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S Voss

Publications and source records attributed to S Voss.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

[Influence of lifestyle on the use of supplements in the Brandenburg nutrition and cancer study].

Differences in dietary habits and lifestyle factors associated with a high dietary intake of fruit and vegetables are discussed and used to explain the disparity between results of observational epidemiologic studies consistently showing antioxidative vitamins to exert a protective effect on chronic diseases, and intervention studies so far not confirming this association. Within the scope of the "Brandenburger Ernährungs- und Krebsstudie", the East German contribution to the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), we examined whether study participants using supplements on a regular basis--minerals, vitamins, protein formulation, bran/linseed, fiber, yeast or garlic pills--differed from those who did not report use of supplements according to selected lifestyle factors and dietary intake of vitamins, minerals, fiber, cholesterol, and fat from food. The study sample consisted of 10,522 participants (4,500 men and 6,022 women) aged 35-65 years enrolled in the cohort from January 1995 to July 1996. Regular intake of one or more supplements during the past year was reported by 32.6% of women and 25.5% of men. Vitamin supplements were used by 18.8% of the women and 15.8% of the men. Figures for minerals were 14.2% for women and 8.6% for men, respectively. Garlic pills were taken regularly by 9.7% of men and 9.3% of women. Prevalence of supplement use was generally higher in women and was more pronounced in elderly participants. The most frequently used combinations were vitamin and mineral supplements, followed by a combination of garlic and either vitamin or mineral supplements. Increased use of supplements was significantly associated with higher level of education attained, regular engagement in sporting activities, health complaints, and dietary change during the previous year. No association between use of supplements and smoking status nor elevated alcohol consumption was observed. Body mass index above 30 was significantly related to increased intake of garlic pills, and in women to significantly increased use of vitamin and mineral supplements. For both men and women, age-adjusted consumption of fruit and vegetables and intake of vitamins, minerals, and fiber from food was higher for participants using mineral but also vitamin supplements compared to those who did not use these supplements. For the cohort of the "Brandenburger Ernährungs- und Krebsstudie" we observed on the one hand that age, gender, and health-conscious lifestyle factors were related to supplement use. On the other hand presence of subjective health complaints was related to supplement use, especially for use of vitamins and minerals. Participants, who regularly consumed minerals and vitamins were also shown to have a higher intake of foods and nutrients considered to exert an antioxidative effect.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[EPIC-SOFT a European computer program for 24-hour dietary protocols].

Within the EPIC study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) a calibration approach is applied to compare dietary data obtained by food frequency questionnaires from 9 European countries. A software for 24-h recalls was developed as the calibration instrument by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in collaboration with all national EPIC centers. This computer program, called EPIC-SOFT, is an interview-based dietary assessment instrument that allows one to obtain a very detailed description and quantification of foods, recipes, and supplements consumed in the course of the preceding day. Probing questions and entering consumed foods in chronological order support the respondent's memory. The standardized structure prescribes--on the food group level--possibilities of description and quantification of food items to choose from. Quantification of consumed foods is supported by the EPIC-SOFT picture book that comprises colored photographs of foods in different portion sizes. The software provides an automatic coding of food items and recipe ingredients as well as calculation of nutrient intake. EPIC-SOFT is characterized by the obtained standardization of dietary data within Europe, a large number of available foods and recipes, and a very detailed description of consumed foods. Currently, EPIC-SOFT is one of the few dietary instruments providing comparable nutritional data within Europe.

Calibration↗
PubMed1998

Is macronutrient composition of dietary intake data affected by underreporting? Results from the EPIC-Potsdam Study. European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether subjects with low reported relative energy intake differ from those with higher relative energy intake according to characteristics such as obesity, physical activity, and macronutrient composition of the diet. DESIGN: Cross-sectional data from a cohort study employing a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (SFFQ). To determine energy intake relative BMR the ratio of reported energy intake (EI) to BMR was used and categorized by quintiles. SETTING: East German (Potsdam) cohort of the EPIC study (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) SUBJECTS: 2862 women and 2356 men taking part in the EPIC-Potsdam study from January 1st to December 31st 1995. RESULTS: A significant declining trend could be observed for BMI, percentage of body fat, and body weight from the lower to the highest quintile of EI/BMR. BMR was slightly decreasing, whereas physical activity was slightly increasing with quintiles of EI/BMR. Absolute macronutrient intake was directly related to EI/BMR. Percent macronutrient intake indicated lower fat intake, and higher carbohydrate and protein intake in low energy reporters. Energy adjusted macronutrient intake by the residual method showed no dependencies on EI/BMR. CONCLUSIONS: Underestimation of energy intake is related to obesity and affects the relation of macronutrients in the reported diet. This implies, that the assumption of adequate ranking of subjects by a SFFQ cannot be maintained. Energy adjusted intake values according to the residual method should be employed in diet-disease risk analysis since they are found to be independent of the methodological influence of underreporting.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

CD94 ligation induces apoptosis in a subset of IL-2-stimulated NK cells.

