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Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a pregnancy complication associated with short- and long-term health consequences for mother and child. First line treatment is diet and exercise but there is a recognized knowledge gap as to what diet treatment is optimal. A healthy Nordic diet has been associated with improved health but no studies in women with GDM exist. The New Nordic Diet (NND) is an initiative with the purpose to develop a healthy Nordic diet including foods with the potential to grow in Nordic countries; including fruit, berries, vegetables, whole-grain cereal products, nuts, fish, and rapeseed oil. The purpose of the intervention with new Nordic DIet in women with GestatiOnal diabetes mellitus (iNDIGO) is to test if the NND compared with usual care improves glucose control in women with GDM. Methods: The iNDIGO study is a randomized parallel controlled trial where 50 women with GDM will be randomized to either an NND or usual care for 14 days (30–32 weeks of gestation). Participants in the NND group will receive menus and food bags containing foods to be consumed. Primary outcome is glycemic control (time in target) measured using continuous glucose monitoring. Compliance to the dietary intervention will be tested using dietary biomarkers and adherence questionnaires. Conclusion: Diet treatment represents first line treatment in GDM but it remains unclear what type of diets are effective. iNDIGO is an efficacy study and will provide evidence as to whether a healthy Nordic diet can improve glucose control in women with GDM.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a pregnancy complication associated with short- and long-term health consequences for mother and child. First line treatment is diet and exercise but there is a recognized knowledge gap as to what diet treatment is optimal. A healthy Nordic diet has been associated with improved health but no studies in women with GDM exist. The New Nordic Diet (NND) is an initiative with the purpose to develop a healthy Nordic diet including foods with the potential to grow in Nordic countries; including fruit, berries, vegetables, whole-grain cereal products, nuts, fish, and rapeseed oil. The purpose of the intervention with new Nordic DIet in women with GestatiOnal diabetes mellitus (iNDIGO) is to test if the NND compared with usual care improves glucose control in women with GDM. Methods: The iNDIGO study is a randomized parallel controlled trial where 50 women with GDM will be randomized to either an NND or usual care for 14 days (30–32 weeks of gestation). Participants in the NND group will receive menus and food bags containing foods to be consumed. Primary outcome is glycemic control (time in target) measured using continuous glucose monitoring. Compliance to the dietary intervention will be tested using dietary biomarkers and adherence questionnaires. Conclusion: Diet treatment represents first line treatment in GDM but it remains unclear what type of diets are effective. iNDIGO is an efficacy study and will provide evidence as to whether a healthy Nordic diet can improve glucose control in women with GDM.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a pregnancy complication associated with short- and long-term health consequences for mother and child. First line treatment is diet and exercise but there is a recognized knowledge gap as to what diet treatment is optimal. A healthy Nordic diet has been associated with improved health but no studies in women with GDM exist. The New Nordic Diet (NND) is an initiative with the purpose to develop a healthy Nordic diet including foods with the potential to grow in Nordic countries; including fruit, berries, vegetables, whole-grain cereal products, nuts, fish, and rapeseed oil. The purpose of the intervention with new Nordic DIet in women with GestatiOnal diabetes mellitus (iNDIGO) is to test if the NND compared with usual care improves glucose control in women with GDM. Methods: The iNDIGO study is a randomized parallel controlled trial where 50 women with GDM will be randomized to either an NND or usual care for 14 days (30–32 weeks of gestation). Participants in the NND group will receive menus and food bags containing foods to be consumed. Primary outcome is glycemic control (time in target) measured using continuous glucose monitoring. Compliance to the dietary intervention will be tested using dietary biomarkers and adherence questionnaires. Conclusion: Diet treatment represents first line treatment in GDM but it remains unclear what type of diets are effective. iNDIGO is an efficacy study and will provide evidence as to whether a healthy Nordic diet can improve glucose control in women with GDM.

