Surface functionalisation of nanodiamonds for human neural stem cell adhesion and proliferation.

Biological systems interact with nanostructured materials on a sub-cellular level. These interactions may govern cell behaviour and the precise control of a nanomaterial's structure and surface chemistry allow for a high degree of tunability to be achieved. Cells are surrounded by an extra-cellular matrix with nano-topographical properties. Diamond based materials, and specifically nanostructured diamond has attracted much attention due to its extreme electrical and mechanical properties, chemical inertness and biocompatibility. Here the interaction of nanodiamond monolayers with human Neural Stem Cells (hNSCs) has been investigated. The effect of altering surface functionalisation of nanodiamonds on hNSC adhesion and proliferation has shown that confluent cellular attachment occurs on oxygen terminated nanodiamonds (O-NDs), but not on hydrogen terminated nanodiamonds (H-NDs). Analysis of H and O-NDs by Atomic Force Microscopy, contact angle measurements and protein adsorption suggests that differences in topography, wettability, surface charge and protein adsorption of these surfaces may underlie the difference in cellular adhesion of hNSCs reported here

Evidence, traces and connections: the search for a conceptual model to assess the impact of, and compliance with legislation on 'access to information', in public Higher Education Institutions. Case studies: Chile and the UK

From the 1990’s there have been an increasing number of countries promoting laws to enhance public participation, transparency and accountability. Regarding legislation, this tendency reached a peak of 52 countries from 2000 to 2010, and currently there are around 102 countries which have enacted laws on ‘access to information’. Increasing number of countries with legislation suggests a need for assessment, but how to measure ‘impact’ and ‘compliance’ of the legislation considering the complexity of both constructs? The thesis examines methodological foundations applied to the design, and validation of a conceptual model to assess both constructs. As research problem, the thesis examines which analytical constructs withstand the assessment tests and which are vindicated to be included as independent variables of the conceptual model. Mixed methodology was applied to conduct the research. Papers published in mainstream publications during the last ten years were selected by relevance to create the model. Content analysis, expert panel technique, and statistical analysis were applied to support decisions on (1) dependent variables operationalisation, (2) underpinning components of the model definition, and (3) independent variables inclusion criteria. The proposed model was validated by 17 experts from 10 countries, and it has two dependent and 66 independent variables. The construct ‘impact’ was measured applying an innovation to Pastakia’s matrix – RIAM–, and ‘compliance’ was assessed through statistical analysis of three questionnaires. The proposed model was applied in public higher education institutions under the legislation in UK and Chile, through case studies. Although impact and compliance are different constructs, their assessment when examining the incidence of legislation on ‘access to information’, held by public HEIs reported no considerable asymmetries in term of impact scores and compliance achievements. When major positive impacts were obtained, compliance also reported positive results, and when impact was slightly positive, compliance was equally moderate or good

Maternal smoking: a life course blood pressure determinant?

Introduction: Exposure to maternal smoking early in life may affect blood pressure (BP) control mechanisms. We examined the association between maternal smoking (before conception, during pregnancy, and 4 years after delivery) and BP in preschool children. Methods: We evaluated 4295 of Generation XXI children, recruited at birth in 2005–2006 and reevaluated at the age of 4. At birth, information was collected by face-to-face interview and additionally abstracted from clinical records. At 4-year follow-up, interviews were performed and children’s BP measured. Linear regression models were fitted to estimate the association between maternal smoking and children’s BP. Results: Children of smoking mothers presented significantly higher BP levels. After adjustment for maternal education, gestational hypertensive disorders, and child’s body mass index, children exposed during pregnancy to maternal smoking presented a higher systolic BP (SBP) z-score (β = 0.08, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.04 to 0.14). In crude models, maternal smoking was associated with higher SBP z-score at every assessed period. However, after adjustment, an attenuation of the association estimates occurred (β = 0.08, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.13 before conception; β = 0.07, 95%CI 0.02 to 0.12; β = 0.04, 95%CI −0.02 to 0.10; and β = 0.06, 95%CI 0.00 to 0.13 for the first, second, and third pregnancy trimesters, respectively; and β = 0.07, 95%CI 0.02 to 0.12 for current maternal smoking). No significant association was observed for diastolic BP z-score levels. Conclusion: Maternal smoking before, during, and after pregnancy was independently associated with systolic BP z-score in preschool children. This study provides additional evidence to the public health relevance of maternal smoking cessation programs if early cardiovascular health of children is envisaged. Implications: Using observational longitudinal data from the birth cohort Generation XXI, this study showed that exposure to maternal smoking—before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and 4 years after delivery—was associated with a systolic BP-raising effect in children at the age of 4. The findings of this study add an important insight into the need to support maternal smoke-free environments in order to provide long-term cardiovascular benefit, starting as early as possible in life.Generation XXI has been funded by the Operational Health Programme XXI Health, Community support framework III (co-funded by Feder), Administração Regional de Saúde do Norte, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (SFRH/BSAB/113778/2015; PD/BD/105824/2014; PD/BD/105827/2014; F-COMP-01-0124-FEDER-011008; FCT—PTDC/SAU-ESA/105033/2008). Also, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology funds the Epidemiology Research Unit of the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto (UID/DTP/04750/2013). This article is a result of the project DOCnet (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000003), supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)