CD94 (Kp43) is a member of the human C-type lectin superfamily encoding type II membrane glycoproteins expressed on NK cells and a subset of T cells. Ligation of CD94 has been shown to either potentiate or inhibit NK cell proliferation and cytolytic effector function. Here we show that CD94 ligation triggers apoptosis in IL-2-primed NK cells. Evidence for CD94-induced apoptosis includes: 1) chromatin condensation as measured by increased fluorescence of Hoechst dye, 2) induction of DNA fragmentation, and 3) characteristic morphology by transmission electron microscopy. IL-2 priming (at least 12 h) is required for activation-induced NK cell death triggered by CD94. Activation-induced NK cell death triggered by CD94 ligation is extremely rapid (DNA fragmentation is first observed at 120 min). Unlike activation-induced T cell death, it is not inhibited by neutralizing Abs reactive with TNF-alpha or Fas ligand. Our results suggest that CD94 may play a role in the elimination of activated NK cells during the transition from the innate to the Ag-specific immune response.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1997

Obesity as a major determinant of underreporting in a self-administered food frequency questionnaire: results from the EPIC-Potsdam Study.

The phenomenon of underreporting of dietary intake has been observed previously in many epidemiologic studies. In this study it was investigated whether dependencies exist between energy intake obtained by a semi-quantitative, self-administered food frequency questionnaire and lifestyle or anthropometric factors, particularly obesity. The study population consisted of 2,531 subjects, men aged 40 to 64 years and women aged 35 to 64 years from the general population of Potsdam and the surrounding areas. First, subjects were allocated into quintiles of the ratio 'reported energy intake (EI)' to 'calculated basal metabolic rate (BMR)' as a measure of age and weight adjusted energy intake. No apparent dependencies between socio-economic variables and the ratio EI/BMR were observed. Among anthropometric variables, BMI and related measures of obesity were inversely related to the ratio EI/BMR in men and women. While dietary intake was directly related to the ratio EI/BMR in absolute quantities, energy adjusted intake of fat, protein, carbohydrate, and alcohol was found to be independent of this ratio. Energy adjusted food group consumption was also found to be independent of the ratio EI/BMR, showing only slightly increasing trends across quintiles of EI/BMR for cereals and fats, and a slightly decreasing trend for sweet foods in women. When subjects were classified into three categories of BMI, reported energy intake decreased across categories. Estimated energy expenditure based on BMR was increasing with BMI categories. A close direct relationship was observed between BMI categories and the difference between reported energy intake and estimated energy expenditure. It is concluded that obesity is a major determinant of under-reporting. Energy adjusted dietary variables were found to be largely independent of such methodological influences.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

The relative validity of vitamin intakes derived from a food frequency questionnaire compared to 24-hour recalls and biological measurements: results from the EPIC pilot study in Germany. European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.

BACKGROUND: For the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study Germany, a self-administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was developed and tested for its relative validity and reproducibility in 1991/1992. Study participants were 92 potential cohort members. This paper reports results regarding retinol, carotenoids, tocopherols and ascorbic acid. METHODS: Study participants were invited to the study centre in Heidelberg once a month over one year. At each visit, a 24 hour recall was obtained. The FFQ was filled in twice with a 6-month interval (FFQ1, FFQ2). In addition, a questionnaire on general consumption frequencies of 14 broad food groups was completed. This information was combined with estimates derived from FFQ2 and frequency-corrected food and nutrient intakes were calculated (FFQcorr). Blood specimens were taken in winter and summer 1992. RESULTS: The intraclass correlation of the FFQ ranged from 0.65 to 0.67 for retinol, tocopherols, carotenoids, and ascorbic acid. Intake of carotenoids by FFQcorr showed de-attenuated Pearson correlation coefficients with blood values in the order of 0.37, and with recall data of 0.44. Respective correlations for retinol were 0.21 and 0.29, for tocopherols 0.18 and 0.52, and for ascorbic acid 0.36 and 0.69. Errors of FFQcorr and 24-hour diet recalls were not correlated. CONCLUSIONS: In general, it was demonstrated that the FFQ was able to rank participants into biologically meaningful categories of intake or blood concentrations for carotenoids and ascorbic acid, but misclassification was higher for tocopherol and retinol.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Mutagenesis of a flexible loop in streptavidin leads to higher affinity for the Strep-tag II peptide and improved performance in recombinant protein purification.

