Three-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau simulation of a vortex line displaced by a zigzag of pinning spheres

A vortex line is shaped by a zigzag of pinning centers and we study here how far the stretched vortex line is able to follow this path. The pinning center is described by an insulating sphere of coherence length size such that in its surface the de Gennes boundary condition applies. We calculate the free energy density of this system in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau theory and study the critical displacement beyond which the vortex line is detached from the pinning center.Comment: Submitted to special issue of Prammna-Journal of Physics devoted to the Vortex State Studie

Heterostructures produced from nanosheet-based inks

The new paradigm of heterostructures based on two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals has already led to the observation of exciting physical phenomena and creation of novel devices. The possibility of combining layers of different 2D materials in one stack allows unprecedented control over the electronic and optical properties of the resulting material. Still, the current method of mechanical transfer of individual 2D crystals, though allowing exceptional control over the quality of such structures and interfaces, is not scalable. Here we show that such heterostructures can be assembled from chemically exfoliated 2D crystals, allowing for low-cost and scalable methods to be used in the device fabrication

Plasma Elaidic Acid Level as Biomarker of Industrial Trans Fatty Acids and Risk of Weight Change: Report from the EPIC Study

Background Few epidemiological studies have examined the association between dietary trans fatty acids and weight gain, and the evidence remains inconsistent. The main objective of the study was to investigate the prospective association between biomarker of industrial trans fatty acids and change in weight within the large study European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Methods Baseline plasma fatty acid concentrations were determined in a representative EPIC sample from the 23 participating EPIC centers. A total of 1,945 individuals were followed for a median of 4.9 years to monitor weight change. The association between elaidic acid level and percent change of weight was investigated using a multinomial logistic regression model, adjusted by length of follow-up, age, energy, alcohol, smoking status, physical activity, and region. Results In women, doubling elaidic acid was associated with a decreased risk of weight loss (odds ratio (OR) = 0.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.55-0.88, p = 0.002) and a trend was observed with an increased risk of weight gain during the 5-year follow-up (OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 0.97-1.56, p = 0.082) (p-trend<.0001). In men, a trend was observed for doubling elaidic acid level and risk of weight loss (OR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.66-1.01, p = 0.062) while no significant association was found with risk of weight gain during the 5-year follow-up (OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.88-1.33, p = 0.454). No association was found for saturated and cis-monounsaturated fatty acids. Conclusions These data suggest that a high intake of industrial trans fatty acids may decrease the risk of weight loss, particularly in women. Prevention of obesity should consider limiting the consumption of highly processed foods, the main source of industrially-produced trans fatty acids

Thermal remote sensing from Airborne Hyperspectral Scanner data in the framework of the SPARC and SEN2FLEX projects: an overview

The AHS (Airborne Hyperspectral Scanner) instrument has 80 spectral bands covering the visible and near infrared (VNIR), short wave infrared (SWIR), mid infrared (MIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) spectral range. The instrument is operated by Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aerospacial (INTA), and it has been involved in several field campaigns since 2004. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; This paper presents an overview of the work performed with the AHS thermal imagery provided in the framework of the SPARC and SEN2FLEX campaigns, carried out respectively in 2004 and 2005 over an agricultural area in Spain. The data collected in both campaigns allowed for the first time the development and testing of algorithms for land surface temperature and emissivity retrieval as well as the estimation of evapotranspiration from AHS data. Errors were found to be around 1.5 K for land surface temperature and 1 mm/day for evapotranspiration

Mediterranean dietary pattern and cancer risk in the EPIC cohort

Background: Although several studies have investigated the association of the Mediterranean diet with overall mortality or risk of specific cancers, data on overall cancer risk are sparse. Methods: We examined the association between adherence to Mediterranean dietary pattern and overall cancer risk using data from the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and nutrition, a multi-centre prospective cohort study including 142 605 men and 335 873. Adherence to Mediterranean diet was examined using a score (range: 0–9) considering the combined intake of fruits and nuts, vegetables, legumes, cereals, lipids, fish, dairy products, meat products, and alcohol. Association with cancer incidence was assessed through Cox regression modelling, controlling for potential confounders. Results: In all, 9669 incident cancers in men and 21 062 in women were identified. A lower overall cancer risk was found among individuals with greater adherence to Mediterranean diet (hazard ratio=0.96, 95% CI 0.95–0.98) for a two-point increment of the Mediterranean diet score. The apparent inverse association was stronger for smoking-related cancers than for cancers not known to be related to tobacco (P (heterogeneity)=0.008). In all, 4.7% of cancers among men and 2.4% in women would be avoided in this population if study subjects had a greater adherence to Mediterranean dietary pattern. Conclusion: Greater adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern could reduce overall cancer risk

Determinants of non- response to a second assessment of lifestyle factors and body weight in the EPIC-PANACEA study.

