Assessing Overall Diet Quality: Development and Evaluation of the Performance of a Short Self-Administrated Questionnaire SCASA.

Several tools assessing diet quality have been developed over the last decades, but their use in public health and clinical practice is limited because they necessitate detailed quantitative assessment of food intake. Our goal was to develop and validate a score (Score d'Alimentation Saine, SCASA) based on a short self-administrated online questionnaire to assess overall diet quality. SCASA targets the adult population in French-speaking Switzerland, but it was designed in a way enabling its adaptation for other regions. The choice of the items involved experts and lay volunteers. Construct validation and inter-method reliability were assessed by screening meal plans and by comparing the self-rated scores with food-record derived scores (kappa and Bland-Altman). SCASA (17 components) discriminated adequately balanced from imbalanced meal plans (93-95% and 44-46% of maximal score). Agreement between self-assessed and food record-based scores ranged between >90% (3 items), 80-89% (3 items), 70-79% (4 items), and <70% (5 items). The Bland-Altman plot showed a mean difference of -1.60 (95% CI -2.36 to -0.84), indicating a slight overestimation of the self-assessed diet quality compared to the food record. SCASA offers a reliable way to assess overall diet quality without requiring burdensome data collection or nutrient calculations

Desire to lose weight, dietary intake and psychological correlates among middle-aged and older women. The CoLaus study.

Body dissatisfaction has been regularly associated with negative consequences on health of young women, but less is known regarding middle-aged or older women. However, body dissatisfaction in women has been seen for long as a "normative discontent" (i.e. widespread and chronic dissatisfaction) because of its high prevalence among all age categories. The goal of this study was to explore the relationships between the desire to lose weight, energy intake and psychological health in community-dwelling women issued from the second wave (cross-sectional data) of the cohort study CoLaus (2009-2012, Switzerland), taking age categories (40-59 and 60-80) and body mass index (BMI, normal and overweight/obese) into account. Results showed that the desire to lose weight was common even in women with normal BMI and whatever the age category. Women with normal BMI who wished to lose weight reported lower energy and protein intake per kg of body weight, more signs of depression and less satisfaction with their quality of life than those who did not wish to lose weight in both age groups. The desire to lose weight was similarly associated with psychological health in women with overweight/obesity, in both age categories as well. These results indicate that the desire to lose weight may be associated with an impaired psychological health also in middle-aged and older women, even in those with normal BMI. This should not be considered as normal by health care professionals but as a possible indicator of psychological health and of the capacity to comply with dietary recommendations

Description of Ultra-Processed Food Intake in a Swiss Population-Based Sample of Adults Aged 18 to 75 Years.

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are associated with lower diet quality and several non-communicable diseases. Their consumption varies between countries/regions of the world. We aimed to describe the consumption of UPFs in adults aged 18-75 years living in Switzerland. We analysed data from the national food consumption survey conducted among 2085 participants aged 18 to 75 years. Foods and beverages resulting from two 24-h recalls were classified as UPFs or non-UPFs according to the NOVA classification, categorized into 18 food groups, and linked to the Swiss Food Composition Database. Overall, the median energy intake [P25-P75] from UPFs was 587 kcal/day [364-885] or 28.7% [19.9-38.9] of the total energy intake (TEI). The median intake of UPFs relative to TEI was higher among young participants (<30 years, p = 0.001) and those living in the German-speaking part of Switzerland (p = 0.002). The food groups providing the most ultra-processed calories were confectionary, cakes & biscuits (39.5% of total UPF kcal); meat, fish & eggs (14.9%); cereal products, legumes & potatoes (12.5%), and juices & soft drinks (8.0%). UPFs provided a large proportion of sugars (39.3% of total sugar intake), saturated fatty acids (32.8%), and total fats (31.8%) while providing less than 20% of dietary fibre. Consumption of UPFs accounted for nearly a third of the total calories consumed in Switzerland. Public health strategies to reduce UPF consumption should target sugary foods/beverages and processed meat

Measurements of wind-wave growth and swell decay during the joint North Sea wave project (JONSWAP).

Wavo spectra were measured along a profile extending 160 km into the North Sea westward from Sylt for a period of ten weeks in 1969. Currents, tides, air-sea temperature differences and turbulence in the atmospheric boundary layer were also measured. the goal of the experiment (described in Part 1) was to determine the structure of the source function governing the energy balance of the wave spectrum, with particular emphasis on wave growth under stationary offshore wind conditions (Part 2) and the attention of swell in water of finito depth (Part 3). The source functions of wave spectra generated by offshore winds exhibit a characteristic plus-minus signature associated with the shift of the sharp spectral peak towards lower frequencies. The two-lobed distribution of the source function can be explained quantitively by the nonlinear transfer due to resonant wave-wave interactions (second order Bragg scattering). The evolution of a pronounced peak and its shift towards lower frequencies can also be understood as a self-stabilizing feature of this process. The decay rates determined for incoming swell varied considerably, but energy attenuation factors of two along the length of the profile were typical. This is in order of magnitude agreement with expected damping rates due to bottom friction. However, the strong tidal modulation predicted by theory for the case of a quadratic bottom friction law was not observed. Adverse winds did not affect the decay rate. Computations also rule out wave-wave interactions or dissipation due to turbulence outside the bottom boundary layer as effective mechanisms of swell attenuation. We conclude that either the generally accepted friction law needs to be significantly modified or that some other mechanism, such as scattering by bottom irregularities, is the cause of the attenuation. The dispersion characteristics of thw swells indicated rather nearby origins, for which the classical DELTA-event model was generally inapplicable. A strong Doppler modulation by tidal currents was also observed. (A

