The authors aimed to evaluate the association of the traditional Mediterranean diet and major food groups with incidence of and mortality from cerebrovascular disease (CBVD) in a Mediterranean ...population. The study population was a cohort of 23,601 participants from the Greek segment of the EPIC Study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) who were free of cardiovascular diseases and cancer at baseline (1994-1999). Diet was assessed by means of a validated food frequency questionnaire. A 10-point scale integrating key Mediterranean diet characteristics was used to assess the participants' degree of adherence to this diet. During a median follow-up period of 10.6 years (1994-2009), 395 confirmed incident cases and 196 deaths from CBVD were recorded. Using Cox proportional hazards regression and adjusting for potential confounders, increased adherence to the Mediterranean diet, as measured by 2-point increments in score, was inversely associated with CBVD incidence (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.85, 95% confidence interval: 0.74, 0.96) and mortality (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.73, 1.06). These inverse trends were mostly evident among women and with respect to ischemic rather than hemorrhagic CBVD and were largely driven by consumption of vegetables, legumes, and olive oil. These data provide support for an inverse association of adherence to the Mediterranean diet with CBVD incidence and mortality.
Objective To examine the association between pre-diagnostic circulating vitamin D concentration, dietary intake of vitamin D and calcium, and the risk of colorectal cancer in European ...populations.Design Nested case-control study.Setting The study was conducted within the EPIC study, a cohort of more than 520 000 participants from 10 western European countries.Participants 1248 cases of incident colorectal cancer, which developed after enrolment into the cohort, were matched to 1248 controlsMain outcome measures Circulating vitamin D concentration (25-hydroxy-vitamin-D, 25-(OH)D) was measured by enzyme immunoassay. Dietary and lifestyle data were obtained from questionnaires. Incidence rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the risk of colorectal cancer by 25-(OH)D concentration and levels of dietary calcium and vitamin D intake were estimated from multivariate conditional logistic regression models, with adjustment for potential dietary and other confounders.Results 25-(OH)D concentration showed a strong inverse linear dose-response association with risk of colorectal cancer (P for trend <0.001). Compared with a pre-defined mid-level concentration of 25-(OH)D (50.0-75.0 nmol/l), lower levels were associated with higher colorectal cancer risk (<25.0 nmol/l: incidence rate ratio 1.32 (95% confidence interval 0.87 to 2.01); 25.0-49.9 nmol/l: 1.28 (1.05 to 1.56), and higher concentrations associated with lower risk (75.0-99.9 nmol/l: 0.88 (0.68 to 1.13); ≥100.0 nmol/l: 0.77 (0.56 to 1.06)). In analyses by quintile of 25-(OH)D concentration, patients in the highest quintile had a 40% lower risk of colorectal cancer than did those in the lowest quintile (P<0.001). Subgroup analyses showed a strong association for colon but not rectal cancer (P for heterogeneity=0.048). Greater dietary intake of calcium was associated with a lower colorectal cancer risk. Dietary vitamin D was not associated with disease risk. Findings did not vary by sex and were not altered by corrections for season or month of blood donation.Conclusions The results of this large observational study indicate a strong inverse association between levels of pre-diagnostic 25-(OH)D concentration and risk of colorectal cancer in western European populations. Further randomised trials are needed to assess whether increases in circulating 25-(OH)D concentration can effectively decrease the risk of colorectal cancer.
Motivation: Fabrication of synthetic biological systems is greatly enhanced by incorporating engineering design principles and techniques such as computer-aided design. To this end, the ongoing ...standardization of biological parts presents an opportunity to develop libraries of standard virtual parts in the form of mathematical models that can be combined to inform system design. Results: We present an online Repository, populated with a collection of standardized models that can readily be recombined to model different biological systems using the inherent modularity support of the CellML 1.1 model exchange format. The applicability of this approach is demonstrated by modeling gold-medal winning iGEM machines. Availability and Implementation: The Repository is available online as part of http://models.cellml.org. We hope to stimulate the worldwide community to reuse and extend the models therein, and contribute to the Repository of Standard Virtual Parts thus founded. Systems Model architecture information for the Systems Model described here, along with an additional example and a tutorial, is also available as Supplementary information. The example Systems Model from this manuscript can be found at http://models.cellml.org/workspace/bugbuster. The Template models used in the example can be found at http://models.cellml.org/workspace/SVP_Templates200906. Contact: m.cooling@auckland.ac.nz Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Objective: To describe dietary protein intakes and their food sources among 27 redefined centres in 10 countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition ...(EPIC). Methods: Between 1995 and 2000, 36 034 persons, aged between 35 and 74 years, were administered a standardized 24-h dietary recall (24-HDR) using a computerized interview software programme (EPIC-SOFT). Intakes (g/day) of total, animal and plant proteins were estimated using the standardized EPIC Nutrient Database (ENDB). Mean intakes were adjusted for age, and weighted by season and day of recall. Results: Mean total and animal protein intakes were highest in the Spanish centres among men, and in the Spanish and French centres among women; the lowest mean intakes were observed in the UK health-conscious group, in Greek men and women, and in women in Potsdam. Intake of plant protein was highest among the UK health-conscious group, followed by some of the Italian centres and Murcia, whereas Sweden and Potsdam had the lowest intake. Cereals contributed to the highest proportion of plant protein in all centres. The combined intake of legumes, vegetables and fruit contributed to a greater proportion of plant protein in the southern than in the northern centres. Total meat intake (with some heterogeneity across subtypes of meat) was, with few exceptions, the most important contributor to animal protein in all centres, followed by dairy and fish products. Conclusions: This study shows that intake of protein, especially of animal origin, differs across the 10 European countries, and also shows some differences in food sources of protein across Europe.
