Evaluating the Effect of Accelerated Aging at Different Temperature and Time Points on Beef Quality and Enzyme Activity of Lower Quality Beef Cuts

Objective: This study aimed to explore the effects of four accelerated aging (AA) methods at different temperature and time points on meat quality and enzymatic activity of two lower quality beef cuts. Study Description: Shoulder clod and top round were collected from 10 U.S. Department of Agriculture choice beef carcasses, fabricated into steaks, and assigned to one of six treatments: 3 days postmortem (control), cooler aged for 21 days, AA 120°F for 2 h, AA 120°F for 3 h, AA 130°F for 2 h, and AA 130°F for 3 h. Yield was calculated based on loss during AA and cooking loss, and purge was collected for collagen analysis. Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) was determined, and purge for microbial analysis was collected from primal bags as well as the package after AA treatment. Steak surfaces were swabbed on the anterior side prior to AA treatment, then swabbed on the posterior side after treatment. Aerobic plate counts (APC) were performed on purge and swab samples. Cathepsin activity was determined through zymography. Soluble collagen content and total collagen in the purge were determined through hydroxyproline content. Results: All AA treatments decreased APC on the steak surfaces (P \u3c 0.01) and in the purge (P \u3c 0.05). The 130°F samples had a lower yield after AA than the 120°F groups (P \u3c 0.05). The cooler aged samples had a lower cook yield than all of the AA samples (P \u3c 0.01), and shoulder clod samples displayed higher cooking yield than the top round (P \u3c 0.01). The WBSF results showed that AA 120°F for 3 h samples and both AA 130°F samples displayed similar tenderness to the samples that were cooler aged for 21 days (P \u3c 0.01). All the AA treatments had higher collagen in the purge than the control or cooler aged samples (P \u3c 0.01). There was heightened cathepsin enzymatic activity during all treatments when compared to the control samples, and the AA at 120°F for 3 h treatment displayed the highest activity compared to other AA treatments (P \u3c 0.01). The Bottom Line: Accelerated aging has shown to be a promising technique to increase value in lower priced beef cuts through increasing enzymatic activity and tenderness without accelerating microorganism growth

Bartter- and Gitelman-like syndromes: salt-losing tubulopathies with loop or DCT defects

Salt-losing tubulopathies with secondary hyperaldosteronism (SLT) comprise a set of well-defined inherited tubular disorders. Two segments along the distal nephron are primarily involved in the pathogenesis of SLTs: the thick ascending limb of Henle’s loop, and the distal convoluted tubule (DCT). The functions of these pre- and postmacula densa segments are quite distinct, and this has a major impact on the clinical presentation of loop and DCT disorders – the Bartter- and Gitelman-like syndromes. Defects in the water-impermeable thick ascending limb, with its greater salt reabsorption capacity, lead to major salt and water losses similar to the effect of loop diuretics. In contrast, defects in the DCT, with its minor capacity of salt reabsorption and its crucial role in fine-tuning of urinary calcium and magnesium excretion, provoke more chronic solute imbalances similar to the effects of chronic treatment with thiazides. The most severe disorder is a combination of a loop and DCT disorder similar to the enhanced diuretic effect of a co-medication of loop diuretics with thiazides. Besides salt and water supplementation, prostaglandin E2-synthase inhibition is the most effective therapeutic option in polyuric loop disorders (e.g., pure furosemide and mixed furosemide–amiloride type), especially in preterm infants with severe volume depletion. In DCT disorders (e.g., pure thiazide and mixed thiazide–furosemide type), renin–angiotensin–aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers might be indicated after salt, potassium, and magnesium supplementation are deemed insufficient. It appears that in most patients with SLT, a combination of solute supplementation with some drug treatment (e.g., indomethacin) is needed for a lifetime

Renoprotective RAAS inhibition does not affect the association between worse renal function and higher plasma aldosterone levels

Abstract Background Aldosterone is elevated in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and may be involved in hypertension. Surprisingly, the determinants of the plasma aldosterone concentration (PAC) and its role in hypertension are not well studied in CKD. Therefore, we studied the determinants of aldosterone and its association with blood pressure in CKD patients. We also studied this during renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibition (RAASi) to establish clinical relevance, as RAASi is the treatment of choice in CKD with albuminuria. Methods We performed a post-hoc analysis on data from a randomized controlled double blind cross-over trial in non-diabetic CKD patients (n = 33, creatinine clearance (CrCl) 85 (75–95) ml/min, proteinuria 3.2 (2.5–4.0) g/day). Patients were treated with losartan 100 mg (ARB), and ARB + hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg (HCT), during both a regular (200 ± 10 mmol Na+/day) and low (89 ± 8 mmol Na+/day) dietary sodium intake, in 6-week study periods. PAC data at the end of each study period were analyzed. The association between PAC and blood pressure was analyzed continuously, and according to PAC above or below the median. Results Lower CrCl was correlated with higher PAC during placebo as well as during ARB (β = −1.213, P = 0.008 and β = −1.090, P = 0.010). Higher PAC was not explained by high renin, illustrated by a comparable association between CrCl and the aldosterone-to-renin ratio. The association between lower CrCl and higher PAC was also found in a second study with single RAASi with ACE inhibition (ACEi; lisinopril 40 mg/day), and dual RAASi (lisinopril 40 mg/day + valsartan 320 mg/day). Higher PAC was associated with a higher systolic blood pressure (P = 0.010) during different study periods. Only during maximal treatment with ARB + HCT + dietary sodium restriction, blood pressure was no longer different in subjects with a PAC above and below the median. Conclusions In CKD patients with a standardized regular sodium intake, worse renal function is associated with a higher aldosterone, untreated and during RAASi with either ARB, ACEi, or both. Furthermore, higher aldosterone is associated with higher blood pressure, which can be treated with the combination of RAASi, HCT and dietary sodium restriction. The first study was performed before it was standard to register trials and the study was not retrospectively registered. The second study was registered in the Netherlands Trial Register on the 5th of May 2006 (NTR675)

