Misreporting of energy and micronutrient intake estimated by food records and 24 hour recalls, control and adjustment methods in practice

In order to assess nutritional adequacy, valid estimates of nutrient intake are required. One of the main errors in dietary assessment is misreporting. The objective was to review the extent, nature and determinants of misreporting in dietary assessment, how this affects reported intakes of micronutrients and how this is identified and measured, and to identify the best ways of dealing with misreporting when interpreting results. A systematic literature search was conducted for studies of misreporting of dietary intake in adults by 24 hour recalls or by estimated or weighed food records, published up to March 2008. Thirty-seven relevant studies were identified. Possible causes of misreporting were identified. Methods most used to identify misreporting were the Goldberg cut-off (46 % studies) and the doubly labelled water technique (24 % studies). The magnitude of misreporting of energy intake was similar in all three dietary assessment methods. The percentage of under-reporters was about 30 % and energy intake was underestimated by approximately 15 %. Seven papers presented usable data for micronutrient intake. Absolute intakes of Fe, Ca and vitamin C (the three micronutrients addressed in all papers) were on average 30 % lower in low-energy reporters (LER) than that in non-LER and, although results were not consistent, there was a tendency for micronutrient density to be higher in LER. Excluding underreporters or using energy adjustment methods for micronutrient intakes is discussed. Residual method of energy adjustment seems to be a good tool for practice to decrease an influence of misreporting when interpreting results of studies based on food records and 24 hour recall

Pair Correlations, Short Range Order and Dispersive Excitations in the Quasi-Kagome Quantum Magnet Volborthite

We present spatial and dynamic information on the s=1/2 distorted kagome antiferromagnet volborthite, Cu3V2O7(OD)2.2D2O, obtained by polarized and inelastic neutron scattering. The instantaneous structure factor, S(Q), is dominated by nearest neighbor pair correlations, with short range order at wave vectors Q1=0.65(3) {\AA}^-1 and Q2=1.15(5) {\AA}^-1 emerging below 5 K. The excitation spectrum, S(Q,{\omega}), reveals two steep branches dispersing from Q1 and Q2, and a flat mode at {\omega}=5.0(2) meV. The results allow us to identify the cross-over at T*=1 K in 51V NMR and specific heat measurements as the build-up of correlations at Q_1. We compare our data to theoretical models proposed for volborthite, and demonstrate that the excitation spectrum can be explained by spin-wave-like excitations with anisotropic exchange parameters, as also suggested by recent local density calculations.Comment: Rewritten article resubmitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. 021

Scaling of polymers in aligned rods

We study the behavior of self avoiding polymers in a background of vertically aligned rods that are either frozen into random positions or free to move horizontally. We find that in both cases the polymer chains are highly elongated, with vertical and horizontal size exponents that differ by a factor of 3. Though these results are different than previous predictions, our results are confirmed by detailed computer simulations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Evidence for precession of the isolated neutron star RX J0720.4-3125

The XMM-Newton spectra of the isolated neutron star RX J0720.4-3125 obtained over 4.5 years can be described by sinusoidal variations in the inferred blackbody temperature, the size of the emitting area and the depth of the absorption line with a period of 7.1 +/- 0.5 years, which we suggest to be the precession period of the neutron star. Precession of a neutron star with two hot spots of different temperature and size, probably not located exactly in antipodal positions, may account for the variations in the X-ray spectra, changes in the pulsed fraction, shape of the light curve and the phase-lag between soft and hard energy bands observed from RX J0720.4-3125. An independent sinusoidal fit to published and new pulse timing residuals from a coherent analysis covering ~12 years yields a consistent period of 7.7 +/- 0.6 years supporting the precession model.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A Letters, 5 pages, 5 figure

Theory of interlayer exchange interactions in magnetic multilayers

This paper presents a review of the phenomenon of interlayer exchange coupling in magnetic multilayers. The emphasis is put on a pedagogical presentation of the mechanism of the phenomenon, which has been successfully explained in terms of a spin-dependent quantum confinement effect. The theoretical predictions are discussed in connection with corresponding experimental investigations.Comment: 18 pages, 4 PS figures, LaTeX with IOP package; v2: ref. added. Further (p)reprints available from http://www.mpi-halle.de/~theory

Cantor type functions in non-integer bases

Cantor's ternary function is generalized to arbitrary base-change functions in non-integer bases. Some of them share the curious properties of Cantor's function, while others behave quite differently

Historical urban growth in Europe (1300–1800)

This paper analyses the evolution of the European urban system from a long-term perspective (from 1300 to 1800). Using the method recently proposed by Clauset, Shalizi, and Newman, a Pareto-type city size distribution (power law) is rejected from 1300 to 1600. A power law is a plausible model for the city size distribution only in 1700 and 1800, although the log-normal distribution is another plausible alternative model that we cannot reject. Moreover, the random growth of cities is rejected using parametric and non-parametric methods. The results reveal a clear pattern of convergent growth in all the periods