Application of NIR imaging to the study of expanded snacks containing amaranth, quinoa and kañiwa

Amaranth (Amarantus caudatus), quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) and kañiwa (Chenopodium pallidicaule) are Andean grains that are gaining interest as nutritious gluten-free alternatives to conventional cereals. Near infrared (NIR) imaging was applied to extrudates containing 20, 35% and 50% amaranth, quinoa and kañiwa in order to study the spatial distribution of fibre and protein along the cross-sectional area. The results were contrasted with existing physical measurements (e.g., sectional expansion, stiffness) and textural data obtained from sensory profiling and temporal studies (i.e., temporal dominance of sensation, TDS). Score distribution in PCA plots was directly associated to fibre (PC1) and protein (PC2) due to spectral wavelength specificity (fibre: 1028 nm; protein: 1470 nm). Partial Least Squares regression model (PLS) showed that evenly distributed protein structures are strongly linked to desirable TDS textural properties such as crispiness and crunchiness, while protein clumps were linked to undesirable properties such as roughness. In contrast, fibre was found to reduce roughness. PLS could not explain accurately changes in physical attributes, and sensory data from profiling tests had to be omitted from computing due to lack of fit. This study shows that NIR hyperspectra imaging could help elucidate the chemical background of physical and particularly temporal dominant attributes.Peer reviewe

Psychometric validation of the Self-Care Inventory-Revised (SCI-R) in UK adults with type 2 diabetes using data from the AT.LANTUS follow-on study.

Background: Achieving optimal outcomes in type 2 diabetes (T2DM) involves several demanding self-care&nbsp;behaviours, e.g. managing diet, activity, medications, monitoring glucose levels, footcare. The Self-Care Inventory-Revised (SCI-R) is valid for use in people with T2DM in the US. Our aim was to determine its suitability for use&nbsp;in the UK.Methods: 353 people with T2DM participated in the AT.LANTUS Follow-on study, completing measures of diabetes&nbsp;self-care (SCI-R), generic and diabetes-specific well-being (W- BQ28), and diabetes treatment satisfaction (DTSQ).&nbsp;Statistical analyses were conducted to explore structure, reliability, and validity of the SCI-R.Results: Principal components analysis indicated a 13-item scale (items loading &gt;0.39) with satisfactory internal&nbsp;consistency reliability (&alpha; = 0.77), although neither this model nor any alternatives were confirmed in the&nbsp;confirmatory factor analysis. Acceptability was high (&gt;95% completion for all but one item); ceiling effects were&nbsp;demonstrated for six items. As expected, convergent validity (correlations between self-care behaviours) was found&nbsp;for few items. Divergent validity was supported by expected low correlations between SCI-R total and well-being&nbsp;(rs = 0.02-0.21) and treatment satisfaction (rs = 0.29). Known-groups validity was partially supported with significant&nbsp;differences in SCI-R total by HbA1c (&le;7.5% (58 mmol/mol): 72 &plusmn; 11, &gt;7.5% (58 mmol/mol): 68 &plusmn; 14, p &lt; 0.05) and&nbsp;diabetes duration (&le;16 years: 67 &plusmn; 13, &gt;16 years: 71 &plusmn; 12, p &lt; 0.001) but not by presence/absence of complications&nbsp;or by insulin treatment algorithm.Conclusions: The SCI-R is a brief, valid and reliable measure of self-care in people with T2DM in the UK. However,&nbsp;ceiling effects raise concerns about its potential for responsiveness in clinical trials. Individual items may be more&nbsp;useful clinically than the total score.</div

Bypass Surgery for Complex Internal Carotid Artery Aneurysms : 39 Consecutive Patients

OBJECTIVE: Bypass surgery is a special technique used to treat complex internal carotid artery (ICA) aneurysms. The aim of this retrospective study is to provide a comprehensive description of treatment and outcome of complex ICA aneurysms at different ICA segments (cavernous, supraclinoid, ICA bifurcation) treated with bypass procedures. METHODS: We identified 39 consecutive patients with 41 complex ICA aneurysms that were treated with 44 bypass procedures between 1998 and 2016. We divided the aneurysms into 3 anatomic subgroups to review our treatment strategy. All the imaging studies and medical records were reviewed for relevant information. RESULTS: The aneurysm occlusion (n = 34, 83%) or flow modification (n = 5, 12%) was achieved in 39 aneurysms (95%). The long-term bypass patency rate was 68% (n = 30). Minor postoperative ischemia or hemorrhage was commonly seen (n = 20, 51%), but large-scale strokes were rare (n = 1, 3%). Preoperative dysfunction of extraocular muscles (cranial nerves III, IV, and VI) showed low-to-moderate improvement rates (20%-50%). Preoperative vision disturbance (cranial nerve II) improved seldom (22%). At the latest follow-up (mean; 51 months) 29 patients (74%) were independent (modified Rankin Scale CONCLUSIONS: Bypass surgery for complex ICA aneurysms is a feasible treatment method with an acceptable risk profile. Patients should be informed of the uncertainty related to improvement of pretreatment cranial nerve dysfunctions.Peer reviewe

Disentangled long-read de Bruijn graphs via optical maps

Peer reviewe

Addressing health literacy in schools in the WHO European Region

Paakkari L, Inchley J, Anette S, Weber MW, Okan O. Addressing health literacy in schools in the WHO European Region. Public health panorama. 2019;5(2-3):186-190

