The Ratio of Regulatory (FOXP3+) to Total (CD3+) T Cells Determined by Epigenetic Cell Counting and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: A Prospective Case-cohort Study in Non-diabetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Barth, Sebastian Dietmar; Kaaks, Rudolf; Johnson, Theron; Katzke, Verena; Gellhaus, Katharina; Schulze, Janika Josephin; Olek, Sven; Kühn, Tilman

2016-09-01

Experimental and clinical evidence indicate that inflammatory processes in atherogenesis and the development of cardiovascular complications are promoted by a loss of regulatory T cell (Treg)-mediated immunological tolerance to plaque antigens. Yet, the association between alterations of systemic Treg frequency and cardiovascular disease incidence remains uncertain. A nested case-cohort study was conducted within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Heidelberg, comprising a random subcohort (n=778) and primary cases of myocardial infarction (MI, n=276) and ischemic stroke (n=151). Pre-diagnostic FOXP3+ Treg and total CD3+ T-lymphocyte (tTL) frequencies in blood were measured by epigenetic-based, quantitative real-time PCR-assisted cell counting. Multivariate, Prentice-weighted Cox regression analyses revealed that lower Treg/tTL ratios were not associated with the risk of either MI (lowest vs. highest sex-specific quartile; hazard ratio: 0.72, 95% confidence interval: 0.46 to 1.13; P trend =0.51) or stroke (HR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.51 to 1.60; P trend =0.78). There were no correlations of Treg/tTL ratios with C-reactive protein, HbA1c, and various lipid parameters. Among middle-aged adults from the general population, imbalances in the relative frequency of Tregs within the total T cell compartment do not confer an increased risk of MI or stroke. Copyright © 2016 Forschungsgesellschaft für Arbeitsphysiologie und Arbeitschutz e.V. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fish, Long-Chain n-3 PUFA and Incidence of Elevated Blood Pressure: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies

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Bo Yang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Results from prospective cohort studies on fish or long-chain (LC n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA intake and elevated blood pressure (EBP are inconsistent. We aimed to investigate the summary effects. Pertinent studies were identified from PubMed and EMBASE database through October 2015. Multivariate-adjusted risk ratios (RRs for incidence of EBP in the highest verses the bottom category of baseline intake of fish or LC n-3 PUFA were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis. Over the follow-up ranging from 3 to 20 years, 20,497 EBP events occurred among 56,204 adults from eight prospective cohort studies. The summary RR (SRR was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.81, 1.14; I2 = 44.70% for fish in four studies, and 0.73 (95% CI: 0.60, 0.89; I2 = 75.00% for LC n-3 PUFA in six studies (three studies for biomarker vs. three studies for diet. Circulating LC n-3 PUFA as biomarker was inversely associated with incidence of EBP (SRR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.55, 0.83, especially docosahexaenoic acid (SRR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.88, whereas no significant association was found for dietary intake (SRR: 0.80; 95% CI: 0.58, 1.10. The present finding suggests that increased intake of docosahexaenoic acid to improve its circulating levels may benefit primary prevention of EBP.

Consumption of predefined 'Nordic' dietary items in ten European countries - an investigation in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Roswall, Nina; Olsen, Anja; Boll, Katja

2014-01-01

a broader preventive potential. The present study describes the intake of seven a priori defined healthy food items (apples/pears, berries, cabbages, dark bread, shellfish, fish and root vegetables) across ten countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC...

Coffee Drinking and Mortality in Ten European Countries – the EPIC Study

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Gunter, Marc J.; Murphy, Neil; Cross, Amanda J.; Dossus, Laure; Dartois, Laureen; Fagherazzi, Guy; Kaaks, Rudolf; Kühn, Tilman; Boeing, Heiner; Aleksandrova, Krasimira; Tjønneland, Anne; Olsen, Anja; Overvad, Kim; Larsen, Sofus Christian; Cornejo, Maria Luisa Redondo; Agudo, Antonio; Pérez, María José Sánchez; Altzibar, Jone M; Navarro, Carmen; Ardanaz, Eva; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Butterworth, Adam; Bradbury, Kathryn E; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Lagiou, Pagona; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Palli, Domenico; Grioni, Sara; Vineis, Paolo; Panico, Salvatore; Tumino, Rosario; Bueno-de-Mesquita, Bas; Siersema, Peter; Leenders, Max; Beulens, Joline WJ; Uiterwaal, Cuno U; Wallström, Peter; Nilsson, Lena Maria; Landberg, Rikard; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Skeie, Guri; Braaten, Tonje; Brennan, Paul; Licaj, Idlir; Muller, David C; Sinha, Rashmi; Wareham, Nick; Riboli, Elio

2018-01-01

Background How coffee consumption relates to mortality in diverse European populations, with variable coffee preparation methods and customs, is unclear. Objectives To examine whether coffee consumption is associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality in men and women. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Ten European countries. Participants A total of 521,330 men and women enrolled in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Main outcome measure Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals(CIs) estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. The association of coffee with serum biomarkers of liver function, inflammation, and metabolic health was evaluated in the EPIC Biomarkers sub-cohort (n=14,800). Results During a mean follow-up of 16.4 years, 41,693 deaths occurred. Compared with non-consumers, participants in the highest quartile of coffee consumption experienced statistically significant lower all-cause mortality (Men: HR=0.88, 95%CI: 0.82–0.95; P-trendcoffee and circulatory disease mortality, (HR=0.78, 95%CI: 0.68–0.90; P-trendcoffee and ovarian cancer mortality (HR 1.12, 95% CI: 1.02–1.23 P-trend 0.001). In the EPIC-biomarkers sub-cohort, higher coffee consumption was associated with lower serum alkaline phosphatase, alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and C-reactive protein. Limitation Reverse causality may have led to spurious findings; however, results did not differ following exclusion of participants who died within 8-years of baseline. The study is also limited by a single assessment of coffee drinking habits at baseline. Conclusions These results confirm prior findings on the reduced risk of mortality associated with coffee drinking but additionally show that this relationship does not vary by country where coffee preparation and drinking habits may differ. The study also reports novel inverse relationships between coffee drinking and digestive disease

Dietary flavonoid and lignan intake and breast cancer risk according to menopause and hormone receptor status in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zamora-Ros, Raul; Ferrari, Pietro; González, Carlos A.

2013-01-01

Evidence on the association between dietary flavonoids and lignans and breast cancer (BC) risk is inconclusive, with the possible exception of isoflavones in Asian countries. Therefore, we investigated prospectively dietary total and subclasses of flavonoid and lignan intake and BC risk according...... to menopause and hormonal receptor status in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. The study included 334,850 women, mostly aged between 35 and 70 years from ten European countries. At baseline, country-specific validated dietary questionnaires were used. A flavonoid...

Trends in cigarette smoking in the German centers of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): the influence of the educational level.

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Rohrmann, Sabine; Becker, Nikolaus; Kroke, Anja; Boeing, Heiner

2003-04-01

Several studies in Germany and other European countries have already shown smoking prevalence to be related to education. This study was aimed to investigate time trends in smoking habits in the German cohorts Heidelberg and Potsdam of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) according to sex, birth cohort, and level of education. Within EPIC, 25,546 and 27,548 participants were recruited in Heidelberg and Potsdam, respectively. Data on smoking were collected by means of a computer-guided interview during the baseline examination between 1994 and 1998. For each birth cohort smoking prevalence and mean number of cigarettes smoked per day at different ages were calculated. Odds ratios and 95% confidence interval for associations between smoking prevalence and educational level were computed by using logistic regression. Smoking prevalence was higher among men than among women, with a smaller difference in younger birth cohorts. Between 1950 and 1960, smoking prevalence among women in the Heidelberg cohort rose sharply (from 12.8% to 51.8% in the least educated group). This strong increase was delayed by 10 years in the Potsdam cohort. Men and women in Heidelberg smoked more cigarettes per day than their counterparts in Potsdam, but in both study centers less educated subjects smoked more than subjects with a higher education. Smoking patterns in the Potsdam and Heidelberg cohorts are quite similar with respect to prevalence and years of lifetime smoking. Since an increasing difference between smoking prevalence of less and high educated individuals is observable, programs on smoking cessation should especially concentrate on persons of lower educational level.

Cod Liver Oil Supplement Consumption and Health: Cross‑sectional Results from the EPIC-Norfolk Cohort Study

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Marleen A.H. Lentjes

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Supplement users (SU make healthy lifestyle choices; on the other hand, SU report more medical conditions. We hypothesised that cod liver oil (CLO consumers are similar to non-supplement users, since CLO use might originate from historical motives, i.e., rickets prevention, and not health consciousness. CLO consumers were studied in order to identify possible confounders, such as confounding by indication. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC investigates causes of chronic disease. The participants were 25,639 men and women, aged 40–79 years, recruited from general practices in Norfolk, East-Anglia (UK. Participants completed questionnaires and a health examination between 1993 and 1998. Supplement use was measured using 7-day diet diaries. CLO was the most common supplement used, more prevalent among women and associated with not smoking, higher physical activity level and more favourable eating habits. SU had a higher occurrence of benign growths and bone-related diseases, but CLO was negatively associated with cardiovascular-related conditions. Although the results of SU characteristics in EPIC-Norfolk are comparable with studies worldwide, the CLO group is different from SU in general. Confounding by indication takes place and will need to be taken into account when analysing prospective associations of CLO use with fracture risk and cardiovascular diseases.

Cooking of meat and fish in Europe--results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

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Rohrmann, S; Linseisen, J; Becker, N; Norat, T; Sinha, R; Skeie, G; Lund, E; Martínez, C; Barricarte, A; Mattisson, I; Berglund, G; Welch, A; Davey, G; Overvad, K; Tjønneland, A; Clavel-Chapelon, F; Kesse, E; Lotze, G; Klipstein-Grobusch, K; Vasilopoulou, E; Polychronopoulos, E; Pala, V; Celentano, E; Bueno-De-Mesquita, H B; Peeters, P H M; Riboli, E; Slimani, N

2002-12-01

There is epidemiologic evidence that the consumption of fried, grilled or barbecued meat and fish that are well-done or browned may be associated with an increased cancer risk. These high-temperature cooking methods are thought to be surrogates for mutagens and carcinogens produced in meat and fish, eg heterocyclic amines or polycyclic hydrocarbons. Since data on food cooking methods are scarce, the aim of this study was to describe the variation in meat and fish cooking methods in different parts of Europe. Using a standardized 24 h recall from a sub-sample of the EPIC cohort (35 644 persons, 35-75 y old), mean daily intake of meat and fish prepared by different cooking methods and the relative contribution of the cooking methods to the overall cooking of meat and fish was calculated. Whereas frying was more often noted in northern Europe, roasting and stir frying were more often used in the south. Concerning high-temperature cooking methods, their frequency of application varies between 15% in the EPIC cohort of North-Italy and 49% in the cohort of The Netherlands. Average consumption of fried, grilled and barbecued meat and fish ranges from a low of 12 g/day in the centres in southern Spain to a high of 91 g/day in northern Spain. High variation in both the kind of meat/fish consumed as well as its cooking methods is observed within EPIC. In order to use this variation for the evaluation of the impact of cooking methods on cancer risk, a questionnaire on meat and fish cooking methods is being developed and could be applied in the whole EPIC cohort.

Endogenous versus exogenous exposure to N-nitroso compounds and gastric cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-EURGAST) study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jakszyn, Paula; Bingham, Sheila A; Pera, Guillem; Agudo, Antonio; Luben, Robert; Welch, Ailsa; Boeing, Heiner; Giudice, Giuseppe del; Palli, Domenico; Saieva, Calogero; Krogh, Vittorio; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Tumino, Rosario; Panico, Salvatore; Berglund, Göran; Simán, Henrik; Hallmans, Göran; Sanchez, María José; Larrañaga, Nerea; Barricarte, Aurelio; Chirlaque, María-Dolores; Quirós, José Ramón; Key, Timothy J; Allen, Naomi E; Lund, Eiliv; Carneiro, Fátima; Linseisen, Jakob; Nagel, Gabriele; Overvad, Kim; Tjønneland, Anne; Olsen, Anja; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; Ocké, Marga C; Peeters, Petra H M; Numans, Mattijs E; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Fenger, Claus; Stenling, Roger; Ferrari, Pietro; Jenab, Mazda; Norat, Teresa; Riboli, Elio; González, Carlos Alberto

2006-01-01

The risk of gastric cancer (GC) associated with dietary intake of nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and endogenous formation of nitroso compounds (NOCs) was investigated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). The study included 521,457 individuals and 314 incident

Endogenous versus exogenous exposure to N-Nitroso compounds and gastric cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-EURGAST) study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jakszyn, P.; Bingham, S.; Pera, G.; Agudo, A.; Luben, R.; Welch, A.; Boeing, H.; Giudice, G. del; Palli, D.; Saieva, C.; Krogh, V.; Sacerdote, C.; Tumino, R.; Panico, S.; Berglund, G.; Simán, H.; Hallmans, G.; Sanchez, M.J.; Larrañaga, N.; Barricarte, A.; Chirlaque, M.D.; Quirós, J.R.; Key, T.J.; Allen, N.; Lund, E.; Carneiro, F.; Linseisen, J.; Nagel, G.; Overvad, K.; Tjønneland, A.; Olsen, A.; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H.B.; Ocké, M.O.; Peeters, P.H.M.; Numans, M.E.; Clavel-Chapelon, F.; Trichopoulou, A.; Fenger, C.; Stenling, R.; Ferrari, P.; Jenab, M.; Norat, T.; Riboli, E.; Gonzalez, C.A.

The risk of gastric cancer (GC) associated with dietary intake of Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and endogenous formation of Nitroso compounds (NOCs) was investigated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). The study included 521,457 individuals and 314 incident

Dietary fat intake and subsequent weight change in adults: results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohorts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Forouhi, Nita G; Sharp, Stephen J; Du, Huaidong

2009-01-01

weight divided by duration of follow-up). DESIGN: We analyzed data from 89,432 men and women from 6 cohorts of the EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) study. Using country-specific food-frequency questionnaires, we examined the association between baseline fat intake......). CONCLUSIONS: We found no significant association between the amount or type of dietary fat and subsequent weight change in this large prospective study. These findings do not support the use of low-fat diets to prevent weight gain....

Association between lifestyle factors and quality-adjusted life years in the EPIC-NL cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Fransen, Heidi P; May, Anne M; Beulens, Joline W J; Struijk, Ellen A; de Wit, G Ardine; Boer, Jolanda M A; Onland-Moret, N Charlotte; Hoekstra, Jeljer; van der Schouw, Yvonne T; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; Peeters, Petra H M

2014-01-01

The aim of our study was to relate four modifiable lifestyle factors (smoking status, body mass index, physical activity and diet) to health expectancy, using quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in a prospective cohort study. Data of the prospective EPIC-NL study were used, including 33,066 healthy men and women aged 20-70 years at baseline (1993-7), followed until 31-12-2007 for occurrence of disease and death. Smoking status, body mass index, physical activity and adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet (excluding alcohol) were investigated separately and combined into a healthy lifestyle score, ranging from 0 to 4. QALYs were used as summary measure of healthy life expectancy, combining a person's life expectancy with a weight for quality of life when having a chronic disease. For lifestyle factors analyzed separately the number of years living longer in good health varied from 0.12 year to 0.84 year, after adjusting for covariates. A combination of the four lifestyle factors was positively associated with higher QALYs (P-trend healthy lifestyle score of 4 compared to a score of 0 was associated with almost a 2 years longer life in good health (1.75 QALYs [95% CI 1.37, 2.14]).

The association between diet and obesity in specific European cohorts: DiOgenes and EPIC-PANACEA

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Feskens, E.J.M.; Sluik, D.; Huaidong, D.U.

2014-01-01

This review summarizes evidence from two projects embedded within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) on the association between dietary factors and obesity risk, in particular change in weight and waist circumference. A total of 12 publications from DiOGenes and

Pathology findings and validation of gastric and esophageal cancer cases in a European cohort (EPIC/EUR-GAST)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carneiro, F; Moutinho, C; Pera, G

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: Cardia, non-cardia and intestinal and diffuse subtypes of gastric cancer may have different trends and etiological factors. However, the available information is not always collected in population cancer registries, and heterogeneous criteria have been applied for the histopathological...... classification of tumors. We describe the pathological features of incident gastric and esophageal cancers identified within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). MATERIAL AND METHODS: In an investigation on gastric and esophageal cancer (EUR-GAST) in the EPIC project......, a validation study of diagnoses reported by EPIC centers was conducted by a European panel of pathologists. Original pathology reports, stained slides of tumors and the respective paraffin blocks were requested from the centers. RESULTS: The whole series encompassed 467 cancer cases (gastric and esophageal...

Adherence to the Dutch Guidelines for a Healthy Diet and cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands (EPIC-NL) cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Struijk, Ellen A; May, Anne M; Beulens, Joline W J; Fransen, Heidi P; de Wit, G Ardine; Boer, Jolanda M A; Onland-Moret, N Charlotte; Hoekstra, Jeljer; van der Schouw, Yvonne T; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; Peeters, Petra H M

2014-11-01

To examine the association between adherence to the Dutch Guidelines for a Healthy Diet created by the Dutch Health Council in 2006 and overall and smoking-related cancer incidence. Prospective cohort study. Adherence to the guidelines, which includes one recommendation on physical activity and nine on diet, was measured using an adapted version of the Dutch Healthy Diet (DHD) index. The score ranged from 0 to 90 with a higher score indicating greater adherence to the guidelines. We estimated the hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % confidence intervals for the association between the DHD index (in tertiles and per 20-point increment) at baseline and cancer incidence at follow-up. We studied 35 608 men and women aged 20-70 years recruited into the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Netherlands (EPIC-NL) study during 1993-1997. After an average follow-up of 12·7 years, 3027 cancer cases were documented. We found no significant association between the DHD index (tertile 3 v. tertile 1) and overall (HR = 0·97; 95 % CI 0·88, 1·07) and smoking-related cancer incidence (HR = 0·89; 95 % CI 0·76, 1·06) after adjustment for relevant confounders. Excluding the components physical activity or alcohol from the score did not change the results. None of the individual components of the DHD index was significantly associated with cancer incidence. In the present study, participants with a high adherence to the Dutch Guidelines for a Healthy Diet were not at lower risk of overall or smoking-related cancer. This does not exclude that other components not included in the DHD index may be associated with overall cancer risk.

Asociación del tejido adiposo epicárdico con la fibrilación auricular y su pronóstico posterior a la ablación de venas pulmonares

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Viviana Quintero-Yepes

2017-05-01

Conclusiones: el aumento del tejido adiposo epicárdico se relaciona de manera independiente con el sobrepeso y la obesidad, así como con la severidad y el pronóstico de la fibrilación auricular. Deben hacerse estudios prospectivos de cohortes en los que se evalúe y establezcan valores de corte normales para nuestra población, al igual que seguimiento a largo plazo de la evolución posterior a ablación de venas pulmonares y a intervenciones como disminución de peso.

Diversity of dietary patterns observed in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Slimani, N.; Fahey, M.; Welch, A.A.; Wirfalt, E.; Stripp, C.; Bergstrom, E.; Linseisen, J.; Schulze, M.B.; Bamia, C.; Chloptsios, Y.; Veglia, F.; Panico, S.; Bueno de Mesquita, B.; Ocké, M.C.; Brustadt, M.; Lund, E.; Gonzalez, C.A.; Barcos, A.; Berglund, G.; Winkvist, A.; Mulligan, A.; Appleby, P.; Overvad, K.; Tjonneland, A.; Clavel-Chapelon, F.; Kesse, E.; Ferrari, P.; Staveren, van W.A.; Riboli, E.

2002-01-01

Objective: To describe the diversity in dietary patterns existing across centres/regions participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Design and setting: Single 24-hour dietary recall measurements were obtained by means of standardised face-to-face

Experience using EPICS on PC platforms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, J.O.; Kasemire, K.U.

1997-03-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) has been widely adopted in the accelerator community. Although EPICS is available on many platforms, the majority of implementations have used UNIX workstations as clients, and VME- or VXI-based processors for distributed input output controllers. Recently, a significant portion of EPICS has been ported to personal computer (PC) hardware platforms running Microsoft's operating systems, and also Wind River System's real time vxWorks operating system. This development should significantly reduce the cost of deploying EPICS systems, and the prospect of using EPICS together with the many high quality commercial components available for PC platforms is also encouraging. A hybrid system using both PC and traditional platforms is currently being implemented at LANL for LEDA, the low energy demonstration accelerator under construction as part of the Accelerator Production of Tritium (APT) project. To illustrate these developments the authors compare their recent experience deploying a PC-based EPICS system with experience deploying similar systems based on traditional (UNIX-hosted) EPICS hardware and software platforms

Circulating Vitamin D in relation to cancer incidence and survival of the head and neck and oesophagus in the EPIC cohort

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fanidi, Anouar; Muller, David C.; Midttun, Øivind; Ueland, Per Magne; Vollset, Stein Emil; Relton, Caroline; Vineis, Paolo; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Skeie, Guri; Brustad, Magritt; Palli, Domenico; Tumino, Rosario; Grioni, Sara; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Bueno-De-Mesquita, H. B.; Peeters, Petra H.; Boutron-Ruault, Marie Christine; Kvaskoff, Marina; Cadeau, Claire; Huerta, José María; Sánchez, Maria José; Agudo, Antonio; Lasheras, Cristina; Quirós, J. Ramón; Chamosa, Saioa; Riboli, Elio; Travis, Ruth C.; Ward, Heather; Murphy, Neil; Khaw, Kay Tee; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Lagiou, Pagona; Papatesta, Eleni Maria; Boeing, Heiner; Kuehn, Tilman; Katzke, Verena; Steffen, Annika; Johansson, Anders; Brennan, Paul; Johansson, Mattias

2016-01-01

Experimental and epidemiological data suggest that vitamin D play a role in pathogenesis and progression of cancer, but prospective data on head and neck cancer (HNC) and oesophagus cancer are limited. The European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study recruited 385,747

Weather, day length and physical activity in older adults: Cross-sectional results from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC Norfolk Cohort.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu-Tzu Wu

Full Text Available A wide range of environmental factors have been related to active ageing, but few studies have explored the impact of weather and day length on physical activity in older adults. We investigate the cross-sectional association between weather conditions, day length and activity in older adults using a population-based cohort in England, the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC Norfolk study.Physical activity was measured objectively over 7 days using an accelerometer and this was used to calculate daily total physical activity (counts per minute, daily minutes of sedentary behaviour and light, moderate and vigorous physical activity (LMVPA. Day length and two types of weather conditions, precipitation and temperature, were obtained from a local weather station. The association between these variables and physical activity was examined by multilevel first-order autoregressive modelling.After adjusting for individual factors, short day length and poor weather conditions, including high precipitation and low temperatures, were associated with up to 10% lower average physical activity (p<0.01 and 8 minutes less time spent in LMVPA but 15 minutes more sedentary time, compared to the best conditions.Day length and weather conditions appear to be an important factor related to active ageing. Future work should focus on developing potential interventions to reduce their impact on physical activity behaviours in older adults.

Clinical implications of JUPITER in a contemporary European population: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sondermeijer, Brigitte M; Boekholdt, S Matthijs; Rana, Jamal S; Kastelein, John J P; Wareham, Nicholas J; Khaw, Kay-Tee

2013-05-01

Justification for the Use of statins in Prevention: an Intervention Trial Evaluating Rosuvastatin (JUPITER) has raised several points of debate. We quantified the proportion of individuals meeting the JUPITER criteria, determined their risk profile, and their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events during a long-term follow-up in a contemporary European cohort. A total of 25 639 participants aged between 45 and 79 years were followed for 11.4 ± 2.8 years in EPIC-Norfolk population cohort. A total of 8397 individuals with complete data available were considered potentially eligible for primary prevention. A total of 846 (10.1%) individuals fulfilled the JUPITER criteria [low-density lipoprotein cholesterol-C (LDL-C) JUPITER criteria had significantly higher CHD risk compared with those with LDL-C ≥ 3.4 mmol/L and C-reactive protein JUPITER criteria. In this European cohort, JUPITER-eligible individuals had significantly higher event rates compared with those with LDL-C JUPITER criteria qualified almost one-fifth of the population for statin therapy that otherwise would not have qualified based on SCORE or ATP III criteria.

Dietary glycemic load and risk of cognitive impairment in women: findings from the EPIC-Naples cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Simeon, Vittorio; Chiodini, Paolo; Mattiello, Amalia; Sieri, Sabina; Panico, Camilla; Brighenti, Furio; Krogh, Vittorio; Panico, Salvatore

2015-05-01

Cognitive impairment is a common cause of morbidity in the elderly. The relationship between dietary habits and cognitive impairment in a female population living in the metropolitan area of Naples, in the Mediterranean part of Italy, has been evaluated in the Naples EPIC prospective cohort study. The study cohort, enrolled between 1993 and 1997, is composed of 5062 women aged 30-69 years. At time of enrolment anthropometric measures were performed and information about socio-demographic details, clinical data, lifestyle and dietary habits were collected. During 2008 and 2009, women 65 years of age or older received a telephone interview to evaluate cognitive status (TICS); the derived score was used as proxy of cognitive impairment. Analyses were carried out on 1514 participants. Linear regression model showed negative association between TICS score and, respectively, age at baseline (β = -.31, 95% CI -.34, -.24), body mass index (BMI) (β = -.08, 95% CI -.16, -.01), and glycemic load (GL) (β = -.02, 95% CI -.03, -.01), whereas education level (β = 0.62, 95% CI .56, .69) showed positive association. A logistic regression model, used to evaluate determinants of the low cognitive score (TICS score ≤ 15, 1st tertile), confirmed association for previous variables [age (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.08, 1.15); BMI (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1.001, 1.07); GL (OR 1.005, 95% CI 1.001, 1.011); education level (OR .82, 95% CI .79, .84)] with, in addition, type II diabetes (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.014, 3.4). This study indicates that GL may play a role in determining risk of cognitive impairment, besides age, BMI, education and diabetes.

El estudio prospectivo europeo sobre cáncer y nutrición (EPIC

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Carlos A. González

2004-01-01

Full Text Available EPIC es un estudio prospectivo multicéntrico coordinado por la Agencia Internacional de Investigación del Cancer (IARC de la OMS, que se inició en 1993 con la recogida de datos y muestras de sangre en 23 centros de 10 países europeos: Alemania, Dinamarca, España, Francia, Grecia, Holanda, Italia, Noruega, Reino Unido y Suecia, En España se realiza en 5 áreas geográficas: Asturias, Granada, Guipúzcoa, Murcia y Navarra. Se incluyeron en la cohorte 519.978 individuos (de los cuales 366.521 son mujeres y en 385.719 de ellos se dispone de muestras de sangre por análisis de laboratorio. Hasta la fecha se han identificado 24.195 casos incidentes de cáncer. Los resultados de la comparación del consumo alimentario entre los 23 centros europeos se han publicado en el 2002, en un suplemento de una revista europea de Nutrición. Los primeros resultados obtenidos en EPIC sobre la relación de la dieta y el cáncer muestran un efecto protector del consumo de fibras, frutas y verduras sobre el cáncer colo-rectal, un efecto protector del consumo de frutas sobre el cáncer de pulmón, y de las frutas y verduras sobre el tracto digestivo superior, mientras que se ha confirmado que el alto consumo de frutas y verduras no tiene efecto sobre el cáncer de próstata. Usando un diario de 7 días para evaluar el consumo de grasas saturadas, se ha confirmado que un alto consumo de estas aumenta el riesgo de cáncer de mama.

Macronutrient, vitamin, and mineral intakes in the EPIC-Germany cohorts.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulze, M B; Linseisen, J; Kroke, A; Boeing, H

2001-01-01

This article presents intakes of nutrients in the EPIC-Heidelberg and the EPIC-Potsdam (European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) studies. Estimates are based on standardized 24-hour dietary recalls. Recalls from 1,013 men and 1,078 women in Heidelberg and from 1,032 men and 898 women in Potsdam were included in the analysis. The estimated nutrient intake was based on the German Food Code and Nutrient Data Base version II.3. Analyses were carried out stratified by sex and weighted for the day of the week and age. Men in Potsdam reported significantly higher intakes of energy (mean Potsdam = 10,718 kJ, mean Heidelberg = 10,387 kJ) and higher intakes of vitamins and minerals as compared with men in Heidelberg. However, Heidelberg men consumed more alcohol, alpha-tocopherol, phosphorus, calcium, and magnesium. Potsdam women reported lower energy (mean Potsdam = 7,537 kJ, mean Heidelberg = 7,855 kJ), alcohol, and cholesterol intakes as compared with Heidelberg women. Vitamin and mineral intakes were lower too, except for retinol and ascorbic acid. The intakes of energy and most nutrients observed in the Potsdam and Heidelberg study populations were within the range reported from other German studies. The observed differences between both study populations indicate different dietary patterns, increasing the exposure variation in the EPIC study. Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel

The Influence of Hormonal Factors on the Risk of Developing Cervical Cancer and Pre-Cancer: Results from the EPIC Cohort.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Roura

Full Text Available In addition to HPV, high parity and hormonal contraceptives have been associated with cervical cancer (CC. However, most of the evidence comes from retrospective case-control studies. The aim of this study is to prospectively evaluate associations between hormonal factors and risk of developing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia grade 3 (CIN3/carcinoma in situ (CIS and invasive cervical cancer (ICC.We followed a cohort of 308,036 women recruited in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC Study. At enrollment, participants completed a questionnaire and provided serum. After a 9-year median follow-up, 261 ICC and 804 CIN3/CIS cases were reported. In a nested case-control study, the sera from 609 cases and 1,218 matched controls were tested for L1 antibodies against HPV types 11,16,18,31,33,35,45,52,58, and antibodies against Chlamydia trachomatis and Human herpesvirus 2. Multivariate analyses were performed to estimate hazard ratios (HR, odds ratios (OR and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI. The cohort analysis showed that number of full-term pregnancies was positively associated with CIN3/CIS risk (p-trend = 0.03. Duration of oral contraceptives use was associated with a significantly increased risk of both CIN3/CIS and ICC (HR = 1.6 and HR = 1.8 respectively for ≥ 15 years versus never use. Ever use of menopausal hormone therapy was associated with a reduced risk of ICC (HR = 0.5, 95%CI: 0.4-0.8. A non-significant reduced risk of ICC with ever use of intrauterine devices (IUD was found in the nested case-control analysis (OR = 0.6. Analyses restricted to all cases and HPV seropositive controls yielded similar results, revealing a significant inverse association with IUD for combined CIN3/CIS and ICC (OR = 0.7.Even though HPV is the necessary cause of CC, our results suggest that several hormonal factors are risk factors for cervical carcinogenesis. Adherence to current cervical cancer screening

Work, household, and leisure-time physical activity and risk of mortality in the EPIC-Spain cohort.

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Huerta, José Ma; Chirlaque, María Dolores; Tormo, María José; Buckland, Genevieve; Ardanaz, Eva; Arriola, Larraitz; Gavrila, Diana; Salmerón, Diego; Cirera, Lluís; Carpe, Bienvenida; Molina-Montes, Esther; Chamosa, Saioa; Travier, Noemie; Quirós, José R; Barricarte, Aurelio; Agudo, Antonio; Sánchez, María José; Navarro, Carmen

2016-04-01

Large-scale longitudinal data on the association of domain-specific physical activity (PA) and mortality is limited. Our objective was to evaluate the association of work, household (HPA), and leisure time PA (LTPA) with overall and cause-specific mortality in the EPIC-Spain study. 38,379 participants (62.4% women), 30-65years old, and free of chronic disease at baseline were followed-up from recruitment (1992 - 1996) to December 31st, 2008 to ascertain vital status and cause of death. PA was evaluated at baseline and at a 3-year follow-up with a validated questionnaire (EPIC-PAQ) and combined variables were used to classify the participants by sub-domains of PA. Associations with overall, cancer, and cardiovascular mortality risks were assessed using competing risk Cox regression models adjusted by potential confounders. After 13.6years of mean follow-up, 1371 deaths were available for analyses. HPA was strongly associated to reduced overall (hazard ratio (HR) for Q4 vs. Q1=0.47 (0.34, 0.64)) and cause-specific mortalities in women and to lower cancer mortality in men (P for trend=0.004), irrespective of age, education, and lifestyle and morbidity variables. LTPA was associated with lower mortality in women (HR for Q4 vs. Q1=0.71 (0.52, 0.98)), but not men. No relationships were found between sedentariness at work and overall mortality. HPA was associated to lower mortality risk in men and women from the EPIC-Spain cohort, whereas LTPA also contributed to reduce risk of death in women. Considering the large proportion of total daily PA that HPA represents in some population groups, these results are of public health importance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Insulin-like growth factor I and risk of breast cancer by age and hormone receptor status-A prospective study within the EPIC cohort.

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Kaaks, Rudolf; Johnson, Theron; Tikk, Kaja; Sookthai, Disorn; Tjønneland, Anne; Roswall, Nina; Overvad, Kim; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Dossus, Laure; Rinaldi, Sabina; Romieu, Isabelle; Boeing, Heiner; Schütze, Madlen; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Lagiou, Pagona; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Palli, Domenico; Grioni, Sara; Tumino, Rosario; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Panico, Salvatore; Buckland, Genevieve; Argüelles, Marcial; Sánchez, María-José; Amiano, Pilar; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Ardanaz, Eva; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; van Gils, Carla H; Peeters, Petra H; Andersson, Anne; Sund, Malin; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Gram, Inger Torhild; Lund, Eiliv; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Wareham, Nick; Key, Timothy J; Travis, Ruth C; Merritt, Melissa A; Gunter, Marc J; Riboli, Elio; Lukanova, Annekatrin

2014-06-01

Experimental evidence shows cross-talk in mammary cells between estrogen, insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and their respective receptors and possible synergistic effects of estrogen receptor (ER) activation and increased IGF-I signaling with regard to breast tumor development, and epidemiological evidence suggests that circulating IGF-I levels may be related more to the risk of ER-positive than ER-negative breast cancer. Using a case-control study nested within the prospective European EPIC cohort (938 breast cancer cases and 1,394 matched control subjects), we analyzed the relationships of prediagnostic serum IGF-I levels with the risk of estrogen and progesterone receptor-positive and -negative breast tumors. IGF-I levels were positively associated with the risk of ER+ breast tumors overall (pre- and postmenopausal women combined, odds ratio (OR)Q4-Q1 = 1.41 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.98] for the highest vs. lowest quartile; OR = 1.17 [95% CI 1.04-1.33] per 1-standard deviation (SD) increase in IGF-I, ptrend = 0.01) and among women who were diagnosed with breast cancer at 50 years or older (ORQ3-Q1 = 1.38 [95% CI 1.01-1.89]; OR = 1.19 [95% CI 1.04-1.36] per 1-SD increase in IGF-I, ptrend = 0.01) but not with receptor-positive disease diagnosed at an earlier age. No statistically significant associations were observed for ER- breast tumors overall and by age at diagnosis. Tests for heterogeneity by receptor status of the tumor were not statistically significant, except for women diagnosed with breast cancer at 50 years or older (phet = 0.03 for ER+/PR+ vs. ER-/PR- disease). Our data add to a global body of evidence indicating that higher circulating IGF-I levels may increase risk specifically of receptor-positive, but not receptor-negative, breast cancer diagnosed at 50 years or older. © 2013 UICC.

Healthy lifestyle index and risk of gastric adenocarcinoma in the EPIC cohort study.

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Buckland, G; Travier, N; Huerta, J M; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H B As; Siersema, P D; Skeie, G; Weiderpass, E; Engeset, D; Ericson, U; Ohlsson, B; Agudo, A; Romieu, I; Ferrari, P; Freisling, H; Colorado-Yohar, S; Li, K; Kaaks, R; Pala, V; Cross, A J; Riboli, E; Trichopoulou, A; Lagiou, P; Bamia, C; Boutron-Ruault, M C; Fagherazzi, G; Dartois, L; May, A M; Peeters, P H; Panico, S; Johansson, M; Wallner, B; Palli, D; Key, T J; Khaw, K T; Ardanaz, E; Overvad, K; Tjønneland, A; Dorronsoro, M; Sánchez, M J; Quirós, J R; Naccarati, A; Tumino, R; Boeing, H; Gonzalez, C A

2015-08-01

Several modifiable lifestyle factors, including smoking, alcohol, certain dietary factors and weight are independently associated with gastric cancer (GC); however, their combined impact on GC risk is unknown. We constructed a healthy lifestyle index to investigate the joint influence of these behaviors on GC risk within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. The analysis included 461,550 participants (662 first incident GC cases) with a mean follow-up of 11.4 years. A healthy lifestyle index was constructed, assigning 1 point for each healthy behavior related to smoking status, alcohol consumption and diet quality (represented by the Mediterranean diet) for assessing overall GC and also body mass index for cardia GC and 0 points otherwise. Risk of GC was calculated using Cox proportional hazards regression models while adjusting for relevant confounders. The highest versus lowest score in the healthy lifestyle index was associated with a significant lower risk of GC, by 51% overall (HR 0.49 95% CI 0.35, 0.70), by 77% for cardia GC (HR 0.23 95% CI 0.08, 0.68) and by 47% for noncardia GC (HR 0.53 (95% CI 0.32, 0.87), p-trendshealthy lifestyle behaviors of this index. Adopting several healthy lifestyle behaviors including not smoking, limiting alcohol consumption, eating a healthy diet and maintaining a normal weight is associated with a large decreased risk of GC. © 2014 UICC.

Interaction effects in the theory of planned behaviour: Predicting fruit and vegetable consumption in three prospective cohorts.

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Kothe, Emily J; Mullan, Barbara A

2015-09-01

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) has been criticized for not including interactions between major constructs thought to underlie behaviour. This study investigated the application of the TPB to the prediction of fruit and vegetable consumption across three prospective cohorts. The primary aim of the study was to investigate whether interactions between major constructs in the theory would increase the ability of the model to predict intention to consume fruit and vegetables (i.e., attitude × perceived behavioural control [PBC], subjective norm × PBC, subjective norm × attitude) and self-reported fruit and vegetable intake (i.e., PBC × intention). Secondary data analysis from three cohorts: One predictive study (cohort 1) and two intervention studies (cohorts 2 and 3). Participants completed a TPB measure at baseline and a measure of fruit and vegetable intake at 1 week (cohort 1; n = 90) or 1 month (cohorts 2 and 3; n = 296). Attitude moderated the impact of PBC on intention. PBC moderated the impact of intention on behaviour at 1 week but not 1 month. The variance accounted for by the interactions was small. However, the presence of interactions between constructs within the TPB demonstrates a need to consider interactions between variables within the TPB in both theoretical and applied research using the model. © 2014 The British Psychological Society.

Fruits and vegetables and prostate cancer: no association among 1104 cases in a prospective study of 130544 men in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Key, T.J.; Allen, N.; Appleby, P.N.; Overvad, K.; Tjonneland, A.; Miller, A.; Boeing, H.; Karalis, D.; Psaltopoulou, T.; Berrino, F.; Palli, D.; Panico, S.; Tumino, R.; Vineis, P.; Bueno-De-Mesquita, H.B.; Kiemeney, L.A.L.M.; Peeters, P.H.; Martinez, C.; Dorronsoro, M.; Gonzalez, C.A.; Chirlaque, M.D.; Quiros, J.R.; Ardanaz, E.; Berglund, G.; Egevad, L.; Hallmans, G.; Stattin, P; Bingham, S.; Day, N.; Gann, P.H.; Kaaks, R.; Ferrari, P.; Riboli, E.

2004-01-01

We examined the association between self-reported consumption of fruits and vegetables and prostate cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Data on food consumption and complete follow-up for cancer incidence were available for 130544 men in 7

Iron chelation therapy with deferasirox in patients with aplastic anemia: a subgroup analysis of 116 patients from the EPIC trial

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lee, Jong Wook; Yoon, Sung-Soo; Shen, Zhi Xiang

2010-01-01

The prospective 1-year Evaluation of Patients' Iron Chelation with Exjade (EPIC) study enrolled a large cohort of 116 patients with aplastic anemia; the present analyses evaluated the efficacy and safety of deferasirox in this patient population. After 1 year, median serum ferritin decreased...... neutrophil and platelet counts remained stable during treatment, and there were no drug-related cytopenias. This prospective dataset confirms the efficacy and well characterizes the tolerability profile of deferasirox in a large population of patients with aplastic anemia. This study was registered at www...

Circulating RANKL and RANKL/OPG and Breast Cancer Risk by ER and PR Subtype: Results from the EPIC Cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarink, Danja; Schock, Helena; Johnson, Theron; Overvad, Kim; Holm, Marianne; Tjønneland, Anne; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; His, Mathilde; Kvaskoff, Marina; Boeing, Heiner; Lagiou, Pagona; Papatesta, Eleni-Maria; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Palli, Domenico; Pala, Valeria; Mattiello, Amalia; Tumino, Rosario; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H B As; van Gils, Carla H; Peeters, Petra H; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Agudo, Antonio; Sánchez, Maria-José; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Ardanaz, Eva; Amiano, Pilar; Khaw, Kay Tee; Travis, Ruth; Dossus, Laure; Gunter, Mark; Rinaldi, Sabina; Merritt, Melissa; Riboli, Elio; Kaaks, Rudolf; Fortner, Renée T

2017-09-01

Receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa B (RANK)-RANK ligand (RANKL) signaling promotes mammary tumor development in experimental models. Circulating concentrations of soluble RANKL (sRANKL) may influence breast cancer risk via activation of RANK signaling; this may be modulated by osteoprotegerin (OPG), the decoy receptor for RANKL. sRANKL and breast cancer risk by hormone receptor subtype has not previously been investigated. A case-control study was nested in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. This study included 1,976 incident invasive breast cancer cases [estrogen receptor positive (ER+), n = 1,598], matched 1:1 to controls. Women were pre- or postmenopausal at blood collection. Serum sRANKL was quantified using an ELISA, serum OPG using an electrochemiluminescent assay. Risk ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using conditional logistic regression. Associations between sRANKL and breast cancer risk differed by tumor hormone receptor status ( P het = 0.05). Higher concentrations of sRANKL were positively associated with risk of ER+ breast cancer [5th vs. 1st quintile RR 1.28 (95% CI, 1.01-1.63); P trend = 0.20], but not ER- disease. For both ER+ and estrogen and progesterone receptor positive (ER+PR+) breast cancer, results considering the sRANKL/OPG ratio were similar to those for sRANKL; we observed a suggestive inverse association between the ratio and ER-PR- disease [5th vs. 1st quintile RR = 0.60 (0.31-1.14); P trend = 0.03]. This study provides the first large-scale prospective data on circulating sRANKL and breast cancer. We observed limited evidence for an association between sRANKL and breast cancer risk. Cancer Prev Res; 10(9); 525-34. ©2017 AACR . ©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.

Inducción y enraizamiento de brotes epicórmicos de Cordia alliodora (Ruiz Et Pavon, Oken

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Mercedes Susana Carranza Patiño

2016-10-01

Full Text Available La atractiva apariencia de la madera de Cordia alliodora (laurel, sus características físico-mecánicas, su abundante regeneración natural, captura de carbono y protección al suelo, la hacen ideal para la reforestación. No obstante, la falta de material de siembra de buena calidad para suplir la demanda media anual, convierten la propagación vegetativa en una herramienta esencial para el mejoramiento genético, y la conservación de genotipos en bancos clonales. En este sentido, se propuso establecer una metodología para la inducción y enraizamiento de brotes epicórmicos de árboles de laurel utilizando reguladores de crecimiento vegetal. Las concentraciones de citoquininas empleadas para la inducción de brotes a partir de árboles adultos fueron de: 0, 3000, 6000, 9000 mg L-1 de BAP sola y combinadas con 1000, 2000, 3000 mg L-1 de AIA, y se determinaron utilizando un Diseño Completo Aleatorizado (DCA. Las concentraciones de auxinas para el enraizamiento de los brotes fueron de 0, 1000, y 1500 mg kg-1 de ANA y AIB, mediante un DCA con arreglo factorial 3 x 3 (hormona ANA x hormona AIB. Se evaluó la inducción de brotes epicórmicos y se obtuvieron 2.67 brotes de 16.42 cm de longitud, con 6000 mg kg-1 de BAP + 2000 mg kg-1 de AIA. El porcentaje de enraizamiento fue 54%, número de raíces 1.78, longitud 2.59 con 1500 mg kg-1 de ANA + 1500 mg kg-1 de AIB. El uso de citoquininas y auxinas fue efectivo para provocar la diferenciación celular tanto en la inducción y rizogénesis de brotes epicórmicos de laurel.

Socio-economic factors associated with a healthy diet: results from the E3N study.

Science.gov (United States)

Affret, Aurélie; Severi, Gianluca; Dow, Courtney; Rey, Grégoire; Delpierre, Cyrille; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Fagherazzi, Guy

2017-06-01

To identify individual and contextual socio-economic factors associated with a healthy diet. Dietary data from a large cohort study were used to derive two mutually exclusive dietary patterns through a latent class analysis. Associations between dietary patterns and socio-economic factors were studied with logistic regression. E3N, a French prospective cohort study composed of women recruited from a national health insurance plan covering people working in the national education system. E3N participants (n 73 031) with dietary and socio-economic data available. The 'Healthy' pattern was characterized by a large consumption of fruits and vegetables and the 'Less Healthy' pattern by a large consumption of pizza and processed meat. When all socio-economic factors were analysed together, all of the individual factors considered were associated with a healthy diet (e.g. women with three or more children were less likely to follow a healthy diet v. women with no children, OR (95 % CI): 0·70 (0·66, 0·75)) while the contextual factors associated with a healthy diet included the size of the agglomeration of residence and the area of birth and residence (e.g. women living in the West of France were less likely to follow a healthy diet v. those living in the South of France: 0·78 (0·72, 0·83)). We demonstrated that individual and contextual factors are both associated with diet. Rather than focusing only on individual factors, we recommend future studies or public health and nutritional strategies on diet to consider both types of factors.

Potential substitution of mineral P fertilizer by manure: EPIC development and implementation

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Azevedo, Ligia B.; Vadas, Peter A.; Balkovič, Juraj; Skalský, Rastislav; Folberth, Christian; van der Velde, Marijn; Obersteiner, Michael

2016-04-01

Sources of mineral phosphorus (P) fertilizers are non-renewable. Although the longevity of P mines and the risk of future P depletion are highly debated P scarcity may be detrimental to agriculture in various ways. Some of these impacts include increasing food insecurity and nitrogen (N) and P imbalances, serious fluctuations in the global fertilizer and crop market prices, and contribution in geopolitical conflicts. P-rich waste produced from livestock production activities (i.e. manure) are an alternative to mineral P fertilizer. The substitution of mineral fertilizer with manure (1) delays the depletion of phosphate rock stocks, (2) reduces the vulnerability of P fertilizer importing countries to sudden changes in the fertilizer market, (3) reduces the chances of geopolitical conflicts arising from P exploitation pressures, (4) avoids the need for environmental protection policies in livestock systems, (5) is an opportunity for the boosting of crop yields in low nutrient input agricultural systems, and (6) contributes to the inflow of not only P but also other essential nutrients to agricultural soils. The Environmental Policy Integrated Climate model (EPIC) is a widely used process-based, crop model integrating various environmental flows relevant to crop production as well as environmental quality assessments. We simulate crop yields using a powerful computer cluster infra-structure (known as EPIC-IIASA) in combination with spatially-explicit EPIC input data on climate, management, soils, and landscape. EPIC-IIASA contains over 131,000 simulation units and it has 5 arc-min resolution. In this work, we implement two process-based models of manure biogeochemistry into EPIC-IIASA, i.e. SurPhos (for P) and Manure DNDC (for N and carbon) and a fate model model describing nutrient outflows from fertilizer via runoff. For EGU, we will use EPIC-IIASA to quantify the potential of mineral P fertilizer substitution with manure. Specifically, we will estimate the relative

Life course evolution of body size and breast cancer survival in the E3N cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

His, Mathilde; Le Guélennec, Marine; Mesrine, Sylvie; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Fagherazzi, Guy; Dossus, Laure

2018-04-15

Although adult obesity has been associated with poor breast cancer survival, data on adiposity at different periods in life and its lifelong evolution are scarce. Our aims were to assess the associations between breast cancer survival and body size during childhood, puberty and early adulthood and body size trajectories from childhood to adulthood. Self-assessed body size at age 8, at puberty, at age 20-25 and at age 35-40 and trajectories of body size of 4,662 breast cancer survivors from the prospective E3N cohort were studied in relation to risk of death from any cause, death from breast cancer and second invasive cancer event using multivariate Cox regression models. Four trajectories of body size were identified (T1 "moderate increase," T2 "stable/low increase," T3 "increase at puberty" and T4 "constantly high"). Compared with stable body size, an increase in body size during adult life was associated with an increased risk of death from any cause (HR T1 vs. T2 = 1.27; 95% CI = 1.01-1.60) and an increased risk of second invasive cancer event (HR T1 vs. T2 = 1.25; 95% CI = 1.06-1.47). Silhouettes at various ages were not associated with survival. Our results suggest that the evolution of body size from childhood to adulthood has a long-term influence on breast cancer survival. Although these results need to be confirmed, this work sheds light on the need to combine lifelong approaches to current BMI to better identify breast cancer survivors who are at higher risk of recurrence or second primary cancer, or of death. © 2017 UICC.

EPICS Application Based on RTEMS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi Haoli; Wang Chunhong; Tang Jingyu

2009-01-01

At present, in the accelerator field all over the world, the control system is established with EPICS, which is a configuration software package based on Ethernet and distributed control system. Early version of EPICS was developed based on VxWorks. Now, EPICS international collaboration group is dedicating to supporting open source, free RTEMS, and extending RTEMS into the newer version of EPICS3.14. The paper illustrates the development, characteristic of RTEMS, compares the performances of several ordinary RTOS, builds RTEMS operating system based on MVME5500, and finally presents an EPICS application example on RTEMS. (authors)

J-TEXT-EPICS: An EPICS toolkit attempted to improve productivity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, Wei; Zhang, Ming; Zhang, Jing; Zhuang, Ge

2013-01-01

Highlights: • Tokamak control applications can be developed in very short period with J-TEXT-EPICS. • J-TEXT-EPICS enables users to build control applications with device-oriented functions. • J-TEXT-EPICS is fully compatible with EPICS Channel Access protocol. • J-TEXT-EPICS can be easily extended by plug-ins and drivers. -- Abstract: The Joint Texas Experimental Tokamak (J-TEXT) team has developed a new software toolkit for building Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) control applications called J-TEXT-EPICS. It aims to improve the development efficiency of control applications. With device-oriented features, it can be used to set or obtain the configuration or status of a device as well as invoke methods on a device. With its modularized design, its functions can be easily extended. J-TEXT-EPICS is completely compatible with the original EPICS Channel Access protocol and can be integrated into existing EPICS control systems smoothly. It is fully implemented in C number sign, thus it will benefit from abundant resources in.NET Framework. The J-TEXT control system is build with this toolkit. This paper presents the design and implementation of J-TEXT EPICS as well as its application in the J-TEXT control system

Helicobacter pylori infection assessed by ELISA and by immunoblot and noncardia gastric cancer risk in a prospective study: the Eurgast-EPIC project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

González, C A; Megraud, F; Buissoniere, A

2012-01-01

of its effect on gastric cancer (GC) risk. Antibodies detected by western blot are known to persist longer after the loss of the infection. In a nested case-control study from the Eurogast-EPIC cohort, including 88 noncardia GC cases and 338 controls, we assessed the association between noncardia GC...

Helicobacter pylori infection, chronic corpus atrophic gastritis and pancreatic cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort: A nested case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jiaqi; Zagai, Ulrika; Hallmans, Göran; Nyrén, Olof; Engstrand, Lars; Stolzenberg-Solomon, Rachael; Duell, Eric J; Overvad, Kim; Katzke, Verena A; Kaaks, Rudolf; Jenab, Mazda; Park, Jin Young; Murillo, Raul; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Lagiou, Pagona; Bamia, Christina; Bradbury, Kathryn E; Riboli, Elio; Aune, Dagfinn; Tsilidis, Konstantinos K; Capellá, Gabriel; Agudo, Antonio; Krogh, Vittorio; Palli, Domenico; Panico, Salvatore; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Tjønneland, Anne; Olsen, Anja; Martínez, Begoña; Redondo-Sanchez, Daniel; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Hm Peeters, Petra; Regnér, Sara; Lindkvist, Björn; Naccarati, Alessio; Ardanaz, Eva; Larrañaga, Nerea; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Rebours, Vinciane; Barré, Amélie; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H B As; Ye, Weimin

2017-04-15

The association between H. pylori infection and pancreatic cancer risk remains controversial. We conducted a nested case-control study with 448 pancreatic cancer cases and their individually matched control subjects, based on the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, to determine whether there was an altered pancreatic cancer risk associated with H. pylori infection and chronic corpus atrophic gastritis. Conditional logistic regression models were applied to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs), adjusted for matching factors and other potential confounders. Our results showed that pancreatic cancer risk was neither associated with H. pylori seropositivity (OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.70, 1.31) nor CagA seropositivity (OR = 1.07; 95% CI: 0.77, 1.48). We also did not find any excess risk among individuals seropositive for H. pylori but seronegative for CagA, compared with the group seronegative for both antibodies (OR = 0.94; 95% CI: 0.63, 1.38). However, we found that chronic corpus atrophic gastritis was non-significantly associated with an increased pancreatic cancer risk (OR = 1.35; 95% CI: 0.77, 2.37), and although based on small numbers, the excess risk was particularly marked among individuals seronegative for both H. pylori and CagA (OR = 5.66; 95% CI: 1.59, 20.19, p value for interaction cancer risk in western European populations. However, the suggested association between chronic corpus atrophic gastritis and pancreatic cancer risk warrants independent verification in future studies, and, if confirmed, further studies on the underlying mechanisms. © 2016 UICC.

Sabiduría epicúrea y Psicología

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vicente Pelechano

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Se presenta el marco teórico, la lógica de elaboración y primeros datos de validación de un cuestionario de sabiduría epicúrea (EPI-1 que ha sido cumplimentado por dos muestras de 473 y 266 adultos, con un predominio de mujeres. Además, se han cumplimentado el cuestionario NEO-PI-R de Costa y McCrae de los cinco grandes y dos escalas conectadas teóricamente con concepciones de sabiduría: una de prudencia y otra de intolerancia a la ambigüedad. Los resultados sugieren que, aunque sin una consistencia alta, se pueden rastrear en nuestros días los elementos básicos de la sabiduría epicúrea que se mezclan con otros de corte más funcional. Las relaciones con los cinco grandes así como con prudencia interpersonal e intolerancia de la ambigüedad demuestran que la sabiduría epicúrea no puede identificarse con ninguna de estas dimensiones, aunque guarda relaciones tenues con neuroticismo, apertura a la experiencia e intolerancia de la ambigüedad; asimismo se presenta como independiente de “prudencia” operacionalizada mediante refranes, que representa más bien estrategias de “supervivencia interpersonal”. Los resultados alcanzados se discuten dentro de un modelo de sabiduría alternativo al del grupo de Baltes en Berlín.

EPICS: A control system software co-development success story

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knott, M.; Gurd, D.; Lewis, S.; Thuot, M.

1993-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control Systems (EPICS) is the result of a software sharing and co-development effort of major importance now underway. The initial two participants, LANL and ANL, have now been joined by three other labs, and an earlier version of the software has been transferred to three commercial firms and is currently undergoing separate development. The reasons for EPICS's success may be useful to enumerate and explain and the desire and prospects for its continued development are certainly worth examining

Is an unfavourable cardiovascular risk profile a risk factor for vasomotor menopausal symptoms? Results of a population-based cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

van den Berg, M J; Herber-Gast, G C M; van der Schouw, Y T

2015-08-01

Evidence suggests an association between vasomotor menopausal symptoms (VMSs), i.e. hot flushes and night sweats, and cardiovascular disease. However, the causal pathway is unclear. We investigated whether an unfavourable cardiovascular risk profile is a risk factor for VMS later in life. Retrospective cohort study. Women aged 50-70 from the general population. The Prospect-European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (Prospect-EPIC) cohort is a population-based cohort of women who enrolled between 1993 and 1997. Follow-up questionnaires were sent at 5-year intervals for 15 years. Women who returned the third questionnaire, answered questions regarding lifetime VMS and did not report VMS prior to baseline were included in this study (n = 1295). At baseline, the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) was determined. We used logistic regression analysis to calculate odds ratios (ORs) for the association between baseline FRS and incident VMS. Incident VMS. At baseline (mean age ± standard deviation, 52.2 ± 3.6 years), 21.2% had a FRS > 10%. During follow-up, 40.2% of women reported the onset of VMS. Adjusted for body mass index, physical activity, education and alcohol consumption, each point increase in FRS was associated with a decreased incidence of VMS [OR, 0.94 (95% CI, 0.91-0.97)]. Additional adjustment for menopausal status attenuated the OR to null [OR, 0.98 (95% CI, 0.95-1.01)]. None of the separate FRS variables were associated with VMS after adjustment for age. In our cohort, an unfavourable cardiovascular risk profile was not associated with VMS, and therefore we found no evidence for the involvement of a vascular mechanism in the etiology of VMS. © 2014 Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Breast Cancer Risk in Relation to Serum IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and their Genetic Determinants: A Study Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kaaks, Rudolf

2002-01-01

Purpose and scope: we are conducting a large case-control study, nested within a prospective cohort, to estimate relative risks of breast cancer by levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3, and to examine associations of IGF...

The French E3N Prospective Cohort Study

Science.gov (United States)

2017-09-18

Breast Cancer; Colo-rectal Cancer; Parkinson Disease; Asthma; Diabetes; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases; Melanoma; Endometriosis; Thyroid Cancer; Hypertension; Endometrial Cancer; Crohn Disease; Depression; Cardiovascular Diseases

Validation of the prognostic gene portfolio, ClinicoMolecular Triad Classification, using an independent prospective breast cancer cohort and external patient populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dong-Yu; Done, Susan J; Mc Cready, David R; Leong, Wey L

2014-07-04

Using genome-wide expression profiles of a prospective training cohort of breast cancer patients, ClinicoMolecular Triad Classification (CMTC) was recently developed to classify breast cancers into three clinically relevant groups to aid treatment decisions. CMTC was found to be both prognostic and predictive in a large external breast cancer cohort in that study. This study serves to validate the reproducibility of CMTC and its prognostic value using independent patient cohorts. An independent internal cohort (n = 284) and a new external cohort (n = 2,181) were used to validate the association of CMTC between clinicopathological factors, 12 known gene signatures, two molecular subtype classifiers, and 19 oncogenic signalling pathway activities, and to reproduce the abilities of CMTC to predict clinical outcomes of breast cancer. In addition, we also updated the outcome data of the original training cohort (n = 147). The original training cohort reached a statistically significant difference (p value of the triad classification was reproduced in the second independent internal cohort and the new external validation cohort. CMTC achieved even higher prognostic significance when all available patients were analyzed (n = 4,851). Oncogenic pathways Myc, E2F1, Ras and β-catenin were again implicated in the high-risk groups. Both prospective internal cohorts and the independent external cohorts reproduced the triad classification of CMTC and its prognostic significance. CMTC is an independent prognostic predictor, and it outperformed 12 other known prognostic gene signatures, molecular subtype classifications, and all other standard prognostic clinicopathological factors. Our results support further development of CMTC portfolio into a guide for personalized breast cancer treatments.

Monitor and Control for PEFP System using EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi, Hyun Mi; Hong, I. S.; Song, Y. G.; Cho, Y. S.

