High-temperature drying of organically grown bread rye

Mycotoxin producing fungi are naturally occurring components in cereals. When produced, some of the mycotoxins are toxic to humans and animals. Heat treatment is a method to reduce fungal abundance on cereals. The objectives of this work have been to provide more knowledge on this topic, and specifically to optimise the drum drying technique with reference to reducing the dissemination and proliferation of fungi on organically grown rye without reducing the baking quality of the grain. The results show that drum drying can be a very efficient method in reducing fungi colonising on grain. For rye it is possible to achieve high effects on fungi without reducing the baking abilities. When drying at a constant maximum grain temperature of 64°C, the treatment resulted in less than 1% of the yeast propagules and less than 2% of the filamentous fungi, compared to what was found in the reference grain. As drying temperatures and time for the grain to be treated are essential, the drum drier must be equipped with an effective control unit. The experiments show that a control system using fixed constant maximum grain temperature is most suitable

Association of the clinical components in the distal interphalangeal joint synovio-entheseal complex and subsequent response to ixekizumab or adalimumab in psoriatic arthritis.

Objectives: To assess the frequency of simultaneous distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint disease and adjacent nail psoriasis (finger unit) among patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and compare the efficacy of the IL-17A antagonist ixekizumab (IXE) and the TNF-α inhibitor adalimumab (ADA). Methods: This post hoc analysis evaluated the simultaneous occurrence of DIP joint involvement (tenderness and/or swelling) and adjacent nail psoriasis among patients with PsA from the SPIRIT-H2H (NCT03151551) trial comparing IXE to ADA. Among patients with simultaneous DIP joint involvement and adjacent nail psoriasis in ≥1 digit at baseline, treatment effects were assessed through week 52 for each affected finger unit; ‘finger unit’ defines the connected DIP joint and adjacent nail of an individual digit. Results: A total of 354 patients had simultaneous DIP joint involvement and adjacent nail psoriasis in ≥1 finger unit at baseline. Among them, 1309 (IXE: 639; ADA: 670) finger units had baseline DIP joint tenderness and/or swelling and adjacent nail psoriasis. Proportions of affected finger units achieving complete resolution were significantly higher with IXE vs ADA as early as week 12 (38.8% vs 28.4%, P < 0.0001) and at all post-baseline assessments through week 52 (64.9% vs 57.5%, P = 0.0055). Conclusion: In this study cohort, patients with DIP joint involvement almost always had adjacent nail psoriasis. Greater resolution of DIP joint tenderness, swelling and adjacent nail psoriasis was achieved at all time points over 52 weeks through targeting IL-17A with IXE than TNF-α with ADA, which is noteworthy given prior comparable musculoskeletal outcomes for both drug classes

Protocol for evaluating and implementing a pragmatic value-based healthcare management model for patients with inflammatory arthritis:A Danish population-based regional cohort and qualitative implementation study

Introduction The provision of healthcare for patients with inflammatory arthritis occurs in the context of somewhat conflicting targets, values and drivers. Therefore, there is a need for introducing 'value-based healthcare' defined as the value of patient relevant health outcomes in relation to costs. This term is a central part of tomorrow's healthcare sector, especially for rheumatic diseases, yet the transition is a huge challenge, as it will impact the development, delivery and assessment of healthcare. Aims The aim of this study is to compare medical and patient evaluated impact of the traditional settlement and financing production (DAGS) controlled healthcare setting with a value-based and patient-centred adjunctive to standard care. Methods and analysis Patients with inflammatory arthritis receiving treatment in routine care at the outpatient clinics in the Capital Region of Denmark will prospectively and consecutively be enrolled in a Non-Intervention-Study framework providing a pragmatic value-based management model. A Danish reference cohort, used for comparison will be collected as part of routine clinical care. The enrolment period will be from 1 June 2018 until 31December 2023. Baseline and follow-up visits will be according to routine clinical care. Registry data will be obtained directly from patients and include personal, clinical and outcomes information. The study results will be reported in accordance with the STROBE statement. Ethics and dissemination The study has been notified to the Danish Data Protection Agency and granted authorisation for the period June 2018 to January 2025 (pending). Informed consent will be obtained from all patients before enrolment in the study. The study is approved by the ethics committee, Capital Region of Denmark (H-18013158). Results of the study will be disseminated through publication in international peer-reviewed journals

Molecular detection (k-ras) of exfoliated tumour cells in the pelvis is a prognostic factor after resection of rectal cancer?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>After total mesorectal excision (TME) for rectal cancer around 10% of patients develops local recurrences within the pelvis. One reason for recurrence might be spillage of cancer cells during surgery. This pilot study was conducted to investigate the incidence of remnant cancer cells in pelvic lavage after resection of rectal cancer. DNA from cells obtained by lavage, were analysed by denaturing capillary electrophoresis with respect to mutations in hotspots of the <it>k-ras </it>gene, which are frequently mutated in colorectal cancer.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 237 rectal cancer patients analyzed, 19 had positive lavage fluid. There was a significant survival difference (p = 0.006) between patients with <it>k-ras </it>positive and negative lavage fluid.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Patients with <it>k-ras </it>mutated cells in the lavage immediately after surgery have a reduced life expectation. Detection of exfoliated cells in the abdominal cavity may be a useful diagnostic tool to improve the staging and eventually characterize patients who may benefit from aggressive multimodal treatment of rectal cancer.</p

