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Husum Klit posted an update 6 months, 2 weeks ago
Mathematical models of biological systems need to both reflect and manage the inherent complexities of biological phenomena. Through their versatility and ability to capture behavior at multiple scales, multi-scale models offer a valuable approach. Due to the typically nonlinear and stochastic nature of multi-scale models as well as unknown parameter values, various types of uncertainty are present; thus, effective assessment and quantification of such uncertainty through sensitivity analysis is important. In this review, we discuss global sensitivity analysis in the context of multi-scale and multi-compartment models and highlight its value in model development and analysis. We present an overview of sensitivity analysis methods, approaches for extending such methods to a multi-scale setting, and examples of how sensitivity analysis can inform model reduction. Through schematics and references to past work, we aim to emphasize the advantages and usefulness of such techniques.Advancements in imaging, computing, microscopy, chromatography, spectroscopy and biological manipulations of animal models, have allowed for a more thorough examination of the hierarchical structure and composition of the skeleton. The ability to map cellular and molecular changes to nano-scale chemical composition changes (mineral, collagen cross-links) and structural changes (porosity, lacuno-canalicular network) to whole bone mechanics is at the forefront of an exciting era of discovery. In addition, there is increasing ability to genetically mimic phenotypes of human disease in animal models to study these structural and compositional changes. Combined, these recent developments have increased the ability to understand perturbations at multiple length scales to better realize the structure-function relationship in bone and inform biomechanical models. The intent of this review is to describe the multiple scales at which bone can characterized, highlighting new techniques such that structural, compositional, and biological changes can be incorporated into biomechanical modeling.The HIV pandemic disproportionately impacts sub-Saharan Africa where in 2017, 71% of people living with HIV resided, 65% of new infections and 75% of deaths were reported. Prevention, screening and treatment strategies have led to progress in addressing this disease. HIV diagnostics have been crucial for prevention and treatment but more progress is required to reduce HIV infection. The Center for Innovation in Point-of-Care Technologies for HIV/AIDS at Northwestern University (C-THAN) is a vital partner in the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Point-of-Care Technologies Research Network. C-THAN’s mission is to develop and commercialize a pipeline of point-of-care technologies critical for improved prevention and management of HIV in low- and middle-income countries with specific emphasis on sub-Saharan Africa.We present the case of a patient with acute upper limb ischemia as the sole initial manifestation of severe acute respiratory syndrome associated with coronavirus disease 2 infection, without concomitant respiratory symptoms or pneumonia. Viral infection presumably precipitated the patient’s thromboembolic event, causing multifocal vascular occlusions. This case illustrates that coronavirus disease-19 must be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with signs or symptoms of coagulopathy, even in the absence of respiratory symptoms. We believe that an awareness of the variety of clinical presentations in patients with coronavirus disease-19, particularly extrapulmonary manifestations, is critical for optimal patient management as well as implementation of appropriate infection prevention measures.Scholarship on water insecurity has carried over an important insight from studies of food insecurity Insecurity often occurs in the midst of plenty, and water insecurity is therefore better characterized by inaccessibility than by scarcity. Access to clean, adequate, and reliable water is, however, more challenging to systematize than access to food. Water is fluid and protean, and only when it is safely stored can people pretend to own it. In this paper, I make a case for the centrality of infrastructure – systems of water storage and transport – to water security. Equitable access to water often depends on technologies that protect, filter, and distribute water; it also depends on social arrangements that protect the least powerful from exclusion. I analyse two water infrastructure projects in Ethiopia, one a project to protect village water supplies and the other a large hydroelectric dam. The project to protect springs used by villagers for household water supply had the unintended effect of limiting access to those who could pay fees to a water committee. The dam harnessed water to produce electricity and supply irrigated plantations, but deprived downstream communities of water for farming. Water infrastructure can have far-reaching implications for water access, both for better and for worse. read more It is often instrumental in securing one group’s access to water at the cost of another’s.The human gut microbiome is considered critical for establishing and maintaining intestinal function and homeostasis throughout life. Evidence for bidirectional communication with the immune and nervous systems has spawned interest in the microbiome as a key factor for human and animal health. Consequently, appreciation of the microbiome as a target of xenobiotics, including environmental pollutants such as heavy metals, has risen steadily because disruption of a healthy microbiome (dysbiosis) has been linked to unfavorable health outcomes. Thus, toxicology must consider toxicant effects on the host’s microbiome as an integral part of the holobiont. We discuss current findings on the impact of toxic metals on the composition, diversity, and function of the gut microbiome as well as the modulation of metal toxicity by the microbiome. Present limitations and future needs in elucidating microbiome-metal interactions and the potential of harnessing beneficial traits of the microbiota to counteract metal toxicity are also considered.
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