2005-01-01

The construction of PEFP project whose final objective is to build 100 Mev proton accelerator started in 2002 and expected to finish in 2012. In 2005, we have performed 20mA proton beam of 20Mev. For developing the control systems of the 20Mev accelerator as well as 100 Mev accelerator, we chose EPICS(Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) as the most suitable tool. We have studied EPICS applications for various situation and as the application we developed vacuum control system using EPICS base3.14.4 as the core software and EPICS extensions (e.g., EDM(Extensible Display Manager), MEDM(Motif Editor and Display Manager) etc.) as the user interface. There are a number of projects using EPICS for a broad spectrum of applications. EPICS began as a collaboration between Argonne National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1991, building on work that was initially done at the ground test Accelerator. It is now running on accelerators that have as many as 180 distributed front-end controllers and control rooms with 20 consoles and a gateway to make system parameters available to offices, web site, and other remote control stations. It is also used at single controller and one workstation systems. We use the EPICS tool kit as a foundation of the control system. We developed a vacuum monitor, RFQ, DTL Turbo pump control system for use Ethernet Multi Serial Deice Severs on PEFP control system. The control system now shows stable and reliable characteristics enough to meet our control requirement. However, the control system is continuously being upgraded to accommodate additional control requirements such as vacuum device control

Nutrient patterns and their food sources in an International Study Setting: report from the EPIC study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurelie Moskal

Full Text Available Compared to food patterns, nutrient patterns have been rarely used particularly at international level. We studied, in the context of a multi-center study with heterogeneous data, the methodological challenges regarding pattern analyses.We identified nutrient patterns from food frequency questionnaires (FFQ in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC Study and used 24-hour dietary recall (24-HDR data to validate and describe the nutrient patterns and their related food sources. Associations between lifestyle factors and the nutrient patterns were also examined. Principal component analysis (PCA was applied on 23 nutrients derived from country-specific FFQ combining data from all EPIC centers (N = 477,312. Harmonized 24-HDRs available for a representative sample of the EPIC populations (N = 34,436 provided accurate mean group estimates of nutrients and foods by quintiles of pattern scores, presented graphically. An overall PCA combining all data captured a good proportion of the variance explained in each EPIC center. Four nutrient patterns were identified explaining 67% of the total variance: Principle component (PC 1 was characterized by a high contribution of nutrients from plant food sources and a low contribution of nutrients from animal food sources; PC2 by a high contribution of micro-nutrients and proteins; PC3 was characterized by polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D; PC4 was characterized by calcium, proteins, riboflavin, and phosphorus. The nutrients with high loadings on a particular pattern as derived from country-specific FFQ also showed high deviations in their mean EPIC intakes by quintiles of pattern scores when estimated from 24-HDR. Center and energy intake explained most of the variability in pattern scores.The use of 24-HDR enabled internal validation and facilitated the interpretation of the nutrient patterns derived from FFQs in term of food sources. These outcomes open research

Nutrient patterns and their food sources in an International Study Setting: report from the EPIC study.

Science.gov (United States)

Moskal, Aurelie; Pisa, Pedro T; Ferrari, Pietro; Byrnes, Graham; Freisling, Heinz; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Cadeau, Claire; Nailler, Laura; Wendt, Andrea; Kühn, Tilman; Boeing, Heiner; Buijsse, Brian; Tjønneland, Anne; Halkjær, Jytte; Dahm, Christina C; Chiuve, Stephanie E; Quirós, Jose R; Buckland, Genevieve; Molina-Montes, Esther; Amiano, Pilar; Huerta Castaño, José M; Gurrea, Aurelio Barricarte; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Lentjes, Marleen A; Key, Timothy J; Romaguera, Dora; Vergnaud, Anne-Claire; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Bamia, Christina; Orfanos, Philippos; Palli, Domenico; Pala, Valeria; Tumino, Rosario; Sacerdote, Carlotta; de Magistris, Maria Santucci; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; Ocké, Marga C; Beulens, Joline W J; Ericson, Ulrika; Drake, Isabel; Nilsson, Lena M; Winkvist, Anna; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Hjartåker, Anette; Riboli, Elio; Slimani, Nadia

2014-01-01

Compared to food patterns, nutrient patterns have been rarely used particularly at international level. We studied, in the context of a multi-center study with heterogeneous data, the methodological challenges regarding pattern analyses. We identified nutrient patterns from food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Study and used 24-hour dietary recall (24-HDR) data to validate and describe the nutrient patterns and their related food sources. Associations between lifestyle factors and the nutrient patterns were also examined. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied on 23 nutrients derived from country-specific FFQ combining data from all EPIC centers (N = 477,312). Harmonized 24-HDRs available for a representative sample of the EPIC populations (N = 34,436) provided accurate mean group estimates of nutrients and foods by quintiles of pattern scores, presented graphically. An overall PCA combining all data captured a good proportion of the variance explained in each EPIC center. Four nutrient patterns were identified explaining 67% of the total variance: Principle component (PC) 1 was characterized by a high contribution of nutrients from plant food sources and a low contribution of nutrients from animal food sources; PC2 by a high contribution of micro-nutrients and proteins; PC3 was characterized by polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D; PC4 was characterized by calcium, proteins, riboflavin, and phosphorus. The nutrients with high loadings on a particular pattern as derived from country-specific FFQ also showed high deviations in their mean EPIC intakes by quintiles of pattern scores when estimated from 24-HDR. Center and energy intake explained most of the variability in pattern scores. The use of 24-HDR enabled internal validation and facilitated the interpretation of the nutrient patterns derived from FFQs in term of food sources. These outcomes open research opportunities and

Consumption of added fats and oils in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) centres across 10 European countries as assessed by 24-hour dietary recalls.

Science.gov (United States)

Linseisen, J; Bergström, E; Gafá, L; González, C A; Thiébaut, A; Trichopoulou, A; Tumino, R; Navarro Sánchez, C; Martínez Garcia, C; Mattisson, I; Nilsson, S; Welch, A; Spencer, E A; Overvad, K; Tjønneland, A; Clavel-Chapelon, F; Kesse, E; Miller, A B; Schulz, M; Botsi, K; Naska, A; Sieri, S; Sacerdote, C; Ocké, M C; Peeters, P H M; Skeie, G; Engeset, D; Charrondière, U R; Slimani, N

2002-12-01

To evaluate the consumption of added fats and oils across the European centres and countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). 24-Hour dietary recalls were collected by means of standardised computer-guided interviews in 27 redefined EPIC centres across 10 European countries. From an initial number of 36 900 subjects, single dietary recalls from 22 924 women and 13 031 men in the age range of 35-74 years were included. Mean daily intake of added fats and oils varied between 16.2 g (Varese, Italy) and 41.1 g (Malmö, Sweden) in women and between 24.7 g (Ragusa, Italy) and 66.0 g (Potsdam, Germany) in men. Total mean lipid intake by consumption of added fats and oils, including those used for sauce preparation, ranged between 18.3 (Norway) and 37.2 g day-1 (Greece) in women and 28.4 (Heidelberg, Germany) and 51.2 g day-1 (Greece) in men. The Mediterranean EPIC centres with high olive oil consumption combined with low animal fat intake contrasted with the central and northern European centres where fewer vegetable oils, more animal fats and a high proportion of margarine were consumed. The consumption of added fats and oils of animal origin was highest in the German EPIC centres, followed by the French. The contribution of added fats and oils to total energy intake ranged from 8% in Norway to 22% in Greece. The results demonstrate a high variation in dietary intake of added fats and oils in EPIC, providing a good opportunity to elucidate the role of dietary fats in cancer aetiology.

Menopausal hormone therapy and new-onset diabetes in the French Etude Epidemiologique de Femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l'Education Nationale (E3N) cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

de Lauzon-Guillain, B; Fournier, A; Fabre, A; Simon, N; Mesrine, S; Boutron-Ruault, M-C; Balkau, B; Clavel-Chapelon, F

2009-10-01

Two US randomised trials found a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes in women treated by menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) with oral conjugated equine oestrogen combined with medroxyprogesterone acetate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of various MHTs, according to their formulation and route of administration, on new-onset diabetes in a cohort of postmenopausal French women. The association between MHT use and new-onset diabetes was investigated by Cox regression analysis in 63,624 postmenopausal women in the prospective French cohort of the Etude Epidemiologique de Femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l'Education Nationale (E3N). Cases of diabetes were identified through self-reporting or drug-reimbursement record linkage, and further validated. 1,220 new-onset diabetes cases were validated. We observed a lower risk of new-onset diabetes among women who had ever used MHT (HR 0.82 [95% CI 0.72-0.93]), compared with those who had never used MHT. Adjustment for BMI during follow-up (rather than according to baseline BMI) did not substantially modify this association. An oral route of oestrogen administration was associated with a greater decrease in diabetes risk than a cutaneous route (HR 0.68 [95% CI 0.55-0.85] vs 0.87 [95% CI 0.75-1.00], p for homogeneity = 0.028). We were not able to show significant differences between the progestagens used in combined MHT. Use of MHT appeared to be associated with a lower risk of new-onset diabetes. This relationship was not mediated by changes in BMI. Further studies are needed to confirm the stronger effect of oral administration of oestrogen compared with cutaneous administration.

Dropout from exercise programs for seniors: A prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stiggelbout, M.; Hopman-Rock, M.; Tak, E.; Lechner, L.; Mechelen, W. van

2005-01-01

This study examines dropout incidence, moment of dropout, and switching behavior in organized exercise programs for seniors in the Netherlands, as determined in a prospective cohort study (with baseline measurements at the start of the exercise program and follow-up after 6 months; N = 1,725,

Consumption of fruits, vegetables and fruit juices and differentiated thyroid carcinoma risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamora-Ros, Raul; Béraud, Virginie; Franceschi, Silvia; Cayssials, Valerie; Tsilidis, Konstantinos K; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Overvad, Kim; Tjønneland, Anne; Eriksen, Anne K; Bonnet, Fabrice; Affret, Aurélie; Katzke, Verena; Kühn, Tilman; Boeing, Heiner; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Valanou, Elisavet; Karakatsani, Anna; Masala, Giovanna; Grioni, Sara; Santucci de Magistris, Maria; Tumino, Rosario; Ricceri, Fulvio; Skeie, Guri; Parr, Christine L; Merino, Susana; Salamanca-Fernández, Elena; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Ardanaz, Eva; Amiano, Pilar; Almquist, Martin; Drake, Isabel; Hennings, Joakim; Sandström, Maria; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H B As; Peeters, Petra H; Khaw, Kay-Thee; Wareham, Nicholas J; Schmidt, Julie A; Perez-Cornago, Aurora; Aune, Dagfinn; Riboli, Elio; Slimani, Nadia; Scalbert, Augustin; Romieu, Isabelle; Agudo, Antonio; Rinaldi, Sabina

2018-02-01

Fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake is considered as probably protective against overall cancer risk, but results in previous studies are not consistent for thyroid cancer (TC). The purpose of this study is to examine the association between the consumption of fruits, vegetables, fruit juices and differentiated thyroid cancer risk within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. The EPIC study is a cohort including over half a million participants, recruited between 1991 and 2000. During a mean follow-up of 14 years, 748 incident first primary differentiated TC cases were identified. F&V and fruit juice intakes were assessed through validated country-specific dietary questionnaires. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox regression models adjusted for potential confounding factors. Comparing the highest versus lowest quartile of intake, differentiated TC risk was not associated with intakes of total F&V (HR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.68-1.15; p-trend = 0.44), vegetables (HR: 0.89; 95% CI: 0.69-1.14; p-trend = 0.56), or fruit (HR: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.79-1.26; p-trend = 0.64). No significant association was observed with any individual type of vegetable or fruit. However, there was a positive borderline trend with fruit juice intake (HR: 1.23; 95% CI: 0.98-1.53; p-trend = 0.06). This study did not find any significant association between F&V intakes and differentiated TC risk; however a positive trend with fruit juice intake was observed, possibly related to its high sugar content. © 2017 UICC.

Consumption of fruit and vegetables and risk of frailty: a dose-response analysis of 3 prospective cohorts of community-dwelling older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

García-Esquinas, Esther; Rahi, Berna; Peres, Karine; Colpo, Marco; Dartigues, Jean-François; Bandinelli, Stefania; Feart, Catherine; Rodríguez-Artalejo, Fernando

2016-07-01

Consuming fruit and vegetables (FVs) may protect against frailty, but to our knowledge no study has yet assessed their prospective dose-response relation. We sought to examine the dose-response association between FV consumption and the risk of frailty in older adults. Data were taken from 3 independent cohorts of community-dwelling older adults: the Seniors-ENRICA (Study on Nutrition and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Spain) cohort (n = 1872), Three-City (3C) Bordeaux cohort (n = 581), and integrated multidisciplinary approach cohort (n = 473). Baseline food consumption was assessed with a validated computerized diet history (Seniors-ENRICA) or with a food-frequency questionnaire (3C Bordeaux and AMI). In all cohorts, incident frailty was assessed with the use of the Fried criteria. Results across cohorts were pooled with the use of a random-effects model. During a mean 2.5-y follow-up, 300 incident frailty cases occurred. Fully adjusted models showed that the pooled ORs (95% CIs) of incident frailty comparing participants who consumed 1, 2, or ≥3 portions of fruit/d to those with no consumption were, respectively, 0.59 (0.27, 0.90), 0.58 (0.29, 0.86), and 0.48 (0.20, 0.75), with a P-trend of 0.04. The corresponding values for vegetables were 0.69 (0.42, 0.97), 0.56 (0.35, 0.77), and 0.52 (0.13, 0.92), with a P-trend consumption of fruit and risk of exhaustion, low physical activity, and slow walking speed, whereas the consumption of vegetables was associated with a decreased risk of exhaustion and unintentional weight loss. Among community-dwelling older adults, FV consumption was associated with a lower short-term risk of frailty in a dose-response manner, and the strongest association was obtained with 3 portions of fruit/d and 2 portions of vegetables/d. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

Vegetable and fruit consumption and the risk of hormone receptor-defined breast cancer in the EPIC cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Emaus, Marleen J; Peeters, Petra H M; Bakker, Marije F; Overvad, Kim; Tjønneland, Anne; Olsen, Anja; Romieu, Isabelle; Ferrari, Pietro; Dossus, Laure; Boutron-Ruault, Marie Christine; Baglietto, Laura; Fortner, Renée T; Kaaks, Rudolf; Boeing, Heiner; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Lagiou, Pagona; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Masala, Giovanna; Pala, Valeria; Panico, Salvatore; Tumino, Rosario; Polidoro, Silvia; Skeie, Guri; Lund, Eiliv; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Quirós, J Ramón; Travier, Noémie; Sánchez, María-José; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Ardanaz, Eva; Dorronsoro, Miren; Winkvist, Anna; Wennberg, Maria; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Travis, Ruth C; Key, Timothy J; Aune, Dagfinn; Gunter, Marc; Riboli, Elio; van Gils, Carla H

2016-01-01

The recent literature indicates that a high vegetable intake and not a high fruit intake could be associated with decreased steroid hormone receptor-negative breast cancer risk. This study aimed to investigate the association between vegetable and fruit intake and steroid hormone receptor-defined breast cancer risk. A total of 335,054 female participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort were included in this study (mean ± SD age: 50.8 ± 9.8 y). Vegetable and fruit intake was measured by country-specific questionnaires filled out at recruitment between 1992 and 2000 with the use of standardized procedures. Cox proportional hazards models were stratified by age at recruitment and study center and were adjusted for breast cancer risk factors. After a median follow-up of 11.5 y (IQR: 10.1-12.3 y), 10,197 incident invasive breast cancers were diagnosed [3479 estrogen and progesterone receptor positive (ER+PR+); 1021 ER and PR negative (ER-PR-)]. Compared with the lowest quintile, the highest quintile of vegetable intake was associated with a lower risk of overall breast cancer (HRquintile 5-quintile 1: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.94). Although the inverse association was most apparent for ER-PR- breast cancer (ER-PR-: HRquintile 5-quintile 1: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.57, 0.96; P-trend = 0.03; ER+PR+: HRquintile 5-quintile 1: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.79, 1.05; P-trend = 0.14), the test for heterogeneity by hormone receptor status was not significant (P-heterogeneity = 0.09). Fruit intake was not significantly associated with total and hormone receptor-defined breast cancer risk. This study supports evidence that a high vegetable intake is associated with lower (mainly hormone receptor-negative) breast cancer risk. © 2016 American Society for Nutrition.

[Dietary habits and cancer: the experience of EPIC-Italy].

Science.gov (United States)

Sieri, Sabina; Agnoli, Claudia; Pala, Valeria; Mattiello, Amalia; Panico, Salvatore; Masala, Giovanna; Assedi, Melania; Tumino, Rosario; Frasca, Graziella; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Vineis, Paolo; Krogh, Vittorio

2015-01-01

to investigate hypothesised relationships between diet and cancer by assessing diet as a whole, in the Italian cohort EPIC. multicentric prospective study. 47,749 volunteers were recruited between 1993 and 1998 in the centres of Varese and Turin (Northern Italy), Florence (Central Italy), Naples and Ragusa (Southern Italy). Information on diet and lifestyle were collected through validated questionnaires. Anthropometric measurements were taken and biological samples collected using standardised protocols. follow-up was carried out by accessing regional cancer and mortality registries, hospital discharge records, and by telephone inquiries (only for Naples). After a median follow-up of 11 years, 879 incident cases of breast cancer, 421 cases of colorectal cancer, and 152 deaths were identified. Multivariate Cox regression models were used to estimate risks in relation to dietary characteristics. the "Olive oil & Salad" dietary pattern, characterised by high consumption of raw vegetables and olive oil, was associated with a lower risk of overall mortality in the elderly. Adherence to a Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables and fruit was associated with reduced risk of colon cancer. Consumption of high-glycemic carbohydrates was associated with higher incidence of breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Reduced risk of colon cancer was also found in regular consumers of yoghurt. the accuracy and comprehensiveness of EPIC-Italy data made it possible to investigate both individual dietary components and dietary habits as a whole, to thereby provide Italians with dietary and lifestyle advice that will help them to remain healthy.

Integrating EPICS and MDSplus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mastrovito, D.; Davis, W.; Dong, J.; Roney, P.; Sichta, P.

2006-01-01

The National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) has been in operation at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) since 1999. Since then, NSTX has made use of the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) and MDSplus software packages, among others for control and data acquisition. To date, the two products have been integrated using special 'bridging' programs that include client-components for the EPICS and MDSplus servers. Recent improvements in the EPICS software have made it easier to develop a direct interface with MDSplus. This paper will describe the new EPICS extensions developed at PPPL that provide: (1) a direct data interface between EPICS process variables and MDSplus nodes; and (2) an interface between EPICS events and MDSplus events. These extensions have been developed for use with EPICS on Solaris and are currently being modified for use on real-time operating systems. Separately, an XML-RPC client was written to access EPICS 'trended' data, sampled usually once per minute during a 24 h period. The client extracts and writes a day's worth of trended data to a 'daily' MDSplus tree

Different in the prospective association between individual plasma phospholipid saturated fatty acids and incident type 2 diabetes: the EPIC-InterAct case-cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Forouhi, N.G.; Koulman, A.; Sharp, S.J.; Groenendijk-van Woudenbergh, G.J.; Feskens, E.J.M.

2014-01-01

Background Conflicting evidence exists regarding the association between saturated fatty acids (SFAs) and type 2 diabetes. In this longitudinal case-cohort study, we aimed to investigate the prospective associations between objectively measured individual plasma phospholipid SFAs and incident type 2

Lower inter-partum interval and unhealthy life-style factors are inversely associated with n-3 essential fatty acids changes during pregnancy: a prospective cohort with Brazilian women.

Science.gov (United States)

Pinto, Thatiana J P; Farias, Dayana R; Rebelo, Fernanda; Lepsch, Jaqueline; Vaz, Juliana S; Moreira, Júlia D; Cunha, Geraldo M; Kac, Gilberto

2015-01-01

To analyze serum fatty acids concentrations during healthy pregnancy and evaluate whether socioeconomic, demographic, obstetric, nutritional, anthropometric and lifestyle factors are associated with their longitudinal changes. A prospective cohort of 225 pregnant women was followed in the 5th-13th, 20th-26th and 30th-36th weeks of gestation. Serum samples were collected in each trimester of pregnancy and analyzed to determine the fatty acids composition using a high-throughput robotic direct methylation method coupled with fast gas-liquid chromatography. The independent variables comprised the subjects' socioeconomic and demographic status, obstetric history, early pregnancy body mass index (BMI), dietary and lifestyle parameters. Analyses were performed using linear mixed-effects models. The overall absolute concentrations of fatty acids increased from the 1st to the 2nd trimester and slightly increased from the 2nd to the 3rd trimester. Early pregnancy BMI, inter-partum interval and weekly fish intake were the factors associated with changes in eicosapentaenoic + docosahexaenoic acids (EPA+DHA) and total n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Early pregnancy BMI, age and monthly per-capita income were inversely associated with the changes in the n-6/n-3 ratio. Alcohol consumption was positively associated with the n-6/n-3 ratio. Early pregnancy BMI was positively associated with EPA+DHA and total n-3 PUFAs, while presenting a reduced weekly fish intake and a lower inter-partum interval were associated with lower levels of n-3 PUFAs. A lower per-capita family income and a drinking habit were factors that were positively associated with a higher n-6/n-3 ratio.

The predictive value of ePAQ in the urodynamic diagnoses-A prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

McCooty, Shanteela; Nightingale, Peter; Latthe, Pallavi

2018-01-01

To assess whether the electronic Personal Assessment Questionnaire-Pelvic Floor (ePAQ-PF) had accuracy in predicting the urodynamic diagnoses of Detrusor Overactivity (DO) and/or Urodynamic Stress Incontinence (USI). Tertiary urogynaecology unit linked to an academic university teaching hospital. Consecutive women who presented with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and were booked to have urodynamic studies. Women completed an ePAQ-PF prior to having urodynamics (UDS) by clinicians who were blinded to the ePAQ-PF results while conducting this procedure. Receiver Operating Characteristics (ROC) curves were constructed for predictive accuracy of overactive bladder (OAB) score in DO and of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) score in USI. Prospective cohort study designed to meet the requirements of the standards for reporting of diagnostic accuracy (STARD). 390 women with a mean age of 54.2 (range 21-92) years were recruited. The majority (n = 294; 75%) were White Caucasian and had two children (n = 157; 40.3%). Of them, 67.2% (n = 262) had DO and USI was confirmed in 21.5% (n = 84). The area under the ROC curve for DO was 0.704 (95% confidence interval 0.650-0.759) and for USI it was 0.731 (95% confidence interval 0.652-0.778). The OAB and SUI scores on the ePAQ-PF demonstrated that they are fair predictors in diagnosing DO and USI. As the OAB and SUI score on ePAQ-PF increased so did the likelihood of DO (up to a score of 75) and USI on UDS. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Philippine Epics and Ballads Multimedia Archive

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicole Revel

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This essay offers an introduction to the Philippine Epics and Ballads Archive. This collection is a joint endeavor between singers, scholars, knowledgeable local persons, and technical assistants. This archive exemplifies a part of the cultural heritage among 15 national cultural communities and their respective languages. A multi-media eCompanion offers an interactive version of a Palawan epic song.

EPIC229426032 b and EPIC246067459 b: discovery and characterization of two new transiting hot Jupiters from K2

Science.gov (United States)

Soto, M. G.; Díaz, M. R.; Jenkins, J. S.; Rojas, F.; Espinoza, N.; Brahm, R.; Drass, H.; Jones, M. I.; Rabus, M.; Hartman, J.; Sarkis, P.; Jordán, A.; Lachaume, R.; Pantoja, B.; Vučković, M.; Ciardi, D. R.; Crossfield, I.; Dressing, C.; Gonzales, E.; Hirsch, L.

2018-05-01

We report the discovery of two hot Jupiters orbiting the stars EPIC229426032 and EPIC246067459. We used photometric data from Campaign 11 and 12 of the Kepler K2 Mission and radial velocity data obtained using the HARPS, FEROS, and CORALIE spectrographs. EPIC229426032 b and EPIC246067459 b have masses of 1.60^{+0.11}_{-0.11} and 0.86^{+0.13}_{-0.12}Mjup, radii of 1.65^{+0.07}_{-0.08} and 1.30^{+0.15}_{-0.14} R_{jup}, and are orbiting their host stars in 2.18 and 3.20-day orbits, respectively. The large radius of EPIC229426032 b leads us to conclude that this candidate corresponds to a highly inflated hot Jupiter. EPIC2460674559 b has a radius consistent with theoretical models, considering the high incident flux falling on the planet. We consider EPIC229426032 b to be a excellent system for follow-up studies, since not only is it very inflated, but it also orbits a relatively bright star (V = 11.6).

EPICS application source/release control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zieman, B.; Anderson, J.; Kraimer, M.

1995-01-01

This manual describes a set of Application Source/Release Control tools (appSR) that can be used to develop software for EPICS based control systems. The Application Source/Release Control System (appSR) has been unbundled from base EPICS and is now available as an EPICS extension. Due to this unbundling, two new directories must be added to a user's path (see section ''Environment'' on page 3 for more information) and a new command getapp must be issued after the getrel command to get a specific version of appSR (see section ''Creating The Initial Application System Area'' on page 7 for more information). It is now required that GNU make version 3.71 or later be used for makes instead of SUN make. Users should now type gmake instead of make

Plasma YKL-40 and CHI3L1 in systemic inflammation and sepsis—Experience from two prospective cohorts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kornblit, Brian; Hellemann, Dorthe; Munthe-Fog, Lea

2013-01-01

YKL-40, derived from the CHI3L1 gene, has been associated with outcome of infectious and inflammatory diseases. We hypothesized that plasma YKL-40 concentrations and CHI3L1 genotype could be used as prognostic biomarkers in the assessment of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and sepsis....... The objective of the study was to assess the prognostic value of plasma YKL-40 and CHI3L1 genotype in patients with SIRS and sepsis. Plasma YKL-40 and CHI3L1 genotype (rs4950928) were analyzed at time of admission to intensive care units (ICU), in two prospective cohorts of consecutive SIRS patients (cohort 1...

Quality assurance of the international computerised 24 h dietary recall method (EPIC-Soft).

Science.gov (United States)

Crispim, Sandra P; Nicolas, Genevieve; Casagrande, Corinne; Knaze, Viktoria; Illner, Anne-Kathrin; Huybrechts, Inge; Slimani, Nadia

2014-02-01

The interview-administered 24 h dietary recall (24-HDR) EPIC-Soft® has a series of controls to guarantee the quality of dietary data across countries. These comprise all steps that are part of fieldwork preparation, data collection and data management; however, a complete characterisation of these quality controls is still lacking. The present paper describes in detail the quality controls applied in EPIC-Soft, which are, to a large extent, built on the basis of the EPIC-Soft error model and are present in three phases: (1) before, (2) during and (3) after the 24-HDR interviews. Quality controls for consistency and harmonisation are implemented before the interviews while preparing the seventy databases constituting an EPIC-Soft version (e.g. pre-defined and coded foods and recipes). During the interviews, EPIC-Soft uses a cognitive approach by helping the respondent to recall the dietary intake information in a stepwise manner and includes controls for consistency (e.g. probing questions) as well as for completeness of the collected data (e.g. system calculation for some unknown amounts). After the interviews, a series of controls can be applied by dietitians and data managers to further guarantee data quality. For example, the interview-specific 'note files' that were created to track any problems or missing information during the interviews can be checked to clarify the information initially provided. Overall, the quality controls employed in the EPIC-Soft methodology are not always perceivable, but prove to be of assistance for its overall standardisation and possibly for the accuracy of the collected data.

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in childhood and incidence of cancer in adulthood in never smokers in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Chuang, Shu-Chun; Gallo, Valentina; Michaud, Dominique; Overvad, Kim; Tjonneland, Anne; Clavel-Chapelon, Francoise; Romieu, Isabelle; Straif, Kurt; Palli, Domenico; Pala, Valeria; Tumino, Rosario; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Panico, Salvatore; Peeters, Petra H.; Lund, Eiliv; Gram, Inger Torhild; Manjer, Jonas; Borgquist, Signe; Riboli, Elio; Vineis, Paolo

The association between childhood environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and adult cancer risk is controversial; we examined this relationship in never smokers within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Over an average of 10 years, 8,372 cases of

Socio-demographic characteristics of participation in the opportunistic German cervical cancer screening programme: results from the EPIC-Heidelberg cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Seidel, David; Becker, Nikolaus; Rohrmann, Sabine; Nimptsch, Katharina; Linseisen, Jakob

2009-04-01

To analyse participation in the German cervical cancer screening programme by socio-demographic characteristics. In the EPIC-Heidelberg cohort study 13,612 women aged 35-65 years were recruited between 1994 and 1998. Follow-up questionnaires were used to analyse participation in cervical cancer screening. Subjects were categorised according to age (birth cohort), education, vocational training, employment status, marital status and household size. Associations between socio-demographic characteristics and participation in cervical cancer screening were analysed using multinomial logistic regression. Females of the oldest and middle birth cohort were less likely to be screened compared to the youngest birth cohort. Less-educated women and those with a low-level secondary school degree had a decreased likelihood of undergoing screening in comparison to better educated women. Married women and women living in households with four or more persons were more likely to participate in the screening programme than single women or women living alone. Employment status did not modify participation in cervical cancer screening. Knowledge on the characteristics of women with a lower attendance to cervical cancer screening could be used to improve the effectiveness of the current (opportunistic) programme by dedicated health promotion programmes. However, an organized screening programme with written invitation of all eligible women would be the preferred option.

Enlisted Personnel Individualized Career System (EPICS) Test and Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

1984-01-01

The EPICS program, which was developed using an integrated personnel systems approach ( IPSA ), delays formal school training until after personnel have...received shipboard on-job training complemented by job performance aids (3PAs). Early phases of the program, which involved developing the IPSA EPICS...detailed description of the conception and development of the EPICS IPSA model, the execution of the front-end job design analyses, 3PA and instructional

Standardization of the 24-hour diet recall calibration method used in the european prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC): general concepts and preliminary results.

Science.gov (United States)

Slimani, N; Ferrari, P; Ocké, M; Welch, A; Boeing, H; Liere, M; Pala, V; Amiano, P; Lagiou, A; Mattisson, I; Stripp, C; Engeset, D; Charrondière, R; Buzzard, M; Staveren, W; Riboli, E

2000-12-01

Despite increasing interest in the concept of calibration in dietary surveys, there is still little experience in the use and standardization of a common reference dietary method, especially in international studies. In this paper, we present the general theoretical framework and the approaches developed to standardize the computer-assisted 24 h diet recall method (EPIC-SOFT) used to collect about 37 000 24-h dietary recall measurements (24-HDR) from the 10 countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). In addition, an analysis of variance was performed to examine the level of standardization of EPIC-SOFT across the 90 interviewers involved in the study. The analysis of variance used a random effects model in which mean energy intake per interviewer was used as the dependent variable, while age, body mass index (BMI), energy requirement, week day, season, special diet, special day, physical activity and the EPIC-SOFT version were used as independent variables. The analysis was performed separately for men and women. The results show no statistical difference between interviewers in all countries for men and five out of eight countries for women, after adjustment for physical activity and the EPIC-SOFT program version used, and the exclusion of one interviewer in Germany (for men), and one in Denmark (for women). These results showed an interviewer effect in certain countries and a significant difference between gender, suggesting an underlying respondent's effect due to the higher under-reporting among women that was consistently observed in EPIC. However, the actual difference between interviewer and country mean energy intakes is about 10%. Furthermore, no statistical differences in mean energy intakes were observed across centres from the same country, except in Italy and Germany for men, and France and Spain for women, where the populations were recruited from areas scattered throughout the countries. Despite

Dietary flavonoid and lignan intake and gastric adenocarcinoma risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study123

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zamora-Ros, Raul; Agudo, Antonio; Luján-Barroso, Leila

2012-01-01

Background: Several experimental studies have suggested potential anticarcinogenic effects of flavonoids, although epidemiologic evidence for the impact of dietary flavonoids on risk of gastric cancer (GC) is limited.Objective: We investigated the association between intake of dietary flavonoids...... and lignans and incident GC.Design: The study followed 477,312 subjects (29.8% men) aged 35–70 y from 10 European countries who participated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. Validated dietary questionnaires and lifestyle information were collected at baseline...

Endometriosis and the risk of skin cancer: a prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Farland, Leslie V; Lorrain, Simon; Missmer, Stacey A; Dartois, Laureen; Cervenka, Iris; Savoye, Isabelle; Mesrine, Sylvie; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Kvaskoff, Marina

2017-10-01

Endometriosis has been associated with an increased risk of skin melanoma. However, associations with other skin cancer types and how they compare with melanoma are unclear. Our objective was to prospectively investigate the relationships between endometriosis and risk of non-melanoma and melanoma skin cancers. E3N is a prospective cohort of 98,995 French women aged 40-65 years in 1990. Data on surgically confirmed endometriosis and skin cancer diagnoses were collected every 2-3 years through self-report, with skin cancer cases confirmed through pathology reports. Hazard Ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using Cox regression models. Between 1990 and 2008, 535 melanoma, 247 squamous-cell carcinoma (SCC), and 1,712 basal-cell carcinoma (BCC) cases were ascertained. Endometriosis was associated with an increased overall risk of skin cancer (HR 1.28, 95% CI 1.05-1.55). When considering skin cancer type, endometriosis was associated with melanoma risk (HR 1.64, 95% CI 1.15-2.35), but not with SCC (HR 1.21, 95% CI 0.62-2.36) or BCC (HR 1.16, 95% CI 0.91-1.48) (non-melanoma skin cancers combined: HR 1.17, 95% CI 0.93-1.46), although no heterogeneity was detected across skin cancer types (Phomogeneity = 0.13). These data support an association between a personal history of endometriosis and the risk of skin cancer and suggest that the association is strongest for melanoma.

Challenges in Comparative Oral Epic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John Miles Foley

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Originally written in 2001 and subsequently published in China, this collaborative essay explores five questions central to comparative oral epic with regard to Mongolian, South Slavic, ancient Greek, and Old English traditions: “What is a poem in oral epic tradition?” “What is a typical scene or theme in oral epic tradition?” “What is a poetic line in oral epic tradition?” “What is a formula in an oral epic tradition?” “What is the register in oral epic poetry?” Now available for the first time in English, this essay reflects a foundational stage of what has become a productive and long-term collaboration between the Center for Studies in Oral Tradition and the Institute of Ethnic Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Olive oil intake and CHD in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Spanish cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Buckland, Genevieve; Travier, Noemie; Barricarte, Aurelio; Ardanaz, Eva; Moreno-Iribas, Conchi; Sánchez, María-José; Molina-Montes, Esther; Chirlaque, María Dolores; Huerta, José María; Navarro, Carmen; Redondo, Maria Luisa; Amiano, Pilar; Dorronsoro, Miren; Larrañaga, Nerea; Gonzalez, Carlos A

2012-12-14

Olive oil is well known for its cardioprotective properties; however, epidemiological data showing that olive oil consumption reduces incident CHD events are still limited. Therefore, we studied the association between olive oil and CHD in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Spanish cohort study. The analysis included 40 142 participants (38 % male), free of CHD events at baseline, recruited from five EPIC-Spain centres from 1992 to 1996 and followed up until 2004. Baseline dietary and lifestyle information was collected using interview-administered questionnaires. Cox proportional regression models were used to assess the relationship between validated incident CHD events and olive oil intake (energy-adjusted quartiles and each 10 g/d per 8368 kJ (2000 kcal) increment), while adjusting for potential confounders. During a 10·4-year follow-up, 587 (79 % male) CHD events were recorded. Olive oil intake was negatively associated with CHD risk after excluding dietary mis-reporters (hazard ratio (HR) 0·93; 95 % CI 0·87, 1·00 for each 10 g/d per 8368 kJ (2000 kcal) and HR 0·78; 95 % CI 0·59, 1·03 for upper v. lower quartile). The inverse association between olive oil intake (per 10 g/d per 8368 kJ (2000 kcal)) and CHD was more pronounced in never smokers (11 % reduced CHD risk (P = 0·048)), in never/low alcohol drinkers (25 % reduced CHD risk (P culinary use of olive oil within the Mediterranean diet to reduce the CHD burden.

EPICS Input/Output Controller (IOC) application developer's guide. APS Release 3.12

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraimer, M.R.

1994-11-01

This document describes the core software that resides in an Input/Output Controller (IOC), one of the major components of EPICS. The basic components are: (OPI) Operator Interface; this is a UNIX based workstation which can run various EPICS tools; (IOC) Input/Output Controller; this is a VME/VXI based chassis containing a Motorola 68xxx processor, various I/O modules, and VME modules that provide access to other I/O buses such as GPIB, (LAN), Local Area Network; and this is the communication network which allows the IOCs and OPIs to communicate. Epics provides a software component, Channel Access, which provides network transparent communication between a Channel Access client and an arbitrary number of Channel Access servers

Plasma phospholipid fatty acid concentration and incident coronary heart disease in men and women: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kay-Tee Khaw

Full Text Available The lack of association found in several cohort studies between dietary saturated fat and coronary heart disease (CHD risk has renewed debate over the link between dietary fats and CHD.We assessed the relationship between plasma phospholipid fatty acid (PFA concentration and incident CHD using a nested case control design within a prospective study (EPIC-Norfolk of 25,639 individuals aged 40-79 years examined in 1993-1997 and followed up to 2009. Plasma PFA concentrations were measured by gas chromatography in baseline samples retrieved from frozen storage. In 2,424 men and women with incident CHD compared with 4,930 controls alive and free of cardiovascular disease, mean follow-up 13 years, saturated PFA (14:0, 16:0,18:0 plasma concentrations were significantly associated with increased CHD risk (odds ratio [OR] 1.75, 95% CI 1.27-2.41, p<0.0001, in top compared to bottom quartiles (Q, and omega-6 polyunsaturated PFA concentrations were inversely related (OR 0.77, 0.60-0.99, p<0.05 after adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, blood pressure, smoking, alcohol intake, plasma vitamin C, social class, education, and other PFAs. Monounsaturated PFA, omega-3 PFA, and trans PFA concentrations were not significantly associated with CHD. Odd chain PFA (15:0, 17:0 concentrations were significantly inversely associated with CHD (OR 0.73, 0.59-0.91, p<0.001, Q4 versus Q1. Within families of saturated PFA or polyunsaturated PFA, significantly heterogeneous relationships with CHD were observed for individual fatty acids.In this study, plasma concentrations of even chain saturated PFA were found to be positively and omega-6 polyunsaturated PFA inversely related to subsequent coronary heart disease risk. These findings are consistent with accumulating evidence suggesting a protective role of omega-6 fats substituting for saturated fats for CHD prevention.

Study of 3D visualization of fast active reflector based on openGL and EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo Mingcheng; Wu Wenqing; Liu Jiajing; Tang Pengyi; Wang Jian

2014-01-01

Active Reflector is the one of the innovations of Five hundred meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST). Its performance will influence the performance of whole telescope and for display all status of ARS in real time, the EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) is used to develop the control system of ARS and virtual 3D technology-OpenGL is used to visualize the status. For the real-time performance of EPICS, the status visualization is also display in real time for users to improve the efficiency of telescope observing. (authors)

EPICS MySQL Archiver - integration between EPICS and MySQL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, A.; Bhole, R.B.; Pal, S.; Sarkar, D.

2012-01-01

The performance evaluation and analysis of intersystem dependency of the various subsystems of the Superconducting Cyclotron (SCC) demand a well configured data logging, archiving and historic analysis facility for large number of control parameters along with on-line failure analysis facility of every system. Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is used as development architecture of the control system of these systems with MySQL as database for large amount of relational data management. This combination requires integration between EPICS and MySQL server. For this purpose, MySQL Archiver as an EPICS Extension is developed for data logging and archiving of control parameters into MySQL database. This extension also provides a web based tool for online monitoring of control parameters and historic analysis of archived data. This paper describes the software architecture, implementation, as well as method of configuration for any other EPICS based control system as a utility. This facility is also elaborated with examples, web page views and experiences of deploying it in SCC. (author)

EPICS V4 in Python

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guobao Shen; Kraimer, M.; Davidsaver, M.

2012-01-01

At NSLS-II, Python has been selected as the primary development language for physics applications. Interest in Python as a rapid application development environment continues to grow. Many large experimental scientific facilities have adopted Python for beam commissioning and the operation. The EPICS control system framework has become the de facto standard for the control of large experimental facilities, where it is in use in over 100 facilities. The next version of EPICS (EPICS V4), under active development will extend the support for physics applications, data acquisition, and data analysis. Python support for EPICS V4 will provide an effective framework to address these requirements. This paper presents design, development and status of activities focused on EPICS V4 in Python

Eating out, weight and weight gain. A cross-sectional and prospective analysis in the context of the EPIC-PANACEA study.

Science.gov (United States)

Naska, A; Orfanos, P; Trichopoulou, A; May, A M; Overvad, K; Jakobsen, M U; Tjønneland, A; Halkjær, J; Fagherazzi, G; Clavel-Chapelon, F; Boutron-Ruault, M-C; Rohrmann, S; Hermann, S; Steffen, A; Haubrock, J; Oikonomou, E; Dilis, V; Katsoulis, M; Sacerdote, C; Sieri, S; Masala, G; Tumino, R; Mattiello, A; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H B; Skeie, G; Engeset, D; Barricarte, A; Rodríguez, L; Dorronsoro, M; Sánchez, M-J; Chirlaque, M-D; Agudo, A; Manjer, J; Wirfält, E; Hellström, V; Shungin, D; Khaw, K-T; Wareham, N J; Spencer, E A; Freisling, H; Slimani, N; Vergnaud, A-C; Mouw, T; Romaguera, D; Odysseos, A; Peeters, P H M

2011-03-01

The aim of this study was to examine the association of body mass index (BMI) and weight gain with eating at restaurants and similar establishments or eating at work among 10 European countries of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. This study included a representative sample of 24,310 randomly selected EPIC participants. Single 24-h dietary recalls with information on the place of consumption were collected using standardized procedures between 1995 and 2000. Eating at restaurants was defined to include all eating and drinking occasions at restaurants, cafeterias, bars and fast food outlets. Eating at work included all eating and drinking occasions at the workplace. Associations between eating at restaurants or eating at work and BMI or annual weight changes were assessed using sex-specific linear mixed-effects models, controlling for potential confounders. In southern Europe energy intake at restaurants was higher than intake at work, whereas in northern Europe eating at work appeared to contribute more to the mean daily intake than eating at restaurants. Cross-sectionally, eating at restaurants was found to be positively associated with BMI only among men (β=+0.24, P=0.003). Essentially no association was found between BMI and eating at work among both genders. In a prospective analysis among men, eating at restaurants was found to be positively, albeit nonsignificantly, associated with weight gain (β=+0.05, P=0.368). No association was detected between energy intake at restaurants and weight changes, controlling for total energy intake. Among men, eating at restaurants and similar establishments was associated with higher BMI and possibly weight gain.

Physical activity, metabolic syndrome, and coronary risk: the EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Broekhuizen, Lysette N.; Boekholdt, S. Matthijs; Arsenault, Benoit J.; Despres, Jean-Pierre; Stroes, Erik S. G.; Kastelein, John J. P.; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Wareham, Nicholas J.

2011-01-01

Objective: We investigated the association between physical activity, metabolic syndrome (MS), and the risk of future coronary heart disease (CHD) and mortality due to CHD in middle-aged men and women. Design: Prospective cohort study. Subjects: A total of 10,134 men and women aged 45-79 years at

Workplace bullying, sleep problems and leisure-time physical activity: a prospective cohort study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Åse Marie; Gullander, Maria; Hogh, Annie

2015-01-01

and Harassment (WBH) cohort (N=3278) or the Psychosocial Risk Factors for Stress and Mental Disease (PRISME) cohort (N=4455). We measured workplace bullying using one question that was preceded by a definition of bullying. We used the Karolinska sleep questionnaire to assess sleep problems. The number of hours......OBJECTIVES: Workplace bullying is a potent stressor that may increase sleep problems. Since physical fitness improves resilience to stress, it seems plausible that recreational physical activities may moderate the association between bullying and sleep. The study aimed to examine prospectively...... whether (i) bullying increases the risk of sleep problems, and (ii) the association between bullying and sleep problems is moderated by leisure-time physical activity (LTPA). METHODS: The study sample comprised a cohort of public and private sector employees, who were enrolled into the Work Bullying...

Plasma elaidic acid level as biomarker of industrial trans fatty acids and risk of weight change: report from the EPIC study.

Science.gov (United States)

Chajès, Véronique; Biessy, Carine; Ferrari, Pietro; Romieu, Isabelle; Freisling, Heinz; Huybrechts, Inge; Scalbert, Augustin; Bueno de Mesquita, Bas; Romaguera, Dora; Gunter, Marc J; Vineis, Paolo; Hansen, Camilla Plambeck; Jakobsen, Marianne Uhre; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Fagherazzi, Guy; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Katzke, Verana; Neamat-Allah, Jasmine; Boeing, Heiner; Bachlechner, Ursula; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Naska, Androniki; Orfanos, Philippos; Pala, Valeria; Masala, Giovanna; Mattiello, Amalia; Skeie, Guri; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Agudo, Antonio; Huerta, Jose Maria; Ardanaz, Eva; Sánchez, Maria Jose; Dorronsoro, Miren; Quirós, Jose Ramon; Johansson, Ingegerd; Winkvist, Anna; Sonested, Emily; Key, Tim; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Wareham, Nicolas J; Peeters, Petra H M; Slimani, Nadia

2015-01-01

Few epidemiological studies have examined the association between dietary trans fatty acids and weight gain, and the evidence remains inconsistent. The main objective of the study was to investigate the prospective association between biomarker of industrial trans fatty acids and change in weight within the large study European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Baseline plasma fatty acid concentrations were determined in a representative EPIC sample from the 23 participating EPIC centers. A total of 1,945 individuals were followed for a median of 4.9 years to monitor weight change. The association between elaidic acid level and percent change of weight was investigated using a multinomial logistic regression model, adjusted by length of follow-up, age, energy, alcohol, smoking status, physical activity, and region. In women, doubling elaidic acid was associated with a decreased risk of weight loss (odds ratio (OR) = 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.55-0.88, p = 0.002) and a trend was observed with an increased risk of weight gain during the 5-year follow-up (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.97-1.56, p = 0.082) (p-trendacid level and risk of weight loss (OR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.66-1.01, p = 0.062) while no significant association was found with risk of weight gain during the 5-year follow-up (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.88-1.33, p = 0.454). No association was found for saturated and cis-monounsaturated fatty acids. These data suggest that a high intake of industrial trans fatty acids may decrease the risk of weight loss, particularly in women. Prevention of obesity should consider limiting the consumption of highly processed foods, the main source of industrially-produced trans fatty acids.

Calibration of the DSCOVR EPIC Visible and NIR Channels using MODIS Terra and Aqua Data and EPIC Lunar Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Geogdzhayev, Igor V.; Marshak, Alexander

2018-01-01

The unique position of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) at the Lagrange 1 point makes an important addition to the data from currently operating low Earth orbit observing instruments. EPIC instrument does not have an onboard calibration facility. One approach to its calibration is to compare EPIC observations to the measurements from polar-orbiting radiometers. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a natural choice for such comparison due to its well-established calibration record and wide use in remote sensing. We use MODIS Aqua and Terra L1B 1km reflectances to infer calibration coefficients for four EPIC visible and NIR channels: 443, 551, 680 and 780 nm. MODIS and EPIC measurements made between June 2015 and 2016 are employed for comparison. We first identify favorable MODIS pixels with scattering angle matching temporarily collocated EPIC observations. Each EPIC pixel is then spatially collocated to a subset of the favorable MODIS pixels within 25 km radius. Standard deviation of the selected MODIS pixels as well as of the adjacent EPIC pixels is used to find the most homogeneous scenes. These scenes are then used to determine calibration coefficients using a linear regression between EPIC counts/sec and reflectances in the close MODIS spectral channels. We present thus inferred EPIC calibration coefficients and discuss sources of uncertainties. The lunar EPIC observations are used to calibrate EPIC O2 absorbing channels (688 and 764 nm), assuming that there is a small difference between moon reflectances separated by approx.10 nm in wavelength provided the calibration factors of the red (680 nm) and near-IR (780 nm) are known from comparison between EPIC and MODIS.

The PSI web interface to the EPICS channel archiver

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gaudenz Jud; Luedeke, A.; Portmann, W.

2012-01-01

the EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) channel archiver is used at different facilities at PSI (Paul Scherrer Institute) like the Swiss Light Source or the medical cyclotron. The EPICS channel archiver is a powerful tool to collect control system data of thousands of EPICS process variables with rates of many Hertz each to an archive for later retrieval. Within the package of the channel archiver version 2 you get a Java application for graphical data retrieval and a command line tool for data extraction into different file formats. For the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) we wanted a possibility to retrieve the archived data from a web interface. It was desired to have flexible retrieval functions and to allow interchanging data references by e-mail. This web interface has been implemented by the PSI controls group and has now been in operation for several years. This paper will highlight the special features of the PSI web interface to the EPICS channel archiver

Cohort profile: LIFEWORK, a prospective cohort study on occupational and environmental risk factors and health in the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Reedijk, Marije; Lenters, Virissa; Slottje, Pauline; Pijpe, Anouk; Peeters, Petra H; Korevaar, Joke C; Bueno-de-Mesquita, Bas; Verschuren, W M Monique; Verheij, Robert A; Pieterson, Inka; van Leeuwen, Flora E; Rookus, Matti A; Kromhout, Hans; Vermeulen, Roel C H

2018-02-03

LIFEWORK is a large federated prospective cohort established in the Netherlands to quantify the health effects of occupational and environmental exposures. This cohort is also the Dutch contribution to the international Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS). In this paper, we describe the study design, ongoing data collection, baseline characteristics of participants and the repeatability of key questionnaire items. 88 466 participants were enrolled in three cohort studies in 2011-2012. Exposure information was collected by a harmonised core questionnaire, or modelled based on occupational and residential histories; domains include air pollution (eg, nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ), particulate matter with diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM 2.5 )), noise, electromagnetic fields (EMF), mobile phone use, shift work and occupational chemical exposures. Chronic and subacute health outcomes are assessed by self-report and through linkage with health registries. Participants had a median age of 51 years at baseline (range 19-87), and the majority are female (90%), with nurses being over-represented. Median exposure levels of NO 2 , PM 2.5 , EMF from base stations and noise at the participants' home addresses at baseline were 22.9 µg/m 3 , 16.6 µg/m 3 , 0.003 mWm 2 and 53.1 dB, respectively. Twenty-two per cent of participants reported to have started using a mobile phone more than 10 years prior to baseline. Repeatability for self-reported exposures was moderate to high (weighted kappa range: 0.69-1) for a subset of participants (n=237) who completed the questionnaire twice. We are actively and passively observing participants; we plan to administer a follow-up questionnaire every 4-5 years-the first follow-up will be completed in 2018-and linkage to cause-of-death and cancer registries occurs on a (bi)annual basis. This prospective cohort offers a unique, large and rich resource for research on contemporary occupational and environmental health risks and will

Calibration of the DSCOVR EPIC visible and NIR channels using MODIS Terra and Aqua data and EPIC lunar observations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I. V. Geogdzhayev

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The unique position of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC at the Lagrange 1 point makes an important addition to the data from currently operating low Earth orbit observing instruments. EPIC instrument does not have an onboard calibration facility. One approach to its calibration is to compare EPIC observations to the measurements from polar-orbiting radiometers. Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS is a natural choice for such comparison due to its well-established calibration record and wide use in remote sensing. We use MODIS Aqua and Terra L1B 1 km reflectances to infer calibration coefficients for four EPIC visible and NIR channels: 443, 551, 680 and 780 nm. MODIS and EPIC measurements made between June 2015 and 2016 are employed for comparison. We first identify favorable MODIS pixels with scattering angle matching temporarily collocated EPIC observations. Each EPIC pixel is then spatially collocated to a subset of the favorable MODIS pixels within 25 km radius. Standard deviation of the selected MODIS pixels as well as of the adjacent EPIC pixels is used to find the most homogeneous scenes. These scenes are then used to determine calibration coefficients using a linear regression between EPIC counts s−1 and reflectances in the close MODIS spectral channels. We present thus inferred EPIC calibration coefficients and discuss sources of uncertainties. The lunar EPIC observations are used to calibrate EPIC O2 absorbing channels (688 and 764 nm, assuming that there is a small difference between moon reflectances separated by  ∼  10 nm in wavelength and provided the calibration factors of the red (680 nm and NIR (780 nm are known from comparison between EPIC and MODIS.

The EPICS process variable Gateway Version 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, K.

2005-01-01

The EPICS Process Variable Gateway is both a Channel Access Server and Channel Access Client that provides a means for many clients, typically on different subnets, to access a process variable while making only one connection to the server that owns the process variable. It also provides additional access security beyond that implemented on the server. It thus protects critical servers while providing suitably restricted access to needed process variables. The original version of the Gateway worked with EPICS Base 3.13 but required a special version, since the changes necessary for its operation were never incorporated into EPICS Base. Version 2 works with any standard EPICS Base 3.14.6 or later and has many improvements in both performance and features over the older version. The Gateway is now used at many institutions and has become a stable, high-performance application. It is capable of handling tens of thousands of process variables with hundreds of thousands of events per second. It has run for over three months in a production environment without having to be restarted. It has many internal process variables that can be used to monitor its state using standard EPICS client tools, such as MEDM and StripTool. Other internal process variables can be used to stop the Gateway, make several kinds of reports, or change the access security without stopping the Gateway. It can even be started on remote workstations from MEDM by using a Secure Shell script. This paper will describe the new Gateway and how it is used. The Gateway is both a server (like an EPICS Input/Output Controller (IOC)) and a client (like the EPICS Motif Editor and Display Manager (MEDM), StripTool, and others). Clients connect to the server side, and the client side connects to IOCs and other servers, possibly other Gateways. See Fig. 1. There are perhaps three principal reasons for using the Gateway: (1) it allows many clients to access a process variable while making only one connection to

Coffee Drinking and Mortality in 10 European Countries: A Multinational Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunter, Marc J; Murphy, Neil; Cross, Amanda J; Dossus, Laure; Dartois, Laureen; Fagherazzi, Guy; Kaaks, Rudolf; Kühn, Tilman; Boeing, Heiner; Aleksandrova, Krasimira; Tjønneland, Anne; Olsen, Anja; Overvad, Kim; Larsen, Sofus Christian; Redondo Cornejo, Maria Luisa; Agudo, Antonio; Sánchez Pérez, María José; Altzibar, Jone M; Navarro, Carmen; Ardanaz, Eva; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Butterworth, Adam; Bradbury, Kathryn E; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Lagiou, Pagona; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Palli, Domenico; Grioni, Sara; Vineis, Paolo; Panico, Salvatore; Tumino, Rosario; Bueno-de-Mesquita, Bas; Siersema, Peter; Leenders, Max; Beulens, Joline W J; Uiterwaal, Cuno U; Wallström, Peter; Nilsson, Lena Maria; Landberg, Rikard; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Skeie, Guri; Braaten, Tonje; Brennan, Paul; Licaj, Idlir; Muller, David C; Sinha, Rashmi; Wareham, Nick; Riboli, Elio

2017-08-15

The relationship between coffee consumption and mortality in diverse European populations with variable coffee preparation methods is unclear. To examine whether coffee consumption is associated with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. Prospective cohort study. 10 European countries. 521 330 persons enrolled in EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition). Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs estimated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models. The association of coffee consumption with serum biomarkers of liver function, inflammation, and metabolic health was evaluated in the EPIC Biomarkers subcohort (n = 14 800). During a mean follow-up of 16.4 years, 41 693 deaths occurred. Compared with nonconsumers, participants in the highest quartile of coffee consumption had statistically significantly lower all-cause mortality (men: HR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.82 to 0.95]; P for trend coffee drinking with circulatory disease mortality (HR, 0.78 [CI, 0.68 to 0.90]; P for trend coffee consumption was associated with lower serum alkaline phosphatase; alanine aminotransferase; aspartate aminotransferase; γ-glutamyltransferase; and, in women, C-reactive protein, lipoprotein(a), and glycated hemoglobin levels. Reverse causality may have biased the findings; however, results did not differ after exclusion of participants who died within 8 years of baseline. Coffee-drinking habits were assessed only once. Coffee drinking was associated with reduced risk for death from various causes. This relationship did not vary by country. European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Consumers and International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Fatty acid consumption and incident type 2 diabetes: an 18-year follow-up in the female E3N (Etude Epidémiologique auprès des femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l'Education Nationale) prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dow, Courtney; Mangin, Marie; Balkau, Beverley; Affret, Aurélie; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Bonnet, Fabrice; Fagherazzi, Guy

2016-11-15

We evaluated the association between dietary estimates of fatty acid (FA) consumption and type 2 diabetes (T2D) risk in the French E3N (Etude Epidémiologique auprès des femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l'Education Nationale) cohort. In total, 71 334 women without diabetes at baseline were followed up from 1993 to 2011. Diabetes was identified using questionnaires and drug-reimbursement claims, and incident cases were validated. FA consumption in 1993 was estimated from a validated dietary questionnaire. Cox regression estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95 % CI of diabetes risk, comparing the upper tertile group with the lowest. High n-3 PUFA consumption was associated with T2D even after adjustment for confounders, including other FA and BMI (HR 1·26; 95 % CI 1·13, 1·41; upper tertile compared with lowest). Upon stratification by overweight (BMI≥25 kg/m2)/non-overweight, a positive association between total PUFA consumption and T2D was observed, but it was restricted to non-overweight women (HR 1·22; 95 % CI 1·05, 1·42), whereas n-3 PUFA consumption was associated with increased T2D risk in both BMI strata (BMI<25 kg/m2: HR 1·19; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·40 and BMI≥25 kg/m2: HR 1·38; 95 % CI 1·20, 1·59). Within the n-3 PUFA, high DPA (HR 1·41; 95 % CI 1·23, 1·63) and α-linolenic acid (ALA) intakes were associated with increased T2D risk, but the effects of ALA were restricted to overweight women (HR 1·17; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·36). Within the n-6 PUFA, only arachidonic acid (AA) intake was associated with T2D risk (HR 1·49; 95 % CI 1·33, 1·66). The associations with DPA and AA persisted even after adjustment of their principal source in this cohort, the consumption of meat. The effects of PUFA are heterogeneous within the FA group. Intake of DPA and AA may contribute to T2D development.

The Experimental Projectile Impact Chamber (EPIC) at Centro de Astrobiología, Spain: Reproducibility and verification of scaling relations.

Science.gov (United States)

Ormö, J.; Wünnemann, K.; Collins, G.; Melero Asensio, I.

2012-09-01

The Experimental Projectile Impact Chamber (EPIC) consists of a 20.5mm caliber, compressed gas gun and a 7m wide test bed. It is possible to vary the projectile size and density, the velocity up to about 5001n/"s, the impact angle. and the target composition. The EPIC is especially designed for the analysis of impacts into unconsolidated and liquid targets. i.e. allowing the use of gravity scaling. The general objective with the EPIC is to analyze the cratering and modification processes at wet-target (e.g. marinle) impacts. We have carried out 14 shots into dry sand targets with two projectile compositions (light and weak; heavy and strong), at two impact angles. at three impact velocities, and in both quarter-space and half- space geometries. We recorded the impacts with a high-speed camera and compared the results with numerical simulations using iSALE. The evaluation demonstrated that there are noticeable differences between the results from the two projectile types, but that the crater dimensions are consistent with scaling laws based on other impact experiments [1]. This proves the usefulness of the EPIC in the analysis of natural impacts.

Genetic variability of the mTOR pathway and prostate cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation on Cancer (EPIC.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniele Campa

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin signal transduction pathway integrates various signals, regulating ribosome biogenesis and protein synthesis as a function of available energy and amino acids, and assuring an appropriate coupling of cellular proliferation with increases in cell size. In addition, recent evidence has pointed to an interplay between the mTOR and p53 pathways. We investigated the genetic variability of 67 key genes in the mTOR pathway and in genes of the p53 pathway which interact with mTOR. We tested the association of 1,084 tagging SNPs with prostate cancer risk in a study of 815 prostate cancer cases and 1,266 controls nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC. We chose the SNPs (n = 11 with the strongest association with risk (p<0.01 and sought to replicate their association in an additional series of 838 prostate cancer cases and 943 controls from EPIC. In the joint analysis of first and second phase two SNPs of the PRKCI gene showed an association with risk of prostate cancer (OR(allele = 0.85, 95% CI 0.78-0.94, p = 1.3 x 10⁻³ for rs546950 and OR(allele = 0.84, 95% CI 0.76-0.93, p = 5.6 x 10⁻⁴ for rs4955720. We confirmed this in a meta-analysis using as replication set the data from the second phase of our study jointly with the first phase of the Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility (CGEMS project. In conclusion, we found an association with prostate cancer risk for two SNPs belonging to PRKCI, a gene which is frequently overexpressed in various neoplasms, including prostate cancer.

