Otrovnost/esencijalnost prehrambenih minerala. Prikaz o otrovnim djelovanjima i/ili esencijalnosti mikronutrienata u povodu Nagrade za životno djelo akademice Kriste Kostial

Continued progress in the theory and practice of trace element analytical chemistry has made possible significant advances in investigating the role and fate of trace elements in biological systems. Public health commissions and environmental protection agencies have subsequently established requirements for intakes of and exposures to trace elements both from the nutritional (copper-zinc) and from the toxicological (cadmium-mercury) perspectives. Some trace elements demonstrate the properties of both categories, and consequently give rise to questions about the toxicity of essential dietary minerals. Selenium and chromium are typical examples of this toxicity-essentiality paradox. The systemic intoxication by and/or nutritional importance of these elements are reviewed as are the criteria for assessing their toxicity and essentiality.Posljednjih desetljeća sve veća briga posvećuje se, s jedne strane, izloženosti kroz prehrambeni lanac onečišćivačima tz okoliša kao što su kadmij, olovo i živa te, s druge strane, odgovarajućem unošenju esencijalnih mikroelemenata npr. bakra, željeza i cinka. Među znanstvenicima čiji je znanstvenoistraživački rad pridonio značajnim iznalascima o ulozi i sudbini elemenata u tragovima u biološkim sustavima je Krista Kostial. Ova međunarodno priznata znanstvenica značajno je pridonijela boljem razumijevanju mineralnog metabolizma, kako u spoznavanju prehrambenih potreba mikronutrienata, tako u izbjegavanju njihova otrovnog djelovanja zbog prekomjernog unošenja. Posebice je značajan rad K. Kostial o utjecaju dobi i spola u metabolizmu elemenata u tragovima. Stoga je ovaj prikaz o otrovnosti i/ili esencijalnosti prehrambenih minerala posvećen Kristi Kostial. Trajni napredak u teoriji i praksi analitičke kemije elemenata u tragovima omogućili su značajne pomake u istraživanju uloge i sudbine elemenata u biološkim sustavima. Povjerenstva za javno zdravstvo i agencije za zaštitu okoliša posljedično tomu ustanovili su potrebne dnevne količine unesenih elemenata i najviše dopustive koncentracije za izloženost elementima u tragovima s gledišta prehrambenih potreba (bakar, željezo, cink), odnosno s gledišta njihove otrovnosti (kadmij, olovo. živa). Neki elementi u tragovima pokazuju svojstva iz obje kategorije,tj. i esencijalnost i otrovnost, i tako otvaraju pitanja o otrovnosti prehrambenih minerala. Selen i krom tipični su primjerci ovog paradoksa esencijalnosti i/ili otrovnosti. Prikazane su značajke otrovanja i/ili prehrambene potrebitosti ovih elemenata kao i kriteriji za procjenjivanje njihove toksičnosti i esencijalnosti. Autor ističe složenost uloge i sudbine elemenata u tragovima u organizmu i važnost njihova kemijskog oblika i doziranja. Umjesto svakog drugog zaključka, izražava svoju želju za poticanjem daljnjih istraživačkih napora u tom području

The Use of Gene Expression Analysis and Proteomic Databases in The Development of a Screening System To Determine The Value of Natural Medicinal Products

A rapid throughput screening system involving gene expression analysis was developed in order to investigate the potential of bioactive chemicals contained in natural health products as effective drug therapy, in particular the ability of these chemicals to alleviate the inflammatory response in human airway epithelial cells. A number of databases were searched to retrieve the information needed to properly analyze the gene expression profiles obtained. The gene expression of human bronchial epithelial cells infected with rhinovirus and/or exposed to platelet activating factor was analyzed. Following analysis of the gene expression data the total number of expressed proteins that may potentially act as a marker for monitoring the modulation of airway inflammation was narrowed to 19. Further studies will involve selecting antibodies for these proteins, culturing airway epithelial cells in the presence of extracts of natural health products, extracting the proteins and identifying them by western blot analysis

