Flimma: a federated and privacy-aware tool for differential gene expression analysis.

Aggregating transcriptomics data across hospitals can increase sensitivity and robustness of differential expression analyses, yielding deeper clinical insights. As data exchange is often restricted by privacy legislation, meta-analyses are frequently employed to pool local results. However, the accuracy might drop if class labels are inhomogeneously distributed among cohorts. Flimma ( https://exbio.wzw.tum.de/flimma/ ) addresses this issue by implementing the state-of-the-art workflow limma voom in a federated manner, i.e., patient data never leaves its source site. Flimma results are identical to those generated by limma voom on aggregated datasets even in imbalanced scenarios where meta-analysis approaches fail.

El presente número 47 de la Revista de Bioética y Derecho contiene una sección monográfica titulada "Edición genómica, responsabilidad y bioética"... [editorial] / No disponible

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The therapeutic effects of resveratrol on hepatic steatosis in high-fat diet-induced obese mice by improving oxidative stress, inflammation and lipid-related gene transcriptional expression.

So far, the majority of the previous animal studies have focused on the preventive effects of resveratrol (RSV) on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rather than the therapeutic effects. In this study, the therapeutic effects of RSV on hepatic oxidative stress (OS), inflammation, and lipid metabolism-related gene expression of obese mice induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) were investigated. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed a HFD for 8 weeks to induce obesity-related NAFLD model. And then, NAFLD mice were treated with daily RSV oral gavage at the dose of 100 mg/kg body weight for an additional 4 weeks. HFD-induced the elevation of serum total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, glucose, insulin, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, hepatic histology changes, the increases in hepatic triglyceride, malondialdehyde and tumor necrosis factor alpha concentrations, as well as the higher mRNA expression of hepatic toll-like receptor 4 and cluster of differentiation 36 in mice, were restored by RSV. The therapeutic effects of RSV against hepatic steatosis of HFD obese mice were attributed to the reduction of OS, inflammation and free fatty acid uptake.

Bioethics in the big data era: health care and beyond / La bioética en el época del "big data": la salud y más allá / La bioètica en l’època del 'big data': la salut i més enllà

"Big data" and data-intensive research approaches are rapidly gaining momentum in health and biomedical research, with potential to transform health at all levels from personal to public. The use of "big data" for health research, however, raises a number of ethical challenges. In this paper I discuss ethical aspects of the advent of big data in health. I argue that although public discourse has focused on immediate concerns relating to use of individuals' information, "big health data" requires us to explore alternative conceptual approaches to research ethics, including the "social contract" model. Further, we need to think beyond health research uses of data to the social consequences of big data epistemology and practice, and the moral implications of "datafying" the human

La ciencia de "big data" (o datos masivos) lleva mucho potencial para la investigación biomédica, y promete una transformación en la salud y la asistencia médica. Al mismo tiempo, el uso de datos de salud en investigación presenta varios retos éticos. En este artículo, exploraré aspectos éticos de la llegada del "big data" al ámbito de la salud. Aunque el discurso público y regulatorio se ha focalizado mucho en el uso de datos del individuo, lidiar con los nuevos desafíos de datos masivos requiere considerar enfoques alternativos a la ética de la investigación, tal como el modelo del "contrato social". Hay que pensar más allá del uso de datos para investigaciones en salud y contemplar las consecuencias sociales de la epistemología y la práctica de "big data" y las implicancias morales de la "datificación" del humano

La ciència del "big data" (o dades massives) comporta un enorme potencial per a la recerca biomèdica, i promet ocasionar una gran transformació en l'àmbit de la salut i l'assistència mèdica. Al mateix temps, l'ús de dades de salut en recerca presenta diversos reptes ètics. En aquest article, analitzaré els aspectes ètics de l'arribada del "big data" a l'àmbit de la salut. Encara que el discurs públic i regulador s'ha focalitzat principalment en l'ús de les dades personals, bregar amb els nous desafiaments que comporten la irrupció de les dades massives requereix enfocaments alternatius a l'ètica de la recerca, com ara el model del «contracte social». A més, cal pensar més enllà de l'ús de dades per a recerques en salut i tenir en compte les conseqüències socials de l'epistemologia i la pràctica del "big data" i les implicacions morals de la "datificació" d'allò que és humà

[Effects of traditional Chinese drugs Shuganyishen, on Ishikawa cell line].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effects of the traditional Chinese drugs, Shuganyishen, on Ishikawa cell line. METHOD: Rat blood serum was prepared by using Chinese drugs serum pharmacology method, in which, Shuganyishen was contained or not contained. Ishikawa cells were subjected into five groups: (1) normal cells group (NCG), (2) rat blood serum without Shuganyishen group (NSGG) as negative control, (3) Shuganyishen group (SGG), (4) Cisplatin group (DDPG) as positive control, and (5) Shuganyishen with Cisplatin group (S&CG). MTT assay was used to evaluate the inhibition effect on cell growth in each group. The mRNA expression of estrogen receptor alpha and beta (ERalpha and ERbeta) in each group was detected by RT-PCR. RESULT: Effective inhibition of cell growth was found in the groups of SGG and S&CG, respectively (P < 0.05), which had no significant difference from positive control by MTT. The mRNA expression of ERbeta was slightly going up, while the expression of ERalpha was hardly effected in SGG by RT-PCR. Interestingly in S&CG, the mRNA expression of ERalpha was significantly down-regulated (P < 0.05), but the mRNA expression of ERbeta remained no change. As the positive control, the mRNA expression of ERalpha and ERbeta was significantly down-regulated in DDPG (P < 0.5). CONCLUSION: Traditional Chinese drugs, Shuganyishen, may inhibit Ishikawa cell growth and had no effects on the expression of ERalpha, furthermore, can reverse the inhibition of ERbeta expression by Cisplatin.