The Two Faces of Wheat

Wheat-based foods have been staple foods since about 10,000 years and constitute a major source of energy, dietary fiber, and micronutrients for the world population. The role of wheat in our diet, however, has recently been scrutinized by pseudoscientific books and media reports promoting the overall impression that wheat consumption makes people sick, stupid, fat, and addicted. Consequently, numerous consumers in Western countries have started to question their dietary habits related to wheat consumption and voluntarily decided to adopt a wheat-free diet without a medical diagnosis of any wheat-related disorder (WRD), such as celiac disease, wheat allergy, or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. The aim of this review is to achieve an objective judgment of the positive aspects of wheat consumption as well as adverse effects for individuals suffering from WRDs. The first part presents wheat constituents and their positive nutritional value, in particular, the consumption of products from whole-grain flours. The second part is focused on WRDs that affect predisposed individuals and can be treated with a gluten-free or -reduced diet. Based on all available scientific knowledge, wheat consumption is safe and healthy for the vast majority of people. There is no scientific evidence to support that the general population would benefit from a wheat-free diet

The Effect of Movement Rate and Complexity on Functional Magnetic Resonance Signal Change During Pedaling

We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record human brain activity during slow (30 RPM), fast (60 RPM), passive (30 RPM), and variable rate pedaling. Ten healthy adults participated. After identifying regions of interest, the intensity and volume of brain activation in each region was calculated and compared across conditions (p \u3c .05). Results showed that the primary sensory and motor cortices (S1, M1), supplementary motor area (SMA), and cerebellum (Cb) were active during pedaling. The intensity of activity in these areas increased with increasing pedaling rate and complexity. The Cb was the only brain region that showed significantly lower activity during passive as compared with active pedaling. We conclude that M1, S1, SMA, and Cb have a role in modifying continuous, bilateral, multijoint lower extremity movements. Much of this brain activity may be driven by sensory signals from the moving limbs

Protons in the near-lunar wake observed by the Sub-keV Atom Reflection Analyzer on board Chandrayaan-1

Significant proton fluxes were detected in the near wake region of the Moon by an ion mass spectrometer on board Chandrayaan-1. The energy of these nightside protons is slightly higher than the energy of the solar wind protons. The protons are detected close to the lunar equatorial plane at a $140^{\circ}$ solar zenith angle, i.e., ~50$^{\circ}$ behind the terminator at a height of 100 km. The protons come from just above the local horizon, and move along the magnetic field in the solar wind reference frame. We compared the observed proton flux with the predictions from analytical models of an electrostatic plasma expansion into a vacuum. The observed velocity was higher than the velocity predicted by analytical models by a factor of 2 to 3. The simple analytical models cannot explain the observed ion dynamics along the magnetic field in the vicinity of the Moon.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figure

An Impacting Descent Probe for Europa and the other Galilean Moons of Jupiter

We present a study of an impacting descent probe that increases the science return of spacecraft orbiting or passing an atmosphere-less planetary body of the solar system, such as the Galilean moons of Jupiter. The descent probe is a carry-on small spacecraft (< 100 kg), to be deployed by the mother spacecraft, that brings itself onto a collisional trajectory with the targeted planetary body in a simple manner. A possible science payload includes instruments for surface imaging, characterisation of the neutral exosphere, and magnetic field and plasma measurement near the target body down to very low-altitudes (~1 km), during the probe's fast (~km/s) descent to the surface until impact. The science goals and the concept of operation are discussed with particular reference to Europa, including options for flying through water plumes and after-impact retrieval of very-low altitude science data. All in all, it is demonstrated how the descent probe has the potential to provide a high science return to a mission at a low extra level of complexity, engineering effort, and risk. This study builds upon earlier studies for a Callisto Descent Probe (CDP) for the former Europa-Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) of ESA and NASA, and extends them with a detailed assessment of a descent probe designed to be an additional science payload for the NASA Europa Mission.Comment: 34 pages, 11 figure

Protein composition and techno-functional properties of transgenic wheat with reduced α-gliadin content obtained by RNA interference

An RNA interference approach was applied to silence α-gliadin genes in hexaploid wheat. A 313 bp fragment from the 5’ coding region of an α-gliadin sequence was cloned into the “hairpin” (hpRNAi) constructs pGliaRNAiSpacer and transformed into winter wheat cv. Florida by biolistic transformation. The resulting transgenic lines were then analysed for their α-gliadin content by an extraction/RPHPLC method. Distinct differences of the α-gliadin content ranging from unaltered to strongly reduced were found. Kernels of two lines with strongly reduced α-gliadin content were mixed, milled to white fl our, analysed for quantitative protein composition and used for functional testing in comparison with the wild type fl our. Protein analysis revealed that the lack of α-gliadins was compensated by an increase of albumins/globulins, ω-gliadins, γ-gliadins and HMW glutenin subunits. Dough resistance and extensibility of wild type and transgenic lines were similar, whereas gluten resistance of the transgenic increased drastically and extensibility decreased slightly. 2D gel electrophoresis showed that the transgenic wheat #6/6 lacked at least 20 storage proteins, but other distinct proteins were more abundant compared with the wild type. Major reductions in the α-gliadins do not make discernable differences in micro-scale measurements of flour functionality and have only a slightly detrimental effect in micro-baking tests

Iatrogenic nerve injury in primary and revision reverse total shoulder arthroplasty

