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Trees play a key role in the structure and function of many ecosystems worldwide. In the Mediterranean Basin, forests cover approximately 22% of the total land area hosting a large number of endemics (46 species). Despite its particularities and vulnerability, the biodiversity of Mediterranean trees is not well known at the taxonomic, spatial, functional, and genetic levels required for conservation applications. The WOODIV database fills this gap by providing reliable occurrences, four functional traits (plant height, seed mass, wood density, and specific leaf area), and sequences from three DNA-regions (rbcL, matK, and trnH-psbA), together with modelled occurrences and a phylogeny for all 210 Euro-Mediterranean tree species. We compiled, homogenized, and verified occurrence data from sparse datasets and collated them on an INSPIRE-compliant 10 × 10 km grid. We also gathered functional trait and genetic data, filling existing gaps where possible. The WOODIV database can benefit macroecological studies in the fields of conservation, biogeography, and community ecology. Labex OT-Med n ANR-11-LABX-0061

Aim: The aim of this study was to carry out a bibliometric analysis of breast cancer studies in the field of nursing conducted between 2009 and 2018 and to reveal the trends, dynamics and scientific outputs in the field. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was performed using CiteSpace II software to determine the characteristics of research incorporated in the international citation indexes and published in breast cancer research in the context of nursing studies. In the Web of Science database, the subjects of breast cancer and nursing were selected, and a total of 2,734 articles published in the last decade were reviewed. Results: There was an increase in the number of publications after 2014. The United States had the highest level of country collaborations and the highest degree of centrality. The most densely researched topic in the largest subject cluster was breast cancer. The most commonly used keywords were breast cancer, quality of life and women. Conclusion: Breast cancer research in the field of nursing has increased in the last decade, and the United States ranked first in terms of publications in this nursing field. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd

Background Chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) is very rare in children. The aim of the study is to report the experience within the I-CML-Ped study in children and adolescents presenting at diagnosis with advanced phase disease and to describe their characteristics and outcomes. Methods Of 479 children and adolescents enrolled in the international registry for childhood chronic myeloid leukaemia (I-CML-Ped Study; www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01281735 ), 36 children (7.5%) presented at initial diagnosis with CML in advanced phase according to the European LeukemiaNet criteria. Results Nineteen (4%) patients were diagnosed in accelerated phase (CML-AP), and among the 17 patients (3.5%) diagnosed in blastic phase (CML-BP), 70% presented with lymphoid immunophenotype. Initial treatment of CML-AP/CML-BP consisted of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) with or without chemotherapy, leading to complete haematologic response in 33 of 36 (92%) patients. Seventeen patients proceeded to haematopoietic stem cell transplantation. At the last follow-up, 18 of 19 patients with de novo CML-AP are alive in at least major molecular response (MMR) (n = 16), in progression (n = 1) or in molecular relapse (n = 1) and 13 of 17 patients with de novo CML-BP are alive in at least MMR. Five-year overall survival rates are 94% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 66%–99%) and 74% (95% CI: 44%–89%) for patients diagnosed in CML-AP and CML-BP, respectively. Conclusion Children with advanced phase at diagnosis of CML seem to have a better survival rate than that reported for advanced phases evolving under TKI treatment.

The BioDoseNet was founded by the World Health Organization as a global network of biodosimetry laboratories for building biodosimetry laboratory capacities in countries. The newly established BioDoseNet image repository is a databank of ~25 000 electronically captured images of metaphases from the dicentric assay, which have been previously analysed by international experts. The detailed scoring results and dose estimations have, in most cases, already been published. The compilation of these images into one image repository provides a valuable tool for training and research purposes in biological dosimetry. No special software is needed to view and score the image galleries. For those new to the dicentric assay, the BioDoseNet Image Repository provides an introduction to and training for the dicentric assay. It is an excellent instrument for intra-laboratory training purposes or inter-comparisons between laboratories, as recommended by the International Organization for Standardisation standards. In the event of a radiation accident, the repository can also increase the surge capacity and reduce the turnaround time for dose estimations. Finally, it provides a mechanism for the discussion of scoring discrepancies in difficult cases. © The Author 2016.

