Eurooppalaisen innovaatiopolitiikan uusi vaihde vihreässä siirtymässä jatkaa monitasoisen hallinnon tiellä

Uuden vihreän innovaatiopolitiikan alustaksi muodostuvat alueelliset yhteistyöverkostot älykkään erikoistumisen strategioiden toteuttamisessa. Euroopan komission ja Alueiden komitean aloitteella Partnerships for Regional Innovation Pohjanmaalla haetaan seuraavan vaiheen vihreän siirtymän innovaatiopolitiikkaa

Critical knowledge gaps and research needs related to the environmental dimensions of antibiotic resistance

There is growing understanding that the environment plays an important role both in the transmission of antibiotic resistant pathogens and in their evolution. Accordingly, researchers and stakeholders world-wide seek to further explore the mechanisms and drivers involved, quantify risks and identify suitable interventions. There is a clear value in establishing research needs and coordinating efforts within and across nations in order to best tackle this global challenge. At an international workshop in late September 2017, scientists from 14 countries with expertise on the environmental dimensions of antibiotic resistance gathered to define critical knowledge gaps. Four key areas were identified where research is urgently needed: 1) the relative contributions of different sources of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant bacteria into the environment; 2) the role of the environment, and particularly anthropogenic inputs, in the evolution of resistance; 3) the overall human and animal health impacts caused by exposure to environmental resistant bacteria; and 4) the efficacy and feasibility of different technological, social, economic and behavioral interventions to mitigate environmental antibiotic resistance.(1)Peer reviewe

Tendon autografts for bridging nerve defects

A new method, where a tendon segment – a tendon autograft – was used as graft material for peripheral nerve reconstruction, was developed. Defects, 10-15 mm long, in rat sciatic nerves were bridged by various modifications of tendons. A piece of an intact tendon and a tendon, that had been teased into a membrane and then rolled to form a loose “collagen roll”, supported axonal regeneration over a nerve defect. After modification by forming a tube of the teased tendon, axonal regeneration started after an initial delay period of 6.8 days, and axons then grew at a rate of 1.0 mm per day. Schwann cells migrated into the grafts from the proximal and distal nerve segments, proximally ahead of the regenerating axons. Macrophages were initially present at the periphery of the grafts but gradually increased in numbers inside the grafts. The tendon autograft was vascularized and the blood vessels entered the grafts from both the proximal and distal nerve segments. The tendon autograft supported recovery of muscle function measured as tetanic force of the gastrocnemius muscle, to the same extent as nerves reconstructed by a freeze-thawed muscle graft. Morphometrical analysis of the tibial nerve distal to the graft showed a correlation between the number of regenerating nerve fibers and recovery of muscle force. Initial experiments indicated that a teased and rolled tendon, which had been pretreated by attachment of nerve segments to allow migration of Schwann cells into the tendon, improved regeneration. To refine the tendon autograft and to enhance regeneration, cultured Schwann cells were added to grafts that were used to bridge a 10 mm long nerve defect. Addition of cultured Schwann cells resulted in a higher rate of axonal regeneration compared to untreated control rats. Analogous observations were made in the pretreated freeze-thawed muscle grafts. To address clinical demands of a faster procedure for production of Schwann cells, acutely dissociated Schwann cells from a previously injured nerve were added to tendon autografts bridging nerve defects. Addition of dissociated Schwann cells resulted in a longer axonal outgrowth seven days after nerve reconstruction compared to untreated control grafts. The use of tendon autografts with added acutely dissociated Schwann cells may be an alternative in bridging nerve defects in a clinical setting