INTRODUCTION Iatrogenic nerve injury in orthopedic surgery can impair functional outcomes. During the last years, a steady increase in the number of performed reverse total shoulder arthroplasties has been reported and complications associated with this procedure are continuously described. Neurological complications, however, remain underreported. The aims of this study were to calculate the incidence of iatrogenic nerve injury after primary and revision reverse total shoulder arthroplasty in a large patient cohort, as well as identify associated patient-and surgery-related risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS A retrospective review of our institution's internal Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty (RTSA) database from September 2005 to December 2019 was undertaken and 34 patients with iatrogenic nerve injuries were identified, resulting in a neurological complication rate of 2.6%. Group comparisons between patients with nerve injuries (n = 34) and the remaining cohort without nerve injuries (n = 1275) were performed to identify patient- and surgery-related risk factors. RESULTS Of the 34 cases with iatrogenic nerve injury, damage to terminal nerve branches occurred in 21 patients, whereas a brachial plexus lesion was diagnosed in the other 13. Nerve revision surgery was necessary in four patients. At final follow-up 13 patients (45%) had residual motor deficits and 17 (59%) had residual sensory deficits. Higher numbers of previous surgeries of the affected shoulder correlated with subsequent nerve injury (p = 0.035). Operative time was significantly longer in patients, who developed a neurologic deficit, showing a correlation between duration of surgery and occurrence of nerve injury (p = 0.013). Patients with neurologic complications were significantly younger than patients without nerve damage (median 68 vs. 72 years, p = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS In specialists' hands reverse total shoulder arthroplasty is a rather safe procedure regarding the risk of neurologic injury. However, multiple previous surgeries of the affected shoulder increase the risk of neurological complications. Cases with post-operative neurologic compromise are rare and usually recover well, with few patients suffering long-term functional deficits from iatrogenic nerve injury. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Level III, retrospective cohort study

Does elevated atmospheric CO2 allow for sufficient wheat grain quality in the future?

To identify future impacts on biomass production and yield quality of important C3 crops, spring wheat was grown in association with 13 weed species in a Mini-FACE (free-air carbon dioxide (CO2) enrichment) system under ambient (375 μl l-1) and elevated (526 μl l-1) CO2 concentrations. Wheat productivity was assessed at maturity and grain yield was subjected to various chemical analyses and baking quality tests.CO2 enrichment acted as carbon ‘fertiliser’ and increased the aboveground biomass production of wheat by 18.8% as there was a trend towards higher stem biomass. Although not statistically significant, wheat grain yield was increased by 13.4% due to a significant establishment of more grains per unit ground area. At the same time, thousand grain weight was non-significantly shifted towards smaller grain size classes, which may result in negative consequences for the crop market value. As a result of the CO2- induced physiological and biochemical modifications, concentration of total grain protein was significantly decreased by 3.5%, reducing the wheat grain quality with potentially far-reaching impacts on the nutritional value and use for processing industry. Although often not significant, the concentrations of amino acids per unit of flour were decreased by 0.2 to 8.3% due to elevated CO2 thereby affecting the composition of proteinogenic amino acids.Furthermore, gluten proteins tended to decline. Within the significant decreased gliadins, α- and ω5-gliadins were significantly reduced under CO2 enrichment; there was also a negative trend for ω1,2- and γ-gliadins. Changes in certain essential minerals were found as well, although not statistically significant. Concentrations of sodium, calcium, phosphorus and sulphur were slightly lowered and those of potassium and magnesium were slightly increased due to CO2 enrichment. The micro-element molybdenum was increased, while concentrations of iron, zinc, copper, manganese and aluminium were decreased. With regard to rheological and baking parameters defining the cereal quality for industrial processing, the resistance of the dough was significantly reduced by about 30%, while the extensibility was non-significantly increased by 17.1% under CO2 enrichment. Moreover, the bread volume was decreased non-significantly by about 9%. Elevated CO2 is obviously affecting grain characteristics important for consumer nutrition and health, industrial processing and marketing. Experimental evidence for these changes is still poor but deserves further attention

Evolution of the ion environment of comet 67P during the Rosetta mission as seen by RPC-ICA

Rosetta has followed comet 67P from low activity at more than 3.6 au heliocentric distance to high activity at perihelion (1.24 au) and then out again. We provide a general overview of the evolution of the dynamic ion environment using data from the RPC-ICA ion spectrometer. We discuss where Rosetta was located within the evolving comet magnetosphere. For the initial observations, the solar wind permeated all of the coma. In 2015 mid-April, the solar wind started to disappear from the observation region, to re-appear again in 2015 December. Low-energy cometary ions were seen at first when Rosetta was about 100 km from the nucleus at 3.6 au, and soon after consistently throughout the mission except during the excursions to farther distances from the comet. The observed flux of low-energy ions was relatively constant due to Rosetta's orbit changing with comet activity. Accelerated cometary ions, moving mainly in the antisunward direction gradually became more common as comet activity increased. These accelerated cometary ions kept being observed also after the solar wind disappeared from the location of Rosetta, with somewhat higher fluxes further away from the nucleus. Around perihelion, when Rosetta was relatively deep within the comet magnetosphere, the fluxes of accelerated cometary ions decreased, as did their maximum energy. The disappearance of more energetic cometary ions at close distance during high activity is suggested to be due to a flow pattern where these ions flow around the obstacle of the denser coma or due to charge exchange losses