Prospective Head-to-Head Comparison of F-PSMA PET/CT and F-NaF PET/CT for Assessing Bone Metastases in 160 Patients with Newly Diagnosed High-Risk Prostate Cancer.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET/CT is increasingly used for primary staging in prostate cancer (PC), mainly because of its improved accuracy in detecting lymph node metastases compared with conventional imaging. However, the diagnostic benefit of PSMA PET/CT for detecting bone metastases is less well established. This study compares the diagnostic accuracy of F-PSMA PET/CT and F-NaF PET/CT for detecting bone metastases in patients newly diagnosed with PC.

Optimized barley phytase gene expression by focused FIND-IT screening for mutations in -acting regulatory elements.

Introduction: Induced modification of plant gene expression is of both fundamental and applied importance. Cis-acting regulatory elements (CREs) are major determinants of the spatiotemporal strength of gene expression. Yet, there are few examples where induced genetic variation in predetermined CREs has been exploited to improve or investigate crop plants.

Quantifying the Influence of Surface Texture and Shape on Structure from Motion 3D Reconstructions.

In general, optical methods for geometrical measurements are influenced by the surface properties of the examined object. In Structure from Motion (SfM), local variations in surface color or topography are necessary for detecting feature points for point-cloud triangulation. Thus, the level of contrast or texture is important for an accurate reconstruction.

New Hope for Genome Editing in Cultivated Grasses: CRISPR Variants and Application.

With the advent of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) mediated genome editing, crop improvement has progressed significantly in recent years. In this genome editing tool, CRISPR-associated Cas nucleases are restricted to their target of DNA by their preferred protospacer adjacent motifs (PAMs). A number of CRISPR-Cas variants have been developed e.

Genome Editing-accelerated Re-Domestication (GEaReD) - A new major direction in plant breeding.

Background: The effects of climate change, soil depletion, a growing world population putting pressure on food safety and security are major challenges for agriculture in the 21st century. The breeding success of the green revolution has decelerated and current programs can only offset the yield affecting factors.

Purpose And Scope: New approaches are urgently needed and "Genome Editing-accelerated Re-Domestication" (GEaReD) is proposed as a major new direction in plant breeding.

Barley Nepenthesin-Like Aspartic Protease Degrades Phytase, Impairs Toxin Production, and Suppresses the Fungal Growth.

Nepenthesins are categorized under the subfamily of the nepenthesin-like plant aspartic proteases (PAPs) that form a distinct group of atypical PAPs. This study describes the effect of nepenthesin 1 () protease from barley ( L.) on fungal histidine acid phosphatase (HAP) phytase activity.

Horizontal Stacking of _a Cisgenes in Barley Is a Potent Strategy for Increasing Mature Grain Phytase Activity.

Mature grain phytase activity (MGPA) in the Triticea tribe cereals has evolved through gene duplications and neo-functionalization of the purple acid phosphatase phytase gene () in a common ancestor. Increased gene copy number of the gene expressed during seed development has augmented the MGPA in cereals like rye and wheat. PAPhy_a phytase is highly stable and a potent enzyme in feed.

Globoids and Phytase: The Mineral Storage and Release System in Seeds.

Phytate and phytases in seeds are the subjects of numerous studies, dating back as far as the early 20th century. Most of these studies concern the anti-nutritional properties of phytate, and the prospect of alleviating the effects of phytate with phytase. As reasonable as this may be, it has led to a fragmentation of knowledge, which hampers the appreciation of the physiological system at hand.

Rough or Noisy? Metrics for Noise Estimation in SfM Reconstructions.

Structure from Motion (SfM) can produce highly detailed 3D reconstructions, but distinguishing real surface roughness from reconstruction noise and geometric inaccuracies has always been a difficult problem to solve. Existing SfM commercial solutions achieve noise removal by a combination of aggressive global smoothing and the reconstructed texture for smaller details, which is a subpar solution when the results are used for surface inspection. Other noise estimation and removal algorithms do not take advantage of all the additional data connected with SfM.

A novel wheat q' allele identified by forward genetic in silico TILLING.

The major wheat domestication allele Q (encoding an APETALA2 like transcription factor) is responsible for the free threshing and square-headed spikes of modern wheat. Wild type q and null q' alleles cause a reversal to the speltoid phenotype. Q pleiotropically affects additional yield and quality traits so genetic variation in Q and its interaction partners remain important for crop improvement.

The Value of Ga-PSMA PET/CT Following Equivocal F-NaF PET/CT in Prostate Cancer Patients.

Background: Inconclusive bone scans are a challenge but there is no consensus about follow-up imaging. We evaluated the use of gallium-labelled prostate-specific membrane antigen (Ga-PSMA) PET/CT if F-sodium fluoride (F-NaF) PET/CT was inconclusive.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients with no previously known bone metastases who had one or more equivocal bone lesions on F-NaF PET/CT and underwent additional Ga-PSMA PET/CT.

Molecular Advances on Phytases in Barley and Wheat.

Phytases are pro-nutritional enzymes that hydrolyze phytate and make associated nutrients, such as phosphorous, iron, and zinc, bioavailable. Single-stomached animals and humans depend on phytase supplied through the diet or the action of phytase on the food before ingestion. As a result, phytases-or lack thereof-have a profound impact on agricultural ecosystems, resource management, animal health, and public health.

Lab-scale preparation and QC of phytase assay substrate from rice bran.

Phytases are involved in the phosphate acquisition and remobilization in plants, microbes and animals. They have become important technical enzymes in the feed industry and are used to make phosphate, present in animal feed as phytate, available for monogastric animal nutrition. Phytases may also be beneficial to human nutrition because phytate is known to interfere with the uptake of important micronutrients.