BACKGROUND: This paper discusses whether baseline demographic, socio-economic, health variables, length of follow-up and method of contacting the participants predict non-response to the invitation for a second assessment of lifestyle factors and body weight in the European multi-center EPIC-PANACEA study. METHODS: Over 500.000 participants from several centers in ten European countries recruited between 1992 and 2000 were contacted 2-11 years later to update data on lifestyle and body weight. Length of follow-up as well as the method of approaching differed between the collaborating study centers. Non-responders were compared with responders using multivariate logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Overall response for the second assessment was high (81.6%). Compared to postal surveys, centers where the participants completed the questionnaire by phone attained a higher response. Response was also high in centers with a short follow-up period. Non-response was higher in participants who were male (odds ratio 1.09 (confidence interval 1.07; 1.11), aged under 40 years (1.96 (1.90; 2.02), living alone (1.40 (1.37; 1.43), less educated (1.35 (1.12; 1.19), of poorer health (1.33 (1.27; 1.39), reporting an unhealthy lifestyle and who had either a low (25, 1.08 (1.06; 1.10); especially ≥30 kg/m2, 1.26 (1.23; 1.29)). CONCLUSIONS: Cohort studies may enhance cohort maintenance by paying particular attention to the subgroups that are most unlikely to respond and by an active recruitment strategy using telephone interviews.RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are

Outcomes of nonagenarians after transcatheter aortic valve implantation

Introduction and objectives: Nonagenarians are a fast-growing age group among cardiovascular patients, especially with aortic stenosis, but data about their prognosis after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is scarce. The objective of our study is to analyze the baseline characteristics of nonagenarians treated with TAVI and determine whether age = 90 years is associated with a worse prognosis compared to non-nonagenarian patients. Methods: We included all patients =75 years enrolled in the multicenter prospective Spanish TAVI registry between 2009 and 2018. Patients < 75 years were excluded. Results: A total of 8073 elderly patients (= 75 years) from 46 Spanish centers were enrolled in the Spanish TAVI registry; 7686 were between = 75 and < 90 years old (95.2%), and 387 were nonagenarian patients (4.79%). A gradual increase of nonagenarians was observed. The transfemoral access was used in 91.6% of the cases, predominantly among the nonagenarian patients (91.4% vs 95.1%, P = .01). Nonagenarians were more likely to die during their hospital stay (4.3% vs 7.0% among nonagenarians, P = .01). However, no difference was seen in the all-cause mortality rates reported at the 1-year follow-up (8.8% vs 11.3%, P =.07). In the multivariate analysis, age = 90 years was not independently associated with a higher adjusted all-cause mortality rate (HR, 1.37, 95%CI, 0.91–1.97, P = .14). The baseline creatinine levels, and the in-hospital bleeding complications were all associated with a worse long-term prognosis in nonagenarians treated with TAVI. Conclusions: Nonagenarians are a very high-risk and growing population with severe AS in whom TAVI may be a safe and effective strategy. Careful patient selection by the TAVI heart team is mandatory to achieve maximum efficiency in this population where the baseline kidney function and bleeding complications may determine the long-term prognosis after TAVI. © 2021 Sociedad Española de Cardiología. Published by Permanyer Publications

Mediterranean diet and type 2 diabetes risk in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study: the InterAct project.

