Studies on the radiation preservation of fish I. The Effect on Certain Vitamins in Fresh Fillets of Cod and Dogfish and in Smoked Fillets of Cod and Herring

The effect of radiopasteurization (0.3 Mrad) and radiosterilization (3.0 Mrad) on certain vitamins in canned fresh fillets of cod and dogfish and in vacuum packed smoked cod and herring, were studied. The effect of post-irradiation storage of the samples at appropriate temperatures on the vitamin contents was determined. Some differences between vitamin sensitivity to irradiation and storage among the various fish samples studied were noted. Thiamine was found to be most sensitive to both irradiation and storage of non irradiated samples. Irradiated samples lost little or no thiamine upon storage. Riboflavin was more sensitive to storage than to irradiation. Niacin and vitamin B12 were not appreciably affected by irradiation or storage. Vitamin A appeared to be more radiosensitive in smoked than in fresh fish. Thus a sample of dogfish retained 50 percent of the vitamin A content after irradiation with 3.0 Mrad. Vitamin E was not affected by the radiation doses employed in the fish samples investigated

High plasma levels of C1-inhibitor are associated with lower risk of future venous thromboembolism

Background - C1-inhibitor (C1INH) is a broad-acting serine protease inhibitor with anticoagulant activity. The impact of C1INH plasma levels within the normal physiological range on risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is unknown. We assessed the association of plasma C1INH levels and VTE risk and evaluated the impact of C1INH on thrombin and plasmin generation in ex vivo assays. Methods - A nested case-control study with 405 patients with VTE and 829 age- and sex-matched controls was derived from the Tromsø Study. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for VTE were estimated across plasma C1INH quartiles. Genetic regulation of C1INH was explored using quantitative trait loci analysis of whole exome sequencing data. The effect of plasma C1INH levels on coagulation was evaluated ex vivo by calibrated automated thrombography. Results - Individuals with C1INH levels in the highest quartile had a lower risk of VTE (OR 0.68, 95% CI: 0.49-0.96) compared with those with C1INH in the lowest quartile. In subgroup analysis, the corresponding ORs were 0.60 (95% CI: 0.39-0.89) for deep vein thrombosis and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.52-1.38) for pulmonary embolism, respectively. No significant genetic determinants of plasma C1INH levels were identified. Addition of exogenous C1INH to normal human plasma reduced thrombin generation triggered by an activator of the intrinsic coagulation pathway, but not when triggered by an activator of the extrinsic coagulation pathway. Conclusions - High plasma levels of C1INH were associated with lower risk of VTE, and C1INH inhibited thrombin generation initiated by the intrinsic coagulation pathway ex vivo

Testing and development of transfer functions for weighing precipitation gauges in WMO-SPICE

Weighing precipitation gauges are used widely for the measurement of all forms of precipitation, and are typically more accurate than tipping-bucket precipitation gauges. This is especially true for the measurement of solid precipitation; however, weighing precipitation gauge measurements must still be adjusted for undercatch in snowy, windy conditions. In WMO-SPICE (World Meteorological Organization Solid Precipitation InterComparison Experiment), different types of weighing precipitation gauges and shields were compared, and adjustments were determined for the undercatch of solid precipitation caused by wind. For the various combinations of gauges and shields, adjustments using both new and previously existing transfer functions were evaluated. For most of the gauge and shield combinations, previously derived transfer functions were found to perform as well as those more recently derived. This indicates that wind shield type (or lack thereof) is more important in determining the magnitude of wind-induced undercatch than the type of weighing precipitation gauge. It also demonstrates the potential for widespread use of the previously developed transfer functions. Another overarching result was that, in general, the more effective shields, which were associated with smaller unadjusted errors, also produced more accurate measurements after adjustment. This indicates that although transfer functions can effectively reduce measurement biases, effective wind shielding is still required for the most accurate measurement of solid precipitation

Analysis of single-Alter-shielded and unshielded measurements of mixed and solid precipitation from WMO-SPICE

Precipitation measurements were combined from eight separate precipitation testbeds to create multi-site transfer functions for the correction of unshielded and single-Alter-shielded precipitation gauge measurements. Site-specific errors and more universally applicable corrections were created from these WMO-SPICE measurements. The importance and magnitude of such wind speed corrections were demonstrated.This research was funded by the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport through a grant (16AWMP-B079625-03) from the Water Management Research Program

Recurrent venous thromboembolism and bleeding with extended anticoagulation: the VTE-PREDICT risk score

