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Background and aims: Breastfeeding is recognized as one of the most influential drivers of the gut microbiome. In turn, alterations in the gut microbiome may play a role in the development and severity of spondyloarthritis (SpA). We aimed to analyze different disease outcomes in patients with axial SpA (axSpA) based on the history of breastfeeding. Patients and methods: A random sample was selected from a large database of axSpA patients. Patients were divided based on history of breastfeeding and several disease outcomes were compared. Both groups were also compared based on disease severity. Adjusted linear and logistic regression statistical methods were used. Results: The study included 105 patients (46 women and 59 men), and the median age was 45 years (IQR: 16–72), and the mean age at diagnosis was 34.3 ± 10.9 years. Sixty-one patients (58.1%) were breastfed, with a median duration of 4 (IQR: 1–24) months. After the fully adjusted model, BASDAI [−1.13 (95%CI: −2.04, −0.23), p = 0.015] and ASDAS [−0.38 (95%CI: −0.72, −0.04), p = 0.030] scores were significantly lower in breastfed patients. Forty-two percent had severe disease. In the adjusted logistic model for age, sex, disease duration, family history, HLA-B27, biologic therapy, smoking, and obesity, breastfeeding had a protective effect against the development of severe disease (OR 0.22, 95%CI: 0.08–0.57, p = 0.003). The selected sample size was sufficient to detect this difference with a statistical power of 87% and a confidence level of 95%. Conclusion: Breastfeeding might exert a protective effect against severe disease in patients with axSpA. These data need further confirmation.

Summary Gastrointestinal lymphomas are uncommon in dogs and little is known about their distinct subtypes or proliferation rate. The aim of this study was to stratify 33 canine gastrointestinal lymphoma samples according to the latest World Health Organization classification and to determine the Ki67 proliferation index by manual counting, digital image analysis and visual estimation. The Ki67 index was then correlated with subtype, immunophenotype, mitotic index, grade and tumour location. The mitotic index correlated positively with the Ki67 index. A significantly higher number of Ki67-positive cells was found in enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma type I and in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma compared with enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma type II. There was also a significant difference in Ki67 immunolabelled cells between grade 1 and grade 2 lymphomas. Moderate agreement was found between the Ki67 index as obtained by manual counting and visual estimation, but there was strong agreement between manual counting and digital image analysis. The user-friendly digital imaging system used in this study could have potential for future determination of the Ki67 index in lymphoid neoplasms.

The human leukocyte antigen-C ∗ 06 (HLA-C ∗ 06, formerly HLA-Cw6) is the main genetic biomarker in psoriatic disease. It has been related to several phenotypic traits in psoriatic disease, but its role in relation to cardiometabolic comorbidities is unknown at present. Here, we analyze the potential connections between this biomarker and the cardiometabolic profile of these patients. We carried out a cross-sectional observational study including 400 patients recruited at a single university hospital. Clinical and classical cardiometabolic factors were compared between HLA-C ∗ 06-positive and HLA-C ∗ 06-negative individuals (OR with 95% CI). Multivariate regression analyses were carried out to check for disease traits associated with different cardiometabolic risk factors. The study population included 215 men (53.8%) and 185 women (46.2%), mean age of 46 ± 15 years , and an average disease evolution of 17 ± 12.6 years . Ninety-three (23.3%) patients met CASPAR criteria for psoriatic arthritis. HLA-C ∗ 06 carriers ( n : 160, 40%) showed an earlier age at disease onset, psoriasis family history, and more severe skin disease (type I disease). After correcting for age, sex, and disease duration, they also showed less hypertension (13.8% vs. 24.2%, OR 0.7 (95% CI: 0.42-0.78), p = 0.025 ), lower waist circumference ( 94.4 ± 13.7 vs. 98.3 ± 13.8 cm ), and lower BMI ( 27 ± 4.4 vs. 28.1 ± 4.8 , p < 0.05 ). We confirmed the well-known association between HLA-C ∗ 06 and type I psoriatic disease. As a novel finding, patients carrying HLA-C ∗ 06 showed a better cardiometabolic profile. In any case, these findings need further confirmation.

