The effects of spacecraft environments on some hydrolytic enzyme patterns in bacteria

The effects of space flight on the production and characteristics of proteolytic enzymes are studied for a number of bacterial species isolated from crew members and spacecraft. Enzymatic make-up and cultural characteristics of bacteria isolated from spacecraft crew members are determined. The organism Aeromonas proteolytica and the proteolytic enzymes which it produces are used as models for future spacecraft experiments

Depression and anxiety in prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence rates

ObjectivesTo systematically review the literature pertaining to the prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients with prostate cancer as a function of treatment stage.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.Participants4494 patients with prostate cancer from primary research investigations.Primary outcome measureThe prevalence of clinical depression and anxiety in patients with prostate cancer as a function of treatment stage.ResultsWe identified 27 full journal articles that met the inclusion criteria for entry into the meta-analysis resulting in a pooled sample size of 4494 patients. The meta-analysis of prevalence rates identified pretreatment, on-treatment and post-treatment depression prevalences of 17.27% (95% CI 15.06% to 19.72%), 14.70% (95% CI 11.92% to 17.99%) and 18.44% (95% CI 15.18% to 22.22%), respectively. Pretreatment, on-treatment and post-treatment anxiety prevalences were 27.04% (95% CI 24.26% to 30.01%), 15.09% (95% CI 12.15% to 18.60%) and 18.49% (95% CI 13.81% to 24.31%), respectively.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the prevalence of depression and anxiety in men with prostate cancer, across the treatment spectrum, is relatively high. In light of the growing emphasis placed on cancer survivorship, we consider that further research within this area is warranted to ensure that psychological distress in patients with prostate cancer is not underdiagnosed and undertreated

MiRo: An animal-like companion robot with a biomimetic brain-based control system

© 2017 Authors.The MiRo robot is a new pet-sized mobile platform with an emotionally-engaging personality and appearance that has been developed for research on companion robotics and robot-assisted therapy. MiRo has six senses and eight degrees of freedom that are designed to promote human-robot interaction. A distinctive feature is the use of a biomimetic brain-based control system consisting of a layered control architecture alongside centralized mechanisms for integration and action selection. MiRo has been developed by Consequential Robotics, a spin-out of the University of Sheffield, and aims to provide the HRI community with a flexible platform for research and education

The adenomatous polyposis coli protein unambiguously localizes to microtubule plus ends and is involved in establishing parallel arrays of microtubule bundles in highly polarized epithelial cells

Loss of full-length adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) protein correlates with the development of colon cancers in familial and sporadic cases. In addition to its role in regulating β-catenin levels in the Wnt signaling pathway, the APC protein is implicated in regulating cytoskeletal organization. APC stabilizes microtubules in vivo and in vitro, and this may play a role in cell migration (Näthke, I.S., C.L. Adams, P. Polakis, J.H. Sellin, and W.J. Nelson. 1996. J. Cell Biol. 134:165–179; Mimori-Kiyosue, Y., N. Shiina, and S. Tsukita. 2000. J. Cell Biol. 148:505–517; Zumbrunn, J., K. Inoshita, A.A. Hyman, and I.S. Näthke. 2001. Curr. Biol. 11:44–49) and in the attachment of microtubules to kinetochores during mitosis (Fodde, R., J. Kuipers, C. Rosenberg, R. Smits, M. Kielman, C. Gaspar, J.H. van Es, C. Breukel, J. Wiegant, R.H. Giles, and H. Clevers. 2001. Nat. Cell Biol. 3:433–438; Kaplan, K.B., A. Burds, J.R. Swedlow, S.S. Bekir, P.K. Sorger, and I.S. Näthke. 2001. Nat. Cell Biol. 3:429–432). The localization of endogenous APC protein is complex: actin- and microtubule-dependent pools of APC have been identified in cultured cells (Näthke et al., 1996; Mimori-Kiyosue et al., 2000; Reinacher-Schick, A., and B.M. Gumbiner. 2001. J. Cell Biol. 152:491–502; Rosin-Arbesfeld, R., G. Ihrke, and M. Bienz. 2001. EMBO J. 20:5929–5939). However, the localization of APC in tissues has not been identified at high resolution. Here, we show that in fully polarized epithelial cells from the inner ear, endogenous APC protein associates with the plus ends of microtubules located at the basal plasma membrane. Consistent with a role for APC in supporting the cytoskeletal organization of epithelial cells in vivo, the number of microtubules is significantly reduced in apico-basal arrays of microtubule bundles isolated from mice heterozygous for APC

MIRO: A Versatile Biomimetic Edutainment Robot

Here we present MIRO, a companion robot designed to engage users in science and robotics via edutainment. MIRO is a robot that is biomimetic in aesthetics, morphology, behaviour, and control architecture. In this paper, we review how these design choices affect its suitability for a companionship role. In particular, we consider how MIRO's emulation of familiar mammalian body language as one component of a broader biomimetic expressive system provides effective communication of emotional state and intent. We go on to discuss how these features contribute to MIRO's potential in other domains such as healthcare, education, and research

Longitudinal Polarization at future e+e−e^+e^- Colliders and Virtual New Physics Effects

The theoretical merits of longitudinal polarization asymmetries of electron-positron annihilation into two final fermions at future colliders are examined, using a recently proposed theoretical description. A number of interesting features, valid for searches of virtual effects of new physics, is underlined, that is reminiscent of analogous properties valid on top of $Z$ resonance. As an application to a concrete example, we consider the case of a model with triple anomalous gauge couplings and show that the additional information provided by these asymmetries would lead to a drastic reduction of the allowed domain of the relevant parameters.Comment: 18 pages and 1 figure. e-mail: [email protected]

MIRO: A robot “Mammal” with a biomimetic brain-based control system

We describe the design of a novel commercial biomimetic brain-based robot, MIRO, developed as a prototype robot companion. The MIRO robot is animal-like in several aspects of its appearance, however, it is also biomimetic in a more significant way, in that its control architecture mimics some of the key principles underlying the design of the mammalian brain as revealed by neuroscience. Specifically, MIRO builds on decades of previous work in developing robots with brain-based control systems using a layered control architecture alongside centralized mechanisms for integration and action selection. MIRO’s control system operates across three core processors, P1-P3, that mimic aspects of spinal cord, brainstem, and forebrain functionality respectively. Whilst designed as a versatile prototype for next generation companion robots, MIRO also provides developers and researchers with a new platform for investigating the potential advantages of brain-based control