Project description:Nanosafety assessment, which seeks to evaluate the risks from exposure to nanoscale materials, spans materials synthesis and characterisation, exposure science, toxicology, and computational approaches, resulting in complex experimental workflows and diverse data types. Managing the data flows, with a focus on provenance (who generated the data and for what purpose) and quality (how was the data generated, using which protocol with which controls), as part of good research output management, is necessary to maximise the reuse potential and value of the data. Instance maps have been developed and evolved to visualise experimental nanosafety workflows and to bridge the gap between the theoretical principles of FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable) data and the everyday practice of experimental researchers. Instance maps are most effective when applied at the study design stage to associate the workflow with the nanomaterials, environmental conditions, method descriptions, protocols, biological and computational models to be used, and the data flows arising from study execution. Application of the InstanceMaps tool (described herein) to research workflows of increasing complexity is presented to demonstrate its utility, starting from (i) documentation of a nanomaterial's synthesis, functionalisation, and characterisation, over (ii) assessment of a nanomaterial's transformations in complex media, (iii) description of the culturing of ecotoxicity model organisms Daphnia magna and their use in standardised tests for nanomaterials ecotoxicity assessment, and (iv) visualisation of complex workflows in human immunotoxicity assessment using cell lines and primary cellular models, to (v) the use of the instance map approach for the coordination of materials and data flows in complex multipartner collaborative projects and for the demonstration of case studies. Finally, areas for future development of the instance map approach and the tool are highlighted.
Project description:ObjectivesThis research studied hospital administrators' and hospital-based health care providers' (collectively, the target group) perceived value of consumer health information resources and of librarians' roles in promoting health information literacy in their institutions.MethodsA web-based needs survey was developed and administered to hospital administrators and health care providers. Multiple health information literacy curricula were developed. One was pilot-tested by nine hospital libraries in the United States and Canada. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to evaluate the curriculum and its impact on the target group.ResultsA majority of survey respondents believed that providing consumer health information resources was critically important to fulfilling their institutions' missions and that their hospitals could improve health information literacy by increasing awareness of its impact on patient care and by training staff to become more knowledgeable about health literacy barriers. The study showed that a librarian-taught health information literacy curriculum did raise awareness about the issue among the target group and increased both the use of National Library of Medicine consumer health resources and referrals to librarians for health information literacy support.ConclusionsIt is hoped that many hospital administrators and health care providers will take the health information literacy curricula and recognize that librarians can educate about the topic and that providers will use related consumer health services and resources.
Project description:The scratch assay is an in vitro technique used to analyze cell migration, proliferation, and cell-to-cell interaction. In the assay, cells are grown to confluence and then 'scratched' with a sterile instrument. For the cells in the leading edge, the resulting polarity induces migration and proliferation in attempt to 'heal' the modeled wound. Keloid scars are known to have an accelerated wound closure phenotype in the scratch assay, representing an overactivation of wound healing. We performed a qualitative review of the recent literature searching for inhibitors of scratch assay activity that were already available in topical formulations under the hypothesis that such compounds may offer therapeutic potential in keloid treatment. Although several shortcomings in the scratch assay literature were identified, caffeine and allicin successfully inhibited the scratch assay closure and inflammatory abnormalities in the commercially available keloid fibroblast cell line. Caffeine and allicin also impacted ATP production in keloid cells, most notably with inhibition of non-mitochondrial oxygen consumption. The traditional Chinese medicine, shikonin, was also successful in inhibiting scratch closure but displayed less dramatic impacts on metabolism. Together, our results partially summarize the strengths and limitations of current scratch assay literature and suggest clinical assessment of the therapeutic potential for these identified compounds against keloid scars may be warranted.
