Using Distributed Operations to Enable Science Research on the International Space Station

In the early days of the International Space Station (ISS) program, and as the organization structure was being internationally agreed upon and documented, one of the principal tenets of the science program was to allow customer-friendly operations. One important aspect of this was to allow payload developers and principle investigators the flexibility to operate their experiments from either their home sites or distributed telescience centers. This telescience concept was developed such that investigators had several options for ISS utilization support. They could operate from their home site, the closest telescience center, or use the payload operations facilities at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC) processes and structures were put into place to allow these different options to its customers, while at the same time maintain its centralized authority over NASA payload operations and integration. For a long duration space program with many scientists, researchers, and universities expected to participate, it was imperative that the program structure be in place to successfully facilitate this concept of telescience support. From a payload control center perspective, payload science operations require two major elements in order to make telescience successful within the scope of the ISS program. The first element is decentralized control which allows the remote participants the freedom and flexibility to operate their payloads within their scope of authority. The second element is a strong ground infrastructure, which includes voice communications, video, telemetry, and commanding between the POIC and the payload remote site. Both of these elements are important to telescience success, and both must be balanced by the ISS program s documented requirements for POIC to maintain its authority as an integration and control center. This paper describes both elements of distributed payload operations and discusses the benefits and drawbacks

A rapid method for the generation of uniform acellular bone explants: a technical note

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Bone graft studies lack standardized controls. We aim to present a quick and reliable method for the intra-operative generation of acellular bone explants.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Therefore, ovine cancellous bone explants from the iliac crest were prepared and used to test several methods for the induction of cell death. Over night heat inactivation was used as positive treatment control, methods to be investigated included UV light, or X- ray exposure, incubation in a hypotonic solution (salt-free water) and a short cycle of repeated freezing and thawing.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Viability of treated and 2 days cultured bone explants was investigated by lactate dehydrogenase assay. Non-treated cultured control explants maintained around 50% osteocyte viability, while osteocyte survival after the positive treatment control was abolished. The most dramatic loss in cell viability, together with a low standard deviation, was a repeated cycle of freezing and thawing.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>To summarize, we present a freeze-thaw method for the creation of acellular bone explants, which is easy to perform, not time-consuming and provides consistent results.</p

Exploring the Use of Body Worn Cameras in Acute Mental Health Wards: a mixed-method evaluation of a pilot intervention

Background: Body worn cameras (BWC) are mobile audio and video capture devices that can be secured to clothing allowing the wearer to record some of what they see and hear. This technology is being introduced in a range of healthcare settings as part of larger violence reduction strategies aimed at reducing incidents of aggression and violence on inpatient wards, however limited evidence exists to understand if this technology achieves such goals.Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the implementation of BWCs on two inpatient mental health wards, including the impact on incidents, the acceptability to staff and patients, the sustainability of the resource use and ability to manage the use of BWCs on these wards. Methods: The study used a mixed-methods design comparing quantitative measures including ward activity and routinely collected incident data at three time-points before during and after the pilot implementation of BWCs on one acute ward and one psychiatric intensive care unit, alongside pre and post pilot qualitative interviews with patients and staff, analysed using a framework based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Results: Results showed no clear relationship between the use of BWCs and rates or severity of incidents on either ward, with limited impact of using BWCs on levels of incidents. Qualitative findings noted mixed perceptions about the use of BWCs and highlighted the complexity of implementing such technology as a violence reduction method within a busy healthcare setting Furthermore, the qualitative data collected during this pilot period highlighted the potential systemic and contextual factors such as low staffing that may impact on the incident data presented. Conclusion: This study sheds light on the complexities of using such BWCs as a tool for ‘maximising safety’ on mental health settings. The findings suggest that BWCs have a limited impact on levels of incidents on wards, something that is likely to be largely influenced by the process of implementation as well as a range of contextual factors. As a result, it is likely that while BWCs may see successes in one hospital site this is not guaranteed for another site as such factors will have a considerable impact on efficacy, acceptability, and feasibility. <br/

