Search

Classical and chemometric methods have been used to detect falsified maize gluten products. Microscopic observations (numerous starch grains, seed envelopes and wheat bran fragments) clearly showed the presence of atypical maize gluten particles in samples with otherwise normal crude protein levels (≥ 60%) and the usual gold-yellow color. Chemical analyses in a few samples confirmed the presence of urea (19 to 174 g.kg-1), melamine (0 to 20 g.kg-1), and cyanuric acid (0 to 10 g.kg-1) coping for the low levels of methionine (0 to 13 g.kg-1) in incriminated products (genuine maize gluten methionine level ≥ 16 g.kg-1). Furthermore, a fast technique (an electronic nose based on mass spectrometry detection) also proved to be reliable for the identification of falsified maize gluten products: 100% correct classification of model and unknown samples was achieved with principal component analysis. As a consequence of these results, the Swiss feed-inspection authority blocked the import, or restricted the use, of 2,500 tons of the falsified products.

Gérard Reach,1 Laurent Benarbia,2 Pierre-Yves Benhamou,3 Brigitte Delemer,4 Séverine Dubois,5 Didier Gouet,6 Bruno Guerci,7 Nathalie Jeandidier,8 Karim Lachgar,9 Gilles Le Pape,10 Rémy Leroy,11 Jean-Hugues Masgnaux,12 Philippe Raclet,13 Yves Reznik,14 Jean-Pierre Riveline,15,16 Pauline Schaepelynck,17 Anne Vambergue,18 Bruno Vergès19 1Health Education and Promotion Laboratory (LEPS EA 3412), Sorbonne Paris Nord University, Bobigny, France; 2Marketing Studio, Paris, France; 3Department of Endocrinology, Grenoble University Hospital; Grenoble Alpes University, INSERM U1055, LBFA, Grenoble, France; 4Service d’Endocrinologie – Diabète – Nutrition, CHU de Reims - Hôpital Robert Debré, and Université de Reims Champagne Ardenne, UFR Sciences Exactes Et Naturelles, Reims, France; 5Department of Diabetology and Endocrinology, CHU Angers, Angers, France; 6Department of Diabetology and Endocrinology, Saint Louis Hospital, La Rochelle, France; 7Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Nutrition, CHRU of Nancy, Brabois Hospital, and ILCV Lorraine University, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France; 8Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Strasbourg, and Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France; 9Department of Diabetology and Endocrinology, Centre Hospitalier Simone Veil, Eaubonne, France; 10General Practice, Penmarc’h, France; 11Private Medical Practice, Endocrinology and Diabetology, Lille, France; 12M&M Conseil, Boulogne, France; 13Association Française des Diabétiques de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France; 14Department oEndocrinology and Diabetology, CHU Côte de Nacre, Caen, and University of Caen Basse-Normandie, Medical School, Caen, France; 15Department of Diabetology and Endocrinology, Lariboisière Hospital, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France; 16Unité INSERM U1138 Immunity and Metabolism in Diabetes, ImMeDiab Team, Centre de Recherches des Cordeliers, and Université de Paris, Paris, France; 17Department of Nutrition-Endocrinology-Metabolic Diseases, Pôle ENDO, APHM-Hôpital la Conception, Marseille, France; 18Department of Diabetology, Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition, CHU Lille, and University Hospital European Genomic Institute for Diabetes, Lille, France; 19Department of Endocrinology-Diabetology,CHU Dijon, and University of Burgundy, INSERM LNC UMR1231, Dijon, FranceCorrespondence: Gérard Reach, Health Education and Promotion Laboratory (LEPS EA 3412), Sorbonne Paris Nord University, 74 Rue Marcel Cachin, Bobigny Cedex, 93017, France, Tel + 33 (0)6 60 84 53 25, Email gerardreach@icloud.comBackground: Support programs are provided to people with diabetes to help them manage their disease. However, adherence to and persistence in support programs are often low, making it difficult to demonstrate their effectiveness.Aim: To identify the determinants of patients’ perceived interest in diabetes support programs because it may be a powerful determinant of effective participation in such programs.Patients and Methods: An online study conducted in April 2021 in metropolitan France on 600 people with diabetes recruited from a consumer panel. A 64-item psychosocial questionnaire including a question asking to evaluate the helpfulness of a support program was used. Univariate, multivariate, and multiple correspondence analyses were performed.Results: The existence of a typology, known as Unsafe/Safe, was discovered, in which patients with type 2 diabetes respond in two distinct ways. Type U (unsafe) patients, who believe that a support program would be helpful, are more likely to be nonadherent to their treatment, have high hemoglobin A1c levels, have at least one diabetic complication, lack information regarding their disease and treatment, rate the burden of their disease and impairment of their quality of life as high, worry about their future, and are pessimistic. Type S (safe) patients have the opposite characteristics. Type U patients can be dichotomized into two broad classes: one in which they lack information regarding disease and treatment and the other in which alterations in the quality of life and burden of the disease predominate. Insulin-treated patients give more importance to the lack of information, whereas noninsulin-treated patients complain primarily about the burden of the disease and impairment of quality of life.Conclusion: This study describes this new U/S typology, proposes a simple method based on a nine-item questionnaire to identify type U patients by calculating a Program Helpfulness Score described herein, and clarifies the nature of the intervention to be provided to them. This novel approach could be applied to other chronic diseases.Keywords: type 2 diabetes, adherence, support programs, typology, personality traits, clinical outcomes, patients’ expectations

