The European Hematology Association Roadmap for European Hematology Research: a consensus document

The European Hematology Association (EHA) Roadmap for European Hematology Research highlights major achievements in diagnosis and treatment of blood disorders and identifies the greatest unmet clinical and scientific needs in those areas to enable better funded, more focused European hematology research. Initiated by the EHA, around 300 experts contributed to the consensus document, which will help European policy makers, research funders, research organizations, researchers, and patient groups make better informed decisions on hematology research. It also aims to raise public awareness of the burden of blood disorders on European society, which purely in economic terms is estimated at €23 billion per year, a level of cost that is not matched in current European hematology research funding. In recent decades, hematology research has improved our fundamental understanding of the biology of blood disorders, and has improved diagnostics and treatments, sometimes in revolutionary ways. This progress highlights the potential of focused basic research programs such as this EHA Roadmap. The EHA Roadmap identifies nine ‘sections’ in hematology: normal hematopoiesis, malignant lymphoid and myeloid diseases, anemias and related diseases, platelet disorders, blood coagulation and hemostatic disorders, transfusion medicine, infections in hematology, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. These sections span 60 smaller groups of diseases or disorders. The EHA Roadmap identifies priorities and needs across the field of hematology, including those to develop targeted therapies based on genomic profiling and chemical biology, to eradicate minimal residual malignant disease, and to develop cellular immunotherapies, combination treatments, gene therapies, hematopoietic stem cell treatments, and treatments that are better tolerated by elderly patients

The European Hematology Association Roadmap for European Hematology Research. A Consensus Document

Abstract The European Hematology Association (EHA) Roadmap for European Hematology Research highlights major achievements in diagnosis and treatment of blood disorders and identifies the greatest unmet clinical and scientific needs in those areas to enable better funded, more focused European hematology research. Initiated by the EHA, around 300 experts contributed to the consensus document, which will help European policy makers, research funders, research organizations, researchers, and patient groups make better informed decisions on hematology research. It also aims to raise public awareness of the burden of blood disorders on European society, which purely in economic terms is estimated at Euro 23 billion per year, a level of cost that is not matched in current European hematology research funding. In recent decades, hematology research has improved our fundamental understanding of the biology of blood disorders, and has improved diagnostics and treatments, sometimes in revolutionary ways. This progress highlights the potential of focused basic research programs such as this EHA Roadmap. The EHA Roadmap identifies nine sections in hematology: normal hematopoiesis, malignant lymphoid and myeloid diseases, anemias and related diseases, platelet disorders, blood coagulation and hemostatic disorders, transfusion medicine, infections in hematology, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. These sections span 60 smaller groups of diseases or disorders. The EHA Roadmap identifies priorities and needs across the field of hematology, including those to develop targeted therapies based on genomic profiling and chemical biology, to eradicate minimal residual malignant disease, and to develop cellular immunotherapies, combination treatments, gene therapies, hematopoietic stem cell treatments, and treatments that are better tolerated by elderly patients. Received December 15, 2015. Accepted January 27, 2016. Copyright © 2016, Ferrata Storti Foundatio

Sediment Deposition and Accretion Rates in Tidal Marshes Are Highly Variable Along Estuarine Salinity and Flooding Gradients

Vertical accretion in estuarine marshes depends on rates of sediment deposition and is a complex function of different interacting variables. In times of climate change and associated sea-level rise, knowledge about the relation between these variables and sediment deposition and accretion rates is gaining high importance. Therefore, we studied spatial and temporal variation in short-term sediment deposition rates and its possible predictors in three marsh types along an estuarine salinity gradient. Between March 2010 and March 2011, bi-weekly sediment deposition was quantified along three transects, reflecting the variability in elevation (low to high marsh) and distance to the sediment source, in each of one tidal freshwater, brackish, and salt marsh at the Elbe Estuary (Germany). Simultaneously, water-level fluctuations and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) were recorded, and aboveground plant biomass was sampled once in late summer and once by the end of winter, respectively. Annual sediment deposition (17.5 ± 4.0 kg m−2) and calculated accretion rates (20.3 ± 4.7 mm year−1) were highest in the brackish low marsh and were between 51 and 71 % lower in the low tidal freshwater and the salt marsh, respectively. Highest SSC and longest inundations were found during fall and winter. Flooding duration and frequency were higher in the tidal freshwater than in the brackish and the salt marsh. Aboveground, plant biomass of the regularly flooded vegetation stratum (0–50 cm above soil surface) did not differ between marsh types, but the spatial pattern changed between late summer and early spring. In all three marsh types, decreasing sediment deposition rates with increasing distances from the sedimentation source were recorded. The applied multiple regression models were able to explain 74, 79, and 71 % of variation in sediment deposition patterns in tidal freshwater, brackish, and salt marshes, respectively. SSC was the most important model predictor variable. Our results emphasize the importance of considering spatial and temporal variations in sediment deposition rates and its predictors. According to our findings, sediment deposition rates in the investigated tidal low marshes of the Elbe Estuary seem to be sufficient to compensate moderate rates of sea-level rise. Contrastingly, high salt marshes might be vulnerable due to insufficient input of sediment and might regress into low marshes, partly

Therapeutic recommendations in HFE hemochromatosis for p.Cys282Tyr (C282Y/C282Y) homozygous genotype

Although guidelines are available for hereditary hemochromatosis, a high percentage of the recommendations within them are not shared between the different guidelines. Our main aim is to provide an objective, simple, brief, and practical set of recommendations about therapeutic aspects of HFE hemochromatosis for p.Cys282Tyr (C282Y/C282Y) homozygous genotype, based on the published scientific studies and guidelines, in a form that is reasonably comprehensible to patients and people without medical training. This final version was approved at the Hemochromatosis International meeting on 12th May 2017 in Los Angeles