Comments on the paper "A statistical assessment of differences and equivalences between genetically modified and reference plant varieties" by van der Voet et al. 2011.

van der Voet et al. (2011) describe statistical methodology that the European Food Safety Authority expects an applicant to adopt when making a GM crop regulatory submission. Key to their proposed methodology is the inclusion of reference varieties in the experimental design to provide a measure of natural variation amongst commercially grown crops.

Rectal bleeding, deep venous thrombosis, and coagulopathy in a patient with Klippel-Trénaunay syndrome.

Klippel-Trénaunay syndrome (KTS) is a rare noninheritable congenital disorder comprising vascular malformations that predispose patients to a paradoxical condition where bleeding occurs in a hypercoagulable state. A 16-year-old boy with a complicated lifetime course of KTS presented with massive rectal bleeding. He underwent a partial colectomy, endorectal resection, and splenectomy.

Feasibility studies of robot-assisted stroke rehabilitation at clinic and home settings using RUPERT.

Task based repetitive therapy has been proposed to help stroke survivors to regain functional control of arm movement. We developed a wearable exoskeleton rehabilitation robot with associated control algorithm and safety protection mechanisms, and a graphic user interface that is easy to use and intuitive to patients and therapists, as the framework for automated and customizable robot-assisted rehabilitation system for clinic and home based therapy. The system was tested in two feasibility studies.

A systematic review of validated methods for identifying transfusion-related sepsis using administrative and claims data.

Purpose: To systematically review algorithms to identify transfusion-related sepsis or septicemia in administrative data, with a focus on studies that have examined the validity of the algorithms.

Methods: A literature search was conducted using PubMed, the database of the Iowa Drug Information Service (IDIS/Web), and Embase. A Google Scholar search was conducted because of difficulty identifying relevant studies.

A systematic review of validated methods for identifying lymphoma using administrative data.

Purpose: To systematically review published studies for algorithms that identified lymphoma as a health outcome of interest in administrative or claims data and examined the validity of the algorithm to identify lymphoma cases.

Methods: A systematic literature search was executed using PubMed and the Iowa Drug Information Service database. Two investigators reviewed search results to identify studies using administrative or claims databases from the USA or Canada that both reported and validated an algorithm to identify lymphoma.

Reliability of the one-repetition-maximum power clean test in adolescent athletes.

Although the power clean test is routinely used to assess strength and power performance in adult athletes, the reliability of this measure in younger populations has not been examined. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the reliability of the 1-repetition maximum (1RM) power clean in adolescent athletes. Thirty-six male athletes (age 15.

Psychometric Analysis of the Emotional Tone Rating Scale: A Measure of Person-Centered Communication.

Psychometric analysis of the Emotional Tone Rating Scale (ETRS) was completed using ratings of naïve listeners who evaluated staff-resident communication in three nursing homes. Interrater consistency was high with ICC (2, 1) for agreement = 0.95 and consistency = 0.

Ability of near infrared spectroscopy to measure oxygenation in isolated upper extremity muscle compartments.

Purpose: Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), a noninvasive means for monitoring muscle oxygenation, may be useful in the diagnosis of acute compartment syndrome, a condition characterized by poor tissue perfusion. This study used the decrease in muscle oxygenation caused by exercise to investigate the ability of anatomic placement of NIRS sensor pads over compartments of the forearm to isolate perfusion values of a specific compartment.

Methods: We recruited 63 uninjured volunteers from a private clinic-based setting and placed NIRS sensor pads over the dorsal, volar, and mobile wad compartments of 1 forearm.

Acute and 28-day repeated dose toxicology studies in mice with aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase (AAD-1) protein expressed in 2,4-D tolerant DAS-40278-9 maize.

DAS-40278-9 maize (corn) plants have been genetically modified by the insertion of the aad-1 gene (aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase), which confers tolerance to 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and aryloxyphenoxypropionate (AOPP) acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase (ACCase) inhibitors ("fop" herbicides) to enable the effective use of these herbicides on maize. The aad-1 gene, derived from Sphingobium herbicidovorans, encodes the aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase (AAD-1) enzyme. As part of the safety assessment of the AAD-1 protein expressed in maize, acute and repeated dose mammalian toxicology studies were conducted.

Biochemical screening of fetal aneuploidies and neural tube defects by "double-test" in Croatia: a 10 years' experience.

The aim of the study is to investigate the efficiency of the second-trimester biochemical screening, with maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MS-AFP) and free beta-subunit of human chorionic gonadotropin (free beta-hCG), during the ten-year period. The study included 11,292 of pregnant women between the 15th and 18th gestational week, who underwent screening from November 1996 to December 2006. The risk for trisomy 21 and trisomy 18 were calculated by computer software, based on a model which generated the final risk for fetal aneuploidies from the pregnant woman's a priori age risk and the likelihood ratio of the distribution of the biochemical markers, according to the second-trimester gestation.

Performance of broiler chickens fed diets containing DAS-68416-4 soybean meal.

Broiler chickens are a fast growing monogastric animal commonly used to evaluate the equivalence between transgenic and non-transgenic grains as part of the human safety assessment process. While commonly viewed like other livestock feeding trials, such studies are performed with transgenic crops with input traits (that are not designed to improve nutrition) to aid regulatory authorities in evaluating safety. Studies of this type are actually more similar to toxicology studies in purpose, with sensitive endpoints like growth used to detect metabolic perturbations.

Assessing the ecological risks from the persistence and spread of feral populations of insect-resistant transgenic maize.

