This study examined the association of body-mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio with the risk of death among more than 350,000 European subjects who had no major chronic ...diseases. The data suggest that both general and abdominal adiposity are associated with the risk of death and support the use of waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio in addition to BMI for assessment of the risk of death, particularly among persons with a lower BMI.
This study suggests that both general and abdominal adiposity are associated with the risk of death and supports the use of waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio for assessment of the risk of death.
Abdominal obesity is more closely associated with the risk of several chronic diseases than is gluteofemoral obesity, and large studies have suggested that waist circumference or the waist-to-hip ratio, as indicators of abdominal obesity, may be better predictors of the risk of disease than the body-mass index (BMI, the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters), an indicator of general adiposity.
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Current guidelines with respect to obesity recommend the measurement of waist circumference in persons with a BMI between 25.0 and 34.9 and propose cutoff points for waist circumference of 102 cm in men . . .
Acceleration of particles by intense laser–plasma interactions represents a rapidly evolving field of interest, as highlighted by the recent demonstration of laser-driven relativistic beams of ...monoenergetic electrons. Ultrahigh-intensity lasers can produce accelerating fields of 10 TV m-1 (1 TV = 1012 V), surpassing those in conventional accelerators by six orders of magnitude. Laser-driven ions with energies of several MeV per nucleon have also been produced. Such ion beams exhibit unprecedented characteristics—short pulse lengths, high currents and low transverse emittance—but their exponential energy spectra have almost 100% energy spread. This large energy spread, which is a consequence of the experimental conditions used to date, remains the biggest impediment to the wider use of this technology. Here we report the production of quasi-monoenergetic laser-driven C5+ ions with a vastly reduced energy spread of 17%. The ions have a mean energy of 3 MeV per nucleon (full-width at half-maximum ∼0.5 MeV per nucleon) and a longitudinal emittance of less than 2 × 10-6 eV s for pulse durations shorter than 1 ps. Such laser-driven, high-current, quasi-monoenergetic ion sources may enable significant advances in the development of compact MeV ion accelerators, new diagnostics, medical physics, inertial confinement fusion and fast ignition.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Summary
Background
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is one of the most frequent types of cancer constituting a significant public health burden. Prevention strategies focus on limiting ultraviolet (UV) ...exposure during leisure time. However, the relative impact of occupational and nonoccupational UV exposure for SCC occurrence is unclear.
Objectives
To investigate the association between occupational and nonoccupational UV exposure for SCC in a multicentre population‐based case–control study hypothesizing that high occupational UV exposure increases the risk of SCC.
Methods
Consecutive patients with incident SCC (n = 632) were recruited from a German national dermatology network. Population‐based controls (n = 996) without history of skin cancer were recruited from corresponding residents’ registration offices and propensity score matched to cases. Lifetime UV exposure, sociodemographic and clinical characteristics were assessed by trained physicians. Occupational and nonoccupational UV exposure doses were estimated by masked investigators using established reference values. Odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were assessed using conditional logistic regression adjusting for relevant confounders.
Results
Total solar UV exposure was significantly associated with increased SCC. The OR for high (> 90th percentile) vs. low (< 40th percentile) and high vs, moderate (40–59th percentile) occupational UV exposure was 1·95 (95% CI 1·19–3·18) and 2·44 (95% CI 1·47–4·06) for SCC. Adjusting for occupational UV exposure, nonoccupational UV exposure was not significantly related to SCC incidence. Dose–response relationships were observed for occupational but not for nonoccupational solar UV exposure.
Conclusions
Solar occupational UV exposure is a major determinant of incident SCC. Our findings indicate that prevention strategies should be further expanded to the occupational setting.
What's already known about this topic?
Ultraviolet (UV) exposure is the most important risk factor for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).
Public health strategies mainly focus on UV‐exposure prevention in nonoccupational settings.
Epidemiological studies indicated an elevated risk of SCC in outdoor workers compared with indoor workers.
The relative impact of occupational and nonoccupational UV exposure concerning SCC risk is unclear.
What does this study add?
This population‐based case–control study was the first to apply validated UV‐exposure assessment instruments to discriminate occupational vs. nonoccupational lifetime doses.
High occupational UV exposure (> 90th percentile) is associated with a twofold increased risk for cutaneous SCC, whereas high nonoccupational UV exposure did not appear to be an independent risk factor for SCC.
Prevention strategies need to be further expanded in occupational settings to tackle the burden of SCC.
Linked Comment: von Schuckmann. Br J Dermatol 2018; 178:325–326.