The DESY II Test Beam Facility is a key infrastructure for modern high energy physics detector development, providing particles with a small momentum spread in a range from 1 to 6 GeV to user groups e.g. from the LHC experiments and Belle II as well as generic detector R&D. Beam telescopes are provided in all three test beam areas as precise tracking reference without time stamping, with triggered readout and a readout time of > 115 $\mu$s. If the highest available rates are used, multiple particles are traversing the telescopes within one readout frame, thus creating ambiguities that cannot be resolved without additional timing layers. Several upgrades are currently investigated and tested: Firstly, a fast monolithic pixel sensor, the TelePix, to provide precise track timing and triggering on a region of interest is proposed to overcome this limitation. The TelePix is a 180 nm HV-CMOS sensor that has been developed jointly by DESY, KIT and the University of Heidelberg and designed at KIT. In this publication, the performance evaluation is presented: The difference between two amplifier designs is evaluated. A high hit detection efficiency of above 99.9 % combined with a time resolution of below 4 ns at negligible pixel noise rates is determined. Finally, the digital hit output to provide region of interest triggering is evaluated and shows a short absolute delay with respect to a traditional trigger scintillator as well as an excellent time resolution. Secondly, a fast LGAD plane has been proposed to provide a time resolution of a few 10 ps, which is foreseen to drastically improve the timing performance of the telescope. Time resolutions of below 70 ps have been determined in collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a pregnancy complication associated with short- and long-term health consequences for mother and child. First line treatment is diet and exercise but there is a recognized knowledge gap as to what diet treatment is optimal. A healthy Nordic diet has been associated with improved health but no studies in women with GDM exist. The New Nordic Diet (NND) is an initiative with the purpose to develop a healthy Nordic diet including foods with the potential to grow in Nordic countries; including fruit, berries, vegetables, whole-grain cereal products, nuts, fish, and rapeseed oil. The purpose of the intervention with new Nordic DIet in women with GestatiOnal diabetes mellitus (iNDIGO) is to test if the NND compared with usual care improves glucose control in women with GDM. Methods: The iNDIGO study is a randomized parallel controlled trial where 50 women with GDM will be randomized to either an NND or usual care for 14 days (30–32 weeks of gestation). Participants in the NND group will receive menus and food bags containing foods to be consumed. Primary outcome is glycemic control (time in target) measured using continuous glucose monitoring. Compliance to the dietary intervention will be tested using dietary biomarkers and adherence questionnaires. Conclusion: Diet treatment represents first line treatment in GDM but it remains unclear what type of diets are effective. iNDIGO is an efficacy study and will provide evidence as to whether a healthy Nordic diet can improve glucose control in women with GDM.

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a pregnancy complication associated with short- and long-term health consequences for mother and child. First line treatment is diet and exercise but there is a recognized knowledge gap as to what diet treatment is optimal. A healthy Nordic diet has been associated with improved health but no studies in women with GDM exist. The New Nordic Diet (NND) is an initiative with the purpose to develop a healthy Nordic diet including foods with the potential to grow in Nordic countries; including fruit, berries, vegetables, whole-grain cereal products, nuts, fish, and rapeseed oil. The purpose of the intervention with new Nordic DIet in women with GestatiOnal diabetes mellitus (iNDIGO) is to test if the NND compared with usual care improves glucose control in women with GDM. Methods: The iNDIGO study is a randomized parallel controlled trial where 50 women with GDM will be randomized to either an NND or usual care for 14 days (30–32 weeks of gestation). Participants in the NND group will receive menus and food bags containing foods to be consumed. Primary outcome is glycemic control (time in target) measured using continuous glucose monitoring. Compliance to the dietary intervention will be tested using dietary biomarkers and adherence questionnaires. Conclusion: Diet treatment represents first line treatment in GDM but it remains unclear what type of diets are effective. iNDIGO is an efficacy study and will provide evidence as to whether a healthy Nordic diet can improve glucose control in women with GDM.

