Light cigarette smoking increases risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality: Findings from the NHIS Cohort Study

Very few studies have examined the association between light cigarette smoking (i.e., ≤5 cigarettes per day) and mortality. The aim of this study was to examine the association of light cigarette smoking with all-cause and cause-specific mortality among adults in the United States. Data were from 13 waves of the National Health Interview Survey (1997 to 2009) that were linked to the National Death Index records through December 31, 2011. A total of 329,035 participants aged ≥18 years in the United States were included. Deaths were from all cause, cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and respiratory disease and were confirmed by death certification. During a median follow-up of 8.2 years, 34,862 participants died, of which 8415 were from cancer, 9031 from CVD, and 2040 from respiratory disease. Compared with never-smokers, participants who smoked 1-2 (hazard ratios (HR) = 1.94, 95%CI = 1.73-2.16) and 3-5 cigarettes (HR = 1.99, 1.83-2.17) per day were at higher risk of all-cause mortality after adjustment for demographic variables, lifestyle factors and physician-diagnosis of chronic disease. The associations were stronger for respiratory disease-specific mortality, followed by cancer-specific mortality and CVD-specific mortality. For example, the HRs (95% CIs) of smoking 1-2 cigarettes per day were 9.75 (6.15-15.46), 2.28 (1.84-2.84) and 1.93 (1.58-2.36), respectively, for these three cause-specific mortalities. This study indicates that light cigarette smoking increases risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in US adults

Tailoring ferromagnetic chalcopyrites

If magnetic semiconductors are ever to find wide application in real spintronic devices, their magnetic and electronic properties will require tailoring in much the same way that band gaps are engineered in conventional semiconductors. Unfortunately, no systematic understanding yet exists of how, or even whether, properties such as Curie temperatures and band gaps are related in magnetic semiconductors. Here we explore theoretically these and other relationships within 64 members of a single materials class, the Mn-doped II-IV-V2 chalcopyrites, three of which are already known experimentally to be ferromagnetic semiconductors. Our first-principles results reveal a variation of magnetic properties across different materials that cannot be explained by either of the two dominant models of ferromagnetism in semiconductors. Based on our results for structural, electronic, and magnetic properties, we identify a small number of new stable chalcopyrites with excellent prospects for ferromagnetism.Comment: 6 pages with 4 figures, plus 3 supplementary figures; to appear in Nature Material

Utility of blood pressure measurements at an initial screening visit to identify Chinese children and adolescents with hypertension

The performance of different BP readings and their combinations at a visit to identify children and adolescents with pediatric hypertension remains controversial. We aimed to assess the utility of different blood pressure (BP) readings and their combinations obtained at the initial screening visit for identifying Chinese children and adolescents with hypertension. Participants were 7831 children and adolescents aged 6-17 years measured as part of a cross-sectional survey conducted in Jinan, China between September 2012 and November 2014. BP was measured three times at up to three visits. Elevated BP at the initial visit was defined as systolic BP and/or diastolic BP ≥ age- and sex-specific 95th percentiles using the Chinese BP references for children and adolescents based on different BP readings and their combinations. Participants with elevated BP using (BP2+BP3)/2 across three visits were defined as having hypertension. Of the different readings or combinations examined, the mean of the last two readings at the initial visit had the best predictive utility for children and adolescents with hypertension (sensitivity: 100.0%; specificity: 86.9%; positive predictive value: 27.6%; negative predictive value: 100.0%). This was also reflected in the area under the curve being highest for the mean of the last two readings (0.93, 95% confidence interval: 0.93-0.94) compared with any of the other readings or combinations (BP1, BP2, BP3, [BP1+BP2]/2, [BP1+BP3]/2, and [BP1+BP2+BP3]/3; all p < .001). Taking three measurements of BP and using the average of the last two readings at a screening visit may be optimal for the identification of hypertension in youth

Global prevalence of WHO infant feeding practices in 57 LMICs in 2010-2018 and time trends since 2000 for 44 LMICs

