Biochemical characterization of the genetic resources of wild coffee trees collection in Réunion using near infrared spectroscopy

RATIONALE - Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been widely used for green coffees characterization and especially for the quantification of the main chemical constituents. The CIRAD database contains more than 2210 spectra and efficient calibrations for major constituents. However, this database is mostly constituted of Coffea arabica and C. canephora, which limits its representativeness. In order to enhance the database robustness, the analysis of wild coffee species has been undertaken. METHODS - Over 4 years, 462 seed samples, from 32 species, were collected on individual trees from the Coffea Biological Resources Centre in Réunion. Ground dried samples were analyzed for their absorbance spectrum using a FOSS 6500 monochromator (FOSS, Hillerod, Denmark). A selection, based on spectra, of the 90 most representatives samples was done using PCA and Mahalanobis neighborhood distances. The selected samples were analyzed for their caffeine, trigonelline, fat and chlorogenic acids (CGA) contents using standard analytical chemistry protocols. RESULTS - The distance threshold corresponding to the neighborhood was 0.55. The 90 samples came from 22 different coffee species. The caffeine content ranged from 0 to 3.3%, trigonelline from 0.25 to 1.52%, CGA from 0,22% to 10,53% and fat from 7.12% to 34,45% (dmb). The enhanced predicted models using this new data set present standard errors of 0.08%, 0.07%, 0.58% and 0.48% for respectively caffeine, trigonelline, CGA and fat. These performances are close to original models ones, with an increase of the content ranges, especially for fat. CONCLUSIONS & PERSPECTIVES - This study demonstrated the efficiency of the use of genetic diversity to enhance the robustness of the database. This approach lead to a real increase of the range for caffeine and fat contents. Thus, the resulting calibrations cover a larger range of values without significant losses of accuracy. The use of Mahalanobis distances permitted an efficient improvement of the calibrations representativeness with a limited number of samples. The new calibrations will be applied to the whole database in order to describe biochemical diversity in wild coffee species. The study will also be pushed forward to other chemicals such as fatty acid composition and diterpenes profiles

Boosting Autobiographical Memory and the Sense of Identity of Alzheimer Patients Through Repeated Reminiscence Workshops?

peer reviewedDespite severe amnesia, some studies showed that Alzheimer Disease (AD) patients with moderate to severe dementia keep a consistent, but impoverished representation of themselves, showing preservation of the sense of identity even at severe stages of the illness. Some studies suggest that listening to music can facilitate the reminiscence of autobiographical memories and that stimulating autobiographical memory would be relevant to support the self of these patients. Consequently, we hypothesized that repeated participation to reminiscence workshops, using excerpts of familiar songs as prompts would participate to the enrichment of autobiographical memories, self-representation and sense of identity. We included a group of 20 AD patients with severe dementia residing in nursing homes. Their performances were compared to a control group of 20 matched (age, education, mood) healthy residents living in the same institutions. The experiment was conducted in three phases over a 2-week period. On phase 1, an individual assessment of sense of identity was proposed to each participant. On phase 2, participants joined musical reminiscence workshops (six sessions over 2 weeks for AD patients and 3 sessions over a week for controls). During the third phase (12 days after the first assessment), individual evaluation of autobiographical memory and a second assessment of sense of identity were proposed. Our results showed that, despite their massive amnesia syndrome, autobiographical memories of AD reached at the end of the 2 weeks the number and quality of those of matched controls. Moreover, we confirmed a continuity of self-representation in AD patients with a stable profile of the answers between the first and second individual assessments of sense of identity. However, the increase in number and episodic quality of autobiographical memories was not accompanied by an enrichment of the sense of identity. In a complementary study, new patients participated in the same paradigm, but using movie extracts as prompts, and showed very similar effects. We discuss all of these results with regard to the literature showing the significant impact of repetition on the reactivation of memory traces even in very amnestic AD patients at severe stages of the disease

Spinocerebellar ataxia 27B: episodic symptoms and acetazolamide response in 34 patients

Ashton C et al report a retrospective multi-centre cohort of 34 patients from Canada, France, Austria and Australia with spinocerebellar ataxia 27B, describing the common feature of episodic ataxia and other episodic features, as well as the inefficacy of acetazolamide in these patients

Transient skin stretching stimulates immune surveillance and promotes vaccine delivery via hair follicles

Upon tissue injury, skin mechano-sensing promotes immune defense and return to homeostasis. However, the impact of acute skin stretching, such as skin rubbing, is poorly understood. Using a model of transient skin stretching, we show that a single instance of skin tension modification induces collagen fiber re-orientation, mechano-transduction in stromal cells, inflammatory mediator production, and immune cell recruitment to the skin. At the same time, skin stretching increases skin permeability without tissue damage via the opening of hair follicles. Furthermore, stretch-induced skin changes lead to the activation and migration of dermal dendritic cells through exposure to skin microbiota-derived compounds. Finally, we harness acute skin stretching to enable needle-free vaccine delivery, promoting antigen accumulation in the lymph nodes and producing a superior response compared to intramuscular injection. Our results shed light on the role of mechanical stimuli in fine-tuning skin immune surveillance and have important implications for drug delivery and mechanobiology.</p