Comparison of outcome and characteristics between 6343 COVID-19 patients and 2256 other community-acquired viral pneumonia patients admitted to Dutch ICUs

Purpose: Describe the differences in characteristics and outcomes between COVID-19 and other viral pneumonia patients admitted to Dutch ICUs. Materials and methods: Data from the National-Intensive-Care-Evaluation-registry of COVID-19 patients admitted between February 15th and January 1th 2021 and other viral pneumonia patients admitted between January 1st 2017 and January 1st 2020 were used. Patients' characteristics, the unadjusted, and adjusted in-hospital mortality were compared. Results: 6343 COVID-19 and 2256 other viral pneumonia patients from 79 ICUs were included. The COVID-19 patients included more male (71.3 vs 49.8%), had a higher Body-Mass-Index (28.1 vs 25.5), less comorbidities (42.2 vs 72.7%), and a prolonged hospital length of stay (19 vs 9 days). The COVID-19 patients had a significantly higher crude in-hospital mortality rate (Odds ratio (OR) = 1.80), after adjustment for patient characteristics and ICU occupancy rate the OR was respectively 3.62 and 3.58. Conclusion: Higher mortality among COVID-19 patients could not be explained by patient characteristics and higher ICU occupancy rates, indicating that COVID-19 is more severe compared to other viral pneumonia. Our findings confirm earlier warnings of a high need of ICU capacity and high mortality rates among relatively healthy COVID-19 patients as this may lead to a higher mental workload for the staff. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Transcriptome-based identification of candidate membrane proteins.

A full understanding of leukocyte responses to external stimuli requires knowledge of the full complement of proteins found on their surfaces. Systematic examination of the mammalian cell surfaces at the protein level is hampered by technical difficulties associated with proteomic analysis of so many membrane proteins and the large amounts of starting material required. The use of transcriptomic analyses avoids challenges associated with protein stability and separation and enables the inclusion of an amplification step; thus allowing the use of cell numbers applicable to the study of sub populations of, for example, primary lymphocytes. Here we present a transcriptomic methodology based on Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) to recover an essentially complete and quantitative profile of mRNA species in a particular cell. We discuss how, using bioinformatic tools accessible to standard desktop computers, plasma membrane proteins can be identified in silico, from this list. While we describe the use of this approach to characterise the cell surface protein complement of a resting CD8(+) T-cell clone, it is theoretically applicable to any cell surface, where a suitable pure population of cells is available

Long-term followup of patients with Sjogren's syndrome

Contains fulltext : 24270.PDF (publisher's version ) (Open Access

September 2012 performance report. National Service Plan 2012.

The Performance Report (PR) provides an overall analysis of key performance data from finance, HR, Acute and Primary & Community Services. The activity data reported are based on the Performance Activity and Key Performance Indicators outlined in the NSP 2010. The total number of clients in methadone treatment in September was 9,453 of this 93.8% were outside prisons and 6.2% (553) were in prisons. Of the 8,900 persons who are on methadone outside prison, the regional breakdown is as follows; HSE DML – 5,056 HSE DNE – 3,049 HSE South - 461 HSE West – 334 For more detail, see supplementary report pages 38 and 5

Anti-CD8 antibody induced transcriptional remodelling in HIV-specific CD8 T cells secreting Anti-HIV-1 factors

CD8(+) T cell clones secrete soluble factor(s), generally referred to as T cell-derived anti-viral factors (CAFs) that inhibit HIV replication in vitro. The CAF-like activity of some of the clones we are studying is inducible by anti-CD8 antibody. The CD8 antibody-inducibility of one such clone, clone 32, has allowed us to focus, in principle, on CAF-encoding genes using the serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) method. Using this approach, a complex pattern of transcriptional changes was found to accompany antibody treatment, with skewed expression of certain effector molecules. Our transcriptome-based approach provides the first overview of the transcriptional properties of a CD8(+) T cell with CAF-like activity, and places new constraints on strategies for identifying CAF-like factors

Clinical significance of quantitative immunohistology in labial salivary glands for diagnosing Sjogren's syndrome

Objectives. Because patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome (pSS) are at risk of developing other autoimmune phenomena and malignant lymphoma, it is important to distinguish pSS from non-Sjogren's (nSS) sicca syndrome. However, this distinction might be difficult because of the lack of a gold standard for pSS. We studied the clinical significance of quantitative immunohistology (QIH) in labial salivary glands for diagnosing pSS. Methods. In a model mimicking the making of a clinical diagnosis, five experts diagnosed 396 patients as nSS, 'indefinite', pSS or secondary SS (sSS) using 25 clinical parameters. Patients were diagnosed twice, namely without (yielding gold-standard diagnoses) and with knowledge of QIH. The numbers of changes in diagnosis from 'indefinite' to 'definite' (nSS, pSS or sSS) or vice versa were compared. Patient groups with vs without a changed diagnosis in the four gold-standard diagnosis groups were compared regarding objective autoimmune parameters. Results. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value for abnormal QIH in pSS vs nSS were 93, 86, 76 and 96%, respectively. Changes in diagnosis from 'indefinite' to 'definite' (31%) were found more often (P = 0.00) than changes from 'definite' to 'indefinite' (10%). Knowledge of QIH distinguished patient groups within the gold-standard nSS, indefinite and pSS patient group with regard to autoimmune parameters. Conclusion. In view of the consequences of distinguishing pSS from nSS, these results point to an additional diagnostic role for QIH in clinical practice