Nanocellulose Composites as Smart Devices With Chassis, Light-Directed DNA Storage, Engineered Electronic Properties, and Chip Integration

The rapid development of green and sustainable materials opens up new possibilities in the field of applied research. Such materials include nanocellulose composites that can integrate many components into composites and provide a good chassis for smart devices. In our study, we evaluate four approaches for turning a nanocellulose composite into an information storage or processing device: 1) nanocellulose can be a suitable carrier material and protect information stored in DNA. 2) Nucleotide-processing enzymes (polymerase and exonuclease) can be controlled by light after fusing them with light-gating domains; nucleotide substrate specificity can be changed by mutation or pH change (read-in and read-out of the information). 3) Semiconductors and electronic capabilities can be achieved: we show that nanocellulose is rendered electronic by iodine treatment replacing silicon including microstructures. Nanocellulose semiconductor properties are measured, and the resulting potential including single-electron transistors (SET) and their properties are modeled. Electric current can also be transported by DNA through G-quadruplex DNA molecules; these as well as classical silicon semiconductors can easily be integrated into the nanocellulose composite. 4) To elaborate upon miniaturization and integration for a smart nanocellulose chip device, we demonstrate pH-sensitive dyes in nanocellulose, nanopore creation, and kinase micropatterning on bacterial membranes as well as digital PCR micro-wells. Future application potential includes nano-3D printing and fast molecular processors (e.g., SETs) integrated with DNA storage and conventional electronics. This would also lead to environment-friendly nanocellulose chips for information processing as well as smart nanocellulose composites for biomedical applications and nano-factories.

A new innovative real-time tracking method for flying insects applicable under natural conditions

Background

Sixty percent of all species are insects, yet despite global efforts to monitor animal movement patterns, insects are continuously underrepresented. This striking difference between species richness and the number of species monitored is not due to a lack of interest but rather to the lack of technical solutions. Often the accuracy and speed of established tracking methods is not high enough to record behavior and react to it experimentally in real-time, which applies in particular to small flying animals.

Results

Our new method of real-time tracking relates to frequencies of solar radiation which are almost completely absorbed by traveling through the atmosphere. For tracking, photoluminescent tags with a peak emission (1400 nm), which lays in such a region of strong absorption through the atmosphere, were attached to the animals. The photoluminescent properties of passivated lead sulphide quantum dots were responsible for the emission of light by the tags and provide a superb signal-to noise ratio. We developed prototype markers with a weight of 12.5 mg and a diameter of 5 mm. Furthermore, we developed a short wave infrared detection system which can record and determine the position of an animal in a heterogeneous environment with a delay smaller than 10 ms. With this method we were able to track tagged bumblebees as well as hawk moths in a flight arena that was placed outside on a natural meadow.

Conclusion

Our new method eliminates the necessity of a constant or predictable environment for many experimental setups. Furthermore, we postulate that the developed matrix-detector mounted to a multicopter will enable tracking of small flying insects, over medium range distances (>1000m) in the near future because: a) the matrix-detector equipped with an 70 mm interchangeable lens weighs less than 380 g, b) it evaluates the position of an animal in real-time and c) it can directly control and communicate with electronic devices.

Towards bio-inspired robots for underground and surface exploration in planetary environments: An overview and novel developments inspired in sand-swimmers

Dessert organisms like sandfish lizards (SLs) bend and generate thrust in granular mediums to scape heat and hunt for prey [1]. Further, SLs seems to have striking capabilities to swim in undulatory form keeping the same wavelength even in terrains with different volumetric densities, hence behaving as rigid bodies. This paper tries to recommend new research directions for planetary robotics, adapting principles of sand swimmers for improving robustness of surface exploration robots. First, we summarize previous efforts on bio-inspired hardware developed for granular terrains and accessing complex geological features. Later, a rigid wheel design has been proposed to imitate SLs locomotion capabilities. In order to derive the force models to predict performance of such bio-inspired mobility system, different approaches as RFT (Resistive Force Theory) and analytical terramechanics are introduced. Even in typical wheeled robots the slip and sinkage increase with time, the new design intends to imitate traversability capabilities of SLs, that seem to keep the same slip while displacing at subsurface levels.