The Mu3e experiment aims to find or exclude the lepton flavour violating decay $\mu \rightarrow eee$ at branching fractions above $10^{-16}$. A first phase of the experiment using an existing beamline at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) is designed to reach a single event sensitivity of $2\cdot 10^{-15}$. We present an overview of all aspects of the technical design and expected performance of the phase~I Mu3e detector. The high rate of up to $10^{8}$ muon decays per second and the low momenta of the decay electrons and positrons pose a unique set of challenges, which we tackle using an ultra thin tracking detector based on high-voltage monolithic active pixel sensors combined with scintillating fibres and tiles for precise timing measurements., Comment: 117 pages. Minor corrections to the author list. Replaced with published version. Editor: Frank Meier Aeschbacher

EUDAQ is a generic data acquisition software developed for use in conjunction with common beam telescopes at charged particle beam lines. Providing high-precision reference tracks for performance studies of new sensors, beam telescopes are essential for the research and development towards future detectors for high-energy physics. As beam time is a highly limited resource, EUDAQ has been designed with reliability and ease-of-use in mind. It enables flexible integration of different independent devices under test via their specific data acquisition systems into a top-level framework. EUDAQ controls all components globally, handles the data flow centrally and synchronises and records the data streams. Over the past decade, EUDAQ has been deployed as part of a wide range of successful test beam campaigns and detector development applications., Comment: 32 pages, 11 figures

Microvascular endothelial cells (ECs) are increasingly recognized as organ-specific gatekeepers of their microenvironment. Microvascular ECs instruct neighboring cells in their organ-specific vascular niches through angiocrine factors, which include secreted growth factors (angiokines), extracellular matrix molecules, and transmembrane proteins. However, the molecular regulators that drive organ-specific microvascular transcriptional programs and thereby regulate angiodiversity are largely elusive. In contrast to other ECs, which form a continuous cell layer, liver sinusoidal ECs (LSECs) constitute discontinuous, permeable microvessels. Here, we have shown that the transcription factor GATA4 controls murine LSEC specification and function. LSEC-restricted deletion of Gata4 caused transformation of discontinuous liver sinusoids into continuous capillaries. Capillarization was characterized by ectopic basement membrane deposition, formation of a continuous EC layer, and increased expression of VE-cadherin. Correspondingly, ectopic expression of GATA4 in cultured continuous ECs mediated the downregulation of continuous EC-associated transcripts and upregulation of LSEC-associated genes. The switch from discontinuous LSECs to continuous ECs during embryogenesis caused liver hypoplasia, fibrosis, and impaired colonization by hematopoietic progenitor cells, resulting in anemia and embryonic lethality. Thus, GATA4 acts as master regulator of hepatic microvascular specification and acquisition of organ-specific vascular competence, which are indispensable for liver development. The data also establish an essential role of the hepatic microvasculature in embryonic hematopoiesis.

Glioblastoma are aggressive astrocytic brain tumours characterized by microvascular proliferation and an abnormal vasculature, giving rise to brain oedema and increased patient morbidity. Here, we have characterized the transcriptome of tumour-associated blood vessels and describe a gene signature clearly associated with pleomorphic, pathologically altered vessels in human glioblastoma (grade IV glioma). We identified 95 genes differentially expressed in glioblastoma vessels, while no significant differences in gene expression were detected between vessels in non-malignant brain and grade II glioma. Differential vascular expression of ANGPT2, CD93, ESM1, ELTD1, FILIP1L and TENC1 in human glioblastoma was validated by immunohistochemistry, using a tissue microarray. Through qPCR analysis of gene induction in primary endothelial cells, we provide evidence that increased VEGF-A and TGFβ2 signalling in the tumour microenvironment is sufficient to invoke many of the changes in gene expression noted in glioblastoma vessels. Notably, we found an enrichment of Smad target genes within the distinct gene signature of glioblastoma vessels and a significant increase of Smad signalling complexes in the vasculature of human glioblastoma in situ. This indicates a key role of TGFβ signalling in regulating vascular phenotype and suggests that, in addition to VEGF-A, TGFβ2 may represent a new target for vascular normalization therapy., De två första författarna delar förstaförfattarskapet.

