Sensory acceptance of organic and conventional food by children in the age of 2 to 7 years

This study is initialized to find out which sensory factors might influence the acceptance of organic food by young children. 138 children aged from 2 to 7 years were recruited at the German Research Institute of Child Nutrition in Dortmund. All these children are participating in the DONALD-Study. Detailed nutrition records are available about breastfeeding and feeding of these children from birth to the age of one and further on. In a 2-year testing-period children tasted organic and conventional food in two-sided Paired Comparison Tests. In both years parents were asked a number of questions, mainly about the nutrition behaviour of their children. Sensory tests were analyzed and connected in different ways: with data of sensory profiles, nutrition records and different questionnaires

Valerij Ivanovič Grubov, 70 Jahre alt

Obituary of Russian scientist Valerij Ivanovič Grubov (born February 3, 1917, died February 1987)

Intensified chemotherapy and simultaneous treatment with heparin in outpatients with pancreatic cancer - the CONKO 004 pilot trial

BACKGROUND: Advanced pancreatic cancer (APC), beside its high mortality, causes the highest rates of venous thromboembolic events (VTE). Enoxaparin, a low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), is effective in prevention and treatment of VTE. Some small studies indicated that this benefit might extend to patients with cancer and probably prolong survival due to independent mechanisms. We initiated this safety investigation to get feasibility information on intensified chemotherapy combined with LMWH in outpatients with APC treated in 1st line. METHODS: The trial was a prospective, open-label, single center investigation in outpatients with inoperable pancreatic cancer who were treated with intensified first-line chemotherapy along with concomitant application of subcutaneous LMWH. The combined chemotherapy consisted of gemcitabine 1 g/m2 (30 min), 5-FU 750 mg/m2 (24 h), folinic acid 200 mg/m2 (30 min), and Cisplatin 30 mg/m2 (90 min) on day 1 and 8; q3w for the first 12 weeks (GFFC) followed by gemcitabine alone in patients without cancer progression. The simultaneous application of prophylactic enoxaparin started on day 1 of chemotherapy with a fixed dose of 40 mg daily. Statistical analyses were performed using R 3.01 with software package CMPRSK and SPSS software v19.0. RESULTS: The investigation was stopped after recruitment of 19 patients. At this time 15 patients had completed the required 12 weeks of treatment. Based on 71 cycles of GFFC + enoxaparin (median 4/pt [range: 2-4]) and 108 cycles of single-agent gemcitabine + enoxaparin (median 4/pt [range: 0-18]) the cumulative frequency of NCI-CTC toxicities grade 3/4 was below 10%. One case (5%) of a symptomatic non-lethal thromboembolic event was observed while receiving LMWH treatment. No severe bleeding event as defined in the protocol has been observed. The median overall survival was 10.05 [95%CI: 8.67-18.14] months. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of enoxaparin to GFFC chemotherapy is feasible, safe and does not appear to affect the efficacy or the toxicity profile of the chemotherapy regimen in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Based on these findings we have initiated the randomized CONKO-004 trial to examine whether enoxaparin reduces the incidence of thromboembolic events or increases overall outcome. Trial registration: Clinical Trials NCT01945879

Rationale and design of PROSPECT-CONKO 004: a prospective, randomized trial of simultaneous pancreatic cancer treatment with enoxaparin and chemotherapy

BACKGROUND: Advanced pancreatic cancer, in addition to its high mortality, is characterized by one of the highest rates of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) as compared to other types of cancer. Enoxaparin, a low molecular weight heparin (LMWH), has proven to be effective for the prevention and treatment of VTE in surgical and general medical patients. Results of some small studies suggest that this benefit might extend to patients with cancer, however, enoxaparin is not currently indicated for this use. This phase IIb study was designed to analyze the efficacy of enoxaparin in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer undergoing systemic chemotherapy. METHODS: The aim of this prospective multicenter trial is to compare concomitant treatment with enoxaparin to no anticoagulation in 540 patients. Primary endpoint is the incidence of clinically relevant VTE (symptomatic deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of the leg and / or pelvic and / or pulmonary embolism (PE)) within the first 3 months. Secondary endpoints include the incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic VTE after 6, 9 and 12 months as well as remission at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months, overall survival and bleeding. Trial registration: isrctn.org identifier CCT-NAPN-16752, controlled-trials.com identifier: ISRCTN02140505. RESULTS: An interim analysis for safety performed after inclusion of 152 patients revealed no increased risk of bleeding (5 pts vs. 6 pts, Chi2: 0.763). CONCLUSIONS: PROSPECT is a pivotal study in elucidating the role of low molecular weight heparins in advanced pancreatic cancer. Its results will lead to a new understanding of the role of heparins in the prevention of venous thromboembolism and of their effect on survival, remission rates and toxicity of chemotherapeutic regimens

