Using Big Data in eye research to answer important scientific questions

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to measure the free carnitine and acylcarnitine levels in pterygium tissue and normal conjunctival tissue at the metabolomics level using tandem mass spectrometry. Methods: In this prospective, clinical randomized study, pterygium tissues and normal conjunctival tissues taken during pterygium excision with autograft were compared regarding their free carnitine and acylcarnitine profiles. After tissue homogenization, carnitine levels were measured using tandem mass spectrometry. The data were statistically analyzed with the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: Pterygium and normal conjunctival tissue samples from a single eye of 29 patients (16 females, 13 males; mean age, 54.75 ± 11.25 years [range, 21-78 years]) were evaluated. While the free carnitine (C0) level was significantly high in the pterygium tissue (p<0.001), acylcarnitine levels were significantly high in some esterized derivatives (C2, C5, C5:1, C5DC, C16:1, C18, methylglutarylcarnitine) (p<0.05). No statistically significant difference was determined for the other esterized derivatives (p>0.05). Conclusion: That the carnitine levels in pterygium tissue were higher suggests that acceleration of cell metabolism developed secondary to chronic inflammation and the premalignant characteristics of pterygium tissue. High carnitine levels may also effectively suppress the apoptosis process. The data reported in our study indicate that further, more extensive studies of the carnitine profile could help clarify the pathogenesis of pterygium.

Ambiente e conceitos de computação em nuvem: implementação de um banco de dados para uso no segmento hospitalar

“…Outra restrição é a necessidade de conexão permanente, dificultando o acesso em locais com conexão de baixa velocidade, o que gera problemas de conexão entre o usuário e a nuvem, já que nem todos os programas podem estar disponíveis remotamente (18). O desenvolvimento dessa tecnologia também aumenta a necessidade de capacitação de cientistas de dados na área de medicina, com objetivo de analisar essa grande quantidade de dados que possam ser gerados (19)(20)(21)(22).…”

Eye diseases during pregnancy: a study with the medical data warehouse in the eye clinic of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Munich in Germany

“…This significant amount of data exceeds human capacity and requires the development of algorithms to analyze the information. (1) One way to analyze this large amount of data is to use a data warehouse, which is a system that gathers information from different sources. Depending on the information required to develop a study, different methodologies can be adopted.…”