One source of potential harm from the cultivation of transgenic crops is their dispersal, persistence and spread in non-agricultural land. Ecological damage may result from such spread if the abundance of valued species is reduced. The ability of a plant to spread in non-agricultural habitats is called its invasiveness potential.

Older adults with and without stroke reduce cadence to meet the demands of talking.

Purpose: Cognitive tasks performed while walking can be challenging for older adults, especially for those with stroke. Conversational speech requires attention and working memory. The purpose of this study was to examine how older adults with and without stroke meet the demands of walking while talking.

Heat stability, its measurement, and its lack of utility in the assessment of the potential allergenicity of novel proteins.

Thermal stability has been reported as a shared characteristic among some of the major food allergens and appears to have originated from the observation that some cooked foods retain their ability to cause allergic reactions by Immunoglobulin E (IgE) binding and the subsequent cascade of events that mediate allergic reactions. Based on this observation, the thermal stability of novel food proteins, like those in transgenic crops, is considered correlative with allergenic risk and has prompted requests from some regulatory agencies for additional testing to address safety concerns. Because human testing and serum IgE screening are not feasible nor are they necessarily useful for evaluating the thermal stability of a novel food protein, a protein function assay is often used to assess the thermal stability in the context of an allergenicity risk assessment.

Compositional safety of event DAS-40278-9 (AAD-1) herbicide-tolerant maize.

Event DAS-40278-9 maize expresses the aryloxyalkanoate dioxygenase-1 enzyme, which was originally identified in the soil bacterium Sphingobium herbicidovorans. This enzyme degrades 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) and aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides (e.g.

The use of peritoneal venous shunting for intractable neonatal ascites: a short case series.

Introduction: Intractable ascites in neonates has a varied etiology; and often, the cause is idiopathic. The management usually consists of observation, diuretics, paracentesis, albumin replacements, and self correction. However, in some cases, the above treatment remains unsuccessful.

The 2011 Canadian Hypertension Education Program recommendations for the management of hypertension: blood pressure measurement, diagnosis, assessment of risk, and therapy.

We updated the evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis, assessment, prevention, and treatment of hypertension in adults for 2011. The major guideline changes this year are: (1) a recommendation was made for using comparative risk analogies when communicating a patient's cardiovascular risk; (2) diagnostic testing issues for renal artery stenosis were discussed; (3) recommendations were added for the management of hypertension during the acute phase of stroke; (4) people with hypertension and diabetes are now considered high risk for cardiovascular events if they have elevated urinary albumin excretion, overt kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, or the presence of other cardiovascular risk factors; (5) the combination of an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker (CCB) is preferred over the combination of an ACE inhibitor and a thiazide diuretic in persons with diabetes and hypertension; and (6) a recommendation was made to coordinate with pharmacists to improve antihypertensive medication adherence. We also discussed the recent analyses that examined the association between angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) and cancer.

Endogenous allergen upregulation: transgenic vs. traditionally bred crops.

The safety assessment for transgenic food crops currently includes an evaluation of the endogenous allergy potential (via serum IgE screening) when the non-transgenic counterpart is a commonly allergenic food. The value of this analysis in the safety assessment of transgenic crops, especially with reference to recent requests to quantify individual allergen concentrations in raw commodities, is examined. We conclude that the likelihood of upregulating an endogenous allergen due to transgenesis is no greater than from traditional breeding which has a history of safety and is largely unregulated.

Dual-task demands of hand movements for adults with stroke: a pilot study.

Unlabelled: For adults with stroke, walking while performing a cognitive task can be challenging, resulting in slower walking, poorer cognitive performance, or decreased performance on both tasks. It is not known if dual-task deficits are also present for upper limb movements for adults with stroke.

Purpose: To determine if unilateral movements of the affected and less affected hand are compromised when walking or talking.

Nutrition support in the pediatric surgical patient.

This article deals with the nutritional needs of pediatric patients. It begins by discussing the caloric requirements of different pediatric patients and moves on to a breakdown of the specific nutrients required. It then progresses to a detailed description of the enteral and parenteral modalities for delivery of nutrition to pediatric patients.

Utility of amylase and lipase as predictors of grade of injury or outcomes in pediatric patients with pancreatic trauma.

Introduction: Grade of injury, serum amylase, and lipase are markers used to assess pancreatic injury. It is unclear how amylase and lipase relate to grade of injury or predict outcome. We hypothesize that serum amylase and lipase are good predictors of grade of injury and outcomes in patients with pancreatic trauma.

Unexpected tricovalent binding mode of boronic acids within the active site of a penicillin-binding protein.

Boronic acids bearing appropriate side chains are good inhibitors of serine amidohydrolases. The boron usually adopts a tetrahedral conformation, bound to the nucleophilic serine of the active site and mimicking the transition state of the enzymatic reaction. We have solved the structures of complexes of a penicillin-binding protein, the DD-peptidase from Actinomadura sp.

Flow through a mechanical distraction enterogenesis device: a pilot test.

Background: We tested the coupling portion of a prototype intraluminal distraction enterogenesis device to allow flow-through of simulated enteric contents (SEC) in both pig and human jejunum.

Materials And Methods: SEC was made using 80% corn syrup. Ten-cm pig and human intestinal segments had a spoke-shaped 2.

Antioxidant and antiradical capacities in apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) fruits: variations from genotypes, years, and analytical methods.

The fruit quality parameters and antioxidant capacity (ferric reducing antioxidant power, FRAP) and total phenolic content (TPC) were determined in 27 apricot cultivars and hybrids of diverse origins. Twenty one- to 35-fold variations were measured among FRAP and TPC values. Besides genotype, harvest year also contributed significantly (P≤0.