Medical College of Soochow University

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 18, 2024 -- Habitual coffee or caffeine intake is associated with a lower risk for new-onset cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CM), according to a study published online Sept. 17 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism . Xujia Lu, from the Suzhou Medical College of Soochow University in China, and colleagues examined the association of coffee, tea, and caffeine intake with CM, defined as the coexistence of at least two of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and stroke. The study involved 172,315 participants (caffeine analysis) and 188,091 (coffee and tea analysis) participants free of any cardiometabolic diseases at baseline. Among 88,204 and 96,393 participants, 168 metabolites were measured. The researchers observed a nonlinear inverse association of coffee, tea, and caffeine intake with the risk for new-onset CM. Consumers of a moderate amount of coffee (three drinks/day) or caffeine (200 to 300 mg/day) had the lowest risk for new-onset CM compared with nonconsumers or consumers of less than 100 mg caffeine/day, with hazard ratios of 0.519 and 0.593, respectively. Inverse associations were seen for moderate coffee or caffeine intake with the risks for almost all developmental stages of CM, including transitions from a disease-free state to single cardiometabolic diseases and subsequently to CM. Associations with both coffee, tea, or caffeine intake and incident CM were seen for 80 to 97 metabolites, including lipid components within very low-density lipoprotein, histidine, and glycoprotein acetyls. "The findings highlight that promoting moderate amounts of coffee or caffeine intake as a dietary habit to healthy people might have far-reaching benefits for the prevention of CM," the authors write.

Researchers have developed a new ultra-thin film that can create detailed 3D images viewable under normal illumination without any special reading devices. The images appear to float on top of the film and can be clearly viewed from all angles. The new imaging film uses a technology known as light-field imaging, which captures the direction and intensity of all rays of light within a scene to create a 3D image. With additional development, the new glass-free approach could be used as a visual security feature or incorporated into virtual or augmented reality devices. Researchers have developed a new ultra-thin film that can create detailed 3D images viewable under normal illumination without any special reading devices. The images appear to float on top of the film and exhibit smooth parallax, which means they can be clearly viewed from all angles. With additional development, the new glass-free approach could be used as a visual security feature or incorporated into virtual or augmented reality devices. "Our ultra-thin, integrated reflective imaging film creates an image that can be viewed from a wide range of angles and appears to have physical depth," said research team leader Su Shen from Soochow University in China. "It can be easily laminated to any surface as a tag or sticker or integrated into a transparent substrate, making it suitable for use as a security feature on banknotes or identity cards." In the Optica Publishing Group journal Optics Letters, the researchers describe their new imaging film. At just 25 microns thick, the film is about twice as thick as household plastic wrap. It uses a technology known as light-field imaging, which captures the direction and intensity of all rays of light within a scene to create a 3D image. "Achieving glass-free 3D imaging with a large field of view, smooth parallax and a wide, focusable depth range under natural viewing conditions is one of the most exciting challenges in optics," said Shen. "Our approach offers an innovative way to achieve vivid 3D images that cause no viewing discomfort or fatigue, are easy to see with the naked eye and are aesthetically pleasing." High-density recording Various technical schemes have been investigated for creating the ideal 3D viewing experience, but they tend to suffer from drawbacks such as a limited viewing angle or low light efficiency. To overcome these shortcomings, the researchers developed a reflective light-field imaging film and new algorithm that allows both the position and angular information for the light field to be recorded with high density. The researchers also developed an economic self-releasing nanoimprinting lithography approach that can achieve the precision needed for high optical performance while using low-cost materials.The film is patterned with an array of reflective focusing elements on one side that act much like tiny cameras while the other side contains a micropattern array that encodes the image to be displayed. "The powerful microfabrication approach we used allowed us to make a reflective focusing that was extremely compact -- measuring just tens of microns," said Shen. "This lets the light radiance be densely collected, creating a realistic 3D effect." A realistic 3D image The researchers demonstrated their new film by using it to create a 3D image of a cubic die that could be viewed clearly from almost any viewpoint. The resulting image measures 8 x 8 millimeters with an image depth that ranges from 0.1 to 8.0 millimeters under natural lighting conditions. They have also designed and fabricated an imaging film with a floating logo that can be used as a decorative element, for example on the back of a mobile phone. The researchers say that their algorithm and nanopatterning technique could be extended to other applications by creating the nanopatterns on a transparent display screen instead of a film, for example. They are also working toward commercializing the fabrication process by developing a double-sided nanoimprinting machine that would make it easier to achieve the precise alignment required between the micropatterns on each side of the film.