Background: Isolated reports from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for surgical results in tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) are available. The International Quality Improvement Collaborative for Congenital Heart Disease (IQIC) seeks to improve surgical results promoting reductions in infection and mortality in LMICs. Methods: All cases of TOF in the IQIC database performed between 2010 and 2014 at 32 centers in 20 LMICs were included. Excluded from the analysis were TOF with any associated lesions. A logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors for in-hospital mortality after surgery for TOF. Results: A total of 2,164 patients were identified. There were 1,839 initial primary repairs, 200 with initial systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt, and 125 underwent secondary repair after initial palliation. Overall mortality was 3.6% (78 of 2,164), initial primary repair was 3.3% (60 of 1,839), initial systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt was 8.0% (16 of 200), and secondary repair was 1.6% (2 of 125; p = 0.003). Major infections occurred in 5.9% (128 of 2,164) of the entire cohort. Risk factors for death after the initial primary repair were oxygen saturation less than 90% and weight/body mass index for age below the fifth percentile (p less than 0.001). The initial primary repair occurred after age 1 year in 54% (991 of 1,839). Older age at initial primary repair was not a risk factor for death (p = 0.21). Conclusions: TOF patients are often operated on after age 1 year in LMICs. Unlike in developed countries, older age is not a risk factor for death. Nutritional and hypoxemic status were associated with higher mortality and infection. This information fills a critical knowledge gap for surgery in LMIC. © 2018 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

Рассмотрено решение задач по созданию структуры и формированию базы данных наилучших доступных технологий (БД НДТ), а также информационного сервиса представления БД в среде Интернет с использованием модулей стандартного библиотечного программного обеспечения «ИРБИС». Представлен механизм создания структуры и формирования БД на основе анализа данных разработанных анкет для разработчиков технологий. Предложено решение задачи представления удаленного досту-па к БД НДТ с алгоритмом действий по корректировке форм интерфейсов поиска и вывода данных с использованием ПО «Web-ИРБИС». Предложен алгоритм преобразования информации анкет в формат экспорта данных в «Web-ИРБИС» с возможностью переиндексации полей и формированием специализирован-ных рубрикаторов. Данная разработка позволяет эффективно и оперативно разрабатывать структуру БД для формирования информационных ресурсов как при научных исследованиях, так и в образовательном процессе. БД НДТ размещена на серверном оборудовании ФГБНУ «Росинформагротех» (http://89.222. 235.178/cgi-bin/WebIrbis3/Search1.exe?C21COM=Enter& I21DBN =NDTN).The article discusses the problem solution on structure creation and generation of a database of the best accessible technologies (DB BAT) as well as an information service of the DB representation in the Internet using modules of the "IRBIS" standard library software. The mechanism of structure creation and the DB generation on a basis of the questionnaires data analysis for developers of technologies is presented. The problem solution of representing remote access to the BD BAT with an algorithm for correcting the forms of data search and output interfaces using the "Web-IRBIS" software is proposed. An algorithm of questionnaire information transform in data export format in "Web-IRBIS” with the possibility of reindexing of fields and generation of specialized Rubricator is propo-sed. This creation makes it possible to develop a DB structure effectively and quickly for information resources generation, both in research and educational processes. The DB BAT is available on the server hardware of FGBNU "Rosinformagrotekh" (http://89.222. 235.178/cgi bin/WebIrbis3/Search1.exe? C21COM=Enter&I21DBN=NDTN).

Introduction The influence of age and gender in the electrical charge delivered in a given population was analysed using an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) clinical database. Material and method An observational, prospective, longitudinal study with descriptive analysis was performed using data from a database that included total bilateral frontotemporal ECT carried out with a Mecta spECTrum 5000Q® in our hospital over 6 years. From 2006 to 2012, a total of 4,337 ECT were performed on 187 patients. Linear regression using mixed effects analysis was weighted by the inverse of the number of ECT performed on each patient per year of treatment. Results The results indicate that age is related with changes in the required charge (P = .031), as such that the older the age a higher charge is needed. Gender is also associated with changes in charge (P = .014), with women requiring less charge than men, a mean of 87.3 mC less. When the effects of age and gender are included in the same model, both are significant (P = .0080 and P = .0041). Thus, for the same age, women require 99.0 mC less charge than men, and in both genders the charge increases by 2.3 mC per year. Conclusions From our study, it is concluded that the effect of age on the dosage of the electrical charge is even more significant when related to gender. It would be of interest to promote the systematic collection of data for a better understanding and application of the technique. © 2015 SEP y SEPB

Background: Systematic reviews provide the best evidence on the effect of health care interventions. They rely on comprehensive access to the available scientific literature. Electronic search strategies alone may not suffice, requiring the implementation of a handsearching approach. We have developed a database to provide an Internet-based platform from which handsearching activities can be coordinated, including a procedure to streamline the submission of these references into CENTRAL, the Cochrane Collaboration Central Register of Controlled Trials. Methods: We developed a database and a descriptive analysis. Through brainstorming and discussion among stakeholders involved in handsearching projects, we designed a database that met identified needs that had to be addressed in order to ensure the viability of handsearching activities. Three handsearching teams pilot tested the proposed database. Once the final version of the database was approved, we proceeded to train the staff involved in handsearching. Results: The proposed database is called BADERI (Database of Iberoamerican Clinical Trials and Journals, by its initials in Spanish). BADERI was officially launched in October 2015, and it can be accessed at www.baderi.com/login.php free of cost. BADERI has an administration subsection, from which the roles of users are managed; a references subsection, where information associated to identified controlled clinical trials (CCTs) can be entered; a reports subsection, from which reports can be generated to track and analyse the results of handsearching activities; and a built-in free text search engine. BADERI allows all references to be exported in ProCite files that can be directly uploaded into CENTRAL. To date, 6284 references to CCTs have been uploaded to BADERI and sent to CENTRAL. The identified CCTs were published in a total of 420 journals related to 46 medical specialties. The year of publication ranged between 1957 and 2016. Conclusions: BADERI allows the efficient management of handsearching activities across different countries and institutions. References to all CCTs available in BADERI can be readily submitted to CENTRAL for their potential inclusion in systematic reviews. © 2017 The Author(s).

[No abstract available], ResMed Foundation; Philips; European Respiratory Society, ERS; Fondation Air Liquide, Conflict of interest: A. Pataka has nothing to disclose. M.R. Bonsignore has nothing to disclose. S. Ryan has nothing to disclose. R.L. Riha has nothing to disclose. J-L. Pepin reports grants and research funds from Air Liquide Foundation, Agiradom, AstraZeneca, Fisher and Paykel, Mutualia, Philips, Resmed and Vitalaire, personal fees from Agiradom, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Jazz Pharmaceutical, Night Balance, Philips, Resmed and Sefam. S. Schiza has nothing to disclose. O.K. Basoglu has nothing to disclose. P. Sliwinski has nothing to disclose. O. Ludka has nothing to disclose. P. Steiropoulos has nothing to disclose. U. Anttalainen has nothing to disclose. W.T. McNicholas has nothing to disclose. J. Hedner reports grants from ResMed Foundation, Philips Respironics and the European Respiratory Society, for start-up and conduct of the study. L. Grote reports grants from Resmed Foundation and Respironics Foundation, during the conduct of the study; personal fees for lecturing from Resmed, Philips and Itamar, grants from Resmed, other (equipment) from Itamar, outside the submitted work; in addition, L. Grote has a patent for sleep apnoea treatment pending., Support statement: The ESADA network has received support from the European Union COST action B26 and is currently a Clinical Research Collaboration funded by the European Respiratory Society. Additionally, the ESADA study group has received unrestricted seeding grants from the ResMed and the Philips Respironics Foundation for the establishment of the database in 2007 and 2011. The ESADA has an ongoing collaboration with Bayer AG. Non-financial support was provided by the European Sleep Research Society and the European Respiratory Society for communication, meetings and data presentations for the ESADA collaborators.