Plain language summary available online
Metabolic alterations precede cardiometabolic disease onset. Here we present ceramide- and dihydroceramide-profiling data from a nested case-cohort (type 2 diabetes T2D, n = 775; cardiovascular ...disease CVD, n = 551; random subcohort n = 1137) in the prospective EPIC-Potsdam study. We apply the novel NetCoupler-algorithm to link a data-driven (dihydro)ceramide network to T2D and CVD risk. Controlling for confounding by other (dihydro)ceramides, ceramides C18:0 and C22:0 and dihydroceramides C20:0 and C22:2 are associated with higher and ceramide C20:0 and dihydroceramide C26:1 with lower T2D risk. Ceramide C16:0 and dihydroceramide C22:2 are associated with higher CVD risk. Genome-wide association studies and Mendelian randomization analyses support a role of ceramide C22:0 in T2D etiology. Our results also suggest that (dh)ceramides partly mediate the putative adverse effect of high red meat consumption and benefits of coffee consumption on T2D risk. Thus, (dihydro)ceramides may play a critical role in linking genetic predisposition and dietary habits to cardiometabolic disease risk.
Objectives
We explored the prospective associations between adherence to a priori chosen dietary patterns, including EAT-Lancet (EAT-L) and Mediterranean (tMDS) diet with long-term inflammatory ...responses in a German population sample.
Design and Setting
Prospective cohort study.
Participants
A subsample of 636 predominantly healthy participants from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam study who were on average 51-years old at baseline.
Measurements
Data was collected repeatedly between 1994/1998–2013. At baseline (1994/1998) and 6.8-years later (2001/2005), EAT-L and tMDS scores were derived from available food frequency questionnaires. Stable high, stable low, increasing, and decreasing adherence to EAT-L and tMDS were defined as scoring above/below baseline median at baseline and 6.8-years later. Long-term chronic inflammation was assessed based on the average values of repeated measurements of two inflammatory biomarkers - chemerin and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) - in plasma samples collected between 2010/2012 and 2013. Multivariable linear regression analysis adjusted for socio-demographic and lifestyle factors at baseline and in 2010/2012 was used to assess the association between diet adherence and long-term hs-CRP and chemerin concentrations.
Results
Stable high or increasing adherence to EAT-L diet compared to stable low adherence was associated with slight reduction of long-term chemerin concentrations on the long run (stable high: −4.4%; increasing: −4.0%), not reaching statistical significance. Increasing adherence to tMDS compared to stable low adherence was also associated with a minor reduction in chemerin concentrations (−3.6%). Decreasing adherence to tMDS compared stable high adherence was associated with 2.7% higher chemerin. The associations were even less pronounced when hs-CRP was used as an outcome.
Conclusions
Adherence to healthy and sustainable dietary patterns defined using existing definitions for EAT-L and tMDS were associated with minor and not statistically significant reduction in the concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers on the long run. More research is needed to explore whether following these diets may represent a suitable approach for targeted prevention in the general population.
Serum metabolites have been linked to higher risk of chronic diseases but determinants of serum metabolites are not clear. We aimed to investigate the association between habitual diet as a ...modifiable risk factor and relevant serum metabolites.
This cross-sectional study comprised 2380 EPIC-Potsdam participants. Intake of 45 food groups was assessed by food frequency questionnaire and concentrations of 127 serum metabolites were measured by targeted metabolomics. Reduced rank regression was used to find dietary patterns that explain the maximum variation of metabolites.
In the multivariable-adjusted model, the proportion of explained variation by habitual diet was ranked as follows: acyl-alkyl-phosphatidylcholines (5.7%), sphingomyelins (5.1%), diacyl-phosphatidylcholines (4.4%), lyso-phosphatidylcholines (4.1%), acylcarnitines (3.5%), amino acids (2.2%) and hexose (1.6%). A pattern with high intake of butter and low intake of margarine was related to acylcarnitines, acyl-alkyl-phosphatidylcholines, lyso-phosphatidylcholines and hydroxy-sphingomyelins, particularly with saturated and monounsaturated fatty acid side chains. A pattern with high intake of red meat and fish and low intake of whole-grain bread and tea was related to hexose and phosphatidylcholines. A pattern consisting of high intake of potatoes, dairy products and cornflakes particularly explained methionine and branched chain amino acids. Dietary patterns related to type 2 diabetes-relevant metabolites included high intake of red meat and low intake of whole-grain bread, tea, coffee, cake and cookies, canned fruits and fish.
Dietary patterns characterized by intakes of red meat, whole-grain bread, tea and coffee were linked to relevant metabolites and could be potential targets for chronic disease prevention.
