‘There is worse to come’ : The biopolitics of traumatism in Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)

This paper reflects on the different futures and imaginaries constructed through the politics and policy of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). We examine the role of catastrophism, trauma and notions of ‘resistance’ expressed at different moments in the development of the AMR debate. The paper focuses on a number of imaginaries in the politics of AMR, particularly a characterisation of Britain as the ‘sick man of Europe’ or the ‘British disease’ and, more recently, the catastrophist prospect of a ‘return to the dark ages of medicine’. We draw upon recent writing in biopolitical philosophy on immunity and autoimmunity, particularly in the work of Derrida and Sloterdijk, to interrogate immunitary politics of AMR at the intersections of the human and the microbial

Expanding the Impact of the EEROS Open Source Robotics Framework

This report, prepared for the developers of the EEROS Real Time Robotics Software Framework, explored options to expand the impact that EEROS would have on the open source robotics community. This open source framework was examined to discover how a healthy development community might grow in a new project. Through increasing EEROS’s presence, analyzing its community, exploring sustainable funding options, organizing and streamlining development and identifying new partners, we gained an understanding of the birth of an open source project

SCREAM: Sensory Channel Remote Execution Attack Methods

Sensory channel threats on embedded systems are an often overlooked attack vector. Because many computing systems focus on digital communication, much of the security research for embedded systems has focused on securing the communication channels between devices. This project explores sensory channel attack concepts and demonstrates that an attack on an embedded device purely through sensory channel inputs can achieve arbitrary code execution. Unlike previous research on sensory channel attacks, this work does not require the device to have preloaded malware. We demonstrate that our attacks were successful in two separate, realistic applications with up to a 100.00% success rate. Finally, we propose a possible defense to these attacks and suggest future avenues of research in this field

Bugs in the Blog: : immunitary moralism in Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR)

This paper examines social theoretical literatures on immunity in the context of contemporary biopolitical debates about antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). An exploration of contributions to the online forum ‘Mumsnet’ about antibiotic use and AMR serves as an empirical anchorage to these literatures. Five themes emerge from these data: ‘temporal constraints and technological fixes’; ‘restorative bodies’; ‘spatial othering’; ‘moral accountabilities’ and ‘domestic immunitary environments’. We offer the concept ‘immunitary moralism’ to capture the way antibiotics prompt moral reflection on immunity, biopolitical citizenship, bodily integrity and communal probity. We reveal how the moral politics of blame and immunitary othering are present in online debates about AMR, and explore the way these registers resonate with writings in biopolitical philosophy on the ascendency of immunitary individualism and tensions between community and immunity (communitas and immunitas)

The Grizzly, November 11, 1983

Tuition Hike OK\u27ed • Founder\u27s Day Celebrated • On the Air Finally • Ursinus Commemorated on Founder\u27s Day • Letters To The Editor: Credit Policy Reviewed; Coach Needed for Diving Team; No Credit for Activities • Smart People, Poor Students • Writing Help Available • Like Father, Like Son • Choir Goes German • Two Free Plays At Ursinus • The Big Event: Casino Night Comes to Ursinus • And Another Thing • Lady Bears ECAC Champs • U.C. Soccer Hosts ECAC Tourney • Grizzlies Bury Brooklyn College • Ursinus Fourth • Women\u27s Field Hockey Concludes Successful Campaignhttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1107/thumbnail.jp

Progress in adolescent health and wellbeing: tracking 12 headline indicators for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2016

