Renal engineering:strategies to address the problem of the ureter

Current techniques for making renal organoids generate tissues that show function when transplanted into a host, but they have no ureter through which urine can drain. There are at least 4 possible strategies for adding a ureter: connecting to ta host ureter; inducing an engineered kidney to make a ureter; making a stem-cell derived ureter; and replacement of only damaged cortex and outer medulla, using remaining host calyces, pelvis and ureter. Here we review progress: local BMP4 can induce a collecting duct tubule to become a ureter; a urothelial tube can be produced directly from pluripotent cells, and connect to the collecting duct system of a renal organoid; it is possible to graft ES cell-derived ureters into host kidney rudiments and see connection, smooth muscle development and spontaneous contraction, but this has not yet been achieved with all components being derived from ES cells. Remaining problems are discussed

PELATIHAN PEMBUATAN MESIN GRANULATOR JAMU TRADISIONAL DI DESA POMAHAN KECAMATAN BAURENO KABUPATEN BOJONEGORO

Permasalahan terkait proses produksi jamu tradisional  di Desa Pomahan Kec. Baureno Bojonegoro Penggunaan ramuan tradisional di Indonesia masih sangat digemari sebagai obat herbal maupun meningkatkan imunitas tubuh. Sebagai negara yang sangat bergantung pada rempah-rempah tentunya mudah untuk mendapatkan bahan baku pembuatan jamu tradisional. Ramuan tradisional ini dapat dimanfaatkan oleh UMKM untuk dijadikan ramuan herbal instan yang dapat dengan mudah dikonsumsi masyarakat umum sehingga dapat memiliki nilai jual. Proses produksi serbuk jamu instan saat ini dilakukan secara manual dan konvensional, yang membutuhkan banyak tenaga dan menghasilkan hasil yang terbatas. Pembuatan ramuan herbal instan perlu adanya proses kristalisasi dengan cara memanaskan ekstrak rempah-rempah di tungku yang panas dan diaduk terus menerus hingga ±1-2 jam sehingga dihasilkan serbuk yang dapat disimpan dan dikonsumsi dengan cara diseduh. Proses pengadukan yang lama tersebut dapat menjadi kendala karena memerlukan tenaga manusia yang melelahkan dan berpotensi ramuan akan hangus apabila pengadukan berhenti

PELATIHAN PEMBUATAN KERIPIK PISANG SEBAGAI SARANA PELUANG BISNIS UNTUK IBU PKK DI KAMPUNG AIMASI, PAPUA BARAT

Pisang merupakan salah satu jenis komoditas pertanian yang dikenal oleh masyarakat Indonesia karena manfaatnya. Pisang dikenal karena hampir semua bagian tanaman pisang dapat dimanfaatkan muali dari daun, batang hingga buah. Pisang merupakan pangan lokal yang berpotensi untuk diekmabngkan. Diperlukan usaha yang komprehensif untuk mengembangkan pangan lokal skala kecil dimulai dari kalangan ibu rumah tangga. Kegiatan Pengabdian kepada masyarakat ini dilaksanakan dengan tujuan untuk memberikan pelatihan kepada ibu-ibu rumah tangga khususnya ibu PKK Kampung Aimasi untuk peningkatan nilai tambah makanan olahan pisang dalam bentuk keripik pisang coklat. Adapun indkator keberhasilan yang diperoleh berdasarkan hasil assessment melalui tanya jawab pada peserta PkM adalah dari total jumlah peserta yang hadir hampir seluruh peserta menunjukkan antusisme menyimak dan mengajukan pertanyaan terkait materi pelatihan yang disampaikan. Peserta yang hadir bersemangat mengikuti rangkaian kegiatan dari awal hingga akhir dan juga mereka memiliki keinginan untuk menerapkan ilmu yang diperoleh untuk meningkatkan keterampilan dalam berwirausah

Differentiation of a contractile, ureter-like tissue, from Embryonic Stem cell-derived ureteric bud and <i>Ex-Fetu</i> mesenchyme