BMC Nutr

BACKGROUND: The Kasai region in the Democratic Republic of Congo suffered a violent conflict in 2016-17 and has been facing high household food insecurity and acute malnutrition (AM) in under 5 children ever since. This study aims to describe food security and feeding practices in a rural health district of this region in which the clinical randomised control trial OptiMA was implemented, and to assess the associated factors of AM among children aged 6 to 59 months in the aftermath of the conflict. METHODS: A community-based matched case-control study was nested in the OptiMA trial. Cases (n = 91) were children aged 6 to 59 months suffering from AM enrolled in the trial. Two neighbourhood controls (n = 181) were randomly selected per case, matched on age. The required sample size, based on the Household Hunger Score (HHS) in the area, was 81 pairs of cases and controls. Of the 282 heads of households interviewed, 272 were included in the analyses. The heads of household and the children's caregivers were interviewed on household, caregiver, and child acute malnutrition risk factors. A conditional logistic regression was used to fit a model of wasting risk factors. RESULTS: A total of 91% of households faced severe food insecurity and 33% severe hunger. Dietary diversity of both children and mothers was low with no mothers and only 5 children in the controls group reaching minimum dietary diversity. The mean diet diversity of mothers and children in both groups was only comprised between 2 and 2.5 out of 10 and 8 food groups, respectively in the classification. The HHS (AOR 2.9, 95% CI 1.6 to 5.6) and both moderate and severe stunting (AOR 10.2, 95% CI 3.2 to 32.2 and AOR 11.0, 95% CI 3.5 to 34.9, respectively) were strongly associated with acute malnutrition in the adjusted model. CONCLUSIONS: The dire food security and hunger described in this study calls for multi-sectoral actions to improve food access and evidence-based preventive actions for all types of undernutrition in the area. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial in which this ancillary study is embedded was registered on clinicaltrials.gov under the number NCT03751475 on November, 23rd 2018

Recognition-based memory through familiarity assessment in severe Alzheimer’s disease

peer reviewe

Exploring the interconnectedness between health-related quality of life factors among long-term adolescent and young adult cancer survivors (AYAs):a network analysis

Purpose: Adolescent and young adult cancer survivors (AYAs) are at increased risk of long-term and late effects, and experience unmet needs, impacting their health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In order to provide and optimize supportive care and targeted interventions for this unique population, it is important to study HRQoL factors’ interconnectedness on a population level. Therefore, this network analysis was performed with the aim to explore the interconnectedness between HRQoL factors, in the analysis described as nodes, among long-term AYAs. Methods: This population-based cohort study used cross-sectional survey data of long-term AYAs, who were identified by the Netherlands Cancer Registry (NCR). Participants completed a one-time survey (SURVAYA study), including the EORTC survivorship questionnaire (QLQ-SURV111) to assess their long-term HRQoL outcomes and sociodemographic characteristics. The NCR provided the clinical data. Descriptive statistics and a network analysis, including network clustering, were performed. Results: In total, 3596 AYAs (on average 12.4 years post diagnosis) were included in our network analysis. The network was proven stable and reliable and, in total, four clusters were identified, including a worriment, daily functioning, psychological, and sexual cluster. Negative health outlook, part of the worriment cluster, was the node with the highest strength and its partial correlation with health distress was significantly different from all other partial correlations. Conclusion: This study shows the results of a stable and reliable network analysis based on HRQoL data of long-term AYAs, and identified nodes, correlations, and clusters that could be intervened on to improve the HRQoL outcomes of AYAs.</p

The Two Faces of Pediatric SCA2

Introduction: Spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2) is an autosomal dominant neurological disease usually described in adults. Expanded CAG repeats in the ATXN2 gene can lead to pediatric onset. This study aims to describe the natural history of SCA2 in children. Methods: We analyzed clinical and genetic data from 22 children with SCA2 across 17 institutions and compared them to 20 previously reported cases. Results: The phenotype of pediatric SCA2 can be divided into two distinct groups based on CAG repeat size and age. In the infantile group (n = 9), developmental delay and seizures were prominent features, along with cerebellar and cerebral atrophy. In the juvenile group (n = 13), the disease was a cerebellar degeneration similar to adults. A threshold of 88 ± 4 CAG repeats distinguished the infantile group from the juvenile group. Pediatric SCA2 type was independent of parental origin; SCA2 was maternally inherited in 22%, including three infantile presentations. Discussion: This large cohort of pediatric SCA2 disease provides the first comprehensive description of its characteristics, which differ from those of SCA7. Indeed, the phenotypic spectrum of SCA7 in children is continuous, while that of SCA2 is bimodal. Although pediatric SCA2 can be difficult to diagnose by genome-wide sequencing, it is a recognizable disease that can be easily diagnosed with a targeted study of the number of CAGs in ATXN2. Genetic counseling for families should consider the significant proportion of maternal transmission.</p