CRUW chemical pulping sub-project 1: the influence of xylan on the sensitivity towards fiber damage

The aim of this study was to determine if the presence and position of xylan in the fiber wall are of importance for the degree of damage introduced into fibers during mechanical action in the cook. Kraft pulps from spruce with different amounts of xylan have been produced in the laboratory, either by adding birch xylan in different positions in the cook or by redistribution of spruce xylan. At the end of the cook, fiber damages were introduced by subjecting the fibers to shear and compression forces. The extra birch xylan had adsorbed on the fiber surfaces, the outer fiber walls (presumably S1/primary wall) as well as on the fiber cell lumen wall. Xylan penetration into the fiber wall was very low. A large variation in coverage of surface xylan within the fibers and between fibers was noted. No significant difference between pulps produced in the different ways or between the pulps produced with or without mechanical treatment could however be observed. The extra xylan added resulted as expected in an improved tensile strength development for these pulps. No direct indications were seen that the extra xylan added during the cook resulted in a lower amount of introduced damaged areas. But some positive tendencies could be noted for the pulps produced with extra xylan added including: a lower kink/mm and lower amount of cleavage/fiber measured by the HCL method; and the zero-span level and tear-tensile relationship were not inferior compared to the reference despite the higher xylan content. The removal and subsequent re-introduction of xylan into the cook seemed to negatively influence the strength properties, i.e. the tear-tensile relationship was inferior compared to the reference pulp. The redistribution procedure may have drained the fiber wall of xylan negatively influencing the strength propertie

The FANCM:p.Arg658* truncating variant is associated with risk of triple-negative breast cancer

Abstract: Breast cancer is a common disease partially caused by genetic risk factors. Germline pathogenic variants in DNA repair genes BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, ATM, and CHEK2 are associated with breast cancer risk. FANCM, which encodes for a DNA translocase, has been proposed as a breast cancer predisposition gene, with greater effects for the ER-negative and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) subtypes. We tested the three recurrent protein-truncating variants FANCM:p.Arg658*, p.Gln1701*, and p.Arg1931* for association with breast cancer risk in 67,112 cases, 53,766 controls, and 26,662 carriers of pathogenic variants of BRCA1 or BRCA2. These three variants were also studied functionally by measuring survival and chromosome fragility in FANCM−/− patient-derived immortalized fibroblasts treated with diepoxybutane or olaparib. We observed that FANCM:p.Arg658* was associated with increased risk of ER-negative disease and TNBC (OR = 2.44, P = 0.034 and OR = 3.79; P = 0.009, respectively). In a country-restricted analysis, we confirmed the associations detected for FANCM:p.Arg658* and found that also FANCM:p.Arg1931* was associated with ER-negative breast cancer risk (OR = 1.96; P = 0.006). The functional results indicated that all three variants were deleterious affecting cell survival and chromosome stability with FANCM:p.Arg658* causing more severe phenotypes. In conclusion, we confirmed that the two rare FANCM deleterious variants p.Arg658* and p.Arg1931* are risk factors for ER-negative and TNBC subtypes. Overall our data suggest that the effect of truncating variants on breast cancer risk may depend on their position in the gene. Cell sensitivity to olaparib exposure, identifies a possible therapeutic option to treat FANCM-associated tumors

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Genome-wide association identifies nine common variants associated with fasting proinsulin levels and provides new insights into the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: Proinsulin is a precursor of mature insulin and C-peptide. Higher circulating proinsulin levels are associated with impaired β-cell function, raised glucose levels, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Studies of the insulin processing pathway could provide new insights about T2D pathophysiology. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We have conducted a meta-analysis of genome-wide association tests of ∼2.5 million genotyped or imputed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and fasting proinsulin levels in 10,701 nondiabetic adults of European ancestry, with follow-up of 23 loci in up to 16,378 individuals, using additive genetic models adjusted for age, sex, fasting insulin, and study-specific covariates. RESULTS: Nine SNPs at eight loci were associated with proinsulin levels (P < 5 × 10(-8)). Two loci (LARP6 and SGSM2) have not been previously related to metabolic traits, one (MADD) has been associated with fasting glucose, one (PCSK1) has been implicated in obesity, and four (TCF7L2, SLC30A8, VPS13C/C2CD4A/B, and ARAP1, formerly CENTD2) increase T2D risk. The proinsulin-raising allele of ARAP1 was associated with a lower fasting glucose (P = 1.7 × 10(-4)), improved β-cell function (P = 1.1 × 10(-5)), and lower risk of T2D (odds ratio 0.88; P = 7.8 × 10(-6)). Notably, PCSK1 encodes the protein prohormone convertase 1/3, the first enzyme in the insulin processing pathway. A genotype score composed of the nine proinsulin-raising alleles was not associated with coronary disease in two large case-control datasets. CONCLUSIONS: We have identified nine genetic variants associated with fasting proinsulin. Our findings illuminate the biology underlying glucose homeostasis and T2D development in humans and argue against a direct role of proinsulin in coronary artery disease pathogenesis

