Graphene oxide toxicological effects on daphnia and hydra.

The increased use of nanomaterials products requires robust strategies to identify risks when they are released into the environment. Graphene and its derivatives are promising candidates for biomedical applications and as potential advanced water purification agents. However, little is known about their ecotoxicological risks. Aquatic toxicity tests are performed with different aquatic organisms as daphnia and hydra in order to evaluate the risks resulting from the presence of graphene oxide (GO) in the environment. The following GO concentrations were tested: 0, 1, 10 and 100 mg.L-1. Acute toxicity to D. magna was evaluated in a period of 48 hours when was recorded the number of moving subjects in order to determine the CE5024h and CE5048h (n = 24 / group). The percentage of daphnia presenting mobility after 48 hours of exposure was greater than 60% in all groups. There was a concentration effect of graphene oxide (p = 0.02) and mobility was 20% lower in group exposed to 100 mg.L-1 than the control group. To evaluate the occurrence of the effect of sublethal concentrations for 96 h, it was evaluate neonate D. similis growth rate through exposure to the same conditions used for acute toxicity testing (n = 10 / group). The bodies were photographed at the start of the test and every 24 hours. Also, there was studied the effect of the organisms mobility during 96 hours calculating the median survival time of the population, defined as the average time between the start of exposure and the immobility of organisms. There was a sharp decline when the organisms were subjected to 100 mg. L-1 GO. The Hydra attenuata test was performed for 96h. The organisms were observed every 24 hours for the presence of changes ranging from tentacles with bulbs (low toxicity) till shortening of the tentacles (severe toxicity), tulip aspect and disintegration (lethal). A mean score for each concentration was calculated. No mortality was observed in any concentration tested. However, it was observed some morphological alterations after 72h of 100.0 mg.L-1 exposure as clubbed and shortened tentacles and body slightly contracted. Exposures of the test organisms indicate that GO do not present a lethal risk or adversely affect them at concentrations lower to 10.0 mg. L-1. Even though the results apparently demonstrate that GO currently do not pose a serious risk, it may exert some damage in aquatic organisms tested at higher doses

Green mecanochemical process for carbon nanotubes coating with humic acid: application and ecotoxicity evaluation.

Nanomaterials (NM) are promising for environmental remediation due to their unreleased properties such as high surface area and reactivity. Chemical oxidations (H2SO4/HNO3) have been applied to carbon NM in order to favor their application, but these are expensive and hazardous. In this work, industrial grade multiwalled carbon nanotubes (raw-MWCNT) were coated with humic acid (HA) by a ball milling processing (solid state). The aim was to apply a green mechanochemical process to improve the colloidal stability of MWCNTs and their removal capacity of metals. The HA-MWCNT complex was studied by atomic force microscope (AFM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic light scattering (DLS), electrophoretic light scattering (ELS) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis). Cu2+ sorption from water by HA-MWCNT, MWCNT-COOH and milledMWCNT were compared. Acute bioassays (96h) were performed with Daphnia magna exposed to 0.0; 0.1; 1.0; 5.0 and 10.0 mg/L of HA-MWCNT. Our results showed that the coating process enhanced the zeta potential of raw-MWCNT of -25.4±0.2 mV to -37.4±0.7 mV and reduced their hydrodynamic diameter of 393.2±27.3 nm to 212.5±5.6 nm in ultrapure water. AFM images of HA-MWCNT showed that it has an irregular surface, due to the humic acid coating. The complex was 4 times (84±1.8%) more efficient to remove Cu2+ than MWCNTCOOH (20.0±1.4%) and 11 times compared to milled-MWCNT (7.6±3.1%). The increases in Oxygen and the reductions in Carbon on surface of HA-MWCNT relative to raw-MWCNT and milled-MWCNT indicated the introduction of functional oxygenated groups on MWCNT. The HA-MWCNT did not show acute toxicity against D. magna. These results suggest that the coating changes the MWCNT surface, resulting in a material with potential to metal remediation, prepared without oxidizing acids and that did not show toxicity on D. magna

Avaliação ecotoxicológica de nanomateriais de carbono em hydra attenuata.

