The oil-rich alga Schizochytrium sp. as a dietary source of docosahexaenoic acid improves shape discrimination learning associated with visual processing in a canine model of senescence

Whole cell Schizochytrium sp. is a rich source of omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFA) including docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an important nutrient for brain health. Aged beagle dogs experienced on a visuospatial task of working memory, variable-delay delayed-non-matching-to-position were used to assess efficacy of DHA-rich microalgae based upon DHA wt% of total phospholipids and 8-iso-PGF_2α concentrations in plasma, and performance on cognitive assessments of visual object discrimination, learning, and memory consolidation after 25 weeks on fortified diet. Improved DHA status (p<0.001) and initial learning of the protocols for visual and variable contrast discrimination (p<0.05), but not long-term recall of the concurrent discrimination task were observed in animals fed the algal-fortified diet. Overall, results were consistent with dried Schizochytrium sp. as a source of n-3 LCPUFA nutrition to support DHA status in large mammals, and healthy brain function in a canine model of senescence.

The role of calcium supplementation in healthy musculoskeletal ageing : An expert consensus meeting of the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) and the International Foundation for Osteoporosis (IOF)

The place of calcium supplementation, with or without concomitant vitamin D supplementation, has been much debated in terms of both efficacy and safety. There have been numerous trials and meta-analyses of supplementation for fracture reduction, and associations with risk of myocardial infarction have been suggested in recent years. In this report, the product of an expert consensus meeting of the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO) and the International Foundation for Osteoporosis (IOF), we review the evidence for the value of calcium supplementation, with or without vitamin D supplementation, for healthy musculoskeletal ageing. We conclude that (1) calcium and vitamin D supplementation leads to a modest reduction in fracture risk, although population-level intervention has not been shown to be an effective public health strategy; (2) supplementation with calcium alone for fracture reduction is not supported by the literature; (3) side effects of calcium supplementation include renal stones and gastrointestinal symptoms; (4) vitamin D supplementation, rather than calcium supplementation, may reduce falls risk; and (5) assertions of increased cardiovascular risk consequent to calcium supplementation are not convincingly supported by current evidence. In conclusion, we recommend, on the basis of the current evidence, that calcium supplementation, with concomitant vitamin D supplementation, is supported for patients at high risk of calcium and vitamin D insufficiency, and in those who are receiving treatment for osteoporosis.

[Colorectal cancer the importance of primary tumor location]

Retrospective evaluations of the relevance of primary colorectal cancer (CRC) location consistently indicate that right-sided tumors, arising in the cecum, ascending colon, hepatic bend, transverse colon and splenic flexure, are clinically, biologically and genetically different from left-sided tumors - those located in the descending colon, sigmoid colon or rectum. Location in the right-sided colon represents a negative prognostic indicator, particularly for stage III and IV carcinomas. Irrespective of treatment, the rightward location is associated with a significantly increased risk of death when compared to the left side.Key words: colorectal cancer - location - therapy - prognosis.

Esophageal dysfunction in different stages of Parkinson's disease

BACKGROUND

Dysphagia is a clinically relevant symptom in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) leading to pronounced reduction in quality of life and other severe complications. Parkinson's disease-related dysphagia may affect the oral and pharyngeal, as well as the esophageal phase of swallowing.

METHODS

To examine the nature and extend of esophageal dysphagia in different stages of PD and their relation to oropharyngeal dysfunction, we examined 65 PD patients (mean age 66.3±9.7 years, mean disease duration 7.9±5.8 years, mean Hoehn & Yahr [H&Y] stage 2.89±0.91) and divided into three groups (early [H&Y I+II; n=21], intermediate [H&Y III; n=25], and advanced stadium [H&Y IV+V; n=19]), using esophageal high-resolution manometry (HRM) to detect esophageal motor disorders. Oropharyngeal impairment was assessed using fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing.

KEY RESULTS

Major esophageal motor disorders were detected in nearly one third of the PD patients. Minor impairment of the esophageal body was present in 95% of participants and throughout all disease stages with pathological findings especially in peristalsis and intrabolus pressure (IBP). The IBP was found to significantly increase in the advanced stadium. Although dysfunction of the upper and lower esophageal sphincters was observed in individual patients, alterations in these esophageal segments revealed no statistical significance compared with normative data. No clear association was found between the occurrence of oropharyngeal dysphagia and esophageal impairment.

CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES

Esophageal body impairment in PD is a frequent phenomenon during all disease stages, which possibly reflects α-synucleinopathy in the enteric nervous system.

Treatment of arrhythmias by external charged particle beams: a Langendorff feasibility study

Hadron therapy has already proven to be successful in cancer therapy, and might be a noninvasive alternative for the ablation of cardiac arrhythmias in humans. We present a pilot experiment investigating acute effects of a 12C irradiation on the AV nodes of porcine hearts in a Langendorff setup. This setup was adapted to the requirements of charged particle therapy. Treatment plans were computed on calibrated CTs of the hearts. Irradiation was applied in units of 5 and 10 Gy over a period of about 3 h until a total dose of up to 160 Gy was reached. Repeated application of the same irradiation field helped to mitigate motion artifacts in the resulting dose distribution. After irradiation, PET scans were performed to verify accurate dose application. Acute AV blocks were identified. No other acute effects were observed. Hearts were kept in sinus rhythm for up to 6 h in the Langendorff setup. We demonstrated that 12C ions can be used to select a small target in the heart and, thereby, influence the electrical conduction system. Second, our pilot study seems to suggest that no adverse effects have to be expected immediately during heavy ion irradiation in performing subsequent experiments with doses of 30-60 Gy and intact pigs.