Background:The World Health Assembly set a global target of increasing exclusive breastfeeding for infants under 6 months to at least 50% by year 2025. However, little is known about the current status of breastfeeding practice, as well as the trends in breastfeeding practices during recent years. We examined global prevalence of the World Health Organization (WHO) feeding practices in 57 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and time trends since 2000 for 44 selected countries.Methods:We included 57 eligible LMICs that had completed data on breastfeeding and complementary feeding in 2010–2018 from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for examining current feeding status. We further selected 44 LMICs that had two standard DHS surveys between 2000 and 2009 and 2010–2018 to examine time trends of feeding status. We calculated global, regional, and national weighted prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for five breastfeeding indicators and two complementary feeding indicators.Findings:In 57 LMICs during 2010–2018, global weighted prevalence was 51.9% for early initiation of breastfeeding, 45.7% for exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months, 32.0% for exclusive breastfeeding at 4–5 months, 83.1% for continued breastfeeding at 1 year, 56.2% for continued breastfeeding at 2 years, 14.9% for introduction of solid, semi-solid or soft foods under 6 months, and 63.1% for introduction of solid, semi-solid or soft foods at 6–8 months. Eastern Mediterranean (34.5%) and European regions (43.7%) (vs. South-East Asia/Western Pacific (55.2%)), and upper middle-income countries (38.4%) (vs. lower middle-income countries (47.4%)) had poorer performance of exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months. South-East Asia/Western Pacific regions (51.0%) (vs. other regions (68.3%-84.1%)) and low-income (66.4%) or lower middle-income countries (58.2%) (vs. upper middle-income countries (81.7%)) had lower prevalence of introduction of solid, semi-solid or soft foods at 6–8 months. In 44 selected LMICs from 2000 to 2009 to 2010–2018, total weighted prevalence presented an increase of 10.1% for exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months, but a 1.7% decrease for continued breastfeeding at 1 year. Over this period, the Eastern Mediterranean region had a 5.3% decrease of exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months, and the European region had a 2.0% increase for introduction of solid, semi-solid or soft foods under 6 months. The prevalence of introduction of solid, semi-solid or soft foods at 6–8 months decreased in South-East Asia/Western Pacific region by 15.2%, and in lower middle-income countries by 24.4%.Interpretation:Breastfeeding practices in LMICs have continued to improve in the past decade globally, but practices still lag behind the WHO feeding recommendations. Breastfeeding practices differed greatly across WHO regions, with the Eastern Mediterranean and European regions, and upper middle-income countries facing the greatest challenges in meeting targets. Continued efforts are needed to achieve the 2025 global breastfeeding target

Light Cigarette Smoking Increases Risk of All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality: Findings from the NHIS Cohort Study

Very few studies have examined the association between light cigarette smoking (i.e., = 18 years in the United States were included. Deaths were from all cause, cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and respiratory disease and were confirmed by death certification. During a median follow-up of 8.2 years, 34,862 participants died, of which 8415 were from cancer, 9031 from CVD, and 2040 from respiratory disease. Compared with never-smokers, participants who smoked 1-2 (hazard ratios (HR) = 1.94, 95%CI = 1.73-2.16) and 3-5 cigarettes (HR = 1.99, 1.83-2.17) per day were at higher risk of all-cause mortality after adjustment for demographic variables, lifestyle factors and physician-diagnosis of chronic disease. The associations were stronger for respiratory disease-specific mortality, followed by cancer-specific mortality and CVD-specific mortality. For example, the HRs (95% CIs) of smoking 1-2 cigarettes per day were 9.75 (6.15-15.46), 2.28 (1.84-2.84) and 1.93 (1.58-2.36), respectively, for these three cause-specific mortalities. This study indicates that light cigarette smoking increases risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in US adults

Identification and validation of oncologic miRNA biomarkers for Luminal A-like breast cancer

