An examination of nervous system revealed unexpected immunoreactivity of both secretory apparatus and excretory canals in plerocercoids of two broad tapeworms (Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea)

Dibothriocephalus ditremus and Dibothriocephalus latus are diphyllobothriidean tapeworms autochthonous to Europe. Their larval stages (plerocercoids) may seriously alter health of their intermediate fish hosts (D. ditremus) or cause intestinal diphyllobothriosis of the final human host (D. latus). Despite numerous data on the internal structure of broad tapeworms, many aspects of the morphology and physiology related to host–parasite co-existence remain unclear for these 2 species. The main objective of this work was to elucidate functional morphology of the frontal part (scolex) of plerocercoids, which is crucial for their establishment in fish tissues and for an early attachment in final hosts. The whole-mount specimens were labelled with different antibodies and examined by confocal microscope to capture their complex 3-dimensional microanatomy. Both species exhibited similar general pattern of immunofluorescent signal, although some differences were observed. In the nervous system, FMRF amide-like immunoreactivity (IR) occurred in the bi-lobed brain, 2 main nerve cords and surrounding nerve plexuses. Differences between the species were found in the structure of the brain commissures and the size of the sensilla. Synapsin IR examined in D. ditremus occurred mainly around FMRF amide-like IR brain lobes and main cords. The unexpected finding was an occurrence of FMRF amide-like IR in terminal reservoirs of secretory gland ducts and excretory canals, which has not been observed previously in any tapeworm species. This may indicate that secretory/excretory products, which play a key role in host–parasite relationships, are likely to contain FMRF amide-related peptide/s

Towards a comprehensive characterisation of the human internal chemical exposome: Challenges and perspectives

The holistic characterisation of the human internal chemical exposome using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) would be a step forward to investigate the environmental AE tiology of chronic diseases with an unprecedented precision. HRMS-based methods are currently operational to reproducibly profile thousands of endogenous metabolites as well as externally-derived chemicals and their biotransformation products in a large number of biological samples from human cohorts. These approaches provide a solid ground for the discovery of unrecognised biomarkers of exposure and metabolic effects associated with many chronic diseases. Nevertheless, some limitations remain and have to be overcome so that chemical exposomics can provide unbiased detection of chemical exposures affecting disease susceptibility in epidemiological studies. Some of these limitations include (i) the lack of versatility of analytical techniques to capture the wide diversity of chemicals; (ii) the lack of analytical sensitivity that prevents the detection of exogenous (and endogenous) chemicals occurring at (ultra) trace levels from restricted sample amounts, and (iii) the lack of automation of the annotation/identification process. In this article, we discuss a number of technological and methodological limitations hindering applications of HRMS-based methods and propose initial steps to push towards a more comprehensive characterisation of the internal chemical exposome. We also discuss other challenges including the need for harmonisation and the difficulty inherent in assessing the dynamic nature of the internal chemical exposome, as well as the need for establishing a strong international collaboration, high level networking, and sustainable research infrastructure. A great amount of research, technological development and innovative bio-informatics tools are still needed to profile and characterise the "invisible" (not profiled), "hidden" (not detected) and "dark" (not annotated) components of the internal chemical exposome and concerted efforts across numerous research fields are paramount

3D Mapping with a Drone Equipped with a Depth Camera in Indoor Environment

This paper presents a quadrotor drone designed for the 3D reconstruction of indoor environments using a depth camera and a tracking camera. The drone’s hardware and software components are described, including the Holybro X500V2 kit, the Intel RealSense T265 tracking camera, and the Intel RealSense D435i depth camera. The paper outlines the process of building a complete TF tree, capturing point clouds with RtabMap, and streaming video. The drone’s pose stabilization and successful test flight in an indoor environment are also discussed, including its ability to navigate through indoor spaces and provide accurate data for 3D reconstruction. The paper concludes with recommendations for future development, such as autonomous navigation and exploration of unknown areas. The results demonstrate the feasibility and potential of this drone for creating detailed and comprehensive maps of indoor environments

Achievements in robotic automation of solvent extraction and related approaches for bioanalysis of pharmaceuticals

Currently, the growing demand on quick, easy and ecological sample pretreatment methods is unquestionable. Such challenge involves also approaches focusing on the analysis of pharmaceuticals and other endogenous compounds in biological matrices, termed as Bioanalysis. Solvent extraction such as liquid-liquid extraction (LLE), derived liquid phase microextraction (LPME) and related approaches such as solid liquid extraction (SLE), proved to be applicable in bioanalysis, as numerous papers have been published in this field. However, their manual performances may suffer from a long-term and laborious preparation, due to the inherent complexity of the biological samples. A high sample-throughput (enabling measurement of tens or hundreds of samples on a daily basis) can be achieved when automation of sample pretreatment is performed, resulting in decreased imprecision and low waste production of hazardous solvents and risky biological materials. Here, robotic systems have a key role, especially when multiple processing (e.g., 96-well plate format) and coupling to modern analytical instrumentation (e.g. LC-MS) are combined. A thorough overview on the up-to-date automations of LLE, LPME, SLE and solid LLE via robotics, is therefore presented. Pharmaceuticals and related compounds determined in classical liquid biological samples (i.e. plasma/serum, whole blood, urine, saliva etc.) and modern dried matrix spots (DMS) were considered as analytes of interest. The methodologies were critically compared to manual setups and among themselves. © 2018 Elsevier B.V

RHOA and mDia1 promotes apoptosis of breast cancer cells via a high dose of doxorubicin treatment

Transforming RhoA proteins (RHOA) and their downstream Diaphanous homolog 1 proteins (DIAPH1) or mDia1 participate in the regulation of actin cytoskeleton which plays critical role in cells, i.e., morphologic changes and apoptosis

Salivary protein roles in oral health and as predictors of caries risk

This work describes the current state of research on the potential relationship between protein content in human saliva and dental caries, which remains among the most common oral diseases and causes irreversible damage in the oral cavity. An understanding the whole saliva proteome in the oral cavity could serve as a prerequisite to obtaining insight into the etiology of tooth decay at early stages. To date, however, there is no comprehensive evidence showing that salivary proteins could serve as potential indicators for the early diagnosis of the risk factors causing dental caries. Therefore, proteomics indicates the promising direction of future investigations of such factors, including diagnosis and thus prevention in dental therapy

Proteomic and bioinformatics analysis of human saliva for the dental-risk assessment

Background: Dental caries disease is a dynamic process with a multi-factorial etiology. It is manifested by demineralization of enamel followed by damage spreading into the tooth inner structure. Successful early diagnosis could identify caries-risk and improve dental screening, providing a baseline for evaluating personalized dental treatment and prevention strategies. Methodology: Salivary proteome of the whole unstimulated saliva (WUS) samples was assessed in caries-free and caries-susceptible individuals of older adolescent age with permanent dentition using a nano-HPLC and MALDI-TOF/TOF mass spectrometry. Results: 554 proteins in the caries-free and 695 proteins in the caries-susceptible group were identified. Assessment using bioinformatics tools and Gene Ontology (GO) term enrichment analysis revealed qualitative differences between these two proteomes. Members of the caries-susceptible group exhibited a branch of cytokine binding gene products responsible for the regulation of immune and inflammatory responses to infections. Inspection of molecular functions and biological processes of caries-susceptible saliva samples revealed significant categories predominantly related to the activity of proteolytic peptidases, and the regulation of metabolic and catabolic processes of carbohydrates. Conclusions: Proteomic analysis of the whole saliva revealed information about potential risk factors associated with the development of caries-susceptibility and provides a better understanding of tooth protection mechanisms