RADIATION DOSE MEASUREMENTS FOR HIGH-INTENSITY LASER INTERACTIONS WITH SOLID TARGETS AT SLAC

A systematic study of photon and neutron radiation doses generated in high-intensity laser-solid interactions is underway at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. These laser-solid experiments are being performed using a 25 TW (up to 1 J in 40 fs) femtosecond pulsed Ti:sapphire laser at the Linac Coherent Light Source's (LCLS) Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) facility. Radiation measurements were performed with passive and active detectors deployed at various locations inside and outside the target chamber. Results from radiation dose measurements for laser-solid experiments at SLAC MEC in 2014 with peak intensity between 10¹⁸ and 7.1 × 10¹⁹ W cm^-2 are presented.

S100B in serum and saliva: a valid invasive or non-invasive biomarker in obstructive sleep apnea?

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this prospective study was to determine whether serum or saliva S100B could be established as an invasive or non-invasive biomarker of cerebrovascular stress due to chronic intermittent hypoxia in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

S100B levels in serum and saliva were measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 40 patients with polysomnographically confirmed OSA (n=34) or ronchopathy (n=6) and 20 control subjects (n=20). We also investigated four healthy volunteers (n=4) to determine whether the S100B levels in serum and saliva are dependent on the time of day.

RESULTS

Serum S100B was significantly higher in OSA than in healthy control subjects (p=0.007), although it was not related to the severity of OSA and was independent of age, sex, and subjective daytime symptoms. Values of S100B in saliva showed a marked scatter, so there was no significant difference between the OSA group and controls (p=0.62). We did not find that S100B levels in either serum or saliva depended on the time of day (p=0.53; p=0.91).

CONCLUSIONS

Serum S100B allows us to discriminate healthy subjects from patients with OSA. However, it does not live up to its promise as a valid invasive predictor of OSA, since it does not correlate with the severity of the disease. Also, S100B in saliva is not suitable for use as a non-invasive biomarker to detect hypoxia-induced cerebrovascular stress in OSA. This finding prevents an S100B saliva-based assessment of risk or possible extent of structural brain damage, ruling out the possibility of non-invasive home monitoring of compliance and therapeutic efficacy in cases of OSA on treatment.

Initial clinical evaluation of PET-based ion beam therapy monitoring under consideration of organ motion

PURPOSE

Intrafractional organ motion imposes considerable challenges to scanned ion beam therapy and demands for a thorough verification of the applied treatment. At the Heidelberg Ion-Beam Therapy Center (HIT), the scanned ion beam delivery is verified by means of postirradiation positron-emission-tomography (PET) imaging. This work presents a first clinical evaluation of PET-based treatment monitoring in ion beam therapy under consideration of target motion.

METHODS

Three patients with mobile liver lesions underwent scanned carbon ion irradiation at HIT and postirradiation PET/CT (x-ray-computed-tomography) imaging with a commercial scanner. Respiratory motion was recorded during irradiation and subsequent image acquisition. This enabled a time-resolved (4D) calculation of the expected irradiation-induced activity pattern and, for one patient where an additional 4D CT was acquired at the PET/CT scanner after treatment, a motion-compensated PET image reconstruction. For the other patients, PET data were reconstructed statically. To verify the treatment, calculated prediction and reconstructed measurement were compared with a focus on the ion beam range.

RESULTS

Results in the current three patients suggest that for motion amplitudes in the order of 2 mm there is no benefit from incorporating respiratory motion information into PET-based treatment monitoring. For a target motion in the order of 10 mm, motion-related effects become more severe and a time-resolved modeling of the expected activity distribution can lead to an improved data interpretation if a sufficient number of true coincidences is detected. Benefits from motion-compensated PET image reconstruction could not be shown conclusively at the current stage.

CONCLUSIONS

The feasibility of clinical PET-based treatment verification under consideration of organ motion has been shown for the first time. Improvements in noise-robust 4D PET image reconstruction are deemed necessary to enhance the clinical potential.

Body fat differences by self-reported race/ethnicity in healthy term newborns

BACKGROUND

Ethnic differences in total body fat (fat mass [FM]) have been reported in adults and children, but the timing of when these differences manifest and whether they are present at birth are unknown.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to assess whether ethnic differences in body fat are present at birth in healthy infants born at term, where body fat is measured using air displacement plethysmography and fat distribution by skin-fold thickness.

METHODS

Data were from a multiracial cross-sectional convenience sample of 332 term infants from four racial or ethnic groups based on maternal self-report (A, Asian; AA, non-Hispanic Black [African-American]; C, non-Hispanic White; and H, Hispanic). The main outcome measure was infant body fat at 1-3 days after birth, with age, birth weight, gestational age and maternal pre-pregnancy weight as covariates.

RESULTS

Significant effects for race (P = 0.0011), sex (P = 0.0051) and a race by sex interaction (P = 0.0236) were found. C females had higher FM than C males (P = 0.0001), and AA females had higher FM than AA males (P = 0.0205). C males had less FM than A males (P = 0.0353) and H males (P = 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

Race/ethnic and sex differences in FM are present in healthy term newborns. Although the implications of these differences are unclear, studies beginning in utero and birth set the stage for a life course approach to understanding disease later in life.