A Data-informed Public Health Policy-Makers Platform

Hearing loss is a disease exhibiting a growing trend due to the number of factors, including but not limited to the mundane exposure to the noise and ever-increasing amount of older population. In the framework of a public health policymaking process, modeling of the hearing loss disease based on data is a key factor in alleviating the issues related to the disease issuing effective public health policies. First, the paper describes the steps of the data-driven policymaking process. Afterward, a scenario along with the part of the proposed platform, responsible for supporting policymaking are presented. With the aim of demonstrating the capabilities and usability of the platform for the policy-makers, some initial results of preliminary analytics are presented in a framework of a policy-making process. Ultimately, the utility of the approach is validated throughout the results of the survey which was presented to the health system policy-makers professionals involved in the policy development process in Croatia

e-Krasiński. Publikacje Zygmunta Krasińskiego w bibliotekach cyfrowych

The article attempts to present Zygmunt Krasiński’s works located in digital libraries. The authoress discusses some problems concerning digitalization, digital libraries, free licenses, Creative Commons licenses and their influence on the working of humanities in scientific sphere. The emphasis is put also on the quality of electronic publications and scientific opportunities created owing to the resources of open culture.Artykuł jest próbą zaprezentowania dzieł Zygmunta Krasińskiego, które znajdują się bibliotekach cyfrowych. Autorka omawia problemy digitalizacji, bibliotek cyfrowych, wolnych licencji, licencji Creative Commons oraz ich wpływ na funkcjonowanie humanistyki w sferze naukowej. Uwaga czytelnika zostaje także zwrócona na jakość prezentowanych publikacji elektronicznych oraz możliwości naukowych, stworzonych dzięki zasobom otwartej kultury

Witkacy i inni

Witkacy i inni. Z kolekcji Stefana Okołowicza i Ewy Franczak, red. B. Czubak i S. Okołowicz, Fundacja Profile, Warszawa 2011

Bifunctional TaqII restriction endonuclease: redefining the prototype DNA recognition site and establishing the Fidelity Index for partial cleaving

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The TaqII enzyme is a member of the <it>Thermus </it>sp. enzyme family that we propounded previously within Type IIS restriction endonucleases, containing related thermophilic bifunctional endonucleases-methyltransferases from various <it>Thermus </it>sp.: TaqII, Tth111II, TthHB27I, TspGWI, TspDTI and TsoI. These enzymes show significant nucleotide and amino acid sequence similarities, a rare phenomenon among restriction endonucleases, along with similarities in biochemical properties, molecular size, DNA recognition sequences and cleavage sites. They also feature some characteristics of Types I and III.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Barker et al. reported the Type IIS/IIC restriction endonuclease TaqII as recognizing two distinct cognate site variants (5'-GACCGA-3' and 5'-CACCCA-3') while cleaving 11/9 nucleotides downstream. We used four independent methods, namely, shotgun cloning and sequencing, restriction pattern analysis, digestion of particular custom substrates and GeneScan analysis, to demonstrate that the recombinant enzyme recognizes only 5'-GACCGA-3' sites and cleaves 11/9 nucleotides downstream. We did not observe any 5'-CACCCA-3' cleavage under a variety of conditions and site arrangements tested. We also characterized the enzyme biochemically and established new digestion conditions optimal for practical enzyme applications. Finally, we developed and propose a new version of the Fidelity Index - the Fidelity Index for Partial Cleavage (FI-PC).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The DNA recognition sequence of the bifunctional prototype TaqII endonuclease-methyltransferase from <it>Thermus aquaticus </it>has been redefined as recognizing only 5'-GACCGA-3' cognate sites. The reaction conditions (pH and salt concentrations) were designed either to minimize (pH = 8.0 and 10 mM ammonium sulphate) or to enhance star activity (pH = 6.0 and no salt). Redefinition of the recognition site and reaction conditions makes this prototype endonuclease a useful tool for DNA manipulation; as yet, this enzyme has no practical applications. The extension of the Fidelity Index will be helpful for DNA manipulation with enzymes only partially cleaving DNA.</p

Development of parasitic Maculinea teleius (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae) larvae in laboratory nests of four Myrmica ant host species

Maculinea butterflies are social parasites of Myrmica ants. Methods to study the strength of host ant specificity in the Maculinea–Myrmica association include research on chemical and acoustic mimicry as well as experiments on ant adoption and rearing behaviour of Maculinea larvae. Here we present results of laboratory experiments on adoption, survival, development and integration of M. teleius larvae within the nests of different Myrmica host species, with the objective of quantifying the degree of specialization of this Maculinea species. In the laboratory, a total of 94 nests of four Myrmica species: M. scabrinodis, M. rubra, M.ruginodis and M. rugulosa were used. Nests of M. rubra and M. rugulosa adopted M. teleius larvae more readily and quickly than M. ruginodis colonies. No significant differences were found in the survival rates of M. teleius larvae reared by different ant species. Early larval growth of M. teleius larvae differed slightly among nests of four Myrmica host species. Larvae reared by colonies of M. rugulosa which were the heaviest at the beginning of larval development had the lowest mean larval body mass after 18 weeks compared to those reared by other Myrmica species. None of the M.teleius larvae was carried by M. scabrinodis or M. rubra workers after ant nests were destroyed, which suggests a lack of integration with host colonies. Results indicate that Myrmica species coming from the same site differ in their ability to adopt and rear M. teleius larvae but there was no obvious adaptation of this butterfly species to one of the host ant species. This may explain why, under natural conditions, all four ants can be used as hosts of this butterfly species. Slight advantages of particular Myrmica species as hosts at certain points in butterfly larval development can be explained by the ant species biology and colony structure rather than by specialization of M. teleius

