Novel H1N1 influenza in neonates: from mild to fatal disease

Analysis of pediatric deaths associated with pandemic A H1N1 influenza shows that fatal outcome is more likely in young children, under the age of 5. Neonates, because of the immaturity of their immune system, could represent a high-risk group for severe disease and fatal outcome. We present a group of five neonates with confirmed novel influenza A H1N1 infection. This report indicates that the full spectrum of influenza A H1N1 infection ranging from mild febrile illness with spontaneous recovery to severe disease with fatal outcome may be expected even in neonates. Journal of Perinatology (2011) 31, 446-448; doi:10.1038/jp.2010.19

Acute hydrocarbon poisoning in childhood

U proteklom petogodišnjem periodu analizirani su slučajevi akutnog zadesnog trovanja ugljikovodonicima u dječijem dobu sa ciljem da se ustanovi stepen toksičnog oštećenja respiratornog sistema i depresije CNS u zavisnosti od količine unijetog otrova. Razmatrajući klinički nalaz 20 pacijenata otrovanih ugljikovodonicima, zaključili smo da i pri ingestiji manje količine otrova može doći do oštećenja respiratornog sistema i/ili depresije CNS kao i pri unošenju veće količine ovog otrova. Zato smatramo da svu djecu otrovanu ovim sredstvima treba hospitalizirati i opservirati.Twenty patients, one to nine years of age, were treated for acute hydrocarbon poisoning in the Pediatric Clinical Hospital, in the period from 1980 to 1984. The clinical course of intoxication, as well as X-ray and laboratory findings showed that even the ingestion of small quantities of the liquid (one or two sips), similarly to poisoning with large amounts, led to respiratory disturbances and CNS depression. The treatment was symptomatic, and all the patients survived, It is suggested that regardless of the amount of hydrocarbon ingested, all patients be hospitalized for observation, and if necessary for treatment

Diversity of Haloquadratum and other haloarchaea in three, geographically distant, Australian saltern crystallizer ponds

Haloquadratum walsbyi is frequently a dominant member of the microbial communities in hypersaline waters. 16S rRNA gene sequences indicate that divergence within this species is very low but relatively few sites have been examined, particularly in the southern hemisphere. The diversity of Haloquadratum was examined in three coastal, but geographically distant saltern crystallizer ponds in Australia, using both culture-independent and culture-dependent methods. Two 97%-OTU, comprising Haloquadratum- and Halorubrum-related sequences, were shared by all three sites, with the former OTU representing about 40% of the sequences recovered at each site. Sequences 99.5% identical to that of Hqr. walsbyi C23T were present at all three sites and, overall, 98% of the Haloquadratum-related sequences displayed ≤2% divergence from that of the type strain. While haloarchaeal diversity at each site was relatively low (9–16 OTUs), seven phylogroups (clones and/or isolates) and 4 different clones showed ≤90% sequence identity to classified taxa, and appear to represent novel genera. Six of these branched together in phylogenetic tree reconstructions, forming a clade (MSP8-clade) whose members were only distantly related to classified taxa. Such sequences have only rarely been previously detected but were found at all three Australian crystallizers

The performance of stochastic designs in wellbore drilling operations

© 2018, The Author(s). Wellbore drilling operations frequently entail the combination of a wide range of variables. This is underpinned by the numerous factors that must be considered in order to ensure safety and productivity. The heterogeneity and sometimes unpredictable behaviour of underground systems increases the sensitivity of drilling activities. Quite often the operating parameters are set to certify effective and efficient working processes. However, failings in the management of drilling and operating conditions sometimes result in catastrophes such as well collapse or fluid loss. This study investigates the hypothesis that optimising drilling parameters, for instance mud pressure, is crucial if the margin of safe operating conditions is to be properly defined. This was conducted via two main stages: first a deterministic analysis—where the operating conditions are predicted by conventional modelling procedures—and then a probabilistic analysis via stochastic simulations—where a window of optimised operation conditions can be obtained. The outcome of additional stochastic analyses can be used to improve results derived from deterministic models. The incorporation of stochastic techniques in the evaluation of wellbore instability indicates that margins of the safe mud weight window are adjustable and can be extended considerably beyond the limits of deterministic predictions. The safe mud window is influenced and hence can also be amended based on the degree of uncertainty and the permissible level of confidence. The refinement of results from deterministic analyses by additional stochastic simulations is vital if a more accurate and reliable representation of safe in situ and operating conditions is to be obtained during wellbore operations.Published versio