Immunomodulation of allergic response in children and adolescents: What we can learn from lymphatic filarial infection

BACKGROUND

Although it is well known that allergic diseases involve a strong Th2 immune response, with production of high levels of specific IgE allergen, knowledge on the association between filarial infection and allergies, among paediatric patients is scarce.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the allergic response patterns in cases of filarial infection by comparing peripheral eosinophils, total IgE levels, immediate hypersensitivity and cytokine levels in children and adolescents in Brazil.

METHODS

This was an exploratory study with three groups: (I) with filarial infection and without allergic diseases; (II) without filarial infection and with allergic diseases; and (III) without filarial infection and without allergic diseases. The prick test and specific IgE tests for aeroallergens were performed using five antigens. Peripheral eosinophils and total IgE were also evaluated. IL-4 and IL-5 were determined using whole-blood culture stimulated by three antigens.

RESULTS

Eosinophilia and elevated levels of total IgE (≥400IU/dl) were observed in all groups. The prick test was positive in 56.6% of the cases. Group I presented hypersensitive responses similar to the allergic disease groups. In the whole-blood culture stimulated by Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, average IL-4 production did not differ significantly among the groups, but IL5 production resulting from stimulation was greater in the allergic disease groups (p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The allergic response pattern in group with filarial infection was similar to that of the groups with and without allergic diseases, but the response to IL-5 in the culture stimulated by D. pteronyssinus was an exclusive characteristic of the allergic group.

Glacial recharge, salinisation and anthropogenic contamination in the coastal aquifers of Recife (Brazil)

Implying large residence times and complex water origins deep coastal aquifers are of particular interest as they are remarkable markers of climate, water use and land use changes. Over the last decades, the Metropolitan Region of Recife (Brazil) went through extensive environmental changes increasing the pressure on water resources and giving rise to numerous environmental consequences on the coastal groundwater systems. We analysed the groundwater of the deep aquifers Cabo and Beberibe that are increasingly exploited. The processes potentially affecting groundwater residence times and flow paths have been studied using a multi-tracer approach (CFCs, SF6, noble gases, 14C, 2H and 18O). The main findings of these investigations show that: (1) Groundwaters of the Cabo and Beberibe aquifers have long residence times and were recharged about 20,000years ago. (2) Within these old groundwaters we can find palaeo-climate evidences from the last glacial period at the tropics with lower temperatures and dryer conditions than the present climate. (3) Recently, the natural slow dynamic of these groundwater systems was significantly affected by mixing processes with contaminated modern groundwater coming from the shallow unconfined Boa Viagem aquifer. (4) The large exploitation of these aquifers leads to a modification of the flow directions and causes the intrusion through palaeo-channels of saline water probably coming from the Capibaribe River and from the last transgression episodes. These observations indicate that the current exploitation of the Cabo and Beberibe aquifers is unsustainable regarding the long renewal times of these groundwater systems as well as their ongoing contamination and salinisation. The groundwater cycle being much slower than the human development rhythm, it is essential to integrate the magnitude and rapidity of anthropogenic impacts on this extremely slow cycle to the water management concepts.

Groundwater contamination in coastal urban areas: Anthropogenic pressure and natural attenuation processes. Example of Recife (PE State, NE Brazil)