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field

Snabbspår - En studie om ett utbyte mellan studie- och yrkesvägledarstudenter och nyanlända vid Malmö universitet

I Sverige är bristen på arbetskraft stor inom bland annat pedagogiskt arbete. Ett sätt att möta denna problematik är att tillvarata nyanlända akademikers kompetens. Många nyanlända som befinner sig i etableringsprocess har såväl erfarenhet som utbildning med sig från sitt hemland. Enligt tidigare forskning finns ett behov av att underlätta för nyanlända att skapa mening i en ny kontext. Snabbspår är en etableringsinsats, som syftar till att fortare etablera nyanlända akademiker på arbetsmarknaden. Vi vill med den här undersökningen beskriva och analysera ett utbyte mellan studie- och yrkesvägledarutbildningen och Snabbspår för nyanlända lärare och förskollärare vid Malmö universitet. Vi har intresserat oss för att undersöka vad som påverkat studie- och yrkesvägledarstudenternas agerande och vilken roll det spelat i mötet med deltagarna i Snabbspår. Vår studie bygger på sex kvalitativa intervjuer, varav tre med vägledarstudenter och tre med deltagare i Snabbspår. Empirin har analyserats med stöd av Careershipteorin, Konstruktivistisk vägledning och KASAM-teorin. Utbytet har haft en positiv inverkan på deltagarna vid Snabbspår avseende deras språkutveckling, relationsbyggande och meningsskapande. Vägledarstudenternas olikheter och tidigare erfarenheter visar sig ha haft en betydande inverkan på engagemang och möjlighet att genomföra uppgiften samt att skapa mening i utbytet

Snabbspår - En studie om ett utbyte mellan studie- och yrkesvägledarstudenter och nyanlända vid Malmö universitet

I Sverige är bristen på arbetskraft stor inom bland annat pedagogiskt arbete. Ett sätt att möta denna problematik är att tillvarata nyanlända akademikers kompetens. Många nyanlända som befinner sig i etableringsprocess har såväl erfarenhet som utbildning med sig från sitt hemland. Enligt tidigare forskning finns ett behov av att underlätta för nyanlända att skapa mening i en ny kontext. Snabbspår är en etableringsinsats, som syftar till att fortare etablera nyanlända akademiker på arbetsmarknaden. Vi vill med den här undersökningen beskriva och analysera ett utbyte mellan studie- och yrkesvägledarutbildningen och Snabbspår för nyanlända lärare och förskollärare vid Malmö universitet. Vi har intresserat oss för att undersöka vad som påverkat studie- och yrkesvägledarstudenternas agerande och vilken roll det spelat i mötet med deltagarna i Snabbspår. Vår studie bygger på sex kvalitativa intervjuer, varav tre med vägledarstudenter och tre med deltagare i Snabbspår. Empirin har analyserats med stöd av Careershipteorin, Konstruktivistisk vägledning och KASAM-teorin. Utbytet har haft en positiv inverkan på deltagarna vid Snabbspår avseende deras språkutveckling, relationsbyggande och meningsskapande. Vägledarstudenternas olikheter och tidigare erfarenheter visar sig ha haft en betydande inverkan på engagemang och möjlighet att genomföra uppgiften samt att skapa mening i utbytet

Language problems and cultural aspects in the perioperative care : Theatre nurses´experiences - an qualitative interview study

