361 research outputs found
IT Solution for Disease Management at PT Panasonic Manufacturing Indonesia
One of company's occupational health programs is disease management which is a part of preventive health care. In its realization, it was discovered that there some challenges in data collection, monitoring of catering and sport activity, employee health reports, and medical costs. The purpose of this study is to design an IT solution for the disease management program at PT. Panasonic Manufacturing Indonesia (PMI). The diseases in focus are diabetes, hypertension, and tuberculosis. Methodology starts with survey on PT. PMI requirements, research parameters, problem analysis, literature study, and system design. Solution is focused on designing a registry system that includes Alert Management System, Food Tracking, EHR, Sport Tracking, Guidelines, and Report System. The results of this study is a web-based information system that can assist health care workers in seeking data, monitoring food intake and sport activity, and reporting systems for upper-level management
Aparte kraam- en dek/drachtbedrijven
De biggenproductie vindt in Nederland plaats op vermeerderingsbedrijven die de biggen afleveren op 25 kg. Het vermeerderingsbedrijf kan gesplitst worden in een dek/dracht bedrijf en een apart kraam/opfokbedrijf
Verwachte economische effecten van uitbreidingsplannen
Vierentwintig varkenshouders hebben deelgenomen aan een onderzoek naar de effecten van voorgenomen uitbreidingsplannen. Gezinsuitgaven, betalingscapaciteit, ouderdom van de stallen en de uitbreidingsstrategie hebben een grote invloed op de bedrijfsresultate
Verliesnormen voor fosfaat en stikstof
De fosfaatproductie zal in 2000 fors gedaald zijn ten opzichte van 1990 door een kleiner wordende veestapel en een geringere fosfaatuitscheiding per dier
State of Charge Estimation of Lead Acid Battery using Neural Network for Advanced Renewable Energy Systems
The Solar Dryer Dome (SDD), an independent energy system equipped with Artificial Intelligence to support the drying process, has been developed. However, inaccurate state-of-charge (SOC) predictions in each battery cell resulted in the vulnerability of the battery to over-charging and over-discharging, which accelerated the battery performance degradation. This research aims to develop an accurate neural network model for predicting the SOC of battery-cell level. The model aims to maintain the battery cell balance under dynamic load applications. It is accompanied by a developed dashboard to monitor and provide crucial information for early maintenance of the battery in the SDD. The results show that the neural network estimates the SOC with the lowest MAE of 0.175, followed by the Random Forest and support vector machine methods with MAE of 0.223 and 0.259, respectively. A dashboard was developed to help farmers monitor batteries efficiently. This research contributes to battery-cell level SOC prediction and the dashboard for battery status monitoring. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-03-02 Full Text: PD
Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification analysis of the NR0B1(DAX1) locus enables explanation of phenotypic differences in patients with X-linked congenital adrenal hypoplasia
BACKGROUND/AIM:X-linked adrenal hypoplasia congenita (AHC) is a rare disorder characterized by primary adrenal insufficiency and hypogonadic hypogonadism. It is caused by deletions or point mutations of the NR0B1 gene, on Xp21. AHC can be associated with glycerol kinase deficiency, Duchenne muscular dystrophy and mental retardation (MR), as part of a contiguous gene deletion syndrome. A synthetic probe set for multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification analysis was developed to confirm and characterize NR0B1 deletions in patients with AHC and to correlate their genotypes with their divergent phenotypes. RESULTS:In 2 patients, isolated AHC was confirmed, while a patient at risk for metabolic crisis was revealed as the deletion extends to the GK gene. A deletion extending to IL1RAPL1 was confirmed in both patients showing MR. Thus, a good genotype-phenotype correlation was confirmed. CONCLUSIONS:Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification analysis is a valuable tool to detect NR0B1 and contiguous gene deletions in patients with AHC. It is especially helpful for IL1RAPL1 deletion detection as no clinical markers for MR are available. Furthermore, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification has the advantage to identify female carriers that, depending on the deletion extension, have a high risk of giving birth to children with MR, AHC, glycerol kinase deficiency and Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Congenital Lipoid Adrenal Hyperplasia: Functional Characterization of Three Novel Mutations in the STAR Gene
AbstractContext: The steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR) has been shown to be essential for steroidogenesis by mediating cholesterol transfer into mitochondria. Inactivating StAR mutations cause the typical clinical picture of congenital lipoid adrenal hyperplasia.Objective: The objective of the investigation was to study the functional and structural consequences of three novel StAR mutations (p.N148K in an Italian patient; p.P129fs and p.Q128R in a Turkish patient).Methods and Results: Transient in vitro expression of the mutant proteins together with P450 side-chain cleavage enzyme, adrenodoxin, and adrenodoxin reductase yielded severely diminished cholesterol conversion of the p.N148K mutant, the combined p.P129fs and p.Q128R mutant, and the p.P129fs mutant by itself. The p.Q128R mutant led to a higher cholesterol conversion than the wild-type StAR protein. As derived from three-dimensional protein modeling, the residue N148 is lining the ligand cavity of StAR. A positively charged lysine residue at position 148 disturbs the hydrophobic cluster formed by the α4-helix and the sterol binding pocket. The frame shift mutation p.P129fs truncates the StAR protein. Residue p.Q128 is situated at the surface of the molecule and is not part of any functionally characterized region of the protein.Conclusion: The mutations p.N148K and p.P129fs cause adrenal insufficiency in both cases and lead to a disorder of sex development with complete sex reversal in the 46, XY case. The mutation p.Q128R, which is not relevant for the patient's phenotype, is the first reported variant showing a gain of function. We speculate that the substitution of hydrophilic glutamine with basic arginine at the surface of the molecule may accelerate cholesterol transfer
