Main nutrient patterns and colorectal cancer risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study.

BACKGROUND: Much of the current literature on diet-colorectal cancer (CRC) associations focused on studies of single foods/nutrients, whereas less is known about nutrient patterns. We investigated the association between major nutrient patterns and CRC risk in participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. METHODS: Among 477 312 participants, intakes of 23 nutrients were estimated from validated dietary questionnaires. Using results from a previous principal component (PC) analysis, four major nutrient patterns were identified. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were computed for the association of each of the four patterns and CRC incidence using multivariate Cox proportional hazards models with adjustment for established CRC risk factors. RESULTS: During an average of 11 years of follow-up, 4517 incident cases of CRC were documented. A nutrient pattern characterised by high intakes of vitamins and minerals was inversely associated with CRC (HR per 1 s.d.=0.94, 95% CI: 0.92-0.98) as was a pattern characterised by total protein, riboflavin, phosphorus and calcium (HR (1 s.d.)=0.96, 95% CI: 0.93-0.99). The remaining two patterns were not significantly associated with CRC risk. CONCLUSIONS: Analysing nutrient patterns may improve our understanding of how groups of nutrients relate to CRC

Feasibility studies for the measurement of time-like proton electromagnetic form factors from p¯ p→ μ+μ- at P ¯ ANDA at FAIR

This paper reports on Monte Carlo simulation results for future measurements of the moduli of time-like proton electromagnetic form factors, | GE| and | GM| , using the p¯ p→ μ+μ- reaction at P ¯ ANDA (FAIR). The electromagnetic form factors are fundamental quantities parameterizing the electric and magnetic structure of hadrons. This work estimates the statistical and total accuracy with which the form factors can be measured at P ¯ ANDA , using an analysis of simulated data within the PandaRoot software framework. The most crucial background channel is p¯ p→ π+π-, due to the very similar behavior of muons and pions in the detector. The suppression factors are evaluated for this and all other relevant background channels at different values of antiproton beam momentum. The signal/background separation is based on a multivariate analysis, using the Boosted Decision Trees method. An expected background subtraction is included in this study, based on realistic angular distributions of the background contribution. Systematic uncertainties are considered and the relative total uncertainties of the form factor measurements are presented

Heterozygosity In Diploid Musa Lines: Implications For Marker Development, Genomics, Sequencing And Breeding Vegetatively Propagated Crops

International audienceMusa species (bananas and plantains) are usually vegetatively propagated, and we have measured the levels and nature of heterozygosity within various accessions to examine genetic and genomic diversity, to compare heterozygosity with other species which are in-breeding, to investigate the feasibility of shot-gun sequencing approaches in potentially heterozygous plants, to optimise marker development, and to better characterize a single doubled-haploid Musa accession. We studied genic regions, areas flanking SSRs, and non-gene, non-SSR fragments of the genome. We analysed heterozygosity in single plants of various accessions of diploid banana (Musa) accessions by two approaches: PCR amplification of fragments of genomic DNA and sequencing, and by comparison of sequenced BACs from homologous chromosome regions from single plants. The study was carried out with a focus on Musa acuminata ‘Calcutta 4’, ‘Pahang’ and another a Musa malaccensis accession, and a doubled haploid line derived from ‘Pahang’, along with some sequences from M. schizocarpa and M. balbisian