Project description:UnlabelledThe wound healing assay (or scratch assay) is a technique frequently used to quantify the dependence of cell motility-a central process in tissue repair and evolution of disease-subject to various treatments conditions. However processing the resulting data is a laborious task due its high throughput and variability across images. This Robust Quantitative Scratch Assay algorithm introduced statistical outputs where migration rates are estimated, cellular behaviour is distinguished and outliers are identified among groups of unique experimental conditions. Furthermore, the RQSA decreased measurement errors and increased accuracy in the wound boundary at comparable processing times compared to previously developed method (TScratch).Availability and implementationThe RQSA is freely available at: http://ophid.utoronto.ca/RQSA/RQSA_Scripts.zip The image sets used for training and validation and results are available at: (http://ophid.utoronto.ca/RQSA/trainingSet.zip, http://ophid.utoronto.ca/RQSA/validationSet.zip, http://ophid.utoronto.ca/RQSA/ValidationSetResults.zip, http://ophid.utoronto.ca/RQSA/ValidationSet_H1975.zip, http://ophid.utoronto.ca/RQSA/ValidationSet_H1975Results.zip, http://ophid.utoronto.ca/RQSA/RobustnessSet.zip, http://ophid.utoronto.ca/RQSA/RobustnessSet.zip). Supplementary Material is provided for detailed description of the development of the RQSA.Contactjuris@ai.utoronto.caSupplementary informationSupplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Project description:Endotherms such as rats and mice huddle together to keep warm. The huddle is considered to be an example of a self-organising system, because complex properties of the collective group behaviour are thought to emerge spontaneously through simple interactions between individuals. Groups of rodent pups display two such emergent properties. First, huddling undergoes a 'phase transition', such that pups start to aggregate rapidly as the temperature of the environment falls below a critical temperature. Second, the huddle maintains a constant 'pup flow', where cooler pups at the periphery continually displace warmer pups at the centre. We set out to test whether these complex group behaviours can emerge spontaneously from local interactions between individuals. We designed a model using a minimal set of assumptions about how individual pups interact, by simply turning towards heat sources, and show in computer simulations that the model reproduces the first emergent property--the phase transition. However, this minimal model tends to produce an unnatural behaviour where several smaller aggregates emerge rather than one large huddle. We found that an extension of the minimal model to include heat exchange between pups allows the group to maintain one large huddle but eradicates the phase transition, whereas inclusion of an additional homeostatic term recovers the phase transition for large huddles. As an unanticipated consequence, the extended model also naturally gave rise to the second observed emergent property--a continuous pup flow. The model therefore serves as a minimal description of huddling as a self-organising system, and as an existence proof that group-level huddling dynamics emerge spontaneously through simple interactions between individuals. We derive a specific testable prediction: Increasing the capacity of the individual to generate or conserve heat will increase the range of ambient temperatures over which adaptive thermoregulatory huddling will emerge.
Project description:Study objectiveTo develop a digital platform to conduct family-based, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) genetic research.DesignThe DCM Project Portal, a direct-to-participant electronic recruitment, consent, and communication tool, was designed using prior experience with traditional enrollment methods and characteristics and feedback of current participants.ParticipantsDCM patients (probands) and their family members enrolled from June 7, 2016 to March 15, 2020 at 25 US advanced heart failure programs.ResultsThe portal was designed as a self-guided, three module (registration, eligibility, and consent) process with supporting informational and messaging resources integrated throughout. The experience is tailored to user type and the format adaptable with programmatic growth. Characteristics of participants of the recently completed DCM Precision Medicine Study were assessed as an exemplary user population. A majority of the diverse (34 % non-Hispanic Black (NHE-B), 9.1 % Hispanic; 53.6 % female) proband (n = 1223) and family member (n = 1781) participants aged ≥18 years reported not at all or rarely having problems learning about their health from written information (81 %) and a high confidence in completing medical forms (77.2 % very much or often confident), supporting a self-guided model. A majority of participants across age and race-ethnicity groups reported internet access, with highest rates of no reported access in those ≥77 years (31.9 %), NHE-B (25.2 %), and Hispanic (22.9 %), a similar pattern to those reported by the US Census Bureau as of 2021.ConclusionsThe portal is an example of a digital approach to family-based genetic research that offers opportunity to improve access and efficiency of research operations.
Project description:Study objectiveTo develop a digital platform to conduct family-based, dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) genetic research.DesignInnovative approaches are needed to achieve large family enrollment targets. The DCM Project Portal, a direct-to-participant electronic recruitment, consent, and communication tool, was designed using prior experience with traditional enrollment methods, characteristics and feedback of current participants, and internet access of the US population.ParticipantsDCM patients (probands) and their family members.ResultsThe portal was designed as a self-guided, three module (registration, eligibility, and consent) process with internally created supporting informational and messaging resources integrated throughout. The experience can be tailored to user type and the format adapted with programmatic growth. Characteristics of participants of the recently completed DCM Precision Medicine Study were assessed as an exemplary user population. A majority of the diverse (34% non-Hispanic Black (NHE-B), 9.1% Hispanic; 53.6% female) proband (n=1223) and family members (n=1781) participants aged ≥18 years reported not at all or rarely having problems learning about their health from written information (81%) and a high confidence in completing medical forms (77.2% very much or often confident). A majority of participants across age and race-ethnicity groups reported internet access, with highest rates of no reported access in those ≥77 years, NHE-B, and Hispanic, which reflects patterns similar to rates reported by the US Census Bureau as of 2021.ConclusionsDigital enrollment tools offer opportunity to improve access and efficiency. The portal is an example of a digital approach to family-based genetic research.