OBJECTIVE: To study the association between adherence to the Mediterranean dietary pattern (MDP) and risk of developing type 2 diabetes, across European countries. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We established a case-cohort study including 11,994 incident type 2 diabetic case subjects and a stratified subcohort of 15,798 participants selected from a total cohort of 340,234 participants with 3.99 million person-years of follow-up, from eight European cohorts participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. The relative Mediterranean diet score (rMED) (score range 0-18) was used to assess adherence to MDP on the basis of reported consumption of nine dietary components characteristic of the Mediterranean diet. Cox proportional hazards regression, modified for the case-cohort design, was used to estimate the association between rMED and risk of type 2 diabetes, adjusting for confounders. RESULTS: The multiple adjusted hazard ratios of type 2 diabetes among individuals with medium (rMED 7-10 points) and high adherence to MDP (rMED 11-18 points) were 0.93 (95% CI 0.86-1.01) and 0.88 (0.79-0.97), respectively, compared with individuals with low adherence to MDP (0-6 points) (P for trend 0.013). The association between rMED and type 2 diabetes was attenuated in people <50 years of age, in obese participants, and when the alcohol, meat, and olive oil components were excluded from the score. CONCLUSIONS: In this large prospective study, adherence to the MDP, as defined by rMED, was associated with a small reduction in the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in this European population

Effect of a nutritional intervention based on an energy-reduced Mediterranean diet on environmental impact

[EN]To estimate the environmental impact of a dietary intervention based on an energy-reduced Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) after one year of follow-up. Methods Baseline and 1-year follow-up data were used for 5800 participants aged 55–75 years with metabolic syndrome in the PREDIMED-Plus study. Food intake was estimated through a validated semiquantitative food consumption frequency questionnaire, and adherence to the MedDiet was estimated through the Diet Score. Using the EAT-Lancet Commission tables we assessed the influence of dietary intake on environmental impact (through five indicators: greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), land use, energy used, acidification and potential eutrophication). Using multivariable linear regression models, the association between the intervention and changes in each of the environmental factors was assessed. Mediation analyses were carried out to estimate to what extent changes in each of 2 components of the intervention, namely adherence to the MedDiet and caloric reduction, were responsible for the observed reductions in environmental impact. Results We observed a significant reduction in the intervention group compared to the control group in acidification levels (−13.3 vs. -9.9 g SO2-eq), eutrophication (−5.4 vs. -4.0 g PO4-eq) and land use (−2.7 vs. -1.8 m2). Adherence to the MedDiet partially mediated the association between intervention and reduction of acidification by 15 %, eutrophication by 10 % and land use by 10 %. Caloric reduction partially mediated the association with the same factors by 55 %, 51 % and 38 % respectively. In addition, adherence to the MedDiet fully mediated the association between intervention and reduction in GHG emissions by 56 % and energy use by 53 %.SIPublicación en abierto financiada por el Consorcio de Bibliotecas Universitarias de Castilla y León (BUCLE), con cargo al Programa Operativo 2014ES16RFOP009 FEDER 2014-2020 DE CASTILLA Y LEÓN, Actuación:20007-CL - Apoyo Consorcio BUCL

Relationship between olive oil consumption and ankle-brachial pressure index in a population at high cardiovascular risk

The aim of this study was to ascertain the association between the consumption of different categories of edible olive oils (virgin olive oils and olive oil) and olive pomace oil and ankle-brachial pressure index (ABI) in participants in the PREDIMED-Plus study, a trial of lifestyle modification for weight and cardiovascular event reduction in individuals with overweight/obesity harboring the metabolic syndrome. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis of the PREDIMED-Plus trial. Consumption of any category of olive oil and olive pomace oil was assessed through a validated food-frequency questionnaire. Multivariable linear regression models were fitted to assess associations between olive oil consumption and ABI. Additionally, ABI ≤1 was considered as the outcome in logistic models with different categories of olive oil and olive pomace oil as exposure. Results: Among 4330 participants, the highest quintile of total olive oil consumption (sum of all categories of olive oil and olive pomace oil) was associated with higher mean values of ABI (beta coefficient: 0.014, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.002, 0.027) (p for trend = 0.010). Logistic models comparing the consumption of different categories of olive oils, olive pomace oil and ABI ≤1 values revealed an inverse association between virgin olive oils consumption and the likelihood of a low ABI (odds ratio [OR] 0.73, 95% CI [0.56, 0.97]), while consumption of olive pomace oil was positively associated with a low ABI (OR 1.22 95% CI [1.00, 1.48]). Conclusions: In a Mediterranean population at high cardiovascular risk, total olive oil consumption was associated with a higher mean ABI. These results suggest that olive oil consumption may be beneficial for peripheral artery disease prevention, but longitudinal studies are needed