Understanding the causes of missingness in primary care: a realist review

Background: Although missed appointments in healthcare have been an area of concern for policy, practice and research, the primary focus has been on reducing single ‘situational’ missed appointments to the benefit of services. Little attention has been paid to the causes and consequences of more ‘enduring’ multiple missed appointments in primary care and the role this has in producing health inequalities. Methods: We conducted a realist review of the literature on multiple missed appointments to identify the causes of ‘missingness.’ We searched multiple databases, carried out iterative citation-tracking on key papers on the topic of missed appointments and identified papers through searches of grey literature. We synthesised evidence from 197 papers, drawing on the theoretical frameworks of candidacy and fundamental causation. Results: Missingness is caused by an overlapping set of complex factors, including patients not identifying a need for an appointment or feeling it is ‘for them’; appointments as sites of poor communication, power imbalance and relational threat; patients being exposed to competing demands, priorities and urgencies; issues of travel and mobility; and an absence of choice or flexibility in when, where and with whom appointments take place. Conclusions: Interventions to address missingness at policy and practice levels should be theoretically informed, tailored to patients experiencing missingness and their identified needs and barriers; be cognisant of causal domains at multiple levels and address as many as practical; and be designed to increase safety for those seeking care

Contesting ‘transitions’ and (re-)engaging with ‘subjectivities’: locating and celebrating the habitus in three versions of ‘the first year experience’ at Central Queensland University

Instead of the homogeneous and undifferentiated view of ‘the first year experience’ implied by the term ‘transitions’, we prefer to emphasise diversity and heterogeneity in mapping multiple experiences of university life, particularly in ‘the first year’. This mapping includes – in the context of Central Queensland University (CQU) – students in a pre-undergraduate preparatory program with rich life experiences but limited formal education; school leavers and mature age students in a first year undergraduate program; and students with industry and professional experience in a pre-service teacher education program with both undergraduate and graduate entry points. Despite the considerable differences among these ‘first year experiences’, they have in common a focus on the habitus (Bourdieu, 1977, 1990) as a framework for locating and celebrating student and staff subjectivities and hence for maximising student (re-)engagements with university life. The paper illustrates these crucial processes in each of these versions of ‘the first year experience’

A realist review of the causes of, and current interventions to address ‘missingness’ in health care

Background: This protocol describes a realist review exploring the problem of “missingness” in healthcare, defined as the repeated tendency not to take up offers of care that has a negative impact on the person and their life chances. More specifically, the review looks at the phenomenon of patients missing multiple appointments in primary care in the UK – at the causal factors that influence how patients come to be “missing” in this way, and what interventions might support uptake and “presence” in healthcare. Background research informing this project suggests that a high rate of missed appointments predicted high premature death rates, and patients were more likely to have multiple long-term health conditions and experience significant socioeconomic disadvantage. Most research in this field focuses on population- or service-level characteristics of patients who miss appointments, often making no distinction between causes of single missed appointments and of multiple missed appointments. There have therefore been no interventions for ‘missingness’, accounting for the complex life circumstances or common mechanisms that cause people to repeatedly miss appointments. Methods: We use a realist review approach to explore what causes missingness - and what might prevent or address it - for whom, and in what circumstances. The review uses an iterative approach of database searching, citation-tracking and sourcing grey literature, with selected articles providing insight into the causal dynamics underpinning missed appointments and the interventions designed to address them. Discussion: The findings of this review will be combined with the findings of a qualitative empirical study and the contributions of a Stakeholder Advisory Group (STAG) to inform the development of a programme theory that seeks to explain how missingness occurs, whom it affects and under what circumstances. This will be used to develop a complex intervention to address multiple missed appointments in primary care. PROSPERO registration: CRD4202234600

Novel organization of mitochondrial minicircles and guide RNAs in the zoonotic pathogen Trypanosoma lewisi

Abstract Kinetoplastid flagellates are known for several unusual features, one of which is their complex mitochondrial genome, known as kinetoplast (k) DNA, composed of mutually catenated maxi- and minicircles. Trypanosoma lewisi is a member of the Stercorarian group of trypanosomes which is, based on human infections and experimental data, now considered a zoonotic pathogen. By assembling a total of 58 minicircle classes, which fall into two distinct categories, we describe a novel type of kDNA organization in T. lewisi. RNA-seq approaches allowed us to map the details of uridine insertion and deletion editing events upon the kDNA transcriptome. Moreover, sequencing of small RNA molecules enabled the identification of 169 unique guide (g) RNA genes, with two differently organized minicircle categories both encoding essential gRNAs. The unprecedented organization of minicircles and gRNAs in T. lewisi broadens our knowledge of the structure and expression of the mitochondrial genomes of these human and animal pathogens. Finally, a scenario describing the evolution of minicircles is presented

Erratum to : Analysis of the mitochondrial maxicircle of Trypanosoma lewisi, a neglected human pathogen