Aims Deciding to stop or continue anticoagulation for venous thromboembolism (VTE) after initial treatment is challenging, as individual risks of recurrence and bleeding are heterogeneous. The present study aimed to develop and externally validate models for predicting 5-year risks of recurrence and bleeding in patients with VTE without cancer who completed at least 3 months of initial treatment, which can be used to estimate individual absolute benefits and harms of extended anticoagulation. Methods and results Competing risk-adjusted models were derived to predict recurrent VTE and clinically relevant bleeding (non-major and major) using 14 readily available patient characteristics. The models were derived from combined individual patient data from the Bleeding Risk Study, Hokusai-VTE, PREFER-VTE, RE-MEDY, and RE-SONATE (n = 15,141, 220 recurrences, 189 bleeding events). External validity was assessed in the Danish VTE cohort, EINSTEIN-CHOICE, GARFIELD-VTE, MEGA, and Tromsø studies (n = 59 257, 2283 recurrences, 3335 bleeding events). Absolute treatment effects were estimated by combining the models with hazard ratios from trials and meta-analyses. External validation in different settings showed agreement between predicted and observed risks up to 5 years, with C-statistics ranging from 0.48–0.71 (recurrence) and 0.61–0.68 (bleeding). In the Danish VTE cohort, 5-year risks ranged from 4% to 19% for recurrent VTE and 1% –19% for bleeding. Conclusion The VTE-PREDICT risk score can be applied to estimate the effect of extended anticoagulant treatment for individual patients with VTE and to support shared decision-making

The quantification and correction of wind-induced precipitation measurement errors

Hydrologic measurements are important for both the short- and long-term management of water resources. Of the terms in the hydrologic budget, precipitation is typically the most important input; however, measurements of precipitation are subject to large errors and biases. For example, an all-weather unshielded weighing precipitation gauge can collect less than 50 % of the actual amount of solid precipitation when wind speeds exceed 5 m s−1. Using results from two different precipitation test beds, such errors have been assessed for unshielded weighing gauges and for weighing gauges employing four of the most common windshields currently in use. Functions to correct wind-induced undercatch were developed and tested. In addition, corrections for the single-Alter weighing gauge were developed using the combined results of two separate sites in Norway and the USA. In general, the results indicate that the functions effectively correct the undercatch bias that affects such precipitation measurements. In addition, a single function developed for the single-Alter gauges effectively decreased the bias at both sites, with the bias at the US site improving from −12 to 0 %, and the bias at the Norwegian site improving from −27 to −4 %. These correction functions require only wind speed and air temperature as inputs, and were developed for use in national and local precipitation networks, hydrological monitoring, roadway and airport safety work, and climate change research. The techniques used to develop and test these transfer functions at more than one site can also be used for other more comprehensive studies, such as the World Meteorological Organization Solid Precipitation Intercomparison Experiment (WMO-SPICE)

Genetically predicted cortisol levels and risk of venous thromboembolism

Introduction - In observational studies, venous thromboembolism (VTE) has been associated with Cushing’s syndrome and with persistent mental stress, two conditions associated with higher cortisol levels. However, it remains unknown whether high cortisol levels within the usual range are causally associated with VTE risk. We aimed to assess the association between plasma cortisol levels and VTE risk using Mendelian randomization. Methods - Three genetic variants in the SERPINA1/SERPINA6 locus (rs12589136, rs11621961 and rs2749527) were used to proxy plasma cortisol. The associations of the cortisol-associated genetic variants with VTE were acquired from the INVENT (28 907 cases and 157 243 non-cases) and FinnGen (6913 cases and 169 986 non-cases) consortia. Corresponding data for VTE subtypes were available from the FinnGen consortium and UK Biobank. Two-sample Mendelian randomization analyses (inverse-variance weighted method) were performed. Results - Genetic predisposition to higher plasma cortisol levels was associated with a reduced risk of VTE (odds ratio [OR] per one standard deviation increment 0.73, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.62–0.87, p Conclusions - This study provides evidence that genetically predicted plasma cortisol levels in the high end of the normal range are associated with a decreased risk of VTE and that this association may be mediated by blood pressure. This study has implications for the planning of observational studies of cortisol and VTE, suggesting that blood pressure traits should be measured and accounted for

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

Studies on the radiation preservation of fish I. The Effect on Certain Vitamins in Fresh Fillets of Cod and Dogfish and in Smoked Fillets of Cod and Herring

The effect of radiopasteurization (0.3 Mrad) and radiosterilization (3.0 Mrad) on certain vitamins in canned fresh fillets of cod and dogfish and in vacuum packed smoked cod and herring, were studied. The effect of post-irradiation storage of the samples at appropriate temperatures on the vitamin contents was determined. Some differences between vitamin sensitivity to irradiation and storage among the various fish samples studied were noted. Thiamine was found to be most sensitive to both irradiation and storage of non irradiated samples. Irradiated samples lost little or no thiamine upon storage. Riboflavin was more sensitive to storage than to irradiation. Niacin and vitamin B12 were not appreciably affected by irradiation or storage. Vitamin A appeared to be more radiosensitive in smoked than in fresh fish. Thus a sample of dogfish retained 50 percent of the vitamin A content after irradiation with 3.0 Mrad. Vitamin E was not affected by the radiation doses employed in the fish samples investigated