A pedagogic appraisal of the Priority Heuristic

We have explored how science and mathematics teachers made decisions when confronted with a dilemma in which a fictitious young woman, Deborah, may choose to have an operation that might address a painful spinal condition. We sought to explore the extent to which psychological heuristic models, in particular the Priority Heuristic, might successfully describe the decision-making process of these teachers and how an analysis of the role of personal and emotional factors in shaping the decision-making process might inform pedagogical design. A novel aspect of this study is that the setting in which the decision-making process is examined contrasts sharply with those used in psychological experiments. We found that to some extent, even in this contrasting setting, the Priority Heuristic could describe these teachers' decision-making. Further analysis of the transcripts yielded some insights into limitations on scope as well the richness and complexity in how personal factors were brought to bear. We see these limitations as design opportunities for educational intervention

Politeness and compassion differentially predict adherence to fairness norms and interventions to norm violations in economic games

Adherence to norms and interventions to norm violations are two important forms of social behaviour modelled in economic games. While both appear to serve a prosocial function, they may represent separate mechanisms corresponding with distinct emotional and psychological antecedents, and thus may be predicted by different personality traits. In this study, we compared adherence to fairness norms in the dictator game with responses to violations of the same norms in third-party punishment and recompensation games with respect to prosocial traits from the Big Five and HEXACO models of personality. The results revealed a pattern of differential relations between prosocial traits and game behaviours. While norm adherence in the dictator game was driven by traits reflecting good manners and non-aggression (i.e., the politeness aspect of Big Five agreeableness and HEXACO honesty-humility), third-party recompensation of victims—and to a lesser extent, punishment of offenders—was uniquely driven by traits reflecting emotional concern for others (the compassion aspect of Big Five agreeableness). These findings demonstrate the discriminant validity between similar prosocial constructs and highlight the different prosocial motivations underlying economic game behaviours

The microstructure of polymer-derived amorphous silicon carbide layers

Abstract In order to achieve thin amorphous silicon carbide layers a two-stage process was applied. The deposition of thin layers from liquid chlorovinylsilanes was carried out under argon flow using a spin-coating-system. Afterwards, the samples were pyrolysed in a temperature range between 800 • C and 1200 • C with different hydrogen concentrations in the atmosphere. Additionally, bulk material was pyrolysed in order to characterise structural changes by transition oligomer to a-SiC:H. In this work we present studies on the structure of the layers and of bulk material, which were carried out by XRD, MAS NMR and Raman spectroscopy, depending on pyrolysis conditions. Following results were obtained: Both, silicon carbide layers and bulk material, pyrolysed at 800 • C, were amorphous. Increase of the temperature to 1200 • C leads to a partial amorphous-to-crystalline transition forming ␤-SiC. Moreover, derivations from stoichiometric SiC were observed: Free silicon was found in thin layers, whereas crystallites of graphite were detected in the bulk material. The amount of excess carbon can be influenced by addition of hydrogen to the pyrolysis atmosphere

Mechano-Dependent Phosphorylation of the PDZ-Binding Motif of CD97/ADGRE5 Modulates Cellular Detachment

Summary Cells respond to mechanical stimuli with altered signaling networks. Here, we show that mechanical forces rapidly induce phosphorylation of CD97/ADGRE5 (pCD97) at its intracellular C-terminal PDZ-binding motif (PBM). Biochemically, this phosphorylation disrupts CD97 binding to PDZ domains of the scaffold protein DLG1. In shear-stressed cells, pCD97 appears not only in junctions, retracting fibers, and the attachment area but also in lost membrane patches, demonstrating (intra)cellular detachment at the CD97 PBM. This motif is critical for the CD97-dependent mechanoresponse. Cells expressing CD97 without the PBM are more deformable, and under shear stress, these cells lose cell contacts faster and show changes in the actin cytoskeleton when compared with cells expressing full-length CD97. Our data indicate CD97 linkage to the cytoskeleton. Consistently, CD97 knockout phenocopies CD97 without the PBM, and membranous CD97 is organized in an F-actin-dependent manner. In summary, CD97 shapes the cellular mechanoresponse through signaling modulation via its PBM

Zootechnical performance, degree of steatosis and the genotoxic potential in yellowtail tetra Astyanax lacustris fed with different levels of L-carnitine

ABSTRACT L-carnitine perform a major role in transporting long-chain fatty acids into the mitochondria, where they are oxidized. It has been used in animal diets to decrease fat and increase muscle protein. The aim of this study was to evaluate the zootechnical performance, degree of steatosis in the liver, and genotoxic potential in Astyanax lacustris fed with different levels of L-carnitine (LC). Yellowtail tetra juveniles (n = 140) were distributed in 20 tanks of 70 L, with seven fish in each, in a water recirculation system with controlled temperature (27±0.1⁰C). The treatments with different levels of L-carnitine supplementation were: 0 (control), 250, 500, 750, and 1000 mg of LC per kg of food. The diets were provided twice a day for 60 days. The results showed that the different levels of LC did not affect (P>0.05) weight gain, survival, viscerosomatic index, and the liver hepatocytes showed a normal appearance. However, the use of LC supplementation showed genotoxic potential with a significant difference (P<0.05) for cell alterations when compared to the control at concentrations above 500mg kg-1