BACKGROUND The haemoflagellate Trypanosoma lewisi is a kinetoplastid parasite which, as it has been recently reported to cause human disease, deserves increased attention. Characteristic features of all kinetoplastid flagellates are a uniquely structured mitochondrial DNA or kinetoplast, comprised of a network of catenated DNA circles, and RNA editing of mitochondrial transcripts. The aim of this study was to describe the kinetoplast DNA of T. lewisi. METHODS/RESULTS In this study, purified kinetoplast DNA from T. lewisi was sequenced using high-throughput sequencing in combination with sequencing of PCR amplicons. This allowed the assembly of the T. lewisi kinetoplast maxicircle DNA, which is a homologue of the mitochondrial genome in other eukaryotes. The assembly of 23,745 bp comprises the non-coding and coding regions. Comparative analysis of the maxicircle sequence of T. lewisi with Trypanosoma cruzi, Trypanosoma rangeli, Trypanosoma brucei and Leishmania tarentolae revealed that it shares 78 %, 77 %, 74 % and 66 % sequence identity with these parasites, respectively. The high GC content in at least 9 maxicircle genes of T. lewisi (ATPase6; NADH dehydrogenase subunits ND3, ND7, ND8 and ND9; G-rich regions GR3 and GR4; cytochrome oxidase subunit COIII and ribosomal protein RPS12) implies that their products may be extensively edited. A detailed analysis of the non-coding region revealed that it contains numerous repeat motifs and palindromes. CONCLUSIONS We have sequenced and comprehensively annotated the kinetoplast maxicircle of T. lewisi. Our analysis reveals that T. lewisi is closely related to T. cruzi and T. brucei, and may share similar RNA editing patterns with them rather than with L. tarentolae. These findings provide novel insight into the biological features of this emerging human pathogen

Challenges, solutions and research priorities for sustainable rangelands

Australia’s rangeland communities, industries, and environment are under increasing pressures from anthropogenic activities and global changes more broadly. We conducted a horizon scan to identify and prioritise key challenges facing Australian rangelands and their communities, and outline possible avenues to address these challenges, with a particular focus on research priorities. We surveyed participants of the Australian Rangeland Society 20th Biennial Conference, held in Canberra in September 2019, before the conference and in interactive workshops during the conference, in order to identify key challenges, potential solutions, and research priorities. The feedback was broadly grouped into six themes associated with supporting local communities, managing natural capital, climate variability and change, traditional knowledge, governance, and research and development. Each theme had several sub-themes and potential solutions to ensure positive, long-term outcomes for the rangelands. The survey responses made it clear that supporting ‘resilient and sustainable rangelands that provide cultural, societal, environmental and economic outcomes simultaneously’ is of great value to stakeholders. The synthesis of survey responses combined with expert knowledge highlighted that sustaining local communities in the long term will require that the inherent social, cultural and natural capital of rangelands are managed sustainably, particularly in light of current and projected variability in climate. Establishment of guidelines and approaches to address these challenges will benefit from: (i) an increased recognition of the value and contributions of traditional knowledge and practices; (ii) development of better governance that is guided by and benefits local stakeholders; and (iii) more funding to conduct and implement strong research and development activities, with research focused on addressing critical knowledge gaps as identified by the local stakeholders. This requires strong governance with legislation and policies that work for the rangelands. We provide a framework that indicates the key knowledge gaps and how innovations may be implemented and scaled out, up and deep to achieve the resilience of Australia’s rangelands. The same principles could be adapted to address challenges in rangelands on other continents, with similar beneficial outcomes

Euglena International Network (EIN):Driving euglenoid biotechnology for the benefit of a challenged world

Euglenoids (Euglenida) are unicellular flagellates possessing exceptionally wide geographical and ecological distribution. Euglenoids combine a biotechnological potential with a unique position in the eukaryotic tree of life. In large part these microbes owe this success to diverse genetics including secondary endosymbiosis and likely additional sources of genes. Multiple euglenoid species have translational applications and show great promise in production of biofuels, nutraceuticals, bioremediation, cancer treatments and more exotically as robotics design simulators. An absence of reference genomes currently limits these applications, including development of efficient tools for identification of critical factors in regulation, growth or optimization of metabolic pathways. The Euglena International Network (EIN) seeks to provide a forum to overcome these challenges. EIN has agreed specific goals, mobilized scientists, established a clear roadmap (Grand Challenges), connected academic and industry stakeholders and is currently formulating policy and partnership principles to propel these efforts in a coordinated and efficient manner