A Real-Time intelligent system for tracking patient condition

Hospitals have multiple data sources, such as embedded systems, monitors and sensors. The number of data available is increasing and the information are used not only to care the patient but also to assist the decision processes. The introduction of intelligent environments in health care institutions has been adopted due their ability to provide useful information for health professionals, either in helping to identify prognosis or also to understand patient condition. Behind of this concept arises this Intelligent System to track patient condition (e.g. critic events) in health care. This system has the great advantage of being adaptable to the environment and user needs. The system is focused in identifying critic events from data streaming (e.g. vital signs and ventilation) which is particularly valuable for understanding the patient’s condition. This work aims to demonstrate the process of creating an intelligent system capable of operating in a real environment using streaming data provided by ventilators and vital signs monitors. Its development is important to the physician because becomes possible crossing multiple variables in real-time by analyzing if a value is critic or not and if their variation has or not clinical importance

Transcriptome changes in newborn goats' skeletal muscle as a result of maternal feed restriction at different stages of gestation

We investigated how feed restriction at 50% of maintenance requirements during different stages of gestation affects the transcriptome of newborn goats' skeletal muscle. Fourteen pregnant dams were randomly assigned into one of the following dietary treatments: animals fed at 50% of maintenance requirement from 8-84 d of gestation and then fed at 100% of maintenance requirement from day 85 of gestation to parturition (RM, n = 6), and animals fed at 100% of maintenance requirement from 8-84 d of gestation and then fed at 50% of maintenance requirement from day 85 of gestation to parturition (MR, n = 8). At birth, samples of offspring's Longissimus muscle were collected for total RNA extraction and sequencing. Our data showed 66 differentially expressed (DE) genes (FDR < 0.05). A total of 6 genes were upregulated and 60 downregulated (FDR < 0.05) in the skeletal muscle of the newborns resulting from treatment RM compared with MR. Our results suggest that the DE genes upregulated in newborn goats' skeletal muscle from the RM group compared to MR, included genes related to satellite cells, and genes that indicates impaired insulin sensitivity and changes in the composition of intramuscular fat. The DE genes upregulated in newborn goats' skeletal muscle from the MR group compared to RM, are also related to impaired insulin sensitivity, as well as a predominantly oxidative metabolism and cellular oxidative stress. However, protective mechanisms against insulin sensitivity and oxidative stress may have been augmented in the skeletal muscle of offspring from MR treatment compared to RM, in order to maintain cellular homeostasis

Testis and Antler Dysgenesis in Sitka Black-Tailed Deer on Kodiak Island, Alaska: Sequela of Environmental Endocrine Disruption?

It had been observed that many male Sitka black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus sitkensis) on Kodiak Island, Alaska, had abnormal antlers, were cryptorchid, and presented no evidence of hypospadias. We sought to better understand the problem and investigated 171 male deer for phenotypic aberrations and 12 for detailed testicular histopathology. For the low-lying Aliulik Peninsula (AP), 61 of 94 deer were bilateral cryptorchids (BCOs); 70% of these had abnormal antlers. Elsewhere on the Kodiak Archipelago, only 5 of 65 deer were BCOs. All 11 abdominal testes examined had no spermatogenesis but contained abnormalities including carcinoma in situ–like cells, possible precursors of seminoma; Sertoli cell, Leydig cell, and stromal cell tumors; carcinoma and adenoma of rete testis; and microlithiasis or calcifications. Cysts also were evident within the excurrent ducts. Two of 10 scrotal testes contained similar abnormalities, although spermatogenesis was ongoing. We cannot rule out that these abnormalities are linked sequelae of a mutation(s) in a founder animal, followed by transmission over many years and causing high prevalence only on the AP. However, based on lesions observed, we hypothesize that it is more likely that this testis–antler dysgenesis resulted from continuing exposure of pregnant females to an estrogenic environmental agent(s), thereby transforming testicular cells, affecting development of primordial antler pedicles, and blocking transabdominal descent of fetal testes. A browse (e.g., kelp) favored by deer in this locale might carry the putative estrogenic agent(s)

Microarray profiling for differential gene expression in PMSG-hCG stimulated preovulatory ovarian follicles of Chinese Taihu and Large White sows

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Chinese Taihu is one of the most prolific pig breeds in the world, which farrows at least five more piglets per litter than Western pig breeds partly due to a greater ovulation rate. Variation of ovulation rate maybe associated with the differences in the transcriptome of Chinese Taihu and Large White ovaries. In order to understand the molecular basis of the greater ovulation rate of Chinese Taihu sows, expression profiling experiments were conducted to identify differentially expressed genes in ovarian follicles at the preovulatory stage of a PMSG-hCG stimulated estrous cycle from 3 Chinese Taihu and 3 Large White cycling sows by using the Affymetrix Porcine Genechip™.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One hundred and thirty-three differentially expressed genes were identified between Chinese Taihu and Large White sows by using Affymetrix porcine GeneChip (<it>p </it>≤ 0.05, Fold change ≥ 2 or ≤ 0.5). Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed that these genes belonged to the class of genes that participated in regulation of cellular process, regulation of biological process, biological regulation, developmental process, cell communication and signal transduction and so on. Significant differential expression of 6 genes including <it>WNT10B </it>and <it>DKK2 </it>in the WNT signaling pathway was detected. Real-time RT-PCR confirmed the expression pattern in seven of eight selected genes. A search of chromosomal location revealed that 92 differentially expressed transcripts located to the intervals of quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for reproduction traits. Furthermore, SNPs of two differentially expressed genes- <it>BAX </it>and <it>BMPR1B </it>were showed to be associated with litter size traits in Large White pigs and Chinese DIV line pigs (<it>p </it>≤ 0.1 or <it>p </it>≤ 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study detected many genes that showed differential expression between ovary follicles of two divergent breeds of pigs. Genes involved with regulation of cellular process, regulation of biological process, in addition to several genes not previously associated with ovarian physiology or with unknown function, were differentially expressed between two breeds. The suggestive or significant associations of <it>BAX </it>and <it>BMPR1B </it>gene with litter size indicated these genetic markers had the potentials to be used in pig industry after further validation of their genetic effects. Taken together, this study reveals many potential avenues of investigation for seeking new insights into ovarian physiology and the genetic control of reproduction.</p

Bovine GDF10 gene polymorphism analysis and its association with body measurement traits in Chinese indigenous cattle

The objective of this research was to detect bovine GDF10 gene polymorphism and analyze its association with body measurement traits (BMT) of animals sampled from 6 different Chinese indigenous cattle populations. The populations included Xuelong (Xl), Luxi (Lx), Qinchuan (Qc), Jiaxian red (Jx), Xianang (Xn) and Nanyang (Ny). Blood samples were taken from a total of 417 female animals stratified into age categories of 12–36 months. Polymerase chain reaction–single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR–SSCP) was employed to find out GDF10 single polymorphism nucleotide (SNPs) and explore their possible association with BMT. Sequence analysis of GDF10 gene revealed 3 SNPs in total: 1 in exon1 (G142A) and 2 in exon3 (A11471G, and T12495C). G142A and T12495C SNPs are both synonymous mutation. They showed 2 genotypes namely respectively (GG, GA) and (PP and PB). A11471G SNP is a missense mutation leading to the change of Alanine to Threonine amino acid. It showed three genotypes namely AA, BB and AB. Analysis of association of polymorphism with body measurement traits at the three locus showed that there were significant effects on BMT in Qc, Jx and Ny cattle population. These results suggest that the GDF10 gene might have potential effects on body measurement traits in the above mentioned cattle populations and could be used for marker-assisted selection