Coffee consumption and prostate cancer risk: further evidence for inverse relationship

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Higher consumption of coffee intake has recently been linked with reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer (PC) incidence, although meta-analysis of other studies that examine the association between coffee consumption and overall PC risk remains inconclusive. Only one recent study investigated the association between coffee intake and grade-specific incidence of PC, further evidence is required to understand the aetiology of aggressive PCs. Therefore, we conducted a prospective study to examine the relationship between coffee intake and overall as well as grade-specific PC risk.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a prospective cohort study of 6017 men who were enrolled in the Collaborative cohort study in the UK between 1970 and 1973 and followed up to 31st December 2007. Cox Proportional Hazards Models were used to evaluate the association between coffee consumption and overall, as well as Gleason grade-specific, PC incidence.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Higher coffee consumption was inversely associated with risk of high grade but not with overall risk of PC. Men consuming 3 or more cups of coffee per day experienced 55% lower risk of high Gleason grade disease compared with non-coffee drinkers in analysis adjusted for age and social class (HR 0.45, 95% CI 0.23-0.90, p value for trend 0.01). This association changed a little after additional adjustment for Body Mass Index, smoking, cholesterol level, systolic blood pressure, tea intake and alcohol consumption.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Coffee consumption reduces the risk of aggressive PC but not the overall risk.</p

Which circulating antioxidant vitamins are confounded by socioeconomic deprivation? The MIDSPAN family study

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Background:&lt;/b&gt; Antioxidant vitamins are often described as having “independent” associations with risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. We aimed to compare to what extent a range of antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids are associated with adulthood and childhood markers of socioeconomic deprivation and to adverse lifestyle factors.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Methods and Findings:&lt;/b&gt; Socioeconomic and lifestyle measures were available in 1040 men and 1298 women from the MIDSPAN Family Study (30–59 years at baseline) together with circulating levels of vitamins A, C, E, and carotenoids (α-carotene, β-carotene, lutein and lycopene). Markers of socioeconomic deprivation in adulthood were consistently as strongly associated with lower vitamin C and carotenoid levels as markers of adverse lifestyle; the inverse association with overcrowding was particularly consistent (vitamin C and carotenoids range from 19.1% [95% CI 30.3–6.0] to 38.8% [49.9–25.3] lower among those in overcrowded residencies). These associations were consistent after adjusting for month, classical CVD risk factors, body mass index, physical activity, vitamin supplements, dietary fat and fibre intake. Similar, but weaker, associations were seen for childhood markers of deprivation. The association of vitamin A or E were strikingly different; several adult adverse lifestyle factors associated with higher levels of vitamin A and E, including high alcohol intake for vitamin A (9.5% [5.7–13.5]) and waist hip ratio for vitamin E (9.5% [4.8–14.4]), with the latter associations partially explained by classical risk factors, particularly cholesterol levels.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/b&gt; Plasma vitamin C and carotenoids have strong inverse associations with adulthood markers of social deprivation, whereas vitamin A and E appear positively related to specific adverse lifestyle factors. These findings should help researchers better contextualize blood antioxidant vitamin levels by illustrating the potential limitations associated with making causal inferences without consideration of social deprivation.&lt;/p&gt

Factors associated with failed treatment : an analysis of 121,744 women embarking on their first IVF cycles

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Equation of State for Two Flavor QCD at Non-zero Chemical Potential

We present results of a simulation of QCD on a 4x16^3 lattice with 2 continuum flavors of p4-improved staggered fermion with mass m/T=0.4. Derivatives of the thermodynamic grand potential with respect to quark chemical potential mu_q up to fourth order are calculated, enabling estimates of the pressure, quark number density and associated susceptibilities as functions of mu_q via Taylor series expansion. Discretisation effects associated with various staggered fermion formulations are discussed in some detail. In addition it is possible to estimate the radius of convergence of the expansion as a function of temperature. We also discuss the calculation of energy and entropy densities which are defined via mixed derivatives of the thermodynamic grand potential with respect to the bare couplings and quark masses.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX2e File, 17 Postscript figure

Increased HIV Incidence in Men Who Have Sex with Men Despite High Levels of ART-Induced Viral Suppression: Analysis of an Extensively Documented Epidemic

