Silicon in foods: content and bioavailability

The silicon content of various foodstuffs marketed in Belgium was measured by a validated graphite furnace absorption spectrometric method. Dietary intake has been identified as the major source of silicon. However, data on its bioavailability remain scarce and insufficient. In vitro methods can provide an indication of bioavailability in case of lacking in vivo data. Bioavailability of silicon from different foodstuffs was estimated using an in vitro continuous flow gastroduodenal simulation method. The major food sources of silicon were unrefined grains, cereal products and root vegetables. The availabilities of silicon from, meat, milk and beers were high, whereas low availability was observed for seafood and cereal products. Plotting the availability data versus the total elemental silicon content of the foods revealed an exponential inverse relationship. The inverse relationship between silicon content and silicon availability was found in all foods, with the exception of various silicon containing drinks. Nevertheless, food categories classified as major silicon sources in the diet still appear to provide the highest absolute amounts of available silicon per 100 g of food including breakfast cereals, bread and baking products, and beers

Beyond TRL – Understanding institutional readiness for implementation of nature-based solutions

This paper explores the concept of â institutional readinessâ (IR) applied to the adoption and mainstreaming of Nature-based solutions (NBS) to deal with climate related risks. We argue that barriers towards up-scaling and mainstreaming of NBS are a manifestation of uncertainty, and are often associated with the â readinessâ of the institutional setting rather than with the readiness of the NBS technology itself. We align the concepts of Institutional Readiness (IR) to the more widely used concept of Technology Readiness Level (TRL) to understand drivers and barriers for adoption of NBS and analyse the role of institutional capacity. We illustrate this with the case study of the Urban Water Buffer Spangen in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, which is an NBS with high TRL. To do so, we constructed a timeline of the design and implementation process of the NBS, identifying and classifying key uncertainties as well as the strategies applied to deal with these uncertainties, particularly in the institutional context. Our results indicate that for mainstreaming of NBS, Institutional Readiness (IR) should be at a degree where strategies to deal with uncertainties in institutional, organizational and governance contexts can be integrated in the design and planning process. We claim that the concept of IR should be considered in its role to deal with uncertainty, in order to close the documented gap of NBS implementation and mainstreaming. © 2021Interviewees point to two key aspects that allowed the integration of these objectives: the existence of an innovation fund of the ‘Top consortia for Knowledge and Innovation Scheme’ (TKI) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs - a public-private consortium that aims to conduct user-oriented research that supports the implementation of innovative technologies - and the presence of key players engaging with new NBS technologies while meeting their own organizational needs. The latter was key as to converge the different objectives of stakeholders and organizations at initial stages of the process (3). The TKI fund supported the process of implementation, especially through studies for the location, the preliminary design and budget of the installation of the system (Field Factors, 2018). The integration of climate adaptation measures and inclusion of various stakeholders and parties was supported by the TKI consortium, the Municipality of Rotterdam and water board Hoogheemraadschap van Delfland (4). Prior to the idea of the project itself, various stakeholders shared concerns related to the uncertainty of the response of an innovative solution and the funding mechanisms for long term maintenance. The difficult laid in integrating all these aspects in the design. In this stage, organisational needs were put together through (5) the alignment of the expectations of citizens, decision makers, and market through instances of dialogical learning and collaborative decision making. In this sense, this work involved a creative and innovative process, which deviated from standard procedures and implementation paths of conventional solutions and technologies. In this aspect, interviews pointed out to yet another barrier linked to uncertainty: the unknown process of implementation. (6) In addition to the inclusion of parties intending to fulfil the objectives of increasing the water retention capacity (Municipality and Delfland water board) and green areas (Municipality and community), two other important actors were also involved. (7) The integration of Sparta Rotterdam soccer stadium to the project happened at an early stage through an invitation of the local community. The authors contribution to this paper was undertaken in the context of the Nature Insurance Value: Assessment and Demonstration (NAIAD) project (Grant Agreement no 730497 ), which is financially supported by the EU Research and Innovation Programme Horizon 2020 . We are grateful to all the NAIAD participants for their valuable suggestions. Brugnach was supported by the Spanish Government’s María de Maeztu excellence accreditation (Ref. MDM-2017-0714

