Composition differences between organic and conventional meat: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

Demand for organic meat is partially driven by consumer perceptions that organic foods are more nutritious than non-organic foods. However, there have been no systematic reviews comparing specifically the nutrient content of organic and conventionally produced meat. In this study, we report results of a meta-analysis based on sixty-seven published studies comparing the composition of organic and non-organic meat products. For many nutritionally relevant compounds (e.g. minerals, antioxidants and most individual fatty acids (FA)), the evidence base was too weak for meaningful meta-analyses. However, significant differences in FA profiles were detected when data from all livestock species were pooled. Concentrations of SFA and MUFA were similar or slightly lower, respectively, in organic compared with conventional meat. Larger differences were detected for total PUFA and n-3 PUFA, which were an estimated 23 (95 % CI 11, 35) % and 47 (95 % CI 10, 84) % higher in organic meat, respectively. However, for these and many other composition parameters, for which meta-analyses found significant differences, heterogeneity was high, and this could be explained by differences between animal species/meat types. Evidence from controlled experimental studies indicates that the high grazing/forage-based diets prescribed under organic farming standards may be the main reason for differences in FA profiles. Further studies are required to enable meta-analyses for a wider range of parameters (e.g. antioxidant, vitamin and mineral concentrations) and to improve both precision and consistency of results for FA profiles for all species. Potential impacts of composition differences on human health are discussed

Effector and Naturally Occurring Regulatory T Cells Display No Abnormalities in Activation Induced Cell Death in NOD Mice

BACKGROUND: Disturbed peripheral negative regulation might contribute to evolution of autoimmune insulitis in type 1 diabetes. This study evaluates the sensitivity of naïve/effector (Teff) and regulatory T cells (Treg) to activation-induced cell death mediated by Fas cross-linking in NOD and wild-type mice. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Both effector (CD25(-), FoxP3(-)) and suppressor (CD25(+), FoxP3(+)) CD4(+) T cells are negatively regulated by Fas cross-linking in mixed splenocyte populations of NOD, wild type mice and FoxP3-GFP trangeneess. Proliferation rates and sensitivity to Fas cross-linking are dissociated in Treg cells: fast cycling induced by IL-2 and CD3/CD28 stimulation improve Treg resistance to Fas-ligand (FasL) in both strains. The effector and suppressor CD4(+) subsets display balanced sensitivity to negative regulation under baseline conditions, IL-2 and CD3/CD28 stimulation, indicating that stimulation does not perturb immune homeostasis in NOD mice. Effective autocrine apoptosis of diabetogenic cells was evident from delayed onset and reduced incidence of adoptive disease transfer into NOD.SCID by CD4(+)CD25(-) T cells decorated with FasL protein. Treg resistant to Fas-mediated apoptosis retain suppressive activity in vitro. The only detectable differential response was reduced Teff proliferation and upregulation of CD25 following CD3-activation in NOD mice. CONCLUSION: These data document negative regulation of effector and suppressor cells by Fas cross-linking and dissociation between sensitivity to apoptosis and proliferation in stimulated Treg. There is no evidence that perturbed AICD in NOD mice initiates or promotes autoimmune insulitis

Membrane-mediated interactions

Interactions mediated by the cell membrane between inclusions, such as membrane proteins or antimicrobial peptides, play important roles in their biological activity. They also constitute a fascinating challenge for physicists, since they test the boundaries of our understanding of self-assembled lipid membranes, which are remarkable examples of two-dimensional complex fluids. Inclusions can couple to various degrees of freedom of the membrane, resulting in different types of interactions. In this chapter, we review the membrane-mediated interactions that arise from direct constraints imposed by inclusions on the shape of the membrane. These effects are generic and do not depend on specific chemical interactions. Hence, they can be studied using coarse-grained soft matter descriptions. We deal with long-range membrane-mediated interactions due to the constraints imposed by inclusions on membrane curvature and on its fluctuations. We also discuss the shorter-range interactions that arise from the constraints on membrane thickness imposed by inclusions presenting a hydrophobic mismatch with the membrane.Comment: 38 pages, 10 figures, pre-submission version. In: Bassereau P., Sens P. (eds) Physics of Biological Membranes. Springer, Cha

Cell Membrane Modification for Rapid Display of Bi-Functional Peptides: A Novel Approach to Reduce Complement Activation

Ischemia and reperfusion of organs is an unavoidable consequence of transplantation. Inflammatory events associated with reperfusion injury are in part attributed to excessive complement activation. Systemic administration of complement inhibitors reduces reperfusion injury but leaves patients vulnerable to infection. Here, we report a novel therapeutic strategy that decorates cells with an anti-complement peptide. An analog of the C3 convertase inhibitor Compstatin (C) was synthesized with a hexahistidine (His6) tag to create C-His6. To decorate cell membranes with C-His6, fusogenic lipid vesicles (FLVs) were used to incorporate lipids with nickel (Ni2+) tethers into cell membranes, and these could then couple with C-His6. Ni2+ tether levels to display C-His6 were modulated by changing FLV formulation, FLV incubation time and FLV levels. SKOV-3 cells decorated with C-His6 effectively reduced complement deposition in a classical complement activation assay. We conclude that our therapeutic approach appears promising for local ex vivo treatment of transplanted organs to reduce complement-mediated reperfusion injury

