Shanghai Lilong Tower Urbanism: towards an Urbanism of Parametric Preservation

Conference Theme: Real Time: Extending the Reach of ComputationSession C3 - Generative Design ConceptsThis paper describes a design approach for a new urban building typology for Shanghai utilizing a set of parametric design techniques to arrive at an alternative solution to current models of urbanization. The goal in this approach was to find a solution that is adaptable and sensitive to the urban environment and has the capacity to preserve historic urban street patterns. The approach included an understanding of the historic urban fabric of Shanghai, a respective plot analysis and the development of a computational method to produce a new urban type. The parametric set-up was build upon an analytical workflow with integrated feedback procedures that informed the design exploration and resulted in multiple design solutions.published_or_final_versio

Performance of circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) urine-dipsticks for rapid detection of intestinal schistosomiasis in schoolchildren from shoreline communities of Lake Victoria

For disease surveillance and mapping within large-scale control programmes, RDTs are becoming popular. For intestinal schistosomiasis, a commercially available urine-dipstick which detects schistosome circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) in host urine is being increasingly applied, however, further validation is needed. In this study, we compared the CCA urine-dipstick test against double thick Kato-Katz faecal smears from 171 schoolchildren examined along the Tanzanian and Kenyan shorelines of Lake Victoria. Diagnostic methods were in broad agreement; the mean prevalence of intestinal schistosomiasis inferred by Kato-Katz examination was 68.6% (95% confidence intervals (CIs) = 60.7-75.7%) and 71.3% (95% CIs = 63.9-78.8%) by CCA urine-dipsticks. There were, however, difficulties in precisely 'calling' the CCA test result, particularly in discrimination of 'trace' reactions as either putative infection positive or putative infection negative, which has important bearing upon estimation of mean infection prevalence; considering 'trace' as infection positive mean prevalence was 94.2% (95% CIs = 89.5-97.2%). A positive association between increasing intensity of the CCA urine-dipstick test band and faecal egg count was observed. Assigning trace reactions as putative infection negative, overall diagnostic sensitivity (SS) of the CCA urine-dipstick was 87.7% (95% CIs = 80.6-93.0%), specificity (SP) was 68.1% (95% CIs = 54.3-80.0%), positive predictive value (PPV) was 86.1% (95% CIs = 78.8-91.7%) and negative predictive value (NPV) was 71.1% (95% CIs = 57.2-82.8%). To assist in objective defining of the CCA urine-dipstick result, we propose the use of a simple colour chart and conclude that the CCA urine-dipstick is a satisfactory alternative, or supplement, to Kato-Katz examination for rapid detection of intestinal schistosomiasis

Integrated multiple mediation analysis: A robustness–specificity trade-off in causal structure

Recent methodological developments in causal mediation analysis have addressed several issues regarding multiple mediators. However, these developed methods differ in their definitions of causal parameters, assumptions for identification, and interpretations of causal effects, making it unclear which method ought to be selected when investigating a given causal effect. Thus, in this study, we construct an integrated framework, which unifies all existing methodologies, as a standard for mediation analysis with multiple mediators. To clarify the relationship between existing methods, we propose four strategies for effect decomposition: two-way, partially forward, partially backward, and complete decompositions. This study reveals how the direct and indirect effects of each strategy are explicitly and correctly interpreted as path-specific effects under different causal mediation structures. In the integrated framework, we further verify the utility of the interventional analogues of direct and indirect effects, especially when natural direct and indirect effects cannot be identified or when cross-world exchangeability is invalid. Consequently, this study yields a robustness–specificity trade-off in the choice of strategies. Inverse probability weighting is considered for estimation. The four strategies are further applied to a simulation study for performance evaluation and for analyzing the Risk Evaluation of Viral Load Elevation and Associated Liver Disease/Cancer data set from Taiwan to investigate the causal effect of hepatitis C virus infection on mortality

