Characterization of the effects of BTK inhibition and monocyte-produced IL-8 on the hematopoietic stem cell niche

Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are multipotent stem cells that give rise to all blood cell lineages. During early zebrafish development, HSPCs interact closely with endothelial cells in an endothelial niche known as the Caudal Hematopoietic Tissue (CHT). How these interactions influence HSPC fate and clonality is not well-understood, however. The chemokine Interleukin-8 (IL-8) may alter HSPC fate by extending the time that HSPCs reside within the CHT. IL-8 is produced by a number of cell types, including monocytes. Using a zebrafish model, we aim to characterize the impact of enforced expression of IL-8 by macrophages on HSPC interactions with the endothelial niche. HSPCs colonize the CHT beginning approximately 32 hours post fertilization before migrating to the kidney marrow at about 6 days post fertilization where they reside for the life of the zebrafish. While in the CHT, HSPCs can be directly imaged by fluorescence microscopy using a fluorescent reporter driven by the HSPC-specific runx1 + 23 enhancer element (runx1+23:GFP). We have generated a transgenic zebrafish line, which ectopically expressesIL-8 in macrophages using the macrophage-specific promoter mpeg1.1 (mpeg1.1:cxcl8 2A mCherry). We hypothesize that the F1 offspring of these lines will show that IL-8 expression by macrophages will increase the residency time of HSPCs in the CHT compared to a non-expressing control group. We are also treating developing fish with Ibrutinib, a therapeutic protein kinase inhibitor that inhibits the IL-8 PI3K/Akt signaling pathway. We hypothesize that HSPCs in treated fish will be fewer in number and will reside in the endothelial niche for less time than non-treated controls. Understanding these interactions will shed light on alterations of HSPC cell fate due to IL-8 expression and provide potential therapeutic targets for patients with hematopoietic disordersNo embargoAcademic Major: Biochemistr

The effect of medical respite services on hospital readmissions for those experiencing homelessness

A clinical decision report using: Kertesz SG, Posner MA, O’Connell JJ, et al. Post-Hospital Medical Respite Care and Hospital Readmission of Homeless Persons. J Prev Interv Community. 2009;37(2):129-142. https://doi.org/10.1080/10852350902735734 for a patient experiencing homelessness

Knowledge Discovery From Sensitive Data: Differentially Private Bayesian Rule Lists

The utility of machine learning is rising, coming from a growing wealth of data and problems that are becoming harder to solve analytically. With these changes there is also the need for interpretable machine learning in order for users to understand how a machine learning algorithm comes to a specific output. Bayesian Rule Lists, an interpretable machine learning algorithm, offers an advanced accuracy to interpretabilty trade off when compared to other interpretable machine learning algorithms. Additionally, with the amount of data collected today, there is a lot of potentially sensitive data that we can learn from such as medical and criminal records. However, to do so, we must guarantee a degree of privacy on the dataset; differential privacy has become the standard for this private data analysis. In this paper, we propose a differentially private algorithm for Bayesian Rule Lists. We first break down the original Bayesian Rule List algorithm into three main components: frequent itemset mining, rule list sampling, and point estimate computation. We then perform a literature review to understand these algorithms, and ways to privatize them. There after we computed the necessary sensitivities for all subroutines, and ran experiments on the resulting differentially private algorithm to gauge utility. Results show that the proposed algorithm is able to output rule lists with good accuracy and decent interpretability

Coronavirus: lecciones de la pandemia

Reflexiones en torno a la pandemia de COVID19.Fil: Belardo, Marcela Beatriz. Universidad Nacional de Jose Clemente Paz; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Epidemiological surveillance: caught up in the instrumental logic. The case of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome in Argentina

El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar el sistema de vigilancia epidemiológico de una enfermedad de transmisión alimentaria que afecta principalmente a niños menores de 5 años, el Síndrome Urémico Hemolítico. En Argentina la tasa de notificación asciende a 400-500 casos por año. Si bien la enfermedad fue descubierta en los 60´ recién en el 2000 se incorporó a la nómina de Enfermedades de Notificación Obligatoria y al sistema de vigilancia epidemiológico. Específicamente se analizó el diseño e implementación de diferentes instrumentos de recolección de datos (clínicos, epidemiológicos y de laboratorio) y el funcionamiento global del sistema relevándose algunas falencias que refieren a problemas de muy variada índole. A pesar de los esfuerzos invertidos en incorporar a esta enfermedad al sistema de vigilancia sus resultados aún son deficientes a la hora de la planificación de políticas de salud que tiendan a disminuir los determinantes que influyen en la aparición de la enfermedad.The aim of this study was to analyze the epidemiological surveillance of a foodborne disease that mainly affects children under 5 years old, Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. In Argentina the reporting rate amounts to 400-500 cases per year. While the disease was discovered in the ‘60s it was only in 2000 that it was included in the list of Notifiable Diseases and in the epidemiologic surveillance system. Both the design and the implementation of different data collection instruments (clinical, epidemiological and laboratory) were specifically analyzed. The overall operation of the system is also analyzed and are identified some shortcomings regarding problems from varied sources. Despite the efforts to incorporate this disease to the surveillance system, the results are still poor when planning health policies that tend to reduce the determinants that influence the appearance of the disease.Fil: Belardo, Marcela Beatriz. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones "Gino Germani"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Preface: The congress “HyGraDe 2017” and a biographical note on Mario Gionfriddo

In this preface we give some details about the past Congress “HyGraDe 2017” and we briefly describe the academic career of Mario Gionfriddo, whose 70th birthday was celebrated during the congress

On eigenspaces of some compound complex unit gain graphs

Let T be the multiplicative group of complex units, and let L (Φ) denote the Laplacian matrix of a nonempty T-gain graph Φ = (Γ, T, γ). The gain line graph L (Φ) and the gain subdivision graph S (Φ) are defined up to switching equivalence. We discuss how the eigenspaces determined by the adjacency eigenvalues of L (Φ) and S (Φ) are related with those of L (Φ)

Line graphs of complex unit gain graphs with least eigenvalue -2

Let T be the multiplicative group of complex units, and let L(φ) denote a line graph of a T-gain graph φ. Similarly to what happens in the context of signed graphs, the real number min Spec(A(L(φ)), that is, the smallest eigenvalue of the adjacency matrix of L(φ), is not less than -2. The structural conditions on φ ensuring that min Spec(A(L(φ)) = -2 are identified. When such conditions are fulfilled, bases of the -2-eigenspace are constructed with the aid of the star complement technique