In minimally invasive image-guided interventions, different imaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and 3-D ultrasound (US), can provide complementary, multispectral image information. Dynamic image registration is a well-established approach that permits real-time diagnostic information to be enhanced by placing lower-quality real-time images within a high quality anatomical context. For the guidance of cardiac interventions, it would be valuable to register dynamic MRI or CT with intra-operative US. However, in practice, either the high computational cost prohibits such real-time visualization, or else the resulting image quality is not satisfactory for accurate interventional guidance. Modern graphics processing units (GPUs) provide the programmability, parallelism and increased computational precision to address this problem. In this paper, we first outline our research on dynamic 3-D cardiac MR and US image acquisition, real-time dual-modality registration and US tracking. Next, we describe our contributions on image processing and optimization techniques for 4-D (3-D + time) cardiac image rendering, and our GPU-accelerated methodologies for multimodality 4-D medical image visualization and optical blending, along with real-time synchronization of dual-modality dynamic cardiac images. Finally, multiple transfer functions, various image composition schemes, and an extended window-level setting and adjustment approach are proposed and applied to facilitate the dynamic volumetric MR and US cardiac data exploration and enhance the feature of interest of US image that is usually restricted to a narrow voxel intensity range. © 2012 IEEE.

Introduction In an increasingly digital age for healthcare around the world, administrative data have become rich and accessible tools for potentially identifying and monitoring population trends in diseases including epilepsy. However, it remains unclear (1) how accurate administrative data are at identifying epilepsy within a population and (2) the optimal algorithms needed for administrative data to correctly identify people with epilepsy within a population. To address this knowledge gap, we will conduct a novel systematic review of all identified studies validating administrative healthcare data in epilepsy identification. We provide here a protocol that will outline the methods and analyses planned for the systematic review. Methods and analysis The systematic review described in this protocol will be conducted to follow the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. MEDLINE and Embase will be searched for studies validating administrative data in epilepsy published from 1975 to current (01 June 2018). Included studies will validate the International Classification of Disease (ICD), Ninth Revision (ICD-9) onwards (ie, ICD-9 code 345 and ICD-10 codes G40–G41) as well as other non-ICD disease classification systems used, such as Read Codes in the UK. The primary outcome will be providing pooled estimates of accuracy for identifying epilepsy within the administrative databases validated using sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curves. Heterogeneity will be assessed using the I2 statistic and descriptive analyses used where this is present. The secondary outcome will be the optimal administrative data algorithms for correctly identifying epilepsy. These will be identified using multivariable logistic regression models. 95% confidence intervals will be quoted throughout. We will make an assessment of risk of bias, quality of evidence, and completeness of reporting for included studies. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval is not required as primary data will not be collected. Results will be disseminated in peer-reviewed journals, conference presentations and in press releases. PROSPERO registration CRD42017081212.

Objective: To describe the magnitude and characteristics of crashes and drivers involved in head-on crashes on two-way interurban roads in Spain between 2007 and 2012, and to identify the factors associated with the likelihood of head-on crashes on these roads compared with other types of crash. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using the National Crash Register. The dependent variables were head-on crashes with injury (yes/no) and drivers involved in head-on crashes (yes/no). Factors associated with head-on crashes and with being a driver involved in a head-on crash versus other types of crash were studied using a multivariate robust Poisson regression model to estimate proportion ratios (PR) and confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: There were 9,192 head-on crashes on two-way Spanish interurban roads. A total of 15,412 men and 3,862 women drivers were involved. Compared with other types of crash, head-on collisions were more likely on roads 7 m or more wide, on road sections with curves, narrowings or drop changes, on wet or snowy surfaces, and in twilight conditions. Transgressions committed by drivers involved in head-on crashes were driving in the opposite direction and incorrectly overtaking another vehicle. Factors associated with a lower probability of head-on crashes were the existence of medians (PR = 0.57; 95%CI: 0.48-0.68) and a paved shoulder of less than 1.5 meters (PR = 0.81; 95%CI: 0.77-0.86) or from 1.5 to 2.45 meters (PR = 0.90; 95%CI: 0.84-0.96). Conclusions: This study allowed the characterization of crashes and drivers involved in head-on crashes on two-way interurban roads. The lower probability observed on roads with median strips point to these measures as an effective way to reduce these collisions. Objetivo: Métodos: Resultados: Conclusiones: © 2014 SESPAS.

