A gearing mechanism with 4 degrees of freedom for robotic applications in medicine]

Applications in robot-aided surgery are currently based on modifications of manipulators used in industrial manufacturing processes. In this paper we describe novel rotatory kinematics for a manipulator, specially developed for deployment in robot-aided surgery. The construction of the gearing mechanism used for the positioning and orientation of a linkage point is described. Forward and inverse kinematics were calculated, and a constructive solution proposed. The gearing mechanism is based on two disk systems, each of which consists of two opposing rotatable discs. The construction was designed in such a way that the linkage point can be positioned freely anywhere within the mechanism's range of motion. The kinematics thus permits an x-y-positioning via rotating movements only. The spatial arrangement of two of such disc systems permits movements in four degrees of freedom (DOF). The construction is compact, but can be further miniaturized, is flexible and manufacturing costs are low. On the basis of this mechanical concept a new, small automated manipulator for surgical application will be developed.     

Toxicity, synergism, and neurological effects of novel volatile insecticides in insecticide-susceptible and -resistant Drosophila strains

Naturally derived volatile insecticides from the heterobicyclic and formate ester classes were investigated using a combination of volatility and synergist bioassays. In these studies, Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) was used as a model for other medically important dipterans. In addition to a susceptible strain (Canton-S), three mutant strains were tested that included a strain resistant by P450-based metabolism (Hikone-R) and two resistant neurological mutant strains; one voltage-gated sodium channel mutant (para(ts-1)) and one GABA-gated chloride channel mutant (Rdl). In general, the 11 tested insecticides displayed a diversity of toxicity, metabolism, and resistance characteristics that correlate with their structural diversity. Several important trends were revealed by these studies, including hydrolase- and cytochrome P450 (P450)-based activation, P450-based resistance, distinct patterns of neurological activity, and negative cross-resistance with established insecticides. These findings provide important insight into the metabolism and modes of action for the volatile insecticides. These findings also suggest potential approaches for insecticide deployment in integrated vector management and resistance management programs.     

Eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection equally improves chronic urticaria with positive and negative autologous serum skin test

BACKGROUND: The aim of the study was to examine effects of Helicobacter pylori eradication on chronic idiopathic urticaria (CU) with and without positive aulogous serum skin test (ASST). METHODS: Seventy-eight patients with CU were checked for the positivity ASST and H. pylori urea (13)C-urea breath test ((13)C-UBT). Twenty-one patients were with both positive ASST and positive (13)C-UBT (group A), and 24 patients were with negative ASST and positive (13)C-UBT (group B). All patients with positive (13)C-UBT received a 14-day, open treatment with amoxicillin 1 g b.i.d., clarithromycin 500 mg b.i.d., and omeprazole 20 mg b.i.d. H. pylori eradication was assessed by a second (13)C-UBT after 8 weeks. In control group, 33 patients with CU were included. The effect of H. pylori eradication on CU was evaluated by urticaria activity score (UAS), measured at study entry and at 8 and 16 weeks. RESULTS: At week 8, baseline UAS reduced from 4.7 +/- 1.1 to 2.4 +/- 1.4 (p = .027) in group A and from 4.3 +/- 1.5 to 2.3 +/- 1.2 (p = .008) in group B, without statistically significant difference between the two groups. In control group and in six patients with H. pylori eradication failure, no changes of UAS were noted. CONCLUSION: Eradication of H. pylori infection by triple therapy significantly and equally reduces UAS in CU patients with positive and negative ASST.     

Running on empty: recharge dynamics from animal movement data

Vital rates such as survival and recruitment have always been important in the study of population and community ecology. At the individual level, physiological processes such as energetics are critical in understanding biomechanics and movement ecology and also scale up to influence food webs and trophic cascades. Although vital rates and population‐level characteristics are tied with individual‐level animal movement, most statistical models for telemetry data are not equipped to provide inference about these relationships because they lack the explicit, mechanistic connection to physiological dynamics. We present a framework for modelling telemetry data that explicitly includes an aggregated physiological process associated with decision making and movement in heterogeneous environments. Our framework accommodates a wide range of movement and physiological process specifications. We illustrate a specific model formulation in continuous‐time to provide direct inference about gains and losses associated with physiological processes based on movement. Our approach can also be extended to accommodate auxiliary data when available. We demonstrate our model to infer mountain lion (Puma concolor; in Colorado, USA) and African buffalo (Syncerus caffer; in Kruger National Park, South Africa) recharge dynamics.     

Success and failure assessing gonad maturity in sequentially hermaphroditic fishes: comparisons between macroscopic and microscopic methods

For two protogynous hermaphrodite fish species, the performance of visual gonad analysis techniques was evaluated to determine when the use of macroscopic methods was sufficient and when microscopic techniques were necessary. Simple macroscopic gonad analysis was found to be a powerful tool for distinguishing sex and whether or not females were spawning capable or ripe for black sea bass Centropristis striata (n = 1443) and red porgy Pagrus pagrus (n = 980), often producing results that were in close agreement with more complex and expensive microscopic techniques. Estimates of key reproductive variables, such as size‐dependent sex‐change ogives, spawning season duration, spawning fraction and batch number, were also very similar or equal between methods. Apparent seasonal spawning activity was also predicted similarly by each method and the patterns were highly correlated with seasonal patterns in gonado‐somatic indices. In contrast, distinguishing between immature females and those that were mature, but inactive, proved difficult when using macroscopic methods and, in these cases, predictions often differed from those produced microscopically. In turn, maturity ogives differed significantly between methods for C. striata (maturity ogives could not be generated for P. pagrus as nearly all fish encountered were mature). Agreement rates among male phases were also very low. Macroscopic methods were able to identify signs of sex transition in very advanced specimens, but early signs were only evident microscopically. While much more detail is visible microscopically, here several population‐scale parameters important for fisheries management were estimated equally well with the unaided eye for C. striata and P. pagrus. For comprehensive, fishery‐independent surveys and long‐term research programmes in particular, determining when microscopic techniques are and are not necessary can greatly improve efficiency and reduce costs without compromising data quality.     

