Alcohol use and misuse: What are the contributions of occupation and work organization conditions?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This research examines the specific contribution of occupation and work organization conditions to alcohol use and misuse. It is based on a social-action model that takes into account agent personality, structures of daily life, and macro social structures.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data come from a representative sample of 10,155 workers in Quebec, Canada. Multinomial regression models corrected for sample design effect have been used to predict low-risk and high-risk drinking compared to non-drinkers. The contribution of occupation and work organization conditions (skill used, decision authority, physical and psychological demands, hours worked, irregular work schedule, harassment, unionization, job insecurity, performance pay, prestige) have been adjusted for family situation, social network outside the workplace, and individual characteristics.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Compared to non-qualified blue-collars, both low-risk and high-risk drinking are associated with qualified blue-collars, semi-qualified white-collars, and middle managers; high-risk drinking is associated with upper managers. For constraints-resources related to work organization conditions, only workplace harassment is an important determinant of both low-risk and high-risk drinking, but it is modestly moderated by occupation. Family situation, social support outside work, and personal characteristics of individuals are also associated with alcohol use and misuse. Non-work factors mediated/suppressed the role of occupation and work organization conditions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Occupation and workplace harassment are important factors associated with alcohol use and misuse. The results support the theoretical model conceptualizing alcohol use and misuse as being the product of stress caused by constraints and resources brought to bear simultaneously by agent personality, structures of daily life, and macro social structures. Occupational alcohol researchers must expand their theoretical perspectives to avoid erroneous conclusions about the specific role of the workplace.</p

Twenty-Two Years of Warming, Fertilisation and Shading of Subarctic Heath Shrubs Promote Secondary Growth and Plasticity but Not Primary Growth

Most manipulation experiments simulating global change in tundra were short-term or did not measure plant growth directly. Here, we assessed the growth of three shrubs (Cassiope tetragona, Empetrum hermaphroditum and Betula nana) at a subarctic heath in Abisko (Northern Sweden) after 22 years of warming (passive greenhouses), fertilisation (nutrients addition) and shading (hessian fabric), and compare this to observations from the first decade of treatment. We assessed the growth rate of current-year leaves and apical stem (primary growth) and cambial growth (secondary growth), and integrated growth rates with morphological measurements and species coverage. Primary- and total growth of Cassiope and Empetrum were unaffected by manipulations, whereas growth was substantially reduced under fertilisation and shading (but not warming) for Betula. Overall, shrub height and length tended to increase under fertilisation and warming, whereas branching increased mostly in shaded Cassiope. Morphological changes were coupled to increased secondary growth under fertilisation. The species coverage showed a remarkable increase in graminoids in fertilised plots. Shrub response to fertilisation was positive in the short-term but changed over time, likely because of an increased competition with graminoids. More erected postures and large, canopies (requiring enhanced secondary growth for stem reinforcement) likely compensated for the increased light competition in Empetrum and Cassiope but did not avoid growth reduction in the shade intolerant Betula. The impact of warming and shading on shrub growth was more conservative. The lack of growth enhancement under warming suggests the absence of long-term acclimation for processes limiting biomass production. The lack of negative effects of shading on Cassiope was linked to morphological changes increasing the photosynthetic surface. Overall, tundra shrubs showed developmental plasticity over the longer term. However, such plasticity was associated clearly with growth rate trends only in fertilised plots

Projections from the paralemniscal nucleus to the spinal cord in the mouse

The present study investigated the projection from the paralemniscal nucleus (PL) to the spinal cord in the mouse by injecting the retrograde tracer fluoro-gold to different levels of the spinal cord and injecting the anterograde tracer biotinylated dextran amine into PL. We found that PL projects to the entire spinal cord with obvious contralateral predominance—420 neurons projected to the contralateral cervical cord and 270 to the contralateral lumbar cord. Fibers from PL descended in the dorsolateral funiculus on the contralateral side and terminated in laminae 5, 6, 7, and to a lesser extent in the dorsal and ventral horns. A smaller number of fibers also descended in the ventral funiculus on the ipsilateral side and terminated in laminae 7, 8 and, to a lesser extent in lamina 9. The present study is the first demonstration of the PL fiber termination in the spinal cord in mammals. The PL projection to the spinal cord may be involved in vocalization and locomotion

