A Combined Satellite-Derived Drought Indicator to Support Humanitarian Aid Organizations

Governments, aid organizations and researchers are struggling with the complexity of detecting and monitoring drought events, which leads to weaknesses regarding the translation of early warnings into action. Embedded in an advanced decision-support framework for Doctors without Borders (Médecins sans Frontières), this study focuses on identifying the added-value of combining different satellite-derived datasets for drought monitoring and forecasting in Ethiopia. The core of the study is the improvement of an existing drought index via methodical adaptations and the integration of various satellite-derived datasets. The resulting Enhanced Combined Drought Index (ECDI) links four input datasets (rainfall, soil moisture, land surface temperature and vegetation status). The respective weight of each input dataset is calculated for every grid point at a spatial resolution of 0.25 degrees (roughly 28 kilometers). In the case of data gaps in one input dataset, the weights are automatically redistributed to other available variables. Ranking the years 1992 to 2014 according to the ECDI-based warning levels allows for the identification of all large-scale drought events in Ethiopia. Our results also indicate a good match between the ECDI-based drought warning levels and reported drought impacts for both the start and the end of the season

Polymorphisms in the ACE and PAI-1 genes are associated with recurrent spontaneous miscarriages

BACKGROUND: Successful pregnancies require ®ne tuning of ®brinolytic activities in order to secure ®brin polymerization and stabilization of the placental basal plate as well as to prevent excess ®brin deposition in placental vessels and intervillous spaces. Fibrinolysis is tightly regulated by plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). Endothelial PAI-1 synthesis is induced by angiotensin II, which is generated by angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE). METHODS: We studied the ACE deletion (D)/insertion (I) polymorphism and the PAI-1 4G/5G polymorphism in women with recurrent spontaneous miscarriages (RM). Both polymorphisms have been shown to be associated with ACE and PAI-1 expression levels respectively. A study group of 184 patients with a history of two or more consecutive unexplained spontaneous miscarriages was compared with a control group of 127 patients with uneventful term deliveries and no history of miscarriages. RESULTS: Our ®ndings show: (i) homozygosity for the D allele of the ACE gene, which results in elevated PAI-1 concentrations and hypo®brinolysis, is associated with an elevated risk of RM; (ii) the combination of the D/D genotype with two 4G alleles of the PAI-1 promoter, which further increases PAI-1 plasma levels, is signi®cantly more frequent in RM patients compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these results, we recommend the incorporation of these two polymorphisms into the spectrum of thrombophilic mutations which should be analysed in individuals with recurrent spontaneous miscarriages. Patients homozygous for both the ACE D and PAI-1 4G alleles may bene®t from the application of low molecular weight heparin as early as possible in the pregnancy in order to prevent uteroplacental microthromboses

Food security monitoring via mobile data collection and remote sensing: results from the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic is one of the world's most vulnerable countries, suffering from chronic poverty, violent conflicts and weak disaster resilience. In collaboration with Doctors without Borders/Midecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), this study presents a novel approach to collect information about socio-economic vulnerabilities related to malnutrition, access to resources and coping capacities. The first technical test was carried out in the North of the country (sub-prefecture Kabo) in May 2015. All activities were aimed at the investigation of technical feasibility, not at operational data collection, which requires a random sampling strategy. At the core of the study is an open-source Android application named SATIDA COLLECT that facilitates rapid and simple data collection. All assessments were carried out by local MSF staff after they had been trained for one day. Once a mobile network is available, all assessments can easily be uploaded to a database for further processing and trend analysis via MSF in-house software. On one hand, regularly updated food security assessments can complement traditional large-scale surveys, whose completion can take up to eight months. Ideally, this leads to a gain in time for disaster logistics. On the other hand, recording the location of every assessment via the smart phones. GPS receiver helps to analyze and display the coupling between drought risk and impacts over many years. Although the current situation in the Central African Republic is mostly related to violent conflict it is necessary to consider information about drought risk, because climatic shocks can further disrupt the already vulnerable system. SATIDA COLLECT can easily be adapted to local conditions or other applications, such as the evaluation of vaccination campaigns. Most importantly, it facilitates the standardized collection of information without pen and paper, as well as straightforward sharing of collected data with the MSF headquarters or other aid organizations