The Complexity of Vesicle Transport Factors in Plants Examined by Orthology Search

Vesicle transport is a central process to ensure protein and lipid distribution in eukaryotic cells. The current knowledge on the molecular components and mechanisms of this process is majorly based on studies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Arabidopsis thaliana, which revealed 240 different proteinaceous factors either experimentally proven or predicted to be involved in vesicle transport. In here, we performed an orthologue search using two different algorithms to identify the components of the secretory pathway in yeast and 14 plant genomes by using the ‘core-set’ of 240 factors as bait. We identified 4021 orthologues and (co-)orthologues in the discussed plant species accounting for components of COP-II, COP-I, Clathrin Coated Vesicles, Retromers and ESCRTs, Rab GTPases, Tethering factors and SNAREs. In plants, we observed a significantly higher number of (co-)orthologues than yeast, while only 8 tethering factors from yeast seem to be absent in the analyzed plant genomes. To link the identified (co-)orthologues to vesicle transport, the domain architecture of the proteins from yeast, genetic model plant A. thaliana and agriculturally relevant crop Solanum lycopersicum has been inspected. For the orthologous groups containing (co-)orthologues from yeast, A. thaliana and S. lycopersicum, we observed the same domain architecture for 79% (416/527) of the (co-)orthologues, which documents a very high conservation of this process. Further, publically available tissue-specific expression profiles for a subset of (co-)orthologues found in A. thaliana and S. lycopersicum suggest that some (co-)orthologues are involved in tissue-specific functions. Inspection of localization of the (co-)orthologues based on available proteome data or localization predictions lead to the assignment of plastid- as well as mitochondrial localized (co-)orthologues of vesicle transport factors and the relevance of this is discussed.     

Immunity and protection against Brucella abortus

Brucella abortus is an intracellular pathogen that causes disease in cattle and in humans. The response against B. abortus involves the whole gamut of the immune system, from innate to adaptive immunity resulting from stimulation of antigen-presenting cells, NK cells, CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells, and B cells.     

The Movement Ecology of the Straw-Colored Fruit Bat,Eidolon helvum,in Sub-Saharan Africa Assessed by Stable Isotope Ratios

Flying foxes (Pteropodidae) are key seed dispersers on the African continent, yet their migratory behavior is largely unknown. Here, we studied the movement ecology of the straw-colored fruit bat, Eidolon helvum, and other fruit bats by analyzing stable isotope ratios in fur collected from museum specimens. In a triple-isotope approach based on samples of two ecologically similar non-migratory pteropodids, we first confirmed that a stable isotope approach is capable of delineating between geographically distinct locations in Sub-Saharan Africa. A discriminant function analysis assigned 84% of individuals correctly to their capture site. Further, we assessed how well hydrogen stable isotope ratios (δ²H) of fur keratin collected from non-migratory species (n = 191 individuals) records variation in δ²H of precipitation water in sub-Saharan Africa. Overall, we found positive, negative and no correlations within the six studied species. We then developed a reduced major axis regression equation based on individual data of non-migratory species to predict where potentially migratory E. helvum (n = 88) would come from based on their keratin δ²H. Across non-migratory species, δ²H of keratin and local water correlated positively. Based on the isoscape origin model, 22% of E. helvum were migratory, i.e. individuals had migrated over at least 250 km prior to their capture. Migratory individuals came from locations at a median distance of about 860 km from the collection site, four even from distances of at least 2,000 km. Ground-truthing of our isoscape origin model based on keratin δ²H of extant E. helvum (n = 76) supported a high predictive power of assigning the provenance of African flying foxes. Our study highlights that stable isotope ratios can be used to explain the migratory behavior of flying foxes, even on the isotopically relatively homogenous African continent, and with material collected by museums many decades or more than a century ago.     

The advantage of alternative tactics of prey and predators depends on the spatial pattern of prey and social interactions among predators

Individual variation in behavioral strategies is ubiquitous in nature. Yet, explaining how this variation is being maintained remains a challenging task. We use a spatially-explicit individual-based simulation model to evaluate the extent to which the efficiency of an alternative spacing tactic of prey and an alternative search tactic of predators are influenced by the spatial pattern of prey, social interactions among predators (i.e., interference and information sharing) and predator density. In response to predation risk, prey individuals can either spread out or aggregate. We demonstrate that if prey is extremely clumped, spreading out may help when predators share information regarding prey locations and when predators shift to area-restricted search following an encounter with prey. However, dispersion is counter-selected when predators interact by interference, especially under high predator density. When predators search for more randomly distributed prey, interference and information sharing similarly affect the relative advantage of spreading out. Under a clumped prey spatial pattern, predators benefit from shifting their search tactic to an area-restricted search following an encounter with prey. This advantage is moderated as predator density increases and when predators interact either by interference or information sharing. Under a more random prey pattern, information sharing may deteriorate the inferior search tactic even more, compared to interference or no interaction among predators. Our simulation clarifies how interactions among searching predators may affect aggregation behavior of prey, the relative success of alternative search tactics and their potential to invade established populations using some other search or spacing tactics.