A Comparative Structural Bioinformatics Analysis of the Insulin Receptor Family Ectodomain Based on Phylogenetic Information

The insulin receptor (IR), the insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor (IGF1R) and the insulin receptor-related receptor (IRR) are covalently-linked homodimers made up of several structural domains. The molecular mechanism of ligand binding to the ectodomain of these receptors and the resulting activation of their tyrosine kinase domain is still not well understood. We have carried out an amino acid residue conservation analysis in order to reconstruct the phylogeny of the IR Family. We have confirmed the location of ligand binding site 1 of the IGF1R and IR. Importantly, we have also predicted the likely location of the insulin binding site 2 on the surface of the fibronectin type III domains of the IR. An evolutionary conserved surface on the second leucine-rich domain that may interact with the ligand could not be detected. We suggest a possible mechanical trigger of the activation of the IR that involves a slight ‘twist’ rotation of the last two fibronectin type III domains in order to face the likely location of insulin. Finally, a strong selective pressure was found amongst the IRR orthologous sequences, suggesting that this orphan receptor has a yet unknown physiological role which may be conserved from amphibians to mammals

The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity

Background: The question of how many marine species exist is important because it provides a metric for how much we do and do not know about life in the oceans. We have compiled the first register of the marine species of the world and used this baseline to estimate how many more species, partitioned among all major eukaryotic groups, may be discovered. Results: There are ∼226,000 eukaryotic marine species described. More species were described in the past decade (∼20,000) than in any previous one. The number of authors describing new species has been increasing at a faster rate than the number of new species described in the past six decades. We report that there are ∼170,000 synonyms, that 58,000–72,000 species are collected but not yet described, and that 482,000–741,000 more species have yet to be sampled. Molecular methods may add tens of thousands of cryptic species. Thus, there may be 0.7–1.0 million marine species. Past rates of description of new species indicate there may be 0.5 ± 0.2 million marine species. On average 37% (median 31%) of species in over 100 recent field studies around the world might be new to science. Conclusions: Currently, between one-third and two-thirds of marine species may be undescribed, and previous estimates of there being well over one million marine species appear highly unlikely. More species than ever before are being described annually by an increasing number of authors. If the current trend continues, most species will be discovered this century

Genetic predisposition to in situ and invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast.

Invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) accounts for 10-15% of all invasive breast carcinomas. It is generally ER positive (ER+) and often associated with lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS). Genome-wide association studies have identified more than 70 common polymorphisms that predispose to breast cancer, but these studies included predominantly ductal (IDC) carcinomas. To identify novel common polymorphisms that predispose to ILC and LCIS, we pooled data from 6,023 cases (5,622 ILC, 401 pure LCIS) and 34,271 controls from 36 studies genotyped using the iCOGS chip. Six novel SNPs most strongly associated with ILC/LCIS in the pooled analysis were genotyped in a further 516 lobular cases (482 ILC, 36 LCIS) and 1,467 controls. These analyses identified a lobular-specific SNP at 7q34 (rs11977670, OR (95%CI) for ILC = 1.13 (1.09-1.18), P = 6.0 × 10(-10); P-het for ILC vs IDC ER+ tumors = 1.8 × 10(-4)). Of the 75 known breast cancer polymorphisms that were genotyped, 56 were associated with ILC and 15 with LCIS at P<0.05. Two SNPs showed significantly stronger associations for ILC than LCIS (rs2981579/10q26/FGFR2, P-het = 0.04 and rs889312/5q11/MAP3K1, P-het = 0.03); and two showed stronger associations for LCIS than ILC (rs6678914/1q32/LGR6, P-het = 0.001 and rs1752911/6q14, P-het = 0.04). In addition, seven of the 75 known loci showed significant differences between ER+ tumors with IDC and ILC histology, three of these showing stronger associations for ILC (rs11249433/1p11, rs2981579/10q26/FGFR2 and rs10995190/10q21/ZNF365) and four associated only with IDC (5p12/rs10941679; rs2588809/14q24/RAD51L1, rs6472903/8q21 and rs1550623/2q31/CDCA7). In conclusion, we have identified one novel lobular breast cancer specific predisposition polymorphism at 7q34, and shown for the first time that common breast cancer polymorphisms predispose to LCIS. We have shown that many of the ER+ breast cancer predisposition loci also predispose to ILC, although there is some heterogeneity between ER+ lobular and ER+ IDC tumors. These data provide evidence for overlapping, but distinct etiological pathways within ER+ breast cancer between morphological subtypes