Publications by authors named "James Lester"

Article Synopsis
  • Large household water storage containers are key breeding sites for Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which spread diseases like dengue.
  • Concerns over insecticide resistance and safety are challenging effective mosquito control, leading researchers to explore RNAi-based yeast larvicides as a solution.
  • A study developed a shelf-stable, controlled-release yeast formulation that shows promise for lasting mosquito control, demonstrating effectiveness in various container sizes and remaining active for up to six months.
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Dengue and other arboviruses remain a global threat, and enhanced efforts to control the mosquitoes that transmit them are urgently needed. A survey of potential manmade (L.) and (Skuse) oviposition containers was performed in four communities near the end of the typical dry season in 2018 in Trinidad, West Indies.

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Article Synopsis
  • G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are promising targets for insecticides, and RNA interference (RNAi) technology could allow the creation of safe pesticides that only affect specific pests like mosquitoes.
  • The study focused on developing a yeast strain, 5-HTR.426, that uses RNAi to silence a specific serotonin receptor gene in mosquitoes, which could kill them without harming beneficial non-target species.
  • Experimental results showed that consuming this yeast led to significant mortality in various mosquito species while causing neural defects, but it remained safe for other insects, indicating the potential for RNAi-based mosquito control in future applications.
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Introduction: Self-regulated learning (SRL), or learners' ability to monitor and change their own cognitive, affective, metacognitive, and motivational processes, encompasses several operations that should be deployed during learning including Searching, Monitoring, Assembling, Rehearsing, and Translating (SMART). Scaffolds are needed within GBLEs to both increase learning outcomes and promote the accurate and efficient use of SRL SMART operations. This study aims to examine how restricted agency (i.

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Understanding and optimizing adolescent-specific engagement with behavior change interventions will open doors for providers to promote healthy changes in an age group that is simultaneously difficult to engage and especially important to affect. For digital interventions, there is untapped potential in combining the vastness of process-level data with the analytical power of artificial intelligence (AI) to understand not only how adolescents engage but also how to improve upon interventions with the goal of increasing engagement and, ultimately, efficacy. Rooted in the example of the INSPIRE narrative-centered digital health behavior change intervention (DHBCI) for adolescent risky behaviors around alcohol use, we propose a framework for harnessing AI to accomplish 4 goals that are pertinent to health care providers and software developers alike: measurement of adolescent engagement, modeling of adolescent engagement, optimization of current interventions, and generation of novel interventions.

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•There is a lack of prospective level I evidence for the use of PBT for most adult cancers including oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC).•TORPEdO is the UK's first PBT clinical trial and aims to determine the benefits of PBT for OPSCC.•Training and support has been provided before and during the trial to reduce variations of contouring and radiotherapy planning.

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Interactive narrative technologies for preventive health care offer significant potential for promoting health behavior change in adolescents. By improving adolescents' knowledge, personal efficacy, and self-regulatory skills these technologies hold great promise for realizing positive impacts on adolescent health. These potential benefits are enabled through story-centric learning experiences that provide opportunities for adolescents to practice strategies to reduce risky health behaviors in engaging game-based environments.

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The use of lure-and-kill, large-volume ovitraps to control Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus populations has shown promise across multiple designs that target gravid females (adulticidal) or larvae post-oviposition (larvicidal). Here we report on a pilot trial to deploy 10 L yeast-baited ovitraps at select sites in Curepe, Trinidad, West Indies during July to December, 2019. Oviposition rates among ovitraps placed in three Treatment sites were compared to a limited number of traps placed in three Control areas (no Aedes management performed), and three Vector areas (subjected to standard Ministry of Health, Insect Vector Control efforts).

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Dengue, Zika, chikungunya and yellow fever viruses continue to be a major public health burden. Aedes mosquitoes, the primary vectors responsible for transmitting these viral pathogens, continue to flourish due to local challenges in vector control management. Yeast interfering RNA-baited larval lethal ovitraps are being developed as a novel biorational control tool for Aedes mosquitoes.

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The COVID-19 pandemic produced a dramatic nationwide shift in K-12 education from in-person classroom learning to remote online learning. This shift left teachers and parents facing the challenge of finding engaging online resources to motivate students to become deeply involved in science learning. The pandemic also left educators and researchers, whose work focuses on providing students with experiential learning opportunities in the sciences, with the challenge of adapting to virtual and remote models to continue engaging students in STEM learning activities.

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RNA interference (RNAi), a technique used to investigate gene function in insects and other organisms, is attracting attention as a potential new technology for mosquito control. Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast) was recently engineered to produce interfering RNA molecules that silence genes required for mosquito survival, but which do not correspond to genes in humans or other non-target organisms. The resulting yeast pesticides, which facilitate cost-effective production and delivery of interfering RNA to mosquito larvae that eat the yeast, effectively kill mosquitoes in laboratory and semi-field trials.