Resumo: O óxido de grafeno (OG) nanoestruturado apresenta aplicações nas áreas eletrônica, farmacêutica e ambiental. Hydra attenuata é um organismo de água doce e sensível a vários de poluentes. Ela é facilmente cultivada em laboratório proporcionando um grande número de animais-teste e podem ser utilizadas em bioensaios simples e de baixo custo para avaliar as toxicidades aguda e crônica. Este estudo foi planejado com o objetivo de avaliar os possíveis efeitos de diferentes três configurações de grafeno (grafeno comercial (Cheaptubes ? CTB), resíduo da queima do bagaço de cana (RQB) e carvão ativo nanoestruturado (CAN) em Hydra attenuata como bioindicador. Os organismos foram mantidos em condições ambientais controladas durante 96h. O CTB causou alterações morfológicas nas maiores doses testadas de acordo com escala de escores. Verificou-se que a Hydra attenuata mostrou-se sensível enquanto bioindicador e que o grafeno pode causar efeitos alterações físicas em organismos aquáticos

Toxicologia do óxido de grafeno: avaliação in vitro da influência da presença de debris oxidativos.

A presença de debris oxidativos, resíduos carbonáceos originados do processo de síntese do óxido de grafeno (OG), é um importante fator que pode influenciar suas propriedades, comportamento e efeitos toxicológicos. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar as propriedades e efeitos da suspensão de OG com e sem debris oxidativos sobre a atividade de enzimas envolvidas em diversos processos metabólicos, possíveis alvos de ação tóxica. As suspensões de OG com e sem debris (p-OG) foram caracterizadas através das técnicas de centrifugação, espectrofotometria e espalhamento dinâmico de luz (DLS). Homogenatos de larvas de Danio rerio com 96 horas pós-fertilização foram incubados com suspensões de OG e p-OG (30 mg/L, 20 min, 30o?C), para a avaliação da atividade específica de glutationa S-transferase (GST) e de fosfatase ácida (FA). O tamanho hidrodinâmico obtido por DLS foi levemente maior para o p-OG (358,16 ± 5,90 nm) do que para o OG (284,73 ± 17,29 nm). A remoção de debris reduziu a estabilidade do OG em suspensão e propiciou a precipitação mais rápida das partículas por centrifugação. Os testes in vitro mostraram que não houve alteração na atividade específica de GST, mas que ocorreu inibição da atividade de FA de 20 e 9% em relação ao controle pelo OG e p-OG respectivamente. Novos estudos serão conduzidos para verificação do envolvimento de um efeito direto sobre a enzima ou de um efeito quelante de cofatores e metais essenciais à estrutura e atividade catalítica

Developing an infrastructure for secure patient summary exchange in the EU context: Lessons learned from the KONFIDO project

Background: The increase of healthcare digitalization comes along with potential information security risks. Thus, the EU H2020 KONFIDO project aimed to provide a toolkit supporting secure cross-border health data exchange. Methods: KONFIDO focused on the so-called “User Goals”, while also identifying barriers and facilitators regarding eHealth acceptance. Key user scenarios were elaborated both in terms of threat analysis and legal challenges. Moreover, KONFIDO developed a toolkit aiming to enhance the security of OpenNCP, the reference implementation framework. Results: The main project outcomes are highlighted and the “Lessons Learned,” the technical challenges and the EU context are detailed. Conclusions: The main “Lessons Learned” are summarized and a set of recommendations is provided, presenting the position of the KONFIDO consortium toward a robust EU-wide health data exchange infrastructure. To this end, the lack of infrastructure and technical capacity is highlighted, legal and policy challenges are identified and the need to focus on usability and semantic interoperability is emphasized. Regarding technical issues, an emphasis on transparent and standards-based development processes is recommended, especially for landmark software projects. Finally, promoting mentality change and knowledge dissemination is also identified as key step toward the development of secure cross-border health data exchange services

Ecotoxicidade de nanotubos de carbono revestidos com ácido húmico sobre Daphnia magna.