Ga-PSMA-PET/CT in comparison with F-fluoride-PET/CT and whole-body MRI for the detection of bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer: a prospective diagnostic accuracy study.

Objectives: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of gallium prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-based positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in comparison with F-fluoride-based PET/CT (NaF-PET/CT) and whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) for the detection of bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer.

Methods: Sixty patients with prostate cancer were included in the period May 2016 to June 2017. The participants underwent three scans (index tests) within 30 days: a NaF-PET/CT, a WB-MRI and a PSMA-PET/CT.

A prospective study comparing whole-body skeletal X-ray survey with 18F-FDG-PET/CT, 18F-NaF-PET/CT and whole-body MRI in the detection of bone lesions in multiple myeloma patients.

Background: For decades, the most widely used imaging technique for myeloma bone lesions has been a whole-body skeletal X-ray survey (WBXR), but newer promising imaging techniques are evolving.

Purpose: To compare WBXR with the advanced imaging techniques 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT), 18F-sodium fluoride (NaF) PET/CT and whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) in the detection of myeloma bone lesions.

Material And Methods: Fourteen patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma were prospectively enrolled.

A Prospective Study Comparing Tc-Hydroxyethylene-Diphosphonate Planar Bone Scintigraphy and Whole-Body SPECT/CT with F-Fluoride PET/CT and F-Fluoride PET/MRI for Diagnosing Bone Metastases.

We prospectively evaluated and compared the diagnostic performance of Tc-hydroxyethylene-diphosphonate (Tc-HDP) planar bone scintigraphy (pBS), Tc-HDP SPECT/CT, F-NaF PET/CT, and F-NaF PET/MRI for the detection of bone metastases. One hundred seventeen patients with histologically proven malignancy referred for clinical pBS were prospectively enrolled. pBS and whole-body SPECT/CT were performed followed by F-NaF PET/CT within 9 d.

The innovative development in interferon beta treatments of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

The introduction of interferon beta therapies more than 20 years ago marked a milestone in the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) with a significant impact on the approach to modern multiple sclerosis (MS) care. Key learnings and perspectives from the early days of disease modifying therapies in MS have improved the knowledge base of MS, need for treatment, and patient care. The continuous development of interferons over the past two decades outlines a journey with increased understanding of the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetic mechanisms of interferons, leading to innovative formulations with an improved benefit/risk profile.

Immobilisation of barley aleurone layers enables parallelisation of assays and analysis of transient gene expression in single cells.

The barley aleurone layer is an established model system for studying phytohormone signalling, enzyme secretion and programmed cell death during seed germination. Most analyses performed on the aleurone layer are end-point assays based on cell extracts, meaning each sample is only analysed at a single time point. By immobilising barley aleurone layer tissue on polydimethylsiloxane pillars in the lid of a multiwell plate, continuous monitoring of living tissue is enabled using multiple non-destructive assays in parallel.

Barley HvPAPhy_a as transgene provides high and stable phytase activities in mature barley straw and in grains.

The phytase purple acid phosphatase (HvPAPhy_a) expressed during barley seed development was evaluated as transgene for overexpression in barley. The phytase was expressed constitutively driven by the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S-promoter, and the phytase activity was measured in the mature grains, the green leaves and in the dry mature vegetative plant parts left after harvest of the grains. The T -generation of HvPAPhy_a transformed barley showed phytase activity increases up to 19-fold (29 000 phytase units (FTU) per kg in mature grains).

The PARS sequence increase the efficiency of stable Pichia pastoris transformation.

The methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris is a popular host for recombinant expression of proteins. Plasmids containing the Pichia autonomously replicating sequence (PARS) transform P. pastoris with higher efficiency than linear DNA equipped with termini designed for homologous recombination.

Coronary artery calcium score and N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide as potential gatekeepers for myocardial perfusion imaging.

Myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) holds an important place as non-invasive risk assessment in patients with intermediate risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). However, as much as 60-70% of MPI scans are normal. This study evaluates the role of coronary artery calcium scoring (CAC score) and NT-proBNP as potential gatekeepers for MPI.

Temporal Coherence Strategies for Augmented Reality Labeling.

Temporal coherence of annotations is an important factor in augmented reality user interfaces and for information visualization. In this paper, we empirically evaluate four different techniques for annotation. Based on these findings, we follow up with subjective evaluations in a second experiment.

Simple measurements for prediction of drug release from polymer matrices - Solubility parameters and intrinsic viscosity.

Purpose: This study describes how protein release from polymer matrices correlate with simple measurements on the intrinsic viscosity of the polymer solutions used for casting the matrices and calculations of the solubility parameters of polymers and solvents used.

Method: Matrices of poly(dl-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) were cast with bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model drug using different solvents (acetone, dichloromethane, ethanol and water). The amount of released protein from the different matrices was correlated with the Hildebrand and Hansen solubility parameters of the solvents, and the intrinsic viscosity of the polymer solutions.

Design and processing of nanogels as delivery systems for peptides and proteins.

Nanogels, cross-linked networks of >1 μm in size, are attractive drug-delivery systems, as they not only possess the potential advantages of nanoscale formulations, but also the attractive abilities of a hydrogel; high hydrophilicity, high loading capacity and the potential for biocompatibility and controlled release. The focus of this review is to provide an overview of the recent developments within the nanogel field, and how the chemical design of the nanogel polymer has been found to influence the properties of the nanogel system. Novel nanogel systems are discussed with respect to their type of cross-linkage and their suitability as therapeutic delivery systems, as well as their ability to stabilize the protein/peptide drug.