We evaluated the racial misclassification of American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) in cancer incidence and all-cause mortality data by Indian Health Service (IHS) Contract Health Service ...Delivery Area (CHSDA).
We evaluated data from 3 sources: IHS-National Vital Statistics System (NVSS), IHS-National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR)/Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program, and National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS). We calculated, within each data source, the sensitivity and classification ratios by sex, IHS region, and urban-rural classification by CHSDA county.
Sensitivity was significantly greater in CHSDA counties (IHS-NVSS: 83.6%; IHS-NPCR/SEER: 77.6%; NLMS: 68.8%) than non-CHSDA counties (IHS-NVSS: 54.8%; IHS-NPCR/SEER: 39.0%; NLMS: 28.3%). Classification ratios indicated less misclassification in CHSDA counties (IHS-NVSS: 1.20%; IHS-NPCR/SEER: 1.29%; NLMS: 1.18%) than non-CHSDA counties (IHS-NVSS: 1.82%; IHS-NPCR/SEER: 2.56%; NLMS: 1.81%). Race misclassification was less in rural counties and in regions with the greatest concentrations of AI/AN persons (Alaska, Southwest, and Northern Plains).
Limiting presentation and analysis to CHSDA counties helped mitigate the effects of race misclassification of AI/AN persons, although a portion of the population was excluded.
Background Population-based cancer registry data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) are mainly based on medical records and ...administrative information. Individual-level socioeconomic data are not routinely reported by cancer registries in the United States because they are not available in patient hospital records. The U.S. representative National Longitudinal Mortality Study (NLMS) data provide self-reported, detailed demographic and socioeconomic data from the Social and Economic Supplement to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey (CPS). In 1999, the NCI initiated the SEER-NLMS study, linking the population-based SEER cancer registry data to NLMS data. The SEER-NLMS data provide a new unique research resource that is valuable for health disparity research on cancer burden. We describe the design, methods, and limitations of this data set. We also present findings on cancer-related health disparities according to individual-level socioeconomic status (SES) and demographic characteristics for all cancers combined and for cancers of the lung, breast, prostate, cervix, and melanoma. Methods Records of cancer patients diagnosed in 1973-2001 when residing 1 of 11 SEER registries were linked with 26 NLMS cohorts. The total number of SEER matched cancer patients that were also members of an NLMS cohort was 26,844. Of these 26,844 matched patients, 11,464 were included in the incidence analyses and 15,357 in the late-stage diagnosis analyses. Matched patients (used in the incidence analyses) and unmatched patients were compared by age group, sex, race, ethnicity, residence area, year of diagnosis, and cancer anatomic site. Cohort-based age-adjusted cancer incidence rates were computed. The impact of socioeconomic status on cancer incidence and stage of diagnosis was evaluated. Results Men and women with less than a high school education had elevated lung cancer rate ratios of 3.01 and 2.02, respectively, relative to their college educated counterparts. Those with family annual incomes less than $12,500 had incidence rates that were more than 1.7 times the lung cancer incidence rate of those with incomes $50,000 or higher. Lower income was also associated with a statistically significantly increased risk of distant-stage breast cancer among women and distant-stage prostate cancer among men. Conclusions Socioeconomic patterns in incidence varied for specific cancers, while such patterns for stage were generally consistent across cancers, with late-stage diagnoses being associated with lower SES. These findings illustrate the potential for analyzing disparities in cancer outcomes according to a variety of individual-level socioeconomic, demographic, and health care characteristics, as well as by area measures available in the linked database.
Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancy, with high mortality attributable to widespread intraperitoneal metastases. Recent meta-analyses report an ...association between obesity, ovarian cancer incidence, and ovarian cancer survival, but the effect of obesity on metastasis has not been evaluated. The objective of this study was to use an integrative approach combining in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo studies to test the hypothesis that obesity contributes to ovarian cancer metastatic success. Initial in vitro studies using three-dimensional mesomimetic cultures showed enhanced cell-cell adhesion to the lipid-loaded mesothelium. Furthermore, in an ex vivo colonization assay, ovarian cancer cells exhibited increased adhesion to mesothelial explants excised from mice modeling diet-induced obesity (DIO), in which they were fed a "Western" diet. Examination of mesothelial ultrastructure revealed a substantial increase in the density of microvilli in DIO mice. Moreover, enhanced intraperitoneal tumor burden was observed in overweight or obese animals in three distinct in vivo models. Further histologic analyses suggested that alterations in lipid regulatory factors, enhanced vascularity, and decreased M1/M2 macrophage ratios may account for the enhanced tumorigenicity. Together, these findings show that obesity potently affects ovarian cancer metastatic success, which likely contributes to the negative correlation between obesity and ovarian cancer survival.