In a context of increasing land use pressure (over-exploitation, surface-water contamination) and repeated droughts, identifying the processes affecting groundwater quality in coastal megacities of the tropical and arid countries will condition their long-term social and environmental sustainability. The present study focuses on the Brazilian Recife Metropolitan Region (RMR), which is a highly urbanized area (3,743,854 inhabitants in 2010) on the Atlantic coast located next to an estuarial zone and overlying a multi-layered sedimentary system featured by a variable sediment texture and organic content. It investigates the contamination and redox status patterns conditioning potential attenuation within the shallow aquifers that constitute the interface between the city and the strategic deeper semi-confined aquifers. These latter are increasingly exploited, leading to high drawdown in potenciometric levels of 20-30m and up to 70m in some high well density places, and potentially connected to the surface through leakage. From a multi-tracer approach (major ions, major gases, δ(11)B, δ(18)O-SO4, δ(34)S-SO4) carried out during two field campaigns in September 2012 and March 2013 (sampling of 19 wells and 3 surface waters), it has been possible to assess the contamination sources and the redox processes. The increasing trend for mineralization from inland to coastal and estuarial wells (from 119 to around 10,000μS/cm) is at first attributed to water-rock interactions combined with natural and human-induced potentiometric gradients. Secondly, along with this trend, one finds an environmental pressure gradient related to sewage and/or surface-channel network impacts (typically depleted δ(11)B within the range of 10-15‰) that are purveyors of chloride, nitrate, ammonium and sulfate. Nitrate, ammonium and sulfate (ranging from 0 to 1.70mmol/L, from 0 to 0,65mmol/L, from 0.03 to 3.91mmol/L respectively are also potentially produced or consumed through various redox processes (pyrite oxidation, denitrification, dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium) within the system, as is apparent within a patchwork of biogeochemical reactors. Furthermore, intensive pumping in the coastal area with its high well density punctually leads to temporary well salinization ([Cl] reaching temporarily 79mmol/L). Our results, summarized as a conceptual scheme based on environmental conditions, is a suitable basis for implementing sustainable management in coastal sedimentary hydrosystems influenced by highly urbanized conditions.

Patterns in spontaneous adverse event reporting among branded and generic antiepileptic drugs

Spontaneous adverse event reports constitute an important source of information on previously unknown adverse reactions to marketed medicines. However, the dynamics of such reporting following generic introduction are poorly understood. Using adverse event reports on five antiepileptic drugs from the US Food and Drug Administration's Adverse Event Reporting System, we describe temporal trends in adverse event reporting before and after generic introduction, and survey the quality of product-identifying information contained therein. The majority of reports were sent by innovator drug manufacturers while few were sent by generic manufacturers, even when generics accounted for >90% of dispensed prescriptions. We manually reviewed narratives from 2,500 reports and found that the suspect product type (brand or generic) could not be determined in 84% of reports, while generic products (16%) were identified more often than brand-name products (<1%). These results suggest that pharmacovigilance stakeholders should act to promote more detailed reporting practices.

An Autonomous UAV with an Optical Flow Sensor for Positioning and Navigation

A procedure to control all six DOF (degrees of freedom) of a UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) without an external reference system and to enable fully autonomous flight is presented here. For 2D positioning the principle of optical flow is used. Together with the output of height estimation, fusing ultrasonic, infrared and inertial and pressure sensor data, the 3D position of the UAV can be computed, controlled and steered. All data processing is done on the UAV. An external computer with a pathway planning interface is for commanding purposes only. The presented system is part of the AQopterI8 project, which aims to develop an autonomous flying quadrocopter for indoor application. The focus of this paper is 2D positioning using an optical flow sensor. As a result of the performed evaluation, it can be concluded that for position hold, the standard deviation of the position error is 10cm and after landing the position error is about 30cm.

Progressive histopathological changes and β-cell loss in the pancreas of a new spontaneous rat model of type 2 diabetes

The eSMT rat is a new spontaneous model of type 2 diabetes that develops a progressive diabetic syndrome with a stronger incidence in males than in females. We decide to investigate the progression of the pancreatic histopathological changes during the lifespan of the eSMT rat, especially those associated with islet cell populations. Besides that, some plasmatic parameters were evaluated in order to correlate them with the morphological findings. Male eSMT and Sprague-Dawley control rats were used. The results showed a dramatic decrease of the volume density (VD) of endocrine tissue in the eSMT rats without evidence of insulitis. Islets became fragmented structures with strong presence of interstitial fibrosis. Consequently, plasma insulin levels showed a significant decrease, while plasma glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride levels were increased. Normal rats showed no significant changes in the VD of endocrine tissue, except for the older animals, where the VD of β-cell population was increased. Early derangements observed in islets, together with the progressive decrease of endocrine tissue and the metabolic disorders described, would be responsible for an irreversible pathologic condition which avoids the animal survival beyond about 18 months of age. However, there is still a need to investigate the causes of endocrine tissue decrease and its possible association with an inflammatory process that it could be associated with the development and progression of fibrosis.

