M. de Magistris

Dietary intakes and food sources of phytoestrogens in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) 24-hour dietary recall cohort

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Phytoestrogens are estradiol-like natural compounds found in plants that have been associated with protective effects against chronic diseases, including some cancers, cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. The purpose of this study was to estimate the dietary intake of phytoestrogens, identify their food sources and their association with lifestyle factors in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.SUBJECTS/METHODS:Single 24-hour dietary recalls were collected from 36 037 individuals from 10 European countries, aged 35–74 years using a standardized computerized interview programe (EPIC-Soft). An ad hoc food composition database on phytoestrogens (isoflavones, lignans, coumestans, enterolignans and equol) was compiled using data from available databases, in order to obtain and describe phytoestrogen intakes and their food sources across 27 redefined EPIC centres.RESULTS:Mean total phytoestrogen intake was the highest in the UK health-conscious group (24.9 mg/day in men and 21.1 mg/day in women) whereas lowest in Greece (1.3 mg/day) in men and Spain-Granada (1.0 mg/day) in women. Northern European countries had higher intakes than southern countries. The main phytoestrogen contributors were isoflavones in both UK centres and lignans in the other EPIC cohorts. Age, body mass index, educational level, smoking status and physical activity were related to increased intakes of lignans, enterolignans and equol, but not to total phytoestrogen, isoflavone or coumestan intakes. In the UK cohorts, the major food sources of phytoestrogens were soy products. In the other EPIC cohorts the dietary sources were more distributed, among fruits, vegetables, soy products, cereal products, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages.CONCLUSIONS:There was a high variability in the dietary intake of total and phytoestrogen subclasses and their food sources across European regions.

Synchronization of Networks of Non-Identical Chua's Circuits: Analysis and Experiments

This paper is concerned with the theoretical and experimental analysis of synchronization and pinning control of networks of non-identical Chuas circuits. The design and implementation is presented of an appropriate setup to carry out experiments on networks of these nonlinear circuits with easily reconfigurable parameter values. Then, the theoretical expectations are validated of the so-called Extended Master Stability Function approach to study the onset of synchronization in the presence of real parameter mismatches between the circuits at the network nodes. The validation is carried out both numerically and experimentally. For the first time, the EMSF is also used to investigate pinning synchronization in a network of non-identical circuits where a master node (or pinner) is used to drive the network dynamics towards some desired synchronous evolution. The numerical and experimental results confirm the viability of the EMSF as an effective analysis and design tool.

Impact of thearubigins on the estimation of total dietary flavonoids in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study

Thearubigins (TR) are polymeric flavanol-derived compounds formed during the fermentation of tea leaves. Comprising ∼70% of total polyphenols in black tea, TR may contribute majorly to its beneficial effects on health. To date, there is no appropriate food composition data on TR, although several studies have used data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) database to estimate TR intakes. We aimed to estimate dietary TR in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort and assess the impact of including TR or not in the calculation of the total dietary flavonoid intake. Dietary data were collected using a single standardized 24-h dietary recall interviewer-administered to 36 037 subjects aged 35–74 years. TR intakes were calculated using the USDA database. TR intakes ranged from 0.9 mg/day in men from Navarra and San Sebastian in Spain to 532.5 mg/day in men from UK general population. TR contributed <5% to the total flavonoid intake in Greece, Spain and Italy, whereas in the UK general population, TR comprised 48% of the total flavonoids. High heterogeneity in TR intake across the EPIC countries was observed. This study shows that total flavonoid intake may be greatly influenced by TR, particularly in high black tea-consuming countries. Further research on identification and quantification of TR is needed to get more accurate dietary TR estimations.

EAST alternative magnetic configurations: modelling and first experiments

Heat and particle loads on the plasma facing components are among the most challenging issues to be solved for a reactor design. Alternative magnetic configurations may enable tokamak operation with a lower peak heat load than a standard single null (SN) divertor. This papers reports on the creation and control of one of such alternatives: a two-null nearby divertor configuration. An important element of this study is that this two-null divertor was produced on a large superconducting tokamak as an experimental advanced superconducting tokamak. A preliminary experiment with the second null forming a configuration with significant distance between the two nulls and a contracting geometry near the target plates was performed in 2014. These configurations have been designed using the FIXFREE code and optimized with CREATE-NL tools and are discussed in the paper. Predictive edge simulations using the TECXY code are also presented by comparing the advanced divertor and SN configuration. Finally, the experimental results of ohmic and low confinement (L-mode) two-null divertor and SN discharges and interpretative two-dimensional edge simulations are discussed. Future experiments will be devoted to varying the distance between the two nulls in high confinement (H-mode) discharges.

