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A novel cross-priming amplification technique combined with lateral flow strips for rapid and visual detection of zoonotic Toxoplasma gondii
Get PDFToxoplasma gondii, an obligate intracellular protozoan, infects almost all warm-blooded animals and humans, with felines serving as its sole definitive hosts. Cats release T. gondii oocysts into the environment through feces, contributing to environmental contamination that can lead to toxoplasmosis in humans upon exposure through ingestion of contaminated food, water, or soil. Effective detection of T. gondii in environmental samples is essential for protecting public health and preventing disease transmission. In the present study, we developed a cross-priming amplification (CPA) assay coupled with lateral flow immunoassay strips for the rapid and visual detection of T. gondii in environmental samples. CPA offers simplicity and eliminates the need for complex laboratory equipment. The assay demonstrated high specificity, accurately identifying nine genotypes of T. gondii without cross-reacting with 11 related parasites. Sensitivity testing revealed a detection limit of 1 × 10² copies/μL at the molecular level (plasmid) and 10 oocysts in real-world environmental samples. Furthermore, CPA effectively detected T. gondii in diverse environmental samples, including soil, water, and cat feces, with results consistent with known infection rates. These findings underscore CPA′s potential as a reliable, rapid, and accessible tool for detecting T. gondii in environmental settings, contributing to improved public health surveillance and disease prevention
The contractual dispute resolution game: Real-effort experiments on contract negotiation and arbitration
Get PDFIn many contractual arrangements where product or service delivery occurs sometime after contracts have been concluded, conditions may change, leading to disputes that need to be resolved often by a third party (arbitrator/mediator). In this paper we introduce the Contractual Dispute Resolution Game (CDRG), which allows us to study dispute resolution through arbitration. Unlike prior research studying arbitration at impasse using zero-sum bargaining games, we analyze a situation where parties can create additional value. We introduce a novel real-effort task, the Car Assembly Real-effort Task (CART), and show in two studies how automated arbitration rules (Study 1) and human arbitrators (Study 2) affect dispute resolution and surplus creation. In Study 1, we find that high-accuracy arbitration enhances efficiency. In Study 2, we find that arbitrators who are incentivized based on the total surplus of the negotiation do also promote greater efficiency. The CDRG provides a valuable tool for examining the effects of arbitration and mediation in settings where contracts are incomplete and can be impacted by shocks
A Liquid Metal-Based Frequency Reconfigurable Patch Antenna With Cross Placed Fluidic Channel
Get PDFIn this letter, a novel frequency reconfigurable antenna with the aid of liquid metal is presented. The proposed antenna incorporates a 3D-printed fluidic channel, which is placed cross to the metallized part of radiator. Compared to general meandered channels, the proposed cross placed fluidic channel ensures less liquid metal to be consumed, whilst it achieves the same capability of frequency reconfiguration as a solid patch. More importantly, it allows the proposed antenna to have a promised total efficiency thorough its switchable frequencies. The proposed antenna can switch among 2.1, 2.6, 4.4, and 11 GHz, enabling it to be adopted in various applications
Biology’s Dark Matter: From Galaxies to Microbes
Get PDFEmergent research in metagenomics has unveiled large quantities of previously unknown and unclassified prokaryotic DNA. As these prokaryotes constitute the vast majority of microbial life in environmental samples, some microbiologists and commentators in scientific media have referred to this expansive unknown as ‘biological dark matter’, translating the rhetorical power of dark matter from the physical to the life sciences. Engaging literatues and approaches from across the philosophy, history, and social studies of science, we explore the cultural significance of the dark matter theory in the physical sciences and examine the implications of its conceptual reworking in biology, through critically engaging the political narratives folded within dark matter’s genealogies. ‘Dark matter’ designates both zones of importance and zones of turbulence, simultaneously emphasizing microbiologists’ creativity whilst constructing new ways of relating to microbiota. Such a situation, we propose, also invites theoretical analysis as it calls for a conceptual reconsideration of the gene and its fundamental role within the life sciences
Writing for publication: The basics
No full textProblem: Writing for publication can be a challenging experience. Whilst midwives develop writing skills through their university education, writing a journal article can be quite different. Purpose: To explain some basic skills of scientific writing when preparing a paper for publication to support midwives in engaging in scientific writing. Overview: Four basic elements of scientific writing will be presented: the importance of careful word choices, the use of active and passive voice, sentence and paragraph structures, and review and editing. Examples of poor and better writing are given to illustrate these basic elements of good academic writing. We hope potential midwifery authors will read and refer to this article when writing. As editors, the elements addressed here are common problems found when reviewing submitted manuscripts that, with guidance, can be easily overcome
Detection of aphid infestation on faba bean (Vicia faba L.) by hyperspectral imaging and spectral information divergence methods
Get PDFAphids hide under leaves, reproduce rapidly, and require early detection to prevent crop damage, disease transmission, and ensure effective pest management. This study presents a novel approach for aphid detection by utilizing hyperspectral imaging, multivariate classification methods and spectral information divergence (SID) analyses. The hyperspectral images average spectrum (n = 336) showed significant differences between healthy and infested leaves. Time-series classification was performed over 14 days after infestation using four distinct machine learning algorithms. Early-stage infection detection may not relate to internal physiological alterations within the leaf but rather to the physical presence of the aphid behind the leaf, obstructing subtle physiological signatures. Implementation of spectral endmembers in the VIS–NIR reference spectrum led to the identification of an informative abundance SID map within the 710–825 nm range, useful for further classification. Machine learning classification resulted in support vector machines achieving 99.20 accuracy. Using random forest, twenty-two most important variables found effective in boosting classifier performance. The selected model also extended to real-world scenarios by testing progressing infestation patterns over 14 days on independent data sets, confirming the system’s reliability. Signal normal variant pre-treatment with partial least squares regression was effective in the estimation of aphid populations, achieving a 0.81 coefficient of determination (R2) and a 10.29 root-mean-square error of prediction for test datasets. In conclusion, the proposed method was able to successfully detect aphid colony infestation, both earlier and in locations that are invisible during standard human inspection