Silicon in foods: content and bioavailability

The silicon content of various foodstuffs marketed in Belgium was measured by a validated graphite furnace absorption spectrometric method. Dietary intake has been identified as the major source of silicon. However, data on its bioavailability remain scarce and insufficient. In vitro methods can provide an indication of bioavailability in case of lacking in vivo data. Bioavailability of silicon from different foodstuffs was estimated using an in vitro continuous flow gastroduodenal simulation method. The major food sources of silicon were unrefined grains, cereal products and root vegetables. The availabilities of silicon from, meat, milk and beers were high, whereas low availability was observed for seafood and cereal products. Plotting the availability data versus the total elemental silicon content of the foods revealed an exponential inverse relationship. The inverse relationship between silicon content and silicon availability was found in all foods, with the exception of various silicon containing drinks. Nevertheless, food categories classified as major silicon sources in the diet still appear to provide the highest absolute amounts of available silicon per 100 g of food including breakfast cereals, bread and baking products, and beers

Clinical characterization of 66 patients with congenital retinal disease due to the deep-intronic c.2991+1655A>G mutation in CEP290

Purpose: To describe the phenotypic spectrum of retinal disease caused by the c.2991+1655A>G mutation in CEP290 and to compare disease severity between homozygous and compound heterozygous patients. Methods: Medical records were reviewed for best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), age of onset, fundoscopy descriptions. Foveal outer nuclear layer (ONL) and ellipsoid zone (EZ) presence was assessed using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Differences between compound heterozygous and homozygous patients were analyzed based on visual performance and visual development. Results: A total of 66 patients were included. The majority of patients had either light perception or no light perception. In the remaining group of 14 patients, median BCVA was 20/195 Snellen (0.99 LogMAR; range 0.12-1.90) for the right eye, and 20/148 Snellen (0.87 LogMAR; range 0.22-1.90) for the left. Homozygous patients tended to be more likely to develop light perception compared to more severely affected compound heterozygous patients (P = 0.080) and are more likely to improve from no light perception to light perception (P = 0.022) before the age of 6 years. OCT data were available in 12 patients, 11 of whom had retained foveal ONL and EZ integrity up to 48 years (median 23 years) of age. Conclusions: Homozygous patients seem less severely affected compared to their compound-heterozygous peers. Improvement of visual function may occur in the early years of life, suggesting a time window for therapeutic intervention up to the approximate age of 17 years. This period may be extended by an intact foveal ONL and EZ on OCT

Metabolism of Low-Dose Inorganic Arsenic in a Central European Population: Influence of Sex and Genetic Polymorphisms

BACKGROUND: There is a wide variation in susceptibility to health effects of arsenic, which, in part, may be due to differences in arsenic metabolism. Arsenic is metabolized by reduction and methylation reactions, catalyzed by reductases and methyltransferases. OBJECTIVES: Our goal in this study was to elucidate the influence of various demographic and genetic factors on the metabolism of arsenic. METHODS: We studied 415 individuals from Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia by measuring arsenic metabolites in urine using liquid chromatography with hydride generation and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-HG-ICPMS). We performed genotyping of arsenic (+III) methyltransferase (AS3MT), glutathione S-transferase omega 1 (GSTO1), and methylene-tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). RESULTS: The results show that the M287T (T-->C) polymorphism in the AS3MT gene, the A222V (C-->T) polymorphism in the MTHFR gene, body mass index, and sex are major factors that influence arsenic metabolism in this population, with a median of 8.0 microg/L arsenic in urine. Females C) polymorphism in the AS3MT gene on the methylation capacity was much more pronounced in men than in women. CONCLUSIONS: The factors investigated explained almost 20% of the variation seen in the metabolism of arsenic among men and only around 4% of the variation among women. The rest of the variation is probably explained by other methyltransferases backing up the methylation of arsenic