The VetBiobank was established in 2007 as part of the VetCore Facility for Research at the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna. The primary objectives of the VetBiobank are (1) to achieve comprehensive collections of high quality animal samples to support research projects and (2) to provide biological reference material as controls e.g. for method verification. Currently, collections mainly contain tumor tissues and healthy reference tissues from cats and dogs, but also a small number of biospecimens from other diseases and other species, including macaque, horse, pig, and small companion animals. A total number of around 58000 individual samples are stored. The VetBiobank is partner of BBMRI.at (the Biobanking and BioMolecular resource Research Infrastructure Austria [1]), the Austrian national node of the European research infrastructure BBMRI-ERIC [2], comprising the only member with a focus on veterinary medicine. Funding statement: The VetBiobank is part of the central research facility of the University of Veterinary Medicine, which takes over personnel and running costs. Additionally, the VetBiobank was and is currently supported by two grants from the federal ministry of Austria to BBMRI.at (BMWFM GZ: 10.470/0016-II/3/2013, BMBWF GZ: 10.470/0010-V/3c/2018).

In previous work of our group on the re-entrant melting of colloidal glasses we observed an unexpectedly huge re-entry region for a binary system of 1:50 crosslinked polystyrene (PS) microgel spheres when a depletion attraction range ξ = Rg,polymer/Rcolloid = 0.08 was induced by non-adsorbing (free) PS chains. To investigate whether this fluid region can even be increased by reducing polymer size and therefore the attraction range as predicted by mode coupling theory (MCT), we studied an almost identical system. It consists of a binary 1:50 PS microgel mixture (Rh,L = 105.8 nm, Rh,S = 82.9 nm; Γ = Rh,S/Rh,L = 0.85) with a reduced attraction range of ξ = 0.059 by use of an appropriate free PS polymer ( M w = 79 , 600 g/mol, Rg,polymer = 9.18 nm). Here the glass transition is shifted from ϕg = 0.577 to higher values, allowing for fluid states up to volume fractions of ϕ = 0.715. This is significantly higher than the maximum fluid state of ϕ = 0.69 reached for ξ = 0.08. Tentatively correcting for osmotic deswelling these volume fractions reduce to 0.673 and 0.66, respectively. This is in qualitative agreement with MCT, but in quantitative disagreement because the theory predicts a shift of only a few percent. Such fluid states beyond the maximum amorphous packing of hard spheres (ϕrcp ∼ 0.64) do not occur for PMMA colloids and 1:10 crosslinked PS microgel spheres that can both be considered as hard spheres. Thus, we tentatively attribute the observation of fluid states at such high volume fractions to a combination of the slight softness of the 1:50 microgels, leading to osmotic deswelling and particle deformability. In addition, polydispersity and polymer non-ideality effects should be taken into account.

Studies comparing the accuracy of clinical diagnosis in unselected patients who died in hospital in different medical eras have shown no decline of errors in the main diagnosis. We assessed changes in diagnostic accuracy over 20 years.We analysed retrospectively diagnostic errors, with use of necropsy as the gold standard for diagnosis. We randomly selected 300 patients who died at a tertiary-care teaching hospital in Switzerland--100 in each of 1972, 1982, and 1992. We classified discrepancies between clinical diagnosis and necropsy findings as major and minor errors.The overall necropsy rate at the hospital stayed at around 90% for the whole period. During the study, the frequency of major discrepancies declined significantly (1972, 30%; 1982, 18%; 1992, 14%; p=0.007). The rate of minor diagnostic errors increased significantly from 23% in 1972 to 46% in 1992 (p0.001). The increase in overall diagnostic accuracy occurred mainly because of a significant improvement in specificity for cardiovascular diseases (1972, 85%; 1982, 82%; 1992, 97%; p=0.034) and non-significantly improved sensitivity (1972, 69%; 1982, 82%; 1992, 86%; p=0.061). Sensitivity also improved for infectious diseases (1972, 25%; 1982, 67%; 1992, 86%; p=0.036). Sensitivity and specificity for neoplastic diseases were high originally and did not change. The total number of diagnostic procedures per year increased from 191 in 1972 to 259 in 1992, mainly because of non-invasive techniques, such as ultrasonography, and endoscopies.The frequency of major diagnostic errors in unselected patients who died in hospital was halved over 20 years, probably because of improved clinical skills and new diagnostic procedures.