Contemporary Challenges and Solutions

CA18131 CP16/00163 NIS-3317 NIS-3318 decision 295741 C18/BM/12585940The human microbiome has emerged as a central research topic in human biology and biomedicine. Current microbiome studies generate high-throughput omics data across different body sites, populations, and life stages. Many of the challenges in microbiome research are similar to other high-throughput studies, the quantitative analyses need to address the heterogeneity of data, specific statistical properties, and the remarkable variation in microbiome composition across individuals and body sites. This has led to a broad spectrum of statistical and machine learning challenges that range from study design, data processing, and standardization to analysis, modeling, cross-study comparison, prediction, data science ecosystems, and reproducible reporting. Nevertheless, although many statistics and machine learning approaches and tools have been developed, new techniques are needed to deal with emerging applications and the vast heterogeneity of microbiome data. We review and discuss emerging applications of statistical and machine learning techniques in human microbiome studies and introduce the COST Action CA18131 “ML4Microbiome” that brings together microbiome researchers and machine learning experts to address current challenges such as standardization of analysis pipelines for reproducibility of data analysis results, benchmarking, improvement, or development of existing and new tools and ontologies.publishersversionpublishe

From community approaches to single-cell genomics: the discovery of ubiquitous hyperhalophilic Bacteroidetes generalists

The microbiota of multi-pond solar salterns around the world has been analyzed using a variety of culture-dependent and molecular techniques. However, studies addressing the dynamic nature of these systems are very scarce. Here we have characterized the temporal variation during 1 year of the microbiota of five ponds with increasing salinity (from 18% to >40%), by means of CARD-FISH and DGGE. Microbial community structure was statistically correlated with several environmental parameters, including ionic composition and meteorological factors, indicating that the microbial community was dynamic as specific phylotypes appeared only at certain times of the year. In addition to total salinity, microbial composition was strongly influenced by temperature and specific ionic composition. Remarkably, DGGE analyses unveiled the presence of most phylotypes previously detected in hypersaline systems using metagenomics and other molecular techniques, such as the very abundant Haloquadratum and Salinibacter representatives or the recently described low GC Actinobacteria and Nanohaloarchaeota. In addition, an uncultured group of Bacteroidetes was present along the whole range of salinity. Database searches indicated a previously unrecognized widespread distribution of this phylotype. Single-cell genome analysis of five members of this group suggested a set of metabolic characteristics that could provide competitive advantages in hypersaline environments, such as polymer degradation capabilities, the presence of retinal-binding light-activated proton pumps and arsenate reduction potential. In addition, the fairly high metagenomic fragment recruitment obtained for these single cells in both the intermediate and hypersaline ponds further confirm the DGGE data and point to the generalist lifestyle of this new Bacteroidetes group.This work was supported by the projects CGL2012-39627-C03-01 and 02 of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, which were also co-financed with FEDER support from the European Union. TG group research is funded in part by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BIO2012-37161), a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund grant (NPRP 5-298-3-086) and a grant from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013)/ERC (grant agreement no. ERC-2012-StG-310325)

