Data and Image Transfer Using Mobile Phones to Strengthen Microscopy-Based Diagnostic Services in Low and Middle Income Country Laboratories

Background: The emerging market of mobile phone technology and its use in the health sector is rapidly expanding and connecting even the most remote areas of world. Distributing diagnostic images over the mobile network for knowledge sharing, feedback or quality control is a logical innovation. Objective: To determine the feasibility of using mobile phones for capturing microscopy images and transferring these to a central database for assessment, feedback and educational purposes. Methods: A feasibility study was carried out in Uganda. Images of microscopy samples were taken using a prototype connector that could fix a variety of mobile phones to a microscope. An Information Technology (IT) platform was set up for data transfer from a mobile phone to a website, including feedback by text messaging to the end user. Results: Clear images were captured using mobile phone cameras of 2 megapixels (MP) up to 5MP. Images were sent by mobile Internet to a website where they were visualized and feedback could be provided to the sender by means of text message. Conclusion: The process of capturing microscopy images on mobile phones, relaying them to a central review website and feeding back to the sender is feasible and of potential benefit in resource poor settings. Even though the system needs furthe

Potential of essential fatty acid deficiency with extremely low fat diet in lipoprotein lipase deficiency during pregnancy: A case report

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy in patients with lipoprotein lipase deficiency is associated with high risk of maternal pancreatitis and fetal death. A very low fat diet (< 10% of calories) is the primary treatment modality for the prevention of acute pancreatitis, a rare but potentially serious complication of severe hypertriglyceridemia. Since pregnancy can exacerbate hypertriglyceridemia in the genetic absence of lipoprotein lipase, a further reduction of dietary fat intake to < 1–2% of total caloric intake may be required during the pregnancy, along with the administration of a fibrate. It is uncertain if essential fatty acid deficiency will develop in the mother and fetus with this extremely low fat diet, or whether fibrates will cross the placenta and concentrate in the fetus. CASE PRESENTATION: A 23 year-old gravida 1 woman with primary lipoprotein lipase deficiency was seen at 7 weeks of gestation in the Lipid Clinic for management of severe hypertriglyceridemia that had worsened with pregnancy. While on her habitual fat intake of 10% of total calories, her pregnancy resulted in an exacerbation of the hypertriglyceridemia, which prompted further restriction of fat intake to < 2% of total calories, as well as administration of gemfibrozil at a lower than average dose. The level of gemfibrozil, as the active metabolite, in the venous and arterial fetal cord blood was within the expected therapeutic range for adults. The clinical signs and a biomarker of essential fatty acid deficiency, namely the ratio of 20:3 [n-9] to 20:4 [n-6] fatty acids, were closely monitored throughout her pregnancy. Despite her extremely low fat diet, the levels of essential fatty acids measured in the mother and in the fetal blood immediately postpartum were normal. Normal essential fatty acid levels may have been achieved by the topical application of sunflower oil. CONCLUSIONS: An extremely low fat diet in combination with topical sunflower oil and gemfibrozil administration was safely implemented in pregnancy associated with the severe hypertriglyceridemia of lipoprotein lipase deficiency

Occasional paternal inheritance of the germline-restricted chromosome in songbirds

Songbirds have one special accessory chromosome, the so-called germline-restricted chromosome (GRC), which is only present in germline cells and absent from all somatic tissues. Earlier work on the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata castanotis) showed that the GRC is inherited only through the female line-like the mitochondria-and is eliminated from the sperm during spermatogenesis. Here, we show that the GRC has the potential to be paternally inherited. Confocal microscopy using GRC-specific fluorescent in situ hybridization probes indicated that a considerable fraction of sperm heads (1 to 19%) in zebra finch ejaculates still contained the GRC. In line with these cytogenetic data, sequencing of ejaculates revealed that individual males from two families differed strongly and consistently in the number of GRCs in their ejaculates. Examining a captive-bred male hybrid of the two zebra finch subspecies (T. g. guttata and T. g. castanotis) revealed that the mitochondria originated from a castanotis mother, whereas the GRC came from a guttata father. Moreover, analyzing GRC haplotypes across nine castanotis matrilines, estimated to have diverged for up to 250,000 y, showed surprisingly little variability among GRCs. This suggests that a single GRC haplotype has spread relatively recently across all examined matrilines. A few diagnostic GRC mutations that arose since this inferred spreading suggest that the GRC has continued to jump across matriline boundaries. Our findings raise the possibility that certain GRC haplotypes could selfishly spread through the population via occasional paternal transmission, thereby out-competing other GRC haplotypes that were limited to strict maternal inheritance, even if this was partly detrimental to organismal fitness

Life history shapes variation in egg composition in the blue tit Cyanistes caeruleus

Maternal investment directly shapes early developmental conditions and therefore has long-term fitness consequences for the offspring. In oviparous species prenatal maternal investment is fixed at the time of laying. To ensure the best survival chances for most of their offspring, females must equip their eggs with the resources required to perform well under various circumstances, yet the actual mechanisms remain unknown. Here we describe the blue tit egg albumen and yolk proteomes and evaluate their potential to mediate maternal effects. We show that variation in egg composition (proteins, lipids, carotenoids) primarily depends on laying order and female age. Egg proteomic profiles are mainly driven by laying order, and investment in the egg proteome is functionally biased among eggs. Our results suggest that maternal effects on egg composition result from both passive and active (partly compensatory) mechanisms, and that variation in egg composition creates diverse biochemical environments for embryonic development