Physical characteristics of the back are not predictive of low back pain in healthy workers: A prospective study

Background. In the working population, back disorders are an important reason for sick leave and permanent work inability. In the context of fitting the job to the worker, one of the primary tasks of the occupational health physician is to evaluate the balance between work-related and individual variables. Since this evaluation of work capacity often consists of a physical examination of the back, the objective of this study was to investigate whether a physical examination of the low back, which is routinely performed in occupational medicine, predicts the development of low back pain (LBP). Methods. This study is part of the Belgian Low Back Cohort (BelCoBack) Study, a prospective study to identify risk factors for the development of low back disorders in occupational settings. The study population for this paper were 692 young healthcare or distribution workers (mean age of 26 years) with no or limited back antecedents in the year before inclusion. At baseline, these workers underwent a standardised physical examination of the low back. One year later, they completed a questionnaire on the occurrence of LBP and some of its characteristics. To study the respective role of predictors at baseline on the occurrence of LBP, we opted for Cox regression with a constant risk period. Analyses were performed separately for workers without any back antecedents in the year before inclusion ('asymptomatic' workers) and for workers with limited back antecedents in the year before inclusion ('mildly symptomatic' workers). Results. In the group of 'asymptomatic' workers, obese workers showed a more than twofold-increased risk on the development of LBP as compared to non-obese colleagues (RR 2.57, 95%CI: 1.09 - 6.09). In the group of 'mildly symptomatic' workers, the self-reports of pain before the examination turned out to be most predictive (RR 3.89, 95%CI: 1.20 - 12.64). Conclusion. This study showed that, in a population of young workers wh no or limited antecedents of LBP at baseline, physical examinations, as routinely assessed in occupational medicine, are not useful to predict workers at risk for the development of back disorders one year later

The Natural History of Leber Congenital Amaurosis and Cone-Rod Dystrophy Associated with Variants in the GUCY2D Gene

OBJECTIVE: To describe the spectrum of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) and cone-rod dystrophy (CORD) associated with the GUCY2D gene, and to identify potential clinical endpoints and optimal patient selection for future therapeutic trials. DESIGN: International multicenter retrospective cohort study. SUBJECTS: 82 patients with GUCY2D-associated CORD and LCA from 54 molecularly confirmed families. METHODS: Data were gathered by reviewing medical records for medical history, symptoms, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), ophthalmoscopy, visual fields, full-field electroretinography and retinal imaging (fundus photography, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), fundus autofluorescence). MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURES: Age of onset, annual decline of visual acuity, estimated visual impairment per age, genotype-phenotype correlations, anatomic characteristics on funduscopy, and multimodal imaging. RESULTS: Fourteen patients with autosomal recessive LCA and 68 with autosomal dominant CORD were included. The median follow-up time was 5.2 years (interquartile range (IQR), 2.6-8.8) for LCA, and 7.2 years (IQR, 2.2-14.2) for CORD. Generally, LCA presented in the first year of life. The BCVA in LCA ranged from no light perception to 1.00 logMAR, and remained relatively stable during follow-up. Imaging for LCA was limited, but showed little to no structural degeneration. In CORD, progressive vision loss started around the second decade of life. The annual decline rate of visual acuity was 0.022 logMAR (P A and the c.2512C>T GUCY2D variant (P = 0.798). At the age of 40 years the probability of being blind or severely visually impaired was 32%. The integrity of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) and external limiting membrane (ELM) on SD-OCT were correlated significantly with BCVA (Spearman's ρ = 0.744, P = 0.001 and ρ = 0.712, P < 0.001, respectively) in CORD. CONCLUSION: LCA due to variants in GUCY2D results in severe congenital visual impairment with relatively intact macular anatomy on funduscopy and available imaging, suggesting a long preservation of photoreceptors. Despite large variability, GUCY2D-associated CORD generally presented during adolescence with a progressive loss of vision and culminated in severe visual impairment during mid to late-adulthood. The integrity of the ELM and EZ may be suitable structural endpoints for therapeutic studies in GUCY2D-associated CORD