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Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are creating new opportunities for personalizing technology-based health interventions to adolescents. This article provides a computer science perspective on how emerging AI technologies-intelligent learning environments, interactive narrative generation, user modeling, and adaptive coaching-can be utilized to model adolescent learning and engagement and deliver personalized support in adaptive health technologies. Many of these technologies have emerged from human-centered applications of AI in education, training, and entertainment.

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Purpose: Accidents and unintentional injuries account for the greatest number of adolescent deaths, often involving use of alcohol and other substances. This article describes the iterative design and development of Interactive Narrative System for Patient-Individualized Reflective Exploration (INSPIRE), a narrative-centered behavior change environment for adolescents focused on reducing alcohol use. INSPIRE is designed to serve as an extension to clinical preventive care, engaging adolescents in a theoretically grounded intervention for health behavior change by leveraging 3D game engine and interactive narrative technologies.

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Background: Dengue virus (DENV) infects hundreds of thousands of people annually in Indonesia. However, DENV sequence data from the country are limited, as samples from outbreaks must be shipped across long-distances to suitably equipped laboratories to be sequenced. This approach is time-consuming, expensive, and frequently results in failure due to low viral load or degradation of the RNA genome.

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Anticipatory thinking is a critical cognitive skill for successfully navigating complex, ambiguous systems in which individuals must analyze system states, anticipate outcomes, and forecast future events. For example, in military planning, intelligence analysis, business, medicine, and social services, individuals must use information to identify warnings, anticipate a spectrum of possible outcomes, and forecast likely futures in order to avoid tactical and strategic surprise. Existing methods for examining anticipatory thinking skill have relied upon task-specific behavioral measures or are resource-intensive, both of which are challenging to scale.

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Surveillance for blood-fed female mosquitoes was performed between August 2015 and February 2016 at sites along the periphery of the Aripo Savannas Environmentally Reserve (ASSR) located in northeastern Trinidad, West Indies. We collected engorged female mosquitoes representing 13 species. DNA extractions from dissected abdomens were subjected to PCR amplification with three primer pairs targeting the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and cytochrome b gene sequences.

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Background: Bevacizumab is a recombinant humanised monoclonal antibody to vascular endothelial growth factor shown to improve survival in advanced solid cancers. We evaluated the role of adjuvant bevacizumab in melanoma patients at high risk of recurrence.

Patients And Methods: Patients with resected AJCC stage IIB, IIC and III cutaneous melanoma were randomised to receive either adjuvant bevacizumab (7.

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Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis globally. HEV comprises four genotypes with different geographic distributions and host ranges. We utilize this natural case-control study for investigating the evolution of zoonotic viruses compared to single-host viruses, using 244 near-full-length HEV genomes.

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Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is the result of cross-species transmission of simian immunodeficiency virus from chimpanzees (SIVcpz). SIVcpz is a chimeric virus which shares common ancestors with viruses infecting red-capped mangabeys and a subset of guenon species. The epidemiology of SIV infection in hominoids is characterized by low prevalences and an uneven geographic distribution.

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Background: Brain metastases occur in up to 75% of patients with advanced melanoma. Most are treated with whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT), with limited effectiveness. Vandetanib, an inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor, epidermal growth factor receptor and rearranged during transfection tyrosine kinases, is a potent radiosensitiser in xenograft models.

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Background: Alcohol use and binge drinking among adolescents and young adults remain frequent causes of preventable injuries, disease, and death, and there has been growing attention to computer-based modes of intervention delivery to prevent/reduce alcohol use. Research suggests that health interventions grounded in established theory are more effective than those with no theoretical basis. The goal of this study was to conduct a literature review of computer-based interventions (CBIs) designed to address alcohol use among adolescents and young adults (aged 12-21 years) and examine the extent to which CBIs use theories of behavior change in their development and evaluations.

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Syndromic surveillance, the collection of symptom data from individuals prior to or in the absence of diagnosis, is used throughout the developed world to provide rapid indications of outbreaks and unusual patterns of disease. However, the low cost of syndromic surveillance also makes it highly attractive for the developing world. We present a case study of electronic participatory syndromic surveillance, using participant-mobile phones in a rural region of Western Uganda, which has a high infectious disease burden, and frequent local and regional outbreaks.

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Considerable confusion exists among the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging user community as to how to determine whether a patient with a metal implanted device can be safely imaged in an MR imaging unit. Although there has been progress by the device manufacturers in specifying device behavior in a magnetic field, and some MR imaging manufacturers provide maps of the "spatial gradients," there remains significant confusion because of the lack of standardized terminology and reporting guidelines. The American College of Radiology, through its Subcommittee on MR Safety, has proposed standardized terminology that will contribute to greater safety and understanding for screening metal implants and/or devices prior to MR imaging.

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