Systems biology of stored blood cells: can it help to extend the expiration date?

Efst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinnWith increasingly stringent regulations regarding deferral and elimination of blood donors it will become increasingly important to extend the expiration date of blood components beyond the current allowed storage periods. One reason for the storage time limit for blood components is that platelets and red blood cells develop a condition called storage lesions during their storage in plastic blood containers. Systems biology provides comprehensive bio-chemical descriptions of organisms through quantitative measurements and data integration in mathematical models. The biological knowledge for a target organism can be translated in a mathematical format and used to compute physiological properties. The use of systems biology represents a concrete solution in the study of blood cell storage lesions, and it may open up new avenues towards developing better storage methods and better storage media, thereby extending the storage period of blood components. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Integrated omics.info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/23281

Improvement of Tuberculosis Laboratory Capacity on Pemba Island, Zanzibar: A Health Cooperation Project.

Low-income countries with high Tuberculosis burden have few reference laboratories able to perform TB culture. In 2006, the Zanzibar National TB Control Programme planned to decentralize TB diagnostics. The Italian Cooperation Agency with the scientific support of the "L. Spallanzani" National Institute for Infectious Diseases sustained the project through the implementation of a TB reference laboratory in a low-income country with a high prevalence of TB. The implementation steps were: 1) TB laboratory design according to the WHO standards; 2) laboratory equipment and reagent supplies for microscopy, cultures, and identification; 3) on-the-job training of the local staff; 4) web- and telemedicine-based supervision. From April 2007 to December 2010, 921 sputum samples were received from 40 peripheral laboratories: 120 TB cases were diagnosed. Of all the smear-positive cases, 74.2% were culture-positive. During the year 2010, the smear positive to culture positive rate increased up to 100%. In March 20, 2010 the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of Zanzibar officially recognized the Public Health Laboratory- Ivo de Carneri as the National TB Reference Laboratory for the Zanzibar Archipelago. An advanced TB laboratory can represent a low cost solution to strengthen the TB diagnosis, to provide capacity building and mid-term sustainability

Elucidating dynamic metabolic physiology through network integration of quantitative time-course metabolomics.

Efst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn To access publisher's full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field.The increasing availability of metabolomics data necessitates novel methods for deeper data analysis and interpretation. We present a flux balance analysis method that allows for the computation of dynamic intracellular metabolic changes at the cellular scale through integration of time-course absolute quantitative metabolomics. This approach, termed "unsteady-state flux balance analysis" (uFBA), is applied to four cellular systems: three dynamic and one steady-state as a negative control. uFBA and FBA predictions are contrasted, and uFBA is found to be more accurate in predicting dynamic metabolic flux states for red blood cells, platelets, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Notably, only uFBA predicts that stored red blood cells metabolize TCA intermediates to regenerate important cofactors, such as ATP, NADH, and NADPH. These pathway usage predictions were subsequently validated through (13)C isotopic labeling and metabolic flux analysis in stored red blood cells. Utilizing time-course metabolomics data, uFBA provides an accurate method to predict metabolic physiology at the cellular scale for dynamic systems.National Heart Lung and Blood Institute European Research Council U.S. Department of Energ

WHATSAPP MESSENGER AS A REAL-TIME TOOL FOR A LONG-DISTANCE ACTIVITY OF A MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Introduction: Communication between doctors is traditionally conducted by written clinical charts. Mobile health is becoming an integral part of modern medical systems, improving accessibility and quality of medical care. Recent papers suggest that an increasing number of doctors are using in their clinical practice mobile tools to communicate clinical informations (1, 2). The aim of our study was to verify the adoption of WhatsApp Messenger in everyday clinical practice to obtain a real-time multidisciplinary collaboration among medical centers located in different areas of the city. Materials and Methods: In January 2016 a WhatsApp Messenger group was created among 25 specialists: 9 urologists, 9 oncologists, 3 urology residents, 3 radiotherapists and 1 general practitioner. A general coordinator and a group coordinator for each specialty was monthly appointed. The participants were invited to interact within the group clinical cases of genitourinary tumors of particular complexity requiring a multidisciplinary approach. All the chats were registered. A preliminary analysis of the activity of the group was planned after the first 10 entered patients. An evaluation questionnaire was sent after 6 months to evaluate the level of appreciation. The questionnaire was composed of a first section investigating the appreciation among the members of the group and a second section analyzing the impact in their everyday clinical practice of whatsapp multidisciplinary consultation. Results: In 10 (91%) out of 11 patients the WhatsApp consultation was completed, one case was not of oncological interest. An average of 8 (range=2-13) specialists joined the chat for each patient. An average of 17.6 (range: 4-43) interventions for each clinical case was recorded. On the average, 27%, 54% and 19% of the interventions for each clinical case were provided by oncologists, urologists and radiotherapists respectively. In 9 (81.8%) cases a final agreement on the patient's management was reached. At the evaluation questionnaire in a scale 1-10, the average rating score of appreciation was 7.8 (range=4-10). Relevant suggestions to improve the Whatsapp Messenger consultation were obtained and will be considered for future application the ameliorate the tool. Discussion: WhatsApp is a useful alternative and powerful complementary communication tool because of its capability to rapidly transfer large amount of clinical and radiological data. In our experience this new approach for multidisciplinary consultations improved collaboration among different specialist in different areas of the city through an easier and more informal change of opinions. In difficult and complex cases a rapid multidisciplinary approach allowed to offer the patient a personalized and tailored therapy management. GSTU Foundation. 1Sidhoum N, Dast S, Abdulshakoor A, Assaf N, Herlin C and Sinna R: WhatsApp: Improvement tool for surgical team communication. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg 69: 1562-1563, 2016. 2 Gould G and Nilforooshan R: WhatsApp Doc? BMJ Innov 2(3): 109-110, 201