Introduction: Breast cancer is a common disease with distinct tumor subtypes phenotypically characterized by ER and HER2/neu receptor status. MiRNAs play regulatory roles in tumor initiation and progression, and altered miRNA expression has been demonstrated in a variety of cancer states presenting the potential for exploitation as cancer biomarkers. Blood provides an excellent medium for biomarker discovery. This study investigated systemic miRNAs differentially expressed in Luminal A-like (ER+PR+HER2/neu-) breast cancer and their effectiveness as oncologic biomarkers in the clinical setting. Methods: Blood samples were prospectively collected from patients with Luminal A-like breast cancer (n=54) and controls (n=56). RNA was extracted, reverse transcribed and subjected to microarray analysis (n=10 Luminal A-like; n=10 Control). Differentially expressed miRNAs were identified by artificial neural network (ANN) data-mining algorithms. Expression of specific miRNAs was validated by RQ-PCR (n=44 Luminal A; n=46 Control) and potential relationships between circulating miRNA levels and clinicopathological features of breast cancer were investigated. Results: Microarray analysis identified 76 differentially expressed miRNAs. ANN revealed 10 miRNAs for further analysis ( miR-19b, miR-29a, miR-93, miR-181a, miR-182, miR-223, miR-301a, miR-423-5p, miR-486-5 and miR-652 ). The biomarker potential of 4 miRNAs ( miR-29a, miR-181a , miR-223 and miR-652 ) was confirmed by RQ-PCR, with significantly reduced expression in blood of women with Luminal A-like breast tumors compared to healthy controls (p=0.001, 0.004, 0.009 and 0.004 respectively). Binary logistic regression confirmed that combination of 3 of these miRNAs ( miR-29a, miR-181a and miR-652 ) could reliably differentiate between cancers and controls with an AUC of 0.80. Conclusion: This study provides insight into the underlying molecular portrait of Luminal A-like breast cancer subtype. From an initial 76 miRNAs, 4 were validated with altered expression in the blood of women with Luminal A-like breast cancer. The expression profiles of these 3 miRNAs, in combination with mammography, has potential to facilitate accurate subtype- specific breast tumor detection

The Emerging Scholarly Brain

It is now a commonplace observation that human society is becoming a coherent super-organism, and that the information infrastructure forms its emerging brain. Perhaps, as the underlying technologies are likely to become billions of times more powerful than those we have today, we could say that we are now building the lizard brain for the future organism.Comment: to appear in Future Professional Communication in Astronomy-II (FPCA-II) editors A. Heck and A. Accomazz

Robotic-assisted transoral removal of a bilateral floor of mouth ranulas

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>To describe the management of bilateral oral ranulas with the use of the da Vinci Si Surgical System and discuss advantages and disadvantages over traditional transoral resection.</p> <p>Study Design</p> <p>Case Report and Review of Literature.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A 47 year old woman presented to our service with an obvious right floor of mouth swelling. Clinical evaluation and computerized tomography scan confirmed a large floor of mouth ranula on the right and an incidental asymptomatic early ranula of the left sublingual gland. After obtaining an informed consent, the patient underwent a right transoral robotic-assisted transoral excision of the ranula and sublingual gland with identification and dissection of the submandibular duct and lingual nerve. The patient had an excellent outcome with no evidence of lingual nerve paresis and a return to oral intake on the first postoperative day. Subsequently, the patient underwent an elective transoral robotic-assisted excision of the incidental ranula on the left sublingual gland.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We describe the first robotic-assisted excision of bilateral oral ranulas in current literature. The use of the da Vinci system provides excellent visualization, magnification, and dexterity for transoral surgical management of ranulas with preservation of the lingual nerve and Wharton's duct with good functional outcomes. However, the use of the robotic system for anterior floor of mouth surgery in terms of improved surgical outcomes as compared to traditional transoral surgery, long-term recurrence rates, and cost effectiveness needs further validation.</p