Potential of Donation After Unexpected Circulatory Death Programs Defined by Their Demographic Characteristics
BACKGROUND. Donation after unexpected circulatory death (uDCD) donors are often suggested to increase the number of donor organs. In 2014, a uDCD protocol was implemented in three transplant centers in the Netherlands which unfortunately did not result in additional transplantations. This study was initiated to identify demographic factors influencing the potential success of uDCD programs. METHODS. Dutch resuscitation databases covering various demographic regions were analyzed for potential donors. The databases were compared with the uDCD implementation project and successful uDCD programs in Spain, France, and Russia. RESULTS. The resuscitation databases showed that 61% of all resuscitated patients were transferred to an emergency department. Age selection reduced this uDCD potential to 46% with only patients aged 18–65 years deemed eligible. Of these patients, 27% died in the emergency department. The urban region of Amsterdam showed the largest potential in absolute numbers (52 patients/y). Comparison with the uDCD implementation project showed large similarities in the percentage of potential donors; however, in absolute numbers, it showed a much smaller potential. Calculation of the potential per million persons and the extrapolation of the potential based on the international experience revealed the largest potential in urban regions. CONCLUSIONS. Implementation of a uDCD program should not only be based on the number of potential donors calculated from resuscitation databases. They show promising potential uDCD percentages for large rural regions and small urban regions; however, actual numbers per hospital are low, leading to insufficient exposure rates. It is, therefore, recommendable to limit uDCD programs to large urban regions
PIP5KIβ Selectively Modulates Apical Endocytosis in Polarized Renal Epithelial Cells
Localized synthesis of phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate [PtdIns(4,5)P2] at clathrin coated pits (CCPs) is crucial for the recruitment of adaptors and other components of the internalization machinery, as well as for regulating actin dynamics during endocytosis. PtdIns(4,5)P2 is synthesized from phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate by any of three phosphatidylinositol 5-kinase type I (PIP5KI) isoforms (α, β or γ). PIP5KIβ localizes almost exclusively to the apical surface in polarized mouse cortical collecting duct cells, whereas the other isoforms have a less polarized membrane distribution. We therefore investigated the role of PIP5KI isoforms in endocytosis at the apical and basolateral domains. Endocytosis at the apical surface is known to occur more slowly than at the basolateral surface. Apical endocytosis was selectively stimulated by overexpression of PIP5KIβ whereas the other isoforms had no effect on either apical or basolateral internalization. We found no difference in the affinity for PtdIns(4,5)P2-containing liposomes of the PtdIns(4,5)P2 binding domains of epsin and Dab2, consistent with a generic effect of elevated PtdIns(4,5)P2 on apical endocytosis. Additionally, using apical total internal reflection fluorescence imaging and electron microscopy we found that cells overexpressing PIP5KIβ have fewer apical CCPs but more internalized coated structures than control cells, consistent with enhanced maturation of apical CCPs. Together, our results suggest that synthesis of PtdIns(4,5)P2 mediated by PIP5KIβ is rate limiting for apical but not basolateral endocytosis in polarized kidney cells. PtdIns(4,5)P2 may be required to overcome specific structural constraints that limit the efficiency of apical endocytosis. © 2013 Szalinski et al
The mineralocorticoid receptor: insights into its molecular and (patho)physiological biology
The last decade has witnessed tremendous progress in the understanding of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR), its molecular mechanism of action, and its implications for physiology and pathophysiology. After the initial cloning of MR, and identification of its gene structure and promoters, it now appears as a major actor in protein-protein interaction networks. The role of transcriptional coregulators and the determinants of mineralocorticoid selectivity have been elucidated. Targeted oncogenesis and transgenic mouse models have identified unexpected sites of MR expression and novel roles for MR in non-epithelial tissues. These experimental approaches have contributed to the generation of new cell lines for the characterization of aldosterone signaling pathways, and have also facilitated a better understanding of MR physiology in the heart, vasculature, brain and adipose tissues. This review describes the structure, molecular mechanism of action and transcriptional regulation mediated by MR, emphasizing the most recent developments at the cellular and molecular level. Finally, through insights obtained from mouse models and human disease, its role in physiology and pathophysiology will be reviewed. Future investigations of MR biology should lead to new therapeutic strategies, modulating cell-specific actions in the management of cardiovascular disease, neuroprotection, mineralocorticoid resistance, and metabolic disorders
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