Selection on spore dispersal mechanisms in mosses is thought to shape the transformation of the sporophyte. The majority of extant mosses develop a sporangium that dehisces through the loss of an ...operculum, and regulates spore release through the movement of articulate teeth, the peristome, lining the capsule mouth. Such complexity was acquired by the Mesozoic Era, but was lost in some groups during subsequent diversification events, challenging the resolution of the affinities for taxa with reduced architectures. The Funariaceae are a cosmopolitan and diverse lineage of mostly annual mosses, and exhibit variable sporophyte complexities, spanning from long, exerted, operculate capsules with two rings of well‐developed teeth, to capsules immersed among maternal leaves, lacking a differentiated line of dehiscence (i.e., inoperculate) and without peristomes. The family underwent a rapid diversification, and the relationships of taxa with reduced sporophytes remain ambiguous. Here, we infer the relationships of five taxa with highly reduced sporophytes based on 648 nuclear loci (exons complemented by their flanking regions), based on inferences from concatenated data and concordance analysis of single gene trees. Physcomitrellopsis is resolved as nested within one clade of Entosthodon. Physcomitrella s. l., is resolved as a polyphyletic assemblage and, along with its putative relative Aphanorrhegma, nested within Physcomitrium. We propose a new monophyletic delineation of Physcomitrium, which accommodates species of Physcomitrella and Aphanorrhegma. The monophyly of Physcomitrium s. l. is supported by a small plurality of exons, but a majority of trees inferred from exons and their adjacent non‐coding regions.
We addressed three research questions: (1) Are there racial mortality disparities in the adult Hispanic population that resemble those observed in the non-Hispanic population in the US? (2) Does ...nativity mediate the race-mortality relationship in the Hispanic population? and (3) What does the Hispanic mortality advantage relative to the non-Hispanic white population look like when Hispanic race is considered?
We estimated a series of parametric hazard models on eight years of mortality follow-up data and calculated life expectancy estimates using the Mortality Disparities in American Communities database.
Hispanic white adults experience lower mortality than their Hispanic black, American Indian and Alaska Native, Some Other Race, and multiple race counterparts. This Hispanic white advantage is found mostly among the US born. The Hispanic advantage relative to the non-Hispanic white population operates for most Hispanic race groups among the foreign born but either disappears or converts to a disadvantage for most of the non-white Hispanic groups among the US born.
Our study extends the literature on the Hispanic Mortality Paradox by revealing that the adult Hispanic population experiences racial mortality disparities that closely resemble those observed in the non-Hispanic population. The Hispanic mortality advantage is mediated not only by nativity but by race. These results indicate that race is a critical factor that should be considered in any study with the goal of understanding the health and mortality profiles of the Hispanic population in the US.
•Racial disparities in mortality exist in the adult Hispanic population.•The role of race in Hispanic mortality is mediated by nativity status.•Hispanic racial mortality disparities mirror those in the non-Hispanic population.•White Hispanics have lower mortality than their non-white counterparts.•Among US born Hispanics the mortality advantage is observed only for white adults.
Premise of the Study
Untapped information about allele diversity within populations and individuals (i.e., heterozygosity) could improve phylogenetic resolution and accuracy. Many phylogenetic ...reconstructions ignore heterozygosity because it is difficult to assemble allele sequences and combine allele data across unlinked loci, and it is unclear how reconstruction methods accommodate variable sequences. We review the common methods of including heterozygosity in phylogenetic studies and present a novel method for assembling allele sequences from target‐enriched Illumina sequencing libraries.
Methods
We performed supermatrix phylogeny reconstruction and species tree estimation of Artocarpus based on three methods of accounting for heterozygous sequences: a consensus method based on de novo sequence assembly, the use of ambiguity characters, and a novel method for incorporating read information to phase alleles. We characterize the extent to which highly heterozygous sequences impeded phylogeny reconstruction and determine whether the use of allele sequences improves phylogenetic resolution or decreases topological uncertainty.
Key Results
We show here that it is possible to infer phased alleles from target‐enriched Illumina libraries. We find that highly heterozygous sequences do not contribute disproportionately to poor phylogenetic resolution and that the use of allele sequences for phylogeny reconstruction does not have a clear effect on phylogenetic resolution or topological consistency.