Devido à crescente produção e aplicação de nanomateriais em diversos setores industriais, a avaliação de sua ecotoxicidade é fundamental. Todavia, a estabilidade coloidal é um dos fatores que mais a influenciam, desempenhando efeitos substanciais sobre a biodistribuição e destino destes materiais no ambiente aquático. Nanotubos de carbono de paredes múltiplas foram revestidos com ácido húmico por um processo mecanoquímico, sem uso de solventes químicos, com a finalidade de alcançar uma dispersão coloidal adequada para estudos de ecotoxicidade de nanotubos de carbono. Ensaios de ecotoxicidade aguda (48 h) foram realizados com o microcrustáceo Daphnia magna nas concentrações de 0,1;1,0; 5,0 e 10 mg/L de nanotubos revestidos. A estabilidade coloidal foi monitorada por meio da análise do tamanho das partículas (diâmetro hidrodinâmico) e potencial Zeta (carga superficial) no meio de cultivo dos organismos (água reconstituída). O diâmetro hidrodinâmico e o potencial Zeta das partículas mantiveram-se constantes durante as 48 horas de exposição, e não foram observados efeitos de ecotoxicidade aguda. Microscopia de força atômica, espectroscopia ultravioleta-visível e termogravimetria foram empregadas para a caracterização dos nanotubos. Concluímos que o método/processo de dispersão empregado foi eficiente para proporcionar estabilidade coloidal ao nanomaterial em água reconstituída, permitindo assim, uma avaliação correta de sua ecotoxicidade sobre D. magna

Obstetric complications and genetic risk for schizophrenia: Differential role of antenatal and perinatal events in first episode psychosis

Background: Obstetric complications (OCs) are key contributors to psychosis risk. However, it is unclear whether they increase psychosis vulnerability independently of genetic risk, in interaction with it, or are a manifestation of psychosis proneness. We examined the role of distinct types of OCs in terms of psychosis risk and tested whether they interact differently with genetic vulnerability, whilst accounting for other known environmental risk factors. Study Design: 405 participants (219 first episode psychosis patients and 186 healthy volunteers) underwent a comprehensive assessment of OCs, measured using the Lewis-Murray scale and divided into complications of pregnancy, abnormalities of foetal growth and development, and complications of delivery. Participants were compared in terms of history of OCs, polygenic risk score for schizophrenia (PRS-SZ) and interactions between these. Results: Both complications of pregnancy and abnormalities of foetal growth were significantly associated with case–control status (p = 0.02 and 0.03, respectively), whereas complications of delivery were not. PRS-SZ showed a significant association with psychosis (p = 0.04), but there were no significant interactions between genetic risk for schizophrenia and OCs, either when these were considered globally or separated based on their timeframe. Conclusions: We observed no significant interaction between genetic and obstetric vulnerability, yet distinct types of OCs may have a different impact on psychosis risk, based on their nature and timeframe. Examining their differential role might clarify their relative contributions to this risk

Trocas gasosas em mudas de café arábica submetidas ao déficit hídrico e deficiência de nitrogênio.