Context.
SN 2020qlb (ZTF20abobpcb) is a hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova (SLSN-I) that is among the most luminous (maximum
M
g
= −22.25 mag) and that has one of the longest rise times (77 days ...from explosion to maximum). We estimate the total radiated energy to be > 2.1 × 10
51
erg. SN 2020qlb has a well-sampled light curve that exhibits clear near and post peak undulations, a phenomenon seen in other SLSNe, whose physical origin is still unknown.
Aims.
We discuss the potential power source of this immense explosion as well as the mechanisms behind its observed light curve undulations.
Methods.
We analyze photospheric spectra and compare them to other SLSNe-I. We constructed the bolometric light curve using photometry from a large data set of observations from the
Zwicky
Transient Facility (ZTF), Liverpool Telescope (LT), and
Neil Gehrels Swift
Observatory and compare it with radioactive, circumstellar interaction and magnetar models. Model residuals and light curve polynomial fit residuals are analyzed to estimate the undulation timescale and amplitude. We also determine host galaxy properties based on imaging and spectroscopy data, including a detection of the O III
λ
4363, auroral line, allowing for a direct metallicity measurement.
Results.
We rule out the Arnett
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Ni decay model for SN 2020qlb’s light curve due to unphysical parameter results. Our most favored power source is the magnetic dipole spin-down energy deposition of a magnetar. Two to three near peak oscillations, intriguingly similar to those of SN 2015bn, were found in the magnetar model residuals with a timescale of 32 ± 6 days and an amplitude of 6% of peak luminosity. We rule out centrally located undulation sources due to timescale considerations; and we favor the result of ejecta interactions with circumstellar material (CSM) density fluctuations as the source of the undulations.
Aims/hypothesis
Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has been shown, largely in American populations, to increase type 2 diabetes incidence. We aimed to evaluate the association of consumption of ...sweet beverages (juices and nectars, sugar-sweetened soft drinks and artificially sweetened soft drinks) with type 2 diabetes incidence in European adults.
Methods
We established a case–cohort study including 12,403 incident type 2 diabetes cases and a stratified subcohort of 16,154 participants selected from eight European cohorts participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study. After exclusions, the final sample size included 11,684 incident cases and a subcohort of 15,374 participants. Cox proportional hazards regression models (modified for the case–cohort design) and random-effects meta-analyses were used to estimate the association between sweet beverage consumption (obtained from validated dietary questionnaires) and type 2 diabetes incidence.
Results
In adjusted models, one 336 g (12 oz) daily increment in sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened soft drink consumption was associated with HRs for type 2 diabetes of 1.22 (95% CI 1.09, 1.38) and 1.52 (95% CI 1.26, 1.83), respectively. After further adjustment for energy intake and BMI, the association of sugar-sweetened soft drinks with type 2 diabetes persisted (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.06, 1.32), but the association of artificially sweetened soft drinks became statistically not significant (HR 1.11, 95% CI 0.95, 1.31). Juice and nectar consumption was not associated with type 2 diabetes incidence.
Conclusions/interpretation
This study corroborates the association between increased incidence of type 2 diabetes and high consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks in European adults.
The aim of this study was to investigate the association between processed and other meat intake and incidence of Type 2 diabetes in a large cohort of women.
Incident cases of Type 2 diabetes were ...identified during 8 years of follow-up in a prospective cohort study of 91246 U.S. women aged 26 to 46 years and being free of diabetes and other major chronic diseases at baseline in 1991.
We identified 741 incident cases of confirmed Type 2 diabetes during 716276 person-years of follow-up. The relative risk adjusted for potential non-dietary confounders was 1.91 (95% CI: 1.42-2.57) in women consuming processed meat five times or more a week compared with those consuming processed meat less than once a week ( p<0.001 for trend). Further adjustment for intakes of magnesium, cereal fibre, glycaemic index, and caffeine or for a Western dietary pattern did not appreciably change the results and associations remained strong after further adjustment for fatty acid and cholesterol intake. Frequent consumption of bacon, hot dogs, and sausage was each associated with an increased risk of diabetes. While total red meat (beef or lamb as main dish, pork as main dish, hamburger, beef, pork or lamb as sandwich or mixed dish) intake was associated with an increased risk of diabetes, this association was attenuated after adjustment for magnesium, cereal fiber, glycaemic index, and caffeine (relative risk: 1.44; 95% CI: 0.92-2.24).
Our data suggest that diets high in processed meats could increase the risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.
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