EPICS system: an overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bartlett, J.F.; Bobbitt, J.S.; Kramper, B.J.; Lahey, T.E.; MacKinnon, B.A.; West, R.E.

1984-02-01

This paper presents an overview of the EPICS control system at FERMILAB. EPICS is a distributed, multi-user, interactive system for the control and monitoring of particle beamlines at a high-energy experimental physics laboratory. The overview discusses the operating environment of the control system, the requirements which determined the design decisions, the hardware and software configurations, and plans for the future growth and enhancement of the present system. This paper is the first of three related papers on the EPICS system. The other two cover (1) the system structure and user interface and (2) RSX implementation issues

Development of EPICS IOC for TPLC-32 platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jain, Sanjay Kumar; Bhamra, Ratna; Kavalan, P.K.; Vaidya, U.W.

2014-01-01

Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) SCADA software package is popular worldwide for deploying accelerator control systems. EPICS base allows building server applications that interact with EPICS compliant lower level hardware, embedded systems, commercial PLCs on one side and facilitates seamless connectivity with EPICS clients on the other side. Large number of such lower level (EPICS complaint) networked systems work in collaborative environment for physics experiment. RCnD has developed a PLC platform, Trombay Programmable Logic Controller TPLC-32 for deploying C and I systems of NPP and allied utilities. This platform is now also being used for deploying accelerator C and I systems. Hence the activity of developing TPLC-32 interface with EPICS was taken up in RCnD. This paper introduces the architecture of the EPICS Input Output Controller (IOC) and describes the implementation of the EPICS SoftIOC for TPLC-32. It also describes Operator Interface developed using MEDM EPICS client for LEHIPA vacuum control system built using TPLC-32. (author)

Prospective association of the Mediterranean diet with cardiovascular disease incidence and mortality and its population impact in a non-Mediterranean population: the EPIC-Norfolk study.

Science.gov (United States)

Tong, Tammy Y N; Wareham, Nicholas J; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Imamura, Fumiaki; Forouhi, Nita G

2016-09-29

Despite convincing evidence in the Mediterranean region, the cardiovascular benefit of the Mediterranean diet is not well established in non-Mediterranean countries and the optimal criteria for defining adherence are unclear. The population attributable fraction (PAF) of adherence to this diet is also unknown. In the UK-based EPIC-Norfolk prospective cohort, we evaluated habitual diets assessed at baseline (1993-1997) and during follow-up (1998-2000) using food-frequency questionnaires (n = 23,902). We estimated a Mediterranean diet score (MDS) using cut-points projected from the Mediterranean dietary pyramid, and also three other pre-existing MDSs. Using multivariable-adjusted Cox regression with repeated measures of MDS and covariates, we examined prospective associations between each MDS with incident cardiovascular diseases (CVD) by 2009 and mortality by 2013, and estimated PAF for each outcome attributable to low MDS. We observed 7606 incident CVD events (2818/100,000 person-years) and 1714 CVD deaths (448/100,000). The MDS based on the Mediterranean dietary pyramid was significantly associated with lower incidence of the cardiovascular outcomes, with hazard ratios (95 % confidence intervals) of 0.95 (0.92-0.97) per one standard deviation for incident CVD and 0.91 (0.87-0.96) for CVD mortality. Associations were similar for composite incident ischaemic heart disease and all-cause mortality. Other pre-existing MDSs showed similar, but more modest associations. PAF due to low dietary pyramid based MDS (Mediterranean diet was associated with lower CVD incidence and mortality in the UK. This diet has an important population health impact for the prevention of CVD.

The EPIC nitinol stent system in the treatment of iliac artery lesions: one-year results from the ORION clinical trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Clair, Daniel G; Adams, Julie; Reen, Bernard; Feldman, Robert; Starr, Jean; Diaz-Cartelle, Juan; Dawkins, Keith D

2014-04-01

To report the 1-year results of a pivotal study for a new-generation nitinol stent for the treatment of iliac atherosclerotic lesions. The ORION trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT00896337) was a single-arm, non-randomized, prospective, multicenter clinical trial that enrolled 125 patients (81 men; mean age 61.1±9.3 years) implanted with the EPIC self-expanding nitinol stent system in 166 de novo or restenotic iliac artery lesions ≤13 cm long. The primary endpoint was the 9-month major adverse event rate [i.e., device- or procedure-related death within 30 days, myocardial infarction during the index hospitalization, target vessel revascularization (TVR), or index limb amputation]. Follow-up occurred at hospital discharge and at 1, 9, and 12 months. An independent core laboratory evaluated ultrasound results at 1, 9, and 12 months. The primary endpoint met the prespecified performance goal, with only 3.4% (4/117) of patients experiencing a major adverse event by 9 months (p<0.0001). By 12 months, 6 (5.4%) of 111 patients had TVR; none had an index limb amputation. The ankle-brachial index, Walking Impairment Questionnaire, and Rutherford classifications all showed sustained improvements through 12 months. Primary patency was 94.4% with comparable results for lesions classified as complex (TASC II C/D 95.5%) or non-complex (TASC II A/B 95.0%). The EPIC stent system demonstrated safety and effectiveness through 12 months, including improvements for complex lesions. The EPIC stent is a viable alternative to surgery for patients with either complex or non-complex lesions.

The effect of gender medicine education in GP training: a prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Dielissen, Patrick; Verdonk, Petra; Waard, Magreet Wieringa-de; Bottema, Ben; Lagro-Janssen, Toine

2014-11-01

The purpose of this study is to compare the change in general practitioner (GP) trainees' gender awareness following a modular gender medicine programme or a mainstream gender medicine programme. In 2007, a prospective study was conducted in three cohorts of in total 207 GP trainees who entered GP training in the Netherlands. The outcome measure was the Nijmegen Gender Awareness in Medicine Scale and a 16-item gender knowledge questionnaire. Two gender medicine teaching methods were compared: a modular approach (n = 75) versus a mainstream approach (n = 72). Both strategies were compared with a control cohort (n = 60). Statistical analysis included analysis of variance and t-tests. The overall response rates for the modular, mainstream and control cohort were 78, 72 and 82 %, respectively. There was a significant difference in change in gender knowledge scores between the modular cohort compared with the mainstream and control cohort (p = 0.049). There were no statistical differences between the cohorts on gender sensitivity and gender role ideology. At entry and end, female GP trainees demonstrated significantly higher gender awareness than male GP trainees. A modular teaching method is not a more favourable educational method to teach gender medicine in GP training. Female GP trainees are more gender aware, but male GP trainees are not unaware of gender-related issues.

Pirate Alterity and Mimesis in Colonial Epic Poetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javier de Navascués

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Pirate representation is studied in a series of Epic poems in the late sixteenth century and early seventeenth century. The ambiguous image of the English enemy is read in texts by Juan de Miramontes, Pedro de Oña, Martín del Barco Centenera and Juan de Castellanos, among others. On the one hand, Colonial Epic ignores some important differences between privateers and pirates since the privateering had been legally accepted by all European nations, including Spain. Besides, Pirate is always called «Lutheran» and revealing its absolute otherness with respect to the Catholic model. On the other hand, it proposes a laudatory epics enemy painting from the imitation of the values accepted by the colonial society. The relationship between the Spanish hero and the privateer is represented not in a vertical direction, as could happen between colonizer and colonized subject, but on a level of rivalry.

European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): study populations and data collection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Riboli, E.; Hunt, K.J.; Slimani, N.

2002-01-01

, mostly in liquid nitrogen. To calibrate dietary measurements, a standardised, computer-assisted 24-hour dietary recall was implemented at each centre on stratified random samples of the participants, for a total of 36 900 subjects. EPIC represents the largest single resource available today world...

Road traffic noise, air pollution and incident cardiovascular disease: A joint analysis of the HUNT, EPIC-Oxford and UK Biobank cohorts.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Yutong; Hodgson, Susan; Blangiardo, Marta; Gulliver, John; Morley, David; Fecht, Daniela; Vienneau, Danielle; de Hoogh, Kees; Key, Tim; Hveem, Kristian; Elliott, Paul; Hansell, Anna L

2018-05-01

This study aimed to investigate the effects of long-term exposure to road traffic noise and air pollution on incident cardiovascular disease (CVD) in three large cohorts: HUNT, EPIC-Oxford and UK Biobank. In pooled complete-case sample of the three cohorts from Norway and the United Kingdom (N = 355,732), 21,081 incident all CVD cases including 5259 ischemic heart disease (IHD) and 2871 cerebrovascular cases were ascertained between baseline (1993-2010) and end of follow-up (2008-2013) through medical record linkage. Annual mean 24-hour weighted road traffic noise (Lden) and air pollution (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 10 μm [PM10], ≤2.5 μm [PM2.5] and nitrogen dioxide [NO2]) exposure at baseline address was modelled using a simplified version of the Common Noise Assessment Methods in Europe (CNOSSOS-EU) and European-wide Land Use Regression models. Individual-level covariate data were harmonised and physically pooled across the three cohorts. Analysis was via Cox proportional hazard model with mutual adjustments for both noise and air pollution and potential confounders. No significant associations were found between annual mean Lden and incident CVD, IHD or cerebrovascular disease in the overall population except that the association with incident IHD was significant among current-smokers. In the fully adjusted models including adjustment for Lden, an interquartile range (IQR) higher PM10 (4.1 μg/m3) or PM2.5 (1.4 μg/m3) was associated with a 5.8% (95%CI: 2.5%-9.3%) and 3.7% (95%CI: 0.2%-7.4%) higher risk for all incident CVD respectively. No significant associations were found between NO2 and any of the CVD outcomes. We found suggestive evidence of a possible association between road traffic noise and incident IHD, consistent with current literature. Long-term particulate air pollution exposure, even at concentrations below current European air quality standards, was significantly associated with incident CVD. Copyright �

Sensitivity of an Integrated Mesoscale Atmosphere and Agriculture Land Modeling System (WRF/CMAQ-EPIC) to MODIS Vegetation and Lightning Assimilation

Science.gov (United States)

Ran, L.; Cooter, E. J.; Gilliam, R. C.; Foroutan, H.; Kang, D.; Appel, W.; Wong, D. C.; Pleim, J. E.; Benson, V.; Pouliot, G.

2017-12-01

The combined meteorology and air quality modeling system composed of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model and Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model is an important decision support tool that is used in research and regulatory decisions related to emissions, meteorology, climate, and chemical transport. The Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) is a cropping model which has long been used in a range of applications related to soil erosion, crop productivity, climate change, and water quality around the world. We have integrated WRF/CMAQ with EPIC using the Fertilizer Emission Scenario Tool for CMAQ (FEST-C) to estimate daily soil N information with fertilization for CMAQ bi-directional ammonia flux modeling. Driven by the weather and N deposition from WRF/CMAQ, FEST-C EPIC simulations are conducted on 22 different agricultural production systems ranging from managed grass lands (e.g. hay and alfalfa) to crop lands (e.g. corn grain and soybean) with rainfed and irrigated information across any defined conterminous United States (U.S.) CMAQ domain and grid resolution. In recent years, this integrated system has been enhanced and applied in many different air quality and ecosystem assessment projects related to land-water-atmosphere interactions. These enhancements have advanced this system to become a valuable tool for integrated assessments of air, land and water quality in light of social drivers and human and ecological outcomes. This presentation will focus on evaluating the sensitivity of precipitation and N deposition in the integrated system to MODIS vegetation input and lightning assimilation and their impacts on agricultural production and fertilization. We will describe the integrated modeling system and evaluate simulated precipitation and N deposition along with other weather information (e.g. temperature, humidity) for 2011 over the conterminous U.S. at 12 km grids from a coupled WRF/CMAQ with MODIS and lightning assimilation

Transitions in pregnancy planning in women recruited for a large prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Luderer, U; Li, T; Fine, J P; Hamman, R F; Stanford, J B; Baker, D

2017-06-01

Do the rates at which women transition among different intensities of pregnancy planning vary with age, marital status and race/ethnicity? Rates of transition from low or moderate pregnancy probability groups (PPGs) to higher PPGs vary by age, marital status and race/ethnicity. The design of prospective studies of the effects of pre- and peri-conception exposures on fecundity, pregnancy and children's health is challenging because at any specific time only a small percentage of reproductive age women is attempting to conceive. To our knowledge, there has been no population-based, prospective study that repeatedly assessed pregnancy planning, which included women who were not already planning pregnancy at enrollment and whose ages spanned the female reproductive age range. A longitudinal study was carried out that repeatedly assessed pregnancy probability in 12 916 women for up to 21 months from January 2009 to September 2010. We analyzed data from the National Children's Study Vanguard Study, a pilot study for a large-scale epidemiological birth cohort study of children and their parents. During the Vanguard Study, investigators followed population-based samples of reproductive age women in each of seven geographically dispersed and diverse study locations over time to identify when they sought to become pregnant, providing a unique opportunity to prospectively assess changes in pregnancy planning in a large sample of US women. At study entry and each follow-up contact, which occurred at 1, 3 or 6 month intervals depending on PPG, a questionnaire was used to assess behavior dimensions of pregnancy planning to assign women to low, moderate, high non-tryer and high tryer PPGs. Crude rates of pregnancy increased with higher assigned PPG, validating the utility of the instrument. The initial PPG and probabilities of transitioning from low or moderate PPG to higher PPG or pregnancy varied with age, marital status and race/ethnicity. Women aged 25 to planning behavior in

EPICS based DAQ system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng Weixing; Chen Yongzhong; Zhou Weimin; Ye Kairong; Liu Dekang

2002-01-01

EPICS is the most popular developing platform to build control system and beam diagnostic system in modern physics experiment facilities. An EPICS based data acquisition system was built in Redhat 6.2 operation system. The system is successfully used in the beam position monitor mapping, it improves the mapping process a lot

The Netherlands Cohort Study−Meat Investigation Cohort; a population-based cohort over-represented with vegetarians, pescetarians and low meat consumers.

Science.gov (United States)

Gilsing, Anne M J; Weijenberg, Matty P; Goldbohm, R Alexandra; Dagnelie, Pieter C; van den Brandt, Piet A; Schouten, Leo J

2013-11-29

Vegetarian diets have been associated with lower risk of chronic disease, but little is known about the health effects of low meat diets and the reliability of self-reported vegetarian status. We aimed to establish an analytical cohort over-represented with vegetarians, pescetarians and 1 day/week meat consumers, and to describe their lifestyle and dietary characteristics. In addition, we were able to compare self-reported vegetarians with vegetarians whose status has been confirmed by their response on the extensive food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Embedded within the Netherlands Cohort Study (n = 120,852; including 1150 self-reported vegetarians), the NLCS-Meat Investigation Cohort (NLCS-MIC) was defined by combining all FFQ-confirmed-vegetarians (n = 702), pescetarians (n = 394), and 1 day/week meat consumers (n = 1,396) from the total cohort with a random sample of 2-5 days/week- and 6-7 days/week meat consumers (n = 2,965 and 5,648, respectively). Vegetarians, pescetarians, and 1 day/week meat consumers had more favorable dietary intakes (e.g., higher fiber/vegetables) and lifestyle characteristics (e.g. lower smoking rates) compared to regular meat consumers in both sexes. Vegetarians adhered to their diet longer than pescetarians and 1 day/week meat consumers. 75% of vegetarians with a prevalent cancer at baseline had changed to this diet after diagnosis. 50% of self-reported vegetarians reported meat or fish consumption on the FFQ. Although the misclassification that occurred in terms of diet and lifestyle when merely relying on self-reporting was relatively small, the impact on associations with disease risk remains to be studied. We established an analytical cohort over-represented with persons at the lower end of the meat consumption spectrum which should facilitate prospective studies of major cancers and causes of death using ≥20.3 years of follow-up.

77 FR 73655 - Epic Marketplace, Inc., and Epic Media Group, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-11

... action or make final the agreement's proposed order. Epic Marketplace, Inc. (``Epic'') is an advertising company that engages in online behavioral advertising, which is the practice of tracking a consumer's online activities in order to deliver advertising targeted to the consumer's interests. Epic is a wholly...

Psychosocial work conditions and registered sickness absence : a 3-year prospective cohort study among office employees

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelen, C. A. M.; Koopmans, P. C.; Bultmann, U.; Groothoff, J. W.; van der Klink, J. J. L.

2009-01-01

Purpose To investigate associations between a wide variety of psychosocial work conditions and sickness absence in a medium-sized company. Methods Prospective cohort study of 395 employees working in an insurance office. Self-reported psychosocial work conditions were measured by questionnaire in

A prospective cohort study on intake of retinol, vitamins C and E and carotenoids and prostate cancer risk (Netherlands)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schuurman, A.G.; Goldbohm, R.A.; Brants, H.A.M.; Brandt, P.A. van den

2002-01-01

Objectives: The roles of retinol, vitamins C and E, and carotenoids as risk factors for prostate carcinoma are still questionable. We evaluated these in the Netherlands Cohort Study. Methods: The cohort study consisted of 58,279 men ages 55-69 years at baseline in 1986. After 6.3 years of follow-up,

Validation of the prognostic gene portfolio, ClinicoMolecular Triad Classification, using an independent prospective breast cancer cohort and external patient populations

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Introduction Using genome-wide expression profiles of a prospective training cohort of breast cancer patients, ClinicoMolecular Triad Classification (CMTC) was recently developed to classify breast cancers into three clinically relevant groups to aid treatment decisions. CMTC was found to be both prognostic and predictive in a large external breast cancer cohort in that study. This study serves to validate the reproducibility of CMTC and its prognostic value using independent patient cohorts. Methods An independent internal cohort (n = 284) and a new external cohort (n = 2,181) were used to validate the association of CMTC between clinicopathological factors, 12 known gene signatures, two molecular subtype classifiers, and 19 oncogenic signalling pathway activities, and to reproduce the abilities of CMTC to predict clinical outcomes of breast cancer. In addition, we also updated the outcome data of the original training cohort (n = 147). Results The original training cohort reached a statistically significant difference (p risk groups. Conclusions Both prospective internal cohorts and the independent external cohorts reproduced the triad classification of CMTC and its prognostic significance. CMTC is an independent prognostic predictor, and it outperformed 12 other known prognostic gene signatures, molecular subtype classifications, and all other standard prognostic clinicopathological factors. Our results support further development of CMTC portfolio into a guide for personalized breast cancer treatments. PMID:24996446

Locoregional first recurrence after mastectomy: prospective cohort studies with and without immediate chemotherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haylock, Brian J.; Coppin, Chris M.L.; Jackson, Jeremy; Basco, Vivien E.; Wilson, Kenneth S.

2000-01-01

Purpose: To evaluate prospectively the impact of combination chemotherapy in the combined modality treatment of isolated first locoregional recurrence (LRR) following mastectomy for breast cancer. Methods and Materials: Between 1979 and 1989, 120 chemotherapy-naive women with isolated LRR as first failure after mastectomy were prospectively identified, uniformly staged, and systematically followed. Treatment consisted of excision if feasible, radical locoregional radiotherapy, and a hormonal maneuver (unless estrogen receptor negative). The initial chemotherapy cohort also received 8 cycles of doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide. This was compared to a subsequent control cohort. Results: For all patients, the 10-year actuarial relapse-free survival ± 95% confidence interval was 42.1 ± 9.2%, and overall survival was 56.8 ± 9.1%. No difference was seen in locoregional control between cohorts. At 5 years, distant recurrence-free survival for chemotherapy and control cohort respectively was 75.4 ± 10.8% and 60.7 ±12.5% (p = 0.33) and overall survival was 81.9% ± 9.6 and 74.3% ± 11.2 (p = 0.24). Univariate analysis showed no prognostic importance for any imbalance between cohorts. Cox modeling confirmed that complete resection was strongly associated with fewer LRR (hazard ratio [HR] 0.32, p = 0.001) and also with better overall survival (HR 1.82, p = 0.019). Chemotherapy produced a substantial reduction in risk of death (HR 0.72 CI 0.421-1.235, p = 0.23). Conclusions: In this prospective but nonrandomized study of treatment for first LRR, the risk of death in the later control cohort was 1.39 times the risk in the chemotherapy cohort but failed to reach statistical significance. The results justify further study

Effectiveness of the Surgery Core Clerkship Flipped Classroom: a prospective cohort trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Liebert, Cara A; Lin, Dana T; Mazer, Laura M; Bereknyei, Sylvia; Lau, James N

2016-02-01

The flipped classroom has been proposed as an alternative curricular approach to traditional didactic lectures but has not been previously applied to a surgery clerkship. A 1-year prospective cohort of students (n = 89) enrolled in the surgery clerkship was taught using a flipped classroom approach. A historical cohort of students (n = 92) taught with a traditional lecture curriculum was used for comparison. Pretest and post-test performance, end-of-clerkship surveys, and National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) scores were analyzed to assess effectiveness. Mean pretest and post-test scores increased across all modules (P flipped classroom contributed to this increase. Implementation of a flipped classroom in the surgery clerkship is feasible and results in high learner satisfaction, effective knowledge acquisition, and increased career interest in surgery with noninferior NBME performance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EPICS system: RSX implementation issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lahey, T.E.; Bartlett, J.F.; Bobbitt, J.S.; Kramper, B.J.; MacKinnon, B.A.; West, R.E.

1984-02-01

This paper presents implementation details of the Experimental Physics Interactive Control System (EPICS). EPICS is used to control accelerated particle beams for high-energy physics experiments at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The topics discussed are: interprocessor communication, support of beamline terminals and devices, resource management, mapping, various problems, some solutions to the problems, performance measurement, and modifications and extensions to RSX-11M. This paper is the third of three related papers on the EPICS system. The other two cover (1) the system overview and (2) the system structure and user interface

Relationship Between Prehypertension/Hypertension and Periodontal Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kawabata, Yuya; Ekuni, Daisuke; Miyai, Hisataka; Kataoka, Kota; Yamane, Mayu; Mizutani, Shinsuke; Irie, Koichiro; Azuma, Tetsuji; Tomofuji, Takaaki; Iwasaki, Yoshiaki; Morita, Manabu

2016-03-01

Most cross-sectional studies have found a significant positive relationship between periodontal disease and prehypertension/hypertension. However, these studies had limitations and there are few prospective cohort studies in young adults. The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to investigate whether periodontal disease was related to prehypertension/hypertension in Japanese university students. Students (n = 2,588), who underwent health examinations before entering university and before graduation, were included in the analysis. The association between periodontal disease such as the percentage of bleeding on probing (BOP) and community periodontal index (CPI) scores, and change in blood pressure status was determined. At the reexamination, the numbers of participants with prehypertension (systolic blood pressure 120-139mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure 80-89mm Hg) and hypertension (≥140/90mm Hg) were 882 (34.1%) and 109 (4.2%), respectively. In a logistic regression model, the risk of hypertension was significantly associated with male (odds ratio (OR): 6.31; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.63-15.13; P periodontal disease defined as the presence of both probing pocket depth (PPD) ≥ 4mm and BOP ≥ 30% at baseline (OR: 2.74; 95% CI: 1.19-6.29; P = 0.02) in participants with prehypertension at baseline. On the other hand, the risk of prehypertension was not associated with presence of periodontal disease (OR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.51-1.70; P = 0.82). In the short-term prospective cohort study, a significant association between presence of periodontal disease and hypertension was observed in Japanese university students. © American Journal of Hypertension, Ltd 2015. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Prospective cohort study on surgical wounds comparing a polyhexanide-containing biocellulose dressing with a dialkyl-carbamoyl-chloride-containing hydrophobic dressing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Anna Marie; Andriessen, Anneke

2012-01-01

Postsurgery dressing changes in diabetic foot amputation wounds and surgical wounds healing by secondary intention are often conducted in the operating room under general anesthesia. A prospective comparative cohort study was performed in 60 patients (n = 60: n = 30/n = 30) with secondary...

Weight at birth and subsequent fecundability: a prospective cohort study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Cathrine Wildenschild; Hammerich Riis, Anders; Ehrenstein, Vera

2014-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between a woman's birth weight and her subsequent fecundability. METHOD: In this prospective cohort study, we included 2,773 Danish pregnancy planners enrolled in the internet-based cohort study "Snart-Gravid", conducted during 2007-2012. Participants were 18...

Cohort profile: LIFEWORK, a prospective cohort study on occupational and environmental risk factors and health in the Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reedijk, M.; Lenters, V.; Slottje, P.; Pijpe, A.; Peeters, P.H.; Korevaar, J.C.; Bueno-de-Mesquita, B.; Verschuren, W.M.M.; Verheij, R.A.; Pieterson, I.; Leeuwen, F.E. van; Rookus, M.A.; Kromhout, H.; Vermeulen, R.C.H.

2017-01-01

Purpose LIFEWORK is a large federated prospective cohort established in the Netherlands to quantify the health effects of occupational and environmental exposures. This cohort is also the Dutch contribution to the international Cohort Study of Mobile Phone Use and Health (COSMOS). In this paper, we

The implement of the interface between EPICS and LabVIEW

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Jia; Wang Chunhong

2009-01-01

The control system of BEPCII (Beijing Electron Positron Collider) is based on EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). LabVIEW is often used to develop data acquisition system on Windows platform. EPICS IOC version 3.14 or later, can be currently running on windows. The SharedMemory developed by SNS (Spallation Neutron Source) can implement the interface between Windows IOC and LabVIEW. The paper describes the method how to use SharedMemory and a application of magnet measurement system, so that LabVIEW and EPICS can share data each other. (authors)

Nutrition, hormones and prostate cancer risk: results from the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition.

Science.gov (United States)

Key, Timothy J

2014-01-01

Nutritional factors may influence the risk of developing prostate cancer, but understanding of this topic is poor. This chapter discusses research on this subject, mostly from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), a cohort which includes 150,000 men recruited in the 1990s in eight European countries. So far the EPIC collaborators have published analyses of the relationship of prostate cancer risk with the intake of a range of foods and nutrients, and with blood-based markers of nutritional factors, on up to nearly 3,000 incident cases of prostate cancer. Most of the results of these analyses have been null, with no clear indication that the risk for prostate cancer is related to intakes of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, fibre, fat or alcohol or with blood levels of fatty acids, carotenoids, tocopherols, B vitamins, vitamin D, or selenium. There is some evidence from EPIC that risk may be increased in men with a high intake of protein from dairy products, and analyses of hormone levels have shown that risk is higher in men with relatively high blood levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). More research is needed to better describe the relationships of prostate cancer risk with IGF-I and related hormones, and to better understand whether nutritional factors may influence risk through hormones or perhaps by other mechanisms.

Dietary patterns and risk of colorectal tumors: a cohort of French women of the National Education System (E3N)

OpenAIRE

Kesse, Emmanuelle; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine

2006-01-01

Little is known about the dietary patterns associated with colorectal tumors along the adenoma-carcinoma sequence. Scores for dietary patterns were obtained by factor analysis in women from the French cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (1993-2000). Their association with colorectal tumors was investigated in 516 adenoma cases (175 high-risk adenomas) and 4,804 polyp-free women and in 172 colorectal cancer cases and 67,312 cancer-free women. The authors ...

EPIC: an Error Propagation/Inquiry Code

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baker, A.L.

1985-01-01

The use of a computer program EPIC (Error Propagation/Inquiry Code) will be discussed. EPIC calculates the variance of a materials balance closed about a materials balance area (MBA) in a processing plant operated under steady-state conditions. It was designed for use in evaluating the significance of inventory differences in the Department of Energy (DOE) nuclear plants. EPIC rapidly estimates the variance of a materials balance using average plant operating data. The intent is to learn as much as possible about problem areas in a process with simple straightforward calculations assuming a process is running in a steady-state mode. EPIC is designed to be used by plant personnel or others with little computer background. However, the user should be knowledgeable about measurement errors in the system being evaluated and have a limited knowledge of how error terms are combined in error propagation analyses. EPIC contains six variance equations; the appropriate equation is used to calculate the variance at each measurement point. After all of these variances are calculated, the total variance for the MBA is calculated using a simple algebraic sum of variances. The EPIC code runs on any computer that accepts a standard form of the BASIC language. 2 refs., 1 fig., 6 tabs

Laboratory Instrumentation Design Research for Scalable Next Generation Epitaxy: Non-Equilibrium Wide Application Epitaxial Patterning by Intelligent Control (NEW-EPIC). Volume 1. 3D Composition/Doping Control via Micromiror Patterned Deep UV Photodesorption: Revolutionary in situ Characterization/Control

Science.gov (United States)

2009-02-19

34 (to be submitted to APL) " Positron Annihilation Spectroscopy of Annealed and As-grown Be-doped GaN" (to be submitted to APL - delayed by the...WIDE APPLICATION EPITAXIAL PATTERNING BY INTELLIGENT CONTROL (NEW-EPIC) 6. AUTHOR(S) DRS DOOLITTILE, FRAZIER, BURNHAM, PRITCHETT, BILLINGSLEY...NEXT GENERATION EPITAXY: NON-EQUILIBRIUM WIDE APPLICATION EPITAXIAL PATTERNING BY INTELLIGENT CONTROL (NEW-EPIC) VOLUME I 3D COMPOSITION/DOPING

Determinants of non-vaccination against pandemic 2009 H1N1 influenza in pregnant women: a prospective cohort study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Romain Freund

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: In October 2009, the French government organized a national-wide, free of charge vaccination campaign against pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, especially targeting pregnant women, a high risk group for severe illness. The study objective was to evaluate pandemic flu vaccine uptake and factors associated with non-vaccination in a population of pregnant women. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In a prospective cohort conducted in 3 maternity hospitals in Paris, 882 pregnant women were randomly included between October 12, 2009 and February 3, 2010, with the aim to study characteristics of pandemic influenza during pregnancy. At inclusion, socio-demographic, medical, obstetrical factors and those associated with a higher risk of flu exposition and disease-spreading were systematically collected. Pandemic flu vaccine uptake was checked until delivery. 555 (62.9% women did not get vaccinated. Determinants associated with non-vaccination in a multivariate logistic regression were: geographic origin (Sub-Saharan African origin, adjusted Odd Ratio aOR = 5.4[2.3-12.7], North African origin, aOR = 2.5[1.3-4.7] and Asian origin, aOR = 2.1[1.7-2.6] compared to French and European origin and socio-professional categories (farmers, craftsmen and tradesmen, aOR = 2.3[2.0-2.6], intermediate professionals, aOR = 1.3[1.0-1.6], employees and manual workers, aOR = 2.5[1.4-4.4] compared to managers and intellectual professionals. The probability of not receiving pandemic flu vaccine was lower among women vaccinated against seasonal flu in the previous 5 years (aOR = 0.6[0.4-0.8] and among those who stopped smoking before or early during pregnancy (aOR = 0.6[0.4-0.8]. Number of children less than 18 years old living at home, work in contact with children or in healthcare area, or professional contact with the public, were not associated with a higher vaccine uptake. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: In this cohort of pregnant women, vaccine coverage against pandemic

Study on managing EPICS database using ORACLE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Shu; Wang Chunhong; Zhao Jijiu

2007-01-01

EPICS is used as a development toolkit of BEPCII control system. The core of EPICS is a distributed database residing in front-end machines. The distributed database is usually created by tools such as VDCT and text editor in the host, then loaded to front-end target IOCs through the network. In BEPCII control system there are about 20,000 signals, which are distributed in more than 20 IOCs. All the databases are developed by device control engineers using VDCT or text editor. There's no uniform tools providing transparent management. The paper firstly presents the current status on EPICS database management issues in many labs. Secondly, it studies EPICS database and the interface between ORACLE and EPICS database. finally, it introduces the software development and application is BEPCII control system. (authors)

Prospective validation of a prognostic model for respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis in late preterm infants: a multicenter birth cohort study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maarten O Blanken

Full Text Available This study aimed to update and validate a prediction rule for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV hospitalization in preterm infants 33-35 weeks gestational age (WGA.The RISK study consisted of 2 multicenter prospective birth cohorts in 41 hospitals. Risk factors were assessed at birth among healthy preterm infants 33-35 WGA. All hospitalizations for respiratory tract infection were screened for proven RSV infection by immunofluorescence or polymerase chain reaction. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to update an existing prediction model in the derivation cohort (n = 1,227. In the validation cohort (n = 1,194, predicted versus actual RSV hospitalization rates were compared to determine validity of the model.RSV hospitalization risk in both cohorts was comparable (5.7% versus 4.9%. In the derivation cohort, a prediction rule to determine probability of RSV hospitalization was developed using 4 predictors: family atopy (OR 1.9; 95%CI, 1.1-3.2, birth period (OR 2.6; 1.6-4.2, breastfeeding (OR 1.7; 1.0-2.7 and siblings or daycare attendance (OR 4.7; 1.7-13.1. The model showed good discrimination (c-statistic 0.703; 0.64-0.76, 0.702 after bootstrapping. External validation showed good discrimination and calibration (c-statistic 0.678; 0.61-0.74.Our prospectively validated prediction rule identifies infants at increased RSV hospitalization risk, who may benefit from targeted preventive interventions. This prediction rule can facilitate country-specific, cost-effective use of RSV prophylaxis in late preterm infants.

The association between dietary energy density and type 2 diabetes in Europe: results from the EPIC-InterAct Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saskia W van den Berg

Full Text Available Observational studies implicate higher dietary energy density (DED as a potential risk factor for weight gain and obesity. It has been hypothesized that DED may also be associated with risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D, but limited evidence exists. Therefore, we investigated the association between DED and risk of T2D in a large prospective study with heterogeneity of dietary intake.A case-cohort study was nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC study of 340,234 participants contributing 3.99 million person years of follow-up, identifying 12,403 incident diabetes cases and a random subcohort of 16,835 individuals from 8 European countries. DED was calculated as energy (kcal from foods (except beverages divided by the weight (gram of foods estimated from dietary questionnaires. Prentice-weighted Cox proportional hazard regression models were fitted by country. Risk estimates were pooled by random effects meta-analysis and heterogeneity was evaluated. Estimated mean (sd DED was 1.5 (0.3 kcal/g among cases and subcohort members, varying across countries (range 1.4-1.7 kcal/g. After adjustment for age, sex, smoking, physical activity, alcohol intake, energy intake from beverages and misreporting of dietary intake, no association was observed between DED and T2D (HR 1.02 (95% CI: 0.93-1.13, which was consistent across countries (I(2 = 2.9%.In this large European case-cohort study no association between DED of solid and semi-solid foods and risk of T2D was observed. However, despite the fact that there currently is no conclusive evidence for an association between DED and T2DM risk, choosing low energy dense foods should be promoted as they support current WHO recommendations to prevent chronic diseases.

EPICS-based control and data acquisition for the APS slope profiler (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Sullivan, Joseph; Assoufid, Lahsen; Qian, Jun; Jemian, Peter R.; Mooney, Tim; Rivers, Mark L.; Goetze, Kurt; Sluiter, Ronald L.; Lang, Keenan

2016-09-01

The motion control, data acquisition and analysis system for APS Slope Measuring Profiler was implemented using the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). EPICS was designed as a framework with software tools and applications that provide a software infrastructure used in building distributed control systems to operate devices such as particle accelerators, large experiments and major telescopes. EPICS was chosen to implement the APS Slope Measuring Profiler because it is also applicable to single purpose systems. The control and data handling capability available in the EPICS framework provides the basic functionality needed for high precision X-ray mirror measurement. Those built in capabilities include hardware integration of high-performance motion control systems (3-axis gantry and tip-tilt stages), mirror measurement devices (autocollimator, laser spot camera) and temperature sensors. Scanning the mirror and taking measurements was accomplished with an EPICS feature (the sscan record) which synchronizes motor positioning with measurement triggers and data storage. Various mirror scanning modes were automatically configured using EPICS built-in scripting. EPICS tools also provide low-level image processing (areaDetector). Operation screens were created using EPICS-aware GUI screen development tools.

Lower educational level is a predictor of incident type 2 diabetes in European countries: the EPIC-InterAct study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sacerdote, Carlotta; Ricceri, Fulvio; Rolandsson, Olov; Baldi, Ileana; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Feskens, Edith; Bendinelli, Benedetta; Ardanaz, Eva; Arriola, Larraitz; Balkau, Beverley; Bergmann, Manuela; Beulens, Joline W J; Boeing, Heiner; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Crowe, Francesca; de Lauzon-Guillain, Blandine; Forouhi, Nita; Franks, Paul W; Gallo, Valentina; Gonzalez, Carlos; Halkjær, Jytte; Illner, Anne-Kathrin; Kaaks, Rudolf; Key, Timothy; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Navarro, Carmen; Nilsson, Peter M; Dal Ton, Susanne Oksbjerg; Overvad, Kim; Pala, Valeria; Palli, Domenico; Panico, Salvatore; Polidoro, Silvia; Quirós, J Ramón; Romieu, Isabelle; Sánchez, María-José; Slimani, Nadia; Sluijs, Ivonne; Spijkerman, Annemieke; Teucher, Birgit; Tjønneland, Anne; Tumino, Rosario; van der A, Daphne; Vergnaud, Anne-Claire; Wennberg, Patrik; Sharp, Stephen; Langenberg, Claudia; Riboli, Elio; Vineis, Paolo; Wareham, Nicholas

2012-08-01

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide. In high-income countries, low socioeconomic status seems to be related to a high incidence of T2DM, but very little is known about the intermediate factors of this relationship. Method We performed a case-cohort study in eight Western European countries nested in the EPIC study (n = 340, 234, 3.99 million person-years of follow-up). A random sub-cohort of 16,835 individuals and a total of 12,403 incident cases of T2DM were identified. Crude and multivariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) were estimated for each country and pooled across countries using meta-analytical methods. Age-, gender- and country-specific relative indices of inequality (RII) were used as the measure of educational level and RII tertiles were analysed. Compared with participants with a high educational level (RII tertile 1), participants with a low educational level (RII tertile 3) had a higher risk of T2DM [HR: 1.77, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.69-1.85; P-trend level and risk of T2DM that is only partially explained by variations in BMI.

Mediterranean Style Diet and 12-Year Incidence of Cardiovascular Diseases: The Epic-NL Cohort Stusy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoevenaar-Blom, M.P.; Nooyens, A.J.C.; Kromhout, D.; Spijkerman, A.M.W.; Beulens, W.J.; Schouw, van der Y.T.; Bueno-de-Mesquita4, B.; Verschuren, W.M.M.

2012-01-01

Background: A recent meta-analysis showed that a Mediterranean style diet may protect against cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Studies on disease-specific associations are limited. We evaluated the Mediterranean Diet Score (MDS) in relation to incidence of total and specific CVDs. Methods: The EPIC-NL

EPICS system: system structure and user interface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, R.E.; Bartlett, J.F.; Bobbitt, J.S.; Lahey, T.E.; Kramper, B.J.; MacKinnon, B.A.

1984-02-01

This paper present the user's view of and the general organization of the EPICS control system at Fermilab. Various subsystems of the EPICS control system are discussed. These include the user command language, software protection, the device database, remote computer interfaces, and several application utilities. This paper is related to two other papers on EPICS: an overview paper and a detailed implementation paper

Methylmercury Exposure and Incident Diabetes in U.S. Men and Women in Two Prospective Cohorts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mozaffarian, Dariush; Shi, Peilin; Morris, J Steven

2013-01-01

compared, and in analyses stratified by fish or omega-3 consumption, BMI, and age.CONCLUSIONSThese findings from two separate large prospective cohorts do not support adverse effects of methylmercury on development of diabetes in men or women at usual levels of exposure seen in these populations.......OBJECTIVEEmerging in vitro and animal evidence suggests that methylmercury could increase type 2 diabetes, but little evidence exists in humans. We aimed to prospectively determine associations of mercury exposure, as assessed by biomarker measurement, with incident diabetes.RESEARCH DESIGN...... AND METHODSWe used neutron activation analysis to measure toenail mercury, an objective biomarker of methylmercury exposure, in 9,267 adults free of diabetes at baseline in two separate U.S. prospective cohorts. Incident diabetes was identified from biennial questionnaires and confirmed by validated...

Three Object-Oriented enhancement for EPICS

Science.gov (United States)

Osberg, E. A.; Dohan, D. A.; Richter, R.; Biggs, R.; Chillara, K.; Wade, D.; Bossom, J.

1994-12-01

In line with our group's intention of producing software using, where possible, Object-Oriented methodologies and techniques in the development of RF control systems, we have undertaken three projects to enhance the EPICS software environment. Two of the projects involve interfaces to EPICs Channel Access from Object-Oriented languages. The third is an enhancement to the EPICS State Notation Language to better support the Shlaer-Mellor Object-Oriented Analysis and Design Methodology. This paper discusses the motivation, approaches, results and future directions of these three projects.

EPICS IOC development on open source RTEMS RTOS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bharade, S.K.; Joshi, Gopal; Das, D.

2015-01-01

Modern control systems applications are often built on top of a real time operating system. At LEHIPA beamlines, open source control systems offer a modem solution for cost effectiveness and technical competence. The 'Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System' (EPICS) and the 'Real-Time Operating System for Multiprocessor Systems' (RTEMS) were chosen to develop the core control system. Presently, the EPICS/RTEMS/MVME5500 control system is implemented for RF Protection Interlock system and BPM. This paper shares an experience of building RTEMS for MVME5500, configuring and run EPICS for RTEMS-MVME5500 architecture. It further shows EPICS bench marking results using EPICS catime and hamesstest utilities for this architecture. (author)

Body size accounts for most differences in bone density between Asian and Caucasian women. The EPIC (Early Postmenopausal Interventional Cohort) Study Group

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ross, P D; He, Y; Yates, A J

1996-01-01

We compared bone mineral density (BMD) of the whole body (and subregions: arm, leg, and pelvis), hip, spine, lateral spine, wrist, and forearm among Caucasian and Asian women at four geographic centers (Honolulu, HI; Nottingham, UK; Portland, OR; Copenhagen, Denmark). Data were derived from...... the baseline examination of 1367 Caucasian and 162 Asian women enrolled in the 1609-subject Early Postmenopausal Interventional Cohort (EPIC) study. After adjusting for age, study site, years postmenopause, and years of estrogen use, BMD was approximately 4-6% lower (P Asian women at most...... skeletal sites, but there was no significant difference for wrist or forearm BMD. Adding height, lean body mass, fat mass, and/or quadriceps muscle strength to the regression models reduced the racial differences at most skeletal sites; after these additional adjustments, Asian women had significantly...

Health-related quality of life using SF-8 and EPIC questionnaires after treatment with radical retropubic prostatectomy and permanent prostate brachytherapy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashine, Katsuyoshi; Kusuhara, Yoshito; Miura, Noriyoshi; Shirato, Akitomi; Sumiyoshi, Yoshiteru; Kataoka, Masaaki

2009-01-01

The health-related quality of life (HRQOL) after treatment of prostate cancer is examined using a new HRQOL tool. HRQOL, based on the expanded prostate cancer index composite (EPIC) and SF-8 questionnaires, was prospectively compared after either a radical retropubic prostatectomy (RRP) or a permanent prostate brachytherapy (PPB) at a single institute. Between October 2005 and June 2007, 96 patients were treated by an RRP and 88 patients were treated by a PPB. A HRQOL survey was completed at baseline, and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after treatment, prospectively. The general HRQOL in the RRP and PPB groups was not different after 3 months. However, at baseline and 1 month after treatment, the mental component summary was significantly better in the PPB group than in the RRP group. Moreover, the disease-specific HRQOL was worse regarding urinary and sexual functions in the RRP group. Urinary irritative/obstructive was worse in the PPB group, but urinary incontinence was worse in the RRP group and had not recovered to baseline after 12 months. The bowel function and bother were worse in the PPB group than in the RRP group after 3 months. In the RRP group, the patients with nerve sparing demonstrated the same scores in sexual function as the PPB group. This prospective study revealed the differences in the HRQOL after an RRP and PPB. Disease-specific HRQOL is clarified by using EPIC survey. These results will be helpful for making treatment decisions. (author)

The German version of the Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC): translation, validation and minimal important difference estimation.

Science.gov (United States)

Umbehr, Martin H; Bachmann, Lucas M; Poyet, Cedric; Hammerer, Peter; Steurer, Johann; Puhan, Milo A; Frei, Anja

2018-02-20

No official German translation exists for the 50-item Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC), and no minimal important difference (MID) has been established yet. The aim of the study was to translate and validate a German version of the EPIC with cultural adaptation to the different German speaking countries and to establish the MID. We translated and culturally adapted the EPIC into German. For validation, we included a consecutive subsample of 92 patients with localized prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy who participated the Prostate Cancer Outcomes Cohort. Baseline and follow-up assessments took place before and six weeks after prostatectomy in 2010 and 2011. We assessed the EPIC, EORTC QLQ-PR25, Feeling Thermometer, SF-36 and a global rating of health state change variable. We calculated the internal consistency, test-retest reliability, construct validity, responsiveness and MID. For most EPIC domains and subscales, our a priori defined criteria for reliability were fulfilled (construct reliability: Cronbach's alpha 0.7-0.9; test-retest reliability: intraclass-correlation coefficient ≥ 0.7). Cross-sectional and longitudinal correlations between EPIC and EORTC QLQ-PR25 domains ranged from 0.14-0.79, and 0.06-0.5 and 0.08-0.72 for Feeling Thermometer and SF-36, respectively. We established MID values of 10, 4, 12, and 6 for the urinary, bowel, sexual and hormonal domain. The German version of the EPIC is reliable, responsive and valid to measure HRQL in prostate cancer patients and is now available in German language. With the suggested MID we provide interpretation to what extent changes in HRQL are clinically relevant for patients. Hence, study results are of interest beyond German speaking countries.

Association of Plasma Phospholipid n-3 and n-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids with Type 2 Diabetes: The EPIC-InterAct Case-Cohort Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Forouhi, N.G.; Imamura, Fumiaki; Sharp, S.J.; Koulman, A.; Schulze, M.B.; Feskens, E.J.M.

2016-01-01

Background
Whether and how n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are related to type 2 diabetes (T2D) is debated. Objectively measured plasma PUFAs can help to clarify these associations.

Methods and Findings
Plasma phospholipid PUFAs were measured by gas chromatography

Association of Plasma Phospholipid n-3 and n-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids with Type 2 Diabetes : The EPIC-InterAct Case-Cohort Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Forouhi, Nita G.; Imamura, Fumiaki; Sharp, Stephen J.; Koulman, Albert; Schulze, Matthias B.; Zheng, Jusheng; Ye, Zheng; Sluijs, Ivonne; Guevara, Marcela; Huerta, José María; Kröger, Janine; Wang, Laura Yun; Summerhill, Keith; Griffin, Julian L.; Feskens, Edith J M; Affret, Aurélie; Amiano, Pilar; Boeing, Heiner; Dow, Courtney; Fagherazzi, Guy; Franks, Paul W.; Gonzalez, Carlos; Kaaks, Rudolf; Key, Timothy J.; Khaw, Kay Tee; Kühn, Tilman; Mortensen, Lotte Maxild; Nilsson, Peter M.; Overvad, Kim; Pala, Valeria; Palli, Domenico; Panico, Salvatore; Quirós, J. Ramón; Rodriguez-Barranco, Miguel; Rolandsson, Olov; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Scalbert, Augustin; Slimani, Nadia; Spijkerman, Annemieke M W; Tjonneland, Anne; Tormo, Maria Jose; Tumino, Rosario; van der A, Daphne L.; van der Schouw, Yvonne T.; Langenberg, Claudia; Riboli, Elio; Wareham, Nicholas J.

2016-01-01

Background: Whether and how n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are related to type 2 diabetes (T2D) is debated. Objectively measured plasma PUFAs can help to clarify these associations. Methods and Findings: Plasma phospholipid PUFAs were measured by gas chromatography among 12,132

Lessons learned enhancing EPICS CA for LANSCE timed and flavored data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, Jeffrey O.

2009-01-01

A previous paper described an upgrade to EPICS enabling client side tools at LANSCE to receive subscription updates filtered selectively to match a logical configuration of LANSCE beam gates, as configured by the control room. The upgrade required fundamental changes in the EPICS core components. First, the event queue in the EPICS server was upgraded to buffer record (function block) and device specific parameters accessed generically via software interfaces for introspection of 3rd party data. In contrast, event queues in previous versions of EPICS were strictly limited to buffering only value, timestamp, and alarm status tuples. Second, the Channel Access server is being upgraded to filter subscription updates. In this follow on paper some necessary design changes mid-project and the lessons learned during the software development will be described.

An EPICS IOC builder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbott, M.G.; Cobb, T.

2012-01-01

An EPICS IOC (Input/Output Controller) is typically assembled from a number of standard components each with potentially quite complex hardware or software initialization procedures intermixed with a good deal of repetitive boiler-plate code. Assembling and maintaining a complex IOC can be a quite difficult and error prone process, particularly if the components are unfamiliar. The EPICS IOC builder is a Python library designed to automate the assembly of a complete IOC from a concise component level description. The dependencies and interactions between components as well as their detailed initialization procedures are automatically managed by the IOC builder through component description files maintained with the individual components. At Diamond Light Source we have a large library of components that can be assembled into EPICS IOCs. The IOC Builder is further finding increasing use in helping non-expert users to assemble an IOC without specialist knowledge. (authors)

The impact of a healthy lifestyle on Disability-Adjusted Life Years: a prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

May, Anne M; Struijk, Ellen A; Fransen, Heidi P; Onland-Moret, N Charlotte; de Wit, G Ardine; Boer, Jolanda M A; van der Schouw, Yvonne T; Hoekstra, Jeljer; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; Peeters, Petra H M; Beulens, Joline W J

2015-02-27

The association between single health behaviours and incidence of and premature mortality from major chronic diseases, including myocardial infarction, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and cancer, has been demonstrated thoroughly. However, the association of several healthy behaviours with Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), which is a measure for total health combining Years Lost due to Disability and the Years of Life Lost due to premature mortality, has not been studied yet. A prospective cohort study was conducted among 33,066 healthy men and women aged 20 to 70 years recruited into the EPIC-NL study during 1993 to 1997. Participants' smoking status, BMI, physical activity, and adherence to a Mediterranean-style diet (excluding alcohol) were investigated separately and combined into a simple health behaviour score ranging from 0 to 4. Participants were followed until the end of 2007 for occurrence of and mortality from the most important chronic diseases. The association between lifestyle (separate lifestyle factors and a simple health behaviour score) and DALYs were adjusted for relevant confounders. After a median follow-up of 12.4 years, 6,647 disease incidences and 1,482 deaths were documented. Non-smoking, low BMI (BMI healthy lifestyle characteristics lived a minimum of 2 years longer in good health (DALYs: -2.13; 95% CI: -2.65 to -1.62) than persons with none. Due to our non-extinct cohort, the total number of DALYs, and consequently the estimates, is underestimated. Therefore, true lifetime health benefits of a healthy lifestyle will be even larger. Non-smoking, a low BMI, being physically active, and adherence to a Mediterranean diet were associated with a lower disease burden. Each additional healthy lifestyle factor contributed to a longer life in good health.

The KSTAR integrated control system based on EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, K.H.; Ju, C.J.; Kim, M.K.; Park, M.K.; Choi, J.W.; Kyum, M.C.; Kwon, M.

2006-01-01

The Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) control system will be developed with several subsystems, which consist of the central control system (e.g. plasma control, machine control, diagnostic control, time synchronization, and interlock systems) and local control systems for various subsystems. We are planning to connect the entire system with several networks, viz. a reflective-memory-based real-time network, an optical timing network, a gigabit Ethernet network for generic machine control, and a storage network. Then it will evolve into a network-based, distributed real-time control system. Thus, we have to consider the standard communication protocols among the subsystems and how to handle the various kinds of hardware in a homogeneous way. To satisfy these requirements, EPICS has been chosen for the KSTAR control. The EPICS framework provides network-based real-time distributed control, operating system independent programming tools, operator interface tools, archiving tools, and interface tools with other commercial and non-commercial software. The most important advantage of the use of the EPICS framework is in providing homogeneity of the system for the control system developer. The developer does not have to be concerned about the specifics of the local system, but can concentrate on the implementation of the control logic with EPICS tools. We will present the details of the integration issues and also will give a brief summary of the entire KSTAR control system from an integration point of view

Irrational Beliefs in Employees with an Adjustment, a Depressive, or an Anxiety Disorder: a Prospective Cohort Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nieuwenhuijsen, Karen; Verbeek, Jos H. A. M.; de Boer, Angela G. E. M.; Blonk, Roland W. B.; van Dijk, Frank J. H.

2010-01-01

It remains unclear if patients with different types of common mental disorders, such as adjustment, anxiety and depressive disorders, have the same irrational ideas. The aim of this prospective cohort study (n = 190) is to investigate differences in level and type of irrational beliefs among these

Irrational beliefs in employees with an adjustment, a depressive, or an anxiety disorder: A prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nieuwenhuijsen, K.; Verbeek, J.H.A.M.; Boer, A.G.E.M. de; Blonk, R.W.B.; Dijk, F.J.H. van

2010-01-01

It remains unclear if patients with different types of common mental disorders, such as adjustment, anxiety and depressive disorders, have the same irrational ideas. The aim of this prospective cohort study (n = 190) is to investigate differences in level and type of irrational beliefs among these

The Korea Nurses' Health Study: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Oksoo; Ahn, Younjhin; Lee, Hea-Young; Jang, Hee Jung; Kim, Sue; Lee, Jung Eun; Jung, Heeja; Cho, Eunyoung; Lim, Joong-Yeon; Kim, Min-Ju; Willett, Walter C; Chavarro, Jorge E; Park, Hyun-Young

2017-08-01

The Korea Nurses' Health Study (KNHS) is a prospective cohort study of female nurses, focusing on the effects of occupational, environmental, and lifestyle risk factors on the health of Korean women. Female registered nurses aged 20-45 years and living in the Republic of Korea were invited to join the study, which began in July 2013. They were asked to complete a web-based baseline survey. The study protocols and questionnaires related to the KNHS are based on the Nurses' Health Study 3 (NHS3) in the United States, although they were modified to reflect the Korean lifestyle. Participants were asked about demographic, lifestyle factors, disease history, occupational exposure, reproductive factors, and dietary habits during their adolescence: Follow-up questionnaires were/will be completed at 6-8 month intervals after the baseline survey. If a participant became pregnant, she answered additional questionnaires containing pregnancy-related information. Among 157,569 eligible female nurses, 20,613 (13.1%) completed the web-based baseline questionnaire. The mean age of the participants was 29.4 ± 5.9 years, and more than half of them were in their 20s. Eighty-eight percent of the participants had worked night shifts as a nurse (mean, 5.3 ± 4.3 nights per month). Approximately 80% of the participants had a body mass index below 23 kg/m 2 . Gastrointestinal diseases were the most prevalent health issues (25.9%). The findings from this prospective cohort study will help to identify the effects of lifestyle-related and occupational factors on reproductive health and development of chronic diseases in Korean women.

Usability of human Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip for mouse DNA methylation studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Needhamsen, Maria; Ewing, Ewoud; Lund, Harald; Gomez-Cabrero, David; Harris, Robert Adam; Kular, Lara; Jagodic, Maja

2017-11-15

The advent of array-based genome-wide DNA methylation methods has enabled quantitative measurement of single CpG methylation status at relatively low cost and sample input. Whereas the use of Infinium Human Methylation BeadChips has shown great utility in clinical studies, no equivalent tool is available for rodent animal samples. We examined the feasibility of using the new Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip for studying DNA methylation in mouse. In silico, we identified 19,420 EPIC probes (referred as mEPIC probes), which align with a unique best alignment score to the bisulfite converted reference mouse genome mm10. Further annotation revealed that 85% of mEPIC probes overlapped with mm10.refSeq genes at different genomic features including promoters (TSS1500 and TSS200), 1st exons, 5'UTRs, 3'UTRs, CpG islands, shores, shelves, open seas and FANTOM5 enhancers. Hybridization of mouse samples to Infinium Human MethylationEPIC BeadChips showed successful measurement of mEPIC probes and reproducibility between inter-array biological replicates. Finally, we demonstrated the utility of mEPIC probes for data exploration such as hierarchical clustering. Given the absence of cost and labor convenient genome-wide technologies in the murine system, our findings show that the Infinium MethylationEPIC BeadChip platform is suitable for investigation of the mouse methylome. Furthermore, we provide the "mEPICmanifest" with genomic features, available to users of Infinium Human MethylationEPIC arrays for mouse samples.

Serum Lipids and Breast Cancer Risk: A Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Haibo Ni

Full Text Available Epidemiologic studies exploring causal associations between serum lipids and breast cancer risk have reported contradictory results. We conducted a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies to evaluate these associations.Relevant studies were identified by searching PubMed and EMBASE through April 2015. We included prospective cohort studies that reported relative risk (RR estimates with 95% confidence intervals (CIs for the associations of specific lipid components (i.e., total cholesterol [TC], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C], low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], and triglycerides [TG] with breast cancer risk. Either a fixed- or a random-effects model was used to calculate pooled RRs.Fifteen prospective cohort studies involving 1,189,635 participants and 23,369 breast cancer cases were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled RRs of breast cancer for the highest versus lowest categories were 0.96 (95% CI: 0.86-1.07 for TC, 0.92 (95% CI: 0.73-1.16 for HDL-C, 0.90 (95% CI: 0.77-1.06 for LDL-C, and 0.93 (95% CI: 0.86-1.00 for TG. Notably, for HDL-C, a significant reduction of breast cancer risk was observed among postmenopausal women (RR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.64-0.93 but not among premenopausal women. Similar trends of the associations were observed in the dose-response analysis.Our findings suggest that serum levels of TG but not TC and LDL-C may be inversely associated with breast cancer risk. Serum HDL-C may also protect against breast carcinogenesis among postmenopausal women.

Relationship of Waist-Hip Ratio and Body Mass Index to Blood ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigated the relationship between two anthropometric measurements for obesity – body mass index (BMI) and ... the physiological and metabolic functions of the body, ..... Norfolk cohort of the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition (EPIC-Norfolk) study. ... Annals of Epidemiology 3, pp.35-.

The Netherlands Cohort Study – Meat Investigation Cohort; a population-based cohort over-represented with vegetarians, pescetarians and low meat consumers

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Vegetarian diets have been associated with lower risk of chronic disease, but little is known about the health effects of low meat diets and the reliability of self-reported vegetarian status. We aimed to establish an analytical cohort over-represented with vegetarians, pescetarians and 1 day/week meat consumers, and to describe their lifestyle and dietary characteristics. In addition, we were able to compare self-reported vegetarians with vegetarians whose status has been confirmed by their response on the extensive food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Study methods Embedded within the Netherlands Cohort Study (n = 120,852; including 1150 self-reported vegetarians), the NLCS-Meat Investigation Cohort (NLCS-MIC) was defined by combining all FFQ-confirmed-vegetarians (n = 702), pescetarians (n = 394), and 1 day/week meat consumers (n = 1,396) from the total cohort with a random sample of 2–5 days/week- and 6–7 days/week meat consumers (n = 2,965 and 5,648, respectively). Results Vegetarians, pescetarians, and 1 day/week meat consumers had more favorable dietary intakes (e.g. higher fiber/vegetables) and lifestyle characteristics (e.g. lower smoking rates) compared to regular meat consumers in both sexes. Vegetarians adhered to their diet longer than pescetarians and 1 day/week meat consumers. 75% of vegetarians with a prevalent cancer at baseline had changed to this diet after diagnosis. 50% of self-reported vegetarians reported meat or fish consumption on the FFQ. Although the misclassification that occurred in terms of diet and lifestyle when merely relying on self-reporting was relatively small, the impact on associations with disease risk remains to be studied. Conclusion We established an analytical cohort over-represented with persons at the lower end of the meat consumption spectrum which should facilitate prospective studies of major cancers and causes of death using ≥20.3 years of follow-up. PMID:24289207

Diversity of dietary patterns observed in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slimani, N.; Fahey, M.; Welch, A.A.

2002-01-01

differences were observed across centres, the countries participating in EPIC are characterised by specific dietary patterns. Overall, Italy and Greece have a dietary pattern characterised by plant foods (except potatoes) and a lower consumption of animal and processed foods, compared with the other EPIC...... countries. France and particularly Spain have more heterogeneous dietary patterns, with a relatively high consumption of both plant foods and animal products. Apart from characteristics specific to vegetarian groups, the UK 'health-conscious' group shares with the UK general population a relatively high...... consumption of tea, sauces, cakes, soft drinks (women), margarine and butter. In contrast, the diet in the Nordic countries, The Netherlands, Germany and the UK general population is relatively high in potatoes and animal, processed and sweetened/refined foods, with proportions varying across countries...

DOE's Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse (EPIC)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Otis, P.T.

1994-05-01

The US Department of Energy's (DOE's) Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse (EPIC) is a computer system intended for the exchange of pollution prevention information DOE-wide. EPIC is being developed as a distributed system that will allow access to other databases and applications. The first prototype of EPIC (Prototype I) was put on-line in January 1994. Prototype I contains information on EM-funded pollution prevention projects; relevant laws, regulations, guidance, and policy; facility and DOE contacts; and meetings and conferences. Prototype I also gives users access to the INEL Hazardous Solvent Substitution Data System (HSSDS) and to information contained on the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPNS) Pollution Prevention Infbrmation Exchange System (PIES) as a test of the distributed system concept. An initial user group of about 35 is testing and providing feedback on Prototype I. Prototype II, with a Graphical User Interface (GUI), is planned for the end of CY94. This paper describes the current state of EPIC in terms of architecture, user interface, and information content. Plans for Prototype II and the final system are then discussed. The EPIC development effort is being coordinated with EPA and US Department of Defense (DoD) efforts to develop or upgrade their pollution prevention information exchange systems

Work Engagement as a Predictor of Onset of Major Depressive Episode (MDE) among Workers, Independent of Psychological Distress: A 3-Year Prospective Cohort Study

OpenAIRE

Imamura, Kotaro; Kawakami, Norito; Inoue, Akiomi; Shimazu, Akihito; Tsutsumi, Akizumi; Takahashi, Masaya; Totsuzaki, Takafumi

2016-01-01

Objective This study investigated work engagement as a baseline predictor of onset of major depressive episode (MDE). Methods The study used a prospective cohort design, conforming to the STROBE checklist. Participants were recruited from the employee population of a private think tank company (N = 4,270), and 1,058 (24.8%) of them completed a baseline survey, of whom 929 were included in this study. Work engagement and psychological distress at baseline were assessed as predictor variables. ...

Unelõiv ja Saarepiiga: Jüri Talveti kirjanduslik "Kalevipoeg" / The Rhisomes of „Kalevipoeg“: Literary Interpretation of the Estonian National Epic by Jüri Talvet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marin Laak

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Teesid: Artikkel keskendub eepose „Kalevipoeg“ käsitlusele võrdleva kirjandusteaduse vaatepunktist. „Kalevipoja“ uurimine ilukirjandusliku teosena muutis paradigmaatiliselt rahvuseepose senist tõlgendust ja seda tänu Jüri Talveti käsitlustele „Kalevipojast“ kui suurest Euroopa eeposest, silmapaistavast maailmakirjanduse kunsteeposte seas. Eepose teksti ja poeetika kirjandusteaduslik uurimine on selgitanud, kuidas eepose tekst on üles ehitatud sisemistele, intratekstuaalsetele seostele, mis korduvad gradatsiooniliselt ja toetuvad teatud kindlatele tekstuaalsetele sõlmpunktidele, näiteks „Saarepiiga“, „uni“ jpt. Enam kui autentsed allikad, on „Kalevipoja“ kui kirjandusliku teksti puhul oluline eepose toimimine pidevalt uusi tekste ärgitava tüvitekstina. Eepose analüüs näitab, kuidas selliste seoste alusel tekivad uued kultuurilised ühikud, kauneid näiteid selliste motiivikordustele rajatud seosteahelate kohta leidub ka Jüri Talveti luules.   The article focuses on the treatment of the epic The Kalevipoeg from the viewpoint of comparative literature. This approach is a continuation of the study of literary relations of the epic which, on the one hand is opposite to, but on the other hand continues the present folkloristic approach to The Kalevipoeg as a folklore-based epic, which is based on the comparative-historical method of studying folklore. F. R. Kreutzwald’s role in creating the national epic was enormous; the epic can be conceived as a fictional and intentional piece, emphasising the role of its author. Although different genres of genuine folklore can be recognised in the epic, works of fiction of European and world classics have also been used in its construction, and the text of the epic has itself become an intertextual foundation for new works of fiction. The paradigm of discussing the epic changed due to Jüri Talvet’s groundbreaking treatment of The Kalevipoeg as a great European epic and

EPICS channel access using websocket

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uchiyama, A.; Furukawa, K.; Higurashi, Y.

2012-01-01

Web technology is useful as a means of widely disseminating accelerator and beam status information. For this purpose, WebOPI was implemented by SNS as a web-based system using Ajax (asynchronous JavaScript and XML) with EPICS. On the other hand, it is often necessary to control the accelerator from different locations as well as the central control room during beam operation and maintenance. However, it is not realistic to replace the GUI-based operator interface (OPI) with a Web-based system using Ajax technology because of interactive performance issue. Therefore, as a next generation OPI over the web using EPICS Channel Access (CA), we developed a client system based on WebSocket, which is a new protocol provided by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) for Web-based systems. WebSocket is a web technology that provides bidirectional, full-duplex communication channels over a single TCP connection. By utilizing Node.js and the WebSocket access library called Socket.IO, a WebSocket server was implemented. Node.js is a server-side JavaScript language built on the Google V8 JavaScript Engine. In order to construct the WebSocket server as an EPICS CA client, an add-on for Node.js was developed in C/C++ using the EPICS CA library, which is included in the EPICS base. As a result, for accelerator operation, Web-based client systems became available not only in the central control room but also with various types of equipment. (author)

Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Incident Ischemic Stroke and Its Atherothrombotic and Cardioembolic Subtypes in 3 US Cohorts.

Science.gov (United States)

Saber, Hamidreza; Yakoob, Mohammad Yawar; Shi, Peilin; Longstreth, W T; Lemaitre, Rozenn N; Siscovick, David; Rexrode, Kathryn M; Willett, Walter C; Mozaffarian, Dariush

2017-10-01

The associations of individual long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids with incident ischemic stroke and its main subtypes are not well established. We aimed to investigate prospectively the relationship of circulating eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with risk of total ischemic, atherothrombotic, and cardioembolic stroke. We measured circulating phospholipid fatty acids at baseline in 3 separate US cohorts: CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study), NHS (Nurses' Health Study), and HPFS (Health Professionals Follow-Up Study). Ischemic strokes were prospectively adjudicated and classified into atherothrombotic (large- and small-vessel infarctions) or cardioembolic by imaging studies and medical records. Risk according to fatty acid levels was assessed using Cox proportional hazards (CHS) or conditional logistic regression (NHS, HPFS) according to study design. Cohort findings were pooled using fixed-effects meta-analysis. A total of 953 incident ischemic strokes were identified (408 atherothrombotic, 256 cardioembolic, and 289 undetermined subtypes) during median follow-up of 11.2 years (CHS) and 8.3 years (pooled, NHS and HPFS). After multivariable adjustment, lower risk of total ischemic stroke was seen with higher DPA (highest versus lowest quartiles; pooled hazard ratio [HR], 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58-0.92) and DHA (HR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.64-1.00) but not eicosapentaenoic acid (HR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.77-1.19). DHA was associated with lower risk of atherothrombotic stroke (HR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.34-0.83) and DPA with lower risk of cardioembolic stroke (HR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.37-0.92). Findings in each individual cohort were consistent with pooled results. In 3 large US cohorts, higher circulating levels of DHA were inversely associated with incident atherothrombotic stroke and DPA with cardioembolic stroke. These novel findings suggest differential pathways of benefit for DHA, DPA, and eicosapentaenoic acid. © 2017

Variability of fish consumption within the 10 European countries participating in the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Welch, A.A.; Lund, E.; Amiano, P.

2002-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To describe and compare the consumption of total fish (marine foods) and the fish sub-groups - white fish, fatty fish, very fatty fish, fish products and crustacea, in participants from the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis...... of dietary intake using a computerised standardised 24-hour recall interview. Crude means, means and standard errors adjusted by age, season and day of the week were calculated, stratified by centre and gender. SETTING: Twenty-seven redefined centres in the 10 European countries participating in the EPIC...... study. SUBJECTS: In total, 35 955 subjects (13 031 men and 22 924 women), aged 35-74 years, selected from the main EPIC cohort. RESULTS: A six- to sevenfold variation in total fish consumption exists in women and men, between the lowest consumption in Germany and the highest in Spain. Overall, white...

Psychometric Assessment of the Chinese Version of the Abbreviated Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC-26) and the Clinical Practice Version (EPIC-CP) in Chinese Men With Prostate Cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Lam, Wendy W T; Tse, Michael A; Ng, Chris N L; Chung, Edward K M; Fielding, Richard

2017-06-01

The Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) instrument was designed to assess a range of health-related quality-of-life issues specifically relevant to patients with prostate cancer. This study examined the validity and reliability of Chinese versions of the 26-item EPIC and of the 16-item EPIC for Clinical Practice (EPIC-CP) in Chinese patients with prostate cancer. A Chinese version of the 26-item EPIC and the 16-item EPIC-CP were self-completed by 252 Chinese patients with prostate cancer who were recruited from three community-based cancer service centers. Confirmatory factors analysis assessed the factor structures of the EPIC and the EPIC-CP. Internal consistency and construct and clinical validities of the factor structures were assessed. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the original factor structure of both EPIC-26 and EPIC-CP showed good fit to this sample. A correlated model was superior to a hierarchical model in both EPIC-26 and EPIC-CP supporting the utility of the domain scores over the total scores. Cronbach α ranged from 0.55 to 0.91 for EPIC-26 and 0.44 to 0.67 for EPIC-CP. Construct validity was supported by correlations between EPIC-26/EPIC-CP and psychological distress measures. Clinical validity was supported by differentiation between patients with and without prostatectomy. These Chinese versions of the five-factor EPIC-26 and the EPIC-CP are valid and practical measures for assessing a range of health-related quality-of-life issues related to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, highlighting their utility in assessing health-related quality of life for patients diagnosed with prostate cancer. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rapid application development by KEKB accelerator operators using EPICS/Python

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tanaka, M.; Satoh, Y.; Kitabayashi, T.

2004-01-01

In the KEKB accelerator facility, the control system is constructed based on the framework of EPICS. By using EPICS/Python API, which is originated from KEK, we can develop an EPICS channel access application based on simple Python technology with only a few knowledge of EPICS channel access protocols. The operator's new tuning ideas are quickly implemented to the control system. In this paper, we introduce the EPICS/Python API and report the effectiveness of rapid application development by the KEKB operators using the API. (author)

EPICS and its role in data acquisition and beamline control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mooney, T. M.; Arnold, N. D.; Boucher, E.; Cha, B. K.; Goetze, K. A.; Kraimer, M. R.; Rivers, M. L.; Sluiter, R. L.; Sullivan, J. P.; Wallis, D. B.

1999-01-01

Beamline-control and data-acquisition software based on EPICS (a tool kit for building distributed control systems) has been running on many Advanced Photon Source beamlines for several years. EPICS itself, the collaborative software-development effort surrounding it, and EPICS-based beamline software have been described previously in general terms. This talk will review and update that material, focusing on the role EPICS core software plays in beamline applications and on the effects of a few defining characteristics of EPICS on the beamline software we have developed with it

Qt based GUI system for EPICS control systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rhyder, A.; Fernandes, R.N.; Starritt, A.

2012-01-01

The Qt-based GUI system developed at the Australian Synchrotron for use on EPICS control systems has recently been enhanced to including support for imaging, plotting, user login, logging and configuration recipes. Plans are also being made to broaden its appeal within the wider EPICS community by expanding the range of development options and adding support for EPICS V4. Current features include graphical and non-graphical application development as well as simple 'code-free' GUI design. Additional features will allow developers to let the GUI system handle its own data using Qt-based EPICS-aware classes or, as an alternative, use other control systems data such as PSI's CAFE. (author)

Chronic Stress in Young German Adults: Who Is Affected? A Prospective Cohort Study

OpenAIRE

Herrera, Ronald; Berger, Ursula; Genuneit, Jon; Gerlich, Jessica; Nowak, Dennis; Schlotz, Wolff; Vogelberg, Christian; Mutius, Erika von; Weinmayr, Gudrun; Windstetter, Doris; Weigl, Matthias; Radon, Katja

2017-01-01

We aimed to prospectively assess changes in chronic stress among young adults transitioning from high school to university or working life. A population-based cohort in Munich and Dresden (Germany) was followed from age 16–18 (2002–2003) to age 20–23 (2007–2009) (n = 1688). Using the Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress, two dimensions of stress at university or work were assessed: work overload and work discontent. In the multiple ordinal generalized estimating equations, soc...

Integrating commercial and legacy systems with EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, J.O.; Kasemir, K.U.

1997-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a software toolkit, developed by a worldwide collaboration, which significantly reduces the level of effort required to implement a new control system. Recent developments now also significantly reduce the level of effort required to integrate commercial, legacy and/or site-authored control systems with EPICS. This paper will illustrate with an example both the level and type of effort required to use EPICS with other control system components as well as the benefits that may arise

Childhood Adversities Increase the Risk of Psychosis: A Meta-analysis of Patient-Control, Prospective- and Cross-sectional Cohort Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Varese, Filippo; Smeets, Feikje; Drukker, Marjan; Lieverse, Ritsaert; Lataster, Tineke; Viechtbauer, Wolfgang; Read, John; van Os, Jim; Bentall, Richard P.

2012-01-01

Evidence suggests that adverse experiences in childhood are associated with psychosis. To examine the association between childhood adversity and trauma (sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional/psychological abuse, neglect, parental death, and bullying) and psychosis outcome, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, and Web of Science were searched from January 1980 through November 2011. We included prospective cohort studies, large-scale cross-sectional studies investigating the association between childhood adversity and psychotic symptoms or illness, case-control studies comparing the prevalence of adverse events between psychotic patients and controls using dichotomous or continuous measures, and case-control studies comparing the prevalence of psychotic symptoms between exposed and nonexposed subjects using dichotomous or continuous measures of adversity and psychosis. The analysis included 18 case-control studies (n = 2048 psychotic patients and 1856 nonpsychiatric controls), 10 prospective and quasi-prospective studies (n = 41 803) and 8 population-based cross-sectional studies (n = 35 546). There were significant associations between adversity and psychosis across all research designs, with an overall effect of OR = 2.78 (95% CI = 2.34–3.31). The integration of the case-control studies indicated that patients with psychosis were 2.72 times more likely to have been exposed to childhood adversity than controls (95% CI = 1.90–3.88). The association between childhood adversity and psychosis was also significant in population-based cross-sectional studies (OR = 2.99 [95% CI = 2.12–4.20]) as well as in prospective and quasi-prospective studies (OR = 2.75 [95% CI = 2.17–3.47]). The estimated population attributable risk was 33% (16%–47%). These findings indicate that childhood adversity is strongly associated with increased risk for psychosis. PMID:22461484

Identification of a dietary pattern characterized by high-fat food choices associated with increased risk of breast cancer: the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, Mandy; Hoffmann, Kurt; Weikert, Cornelia; Nöthlings, Ute; Schulze, Matthias B; Boeing, Heiner

2008-11-01

Epidemiological studies conducted thus far have mainly used a single-nutrient approach which may not be sufficient in detecting diet-cancer relationships. The aim of the study was to examine the association of a food pattern based on explained variations in fatty acid intake by means of reduced rank regression with breast cancer risk. Study participants were female subjects (n 15,351) of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam Study free of cancer at baseline and with complete dietary and outcome information followed for an average of 6.0 years. Among those, 137 incident cases of invasive breast cancer were identified. We identified a food pattern characterized by low consumption of bread, and fruit juices, and high consumption of processed meat, fish, butter and other animal fats, and margarine explaining >42 % of total variation in fatty acid intake (SFA, MUFA, n-3 PUFA, n-6 PUFA). Intake of all four fatty acid fractions was positively associated with the pattern score. Adherence to this food pattern adjusted for covariates was associated with a two-fold risk (hazard ratio 2.00; 95 % CI 1.30, 3.09) of breast cancer comparing extreme tertiles of the pattern score. There was no evidence of effect modification by menopausal status, overweight status and use of hormone replacement therapy, respectively. In conclusion, a food pattern characterized by high-fat food choices was significantly associated with increased risk of breast cancer. Given that the food pattern was high in all fatty acid fractions, we found evidence for total dietary fat rather than for specific fatty acids to be associated with breast cancer risk.

Prospective Study of Alcohol Drinking, Smoking, and Pancreatitis: The Multiethnic Cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Setiawan, Veronica Wendy; Pandol, Stephen J; Porcel, Jacqueline; Wilkens, Lynne R; Le Marchand, Loïc; Pike, Malcolm C; Monroe, Kristine R

2016-07-01

We conducted a prospective analysis of 145,886 participants in the multiethnic cohort to examine the relationship of alcohol drinking and smoking with pancreatitis. Pancreatitis cases were categorized as gallstone-related acute pancreatitis (GSAP) (N = 1,065), non-GSAP (N = 1,222), and recurrent acute (RAP)/chronic pancreatitis (CP) (N = 523). We used the baseline questionnaire to identify alcohol intake and smoking history. Associations were estimated by hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using Cox models. Cigarette smoking was associated with non-GSAP and RAP/CP. Moderate alcohol intake was inversely associated with all types of pancreatitis in women (HRs, 0.66 to 0.81 for risk of non-GS pancreatitis associated with current smoking was highest among men who consumed more than 4 drinks per day (HR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.28-3.30), whereas among never smokers, moderate drinking was associated with a reduced risk (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.51-0.96). In women, drinking less than 2 drinks per day was associated with a reduced risk of GSAP among never smokers (HR, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.46-0.80). Smoking is a risk factor for non-GS pancreatitis. Moderate alcohol intake is protective against all types of pancreatitis in women and against RAP/CP in men.

Feasibility of repeated 24-h dietary recalls combined with a food-recording booklet, using EPIC-Soft, among preschoolers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Trolle, Ellen; Amiano, P.; Ege, Majken

2011-01-01

Background/Objectives:This study evaluates the feasibility among preschoolers of the 2 Ã 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRs) method combined with a food-recording booklet (FRB), using EPIC-Soft pc-program for the 24-HDR (the software developed to conduct 24-HDRs in the European Prospective Investigation...... for a majority of the parents. In future studies, it may be beneficial to develop the FRB more like a structured food record (FR), which might, in principle, change the method to a one-day FR method from more than a 24-HDR method. It is recommended then to further investigate the use of EPIC-Soft as a data...

Study of charge symmetry in 4He by simultaneous 4He(e,e'p)3H and 4He(e,e'n)3He measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spahn, M.; Kihm, T.; Knopfle, K.T.; Friedrich, J.; Voegler, N.; Schmitt, C.; Walther, V.H.; Unkelbach, M.; Hofmann, H.M.

1989-01-01

We have measured the ( 3 H+p) and ( 3 He+n) breakup of 4 He by 4 He(e,e'c) coincidence experiments at low momentum transfer (q∼0.39 fm -1 ) in the excitation energy region 22≤E x ≤36 MeV. Both channels were studied simultaneously by detecting the charged fragments c=p, 3 H, and 3 He in the same detector system. The measured 4 He(e,e'p) 3 H and 4 He(e,e'n) 3 He angular correlations as well as the deduced total 4 He(e,e'p) 3 H and 4 He(e,e'n) 3 He cross sections are reproduced by microscopic model calculations with a charge-symmetric nuclear Hamiltonian

Novel Signs and Their Clinical Utility in Diagnosing Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS): A Prospective Observational Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuttikat, Anoop; Shaikh, Maliha; Oomatia, Amin; Parker, Richard; Shenker, Nicholas

2017-06-01

Delays in diagnosis occur with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). We define and prospectively demonstrate that novel bedside tests measuring body perception disruption can identify patients with CRPS postfracture. The objectives of our study were to define and validate 4 bedside tests, to identify the prevalence of positive tests in patients with CRPS and other chronic pain conditions, and to assess the clinical utility (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value) for identifying CRPS within a Fracture cohort. This was a single UK teaching hospital prospective cohort study with 313 recruits from pain-free volunteers and patients with chronic pain conditions.Four novel tests were Finger Perception (FP), Hand Laterality identification (HL), Astereognosis (AS), and Body Scheme (BS) report. Five questionnaires (Brief Pain Inventory, Upper Extremity Functional Index, Lower Extremity Functional Index, Neglect-like Symptom Questionnaire, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Score) assessed the multidimensional pain experience. FP and BS were the best performing tests. Prospective monitoring of fracture patients showed that out of 7 fracture patients (total n=47) who had both finger misperception and abnormal BS report at initial testing, 3 developed persistent pain with 1 having a formal diagnosis of CRPS. Novel signs are reliable, easy to perform, and present in chronic pain patients. FP and BS have significant clinical utility in predicting persistent pain in a fracture group thereby allowing targeted early intervention.

Deferasirox in iron-overloaded patients with transfusion-dependent myelodysplastic syndromes: Results from the large 1-year EPIC study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gattermann, Norbert; Finelli, Carlo; Porta, Matteo Della

2010-01-01

The prospective 1-year EPIC study enrolled 341 patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS); although baseline iron burden was >2500ng/mL, approximately 50% were chelation-naïve. Overall median serum ferritin decreased significantly at 1 year (p=0.002). Decreases occurred irrespective of whether...

Development of EPICS based beam-line experimental control employing motor controller for precision positioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tuli, Anupriya; Jain, Rajiv; Vora, H.S.

2015-01-01

In a Synchrotron Radiation Source the beamline experiments are carried out in radiation prone environment, inside the hutch, which demands to conduct experiments remotely. These experiments involves instrument control and data acquisition from various devices. Another factor which attributes to system complexity is precise positioning of sample and placement of detectors. A large number of stepper motors are engaged for achieving the required precision positioning. This work is a result of development of Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) based control system to interface a stepper motor controller developed indigenously by Laser Electronics Support Division of RRCAT. EPICS is an internationally accepted open source software environment which follows toolkit approach and standard model paradigm. The operator interface for the control system software was implemented using CSS BOY. The system was successfully tested for Ethernet based remote access. The developed control software comprises of an OPI and alarm handler (EPICS ALH). Both OPI and ALH are linked with PV's defined in database files. The development process resulted into a set of EPICS based commands for controlling stepper motor. These commands are independent of operator interface, i.e. stepper motor can be controlled by using these set of commands directly on EPICS prompt. This command set is illustrated in the above table. EPICS Alarm Handler was also tested independently by running these commands on EPIC prompt. If not using ALH, operator can read the alarm status of a PV using 'SEVR' and 'STAT' attributes. (author)

Tumor characteristics and family history in relation to mammographic density and breast cancer: The French E3N cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Maskarinec, Gertraud; Dartois, Laureen; Delaloge, Suzette; Hopper, John; Clavel-Chapelon, Françoise; Baglietto, Laura

2017-08-01

Mammographic density is a known heritable risk factor for breast cancer, but reports how tumor characteristics and family history may modify this association are inconsistent. Dense and total breast areas were assessed using Cumulus™ from pre-diagnostic mammograms for 820 invasive breast cancer cases and 820 matched controls nested within the French E3N cohort study. To allow comparisons across models, percent mammographic density (PMD) was standardized to the distribution of the controls. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of breast cancer risk for mammographic density were estimated by conditional logistic regression while adjusting for age and body mass index. Heterogeneity according to tumor characteristic and family history was assessed using stratified analyses. Overall, the OR per 1 SD for PMD was 1.50 (95% CI, 1.33-1.69). No evidence for significant heterogeneity by tumor size, lymph node status, grade, and hormone receptor status (estrogen, progesterone, and HER2) was detected. However, the association of PMD was stronger for women reporting a family history of breast cancer (OR 1SD =2.25; 95% CI, 1.67-3.04) than in women reporting none (OR 1SD =1.41; 95% CI, 1.24-1.60; p heterogeneity =0.002). Similarly, effect modification by FHBC was observed using categories of PMD (p heterogeneity =0.02) with respective ORs of 15.16 (95% CI, 4.23-54.28) vs. 3.14 (95% CI, 1.89-5.22) for ≥50% vs. breast cancer risk with a family history supports the hypothesis of shared genetic factors responsible for familial aggregation of breast cancer and the heritable component of mammographic density. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Collaborative development of the EPICS Qt framework Phase I Final Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mayssat, Robert E. [Lyncean Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (United States)

2015-01-15

At Lyncean, a private company spun-off from technology developed at the SLAC National Lab, we have been using EPICS for over a decade. EPICS is ubiquitous on our flagship product – the Compact Light Source. EPICS is not only used to control our laser and accelerator systems, but also to control our x-ray beamlines. The goal of this SBIR is for Lyncean Technologies to spearhead a worldwide collaborative effort for the development of control system tools for EPICS using the Qt framework, a C++-based coding environment that could serve as a competitive alternative to the Java-based Control System Studio (CSS). This grant's Phase I, not unlike a feasibility study, is designed for planning and scoping the preparatory work needed for Phase II or other funding opportunities. The three main objectives of this Phase I are (1) to become better acquainted with the existing EPICS Qt software and Qt framework in order to evaluate the best options for ongoing development, (2) to demonstrate that our engineers can lead the EPICS community and jump-start the Qt collaboration, and (3) to identify a scope for our future work with solicited feedback from the EPICS community. This Phase I report includes key technical findings. It clarifies the differences between the two apparently-competing EPICS Qt implementations, caQtDM and the QE Framework; it explains how to create python-bindings, and compares Qt graphical libraries. But this report is also a personal story that narrates the birth of a collaboration. Starting a collaboration is not the work of a single individual, but the work of many. Therefore this report is also an attempt to publicly give credit to many who supported the effort. The main take-away from this grant is the successful birth of an EPICS Qt collaboration, seeded with existing software from the PSI and the Australian Synchrotron. But a lot more needs to be done for the collaboration founders' vision to be realized, and for the collaboration to reach

Effectiveness of an individual, online e-learning program about sexually transmitted infections: a prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bos-Bonnie, Linda H A; van Bergen, Jan E A M; Te Pas, Ellen; Kijser, Michael A; van Dijk, Nynke

2017-04-24

Primary health-care professionals play an important role in the treatment and prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI). Continuing Medical Education (CME)-courses can influence the knowledge and behavior of health-care professionals concerning STI. We performed a prospective cohort study to evaluate if the individual and online e-learning program "The STI-consultation", which uses the Commitment-to-Change (CtC)-method, is able to improve the knowledge, attitude and behavior of Dutch General Practitioners (GPs), concerning the STI-consultation. This e-learning program is an individual, accredited, online CME-program, which is freely available for all GPs and GP-trainees in the Netherlands. In total 2192 participants completed the questionnaire before completing the e-learning program and 249 participants completed the follow-up questionnaire after completing the e-learning program. The effect of the program on their knowledge, attitude and behavior concerning the STI-consultation was evaluated. In total 193 participants formulated 601 learning points that matched the learning objectives of the program. The knowledge and attitude of the participants improved, which persisted up to two years after completing the program. Another 179 participants formulated a total of 261 intended changes concerning the sexual history taking, additional investigation and treatment of STI, 97.2% of these changes was partially or fully implemented in daily practice. Also, 114 participants formulated a total of 180 "unintended" changes in daily practice. These changes concerned the attitude of participants towards STI and the working conditions concerning the STI-consultation. The individual, online e-learning program "The STI-consultation", which uses the CtC-method, has a small but lasting, positive effect on the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of GPs concerning the STI-consultation.

Study on the utilization of the cognitive architecture EPIC to the task analysis of a nuclear power plant operator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soares, Herculano Vieira

2003-02-01

This work presents a study of the use of the integrative cognitive architecture EPIC - Executive-Process - Interactive-Control, designed to evaluate the performance of a person performing tasks in parallel in a man-machine interface, as a methodology for Cognitive Task Analysis of a nuclear power plant operator. A comparison of the results obtained by the simulation by EPIC and the results obtained by application of the MHP model to the tasks performed by a shift operator during the execution of the procedure PO-E-3 - Steam Generator Tube Rupture of Angra 1 Nuclear Power Plant is done. To subsidize that comparison, an experiment was performed at the Angra 2 Nuclear Power Plant Full Scope Simulator in which three operator tasks were executed, its completion time measured and compared with the results of MHP and EPIC modeling. (author)

Association of NEFA composition with insulin sensitivity and beta cell function in the Prospective Metabolism and Islet Cell Evaluation (PROMISE) cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnston, Luke W; Harris, Stewart B; Retnakaran, Ravi; Giacca, Adria; Liu, Zhen; Bazinet, Richard P; Hanley, Anthony J

2018-04-01

Our aim was to determine the longitudinal associations of individual NEFA with the pathogenesis of diabetes, specifically with differences in insulin sensitivity and beta cell function over 6 years in a cohort of individuals who are at risk for diabetes. In the Prospective Metabolism and Islet Cell Evaluation (PROMISE) longitudinal cohort, 477 participants had serum NEFA measured at the baseline visit and completed an OGTT at three time points over 6 years. Outcome variables were calculated using the OGTT values. At each visit, insulin sensitivity was assessed using the HOMA2 of insulin sensitivity (HOMA2-%S) and the Matsuda index, while beta cell function was assessed using the insulinogenic index over HOMA-IR (IGI/IR) and the insulin secretion-sensitivity index-2 (ISSI-2). Generalised estimating equations were used, adjusting for time, waist, sex, ethnicity, baseline age, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and physical activity. NEFA were analysed as both concentrations (nmol/ml) and proportions (mol%) of the total fraction. Participants' (73% female, 70% with European ancestry) insulin sensitivity and beta cell function declined by 14-21% over 6 years of follow-up. In unadjusted models, several NEFA (e.g. 18:1 n-7, 22:4 n-6) were associated with lower insulin sensitivity, however, nearly all of these associations were attenuated in fully adjusted models. In adjusted models, total NEFA, 16:0, 18:1 n-9 and 18:2 n-6 (as concentrations) were associated with 3.7-8.0% lower IGI/IR and ISSI-2, while only 20:5 n-3 (as mol%) was associated with 7.7% higher HOMA2-%S. Total NEFA concentration was a strong predictor of lower beta cell function over 6 years. Our results suggest that the association with beta cell function is due to the absolute size of the serum NEFA fraction, rather than the specific fatty acid composition.

Implementation of EPICS based vacuum control system for variable energy cyclotron centre, Kolkata

Science.gov (United States)

Roy, Anindya; Bhole, R. B.; Nandy, Partha P.; Yadav, R. C.; Pal, Sarbajit; Roy, Amitava

2015-03-01

The vacuum system of the Room Temperature (K = 130) Cyclotron of Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre is comprised of vacuum systems of main machine and Beam Transport System. The vacuum control system is upgraded to a PLC based Automated system from the initial relay based Manual system. The supervisory control of the vacuum system is implemented in Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). An EPICS embedded ARM based vacuum gauge controller is developed to mitigate the requirement of vendor specific gauge controller for gauges and also for seamless integration of the gauge controllers with the control system. A set of MS-Windows ActiveX components with embedded EPICS Channel Access interface are developed to build operator interfaces with less complex programming and to incorporate typical Windows feature, e.g., user authentication, file handling, better fonts, colors, mouse actions etc. into the operator interfaces. The control parameters, monitoring parameters, and system interlocks of the system are archived in MySQL based EPICS MySQL Archiver developed indigenously. In this paper, we describe the architecture, the implementation details, and the performance of the system.

Implementation of EPICS based vacuum control system for variable energy cyclotron centre, Kolkata

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roy, Anindya, E-mail: r-ani@vecc.gov.in; Bhole, R. B.; Nandy, Partha P.; Yadav, R. C.; Pal, Sarbajit; Roy, Amitava [Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, 1/AF Bidhan Nagar, Kolkata 700064 (India)

2015-03-15

The vacuum system of the Room Temperature (K = 130) Cyclotron of Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre is comprised of vacuum systems of main machine and Beam Transport System. The vacuum control system is upgraded to a PLC based Automated system from the initial relay based Manual system. The supervisory control of the vacuum system is implemented in Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). An EPICS embedded ARM based vacuum gauge controller is developed to mitigate the requirement of vendor specific gauge controller for gauges and also for seamless integration of the gauge controllers with the control system. A set of MS-Windows ActiveX components with embedded EPICS Channel Access interface are developed to build operator interfaces with less complex programming and to incorporate typical Windows feature, e.g., user authentication, file handling, better fonts, colors, mouse actions etc. into the operator interfaces. The control parameters, monitoring parameters, and system interlocks of the system are archived in MySQL based EPICS MySQL Archiver developed indigenously. In this paper, we describe the architecture, the implementation details, and the performance of the system.

Implementation of EPICS based vacuum control system for variable energy cyclotron centre, Kolkata

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, Anindya; Bhole, R. B.; Nandy, Partha P.; Yadav, R. C.; Pal, Sarbajit; Roy, Amitava

2015-01-01

The vacuum system of the Room Temperature (K = 130) Cyclotron of Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre is comprised of vacuum systems of main machine and Beam Transport System. The vacuum control system is upgraded to a PLC based Automated system from the initial relay based Manual system. The supervisory control of the vacuum system is implemented in Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). An EPICS embedded ARM based vacuum gauge controller is developed to mitigate the requirement of vendor specific gauge controller for gauges and also for seamless integration of the gauge controllers with the control system. A set of MS-Windows ActiveX components with embedded EPICS Channel Access interface are developed to build operator interfaces with less complex programming and to incorporate typical Windows feature, e.g., user authentication, file handling, better fonts, colors, mouse actions etc. into the operator interfaces. The control parameters, monitoring parameters, and system interlocks of the system are archived in MySQL based EPICS MySQL Archiver developed indigenously. In this paper, we describe the architecture, the implementation details, and the performance of the system

Combined impact of healthy lifestyle factors on colorectal cancer: a large European cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Aleksandrova, Krasimira; Pischon, Tobias; Jenab, Mazda; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; Fedirko, Veronika; Norat, Teresa; Romaguera, Dora; Knüppel, Sven; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Dossus, Laure; Dartois, Laureen; Kaaks, Rudolf; Li, Kuanrong; Tjønneland, Anne; Overvad, Kim; Quirós, José Ramón; Buckland, Genevieve; Sánchez, María José; Dorronsoro, Miren; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Barricarte, Aurelio; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Wareham, Nicholas J; Bradbury, Kathryn E; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Lagiou, Pagona; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Palli, Domenico; Krogh, Vittorio; Tumino, Rosario; Naccarati, Alessio; Panico, Salvatore; Siersema, Peter D; Peeters, Petra H M; Ljuslinder, Ingrid; Johansson, Ingegerd; Ericson, Ulrika; Ohlsson, Bodil; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Skeie, Guri; Borch, Kristin Benjaminsen; Rinaldi, Sabina; Romieu, Isabelle; Kong, Joyce; Gunter, Marc J; Ward, Heather A; Riboli, Elio; Boeing, Heiner

2014-10-10

Excess body weight, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and certain dietary factors are individually related to colorectal cancer (CRC) risk; however, little is known about their joint effects. The aim of this study was to develop a healthy lifestyle index (HLI) composed of five potentially modifiable lifestyle factors--healthy weight, physical activity, non-smoking, limited alcohol consumption and a healthy diet, and to explore the association of this index with CRC incidence using data collected within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. In the EPIC cohort, a total of 347,237 men and women, 25- to 70-years old, provided dietary and lifestyle information at study baseline (1992 to 2000). Over a median follow-up time of 12 years, 3,759 incident CRC cases were identified. The association between a HLI and CRC risk was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression models and population attributable risks (PARs) have been calculated. After accounting for study centre, age, sex and education, compared with 0 or 1 healthy lifestyle factors, the hazard ratio (HR) for CRC was 0.87 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.44 to 0.77) for two factors, 0.79 (95% CI: 0.70 to 0.89) for three factors, 0.66 (95% CI: 0.58 to 0.75) for four factors and 0.63 (95% CI: 0.54 to 0.74) for five factors; P-trendhealthy lifestyle behaviours included in the index. Combined lifestyle factors are associated with a lower incidence of CRC in European populations characterized by western lifestyles. Prevention strategies considering complex targeting of multiple lifestyle factors may provide practical means for improved CRC prevention.

Predicting Dyslexia in a Transparent Orthography from Grade 1 Literacy Skills: A Prospective Cohort Study

Science.gov (United States)

Bigozzi, Lucia; Tarchi, Christian; Pinto, Giuliana; Accorti Gamannossi, Beatrice

2016-01-01

We conducted this prospective cohort study to explore the predictability of dyslexia from 1st-grade literacy skills in Italian students. We followed 407 Italian students in primary school from the 1st through the 3rd grades. Students were diagnosed with dyslexia in the 3rd grade. We retrospectively tested participants' 1st-grade performance in…

Alcohol consumption and later risk of hospitalization with psychiatric disorders: prospective cohort study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flensborg-Madsen, Trine; Becker, Ulrik; Grønbæk, Morten

2011-01-01

hospital with a psychiatric disorder. The prospective cohort study, the Copenhagen City Heart Study (n=18,146), was used, containing three updated sets of alcohol intake and lifestyle covariates and up to 26 years follow-up. Alcohol intake was measured by self-report while psychiatric disorders were......The potential effects of alcohol intake upon the risk of psychiatric disorders have not often been investigated. The purpose of this study was to investigate, in a population sample, the association between self-reported amount of alcohol intake and the later risk of being registered in a Danish.......31-3.04) compared to women drinking below the sensible drinking limits. For men, the risk functions were slightly U-shaped; thus, a weekly low or moderate alcohol intake seemed to have a protective effect towards developing psychiatric disorders. The findings suggest sex differences in the association between...

Leucocyte telomere length and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: new prospective cohort study and literature-based meta-analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter Willeit

Full Text Available Short telomeres have been linked to various age-related diseases. We aimed to assess the association of telomere length with incident type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM in prospective cohort studies.Leucocyte relative telomere length (RTL was measured using quantitative polymerase chain reaction in 684 participants of the prospective population-based Bruneck Study (1995 baseline, with repeat RTL measurements performed in 2005 (n = 558 and 2010 (n = 479. Hazard ratios for T2DM were calculated across quartiles of baseline RTL using Cox regression models adjusted for age, sex, body-mass index, smoking, socio-economic status, physical activity, alcohol consumption, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, log high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and waist-hip ratio. Separate analyses corrected hazard ratios for within-person variability using multivariate regression calibration of repeated measurements. To contextualise findings, we systematically sought PubMed, Web of Science and EMBASE for relevant articles and pooled results using random-effects meta-analysis.Over 15 years of follow-up, 44 out of 606 participants free of diabetes at baseline developed incident T2DM. The adjusted hazard ratio for T2DM comparing the bottom vs. the top quartile of baseline RTL (i.e. shortest vs. longest was 2.00 (95% confidence interval: 0.90 to 4.49; P = 0.091, and 2.31 comparing the bottom quartile vs. the remainder (1.21 to 4.41; P = 0.011. The corresponding hazard ratios corrected for within-person RTL variability were 3.22 (1.27 to 8.14; P = 0.014 and 2.86 (1.45 to 5.65; P = 0.003. In a random-effects meta-analysis of three prospective cohort studies involving 6,991 participants and 2,011 incident T2DM events, the pooled relative risk was 1.31 (1.07 to 1.60; P = 0.010; I2 = 69%.Low RTL is independently associated with the risk of incident T2DM. To avoid regression dilution biases in observed associations of RTL with disease risk, future studies should implement

Design, methods and demographics from phase I of Alberta's Tomorrow Project cohort: a prospective cohort profile.

Science.gov (United States)

Robson, Paula J; Solbak, Nathan M; Haig, Tiffany R; Whelan, Heather K; Vena, Jennifer E; Akawung, Alianu K; Rosner, William K; Brenner, Darren R; Cook, Linda S; Csizmadi, Ilona; Kopciuk, Karen A; McGregor, S Elizabeth; Friedenreich, Christine M

2016-01-01

Prospective cohorts have the potential to support multifactorial, health-related research, particularly if they are drawn from the general population, incorporate active and passive follow-up and permission is obtained to allow access by researchers to data repositories. This paper describes Phase I of the Alberta's Tomorrow Project cohort, a broad-based research platform designed to support investigations into factors that influence cancer and chronic disease risk. Adults aged 35-69 years living in Alberta, Canada, with no previous cancer diagnosis other than nonmelanoma skin cancer were recruited to the project by telephone-based random digit dialling. Participants were enrolled if they returned a Health and Lifestyle Questionnaire. Past year diet and physical activity questionnaires were mailed 3 months after enrolment. Consent was sought for active follow-up and linkage with administrative databases. Depending on enrolment date, participants were invited to complete up to 2 follow-up questionnaires (2004 and 2008). Between 2001 and 2009, 31 072 (39% men) participants (mean age 50.2 [± 9.2] yr) were enrolled and 99% consented to linkage with administrative databases. Participants reported a wide range of educational attainment and household income. Compared with provincial surveillance data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, Alberta's Tomorrow Project participants had higher body mass index, lower prevalence of smoking and similar distribution of chronic health conditions. Follow-up questionnaires were completed by 83% and 72% of participants in 2004 and 2008, respectively. Robust quality control measures resulted in low frequencies of missing data. Alberta's Tomorrow Project provides a robust platform, based on a prospective cohort design, to support research into risk factors for cancer and chronic disease.

The relation between dietary protein, calcium and bone health in women: results from the EPIC-Potsdam cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Weikert, Cornelia; Walter, Dietmar; Hoffmann, Kurt; Kroke, Anja; Bergmann, Manuela M; Boeing, Heiner

2005-01-01

The role of dietary protein in bone health is controversial. The objective of the present study was to examine the association between protein intake, dietary calcium, and bone structure measured by broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA). Our analysis includes 8,178 female study participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Potsdam Study. Ultrasound bone measurements were performed on the right os calcis, and BUA was determined. Dietary intake was assessed by a standardized food frequency questionnaire. We applied linear regression models to estimate the association between dietary protein and BUA. After multivariate adjustment, high intake of animal protein was associated with decreased BUA values (beta = -0.03; p = 0.010) whereas high vegetable protein intake was related to an increased BUA (beta = 0.11; p = 0.007). The effect of dietary animal protein on BUA was modified by calcium intake. High consumption of protein from animal origin may be unfavourable, whereas a higher vegetable protein intake may be beneficial for bone health. Our results strengthen the hypothesis that high calcium intake combined with adequate protein intake based on a high ratio of vegetable to animal protein may be protective against osteoporosis. Copyright (c) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.

The quantified self during travel: mapping health in a prospective cohort of travellers.

Science.gov (United States)

Farnham, Andrea; Furrer, Reinhard; Blanke, Ulf; Stone, Emily; Hatz, Christoph; Puhan, Milo A

2017-09-01

Travel medicine research has remained relatively unchanged in the face of rapid expansion of international travel and is unlikely to meet health challenges beyond infectious diseases. Our aim was to identify the range of health outcomes during travel using real-time monitoring and daily reporting of health behaviours and outcomes and identify traveller subgroups who may benefit from more targeted advice before and during travel. We recruited a prospective cohort of travellers ≥ 18 years and planning travel to Thailand for travel clinics in Zurich and Basel (Switzerland). Participants answered demographic, clinical and risk behaviour questionnaires pre-travel and a daily health questionnaire each day during travel using a smartphone application. Environmental and location data were collected passively by GPS. Classification trees were used to identify predictors of health behaviour and outcomes during travel. Non-infectious disease events were relatively common, with 22.7% (17 out of 75 travellers) experiencing an accident, 40.0% ( n  = 30) a wound or cut and 14.7% ( n  = 11) a bite or lick from an animal. Mental health associated events were widely reported, with 80.0% ( n  = 60) reporting lethargy, 34.7% ( n  = 26) anxiety and 34.7% ( n  = 26) feeling tense or irritable. Classification trees identified age, trip length, previous travel experience and having experienced a sports injury in the past year as the most important discriminatory variables for health threats. Our study offers a revolutionary look at an almost real-time timeline of health events and behaviours during travel using mHealth technology. Non-infectious disease related health issues were common in this cohort, despite being largely unaddressed in traditional travel medicine research and suggest a substantial potential for improving evidence-based travel medicine advice. © International Society of Travel Medicine, 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights

The rebirth of the epic from the Nietzsche's Philosophy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reza Samim

2016-12-01

Full Text Available his philosophy with Iranian mysticism. Such identification is fundamentally flawed and contradicts Nietzsche's ontological principles and moral values. Some of the Iranian commentators, expert in Nietzsche's philosophy, identified Nietzsche's thought is pregnant from the epic universal values, not the mystical patterns. Understanding of Nietzsche's Philosophy is possible with the help of Shahnameh and Iliad not mysticism. The reason of this fundamental error lies in the fact that these Iranian commentators fail to distinguish the subtle differences between mysticism and epic, and this failure, has led to their mixing Nietzsche's thought with the Iranian mysticism. Epic and mysticism are related in the differences not the similarities. Although there could be some similarities between the mystical worldview and that of epic, they are merely outward and superficial. In effect, in the matter of epistemic, moral and ontological principles, epic contradicts mysticism. At the best, mysticism can be considered to be the negative correspondence of epic and called “Negative Epic”. Nietzsche's thought has been affected to a greater extent by the Greek culture than and prior to the Iranian traditions. Nietzche's symbolic recourse to Zoroaster cannot be a cogent basis for these commentators' claim. Moreover, Nietzche's grasp of Zoroastrian worldview is so much blurred and incomplete. He appreciates the Greek culture not the Iranian traditions. Therefore, autonomy, voluntarism, appreciation of life and denunciation of passivity are the set of values and principles associating Nietzsche's philosophy with epic. These are exactly the principles disregarded and even denied in mystical thought. In other words, Nietzsche's philosophy can be considered the rebirth of the epic in the sphere of philosophical thought.

Fish and long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intakes during pregnancy and risk of postpartum depression: a prospective study based on a large national birth cohort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strøm, Marin; Mortensen, Erik Lykke; Halldorsson, Thorhallur I

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Mothers may be reluctant to receive medical treatment of postpartum depression (PPD), despite the detrimental consequences the disorder can impose on mother and child. Research on alternative methods of prevention and treatment of PPD is warranted. Previous studies have suggested...... that long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) might have a beneficial effect on depression. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to explore the association between intake of fish and n-3 PUFAs during pregnancy and PPD in the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC). DESIGN: Exposure information from the DNBC...... was linked to the Danish patient and prescription registries for data on clinically identified cases of depression up to 1 y postpartum. Intake of fish and n-3 PUFAs was assessed in midpregnancy with a food-frequency questionnaire. Admission to the hospital for PPD (PPD-admission) and prescription...

Effect of introduction of a new electronic anesthesia record (Epic) system on the safety and efficiency of patient care in a gastrointestinal endoscopy suite-comparison with historical cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Goudra, B; Singh, P M; Borle, A; Gouda, G

2016-01-01

Use of electronic medical record systems has increased in the recent years. Epic is one such system gaining popularity in the USA. Epic is a private company, which invented the electronic documentation system adopted in our hospital. In spite of many presumed advantages, its use is not critically analyzed. Some of the perceived advantages are increased efficiency and protection against litigation as a result of accurate documentation. In this study, retrospective data of 305 patients who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (wherein electronic charting was used - "Epic group") were compared with 288 patients who underwent the same procedure with documentation saved on a paper chart ("paper group"). Time of various events involved in the procedure such as anesthesia start, endoscope insertion, endoscope removal, and transfer to the postanesthesia care unit were routinely documented. From this data, the various time durations were calculated. Both "anesthesia start to scope insertion" times and "scope removal to transfer" times were significantly less in the Epic group compared to the paper group. Use of Epic system led to a saving of 4 min of procedure time per patient. However, the mean oxygen saturation was significantly less in the Epic group. In spite of perceived advantages of Epic documentation system, significant hurdles remain with its use. Although the system allows seamless flow of patients, failure to remove all artifacts can lead to errors and become a source of potential litigation hazard.

EPICS architecture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dalesio, L.R.; Kozubal, A.J.; Kraimer, M.R.

1992-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) provides control and data acquisition for the experimental physics community. Because the capabilities required by the experimental physics community for control were not available through industry, we began the design and implementation of EPICS. It is a distributed process control system built on a software communication bus. The functional subsystems, which provide data acquisition, supervisory control, closed loop control, archiving, and alarm management, greatly reduce the need for programming. Sequential control is provided through a sequential control language, allowing the implementer to express state diagrams easily. Data analysis of the archived data is provided through an interactive tool. The timing system provides distributed synchronization for control and time stamped data for data correlation across nodes in the network. The system is scalable from a single test station with a low channel count to a large distributed network with thousands of channels. The functions provided to the physics applications have proven helpful to the experiments while greatly reducing the time to deliver controls. (author)

EPICS: operating system independent device/driver support

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraimer, M.R.

2003-01-01

Originally EPICS input/output controllers (IOCs) were only supported on VME-based systems running the vxWorks operating system. Now IOCs are supported on many systems: vxWorks, RTEMS, Solaris, HPUX, Linux, WIN32, and Darwin. A challenge is to provide operating-system-independent device and driver support. This paper presents some techniques for providing such support. EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) is a set of software tools, libraries, and applications developed collaboratively and used worldwide to create distributed, real-time control systems for scientific instruments such as particle accelerators, telescopes, and other large scientific experiments. An important component of all EPICS-based control systems is a collection of input/output controllers (IOCs). An IOC has three primary components: (1) a real-time database; (2) channel access, which provides network access to the database; and (3) device/driver support for interfacing to equipment. This paper describes some projects related to providing device/driver support on non-vxWorks systems. In order to support IOCs on platforms other than vxWorks, operating-system-independent (OSI) application program interfaces (APIs) were defined for threads, semaphores, timers, etc. Providing support for a new platform consists of providing an operating-system-dependent implementation of the OSI APIs.

Habitual chocolate consumption and risk of cardiovascular disease among healthy men and women

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kwok, Chun Shing; Boekholdt, S. Matthijs; Lentjes, Marleen A. H.; Loke, Yoon K.; Luben, Robert N.; Yeong, Jessica K.; Wareham, Nicholas J.; Myint, Phyo K.; Khaw, Kay-Tee

2015-01-01

To examine the association between chocolate intake and the risk of future cardiovascular events. We conducted a prospective study using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk cohort. Habitual chocolate intake was quantified using the baseline food frequency

Operational experience from a large EPICS-based accelerator facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciarlette, D.J.; Gerig, R.

1995-01-01

The Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory is a third-generation x-ray light source which uses the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) to operate its linear accelerator, positron accumulator ring, booster synchrotron, and storage ring equipment. EPICS has been used at the APS since the beginning of installation and commissioning. Currently, EPICS controls approximately 100 VME crates containing over 100,000 process variables. With this complexity, the APS has had to review some of the methods originally employed and make changes as necessary. In addition, due to commissioning and operational needs, higher-level operator software needed to be created. EPICS has been flexible enough to allow this

On the Issue of Origin of the Yakut Epic Olonkho

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasiliy Nikolayevich Ivanov

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The issue on the origin of the Yakut heroic epic Olonkho was covered in works in history and ethnography of the Yakuts back in the 19th century, for instance, in the famous monograph Yakuts. Experience of ethnographic research by a Polish exile V.L. Seroshevskiy (1896. Since that time, this issue was interesting for many, but no special monograph research has been done yet. Currently, the issue of Olonkho origin is gaining special scientific and general cultural significance, as on November 25, 2005 the Yakut heroic epic Olonkho according to the historical decision of UNESCO was granted the high status “Masterpiece of oral and non-material heritage of humanity”. The Yakut epic is a part of the multicomponent epic creative work of the Turkic nations but it was the only one to get such a high international recognition. This paper aims to revive the scientific interest to the issue of the Yakut epic’s genesis. To date, some rich source-related and historiographical material has been accumulated for broader generalizations – the main point is that the Yakut epic is becoming an important object of comparative historical analysis of the origin of all Turkic epics. The thing is that epic researchers admit that almost a thousand years of existence isolated from the whole Turkic world in the North-East of Asia kept many archaic features of the epics of the ancient ancestors – natives of Central Asia and Southern Siberia. It became clear that Olonkho origin is organically linked with the ethnic history of its nation.The paper follows this comprehensive process reflected in works by archeologists, ethnographers, historians and linguists. Their latest achievements are impressive, bringing a lot of novelty into the conventional views of origins and development of the Yakut epic. The paper attempts to specify that novelty and rationalize the idea that time has come to introduce that novelty into science to solve the long-standing issue of origin of

Physical activity attenuates the genetic predisposition to obesity in 20,000 men and women from EPIC-Norfolk prospective population study.

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Shengxu Li

2010-08-01

Full Text Available We have previously shown that multiple genetic loci identified by genome-wide association studies (GWAS increase the susceptibility to obesity in a cumulative manner. It is, however, not known whether and to what extent this genetic susceptibility may be attenuated by a physically active lifestyle. We aimed to assess the influence of a physically active lifestyle on the genetic predisposition to obesity in a large population-based study.We genotyped 12 SNPs in obesity-susceptibility loci in a population-based sample of 20,430 individuals (aged 39-79 y from the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC-Norfolk cohort with an average follow-up period of 3.6 y. A genetic predisposition score was calculated for each individual by adding the body mass index (BMI-increasing alleles across the 12 SNPs. Physical activity was assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. Linear and logistic regression models were used to examine main effects of the genetic predisposition score and its interaction with physical activity on BMI/obesity risk and BMI change over time, assuming an additive effect for each additional BMI-increasing allele carried. Each additional BMI-increasing allele was associated with 0.154 (standard error [SE] 0.012 kg/m(2 (p = 6.73 x 10(-37 increase in BMI (equivalent to 445 g in body weight for a person 1.70 m tall. This association was significantly (p(interaction = 0.005 more pronounced in inactive people (0.205 [SE 0.024] kg/m(2 [p = 3.62 x 10(-18; 592 g in weight] than in active people (0.131 [SE 0.014] kg/m(2 [p = 7.97 x 10(-21; 379 g in weight]. Similarly, each additional BMI-increasing allele increased the risk of obesity 1.116-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.093-1.139, p = 3.37 x 10(-26 in the whole population, but significantly (p(interaction = 0.015 more in inactive individuals (odds ratio [OR] = 1.158 [95% CI 1.118-1.199; p = 1.93 x 10(-16] than in active individuals (OR = 1.095 (95% CI 1.068-1.123; p = 1

Coffee intake and the incident risk of cognitive disorders: A dose-response meta-analysis of nine prospective cohort studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Lei; Sun, Dali; He, Yao

2017-06-01

Previous epidemiological studies have provided inconsistent conclusions on the impact of coffee consumption in the developing of cognitive disorders. However, no previous meta-analysis has pooled the evidence from the prospective cohort studies to assess the influence of coffee drinking and its potential dose-response patterns on the risk of developing cognitive disorders specifically. Two databases (PubMed and Embase) were searched for evidence of cohort studies from inception to February 2016. We used a generic inverse-variance method with a random-effects model to pool the fully adjusted relative risks (RRs) and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). In the dose-response analyses, a generalized least-squares trend estimation model was applied to computing the study-specific slopes. Nine prospective cohort studies involving 34,282 participants were included in our study. The duration of follow-up years ranged from 1.3 to 28. Compared with coffee was inversely linked with the occurrence of cognitive disorders (i.e., Alzheimer's disease, dementia, cognitive decline, and cognitive impairment), and the pooled RR (95% CI) was 0.82 (0.71, 0.94) with evidence of non-significant heterogeneity (I 2  = 25%). Non-significant differences were presented for the association between coffee consumption (>3 vs. coffee consumption. A "J-shaped" association was presented between coffee intake and incident cognitive disorders, with the lowest risk of incident cognitive disorders at a daily consumption level of 1-2 cups of coffee. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. All rights reserved.

Development of EPICS channel access embedded ActiveX components for GUI development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roy, A.; Bhole, R.B.; Pal, S.

2012-01-01

The paper describes the integration of Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) Channel Access (CA) protocol and Microsoft ActiveX technology towards developing a generalize operator interface (OPI) building facility for Windows platform. EPICS is used as the development architecture of the control system in Superconducting Cyclotron (SCC). Considering the operators' familiarity and compatibility with third party software, it was decided to use MS-Windows platform at operator interface level in SCC during commission. Microsoft Visual Basic (VB) is used on trial basis as OPI building platform to incorporate user specific features e.g. file system access for data storage and analysis, user authentication at OPI level etc. A set of EPICS Channel Access embedded ActiveX components is developed to ease the programming complexity and reduce developmental time of the OPI for Windows platform. OPIs, developed using these components and containing hundreds of process parameters, are being used reliably over a considerable period of time. (author)

Impact of the adipokine adiponectin and the hepatokine fetuin-A on the development of type 2 diabetes: prospective cohort- and cross-sectional phenotyping studies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Norbert Stefan

Full Text Available Among adipokines and hepatokines, adiponectin and fetuin-A were consistently found to predict the incidence of type 2 diabetes, both by regulating insulin sensitivity.To determine to what extent circulating adiponectin and fetuin-A are independently associated with incident type 2 diabetes in humans, and the major mechanisms involved.Relationships with incident diabetes were tested in two cohort studies: within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Potsdam study (628 cases and the Nurses' Health Study (NHS; 470 cases. Relationships with body fat compartments, insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion were studied in the Tübingen Lifestyle Intervention Program (TULIP; N = 358.Circulating adiponectin and fetuin-A, independently of several confounders and of each other, associated with risk of diabetes in EPIC-Potsdam (RR for 1 SD: adiponectin: 0.45 [95% CI 0.37-0.54], fetuin-A: 1.18 [1.05-1.32] and the NHS (0.51 [0.42-0.62], 1.35 [1.16-1.58]. Obesity measures considerably attenuated the association of adiponectin, but not of fetuin-A. Subjects with low adiponectin and concomitantly high fetuin-A had the highest risk. Whereas both proteins were independently (both p<1.8×10(-7 associated with insulin sensitivity, circulating fetuin-A (r = -0.37, p = 0.0004, but not adiponectin, associated with insulin secretion in subjects with impaired glucose tolerance.We provide novel information that adiponectin and fetuin-A independently of each other associate with the diabetes risk. Furthermore, we suggest that they are involved in the development of type 2 diabetes via different mechanisms, possibly by mediating effects of their source tissues, expanded adipose tissue and nonalcoholic fatty liver.

Joint effect of unlinked genotypes: application to type 2 diabetes in the EPIC-Potsdam case-cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Knüppel, Sven; Meidtner, Karina; Arregui, Maria; Holzhütter, Hermann-Georg; Boeing, Heiner

2015-07-01

Analyzing multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) is a promising approach to finding genetic effects beyond single-locus associations. We proposed the use of multilocus stepwise regression (MSR) to screen for allele combinations as a method to model joint effects, and compared the results with the often used genetic risk score (GRS), conventional stepwise selection, and the shrinkage method LASSO. In contrast to MSR, the GRS, conventional stepwise selection, and LASSO model each genotype by the risk allele doses. We reanalyzed 20 unlinked SNPs related to type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the EPIC-Potsdam case-cohort study (760 cases, 2193 noncases). No SNP-SNP interactions and no nonlinear effects were found. Two SNP combinations selected by MSR (Nagelkerke's R² = 0.050 and 0.048) included eight SNPs with mean allele combination frequency of 2%. GRS and stepwise selection selected nearly the same SNP combinations consisting of 12 and 13 SNPs (Nagelkerke's R² ranged from 0.020 to 0.029). LASSO showed similar results. The MSR method showed the best model fit measured by Nagelkerke's R² suggesting that further improvement may render this method a useful tool in genetic research. However, our comparison suggests that the GRS is a simple way to model genetic effects since it does not consider linkage, SNP-SNP interactions, and no non-linear effects. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/University College London.

[Comparison on Endoscopic Hemoclip and Hemoclip Combination Therapy in Non-variceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding Patients Based on Clinical Practice Data: Is There Difference between Prospective Cohort Study and Randomized Study?].

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Su Hyun; Jung, Jin Tae; Lee, Dong Wook; Ha, Chang Yoon; Park, Kyung Sik; Lee, Si Hyung; Yang, Chang Heon; Park, Youn Sun; Jeon, Seong Woo

2015-08-01

Endoscopic hemoclip application is an effective and safe method of endoscopic hemostasis. We conducted a multicenter retrospective study on hemoclip and hemoclip combination therapy based on prospective cohort database in terms of hemostatic efficacy not in clinical trial but in real clinical practice. Data on endoscopic hemostasis for non-variceal upper gastrointestinal bleeding (NVUGIB) were prospectively collected from February 2011 to December 2013. Among 1,584 patients with NVUGIB, 186 patients treated with hemoclip were enrolled in this study. Subjects were divided into three groups: Group 1 (n = 62), hemoclipping only; group 2 (n = 88), hemoclipping plus epinephrine injection; and group 3 (n = 36), hemocliping and epinephrine injection plus other endoscopic hemostatic modalities. Primary outcomes included rebleeding, other therapeutic management, hospitalization period, fasting period and mortality. Secondary outcomes were bleeding associated mortality and overall mortality. Active bleeding and peptic ulcer bleeding were more common in group 3 than in group 1 and in group 2 (p bleeding associated mortality and total mortality) were not different among groups. Combination therapy of epinephrine injection and other modalities with hemoclips did not show advantage over hemoclipping alone in this prospective cohort study. However, there is a tendency to perform combination therapy in active bleeding which resulted in equivalent hemostatic success rate, and this reflects the role of combination therapy in clinical practice.

Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC): visible nulling cornagraph testbed results

Science.gov (United States)

Lyon, Richard G.; Clampin, Mark; Melnick, Gary; Tolls, Volker; Woodruff, Robert; Vasudevan, Gopal

2008-07-01

The Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC) is a NASA Astrophysics Strategic Mission Concept under study for the upcoming Exoplanet Probe. EPIC's mission would be to image and characterize extrasolar giant planets, and potential super-Earths, in orbits with semi-major axes between 2 and 10 AU. EPIC will provide insights into the physical nature of a variety of planets in other solar systems complimenting radial velocity (RV) and astrometric planet searches. It will detect and characterize the atmospheres of planets identified by radial velocity surveys and potentially some transits, determine orbital inclinations and masses, characterize the atmospheres of gas giants around A and F stars, observed the inner spatial structure and colors of inner Spitzer selected debris disks. EPIC would be launched into a heliocentric Earth trailing drift-away orbit, with a 3-year mission lifetime (5 year goal) and will revisit planets at least three times. The starlight suppression approach consists of a visible nulling coronagraph (VNC) that enables high order starlight suppression in broadband light. To demonstrate the VNC approach and advance it's technology readiness the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and Lockheed-Martin have developed a laboratory VNC and have demonstrated white light nulling. We will discuss our ongoing VNC work and show the latest results from the VNC testbed.

Identification of a food pattern characterized by high-fiber and low-fat food choices associated with low prospective weight change in the EPIC-Potsdam cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, Mandy; Nöthlings, Ute; Hoffmann, Kurt; Bergmann, Manuela M; Boeing, Heiner

2005-05-01

The aim of the study was to identify a dietary pattern predictive of subsequent annual weight change by using dietary composition information. Study subjects were 24,958 middle-aged men and women of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam cohort. To derive dietary patterns, we used the reduced rank regression method with 3 response variables presumed to affect weight change: fat density, carbohydrate density, and fiber density. Annual weight change was computed by fitting a linear regression line to each person's body weight data (baseline, and 2- and 4-y follow-up) and determining the slope. In linear regression models, the pattern score was related to annual weight change. We identified a food pattern of high consumption of whole-grain bread, fruits, fruit juices, grain flakes/cereals, and raw vegetables, and of low consumption of processed meat, butter, high-fat cheese, margarine, and meat to be predictive of subsequent weight change. Mean annual weight gain gradually decreased with increasing pattern score (P for trend food pattern was significant only in nonobese subjects. In this study population, we identified a food pattern characterized by high-fiber and low-fat food choices that can help to maintain body weight or at least prevent excess body weight gain.

Workplace bullying, sleep problems and leisure-time physical activity: a prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hansen, Åse Marie; Gullander, Maria; Hogh, Annie; Persson, Roger; Kolstad, Henrik A; Willert, Morten Vejs; Bonde, Jens Peter; Kaerlev, Linda; Rugulies, Reiner; Grynderup, Matias Brødsgaard

2016-01-01

Workplace bullying is a potent stressor that may increase sleep problems. Since physical fitness improves resilience to stress, it seems plausible that recreational physical activities may moderate the association between bullying and sleep. The study aimed to examine prospectively whether (i) bullying increases the risk of sleep problems, and (ii) the association between bullying and sleep problems is moderated by leisure-time physical activity (LTPA). The study sample comprised a cohort of public and private sector employees, who were enrolled into the Work Bullying and Harassment (WBH) cohort (N=3278) or the Psychosocial Risk Factors for Stress and Mental Disease (PRISME) cohort (N=4455). We measured workplace bullying using one question that was preceded by a definition of bullying. We used the Karolinska sleep questionnaire to assess sleep problems. The number of hours per week spent on LTPA estimated the degree of physical activity. Workplace bullying at baseline (T1) was associated with awakening problems and lack of restful sleep at follow-up (T2) but not with overall sleep problems and disturbed sleep. T1-LTPA did not moderate the association between T1-workplace bullying and T2-sleep problems. We found support that workplace bullying is related to development of T2-sleep problems, but this association seems not to be modified by LTPA.

Investing in Prospective Cohorts for Etiologic Study of Occupational Exposures

Science.gov (United States)

Prospective cohorts have played a major role in understanding the role of diet, physical activity, medical conditions, and genes in the development of many diseases, but have not been widely used in the study of occupational exposures. Studies in agriculture are an exception. W...

The Cosmopolitan Epics of 2004: A Case Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Assoc. Prof. Saverio Giovacchini

2011-01-01

Full Text Available In 2004 Hollywood produced three purportedly blockbuster epic films:Troy, King Arthur and Alexander. Many critics suggested a direct linkbetween the 1950s “sword and sandal” epic and this new crop of movies.Similarities between the two cycles certainly exist but in this essay I want to emphasize a crucial difference between the contemporary,cosmopolitan, epic and the previous, more nation-bound, 1950s cycle.Rather than being in tune with key elements of American foreign policy, the new cycle of “sword and sandal” films offers a somber assessment of American imperial adventures. I shall contend, in fact, that the new crop of epic films had to choose between two generic conventions that are, at present, not compatible. On the one hand, epic films had traditionally been the bearers of the foreign policy vision of the country that produced them. On the other, their inflated budgets made them dependent on an international market. Deeply aware of a globalized and rising opposition to US foreign policy and of the fact that foreign box office now exceeds the domestic take of a blockbuster, it may be no wonder that the makers of these films chose to craft them into citizens of the world.

Prospective cohort study of impulse control disorders in Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Bastiaens, Jesse; Dorfman, Benjamin J; Christos, Paul J; Nirenberg, Melissa J

2013-03-01

Impulse control disorders (ICDs) are potentially serious side effects of dopamine agonist therapy in Parkinson's disease (PD), but prospective data are lacking about their incidence, time course, and risk factors. This work was a 4-year, prospective cohort study of outpatients with PD and no previous ICDs (N = 164). All subjects treated with a dopamine agonist during the study were followed longitudinally for new-onset ICDs. Baseline characteristics were compared in groups with (ICD+) and without (ICD-) subsequent ICDs. Forty-six subjects were treated with a dopamine agonist, including 25 who were newly treated and 21 who received ongoing dopamine agonist therapy. Of these 46 subjects, 18 (39.1%) developed new-onset ICDs. The timing of ICD onset varied from 3.0 to 114.0 months (median, 23.0) after initiation of dopamine agonist therapy. Baseline demographic characteristics were similar in ICD+ and ICD- groups. At baseline, ICD+ subjects had a greater prevalence of motor complications (61.1% versus 25.0%; P = 0.01) than ICD- subjects, despite comparable total dopaminergic medication usage in both groups (median, 150.0 versus 150.0 levodopa equivalents; P = 0.61). Compared with ICD- subjects, ICD+ subjects had a greater baseline prevalence of caffeine use (100% versus 66.7%; P = 0.007) and higher lifetime prevalence of cigarette smoking (44.4% versus 14.3%; P = 0.04). Peak dopamine agonist doses were higher in ICD+ than ICD- subjects (median 300.0 versus 165.0 L-dopa equivalents; P = 0.03), but cumulative dopamine agonist exposure was similar in both groups. In summary, the timing of new-onset ICDs in PD is highly variable. Risk factors include cigarette smoking, caffeine use, motor complications, and higher peak dopamine agonist dosage. Copyright © 2013 Movement Disorders Society.

Diet and risk of kidney stones in the Oxford cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC).

Science.gov (United States)

Turney, Benjamin W; Appleby, Paul N; Reynard, John M; Noble, Jeremy G; Key, Timothy J; Allen, Naomi E

2014-05-01

The lifetime prevalence of kidney stones is around 10 % and incidence rates are increasing. Diet may be an important determinant of kidney stone development. Our objective was to investigate the association between diet and kidney stone risk in a population with a wide range of diets. This association was examined among 51,336 participants in the Oxford arm of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition using data from Hospital Episode Statistics in England and Scottish Morbidity Records. In the cohort, 303 participants attended hospital with a new kidney stone episode. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and their 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI). Compared to those with high intake of meat (>100 g/day), the HR estimates for moderate meat-eaters (50-99 g/day), low meat-eaters (<50 g/day), fish-eaters and vegetarians were 0.80 (95 % CI 0.57-1.11), 0.52 (95 % CI 0.35-0.8), 0.73 (95 % CI 0.48-1.11) and 0.69 (95 % CI 0.48-0.98), respectively. High intakes of fresh fruit, fibre from wholegrain cereals and magnesium were also associated with a lower risk of kidney stone formation. A high intake of zinc was associated with a higher risk. In conclusion, vegetarians have a lower risk of developing kidney stones compared with those who eat a high meat diet. This information may be important to advise the public about prevention of kidney stone formation.

Social capital and the course of depression: six-month prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Webber, Martin; Huxley, Peter; Harris, Tirril

2011-03-01

Previous research has found an inverse cross-sectional relationship between an individual's access to social capital (defined as resources embedded within social networks) and depression, but this relationship has not been rigorously tested in prospective research. This is the first longitudinal study to evaluate the effect of social capital on the course of depression and subjective quality of life in a clinical population. This was a six-month prospective cohort study of people with depression in primary care achieving a follow-up rate of 91.3% (n=158). Depression was measured with the HAD-D and social capital using the Resource Generator-UK. Potential confounding variables including socio-demographics, socio-economic status, depression history, social support, life events and attachment style were also measured. Social capital had no independent effect on the course of depression, though an interaction of access to social capital and attachment style was significantly related to change in quality of life alongside multiple covariates. The study used a small sample; a short follow-up period; no measure of ecological social capital; no genetic components; and only two time points. Emotional support is important for the alleviation of depression. Additionally, people with depression may require a secure attachment style to derive the full benefit of their social capital. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS): Application source/release control for EPICS R3.11.6

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zieman, B.; Kraimer, M.

1994-01-01

This manual describes a set of tools that can be used to develop software for EPICS based control systems. It provides the following features: Multiple applications; the entire system is composed of an arbitrary number of applications: Source/Release Control; all files created or modified by the applications developers can be put under sccs (a UNIX Source/Release control utility): Multiple Developers; it allows a number of applications developers to work separately during the development phase but combine their applications for system testing and for a production system; Makefiles: makefiles are provided to automatically rebuild various application components. For C and state notation programs, Imagefiles are provided

Study design of DIACORE (DIAbetes COhoRtE – a cohort study of patients with diabetes mellitus type 2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dörhöfer Lena

2013-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM2 is highly associated with increased risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD, end stage renal disease (ESRD and cardiovascular morbidity. Epidemiological and genetic studies generate hypotheses for innovative strategies in DM2 management by unravelling novel mechanisms of diabetes complications, which is essential for future intervention trials. We have thus initiated the DIAbetes COhoRtE study (DIACORE. Methods DIACORE is a prospective cohort study aiming to recruit 6000 patients of self-reported Caucasian ethnicity with prevalent DM2 for at least 10 years of follow-up. Study visits are performed in University-based recruiting clinics in Germany using standard operating procedures. All prevalent DM2 patients in outpatient clinics surrounding the recruiting centers are invited to participate. At baseline and at each 2-year follow-up examination, patients are subjected to a core phenotyping protocol. This includes a standardized online questionnaire and physical examination to determine incident micro- and macrovascular DM2 complications, malignancy and hospitalization, with a primary focus on renal events. Confirmatory outcome information is requested from patient records. Blood samples are obtained for a centrally analyzed standard laboratory panel and for biobanking of aliquots of serum, plasma, urine, mRNA and DNA for future scientific use. A subset of the cohort is subjected to extended phenotyping, e.g. sleep apnea screening, skin autofluorescence measurement, non-mydriatic retinal photography and non-invasive determination of arterial stiffness. Discussion DIACORE will enable the prospective evaluation of factors involved in DM2 complication pathogenesis using high-throughput technologies in biosamples and genetic epidemiological studies.

Preliminary design and integration of EPICS operation interface for the Taiwan photon source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng, Y.S.; Jenny Chen; Chiu, P.C.; Kuo, C.H.; Liao, C.Y.; Hsu, K.T.; Wu, C.Y.

2012-01-01

The TPS (Taiwan Photon Source) is the latest generation 3 GeV synchrotron light source which has been in construction since 2010. The EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) framework is adopted as control system infrastructure for the TPS. The EPICS IOCs (Input Output Controller) and various database records have been gradually implemented to control and monitor available subsystems of the TPS at this moment. The subsystem includes timing, power supply, motion controller, miscellaneous Ethernet compliant devices etc. Through EPICS PVs (Process Variables) channel access, remote access I/O data via Ethernet interface can be observed by the usable graphical tool-kits, such as the EDM (Extensible Display Manager) and MATLAB. The operation interface mainly includes the function of setting, reading, save, restore and etc. Integration of operation interfaces will depend upon properties of each subsystem. In addition, the centralized management method is utilized to serve every client from file servers in order to maintain consistent versions of related EPICS files. (authors)

EPICS - MDSplus integration in the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luchetta, Adriano; Manduchi, Gabriele; Barbalace, Antonio; Soppelsa, Anton; Taliercio, Cesare

2011-01-01

SPIDER, the ITER-size ion-source test bed in the ITER Neutral Beam Test Facility, is a fusion device requiring a complex central system to provide control and data acquisition, referred to as CODAS. The CODAS software architecture will rely on EPICS and MDSplus, two open-source, collaborative software frameworks, targeted at control and data acquisition, respectively. EPICS has been selected as ITER CODAC middleware and, as the final deliverable of the Neutral Beam Test Facility is the procurement of the ITER Heating Neutral Beam Injector, we decided to adopt this ITER technology. MDSplus is a software package for data management, supporting advanced concepts, such as platform and underlying hardware independence, self description data, and data driven model. The combined use of EPICS and MDSplus is not new in fusion, but their level of integration will be new in SPIDER, achieved by a more refined data access layer. The paper presents the integration software to use effectively EPICS and MDSplus, including the definition of appropriate EPICS records to interact with MDSplus. The MDSplus and EPICS archive concepts are also compared on the basis of performance tests and data streaming is investigated by ad-hoc measurements.

Inclusive (e,e'N), (e,e'NN), (e,e'π),... reactions in nuclei

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gil, A.; Oset, E.

1997-01-01

We study the inclusive (e,e'N), (e,e'NN), (e,e'π), (e,e'πN) reactions in nuclei using a Monte Carlo simulation method to treat the multichannel problem of the final state. The input consists of reaction probabilities for the different steps evaluated using microscopical many body methods. We obtain a good agreement with experiment in some channels where there is data and make predictions for other channels which are presently under investigation in several electron laboratories. The comparison of the theoretical results with experiment for several kinematical conditions and diverse channels can serve to learn about different physical processes occurring in the reaction. The potential of this theoretical tool to make prospections for possible experiments, aiming at pinning down certain reaction probabilities, is also emphasized. (orig.)

Healthy lifestyle and risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

McKenzie, Fiona; Ferrari, Pietro; Freisling, Heinz; Chajès, Veronique; Rinaldi, Sabina; de Batlle, Jordi; Dahm, Christina C; Overvad, Kim; Baglietto, Laura; Dartois, Laureen; Dossus, Laure; Lagiou, Pagona; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Krogh, Vittorio; Panico, Salvatore; Tumino, Rosario; Rosso, Stefano; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H B As; May, Anne; Peeters, Petra H; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Buckland, Genevieve; Sanchez, Maria-Jose; Navarro, Carmen; Ardanaz, Eva; Andersson, Anne; Sund, Malin; Ericson, Ulrika; Wirfält, Elisabet; Key, Tim J; Travis, Ruth C; Gunter, Marc; Riboli, Elio; Vergnaud, Anne-Claire; Romieu, Isabelle

2015-06-01

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and prevention strategies are needed to reduce incidence worldwide. A healthy lifestyle index score (HLIS) was generated to investigate the joint effect of modifiable lifestyle factors on postmenopausal breast cancer risk. The study included 242,918 postmenopausal women from the multinational European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, with detailed information on diet and lifestyle assessed at baseline. The HLIS was constructed from five factors (diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption and anthropometry) by assigning scores of 0-4 to categories of each component, for which higher values indicate healthier behaviours. Hazard ratios (HR) were estimated by Cox proportional regression models. During 10.9 years of median follow-up, 7,756 incident breast cancer cases were identified. There was a 3% lower risk of breast cancer per point increase of the HLIS. Breast cancer risk was inversely associated with a high HLIS when fourth versus second (reference) categories were compared [adjusted HR = 0.74; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.66-0.83]. The fourth versus the second category of the HLIS was associated with a lower risk for hormone receptor double positive (adjusted HR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.67-0.98) and hormone receptor double negative breast cancer (adjusted HR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.40-0.90). Findings suggest having a high score on an index of combined healthy behaviours reduces the risk of developing breast cancer among postmenopausal women. Programmes which engage women in long term health behaviours should be supported. © 2014 UICC.

Insomnia predicts long-term all-cause mortality after acute myocardial infarction: A prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Condén, Emelie; Rosenblad, Andreas

2016-07-15

Sleep impairment such as insomnia is an established risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The aim of the current study was to examine the association between insomnia and all-cause mortality among AMI patients. This prospective cohort study used data on n=732 patients recruited from September 2006 to May 2011 as part of the Västmanland Myocardial Infarction Study (VaMIS), a prospective cohort study of AMI patients living in Västmanland County, Sweden. Participants were followed up for all-cause mortality until December 9, 2015. The outcome of interest was time-to-death (TTD), with the presence of insomnia being the risk factor of main interest. Data were analyzed using a piecewise Cox regression model with change point for insomnia at two years of follow-up, adjusted for socioeconomic, lifestyle and clinical risk factors. In total, n=175 (23.9%) of the participants suffered from insomnia. During a mean (SD) follow-up time of 6.0 (2.5) years (4392person-years), a total of n=231 (31.6%) participants died, n=77 (44.0%) in the insomnia group and n=154 (27.6%) in the non-insomnia group (log-rank test pinsomnia did not imply a higher risk of death during the first two years after AMI (HR 0.849; 95% CI 0.508-1.421; p=0.534). During the period after the first two years, however, insomnia implied a 1.6 times higher risk of death (HR 1.597; 95% CI 1.090-2.341; p=0.016). Insomnia implies a higher risk of death among AMI patients in the long term. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Differences in kinetic variables between injured and noninjured novice runners : A prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bredeweg, Steef W.; Kluitenberg, Bas; Bessem, Bram; Buist, Ida

Objectives: This prospective study examined differences in kinetic variables between injured and noninjured novice female and male runners and their potential contribution to RRIs. Design: A prospective cohort study. Methods: At baseline vertical ground reaction forces were assessed with an

Duration of pregnancy in relation to seafood intake during early and mid pregnancy: prospective cohort

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, S. F; Osterdal, M. L; Salvig, J. D

2006-01-01

We examined the association between exposure to seafood intake during two periods of pregnancy on the one hand and risks of preterm delivery and postterm delivery on the other. In a prospective cohort of 8729 pregnant Danish women, we assessed frequency of fish meals during the first and second.......23-4.61) times in those who never consumed fish (n = 308) vs. those who consumed both fish as main meal and fish in sandwiches at least once per week (n = 785). These measures were similar when fish intake was based solely on intake reported for mid-pregnancy. In the subgroup of women reporting same intake...

Web services interface to EPICS channel access

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

DUAN Lei; SHEN Liren

2008-01-01

Web services is used in Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). Combined with EPICS Channel Access protocol, Web services' high usability, platform independence and language independence can be used to design a fully transparent and uniform software interface layer, which helps us complete channel data acquisition, modification and monitoring functions. This software interface layer, a cross-platform of cross-language,has good interopcrability and reusability.

Web services interface to EPICS channel access

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duan Lei; Shen Liren

2008-01-01

Web services is used in Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). Combined with EPICS Channel Access protocol, Web services high usability, platform independence and language independence can be used to design a fully transparent and uniform software interface layer, which helps us complete channel data acquisition, modification and monitoring functions. This software interface layer, a cross-platform of cross-language, has good interoperability and reusability. (authors)

Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Biofuel Crops and Parameterization in the EPIC Biogeochemical Model

Science.gov (United States)

This presentation describes year 1 field measurements of N2O fluxes and crop yields which are used to parameterize the EPIC biogeochemical model for the corresponding field site. Initial model simulations are also presented.

Health impact of E-cigarettes: a prospective 3.5-year study of regular daily users who have never smoked.

Science.gov (United States)

Polosa, Riccardo; Cibella, Fabio; Caponnetto, Pasquale; Maglia, Marilena; Prosperini, Umberto; Russo, Cristina; Tashkin, Donald

2017-11-17

Although electronic cigarettes (ECs) are a much less harmful alternative to tobacco cigarettes, there is concern as to whether long-term ECs use may cause risks to human health. We report health outcomes (blood pressure, heart rate, body weight, lung function, respiratory symptoms, exhaled breath nitric oxide [eNO], exhaled carbon monoxide [eCO], and high-resolution computed tomography [HRCT] of the lungs) from a prospective 3.5-year observational study of a cohort of nine daily EC users (mean age 29.7 (±6.1) years) who have never smoked and a reference group of twelve never smokers. No significant changes could be detected over the observation period from baseline in the EC users or between EC users and control subjects in any of the health outcomes investigated. Moreover, no pathological findings could be identified on HRCT of the lungs and no respiratory symptoms were consistently reported in the EC user group. Although it cannot be excluded that some harm may occur at later stages, this study did not demonstrate any health concerns associated with long-term use of EC in relatively young users who did not also smoke tobacco.

A Cloud Top Pressure Algorithm for DSCOVR-EPIC

Science.gov (United States)

Min, Q.; Morgan, E. C.; Yang, Y.; Marshak, A.; Davis, A. B.

2017-12-01

The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) sensor on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite presents unique opportunities to derive cloud properties of the entire daytime Earth. In particular, the Oxygen A- and B-band and corresponding reference channels provide cloud top pressure information. In order to address the in-cloud penetration depth issue—and ensuing retrieval bias—a comprehensive sensitivity study has been conducted to simulate satellite-observed radiances for a wide variety of cloud structures and optical properties. Based on this sensitivity study, a cloud top pressure algorithm for DSCOVR-EPIC has been developed. Further, the algorithm has been applied to EPIC measurements.

Perfusion Electronic Record Documentation Using Epic Systems Software.

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Jeffrey B; Justison, George A

2015-12-01

The authors comment on Steffens and Gunser's article describing the University of Wisconsin adoption of the Epic anesthesia record to include perfusion information from the cardiopulmonary bypass patient experience. We highlight the current-day lessons and the valuable quality and safety principles the Wisconsin-Epic model anesthesia-perfusion record provides.

Simulation using Xorbit with EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Evans, K. Jr.

1995-01-01

The accelerator code Xorbit has an interface to the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS). This means that machine data such as magnet settings can be sent to Xorbit via EPICS, and the resulting orbit parameters such as beta functions, etc., can be calculated. In addition, Xorbit can be made to simulate the real machine, whether the latter is running or not. To accomplish this for the APS, there is a database of process variables in an IOC corresponding to each APS ring and beamline. These process variables are very similar to the real process variables that read and set power supplies and read monitors, except that when a setting is changed, Xorbit is notified via a callback, calculates a new orbit, and outputs the appropriate readbacks to the database. By attaching the string ''Xorbit:'' to a control name the control system will respond to the simulation rather than the real system. This allows the testing of control algorithms, orbit diagnostics, and many other components of the control system (as well as EPICS itself). It is fast enough to be visually similar to accessing the real system

Exon-primed intron-crossing (EPIC markers for non-model teleost fishes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riethoven Jean-Jack M

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Exon-primed intron-crossing (EPIC markers have three advantages over anonymous genomic sequences in studying evolution of natural populations. First, the universal primers designed in exon regions can be applied across a broad taxonomic range. Second, the homology of EPIC-amplified sequences can be easily determined by comparing either their exon or intron portion depending on the genetic distance between the taxa. Third, having both the exon and intron fragments could help in examining genetic variation at the intraspecific and interspecific level simultaneously, particularly helpful when studying species complex. However, the paucity of EPIC markers has hindered multilocus studies using nuclear gene sequences, particularly in teleost fishes. Results We introduce a bioinformatics pipeline for developing EPIC markers by comparing the whole genome sequences between two or more species. By applying this approach on five teleost fishes whose genomes were available in the Ensembl database http://www.ensembl.org, we identified 210 EPIC markers that have single-copy and conserved exon regions with identity greater than 85% among the five teleost fishes. We tested 12 randomly chosen EPIC markers in nine teleost species having a wide phylogenetic range. The success rate of amplifying and sequencing those markers varied from 44% to 100% in different species. We analyzed the exon sequences of the 12 EPIC markers from 13 teleosts. The resulting phylogeny contains many traditionally well-supported clades, indicating the usefulness of the exon portion of EPIC markers in reconstructing species phylogeny, in addition to the value of the intron portion of EPIC markers in interrogating the population history. Conclusions This study illustrated an effective approach to develop EPIC markers in a taxonomic group, where two or more genome sequences are available. The markers identified could be amplified across a broad taxonomic range of teleost

An object oriented framework of EPICS for MicroTCA based control system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geng, Z.

2012-01-01

EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) is a distributed control system platform which has been widely used for large scientific devices control like particle accelerators and fusion plant. EPICS has introduced object oriented (C ++ ) interfaces to most of the core services. But the major part of EPICS, the run-time database, only provides C interfaces, which is hard to involve the EPICS record concerned data and routines in the object oriented architecture of the software. This paper presents an object oriented framework which contains some abstract classes to encapsulate the EPICS record concerned data and routines in C ++ classes so that full OOA (Objected Oriented Analysis) and OOD (Object Oriented Design) methodologies can be used for EPICS IOC design. We also present a dynamic device management scheme for the hot swap capability of the MicroTCA based control system. (authors)

A Consistent EPIC Visible Channel Calibration Using VIIRS and MODIS as a Reference.

Science.gov (United States)

Haney, C.; Doelling, D. R.; Minnis, P.; Bhatt, R.; Scarino, B. R.; Gopalan, A.

2017-12-01

The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite constantly images the sunlit disk of Earth from the Lagrange-1 (L1) point in 10 spectral channels spanning the UV, VIS, and NIR spectrums. Recently, the DSCOVR EPIC team has publicly released version 2 dataset, which has implemented improved navigation, stray-light correction, and flat-fielding of the CCD array. The EPIC 2-year data record must be well-calibrated for consistent cloud, aerosol, trace gas, land use and other retrievals. Because EPIC lacks onboard calibrators, the observations made by EPIC channels must be calibrated vicariously using the coincident measurements from radiometrically stable instruments that have onboard calibration systems. MODIS and VIIRS are best-suited instruments for this task as they contain similar spectral bands that are well-calibrated onboard using solar diffusers and lunar tracking. We have previously calibrated the EPIC version 1 dataset by using EPIC and VIIRS angularly matched radiance pairs over both all-sky ocean and deep convective clouds (DCC). We noted that the EPIC image required navigations adjustments, and that the EPIC stray-light correction provided an offset term closer to zero based on the linear regression of the EPIC and VIIRS ray-matched radiance pairs. We will evaluate the EPIC version 2 navigation and stray-light improvements using the same techniques. In addition, we will monitor the EPIC channel calibration over the two years for any temporal degradation or anomalous behavior. These two calibration methods will be further validated using desert and DCC invariant Earth targets. The radiometric characterization of the selected invariant targets is performed using multiple years of MODIS and VIIRS measurements. Results of these studies will be shown at the conference.

Coffee consumption and risk of chronic disease in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Germany study.

Science.gov (United States)

Floegel, Anna; Pischon, Tobias; Bergmann, Manuela M; Teucher, Birgit; Kaaks, Rudolf; Boeing, Heiner

2012-04-01

Early studies suggested that coffee consumption may increase the risk of chronic disease. We investigated prospectively the association between coffee consumption and the risk of chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes (T2D), myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, and cancer. We used data from 42,659 participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Germany study. Coffee consumption was assessed by self-administered food-frequency questionnaire at baseline, and data on medically verified incident chronic diseases were collected by active and passive follow-up procedures. HRs and 95% CIs were calculated with multivariate Cox regression models and compared by competing risk analysis. During 8.9 y of follow-up, we observed 1432 cases of T2D, 394 of MI, 310 of stroke, and 1801 of cancer as first qualifying events. Caffeinated (HR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.84, 1.05) or decaffeinated (HR: 1.05; 95% CI: 0.84, 1.31) coffee consumption (≥4 cups/d compared with disease. A lower risk of T2D was associated with caffeinated (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.94; P-trend 0.009) and decaffeinated (HR: 0.70; 95% CI: 0.46, 1.06; P-trend: 0.043) coffee consumption (≥4 cups/d compared with disease and cancer risk were not. The competing risk analysis showed no significant differences between the risk associations of individual diseases. Our findings suggest that coffee consumption does not increase the risk of chronic disease, but it may be linked to a lower risk of T2D.

A prospective cohort study of injury in amateur and professional boxing.

Science.gov (United States)

Zazryn, T; Cameron, P; McCrory, P

2006-08-01

There is concern over the potential for a high incidence of injury in boxing. This is despite a lack of prospective data evaluating the risk for modern day participants. Updated, reliable data with a focus on potential exposure to injury for both amateur and, especially, professional boxers is required. To determine the epidemiology of injury and exposure of amateur and professional boxers in Victoria, Australia. A prospective cohort study with one year follow up was carried out over 2004-2005. Thirty three amateur and 14 active professional boxers registered with either Boxing Victoria Inc (amateurs) or the Professional Boxing and Combat Sports Board of Victoria (professionals) volunteered. Exposure at training and competition was measured, and any injuries sustained during this participation were recorded. Twenty one injuries were sustained by the cohort during the follow up period. Most were to the head region (71%; 95% confidence interval -3.7 to 89.4), with concussion being the most common (33%). An overall injury rate of 2.0 injuries per 1000 hours of boxing was calculated. The high exposure experienced by the boxers (as a result of considerable training time) indicated that boxing has acute injury rates comparable to, and often lower than, those found in other contact and non-contact sports. Further, acute injuries during training appear to be less common and severe than those sustained in bouts.

Italian Mediterranean Index and risk of colorectal cancer in the Italian section of the EPIC cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Agnoli, Claudia; Grioni, Sara; Sieri, Sabina; Palli, Domenico; Masala, Giovanna; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Vineis, Paolo; Tumino, Rosario; Giurdanella, Maria Concetta; Pala, Valeria; Berrino, Franco; Mattiello, Amalia; Panico, Salvatore; Krogh, Vittorio

2013-03-15

Colorectal cancer is among the commonest cancers worldwide. Dietary factors have been linked to colorectal cancer risk, however, few studies have evaluated the relationship between a priori dietary patterns and colorectal cancer risk. We evaluated the effect of adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern, as measured by the Italian Mediterranean Index, on the risk of colorectal cancer in the 45,275 participants of the Italian section of the EPIC study who completed a dietary questionnaire. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for colorectal cancer in relation to categories of Italian Mediterranean Index score were estimated by multivariate Cox models adjusted for known risk factors, on the whole cohort, on men and women and according to cancer subsite. During a mean follow-up of 11.28 years, 435 colorectal cancer cases were identified. The Italian Mediterranean Index was inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk (HR: 0.50; 95% CI: 0.35-0.71 for the highest category compared to the lowest, P-trend: 0.043). Results did not differ by sex. Highest Italian Mediterranean Index score was also significantly associated with reduced risks of any colon cancer (HR: 0.54, 95% CI: 0.36-0.81), distal colon cancer (HR: 0.44, 95% CI: 0.26-0.75) and rectal cancer (HR: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.20-0.81), but not of proximal colon cancer. These findings suggest that adherence to a Mediterranean diet (as measured by the Italian Mediterranean Index) protects against colorectal cancer in general but not against cancer developing in the proximal colon. Copyright © 2012 UICC.

Mercury exposure and risk of hypertension in US men and women in 2 prospective cohorts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mozaffarian, Dariush; Shi, Peilin; Morris, J Steven

2012-01-01

Cross-sectional studies and animal experiments suggest that methylmercury exposure could increase the risk of hypertension. This relationship has not been evaluated in large prospective studies. Using data from previous nested case-control studies in 2 separate prospective cohorts, we measured...... toenail mercury, a valid biomarker of long-term methylmercury exposure, among 6045 US men and women free of hypertension at baseline. Geometric mean toenail mercury concentrations were 0.08 μg/g in the lowest quintile and 0.74 μg/g in the highest quintile, the latter corresponding with exposures ≈2.0-fold.......82 (0.62-1.08) in men, and 0.94 (0.84-1.06) in both cohorts combined. Findings were similar when more extreme categories of mercury were compared (across deciles, with geometric mean levels in highest decile ≈2.9-fold higher than the reference dose) and in analyses stratified by fish or omega-3...

The feasibility of matching on a propensity score for acupuncture in a prospective cohort study of patients with chronic pain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eric S. Johnson

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Propensity scores are typically applied in retrospective cohort studies. We describe the feasibility of matching on a propensity score derived from a retrospective cohort and subsequently applied in a prospective cohort study of patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain before the start of acupuncture or usual care treatment and enrollment in a comparative effectiveness study that required patient reported pain outcomes. Methods We assembled a retrospective cohort study using data from 2010 to develop a propensity score for acupuncture versus usual care based on electronic healthcare record and administrative data (e.g., pharmacy from an integrated health plan, Kaiser Permanente Northwest. The propensity score’s probabilities allowed us to match acupuncture-referred and non-referred patients prospectively in 2013-14 after a routine outpatient visit for pain. Among the matched patients, we collected patient-reported pain before treatment and during follow-up to assess the comparative effectiveness of acupuncture. We assessed balance in patient characteristics with the post-matching c-statistic and standardized differences. Results Based on the propensity score and other characteristics (e.g., patient-reported pain, we were able to match all 173 acupuncture-referred patients to 350 non-referred (usual care patients. We observed a residual imbalance (based on the standardized differences for some characteristics that contributed to the score; for example, age, -0.283, and the Charlson comorbidity score, -0.264, had the largest standardized differences. The overall balance of the propensity score appeared more favorable according to the post-matching c-statistic, 0.503. Conclusion The propensity score matching was feasible statistically and logistically and allowed approximate balance on patient characteristics, some of which will require adjustment in the comparative effectiveness regression model. By transporting propensity

Bis{(E-3-[2-(hydroxyiminopropanamido]-2,2-dimethylpropan-1-aminium} bis[μ-(E-N-(3-amino-2,2-dimethylpropyl-2-(hydroxyiminopropanamido(2−]bis{[(E-N-(3-amino-2,2-dimethylpropyl-2-(hydroxyiminopropanamide]copper(II} bis((E-{3-[2-(hydroxyiminopropanamido]-2,2-dimethylpropyl}carbamate acetonitrile disolvate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrii I. Buvailo

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The reaction between copper(II nitrate and (E-N-(3-amino-2,2-dimethylpropyl-2-(hydroxyiminopropanamide led to the formation of the dinuclear centrosymmetric copper(II title complex, (C8H18N3O22[Cu2(C8H15N3O22(C8H17N3O22](C9H16N3O42·2CH3CN, in which an inversion center is located at the midpoint of the Cu2 unit in the center of the neutral [Cu2(C8H15N3O22(C8H17N3O22] complex fragment. The Cu2+ ions are connected by two N—O bridging groups [Cu...Cu separation = 4.0608 (5 Å] while the CuII ions are five-coordinated in a square-pyramidal N4O coordination environment. The complex molecule co-crystallizes with two molecules of acetonitrile, two molecules of the protonated ligand (E-3-[2-(hydroxyiminopropanamido]-2,2-dimethylpropan-1-aminium and two negatively charged (E-{3-[2-(hydroxyiminopropanamido]-2,2-dimethylpropyl}carbamate anions, which were probably formed as a result of condensation between (E-N-(3-amino-2,2-dimethylpropyl-2-(hydroxyiminopropanamide and hydrogencarbonate anions. In the crystal, the complex fragment [Cu2(C8H15N3O22(C8H17N3O22] and the ion pair C8H18N3O2+.C9H16N3O4− are connected via an extended system of hydrogen bonds.

Indigenous women in Spanish American Historic Epic Poetry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lise Segas

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Epic poetry has always been considered a masculine genre. The eruption of a group identity, masculine, white, aristocratic and christian, is the result of the representation and the exclusion of the Other, fictitious and singular, but in fact composed of a variety of ethnic groups, origins, sex, genders, religions and different degrees between fiction and historicity. Indeed, in the historical epic poetry which narrated the Conquest, except for the conquistadors listed at length and the indigenous kings and caciques, only few characters are distinguished by a historical individualisation. The Other, Amerindian and female, makes a shy entrance into history, into singularity, into the (historical and christian truth. It is the case of interpreters: Malinche and India Catalina, only historical native women that appear as part of the narrative plot as well as in the conquest enterprise in the poems of Lasso de la Vega (Cortés valeroso y Mexicana, Mexicana, of Juan de Castellanos (Elegías de varones ilustres de Indias and of Saavedra Guzmán (El peregrino indiano.

Prospective Cohort Study with Active Surveillance for Fever in Four Dengue Endemic Countries in Latin America

Science.gov (United States)

Dayan, Gustavo; Arredondo, Jose L.; Carrasquilla, Gabriel; Deseda, Carmen C.; Dietze, Reynaldo; Luz, Kleber; Costa, Maria Selma N.; Cunha, Rivaldo V.; Rey, Luis C.; Morales, Javier; Reynales, Humberto; Miranda, Maria; Zambrano, Betzana; Rivas, Enrique; Garbes, Pedro; Noriega, Fernando

2015-01-01

To prepare for a Phase III dengue vaccine efficacy trial, 20 investigational sites were selected for this observational study to identify dengue infections in a closed cohort (N = 3,000 children 9–16 years of age). Of 255 acute febrile episodes experienced by 235 children, 50 (21.3%) were considered serologically probable dengue, and 18 (7.7%) were considered virologically confirmed (i.e., dengue NS1 antigen positive) dengue cases. Considering the disease-free and at-risk period from study start to onset of symptoms, the overall incidence density of acute febrile episodes was 17.7 per 100 person-years of follow-up, ranging from 15.3 in Colombia to 22.0 in Puerto Rico. This study showed that all sites were capable of capturing and following up acute febrile episodes within a specific timeframe among the established cohort and to detect dengue cases. PMID:26013373

Uncertainties in cloud phase and optical thickness retrievals from the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC).

Science.gov (United States)

Meyer, Kerry; Yang, Yuekui; Platnick, Steven

2016-01-01

This paper presents an investigation of the expected uncertainties of a single channel cloud optical thickness (COT) retrieval technique, as well as a simple cloud temperature threshold based thermodynamic phase approach, in support of the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) mission. DSCOVR cloud products will be derived from Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) observations in the ultraviolet and visible spectra. Since EPIC is not equipped with a spectral channel in the shortwave or mid-wave infrared that is sensitive to cloud effective radius (CER), COT will be inferred from a single visible channel with the assumption of appropriate CER values for liquid and ice phase clouds. One month of Aqua MODIS daytime granules from April 2005 is selected for investigating cloud phase sensitivity, and a subset of these granules that has similar EPIC sun-view geometry is selected for investigating COT uncertainties. EPIC COT retrievals are simulated with the same algorithm as the operational MODIS cloud products (MOD06), except using fixed phase-dependent CER values. Uncertainty estimates are derived by comparing the single channel COT retrievals with the baseline bi-spectral MODIS retrievals. Results show that a single channel COT retrieval is feasible for EPIC. For ice clouds, single channel retrieval errors are minimal (< 2%) due to the particle size insensitivity of the assumed ice crystal (i.e., severely roughened aggregate of hexagonal columns) scattering properties at visible wavelengths, while for liquid clouds the error is mostly limited to within 10%, although for thin clouds (COT < 2) the error can be higher. Potential uncertainties in EPIC cloud masking and cloud temperature retrievals are not considered in this study.

Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC)

Science.gov (United States)

Clampin, Mark

2009-01-01

The Extrasolar Planetary Imaging Coronagraph (EPIC) is a proposed NASA Exoplanet Probe mission to image and characterize extrasolar giant planets. EPIC will provide insights into the physical nature and architecture of a variety of planets in other solar systems. Initially, it will detect and characterize the atmospheres of planets identified by radial velocity surveys, determine orbital inclinations and masses and characterize the atmospheres around A and F type stars which cannot be found with RV techniques. It will also observe the inner spatial structure of exozodiacal disks. EPIC has a heliocentric Earth trailing drift-away orbit, with a 5 year mission lifetime. The robust mission design is simple and flexible ensuring mission success while minimizing cost and risk. The science payload consists of a heritage optical telescope assembly (OTA), and visible nulling coronagraph (VNC) instrument. The instrument achieves a contrast ratio of 10^9 over a 5 arcsecond field-of-view with an unprecedented inner working angle of 0.13 arcseconds over the spectral range of 440-880 nm. The telescope is a 1.65 meter off-axis Cassegrain with an OTA wavefront error of lambda/9, which when coupled to the VNC greatly reduces the requirements on the large scale optics.

Dietary flavonoid, lignan and antioxidant capacity and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in the European prospective investigation into cancer and nutrition study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zamora-Ros, Raul; Fedirko, Veronika; Trichopoulou, Antonia

2013-01-01

Limited epidemiological evidence suggests a protective role for plant foods rich in flavonoids and antioxidants in hepatocellular cancer (HCC) etiology. Our aim was to prospectively investigate the association between dietary intake of flavonoids, lignans and nonenzymatic antioxidant capacity (NEAC......) and HCC risk. Data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort including 477,206 subjects (29.8% male) recruited from ten Western European countries, was analyzed. Flavonoid, lignan and NEAC intakes were calculated using a compilation of existing food composition......, 191 incident HCC cases (66.5% men) were identified. Using Cox regression, multivariable adjusted models showed a borderline nonsignificant association of HCC with total flavonoid intake (highest versus lowest tertile, HR = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.40-1.04; ptrend  = 0.065), but not with lignans. Among...

Replica sizing strategy for aortic valve replacement improves haemodynamic outcome of the epic supra valve.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez-Lopez, David; Faerber, Gloria; Diab, Mahmoud; Amorim, Paulo; Zeynalov, Natig; Doenst, Torsten

2017-10-01

Current sizing strategies suggest valve selection based on annulus diameter despite supra-annular placement of biological prostheses potentially allowing placement of a larger size. We assessed the frequency of selecting a larger prosthesis if prosthesis size was selected using a replica (upsizing) and evaluated its impact on haemodynamics. We analysed all discharge echocardiograms between June 2012 and June 2014, where a replica sizer was used for isolated aortic valve replacement (Epic Supra: 266 patients, Trifecta: 49 patients). Upsizing was possible in 71% of the Epic Supra valves (by 1 size: 168, by 2 sizes: 20) and in 59% of the Trifectas (by 1 size: 26, by 2 sizes: 3). Patients for whom upsizing was possible had the lowest pressure gradients within their annulus size groups. The difference was significant in annulus diameters of 21-22 or 25-26 mm (Epic Supra) and 23-24 mm (Trifecta). Trifecta gradients were the lowest. However, the ability to upsize the Epic Supra by 2 sizes eliminated the differences between Epic Supra and Trifecta. Upsizing did not cause intraoperative complications. Using replica sizers for aortic prosthesis size selection allows the implantation of bigger prostheses than recommended in most cases and reduces postoperative gradients, specifically for Epic Supra. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. All rights reserved.

Incidence, severity, aetiology and type of neck injury in men's amateur rugby union: a prospective cohort study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pollard Henry P

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is a paucity of epidemiological data on neck injury in amateur rugby union populations. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence, severity, aetiology and type of neck injury in Australian men's amateur rugby union. Methods Data was collected from a cohort of 262 participants from two Australian amateur men's rugby union clubs via a prospective cohort study design. A modified version of the Rugby Union Injury Report Form for Games and Training was used by the clubs physiotherapist or chiropractor in data collection. Results The participants sustained 90 (eight recurrent neck injuries. Exposure time was calculated at 31143.8 hours of play (12863.8 hours of match time and 18280 hours of training. Incidence of neck injury was 2.9 injuries/1000 player-hours (95%CI: 2.3, 3.6. As a consequence 69.3% neck injuries were minor, 17% mild, 6.8% moderate and 6.8% severe. Neck compression was the most frequent aetiology and was weakly associated with severity. Cervical facet injury was the most frequent neck injury type. Conclusions This is the first prospective cohort study in an amateur men's rugby union population since the inception of professionalism that presents injury rate, severity, aetiology and injury type data for neck injury. Current epidemiological data should be sought when evaluating the risks associated with rugby union football.

Symptoms and the use of wireless communication devices: A prospective cohort study in Swiss adolescents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schoeni, Anna, E-mail: anna.schoeni@unibas.ch [Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, P.O. Box, CH-4002 Basel (Switzerland); University of Basel, Petersplatz 1, CH-4003 Basel (Switzerland); Roser, Katharina, E-mail: katharina.roser@unibas.ch [Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, P.O. Box, CH-4002 Basel (Switzerland); University of Basel, Petersplatz 1, CH-4003 Basel (Switzerland); Röösli, Martin, E-mail: martin.roosli@unibas.ch [Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, P.O. Box, CH-4002 Basel (Switzerland); University of Basel, Petersplatz 1, CH-4003 Basel (Switzerland)

2017-04-15

Background: We investigated whether radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from mobile phones and other wireless devices or by the wireless device use itself due to non-radiation related factors in that context are associated with an increase in health symptom reports of adolescents in Central Switzerland. Methods: In a prospective cohort study, 439 study participants (participation rate: 36.8%) aged 12–17 years, completed questionnaires about their mobile and cordless phone use, their self-reported symptoms and possible confounding factors at baseline (2012/2013) and one year later (2013/2014). Operator recorded mobile phone data was obtained for a subgroup of 234 adolescents. RF-EMF dose measures considering various factors affecting RF-EMF exposure were computed for the brain and the whole body. Data were analysed using a mixed-logistic cross-sectional model and a cohort approach, where we investigated whether cumulative dose over one year was related to a new onset of a symptom between baseline and follow-up. All analyses were adjusted for relevant confounders. Results: Participation rate in the follow-up was 97% (425 participants). In both analyses, cross-sectional and cohort, various symptoms tended to be mostly associated with usage measures that are only marginally related to RF-EMF exposure such as the number of text messages sent per day (e.g. tiredness: OR:1.81; 95%CI:1.20–2.74 for cross-sectional analyses and OR:1.87; 95%CI:1.04–3.38 for cohort analyses). Outcomes were generally less strongly or not associated with mobile phone call duration and RF-EMF dose measures. Conclusions: Stronger associations between symptoms of ill health and wireless communication device use than for RF-EMF dose measures were observed. Such a result pattern does not support a causal association between RF-EMF exposure and health symptoms of adolescents but rather suggests that other aspects of extensive media use are related to symptoms. - Highlights: • This

Symptoms and the use of wireless communication devices: A prospective cohort study in Swiss adolescents

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schoeni, Anna; Roser, Katharina; Röösli, Martin

2017-01-01

Background: We investigated whether radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) from mobile phones and other wireless devices or by the wireless device use itself due to non-radiation related factors in that context are associated with an increase in health symptom reports of adolescents in Central Switzerland. Methods: In a prospective cohort study, 439 study participants (participation rate: 36.8%) aged 12–17 years, completed questionnaires about their mobile and cordless phone use, their self-reported symptoms and possible confounding factors at baseline (2012/2013) and one year later (2013/2014). Operator recorded mobile phone data was obtained for a subgroup of 234 adolescents. RF-EMF dose measures considering various factors affecting RF-EMF exposure were computed for the brain and the whole body. Data were analysed using a mixed-logistic cross-sectional model and a cohort approach, where we investigated whether cumulative dose over one year was related to a new onset of a symptom between baseline and follow-up. All analyses were adjusted for relevant confounders. Results: Participation rate in the follow-up was 97% (425 participants). In both analyses, cross-sectional and cohort, various symptoms tended to be mostly associated with usage measures that are only marginally related to RF-EMF exposure such as the number of text messages sent per day (e.g. tiredness: OR:1.81; 95%CI:1.20–2.74 for cross-sectional analyses and OR:1.87; 95%CI:1.04–3.38 for cohort analyses). Outcomes were generally less strongly or not associated with mobile phone call duration and RF-EMF dose measures. Conclusions: Stronger associations between symptoms of ill health and wireless communication device use than for RF-EMF dose measures were observed. Such a result pattern does not support a causal association between RF-EMF exposure and health symptoms of adolescents but rather suggests that other aspects of extensive media use are related to symptoms. - Highlights: • This

3D virtual world remote laboratory to assist in designing advanced user defined DAQ systems based on FlexRIO and EPICS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carpeño, A., E-mail: antonio.cruiz@upm.es [Universidad Politécnica de Madrid UPM, Madrid (Spain); Contreras, D.; López, S.; Ruiz, M.; Sanz, D.; Arcas, G. de; Esquembri, S. [Universidad Politécnica de Madrid UPM, Madrid (Spain); Vega, J.; Castro, R. [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión CIEMAT, Madrid (Spain)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Assist in the design of FPGA-based data acquisition systems using EPICS and FlexRIO. • Virtual Reality technologies are highly effective at creating rich training scenarios. • Virtual actions simulate the behavior of a real system to enhance the training process. • Virtual actions can make real changes remotely in the physical ITER’s Fast Controller. - Abstract: iRIO-3DLab is a platform devised to assist developers in the design and implementation of intelligent and reconfigurable FPGA-based data acquisition systems using EPICS and FlexRIO technologies. Although these architectures are very powerful in defining the behavior of DAQ systems, this advantage comes at the price of greater difficulty in understanding how the system works, and how it should be configured and built according to the hardware available and the processing demanded by the requirements of the diagnostics. In this regard, Virtual Reality technologies are highly effective at creating rich training scenarios due to their ability to provide immersive training experiences and collaborative environments. The designed remote laboratory is based on a 3D virtual world developed in Opensim, which is accessible through a standard free 3D viewer. Using a client-server architecture, the virtual world connects with a service running in a Linux-based computer executing EPICS. Through their avatars, users interact with virtual replicas of this equipment as they would in real-life situations. Some actions can be used to simulate the behavior of a real system to enhance the training process, while others can be used to make real changes remotely in the physical system.

3D virtual world remote laboratory to assist in designing advanced user defined DAQ systems based on FlexRIO and EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carpeño, A.; Contreras, D.; López, S.; Ruiz, M.; Sanz, D.; Arcas, G. de; Esquembri, S.; Vega, J.; Castro, R.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Assist in the design of FPGA-based data acquisition systems using EPICS and FlexRIO. • Virtual Reality technologies are highly effective at creating rich training scenarios. • Virtual actions simulate the behavior of a real system to enhance the training process. • Virtual actions can make real changes remotely in the physical ITER’s Fast Controller. - Abstract: iRIO-3DLab is a platform devised to assist developers in the design and implementation of intelligent and reconfigurable FPGA-based data acquisition systems using EPICS and FlexRIO technologies. Although these architectures are very powerful in defining the behavior of DAQ systems, this advantage comes at the price of greater difficulty in understanding how the system works, and how it should be configured and built according to the hardware available and the processing demanded by the requirements of the diagnostics. In this regard, Virtual Reality technologies are highly effective at creating rich training scenarios due to their ability to provide immersive training experiences and collaborative environments. The designed remote laboratory is based on a 3D virtual world developed in Opensim, which is accessible through a standard free 3D viewer. Using a client-server architecture, the virtual world connects with a service running in a Linux-based computer executing EPICS. Through their avatars, users interact with virtual replicas of this equipment as they would in real-life situations. Some actions can be used to simulate the behavior of a real system to enhance the training process, while others can be used to make real changes remotely in the physical system.

Incense use and respiratory tract carcinomas: a prospective cohort study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Yuan, J.M.; Wang, R.; Koh, W.P.

2008-01-01

of cancer and ages 45 to 74 years completed a comprehensive interview regarding living conditions and dietary and lifestyle factors. Through linkage to population-based registries, the cohort was followed through 2005 and cancer occurrence determined. The relative risk for these cancers associated......BACKGROUND: Incense use is an integral part of daily life in large parts of Asia. The burning of incense is a powerful producer of particulate matter and the smoke contains a multitude of well-characterized carcinogens. However, to the authors' knowledge, no convincing association has been reported...... between exposure to incense smoke and the development of cancer. Therefore, the relation between incense use and the risk of respiratory tract carcinomas was analyzed in a prospective cohort study. METHODS: Between 1993 and 1998, a population-based cohort of 61,320 Singapore Chinese who were free...

E2F3a gene expression has prognostic significance in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Kai-Ling; Mei, Yan-Yan; Cui, Lei; Zhao, Xiao-Xi; Li, Wei-Jing; Gao, Chao; Liu, Shu-Guang; Jiao, Ying; Liu, Fei-Fei; Wu, Min-Yuan; Ding, Wei; Li, Zhi-Gang

2014-10-01

To study E2F3a expression and its clinical significance in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We quantified E2F3a expression at diagnosis in 148 children with ALL by real-time PCR. In the test cohort (n = 48), receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to find the best cut-off point to divide the patients into E2F3a low- and high-expression groups. The prognostic significance of E2F3a expression was investigated in the test cohort and confirmed in the validation cohort (n = 100). The correlations of E2F3a expression with the clinical features and treatment outcome of these patients were analyzed. ROC curve analysis indicated that the best cut-off point of E2F3a expression was 0.3780. In the test cohort, leukemia-free survival (LFS) and event-free survival (EFS) of the low-expression group were lower than those of the high-expression group (log rank: P = 0.026 for both). This finding was verified in the validation cohort. LFS, EFS, and overall survival were also lower in the low-expression group than in the high-expression group (log rank, P = 0.015, 0.008, and 0.002 respectively). E2F3a low expression was correlated with the existence of BCR-ABL fusion. An algorithm composed of E2F3a expression and minimal residual disease (MRD) could predict relapse or induction failure more precisely than current risk stratification. These results were still significant in the ALL patients without BCR-ABL fusion. Low expression of E2F3a was associated with inferior prognosis in childhood ALL. An algorithm composed of E2F3a expression and MRD could predict relapse or induction failure more precisely than that of the current risk stratification. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The impact of voice impairment after thyroidectomy on quality of life. A prospective cohort study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jesper Roed; Døssing, Helle; Bonnema, Steen Joop

Introduction: To assess the impact of voice and vocal fold changes (VVFC) after thyroidectomy on disease specific quality of life (QoL). Methods: Prospective cohort study (inclusion period: 18 months, ending April-2016) with six months follow-up of patients with nodular goiter undergoing thyroide......Introduction: To assess the impact of voice and vocal fold changes (VVFC) after thyroidectomy on disease specific quality of life (QoL). Methods: Prospective cohort study (inclusion period: 18 months, ending April-2016) with six months follow-up of patients with nodular goiter undergoing...

Genetic polymorphisms of the GNRH1 and GNRHR genes and risk of breast cancer in the National Cancer Institute Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium (BPC3

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lund Eiliv

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GNRH1 triggers the release of follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone from the pituitary. Genetic variants in the gene encoding GNRH1 or its receptor may influence breast cancer risk by modulating production of ovarian steroid hormones. We studied the association between breast cancer risk and polymorphisms in genes that code for GNRH1 and its receptor (GNRHR in the large National Cancer Institute Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium (NCI-BPC3. Methods We sequenced exons of GNRH1 and GNRHR in 95 invasive breast cancer cases. Resulting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs were genotyped and used to identify haplotype-tagging SNPs (htSNPS in a panel of 349 healthy women. The htSNPs were genotyped in 5,603 invasive breast cancer cases and 7,480 controls from the Cancer Prevention Study-II (CPS-II, European Prospective Investigation on Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC, Multiethnic Cohort (MEC, Nurses' Health Study (NHS, and Women's Health Study (WHS. Circulating levels of sex steroids (androstenedione, estradiol, estrone and testosterone were also measured in 4713 study subjects. Results Breast cancer risk was not associated with any polymorphism or haplotype in the GNRH1 and GNRHR genes, nor were there any statistically significant interactions with known breast cancer risk factors. Polymorphisms in these two genes were not strongly associated with circulating hormone levels. Conclusion Common variants of the GNRH1 and GNRHR genes are not associated with risk of invasive breast cancer in Caucasians.

Genetic polymorphisms of the GNRH1 and GNRHR genes and risk of breast cancer in the National Cancer Institute Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium (BPC3)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Canzian, Federico; Calle, Eugenia E; Chanock, Stephen; Clavel-Chapelon, Francoise; Dossus, Laure; Feigelson, Heather Spencer; Haiman, Christopher A; Hankinson, Susan E; Hoover, Robert; Hunter, David J; Isaacs, Claudine; Kaaks, Rudolf; Lenner, Per; Lund, Eiliv; Overvad, Kim; Palli, Domenico; Pearce, Celeste Leigh; Quiros, Jose R; Riboli, Elio; Stram, Daniel O; Thomas, Gilles; Thun, Michael J; Cox, David G; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios; Gils, Carla H van; Ziegler, Regina G; Henderson, Katherine D; Henderson, Brian E; Berg, Christine; Bingham, Sheila; Boeing, Heiner; Buring, Julie

2009-01-01

Gonadotropin releasing hormone (GNRH1) triggers the release of follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone from the pituitary. Genetic variants in the gene encoding GNRH1 or its receptor may influence breast cancer risk by modulating production of ovarian steroid hormones. We studied the association between breast cancer risk and polymorphisms in genes that code for GNRH1 and its receptor (GNRHR) in the large National Cancer Institute Breast and Prostate Cancer Cohort Consortium (NCI-BPC3). We sequenced exons of GNRH1 and GNRHR in 95 invasive breast cancer cases. Resulting single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped and used to identify haplotype-tagging SNPs (htSNPS) in a panel of 349 healthy women. The htSNPs were genotyped in 5,603 invasive breast cancer cases and 7,480 controls from the Cancer Prevention Study-II (CPS-II), European Prospective Investigation on Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), Multiethnic Cohort (MEC), Nurses' Health Study (NHS), and Women's Health Study (WHS). Circulating levels of sex steroids (androstenedione, estradiol, estrone and testosterone) were also measured in 4713 study subjects. Breast cancer risk was not associated with any polymorphism or haplotype in the GNRH1 and GNRHR genes, nor were there any statistically significant interactions with known breast cancer risk factors. Polymorphisms in these two genes were not strongly associated with circulating hormone levels. Common variants of the GNRH1 and GNRHR genes are not associated with risk of invasive breast cancer in Caucasians

Prognostic factors of whiplash-associated disorders: a systematic review of prospective cohort studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Scholten-Peeters, Gwendolijne G M; Verhagen, Arianne P; Bekkering, Geertruida E; van der Windt, Daniëlle A W M; Barnsley, Les; Oostendorp, Rob A B; Hendriks, Erik J M

2003-07-01

We present a systematic review of prospective cohort studies. Our aim was to assess prognostic factors associated with functional recovery of patients with whiplash injuries. The failure of some patients to recover following whiplash injury has been linked to a number of prognostic factors. However, there is some inconsistency in the literature and there have been no systematic attempts to analyze the level of evidence for prognostic factors in whiplash recovery. Studies were selected for inclusion following a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, the database of the Dutch Institute of Allied Health Professions up until April 2002 and hand searches of the reference lists of retrieved articles. Studies were selected if the objective was to assess prognostic factors associated with recovery; the design was a prospective cohort study; the study population included at least an identifiable subgroup of patients suffering from a whiplash injury; and the paper was a full report published in English, German, French or Dutch. The methodological quality was independently assessed by two reviewers. A study was considered to be of 'high quality' if it satisfied at least 50% of the maximum available quality score. Two independent reviewers extracted data and the association between prognostic factors and functional recovery was calculated in terms of risk estimates. Fifty papers reporting on twenty-nine cohorts were included in the review. Twelve cohorts were considered to be of 'high quality'. Because of the heterogeneity of patient selection, type of prognostic factors and outcome measures, no statistical pooling was able to be performed. Strong evidence was found for high initial pain intensity being an adverse prognostic factor. There was strong evidence that for older age, female gender, high acute psychological response, angular deformity of the neck, rear-end collision, and compensation not being associated with an adverse prognosis. Several physical (e

Ethanol, Neurodevelopment, Infant and Child Health (ENRICH prospective cohort: Study design considerations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ludmila N. Bakhireva

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Background: While intervention is the leading factor in reducing long-term disabilities in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD, early identification of children affected by prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE remains challenging. Deficits in higher-order cognitive domains (e.g. executive function might be more specific to FASD than global neurodevelopmental tests, yet these functions are not developed in very young children. Measures of early sensorimotor development may provide early indications of atypical brain development during the first two years of life. Methods: This paper describes the novel methodology of the Ethanol, Neurodevelopment, Infant and Child Health (ENRICH prospective cohort study of 120 maternal-infant pairs with a goal to identify early indices of functional brain impairment associated with PAE. The cohort is established by recruiting women early in pregnancy and classifying them into one of three study groups: patients on opioid-maintenance therapy who consume alcohol during pregnancy (Group 1, patients on opioid-maintenance therapy who abstain from alcohol during pregnancy (Group 2, and healthy controls (Group 3. After the initial prenatal assessment (Visit 1, patients are followed to Visit 2 occurring at delivery, and two comprehensive assessments of children at six (Visit 3 and 20 months (Visit 4 of age. ENRICH recruitment started in November 2013 and 87 women were recruited during the first year. During Year 1, the biospecimen (maternal whole blood, serum, urine, dry blood spots of a newborn collection rate was 100% at Visit 1, and 97.6% for those who completed Visit 2. Discussion: The tiered screening approach, evaluation of confounders, neurocognitive and magneto-/electro-encephalography (MEG/EEG outcomes, and ethical considerations are discussed.

Fluidity of the dietary fatty acid profile and risk of coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke: Results from the EPIC-Netherlands cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sluijs, I; Praagman, J; Boer, J M A; Verschuren, W M M; van der Schouw, Y T

2017-09-01

The fluidity of dietary fatty acids consumed has been suggested to inversely affect coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. Lipophilic index (LI) represents overall fluidity of the dietary fatty acid profile. Lipophilic load (LL) represents a combination of overall fluidity and absolute intake of dietary fatty acids. We investigated the relations of dietary LI and LL with risk of CHD and ischemic stroke (iStroke). We used data from the prospective EPIC-NL study, including 36,520 participants aged 20-70 years. LI and LL were calculated using dietary intake data estimated with a validated FFQ. Incident CHD (n = 2348) and iStroke (n = 479) cases were obtained through linkage to national registers during 15 years follow-up. LI and LL were not associated with CHD risk (HRs highest-versus-lowest-quartiles : 0.93 [95%CI: 0.83, 1.04], and 0.92 [95%CI: 0.79, 1.07], respectively), and neither with iStroke risk (HRs 1.15 (95%CI: 0.89, 1.48), and 0.98 (95%CI: 0.70, 1.38), respectively). Original fatty acid classes (SFA, MUFA and PUFA), and LI and LL stratified by these fatty acid classes, were overall not related to CHD and ischemic stroke either. In this Dutch population, neither the overall fluidity of the dietary fatty acid profile (LI), nor the combined fluidity and amount of fatty acids consumed (LL) were related to CHD or iStroke risk. Dietary LI and LL may have limited added value above original fatty acid classes and food sources in establishing the relation of fatty acid consumption with CVD. Copyright © 2017 The Italian Society of Diabetology, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition, and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Health-related quality of life 3 years after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury: a prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Grauwmeijer, Erik; Heijenbrok-Kal, Majanka H; Ribbers, Gerard M

2014-07-01

To evaluate the time course of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) and to identify its predictors. Prospective cohort study with follow-up measurements at 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months after TBI. Patients with moderate to severe TBI discharged from 3 level-1 trauma centers. Patients (N=97, 72% men) with a mean age ± SD of 32.8±13.0 years (range, 18-65y), hospitalized with moderate (23%) or severe (77%) TBI. Not applicable. HRQoL was measured with the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), functional outcomes with the Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS), Barthel Index, FIM, and Functional Assessment Measure, and mood with the Wimbledon Self-Report Scale. The SF-36 domains showed significant improvement over time for Physical Functioning (PPhysical (PPhysical Component Summary (PCS) score, whereas the Mental Component Summary (MCS) score remained stable. At 3-year follow-up, HRQoL of patients with TBI was the same as that in the Dutch normative population. Time after TBI, hospital length of stay (LOS), FIM, and GOS were independent predictors of the PCS, whereas LOS and mood were predictors of the MCS. After TBI, the physical component of HRQoL showed significant improvement over time, whereas the mental component remained stable. Problems of disease awareness seem to play a role in self-reported mental HRQoL. After TBI, mood status is a better predictor of the mental component of HRQoL than functional outcome, implying that mood should be closely monitored during and after rehabilitation. Copyright © 2014 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

EPIC: Helping School Life and Family Support Each Other.

Science.gov (United States)

Montgomery, David

1992-01-01

Born out of a 1981 murder, Buffalo (New York) Public Schools' EPIC (Effective Parenting Information for Children) program successfully combines parenting, effective teaching, and community programs to help family and school life support each other. Under EPIC, teachers are advised to help students acquire 23 skills involving self-esteem, rules,…

Health care utilization in patients with gout: a prospective multicenter cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Jasvinder A; Bharat, Aseem; Khanna, Dinesh; Aquino-Beaton, Cleopatra; Persselin, Jay E; Duffy, Erin; Elashoff, David; Khanna, Puja P

2017-05-31

All published studies of health care utilization in gout have been cross-sectional to date, and most used a patient-reported diagnosis of gout. Our objective was to assess health care utilization and its predictors in patients with physician-confirmed gout in a prospective cohort study. In a multi-center prospective cohort study of U.S. veterans with rheumatologist-confirmed gout (N = 186; two centers), we assessed patient self-reported overall and gout-specific health care utilization with the Gout Assessment Questionnaire (GAQ) every 3-months for a 9-month period. Comparisons were made using the student's t test or the chi-square, Wilcoxon rank sum test or Fisher exact test, as appropriate. Mixed effects Poisson regression was used to assess potential correlates of gout-related health care utilization. Mean age was 64.6 years, 98% were men, 13% Hispanic or Latino, 32% were African-American, 6% did not graduate high school, mean serum urate was 8.3 and mean Deyo-Charlson score was 3.1. During the past year, mean gout-related visits were as follows: rheumatologist, 1.5; primary care physician, 2 visits; ≥1 inpatient visits, 7%; ≥1 ER visits, 26%; and urgent care/walk-in visit, 33%. In longitudinal analyses, African-American race and gout flares in the last 3 months were associated with significantly higher rate ratio of gout-related outpatient visits. African-American race and lack of college education were associated with significantly higher rate ratio for gout-related urgent visits and overnight stays. African-American race and recent gout flares were associated with higher outpatient utilization and African-American race and no college education with higher urgent or inpatient utilization. Future studies should examine whether modifiable predictors of utilization can be targeted to reduce healthcare utilization in patients with gout.

Adverse drug reactions to tocolytic treatment for preterm labour: Prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. de Heus (Roel); B.W.J. Mol (Ben); J.J.H.M. Erwich; H.P. van Geijn (Herman); W.J. Gyselaers (Wilfried); M. Hanssens (Myriam); L. Harmark (Linda); C.D. van Holsbeke (Caroline); J.J. Duvekot (Hans); F. Famschobben; H. Wolf (Hans Uwe); G.H. Visser (Gerhard Henk)

2009-01-01

textabstractObjective To evaluate the incidence of serious maternal complications after the use of various tocolytic drugs for the treatment of preterm labour in routine clinical situations. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting 28 hospitals in the Netherlands and Belgium. Participants 1920

The WISTAH hand study: A prospective cohort study of distal upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Garg Arun

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Few prospective cohort studies of distal upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders have been performed. Past studies have provided somewhat conflicting evidence for occupational risk factors and have largely reported data without adjustments for many personal and psychosocial factors. Methods/design A multi-center prospective cohort study was incepted to quantify risk factors for distal upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders and potentially develop improved methods for analyzing jobs. Disorders to analyze included carpal tunnel syndrome, lateral epicondylalgia, medial epicondylalgia, trigger digit, deQuervain’s stenosing tenosynovitis and other tendinoses. Workers have thus far been enrolled from 17 different employment settings in 3 diverse US states and performed widely varying work. At baseline, workers undergo laptop administered questionnaires, structured interviews, two standardized physical examinations and nerve conduction studies to ascertain demographic, medical history, psychosocial factors and current musculoskeletal disorders. All workers’ jobs are individually measured for physical factors and are videotaped. Workers are followed monthly for the development of musculoskeletal disorders. Repeat nerve conduction studies are performed for those with symptoms of tingling and numbness in the prior six months. Changes in jobs necessitate re-measure and re-videotaping of job physical factors. Case definitions have been established. Point prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome is a combination of paraesthesias in at least two median nerve-served digits plus an abnormal nerve conduction study at baseline. The lifetime cumulative incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome will also include those with a past history of carpal tunnel syndrome. Incident cases will exclude those with either a past history or prevalent cases at baseline. Statistical methods planned include survival analyses and logistic regression. Discussion A

Construction of a remote controlled monitoring system with GPIB devices and EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshikawa, Takeshi; Yamamoto, Noboru.

1995-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) has been used for the accelerator control system in recent years. EPICS has rich set of tools to create application with Graphical User Interface (GUI). It reduces the load of complex programming for GUI and shortens the application development period. This paper will describe the remote temperature monitoring system using EPICS. (author)

Design for Change : EPIC pillars for Persuasive Design for Health

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tjin-Kam-Jet-Siemons, Liseth; van Gemert-Pijnen, Julia E.W.C.

2016-01-01

What makes technology now truly empathic? How to develop designs that matter? We apply the EPIC for change model for persuasive and empathic designs. EPIC stands for: • Engagement: Creating experience, flow using persuasive strategies and triggers in development, using positive psychology concepts;

Dietary n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid intake and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in adults on hemodialysis: The DIET-HD multinational cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Saglimbene, Valeria M; Wong, Germaine; Ruospo, Marinella; Palmer, Suetonia C; Campbell, Katrina; Larsen, Vanessa Garcia; Natale, Patrizia; Teixeira-Pinto, Armando; Carrero, Juan-Jesus; Stenvinkel, Peter; Gargano, Letizia; Murgo, Angelo M; Johnson, David W; Tonelli, Marcello; Gelfman, Rubén; Celia, Eduardo; Ecder, Tevfik; Bernat, Amparo G; Del Castillo, Domingo; Timofte, Delia; Török, Marietta; Bednarek-Skublewska, Anna; Duława, Jan; Stroumza, Paul; Hoischen, Susanne; Hansis, Martin; Fabricius, Elisabeth; Wollheim, Charlotta; Hegbrant, Jörgen; Craig, Jonathan C; Strippoli, Giovanni F M

2017-12-06

Patients on hemodialysis suffer from high risk of premature death, which is largely attributed to cardiovascular disease, but interventions targeting traditional cardiovascular risk factors have made little or no difference. Long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFA) are putative candidates to reduce cardiovascular disease. Diets rich in n-3 PUFA are recommended in the general population, although their role in the hemodialysis setting is uncertain. We evaluated the association between the dietary intake of n-3 PUFA and mortality for hemodialysis patients. The DIET-HD study is a prospective cohort study (January 2014-June 2017) in 9757 adults treated with hemodialysis in Europe and South America. Dietary n-3 PUFA intake was measured at baseline using the GA 2 LEN Food Frequency Questionnaire. Adjusted Cox regression analyses clustered by country were conducted to evaluate the association of dietary n-3 PUFA intake with cardiovascular and all-cause mortality. During a median follow up of 2.7 years (18,666 person-years), 2087 deaths were recorded, including 829 attributable to cardiovascular causes. One third of the study participants consumed sufficient (at least 1.75 g/week) n-3 PUFA recommended for primary cardiovascular prevention, and less than 10% recommended for secondary prevention (7-14 g/week). Compared to patients with the lowest tertile of dietary n-3 PUFA intake (<0.37 g/week), the adjusted hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) for cardiovascular mortality for patients in the middle (0.37 to <1.8 g/week) and highest (≥1.8 g/week) tertiles of n-3 PUFA were 0.82 (0.69-0.98) and 1.03 (0.84-1.26), respectively. Corresponding adjusted hazard ratios for all-cause mortality were 0.96 (0.86-1.08) and 1.00 (0.88-1.13), respectively. Dietary n-3 PUFA intake was not associated with cardiovascular or all-cause mortality in patients on hemodialysis. As dietary n-3 PUFA intake was low, the possibility that n-3 PUFA supplementation might mitigate

Arthritis in adults with community-acquired bacterial meningitis: a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weisfelt, M.; van de Beek, D.; Spanjaard, L.; de Gans, J.

2006-01-01

Background: Although the coexistence of bacterial meningitis and arthritis has been noted in several studies, it remains unclear how often both conditions occur simultaneously. Methods: We evaluated the presence of arthritis in a prospective nationwide cohort of 696 episodes of community-acquired

Predictive factors of postpartum fatigue: a prospective cohort study among working women

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, M.; Beek, A.J. van der; Hendriksen, I.J.M.; Bruinvels, D.J.; Poppel, M.N. van

2014-01-01

Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate which prepartum determinants contribute to the development of postpartum (PP) fatigue among working women in the Netherlands. Methods A prospective cohort study in 15 Dutch companies was conducted to measure different potential predictors using

Maternal cortisol and offspring birthweight: results from a large prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goedhart, G.; Vrijkotte, T.G.M.; Roseboom, T.J.; van der Wal, M.F.; Cuijpers, P.; Bonsel, G.J.

2010-01-01

Maternal psychosocial problems may affect fetal growth through maternal cortisol. This large prospective cohort study examined among 2810 women (1) the association of maternal cortisol levels with offspring birthweight and small for gestational age (SGA) risk and (2) the mediating role of maternal

Coffee consumption and incidence of colorectal cancer in two prospective cohort studies of Swedish women and men.

Science.gov (United States)

Larsson, Susanna C; Bergkvist, Leif; Giovannucci, Edward; Wolk, Alicja

2006-04-01

Investigators have reported an inverse association between coffee consumption and risk of colorectal cancer in several case-control studies, but prospective studies, most of them involving small numbers of cases, have not supported such a relation. In this analysis, the authors prospectively examined the association of coffee consumption with colorectal cancer risk among participants from two population-based cohort studies: 61,433 women in the Swedish Mammography Cohort and 45,306 men in the Cohort of Swedish Men. Information about coffee consumption was obtained from food frequency questionnaires in 1987-1990 and 1997 for women and in 1997 for men. The authors used Cox proportional hazards modeling for cohort-specific multivariate analyses, and results were pooled using random-effects models. During 1,240,597 person-years of follow-up, 1,279 incident cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed. Coffee consumption was not associated with risk of colorectal cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer in either women or men. For both cohorts combined, the multivariate rate ratio for colorectal cancer for each additional cup of coffee per day was 1.00 (95% confidence interval: 0.97, 1.04). The associations were not modified by colorectal cancer risk factors. The findings from these two large prospective cohort studies do not support the hypothesis that coffee consumption lowers the risk of colorectal cancer.

A Prospective Cohort Study of IRS Genes Polymorphisms in Type 2 ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Purpose: To investigate the genetic polymorphisms that may contribute to the worsening of glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with severe or acute hyperglycemia. Methods: The prospective cohort study included 156 T2DM patients with severe or acute hyperglycemia from all medical wards of the National ...

Diet, Screen Time, Physical Activity, and Childhood Overweight in the General Population and in High Risk Subgroups: Prospective Analyses in the PIAMA Birth Cohort.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wijga, A.H.; Scholtens, S.; Bemelmans, W.J.E.; Kerkhof, M.; Koppelman, G.H.; Brunekreef, B.; Smit, H.A.

2010-01-01

Objective. To prospectively identify behavioral risk factors for childhood overweight and to assess their relevance in high risk sub groups (children of mothers with overweight or low education). Methods. In the PIAMA birth cohort (n = 3963), questionnaire data were obtained at ages 5 and 7 on

Consumption of dairy products and colorectal cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neil Murphy

Full Text Available Prospective studies have consistently reported lower colorectal cancer risks associated with higher intakes of total dairy products, total milk and dietary calcium. However, less is known about whether the inverse associations vary for individual dairy products with differing fat contents.In the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC, we investigated the associations between intakes of total milk and milk subtypes (whole-fat, semi-skimmed and skimmed, yoghurt, cheese, and dietary calcium with colorectal cancer risk amongst 477,122 men and women. Dietary questionnaires were administered at baseline. Multivariable hazard ratios (HRs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for relevant confounding variables.During the mean 11 years of follow-up, 4,513 incident cases of colorectal cancer occurred. After multivariable adjustments, total milk consumption was inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk (HR per 200 g/day 0.93, 95% CI: 0.89-0.98. Similar inverse associations were observed for whole-fat (HR per 200 g/day 0.90, 95% CI: 0.82-0.99 and skimmed milk (HR per 200 g/day 0.90, 95% CI: 0.79-1.02 in the multivariable models. Inverse associations were observed for cheese and yoghurt in the categorical models; although in the linear models, these associations were non-significant. Dietary calcium was inversely associated with colorectal cancer risk (HR per 200 mg/day 0.95, 95% CI: 0.91-0.99; this association was limited to dairy sources of calcium only (HR per 200 mg/day 0.95, 95% CI: 0.91-0.99, with no association observed for non-dairy calcium sources (HR per 200 mg/day 1.00, 95% CI: 0.81-1.24.Our results strengthen the evidence for a possible protective role of dairy products on colorectal cancer risk. The inverse associations we observed did not differ by the fat content of the dairy products considered.

Association among individual deprivation, glycemic control, and diabetes complications: the EPICES score.

Science.gov (United States)

Bihan, Hélène; Laurent, Silvana; Sass, Catherine; Nguyen, Gérard; Huot, Caroline; Moulin, Jean Jacques; Guegen, René; Le Toumelin, Philippe; Le Clésiau, Hervé; La Rosa, Emilio; Reach, Gérard; Cohen, Régis

2005-11-01

Previous studies have related poor glycemic control and/or some diabetes complications to low socioeconomic status. Some aspects of socioeconomic status have not been assessed in these studies. In the present study, we used an individual index of deprivation, the Evaluation de la Précarité et des Inégalités de santé dans les Centres d'Examens de Santé (Evaluation of Precarity and Inequalities in Health Examination Centers [EPICES]) score, to determine the relationship among glycemic control, diabetes complications, and individual conditions of deprivation. We conducted a cross-sectional prevalence study in 135 consecutive diabetic patients (age 59.41 +/- 13.2 years [mean +/- SD]) admitted in the hospitalization unit of a French endocrine department. Individual deprivation was assessed by the EPICES score, calculated from 11 socioeconomic questions. Glycemic control, lipid levels, blood pressure, retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy were assessed. HbA(1c) level was significantly correlated with the EPICES score (r = 0.366, P < 0.001). The more deprived patients were more likely than the less deprived patients to have poor glycemic control (beta = 1.984 [SE 0.477], P < 0.001), neuropathy (odds ratio 2.39 [95% CI 1.05-5.43], P = 0.037), retinopathy (3.66 [1.39-9.64], P = 0.009), and being less often admitted for 1-day hospitalization (0.32 [0.14-0.74], P = 0.008). No significant relationship was observed with either nephropathy or cardiovascular risk factors. Deprivation status is associated with poor metabolic control and more frequent microvascular complications, i.e., retinopathy and neuropathy. The medical and economic burden of deprived patients is high.

Chronicle and the epic: Machado de Assis in homeric verses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionara Satin

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to show the presence of classical epic, Homer's Iliad, in the chronicle of Machado de Assis, analyzing the intertextual dialogue between Machado de Assis and the epic poem by Homer, considering the concept of intertextuality developed by Julia Kristeva from philosophical conceptions of Bakhtin. In the chronicle of March 18, 1894 for the newspaper Gazeta de Notícias on sunday column "A Semana", Machado de Assis crosses Homer's epic to his chronicle, rewrites the epic text for the daily issues of his weekly column. To Tiphaine Samoyault, writing is rewriting, "stand on the existing foundations and contribute to a continued creation" (2008, p. 77 one of the principles of intertextuality. It was observed that from the reading and assimilation of the classic poem, Machado de Assis can approach so far genres, bringing the verses to his prose, leaving it closer to poetry. In this sense, we can see the richness of Machado de Assis chronicles, often left on the sidelines in favor of his short stories and romances. In addition, the dialogue, to rewrite the epic in his chronicle, Machado seems to contribute to this "continuous creation", reviving the memory of literature and emphasizing the permanence of classical work.

High quantitative job demands and low coworker support as risk factors for neck pain: Results of a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ariëns, G.A.M.; Bongers, P.M.; Hoogendoorn, W.E.; Houtman, I.L.D.; Wal, G. van der; Mechelen, W. van

2001-01-01

Study Design. A 3-year prospective cohort study among 1334 workers was conducted. Objective. To determine whether the work-related psychosocial factors of quantitative job demands, conflicting job demands, skill discretion, decision authority, supervisor support, coworker support, and job security

Association of sleep duration with chronic diseases in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Potsdam study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne von Ruesten

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: In view of the reduced number of hours devoted to sleep in modern western societies the question arises what effects might result from sleep duration on occurrence of chronic diseases. METHODS: Data from 23 620 middle-aged participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Potsdam study, that were recruited between 1994-1998, were analyzed by using Cox proportional hazard regression to examine the association between self-reported sleep duration at baseline and incidence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, myocardial infarction, stroke, and cancer. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up period of 7.8 years 841 incident cases of type 2 diabetes, 197 cases of myocardial infarction, 169 incident strokes, and 846 tumor cases were observed. Compared to persons sleeping 7-<8 h/day, participants with sleep duration of <6 h had a significantly increased risk of stroke (Hazard Ratio (HR = 2.06, 95% confidence interval (CI: 1.18-3.59, cancer (HR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.09-1.87, and overall chronic diseases (HR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.10-1.55 in multivariable adjusted models. Self-reported daytime sleep at baseline was not associated with incident chronic diseases in the overall study sample. However, there had been an effect modification of daytime sleep by hypertension showing that daytime sleep was inversely related to chronic disease risk among non-hypertensive participants but directly related to chronic diseases among hypertensives. CONCLUSION: Sleep duration of less than 6 h is a risky behavior for the development of chronic diseases, particularly stroke and cancer, and should be therefore addressed in public health campaigns.

Association of sleep duration with chronic diseases in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam study.

Science.gov (United States)

von Ruesten, Anne; Weikert, Cornelia; Fietze, Ingo; Boeing, Heiner

2012-01-01

In view of the reduced number of hours devoted to sleep in modern western societies the question arises what effects might result from sleep duration on occurrence of chronic diseases. Data from 23 620 middle-aged participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam study, that were recruited between 1994-1998, were analyzed by using Cox proportional hazard regression to examine the association between self-reported sleep duration at baseline and incidence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, myocardial infarction, stroke, and cancer. During a mean follow-up period of 7.8 years 841 incident cases of type 2 diabetes, 197 cases of myocardial infarction, 169 incident strokes, and 846 tumor cases were observed. Compared to persons sleeping 7-day, participants with sleep duration of <6 h had a significantly increased risk of stroke (Hazard Ratio (HR) = 2.06, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18-3.59), cancer (HR = 1.43, 95% CI: 1.09-1.87), and overall chronic diseases (HR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.10-1.55) in multivariable adjusted models. Self-reported daytime sleep at baseline was not associated with incident chronic diseases in the overall study sample. However, there had been an effect modification of daytime sleep by hypertension showing that daytime sleep was inversely related to chronic disease risk among non-hypertensive participants but directly related to chronic diseases among hypertensives. Sleep duration of less than 6 h is a risky behavior for the development of chronic diseases, particularly stroke and cancer, and should be therefore addressed in public health campaigns.

A shared memory based interface of MARTe with EPICS for real-time applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yun, Sangwon; Neto, André C.; Park, Mikyung; Lee, Sangil; Park, Kaprai

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We implemented a shared memory based interface of MARTe with EPICS. • We implemented an EPICS module supporting device and driver support. • We implemented an example EPICS IOC and CSS OPI for evaluation. - Abstract: The Multithreaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe) is a multi-platform C++ middleware designed for the implementation of real-time control systems. It currently supports the Linux, Linux + RTAI, VxWorks, Solaris and MS Windows platforms. In the fusion community MARTe is being used at JET, COMPASS, ISTTOK, FTU and RFX in fusion [1]. The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), a standard framework for the control systems in KSTAR and ITER, is a set of software tools and applications which provide a software infrastructure for use in building distributed control systems to operate devices. For a MARTe based application to cooperate with an EPICS based application, an interface layer between MARTe and EPICS is required. To solve this issue, a number of interfacing solutions have been proposed and some of them have been implemented. Nevertheless, a new approach is required to mitigate the functional limitations of existing solutions and to improve their performance for real-time applications. This paper describes the design and implementation of a shared memory based interface between MARTe and EPICS

A shared memory based interface of MARTe with EPICS for real-time applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yun, Sangwon, E-mail: yunsw@nfri.re.kr [National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI), Gwahangno 169-148, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-806 (Korea, Republic of); Neto, André C. [Associação EURATOM/IST, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Park, Mikyung; Lee, Sangil; Park, Kaprai [National Fusion Research Institute (NFRI), Gwahangno 169-148, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-806 (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

Highlights: • We implemented a shared memory based interface of MARTe with EPICS. • We implemented an EPICS module supporting device and driver support. • We implemented an example EPICS IOC and CSS OPI for evaluation. - Abstract: The Multithreaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe) is a multi-platform C++ middleware designed for the implementation of real-time control systems. It currently supports the Linux, Linux + RTAI, VxWorks, Solaris and MS Windows platforms. In the fusion community MARTe is being used at JET, COMPASS, ISTTOK, FTU and RFX in fusion [1]. The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), a standard framework for the control systems in KSTAR and ITER, is a set of software tools and applications which provide a software infrastructure for use in building distributed control systems to operate devices. For a MARTe based application to cooperate with an EPICS based application, an interface layer between MARTe and EPICS is required. To solve this issue, a number of interfacing solutions have been proposed and some of them have been implemented. Nevertheless, a new approach is required to mitigate the functional limitations of existing solutions and to improve their performance for real-time applications. This paper describes the design and implementation of a shared memory based interface between MARTe and EPICS.

Self reported stress and risk of breast cancer: prospective cohort study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Naja Rod; Zhang, Zuo-Feng; Kristensen, Tage S

2005-01-01

cancer, and impairment of oestrogen synthesis induced by chronic stress may explain a lower incidence of breast cancer in women with high stress. Impairment of normal body function should not, however, be considered a healthy response, and the cumulative health consequences of stress may......OBJECTIVE: To assess the relation between self reported intensity and frequency of stress and first time incidence of primary breast cancer. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study with 18 years of follow-up. SETTING: Copenhagen City heart study, Denmark. PARTICIPANTS: The 6689 women participating...... in the Copenhagen City heart study were asked about their perceived level of stress at baseline in 1981-3. These women were followed until 1999 in the Danish nationwide cancer registry, with

Fetal and life course origins of serum lipids in mid-adulthood: results from a prospective cohort study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gustafsson Per E

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background During the past two decades, the hypothesis of fetal origins of adult disease has received considerable attention. However, critique has also been raised regarding the failure to take the explanatory role of accumulation of other exposures into consideration, despite the wealth of evidence that social circumstances during the life course impact on health in adulthood. The aim of the present prospective cohort study was to examine the contributions of birth weight and life course exposures (cumulative socioeconomic disadvantage and adversity to dyslipidemia and serum lipids in mid-adulthood. Methods A cohort (effective n = 824, 77% was prospectively examined with respect to self-reported socioeconomic status as well as stressors (e.g., financial strain, low decision latitude, separation, death or illness of a close one, unemployment at the ages of 16, 21, 30 and 43 years; summarized in cumulative socioeconomic disadvantage and cumulative adversity. Information on birth weight was collected from birth records. Participants were assessed for serum lipids (total cholesterol, low- and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides, apolipoproteins (A1 and B and height and weight (for the calculation of body mass index, BMI at age 43. Current health behavior (alcohol consumption, smoking and snuff use was reported at age 43. Results Cumulative life course exposures were related to several outcomes; mainly explained by cumulative socioeconomic disadvantage in the total sample (independently of current health behaviors but attenuated by current BMI and also by cumulative adversity in women (partly explained by current health behavior but not by BMI. Birth weight was related only to triglycerides in women, independently of life course exposures, health behaviors and BMI. No significant association of either exposure was observed in men. Conclusions Social circumstances during the life course seem to be of greater importance

EPICS Controlled Collimator for Controlling Beam Sizes in HIPPO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Napolitano, Arthur Soriano [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Vogel, Sven C. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2017-08-03

Controlling the beam spot size and shape in a diffraction experiment determines the probed sample volume. The HIPPO - High-Pressure-Preferred Orientation– neutron time-offlight diffractometer is located at the Lujan Neutron Scattering Center in Los Alamos National Laboratories. HIPPO characterizes microstructural parameters, such as phase composition, strains, grain size, or texture, of bulk (cm-sized) samples. In the current setup, the beam spot has a 10 mm diameter. Using a collimator, consisting of two pairs of neutron absorbing boron-nitride slabs, horizontal and vertical dimensions of a rectangular beam spot can be defined. Using the HIPPO robotic sample changer for sample motion, the collimator would enable scanning of e.g. cylindrical samples along the cylinder axis by probing slices of such samples. The project presented here describes implementation of such a collimator, in particular the motion control software. We utilized the EPICS (Experimental Physics Interface and Control System) software interface to integrate the collimator control into the HIPPO instrument control system. Using EPICS, commands are sent to commercial stepper motors that move the beam windows.

Variety more than quantity of fruit and vegetable intake varies by socioeconomic status and financial hardship. Findings from older adults in the EPIC cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Conklin, Annalijn I; Forouhi, Nita G; Suhrcke, Marc; Surtees, Paul; Wareham, Nicholas J; Monsivais, Pablo

2014-12-01

Beyond quantity, variety of fruit and vegetable (FV) intake prevents chronic conditions and is widely recommended as critical to healthful eating. FV consumption is socially patterned, especially for women, but little is known about multiple economic determinants of variety or whether they differ from those of quantity. To examine socioeconomic status and financial hardships in relation to variety and quantity of FV intakes among older British women and men. Cross-sectional study of 9580 adults (50-79 years) in the nationally representative EPIC cohort who responded to a postal Health and Life Experiences Questionnaire (1996-2000) and Food Frequency Questionnaire (1998-2002). Variety counted unique items consumed (items/month) and quantity measured total intake (g/day). No consistent differences by any economic factor were observed for quantity of fruits or vegetables, except education in men. Lower education, lower social class and renting were independently associated with lower fruit variety and vegetable variety (p-trend consumption of diverse FV. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

EPICS: Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System

Science.gov (United States)

Epics Development Team

2013-02-01

EPICS is a set of software tools and applications developed collaboratively and used to create distributed soft real-time control systems for scientific instruments such as particle accelerators and telescopes. Such distributed control systems typically comprise tens or even hundreds of computers, networked together to allow communication between them and to provide control and feedback of the various parts of the device from a central control room, or even remotely over the internet. EPICS uses Client/Server and Publish/Subscribe techniques to communicate between the various computers. A Channel Access Gateway allows engineers and physicists elsewhere in the building to examine the current state of the IOCs, but prevents them from making unauthorized adjustments to the running system. In many cases the engineers can make a secure internet connection from home to diagnose and fix faults without having to travel to the site. EPICS is used by many facilities worldwide, including the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory, Fermilab, Keck Observatory, Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Australian Synchrotron, and Stanford Linear Accellerator Center.

Constraining the Origin of Phobos with the Elpasolite Planetary Ice and Composition Spectrometer (EPICS) - Simulated Performance

Science.gov (United States)

Nowicki, S. F.; Mesick, K.; Coupland, D. D. S.; Dallmann, N. A.; Feldman, W. C.; Stonehill, L. C.; Hardgrove, C.; Dibb, S.; Gabriel, T. S. J.; West, S.

2017-12-01

Elpasolites are a promising new family of inorganic scintillators that can detect both gamma rays and neutrons within a single detector volume, reducing the instrument size, weight, and power (SWaP), all of which are critical for planetary science missions. The ability to distinguish between neutron and gamma events is done through pulse shape discrimination (PSD). The Elpasolite Planetary Ice and Composition Spectrometer (EPICS) utilizes elpasolites in a next-generation, highly capable, low-SWaP gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer. We present simulated capabilities of EPICS sensitivities to neutron and gamma-rays, and demonstrate how EPICS can constrain the origin of Phobos between the following three main hypotheses: 1) accretion after a giant impact with Mars, 2) co-accretion with Mars, and 3) capture of an external body. The MCNP6 code was used to calculate the neutron and gamma-ray flux that escape the surface of Phobos, and GEANT4 to model the response of the EPICS instrument on orbit around Phobos.

Body mass index and obstetric outcomes in pregnant in Saudi Arabia: a prospective cohort study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Gilany, Abdel-Hady; Hammad, Sabry

2010-01-01

We examined the effect of body mass index in early pregnancy on pregnancy outcome since no study in Saudi Arabia has addressed this question.This prospective cohort study involved women registered for antenatal care during the first month of pregnancy at primary health care centers in Al-Hassa, Saudi Arabia. Data was collected from records and by direct interview. The study included 787 women. Compared to normal weight women (n=307), overweight (n=187) and obese (n=226) women were at increased risk for pregnancy-induced hypertension (RR=4.9 [95% CI 1.6-11.1] and 6.1 [95% CI 2.1-17.8], respectively), gestational diabetes (RR=4.4 [95% CI 1.2-16.3] and 8.6 [95% CI 2.6-28.8]), preeclamptic toxemia (RR=3.8 [95% CI 1.1-14.6] and 5.9 [95% CI 1.7-20.4]), urinary tract infections (RR=1.4 [95% CI 0.5-3.9] and 3.7 [95% CI 1.7-6.2]), and cesarean delivery (RR=2.0 [95% CI 1.3-3.0] in obese women). Neonates born to obese women had an increased risk for postdate pregnancy (RR=3.7 [95% CI 1.2-11.6]), macrosomia (RR=6.8 [95% CI 1.5-30.7]), low 1-minute Apgar score (RR=1.9 [95% CI 1.1-3.6]), and admission to neonatal care units (RR=2.1 [95% CI 1.2-2.7]). On the other hand, low birth weight was less frequent among obese women (RR=0.5 [95% CI 0.3-0.9]) while the risk was high among underweight women (RR=2.3 [95% CI 1.4-3.8]). Even with adequate prenatal care, overweight and obesity can adversely affect pregnancy outcomes (Author).

Fish, n-3 fatty acids, and cardiovascular diseases in women of reproductive age

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strøm, Marin; Halldorsson, Thorhallur I; Mortensen, Erik L

2012-01-01

was associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (adjusted hazard ratio for women in lowest versus highest LCn3FA intake group: 1.91 [95% CI: 1.26-2.90]). Restricting the sample to women who had consistently reported similar frequencies of fish intake across 3 different dietary assessment......Previous studies have indicated a protective effect of long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn3FAs) against cardiovascular disease; however, women are underrepresented in cardiovascular research. The aim of this study was to explore the association between intake of LCn3FAs and the risk...... of cardiovascular disease in a large prospective cohort of young women (mean age at baseline: 29.9 years [range: 15.7-46.9]). Exposure information on 48 627 women from the Danish National Birth Cohort was linked to the Danish National Patients Registry for information on events of hypertensive, cerebrovascular...

Formulation of EPICS record naming conventions in J-PARC linac and RCS. Build process of unique and standardized name

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukuta, Shinpei; Kawase, Masato; Kikuzawa, Nobuhiro; Watanabe, Kazuhiko; Sakaki, Hironao; Takahashi, Hiroki

2011-02-01

J-PARC (Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex) accelerator devices are controlled by the use of the software called EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). The unique name called an EPICS record is given to a control signal and data acquisition, Accelerator device control is achieved using the EPICS record. The requirement for the EPICS record name is 2 points; (1) no overlap of the EPICS record name, (2) the control contents can be easily imagined from the EPICS record name. To manage the EPICS record using relational database for the information management of the accelerator device in J-PARC, the naming structure is required so that a mechanical process can be performed easily. It was necessary to standardize the EPICS record name and the EPICS record structure to achieve these requirements. Therefore, we have formulated a guideline called 'EPICS record naming conventions' to decide to an EPICS record name uniquely and standardization. The abbreviated key word list of the accelerator devices and the control signal that compose the EPICS record name is appended to the EPICS record naming conventions. (author)

EPIC: A Framework for Using Video Games in Ethics Education

Science.gov (United States)

Schrier, Karen

2015-01-01

Ethics education can potentially be supplemented through the use of video games. This article proposes a novel framework (Ethics Practice and Implementation Categorization [EPIC] Framework), which helps educators choose games to be used for ethics education purposes. The EPIC Framework is derived from a number of classic moral development,…

The Effect of Using 3E, 5E Learning Cycle in General Chemistry Laboratory to Prospective Science Teachers Attitude and Perceptions to the Science, Chemistry and Laboratory

OpenAIRE

Toprak, Fatih; Çelikler, Dilek

2013-01-01

The study aimed to investigate the emerging changes in prospective science teachers" attitudes and perceptions towards science, chemistry and laboratory resulting from the implementation of 3E. 5E learning cycles and traditional instruction in laboratory environment in which learning is achieved by doing and experiencing. The study included 74 first grade prospective science teachers from Ondokuz Mayıs University at the Department of Science Education. In the study, quasi-experimental pre-tes...

The Effect of Using 3E, 5E Learning Cycle in General Chemistry Laboratory to Prospective Scinence Teachers’ Attitude and Perceptions to the Science, Chemistry and Laboratory

OpenAIRE

Toprak, Fatih; Çelikler, Dilek

2013-01-01

The study aimed to investigate the emerging changes in prospective science teachers" attitudes and perceptions towards science, chemistry and laboratory resulting from the implementation of 3E. 5E learning cycles and traditional instruction in laboratory environment in which learning is achieved by doing and experiencing. The study included 74 first grade prospective science teachers from Ondokuz Mayıs University at the Department of Science Education. In the study, quasi-experimental pr...

Medial shoe-ground pressure and specific running injuries: A 1-year prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Brund, René B K; Rasmussen, Sten; Nielsen, Rasmus O; Kersting, Uwe G; Laessoe, Uffe; Voigt, Michael

2017-09-01

Achilles tendinitis, plantar fasciopathy and medial tibial stress syndrome injuries (APM-injuries) account for approximately 25% of the total number of running injuries amongst recreational runners. Reports on the association between static foot pronation and APM-injuries are contradictory. Possibly, dynamic measures of pronation may display a stronger relationship with the risk of APM-injuries. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate if running distance until the first APM-injury was dependent on the foot balance during stance phase in recreational male runners. Prospective cohort study. Foot balance for both feet was measured during treadmill running at the fastest possible 5000-m running pace in 79 healthy recreational male runners. Foot balance was calculated by dividing the average of medial pressure with the average of lateral pressure. Foot balance was categorized into those which presented a higher lateral shod pressure (LP) than medial pressure, and those which presented a higher medial shod pressure (MP) than lateral pressure during the stance phase. A time-to-event model was used to compare differences in incidence between foot balance groups. Compared with the LP-group (n=59), the proportion of APM-injuries was greater in the MP-group (n=99) after 1500km of running, resulting in a cumulative risk difference of 16%-points (95% CI=3%-point; 28%-point, p=0.011). Runners displaying a more medial pressure during stance phase at baseline sustained a greater amount of APM-injuries compared to those displaying a lateral shod pressure during stance phase. Prospective studies including a greater amount of runners are needed to confirm this relationship. Copyright © 2017 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

L’héroïsme de la femme dans l’épopée africaine : un regard critique de Soundjata ou l’épopée mandingue, Emperor Shaka The Great : A Zulu Epic et Nsongo’a Lianja : l’épopée nationale des Nkundo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arthur Mukenge

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The Heroism of women in the African Epic: A critical analysis of Sundiata or the mandingo Epic, Emperor Shaka The Great: A Zulu Epic and Nsongo’a Lianja: The national Epic of the Nkundo. In African epics, female figures perform salient heroic roles that are, unfortunately, not widely recognised and celebrated, as notions of bravery and heroism are understood from a male perspective. Against this backdrop, this study adopts new critical and conceptual approaches to interrogate existing narratives, discourse and ideas on/or about female heroism. By focusing on selected epics, this work incorporates perceptions about women in folktales whose themes comment and reflect on the presentation of female characters and the roles they execute in society. The present contribution critically examines the role of supernatural forces in female characters’ commitment and heroism; not only protecting Soundiata, Shaka, and Lianja in accomplishing their destinies but also showcasing the activities, traditions, belief systems and culture of the Mandingo, Zulu, and Mongo in their respective societies.

Connect high speed analog-digital converter with EPICS based on LabVIEW

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Wei; Chi Yunlong

2008-01-01

This paper introduce a method to connect high speed analog-digital converter (ADC212/100) with EPICS on Windows platform using LabVIEW. We use labVIEW to communicate with the converter, then use interface sub-VIs between LabVIEW and EPICS to access the EPICS IOC by Channel Access (CA). For the easy use graph programming language of LabVIEW, this method could shorten the develop period and reduce manpower cost. (authors)

Experience with EPICS in a wide variety of applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraimer, M.R.; Clausen, M.; Lupton, W.; Watson, C.

1997-01-01

Currently more than 70 organizations have obtained permission to use the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), a set of software packages for building real-time control systems. In this paper representatives from four of these sites discuss the reasons their sites chose EPICS, provide a brief discussion of their control system development, and discuss additional control system tools obtained elsewhere or developed locally

Butterflies and Dragon-Eagles: Processing Epics from Southwest China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mark Bender

2012-03-01

Full Text Available In the mountains of southwest China, epic narratives are part of the traditional performance-scapes of many ethnic minority cultures. In some cases locals participate in the preservation of oral or oral-connected epics from their respective areas. This article discusses the dynamics of acquiring and translating texts from two major ethnic minority groups in cooperation with local tradition-bearers, poets, and scholars.

Experience with EPICS in a wide variety of applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kraimer, M.R. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States); Clausen, M. [Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron, Hamburg (Germany); Lupton, W. [W.M. Keck Observatory, Kamuela, HI (United States); Watson, C. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, Newport News, VA (United States)

1997-08-01

Currently more than 70 organizations have obtained permission to use the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS), a set of software packages for building real-time control systems. In this paper representatives from four of these sites discuss the reasons their sites chose EPICS, provide a brief discussion of their control system development, and discuss additional control system tools obtained elsewhere or developed locally.

Tetraaquatetrakis{μ3-3,3′-[(E,E-ethane-1,2-diylbis(nitrilomethylidyne]benzene-1,2-diolato}octazinc(II N,N-dimethylformamide hexasolvate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lan-Sun Zheng

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The asymmetric unit of the title compound [Zn8(C16H12N2O44(H2O4]·6C3H7NO, consists of eight ZnII cations, four tetravalent anionic ligands, L4− (L4− = 3,3′-(1E,1′E-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(azan-1-yl-1-ylidenebis(methan-1-yl-1-ylidenedibenzene-1,2-bis(olate, four coordinated water molecules and six N,N-dimethylformamide solvate molecules. The coordination complex comprises an octanuclear ZnII unit with its ZnII centers coordinated in two discrete distorted square-pyramidal geometries. Four ZnII atoms each coordinate to two nitrogen atoms and two phenolate oxygen atoms from an individual L4− ligand and one coordinated water molecule. The other four ZnII atoms each bind to five phenolate oxygen atoms from three different L4− ligands. In the crystal structure, the ZnII complex unit, coordinated water molecules and dimethylformamide solvate molecules are linked via O—H...O and C—H...O hydrogen bonds. Molecules are connected by additional intermolecular O—H...O and C—H...O hydrogen bonds, forming an extensive three dimensional framework.

A prospective randomized cohort study evaluating 3 weeks vs 6 weeks of oral antibiotic treatment in the setting of "maximal medical therapy" for chronic rhinosinusitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Sreenath, Satyan B; Taylor, Robert J; Miller, Justin D; Ambrose, Emily C; Rawal, Rounak B; Ebert, Charles S; Senior, Brent A; Zanation, Adam M

2015-09-01

Surprisingly, little literature exists evaluating the optimal duration of antibiotic treatment in "maximal medical therapy" for chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). As such, we investigated whether 3 weeks vs 6 weeks of antibiotic therapy resulted in significant differences in clinical response. A prospective, randomized cohort study was performed with patients assigned to 3-week or 6-week cohorts. Our primary outcome was failure of "maximal medical therapy" and surgical recommendation. Secondary outcomes included changes in pretherapy and posttherapy scores for the Rhinosinusitis Disability Index (RSDI), Chronic Sinusitis Survey (CSS), and computed tomography (CT)-based Lund-Mackay (LM) evaluation. Analyses were substratified based on presence of nasal polyps. Forty patients were randomized to the 3-week or 6-week treatment cohorts, with near-complete clinical follow-up achieved. No significant difference was found between the proportion of patients who failed medical therapy and were deemed surgical candidates between the 2 cohorts (71% vs 68%, p = 1.000). No significant difference was found in the change of RSDI or CSS scores in the 3 vs 6 weeks of treatment groups (mean ± standard error of the mean [SEM]; RSDI: 9.62 ± 4.14 vs 1.53 ± 4.01, p = 0.868; CSS: 5.75 ± 4.36 vs 9.65 ± 5.34, p = 0.573). Last, no significant difference was found in the change of LM scores (3.35 ± 1.11 vs 1.53 ± 0.81, p = 0.829). Based on this data, there is little difference in clinical outcomes between 3 weeks vs 6 weeks of antibiotic treatment as part of "maximal medical therapy" for CRS. Increased duration of antibiotic treatment theoretically may increase risk from side effects and creates higher healthcare costs. © 2015 ARS-AAOA, LLC.

Chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and mortality: A prospective cohort study in a multi-ethnic Asian population.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Cynthia C; Teo, Boon Wee; Ong, Peng Guan; Cheung, Carol Y; Lim, Su Chi; Chow, Khuan Yew; Meng, Chan Choon; Lee, Jeannette; Tai, E Shyong; Wong, Tien Y; Sabanayagam, Charumathi

2015-08-01

Few studies have examined the impact of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on adverse cardiovascular outcomes and deaths in Asian populations. We evaluated the associations of CKD with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality in a multi-ethnic Asian population. Prospective cohort study of 7098 individuals who participated in two independent population-based studies involving Malay adults (n = 3148) and a multi-ethnic cohort of Chinese, Malay and Indian adults (n = 3950). CKD was assessed from CKD-EPI estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR). Incident CVD (myocardial infarction, stroke and CVD mortality) and all-cause mortality were identified by linkage with national disease/death registries. Over a median follow-up of 4.3 years, 4.6% developed CVD and 6.1% died. Risks of both CVD and all-cause mortality increased with decreasing eGFR and increasing albuminuria (all p-trend <0.05). Adjusted hazard ratios (HR (95% confidence interval)) of CVD and all-cause mortality were: 1.54 (1.05-2.27) and 2.21 (1.67-2.92) comparing eGFR <45 vs ≥60; 2.81 (1.49-5.29) and 2.34 (1.28-4.28) comparing UACR ≥300 vs <30. The association between eGFR <60 and all-cause mortality was stronger among those with diabetes (p-interaction = 0.02). PAR of incident CVD was greater among those with UACR ≥300 (12.9%) and that of all-cause mortality greater among those with eGFR <45 (16.5%). In multi-ethnic Asian adults, lower eGFR and higher albuminuria were independently associated with incident CVD and all-cause mortality. These findings extend previously reported similar associations in Western populations to Asians and emphasize the need for early detection of CKD and intervention to prevent adverse outcomes. © The European Society of Cardiology 2014.

Variability of fish consumption within the 10 European countries participating in the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Welch, A.A.; Lund, E.; Amiano, P.

2002-01-01

was in the coastal areas of northern Europe (Denmark, Sweden and Norway) and in Germany. Consumption of fish products was greater in northern than in southern Europe, with white fish products predominating in centres in France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and Norway. Intake of roe and roe products was low......OBJECTIVE: To describe and compare the consumption of total fish (marine foods) and the fish sub-groups - white fish, fatty fish, very fatty fish, fish products and crustacea, in participants from the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis...... study. SUBJECTS: In total, 35 955 subjects (13 031 men and 22 924 women), aged 35-74 years, selected from the main EPIC cohort. RESULTS: A six- to sevenfold variation in total fish consumption exists in women and men, between the lowest consumption in Germany and the highest in Spain. Overall, white...

Coffee, tea and melanoma risk: findings from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

Science.gov (United States)

Caini, Saverio; Masala, Giovanna; Saieva, Calogero; Kvaskoff, Marina; Savoye, Isabelle; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Hemmingsson, Oskar; Hammer Bech, Bodil; Overvad, Kim; Tjønneland, Anne; Petersen, Kristina E N; Mancini, Francesca Romana; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Cervenka, Iris; Kaaks, Rudolf; Kühn, Tilman; Boeing, Heiner; Floegel, Anna; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Valanou, Elisavet; Kritikou, Maria; Tagliabue, Giovanna; Panico, Salvatore; Tumino, Rosario; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H B As; Peeters, Petra H; Veierød, Marit B; Ghiasvand, Reza; Lukic, Marko; Quirós, José Ramón; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Ardanaz, Eva; Salamanca Fernández, Elena; Larrañaga, Nerea; Zamora-Ros, Raul; Maria Nilsson, Lena; Ljuslinder, Ingrid; Jirström, Karin; Sonestedt, Emily; Key, Timothy J; Wareham, Nick; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Gunter, Marc; Huybrechts, Inge; Murphy, Neil; Tsilidis, Konstantinos K; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Palli, Domenico

2017-05-15

In vitro and animal studies suggest that bioactive constituents of coffee and tea may have anticarcinogenic effects against cutaneous melanoma; however, epidemiological evidence is limited to date. We examined the relationships between coffee (total, caffeinated or decaffeinated) and tea consumption and risk of melanoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). EPIC is a multicentre prospective study that enrolled over 500,000 participants aged 25-70 years from ten European countries in 1992-2000. Information on coffee and tea drinking was collected at baseline using validated country-specific dietary questionnaires. We used adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression models to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for the associations between coffee and tea consumption and melanoma risk. Overall, 2,712 melanoma cases were identified during a median follow-up of 14.9 years among 476,160 study participants. Consumption of caffeinated coffee was inversely associated with melanoma risk among men (HR for highest quartile of consumption vs. non-consumers 0.31, 95% CI 0.14-0.69) but not among women (HR 0.96, 95% CI 0.62-1.47). There were no statistically significant associations between consumption of decaffeinated coffee or tea and the risk of melanoma among both men and women. The consumption of caffeinated coffee was inversely associated with melanoma risk among men in this large cohort study. Further investigations are warranted to confirm our findings and clarify the possible role of caffeine and other coffee compounds in reducing the risk of melanoma. © 2017 UICC.

Doing accelerator physics using SDDS, UNIX, and EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borland, M.; Emery, L.; Sereno, N.

1995-01-01

The use of the SDDS (Self-Describing Data Sets) file protocol, together with the UNIX operating system and EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Controls System), has proved powerful during the commissioning of the APS (Advanced Photon Source) accelerator complex. The SDDS file protocol has permitted a tool-oriented approach to developing applications, wherein generic programs axe written that function as part of multiple applications. While EPICS-specific tools were written for data collection, automated experiment execution, closed-loop control, and so forth, data processing and display axe done with the SDDS Toolkit. Experiments and data reduction axe implemented as UNIX shell scripts that coordinate the execution of EPICS specific tools and SDDS tools. Because of the power and generic nature of the individual tools and of the UNIX shell environment, automated experiments can be prepared and executed rapidly in response to unanticipated needs or new ideas. Examples are given of application of this methodology to beam motion characterization, beam-position-monitor offset measurements, and klystron characterization

Population-based assessment of cancer survivors' financial burden and quality of life: a prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Zafar, S Yousuf; McNeil, Rebecca B; Thomas, Catherine M; Lathan, Christopher S; Ayanian, John Z; Provenzale, Dawn

2015-03-01

The impact of financial burden among patients with cancer has not yet been measured in a way that accounts for inter-relationships between quality of life, perceived quality of care, disease status, and sociodemographic characteristics. In a national, prospective, observational, population- and health care systems-based cohort study, patients with colorectal or lung cancer were enrolled from 2003 to 2006 within 3 months of diagnosis. For this analysis, surviving patients who were either disease free or had advanced disease were resurveyed a median 7.3 years from diagnosis. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate relationships between financial burden, quality of life, perceived quality of care, and sociodemographic characteristics. Among 1,000 participants enrolled from five geographic regions, five integrated health care systems, or 15 Veterans Administration Hospitals, 89% (n = 889) were cancer free, and 11% (n = 111) had advanced cancer. Overall, 48% (n = 482) reported difficulties living on their household income, and 41% (n = 396) believed their health care to be "excellent." High financial burden was associated with lower household income (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 0.61 per $20k per year, P financial burden was also associated with poorer quality of life (adjusted beta = -0.06 per burden category; P Financial burden is prevalent among cancer survivors and is related to patients' health-related quality of life. Future studies should consider interventions to improve patient education and engagement with regard to financial burden. Copyright © 2014 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Levels of prospective science teachers’ ability to structure 5E model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaçan Sibel Demir

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The research was conducted with 3rd year prospective science students, who study at the science teaching department of a university in Istanbul province. For that purpose, 34 prospective science teachers cooperated and participated in the study. In the study, the prospective teachers were asked to select a certain subject and plan that subject in accordance with the 5E model. Therefore, the objective of the study is to determine the levels of prospective science teachers’ ability to structure the 5E model. The data retrieved from the study were analyzed ad compared through content analysis and percentages. The results of the study suggest that some prospective teachers are not sufficient at each phase of the 5E model, thereby the researchers made suggestions for that situation.

EPICS data archiver at SSRF beamlines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu Zheng; Mi Qingru; Zheng Lifang; Li Zhong

2014-01-01

The control system of SSRF (Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility) is based on EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System). Operation data storage for synchrotron radiation facility is important for its status monitoring and analysis. At SSRF, operation data used to be index files recorded by traditional EPICS Channel Archiver. Nevertheless, index files are not suitable for long-term maintenance and difficult for data analysis. Now, RDB Channel Archiver and MySQL are used for SSRF beamline operation data archiving, so as to promote the data storage reliability and usability. By applying a new uploading mechanism to RDB Channel Archiver, its writing performance is improved. A web-based GUI (Graphics User Interface) is also developed to make it easier to access database. (authors)

EPIC'S NEW REMOTE SENSING DATA AND INFORMATION TOOLS AVAILABLE FOR EPA CUSTOMERS

Science.gov (United States)

EPIC's New Remote Sensing Data and Information Tools Available for EPA Customers Donald Garofalo Environmental Photographic Interpretation Center (EPIC) Landscape Ecology Branch Environmental Sciences Division National Exposure Research Laboratory Several new too...

Diversity of dietary patterns observed in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) project

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slimani, N.; Fahey, M.; Welch, A.A.

2002-01-01

countries. France and particularly Spain have more heterogeneous dietary patterns, with a relatively high consumption of both plant foods and animal products. Apart from characteristics specific to vegetarian groups, the UK 'health-conscious' group shares with the UK general population a relatively high....../centres. In these countries, consumption of vegetables and fruit is similar to, or below, the overall EPIC means, and is low for legumes and vegetable oils. Overall, dietary patterns were similar for men and women, although there were large gender differences for certain food groups. CONCLUSIONS: There are considerable...

Are neck flexion, neck rotation, and sitting at work risk factors for neck pain? Results of a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ariens, G.A.M.; Bongers, P.M.; Douwes, M.; Miedema, M.C.; Hoogendoorn, W.E.; van der Wal, G.; Bouter, L.M.; van Mechelen, W.

2001-01-01

Objective: To study the relation between neck pain and work related neck flexion, neck rotation, and sitting. Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed with a follow up of 3 years among 1334 workers from 34 companies. Work related physical load was assessed by analysing objectively measured

Are neck flexion, neck rotation, and sitting at work risk factors for neck pain? : Results of a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ariëns, G A; Bongers, P M; Douwes, M; Miedema, M C; Hoogendoorn, W E; van der Wal, G; Bouter, L M; van Mechelen, W

OBJECTIVE: To study the relation between neck pain and work related neck flexion, neck rotation, and sitting. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was performed with a follow up of 3 years among 1334 workers from 34 companies. Work related physical load was assessed by analysing objectively measured

Weight at birth and subsequent fecundability: a prospective cohort study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cathrine Wildenschild

Full Text Available To examine the association between a woman's birth weight and her subsequent fecundability.In this prospective cohort study, we included 2,773 Danish pregnancy planners enrolled in the internet-based cohort study "Snart-Gravid", conducted during 2007-2012. Participants were 18-40 years old at study entry, attempting to conceive, and were not receiving fertility treatment. Data on weight at birth were obtained from the Danish Medical Birth Registry and categorized as <2,500 grams, 2,500-2,999 grams, 3,000-3,999 grams, and ≥ 4,000 grams. In additional analyses, birth weight was categorized according to z-scores for each gestational week at birth. Time-to-pregnancy measured in cycles was used to compute fecundability ratios (FR and 95% confidence intervals (CI, using a proportional probabilities regression model.Relative to women with a birth weight of 3,000-3,999 grams, FRs adjusted for gestational age, year of birth, and maternal socio-demographic and medical factors were 0.99 (95% CI: 0.73;1.34, 0.99 (95% CI: 0.87;1.12, and 1.08 (95% CI: 0.94;1.24 for birth weight <2,500 grams, 2,500-2,999 grams, and ≥ 4,000 grams, respectively. Estimates remained unchanged after further adjustment for markers of the participant's mother's fecundability. We obtained similar results when we restricted to women who were born at term, and to women who had attempted to conceive for a maximum of 6 cycles before study entry. Results remained similar when we estimated FRs according to z-scores of birth weight.Our results indicate that birth weight appears not to be an important determinant of fecundability.

EPICS-QT based graphical user interface for accelerator control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Basu, A.; Singh, S.K.; Rosily, Sherry; Bhagwat, P.V.

2016-01-01

Particle accelerators and many industrial complex systems, require a robust and efficient control for its proper operation to achieve required beam quality, safety of its sub component and all working personnel. This control is executed via a graphical user interface through which an operator interacts with the accelerator to achieve the desired state of the machine and its output. Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a widely used control system framework in the field of accelerator control. It acts as a middle layer between field devices and graphic user interface used by the operator. Field devices can also be made EPICS compliant by using EPICS based software in that. On the other hand Qt is a C++ framework which is widely used for creating very professional looking and user friendly graphical component. In Low Energy High Intensity Proton Accelerator (LEHIPA), which is the first stage of the three stage Accelerator Driven System (ADS) program taken by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), it is decided that EPICS will be used for controlling the accelerator and Qt will be used for developing the various Graphic User Interface (GUI) for operation and diagnostics. This paper discuss the work carried out to achieve this goal in LEHIPA

Centrally managed name resolution schemes for EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jun, D.

1997-01-01

The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) uses a broadcast method to locate resources and controls distributed across control servers. There are many advantages offered by using a centrally managed name resolution method, in which resources are located using a repository. The suitability of DCE Directory Service as a name resolution method is explored, and results from a study involving DCE are discussed. An alternative nameserver method developed and in use at the Thomas Jefferson national Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) is described and results of integrating this new method with existing EPICS utilities presented. The various methods discussed in the paper are compared

Circulating Metabolites Associated with Alcohol Intake in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Cohort

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eline H. van Roekel

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Identifying the metabolites associated with alcohol consumption may provide insights into the metabolic pathways through which alcohol may affect human health. We studied associations of alcohol consumption with circulating concentrations of 123 metabolites among 2974 healthy participants from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC study. Alcohol consumption at recruitment was self-reported through dietary questionnaires. Metabolite concentrations were measured by tandem mass spectrometry (BIOCRATES AbsoluteIDQTM p180 kit. Data were randomly divided into discovery (2/3 and replication (1/3 sets. Multivariable linear regression models were used to evaluate confounder-adjusted associations of alcohol consumption with metabolite concentrations. Metabolites significantly related to alcohol intake in the discovery set (FDR q-value < 0.05 were further tested in the replication set (Bonferroni-corrected p-value < 0.05. Of the 72 metabolites significantly related to alcohol intake in the discovery set, 34 were also significant in the replication analysis, including three acylcarnitines, the amino acid citrulline, four lysophosphatidylcholines, 13 diacylphosphatidylcholines, seven acyl-alkylphosphatidylcholines, and six sphingomyelins. Our results confirmed earlier findings that alcohol consumption was associated with several lipid metabolites, and possibly also with specific acylcarnitines and amino acids. This provides further leads for future research studies aiming at elucidating the mechanisms underlying the effects of alcohol in relation to morbid conditions.

Employment Trajectories After Spinal Cord Injury : Results From a 5-Year Prospective Cohort Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ferdiana, Astri; Post, Marcel W.; Hoekstra, Trynke; van der Woude, Luccas H.; van der Klink, Jac J.; Bultmann, Ute

Objectives: To identify different employment trajectories in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) after discharge from initial rehabilitation and to determine predictors of different trajectories from demographic, injury, functional, and psychological characteristics. Design: Prospective cohort

Analisis Efektivitas Iklan Jejaring Sosial sebagai Media Promosi Menggunakan EPIC Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nur Hasanah

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Keberhasilan dalam sebuah iklan atau promosi yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan masyarakat terhadap Informasi Layanan Pendidikan di jejaring sosial sangat bergantung pada kemasan tampilan yang menarik dan berita yang disampaikan. Pencapaian keberhasilan tujuan promosi tersebut akan membutuhkan tindakan yang berkesinambungan dan tepat sasaran. Untuk mengetahui apakah Facebook Huma Harati itu efektif atau tidak maka perlu adanya pengukuran terhadap Facebook itu sendiri, salah satunya menggunakan metode EPIC (Empaty, Persuation, Impact, and Communication. Hasil analisa menyatakan bahwa Fanpage Huma Harati merupakan tempat yang efektif sebagai media promosi, hal ini terlihat dari nilai empaty, persuasiona, impact and communication yang diperoleh. Nilai rata-rata pada EPIC rate adalah 3,978, dimensi komunikasi mendapat nilai tertinggi dari dimensi lainnya yaitu 4,02. 

Opium use and mortality in Golestan Cohort Study: prospective cohort study of 50,000 adults in Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Khademi, Hooman; Malekzadeh, Reza; Pourshams, Akram; Jafari, Elham; Salahi, Rasool; Semnani, Shahryar; Abaie, Behrooz; Islami, Farhad; Nasseri-Moghaddam, Siavosh; Etemadi, Arash; Byrnes, Graham; Abnet, Christian C; Dawsey, Sanford M; Day, Nicholas E; Pharoah, Paul D; Boffetta, Paolo; Brennan, Paul; Kamangar, Farin

2012-04-17

To investigate the association between opium use and subsequent risk of death. Prospective cohort study. The Golestan Cohort Study in north-eastern Iran collected detailed validated data on opium use and other exposures at baseline. Participants were enrolled between January 2004 and June 2008 and were followed to May 2011, with a follow-up success rate of over 99%. 50,045 participants aged 40-75 at baseline. Mortality, all cause and major subcategories. 17% (n = 8487) of the participants reported opium use, with a mean duration of 12.7 years. During the follow-up period 2145 deaths were reported. The adjusted hazard ratio for all cause mortality associated with ever use of opium was 1.86 (95% confidence interval 1.68 to 2.06). Opium consumption was significantly associated with increased risks of deaths from several causes including circulatory diseases (hazard ratio 1.81) and cancer (1.61). The strongest associations were seen with deaths from asthma, tuberculosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (11.0, 6.22, and 5.44, respectively). After exclusion of people who self prescribed opium after the onset of major chronic illnesses, the associations remained strong with a dose-response relation. Opium users have an increased risk of death from multiple causes compared with non-users. Increased risks were also seen in people who used low amounts of opium for a long period and those who had no major illness before use.

Crystal structure of (2E,3E-N2,N3-bis(3-ethyl-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-ylbutane-2,3-diimine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Zhao

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In the title compound, C32H32N2, synthesized by the condensation reaction of 2-ethyl-4-phenylaniline and 2,3-butanedione, the conformation about the C=N bonds is E and the substituted biphenyl units are trans to one another. In the two biphenyl ring systems, the planes of the two rings are inclined to one another by 25.25 (19 and 28.01 (19°. The planes of the ethyl-substituted benzene rings are inclined to one another by 20.23 (19° and to the mean plane of the butane-2,3-diimine unit [maximum deviation = 0.014 (4 Å] by 83.19 (19 and 63.38 (19°. In the crystal, molecules are linked by C—H...π interactions, forming sheets lying parallel to (101.

Elpasolite Planetary Ice and Composition Spectrometer (EPICS): A Low-Resource Combined Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer for Planetary Science

Science.gov (United States)

Stonehill, L. C.; Coupland, D. D. S.; Dallmann, N. A.; Feldman, W. C.; Mesick, K.; Nowicki, S.; Storms, S.

2017-12-01

The Elpasolite Planetary Ice and Composition Spectrometer (EPICS) is an innovative, low-resource gamma-ray and neutron spectrometer for planetary science missions, enabled by new scintillator and photodetector technologies. Neutrons and gamma rays are produced by cosmic ray interactions with planetary bodies and their subsequent interactions with the near-surface materials produce distinctive energy spectra. Measuring these spectra reveals details of the planetary near-surface composition that are not accessible through any other phenomenology. EPICS will be the first planetary science instrument to fully integrate the neutron and gamma-ray spectrometers. This integration is enabled by the elpasolite family of scintillators that offer gamma-ray spectroscopy energy resolutions as good as 3% FWHM at 662 keV, thermal neutron sensitivity, and the ability to distinguish gamma-ray and neutron signals via pulse shape differences. This new detection technology will significantly reduce size, weight, and power (SWaP) while providing similar neutron performance and improved gamma energy resolution compared to previous scintillator instruments, and the ability to monitor the cosmic-ray source term. EPICS will detect scintillation light with silicon photomultipliers rather than traditional photomultiplier tubes, offering dramatic additional SWaP reduction. EPICS is under development with Los Alamos National Laboratory internal research and development funding. Here we report on the EPICS design, provide an update on the current status of the EPICS development, and discuss the expected sensitivity and performance of EPICS in several potential missions to airless bodies.

Prognostic factors of whiplash-associated disorders: a systematic review of prospective cohort studies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scholten-Peeters, Gwendolijne G.M; Verhagen, Arianne P; Bekkering, Geertruida E; van der Windt, Daniëlle A W M; Barnsley, Les; Oostendorp, Rob A B; Hendriks, Erik J M

2003-01-01

We present a systematic review of prospective cohort studies. Our aim was to assess prognostic factors associated with functional recovery of patients with whiplash injuries. The failure of some patients to recover following whiplash injury has been linked to a number of prognostic factors. However,

Prognostic factors of whiplash-associated disorders: a systematic review of prospective cohort studies.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scholten-Peeters, G.G.M.; Verhagen, A.P.; Bekkering, G.E.; Windt, D.A.W.M. van der; Barnsley, L.; Oostendorp, R.A.B.; Hendriks, E.

2003-01-01

We present a systematic review of prospective cohort studies. Our aim was to assess prognostic factors associated with functional recovery of patients with whiplash injuries. The failure of some patients to recover following whiplash injury has been linked to a number of prognostic factors. However,

Physical activity and risk of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gallo, Valentina; Vanacore, Nicola; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H. Bas; Vermeulen, Roel; Brayne, Carol; Pearce, Neil; Wark, Petra A.; Ward, Heather A.; Ferrari, Pietro; Jenab, Mazda; Andersen, Peter M.; Wennberg, Patrik; Wareham, Nicholas; Katzke, Verena; Kaaks, Rudolf; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Peeters, Petra H.; Mattiello, Amalia; Pala, Valeria; Barricante, Aurelio; Chirlaque, Maria Dolores; Travier, Noémie; Travis, Ruth C.; Sanchez, Maria Jose; Pessah-Rasmussen, Hélène; Petersson, Jesper; Tjønneland, Anne; Tumino, Rosario; Quiros, Jose Ramon; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Kyrozis, Andreas; Oikonomidou, Despoina; Masala, Giovanna; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Arriola, Larraitz; Boeing, Heiner; Vigl, Matthaeus; Claver-Chapelon, Francoise; Middleton, Lefkos; Riboli, Elio; Vineis, Paolo

2016-01-01

Previous case–control studies have suggested a possible increased risk of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) with physical activity (PA), but this association has never been studied in prospective cohort studies. We therefore assessed the association between PA and risk of death from ALS in the

Physical activity and risk of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gallo, Valentina; Vanacore, Nicola; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H Bas; Vermeulen, Roel; Brayne, Carol; Pearce, Neil; Wark, Petra A; Ward, Heather A; Ferrari, Pietro; Jenab, Mazda; Andersen, Peter M; Wennberg, Patrik; Wareham, Nicholas; Katzke, Verena; Kaaks, Rudolf; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Peeters, Petra H; Mattiello, Amalia; Pala, Valeria; Barricante, Aurelio; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Travier, Noémie; Travis, Ruth C; Sanchez, Maria-Jose; Pessah-Rasmussen, Hélène; Petersson, Jesper; Tjønneland, Anne; Tumino, Rosario; Quiros, Jose Ramon; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Kyrozis, Andreas; Oikonomidou, Despoina; Masala, Giovanna; Sacerdote, Carlotta; Arriola, Larraitz; Boeing, Heiner; Vigl, Matthaeus; Claver-Chapelon, Francoise; Middleton, Lefkos; Riboli, Elio; Vineis, Paolo

Previous case-control studies have suggested a possible increased risk of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) with physical activity (PA), but this association has never been studied in prospective cohort studies. We therefore assessed the association between PA and risk of death from ALS in the

Predictors and pathways of language and motor development in four prospective cohorts of young children in Ghana, Malawi, and Burkina Faso.

Science.gov (United States)

Prado, Elizabeth L; Abbeddou, Souheila; Adu-Afarwuah, Seth; Arimond, Mary; Ashorn, Per; Ashorn, Ulla; Bendabenda, Jaden; Brown, Kenneth H; Hess, Sonja Y; Kortekangas, Emma; Lartey, Anna; Maleta, Kenneth; Oaks, Brietta M; Ocansey, Eugenia; Okronipa, Harriet; Ouédraogo, Jean Bosco; Pulakka, Anna; Somé, Jérôme W; Stewart, Christine P; Stewart, Robert C; Vosti, Stephen A; Yakes Jimenez, Elizabeth; Dewey, Kathryn G

2017-11-01

Previous reviews have identified 44 risk factors for poor early child development (ECD) in low- and middle-income countries. Further understanding of their relative influence and pathways is needed to inform the design of interventions targeting ECD. We conducted path analyses of factors associated with 18-month language and motor development in four prospective cohorts of children who participated in trials conducted as part of the International Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements (iLiNS) Project in Ghana (n = 1,023), Malawi (n = 675 and 1,385), and Burkina Faso (n = 1,122). In two cohorts, women were enrolled during pregnancy. In two cohorts, infants were enrolled at 6 or 9 months. In multiple linear regression and structural equation models (SEM), we examined 22 out of 44 factors identified in previous reviews, plus 12 additional factors expected to be associated with ECD. Out of 42 indicators of the 34 factors examined, 6 were associated with 18-month language and/or motor development in 3 or 4 cohorts: child linear and ponderal growth, variety of play materials, activities with caregivers, dietary diversity, and child hemoglobin/iron status. Factors that were not associated with child development were indicators of maternal Hb/iron status, maternal illness and inflammation during pregnancy, maternal perceived stress and depression, exclusive breastfeeding during 6 months postpartum, and child diarrhea, fever, malaria, and acute respiratory infections. Associations between socioeconomic status and language development were consistently mediated to a greater extent by caregiving practices than by maternal or child biomedical conditions, while this pattern for motor development was not consistent across cohorts. Key elements of interventions to ensure quality ECD are likely to be promotion of caregiver activities with children, a variety of play materials, and a diverse diet, and prevention of faltering in linear and ponderal growth and improvement in child

SUMMIT (Serially Unified Multicenter Multiple Sclerosis Investigation): creating a repository of deeply phenotyped contemporary multiple sclerosis cohorts.

Science.gov (United States)

Bove, Riley; Chitnis, Tanuja; Cree, Bruce Ac; Tintoré, Mar; Naegelin, Yvonne; Uitdehaag, Bernard Mj; Kappos, Ludwig; Khoury, Samia J; Montalban, Xavier; Hauser, Stephen L; Weiner, Howard L

2017-08-01

There is a pressing need for robust longitudinal cohort studies in the modern treatment era of multiple sclerosis. Build a multiple sclerosis (MS) cohort repository to capture the variability of disability accumulation, as well as provide the depth of characterization (clinical, radiologic, genetic, biospecimens) required to adequately model and ultimately predict a patient's course. Serially Unified Multicenter Multiple Sclerosis Investigation (SUMMIT) is an international multi-center, prospectively enrolled cohort with over a decade of comprehensive follow-up on more than 1000 patients from two large North American academic MS Centers (Brigham and Women's Hospital (Comprehensive Longitudinal Investigation of Multiple Sclerosis at the Brigham and Women's Hospital (CLIMB; BWH)) and University of California, San Francisco (Expression/genomics, Proteomics, Imaging, and Clinical (EPIC))). It is bringing online more than 2500 patients from additional international MS Centers (Basel (Universitätsspital Basel (UHB)), VU University Medical Center MS Center Amsterdam (MSCA), Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia-Vall d'Hebron Hospital (Barcelona clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) cohort), and American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC-Multiple Sclerosis Interdisciplinary Research (AMIR)). We provide evidence for harmonization of two of the initial cohorts in terms of the characterization of demographics, disease, and treatment-related variables; demonstrate several proof-of-principle analyses examining genetic and radiologic predictors of disease progression; and discuss the steps involved in expanding SUMMIT into a repository accessible to the broader scientific community.

Schmidt Reaction of E-3-Benzylidenechromanones and E-3-Benzylidenethiochromanones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tapas K. Mandal

2013-01-01

Full Text Available On treatment with NaN3/c. H2SO4-HOAc or NaN3/TFA, E-3-benzylidenechromanones are mostly converted to E-β-aminobenzylidenechromanones while E-3-benzylidenethiochromanones are converted to 3-benzoylthiochromones. A structurally new type of product has been isolated for the reaction of E-3-benzylidene-4′-methoxychromanone with NaN3/TFA. Mechanistic paths have been suggested for formation of the products.

Intervenciones farmacéuticas: desarrollo e implementación metodológica a partir de la evaluación de dos cohortes

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Pamela Bertoldo

2015-09-01

Full Text Available La intervención farmacéutica (IF son acciones que lleva a cabo el farmacéutico en la toma de decisiones en la terapia de los pacientes y en la evaluación de los resultados, con el fin de mejorar la terapia del paciente. Objetivo: Describir y desarrollar una metodología que permita realizar y registrar intervenciones farmacéuticas (IF en la práctica clínica. Material y Métodos: Se realizó un estudio comparativo, transversal en dos cohortes de intervenciones farmacéuticas. Las variables de estudio se recolectan en una ficha diseñada adaptada de dos propuestas (una argentina y otra española clasificando las IF según se realicen orientadas al medicamento, a la administración o a la prescripción médica. Resultados: Se realizaron 460 en dos cohortes, 256 y 194 respectivamente. El 83% de las intervenciones estuvieron centradas en el medicamento, en este grupo la IF más frecuente fue la terapia secuencial, dato que no presentó diferencias significativas entre las cohortes lo que no lleva a pensar que el instrumento y el método empleado son válidos. La aceptación de las IF fue en promedio del 95%. Las diferencias entre el resto de los grupos fue variable según el tipo de fármacos prescriptos. Conclusiones: En ambos períodos el instrumento de recolección permitió el registro adecuado de las IF realizadas. La IF más frecuente no presentó diferencias significativas entre ambas cohortes. En todos los casos el impacto clínico es determinante de seguridad del paciente.

EPICS based control system for cryogenic plant at VECC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Panda, Umashankar; Pal, Sandip; Mandal, Anupam; Dey, Ranadhir

2012-01-01

Cryogenic Plant of Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre consists of two Helium refrigerators (250W and 415W at the rate 4.5K), valve box with sub-cooler and associated sub systems like pure gas storage, helium purifier and impure gas recovery etc. The system also consists of 3.1K liters of liquid Nitrogen (LN 2 ) storage and delivery system. Many of the systems are procured from different suppliers and some are also developed in house. Due to the variety of systems and suppliers the control philosophy, communication protocols and component is also different. So the Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) module has to be such that it can take care of the variance and bring everything into a common control platform. To solve this purpose EPICS (Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System) architecture has been adopted. EPICS is having the advantage of being open source, flexible and unlimited as compared to the commercial SCADA packages. (author)

Pregnancy chances on an IVF/ICSI waiting list: a national prospective cohort study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eijkemans, M.J.; Lintsen, A.M.E.; Hunault, C.C.; Bouwmans, C.A.; Hakkaart, L.; Braat, D.D.M.; Habbema, J.D.F.

2008-01-01

BACKGROUND: The effectiveness of IVF over expectant management has been proven only for bilateral tubal occlusion. We aimed to estimate the chance of pregnancy without treatment for IVF patients, using data on the waiting period before the start of IVF. METHODS: A prospective cohort study included

Asthma and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Nationwide Population-Based Prospective Cohort Study

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Mu-Hong; Su, Tung-Ping; Chen, Ying-Sheue; Hsu, Ju-Wei; Huang, Kai-Lin; Chang, Wen-Han; Chen, Tzeng-Ji; Bai, Ya-Mei

2013-01-01

Background: Previous cross-sectional studies have suggested an association between asthma and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but the temporal relationship was not determined. Using a nationwide population-based prospective case-control cohort study (1:4, age-/gender-matched), we hypothesized that asthma in infanthood or early…

Development of KOMAC Beam Monitoring System Using EPICS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Song, Young-Gi; Yun, Sang-Pil; Kim, Han-Sung; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-10-15

The beam loss signals must be digitized and the sampling has to be synchronized to a reference signal which is an external trigger for beam operation. The digitized data must be accessible by the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS)-based control system, which manages the whole accelerator control. In order to satisfy the requirement, an Input /Output Controller (IOC), which runs Linux on a CPU module with PCI express based Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) modules, has been adopted. An associated linux driver and EPICS device support module also have been developed. The IOC meets the requirements and the development and maintenance of the software for the IOC is considerably efficient. The data acquisition system running EPICS will be used in increasing phase of KOrea Multi-purpose Accelerator Complex (KOMAC) beam power. The beam monitoring system integrates BLM and BPM signals into control system and offers real-time data to operators. The IOC, which is implemented with Linux and PCI driver, has supported data acquisition as a very flexible solution.

Development of KOMAC Beam Monitoring System Using EPICS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, Young-Gi; Yun, Sang-Pil; Kim, Han-Sung; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub

2014-01-01

The beam loss signals must be digitized and the sampling has to be synchronized to a reference signal which is an external trigger for beam operation. The digitized data must be accessible by the Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS)-based control system, which manages the whole accelerator control. In order to satisfy the requirement, an Input /Output Controller (IOC), which runs Linux on a CPU module with PCI express based Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) modules, has been adopted. An associated linux driver and EPICS device support module also have been developed. The IOC meets the requirements and the development and maintenance of the software for the IOC is considerably efficient. The data acquisition system running EPICS will be used in increasing phase of KOrea Multi-purpose Accelerator Complex (KOMAC) beam power. The beam monitoring system integrates BLM and BPM signals into control system and offers real-time data to operators. The IOC, which is implemented with Linux and PCI driver, has supported data acquisition as a very flexible solution

EPIC: A Testbed for Scientifically Rigorous Cyber-Physical Security Experimentation

OpenAIRE

SIATERLIS CHRISTOS; GENGE BELA; HOHENADEL MARC

2013-01-01

Recent malware, like Stuxnet and Flame, constitute a major threat to Networked Critical Infrastructures (NCIs), e.g., power plants. They revealed several vulnerabilities in today's NCIs, but most importantly they highlighted the lack of an efficient scientific approach to conduct experiments that measure the impact of cyber threats on both the physical and the cyber parts of NCIs. In this paper we present EPIC, a novel cyber-physical testbed and a modern scientific instrument that can pr...

Self-reported breast feeding practices and the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mosher, Cynthia; Sarkar, Abdullah; Hashem, Alaa AbouBakr; Hamadah, Reem E; Alhoulan, Asma; AlMakadma, Yosra A; Khan, Tehreem A; Al-Hamdani, Abdurahman K; Senok, Abiola

2016-12-16

The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a practice guideline for healthcare providers to promote breastfeeding and increase breastfeeding rates. This study aimed to examine reported experiences and views on breastfeeding of women using prenatal and postnatal services, and opinions of staff, in the context of the BFHI programme in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Prospective cohort study. This prospective, longitudinal study was conducted from December 2013 to September 2015 at two healthcare facilities (BFHI and non-BFHI) in Riyadh Saudi Arabia. Women 36-40 weeks gestation receiving antenatal care at the hospitals were enrolled. Questionnaires were administered prenatally, at 1, 3 and 6 months postnatal and to the administrator and maternity staff. We recruited 277 women with an estimated 80% response rate. 156 (BFHI=78/139, non-BFHI=78/138, 56%) participants completed all questionnaires. Most BFHI-hospital participants (77.9%, n=8 for this question) acknowledged seeing the breast feeding policy compared to 23.5% (n=23) at the non-BFHI-hospital (p<0.01). Breast feeding education and encouragement was higher at the BFHI-hospital (93.3%) compared to the non-BFHI-hospital (48.2%; p<0.01). At postpartum discharge, 51% (n=53) of mothers in the BFHI-hospital were breast feeding exclusively versus 29.6% (n=29) at the non-BFHI-hospital. Where formula feed was introduced, women in the BFHI-hospital more often practiced mixed feeding rather than exclusive formula feeding with some switching from mixed feeding to exclusive breast feeding between 3 and 6 months postpartum. Exclusive breast feeding rates declined in both hospitals at 3 and 6 months postpartum with lack of community services for lactation being a major reason. Although BFHI-hospital staff (n=9) were more conversant with BFHI principles, defects in adherence to the BFHI 10 Steps were identified. This is the first study assessing the effectiveness of BFHI implementation in Saudi Arabia. Although women

Objectively Measured Daily Steps and Subsequent Long Term All-Cause Mortality: The Tasped Prospective Cohort Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Terence Dwyer

Full Text Available Self-reported physical activity has been inversely associated with mortality but the effect of objectively measured step activity on mortality has never been evaluated. The objective is to determine the prospective association of daily step activity on mortality among free-living adults.Cohort study of free-living adults residing in Tasmania, Australia between 2000 and 2005 who participated in one of three cohort studies (n = 2 576 total participants. Daily step activity by pedometer at baseline at a mean of 58.8 years of age, and for a subset, repeated monitoring was available 3.7 (SD 1.3 years later (n = 1 679. All-cause mortality (n = 219 deaths was ascertained by record-linkage to the Australian National Death Index; 90% of participants were followed-up over ten years, until June 2011. Higher daily step count at baseline was linearly associated with lower all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio AHR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.90 to 0.98 per 1 000 steps; P = 0.004. Risk was altered little by removing deaths occurring in the first two years. Increasing baseline daily steps from sedentary to 10 000 steps a day was associated with a 46% (95% CI, 18% to 65%; P = 0.004 lower risk of mortality in the decade of follow-up. In addition, those who increased their daily steps over the monitoring period had a substantial reduction in mortality risk, after adjusting for baseline daily step count (AHR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.72; P = 0.002, or other factors (AHR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.21-0.70; P = 0.002.Higher daily step count was linearly associated with subsequent long term mortality among free living adults. These data are the first to quantify mortality reductions using an objective measure of physical activity in a free living population. They strongly underscore the importance of physical inactivity as a major public health problem.

Editorial L&E, v.8, n.3, 2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rede Conpadre

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Editorial L&E, v.8, n.3, 2014. É sempre uma satisfação apresentar mais um número da Revista Labor & Engenho [ISSN:2176-8846]. Neste, o leitor poderá apreciar 7 excelentes artigos que juntos refletem diferentes aspectos das benéficas conexões que se estabelecem entre Patrimônio e Desenvolvimento Regional. Dos 7 artigos que compõem o número 3 do volume 8 da Revista L&E, 3 são de autores brasileiros (sendo 2 no idioma português, 1 em inglês; 2 são de autores argentinos (em espanhol; 1 de autores cubanos (também em espanhol; e 1 de autor francês (publicado no idioma original. Neste número temos, pois, a satisfação de publicar, pela primeira vez na Revista L&E, um artigo proveniente de Cuba e outro da França. Damo-lhes as boas vindas e esperamos por novos artigos originários de países do Caribe ou da América Central, assim como esperamos atrair novos pesquisadores e leitores francófonos, já que o idioma francês era o único dentre os 5 idiomas da Revista L&E que ainda não havia sido publicado neste Periódico. Este número se inicia com o artigo de Gercinair Silvério Gandara, que convida a uma deliciosa visita às águas doces do lago de Sobradinho, no rio São Francisco, onde dormita o patrimônio construído das cidades-beira de Remanso e Pilão Arcado. O trabalho faz parte de sua mais recente pesquisa de Pós-Doutorado, financiada pela CAPES. A autora salienta que a força geradora sociocultural das cidades-beira e sua sinergia com o espaço geográfico ressaltam a importância do Patrimônio Ambiental. Em seguida apresenta-se um artigo sobre as frentes pioneiras do Brasil, enfocando a Amazônia. Não poderia ser mais simbólico e significativo o artigo de Hervé Théry, o primeiro publicado em francês pela Revista Labor & Engenho. Nele o autor, titular da Cátedra Pierre Monbeig (que leva o nome do geógrafo francês que participou da fundação da USP, revisita um de seus trabalhos que seguiram a orientação do pr

The CEBAF accelerator control system: migrating from a TACL to an EPICS based system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, W.A. III; Barker, David; Bickley, Matthew; Gupta, Pratik; Johnson, R.P.

1994-01-01

CEBAF is in the process of migrating its accelerator and experimental hall control systems to one based upon EPICS, a control system toolkit developed by a collaboration among several DOE laboratories in the US. The new system design interfaces existing CAMAC hardware via a CAMAC serial highway to VME-based I/O controllers running the EPICS software; future additions and upgrades will for the most part go directly into VME. The decision to use EPICS followed difficulties in scaling the CEBAF-developed TACL system to full machine operation. TACL and EPICS share many design concepts, facilitating the conversion of software from one toolkit to the other. In particular, each supports graphical entry of algorithms built up from modular code, graphical displays with a display editor, and a client-server architecture with name-based I/O. During the migration, TACL and EPICS will interoperate through a socket-based I/O gateway. As part of a collaboration with other laboratories, CEBAF will add relational database support for system management and high level applications support. Initial experience with EPICS is presented, along with a plan for the full migration which is expected to be finished next year. ((orig.))

Glycemic index, glycemic load and mammographic breast density: the EPIC Florence longitudinal study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giovanna Masala

Full Text Available A few studies have evaluated the association between diet and mammographic breast density (MBD and results are inconsistent. MBD, a well-recognized risk factor for breast cancer, has been proposed as a marker of cumulative exposure to hormones and growth factors. Diets with a high glycemic index (GI or glycemic load (GL may increase breast cancer risk, via an effect on the insulin-like growth factor axis. We have investigated the association between carbohydrate intake, GI, GL and MBD in a prospective study. We identified a large series of women, in the frame of the EPIC-Florence cohort, with a mammogram taken five years after enrolment, when detailed information on dietary and lifestyle habits and anthropometric measurements had been collected. Mammograms have been retrieved (1,668, 83% and MBD assessed according to Wolfe's classification. We compared women with high MBD (P2+DY Wolfe's categories with those with low MBD (N1+P1 through logistic models adjusted for age, education, body mass index, menopause, number of children, breast feeding, physical activity, non-alcohol energy, fibers, saturated fat and alcohol. A direct association between GL and high MBD emerged in the highest quintile of intake in comparison with the lowest quintile (OR = 1.73, 95%CI 1.13-2.67, p for trend = 0.048 while no association with glycemic index was evident. These results were confirmed after exclusion of women reporting to be on a diet or affected with diabetes, and when Hormone Replacement Therapy at the date of mammographic examination used to assess MBD was considered. The effect was particularly evident among leaner women, although no interaction was found. A positive association was suggested for increasing simple sugar and total carbohydrates intakes limited to the highest quintiles. In this Italian population we observed an association between glycemic load, total and rapidly absorbed carbohydrates and high MBD. These novel results warrant further

NEW EPICS/RTEMS IOC BASED ON ALTERA SOC AT JEFFERSON LAB

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yan, Jianxun [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Seaton, Chad [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Allison, Trent L. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Bevins, Brian S. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States); Cuffe, Anthony W. [Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (TJNAF), Newport News, VA (United States)

2018-02-01

A new EPICS/RTEMS IOC based on the Altera System-on-Chip (SoC) FPGA is being designed at Jefferson Lab. The Altera SoC FPGA integrates a dual ARM Cortex-A9 Hard Processor System (HPS) consisting of processor, peripherals and memory interfaces tied seamlessly with the FPGA fabric using a high-bandwidth interconnect backbone. The embedded Altera SoC IOC has features of remote network boot via U-Boot from SD card or QSPI Flash, 1Gig Ethernet, 1GB DDR3 SDRAM on HPS, UART serial ports, and ISA bus interface. RTEMS for the ARM processor BSP were built with CEXP shell, which will dynamically load the EPICS applications at runtime. U-Boot is the primary bootloader to remotely load the kernel image into local memory from a DHCP/TFTP server over Ethernet, and automatically run RTEMS and EPICS. The first design of the SoC IOC will be compatible with Jefferson Lab’s current PC104 IOCs, which have been running in CEBAF 10 years. The next design would be mounting in a chassis and connected to a daughter card via standard HSMC connectors. This standard SoC IOC will become the next generation of low-level IOC for the accelerator controls at Jefferson Lab.

Prognosis of abdominal pain in children in primary care : A prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lisman-van Leeuwen, Yvonne; Spee, Leo A A; Benninga, Marc A; Bierma-Zeinstra, Sita M A; Berger, Marjolein Y

2013-01-01

PURPOSE: Abdominal pain is a common complaint in children. Because few data exist on its natural history, we wanted to investigate the prognosis of abdominal pain in children in general practice. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study of children (aged 4 to 17 years) complaining of abdominal pain,

Transcranial direct-current stimulation induced in stroke patients with aphasia: a prospective experimental cohort study

OpenAIRE

Santos,Michele Devido; Gagliardi,Rubens José; Mac-Kay,Ana Paula Machado Goyano; Boggio,Paulo Sergio; Lianza,Roberta; Fregni,Felipe

2013-01-01

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Previous animal and human studies have shown that transcranial direct current stimulation can induce significant and lasting neuroplasticity and may improve language recovery in patients with aphasia. The objective of the study was to describe a cohort of patients with aphasia after stroke who were treated with transcranial direct current stimulation. DESIGN AND SETTING: Prospective cohort study developed in a public university hospital. METHODS: Nineteen patients with ...

Prevalence and prognosis of patients with heart failure in Tokyo: a prospective cohort of Shinken Database 2004-5.

Science.gov (United States)

Goda, Ayumi; Yamashita, Takeshi; Suzuki, Shinya; Ohtsuka, Takayuki; Uejima, Tokuhisa; Oikawa, Yuji; Yajima, Junji; Koike, Akira; Nagashima, Kazuyuki; Kirigaya, Hajime; Sagara, Koichi; Ogasawara, Ken; Isobe, Mitsuaki; Sawada, Hitoshi; Aizawa, Tadanori

2009-09-01

Prognosis of patients with heart failure (HF) remains unclear in Japan and should be determined in a prospective fashion. A prospective cohort of The Shinken Database comprised details on all of the new patients, including both inpatients and outpatients, who visited The Cardiovascular Institute Hospital in 2004-2005. HF patients were defined as those with symptomatic HF coexisting with structural heart diseases. Among 4,255 patients who visited our hospital, 597 patients (male/female 414/183, age 65.1 +/- 12.9 years, LVEF 56.2 +/- 18.0%) were diagnosed as presenting symptomatic HF. Ischemic heart disease was present in 305 (51.1%), valvular heart disease in 212 (35.5%), dilated cardiomyopathy in 59 (9.9%), hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in 24 (4.0%), hypertensive heart disease in 14 (2.3%), and others in 67 (11.2%). Hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and diabetes were observed in 35.3%, 27.4%, and 23.7%, respectively. During the mean follow-up period of 539 +/- 257 days, 40 deaths (5.0% per year) occurred, including 34 cardiovascular deaths (4.5% per year, NYHA class II: 1.0%, III: 11.3%, IV: 36.6% per year, respectively). The present study showed that the prognosis of Japanese patients with HF among moderate to severe severity was found to be similar to that of Western countries. Multiple Cox hazard analysis identified the presence of chronic kidney disease and NYHA class as independent predictors for cardiovascular death. This prospective cohort study identified the prevalence, prognosis, and risk factors in HF patients to provide a basis for therapeutic management in Japan.

Apolipoprotein C-III Levels and Incident Coronary Artery Disease Risk: The EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study.

Science.gov (United States)

van Capelleveen, Julian C; Bernelot Moens, Sophie J; Yang, Xiaohong; Kastelein, John J P; Wareham, Nicholas J; Zwinderman, Aeilko H; Stroes, Erik S G; Witztum, Joseph L; Hovingh, G Kees; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Boekholdt, S Matthijs; Tsimikas, Sotirios

2017-06-01

Apolipoprotein C-III (apoC-III) is a key regulator of triglyceride metabolism. Elevated triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and apoC-III levels are causally linked to coronary artery disease (CAD) risk. The mechanism(s) through which apoC-III increases CAD risk remains largely unknown. The aim was to confirm the association between apoC-III plasma levels and CAD risk and to explore which lipoprotein subfractions contribute to this relationship between apoC-III and CAD risk. Plasma apoC-III levels were measured in baseline samples from a nested case-control study in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk study. The study comprised 2711 apparently healthy study participants, of whom 832 subsequently developed CAD. We studied the association of baseline apoC-III levels with incident CAD risk, lipoprotein subfractions measured by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and inflammatory biomarkers. ApoC-III levels were significantly associated with CAD risk (odds ratio, 1.91; 95% confidence interval, 1.48-2.48 for highest compared with lowest quintile), retaining significance after adjustment for traditional CAD risk factors (odds ratio, 1.47; 95% confidence interval, 1.11-1.94). ApoC-III levels were positively correlated with triglyceride levels, ( r =0.39), particle numbers of very-low-density lipoprotein ( r =0.25), intermediate-density lipoprotein ( r =0.23), small dense low-density lipoprotein ( r =0.26), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein ( r =0.15), whereas an inverse correlation was observed with large low-density lipoprotein particle number ( r =-0.11), P C-reactive protein. ApoC-III levels are significantly associated with incident CAD risk. Elevated levels of remnant lipoproteins, small dense low-density lipoprotein, and low-grade inflammation may explain this association. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

The prospective impact of food pricing on improving dietary consumption: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Afshin, Ashkan; Peñalvo, José L; Del Gobbo, Liana; Silva, Jose; Michaelson, Melody; O'Flaherty, Martin; Capewell, Simon; Spiegelman, Donna; Danaei, Goodarz; Mozaffarian, Dariush

2017-01-01

While food pricing is a promising strategy to improve diet, the prospective impact of food pricing on diet has not been systematically quantified. To quantify the prospective effect of changes in food prices on dietary consumption. We systematically searched online databases for interventional or prospective observational studies of price change and diet; we also searched for studies evaluating adiposity as a secondary outcome. Studies were excluded if price data were collected before 1990. Data were extracted independently and in duplicate. Findings were pooled using DerSimonian-Laird's random effects model. Pre-specified sources of heterogeneity were analyzed using meta-regression; and potential for publication bias, by funnel plots, Begg's and Egger's tests. From 3,163 identified abstracts, 23 interventional studies and 7 prospective cohorts with 37 intervention arms met inclusion criteria. In pooled analyses, a 10% decrease in price (i.e., subsidy) increased consumption of healthful foods by 12% (95%CI = 10-15%; N = 22 studies/intervention arms) whereas a 10% increase price (i.e. tax) decreased consumption of unhealthful foods by 6% (95%CI = 4-8%; N = 15). By food group, subsidies increased intake of fruits and vegetables by 14% (95%CI = 11-17%; N = 9); and other healthful foods, by 16% (95%CI = 10-23%; N = 10); without significant effects on more healthful beverages (-3%; 95%CI = -16-11%; N = 3). Each 10% price increase reduced sugar-sweetened beverage intake by 7% (95%CI = 3-10%; N = 5); fast foods, by 3% (95%CI = 1-5%; N = 3); and other unhealthful foods, by 9% (95%CI = 6-12%; N = 3). Changes in price of fruits and vegetables reduced body mass index (-0.04 kg/m2 per 10% price decrease, 95%CI = -0.08-0 kg/m2; N = 4); price changes for sugar-sweetened beverages or fast foods did not significantly alter body mass index, based on 4 studies. Meta-regression identified direction of price change (tax vs. subsidy), number of intervention components, intervention

On Collecting and Publishing the Albanian Oral Epic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arbnora Dushi

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to examine how the Albanian epic known as the ‘Cycle of the Frontier Warriors’ has been presented in Albanian folklore collections. I will examine seven written versions of the song ‘The Wedding of Ali Bajraktari’, which belongs to this epic cycle. The ‘Cycle of the Frontier Warriors’, has been an object of collection since the beginning of the twentieth century. There are now dozens of volumes published, but the studies published to date concentrate on historical, thematic and comparative rather than contextual and textual issues.

Alcohol attributable burden of incidence of cancer in eight European countries based on results from prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schuetze, Madlen; Boeing, Heiner; Pischon, Tobias; Rehm, Juergen; Kehoe, Tara; Gmel, Gerrit; Olsen, Anja; Tjonneland, Anne M.; Dahm, Christina C.; Overvad, Kim; Clavel-Chapelon, Francoise; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Benetou, Vasiliki; Zylis, Dimosthenis; Kaaks, Rudolf; Rohrmann, Sabine; Palli, Domenico; Berrino, Franco; Tumino, Rosario; Vineis, Paolo; Rodriguez, Laudina; Agudo, Antonio; Sanchez, Maria-Jose; Dorronsoro, Miren; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Barricarte, Aurelio; Peeters, Petra H.; van Gils, Carla H.; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Wareham, Nick; Allen, Naomi E.; Key, Timothy J.; Boffetta, Paolo; Slimani, Nadia; Jenab, Mazda; Romaguera, Dora; Wark, Petra A.; Riboli, Elio; Bergmann, Manuela M.

2011-01-01

Objective To compute the burden of cancer attributable to current and former alcohol consumption in eight European countries based on direct relative risk estimates from a cohort study. Design Combination of prospective cohort study with representative population based data on alcohol exposure.

Predictors of dietary heterocyclic amine intake in three prospective cohorts.

Science.gov (United States)

Byrne, C; Sinha, R; Platz, E A; Giovannucci, E; Colditz, G A; Hunter, D J; Speizer, F E; Willett, W C

1998-06-01

Cooking meat creates heterocyclic amines (HCAs) through pyrolysis of amino acids and creatinine. Although recognized as mutagenic, the etiological role of HCA in human cancer is unclear, due to the lack of information on the effect of typical food cooking methods on HCA concentrations and on variation in HCA exposure in populations. We estimated overall daily dietary HCA intake and variation in intake between individuals, using recent data on HCA concentrations in various meats prepared by cooking methods, temperatures, and times common in United States in the 1990s. Random samples of 250 participants from each of three large prospective cohorts were mailed a questionnaire to assess frequency of consumption, cooking method, and typical outside appearance of pan-fried, broiled, and grilled or barbecued chicken, fish, hamburger, and steak; fried, microwaved, and broiled bacon; fried sausage; roast beef; and homemade gravy. The 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline (MeIQx), 2-amino-1-methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine (PhIP), and 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5,f]quinoxaline (DiMeIQx) concentrations, measured in composite samples by solid-phase extraction and high-performance liquid chromatography, were assigned to each food, cooking method, and doneness level. The dietary reports showed approximately 30-fold relative variation in 2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline intake, 20-fold for 2-amino- -methyl-6-phenylimidazo[4,5-b]pyridine, and over 110-fold for 2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5,f]quinoxaline, when the 10th and 90th percentiles of HCA intake were compared (90th/10th percentile value). These reported variations in HCA exposure among participants in these three large cohorts indicates that estimation of HCA intake and determination of association with disease risk are feasible, if additional information on meat cooking methods is obtained.

Occupational exposures and Parkinson's disease mortality in a prospective Dutch cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Brouwer, Maartje; Koeman, Tom; van den Brandt, Piet A; Kromhout, Hans; Schouten, Leo J; Peters, Susan; Huss, Anke; Vermeulen, Roel

2015-06-01

We investigated the association between six occupational exposures (ie, pesticides, solvents, metals, diesel motor emissions (DME), extremely low frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MF) and electric shocks) and Parkinson's disease (PD) mortality in a large population-based prospective cohort study. The Netherlands Cohort Study on diet and cancer enrolled 58,279 men and 62,573 women aged 55-69 years in 1986. Participants were followed up for cause-specific mortality over 17.3 years, until December 2003, resulting in 402 male and 207 female PD deaths. Following a case-cohort design, a subcohort of 5,000 participants was randomly sampled from the complete cohort. Information on occupational history and potential confounders was collected at baseline. Job-exposure matrices were applied to assign occupational exposures. Associations with PD mortality were evaluated using Cox regression. Among men, elevated HRs were observed for exposure to pesticides (eg, ever high exposed, HR 1.27, 95% CI 0.86 to 1.88) and ever high exposed to ELF-MF (HR 1.54, 95% CI 1.00 to 2.36). No association with exposure duration or trend in cumulative exposure was observed for any of the occupational exposures. Results among women were unstable due to small numbers of high-exposed women. Associations with PD mortality were observed for occupational exposure to pesticides and ELF-MF. However, the weight given to these findings is limited by the absence of a monotonic trend with either duration or cumulative exposure. No associations were found between PD mortality and occupational exposure to solvents, metals, DME or electric shocks. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Job Strain and Cognitive Decline: A Prospective Study of the Framingham Offspring Cohort

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W Agbenyikey

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Background: Workplace stress is known to be related with many behavioral and disease outcomes. However, little is known about its prospective relationship with measures of cognitive decline. Objective: To investigate the association of job strain, psychological demands and job control on cognitive decline. Methods: Participants from Framingham Offspring cohort (n=1429, were assessed on job strain, and received neuropsychological assessment approximately 15 years and 21 years afterwards. Results: High job strain and low control were associated with decline in verbal learning and memory. Job strain was associated with decline in word recognition skills. Active job and passive job predicted decline in verbal learning and memory relative to low strain jobs in the younger subgroup. Active job and demands were positively associated with abstract reasoning skills. Conclusions: Job strain and job control may influence decline in cognitive performance.

Cancer-Related Fatigue in Women With Breast Cancer: Outcomes of a 5-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Goldstein, David

2012-04-16

PURPOSEProlonged and disabling fatigue is prevalent after cancer treatment, but the early natural history of cancer-related fatigue (CRF) has not been systematically examined to document consistent presence of symptoms. Hence, relationships to cancer, surgery, and adjuvant therapy are unclear. PATIENTS AND METHODSA prospective cohort study of women receiving adjuvant treatment for early-stage breast cancer was conducted. Women (n = 218) were enrolled after surgery and observed at end treatment and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months as well as 5 years. Structured interviews and self-report questionnaires were used to record physical and psychologic health as well as disability and health care utilization. Patients with CRF persisting for 6 months were assessed to exclude alternative medical and psychiatric causes of fatigue. Predictors of persistent fatigue, mood disturbance, and health care utilization were sought by logistic regression.ResultsThe case rate for CRF was 24% (n = 51) postsurgery and 31% (n = 69) at end of treatment; it became persistent in 11% (n = 24) at 6 months and 6% (n = 12) at 12 months. At each time point, approximately one third of the patients had comorbid mood disturbance. Persistent CRF was predicted by tumor size but not demographic, psychologic, surgical, or hematologic parameters. CRF was associated with significant disability and health care utilization. CONCLUSIONCRF is common but generally runs a self-limiting course. Much of the previously reported high rates of persistent CRF may be attributable to factors unrelated to the cancer or its treatment.

(E-4-Bromo-N-(2,3-dimethoxybenzylideneaniline

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karla Fejfarová

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The title Schiff base compound, C15H14BrNO2, was prepared by the condensation of 2,3-dimethoxybenzaldehyde with 4-bromoaniline. It adopts an E configuration with respect to the C=N bond. The dihedral angle between the two aromatic rings is 56.79 (8°. Weak C—H...O and C—-H...π bonds can be found in the crystal structure.

Plasma concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians and vegans: results from the EPIC-Oxford study.

Science.gov (United States)

Crowe, Francesca L; Steur, Marinka; Allen, Naomi E; Appleby, Paul N; Travis, Ruth C; Key, Timothy J

2011-02-01

Vegetarians and vegans exclude certain food sources of vitamin D from their diet, but it is not clear to what extent this affects plasma concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D). The objective was to investigate differences in vitamin D intake and plasma concentrations of 25(OH)D among meat eaters, fish eaters, vegetarians and vegans. A cross-sectional analysis. United Kingdom. Plasma 25(OH)D concentrations were measured in 2107 white men and women (1388 meat eaters, 210 fish eaters, 420 vegetarians and eighty-nine vegans) aged 20-76 years from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Oxford cohort. Plasma 25(OH)D concentrations reflected the degree of animal product exclusion and, hence, dietary intake of vitamin D; meat eaters had the highest mean intake of vitamin D (3·1 (95 % CI 3·0, 3·2) μg/d) and mean plasma 25(OH)D concentrations (77·0 (95 % CI 75·4, 78·8) nmol/l) and vegans the lowest (0·7 (95 % CI 0·6, 0·8) μg/d and 55·8 (95 % CI 51·0, 61·0) nmol/l, respectively). The magnitude of difference in 25(OH)D concentrations between meat eaters and vegans was smaller (20 %) among those participants who had a blood sample collected during the summer months (July-September) compared with the winter months (38 %; January-March). The prevalence of low plasma concentrations of 25(OH)D (vegans than in meat and fish eaters; diet is an important determinant of plasma 25(OH)D in this British population.

Cancer, fatigue and the return of patients to work-a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spelten, E. R.; Verbeek, J. H. A. M.; Uitterhoeve, A. L. J.; Ansink, A. C.; van der Lelie, J.; de Reijke, T. M.; Kammeijer, M.; de Haes, J. C. J. M.; Sprangers, M. A. G.

2003-01-01

Fatigue is a highly prevalent and debilitating symptom in cancer survivors. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of fatigue and other cancer-related symptoms on the return to work of cancer survivors. A prospective inception cohort study with 12 months of follow-up was initiated. At 6

Temperament and Early Stuttering Development: Cross-Sectional Findings from a Community Cohort

Science.gov (United States)

Kefalianos, Elaina; Onslow, Mark; Ukoumunne, Obioha C.; Block, Susan; Reilly, Sheena

2017-01-01

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to ascertain if there is an association between stuttering severity and behaviors and the expression of temperament characteristics, including precursors of anxiety. Method: We studied temperament characteristics of a prospectively recruited community cohort of children who stutter (N = 173) at ages 3, 4, and…

Factors and motivations associated with use of e-cigarette among primary care patients in a prospective cohort study: e-TAC study protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Kinouani, Shérazade; Castéra, Philippe; Laporte, Catherine; Pétrègne, François; Gay, Bernard

2016-06-15

While the relationship between electronic cigarette use and smoking has often been studied, the association between electronic cigarette use and socioeconomic factors has received less attention. This is a study protocol aiming to describe the relationship between the consumption of psychoactive products (in particular: smoking) or some socioeconomic factors and the evolution of the use of electronic cigarette in primary healthcare over 1 year. Electronic cigarette, Tobacco, Alcohol and Cannabis (e-TAC) is a prospective multisite cohort study, including 473 patients at baseline and carrying out in general practices in the Aquitaine area (France). The volunteer patients participated in the study regardless of their initial reason for consultation. They filled out a self-administered questionnaire at baseline and will also do so after 12 months by phone, email or letter. The study will focus on the factors that explain the experimentation with or the current use of the electronic cigarette, as well as factors associated with their evolutions over time using multivariate logistic regression modelling or Cox regression modelling. This study received ethical approval from the University of Bordeaux Committee for the protection of persons. It was also approved by the National Commission for Data Processing and Freedoms. Findings will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals and we will disseminate them by presentations at national or international conferences. RCB: 2015-A00778-41; Pre-results. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

The prospective impact of food pricing on improving dietary consumption: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashkan Afshin

Full Text Available While food pricing is a promising strategy to improve diet, the prospective impact of food pricing on diet has not been systematically quantified.To quantify the prospective effect of changes in food prices on dietary consumption.We systematically searched online databases for interventional or prospective observational studies of price change and diet; we also searched for studies evaluating adiposity as a secondary outcome. Studies were excluded if price data were collected before 1990. Data were extracted independently and in duplicate. Findings were pooled using DerSimonian-Laird's random effects model. Pre-specified sources of heterogeneity were analyzed using meta-regression; and potential for publication bias, by funnel plots, Begg's and Egger's tests.From 3,163 identified abstracts, 23 interventional studies and 7 prospective cohorts with 37 intervention arms met inclusion criteria. In pooled analyses, a 10% decrease in price (i.e., subsidy increased consumption of healthful foods by 12% (95%CI = 10-15%; N = 22 studies/intervention arms whereas a 10% increase price (i.e. tax decreased consumption of unhealthful foods by 6% (95%CI = 4-8%; N = 15. By food group, subsidies increased intake of fruits and vegetables by 14% (95%CI = 11-17%; N = 9; and other healthful foods, by 16% (95%CI = 10-23%; N = 10; without significant effects on more healthful beverages (-3%; 95%CI = -16-11%; N = 3. Each 10% price increase reduced sugar-sweetened beverage intake by 7% (95%CI = 3-10%; N = 5; fast foods, by 3% (95%CI = 1-5%; N = 3; and other unhealthful foods, by 9% (95%CI = 6-12%; N = 3. Changes in price of fruits and vegetables reduced body mass index (-0.04 kg/m2 per 10% price decrease, 95%CI = -0.08-0 kg/m2; N = 4; price changes for sugar-sweetened beverages or fast foods did not significantly alter body mass index, based on 4 studies. Meta-regression identified direction of price change (tax vs. subsidy, number of intervention components

Poetics of the Epic and Survivals of the Genre in Swaziland ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper seeks to suggest that the ongoing and robust tradition of bringing together excerpts from legends, praise poems, songs and genealogical recitations during national ceremonies and festivals such as Incwala, vouch for an erstwhile epic culture in Swaziland. International Journal of Humanistic Studies Vol.3 2004: ...

Opium use and mortality in Golestan Cohort Study: prospective cohort study of 50 000 adults in Iran

Science.gov (United States)

Khademi, Hooman; Pourshams, Akram; Jafari, Elham; Salahi, Rasool; Semnani, Shahryar; Abaie, Behrooz; Islami, Farhad; Nasseri-Moghaddam, Siavosh; Etemadi, Arash; Byrnes, Graham; Abnet, Christian C; Dawsey, Sanford M; Day, Nicholas E; Pharoah, Paul D; Boffetta, Paolo; Kamangar, Farin

2012-01-01

Objectives To investigate the association between opium use and subsequent risk of death. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting The Golestan Cohort Study in north-eastern Iran collected detailed validated data on opium use and other exposures at baseline. Participants were enrolled between January 2004 and June 2008 and were followed to May 2011, with a follow-up success rate of over 99%. Participants 50 045 participants aged 40-75 at baseline. Main outcomes Mortality, all cause and major subcategories. Results 17% (n=8487) of the participants reported opium use, with a mean duration of 12.7 years. During the follow-up period 2145 deaths were reported. The adjusted hazard ratio for all cause mortality associated with ever use of opium was 1.86 (95% confidence interval 1.68 to 2.06). Opium consumption was significantly associated with increased risks of deaths from several causes including circulatory diseases (hazard ratio 1.81) and cancer (1.61). The strongest associations were seen with deaths from asthma, tuberculosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (11.0, 6.22, and 5.44, respectively). After exclusion of people who self prescribed opium after the onset of major chronic illnesses, the associations remained strong with a dose-response relation. Conclusion Opium users have an increased risk of death from multiple causes compared with non-users. Increased risks were also seen in people who used low amounts of opium for a long period and those who had no major illness before use. PMID:22511302

Maternal thyroid function and the outcome of external cephalic version: a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuppens, S.M.I.; Kooistra, L.; Hasaart, T.H.M.; Donk, M.W.; Vader, H.; Oei, S.G.; Pop, V.J.

2011-01-01

Background To investigate the relation between maternal thyroid function and the outcome of external cephalic version (ECV) in breech presentation. Methods Prospective cohort study in 141 women (= 35 weeks gestation) with a singleton fetus in breech. Blood samples for assessing thyroid function were

Smoking and hemorrhagic stroke mortality in a prospective cohort study of older Chinese.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Lin; Schooling, Catherine Mary; Chan, Wai Man; Lee, Siu Yin; Leung, Gabriel M; Lam, Tai Hing

2013-08-01

Hemorrhagic stroke is more common in non-Western settings and does not always share risk factors with other cardiovascular diseases. The association of smoking with hemorrhagic stroke subtypes has not been established. We examined the association of cigarette smoking with hemorrhagic stroke, by subtype (intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage), in a large cohort of older Chinese from Hong Kong. Multivariable Cox regression analysis was used to assess the adjusted associations of smoking at baseline with death from hemorrhagic stroke and its subtypes, using a population-based prospective cohort of 66 820 Chinese aged>65 years enrolled from July 1998 to December 2001 at all the 18 Elderly Health Centers of the Hong Kong Government Department of Health and followed until May 31, 2012. After follow-up for an average of 10.9 years (SD=3.1), 648 deaths from hemorrhagic stroke had occurred, of which 530 (82%) were intracerebral hemorrhage. Current smoking was associated with a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke (hazard ratio, 2.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.49-3.22), intracerebral hemorrhage (1.94; 1.25-3.01), and subarachnoid hemorrhage (3.58; 1.62-7.94), adjusted for age, sex, education, public assistance, housing type, monthly expenditure, alcohol use, and exercise. Further adjustment for hypertension and body mass index slightly changed the estimates. Smoking is strongly associated with hemorrhagic stroke mortality, particularly for subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Spectrum and prevalence of genetic predisposition in medulloblastoma: a retrospective genetic study and prospective validation in a clinical trial cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Waszak, Sebastian M; Northcott, Paul A; Buchhalter, Ivo; Robinson, Giles W; Sutter, Christian; Groebner, Susanne; Grund, Kerstin B; Brugières, Laurence; Jones, David T W; Pajtler, Kristian W; Morrissy, A Sorana; Kool, Marcel; Sturm, Dominik; Chavez, Lukas; Ernst, Aurelie; Brabetz, Sebastian; Hain, Michael; Zichner, Thomas; Segura-Wang, Maia; Weischenfeldt, Joachim; Rausch, Tobias; Mardin, Balca R; Zhou, Xin; Baciu, Cristina; Lawerenz, Christian; Chan, Jennifer A; Varlet, Pascale; Guerrini-Rousseau, Lea; Fults, Daniel W; Grajkowska, Wiesława; Hauser, Peter; Jabado, Nada; Ra, Young-Shin; Zitterbart, Karel; Shringarpure, Suyash S; De La Vega, Francisco M; Bustamante, Carlos D; Ng, Ho-Keung; Perry, Arie; MacDonald, Tobey J; Hernáiz Driever, Pablo; Bendel, Anne E; Bowers, Daniel C; McCowage, Geoffrey; Chintagumpala, Murali M; Cohn, Richard; Hassall, Timothy; Fleischhack, Gudrun; Eggen, Tone; Wesenberg, Finn; Feychting, Maria; Lannering, Birgitta; Schüz, Joachim; Johansen, Christoffer; Andersen, Tina V; Röösli, Martin; Kuehni, Claudia E; Grotzer, Michael; Kjaerheim, Kristina; Monoranu, Camelia M; Archer, Tenley C; Duke, Elizabeth; Pomeroy, Scott L; Shelagh, Redmond; Frank, Stephan; Sumerauer, David; Scheurlen, Wolfram; Ryzhova, Marina V; Milde, Till; Kratz, Christian P; Samuel, David; Zhang, Jinghui; Solomon, David A; Marra, Marco; Eils, Roland; Bartram, Claus R; von Hoff, Katja; Rutkowski, Stefan; Ramaswamy, Vijay; Gilbertson, Richard J; Korshunov, Andrey; Taylor, Michael D; Lichter, Peter; Malkin, David; Gajjar, Amar; Korbel, Jan O; Pfister, Stefan M

2018-06-01

Medulloblastoma is associated with rare hereditary cancer predisposition syndromes; however, consensus medulloblastoma predisposition genes have not been defined and screening guidelines for genetic counselling and testing for paediatric patients are not available. We aimed to assess and define these genes to provide evidence for future screening guidelines. In this international, multicentre study, we analysed patients with medulloblastoma from retrospective cohorts (International Cancer Genome Consortium [ICGC] PedBrain, Medulloblastoma Advanced Genomics International Consortium [MAGIC], and the CEFALO series) and from prospective cohorts from four clinical studies (SJMB03, SJMB12, SJYC07, and I-HIT-MED). Whole-genome sequences and exome sequences from blood and tumour samples were analysed for rare damaging germline mutations in cancer predisposition genes. DNA methylation profiling was done to determine consensus molecular subgroups: WNT (MB WNT ), SHH (MB SHH ), group 3 (MB Group3 ), and group 4 (MB Group4 ). Medulloblastoma predisposition genes were predicted on the basis of rare variant burden tests against controls without a cancer diagnosis from the Exome Aggregation Consortium (ExAC). Previously defined somatic mutational signatures were used to further classify medulloblastoma genomes into two groups, a clock-like group (signatures 1 and 5) and a homologous recombination repair deficiency-like group (signatures 3 and 8), and chromothripsis was investigated using previously established criteria. Progression-free survival and overall survival were modelled for patients with a genetic predisposition to medulloblastoma. We included a total of 1022 patients with medulloblastoma from the retrospective cohorts (n=673) and the four prospective studies (n=349), from whom blood samples (n=1022) and tumour samples (n=800) were analysed for germline mutations in 110 cancer predisposition genes. In our rare variant burden analysis, we compared these against 53 105

Cost-efficiency of specialist hyperacute in-patient rehabilitation services for medically unstable patients with complex rehabilitation needs: a prospective cohort analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner-Stokes, Lynne; Bavikatte, Ganesh; Williams, Heather; Bill, Alan; Sephton, Keith

2016-09-08

To evaluate functional outcomes, care needs and cost-efficiency of hyperacute (HA) rehabilitation for a cohort of in-patients with complex neurological disability and unstable medical/surgical conditions. A multicentre cohort analysis of prospectively collected clinical data from the UK Rehabilitation Outcomes Collaborative (UKROC) national clinical database, 2012-2015. Two HA specialist rehabilitation services in England, providing different service models for HA rehabilitation. All patients admitted to each of the units with an admission rehabilitation complexity M score of ≥3 (N=190; mean age 46 (SD16) years; males:females 63:37%). Diagnoses were acquired brain injury (n=166; 87%), spinal cord injury (n=9; 5%), peripheral neurological conditions (n=9; 5%) and other (n=6; 3%). Specialist in-patient multidisciplinary rehabilitation combined with management and stabilisation of intercurrent medical and surgical problems. Rehabilitation complexity and medical acuity: Rehabilitation Complexity Scale-version 13. Dependency and care costs: Northwick Park Dependency Scale/Care Needs Assessment (NPDS/NPCNA). Functional independence: UK Functional Assessment Measure (UK FIM+FAM). (1) reduction in dependency and (2) cost-efficiency, measured as the time taken to offset rehabilitation costs by savings in NPCNA-estimated costs of on-going care in the community. The mean length of stay was 103 (SD66) days. Some differences were observed between the two units, which were in keeping with the different service models. However, both units showed a significant reduction in dependency and acuity between admission and discharge on all measures (Wilcoxon: pspecialist HA rehabilitation can be highly cost-efficient, producing substantial savings in on-going care costs, and relieving pressure in the acute care services. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

The Belfast Youth Development Study (BYDS: A prospective cohort study of the initiation, persistence and desistance of substance use from adolescence to adulthood in Northern Ireland.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kathryn Higgins

Full Text Available Substance misuse persists as a major public health issue worldwide with significant costs for society. The development of interventions requires methodologically sound studies to explore substance misuse causes and consequences. This Cohort description paper outlines the design of the Belfast Youth Development (BYDS, one of the largest cohort studies of its kind in the UK. The study was established to address the need for a long-term prospective cohort study to investigate the initiation, persistence and desistance of substance use, alongside life course processes in adolescence and adulthood. The paper provides an overview of BYDS as a longitudinal data source for investigating substance misuse and outlines the study measures, sample retention and characteristics. We also outline how the BYDS data have been used to date and highlight areas ripe for future work by interested researchers.The study began in 2000/1 when participants (n = 3,834 were pupils in their first year of post-primary education (age 10/11 years, school year 8 from over 40 schools in Northern Ireland. Children were followed during the school years: Year 9 (in 2002; aged 12; n = 4,343, Year 10 (in 2003; aged 13; n = 4,522, Year 11 (in 2004; aged 14; n = 3,965 and Year 12 (in 2005; aged 15; n = 3,830 and on two more occasions: 2006/07 (aged 16/17; n = 2,335 and 2010/11 (aged 20/21; n = 2,087. Data were collected on substance use, family, schools, neighbourhoods, offending behaviour and mental health. The most novel aspect of the study was the collection of detailed social network data via friendship nominations allowing the investigation of the spread of substance use via friendship networks. In 2004 (school year 11; respondents aged 14, a sub-sample of participants' parents (n = 1,097 and siblings (n = 211 also completed measures on substance use and family dynamics.The most recent wave (in 2010/2011; respondents aged 20/21 years indicated lifetime use of alcohol, tobacco and

Academic Achievement in Primary School in Offspring Born to Mothers With Type 1 Diabetes (the EPICOM Study): A Register-Based Prospective Cohort Study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knorr, Sine; Clausen, Tine D; Vlachová, Zuzana

2015-01-01

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the effect of maternal pregestational type 1 diabetes on offspring primary school performance. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We performed a prospective combined clinical and register-based cohort study comparing primary school performance in offspring (n = 707......) of women with pregestational type 1 diabetes with matched control offspring (n = 60,341). We also examined the association between HbA1c levels during pregnancy and later school performance among offspring born to women with pregestational type 1 diabetes. RESULTS: Offspring of mothers with pregestational...

A prospective cohort study examining the preferred learning styles of acute care registered nurses.

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McCrow, Judy; Yevchak, Andrea; Lewis, Peter

2014-03-01

This paper reports on the preferred learning styles of Registered Nurses practicing in acute care environments and relationships between gender, age, post-graduate experience and the identified preferred learning styles. A prospective cohort study design was used. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and the Felder-Silverman Index of Learning Styles (ILS) questionnaire to determine preferred learning styles. Most of the Registered Nurse participants were balanced across the Active-Reflective (n = 77, 54%), and Sequential-Global (n = 96, 68%) scales. Across the other scales, sensing (n = 97, 68%) and visual (n = 76, 53%) were the most common preferred learning style. There were only a small proportion who had a preferred learning style of reflective (n = 21, 15%), intuitive (n = 5, 4%), verbal (n = 11, 8%) or global learning (n = 15, 11%). Results indicated that gender, age and years since undergraduate education were not related to the identified preferred learning styles. The identification of Registered Nurses' learning style provides information that nurse educators and others can use to make informed choices about modification, development and strengthening of professional hospital-based educational programs. The use of the Index of Learning Styles questionnaire and its ability to identify 'balanced' learning style preferences may potentially yield additional preferred learning style information for other health-related disciplines. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A prospective cohort study on severe pain as a risk factor for long-term sickness absence in blue- and white-collar workers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Lars Louis; Mortensen, Ole Steen; Hansen, Jørgen Vinsløv

2011-01-01

Objective To estimate the impact of pain in different body regions on future long-term sickness absence (LTSA) among blue- and white-collar workers. Method Prospective cohort study in a representative sample of 5603 employees (the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study) interviewed in 2000, and fol......Objective To estimate the impact of pain in different body regions on future long-term sickness absence (LTSA) among blue- and white-collar workers. Method Prospective cohort study in a representative sample of 5603 employees (the Danish Work Environment Cohort Study) interviewed in 2000......, and followed in 2001-2002 in a national sickness absence register. Cox regression analysis was performed to assess the risk estimates of mutually adjusted severe pain in the neck/shoulder, low back, hand/wrist and knees for onset of LTSA, defined as receiving sickness absence compensation for at least 3...... consecutive weeks. Age, gender, body mass index, smoking and diagnosed disease were controlled for. Results In 2000 the prevalence among blue- and white-collar workers, respectively, of severe pain was 33% and 29% (neck/shoulder), 33% and 25% (low back), 16% and 11% (hand/wrists), and 16% and 12% (knees...

EPICS IOC module development and implementation for the ISTTOK machine subsystem operation and control

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Carvalho, Paulo, E-mail: pricardofc@ipfn.ist.utl.pt [Associacao EURATOM/IST, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear-Laboratorio Associado, Instituto Superior Tecnico, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Duarte, Andre; Pereira, Tiago; Carvalho, Bernardo; Sousa, Jorge; Fernandes, Horacio [Associacao EURATOM/IST, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear-Laboratorio Associado, Instituto Superior Tecnico, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Correia, Carlos [Grupo de Electronica e Instrumentacao-Centro de Instrumentacao, Departamento de Fisica, Universidade de Coimbra, P-3004-516 Coimbra (Portugal); Goncalves, Bruno; Varandas, Carlos [Associacao EURATOM/IST, Instituto de Plasmas e Fusao Nuclear-Laboratorio Associado, Instituto Superior Tecnico, P-1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

2011-10-15

This paper presents a developed, tested and integrated EPICS IOC (I/O controller) module solution for the ISTTOK tokamak machine operation and control for the vacuum and gas injection systems. The work is organized in two software layers which communicate through a serial RS-232 communication protocol. The first software layer is an EPICS IOC module running as a computer server application capable of receiving requests from remote or local clients providing driver interface to the system by forwarding requested commands and receiving system and control operation status. The second software layer is the firmware running in Microchip dsPIC microcontroller modules which performs the interface from RS-232 optical fiber serial protocol to EPICS IOC module. The dsPIC module communicates to the ISTTOK tokamak sensors and actuators via RS-485 and is programmed with a new protocol developed for this purpose that allows EPICS IOC module command sending/receiving, machine operation control and monitoring and system status information. Communication between EPICS IOC module and clients is achieved via a TCP/IP and UDP protocol referred as Channel Access. In addition, the EPICS IOC module provides user client applications access allowing operators to perform remote or local monitoring, operation and control.

Health costs in anthroposophic therapy users: a two-year prospective cohort study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Willich Stefan N

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Anthroposophic therapies (counselling, special medication, art, eurythmy movement, and rhythmical massage aim to stimulate long-term self-healing processes, which theoretically could lead to a reduction of healthcare use. In a prospective two-year cohort study, anthroposophic therapies were followed by a reduction of chronic disease symptoms and improvement of quality of life. The purpose of this analysis was to describe health costs in users of anthroposophic therapies. Methods 717 consecutive outpatients from 134 medical practices in Germany, starting anthroposophic therapies for chronic diseases, participated in a prospective cohort study. We analysed direct health costs (anthroposophic therapies, physician and dentist consultations, psychotherapy, medication, physiotherapy, ergotherapy, hospital treatment, rehabilitation and indirect costs (sick leave compensation in the pre-study year and the first two study years. Costs were calculated from resource utilisation, documented by patient self-reporting. Data were collected from January 1999 to April 2003. Results Total health costs in the first study year (bootstrap mean 3,297 Euro; 95% confidence interval 95%-CI 3,157 Euro to 3,923 Euro did not differ significantly from the pre-study year (3,186 Euro; 95%-CI 3,037 Euro to 3,711 Euro, whereas in the second year, costs (2,771 Euro; 95%-CI 2,647 Euro to 3,256 Euro were significantly reduced by 416 Euro (95%-CI 264 Euro to 960 Euro compared to the pre-study year. In each period hospitalisation and sick-leave together amounted to more than half of the total health costs. Anthroposophic therapies and medication amounted to 3%, 15%, and 8% of total health costs in the pre-study year, first year, and second study year, respectively. The cost reduction in the second year was largely accounted for by a decrease of inpatient hospitalisation, leading to a hospital cost reduction of 519 Euro (95%-CI 377 Euro to 904 Euro compared to the

Annual motor vehicle travel distance and incident obesity: a prospective cohort study.

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Núñez-Córdoba, Jorge M; Bes-Rastrollo, Maira; Pollack, Keshia M; Seguí-Gómez, María; Beunza, Juan J; Sayón-Orea, Carmen; Martínez-González, Miguel A

2013-03-01

Obesity has become a major health and economic problem with increasing prevalence. Unfortunately, no country can act as public health exemplar for reduction of obesity. The finding of associations between sedentary behaviors and obesity, independent of the level of physical activity, may offer new insights to prevent this burdensome problem. To evaluate prospectively the relationship between annual distance traveled by motor vehicles and subsequent incidence of overweight or obesity in a Mediterranean cohort. Data from a prospective cohort study (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra Project, 1999-2011) with a permanently open recruitment were analyzed. Self-administered questionnaires are mailed every 2 years, collecting information on dietary habits, lifestyle, risk factors, and medical conditions. Annual kilometers traveled by motor vehicles were grouped into three categories (≤10,000; >10,000 to ≤20,000; and >20,000). Multivariate Cox regression analyses were used to assess the risk of overweight or obesity across categories of distance traveled annually. In all, 9160 participants (58% female, average age=37 years) were followed up for a median of 6.4 years. During 39,175 person-years of follow-up, 1044 (15.3%) normal-weight participants at baseline became overweight or obese. Among participants who did not change their category of annual kilometers traveled during follow-up, an increased risk of overweight or obesity in the highest category of annual kilometers traveled was observed, compared with the lowest one (hazard ratio=1.4, 95% CI=1.1, 1.7). This study suggests a potential pernicious effect of the use of motor vehicles on the risk of overweight or obesity. Copyright © 2013 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Breastfeeding and Postnatal Depression: A Prospective Cohort Study in Sabah, Malaysia.

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Yusuff, Aza Sherin Mohamad; Tang, Li; Binns, Colin W; Lee, Andy H

2016-05-01

Postnatal depression is a disorder that can lead to serious consequences for both the mother and infant. Despite the extensively documented health benefits of breastfeeding, its association with postnatal depression remains uncertain. To investigate the relationship between full breastfeeding at 3 months postpartum and postnatal depressive symptoms among mothers in Sabah, Malaysia. A prospective cohort study of 2072 women was conducted in Sabah during 2009-2010. Participants were recruited at 36 to 38 weeks of gestation and followed up at 1 and 3 months postpartum. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the validated Malay version of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Repeated-measures analyses of variance was performed to compare the depression scores over time and between subgroups of breastfeeding mothers. Approximately 46% of women were fully breastfeeding their infants at 3 months postpartum. These mothers had significantly (P statistically significant (P = .001) between the 2 breastfeeding groups. Full breastfeeding appeared to be negatively associated with postnatal depressive symptoms for mothers residing in Sabah. © The Author(s) 2015.

Predicting Reading and Spelling Disorders: A 4-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bigozzi, Lucia; Tarchi, Christian; Caudek, Corrado; Pinto, Giuliana

2016-01-01

In this 4-year prospective cohort study, children with a reading and spelling disorder, children with a spelling impairment, and children without a reading and/or spelling disorder (control group) in a transparent orthography were identified in third grade, and their emergent literacy performances in kindergarten compared retrospectively. Six hundred and forty-two Italian children participated. This cohort was followed from the last year of kindergarten to third grade. In kindergarten, the children were assessed in phonological awareness, conceptual knowledge of writing systems and textual competence. In third grade, 18 children with a reading and spelling impairment and 13 children with a spelling impairment were identified. Overall, conceptual knowledge of the writing system was the only statistically significant predictor of the clinical samples. No differences were found between the two clinical samples.

Determinants of general practitioner’s cancer related gut feelings – a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Donker, G.; Wiersma, E.; Heins, M.

2016-01-01

Background General practitioners (GPs) use gut feelings to diagnose cancer in an early stage, but little is known about the predictive value of gut feelings and how this is influenced by patient and GP characteristics. Methods Prospective cohort study of patients in 44 general practices

Consumption of ultra-processed foods and cancer risk: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiolet, Thibault; Srour, Bernard; Sellem, Laury; Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle; Allès, Benjamin; Méjean, Caroline; Deschasaux, Mélanie; Fassier, Philippine; Latino-Martel, Paule; Beslay, Marie; Hercberg, Serge; Lavalette, Céline; Monteiro, Carlos A; Julia, Chantal; Touvier, Mathilde

2018-02-14

To assess the prospective associations between consumption of ultra-processed food and risk of cancer. Population based cohort study. 104 980 participants aged at least 18 years (median age 42.8 years) from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort (2009-17). Dietary intakes were collected using repeated 24 hour dietary records, designed to register participants' usual consumption for 3300 different food items. These were categorised according to their degree of processing by the NOVA classification. Associations between ultra-processed food intake and risk of overall, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer assessed by multivariable Cox proportional hazard models adjusted for known risk factors. Ultra-processed food intake was associated with higher overall cancer risk (n=2228 cases; hazard ratio for a 10% increment in the proportion of ultra-processed food in the diet 1.12 (95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.18); P for trendcancer risk (n=739 cases; hazard ratio 1.11 (1.02 to 1.22); P for trend=0.02). These results remained statistically significant after adjustment for several markers of the nutritional quality of the diet (lipid, sodium, and carbohydrate intakes and/or a Western pattern derived by principal component analysis). In this large prospective study, a 10% increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods in the diet was associated with a significant increase of greater than 10% in risks of overall and breast cancer. Further studies are needed to better understand the relative effect of the various dimensions of processing (nutritional composition, food additives, contact materials, and neoformed contaminants) in these associations. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03335644. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Prospective cohort study of tea consumption and risk of digestive system cancers: results from the Shanghai Women's Health Study123

Science.gov (United States)

Nechuta, Sarah; Shu, Xiao-Ou; Li, Hong-Lan; Yang, Gong; Ji, Bu-Tian; Xiang, Yong-Bing; Cai, Hui; Chow, Wong-Ho; Gao, Yu-Tang

2012-01-01

Background: Data from in vitro and animal studies support a protective role for tea in the etiology of digestive system cancers; however, results from prospective cohort studies have been inconsistent. In addition, to our knowledge, no study has investigated the association of tea consumption with the incidence of all digestive system cancers in Chinese women. Objective: We investigated the association of regular tea intake (≥3 times/wk for >6 mo) with risk of digestive system cancers. Design: We used the Shanghai Women's Health Study, a population-based prospective cohort study of middle-aged and older Chinese women who were recruited in 1996–2000. Adjusted HRs and associated 95% CIs were derived from Cox regression models. Results: After a mean follow-up of 11 y, 1255 digestive system cancers occurred (stomach, esophagus, colorectal, liver, pancreas, and gallbladder/bile duct cancers) in 69,310 nonsmoking and non–alcohol-drinking women. In comparison with women who never drank tea, regular tea intake (mostly green tea) was associated with reduced risk of all digestive system cancers combined (HR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.74, 0.98), and the reduction in risk increased as the amount and years of tea consumption increased (P-trend = 0.01 and P-trend tea/mo (∼2–3 cups/d) had a 21% reduced risk of digestive system cancers combined (HR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.99). The inverse association was found primarily for colorectal and stomach/esophageal cancers. Conclusion: In this large prospective cohort study, tea consumption was associated with reduced risk of colorectal and stomach/esophageal cancers in Chinese women. PMID:23053557

Cohort profile

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tollånes, Mette C; Strandberg-Larsen, Katrine; Forthun, Ingeborg

2016-01-01

PURPOSE: The purpose of MOthers and BAbies in Norway and Denmark cerebral palsy (MOBAND-CP) was to study CP aetiology in a prospective design. PARTICIPANTS: MOBAND-CP is a cohort of more than 210 000 children, created as a collaboration between the world's two largest pregnancy cohorts-the Norweg......PURPOSE: The purpose of MOthers and BAbies in Norway and Denmark cerebral palsy (MOBAND-CP) was to study CP aetiology in a prospective design. PARTICIPANTS: MOBAND-CP is a cohort of more than 210 000 children, created as a collaboration between the world's two largest pregnancy cohorts......-the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort study (MoBa) and the Danish National Birth Cohort. MOBAND-CP includes maternal interview/questionnaire data collected during pregnancy and follow-up, plus linked information from national health registries. FINDINGS TO DATE: Initial harmonisation of data from the 2 cohorts...... has created 140 variables for children and their mothers. In the MOBAND-CP cohort, 438 children with CP have been identified through record linkage with validated national registries, providing by far the largest such sample with prospectively collected detailed pregnancy data. Several studies...

Work Engagement as a Predictor of Onset of Major Depressive Episode (MDE) among Workers, Independent of Psychological Distress: A 3-Year Prospective Cohort Study

Science.gov (United States)

Imamura, Kotaro; Kawakami, Norito; Inoue, Akiomi; Shimazu, Akihito; Tsutsumi, Akizumi; Takahashi, Masaya; Totsuzaki, Takafumi

2016-01-01

Objective This study investigated work engagement as a baseline predictor of onset of major depressive episode (MDE). Methods The study used a prospective cohort design, conforming to the STROBE checklist. Participants were recruited from the employee population of a private think tank company (N = 4,270), and 1,058 (24.8%) of them completed a baseline survey, of whom 929 were included in this study. Work engagement and psychological distress at baseline were assessed as predictor variables. MDE was measured at baseline and at each of the follow-ups as the outcome, using the web-based, self-administered version of the Japanese WHO-CIDI 3.0 depression section based upon DSM-IV-TR/DSM-5 criteria. Cox discrete-time hazards analyses were conducted to estimate hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals CIs). Results Follow-up rates of participants (N = 929) were 78.4%, 67.2%, and 51.6% at 1-, 2-, and 3-year follow-ups, respectively. The association between work engagement at baseline and the onset of MDE was U-shaped. Compared with a group with low work engagement scores, groups with the middle and high scores showed significantly (HR = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.05 to 0.64; p = 0.007) and marginally significantly (HR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.20 to 1.15, p = 0.099) lower risks of MDE, respectively, over the follow-ups, after adjusting for covariates. The pattern remained the same after additionally adjusting for psychological distress. Conclusions The present study first demonstrated work engagement as an important predictor of the onset of MDE diagnosed according to an internationally standard diagnostic criteria of mental disorders. PMID:26841020

Work Engagement as a Predictor of Onset of Major Depressive Episode (MDE) among Workers, Independent of Psychological Distress: A 3-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Imamura, Kotaro; Kawakami, Norito; Inoue, Akiomi; Shimazu, Akihito; Tsutsumi, Akizumi; Takahashi, Masaya; Totsuzaki, Takafumi

2016-01-01

This study investigated work engagement as a baseline predictor of onset of major depressive episode (MDE). The study used a prospective cohort design, conforming to the STROBE checklist. Participants were recruited from the employee population of a private think tank company (N = 4,270), and 1,058 (24.8%) of them completed a baseline survey, of whom 929 were included in this study. Work engagement and psychological distress at baseline were assessed as predictor variables. MDE was measured at baseline and at each of the follow-ups as the outcome, using the web-based, self-administered version of the Japanese WHO-CIDI 3.0 depression section based upon DSM-IV-TR/DSM-5 criteria. Cox discrete-time hazards analyses were conducted to estimate hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals CIs). Follow-up rates of participants (N = 929) were 78.4%, 67.2%, and 51.6% at 1-, 2-, and 3-year follow-ups, respectively. The association between work engagement at baseline and the onset of MDE was U-shaped. Compared with a group with low work engagement scores, groups with the middle and high scores showed significantly (HR = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.05 to 0.64; p = 0.007) and marginally significantly (HR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.20 to 1.15, p = 0.099) lower risks of MDE, respectively, over the follow-ups, after adjusting for covariates. The pattern remained the same after additionally adjusting for psychological distress. The present study first demonstrated work engagement as an important predictor of the onset of MDE diagnosed according to an internationally standard diagnostic criteria of mental disorders.

Work Engagement as a Predictor of Onset of Major Depressive Episode (MDE among Workers, Independent of Psychological Distress: A 3-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kotaro Imamura

Full Text Available This study investigated work engagement as a baseline predictor of onset of major depressive episode (MDE.The study used a prospective cohort design, conforming to the STROBE checklist. Participants were recruited from the employee population of a private think tank company (N = 4,270, and 1,058 (24.8% of them completed a baseline survey, of whom 929 were included in this study. Work engagement and psychological distress at baseline were assessed as predictor variables. MDE was measured at baseline and at each of the follow-ups as the outcome, using the web-based, self-administered version of the Japanese WHO-CIDI 3.0 depression section based upon DSM-IV-TR/DSM-5 criteria. Cox discrete-time hazards analyses were conducted to estimate hazard ratios (95% confidence intervals CIs.Follow-up rates of participants (N = 929 were 78.4%, 67.2%, and 51.6% at 1-, 2-, and 3-year follow-ups, respectively. The association between work engagement at baseline and the onset of MDE was U-shaped. Compared with a group with low work engagement scores, groups with the middle and high scores showed significantly (HR = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.05 to 0.64; p = 0.007 and marginally significantly (HR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.20 to 1.15, p = 0.099 lower risks of MDE, respectively, over the follow-ups, after adjusting for covariates. The pattern remained the same after additionally adjusting for psychological distress.The present study first demonstrated work engagement as an important predictor of the onset of MDE diagnosed according to an internationally standard diagnostic criteria of mental disorders.

Dietary fat, fat subtypes and hepatocellular carcinoma in a large European cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Duarte-Salles, Talita; Fedirko, Veronika; Stepien, Magdalena; Aleksandrova, Krasimira; Bamia, Christina; Lagiou, Pagona; Laursen, Anne Sofie Dam; Hansen, Louise; Overvad, Kim; Tjønneland, Anne; Boutron-Ruault, Marie-Christine; Fagherazzi, Guy; His, Mathilde; Boeing, Heiner; Katzke, Verena; Kühn, Tilman; Trichopoulou, Antonia; Valanou, Elissavet; Kritikou, Maria; Masala, Giovanna; Panico, Salvatore; Sieri, Sabina; Ricceri, Fulvio; Tumino, Rosario; Bueno-de-Mesquita, H B As; Peeters, Petra H; Hjartåker, Anette; Skeie, Guri; Weiderpass, Elisabete; Ardanaz, Eva; Bonet, Catalina; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores; Dorronsoro, Miren; Quirós, J Ramón; Johansson, Ingegerd; Ohlsson, Bodil; Sjöberg, Klas; Wennberg, Maria; Khaw, Kay-Tee; Travis, Ruth C; Wareham, Nick; Ferrari, Pietro; Freisling, Heinz; Romieu, Isabelle; Cross, Amanda J; Gunter, Marc; Lu, Yunxia; Jenab, Mazda

2015-12-01

The role of amount and type of dietary fat consumption in the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is poorly understood, despite suggestive biological plausibility. The associations of total fat, fat subtypes and fat sources with HCC incidence were investigated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort, which includes 191 incident HCC cases diagnosed between 1992 and 2010. Diet was assessed by country-specific, validated dietary questionnaires. A single 24-hr diet recall from a cohort subsample was used for measurement error calibration. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated from Cox proportional hazard models. Hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV/HCV) status and biomarkers of liver function were assessed separately in a nested case-control subset with available blood samples (HCC = 122). In multivariable calibrated models, there was a statistically significant inverse association between total fat intake and risk of HCC (per 10 g/day, HR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.65-0.99), which was mainly driven by monounsaturated fats (per 5 g/day, HR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.55-0.92) rather than polyunsaturated fats (per 5 g/day, HR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.68-1.25). There was no association between saturated fats (HR = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.88-1.34) and HCC risk. The ratio of polyunsaturated/monounsaturated fats to saturated fats was not significantly associated with HCC risk (per 0.2 point, HR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.73-1.01). Restriction of analyses to HBV/HCV free participants or adjustment for liver function did not substantially alter the findings. In this large prospective European cohort, higher consumption of monounsaturated fats is associated with lower HCC risk. © 2015 UICC.

Sociodemographic and economic factors are associated with weight gain between before and after cancer diagnosis: results from the prospective population-based NutriNet-Santé cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Fassier, Philippine; Zelek, Laurent; Bachmann, Patrick; Touillaud, Marina; Druesne-Pecollo, Nathalie; Partula, Valentin; Hercberg, Serge; Galan, Pilar; Cohen, Patrice; Hoarau, Hélène; Latino-Martel, Paule; Srour, Bernard; Gonzalez, Rebeca; Deschasaux, Mélanie; Touvier, Mathilde

2017-08-15

While many cancer patients are affected by weight loss, others tend to gain weight, which may impact prognosis and risk of recurrence and of second cancer. The aim of this prospective study was to investigate weight variation between before and after cancer diagnosis and socio-demographic, economic, lifestyle and clinical factors associated with moderate-to-severe weight gain. 1051 incident cases of first primary cancer were diagnosed in the NutriNet-Santé cohort between 2009 and 2015. Weight was prospectively collected every 6 months since subjects' inclusion (i.e. an average of 2y before diagnosis). Mean weights before and after cancer diagnosis were compared with paired Student's t-test. Factors associated with moderate-to-severe weight gain (≥5% of initial weight) were investigated by age and sex-adjusted logistic regression. Weight loss was observed in men (-3.54±4.39kg in those who lost weight, p=0.0002) and in colorectal cancer patients (-3.94±4.40kg, p=0.001). Weight gain was observed in breast and skin cancers (2.83±3.21kg, p=0.04, and 2.96±2.75kg, p=0.04 respectively). Women (OR=1.75[1.06-2.87],p=0.03), younger patients (2.44[1.51-3.70],pgain weight. In breast cancer patients, induced menopause was associated with weight gain (OR=4.12[1.76-9.67]), but no association was detected for tumor characteristics or treatments. This large prospective cohort provided original results on weight variation between before and after cancer diagnosis, highlighting different weight trajectories. Socio-demographic and economic factors appeared to influence the risk of weight gain, illustrating social inequalities in health.

Physics prospects at a linear e+e- collider

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rindani, Saurabh D.

2006-01-01

The talk described the prospects of studying standard model parameters as well as scenarios beyond the standard model, like the minimal supersymmetric standard model, theories with extra dimensions and theories with extra neutral gauge bosons, at a future linear e + e - collider. (author)

Associations between vertebral fractures, increased thoracic kyphosis, a flexed posture and falls in older adults : a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Jagt-Willems, Hanna C.; de Groot, Maartje H.; van Campen, Jos P. C. M.; Lamoth, Claudine J. C.; Lems, Willem F.

2015-01-01

Background: Vertebral fractures, an increased thoracic kyphosis and a flexed posture are associated with falls. However, this was not confirmed in prospective studies. We performed a prospective cohort study to investigate the association between vertebral fractures, increased thoracic kyphosis

Associations between vertebral fractures, increased thoracic kyphosis, a flexed posture and falls in older adults: a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Jagt-Willems, H.C.; de Groot, M.H.; van Campen, J.P.C.M.; Lamoth, C.J.C.; Lems, W.F.

2015-01-01

Background: Vertebral fractures, an increased thoracic kyphosis and a flexed posture are associated with falls. However, this was not confirmed in prospective studies. We performed a prospective cohort study to investigate the association between vertebral fractures, increased thoracic kyphosis

EPICS: Channel Access security design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraimer, M.; Hill, J.

1994-05-01

This document presents the design for implementing the requirements specified in: EPICS -- Channel Access Security -- functional requirements, Ned. D. Arnold, 03/09/92. Use of the access security system is described along with a summary of the functional requirements. The programmer's interface is given. Security protocol is described and finally aids for reading the access security code are provided

Antibiotic prescription strategies for acute sore throat: a prospective observational cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Little, Paul; Stuart, Beth; Hobbs, F D Richard; Butler, Chris C; Hay, Alastair D; Delaney, Brendan; Campbell, John; Broomfield, Sue; Barratt, Paula; Hood, Kerenza; Everitt, Hazel; Mullee, Mark; Williamson, Ian; Mant, David; Moore, Michael

2014-03-01

Data from trials suggest that antibiotics reduce the risk of complications of sore throat by at least 50%, but few trials for complications have been done in modern settings, and datasets of delayed antibiotic prescription are underpowered. Observational evidence is important in view of poor compliance with antibiotic treatment outside trials, but no prospective observational cohort studies have been done to date. We generated a large prospective cohort from the DESCARTE study, and the PRISM component of DESCARTE, of 12,829 adults presenting with sore throat (≤ 2 weeks duration) in primary care. Our follow-up of the cohort was based on a detailed and structured review of routine medical records, and analysis of the comparison of three antibiotic prescription strategies (no antibiotic prescription, immediate antibiotic prescription, and delayed antibiotic prescription) to control for the propensity to prescribe antibiotics. Information about antibiotic prescription was recorded in 12,677 individuals (4805 prescribed no antibiotics, 6088 prescribed antibiotics immediately, and 1784 prescribed delayed antibiotics). We documented by review of patients' notes (n=11,950) the development of suppurative complications (eg, quinsy, impetigo and cellulitis, otitis media, and sinusitis) or reconsultation with new or non-resolving symptoms). We used multivariate analysis to control for variables significantly related to the propensity to prescribe antibiotics and for clustering by general practitioner. 164 (1.4%) of the 11,950 patients with information available developed complications; otitis media and sinusitis were the most common complications (101 patients [62%]). Compared with no antibiotic prescription, immediate antibiotic prescription was associated with fewer complications (adjusted risk ratio [RR] 0.62, 95% CI 0.43-0.91, estimated number needed to treat [NNT 193) as was delayed prescription of antibiotics (0.58, 0.34-0.98; NNT 174). 1787 of the 11,950 patients (15

Exposure to secondhand smoke and risk of tuberculosis: prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Hsien-Ho; Chiang, Yi-Ting; Chuang, Jen-Hsiang; Yang, Shiang-Lin; Chang, Hsing-Yi; Ezzati, Majid; Murray, Megan

2013-01-01

Prospective evidence on the association between secondhand-smoke exposure and tuberculosis is limited. We included 23,827 never smokers from two rounds (2001 and 2005) of Taiwan National Health Interview Survey. Information on exposure to secondhand smoke at home as well as other sociodemographic and behavioral factors was collected through in-person interview. The participants were prospectively followed for incidence of tuberculosis through cross-matching the survey database to the national tuberculosis registry of Taiwan. A total of 85 cases of active tuberculosis were identified after a median follow-up of 7.0 years. The prevalence of exposure to secondhand smoke at home was 41.8% in the study population. In the multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis, secondhand smoke was not associated with active tuberculosis (adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.03; 95% CI, 0.64 to 1.64). In the subgroup analysis, the association between secondhand smoke and tuberculosis decreased with increasing age; the adjusted HR for those = 18 and = 40 and = 60 years old was 8.48 (0.77 to 93.56), 2.29 (0.75 to 7.01), 1.33 (0.58 to 3.01), and 0.66 (0.35 to 1.23) respectively. Results from extensive sensitivity analyses suggested that potential misclassification of secondhand-smoke exposure would not substantially affect the observed associations. The results from this prospective cohort study did not support an overall association between secondhand smoke and tuberculosis. However, the finding that adolescents might be particularly susceptible to secondhand smoke's effect warrants further investigation.

Continuity with Creole Epic and Innovation in the «History of New Mexico», 1610

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Cebollero

2017-11-01

Full Text Available This is an introductory study to Gaspar de Villagrá’s History of New Mexico (1610 in the context of the Cortés epic cycle tradition. The concept of «epic continuity» is utilized in order to better understand how the poem adheres to epic tradition at the same time that it goes through formal changes needed for its renovation. Part of the renovation is the inclusion of prose as a legal defense strategy, and its use as a vehicle for the struggles of Mexican Creoles. It is proposed that this poem belongs in a Frontier Creole epic sub-cycle.

The EPIC nutrient database project (ENDB): a first attempt to standardize nutrient databases across the 10 European countries participating in the EPIC study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Slimani, N.; Deharveng, G.; Unwin, I.

2007-01-01

because there is currently no European reference NDB available. Design: A large network involving national compilers, nutritionists and experts on food chemistry and computer science was set up for the 'EPIC Nutrient DataBase' ( ENDB) project. A total of 550-1500 foods derived from about 37 000...... standardized EPIC 24-h dietary recalls (24-HDRS) were matched as closely as possible to foods available in the 10 national NDBs. The resulting national data sets ( NDS) were then successively documented, standardized and evaluated according to common guidelines and using a DataBase Management System...

Meat intake is not associated with risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in a large prospective cohort of U.S. men and women.

Science.gov (United States)

Daniel, Carrie R; Sinha, Rashmi; Park, Yikyung; Graubard, Barry I; Hollenbeck, Albert R; Morton, Lindsay M; Cross, Amanda J

2012-06-01

Meat intake has been inconsistently associated with risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), a heterogeneous group of malignancies of the lymphoid tissue etiologically linked to immunomodulatory factors. In a large U.S. cohort, we prospectively investigated several biologically plausible mechanisms related to meat intake, including meat-cooking and meat-processing compounds, in relation to NHL risk by histologic subtype. At baseline (1995-1996), participants of the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study completed a diet and lifestyle questionnaire (n = 492,186), and a subcohort (n = 302,162) also completed a questionnaire on meat-cooking methods and doneness levels. Over a mean of 9 y of follow-up, we identified 3611 incident cases of NHL. In multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models, we found no association between intake of red meat, processed meat, fish, poultry, heme iron, nitrite, nitrate, animal fat, or protein and NHL risk. MeIQx (2-amino-3,8-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline) and DiMeIQx (2-amino-3,4,8-trimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoxaline), heterocyclic amines formed in meats cooked to well done at high temperatures, were inversely associated with chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma [n = 979; HR (95% CI) for the highest vs. lowest quintile of intake: 0.73 (0.55, 0.96) and 0.77 (0.61, 0.98), respectively]. In this large U.S. cohort, meat intake was not associated with NHL or any histologic subtypes of NHL. Contrary to findings in animal models and other cancer sites, meat-cooking and -processing compounds did not increase NHL risk.

Associations between vertebral fractures, increased thoracic kyphosis, a flexed posture and falls in older adults: a prospective cohort study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Jagt-Willems, Hanna C.; de Groot, Maartje H.; van Campen, Jos P. C. M.; Lamoth, Claudine J. C.; Lems, Willem F.

2015-01-01

Vertebral fractures, an increased thoracic kyphosis and a flexed posture are associated with falls. However, this was not confirmed in prospective studies. We performed a prospective cohort study to investigate the association between vertebral fractures, increased thoracic kyphosis and/or flexed

Prospective cohort study of tea consumption and risk of digestive system cancers: results from the Shanghai Women's Health Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Nechuta, Sarah; Shu, Xiao-Ou; Li, Hong-Lan; Yang, Gong; Ji, Bu-Tian; Xiang, Yong-Bing; Cai, Hui; Chow, Wong-Ho; Gao, Yu-Tang; Zheng, Wei

2012-11-01

Data from in vitro and animal studies support a protective role for tea in the etiology of digestive system cancers; however, results from prospective cohort studies have been inconsistent. In addition, to our knowledge, no study has investigated the association of tea consumption with the incidence of all digestive system cancers in Chinese women. We investigated the association of regular tea intake (≥3 times/wk for >6 mo) with risk of digestive system cancers. We used the Shanghai Women's Health Study, a population-based prospective cohort study of middle-aged and older Chinese women who were recruited in 1996-2000. Adjusted HRs and associated 95% CIs were derived from Cox regression models. After a mean follow-up of 11 y, 1255 digestive system cancers occurred (stomach, esophagus, colorectal, liver, pancreas, and gallbladder/bile duct cancers) in 69,310 nonsmoking and non-alcohol-drinking women. In comparison with women who never drank tea, regular tea intake (mostly green tea) was associated with reduced risk of all digestive system cancers combined (HR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.74, 0.98), and the reduction in risk increased as the amount and years of tea consumption increased (P-trend = 0.01 and P-trend digestive system cancers combined (HR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.99). The inverse association was found primarily for colorectal and stomach/esophageal cancers. In this large prospective cohort study, tea consumption was associated with reduced risk of colorectal and stomach/esophageal cancers in Chinese women.

Integrating Gigabit ethernet cameras into EPICS at Diamond light source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cobb, T.

2012-01-01

At Diamond Light Source a range of cameras are used to provide images for diagnostic purposes in both the accelerator and photo beamlines. The accelerator and existing beamlines use Point Grey Flea and Flea2 Firewire cameras. We have selected Gigabit Ethernet cameras supporting GigE Vision for our new photon beamlines. GigE Vision is an interface standard for high speed Ethernet cameras which encourages inter-operability between manufacturers. This paper describes the challenges encountered while integrating GigE Vision cameras from a range of vendors into EPICS. GigE Vision cameras appear to be more reliable than the Firewire cameras, and the simple cabling makes much easier to move the cameras to different positions. Upcoming power over Ethernet versions of the cameras will reduce the number of cables still further

Risk stratification after paracetamol overdose using mechanistic biomarkers: results from two prospective cohort studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Dear, James W; Clarke, Joanna I; Francis, Ben; Allen, Lowri; Wraight, Jonathan; Shen, Jasmine; Dargan, Paul I; Wood, David; Cooper, Jamie; Thomas, Simon H L; Jorgensen, Andrea L; Pirmohamed, Munir; Park, B Kevin; Antoine, Daniel J

2018-02-01

Paracetamol overdose is common but patient stratification is suboptimal. We investigated the usefulness of new biomarkers that have either enhanced liver specificity (microRNA-122 [miR-122]) or provide mechanistic insights (keratin-18 [K18], high mobility group box-1 [HMGB1], and glutamate dehydrogenase [GLDH]). The use of these biomarkers could help stratify patients for their risk of liver injury at hospital presentation. Using data from two prospective cohort studies, we assessed the potential for biomarkers to stratify patients who overdose with paracetamol. We completed two independent prospective studies: a derivation study (MAPP) in eight UK hospitals and a validation study (BIOPAR) in ten UK hospitals. Patients in both cohorts were adults (≥18 years in England, ≥16 years in Scotland), were diagnosed with paracetamol overdose, and gave written informed consent. Patients who needed intravenous acetylcysteine treatment for paracetamol overdose had circulating biomarkers measured at hospital presentation. The primary endpoint was acute liver injury indicating need for continued acetylcysteine treatment beyond the standard course (alanine aminotransferase [ALT] activity >100 U/L). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, category-free net reclassification index (cfNRI), and integrated discrimination index (IDI) were applied to assess endpoint prediction. Between June 2, 2010, and May 29, 2014, 1187 patients who required acetylcysteine treatment for paracetamol overdose were recruited (985 in the MAPP cohort; 202 in the BIOPAR cohort). In the derivation and validation cohorts, acute liver injury was predicted at hospital presentation by miR-122 (derivation cohort ROC-area under the curve [AUC] 0·97 [95% CI 0·95-0·98]), HMGB1 (0·95 [0·93-0·98]), and full-length K18 (0·95 [0·92-0·97]). Results were similar in the validation cohort (miR-122 AUC 0·97 [95% CI 0·95-0·99], HMGB1 0·98 [0·96-0·99], and full-length K18 0·93 [0·86-0·99]). A

ATCA Shelf Manager EPICS device support for ITER CODAC Core System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santos, Bruno, E-mail: bsantos@ipfn.ist.utl.pt [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Carvalho, Paulo F.; Rodrigues, A.P.; Carvalho, Bernardo B.; Sousa, Jorge; Batista, António J.N.; Correia, Miguel; Combo, Álvaro M.; Cruz, Nuno [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Correia, Carlos M.B.A. [Centro de Instrumentação, Departamento de Física, Universidade de Coimbra, 3004-516 Coimbra (Portugal); Gonçalves, Bruno [Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal)

2015-10-15

Highlights: • This architecture targets the health management integration into the NDS. • The developed solution supports the ShM redundancy features, specified by ATCA. • The average RTT was around 59 ms and in 99.9% of the cases was less than 130 ms. • Without losing any update cycle, can monitor a system shelf with approximately 400 sensors. • This solution enables the user to configure the entire system in DB files and st.cmd. - Abstract: The ITER CODAC Core System (CCS) is responsible for plant Instrumentation and Control (I&C) supervising and monitoring. This system uses the Enhanced Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) Channel Access (CA) protocol as the interface with the Plant Operation Network (PON). This paper presents a generic EPICS device support developed for the integration of the ATCA Shelf Manager (ShM) into the ITER CCS, providing scalability and easy configuration. The device support uses the available HTTP interface on Shelf Manager in the communication layer. Both HTTP server and sensors/actuators definitions can be configured using the EPICS database file and the Input/Output Controller (IOC) initialization file. A proposal based on this device is also presented, targeting the Nominal Device Support (NDS) for health management. The EPICS device support running in an IOC provides Process Variables (PV) to the PON network with the system information and these PVs can be used by all CA clients, such as EPICS user interface clients, alarm systems and archive systems. Operation with redundant ATCA ShMs and device support scalability tests were performed and the results are presented.

DSCOVR/EPIC observations of SO2 reveal dynamics of young volcanic eruption clouds

Science.gov (United States)

Carn, S. A.; Krotkov, N. A.; Taylor, S.; Fisher, B. L.; Li, C.; Bhartia, P. K.; Prata, F. J.

2017-12-01

Volcanic emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and ash have been measured by ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) sensors on US and European polar-orbiting satellites since the late 1970s. Although successful, the main limitation of these observations from low Earth orbit (LEO) is poor temporal resolution (once per day at low latitudes). Furthermore, most currently operational geostationary satellites cannot detect SO2, a key tracer of volcanic plumes, limiting our ability to elucidate processes in fresh, rapidly evolving volcanic eruption clouds. In 2015, the launch of the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) provided the first opportunity to observe volcanic clouds from the L1 Lagrange point. EPIC is a 10-band spectroradiometer spanning UV to near-IR wavelengths with two UV channels sensitive to SO2, and a ground resolution of 25 km. The unique L1 vantage point provides continuous observations of the sunlit Earth disk, from sunrise to sunset, offering multiple daily observations of volcanic SO2 and ash clouds in the EPIC field of view. When coupled with complementary retrievals from polar-orbiting UV and IR sensors such as the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), the Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), and the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), we demonstrate how the increased observation frequency afforded by DSCOVR/EPIC permits more timely volcanic eruption detection and novel analyses of the temporal evolution of volcanic clouds. Although EPIC has detected several mid- to high-latitude volcanic eruptions since launch, we focus on recent eruptions of Bogoslof volcano (Aleutian Islands, AK, USA). A series of EPIC exposures from May 28-29, 2017, uniquely captures the evolution of SO2 mass in a young Bogoslof eruption cloud, showing separation of SO2- and ice-rich regions of the cloud. We show how analyses of these sequences of EPIC SO2 data can elucidate poorly understood processes in transient eruption

Workplace social capital and the onset of major depressive episode among workers in Japan: a 3-year prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakuraya, Asuka; Imamura, Kotaro; Inoue, Akiomi; Tsutsumi, Akizumi; Shimazu, Akihito; Takahashi, Masaya; Totsuzaki, Takafumi; Kawakami, Norito

2017-06-01

This study examined the prospective association of workplace social capital (WSC) with major depressive episode (MDE) among Japanese employees. A 3-year prospective cohort study was conducted among 1058 employees from a private think-tank company who participated in a baseline survey; after excluding those with MDE in the past 12 months, 929 were followed up. WSC at baseline was measured using a 3-item scale. MDE was assessed at baseline and at follow-up every year, by using a web-based, self-administered version of the WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WHO-CIDI) 3.0 depression section, based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition: Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR)/DSM-5 criteria. Cox discrete-time hazards analyses were used to estimate HRs and 95% CIs, adjusting for covariates. A group with middle-level WSC scores had the lowest risk of MDE after being fully adjusted (HR 0.34, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.84, p=0.02). The relationship between WSC and MDE was U-shaped, although a non-linear model fit better than a linear model, with only marginally statistical significance (p=0.06). Dichotomised and continuous variables of WSC scores were significantly and negatively associated with MDE (p=0.03 and pMDE in Japan. The slightly U-shaped relationship, that is, the group with high WSC having a small elevated risk of MDE, may reflect a dark side of WSC in a country with collectivity-oriented and hierarchy-oriented culture, such as Japan. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Serial Metabolome Changes in a Prospective Cohort of Subjects with Influenza Viral Infection and Comparison with Dengue Fever.

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Liang; Fang, Jinling; Ooi, Eng Eong; Lee, Yie Hou

2017-07-07

Influenza virus infection (IVI) and dengue virus infection (DVI) are major public health threats. Between IVI and DVI, clinical symptoms can be overlapping yet infection-specific, but host metabolome changes are not well-described. Untargeted metabolomics and targeted oxylipinomic analyses were performed on sera serially collected at three phases of infection from a prospective cohort study of adult subjects with either H3N2 influenza infection or dengue fever. Untargeted metabolomics identified 26 differential metabolites, and major perturbed pathways included purine metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis and β-oxidation, tryptophan metabolism, phospholipid catabolism, and steroid hormone pathway. Alterations in eight oxylipins were associated with the early symptomatic phase of H3N2 flu infection, were mostly arachidonic acid-derived, and were enriched in the lipoxygenase pathway. There was significant overlap in metabolome profiles in both infections. However, differences specific to IVI and DVI were observed. DVI specifically attenuated metabolites including serotonin, bile acids and biliverdin. Additionally, metabolome changes were more persistent in IVI in which metabolites such as hypoxanthine, inosine, and xanthine of the purine metabolism pathway remained significantly elevated at 21-27 days after fever onset. This study revealed the dynamic metabolome changes in IVI subjects and provided biochemical insights on host physiological similarities and differences between IVI and DVI.

Predictors for living at home after geriatric inpatient rehabilitation: A prospective cohort study.

OpenAIRE

Kool, Jan; Oesch, Peter; Bachmann, Stefan

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE To evaluate patient characteristics predicting living at home after geriatric rehabilitation. DESIGN Prospective cohort study. PATIENTS A total of 210 patients aged 65 years or older receiving inpatient rehabilitation. METHODS Candidate predictors evaluated during rehabilitation were: age, vulnerability (Vulnerable Elders Survey), multimorbidity (Cumulative Illness Rating Scale), cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination), depression (Hospital Anxiety and ...

A Woman Voice in an Epic: Tracing Gendered Motifs in Anne Vabarna's Peko

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas Kalkun

2008-12-01

Full Text Available In the article the gendered motifs found in Anne Vabarna’s Seto epic Peko are analysed. Besides the narrative telling of the life of the male hero, the motives regarding eating, refusing to eat or offering food, and the aspect of the female body or its control deserve to be noticed. These scenes do not communicate the main plot, they are often related to minor characters of the epic and slow down the narrative, but at the same time they clearly carry artistic purpose and meaning. I consider these motifs, present in the liminal parts of the epic, to be the dominant symbols of the epic where the author’s feminine world is being exposed. Observing these motifs of Peko in the context of Seto religious worldview, the life of Anne Vabarna and the social position of Seto women, the symbols become eloquent and informative.

Prospective cohort study of fever incidence and risk in elderly persons living at home

Science.gov (United States)

Yokobayashi, Kenichi; Matsushima, Masato; Watanabe, Takamasa; Fujinuma, Yasuki; Tazuma, Susumu

2014-01-01

Objective To determine the incidence of fever among elderly persons under home medical management, diagnosis at fever onset and outcomes from a practical standpoint. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting 5 clinics in residential areas of Tokyo that process an average of 50–200 outpatients/day. Participants Patients (n=419) aged ≥65 years who received home medical management from the five clinics between 1 October 2009 and 30 September 2010. Main outcome measures Fever (≥37.5°C or ≥1.5°C above usual body temperature), diagnosis at onset and outcomes (cure at home, hospitalisation and death). Results The incidence of fever was 2.5/1000 patient-days (95% CI 2.2 to 2.8). Fever occurred at least once (229 fever events) among one-third of the participants during the study period. Fever was more likely to arise in the wheelchair users or bedridden than in ambulatory individuals (HR 1.9 (95% CI 1.3 to 2.8; p<0.01); in patients with moderate-to-severe rather than those with none-to-mild cognitive impairment (HR, 1.7 (95% CI 1.1 to 2.6, p=0.01); and in those whose care-need levels were ≥3 rather than ≤2 (HR, 4.5 (95% CI 2.9 to 7.0; p<0.01). The causes of fever were pneumonia/bronchitis (n=103), skin and soft tissue infection (n=26), urinary tract infection (n=22) and the common cold (n=13). Fever was cured in 67% and 23% of patients at home and in hospital, respectively, and 5% of patients each died at home and in hospital. Antimicrobial agents treated 153 (67%) events in the home medical care setting. Conclusions Fever was more likely to occur in those requiring higher care levels and the main cause of fever was pneumonia/bronchitis. Healthcare providers should consider the conditions of elderly residents with lower objective functional status. PMID:25009132

Sleep Quality, Sleep Duration, and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease : A Prospective Cohort Study With 60,586 Adults

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lao, Xiang Qian; Liu, Xudong; Deng, Han-Bing; Chan, Ta-Chien; Ho, Kin Fai; Wang, Feng; Vermeulen, Roel; Tam, Tony; Wong, Martin C S; Tse, Lap Ah; Chang, Ly-Yun; Yeoh, Eng-Kiong

STUDY OBJECTIVES: There is limited information on the relationship between risk of cardiovascular disease and the joint effects of sleep quality and sleep duration, especially from large, prospective, cohort studies. This study is to prospectively investigate the joint effects of sleep quality and

Efficiency aspects of design and analysis of prospective cohort studies on diet, nutrition and cancer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaaks, R.J.

1994-01-01

This thesis presents and analyzes methodological approaches to improve the design and analysis of prospective cohort studies on the relations between diet, nutritional status and cancer. The first chapters discuss methods to optimize the measurement of the individuals' habitual dietary

Mandibular Overdentures Supported by 6-mm Dental Implants : A 1-Year Prospective Cohort Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gulje, Felix; Raghoebar, Gerry M.; Ter Meulen, Jan-Willem P.; Vissink, Arjan; Meijer, Henny J. A.; Guljé, Felix

Background: The extremely resorbed edentulous mandible, with a bone height of 8 mm or less, is still a challenge in implant dentistry. Recently, dental implants of 6 mm in length have been developed. Purpose: The purpose of this 1-year prospective cohort study was to evaluate treatment outcome of

Program specific admission testing and dropout for sports science students: a prospective cohort study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

O'Neill, Lotte; Christensen, Mette Krogh; Vonsild, Maria Cecilie

2014-01-01

if admission strategy was also independently associated with dropout for sports science students in a university setting. The study design was a prospective cohort study with a 2 year follow-up. The population was 449 sports science students admitted to a university in the years 2002-2007. The analysis...

Configuration and application of He RFQ LLRF control system based on EPICS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahn, Tae-Sung; Jeong, Hae-Seong; Kim, Seong-Gu; Song, Young-Gi; Kim, Han-Sung; Seol, Kyung-Tae; Kwon, Hyeok-Jung; Cho, Yong-Sub [Korea Multipurpose Accelerator Complex, Gyeongju (Korea, Republic of)

2015-10-15

In He RFQ device, the high-power Radio-Frequency (RF) is very important because it is responsible for the stable delivery and efficient acceleration of the beam. Since that, the control system of high-power Radio-Frequency must be developed and this system is called LLRF control system. The LLRF control system required exquisite amplitude value that has ±1 % error range. We need a precise remote control system for this reason. This paper represents the configuration of LLRF control system in terms of software layers based on EPICS. Also, this paper explains the application of LLRF control system to test environment (hardware) and represents test result and suggests future work. The LLRF control system at the He RFQ is very important. The configuration of LLRF control system is completed on the software side and hardware modules: vxworks operating system installation, EPICS BASE compilation, module source code compiled, object file loading and execution on vxworks, EPICS IOC operation check, etc. The application of LLRF control system to module is implemented well: ADC module, DAC module, EPICS IOC test.

A study of some features of the ultra high vacuum systems for EPIC

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elsey, R.J.; Bennett, J.R.J.; Dossett, A.J.

1977-01-01

This report covers the experimental work carried out towards the development of the ultra high vacuum for the proposed electron positron storage ring, EPIC. Experiments included outgassing tests on samples of materials and pump-down tests on full scale aluminium vessels. The effect of baking was investigated. The approval of the similar machine PETRA at Hamburg and the subsequent withdrawal of the EPIC proposal in October 1975 curtailed the vacuum work. The experiments reported here are therefore incomplete, but nevertheless proved useful in showing that there should have been no major problems with building the vacuum system for EPIC. (author)

The Shozu Herpes Zoster (SHEZ) Study: Rationale, Design, and Description of a Prospective Cohort Study

Science.gov (United States)

Takao, Yukiko; Miyazaki, Yoshiyuki; Onishi, Fumitake; Kumihashi, Hideaki; Gomi, Yasuyuki; Ishikawa, Toyokazu; Okuno, Yoshinobu; Mori, Yasuko; Asada, Hideo; Yamanishi, Koichi; Iso, Hiroyasu

2012-01-01

Background The incidence and risk factors for herpes zoster have been studied in cross-sectional and cohort studies, although most such studies have been conducted in Western countries. Evidence from Asian populations is limited, and no cohort study has been conducted in Asia. We are conducting a 3-year prospective cohort study in Shozu County in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan to determine the incidence and predictive and immunologic factors for herpes zoster among Japanese. Methods The participants are followed for 3 years, and a telephone survey is conducted every 4 weeks. The participants were assigned to 1 of 3 studies. Participants in study A gave information on past history of herpes zoster and completed health questionnaires. Study B participants additionally underwent varicella-zoster virus (VZV) skin testing, and study C participants additionally underwent blood testing. If the participants develop herpes zoster, we evaluate clinical symptoms, measure cell-mediated immunity and humoral immunity using venous blood sampling, photograph skin areas with rash, conduct virus identification testing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and virus isolation from crust sampling, and evaluate postherpetic pain. Results We recruited 12 522 participants aged 50 years or older in Shozu County from December 2009 through November 2010. The participation rate was 65.7% of the target population. Conclusions The present study is likely to provide valuable data on the incidence and predictive and immunologic factors for herpes zoster in a defined community-based population of Japanese. PMID:22343323

The coal epic at Freyming-Merlebach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2003-01-01

This information document has been realized on the closure of the Merlebach site. It is devoted to the coal epic at Freyming-Merlebach. The historical aspects of the exploitation, the working conditions, the economic and environmental aspects of the mine and the today situation are detailed. (A.L.B.)

Expanded HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) implementation in communities in New South Wales, Australia (EPIC-NSW): design of an open label, single arm implementation trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Zablotska, Iryna B; Selvey, Christine; Guy, Rebecca; Price, Karen; Holden, Jo; Schmidt, Heather-Marie; McNulty, Anna; Smith, David; Jin, Fengyi; Amin, Janaki; Cooper, David A; Grulich, Andrew E

2018-02-02

The New South Wales (NSW) HIV Strategy 2016-2020 aims for the virtual elimination of HIV transmission in NSW, Australia, by 2020. Despite high and increasing levels of HIV testing and treatment since 2012, the annual number of HIV diagnoses in NSW has remained generally unchanged. Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is highly effective in preventing HIV infection among gay and bisexual men (GBM) when taken appropriately. However, there have been no population-level studies that evaluate the impact of rapid PrEP scale-up in high-risk GBM. Expanded PrEP Implementation in Communities in NSW (EPIC-NSW) is a population-level evaluation of the rapid, targeted roll-out of PrEP to high-risk individuals. EPIC-NSW, is an open-label, single-arm, multi-centre prospective observational study of PrEP implementation and impact. Over 20 public and private clinics across urban and regional areas in NSW have participated in the rapid roll-out of PrEP, supported by strong community mobilization and PrEP promotion. The study began on 1 March 2016, aiming to enroll at least 3700 HIV negative people at high risk of HIV. This estimate took into consideration criteria for PrEP prescription in people at high risk for acquiring HIV as defined in the NSW PrEP guidelines. Study participants receive once daily co-formulated tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) and are followed for up to 24 months. Follow-up includes: testing for HIV at 1 month, HIV and other sexually transmissible infections three-monthly, HCV annually and monitoring of renal function six-monthly. Optional online behavioural surveys are conducted quarterly. The co-primary endpoints are (i) HIV diagnoses and incidence in the cohort and (ii) HIV diagnoses in NSW. EPIC-NSW is a population-based PrEP implementation trial which targets the entire estimated population of GBM at high risk for HIV infection in NSW. It will provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the population impact of PrEP on a concentrated HIV

Asymptomatic spontaneous cerebral emboli and mood in a cohort of older people: a prospective study.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oude Voshaar, R.C.; Purandare, N.; Hardicre, J.; McCollum, C.N.; Burns, A.

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether asymptomatic spontaneous cerebral emboli (SCE) predicts subsequent depression in older people. METHODS: Prospective cohort study with 2.5 years of follow-up including 96 nondepressed older subjects in primary care. Presence of SCE was measured at baseline by

EPIC 219217635: A Doubly Eclipsing Quadruple System Containing an Evolved Binary

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borkovits, T.; Albrecht, S.; Rappaport, S.

2018-01-01

We have discovered a doubly eclipsing, bound, quadruple star system in the field of K2 Campaign 7. EPIC 219217635 is a stellar image with Kp = 12.7 that contains an eclipsing binary (‘EB’) with PA = 3.59470 d and a second EB with PB = 0.61825 d. We have obtained followup radial-velocity (‘RV’) sp...