Osteosarcoma is a rare but aggressive bone neoplasm in humans, which is commonly treated with surgery, classical chemotherapy and radiation. Sorafenib, an inhibitor of a number of kinases targeting the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway, is a promising new chemotherapeutic agent in human medicine that has been approved since 2006 for the therapy of renal cell carcinoma and since 2007 for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. Here, we studied the antimetastatic potential of 4 µM of this multikinase inhibitor in a human osteosarcoma cell line. DNA microarray-based gene expres-sion profiling detected 297 and 232 genes upregulated or downregulated at a threshold of >2-fold expression alteration (P

In equids, bovine papillomaviruses of type 1 (BPV-1) and less frequently type 2 induce common, locally aggressive skin tumours termed sarcoids. Whereas BPV infection in cattle usually involves the epidermis and is productive in this skin layer, infection in equids is currently thought to be abortive, with virus solely residing as multiple episomes in dermal fibroblasts. Based on recent observations that do not agree with this assumption, we hypothesised that BPV also infects equid epidermis and is active in this skin layer. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a proof-of-principle study on eight distinct sarcoids. Presence of viral DNA was addressed by qualitative and quantitative BPV-1 PCR from microdissected sarcoid epidermis, and by subsequent amplicon sequencing. Viral activity was assessed by screening sarcoid epidermis for BPV-1 protein expression using immunohistochemistry (IHC) or immunofluorescence (IF). Virus-free equine skin served as negative control throughout the assays. BPV-1 DNA was demonstrated in all sarcoid epidermis samples, with viral DNA loads ranging between 2 and 195 copies/cell. Identical BPV-1 E5 genes were identified in epidermis and dermis of each of two sarcoids, yet different E5 variants were found in individual lesions. IHC/IF revealed the presence of E5 and E7 protein in sarcoid epidermis, and L1 capsomers in the squamous layer of one lesion. These findings indicate that BPV infection also involves the epidermis, where it may occasionally be productive.

Yam (Dioscorea spp.) is a tuberous staple food crop of major importance in the sub-Saharan savannas of West Africa. Optimal yields commonly are obtained only in the first year following slash-and-burn in the shifting cultivation systems. It appears that the yield decline in subsequent years is not merely caused by soil nutrient depletion but might be due to a loss of the beneficial soil microflora, including arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), associated with tropical "tree-aspect" savannas and dry forests that are the natural habitats of the wild relatives of yam. Our objective was to study the AMF communities of natural savannas and adjacent yam fields in the Southern Guinea savanna of Benin. AMF were identified by morphotyping spores in the soil from the field sites and in AMF trap cultures with Sorghum bicolor and yam (Dioscorea rotundata and Dioscorea cayenensis) as bait plants. AMF species richness was higher in the savanna than in the yam-field soils (18-25 vs. 11-16 spp.), but similar for both ecosystems (29-36 spp.) according to the observations in trap cultures. Inoculation of trap cultures with soil sampled during the dry season led to high AMF root colonization, spore production, and species richness (overall 45 spp.) whereas inoculation with wet-season soil was inefficient (two spp. only). The use of D. cayenensis and D. rotundata as baits yielded 28 and 29 AMF species, respectively, and S. bicolor 37 species. AMF root colonization, however, was higher in yam than in sorghum (70-95 vs. 11-20%). After 8 months of trap culturing, the mycorrhizal yam had a higher tuber biomass than the nonmycorrhizal controls. The AMF actually colonizing D. rotundata roots in the field were also studied using a novel field sampling procedure for molecular analyses. Multiple phylotaxa were detected that corresponded with the spore morphotypes observed. It is, therefore, likely that the legacy of indigenous AMF from the natural savanna plays a crucial role for yam productivity, particularly in the low-input traditional farming systems prevailing in West Africa.