There are several types of Diagnostic Decision Support Systems (DDSS) but all move towards a common direction: provide assistance to the doctors/clinicians to make the right diagnosis for a specific patient, minimizing as much as possible the needed time for this. In doing so, some DDSS systems exploit existing crisp medical databases while others take an advantage of human knowledge and experience, by building fuzzy medical databases from scratch. It would be of interest though, as well as time saving, to combine these two together and examine how one can actually use an existing crisp medical dataset to transform it into a new fuzzy medical database with parameters being expressed and defined based on the clinicians' way of thinking. A methodology implementing this task is proposed in this paper accompanied by the results of its application on a real crisp medical database. © 2015 The authors and IOS Press. All rights reserved. 213 83 86 Sponsors: Conference code: 116950 Cited By :1

WOS: 000351056100052 PubMed: 25422229 Introduction: Human adiponectin (ApN) is a 30 kDa glycoprotein of 244-amino acids which is extensively produced by adipocytes. ApN acts via two receptors, namely adiponectin receptor-1 (Adipo-R1) and adiponectin receptor-2 (Adipo-R2). Studies have shown the presence of Adipo-R1 and Adipo-R2 expression immunohistochemically in human colorectal cancers (CRCs). However, only a few studies exist which investigated effects of adiponectin receptor expression on CRC characteristics. Objectives: In the present study, we aimed to explore Adipo-R1/-R2 expression in human colorectal cancers and any association with clinicopathological characteristics and survival. Materials and Methods: The study enrolled 58 colorectal cancer patients with tumor resection and a control group of 30 subjects with normal colon mucosa. Results: Positivity for Adipo-R1/-R2 expression was significantly more common in the control group in comparison to the patient group (both p

The early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is very important for treatment research and patient care purposes. Few biomarkers are currently considered in clinical settings, and their use is still optional. The objective of this work was to determine whether multimodal and nonpreviously AD associated features could improve the classification accuracy between AD, MCI, and healthy controls, which may impact future AD biomarkers. For this, Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative database was mined for case-control candidates. At least 652 baseline features extracted from MRI and PET analyses, biological samples, and clinical data up to February 2014 were used. A feature selection methodology that includes a genetic algorithm search coupled to a logistic regression classifier and forward and backward selection strategies was used to explore combinations of features. This generated diagnostic models with sizes ranging from 3 to 8, including well documented AD biomarkers, as well as unexplored image, biochemical, and clinical features. Accuracies of 0.85, 0.79, and 0.80 were achieved for HC-AD, HC-MCI, and MCI-AD classifications, respectively, when evaluated using a blind test set. In conclusion, a set of features provided additional and independent information to well-established AD biomarkers, aiding in the classification of MCI and AD. © 2015 Antonio Martínez-Torteya et al.

Motivation: Availability of the sequences of entire genomes shifts the scientific curiosity towards the identification of function of the genomes in large scale as in genome studies. In the near future, data produced about cellular processes at molecular level will accumulate with an accelerating rate as a result of proteomics studies. In this regard, it is essential to develop tools for storing, integrating, accessing, and analyzing this data effectively. Results: We define an ontology for a comprehensive representation of cellular events. The ontology presented here enables integration of fragmented or incomplete pathway information and supports manipulation and incorporation of the stored data, as well as multiple levels of abstraction. Based on this ontology, we present the architecture of an integrated environment named Patika (Pathway Analysis Tool for Integration and Knowledge Acquisition). Patika is composed of a server-side, scalable, object-oriented database and client-side editors to provide an integrated, multi-user environment for visualizing and manipulating network of cellular events. This tool features automated pathway layout, functional computation support, advanced querying and a user-friendly graphical interface. We expect that Patika will be a valuable tool for rapid knowledge acquisition, microarray generated large-scale data interpretation, disease gene identification, and drug development. Availability: A prototype of Patika is available upon request from the authors. Contact: patika@cs.bilkent.edu.tr * To whom correspondence should be addressed.