Rapid Diagnostic Algorithms as a Screening Tool for Tuberculosis: An Assessor Blinded Cross-Sectional Study

Background: A major obstacle to effectively treat and control tuberculosis is the absence of an accurate, rapid, and low-cost diagnostic tool. A new approach for the screening of patients for tuberculosis is the use of rapid diagnostic classification algorithms. Methods: We tested a previously published diagnostic algorithm based on four biomarkers as a screening tool for tuberculosis in a Central European patient population using an assessor-blinded cross-sectional study design. In addition, we developed an improved diagnostic classification algorithm based on a study population at a tertiary hospital in Vienna, Austria, by supervised computational statistics. Results: The diagnostic accuracy of the previously published diagnostic algorithm for our patient population consisting of 206 patients was 54% (CI: 47%–61%). An improved model was constructed using inflammation parameters and clinical information. A diagnostic accuracy of 86% (CI: 80%–90%) was demonstrated by 10-fold cross validation. An alternative model relying solely on clinical parameters exhibited a diagnostic accuracy of 85% (CI: 79%–89%). Conclusion: Here we show that a rapid diagnostic algorithm based on clinical parameters is only slightly improved by inclusion of inflammation markers in our cohort. Our results also emphasize the need for validation of new diagnostic algorithms in different settings and patient populations

Accuracy and repeatability of wrist joint angles in boxing using an electromagnetic tracking system

© 2019, The Author(s). The hand-wrist region is reported as the most common injury site in boxing. Boxers are at risk due to the amount of wrist motions when impacting training equipment or their opponents, yet we know relatively little about these motions. This paper describes a new method for quantifying wrist motion in boxing using an electromagnetic tracking system. Surrogate testing procedure utilising a polyamide hand and forearm shape, and in vivo testing procedure utilising 29 elite boxers, were used to assess the accuracy and repeatability of the system. 2D kinematic analysis was used to calculate wrist angles using photogrammetry, whilst the data from the electromagnetic tracking system was processed with visual 3D software. The electromagnetic tracking system agreed with the video-based system (paired t tests) in both the surrogate ( 0.9). In the punch testing, for both repeated jab and hook shots, the electromagnetic tracking system showed good reliability (ICCs > 0.8) and substantial reliability (ICCs > 0.6) for flexion–extension and radial-ulnar deviation angles, respectively. The results indicate that wrist kinematics during punching activities can be measured using an electromagnetic tracking system

First Record of Fusarium verticillioides as an Entomopathogenic Fungus of Grasshoppers

Fusarium verticillioides (Saccardo) Nirenberg (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) is the most common fungus reported on infected corn kernels and vegetative tissues, but has not yet been documented as being entomopathogenic for grasshoppers. Grasshoppers and locusts represent a large group of insects that cause economic damage to forage and crops. Tropidacris collaris (Stoll) (Orthoptera: Acridoidea: Romaleidae) is a large and voracious grasshopper that in recent years has become an increasingly recurrent and widespread pest in progressively more greatly extended areas of some of in Argentina's northern provinces, with chemical insecticides being currently the only means of control. During February and March of 2008–09, nymphs and adults of T. collaris were collected with sweep nets in dense woodland vegetation at a site near Tres Estacas in western Chaco Province, Argentina, and kept in screened cages. F. verticillioides was isolated from insects that died within 10 days and was cultured in PGA medium. Pathogenicity tests were conducted and positive results recorded. Using traditional and molecular-biological methods, an isolate of F. verticillioides was obtained from T. collaris, and its pathogenecity in the laboratory was shown against another harmful grasshopper, Ronderosia bergi (Stål) (Acridoidea: Acrididae: Melanoplinae). The mortality caused by F. verticillioides on R. bergi reached 58 ± 6.53% by 10 days after inoculation. This is the first record of natural infection caused by F. verticillioides in grasshoppers

Rapid Susceptibility Testing and Microcolony Analysis of Candida spp. Cultured and Imaged on Porous Aluminum Oxide

