To evaluate the effects of gender, apolipoprotein E phenotype and cholesterol absorption and synthesis (estimated as serum plant sterol and cholesterol precursor sterol concentrations) on the ...cholesterol-lowering effect of plant stanol esters in children.
Eighty-one healthy, normocholesterolaemic 6-y-old children (45 boys) were recruited from the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP), a randomized prospective trial aiming at atherosclerosis prevention in childhood. This placebo-controlled, double-blind, cross-over study comprised two 3-mo study periods and a 6-wk wash-out period. During the study periods, 20 g of the children's daily dietary fat intake was replaced with plant stanol ester margarine or control margarine.
In boys, plant stanol esters reduced serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations by 6% (0.09 to 0.42 mmol/L) and 9% (0.09 to 0.36 mmol/L), respectively (p < 0.01 for both). In girls, the decreases in concentrations were 4% (0.03 to 0.38 mmol/L) and 6% (0.02 to 0.32 mmol/l) (p < 0.05 for both). The response rate did not differ between the genders. Serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations decreased by 6% and 8% (p < 0.01 for both), respectively, in both children with the apolipoprotein E 3/4 or 4/4 (apoE4+) phenotype and the apolipoprotein E 2/3 or 3/3 (apoE4-) phenotype. Cholesterol absorption decreased both in the apoE4+ children and in the apoE4- children, but cholesterol synthesis consistently increased in the apoE4+ children only.
Plant stanol esters reduce serum cholesterol concentration in healthy children irrespective of their gender or apoE4 phenotype.
STRIP (the Special Turku coronary Risk factor Intervention Project) is an ongoing intervention trial which aims at a permanent reduction in the intake of saturated fat and cholesterol starting in ...childhood. A total of 75 intervention and 63 control children was studied consecutively at the ages of 7 and 13 mo, and 2, 3 and 5 y to evaluate the influence of such intervention on serum cholesterol ester (CE) fatty acid composition, a widely used biomarker of fatty acid intake. Analysis of 4‐d food records showed that total intake of fat and of saturated fat increased with age in both groups of children but was constantly lower in intervention than in control children, e.g. at the age of 5 y the mean intakes of total fat and of saturated fatty acids were 31.1 E% and 33.9 E% and 12.1 E% and 14.6E% in intervention and control children, respectively (p = 0.009 and 0.0001, respectively). Serum CE fatty acid compositions did not differ between the 2 groups at any age; the mean proportion of CE linoleic acid was 52.4% and 52.0% in 5‐y‐old intervention and control children, respectively. Correlation analysis showed, however, that the percentage of linoleic acid and of polyunsaturated fatty acids in CE reflected well the respective dietary intakes (r= 0.36; p = 0.0001 for both coefficients).
In conclusion, CE fatty acid composition did not differ between the intervention and control groups, whereas CE linoleic and total polyunsaturated fatty acids reflected well the differences in their intakes at the individual level.
Aim: To evaluate the effects of gender, apolipoprotein E phenotype and cholesterol absorption and synthesis (estimated as serum plant sterol and cholesterol precursor sterol concentrations) on the ...cholesterol‐lowering effect of plant stanol esters in children. Methods: Eighty‐one healthy, normocholesterolaemic 6‐y‐old children (45 boys) were recruited from the Special Turku Coronary Risk Factor Intervention Project (STRIP), a randomized prospective trial aiming at atherosclerosis prevention in childhood. This placebo‐controlled, double‐blind, cross‐over study comprised two 3‐mo study periods and a 6‐wk wash‐out period. During the study periods, 20 g of the children's daily dietary fat intake was replaced with plant stanol ester margarine or control margarine. Results: In boys, plant stanol esters reduced serum total and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations by 6% (0.09 to 0.42mmol/L) and 9% (0.09 to 0.36mmol/L), respectively (p > 0.01 for both). In girls, the decreases in concentrations were 4% (0.03 to 0.38 mmol/L) and 6% (0.02 to 0.32 mmol/1) (p > 0.05 for both). The response rate did not differ between the genders. Serum total and low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations decreased by 6% and 8% (p > 0.01 for both), respectively, in both children with the apolipoprotein E 3/4 or 4/4 (apoE4+) phenotype and the apolipoprotein E 2/3 or 3/3 (apoE4—) phenotype. Cholesterol absorption decreased both in the apoE4+ children and in the apoE4— children, but cholesterol synthesis consistently increased in the apoE4+ children only.
Conclusion: Plant stanol esters reduce serum cholesterol concentration in healthy children irrespective of their gender or apoE4 phenotype.
The European Union funded project MICEV aims at improving the traceability of electrical and magnetic measurement at charging stations and to better assess the safety of this technology with respect ...to human exposure. The paper describes some limits of the instrumentation used for electrical measurements in the charging stations, and briefly presents two new calibration facilities for magnetic field meters and electric power meters. Modeling approaches for the efficiency and human exposure assessment are proposed. In the latter case, electromagnetic computational codes have been combined with dosimetric computational codes making use of highly detailed human anatomical phantoms in order to establish human exposure modeling real charging stations. Detailed results are presented for light vehicles where, according to our calculations, the concern towards human exposure is limited. Currently, the project has reached half way point (about 18 months) and will end in August 2020.