Alimentación práctica del cerdo

The feed represent over 65% of production costs, so should be established as a priority. It is not enough that a diet meets the nutritional needs of pigs, the ration formulation must right with official regulations governing each country for the use and manufacture of feed. Also, the feed should be easy to preserve and supplying, taking into the wide variety to installations (feeders and drinkers) used in various stages of pigs. However, the fundamental objective of the formulation of a diet is that it contains the necessary nutrients in the correct proportions and balance, considering the physiological stage, weight, age, sex, genetic potential, health status, season and production objectives with a the legal constraints. Once accomplished the formulation, the next step will be insure preparing the feed under conditions that ensure the safety, traceability and lower cost of the same. To this challenge, is adding the need to the right with environmental regulations related to feed and animal welfare.La alimentación representan alrededor del 65% de los costes de producción, por ello debe establecerse como una prioridad. No es suficiente que una dieta cumpla con las necesidades nutricionales de los cerdos, la formulación debe obedecer las normativas oficiales que rigen en cada país para el uso y fabricación de alimentos. Asimismo, el alimento debe ser fácil de conservar y suministrar, asumiendo la gran variedad de instalaciones (comederos y bebederos) utilizadas en las distintas etapas de los cerdos. Sin embargo, el objetivo fundamental de la formulación de una dieta es que contenga los nutrientes necesarios en las cantidades correctas y equilibradas, considerando la etapa fisiológica, peso, edad, sexo, potencial genético, estado de salud, época del año, objetivos productivos y de producto final, así como las limitantes legales. Una vez cumplida la formulación, el siguiente paso es asegurar que ésta sea elaborada bajo condiciones que garanticen la inocuidad, trazabilidad y bajo costo de la misma. A este desafío, se añade la necesidad de cumplir con las normativas ambientales relacionadas con la alimentación y bienestar animal

The effects of weather and climate change on dengue

There is much uncertainty about the future impact of climate change on vector-borne diseases. Such uncertainty reflects the difficulties in modelling the complex interactions between disease, climatic and socioeconomic determinants. We used a comprehensive panel dataset from Mexico covering 23 years of province-specific dengue reports across nine climatic regions to estimate the impact of weather on dengue, accounting for the effects of non-climatic factors

Leadership, institution building and pay-back of health systems research in Mexico

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health systems research is being increasingly called upon to support scaling up of disease control interventions and to support rapid health sector change. Yet research capacity building and pay-back take years or even decades to be demonstrated, while leadership and institution building are critical for their success. The case of Mexico can be illustrative for middle income countries and emerging economies striving to build health research systems.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Historical reflection suggests the relationship between health sector reforms and economic crisis, on the one hand, and research capacity building and payback, on the other. Mexico's post-revolutionary background and its three health sector reforms are analyzed to identify the emphases given to health systems research.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The first wave of health reform in the 1940s emphasized clinical and epidemiological research. Health systems research was not encouraged in a context of rapid economic development and an authoritarian regime. In contrast, health systems research was given a privileged place with the second wave of health reforms in the 1980s, which addressed health system coordination, decentralization and the universal right to health in a context of a deep economic crisis. The third wave of health reforms between 2003 and 2006 was based on the health system models proposed through research in the 90s. The credibility gained by research institutions was critical to ensure government uptake. Research influence can be traced through the role it played in defining a problem, in designing innovative insurance mechanisms and in establishing evaluation frameworks. It is argued that the Ministry of Health's budget increase of 56% between 2003 and 2006 and the reductions in inequity are pay-back to research investments since the 1980s.</p

Mexico's Health System: More Comprehensive Reform Needed

Jason Lakin discusses and critiques a Policy Forum that reviews 25 years of reform to the Mexican health system and argues that more comprehensive reform is needed

Utility of Gene Panels for the Diagnosis of Inborn Errors of Metabolism in a Metabolic Reference Center

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies have been proposed as a first-line test for the diagnosis of inborn errors of metabolism (IEM), a group of genetically heterogeneous disorders with overlapping or nonspecific phenotypes. Over a 3-year period, we prospectively analyzed 311 pediatric patients with a suspected IEM using four targeted gene panels. The rate of positive diagnosis was 61.86% for intermediary metabolism defects, 32.84% for complex molecular defects, 19% for hypoglycemic/hyperglycemic events, and 17% for mitochondrial diseases, and a conclusive molecular diagnosis was established in 2-4 weeks. Forty-one patients for whom negative results were obtained with the mitochondrial diseases panel underwent subsequent analyses using the NeuroSeq panel, which groups all genes from the individual panels together with genes associated with neurological disorders (1870 genes in total). This achieved a diagnostic rate of 32%. We next evaluated the utility of a tool, Phenomizer, for differential diagnosis, and established a correlation between phenotype and molecular findings in 39.3% of patients. Finally, we evaluated the mutational architecture of the genes analyzed by determining z-scores, loss-of-function observed/expected upper bound fraction (LOEUF), and haploinsufficiency (HI) scores. In summary, targeted gene panels for specific groups of IEMs enabled rapid and effective diagnosis, which is critical for the therapeutic management of IEM patients.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Complex Polysaccharide-Based Nanocomposites for Oral Insulin Delivery

Polyelectrolyte nanocomposites rarely reach a stable state and aggregation often occurs. Here, we report the synthesis of nanocomposites for the oral delivery of insulin composed of alginate, dextran sulfate, poly-(ethylene glycol) 4000, poloxamer 188, chitosan, and bovine serum albumin. The nanocomposites were obtained by Ca2+-induced gelation of alginate followed by an electrostatic-interaction process among the polyelectrolytes. Chitosan seemed to be essential for the final size of the nanocomposites and there was an optimal content that led to the synthesis of nanocomposites of 400–600 nm hydrodynamic size. The enhanced stability of the synthesized nanocomposites was assessed with LUMiSizer after synthesis. Nanocomposite stability over time and under variations of ionic strength and pH were assessed with dynamic light scattering. The rounded shapes of nanocomposites were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. After loading with insulin, analysis by HPLC revealed complete drug release under physiologically simulated conditions