Coffee and Tea Consumption and the Contribution of Their Added Ingredients to Total Energy and Nutrient Intakes in 10 European Countries: Benchmark Data from the Late 1990s.

Background: Coffee and tea are among the most commonly consumed nonalcoholic beverages worldwide, but methodological differences in assessing intake often hamper comparisons across populations. We aimed to (i) describe coffee and tea intakes and (ii) assess their contribution to intakes of selected nutrients in adults across 10 European countries.

Method: Between 1995 and 2000, a standardized 24-h dietary recall was conducted among 36,018 men and women from 27 European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study centres.

Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Cognitive Correlates of FDDNP PET and CSF Amyloid-β and Tau in Parkinson's Disease1.

Tau and amyloid-β (Aβ) aggregates have been suggested to play a role in the development of dementia in Parkinson's disease (PD). Positron emission tomography (PET) with [18F]FDDNP and the determination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of these proteins constitute a means to visualize in vivo Aβ and tau brain accumulation. Information about longitudinal changes of these CSF and PET biomarkers in PD with regard to progression to dementia is lacking.

Delphi consensus statement: Quality Indicators for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Comprehensive Care Units.

Background And Aims: While it is commonly accepted that Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) Comprehensive Care Units (ICCUs) facilitate the delivery of quality care to Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients, it remains unclear how an ICCU should be defined or evaluated. The aim of the present study was to develop a comprehensive set of Quality Indicators (QIs) of structure, process, and outcomes for defining and evaluating an ICCU.

Methods: A Delphi consensus-based approach with a standardized three-step process was used to identify a core set of QIs.

Microcharacterization of a natural blue pigment used in wall paintings during the Romanesque period in northern Spain.

In Romanesque wall paintings in Aragon (Spain), the pigment used for creating blue was a very characteristic mineral, aerinite, which came from local ores in the southern Pyrenees. Optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), with energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, X-ray diffraction, and reflectance spectroscopy were used to make a detailed microcharacterization of this rare blue pigment in order to improve the knowledge of its composition and possible variability, from samples of medieval paintings and some mineral ores. New analytical data on the chemical composition of the blue pigment are reported here, together with the characterization of its microstructure, and the heterogeneity of the natural pigment made by the features of the ore itself.

Prognostic impact of pretransplantation computed tomography and gallium scans in patients with Hodgkin lymphoma with poor prognosis undergoing hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background: The present study evaluated computed tomography (CT) and Gallium-67 scanning (67Ga) before transplantation as prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) in patients with relapsed or primary refractory Hodgkin lymphoma undergoing high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation.

Patients And Methods: Forty-five patients were included. Of these, 10 (22%) had positive CT and 67Ga scan results, 21 (47%) had negative results of both techniques, 12 (27%) had positive CT/negative 67Ga scan results, and 2 (5%) had negative CT/positive 67Ga scan results.

Generation of a syngeneic mouse model to study the effects of vascular endothelial growth factor in ovarian carcinoma.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) performs multifaceted functions in the tumor microenvironment promoting angiogenesis, suppressing anti-tumor immune response, and possibly exerting autocrine functions on tumor cells. However, appropriate syngeneic animal models for in vivo studies are lacking. Using retroviral transfection and fluorescence-activated cell sorting, we generated a C57BL6 murine ovarian carcinoma cell line that stably overexpresses the murine VEGF164 isoform and the enhanced green fluorescent protein.