Background: Rapid demographic, epidemiological, and nutritional transitons have brought a pressing need to track progress in adolescent health. Here, we present country-level estimates of 12 headline indicators from the Lancet Commission on adolescent health and wellbeing, from 1990 to 2016. Methods: Indicators included those of health outcomes (disability-adjusted life-years [DALYs] due to communicable, maternal, and nutritional diseases; injuries; and non-communicable diseases); health risks (tobacco smoking, binge drinking, overweight, and anaemia); and social determinants of health (adolescent fertility; completion of secondary education; not in education, employment, or training [NEET]; child marriage; and demand for contraception satisfied with modern methods). We drew data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2016, International Labour Organisation, household surveys, and the Barro-Lee education dataset. Findings: From 1990 to 2016, remarkable shifts in adolescent health occurred. A decrease in disease burden in many countries has been offset by population growth in countries with the poorest adolescent health profiles. Compared with 1990, an additional 250 million adolescents were living in multi-burden countries in 2016, where they face a heavy and complex burden of disease. The rapidity of nutritional transition is evident from the 324·1 million (18%) of 1·8 billion adolescents globally who were overweight or obese in 2016, an increase of 176·9 million compared with 1990, and the 430·7 million (24%) who had anaemia in 2016, an increase of 74·2 million compared with 1990. Child marriage remains common, with an estimated 66 million women aged 20–24 years married before age 18 years. Although gender-parity in secondary school completion exists globally, prevalence of NEET remains high for young women in multi-burden countries, suggesting few opportunities to enter the workforce in these settings. Interpretation: Although disease burden has fallen in many settings, demographic shifts have heightened global inequalities. Global disease burden has changed little since 1990 and the prevalence of many adolescent health risks have increased. Health, education, and legal systems have not kept pace with shifting adolescent needs and demographic changes. Gender inequity remains a powerful driver of poor adolescent health in many countries. Funding: Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundatio

How achievable are COVID-19 clinical trial recruitment targets? A UK observational cohort study and trials registry analysis

Objectives: To analyse enrolment to interventional trials during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in England and describe the barriers to successful recruitment in the circumstance of a further wave or future pandemics. Design: We analysed registered interventional COVID-19 trial data and concurrently did a prospective observational study of hospitalised patients with COVID-19 who were being assessed for eligibility to one of the RECOVERY, C19-ACS or SIMPLE trials. Setting: Interventional COVID-19 trial data were analysed from the clinicaltrials.gov and International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number databases on 12 July 2020. The patient cohort was taken from five centres in a respiratory National Institute for Health Research network. Population and modelling data were taken from published reports from the UK government and Medical Research Council Biostatistics Unit. Participants: 2082 consecutive admitted patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection from 27 March 2020 were included. Main outcome measures: Proportions enrolled, and reasons for exclusion from the aforementioned trials. Comparisons of trial recruitment targets with estimated feasible recruitment numbers. Results: Analysis of trial registration data for COVID-19 treatment studies enrolling in England showed that by 12 July 2020, 29 142 participants were needed. In the observational study, 430 (20.7%) proceeded to randomisation. 82 (3.9%) declined participation, 699 (33.6%) were excluded on clinical grounds, 363 (17.4%) were medically fit for discharge and 153 (7.3%) were receiving palliative care. With 111 037 people hospitalised with COVID-19 in England by 12 July 2020, we determine that 22 985 people were potentially suitable for trial enrolment. We estimate a UK hospitalisation rate of 2.38%, and that another 1.25 million infections would be required to meet recruitment targets of ongoing trials. Conclusions: Feasible recruitment rates, study design and proliferation of trials can limit the number, and size, that will successfully complete recruitment. We consider that fewer, more appropriately designed trials, prioritising cooperation between centres would maximise productivity in a further wave

Genome-wide association identifies ATOH7 as a major gene determining human optic disc size

Optic nerve assessment is important for many blinding diseases, with cup-to-disc ratio (CDR) assessments commonly used in both diagnosis and progression monitoring of glaucoma patients. Optic disc, cup, rim area and CDR measurements all show substantial variation between human populations and high heritability estimates within populations. To identify loci underlying these quantitative traits, we performed a genome-wide association study in two Australian twin cohorts and identified rs3858145, P = 6.2 × 10−10, near the ATOH7 gene as associated with the mean disc area. ATOH7 is known from studies in model organisms to play a key role in retinal ganglion cell formation. The association with rs3858145 was replicated in a cohort of UK twins, with a meta-analysis of the combined data yielding P = 3.4 × 10−10. Imputation further increased the evidence for association for several SNPs in and around ATOH7 (P = 1.3 × 10−10 to 4.3 × 10−11, top SNP rs1900004). The meta-analysis also provided suggestive evidence for association for the cup area at rs690037, P = 1.5 × 10−7, in the gene RFTN1. Direct sequencing of ATOH7 in 12 patients with optic nerve hypoplasia, one of the leading causes of blindness in children, revealed two novel non-synonymous mutations (Arg65Gly, Ala47Thr) which were not found in 90 unrelated controls (combined Fisher's exact P = 0.0136). Furthermore, the Arg65Gly variant was found to have very low frequency (0.00066) in an additional set of 672 controls