Clinical Studies Applying Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells for the Treatment of Renal Cell Carcinoma

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) seems to be resistant to conventional chemo- and radiotherapy and the general treatment regimen of cytokine therapy produces only modest responses while inducing severe side effects. Nowadays standard of care is the treatment with VEGF-inhibiting agents or mTOR inhibition; nevertheless, immunotherapy can induce complete remissions and long-term survival in selected patients. Among different adoptive lymphocyte therapies, cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells have a particularly advantageous profile as these cells are easily available, have a high proliferative rate, and exhibit a high antitumor activity. Here, we reviewed clinical studies applying CIK cells, either alone or with standard therapies, for the treatment of RCC. The adverse events in all studies were mild, transient, and easily controllable. In vitro studies revealed an increased antitumor activity of peripheral lymphocytes of participants after CIK cell treatment and CIK cell therapy was able to induce complete clinical responses in RCC patients. The combination of CIK cell therapy and standard therapy was superior to standard therapy alone. These studies suggest that CIK cell immunotherapy is a safe and competent treatment strategy for RCC patients and further studies should investigate different treatment combinations and schedules for optimal application of CIK cells

Clinical studies applying cytokineinduced killer cells for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma

Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) seems to be resistant to conventional chemo-and radiotherapy and the general treatment regimen of cytokine therapy produces only modest responses while inducing severe side effects. Nowadays standard of care is the treatment with VEGF-inhibiting agents or mTOR inhibition; nevertheless, immunotherapy can induce complete remissions and long-term survival in selected patients. Among different adoptive lymphocyte therapies, cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells have a particularly advantageous profile as these cells are easily available, have a high proliferative rate, and exhibit a high antitumor activity. Here, we reviewed clinical studies applying CIK cells, either alone or with standard therapies, for the treatment of RCC. The adverse events in all studies were mild, transient, and easily controllable. In vitro studies revealed an increased antitumor activity of peripheral lymphocytes of participants after CIK cell treatment and CIK cell therapy was able to induce complete clinical responses in RCC patients. The combination of CIK cell therapy and standard therapy was superior to standard therapy alone. These studies suggest that CIK cell immunotherapy is a safe and competent treatment strategy for RCC patients and further studies should investigate different treatment combinations and schedules for optimal application of CIK cells

Alterations of Global Histone H3K9 and H3K27 Methylation Levels in Bladder Cancer

Background: Epigenetic alterations, including histone modifications, play an important role during carcinogenesis. This study was designed to systematically investigate histone H3K9 and H3K27 methylation levels in bladder cancer (BCa) tissue. Methods:A tissue microarray with urothelial BCa (150 non-muscle-invasive BCa, NMIBC; 121 muscle-invasive BCa, MIBC; 31 metastatic BCa, MET) and normal urothelium (29, CTRL) specimen was used to determine the global levels of H3K9 and H3K27 mono-, di- and tri-methylation. Results: Global levels of H3K9 and H3K27 methylation were significantly higher in CTRL than in BCa, and levels in NMIBC were higher compared to MIBC. Histone nnethylation levels of MET resembled MIBC. We observed furthermore a correlation of histone nnethylation levels with pT stage (H3K9me1, H3K9me2, H3K9me3, H3K27me1, H3K27me3) and grade (H3K9nne2, H3K9me3, H3K27nne1) in NMIBC. H3K9me1, H3K9me3, H3K27me1 and H3K27me3 levels were also correlated with pT stage in MIBC. Histone modifications were not associated with recurrence-free or cancer-specific survival. Conclusions: Global histone H3K9 and H3K27 nnethylation levels are altered in BCa. (C) 2014 S. Karger AG, Base