What is Knowledge Exchange for Educators and Students? A Framework Based on Findings from a Literature Search and Veterinary Education Conference Workshop
No full textThere has been growing interest in knowledge exchange (KE) activities as a result of recent calls for higher education establishments in the UK to provide more evidence of how they serve society for the benefit of the economy, the public and the community. KE has been defined as “A collaborative, creative endeavor that translates knowledge and research into impact in society and the economy,” where this exchange takes the form of sharing knowledge, experience, ideas, evidence, or expertise. While well established in the context of research, it is less clear what KE activities are in the context of teaching. The aim of this project was to use a collaborative approach to identify types of KE activity relevant for veterinary educators and undergraduate students (pre-veterinary registration), and ways of measuring these activities. Initially, a literature search identified four main overarching categories of interactions that KE activities for veterinary educators and undergraduate students could be assigned to: people-based activities, problem-solving activities, commercialization activities, and community activities. Second, a workshop with members of the wider veterinary education community evaluated these lists of activities and discussed how the impact of these could be measured. The lists generated provide a starting point for understanding how educators and undergraduate students can maximize their impact in relation to KE activities. It is expected that over time these will be built upon to represent the breadth of current and future activities undertaken in the clinical sciences. While the focus is on veterinary education, this framework can be applied to reviewing KE in a range of health care and client-facing disciplines
Efficient Current Sensorless Model Predictive Control for Matrix Converter-Fed PMSM Drives
Get PDFThe model predictive control (MPC) for matrix converters (MCs) typically requires multiple sensors and extensive computational resources to measure various quantities and evaluate control objectives. To address this problem, an efficient MPC approach has been developed for MC-fed motor drives, which entails fewer sensors and less calculation than existing MPC techniques. The proposed method uses one lookup table and a new source current reference calculation to significantly reduce the number of switching state candidates, model predictions, and cost function evaluations. Moreover, Luenberger observers are designed to eliminate sensors for all currents and load torque, under the challenge that MCs directly couple currents and voltages at the source and load sides. With the gain selection structurally optimized, their robustness against electrical and mechanical parameter variations has been rigorously analyzed and validated. Finally, the proposed MPC and benchmark methods are executed and compared in simulation and experiments. The results demonstrate that the proposed method reduces almost half the sensor requirements and 12% computational overhead of the existing simplified method without significantly compromising the system performance, leading to a cost-effective design. The proposed method enables the MPC to work at higher switching frequencies than the traditional ones, thereby mitigating the total harmonic distortion (THD) increases
Variability in reported midpoints of (in)activation of cardiac INa
Get PDFElectrically active cells like cardiomyocytes show variability in their size, shape, and electrical activity. But should we expect variability in the properties of their ionic currents? In this meta-analysis, we gather and visualize measurements of two important electrophysiological parameters: the midpoints of activation and inactivation of the cardiac fast sodium current, INa. We find a considerable variation in reported mean values between experiments, with a smaller cell-to-cell variation within experiments. We show how the between-experiment variability can be decomposed into a correlated component, affecting both midpoints almost equally, and an uncorrelated component, affecting the midpoints independently, and we find that the correlated component is much larger than the uncorrelated one. We then review biological and methodological issues that might explain the observed variability and attempt to classify each as a within-experiment or a correlated or uncorrelated between-experiment effect. Although the existence of some variability in measurements of ionic currents is well-known, we believe that this is the first work to systematically review it and that the scale of the observed variability is much larger than commonly appreciated, which has implications for modelling and machine-learning as well as experimental design, interpretation, and reporting
Action research about psychoeducation for self-efficacy in dance students
Get PDFThe aim of this pilot study was to assess how professional dance students in Higher Education can raise their self-efficacy through a programme of psychoeducation and a series of interactive group sessions. This is a convergent mixed-methods design that collects qualitative and quantitative data concurrently. It combines an explanation of Albert Bandura’s self-efficacy with Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) Cycle of Belief and goal setting (Well-Formed Outcomes, WFO), in a series of workshops and interactive group reflective sessions. Thirty-two students over 18 years old participated in this research which was conducted at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance over six months in 2023. Quantitative data were analysed using One-Way MANOVA, which revealed a significant improvement in the General Self-Efficacy Scale, a moderate improvement in the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale, and a small improvement in The Brief Resilience Scale. Qualitative data, analysed using thematic analysis, suggested a wide and decisive change among students. The strong mutual effectiveness of mastery experiences was enhanced by the following three themes: positive/effective self-talk, WFOs, and interactive group sessions
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