Orochi: Investigating Requirements and Expectations for Multipurpose Daily Used Supernumerary Robotic Limbs

Supernumerary robotic limbs (SRLs) present many opportunities for daily use. However, their obtrusiveness and limitations in interaction genericity hinder their daily use. To address challenges of daily use, we extracted three design considerations from previous literature and embodied them in a wearable we call Orochi. The considerations include the following: 1) multipurpose use, 2) wearability by context, and 3) unobtrusiveness in public. We implemented Orochi as a snake-shaped robot with 25 DoFs and two end effectors, and demonstrated several novel interactions enabled by its limber design. Using Orochi, we conducted hands-on focus groups to explore how multipurpose SRLs are used daily and we conducted a survey to explore how they are perceived when used in public. Participants approved Orochi's design and proposed different use cases and postures in which it could be worn. Orochi's unobtrusive design was generally well received, yet novel interactions raise several challenges for social acceptance. We discuss the significance of our results by highlighting future research opportunities based on the design, implementation, and evaluation of Orochi

The impact of SHS exposure on health status and exacerbations among patients with COPD

Secondhand smoke (SHS) is a major contributor to indoor air pollution. Because it contains respiratory irritants, it may adversely influence the clinical course of persons with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We used data from nonsmoking members of the FLOW cohort of COPD (n = 809) to elucidate the impact of SHS exposure on health status and exacerbations (requiring emergency department visits or hospitalization). SHS exposure was measured by a validated survey instrument (hours of exposure during the past week). Physical health status was measured by the SF-12 Physical Component Summary Score and disease-specific health-related quality of life (HRQL) by the Airways Questionnaire 20-R. Health care utilization for COPD was determined from Kaiser Permanente Northern California computerized databases. Compared to no SHS exposure, higher level SHS exposure was associated with poorer physical health status (mean score decrement −1.78 points; 95% confidence interval [CI] −3.48 to −0.074 points) after controlling for potential confounders. Higher level SHS exposure was also related to poorer disease-specific HRQL (mean score increment 0.63; 95% CI 0.016 to 1.25) and less distance walked during the Six-Minute Walk test (mean decrement −50 feet; 95% CI −102 to 1.9). Both lower level and higher level SHS exposure was related to increased risk of emergency department (ED) visits (hazard ratio [HR] 1.40; 95% CI 0.96 to 2.05 and HR 1.41; 95% CI 0.94 to 2.13). Lower level and higher level SHS exposure were associated with a greater risk of hospital-based care for COPD, which was a composite endpoint of either ED visits or hospitalizations for COPD (HR 1.52; 95% CI 1.06 to 2.18 and HR 1.40; 95% CI 0.94 to 2.10, respectively). In conclusion, SHS was associated with poorer health status and a greater risk of COPD exacerbation. COPD patients may comprise a vulnerable population for the health effects of SHS

FITsense: employing multi-modal sensors in smart homes to predict falls.

As people live longer, the increasing average age of the population places additional strains on our health and social services. There are widely recognised benefits to both the individual and society from supporting people to live independently for longer in their own homes. However, falls in particular have been found to be a leading cause of the elderly moving into care, and yet surprisingly preventative approaches are not in place; fall detection and rehabilitation are too late. In this paper we present FITsense, which is building a Smart Home environment to identify increased risk of falls for residents, and so allow timely interventions before falls occurs. An ambient sensor network, installed in the Smart Home, identifies low level events taking place which is analysed to generate a resident’s profile of activities of daily living (ADLs). These ADL profiles are compared to both the resident’s typical profile and to known “risky” profiles to allow evidence-driven intervention recommendations. Human activity recognition to identify ADLs from sensor data is a key challenge. Here we compare a windowing-based and a sequence-based event representation on four existing datasets. We find that windowing works well, giving consistent performance but may lack sufficient granularity for more complex multi-part activities