Les patients atteints de maladies chroniques, a fortiori de maladies auto-immunes et/ou systémiques rares associées à une incertitude diagnostique importante, ont une représentation de leur maladie et un vécu de leur hospitalisation parfois prolongé(e) qui peuvent être traumatiques et anxiogènes. Cette étude avait pour objectif d'évaluer l'impact d'une intervention non médicamenteuse d'hypnose médicale dans la réduction de l'état de stress et l'amélioration du vécu des patients hospitalisés dans un Service de médecine interne. Nous avons mené une étude prospective sur 24 patients hospitalisés dans le Service de médecine interne du CHU de Lille en 2023. Douze patients ont bénéficié d'une intervention non médicamenteuse d'hypnose médicale dite du « lieu de sécurité » (groupe cas) et ont été comparés à 12 patients n'en ayant pas bénéficié (groupe témoin). Le stress était évalué par le questionnaire STAI et le vécu de l'hospitalisation par un questionnaire de satisfaction. Les 24 patients dont 13 femmes avaient un âge moyen de 55 ± 17 ans à l'inclusion. À l'entrée en hospitalisation, la médiane de l'état de stress (STAI-ETAT) entre les deux groupes était de 43,5 (38,0 ; 56,6) dans le groupe cas versus 42,0 (37,0 ; 48,5) dans le groupe témoin (p = 0,45). Dans le groupe cas, le questionnaire STAI-ETAT réalisé immédiatement après la séance d'hypnose était significativement plus bas en médiane par rapport à celui du début d'hospitalisation (30,0 [25,5 ; 36,5] vs 43,5 [38,0 ; 56,5] p = 0,003) témoignant d'une réduction significative du stress. À la fin de l'hospitalisation, on observait également une persistance significative de la réduction significative en médiane entre les cas et les témoins (29,5 [26,5 ; 35,0] pour les cas vs 41,5 [33,5 ; 45,5] pour les témoins p = 0,002). Le vécu de l'hospitalisation était meilleur dans le groupe cas (médiane 5,0 [4,5 ; 5,0] vs 4,0 [4,0 ; 4,5], p = 0,016). Cette étude suggère que l'hypnose médicale est une intervention non médicamenteuse d'accompagnement prometteuse dans la réduction du stress ressenti et dans l'amélioration du vécu de cette dernière chez des patients hospitalisés dans un Service de médecine interne. Patients with chronic illnesses, especially rare autoimmune and/or systemic diseases associated with significant diagnostic uncertainty, have a representation of their illness and a sometimes prolonged hospitalization experience that can be traumatic and anxiety-provoking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a non-medicinal medical hypnosis intervention in reducing the stress state and improving the experience of patients hospitalized in an internal medicine department. We conducted a prospective study of 24 patients hospitalized in the Internal Medicine Department of Lille University Hospital in 2023. Twelve patients received a non-drug medical hypnosis intervention known as the "place of safety" (case group) and were compared with 12 patients who did not (control group). Stress was assessed by the STAI questionnaire and hospitalization experience by a satisfaction questionnaire. The 24 patients, 13 of whom were women, had a mean age of 55 ± 17 years at inclusion. On admission to hospital, the median STAI-ETAT between the two groups was 43.5 (38.0; 56.6) in the case group versus 42.0 (37.0; 48.5) in the control group (P = 0.45). In the case group, the median STAI-ETAT questionnaire taken immediately after the hypnosis session was significantly lower than at the start of hospitalization (30.0 [25.5; 36.5] vs. 43.5 [38.0; 56.5] P = 0.003), indicating a significant reduction in stress. At the end of hospitalization, there was also a significant persistence of the median significant reduction between cases and controls (29.5 [26.5; 35.0] for cases vs. 41.5 [33.5; 45.5] for controls P = 0.002). Experience of hospitalization was better in the case group (median 5.0 [4.5; 5.0] vs. 4.0 [4.0; 4.5], P = 0.016). This study suggests that medical hypnosis is a promising non-medicinal supportive intervention for reducing perceived stress and improving the experience of stress in patients hospitalized on an internal medicine ward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From Nov. 2019 to May 2020, the red supergiant star Betelgeuse experienced an unprecedented drop of brightness in the visible domain called the Great Dimming event (GDE). Large atmospheric dust clouds and large photospheric convective features are suspected to be responsible for it. To better understand the dimming event, we used mid-infrared long-baseline spectro-interferometric measurements of Betelgeuse taken with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer/Multi AperTure mid-Infrared SpectroScopic Experiment (VLTI/MATISSE) instrument before (Dec. 2018), during (Feb. 2020), and after (Dec. 2020) the GDE. We present data in the 3.98–4.15 µm range to cover SiO spectral features molecules as well as adjacent continuum. We have employed geometrical models, image reconstruction, as well as radiative transfer models to monitor the spatial distribution of SiO over the stellar surface. We find a strongly inhomogeneous spatial distribution of SiO that appears to be looking very different between our observing epochs, indicative of a vigorous activity in the stellar atmosphere. The contrast of our images is small in the pseudo-continuum for all epochs, implying that our MATISSE observations support both cold spot and dust cloud model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding heat and mass transfers in porous materials is crucial in many areas of scientific research. Mathematical models have constantly evolved, their differences lying mainly in the choice of the driving potentials used to describe moisture flows, as well as in the complexity of characterizing the physical phenomena involved. Models developed in the field of Building Physics (HAM models) are used to describe the behavior of envelope parts and assess their impact on user comfort and energy performance. The water balance equation can be described in many ways; it is a function of the boundary conditions considered and the fact they induce high or low water content in the porous materials used. This paper gives an overview of various formulations for this equation that are found in the Building Physics literature. It focuses first on the physically based formulation of moisture balance, drawing on the Representative Elementary Volume (REV) concept, coupled with thermodynamic flow rates description. This is then reformulated in line with various main moisture state variables offering a wide variety of expressions that are compared with available models. This approach provides access to all secondary transport coefficients associated with the process of mathematical transformation. Particular emphasis is placed on the moisture storage function choice and its impact on the final mathematical formulations.