Waveform extraction for perfect reconstruction in WI coding Ruoppila, V.T.; Tammi, M.; Saarinen, J.
2000 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing. Proceedings (Cat. No.00CH37100),
2000, Volume:
3
Conference Proceeding
A signal model used in waveform interpolation (WI) coding assumes implicitly that the pitch period remains constant within a waveform to be extracted. This assumption is utilized for determining ...waveform boundaries and for forming the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of the extracted waveform. Therefore, the waveforms do not describe the original signal faithfully during pitch changes even if an accurate pitch estimate is available for each time instant. Due to the distortions occurring in waveform extraction, the original signal cannot be recovered. In this paper, we discuss assumptions of the signal model and present a waveform extraction algorithm which provides asymptotically perfect reconstruction with vanishing quantization error. The algorithm uses cubic B-spline interpolation as the continuous approximation of the signal. The full benefit of the waveform extraction algorithm is obtained when an accurate pitch estimate is available.
General analytical models are developed to quantify the frequencies and durations of transients involving loss of off-site power or total loss of alternating current. Such transients are often ...important initiating events in probabilistic safety studies of nuclear power plants. Recursive equations are developed for the frequencies of production loss events when there is one or more standby systems available and a grace period to start a reserve unit. The methodology is illustrated with numerical applications.
The aim of the study was to determine collagen concentration and collagen crosslinks in cartilage samples from chondromalacia of the patella. To study the extracellular matrix alterations associated ...to chondromalacia, we determined the concentration of collagen (hydroxyproline) and its hydroxylysylpyridinoline and lysylpyridinoline crosslinks from chondromalacia foci of the patellae in 12 patients and 7 controls from apparently normal cadavers. The structure of the collagen network in 8 samples of grades II-IV chondromalacia was examined under polarized light microscopy. The full-thickness cartilage samples taken with a surgical knife from chondromalacia lesions did not show changes in collagen, hydroxylysylpyridinoline and lysylpyridinoline concentration as compared with the controls. Polarized light microscopy showed decreased birefringence in the superficial cartilage of chondromalacia lesions, indicating disorganization or disappearance of collagen fibers in this zone. It is concluded that the collagen network shows gradual disorganization with the severity of chondromalacia lesion of the patella without changes in the concentration or crosslinks of collagen.
To investigate cholesterol-lowering efficacy and safety of plant stanol ester margarine in healthy 6-year-old children already consuming a low-saturated-fat, low-cholesterol diet.
Eighty-one ...intervention children from the STRIP project, a randomized prospective trial aimed at reducing exposure of young children to the known environmental atherosclerosis risk factors, were recruited to this double-blind crossover study at 6 years of age. In randomized order the families were advised to replace daily 20 g of the child's dietary fat intake with plant stanol ester margarine or control margarine for 3 months. The washout period lasted 6 weeks. Statistical analysis was performed according to intention-to-treat principle with analysis of variance for crossover design.
The mean daily plant stanol ester margarine consumption was 18.2 g (1.5 g plant stanol). The well-tolerated plant stanol ester margarine reduced serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations by 5.4% and 7.5%, respectively (P =.0001 for both). The serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations and alpha-tocopherol to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio remained unchanged. The serum beta-carotene to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio decreased by 19% (P =.003).
Plant stanol ester margarine significantly diminishes serum total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration without adverse clinical effects in healthy children who already consume a low-saturated-fat, low-cholesterol diet but decreases the serum beta-carotene to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio.
Plant sterol supplementation reduces serum cholesterol concentration but may increase serum plant sterol concentrations, especially in children. We determined whether natural dietary plant sterols ...derived mainly from vegetable oil or margarine in early childhood affect serum concentrations of plant sterols (campesterol and sitosterol) and cholesterol precursor sterols (Delta-8 cholestenol, desmosterol, and lathosterol), reflecting endogenous cholesterol synthesis. We measured the serum sterol concentrations using gas liquid chromatography in 20 healthy 13-mo-old intervention children in a randomized, prospective study designed to decrease exposure of the children to known environmental atherosclerosis risk factors and in 20 control children. The diet of the intervention children was rich in plant sterols due to replacement of milk fat with vegetable fat, whereas the diet of the control children contained only small amounts of plant sterols. The intervention children consumed twice as much plant sterols as the control children (P < 0.001). Their serum concentrations of campesterol and sitosterol were 75% and 44% higher, respectively, than those in the control children (P < 0.001 for both), but serum cholesterol precursor sterol concentrations did not differ between the two groups. We conclude that doubling dietary plant sterol intake almost doubles serum plant sterol concentrations in 13-mo-old children, but has no effect on endogenous cholesterol synthesis. Relative intestinal absorption of natural plant sterols from the diet in early childhood is similar to that in adults.
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