CHICAGO, March 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Firma Clinical Research, a niche service provider to clinical research organizations, recently commenced a Scientific Advisory Board for its clinical services, including biometrics/data. The board includes scientific experts from Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Connecticut and the FDA's former Director of the Division of Biostatistics. The board members provide Firma with strategic advice and education and are resources for the latest statistical methodology and regulatory requirements. The Scientific Advisory Board brings additional biometrics and data expertise to Firma Clinical. The Firma Clinical Scientific Advisory Board includes: Greg Campbell, Ph.D., President, GCStat Consulting LLC, and former Director of the Division of Biostatistics in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) Ming-Hui Chen, Ph.D., Professor and Head of the Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut Ying Lu, Ph.D., Professor, Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University L.J. Wei, Ph.D., Professor, Biostatistics, Harvard University T. H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Biostatical Science and Computational Biology, DanaFarber Cancer Institute Eugenia Henry, Ph.D., former President of Firma Clinical Research and Co-Founder of H20 Clinical (now Firma Clinical Research) Earl Webb Henry, M.D., former Chief Medical Officer, Firma Clinical Research, and Co-Founder of H20 Clinical (now Firma Clinical Research) The Scientific Advisory Board offers biometrics and data strategy to Firma and provides additional consultative resources for Firma's clients. The members of the board present lectures and training to Firma's team and extend connections to external professionals and business partners. Overseeing the board's activity for Firma is DJ (Dejun) Tang, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Data Services. "Firma is honored to have Drs. Campbell, Chen, Lu and Wei work with Dr. Tang and our biostatistics team and serve on our Scientific Advisory Board to advance biometrics for new drug and device studies," says Michael Woods, CEO, Firma Clinical Research. "This group of distinguished scientists bring extensive experience in clinical research, biometrics and the regulatory environment, and they help validate and differentiate Firma's scientific services." Firma delivers high-quality and scientifically sound data services, including fast and efficient database integrations and summary analyses for clinical studies, regardless of phase, therapeutic area, size of study or method of data capture. Firma has provided biometric services to 1,180+ studies spanning therapeutic areas, 16 oncology indications, 70+ medical device/imaging studies and 55+ NDA submissions. Bios for Firma Clinical's Scientific Advisory Board Greg Campbell, Ph.D. Dr. Greg Campbell is President, GCStat Consulting LLC, providing expertise in clinical trial design and statistical analysis as well as regulatory advice for clients in the pharmaceutical and medical products industry. He also currently sits on several Data Monitoring Committees (DSMBs). For 20 years, Dr. Campbell was Director of the Division of Biostatistics in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH). In that role, he was responsible for important contributions to public health, the FDA and the medical device industry by leading the Division in providing statistical support to the entire CDRH and statistical review of the FDA's pre-market device submissions, bringing important and innovative medical devices to the marketplace. He led efforts at the FDA to write guidance documents for medical devices on Pivotal Clinical Study Design, Bayesian Statistics and Adaptive Designs. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and the Society for Clinical Trials. Dr. Campbell holds a doctoral degree in mathematical statistics from the Florida State University. Ming-Hui Chen, Ph.D. Dr. Ming-Hui Chen is Professor and Head of the Department of Statistics at University of Connecticut. Dr. Chen is an internationally renowned researcher in Bayesian methods, cancer research, nutritional research, clinical trials, survival analysis, competing risks analysis, joint models of longitudinal and survival data and Bayesian computation. He has served as a statistical consultant or analyst in network meta-analysis, design of clinical trials, data analysis, joint modeling of longitudinal and survival data and development of statistical software for several pharmaceutical companies in the past 20 years. Dr. Chen has published more than 410 peer reviewed articles in statistics and medical journals and has published five books, including two advanced graduate-level books. His article entitled "Monte Carlo Estimation of Bayesian Credible and HPD Intervals" with Q.