From Product Inspection to Total Quality Management in the Food Supply Chain

The problem of defining, implementing and inspecting quality assurance schemes for all types of primary agricultural products is described and various examples from Denmark and other European countries are mentioned. The trends as to requirements, management and documentation as well as assessment are discussed from a European point of view. The authors suggest Total Quality Management in a form adapted to the food supply chain.Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Autoantibodies in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the fourth leading cause of death worldwide, is characterized by irreversible airflow limitation based on obstructive bronchiolitis, emphysema, and chronic pulmonary inflammation. Inhaled toxic gases and particles, e.g., cigarette smoke, are major etiologic factors for COPD, while the pathogenesis of the disease is only partially understood. Over the past decade, an increasing body of evidence has been accumulated for a link between COPD and autoimmunity. Studies with clinical samples have demonstrated that autoantibodies are present in sera of COPD patients and some of these antibodies correlate with specific disease phenotypes. Furthermore, evidence from animal models of COPD has shown that autoimmunity against pulmonary antigens occur during disease development and is capable of mediating COPD-like symptoms. The idea that autoimmunity could contribute to the development of COPD provides a new angle to understand the pathogenesis of the disease. In this review article, we provide an advanced overview in this field and critically discuss the role of autoantibodies in the pathogenesis of COPD

Assembling the Tree of Life in Europe (AToLE)

A network of scientists under the umbrella of 'Assembling the Tree of Life in Europe (AToLE)' seeks funding under the FP7-Theme: Cooperation - Environment (including Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation) programme of the European Commission.
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Przerzut pierwotnego mięsaka serca do mózgu

Primary cardiac sarcomas are exceptionally rare tumours. A brain metastasis of a primary cardiac sarcoma has never been reported before. Although we know lots of primary malignomas spreading to the brain, we never observed cerebral metastases of an atrial spindle cell sarcoma. Cardiac sarcomas are more likely to haematogenously metastasize to the lung or the liver. Here, we describe the case of a young man, who suffered from a cerebral metastasis of a spindle cell sarcoma in the left heart atrium nine years ago. Postoperative whole brain irradiation with 30 Gy was performed. Later on, the patient experienced a local recurrence within the left atrium accompanied by cardiac arrhythmia and mitral valve insufficiency. This case is the very first description of a true cerebral metastasis from a primary heart sarcoma. Therefore, clear treatment paradigms are not established. Further case illustrations and the publication of larger patient series are mandatory, whenever possible.Pierwotne mięsaki serca są wyjątkowo rzadkimi guzami. Dotychczas nie opisano przerzutu pierwotnego mięsaka serca do mózgu. Chociaż wiadomo wiele o przerzutach pierwotnych nowotworów złośliwych do mózgu, to nigdy wcześniej nie opisano przerzutów mięsaka wrzecionowa-tokomórkowego przedsionka do mózgu. Guzy te z większym prawdopodobieñstwem mogą dawać przerzuty drogą krwi do płuc lub wątroby. W pracy opisano przypadek młodego mężczyzny, u którego 9 lat wcześniej wystąpił guz przerzutowy mózgu, którego źródłem był mięsak wrzecionowatokomórkowy lewego przedsionka. Po leczeniu chirurgicznym przeprowadzono napromienianie całego mózgowia dawką 30 Gy. W późniejszym czasie u chorego wystąpiła miejscowa wznowa guza lewego przedsionka, której towarzyszyło migotanie przedsionków i niedomykalność zastawki dwudzielnej. Przedstawiony przypadek jest pierwszym opisem rzeczywistego przerzutu pierwotnego mięsaka serca do mózgu. Nie ma zatem ustalonych zasad postępowania. W miarę możliwości wskazane byłoby publikowanie kolejnych opisów przypadków lub ich serii