Background: There is interest in expanding ART to prevent HIV transmission, but in the group with the highest levels of ART use, men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM), numbers of new infections diagnosed each year have not decreased as ART coverage has increased for reasons which remain unclear. Methods: We analysed data on the HIV-epidemic in MSM in the UK from a range of sources using an individual-based simulation model. Model runs using parameter sets found to result in good model fit were used to infer changes in HIV-incidence and risk behaviour. Results: HIV-incidence has increased (estimated mean incidence 0.30/100 person-years 1990–1997, 0.45/100 py 1998–2010), associated with a modest (26%) rise in condomless sex. We also explored counter-factual scenarios: had ART not been introduced, but the rise in condomless sex had still occurred, then incidence 2006–2010 was 68% higher; a policy of ART initiation in all diagnosed with HIV from 2001 resulted in 32% lower incidence; had levels of HIV testing been higher (68% tested/year instead of 25%) incidence was 25% lower; a combination of higher testing and ART at diagnosis resulted in 62% lower incidence; cessation of all condom use in 2000 resulted in a 424% increase in incidence. In 2010, we estimate that undiagnosed men, the majority in primary infection, accounted for 82% of new infections. Conclusion: A rise in HIV-incidence has occurred in MSM in the UK despite an only modest increase in levels of condomless sex and high coverage of ART. ART has almost certainly exerted a limiting effect on incidence. Much higher rates of HIV testing combined with initiation of ART at diagnosis would be likely to lead to substantial reductions in HIV incidence. Increased condom use should be promoted to avoid the erosion of the benefits of ART and to prevent other serious sexually transmitted infections

Remarks on the multi-parameter reweighting method for the study of lattice QCD at non-zero temperature and density

We comment on the reweighting method for the study of finite density lattice QCD. We discuss the applicable parameter range of the reweighting method for models which have more than one simulation parameter. The applicability range is determined by the fluctuations of the modification factor of the Boltzmann weight. In some models having a first order phase transition, the fluctuations are minimized along the phase transition line if we assume that the pressure in the hot and the cold phase is balanced at the first order phase transition point. This suggests that the reweighting method with two parameters is applicable in a wide range for the purpose of tracing out the phase transition line in the parameter space. To confirm the usefulness of the reweighting method for 2 flavor QCD, the fluctuations of the reweighting factor are measured by numerical simulations for the cases of reweighting in the quark mass and chemical potential directions. The relation with the phase transition line is discussed. Moreover, the sign problem caused by the complex phase fluctuations is studied.Comment: 20 page, 6 figure

The QCD thermal phase transition in the presence of a small chemical potential

We propose a new method to investigate the thermal properties of QCD with a small quark chemical potential $\mu$. Derivatives of the phase transition point with respect to $\mu$ are computed at $\mu=0$ for 2 flavors of p-4 improved staggered fermions with $ma=0.1,0.2$ on a $16^3\times4$ lattice. The resulting Taylor expansion is well behaved for the small values of $\mu_{\rm q}/T_c\sim0.1$ relevant for RHIC phenomenology, and predicts a critical curve $T_c(\mu)$ in reasonable agreement with estimates obtained using exact reweighting. In addition, we contrast the case of isoscalar and isovector chemical potentials, quantify the effect of $\mu\not=0$ on the equation of state, and comment on the complex phase of the fermion determinant in QCD with $\mu\not=0$.Comment: 26 pages, 25 figures, minor modificatio

Returning home: heritage work among the Stl'atl'imx of the Lower Lillooet River Valley

This article focusses on heritage practices in the tensioned landscape of the Stl’atl’imx (pronounced Stat-lee-um) people of the Lower Lillooet River Valley, British Columbia, Canada. Displaced from their traditional territories and cultural traditions through the colonial encounter, they are enacting, challenging and remaking their heritage as part of their long term goal to reclaim their land and return ‘home’. I draw on three examples of their heritage work: graveyard cleaning, the shifting ‘official’/‘unofficial’ heritage of a wagon road, and marshalling of the mountain named Nsvq’ts (pronounced In-SHUCK-ch) in order to illustrate how the past is strategically mobilised in order to substantiate positions in the present. While this paper focusses on heritage in an Indigenous and postcolonial context, I contend that the dynamics of heritage practices outlined here are applicable to all heritage practices