FGF receptor genes and breast cancer susceptibility: results from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium

Background:Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Genome-wide association studies have identified FGFR2 as a breast cancer susceptibility gene. Common variation in other fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors might also modify risk. We tested this hypothesis by studying genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and imputed SNPs in FGFR1, FGFR3, FGFR4 and FGFRL1 in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. Methods:Data were combined from 49 studies, including 53 835 cases and 50 156 controls, of which 89 050 (46 450 cases and 42 600 controls) were of European ancestry, 12 893 (6269 cases and 6624 controls) of Asian and 2048 (1116 cases and 932 controls) of African ancestry. Associations with risk of breast cancer, overall and by disease sub-type, were assessed using unconditional logistic regression. Results:Little evidence of association with breast cancer risk was observed for SNPs in the FGF receptor genes. The strongest evidence in European women was for rs743682 in FGFR3; the estimated per-allele odds ratio was 1.05 (95 confidence interval=1.02-1.09, P=0.0020), which is substantially lower than that observed for SNPs in FGFR2. Conclusion:Our results suggest that common variants in the other FGF receptors are not associated with risk of breast cancer to the degree observed for FGFR2. © 2014 Cancer Research UK

Increased blood pressure in adult offspring of families with Balkan Endemic Nephropathy: a prospective study

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have linked smaller kidney dimensions to increased blood pressure. However, patients with Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN), whose kidneys shrink during the course of the disease, do not manifest increased blood pressure. The authors evaluated the relationship between kidney cortex width, kidney length, and blood pressure in the offspring of BEN patients and controls. METHODS: 102 offspring of BEN patients and 99 control offspring of non-BEN hospital patients in the Vratza District, Bulgaria, were enrolled in a prospective study and examined twice (2003/04 and 2004/05). Kidney dimensions were determined using ultrasound, blood pressure was measured, and medical information was collected. The parental disease of BEN was categorized into three groups: mother, father, or both parents. Repeated measurements were analyzed with mixed regression models. RESULTS: In all participants, a decrease in minimal kidney cortex width of 1 mm was related to an increase in systolic blood pressure of 1.4 mm Hg (p = 0.005). There was no association between kidney length and blood pressure. A maternal history of BEN was associated with an increase in systolic blood pressure of 6.7 mm Hg (p = 0.03); paternal BEN, +3.2 mm Hg (p = 0.35); or both parents affected, +9.9 mm Hg (p = 0.002). There was a similar relation of kidney cortex width and parental history of BEN with pulse pressure; however, no association with diastolic blood pressure was found. CONCLUSION: In BEN and control offspring, a smaller kidney cortex width predisposed to higher blood pressure. Unexpectedly, a maternal history of BEN was associated with average increased systolic blood pressure in offspring

First Measurement of the Transverse Spin Asymmetries of the Deuteron in Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering

First measurements of the Collins and Sivers asymmetries of charged hadrons produced in deep-inelastic scattering of muons on a transversely polarized 6-LiD target are presented. The data were taken in 2002 with the COMPASS spectrometer using the muon beam of the CERN SPS at 160 GeV/c. The Collins asymmetry turns out to be compatible with zero, as does the measured Sivers asymmetry within the present statistical errors.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Birth weight and melanoma risk: a population-based case–control study