-M. Shao, published in Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics (1999), is a widely used method for computing highest posterior density (HPD) intervals in Bayesian estimation. This method has been implemented in the most popular commercial statistical software SAS (version 9.2 or above). Dr. Chen holds a doctoral degree from Purdue University. Ying Lu, Ph.D. Dr. Ying Lu is Professor of Biomedical Data Science at Stanford University. He is Professor (by courtesy) of Radiology, Rad/Molecular Imaging Program and Professor (by courtesy) of Epidemiology and Population Health, both at Stanford. He is a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute and Co-Director of its Biostatistics Core and Co-Director of the Center for Innovative Study Design. He previously served as Director, U.S. VA Cooperative Studies Program, Palo Alto Coordinating Center. Dr. Lu is Associate Editor of JCO Precision Oncology and is a member and past President of WNAR (Western North American Region) of the International Biometric Society. Dr. Lu has received numerous awards, including the Advisory Committee Service Award from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the International Chinese Statistical Association Outstanding Service Award. He is an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Lu holds a doctoral degree in biostatistics from the University of California, Berkeley. L.J. Wei, Ph.D. Dr. L.J. Wei is Professor of Biostatistics at Harvard University and Professor of Biostatical Science and Computational Biology, DanaFarber Cancer Institute. He joined Harvard in 1991 and was the co-director of the Bioinformatics Core at the Harvard School of Public Health from 2003 to 2007. From 2003 to 2004, he served as the acting chair of the Department of Biostatistics at Harvard University. Before joining Harvard, Dr. Wei was a professor at University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan and George Washington University. His main research interest is in the clinical trial methodology, especially in design, monitoring and analysis of studies. He has developed numerous novel statistical methods that are utilized in practice. He received the prestigious Wald Medal in 2009 from the American Statistical Association for his contribution to clinical trial methodology. Dr. Wei is a fellow of the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. In 2014, to honor his mentorship, Harvard School of Public Health established a Wei Family scholarship to support students studying biostatistics. He has more than 220 publications and served on numerous editorial and scientific advisory boards for governments and industry. Dr. Wei holds a doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin. Eugenia Henry, Ph.D. Dr. Henry is the former President of Firma Clinical Research and co-founder of H2O Clinical, LLC (now doing business as Firma Clinical Research). She currently serves in a consulting role with Firma. Dr. Henry has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for more than 30 years and was involved in 72 new drug applications. Her regulatory submission experience includes oncology, CNS, metabolic, endocrine, immunology, dermatology, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, vaccine, infectious disease therapeutic areas, imaging and medical devices. Dr. Henry has both hands-on and senior-level clinical research experience in large pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and contract research organizations. She serves as a consultant to communicate about study design and statistical analysis issues with the FDA on behalf of many companies. Dr. Henry also is a DSMB member for many studies. Dr. Henry holds a doctoral degree in statistics from the University of Missouri – Columbia. She also received a master's degree in Statistics from the University of Arkansas and a bachelor's and a master's degree in Economics from Soochow University, Taipei, Taiwan. Earl Webb Henry, M.D. Dr. Henry is the former Chief Medical Officer for Firma Clinical Research and co-founder of H20 Clinical (now doing business as Firma Clinical Research). He currently serves in a consulting role with Firma. Dr. Henry provides medical expertise for Firma's clinical programs. Prior to H2O, Dr. Henry served as the Co-Chief Medical Officer of InVentiv Health and Chief Medical Officer of InVentiv Clinical Solutions. Dr. Henry's previous positions include: Head of Clinical Research and Regulatory Affairs at Cephalon, Inc.; Head of Clinical Research at Guilford Pharmaceuticals; and Global Head of Central Nervous System Clinical Research at the Sandoz Research Institute. He started his pharmaceutical career at Pfizer Central Research after being on staff at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Henry received his medical degree from the University of Chicago (Pritzker) School of Medicine and his bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of Illinois. He was a medical intern at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics and trained in neurology and neuropathology at the Longwood Neurology Program in Boston, which included the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Beth Israel Hospital and Boston Children's Hospital. About Firma Clinical Research Firma Clinical Research is a niche service provider to clinical research organizations and has decades of clinical development leadership and expertise. Firma supports the drug development efforts of pharmaceutical and biotech companies through in-home patient visits and data management and biostatistics. Firma's patient-centric and collaborative approach enables clients to make informed decisions that accelerate the development of safe and effective treatments. The company offers a wide array of tailored processes and services across all phases of clinical development, strategically focusing on flexible solutions, transparent communication and on-time deliverables. For more information, visit the company at or follow Firma Clinical Research on Twitter or LinkedIn. Contact: Patty Pologruto, patty@altitudemarketing.com, 484-225-1609