@article{ChristakoudiTsilidisMulleretal.2020, author = {Christakoudi, Sofa and Tsilidis, Konstantinos K. and Muller, David C. and Freisling, Heinz and Weiderpass, Elisabete and Overvad, Kim and S{\"o}derberg, Stefan and H{\"a}ggstr{\"o}m, Christel and Pischon, Tobias and Dahm, Christina C. and Zhang, Jie and Tj{\o}nneland, Anne and Schulze, Matthias Bernd}, title = {A Body Shape Index (ABSI) achieves better mortality risk stratification than alternative indices of abdominal obesity: results from a large European cohort}, series = {Scientific Reports}, volume = {10}, journal = {Scientific Reports}, number = {1}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, address = {Berlin}, pages = {15}, year = {2020}, abstract = {Abdominal and general adiposity are independently associated with mortality, but there is no consensus on how best to assess abdominal adiposity. We compared the ability of alternative waist indices to complement body mass index (BMI) when assessing all-cause mortality. We used data from 352,985 participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for other risk factors. During a mean follow-up of 16.1 years, 38,178 participants died. Combining in one model BMI and a strongly correlated waist index altered the association patterns with mortality, to a predominantly negative association for BMI and a stronger positive association for the waist index, while combining BMI with the uncorrelated A Body Shape Index (ABSI) preserved the association patterns. Sex-specific cohort-wide quartiles of waist indices correlated with BMI could not separate high-risk from low-risk individuals within underweight (BMI<18.5 kg/m(2)) or obese (BMI30 kg/m(2)) categories, while the highest quartile of ABSI separated 18-39\% of the individuals within each BMI category, which had 22-55\% higher risk of death. In conclusion, only a waist index independent of BMI by design, such as ABSI, complements BMI and enables efficient risk stratification, which could facilitate personalisation of screening, treatment and monitoring.}, language = {en} } @article{LiebigHenningSarhanetal.2019, author = {Liebig, Ferenc and Henning, Ricky and Sarhan, Radwan Mohamed and Prietzel, Claudia Christina and Schmitt, Clemens Nikolaus Zeno and Bargheer, Matias and Koetz, Joachim}, title = {A simple one-step procedure to synthesise gold nanostars in concentrated aqueous surfactant solutions}, series = {RSC Advances}, volume = {9}, journal = {RSC Advances}, publisher = {RSC Publishing}, address = {London}, issn = {2046-2069}, doi = {10.1039/C9RA02384D}, pages = {23633 -- 23641}, year = {2019}, abstract = {Due to the enhanced electromagnetic field at the tips of metal nanoparticles, the spiked structure of gold nanostars (AuNSs) is promising for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Therefore, the challenge is the synthesis of well designed particles with sharp tips. The influence of different surfactants, i.e., dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AOT), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and benzylhexadecyldimethylammonium chloride (BDAC), as well as the combination of surfactant mixtures on the formation of nanostars in the presence of Ag⁺ ions and ascorbic acid was investigated. By varying the amount of BDAC in mixed micelles the core/spike-shell morphology of the resulting AuNSs can be tuned from small cores to large ones with sharp and large spikes. The concomitant red-shift in the absorption toward the NIR region without losing the SERS enhancement enables their use for biological applications and for time-resolved spectroscopic studies of chemical reactions, which require a permanent supply with a fresh and homogeneous solution. HRTEM micrographs and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) experiments allow us to verify the mechanism of nanostar formation according to the silver underpotential deposition on the spike surface in combination with micelle adsorption.}, language = {en} }