Analysis and redesign of a knowledge database for a drug-drug interactions alert system

Physicians tend to ignore drug-drug interactions alerts, this is due to the large amount of irrelevant interactions displayed and the interface in which these alerts are shown. The high rate of clinically inadequate alerts produce "alerts fatigue". This high number of incorrect alerts predisposes physicians to underestimate the electronic prescription systems as useful tools in their practice. We decided to analyze and redesign our drug-drug interactions alerting system knowledge database. In order to do so, we cleaned our knowledge database according to the clinical significance of drug-drug interactions. New drug interactions taxonomy was created in four levels based on clinical significance and the recommendations given in each single monograph of interaction. We proceeded to recategorize the alerts as Active, which present themselves to the physician interrupting the prescribing process, or Passive, which allow physicians to accept the recommendations, and adopt some action in order of minimizing the interaction risks.

Use of a reliable PCR assay for the detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Peruvian patients

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the most common sexually transmitted disease-causing bacterium worldwide. An in-house PCR assay targeting the carbamoyl-phosphate synthase subunit A (carA) gene was developed for the specific detection of N. gonorrhoeae in clinical specimens. Samples from 605 patients were cultured on selective medium and assayed by PCR in a double-blind fashion. Of 605 urethral/cervical samples analysed, 13 were PCR-positive, of which 11 were culture-positive. The PCR showed a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 99.7% with these samples. PCR targeting the carA gene appears to be a reliable method for the detection of N. gonorrhoeae in clinical specimens.

Evolution of medical informatics in bibliographic databases

Medical informatics became a medical specialty during the last years and this is evidenced by a great amount of journal articles regarding the subject published worldwide. We compared the presentation of Medical Informatics in two different bibliographic databases: MEDLINE and LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature on the Health Sciences). Previous studies described how Medical Informatics was represented in MEDLINE, but we wanted to compare it to a regional database as LILACS. We search both databases completely (MEDLINE 1966 -2002 and LILACS 1982-2002) using the keyword "Medical Informatics" as MeSH term in MEDLINE and as DeCS term in LILACS, and we added "medical informatics" as text word and analyzed the references obtained as results. We found that MEDLINE properly represents the impact of Medical Informatics in non-Latin-American international journals, but lacks of a considerable amount of articles from this region, while LILACS, although in comparison it is smaller in size, has more articles regarding the subject. So we think that LILACS properly represents the specialty in Latin America and the Caribbean Region.

Human cytokine responses to meso-endemic malaria on the Pacific Coast of Colombia

Studies of naturally-acquired immunity to malaria in endemic regions provide the potential for a greater understanding of the regulation of human immune responses to the malarial parasite. However, little is known about the acquisition of malaria-specific immunity in regions of unstable, meso-endemic or hypo-endemic transmission. Cytokine profiles - patterns in the expression of interleukin-4 (IL-4), interleukin-10, interleukin-12, interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) - were therefore studied during the natural acquisition of immunity to Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax among individuals from Buenaventura, a meso-endemic region on the Pacific Coast of Colombia. In general, specific type-1 immune responses, characterized by IFN-gamma expression, were more likely to develop during P. falciparum infection, whereas pro-inflammatory cytokine profiles (with TNF-alpha expression) were observed more frequently among the P. vivax infections. Type-2 cytokine profiles, characterized by dominant IL-4 expression, were infrequent. Expression of IL-4 probably occurs primarily after prolonged exposure to parasites (which would, by definition, not be common in a meso-endemic region).

Early lipid alterations in spontaneously diabetic rats

Human and experimental diabetes mellitus extensively alters lipid metabolism. The eSS is a rat strain that develops a spontaneous diabetes of slow evolution, resembling the non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus of young people. We report here disturbances in lipid metabolism of 5-month old eSS rats compared to age-matched alpha-controls. Normal plasmatic glucose levels were found in the fasted state, whereas a diabetic curve was evident for eSS rats after glucose load. Triglyceride content was elevated in plasma and in liver microsomal preparations of eSS animals, when compared to the controls. The diabetic strain revealed a significant fall in the amount of linoleic acid in liver and kidney microsomes and in erythrocyte membranes. In liver, an increase in 22:6 (n-3) was also noted. A depression in the content of linoleic acid as well as an enhancement of docosahexaenoic acid were detected in phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine fractions from liver microsomes of eSS rats. The fatty acid pattern of eSS rat testis showed a raise in the relative percentage of arachidonic and a decrease in 22:5 (n-6), 22:5 (n-3) and 22:6 (n-3) acids compared to their controls. Diabetic rats exhibited a significant increase in microsomal cholesterol content and cholesterol/phospholipid ratio in liver and testis. In the latter tissue, higher values of fluorescence anisotropy were also observed. The current observations indicate that in early stages of the diabetes onset, when eSS rats are still normoglycemic, severe alterations of lipid metabolism may contribute to the establishment and progression of the diabetic syndrome.