Introduktion: Vi lever i ett mångkulturellt samhälle och det ställer höga krav på operationssjuksköterskans omvårdnad för en hög patientsäkerhet i samband med operation. Syfte: Att undersöka operationssjuksköterskors upplevelser av språkproblem och kulturella aspekter i den perioperativa vården. Metod: Kvalitativ metod med induktiv ansats tillämpades och data samlades in via enskilda intervjuer med 10 operationssjuksköterskor, 8 kvinnor och 2 män, vid tre sjukhus i Mellansverige. En kvalitativ innehållsanalys användes för att bearbeta det insamlade materialet. Resultat: Genom analysen framkom det tre kategorier och åtta subkategorier. De tre  kategorierna var: Operationssjuksköterskan i den mångkulturella vården, Kommunikation och Kommunikationshjälpmedel. I resultatet framkom att hänsyn togs till patientens önskemål så långt det var möjligt om det inte påverkade patientsäkerheten. Operationer i intimare kroppsdelar upplevdes svårare än andra. Operationssjuk-sköterskorna upplevde sig begränsade när de inte kunde kommunicera med patienten. Patienten upplevdes oftast dåligt informerad innan operationen. Det ansågs säkrare att använda en professionell tolk än en anhörig som tolk. Det framkom önskemål från operationssjuksköterskorna om kommunikationshjälpmedel. Konklusion: Studien visade att språkproblem och kulturella aspekter påverkade operationssjuksköterskans perioperativa arbete. Det som upplevdes svårt var både att inhämta och förmedla information som hade betydelse för patientens perioperativa vård och patientsäkerhet.Introduction: We are living in a multicultural society, which puts great importance on the theatre nurses´ care for patient´s security during surgery. Aim: To investigate the theatre nurses' experiences of language- and cultural issues in the perioperative care. Method: Qualitative method with inductive approach was applied and data was collected through individual interviews with ten surgical nurses, eight women and two men, at three hospitals in the Midwest part of Sweden. A qualitative analysis of the content was used to process the interviews. Results: The analysis resulted in three categories and eight subcategories. The three categories were: Theatre nurse in multicultural health care, Communication and Communication Aids. The result showed that patient's wishes were considered if they did not affect the safety of the patient. Operations in the intimate parts of the body felt harder than others. Theatre nurses felt restricted when they could not communicate with the patient. The patient own personal experience of information prior to the surgery wasn´t satisfactory. It was considered safer to use a professional interpreter than a family member as an interpreter. There were requests from the theatre nurses for communication aids. Conclusion: The study revealed that language- and cultural issues affect the theatre nurse perioperative work. They experienced difficulties in both collecting and disseminating information that had significance for perioperative patient care and patient safety.

Snabbspår - En studie om ett utbyte mellan studie- och yrkesvägledarstudenter och nyanlända vid Malmö universitet

I Sverige är bristen på arbetskraft stor inom bland annat pedagogiskt arbete. Ett sätt att möta denna problematik är att tillvarata nyanlända akademikers kompetens. Många nyanlända som befinner sig i etableringsprocess har såväl erfarenhet som utbildning med sig från sitt hemland. Enligt tidigare forskning finns ett behov av att underlätta för nyanlända att skapa mening i en ny kontext. Snabbspår är en etableringsinsats, som syftar till att fortare etablera nyanlända akademiker på arbetsmarknaden. Vi vill med den här undersökningen beskriva och analysera ett utbyte mellan studie- och yrkesvägledarutbildningen och Snabbspår för nyanlända lärare och förskollärare vid Malmö universitet. Vi har intresserat oss för att undersöka vad som påverkat studie- och yrkesvägledarstudenternas agerande och vilken roll det spelat i mötet med deltagarna i Snabbspår. Vår studie bygger på sex kvalitativa intervjuer, varav tre med vägledarstudenter och tre med deltagare i Snabbspår. Empirin har analyserats med stöd av Careershipteorin, Konstruktivistisk vägledning och KASAM-teorin. Utbytet har haft en positiv inverkan på deltagarna vid Snabbspår avseende deras språkutveckling, relationsbyggande och meningsskapande. Vägledarstudenternas olikheter och tidigare erfarenheter visar sig ha haft en betydande inverkan på engagemang och möjlighet att genomföra uppgiften samt att skapa mening i utbytet

Performance of Anisantha (Bromus) tectorum and Rumex acetosella in sandy calcareous soil

Many plants are adapted to an eroded landscape with a large proportion of virgin soil. Open and disturbed soils are today almost only restricted to agricultural fields with high loads of fertilizers. We conducted a pot experiment in order to investigate growth and nutritional constraints of one calcicole species, Anisantha (syn. Bromus) tectorum, and one calcifuge species, Rumex acetosella, in decalcified topsoil and recently exposed calcareous subsoil from a field experiment in sandy grassland. In the pot experiment we implemented one treatment where we limed topsoil with CaCO3 to the same amount as in subsoil. The subsoil had approximately 10% CaCO3 and both species grew less in this soil compared to the topsoil, which had less than 1% CaCO3. Germination rate of A. tectorum was higher in subsoil than in topsoil or limed topsoil. P fertilization of the limed topsoil counteracted the negative liming effect for A. tectorum, but only partly so for R. acetosella. P fertilization of subsoil increased the shoot biomass of A. tectorum, but not of R. acetosella. P concentration in plants was not reduced when growing on subsoil or limed topsoil compared to topsoil. The results show that lime addition may reduce the P availability also to calcicole species such as A. tectorum and we found indications for that Ca toxicity may be a causing factor for the calcifuge behavior of R. acetosella. The significance of the results for conservation management practices in sandy grasslands is discussed. (C) 2010 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved