| 1. |
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| 2. |
- van Ree, R, et al.
(författare)
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The CREATE project: development of certified reference materials for allergenic products and validation of methods for their quantification.
- 2008
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Ingår i: Allergy. - : Wiley. - 1398-9995 .- 0105-4538. ; 63:3, s. 310-26
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Allergen extracts have been used for diagnosis and treatment of allergy for around 100 years. During the second half of 20th century, the notion increasingly gained foothold that accurate standardization of such extracts is of great importance for improvement of their quality. As a consequence, manufacturers have implemented extensive protocols for standardization and quality control. These protocols have overall IgE-binding potencies as their focus. Unfortunately, each company is using their own in-house reference materials and their own unique units to express potencies. This does not facilitate comparison of different products. During the last decades, most major allergens of relevant allergen sources have been identified and it has been established that effective immunotherapy requires certain minimum quantities of these allergens to be present in the administered maintenance dose. Therefore, the idea developed to introduce major allergens measurements into standardization protocols. Such protocols based on mass units of major allergen, quantify the active ingredients of the treatment and will at the same time allow comparison of competitor products. In 2001, an EU funded project, the CREATE project, was started to support introduction of major allergen based standardization. The aim of the project was to evaluate the use of recombinant allergens as reference materials and of ELISA assays for major allergen measurements. This paper gives an overview of the achievements of the CREATE project.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Dias, Rita, et al.
(författare)
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Polyion adsorption onto catanionic surfaces. A Monte Carlo study
- 2005
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-5207 .- 1520-6106. ; 109:23, s. 11781-11788
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The adsorption of a single and negatively charged polyion with varying flexibility onto a surface carrying both negative and positive charges representing a charged membrane surface has been investigated by using a simple model employing Monte Carlo simulations. The polyion was represented by a sequence of negatively charged hard spheres connected with harmonic bonds. The charged surface groups were also represented by charged hard spheres, and they were positioned on a hard surface slightly protruding into the solution. The surface charges were either frozen in a liquidlike structure or laterally mobile. With a large excess of positive surface charges, the classical picture of a strongly adsorbed polyion with an extended and flat configuration emerged. However, adsorption also appeared at a net neutral surface or at a weakly negatively charged surface, and at these conditions the adsorption was stronger with a flexible polyion as compared to a semiflexible one, two features not appearing in simpler models containing homogeneously charged surfaces. The presence of charged surface patches (frozen surface charges) and the ability of polarization of the surface charges (mobile surface charges) are the main reasons for the enhanced adsorption. The stronger adsorption with the flexible chain is caused by its greater ability to spatially correlate with the surface charges.
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| 7. |
- Gaweda, Sylwia, et al.
(författare)
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Cationic agents for DNA compaction
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science. - : Elsevier BV. - 1095-7103 .- 0021-9797. ; 323:1, s. 75-83
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Fluorescence microscopy was used to investigate the conformational changes of individual T4 DNA molecules induced by different compacting agents, namely the cationic surfactants, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and chloride (CTAC), iron(III), lysozyme, and protamine sulfate. A protocol for establishing size estimates is suggested to obtain reproducible results. Observations show that in the presence of lysozyme and protamine sulfate, DNA molecules exhibit a conformational change from an elongated coil structure to compact globules, usually interpreted as a first-order transition. The maximum degree of compaction that is attained when iron(III) or CTAB (CrAC) are used as compacting agents is considerably smaller, and intermediate structures (less elongated coils) are visible even for high concentrations of these agents. Dynamic light scattering experiments were carried out, for some of the systems, to assess the reliability of size estimates from fluorescence microscopy.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Giralt, S., et al.
(författare)
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International myeloma working group (IMWG) consensus statement and guidelines regarding the current status of stem cell collection and high-dose therapy for multiple myeloma and the role of plerixafor (AMD 3100)
- 2009
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Ingår i: Leukemia. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-5551 .- 0887-6924. ; 23:10, s. 1904-1912
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Multiple myeloma is the most common indication for high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell support (ASCT) in North America today. Stem cell procurement for ASCT has most commonly been performed with stem cell mobilization using colony-stimulating factors with or without prior chemotherapy. The target CD34+ cell dose to be collected as well as the number of apheresis performed varies throughout the country, but a minimum of 2 million CD34+ cells/kg has been traditionally used for the support of one cycle of high-dose therapy. With the advent of plerixafor (AMD3100) (a novel stem cell mobilization agent), it is pertinent to review the current status of stem cell mobilization for myeloma as well as the role of autologous stem cell transplantation in this disease. On June 1, 2008, a panel of experts was convened by the International Myeloma Foundation to address issues regarding stem cell mobilization and autologous transplantation in myeloma in the context of new therapies. The panel was asked to discuss a variety of issues regarding stem cell collection and transplantation in myeloma especially with the arrival of plerixafor. Herein, is a summary of their deliberations and conclusions. Leukemia (2009) 23, 1904-1912; doi: 10.1038/leu.2009.127; published online 25 June 2009
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
- Gridneva, Lidia, et al.
(författare)
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Experimental investigation of the spin reorientation of Co/Au based magnetic nanodot arrays
- 2008
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Ingår i: Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics). - 1098-0121 .- 1550-235X. ; 77:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- (Co/Au) and (Au/ Co/ Au) nanomagnet arrays grown on nanostructured self-organized SiGe templates have been characterized by means of x-ray photoemission electron microscopy, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, and by extended x-ray absorption spectroscopy using synchrotron radiation. In-plane magnetization is observed at room temperature for practically all Co thicknesses, a stable macroscopic perpendicular magnetic order only at low temperature. The spin reorientation transition in these dot arrays takes place for smaller Co thicknesses over a broader thickness range than in two-dimensional systems. This finding appears to be related with structural relaxation modifications, occurring within the local Co atom environment, which are not necessarily connected with the orbital moment variations. These variations appear in the form of a systematic increase, correlated with the existence of out-of-plane magnetization.
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| 12. |
- Moran, M. Carmen, et al.
(författare)
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Mixed Protein Carriers for Modulating DNA Release
- 2009
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Ingår i: Langmuir. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 0743-7463 .- 1520-5827. ; 25:17, s. 10263-10270
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aqueous mixtures of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes undergo associative phase separation, resulting in coacervation, gelation, or precipitation. This phenomenon has been exploited in forming DNA gel particles by interfacial diffusion. We report here the formation of DNA gel particles by mixing solutions of double-stranded DNA with aqueous solutions containing two cationic proteins, lysozyme and protamine sulfate. The effect of the lysozyme/protamine ratio on the degree of DNA entrapment, surface morphology, swelling-deswelling behavior, and kinetics of DNA release has been investigated. By mixing the two proteins, we obtain particles that display higher loading efficiency and loading capacity values, in comparison to those obtained in single-protein systems. Examination of the release profiles has shown that in mixed protein particles, complex, dual-stage release kinetics is obtained. The overall release profile is dependent on the lysozyme/protamine ratio. The obtained profiles, or segments of them, are accuratelly fitted using the zero-order and first-order models, and the Weibull function. Fluorescence microscopy studies have suggested that the formation of these particles is associated with the conservation of the secondary structure of DNA. This study presents a new platform for controlled release of DNA from DNA gel particles Conned by interfacial diffusion.
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| 13. |
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| 14. |
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| 15. |
- Orozco, Gisela, et al.
(författare)
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Association of STAT4 with rheumatoid arthritis : a replication study in three European populations
- 2008
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Ingår i: Arthritis and Rheumatism. - : Wiley. - 0004-3591 .- 1529-0131. ; 58:7, s. 1974-1980
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVE: This study was undertaken to investigate the previously reported association of the STAT4 polymorphism rs7574865 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 3 different European populations from Spain, Sweden, and The Netherlands, comprising a total of 2,072 patients and 2,474 controls. METHODS: Three different cohorts were included in the study: 923 RA patients and 1,296 healthy controls from Spain, 273 RA patients and 285 healthy controls from Sweden, and 876 RA patients and 893 healthy controls from The Netherlands. DNA from patients and controls was obtained from peripheral blood. Samples were genotyped for the STAT4 single-nucleotide polymorphism rs7574865 using a TaqMan 5'-allele discrimination assay. The chi-square test was performed to compare allele and genotype distributions. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated. RESULTS: We observed a significantly increased frequency of the minor T allele in RA patients compared with healthy controls in the Spanish population (24.8% versus 20.8%; P = 0.001, OR 1.26 [95% CI 1.09-1.45]). This association was confirmed in both the Swedish population (P = 0.03, OR 1.35 [95% CI 1.03-1.77]) and the Dutch population (P = 0.03, OR 1.45 [95% CI 1.21-1.73]). The overall P value for all 3 populations was 9.79 x 10(-6) (OR 1.25 [95% CI 1.13-1.37]). No association between rs7574865 and the presence of rheumatoid factor or anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide autoantibodies was observed. A meta-analysis of all published STAT4 associations revealed an OR of 1.25 (95% CI 1.19-1.33) (P = 1 x 10(-5)). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate an association between the STAT4 polymorphism rs7574865 and RA in 3 different populations, from Spain, Sweden, and The Netherlands, thereby confirming previous data.
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| 16. |
- Sanchez, Justin C, et al.
(författare)
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Interpreting spatial and temporal neural activity through a recurrent neural network brain-machine interface.
- 2005
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Ingår i: IEEE transactions on neural systems and rehabilitation engineering : a publication of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. - 1534-4320. ; 13:2, s. 213-9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We propose the use of optimized brain-machine interface (BMI) models for interpreting the spatial and temporal neural activity generated in motor tasks. In this study, a nonlinear dynamical neural network is trained to predict the hand position of primates from neural recordings in a reaching task paradigm. We first develop a method to reveal the role attributed by the model to the sampled motor, premotor, and parietal cortices in generating hand movements. Next, using the trained model weights, we derive a temporal sensitivity measure to asses how the model utilized the sampled cortices and neurons in real-time during BMI testing.
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| 17. |
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| 18. |
- Bernien, M., et al.
(författare)
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Tailoring the Nature of Magnetic Coupling of Fe-Porphyrin Molecules to Ferromagnetic Substrates
- 2009
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 102:4, s. 047202-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We demonstrate that an antiferromagnetic coupling between paramagnetic Fe-porphyrin molecules and ultrathin Co and Ni magnetic films on Cu(100) substrates can be established by an intermediate layer of atomic oxygen. The coupling energies have been determined from the temperature dependence of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements. By density functional theory+U calculations the coupling mechanism is shown to be superexchange between the Fe center of the molecules and Co surface-atoms, mediated by oxygen.
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| 19. |
- Buunen, Mark, et al.
(författare)
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Survival after laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery for colon cancer: long-term outcome of a randomised clinical trial.
- 2009
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Ingår i: The lancet oncology. - 1474-5488 .- 1470-2045. ; 10:1, s. 44-52
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic surgery for colon cancer has been proven safe, but debate continues over whether the available long-term survival data justify implementation of laparoscopic techniques in surgery for colon cancer. The aim of the COlon cancer Laparoscopic or Open Resection (COLOR) trial was to compare 3-year disease-free survival and overall survival after laparoscopic and open resection of solitary colon cancer. METHODS: Between March 7, 1997, and March 6, 2003, patients recruited from 29 European hospitals with a solitary cancer of the right or left colon and a body-mass index up to 30 kg/m(2) were randomly assigned to either laparoscopic or open surgery as curative treatment in this non-inferiority randomised trial. Disease-free survival at 3 years after surgery was the primary outcome, with a prespecified non-inferiority boundary at 7% difference between groups. Secondary outcomes were short-term morbidity and mortality, number of positive resection margins, local recurrence, port-site or wound-site recurrence, and blood loss during surgery. Neither patients nor health-care providers were blinded to patient groupings. Analysis was by intention-to-treat. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00387842. FINDINGS: During the recruitment period, 1248 patients were randomly assigned to either open surgery (n=621) or laparoscopic surgery (n=627). 172 were excluded after randomisation, mainly because of the presence of distant metastases or benign disease, leaving 1076 patients eligible for analysis (542 assigned open surgery and 534 assigned laparoscopic surgery). Median follow-up was 53 months (range 0.03-60). Positive resection margins, number of lymph nodes removed, and morbidity and mortality were similar in both groups. The combined 3-year disease-free survival for all stages was 74.2% (95% CI 70.4-78.0) in the laparoscopic group and 76.2% (72.6-79.8) in the open-surgery group (p=0.70 by log-rank test); the difference in disease-free survival after 3 years was 2.0% (95% CI -3.2 to 7.2). The hazard ratio (HR) for disease-free survival (open vs laparoscopic surgery) was 0.92 (95% CI 0.74-1.15). The combined 3-year overall survival for all stages was 81.8% (78.4-85.1) in the laparoscopic group and 84.2% (81.1-87.3) in the open-surgery group (p=0.45 by log-rank test); the difference in overall survival after 3 years was 2.4% (95% CI -2.1 to 7.0; HR 0.95 [0.74-1.22]). INTERPRETATION: Our trial could not rule out a difference in disease-free survival at 3 years in favour of open colectomy because the upper limit of the 95% CI for the difference just exceeded the predetermined non-inferiority boundary of 7%. However, the difference in disease-free survival between groups was small and, we believe, clinically acceptable, justifying the implementation of laparoscopic surgery into daily practice. Further studies should address whether laparoscopic surgery is superior to open surgery in this setting.
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| 20. |
- Chang-Claude, Jenny, et al.
(författare)
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Age at menarche and menopause and breast cancer risk in the International BRCA1/2 Carrier Cohort Study
- 2007
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Ingår i: Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention. - 1055-9965. ; 16:4, s. 740-746
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Early menarche and late menopause are important risk factors for breast cancer, but their effects on breast cancer risk in BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers are unknown. Methods: We assessed breast cancer risk in a large series of 1,187 BRCA1 and 414 BRCA2 carriers from the International BRCA1/2 Carrier Cohort Study. Rate ratios were estimated using a weighted Cox-regression approach. Results: Breast cancer risk was not significantly related to age at menopause {hazard ratio [HR] for menopause below age 35 years, 0.60 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.25-1.44]; 35 to 40 years, 1.15 [0.65-2.04]; 45 to 54 years, 1.02 [0.65-1.60]; ≥55 years, 1.12 [0.12-5.02], as compared with premenopausal women}. However, there was some suggestion of a reduction in risk after menopause in BRCA2 carriers. There was some evidence of a protective effect of oophorectomy (HR, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.29-1.09) and a significant trend of decreasing risk with increasing time since oophorectomy, but no apparent effect of natural menopause. There was no association between age at menarche and breast cancer risk, nor any apparent association with the estimated total duration of breast mitotic activity. Conclusions: These results are consistent with other observations suggesting a protective effect of oophorectomy, similar in relative effect to that in the general population. The absence of an effect of age at natural menopause is, however, not consistent with findings in the general population and may reflect the different natural history of the disease in carriers.
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| 21. |
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| 22. |
- Costa, T, et al.
(författare)
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Self-assembly of a hydrophobically modified naphthalene-labeled poly(acrylic acid) polyelectrolyte in water: Organic solvent mixtures followed by steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence
- 2005
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Ingår i: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Part B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-5207 .- 1520-6106. ; 109:8, s. 3243-3251
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The solution properties of two water-soluble polymers, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), covalently labeled with the fluorescent hydrophobic dye naphthalene (Np), have been investigated in water:organic solvent mixtures. The naphthalene chromophores have been randomly attached, onto the polymer, with two different degrees of labeling. Fluorescence measurements (steady-state and time-resolved) have been used to follow the photophysical behavior of the polymers and consequently report on the self-association of the polymers in the mixed organic (methanol or dioxane): aqueous solutions. The emission spectra of the high-labeled Np PAA reveal the presence of monomer and excimer bands whereas with the low-labeled polymer only monomer emission is observed. The excitation spectra collected at the monomer and excimer emission bands show significant differences, depending on the water content of the mixture, which indicate the simultaneous presence of preformed and dynamic dimers as routes to excimer formation. The time-resolved data decay profiles of the high-labeled polymer in the mixtures were always triple exponential whereas in pure methanol and dioxane they follow biexponential laws. The data in the mixtures are consistent with two types of monomers and one excimer. Both monomers are able to give rise to excimer in the excited state, one type involving the movement of long distant Np chromophores and the other involving a local reorientation of adjacent Np chromophores. These correspond to different decay times: (1) a long which corresponds to the long distant approach of nonneighboring Np chromophores forming an excimer and (2) a short corresponding to the fast adjustment of two neighboring Np chromophores in order to have the adequate parallel geometry. An additional decay time corresponding to the excimer decay was found to be present at all wavelengths. All the decay times were dependent on the water content of the mixture. An estimation of the two excimer forming rate constants values is made for the mixed media considered in this work. On the whole, using both steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence parameters, and by comparing data for a polymer with a small number of hydrophobes with a more highly modified one, it is possible in great detail to demonstrate how association is controlled by solvent quality for the hydrophobes and by the distance between hydrophobes.
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| 23. |
- Ferrari, Pietro, et al.
(författare)
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An approach to estimate between- and within-group correlation coefficients in multicenter studies : plasma carotenoids as biomarkers of intake of fruits and vegetables
- 2005
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Ingår i: American Journal of Epidemiology. - Cary : Oxford University Press. - 0002-9262 .- 1476-6256. ; 162:6, s. 591-598
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In a multicenter study, the overall correlation between two variables can be broken down into a within- and a between-group correlation reflecting associations at the individual and aggregate levels, respectively. A random-effects model is used to estimate variance components of nutrition-related variables and the within- and between-group correlation coefficients. Using data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), the authors analyzed the association between levels of three plasma carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-cryptoxanthin, and lycopene) and dietary intake of three items (total fruits, carrots, and tomatoes), assessed through dietary questionnaire and single 24-hour dietary recall measurements, in a cross-sectional study involving 3,089 subjects from nine European countries. Intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.178 for alpha-carotene, 0.216 for beta-cryptoxanthin, and 0.299 for lycopene. The between-group correlation coefficients were higher than the within-group coefficients for all three carotenoids. For beta-cryptoxanthin and fruit intake, the between-group versus the within-group correlations were 0.78 and 0.26 for the dietary questionnaire and 0.85 and 0.19 for the 24-hour dietary recall. Results indicate that variability of exposure is driven mainly by the individual compared with the aggregate variation and that biomarker levels perform fairly accurately in discriminating population-level consumption of fruits and vegetables.
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| 24. |
- Garcia, Jose A., et al.
(författare)
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Nonideality sources and implementation considerations in polar transmitters
- 2009
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Ingår i: International Journal of Microwave and Wireless Technologies. - 1759-0787 .- 1759-0795. ; 1:2, s. 109-116
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, the main nonidealities appearing in polar transmitters will be addressed, together with several implementation considerations. Special attention will be paid to the role of AM modulation nonlinearity and parasitic AM-to-PM conversion, once architecture mechanisms such as time-delay mismatch between branches or limited bandwidth in the amplitude path are controlled. The device limiting factors for a highly efficient switched mode operation and a linear amplitude modulation will be identified. Some circuit design and implementation guidelines for the RF modulating stage and the envelope amplifier will be discussed, to finish with system-level analysis considerations under two-tone and real communication signal excitations.
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| 25. |
- He, Xinkui, et al.
(författare)
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Spatial and spectral properties of the high-order harmonic emission in argon for seeding applications
- 2009
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Ingår i: Physical Review A (Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics). - 1050-2947. ; 79:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We characterize and control the harmonic emission in the spectral and spatial domains in order to define in which conditions the harmonic radiation can be a high-quality seed for soft x-ray and x-ray free-electron lasers. The length of the gas cell, where harmonics are generated, was optimized and the energy per pulse was determined in absolute value with a calibrated x-ray photodiode. The beam spatial profile was measured and, in some conditions, a very collimated beam with a half-angle divergence below 1 mrad could be obtained. We also show that increasing the intensity of the fundamental laser field leads to a considerable broadening of the bandwidth of the harmonic radiation, allowing us to cover a large spectral range. This effect is due to fundamental reshaping leading to an efficient phase matching of both short- and long-trajectory contributions.
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