinase activity delays spindle formation in DDR-arrested cells and that ectopic expression of Cdc5 in prophase I enhances spindle formation, when Ipl1 is depleted. Our findings establish a new paradigm for Aurora kinase function in both negative and positive regulation of spindle dynamics

Accumulation of Endogenous LITAF in Aggresomes

LITAF is a 161 amino acid cellular protein which includes a proline rich N-terminus and a conserved C-terminal domain known as the simple-like domain. Mutations in LITAF have been identified in Charcot-Marie tooth disease, a disease characterized by protein aggregates. Cells transfected with cellular LITAF reveal that LITAF is localized to late endosomes/lysosomes. Here we investigated the intracellular localization of endogenous LITAF. We demonstrated that endogenous LITAF accumulates at a discrete cytoplasmic site in BGMK cells that we identify as the aggresome. To determine the domain within LITAF that is responsible for the localization of LITAF to aggresomes, we created a construct that contained the C-terminal simple-like domain of LITAF and found that this construct also localizes to aggresomes. These data suggest the simple-like domain is responsible for targeting endogenous LITAF to the aggresome

Construction, Concentration, and (Dis)Continuities in Social Valuations

I review and integrate recent sociological research that makes progress on three interrelated questions pertaining to social valuation: (a) the degree of social construction relative to objective constraints; (b) the degree of concentration in social valuations at a single point in time; and (c) the conditions that govern two broad forms of temporal discontinuity—(i) fashion cycles, especially in cultural expression and in managerial practices, and (ii) bubble/crash dynamics, as witnessed in such domains as authoritarian regimes and financial markets. In the course of the review, I argue for the importance of identifying how objective conditions constrain social construction and suggest two contrarian mechanisms by which this is accomplished—valuation opportunism and valuation entrepreneurship—and the conditions under which they are more or less effective

Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Anxious Adolescents: Developmental Influences on Treatment Design and Delivery

Anxiety disorders in adolescence are common and disruptive, pointing to a need for effective treatments for this age group. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is one of the most popular interventions for adolescent anxiety, and there is empirical support for its application. However, a significant proportion of adolescent clients continue to report anxiety symptoms post-treatment. This paper underscores the need to attend to the unique developmental characteristics of the adolescent period when designing and delivering treatment, in an effort to enhance treatment effectiveness. Informed by the literature from developmental psychology, developmental psychopathology, and clinical child and adolescent psychology, we review the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of developmentally appropriate CBT for anxious adolescents. ‘Why’ it is important to consider developmental factors in designing and delivering CBT for anxious adolescents is addressed by examining the age-related findings of treatment outcome studies and exploring the influence of developmental factors, including cognitive capacities, on engagement in CBT. ‘How’ clinicians can developmentally tailor CBT for anxious adolescents in six key domains of treatment design and delivery is illustrated with suggestions drawn from both clinically and research-oriented literature. Finally, recommendations are made for research into developmentally appropriate CBT for anxious adolescents