BACKGROUND: The combination of chemotherapy with the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody bevacizumab is a standard of care in advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). However, biomarkers predicting outcome of bevacizumab-containing treatment are lacking. As angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) is a key regulator of vascular remodelling in concert with VEGF, we investigated its role as a biomarker in metastatic CRC. METHODS: Serum Ang-2 levels were measured in 33 healthy volunteers and 90 patients with CRC. Of these, 34 had metastatic disease and received bevacizumab-containing therapy. To determine the tissue of origin of Ang-2, quantitative real-time PCR was performed on microdissected cryosections of human CRC and in a murine xenograft model of CRC using species-specific amplification. RESULTS: Ang-2 originated from the stromal compartment of CRC tissues. Serum Ang-2 levels were significantly elevated in patients with metastatic CRC compared with healthy controls. Amongst patients receiving bevacizumab-containing treatment, low pre-therapeutic serum Ang-2 levels were associated with a significant better response rate (82 vs 31%; P<0.01), a prolonged median progression-free survival (14.1 vs 8.5 months; P<0.01) and a reduction of 91% in the hazard of death (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Serum Ang-2 is a candidate biomarker for outcome of patients with metastatic CRC treated with bevacizumab-containing therapy, and it should be further validated to customise combined chemotherapeutic and anti-angiogenic treatment. British Journal of Cancer (2010) 103, 1407-1414. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605925 www.bjcancer.com Published online 5 October 2010 (C) 2010 Cancer Research UK

BACKGROUND: The combination of chemotherapy with the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody bevacizumab is a standard of care in advanced colorectal cancer (CRC). However, biomarkers predicting outcome of bevacizumab-containing treatment are lacking. As angiopoietin-2 (Ang-2) is a key regulator of vascular remodelling in concert with VEGF, we investigated its role as a biomarker in metastatic CRC. METHODS: Serum Ang-2 levels were measured in 33 healthy volunteers and 90 patients with CRC. Of these, 34 had metastatic disease and received bevacizumab-containing therapy. To determine the tissue of origin of Ang-2, quantitative real-time PCR was performed on microdissected cryosections of human CRC and in a murine xenograft model of CRC using species-specific amplification. RESULTS: Ang-2 originated from the stromal compartment of CRC tissues. Serum Ang-2 levels were significantly elevated in patients with metastatic CRC compared with healthy controls. Amongst patients receiving bevacizumab-containing treatment, low pre-therapeutic serum Ang-2 levels were associated with a significant better response rate (82 vs 31%; P<0.01), a prolonged median progression-free survival (14.1 vs 8.5 months; P<0.01) and a reduction of 91% in the hazard of death (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Serum Ang-2 is a candidate biomarker for outcome of patients with metastatic CRC treated with bevacizumab-containing therapy, and it should be further validated to customise combined chemotherapeutic and anti-angiogenic treatment. British Journal of Cancer (2010) 103, 1407-1414. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6605925 www.bjcancer.com Published online 5 October 2010 (C) 2010 Cancer Research UK