The Strep-tag, an artificial peptide ligand of streptavidin, has gained use as an affinity handle for the purification and detection of recombinant fusion proteins. In an attempt to achieve tighter complexation of the peptide, streptavidin was engineered and the amino acid residues 44-47 in the flexible loop from 44 to 53, which is close to the binding site, were subjected to random mutagenesis. A fusion between alkaline phosphatase and the Strep-tag II sequence, an improved version of the Strep-tag, was constructed as a molecular probe for peptide binding. By means of a filter-sandwich assay, two streptavidin mutants with significantly stronger binding activity for the Strep-tag II were thus identified from a library of Escherichia coli colonies. Both in an ELISA with the alkaline phosphatase fusion and in a fluorescence titration experiment with the synthetic Strep-tag II peptide, which carried an anthraniloyl group as chromophore, their affinities were found to be higher by more than one order of magnitude compared with wild-type streptavidin. The nature of the amino acid exchanges and an enhanced electrophoretic mobility of the streptavidin tetramers suggest an altered loop conformation to be part of the optimized binding mechanism. When one of the streptavidin mutants was immobilized on a chromatographic column it exhibited clearly improved performance in the purification of Strep-tag II fusion proteins, and desthiobiotin turned out to be a suitable reagent for mild competitive elution.

Affinity Labels↗
PubMed1993

Costs to affected individuals following an outbreak of food poisoning: a pilot study.

This small pilot study surveyed the victims of an outbreak of food poisoning, in order to investigate the personal consequences which they suffered so as to identify costs, which are often ignored in economic analyses. A response rate of 88% was achieved. The results showed that an average of 10.5 days of illness was suffered by the affected individuals and there was a marked variation in the number of days of work missed. Housewives were identified as a group whose personal consequences are often omitted from economic studies and a variety of other costs were identified. The results should be borne in mind when undertaking future economic studies of food poisoning.

Absenteeism↗
PubMed1993

Fathers and breast feeding: a pilot observational study.

A small pilot survey (n = 113) by questionnaire of the fathers of a sample of children under one year of age was undertaken in order to investigate the involvement of fathers with infant feeding and their attitudes to the method of feeding adopted. The response rate was 72% overall and 79% when the partners of 'single parent' mothers were excluded. Nearly 30% of respondents had not discussed the method of feeding with anyone, but over 60% had discussed it with their partner. 64% of fathers sometimes helped with feeding their child and 17% said that they always helped. The majority of fathers did not mind their partner breast feeding in front of friends or relatives but 42% did not like them feeding in front of strangers and over half did not like them breast feeding in a public place. From this study, based on relatively small numbers, we conclude that fathers may feel left out of infant feeding. They should be given more opportunity to become involved from an early stage and take part in the decision about the method of infant feeding to be adopted.

Bottle Feeding↗
PubMed1992

Doctors' understanding of the specialty of Public Health Medicine: a survey of general practitioners and junior hospital doctors.

The Acheson report recommended that the new name for Community Medicine should be Public Health Medicine and that a new group of doctors with responsibility for communicable disease control be established. Three years after the report, general practitioners and junior hospital doctors in one health district were surveyed regarding their understanding of the specialty. This study identified some confusion about the titles and functions of doctors in Public Health Medicine. It is important to understand this problem and make efforts to rectify it.

Community Medicine↗
PubMed1992

The usage of pregnancy tests in one health district.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the total number of pregnancy tests performed and the proportion that are repeated in one health district. To relate these results to the number of conceptions. DESIGN: Collection of data related to the numbers of pregnancy tests performed from all sources. Surveys of women booking for antenatal care or undergoing nonroutine obstetric ultrasound examination. SETTING: One health district in the south of England. RESULTS: About five pregnancy tests were performed for each proven pregnancy. Nearly two-thirds of tests were purchased over the counter, the remainder being carried out by hospital laboratories and pregnancy advisory services. Very few women had their pregnancy diagnosed on clinical grounds alone and a small number of ultrasound examinations were apparently performed in lieu of chemical tests. Repeated testing was more likely in primiparous women (P < 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Chemical pregnancy tests appear to be trusted more than clinical examination for the diagnosis of pregnancy by women and doctors. When there is no medical urgency, women who want formal confirmation of pregnancy should be advised that home testing kits will provide the quickest results.

Adult↗