Nas principais áreas brasileiras de cultivo de café arabica longos períodos sem chuvas são frequentemente observados. A seca é considerada como o principal fator limitante para o cultivo de café nessas áreas. As condições de seca afetam o crescimento e produtividade da cultura, em parte, através de reduções na taxa de assimilação líquida de carbono (A), seja por um efeito direto da desidratação sobre o aparato fotossintético ou em decorrência do efeito indireto do fechamento dos estômatos. Assim, objetivou-se com esta pesquisa estudar o impacto da nutrição nitrogenada e do déficit hídrico sobre as trocas gasosas em mudas de café arábica. Para avaliar as trocas gasosas em condições de déficit hídrico e de nitrogênio cinco cultivares de café arábica foram submetidas aos seguintes tratamentos: N-suficiente (+N, 5,0 mmol L-1 N-NO3-) sem déficit hídrico, N-suficiente (+N, 5,0 mmol L-1 N-NO3-) com déficit hídrico (-1,5 MPa) e N-deficiente (-N, 0,0 mmol L-1 N-NO3-) sem déficit hídrico, em solução nutritiva. O experimento foi montado em câmara de crescimento com temperatura controlada (23-24 oC), luminosidade de 200 ?mol m-² s-¹e unidade relativa entre 56-58 %, tendo as plantas sido submetidas ao fotoperíodo de 12h/12h (luz/escuro). O período experimental foi de 96 h. O experimento foi montado em esquema fatorial 5x9, composto de 5 cultivares de café (Catuaí Amarelo IAC 62, Catuaí Vermelho IAC 44, Acauã, Catucaí Amarelo 2SL e Mundo Novo IAC 379-19) e três tratamentos (descritos acima) no delineamento em blocos casualizados com três repetições onde cada parcela era constituída por duas plantas. Todas as medições de trocas gasosas e fluorescência foram feitas respeitando o delineamento em blocos casualizados. A estresse hídrico afetou a fotossíntese líquida, condutância estomática, taxa transpiratória e eficiência do uso da água. Já deficiência de nitrogênio não afetou as variáveis avaliadas. As cultivares Acauã e Mundo Novo sofreram os maiores efeitos do déficit hídrico. De maneira geral, o déficit hídrico afetou as variáveis fisiológicas avaliadas enquanto a deficiência de N não afetou significativamente as variáveis fisiológicas avaliadas

Nonreferral of possible soft tissue sarcomas in adults: a dangerous omission in policy

Introduction. The aim of this study is to compare outcomes in three groups of STS patients treated in our specialist centre: patients referred immediately after an inadequate initial treatment, patients referred after a local recurrence, and patients referred directly, prior to any treatment. Patients and methods. We reviewed all our nonmetastatic extremity-STS patients with a minimum follow-up of 2 years. We compared three patient groups: those referred directly to our centre (group A), those referred after an inadequate initial excision (group B), and patients with local recurrence (group C). Results. The study included 174 patients. Disease-free survival was 73%, 76%, and 28% in groups A, B, and C, respectively (P < .001). Depth, size, and histologic grade influenced the outcome in groups A and B, but not in C. Conclusion. Initial wide surgical treatment is the main factor that determines local control, being even more important than the known intrinsic prognostic factors of tumour size, depth, and histologic grade. The influence on outcome of initial wide local excision (WLE), which is made possible by referral to a specialist centre, is paramount

The European cross-border health data exchange roadmap: case study in the Italian setting

Health data exchange is a major challenge due to the sensitive information and the privacy issues entailed. Considering the European context, in which health data must be exchanged between different European Union (EU) Member States, each having a different national regulatory framework as well as different national healthcare structures, the challenge appears even greater. Europe has tried to address this challenge via the epSOS (“Smart Open Services for European Patients”) project in 2008, a European large-scale pilot on cross-border sharing of specific health data and services. The adoption of the framework is an ongoing activity, with most Member States planning its implementation by 2020. Yet, this framework is quite generic and leaves a wide space to each EU Member State regarding the definition of roles, processes, workflows and especially the specific integration with the National Infrastructures for eHealth. The aim of this paper is to present the current landscape of the evolving eHealth infrastructure for cross-border health data exchange in Europe, as a result of past and ongoing initiatives, and illustrate challenges, open issues and limitations through a specific case study describing how Italy is approaching its adoption and accommodates the identified barriers. To this end, the paper discusses ethical, regulatory and organizational issues, also focusing on technical aspects, such as interoperability and cybersecurity. Regarding cybersecurity aspects per se, we present the approach of the KONFIDO EU-funded project, which aims to reinforce trust and security in European cross-border health data exchange by leveraging novel approaches and cutting-edge technologies, such as homomorphic encryption, photonic Physical Unclonable Functions (p-PUF), a Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) system, and blockchain-based auditing. In particular, we explain how KONFIDO will test its outcomes through a dedicated pilot based on a realistic scenario, in which Italy is involved in health data exchange with other European countries