F-Aktin spielt eine wichtige Rolle bei der Steuerung der endothelialen Barrierefunktion. In dieser Arbeit verwendeten wir Colchicin, Vinca-Alkaloide (Vinblastin, Vincristin) und Paclitaxel um Mikrotubulussysteme (MT) auszulenken und den Effekt auf die Permeabilität zu untersuchen. Endothelzellen wurden auf Polycarbonatfiltermembranen gepflanzt und einem kontinuierlichen hydrostatischen Druck von 10 cm H2O ausgesetzt. Die Exposition von Endothelzell-Monolayern gegenüber Colchicin und Vinca-Alkaloiden führte innerhalb von 60 100 Minuten zeit- und dosisabhängig zu einem fünf zehnfachen Anstieg der hydraulischen Konduktivität. Dagegen war nach MT-Stabilisation durch Paclitaxel keine Permeabilitätszunahme festzustellen. Doppelimmunfluoreszenz-Mikroskopie zeigte, dass die MT-Depolymerisation durch Colchicin und Vinca Alkaloide zu F-Aktin-Umverteilung, Stressfaserbildung und Zellretraktionen mit ausgeprägter parazellulärer Lücken-Bildung führt. Diese Phänomene wurden durch Kombinationen von Vinblastin und Paclitaxel deutlich abgeschwächt. Die fluorometrische Messung des intrazellulären F-Aktins nach MT-Depolymerisation durch Vinblastin resultierte in einer signifikanten Zunahme der Aktinfilamente. Auf der anderen Seite resultierte F-Aktin Abbau durch Cytochalasin D und Clostridium difficile (TcdB-10463) morphologisch nicht in einer Veränderung von MT-Strukturen. Dabei zeigten in Interzellularbrücken gelegene MT-Filamente Kolokalisation mit F-Aktin Fragmenten. Unsere Ergebnisse demonstrieren, dass MT-Systeme an der Regulation der endothelialen Barriere beteiligt sind. Darüber hinaus verdeutlichen die Resultate eine enge Bindung von MT- und Aktin-Filamenten innerhalb endothelzellulärer Adhäsionskontakte., The endothelian cytosceleton plays an important role in the regulation of endothelial permeability via cellular actin filaments. We tested the effect of agents known to perturb cellular microtubules on the permeability of endothelial cell monolayers. The agents chosen were colchicine, the vinca alkaloids vinblastine and vincristine and paclitaxel. Cell monolayers were prepared on polycarbonate filter membranes and exposed to a continuous hydrostatic pressure of 10 cm H2O. Colchicine and the vinca alkaloids caused a five to tenfold increase in the hydraulic conductivity of the monolayers within 60 100 min. The effect was dose and time dependent. The microtubule stabilizer paclitaxel caused no increase in permeability. Double-immunofluorescence microscopy showed that microtubule depolymerisation was associated with certain morphological features such as inter-endothelial gaps, cell retraction, f-actin reorganisation and some stressfibre appearance. These phenomena were significantly reduced when vinblastine and paclitaxel were combined. Measurement of intracellular f-actin following microtubule inhibition with vinblastine showed a significant increase in endothelial actin filaments. No changes in microtubule structures were seen when actin filaments were perturbed with cytochalasin D and Clostridium difficile (TcdB-10463). However, in this case the intercellular bridges showed that microtubules were co-localised with fragments of actin filaments from neighbouring cells. Our data demonstrate that microtubules are important for the regulation of endothelial permeability. Moreover, our results support evidens of binding between microtubules and actin filaments within endothelial cell adhesion contacts.

F-Aktin spielt eine wichtige Rolle bei der Steuerung der endothelialen Barrierefunktion. In dieser Arbeit verwendeten wir Colchicin, Vinca-Alkaloide (Vinblastin, Vincristin) und Paclitaxel um Mikrotubulussysteme (MT) auszulenken und den Effekt auf die Permeabilität zu untersuchen. Endothelzellen wurden auf Polycarbonatfiltermembranen gepflanzt und einem kontinuierlichen hydrostatischen Druck von 10 cm H2O ausgesetzt. Die Exposition von Endothelzell-Monolayern gegenüber Colchicin und Vinca-Alkaloiden führte innerhalb von 60 100 Minuten zeit- und dosisabhängig zu einem fünf zehnfachen Anstieg der hydraulischen Konduktivität. Dagegen war nach MT-Stabilisation durch Paclitaxel keine Permeabilitätszunahme festzustellen. Doppelimmunfluoreszenz-Mikroskopie zeigte, dass die MT-Depolymerisation durch Colchicin und Vinca Alkaloide zu F-Aktin-Umverteilung, Stressfaserbildung und Zellretraktionen mit ausgeprägter parazellulärer Lücken-Bildung führt. Diese Phänomene wurden durch Kombinationen von Vinblastin und Paclitaxel deutlich abgeschwächt. Die fluorometrische Messung des intrazellulären F-Aktins nach MT-Depolymerisation durch Vinblastin resultierte in einer signifikanten Zunahme der Aktinfilamente. Auf der anderen Seite resultierte F-Aktin Abbau durch Cytochalasin D und Clostridium difficile (TcdB-10463) morphologisch nicht in einer Veränderung von MT-Strukturen. Dabei zeigten in Interzellularbrücken gelegene MT-Filamente Kolokalisation mit F-Aktin Fragmenten. Unsere Ergebnisse demonstrieren, dass MT-Systeme an der Regulation der endothelialen Barriere beteiligt sind. Darüber hinaus verdeutlichen die Resultate eine enge Bindung von MT- und Aktin-Filamenten innerhalb endothelzellulärer Adhäsionskontakte., The endothelian cytosceleton plays an important role in the regulation of endothelial permeability via cellular actin filaments. We tested the effect of agents known to perturb cellular microtubules on the permeability of endothelial cell monolayers. The agents chosen were colchicine, the vinca alkaloids vinblastine and vincristine and paclitaxel. Cell monolayers were prepared on polycarbonate filter membranes and exposed to a continuous hydrostatic pressure of 10 cm H2O. Colchicine and the vinca alkaloids caused a five to tenfold increase in the hydraulic conductivity of the monolayers within 60 100 min. The effect was dose and time dependent. The microtubule stabilizer paclitaxel caused no increase in permeability. Double-immunofluorescence microscopy showed that microtubule depolymerisation was associated with certain morphological features such as inter-endothelial gaps, cell retraction, f-actin reorganisation and some stressfibre appearance. These phenomena were significantly reduced when vinblastine and paclitaxel were combined. Measurement of intracellular f-actin following microtubule inhibition with vinblastine showed a significant increase in endothelial actin filaments. No changes in microtubule structures were seen when actin filaments were perturbed with cytochalasin D and Clostridium difficile (TcdB-10463). However, in this case the intercellular bridges showed that microtubules were co-localised with fragments of actin filaments from neighbouring cells. Our data demonstrate that microtubules are important for the regulation of endothelial permeability. Moreover, our results support evidens of binding between microtubules and actin filaments within endothelial cell adhesion contacts.