We investigated whether lower birth weight was associated with lower risk of melanoma later in life. This population-based case–control study included all incident cases of histologically verified invasive melanoma diagnosed until 31 December 2003 in the Norwegian population born between 1967 and 1986 (n=709). The control group without malignant disease was established by random sampling from the same source population as the cases (n=108 209). Data on birth weight, gender, mother's residence and parental age at the time of birth were collected from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway and data on cancer from the Cancer Registry of Norway. The Mantel–Haenszel test of linear trend showed no trend in risk across the birth weight categories: individuals in the highest quartile of birth weight (⩾3860 g) had an odds ratio (OR) of 1.19 (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.77–1.84) compared to individuals with birth weight <2500 g. The adjusted OR was 0.81 (95% CI: 0.52–1.26) for birth weight below 2500 g (exposed). Though not statistically significant, the results suggest that low birth weight might influence the risk of melanoma later in life

Model-independent evidence for J/ψpJ/\psi p contributions to Λb0→J/ψpK−\Lambda_b^0\to J/\psi p K^- decays

The data sample of $\Lambda_b^0\to J/\psi p K^-$ decays acquired with the LHCb detector from 7 and 8~TeV $pp$ collisions, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3 fb$^{-1}$, is inspected for the presence of $J/\psi p$ or $J/\psi K^-$ contributions with minimal assumptions about $K^- p$ contributions. It is demonstrated at more than 9 standard deviations that $\Lambda_b^0\to J/\psi p K^-$ decays cannot be described with $K^- p$ contributions alone, and that $J/\psi p$ contributions play a dominant role in this incompatibility. These model-independent results support the previously obtained model-dependent evidence for $P_c^+\to J/\psi p$ charmonium-pentaquark states in the same data sample.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures (including the supplemental section added at the end

Quantum numbers of the X(3872)X(3872) state and orbital angular momentum in its ρ0Jψ\rho^0 J\psi decay

Angular correlations in $B^+\to X(3872) K^+$ decays, with $X(3872)\to \rho^0 J/\psi$, $\rho^0\to\pi^+\pi^-$ and $J/\psi \to\mu^+\mu^-$, are used to measure orbital angular momentum contributions and to determine the $J^{PC}$ value of the $X(3872)$ meson. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 3.0 fb$^{-1}$ of proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector. This determination, for the first time performed without assuming a value for the orbital angular momentum, confirms the quantum numbers to be $J^{PC}=1^{++}$. The $X(3872)$ is found to decay predominantly through S wave and an upper limit of $4\%$ at $95\%$ C.L. is set on the fraction of D wave.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

Genetic variability in CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 in primary liver, gastric and colorectal cancer patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Drug-metabolizing enzymes play a role in chemical carcinogenesis through enzymatic activation of procarcinogens to biologically reactive metabolites. The role of gene polymorphisms of several cytochrome P450 enzymes in digestive cancer risk has been extensively investigated. However, the drug-metabolizing enzymes with the broader substrate specificity, CYP3A4 and CYP3A5, have not been analyzed so far. This study aims to examine associations between common CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 polymorphisms and digestive cancer risk.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>CYP3A4 and CYP3A5 genotypes were determined in 574 individuals including 178 patients with primary liver cancer, 82 patients with gastric cancer, 151 patients with colorectal cancer, and 163 healthy individuals.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The variant allele frequencies for patients with liver cancer, gastric cancer, colorectal cancer and healthy controls, respectively, were: <it>CYP3A4*1B</it>, 4.8 % (95% C.I. 2.6–7.0), 3.7 % (0.8–6.6) 4.3% (2.0–6.6) and 4.3% (2.1–6.5); <it>CYP3A5*3</it>, 91.8 % (93.0–97.4), 95.7% (92.6–98.8), 91.7% (88.6–94.8) and 90.8% (87.7–93.9). The association between <it>CYP3A4*1B </it>and <it>CYP3A5*3 </it>variant alleles did not significantly differ among patients and controls. No differences in genotypes, allele frequencies, or association between variant alleles were observed with regard to gender, age at diagnosis, tumour site or stage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Common polymorphisms on <it>CYP3A4 </it>and <it>CYP3A5 </it>genes do not modify the risk of developing digestive cancers in Western Europe.</p