The recent emergence of the high-efficiency video coding (HEVC) standard promises to deliver significant bitrate savings over current and prior video compression standards, while also supporting higher resolutions that can meet the clinical acquisition spatiotemporal settings. The effective application of HEVC to medical ultrasound necessitates a careful evaluation of strict clinical criteria that guarantee that clinical quality will not be sacrificed in the compression process. Furthermore, the potential use of despeckle filtering prior to compression provides for the possibility of significant additional bitrate savings that have not been previously considered. This paper provides a thorough comparison of the use of MPEG-2, H.263, MPEG-4, H.264/AVC, and HEVC for compressing atherosclerotic plaque ultrasound videos. For the comparisons, we use both subjective and objective criteria based on plaque structure and motion. For comparable clinical video quality, experimental evaluation on ten videos demonstrates that HEVC reduces bitrate requirements by as much as 33.2% compared to H.264/AVC and up to 71% compared to MPEG-2. The use of despeckle filtering prior to compression is also investigated as a method that can reduce bitrate requirements through the removal of higher frequency components without sacrificing clinical quality. Based on the use of three despeckle filtering methods with both H.264/AVC and HEVC, we find that prior filtering can yield additional significant bitrate savings. The best performing despeckle filter (DsFlsmv) achieves bitrate savings of 43.6% and 39.2% compared to standard nonfiltered HEVC and H.264/AVC encoding, respectively. © 2014 IEEE. 19 2 668 676 Cited By :8

Summary: Representing models of cellular processes or pathways in a graphically rich form facilitates interpretation of biological observations and generation of new hypotheses. Solving biological problems using large pathway datasets requires software that can combine data mapping, querying and visualization as well as providing access to diverse data resources on the Internet. ChiBE is an open source software application that features user-friendly multi-view display, navigation and manipulation of pathway models in BioPAX format. Pathway views are rendered in a feature-rich format, and may be laid out and edited with state-of-the-art visualization methods, including compound or nested structures for visualizing cellular compartments and molecular complexes. Users can easily query and visualize pathways through an integrated Pathway Commons query tool and analyze molecular profiles in pathway context. Availability: http://www.bilkent.edu.tr/%7Ebcbi/chibe.html Contact: ugur@cs.bilkent.edu.tr Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

The cBio Cancer Genomics Portal (http://cbioportal.org) is an open-access resource for interactive exploration of multidimensional cancer genomics data sets, currently providing access to data from more than 5,000 tumor samples from 20 cancer studies. The cBio Cancer Genomics Portal significantly lowers the barriers between complex genomic data and cancer researchers who want rapid, intuitive, and high-quality access to molecular profiles and clinical attributes from large-scale cancer genomics projects and empowers researchers to translate these rich data sets into biologic insights and clinical applications. Cancer Discov; 2(5); 401–4. ©2012 AACR.

The aim of this paper is to describe a novel and completely automated technique for carotid artery (CA) recognition, far (distal) wall segmentation, and intima-media thickness (IMT) measurement, which is a strong clinical tool for risk assessment for cardiovascular diseases. The architecture of completely automated multiresolution edge snapper (CAMES) consists of the following two stages: 1) automated CA recognition based on a combination of scale-space and statistical classification in a multiresolution framework and 2) automated segmentation of lumen-intima (LI) and media-adventitia (MA) interfaces for the far (distal) wall and IMT measurement. Our database of 365 B-mode longitudinal carotid images is taken from four different institutions covering different ethnic backgrounds. The ground-truth (GT) database was the average manual segmentation from three clinical experts. The mean distance ± standard deviation of CAMES with respect to GT profiles for LI and MA interfaces were 0.081 ± 0.099 and 0.082 ± 0.197 mm, respectively. The IMT measurement error between CAMES and GT was 0.078 ± 0.112 mm. CAMES was benchmarked against a previously developed automated technique based on an integrated approach using feature-based extraction and classifier (CALEX). Although CAMES underestimated the IMT value, it had shown a strong improvement in segmentation errors against CALEX for LI and MA interfaces by 8% and 42%, respectively. The overall IMT measurement bias for CAMES improved by 36% against CALEX. Finally, this paper demonstrated that the figure-of-merit of CAMES was 95.8% compared with 87.4% for CALEX. The combination of multiresolution CA recognition and far-wall segmentation led to an automated, low-complexity, real-time, and accurate technique for carotid IMT measurement. Validation on a multiethnic/multi-institutional data set demonstrated the robustness of the technique, which can constitute a clinically valid IMT measurement for assistance in atherosclerosis disease management. © 2011 IEEE. 21 3 1211 1222 Cited By :37