Conclusions
We provide a framework for inferring phased alleles from target enrichment data and for assessing the contribution of allelic diversity to phylogenetic reconstruction. In our data set, the impact of allele phasing on phylogeny is minimal compared to the impact of using phylogenetic reconstruction methods that account for gene tree incongruence.
Abstract
Oenothera sect. Calylophus is a North American group of 13 recognized taxa in the evening primrose family (Onagraceae) with an evolutionary history that may include independent origins of ...bee pollination, edaphic endemism, and permanent translocation heterozygosity. Like other groups that radiated relatively recently and rapidly, taxon boundaries within Oenothera sect. Calylophus have remained challenging to circumscribe. In this study, we used target enrichment, flanking noncoding regions, gene tree/species tree methods, tests for gene flow modified for target-enrichment data, and morphometric analysis to reconstruct phylogenetic hypotheses, evaluate current taxon circumscriptions, and examine character evolution in Oenothera sect. Calylophus. Because sect. Calylophus comprises a clade with a relatively restricted geographic range, we were able to extensively sample across the range of geographic, edaphic, and morphological diversity in the group. We found that the combination of exons and flanking noncoding regions led to improved support for species relationships. We reconstructed potential hybrid origins of some accessions and note that if processes such as hybridization are not taken into account, the number of inferred evolutionary transitions may be artificially inflated. We recovered strong evidence for multiple evolutionary origins of bee pollination from ancestral hawkmoth pollination, edaphic specialization on gypsum, and permanent translocation heterozygosity. This study applies newly emerging techniques alongside dense infraspecific sampling and morphological analyses to effectively reconstruct the recalcitrant history of a rapid radiation. Gypsum endemism; Oenothera sect. Calylophus; Onagraceae; phylogenomics; pollinator shift; recent radiation; target enrichment.
Few studies in the United States have examined longitudinally the mortality risks associated with use of smokeless tobacco (SLT). The sample of our study was composed of participants from the ...National Longitudinal Mortality Study who completed a single Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey between the years 1985 and 2011. Using survival methods, SLT use at the baseline survey was examined as a predictor of all‐cause mortality and cause‐specific mortalities in models that excluded individuals who had ever smoked cigarettes, cigars or used pipes (final n = 349,282). The participants had median and maximum follow‐up times of 8.8 and 26.3 years, respectively. Regression analyses indicated that compared to the never tobacco users, the current SLT users did not have elevated mortality risks from all cancers combined, the digestive system cancers and cerebrovascular disease. However, current SLT users had a higher mortality risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) hazard ratio (HR) (95% CI) = 1.24 (1.05, 1.46) relative to never tobacco users. In a separate model, the elevated risk for CHD mortality corresponded to the use of moist snuff HR (95% CI) = 1.30 (1.03, 1.63). The associations with CHD mortality could be attributed to long‐term nicotine exposure, other SLT constituents (e.g., metals) or the confounding effects of CHD risk factors not accounted for in our study. The study's findings contribute to the ongoing dialogue on tobacco harm reduction and the US FDA's evaluation of Modified Risk Tobacco Product applications submitted by American SLT manufacturers.
What's new?
This epidemiologic investigation represents one of the few longitudinal studies that tracked the mortality status of US residents according to their use of smokeless tobacco. While users of smokeless tobacco have an elevated risk of dying from coronary heart disease, they do not have elevated mortality risks from all cancers (combined) and the digestive system cancers. These findings contribute to the ongoing dialogue on tobacco harm reduction in the United States.
To explore knowledge about the effects on fertility of age, obesity, smoking, and timing of intercourse among Australians of reproductive age.
Telephone survey of a representative sample of ...Australians.
Not applicable.
Australians aged 18 to 45 years who wish to have a child or another child now or in the future.
None.
Knowledge about the effect on fertility of age, obesity, smoking, and timing of intercourse.
A total of 462 interviews were conducted. The majority of respondents underestimated, by about 10 years, the age at which male and female fertility starts to decline. Only one in four correctly identified that female fertility starts to decline before age 35, and one in three identified that male fertility starts to decline before age 45. Most (59%) were aware that female obesity and smoking affect fertility, but fewer recognized that male obesity (30%) and smoking (36%) also influence fertility. Almost 40% of respondents had inadequate knowledge of when in the menstrual cycle a woman is most likely to conceive.
Considerable knowledge gaps about modifiable factors that affect fertility were identified. These are targeted in a national education campaign to promote awareness of factors that influence fertility.
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