A role for vitamin D in ovarian cancer etiology is supported by ecologic studies of sunlight exposure, experimental mechanism studies, and some studies of dietary vitamin D intake and genetic ...polymorphisms in the vitamin D receptor. However, few studies have examined the association of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), an integrated measure of vitamin D status, with ovarian cancer risk. A nested case-control study was conducted among 7 prospective studies to evaluate the circulating 25(OH)D concentration in relation to epithelial ovarian cancer risk. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals among 516 cases and 770 matched controls. Compared with 25(OH)D concentrations of 50-<75 nmol/L, no statistically significant associations were observed for <37.5 (odds ratio (OR) = 1.21, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.87, 1.70), 37.5-<50 (OR = 1.03, 95% CI: 0.75, 1.41), or > or =75 (OR = 1.11, 95% CI: 0.79, 1.55) nmol/L. Analyses stratified by tumor subtype, age, body mass index, and other variables were generally null but suggested an inverse association between 25(OH)D and ovarian cancer risk among women with a body mass index of > or =25 kg/m(2) (P(interaction) < 0.01). In conclusion, this large pooled analysis did not support an overall association between circulating 25(OH)D and ovarian cancer risk, except possibly among overweight women.
Current optical reflectometric techniques used to characterize optical fibers have to trade-off longitudinal range with spatial resolution and therefore struggle to provide simultaneously wide ...dynamic range (>20dB) and high resolution (<10cm). In this work, we develop and present a technique we refer to as Optical Side Scattering Radiometry (OSSR) capable of resolving discrete and distributed scattering properties of fibers along their length with up to 60dB dynamic range and 5cm spatial resolution. Our setup is first validated on a standard single mode telecoms fiber. Then we apply it to a record-length 11km hollow core photonic band-gap fiber (HC-PBGF) the characterization requirements of which lie far beyond the capability of standard optical reflectometric instruments. We next demonstrate use of the technique to investigate and explain the unusually high loss observed in another HC-PBGF and finally demonstrate its flexibility by measuring a HC-PBGF operating at a wavelength of 2µm. In all of these examples, good agreement between the OSSR measurements and other well-established (but more limited) characterization methods, i.e. cutback loss and OTDR, was obtained.
We previously reported that the ESR1 XbaI genotypes were associated with baseline and tamoxifen‐induced serum lipid profiles. The analysis in that study was carried out by PCR followed by ...restriction‐enzyme digestion. After reanalysis using more robust TaqMan assays, the findings related to _10% of the genotypes for the ESR1 XbaI single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) were revised. For the other genotypes (i.e., ESR1 PvuII, ESR2, and CYP2D6), the results were nearly identical to those in the previous study. Upon reanalysis, previously reported associations between the ESR1 Xba1 genotypes and baseline triglyceride and low‐density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were no longer observed. Previously reported associations between the ESR1 XbaI genotypes and tamoxifen‐induced changes in levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides, and high‐density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were also no longer observed. However, the following observations from the original report did not change: (i) the levels of circulating lipids are lower in women taking tamoxifen; (ii) there is an association between the ESR2‐02 genotypes and changes in triglyceride levels; and (iii) neither ESR1 PvuII nor CYP2D6 is associated with any changes in serum lipid concentrations in patients receiving treatment with tamoxifen.
Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics (2010) 88 5, 626–629. doi: 10.1038/clpt.2010.143
Prostate cancer (PrCa) is the most common non-skin cancer diagnosed among males in developed countries and the second leading cause of cancer mortality, yet little is known regarding its etiology and ...factors that influence clinical outcome. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of PrCa have identified at least 30 distinct loci associated with small differences in risk. We conducted a GWAS in 2782 advanced PrCa cases (Gleason grade ≥ 8 or tumor stage C/D) and 4458 controls with 571 243 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Based on in silico replication of 4679 SNPs (Stage 1, P < 0.02) in two published GWAS with 7358 PrCa cases and 6732 controls, we identified a new susceptibility locus associated with overall PrCa risk at 2q37.3 (rs2292884, P= 4.3 × 10−8). We also confirmed a locus suggested by an earlier GWAS at 12q13 (rs902774, P= 8.6 × 10−9). The estimated per-allele odds ratios for these loci (1.14 for rs2292884 and 1.17 for rs902774) did not differ between advanced and non-advanced PrCa (case-only test for heterogeneity P= 0.72 and P= 0.61, respectively). Further studies will be needed to assess whether these or other loci are differentially associated with PrCa subtypes.