Objectives: This paper describes the dietary intake of total fat, saturated (SFA), monounsaturated (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and cholesterol of participants in the European ...Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) in 27 centres across 10 countries. Methods: Between 1995 and 2000, a stratified random sample of 36 034 participants (age range 35–74 years) completed a standardized 24-h dietary recall, assessed by means of the computer software EPIC-SOFT. Lipid intake data were calculated using a standardized nutrient database. Results: On average, the contribution of fat to total energy intake was >or= 34% of energy intake (%en) in women and >or= 36%en in men for most EPIC centres, except for the British, Dutch and most Italian cohorts. Total fat (>40%en) and MUFA intakes (21%en, mainly from olive oil) were highest in Greece. Except for the Greek, Spanish and Italian centres, the average MUFA intake ranged between 10 and 13%en, with a high proportion derived from animal sources. SFA intake in women and men was lowest in the Greek, Spanish, Italian and UK cohorts with an average of <or= 13%en (down to 9%en), and highest in the Swedish centres (16%en). The mean PUFA intake was in the range of 4–8%en, being highest in the UK health-conscious cohort. The average cholesterol intake across EPIC varied from 140 to 384 mg/d in women and 215–583 mg/d in men. Conclusions: The presented data show differences and similarities in lipid intake across the European EPIC cohorts and also show differences in food sources of dietary lipids.
Objective: The human microbiome is essential in maintaining healthy physiology; compositional changes have been implicated in numerous physical and mental diseases. Thus far, COVID-19 microbiome ...research has focused primarily upon gut and lung bacterial communities. However, the early stages of COVID-19 infection and immune response occur in the nasal epithelium. Therefore, investigating nasal microbiome changes in early-stage COVID-19 may yield key insights into the immune system mechanisms involved in progression from mild/no symptoms to systemic organ failure/death, why this occurs in certain individuals, and how it may be prevented with early warning. Patients and Methods: Here we repurposed existing RNA-seq data to characterise the human nasal microbiome in COVID-19 infected samples and compared the taxonomic profile to healthy control and influenza-infected control samples, to identify COVID-19 specific nasal microbiome changes and attempt to rationalise these in the context of what is already known regarding mechanisms of the immune response to COVID-19. Results: We demonstrate that existing RNA-seq reads from human nasal swabs can be repurposed to characterize the human nasal microbiome robustly and accurately in health, early-stage COVID-19, and influenza. We observe that nasal microbiome composition (presence and abundance of phyla, genera, and species) significantly differs between health and disease, and between COVID-19 and influenza. Conclusions: Our observed healthy nasal microbial profiles match the findings of previous research, demonstrating that repurposing existing RNA-seq data is as accurate as targeted methods for taxonomic classification. We also observed many differential changes in the nasal microbiome profile to be disease specific. This will be key to enabling the potential for differential diagnosis based upon nasal microbiome profiles in the future.
A higher intake of fruits and vegetables has been associated with a lower risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), but there is some uncertainty about the interpretation of this association. The ...objective was to assess the relation between fruit and vegetable intake and risk of mortality from IHD in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Heart study.
After an average of 8.4 years of follow-up, there were 1636 deaths from IHD among 313 074 men and women without previous myocardial infarction or stroke from eight European countries. Participants consuming at least eight portions (80 g each) of fruits and vegetables a day had a 22% lower risk of fatal IHD relative risk (RR) = 0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.65-0.95 compared with those consuming fewer than three portions a day. After calibration of fruit and vegetable intake to account for differences in dietary assessment between the participating centres, a one portion (80 g) increment in fruit and vegetable intake was associated with a 4% lower risk of fatal IHD (RR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.92-1.00, P for trend = 0.033).
Results from this large observational study suggest that a higher intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with a reduced risk of IHD mortality. Whether this association is causal and, if so, the biological mechanism(s) by which fruits and vegetables operate to lower IHD risks remains unclear.
Biological systems are inherently stochastic, a fact which is often ignored when simulating genetic circuits. Synthetic biology aims to design genetic circuits de novo, and cannot therefore afford to ...ignore the effects of stochastic behavior. Since computational design tools will be essential for large-scale synthetic biology, it is important to develop an understanding of the role of stochasticity in molecular biology, and incorporate this understanding into computational tools for genetic circuit design. We report upon an investigation into the combination of evolutionary algorithms and stochastic simulation for genetic circuit design, to design regulatory systems based on the Bacillus subtilis sin operon.
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