Contains fulltext : 124300.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)BACKGROUND: Acquired resistance to antifungal agents now supports the introduction of susceptibility testing for species-drug combinations for which this was previously thought unnecessary. For pathogenic yeasts, conventional phenotypic testing needs at least 24 h. Culture on a porous aluminum oxide (PAO) support combined with microscopy offers a route to more rapid results. METHODS: Microcolonies of Candida species grown on PAO were stained with the fluorogenic dyes Fun-1 and Calcofluor White and then imaged by fluorescence microscopy. Images were captured by a charge-coupled device camera and processed by publicly available software. By this method, the growth of yeasts could be detected and quantified within 2 h. Microcolony imaging was then used to assess the susceptibility of the yeasts to amphotericin B, anidulafungin and caspofungin (3.5 h culture), and voriconazole and itraconazole (7 h culture). SIGNIFICANCE: Overall, the results showed good agreement with EUCAST (86.5% agreement; n = 170) and E-test (85.9% agreement; n = 170). The closest agreement to standard tests was found when testing susceptibility to amphotericin B and echinocandins (88.2 to 91.2%) and the least good for the triazoles (79.4 to 82.4%). Furthermore, large datasets on population variation could be rapidly obtained. An analysis of microcolonies revealed subtle effects of antimycotics on resistant strains and below the MIC of sensitive strains, particularly an increase in population heterogeneity and cell density-dependent effects of triazoles. Additionally, the method could be adapted to strain identification via germ tube extension. We suggest PAO culture is a rapid and versatile method that may be usefully adapted to clinical mycology and has research applications

The Mechanism of Ubiquitination in the Cullin-RING E3 Ligase Machinery: Conformational Control of Substrate Orientation

In cullin-RING E3 ubiquitin ligases, substrate binding proteins, such as VHL-box, SOCS-box or the F-box proteins, recruit substrates for ubiquitination, accurately positioning and orienting the substrates for ubiquitin transfer. Yet, how the E3 machinery precisely positions the substrate is unknown. Here, we simulated nine substrate binding proteins: Skp2, Fbw7, β-TrCP1, Cdc4, Fbs1, TIR1, pVHL, SOCS2, and SOCS4, in the unbound form and bound to Skp1, ASK1 or Elongin C. All nine proteins have two domains: one binds to the substrate; the other to E3 ligase modules Skp1/ASK1/Elongin C. We discovered that in all cases the flexible inter-domain linker serves as a hinge, rotating the substrate binding domain, optimally and accurately positioning it for ubiquitin transfer. We observed a conserved proline in the linker of all nine proteins. In all cases, the prolines pucker substantially and the pucker is associated with the backbone rotation toward the E2/ubiquitin. We further observed that the linker flexibility could be regulated allosterically by binding events associated with either domain. We conclude that the flexible linker in the substrate binding proteins orients the substrate for the ubiquitin transfer. Our findings provide a mechanism for ubiquitination and polyubiquitination, illustrating that these processes are under conformational control

Influence of Sequence Changes and Environment on Intrinsically Disordered Proteins

Many large-scale studies on intrinsically disordered proteins are implicitly based on the structural models deposited in the Protein Data Bank. Yet, the static nature of deposited models supplies little insight into variation of protein structure and function under diverse cellular and environmental conditions. While the computational predictability of disordered regions provides practical evidence that disorder is an intrinsic property of proteins, the robustness of disordered regions to changes in sequence or environmental conditions has not been systematically studied. We analyzed intrinsically disordered regions in the same or similar proteins crystallized independently and studied their sensitivity to changes in protein sequence and parameters of crystallographic experiments. The observed changes in the existence, position, and length of disordered regions indicate that their appearance in X-ray structures dramatically depends on changes in amino acid sequence and peculiarities of the crystallographic experiment. Our study also raises general questions regarding protein evolution and the regulation of protein structure, dynamics, and function via variations in cellular and environmental conditions