Fast and accurate correction of optical mapping data via spaced seeds

Motivation: Optical mapping data is used in many core genomics applications, including structural variation detection, scaffolding assembled contigs and mis-assembly detection. However, the pervasiveness of spurious and deleted cut sites in the raw data, which are called Rmaps, make assembly and alignment of them challenging. Although there exists another method to error correct Rmap data, named cOMet, it is unable to scale to even moderately large sized genomes. The challenge faced in error correction is in determining pairs of Rmaps that originate from the same region of the same genome. Results: We create an efficient method for determining pairs of Rmaps that contain significant overlaps between them. Our method relies on the novel and nontrivial adaption and application of spaced seeds in the context of optical mapping, which allows for spurious and deleted cut sites to be accounted for. We apply our method to detecting and correcting these errors. The resulting error correction method, referred to as Elmeri, improves upon the results of state-of-the-art correction methods but in a fraction of the time. More specifically, cOMet required 9.9 CPU days to error correct Rmap data generated from the human genome, whereas Elmeri required less than 15 CPU hours and improved the quality of the Rmaps by more than four times compared to cOMet.Peer reviewe

CLOCK is suggested to associate with comorbid alcohol use and depressive disorders

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Depression and alcohol abuse or dependence (AUD) co-occur in the general population more frequently than expected by chance. Alcohol use influences the circadian rhythms generated by the central pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus, and circadian rhythm alterations in turn are common in depressive disorders as well as among persons addicted to alcohol.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>32 SNPs in 19 circadian clockwork related genes were analyzed using DNA from 76 individuals with comorbid depression and AUD, 446 individuals with AUD and 517 healthy controls with no psychiatric diagnosis. The individuals participated in a nationwide health examination study, representative of the general population aged 30 and over in Finland.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The <it>CLOCK </it>haplotype TTGC formed by SNPs rs3805151, rs2412648, rs11240 and rs2412646, was associated with increased risk for comorbidity (OR = 1.65, 95% CI = 1.14-2.28, P = 0.0077). The SNPs of importance for this suggestive association were rs2412646 and rs11240 indicating location of the functional variation in the block downstream rs2412648. There was no indication for association between <it>CLOCK </it>and AUD.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings suggest an association between the <it>CLOCK </it>gene and the comorbid condition of alcohol use and depressive disorders. Together with previous reports it indicates that the <it>CLOCK </it>variations we found here may be a vulnerability factor to depression given the exposure to alcohol in individuals having AUD.</p

Arctic Snow Microstructure Experiment for the development of snow emission modelling

The Arctic Snow Microstructure Experiment (ASMEx) took place in Sodankylä, Finland in the winters of 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. Radiometric, macro-, and microstructure measurements were made under different experimental conditions of homogenous snow slabs, extracted from the natural seasonal taiga snowpack. Traditional and modern measurement techniques were used for snow macro- and microstructure observations. Radiometric measurements of the microwave emission of snow on reflector and absorber bases were made at frequencies 18.7, 21.0, 36.5, 89.0 and 150.0 GHz, for both horizontal and vertical polarizations. Two measurement configurations were used for radiometric measurements: a reflecting surface and an absorbing base beneath the snow slabs. Simulations of brightness temperatures using two microwave emission models, Helsinki University of Technology (HUT) snow emission model and Microwave Emission Model of Layered Snowpacks (MEMLS), were compared to observed brightness temperatures. RMSE and bias were calculated; with the RMSE and bias values being smallest upon an absorbing base at vertical polarization. Simulations overestimated the brightness temperatures on absorbing base cases at horizontal polarization. With the other experimental conditions, the biases were small; with the exception of the HUT model 36.5 GHz simulation, which produced an underestimation for the reflector base cases. This experiment provides a solid framework for future research on the extinction of microwave radiation inside snow

Long‐term effects of Na+/Ca2+ exchanger inhibition with ORM‐11035 improves cardiac function and remodelling without lowering blood pressure in a model of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction

Aims: Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) is increasingly common but there is currently no established pharmacological therapy. We hypothesized that ORM-11035, a novel specific Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX) inhibitor, improves cardiac function and remodelling independent of effects on arterial blood pressure in a model of cardiorenal HFpEF. Methods and results: Rats were subjected to subtotal nephrectomy (NXT) or sham operation. Eight weeks after intervention, treatment for 16 weeks with ORM-11035 (1 mg/kg body weight) or vehicle was initiated. At 24 weeks, blood pressure measurements, echocardiography and pressure–volume loops were performed. Contractile function, Ca2+ transients and NCX-mediated Ca2+ extrusion were measured in isolated ventricular cardiomyocytes. NXT rats (untreated) showed a HFpEF phenotype with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, LV end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP) elevation, increased brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, preserved ejection fraction and pulmonary congestion. In cardiomyocytes from untreated NXT rats, early relaxation was prolonged and NCX-mediated Ca2+ extrusion was decreased. Chronic treatment with ORM-11035 significantly reduced LV hypertrophy and cardiac remodelling without lowering systolic blood pressure. LVEDP [14 ± 3 vs. 9 ± 2 mmHg; NXT (n = 12) vs. NXT + ORM (n = 12); P = 0.0002] and BNP levels [71 ± 12 vs. 49 ± 11 pg/mL; NXT (n = 12) vs. NXT + ORM (n = 12); P < 0.0001] were reduced after ORM treatment. LV cardiomyocytes from ORM-treated rats showed improved active relaxation and diastolic cytosolic Ca2+ decay as well as restored NCX-mediated Ca2+ removal, indicating NCX modulation with ORM-11035 as a promising target in the treatment of HFpEF. Conclusion: Chronic inhibition of NCX with ORM-11035 significantly attenuated cardiac remodelling and diastolic dysfunction without lowering systemic blood pressure in this model of HFpEF. Therefore, long-term treatment with selective NCX inhibitors such as ORM-11035 should be evaluated further in the treatment of heart failure