To examine racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in multiple risk factors for heart disease and stroke among women.
Data from 153,466 adult women in the 2003 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance ...System (BRFSS), a telephone survey of U.S. adults, were used to assess the prevalence of multiple (i.e., >or=2 of diabetes, current smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, or physical inactivity) risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Descriptive and multivariable analyses assessed differences in multiple risk factors among racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups.
More than one third (36.5%) of all women had multiple risk factors. The age-standardized prevalence of multiple risk factors was lowest in whites and Asians. After adjustment for age, income, education, and health coverage, the odds for multiple risk factors was greater in black (OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.42-1.64) and Native American women (1.36, 95% CI = 1.11-1.67) and lower for Hispanic women (OR = 0.83, 95% CI = 0.76-0.91) compared with white women. Prevalence estimates and odds of multiple risk factors increased with age; decreased with education, income, and employment; and were lower in those with no health coverage. Smoking was more common in younger women, whereas older women were more likely to have medical conditions (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes) and be physically inactive.
Over one third of U.S. women have two or more risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Prevention programs that target risk reduction are especially critical to decrease the burden of heart disease and stroke in these higher-risk U.S. women.
CNS development: an overview Nowakowski, R S; Hayes, N L
Development and psychopathology,
09/1999, Letnik:
11, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The basic principles of the development of the central nervous system (CNS) are reviewed, and their implications for both normal and abnormal development of the brain are discussed. The goals of this ...review are (a) to provide a set of concepts to aid in understanding the variety of complex processes that occur during CNS development, (b) to illustrate how these concepts contribute to our knowledge of the normal anatomy of the adult brain, and (c) to provide a basis for understanding how modifications of normal developmental processes by traumatic injury, by environmental or experiential influences, or by genetic variations may lead to modifications in the resultant structure and function of the adult CNS.
We have measured the amount of variation in the length of the cell cycle for cells in the pseudostratified ventricular epithelium (PVE) of the developing cortex of mice on embryonic day 14. Our ...measurements were made in three cortical regions (i.e., the neocortex, archicortex, and periarchicortex) using three different methods: the cumulative labeling method (CLM), the percent labeled mitoses (PLM) method, and a comparison of the time needed for the PLM to ascend from 0 to 100% with the time needed for the PLM to descend from 100 to 0%. These 3 different techniques provide different perspectives on the cytokinetic parameters. Theoretically, CLM gives an estimate for a maximum value of the total length of the cell cycle (TC), whereas PLM gives an estimate of a minimum value of TC. The difference between these two estimates indicates that the range for TC is +/-1% of the mean TC for periarchicortex, +/-7% for neocortex, and +/-8% for archicortex. This was confirmed by a lengthening of the PLM descent time in comparison with its ascent time. The sharpness of the transitions and the flatness of the plateau of the PLM curves indicate that 99% of the proliferating cells are within this narrow estimated range for TC; hence, only approximately 1% deviate outside of a relatively restricted range from the average TC of the population. In the context of the possible existence within the cortical PVE of two populations with markedly dissimilar cell cycle kinetics from the mean, one such population must comprise approximately 99% of the total population, and the other, if it exists, is only approximately 1% of the total. This seems to be true for all three cortical regions. The narrow range of TC indicates a homogeneity in the cell cycle length for proliferating cells in three different cortical regions, despite the fact that progenitor cells of different lineages may be present. It further predicts the existence of almost synchronous interkinetic nuclear movements of the proliferating cells in the ventricular zone during early development of the cerebral cortex.
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