How to reach a common estimate of high dietary micronutrient intakes for safe addition of vitaqmins and minerals to foods

BACKGROUND: A central element in establishing maximum amount of micronutrients in fortified foods and supplements is to reach to an agreement on how to estimate high intakes of vitamins and minerals from the European diet. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether ratios between the 95th percentile and mean intakes of vitamins and minerals show similarities across different countries independent of dietary habits and survey methods and if so, to suggest a simple and pragmatic way to calculate common estimates of high micronutrient intakes from foods. DESIGN: Intake data of selected vitamins and minerals from nine European countries were examined for adult females and males and for children aged 4–10 and 11–17 years. The ratios between the 95th percentile and mean intakes were calculated for each micronutrient, country, and age group. RESULTS: The ratios for each micronutrient follow a fairly regular pattern across countries and survey methods with differences between age groups. The nutrients fall into three categories: nutrients with ratios between 1.45 and 1.58 – energy, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, vitamin B(6), niacin, and folate; nutrients with ratios between 1.67 and 1.79 – calcium, selenium, vitamin E, iodine, and copper; nutrients with ratios between 2.08 and 2.32 – vitamin A, vitamin D, and retinol. CONCLUSION: Sufficiently precise estimates of high micronutrient intakes across European countries can be reached by multiplying the overall average of ratios (P95/mean intakes) for each micronutrient with the corresponding mean intakes from all available dietary surveys in Europe. This approach is a simple and pragmatic way to create common European estimates of high micronutrient intakes from foods

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Artiklen beskriver overordnet udviklingen af en strategi og et kursuskoncept for formidling af materialer og pædagogiske metoder på cfu-området. Som eksempel er valgt netbooks og Cloud Computing. Strategien bygger på videndeling i netværk med kommunernes skolebiblioteks- og it-konsulenter og skolernes pædagogiske udviklingscentre – skolebiblioteket – som bærende søjler for Center for Undervisningsmidlers formidlingsindsats. Artiklen udfolder perspektiverne i praksisnær formidling og vigtigheden af at tage udgangspunkt i brugernes problemstillinger

Danish study of Non-Invasive testing in Coronary Artery Disease (Dan-NICAD):study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is an established method for ruling out coronary artery disease (CAD). Most patients referred for CCTA do not have CAD and only approximately 20–30 % of patients are subsequently referred to further testing by invasive coronary angiography (ICA) or non-invasive perfusion evaluation due to suspected obstructive CAD. In cases with severe calcifications, a discrepancy between CCTA and ICA often occurs, leading to the well-described, low-diagnostic specificity of CCTA. As ICA is cost consuming and involves a risk of complications, an optimized algorithm would be valuable and could decrease the number of ICAs that do not lead to revascularization. The primary objective of the Dan-NICAD study is to determine the diagnostic accuracy of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) and myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) as secondary tests after a primary CCTA where CAD could not be ruled out. The secondary objective includes an evaluation of the diagnostic precision of an acoustic technology that analyses the sound of coronary blood flow. It may potentially provide better stratification prior to CCTA than clinical risk stratification scores alone. METHODS/DESIGN: Dan-NICAD is a multi-centre, randomised, cross-sectional trial, which will include approximately 2,000 patients without known CAD, who were referred to CCTA due to a history of symptoms suggestive of CAD and a low-risk to intermediate-risk profile, as evaluated by a cardiologist. Patient interview, sound recordings, and blood samples are obtained in connection with the CCTA. All patients with suspected obstructive CAD by CCTA are randomised to either stress CMRI or stress MPS, followed by ICA with fractional flow reserve (FFR) measurements. Obstructive CAD is defined as an FFR below 0.80 or as high-grade stenosis (>90 % diameter stenosis) by visual assessment. Diagnostic performance is evaluated as sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, likelihood ratios, and C statistics. Enrolment commenced in September 2014 and is expected to be complete in May 2016. DISCUSSION: Dan-NICAD is designed to assess whether a secondary perfusion examination after CCTA could safely reduce the number of ICAs where revascularization is not required. The results are expected to add knowledge about the optimal algorithm for diagnosing CAD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov identifier, NCT02264717. Registered on 26 September 2014. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-016-1388-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users