Epigenetic effects of biofortification with folate and microelements in food plants

The increasing interest in nutrients and microelements linked with epigenetic modifications, brought to focus on folate (vitamin B9), the transporter of methyl groups for DNA methylation the most studied epigenetic feature of DNA. The principal approaches to overcome folate and microelements deficiencies have been either mandatory fortification or voluntary supplementation by pills of synthetic B9 vitamin. These strategies, however, have potential drawbacks due to the fact that folic acid is an unnatural compound with potential adverse effects. Some research, therefore, lately focused on developing genetically engineered plants that contains more folates than natural plants, but this approach also raises a considerable concern for the potential noxious effects of metabolic products from genetically modified plants. Since folate metabolism needs microelements as enzyme cofactors, as selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn), whose content is often inadequate in natural soil, there is a growing interest in finding novel strategies to increase both natural folate and microelement contents in food plants. This agronomic biofortification approach required the development of adequately enriched fertilizer formulas. The study is aimed at developing an agronomic biofortification model of lettuce through the development of specific foliar fertilizers containing Zn, Se and para-aminobenzoic acid, a natural precursor of folate, in a setting of growth chamber, hydroponic and open field culture. Microelements analyses were performed after setting up a novel ICP-MS method by using NIST 1570A, Trace Elements in Spinach Leaves, as certified reference material (CRM). The improvement of the levels of microelements in plant leaves was demonstrated and a clear enrichment of folate content in lettuce plants was confirmed by UPL/MC qTOF analysis. Cell culture model experiments were used to test the effects of lettuce extracts on HepG2 transcriptome through RNA-Seq sequencing that highlighted either a u- and down-regulation of an ample number of genes in several pathways including those linked to Se and Zn transport and folate metabolism. The epigenetic regulation at promoter region by DNA methylation was tested on selected genes involved in folate and microelements metabolism such as MT2A and FOLR1 were investigated showing a possible role of lettuce extract exposure on gene expression modulation through the epigenetic feature i.e. DNA methylation. For a deeper focus on novel mechanism of cell-to-cell communication, attention was given also to exosomes, microvesicles released by all fluids and cells. Exosomes mRNA cargo was analysed after the treatment of HepG2 and also on Ea.hy926, endothelial cell model, with extracts of lettuce control and biofortified and gene expression compared between the two model showing that cells exposed to biofortified lettuce have higher number of exosome production by the cells potentially affecting significantly the cell-to-cell communication of mRNA of genes differentially modified by lettuce extracts exposure. Biofortification using a novel Se, Zn and p-ABA-enriched formula is effective to ameliorate the content of such microelements and 5methylTHF in lettuce and lead to gene expression and gene specific DNA methylation modulation in HepG2 and Ea.hy926 cell culture models. Future perspectives include specific investigation of biofortified lettuce nutritional and microelements bioavailability and specific epigenetic modulation in humans for possible correction of widespread microelements and vitamin deficiencies with the purpose of reducing the risk of several major chronic diseases related to nutritional deficiencies

Nonlinear Control of a DC MicroGrid for the Integration of Photovoltaic Panels

New connection constraints for the power network (Grid Codes) require more flexible and reliable systems, with robust solutions to cope with uncertainties and intermittence from renewable energy sources (renewables), such as photovoltaic arrays. The interconnection of such renewables with storage systems through a Direct Current (DC) MicroGrid can fulfill these requirements. A "Plug and Play" approach based on the "System of Systems" philosophy using distributed control methodologies is developed in the present work. This approach allows to interconnect a number of elements to a DC MicroGrid as power sources like photovoltaic arrays, storage systems in different time scales like batteries and supercapacitors, and loads like electric vehicles and the main AC grid. The proposed scheme can easily be scalable to a much larger number of elements.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1607.0848

Nonlinear Control of an AC-connected DC MicroGrid

New connection constraints for the power network (Grid Codes) require more flexible and reliable systems, with robust solutions to cope with uncertainties and intermittence from renewable energy sources (renewables), such as photovoltaic arrays. A solution for interconnecting such renewables to the main grid is to use storage systems and a Direct Current (DC) MicroGrid. A "Plug and Play" approach based on the "System of Systems" philosophy using distributed control methodologies is developed in the present work. This approach allows to interconnect a number of elements to a DC MicroGrid as power sources like photovoltaic arrays, storage systems in different time scales like batteries and supercapacitors, and loads like electric vehicles and the main AC grid. The proposed scheme can easily be scalable to a much larger number of elements.Comment: IEEE IECON 2016, the 42nd Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, October 24-27, 201

String Stability of a Vehicular Platoon with the use of Macroscopic Information

We investigate the possibility to use macroscopic information to improve control performance of a vehicular platoon composed of autonomous vehicles. A general mesoscopic traffic modeling is described, and a closed loop String Stability analysis is performed using Input-to-State Stability (ISS) results. Examples of mesoscopic control laws are provided and shown to ensure String Stability properties. Simulations are implementedin order to validate the control laws and to show the efficacy of the proposed approach.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2003.1252

Health systems sustainability in the framework of rare diseases actions. Actions on educational programmes and training for professionals and patients

Protection of early development contributes to health of next generations. Congenital anomalies (and other adverse reproductive outcomes) are an important public health issue and early indicator of public health risks, as early development is influenced by many risk factors (e.g., nutrition, lifestyles, pollution, infections, medications, etc). Effective primary prevention requires an integrated “One Health” approach, linking knowledge  and action. This requires surveillance of health events and potential health-damaging factors, science-based risk analysis, citizens’ empowerment and education of health professionals. From the policy standpoint, joint budgeting mechanisms are needed to sustain with equity intersectoral actions (involving policy domains of health, social affairs, education, agriculture and environment). States should devote resources to strengthen registries and systematic data collection for surveillance of congenital anomalies, to better inform national prevention strategies. Investing in primary prevention based on scientific evidence is essential to support sustainable and resilient health systems and sustainable development of the society

Sustainable public health systems for rare diseases

In the framework of the Joint Action for Rare Diseases (RD-ACTION), a specific task was defined to identify mechanisms influencing sustainability, equity and resilience of health systems for rare diseases (RDs).Method: literature narrative review on health systems sustainability and resilience for RDs. Years: 2000-2015. Databases: PubMed, Scopus, EBSCOHost, EMBAL, PASCAL, EMBASE, STN International and GoogleScholar. Analysis: interpretive synthesis concept and thematic analysis (Dixon-Wood et al.)Results: 97 papers and 4 grey literature publications were identified. Two main topics stand out: economic evaluation and networks. The first topic did not identify widely accepted criterion to assign more weight to individuals with greater health needs. Healthcare network are identified as increasingly important for sustainability and resilience, in all of their aspects: professional (‘expertise’), ‘experience’ networks of users and carers; policy, learning, and interest networks.In conclusion, possible mechanisms for ensuring sustainability can be identified in networking, patients’ empowerment and reorienting healthcare towards integrated community and home care

Social economic costs, health-related quality of life and disability in patients with Cri Du Chat syndrome

Cri du Chat syndrome (CdC) is a rare disease. The aim is to estimate economic costs related to CdC from a societal perspective, to assess the QoL and Disability in patients with CdC along with their caregivers in Italy