Basic science of peripheral nerve repair: Wallerian degeneration/growth cone

Trauma to a peripheral nerve trunk is a complex injury because it involves not only repair processes locally at the peripheral level, but it also engages repair and compensation mechanisms at central levels. The main actor is the fascinating and unique neuron with its supporting cells, which consist mainly of Schwann cells. In the neuron and in the Schwann cells, intracellular signaling mechanisms are initiated by the peripheral nerve injury and aim to turn the intracellular processes into a regenerative and proliferative state. The intracellular signaling mechanism is called signal transduction and works along the entire neuron, including the intracellular axonal transport system. A very delicate interaction occurs between the growth cones formed by the distal tip of the outgrowing axons and the environment into which the axons grow. A large number of changes occur in this environment due to the process of Wallerian degeneration caused by the injury. A thorough knowledge of the cellular and molecular repair mechanisms after peripheral nerve injury is the basis on which we can build new research with the aim to improve results after this devastating injury, because there are limitations in the pure surgical treatment of peripheral injury

Implantation of Schwann cells in rat tendon autografts as a model for peripheral nerve repair: Long term effects on functional recovery

Cultured Schwann cells in tendon autografts for nerve repair improve the early phase of nerve regeneration in rat sciatic nerves as judged by the rate of axonal outgrowth. We tested the long-term effects on functional recovery using measurements of muscle force, the number of axons and myelination, using morphometry. In addition, we recorded wet weight of the gastrocnemius muscle. Schwann cell cultures were prepared from predegenerated nerves. Ten and 15mm defects in rat sciatic nerves were bridged using bilateral tendon autografts with Schwann cell-seeded tendon autografts on one side, and untreated tendon autografts on the other. Animals were evaluated at six and 12 weeks, respectively. At six weeks, myelination, as judged by G-ratio (ratio of axonal diameter to diameter of nerve fibres), was significantly increased in tendon autografts pretreated with Schwann cells in 10mm defects. No such difference was seen in the 15 mmdefects. We found no difference in functional recovery, other morphometric variables, or muscle weight between the two grafts. We conclude that early effects on nerve regeneration using transplantation of cultured Schwann cells in rat sciatic nerves are temporary. Other strategies are necessary to obtain lasting effects on functional recovery

Stochastic differential equations modelling of levodopa concentration in patients with Parkinson's disease

The purpose of this study is to investigate a pharmacokinetic model of levodopa concentration in patients with Parkinson's disease by introducing stochasticity so that inter-individual variability may be separated into measurement and system noise. It also aims to investigate whether the stochastic differential equations (SDE) model provide better fits than its ordinary differential equations (ODE) counterpart, by using a real data set. Westin et al. developed a pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic model for duodenal levodopa infusion described by four ODEs, the first three of which define the pharmacokinetic model. In this study, system noise variables are added to the aforementioned first three equations through a standard Wiener process, also known as Brownian motion. The R package PSM for mixed-effects models is used on data from previous studies for modelling levodopa concentration and parameter estimation. First, the diffusion scale parameter, σ, and bioavailability are estimated with the SDE model. Second, σ is fixed to integer values between 1 and 5, and bioavailability is estimated. Cross-validation is performed to determine whether the SDE based model explains the observed data better or not by comparingthe average root mean squared errors (RMSE) of predicted levodopa concentration. Both ODE and SDE models estimated bioavailability to be about 88%. The SDE model converged at different values of σ that were signicantly different from zero while estimating bioavailability to be about 88%. The average RMSE for the ODE model wasfound to be 0.2980, and the lowest average RMSE for the SDE model was 0.2748 when σ was xed to 4. Both models estimated similar values for bioavailability, and the non-zero σ estimate implies that the inter-individual variability may be separated. However, the improvement in the predictive performance of the SDE model turned out to be rather small, compared to the ODE model

Addition of cultured Schwann cells to tendon autografts and freeze-thawed muscle grafts improves peripheral nerve regeneration

The effects of addition of Schwann cells on peripheral nerve regeneration through a novel graft material-the tendon autograft-and a conventional freeze-thawed muscle graft, were studied in the rat sciatic nerve. Adult Schwann cell cultures were established from predegenerated nerves. The Schwann cells were added to the autologous grafts by coculture (tendon autograft) or injection (freeze-thawed muscle graft). Both graft types supported adherence of the added Schwann cells. Addition of cultured Schwann cells to the two different graft models improved regeneration by increasing the rate of axonal outgrowth as compared with similar grafts without added cells