A new model of scalar magnetic hysteresis

In this paper the scalar quasi-static magnetic hysteresis is described by means of a new model based on a sequential algorithm, which appears to he a possible alternative to the classical Preisach model. A procedure leading to the identification of the model parameters is described. The hysteretic behavior obtained by using the new model is in good agreement with experimental measurements as well as with the predictions of the Preisach model. Finally, both models have been applied to study the dynamics of a circuit with an hysteretic inductor, driven by a sinusoidal voltage source. Good agreement between the two simulations was found, but our model appears computationally less cumbersome than that of Preisach. >

Identification of broadband passive macromodels for electromagnetic structures

Purpose – The paper aims to present an overview of techniques for the identification in the frequency domain of reduced order models for distributed passive electromagnetic structures.Design/methodology/approach – Most known approaches proposed in different application contexts are described within a unified framework.Findings – A passive reduced order model of an unshielded twisted pair is fully developed with the combination of vector fitting algorithm and the passivity enforcement via Hamiltonian perturbation.Originality/value – A state‐of‐the‐art picture of the frequency domain identification and passivity enforcement techniques is given, and a test case of actual interest fully analysed.

Improvement of the active cylindrical plasma lens concept by a tapered discharge geometry

Recently an active current carrying plasma lens was introduced using a wall-stabilized discharge mode with remarkable focusing properties for high energy heavy ion beams. In this paper, a further improvement of focusing performance of a wall-stabilized plasma lens will be reported using a tapered geometry. The gradient of the focusing field is increased in z direction and the focusing power is increased compared to a cylindrical lens with the same length and discharge current. Aberration effects of this tapered lens were minimized by optimizing both shaping and discharge conditions. With the tested lens an argon ion beam of 15.4 MeV/amu was focused from an initial diameter of 10 mm down to a spot size of 160 /spl mu/m. The results of the focusing experiments are compared with optical plasma diagnostics data allowing for an interpretation of the observed focusing behavior. >

Thermal transient behavior of silicon-on-glass BJTs

Calibrated 3-D numerical simulations are employed to quantify the influence of design parameters like emitter area, aspect ratio, distance to trenches, and thickness of AlN heatspreaders on the thermal transient behavior of silicon-on-glass (SOG) bipolar transistors. A larger silicon island enclosed in the trenches reduces the thermal resistance at the expense of a slower thermal response of the system to a unitary power step. Conversely, the integration of AlN heatspreaders lowers both the thermal resistance and the rise time of the thermal impedance. An in-house custom code is adopted to extract an optimized Foster network for the description of the dynamic transistor behavior, thereby allowing the analysis of the thermal frequency response.

Low-Order Identification of Interconnects With the Generalized Method of Characteristics

This paper deals with the identification of low-order accurate macromodels describing electrically long lossy multiconductor transmission lines. The formulation is based on the generalized method of characteristics, whose key feature is the extraction of delays from the propagation operators. We describe and compare different delay extraction approaches, in view of the identification of the macromodels. In particular, we propose a new identification procedure enhancing the results coming from a vector fitting algorithm by a further nonlinear identification step. This gives more general properties to the model implementation (e.g., a state space realization with no repeated pole), possibly improving the accuracy at the same time. Some reference case studies are analyzed to highlight the key features of the proposed approach.

An identification technique for macromodeling of long interconnects

We consider the problem of the identification of describing functions for the reduced time domain modeling of interconnects. In particular we identify the rational approximation of regular parts, once delays are exactly extracted, with a combination of vector fitting algorithm with a post-processing procedure based on a non linear least square refinement step. This improves the accuracy of the approximation obtained, and leads directly to rank-1 residue matrices. The technique is applied to a couple of test cases and a comparative evaluation of performances is carried out.