Leukocytes of patients with Schistosoma mansoni respond with a Th2 pattern of cytokine production to mitogen or egg antigens but with a Th0 pattern to worm antigens

Cytokine responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from humans infected with Schistosoma mansoni were assessed. By ELISA and ELISPOT, persons with acute and hepatosplenic infections produced higher levels of interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5 and higher frequencies of IL-4-producing cells in response to mitogen than did uninfected persons. In contrast, mitogen-induced production of the Th1 cytokine interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) did not differ from that of uninfected controls. Upon stimulation with egg antigens, many patients responded with elevated IL-4 mRNA levels but displayed no appreciable increases in Th1 (i.e., IFN-gamma and IL-2) cytokine transcripts. Nevertheless, in cells stimulated with adult worm antigen, a more mixed Th0-type response was observed with production of both Th1 and Th2 cytokines. These results support previous findings in laboratory mice that schistosome infection results in increased production of Th2 cytokines. Unlike mice, infected humans do not display a generalized down-modulation in Th1 responses but instead show a selective deficiency in IFN-gamma and usually IL-2 responses to egg antigens.

The eSS rat. A model of non-insulin-dependent human diabetes

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Intermittent dietary restriction in eSS diabetic rats. Effects on metabolic control and skin morphology

eSS rats exhibit a non-insulin-dependent diabetic syndrome, significantly influenced by diet. Long-term effects of intermittent dietary restriction were studied in male eSS rats. Experimental animals were fed ad libitum during 48 h and food-deprived the next 24 h (R) while controls (L) of the same strain were freely fed every day. This schedule was maintained from 21 days of age until all rats were sacrificed. R animals were leaner than L rats at 5, 8 and 13 months of age. Moreover, an improved metabolic profile (i.e., lower levels in blood triglycerides, total blood cholesterol, basal blood glucose and blood glucose after an oral glucose load) was found. Histological examination of nuchal skin specimens showed a significant increase of dermal thickness and epidermal hypotrophy in free-fed animals. Collagenous fibers closely packed were found just beneath the dermo-epidermal junction in L rats. This finding was less pronounced in R rats. The above mentioned results suggest that eSS rats would draw advantage from living in environments where food availability is uncertain. The importance of early dietary restrictions in predisposed genotypes appears to be a valuable preventive measure against diabetic evolution and complications.

[Reversion of cardiogenic shock by direct angioplasty of the right coronary artery: a case report]

A 57 year-old male patient developed cardiogenic shock after inferior wall myocardial infarction. Cinecoronariography demonstrated a critical distal lesion of the right coronary artery. Transluminal percutaneous coronary angioplasty was carried out four hours after onset of pain and thirty minutes after hospital admission. Residual lesion was 40% and the patient recovered from cardiogenic shock.

Spontaneous diabetes in eSS rats

A spontaneous non-insulin-dependent diabetes in a highly inbred line of rats called eSS has been described. It is characterized by early impaired glucose tolerance worsening with age. Males are far more severely affected than females. These animals also exhibit hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesterolemia. In spite of their hyperglycemia, eSS males have an excess of circulating plasma insulin compared with alpha controls. Eight-month-old eSS males were sensitive to exogenous insulin. Moreover, as the plasma insulin values decrease with age, glucose tolerance is further impaired. An improvement in the metabolic disturbances was registered in diabetic eSS males under long-term food deprivation. Histopathological examination of the pancreas revealed marked changes compared with age-matched controls. The pancreatic islet structure looked disrupted and islets became smaller and more scattered with advancing age. A diffuse glomerulosclerosis, interstitial lymphocyte infiltrates and tubular nephrosis were present in kidneys.