Performance of a Large-Area GEM Detector Prototype for the Upgrade of the CMS Muon Endcap System

Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) technology is being considered for the forward muon upgrade of the CMS experiment in Phase 2 of the CERN LHC. Its first implementation is planned for the GE1/1 system in the $1.5 < \mid\eta\mid < 2.2$ region of the muon endcap mainly to control muon level-1 trigger rates after the second long LHC shutdown. A GE1/1 triple-GEM detector is read out by 3,072 radial strips with 455 $\mu$rad pitch arranged in eight $\eta$-sectors. We assembled a full-size GE1/1 prototype of 1m length at Florida Tech and tested it in 20-120 GeV hadron beams at Fermilab using Ar/CO$_{2}$ 70:30 and the RD51 scalable readout system. Four small GEM detectors with 2-D readout and an average measured azimuthal resolution of 36 $\mu$rad provided precise reference tracks. Construction of this largest GEM detector built to-date is described. Strip cluster parameters, detection efficiency, and spatial resolution are studied with position and high voltage scans. The plateau detection efficiency is [97.1 $\pm$ 0.2 (stat)]\%. The azimuthal resolution is found to be [123.5 $\pm$ 1.6 (stat)] $\mu$rad when operating in the center of the efficiency plateau and using full pulse height information. The resolution can be slightly improved by $\sim$ 10 $\mu$rad when correcting for the bias due to discrete readout strips. The CMS upgrade design calls for readout electronics with binary hit output. When strip clusters are formed correspondingly without charge-weighting and with fixed hit thresholds, a position resolution of [136.8 $\pm$ 2.5 stat] $\mu$rad is measured, consistent with the expected resolution of strip-pitch/$\sqrt{12}$ = 131.3 $\mu$rad. Other $\eta$-sectors of the detector show similar response and performance.Comment: 8 pages, 32 figures, submitted to Proc. 2014 IEEE Nucl. Sci. Symposium, Seattle, WA, reference adde

Development and performance of Triple-GEM detectors for the upgrade of the muon system of the CMS experiment

The CMS Collaboration is evaluating GEM detectors for the upgrade of the muon system. This contribution will focus on the R&D performed on chambers design features and will discuss the performance of the upgraded detector

A novel application of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors in MPGD

We present a novel application of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors in the construction and characterisation of Micro Pattern Gaseous Detector (MPGD), with particular attention to the realisation of the largest triple (Gas electron Multiplier) GEM chambers so far operated, the GE1/1 chambers of the CMS experiment at LHC. The GE1/1 CMS project consists of 144 GEM chambers of about 0.5 m2 active area each, employing three GEM foils per chamber, to be installed in the forward region of the CMS endcap during the long shutdown of LHC in 2108-2019. The large active area of each GE1/1 chamber consists of GEM foils that are mechanically stretched in order to secure their flatness and the consequent uniform performance of the GE1/1 chamber across its whole active surface. So far FBGs have been used in high energy physics mainly as high precision positioning and re-positioning sensors and as low cost, easy to mount, low space consuming temperature sensors. FBGs are also commonly used for very precise strain measurements in material studies. In this work we present a novel use of FBGs as flatness and mechanical tensioning sensors applied to the wide GEM foils of the GE1/1 chambers. A network of FBG sensors have been used to determine the optimal mechanical tension applied and to characterise the mechanical tension that should be applied to the foils. We discuss the results of the test done on a full-sized GE1/1 final prototype, the studies done to fully characterise the GEM material, how this information was used to define a standard assembly procedure and possible future developments.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, presented by Luigi Benussi at MPGD 2015 (Trieste, Italy). arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1512.0848