Physical activity and energy expenditure in elementary school students

Fizička aktivnost (PA) predstavlja važan segment zdravlja u toku odrastanja dece. Znanja o nivoima i obrascima PA kod dece su ograničena, prvenstveno zbog teškoća pri merenju aktivnosti u normalnom svakodnevnom životu. Nedostatak PA označen je kao jedan od rizika smanjenog zdravstvenog statusa, dok se gojaznost u današnjem vremenu počela tretirati kao bolest. Cilj ovog istraživanja bila je procena fizičke aktivnosti i energetske potrošnje (EE) učenika osnovne škole uzrasta 13-15 godina iz gradske sredine. Fizička aktivnost i energetska potrošnja procenjivani su u odnosu na pol, telesni status, sportsku angažovanost učenika tokom posmatranog perioda. Takođe, cilj istraživanja bilo je ispitivanje dostizanja preporučenog optimalnog vremena za bavljenje fizičkom aktivnošću od strane učenika. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo 115 učenika (53 dečaka i 62 devojčice) osnovne škole u Beogradu, sa prosečnom starošću od 14.0 (SD = 0.6) godina. EE, trajanje i nivo PA procenjivani su na osnovu više-senzornog uređaja SenseWear Pro3 Armband (SWA) (BodyMedia Inc, Pittsburgh, PA, USA) koji je validan, precizan i pouzdan. EE, trajanje i nivo PA mereni su četiri dana tokom 24 sata (uključujući dva radna i dva dana vikenda). Analiza varijanse je primenjena za ispitivanje uticaja pola, telesnog statusa i sportske angažovanosti u okviru EE i trajanja PA. Posmatrana relativizovana EE kod adolescenata tokom četiri dana iznosila je prosečno 185.3 ± 25.0 kJ/kg/danu, dok je EE tokom PA iznosila 69.4 ± 29.2 kJ/kg/danu. Učenici su najviše vremena proveli u laganom režimu prosečno 241.7 ± 62.8 min/danu i ukupno su bili fizički aktivni 196.0 ± 73.5 min/danu. U okviru nivoa PA, 76% vremena su proveli tokom umerene PA (MPA), 21% u energičnoj PA (VPA) i 3% u veoma energičnoj PA (VVPA). Rezultati koji su analizarini pomoću ANOVA-e, pokazali su da postoje polne razlike u svim posmatranim varijablama, u toku ukupnog vremena, radnih dana i dana vikenda. Posmatrane su ukupna dnevna EE (p<0.001), EE tokom PA (p<0.001) i ukupna PA (p<0.001) obavljene u okviru različitih intenziteta PA...Physical activity (PA) is very important for children’s health during their growth. Their knowledge of PA levels and patterns is limited, primarily because of the difficulty in measuring normal daily life activities. Lack of PA is marked as one of the risks of the reduced health status, while obesity is treated as a disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate physical activity and energy expenditure (EE) in elementary school students aged 13-15 years from urban areas. Physical activity and energy expenditure were evaluated in relation to gender, weight status and students’sports involvement during the period. Also, the aim of the research was to examine the students’ achievement of the recommended optimal time for physical activity. The study included 115 students (53 boys and 62 girls) from an elementary school in Belgrade, with an average age of 14.0 (SD = 0.6). The EE and PA duration and level were estimated by a multi-sensor device SenseWear Pro3 Armband (SWA) (BodyMedia Inc., Pittsburgh , PA, USA) that is valid, reliable and precise. The EE and PA duration and level were measured during four days for 24 hours (including two weekdays and two weekend days). Variance analysis was applied to examine the impacts of gender, weight status and sports involvement during the EE and PA. The observed relativized adolescents’ EE in four days was approximately 185.3 ± 25.0 kJ/kg/day, while the EE during the PA was 69.4 ± 29.2 kJ/kg/day. Students spent most of their time in a light mode which resulted in an average of 241.7 ± 62.8 min/day and their total physical activity was 196.0 ± 73.5 min/day. As to PA, 76% of the time was spent in a moderate PA (MPA), 21% in a vigorous PA (VPA) and 3% in a very vigorous PA (VVPA). The results analysed with ANOVA test, showed that there are gender differences in all observed variables during the entire time, weekdays and weekend days. The observed the total daily EE (p<0.001), the EE during the PA (p<0.001) and the total PA (p<0.001) performed at different PE intensity..

