Fiber-optic probe for noninvasive real-time determination of tissue optical properties at multiple wavelengths

We present a compact, fast, and versatile fiber-optic probe system for real-time determination of tissue optical properties from spatially resolved continuous-wave diffuse reflectance measurements. The system collects one set of reflectance data from six source-detector distances at four arbitrary wavelengths with a maximum overall sampling rate of 100 Hz. Multivariate calibration techniques based on two-dimensional polynomial fitting are employed to extract and display the absorption and reduced scattering coefficients in real-time mode. The four wavelengths of the current configuration are 660, 785, 805, and 974 nm, respectively. Cross-validation tests on a 6 x 7 calibration matrix of Intralipid-dye phantoms showed that the mean prediction error at, e.g., 785 nm was 2.8% for the absorption coefficient and 1.3% for the reduced scattering coefficient. The errors are relative to the range of the optical properties of the phantoms at 785 nm, which were 0-0.3/cm for the absorption coefficient and 6-16/cm for the reduced scattering coefficient. Finally, we also present and discuss results from preliminary skin tissue measurements. (C) 2001 Optical Society of Americ

BioConcens: Biomass and bioenergy production agriculture – consequences for soil fertility, environment, spread of animal parasites and socio-economy

The research programme called “international research cooperation and organic integrity” was commenced for a period 2006-2010. It is coordinated by DARCOF (The Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming). The whole programme, with acronym DARCOF III, consists of 15 projects (http://www.darcof.dk/research/darcofiii/index.html). One of them is BIOCONCENS - Biomass and bioenergy production in organic farming – consequences for soil fertility, environment, spread of animal parasites and socio-economy (http://www.bioconcens.elr.dk/uk/). The production of bioenergy in organic agriculture (OA) can reduce its dependency of fossil fuels and decrease green house gasses emission; consequently it will increase sustainability of organic farms. Biorefinery concept based on co-production of biogas, bioethanol and protein fodder in organic farming will be developed within the BIOCONCENS project and the background for the project and the different work packages will be presented in this paper

Standardized high-throughput evaluation of cell-based compound screens

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>High-throughput screening of pharmaceutical compound activity in tissue culture experiments requires time-consuming repeated analysis of the large amounts of data generated. Automation of the evaluation procedure and assessment of measurement accuracy can save time and improve the comparability of results.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We present a tool for simultaneous evaluation of an arbitrary number of compound screens including a standardized statistical validation. It is provided as a novel R package with a Tcl/Tk-based GUI for convenient use in the lab and runs on usual platforms like Linux, Windows and Mac OS. In a compound screen of lung cancer cells, the tool was successfully and efficiently applied for data analysis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The package provides an efficient and intuitive platform for automatic evaluation of compound screens, improving the performance and standardization of data analysis.</p

Associations between habitual flavonoid intake and hospital admissions for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: A prospective cohort study

Background: Flavonoids, compounds found in plant-based foods and beverages, might ameliorate vascular damage and atherosclerosis. Therefore, our aim was to assess the association between flavonoid intake and hospital admissions due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Methods: In this prospective cohort study, participants from the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study were cross-linked with Danish nationwide registries. Eligible participants were aged 50–65 years, had no previous history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and had completed a food-frequency questionnaire at baseline. We examined associations between flavonoid intake (calculated from food-frequency questionnaires with use of the Phenol-Explorer database) and hospital admissions for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease, ischaemic stroke, or peripheral arterial disease. We obtained hazard ratios (HRs) using restricted cubic splines based on Cox proportional hazards models. Findings: Of the participants recruited to the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health study between 1993 and 1997, our study population was comprised of 53 552 participants, with a median follow-up of 21 years (IQR 15–22). During follow-up, 8773 participants were admitted to hospital for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. We observed non-linear associations between flavonoid intake and hospital admissions, plateauing at total flavonoid intakes of approximately 1000 mg per day. Compared with an intake of 175 mg per day, an intake of 1000 mg per day was associated with a 14% lower risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (HR 0·86, 95% CI 0·81–0·91). For disease subtypes, we observed a 9% lower risk of ischaemic heart disease (0·91, 0·85–0·98), a non-significant 9% lower risk of ischaemic stroke (0·91, 0·82–1·01), and a 32% lower risk of peripheral artery disease (0·68, 0·60–0·78). The overall associations were stronger in smokers than in non-smokers, as well as stronger in consumers of high (\u3e20 g per day) quantities of alcohol than in those consuming low-to-moderate (≤20 g per day) quantities. Interpretation: Our results suggest that ensuring an adequate consumption of flavonoid-rich foods, particularly in subpopulations at risk of atherosclerosis such as smokers and consumers of high quantities of alcohol might mitigate some of the risk of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. More studies are needed to support and validate these data

Higher habitual flavonoid intakes are associated with a lower risk of peripheral artery disease hospitalizations

Background The role of nutrition in the primary prevention of peripheral artery disease (PAD), the third leading cause of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, is undetermined. Flavonoids may attenuate atherosclerosis and therefore persons who consume flavonoid-rich foods may have a lower risk of developing PAD. Objectives We aimed to examine the association between flavonoid intake and PAD hospitalizations and investigate if the association differs according to established risk factors for PAD. Methods Baseline data from 55,647 participants of the Danish Diet, Cancer, and Health Study without PAD, recruited from 1993 to 1997, were cross-linked with Danish nationwide registries. Flavonoid intake was calculated from FFQs using the Phenol-Explorer database. Associations were examined using multivariable-adjusted restricted cubic splines based on Cox proportional hazards models. Results After a median [IQR] follow-up time of 21 [20–22] y, 2131 participants had been hospitalized for any PAD. The association between total flavonoid intake and total PAD hospitalizations was nonlinear, reaching a plateau at ∼750–1000 mg/d. Compared with the median flavonoid intake in quintile 1 (174 mg/d), an intake of 1000 mg/d was associated with a 32% lower risk of any PAD hospitalization (HR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.77), a 26% lower risk of atherosclerosis (HR: 0.74; 95% CI: 0.62, 0.88), a 28% lower risk of an aneurysm (HR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.88), and a 47% lower risk of a hospitalization for other peripheral vascular disease (HR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.42, 0.67). A higher total flavonoid intake was also significantly associated with a lower incidence of revascularization or endovascular surgery and lower extremity amputation. The association between total flavonoid intake and PAD hospitalizations differed according to baseline smoking status, alcohol intake, BMI, and diabetes status. Conclusions Ensuring the adequate consumption of flavonoid-rich foods, particularly in subpopulations prone to the development of atherosclerosis, may be a key strategy to lower the risk of PAD