Intuitionistic Fuzzy Time Series Functions Approach for Time Series Forecasting

Fuzzy inference systems have been commonly used for time series forecasting in the literature. Adaptive network fuzzy inference system, fuzzy time series approaches and fuzzy regression functions approaches are popular among fuzzy inference systems. In recent years, intuitionistic fuzzy sets have been preferred in the fuzzy modeling and new fuzzy inference systems have been proposed based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets. In this paper, a new intuitionistic fuzzy regression functions approach is proposed based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets for forecasting purpose. This new inference system is called an intuitionistic fuzzy time series functions approach. The contribution of the paper is proposing a new intuitionistic fuzzy inference system. To evaluate the performance of intuitionistic fuzzy time series functions, twenty-three real-world time series data sets are analyzed. The results obtained from the intuitionistic fuzzy time series functions approach are compared with some other methods according to a root mean square error and mean absolute percentage error criteria. The proposed method has superior forecasting performance among all methods

Pooled analysis of WHO Surgical Safety Checklist use and mortality after emergency laparotomy

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) Surgical Safety Checklist has fostered safe practice for 10 years, yet its place in emergency surgery has not been assessed on a global scale. The aim of this study was to evaluate reported checklist use in emergency settings and examine the relationship with perioperative mortality in patients who had emergency laparotomy. Methods In two multinational cohort studies, adults undergoing emergency laparotomy were compared with those having elective gastrointestinal surgery. Relationships between reported checklist use and mortality were determined using multivariable logistic regression and bootstrapped simulation. Results Of 12 296 patients included from 76 countries, 4843 underwent emergency laparotomy. After adjusting for patient and disease factors, checklist use before emergency laparotomy was more common in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI) (2455 of 2741, 89.6 per cent) compared with that in countries with a middle (753 of 1242, 60.6 per cent; odds ratio (OR) 0.17, 95 per cent c.i. 0.14 to 0.21, P <0001) or low (363 of 860, 422 per cent; OR 008, 007 to 010, P <0.001) HDI. Checklist use was less common in elective surgery than for emergency laparotomy in high-HDI countries (risk difference -94 (95 per cent c.i. -11.9 to -6.9) per cent; P <0001), but the relationship was reversed in low-HDI countries (+121 (+7.0 to +173) per cent; P <0001). In multivariable models, checklist use was associated with a lower 30-day perioperative mortality (OR 0.60, 0.50 to 073; P <0.001). The greatest absolute benefit was seen for emergency surgery in low- and middle-HDI countries. Conclusion Checklist use in emergency laparotomy was associated with a significantly lower perioperative mortality rate. Checklist use in low-HDI countries was half that in high-HDI countries.Peer reviewe

Global variation in anastomosis and end colostomy formation following left-sided colorectal resection

Background End colostomy rates following colorectal resection vary across institutions in high-income settings, being influenced by patient, disease, surgeon and system factors. This study aimed to assess global variation in end colostomy rates after left-sided colorectal resection. Methods This study comprised an analysis of GlobalSurg-1 and -2 international, prospective, observational cohort studies (2014, 2016), including consecutive adult patients undergoing elective or emergency left-sided colorectal resection within discrete 2-week windows. Countries were grouped into high-, middle- and low-income tertiles according to the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). Factors associated with colostomy formation versus primary anastomosis were explored using a multilevel, multivariable logistic regression model. Results In total, 1635 patients from 242 hospitals in 57 countries undergoing left-sided colorectal resection were included: 113 (6·9 per cent) from low-HDI, 254 (15·5 per cent) from middle-HDI and 1268 (77·6 per cent) from high-HDI countries. There was a higher proportion of patients with perforated disease (57·5, 40·9 and 35·4 per cent; P < 0·001) and subsequent use of end colostomy (52·2, 24·8 and 18·9 per cent; P < 0·001) in low- compared with middle- and high-HDI settings. The association with colostomy use in low-HDI settings persisted (odds ratio (OR) 3·20, 95 per cent c.i. 1·35 to 7·57; P = 0·008) after risk adjustment for malignant disease (OR 2·34, 1·65 to 3·32; P < 0·001), emergency surgery (OR 4·08, 2·73 to 6·10; P < 0·001), time to operation at least 48 h (OR 1·99, 1·28 to 3·09; P = 0·002) and disease perforation (OR 4·00, 2·81 to 5·69; P < 0·001). Conclusion Global differences existed in the proportion of patients receiving end stomas after left-sided colorectal resection based on income, which went beyond case mix alone

Comparison Of Architecture Selection Sriteria In Analyzing Long Memory Time Series

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A New Method for Forecasting Fuzzy Time Series with Triangular Fuzzy Number Observations

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