Public health policy-making for hearing loss: stakeholders' evaluation of a novel eHealth tool

Background: Hearing loss (HL) affects 466 million people of all ages worldwide, with a rapidly increasing prevalence, and therefore requires appropriate public health policies. Multi-disciplinary approaches that make use of eHealth services can build the evidence to influence public policy. The European Union-funded project EVOTION developed a platform that is fed with real-time data from hearing aids, a smartphone, and additional clinical data and makes public health policy recommendations based on hypothetical public health policy-making models, a big data engine and decision support system. The present study aimed to evaluate this platform as a new tool to support policy-making for HL. / Methods: A total of 23 key stakeholders in the United Kingdom, Croatia, Bulgaria and Poland evaluated the platform according to the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats methodology. / Results: There was consensus that the platform, with its advanced technology as well as the amount and variety of data that it can collect, has huge potential to inform commissioning decisions, public health regulations and affect healthcare as a whole. To achieve this, several limitations and external risks need to be addressed and mitigated. Differences between countries highlighted that the EVOTION tool should be used and managed according to local constraints to maximise success. / Conclusion: Overall, the EVOTION platform can equip HL policy-makers with a novel data-driven tool that can support public health policy-making for HL in the future

Sex determination based on the analysis of a contemporary Polish population’s palatine bones: a computed tomography study of 1,200 patients

Background: The aims of the present study were to assess whether the hard palate reveals any measurable sex-related differences, and to create a mathematical model which would differentiate between males and females using hard palate measurements alone. Materials and methods: The present study was conducted on 1,200 archived sinus computed tomography (CT) scans. Each cranial measurement was taken twice by the same observer, and in cases of any discrepancies, the mean of the two values was recorded. Twenty per cent of randomly chosen samples were re-measured by an observer who did not partake in assessing the samples the first time. Logistic regression was used to derivate two mathematical formulas which would calculate the probability of a skull being male. Results: The studied group comprised 1,200 head CT’s (627 female; 52.3%). The mean age of the group was 43.5 ± 17.4 years — no age difference between sexes was noted (p = 0.37). All of the performed measurements were significantly (p &lt; 0.0001) larger in males than in females. The mathematical formula based on the “orale-spina nasalis posterior” (O-SNP) distance alone had a reliability rate of 68.35%. The equation based on the depth of the right greater palatine canal (GPC), the O-SNP distance and the anterior width of the palatal arch (AWPA) had a reliability rate of 78.37%. Conclusions: The most prominent sexually dimorphic parameters were the O-SNP, the GPC depth and the AWPA. The mathematical models presented in the current study can be used to successfully distinguish between sexes during forensic examination.

Sea surface temperature evolution of the North Atlantic Ocean across the Eocene–Oligocene transition

A major step in the long-term Cenozoic evolution toward a glacially driven climate occurred at the Eocene–Oligocene transition (EOT), ∼34.44 to 33.65 million years ago (Ma). Evidence for high-latitude cooling and increased latitudinal temperature gradients across the EOT has been found in a range of marine and terrestrial environments. However, the timing and magnitude of temperature change in the North Atlantic remains highly unconstrained. Here, we use two independent organic geochemical palaeothermometers to reconstruct sea surface temperatures (SSTs) from the southern Labrador Sea (Ocean Drilling Program – ODP Site 647) across the EOT. The new SST records, now the most detailed for the North Atlantic through the 1 Myr leading up to the EOT onset, reveal a distinctive cooling step of ∼3 ∘C (from 27 to 24 ∘C), between 34.9 and 34.3 Ma, which is ∼500 kyr prior to Antarctic glaciation. This cooling step, when compared visually to other SST records, is asynchronous across Atlantic sites, signifying considerable spatiotemporal variability in regional SST evolution. However, overall, it fits within a phase of general SST cooling recorded across sites in the North Atlantic in the 5 Myr bracketing the EOT. \ud Such cooling might be unexpected in light of proxy and modelling studies suggesting the start-up of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) before the EOT, which should warm the North Atlantic. Results of an EOT modelling study (GFDL CM2.1) help reconcile this, finding that a reduction in atmospheric CO2 from 800 to 400 ppm may be enough to counter the warming from an AMOC start-up, here simulated through Arctic–Atlantic gateway closure. While the model simulations applied here are not yet in full equilibrium, and the experiments are idealised, the results, together with the proxy data, highlight the heterogeneity of basin-scale surface ocean responses to the EOT thermohaline changes, with sharp temperature contrasts expected across the northern North Atlantic as positions of the subtropical and subpolar gyre systems shift. Suggested future work includes increasing spatial coverage and resolution of regional SST proxy records across the North Atlantic to identify likely thermohaline fingerprints of the EOT AMOC start-up, as well as critical analysis of the causes of inter-model responses to help better understand the driving mechanisms