The web-based tool "Stoffenmanager" was initially developed to assist small- and medium-sized enterprises in the Netherlands to make qualitative risk assessments and to provide advice on control at the workplace. The tool uses a mechanistic model to arrive at a "Stoffenmanager score" for exposure. In a recent study it was shown that variability in exposure measurements given a certain Stoffenmanager score is still substantial. This article discusses an extension to the tool that uses a Bayesian methodology for quantitative workplace/scenario-specific exposure assessment. This methodology allows for real exposure data observed in the company of interest to be combined with the prior estimate (based on the Stoffenmanager model). The output of the tool is a company-specific assessment of exposure levels for a scenario for which data is available. The Bayesian approach provides a transparent way of synthesizing different types of information and is especially preferred in situations where available data is sparse, as is often the case in small- and medium sized-enterprises. Real-world examples as well as simulation studies were used to assess how different parameters such as sample size, difference between prior and data, uncertainty in prior, and variance in the data affect the eventual posterior distribution of a Bayesian exposure assessment.

The objective of the Vegetal Estrogens in Nutrition and the Skeleton (VENUS) project was to evaluate existing data on dietary exposure to compounds with oestrogenic and anti-oestrogenic effects present in plant foods as constituents or contaminants, and to identify and disseminate in vitro and in vivo methodologies to analyse the effects of such compounds on bone. To permit the assessment of exposure to isoflavones in European populations (Italy, the UK, Ireland, The Netherlands), the VENUS database of phyto-oestrogen levels in foods was established. Data on the isoflavone (genistein and daidzein) content of 791 foods, including almost 300 foods commonly consumed in Europe, were collected. Levels of coumestrol, formononetin and biochanin A in a limited number of foods were also included. Lignan levels (secoisolariciresinol and matairesinol) in 158 foods were incorporated into the database, which also contains information on the references sourced for the compositional data, on the analytical methods used by each author and on the number of foods analysed in each reference. The VENUS database was constructed in Microsoft® Access 2000, which is widely available as part of Microsoft® Office Professional. This paper outlines the procedures used for the selection and evaluation of existing literature data for incorporation into the database. In addition, the design of the database is described, along with the data entry and quality control procedures used in its construction. Limitations of the data are discussed and guidelines for its use are provided. Chemicals/CAS: biochanin A, 491-80-5; coumestrol, 479-13-0; daidzein, 486-66-8; formononetin, 485-72-3; genistein, 446-72-0; matairesinol, 580-72-3; secoisolariciresinol, 145265-02-7, 29388-59-8, 75365-01-4; Estrogens, Non-Steroidal; Isoflavones; Phytoestrogens; Plant Preparations

Objective:To examine the hypothesis that there is sufficient agreement between percentage of households purchasing selected foods using household budget surveys and percentage of individuals consuming these foods as determined in individual-based surveys to allow the former to act as a surrogate for the latter when estimating food chemical intakes using household budget data.Design:Database study.Setting:Databases from Sweden, The Netherlands, Ireland and the UK.Subjects:319 foods (Sweden n=60, The Netherlands n=80, Ireland n=90, UK n=89).Results:Pearson correlations demonstrated a high degree of linear association between % households purchasing and % consumers (r=0.86). Regression analysis defined a close positive relationship between the two datasets (slope 0.95, intercept +2.74). Across countries, using the regression equation, the % households predicted % consumers to within 5% of the true value for between 33 and 48% of foods and to within 10% for between 53 and 78% of foods.Conclusions:Values for % households can be used as a crude surrogate for % consumers and can thus play a role in improving estimates of food additive intake.

The aim of this study was to identify the level of isoflavone intake (total isoflavones, daidzein and genistein) in four European countries: Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK. For this purpose national food composition databases of isoflavone content were created in a comparable way, using the Vegetal Estrogens in Nutrition and the Skeleton (VENUS) analytical database as a common basis, and appropriate food consumption data were selected. The isoflavone intake in Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands and the UK is on average less than 1 mg/d. Small groups of consumers of soya foods could be identified in Ireland, The Netherlands and the UK. The estimated intake levels are low compared with those found in typical Asian diets (∼20-100 mg/d) and also low compared with levels where physiological effects are expected (60-100 mg/d). The results (including a subgroup analysis of soya product consumers) showed that such levels are difficult to achieve with the European diets studied here. Chemicals/CAS: daidzein, 486-66-8; genistein, 446-72-0; isoflavone, 574-12-9; daidzein, 486-66-8; Genistein, 446-72-0; Isoflavones