Okay, let's talk - short debriefings in the operating room

Introduction Debriefing is increasingly used to enhance learning and reflection in clinical practice. Nevertheless, barriers to implementing debriefings in the operating room (OR) include lack of time, the availability of trained facilitators, and difficulty gathering the full team after surgery. Spending five minutes on a debriefing during skin closure or between procedures may enhance learning and reflection on practice, generating to improve patient safety. The aim of this study was to explore characteristics, feasibility and content of short debriefings in the OR. Methods This was a mixed-method study of short debriefings, analyzing audio-recordings, field notes and relevance ratings from multi-professional teams, that conducted short debriefings in the OR at two University Hospitals in Denmark. Results A total of 135 debriefings were conducted, with a median duration of five minutes (range 1:19 min–12:05 min). A total of 477 team members participated in the debriefings. The teams’ median rating of relevance was 6 (range 1–10). The rating was higher following challenging events and in debriefings where the surgeon actively participated in the conversation. The teams discussed non-technical skills in all the debriefings and verbalized reflections on practice in 75 percent of the debriefings. Conclusion It was feasible to conduct short debriefings in a production-focused, complex work environment. In all the debriefings, the teams discussed various non-technical skills (NTS) and reflected on practice. The majority of team members rated the debriefings as relevant for their task management.publishedVersio

Challenges in the Forging of Steel-Aluminum Bearing Bushings

The current study introduces a method for manufacturing steel–aluminum bearing bush-ings by compound forging. To study the process, cylindrical bimetal workpieces consisting of steel AISI 4820 (1.7147, 20MnCr5) in the internal diameter and aluminum 6082 (3.2315, AlSi1MgMn) in the external diameter were used. The forming of compounds consisting of dissimilar materials is challenging due to their different thermophysical and mechanical properties. The specific heating concept discussed in this article was developed in order to achieve sufficient formability for both materials simultaneously. By means of tailored heating, the bimetal workpieces were successfully formed to a bearing bushing geometry using two different strategies with different heating durations. A metallurgical bond without any forging defects, e.g., gaps and cracks, was observed in areas of high deformation. The steel–aluminum interface was subsequently examined by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). It was found that the examined forming process, which utilized steel–aluminum workpieces having no metallurgical bond prior to forming, led to the formation of insular intermetallic phases along the joining zone with a maximum thickness of approximately 5–7 µm. The results of the EDS analysis indicated a prevailing Fex Aly phase in the resulting intermetallic layer

Localization of active, dually phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 in colorectal cancer with or without activating BRAF and KRAS mutations

SummaryColorectal cancers (CRC) often show activating mutations of the KRAS or BRAF genes, which stimulate the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway, thus increasing cell proliferation and inhibiting apoptosis. However, immunohistochemical results on ERK activation in such tumors differ greatly. Recently, using a highly optimized immunohistochemical method, we obtained evidence that high levels of ERK activation in rectal adenocarcinomas were associated with resistance to radiochemotherapy. In order to determine whether KRAS and/or BRAF mutations correlate to immunohistochemically detectable increases in phosphorylation of ERK (pERK), we stained biopsies from 36 CRC patients with activating mutations in the BRAF gene (BRAFV600E: BRAFm), the KRAS gene (KRASm) or in neither (BRAF/KRASn) with this optimized method. Staining was scored in blind-coded specimens by two observers. Staining of stromal cells was used as a positive control. BRAFm or KRASm tumors did not show higher staining scores than BRAF/KRASn tumors. Although BRAFV600E staining occurred in over 90% of cancer cells in all 9 BRAFm tumors, 3 only showed staining for pERK in less than 10% of cancer cell nuclei. The same applied to 4 of the 14 KRASm tumors. A phophorylation-insensitive antibody demonstrated that lack of pERK staining did not reflect defect expression of ERK1/2 protein. Thus, increased staining for pERK does not correlate to BRAF or KRAS mutations even with a highly optimized procedure. Further studies are required to determine whether this reflects differences in expression of counterregulatory molecules, including ERK phosphatases