Relationship between cortisol and physical performance in older persons

Objective: Hypercortisolism is associated with muscle weakness. This study examines the relationship between cortisol and physical performance in older persons. Design/patients: The study was conducted within the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), an ongoing cohort study in a population-based sample of healthy older persons in the Netherlands. Data from the second (1995/1996) and fourth (2001/2002) cycle were used pertaining to 1172 (65-88 years) and 884 (65-94 years) men and women, respectively. Measurements: Physical performance was measured by adding up scores on the chair stands, tandem stand and walk test (range 0-12). In the second cycle serum total and calculated free cortisol were assessed; in the fourth cycle evening salivary cortisol was assessed. Regression analysis (stratified for sex, adjusted for age, body mass index, alcohol use, physical activity and region) was performed to examine the cross-sectional relationship between cortisol and physical performance. Results: Women with higher calculated free cortisol scored less well on physical performance (b = -0.28 per SD higher cortisol, P = 0.016), which was mainly explained by poorer performance on the tandem stand (OR = 1.32 for a lower score per SD higher cortisol, P = 0.003). Men with higher salivary cortisol scored less well on physical performance (b = -0.90 in the highest vs. the lowest quartile, P = 0.008), which was mainly explained by poorer performance on the chair stands and walk test (OR = 1.88, P = 0.020 and OR = 1.81, P = 0.027, respectively, in the highest vs. the lowest quartile). Conclusion: Physical performance is negatively associated with high cortisol levels in older persons. © 2007 The Authors

Two-detector Doppler broadening profiles in Al

Low-background Doppler broadening profiles have been measured in Al. The KKR methodology has been used to calculate the profile and study the effect of positron-electron correlation

Quantifying compressible groundwater storage by combining cross-hole seismic surveys and head response to atmospheric tides

Groundwater specific storage varies by orders of magnitude, is difficult to quantify, and prone to significant uncertainty. Estimating specific storage using aquifer testing is hampered by the nonuniqueness in the inversion of head data and the assumptions of the underlying conceptual model. We revisit confined poroelastic theory and reveal that the uniaxial specific storage can be calculated mainly from undrained poroelastic properties, namely, uniaxial bulk modulus, loading efficiency, and the Biot-Willis coefficient. In addition, literature estimates of the solid grain compressibility enables quantification of subsurface poroelastic parameters using field techniques such as cross-hole seismic surveys and loading efficiency from the groundwater responses to atmospheric tides. We quantify and compare specific storage depth profiles for two field sites, one with deep aeolian sands and another with smectitic clays. Our new results require bulk density and agree well when compared to previous approaches that rely on porosity estimates. While water in clays responds to stress, detailed sediment characterization from a core illustrates that the majority of water is adsorbed onto minerals leaving only a small fraction free to drain. This, in conjunction with a thorough analysis using our new method, demonstrates that specific storage has a physical upper limit of (Formula presented.) m−1. Consequently, if larger values are derived using aquifer hydraulic testing, then the conceptual model that has been used needs reappraisal. Our method can be used to improve confined groundwater storage estimates and refine the conceptual models used to interpret hydraulic aquifer tests

Aggravated bone density decline following symptomatic osteonecrosis in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Osteonecrosis and decline of bone density are serious side effects during and after treatment of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It is unknown whether osteonecrosis and low bone density occur together in the same patients, or whether these two osteogenic side-effects can mutually influence each other's development. Bone density and the incidence of symptomatic osteonecrosis were prospectively assessed in a national cohort of 466 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (4-18 years of age) who were treated according to the dexamethasone-based Dutch Child Oncology Group-ALL9 protocol. Bone mineral density of the lumbar spine (BMDLS) (n= 466) and of the total body (BMDTB) (n=106) was measured by dual X-ray absorptiometry. Bone density was expressed as age-and gender-matched standard deviation scores. Thirty patients (6.4%) suffered from symptomatic osteonecrosis. At baseline, BMDLS and BMDTB did not differ between patients who did or did not develop osteonecrosis. At cessation of treatment, patients with osteonecrosis had lower mean BMDLS and BMDTB than patients without osteonecrosis (respectively, with osteonecrosis: -2.16 versus without osteonecrosis: -1.21, P</p