BACKGROUND: There is intense interest in replacing kidneys from stem cells. It is now possible to produce, from embryonic or induced pluripotent stem cells, kidney organoids that represent immature kidneys and display some physiologic functions. However, current techniques have not yet resulted in renal tissue with a ureter, which would be needed for engineered kidneys to be clinically useful. METHODS: We used a published sequence of growth factors and drugs to induce mouse embryonic stem cells to differentiate into ureteric bud tissue. We characterized isolated engineered ureteric buds differentiated from embryonic stem cells in three-dimensional culture and grafted them into ex fetu mouse kidney rudiments. RESULTS: Engineered ureteric buds branched in three-dimensional culture and expressed Hoxb7, a transcription factor that is part of a developmental regulatory system and a ureteric bud marker. When grafted into the cortex of ex fetu kidney rudiments, engineered ureteric buds branched and induced nephron formation; when grafted into peri-Wolffian mesenchyme, still attached to a kidney rudiment or in isolation, they did not branch but instead differentiated into multilayer ureter-like epithelia displaying robust expression of the urothelial marker uroplakin. This engineered ureteric bud tissue also organized the mesenchyme into smooth muscle that spontaneously contracted, with a period a little slower than that of natural ureteric peristalsis. CONCLUSIONS: Mouse embryonic stem cells can be differentiated into ureteric bud cells. Grafting those UB-like structures into peri-Wolffian mesenchyme of cultured kidney rudiments can induce production of urothelium and organize the mesenchyme to produce rhythmically contracting smooth muscle layers. This development may represent a significant step toward the goal of renal regeneration

Health-related quality of life in patients with sickle cell disease in Saudi Arabia

Background There is a lack of research concerning health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Saudi patients with sickle cell disease (SCD), particularly among adult populations. The aim of the current study was to describe the characteristics of SCD patients and their impact on their quality of life (QoL). Methods Six hundred twenty-nine adult SCD patients who attended King Fahad Hospital in Hofuf and King Fahad Central Hospital in Jazan were included in the analysis. Demographic/clinical data were collected and an Arabic version of the Medical Outcomes 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire was used to assess QoL. Results SCD patients who hold a university degree reported positive impacts on the following domains of SF-36: physical role function, vitality, emotional well being, social function, pain reduction, and general health (P = .002, P = .001, P = .001, P = .003, P = .004, and P = .001, respectively). In general, patients with fever, skin redness, swelling, or history of blood transfusion tended to impair the health status of the SF-36. A multivariate analysis revealed that patients with a university degree tended to report high scores of physical role functions, emotional role function, and vitality. Patients with regular exercise tend to increase vitality, social function, general health, and reduce pain. Unemployment tends to lessen vitality and worsen pain. On average, pain, social function, and physical function scores tended to worsen in patients with swelling or history of blood transfusion. Conclusions This study highlighted that poor education, fever, skin redness, and swelling were negatively associated with specific components of SF-36. SCD patients with a history of blood transfusion found their QoL poorer, whereas regular exercise tended to improve QoL

Age, Disease Severity and Ethnicity Influence Humoral Responses in a Multi-Ethnic COVID-19 Cohort

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all individuals across the globe in some way. Despite large numbers of reported seroprevalence studies, there remains a limited understanding of how the magnitude and epitope utilization of the humoral immune response to SARS-CoV-2 viral anti-gens varies within populations following natural infection. Here, we designed a quantitative, multi-epitope protein microarray comprising various nucleocapsid protein structural motifs, including two structural domains and three intrinsically disordered regions. Quantitative data from the microarray provided complete differentiation between cases and pre-pandemic controls (100% sensitivity and specificity) in a case-control cohort (n = 100). We then assessed the influence of disease severity, age, and ethnicity on the strength and breadth of the humoral response in a multi-ethnic cohort (n = 138). As expected, patients with severe disease showed significantly higher antibody titers and interestingly also had significantly broader epitope coverage. A significant increase in antibody titer and epitope coverage was observed with increasing age, in both mild and severe disease, which is promising for vaccine efficacy in older individuals. Additionally, we observed significant differences in the breadth and strength of the humoral immune response in relation to ethnicity, which may reflect differences in genetic and lifestyle factors. Furthermore, our data enabled localization of the immuno-dominant epitope to the C-terminal structural domain of the viral nucleocapsid protein in two independent cohorts. Overall, we have designed, validated, and tested an advanced serological assay that enables accurate quantitation of the humoral response post natural infection and that has revealed unexpected differences in the magnitude and epitope utilization within a population