CIBERER : Spanish national network for research on rare diseases: A highly productive collaborative initiative

Altres ajuts: Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII); Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.CIBER (Center for Biomedical Network Research; Centro de Investigación Biomédica En Red) is a public national consortium created in 2006 under the umbrella of the Spanish National Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII). This innovative research structure comprises 11 different specific areas dedicated to the main public health priorities in the National Health System. CIBERER, the thematic area of CIBER focused on rare diseases (RDs) currently consists of 75 research groups belonging to universities, research centers, and hospitals of the entire country. CIBERER's mission is to be a center prioritizing and favoring collaboration and cooperation between biomedical and clinical research groups, with special emphasis on the aspects of genetic, molecular, biochemical, and cellular research of RDs. This research is the basis for providing new tools for the diagnosis and therapy of low-prevalence diseases, in line with the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) objectives, thus favoring translational research between the scientific environment of the laboratory and the clinical setting of health centers. In this article, we intend to review CIBERER's 15-year journey and summarize the main results obtained in terms of internationalization, scientific production, contributions toward the discovery of new therapies and novel genes associated to diseases, cooperation with patients' associations and many other topics related to RD research

Iron Behaving Badly: Inappropriate Iron Chelation as a Major Contributor to the Aetiology of Vascular and Other Progressive Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases

The production of peroxide and superoxide is an inevitable consequence of aerobic metabolism, and while these particular "reactive oxygen species" (ROSs) can exhibit a number of biological effects, they are not of themselves excessively reactive and thus they are not especially damaging at physiological concentrations. However, their reactions with poorly liganded iron species can lead to the catalytic production of the very reactive and dangerous hydroxyl radical, which is exceptionally damaging, and a major cause of chronic inflammation. We review the considerable and wide-ranging evidence for the involvement of this combination of (su)peroxide and poorly liganded iron in a large number of physiological and indeed pathological processes and inflammatory disorders, especially those involving the progressive degradation of cellular and organismal performance. These diseases share a great many similarities and thus might be considered to have a common cause (i.e. iron-catalysed free radical and especially hydroxyl radical generation). The studies reviewed include those focused on a series of cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological diseases, where iron can be found at the sites of plaques and lesions, as well as studies showing the significance of iron to aging and longevity. The effective chelation of iron by natural or synthetic ligands is thus of major physiological (and potentially therapeutic) importance. As systems properties, we need to recognise that physiological observables have multiple molecular causes, and studying them in isolation leads to inconsistent patterns of apparent causality when it is the simultaneous combination of multiple factors that is responsible. This explains, for instance, the decidedly mixed effects of antioxidants that have been observed, etc...Comment: 159 pages, including 9 Figs and 2184 reference

Introducing HyPeak: an international network on hydropeaking research, practice, and policy

22restrictedInternationalAn increase in the demand for renewable energy is driving hydropower development and its integration with variable renewable energy sources. When hydropower is produced flexibly from storage plants, it causes rapid and frequent artificial flow fluctuations in rivers, a phenomenon known as hydropeaking. Hydropeaking and associated hydrological alterations cause multiple impacts on riverine habitats with cascading effects on ecosystem functioning and structure. Given the significance of hydropeaking’s ecological and socio-economic implications, mitigation requires an inter- and transdisciplinary approach. HyPeak has been conceived to enrich international research initiatives and support hydropower planning and policy. It has been founded based on exchange and networking activities linking scientists from several countries where hydropeaking has been widespread for decades and numerous studies have been carried out. HyPeak aims to integrate members from other countries and continents in which hydropower production plays a relevant role, and grow to be a reference group that provides expert advice on the topic to policy-makers.restrictedAlp, Maria; Batalla, Ramon J.; Bejarano, Maria Dolores; Boavida, Isabel; Capra, Hervé; Carolli, Mauro; Casas‐Mulet, Roser; Costa, Maria João; Halleraker, Jo Halvard; Hauer, Christoph; Hayes, Daniel S.; Harby, Atle; Noack, Markus; Palau, Antoni; Schneider, Matthias; Schönfelder, Lennart; Tonolla, Diego; Vanzo, Davide; Venus, Terese; Vericat, Damià; Zolezzi, Guido; Bruno, Maria CristinaAlp, M.; Batalla, R.J.; Bejarano, M.D.; Boavida, I.; Capra, H.; Carolli, M.; Casas‐mulet, R.; Costa, M.J.; Halleraker, J.H.; Hauer, C.; Hayes, D.S.; Harby, A.; Noack, M.; Palau, A.; Schneider, M.; Schönfelder, L.; Tonolla, D.; Vanzo, D.; Venus, T.; Vericat, D.; Zolezzi, G.; Bruno, M.C

Introducing HyPeak : an international network on hydropeaking research, practice, and policy

An increase in the demand for renewable energy is driving hydropower development and its integration with variable renewable energy sources. When hydropower is produced flexibly from hydropower plants, it causes rapid and frequent artificial flow fluctuations in rivers, a phenomenon known as hydropeaking. Hydropeaking and associated hydrological alterations cause multiple impacts on riverine habitats with cascading effects on ecosystem functioning and structure. Given the significance of its ecological and socio-economic implications, mitigation of hydropeaking requires an inter- and transdisciplinary approach. An interdisciplinary network called HyPeak has been conceived to enrich international research initiatives and support hydropower planning and policy. HyPeak has been founded based on exchange and networking activities linking scientists from several countries where hydropeaking has been widespread for decades and numerous studies dedicated to the topic have been carried out. HyPeak aims to integrate members from other countries and continents in which hydropower production plays a relevant role, and grow to be a reference group that provides expert advice on the topic to policy-makers, as well as researchers, stakeholders, and practitioners in the field of hydropeaking