© 2017 Badereddin Mohamad Al-Ali et al.Introduction. To analyze the impact of radical prostatectomy (RPE) on erectile function and lower urinary tract function in comparison to age-matched healthy men. Materials and Methods. Patients who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy completed questionnaires containing the IIEF-5, the Bristol female LUTS questionnaire, and the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS). Results. Patients after RPE were included (n=363). Age-matched healthy men (n=363) were included. The mean IIEF-5 of patients aged 61-70 yrs after RPE was 10.4±6.6 versus 18.8±5.3 in the control cohort; the respective values for men aged 71-80 yrs after RPE were 7.2±6.5 versus 13.6±7.7 in the control cohort. Urinary incontinence after RPE was reported in 41.9% (61-70 years) and 37.7% (71-80) versus 7.5% and 15.1% in the control cohort. The mean IPSS of patients after RPE aged 61-70 yrs was 5.0±4.4 versus 5.5±4.9 in the control cohort; the respective values for men aged 71-80 yrs were 6.0±4.9 versus 7.5±5.7 in the healthy cohort. Conclusions. The negative effect of radical prostatectomy on erectile and urinary incontinence remains substantial. The physiologically declining erectile and lower urinary tract function with ageing reduces the difference between healthy men and those after surgery. Healthy men have a higher IPSS presumably due to the presence of bladder outlet obstruction.

© 2017 Badereddin Mohamad Al-Ali et al.Introduction. To analyze the impact of radical prostatectomy (RPE) on erectile function and lower urinary tract function in comparison to age-matched healthy men. Materials and Methods. Patients who underwent radical retropubic prostatectomy completed questionnaires containing the IIEF-5, the Bristol female LUTS questionnaire, and the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS). Results. Patients after RPE were included (n=363). Age-matched healthy men (n=363) were included. The mean IIEF-5 of patients aged 61-70 yrs after RPE was 10.4±6.6 versus 18.8±5.3 in the control cohort; the respective values for men aged 71-80 yrs after RPE were 7.2±6.5 versus 13.6±7.7 in the control cohort. Urinary incontinence after RPE was reported in 41.9% (61-70 years) and 37.7% (71-80) versus 7.5% and 15.1% in the control cohort. The mean IPSS of patients after RPE aged 61-70 yrs was 5.0±4.4 versus 5.5±4.9 in the control cohort; the respective values for men aged 71-80 yrs were 6.0±4.9 versus 7.5±5.7 in the healthy cohort. Conclusions. The negative effect of radical prostatectomy on erectile and urinary incontinence remains substantial. The physiologically declining erectile and lower urinary tract function with ageing reduces the difference between healthy men and those after surgery. Healthy men have a higher IPSS presumably due to the presence of bladder outlet obstruction.