Whole exome sequencing enhanced imputation identifies 85 metabolite associations in the Alpine CHRIS cohort

Metabolites are intermediates or end products of biochemical processes involved in both health and disease. Here, we take advantage of the well-characterized Cooperative Health Research in South Tyrol (CHRIS) study to perform an exome-wide association study (ExWAS) on absolute concentrations of 175 metabolites in 3294 individuals. To increase power, we imputed the identified variants into an additional 2211 genotyped individuals of CHRIS. In the resulting dataset of 5505 individuals, we identified 85 single-variant genetic associations, of which 39 have not been reported previously. Fifteen associations emerged at ten variants with \u3e5-fold enrichment in CHRIS compared to non-Finnish Europeans reported in the gnomAD database. For example, the CHRIS-enriche

UTILIZAÇÃO DO NIM NA AGROPECUÁRIA

O uso de agrotóxicos na agropecuária é algo que se tornou comum e que tem o objetivo de potencializar a produção agrícola e combater as pragas e doenças, mas o uso desenfreado destes pode prejudicar as culturas, pois gera resistência aos vetores de doenças da produção agrícola e animal. Com base nisso, objetiva-se pesquisar uma nova forma de combate às pragas da agropecuária que seja economicamente viável, com ação eficiente e ecologicamente sustentável direcionando o olhar para tecnologias futuras que podem se espalhar pelo país. Uma planta que possui um potencial nesse sentido é o Nim (Azadirachta indica), planta originária da Índia, pertencente à família Meliaceae, a mesma do Cedro e do Cinamomo, e que vem sendo pesquisada nos últimos anos para o combate a insetos, aracnídeos, fungos e bactérias. A árvore Nim, bem como suas partes, podem ser utilizadas na produção agropecuária, visto que pode ser usada como defensivo natural em algumas culturas, utilizada como carrapaticida no combate aos carrapatos no gado devido ao alto poder repelente da planta, sendo utilizada a vários séculos para este fim. Os produtos com ação repelente são o óleo de Nim e a torta de Nim. O primeiro é obtido através da trituração da semente do fruto e extração do óleo, o qual possui ação contra cerca de 500 espécies de parasitas, entre elas a mosca branca, lagarta, carrapatos, entre outras. A torta de Nim, produto restante após a extração do óleo, também é utilizada no combate a carrapatos, bernes e mosca-do-chifre. Esta tem ação fungicida e nematicida, além de fornecer nitrogênio, fósforo, cálcio, magnésio e potássio para o solo, portanto, a planta tem também função de fertilizante do solo. Outra utilização é na Integração Lavoura - Pecuária - Floresta (ILPF), a qual se mostra viável, pois a planta propicia sombra ao gado, a queda de suas folhas não raleia a pastagem e pode-se aproveitar a madeira para a indústria moveleira, por exemplo. O Nim também é utilizado como matéria prima para a produção de cosméticos e usos na alimentação humana. Assim sendo, este trabalho irá apresentar as características da planta e mostrar que o Nim é um produto interessante quando comparado a produtos convencionais industrializados que têm os mesmos usos. Por fim, ressaltar que o Nim ainda é pouco utilizado embora seja uma planta muito rentável à agropecuária por possuir diversos usos e formas de utilização