Physical activity and energy expenditure in elementary school students

Fizička aktivnost (PA) predstavlja važan segment zdravlja u toku odrastanja dece. Znanja o nivoima i obrascima PA kod dece su ograničena, prvenstveno zbog teškoća pri merenju aktivnosti u normalnom svakodnevnom životu. Nedostatak PA označen je kao jedan od rizika smanjenog zdravstvenog statusa, dok se gojaznost u današnjem vremenu počela tretirati kao bolest. Cilj ovog istraživanja bila je procena fizičke aktivnosti i energetske potrošnje (EE) učenika osnovne škole uzrasta 13-15 godina iz gradske sredine. Fizička aktivnost i energetska potrošnja procenjivani su u odnosu na pol, telesni status, sportsku angažovanost učenika tokom posmatranog perioda. Takođe, cilj istraživanja bilo je ispitivanje dostizanja preporučenog optimalnog vremena za bavljenje fizičkom aktivnošću od strane učenika. Istraživanje je obuhvatilo 115 učenika (53 dečaka i 62 devojčice) osnovne škole u Beogradu, sa prosečnom starošću od 14.0 (SD = 0.6) godina. EE, trajanje i nivo PA procenjivani su na osnovu više-senzornog uređaja SenseWear Pro3 Armband (SWA) (BodyMedia Inc, Pittsburgh, PA, USA) koji je validan, precizan i pouzdan. EE, trajanje i nivo PA mereni su četiri dana tokom 24 sata (uključujući dva radna i dva dana vikenda). Analiza varijanse je primenjena za ispitivanje uticaja pola, telesnog statusa i sportske angažovanosti u okviru EE i trajanja PA. Posmatrana relativizovana EE kod adolescenata tokom četiri dana iznosila je prosečno 185.3 ± 25.0 kJ/kg/danu, dok je EE tokom PA iznosila 69.4 ± 29.2 kJ/kg/danu. Učenici su najviše vremena proveli u laganom režimu prosečno 241.7 ± 62.8 min/danu i ukupno su bili fizički aktivni 196.0 ± 73.5 min/danu. U okviru nivoa PA, 76% vremena su proveli tokom umerene PA (MPA), 21% u energičnoj PA (VPA) i 3% u veoma energičnoj PA (VVPA). Rezultati koji su analizarini pomoću ANOVA-e, pokazali su da postoje polne razlike u svim posmatranim varijablama, u toku ukupnog vremena, radnih dana i dana vikenda. Posmatrane su ukupna dnevna EE (p<0.001), EE tokom PA (p<0.001) i ukupna PA (p<0.001) obavljene u okviru različitih intenziteta PA...Physical activity (PA) is very important for children’s health during their growth. Their knowledge of PA levels and patterns is limited, primarily because of the difficulty in measuring normal daily life activities. Lack of PA is marked as one of the risks of the reduced health status, while obesity is treated as a disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate physical activity and energy expenditure (EE) in elementary school students aged 13-15 years from urban areas. Physical activity and energy expenditure were evaluated in relation to gender, weight status and students’sports involvement during the period. Also, the aim of the research was to examine the students’ achievement of the recommended optimal time for physical activity. The study included 115 students (53 boys and 62 girls) from an elementary school in Belgrade, with an average age of 14.0 (SD = 0.6). The EE and PA duration and level were estimated by a multi-sensor device SenseWear Pro3 Armband (SWA) (BodyMedia Inc., Pittsburgh , PA, USA) that is valid, reliable and precise. The EE and PA duration and level were measured during four days for 24 hours (including two weekdays and two weekend days). Variance analysis was applied to examine the impacts of gender, weight status and sports involvement during the EE and PA. The observed relativized adolescents’ EE in four days was approximately 185.3 ± 25.0 kJ/kg/day, while the EE during the PA was 69.4 ± 29.2 kJ/kg/day. Students spent most of their time in a light mode which resulted in an average of 241.7 ± 62.8 min/day and their total physical activity was 196.0 ± 73.5 min/day. As to PA, 76% of the time was spent in a moderate PA (MPA), 21% in a vigorous PA (VPA) and 3% in a very vigorous PA (VVPA). The results analysed with ANOVA test, showed that there are gender differences in all observed variables during the entire time, weekdays and weekend days. The observed the total daily EE (p<0.001), the EE during the PA (p<0.001) and the total PA (p<0.001) performed at different PE intensity..