Birth size and breast cancer risk: Re-analysis of individual participant data from 32 studied

Background Birth size, perhaps a proxy for prenatal environment, might be a correlate of subsequent breast cancer risk, but findings from epidemiological studies have been inconsistent. We re-analysed individual participant data from published and unpublished studies to obtain more precise estimates of the magnitude and shape of the birth size–breast cancer association. Methods and Findings Studies were identified through computer-assisted and manual searches, and personal communication with investigators. Individual participant data from 32 studies, comprising 22,058 breast cancer cases, were obtained. Random effect models were used, if appropriate, to combine study-specific estimates of effect. Birth weight was positively associated with breast cancer risk in studies based on birth records (pooled relative risk [RR] per one standard deviation [SD] [= 0.5 kg] increment in birth weight: 1.06; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02–1.09) and parental recall when the participants were children (1.02; 95% CI 0.99–1.05), but not in those based on adult self-reports, or maternal recall during the woman's adulthood (0.98; 95% CI 0.95–1.01) (p for heterogeneity between data sources = 0.003). Relative to women who weighed 3.000–3.499 kg, the risk was 0.96 (CI 0.80–1.16) in those who weighed < 2.500 kg, and 1.12 (95% CI 1.00–1.25) in those who weighed ≥ 4.000 kg (p for linear trend = 0.001) in birth record data. Birth length and head circumference from birth records were also positively associated with breast cancer risk (pooled RR per one SD increment: 1.06 [95% CI 1.03–1.10] and 1.09 [95% CI 1.03–1.15], respectively). Simultaneous adjustment for these three birth size variables showed that length was the strongest independent predictor of risk. The birth size effects did not appear to be confounded or mediated by established breast cancer risk factors and were not modified by age or menopausal status. The cumulative incidence of breast cancer per 100 women by age 80 y in the study populations was estimated to be 10.0, 10.0, 10.4, and 11.5 in those who were, respectively, in the bottom, second, third, and top fourths of the birth length distribution. Conclusions This pooled analysis of individual participant data is consistent with birth size, and in particular birth length, being an independent correlate of breast cancer risk in adulthood

Unusual landing of blue shark

The fishermen of Thoothoor and Thengapattanam are experts in hook and line operations for sharks and conduct multiday distant water shark fishing off Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts at 150-180 km from shore. Large-sized elasmobranchs caught here are landed in southern India, where the meat is saltdried and sold for domestic consumption. Blue sharks are not regular contributors to the shark fishery in India and are rarely seen in such large numbers as in the present observation

Measuring pro-poor sectoral analysis for Pakistan: trickle down?

The study aims to establish a pro-poor growth index called the ‘Poverty Equivalent Growth Rate’, which considers both the extent of sectoral growth and the benefits reaching the poor in Pakistan, using 21 household surveys between 1964 and 2011. The result reveals that despite the positive signs in agriculture growth, the growth process may not be classifiable as pro-poor. The result points out that compared with the non-poor, the poor overall benefited less from the revitalisation of agricultural processes; however, the trend was reversed during 2002 to 2011 when the poverty equivalent growth rates are higher than the growth rate of industry, manufacturing, commodity producing and services value added, which shows sectoral growth favours the poor more than non-poor in Pakistan

Wisdom as an Expression of Developmental Transformations Through the Lens of Integral Theory/ Mądrość jako wyraz transformacji rozwojowych w optyce integralnej

The goal of this article is to present the integral researchers’ outlook on wisdom. Its integral context is associated with vertical developmental transformation processes, expressed, among others, by the growing ability to perceive multiple uncommon perspectives and to create multidimensional images of reality – a sort of advanced multidimensional systems. The article is summarised by guidelines towards education, so that its goal is to strive for wisdom. These are, for example, dissemination of knowledge supported by research on the development of post-formal abilities, the use of dialogical methods and meditation exercises in education as well as learning and practice of identifying perspectives and their intentional choice.The goal of this article is to present the integral researchers’ outlook on wisdom. Its integral context is associated with vertical developmental transformation processes, expressed, among others, by the growing ability to perceive multiple uncommon perspectives and to create multidimensional images of reality – a sort of advanced multidimensional systems. The article is summarised by guidelines towards education, so that its goal is to strive for wisdom. These are, for example, dissemination of knowledge supported by research on the development of post-formal abilities, the use of dialogical methods and meditation exercises in education as well as learning and practice of identifying perspectives and their intentional choice

An Image Indexing and Region based on Color and Texture

From the previous decade, the enormous rise of the internet has tremendously maximized the amount image databases obtainable. This image gathering such as art works, satellite and medicine is fascinating ever more customers in numerous application domains. The work on image retrieval primarily focuses on efficient and effective relevant images from huge and varied image gatherings which is further becoming more fascinating and exciting. In this paper, the author suggested an effective approach for approximating large-scale retrieval of images through indexing. This approach primarily depends on the visual content of the image segment where the segments are obtained through fuzzy segmentation and are demonstrated through high-frequency sub-band wavelets. Furthermore, owing to the complexity in monitoring large scale information and exponential growth of the processing time, approximate nearest neighbor algorithm is employed to enhance the retrieval speed. Thus, a locality-sensitive hashing using (K-NN Algorithm) is adopted for region-aided indexing technique. Particularly, as the performance of K-NN Approach hinges essentially on the hash function segregating the space, a novel function was uncovered motivated using E8 lattice which could efficiently be amalgamated with multiple probes K-NN Approach and query-adaptive K- NN Approach. To validate the adopted hypothetical selections and to enlighten the efficiency of the suggested approach, a group of experimental results associated to the region-based image retrieval is carried out on the COREL data samples

Report on the rare quagga cat shark landed

Quagga catshark, Halaelurus quagga (Alcock, 1899) one of the rarest sharks in the family Scyliorhinidae (Order Carcharhiniformes) was observed at Muttom landing centre, Tamil Nadu on June 5 2017. It was landed as a bycatch in the demersal-trawl operated off Muttom at 150-200 m depths. The male specimen collected measured 298 mm in total length (TL) and its morphometrics were recorde

Unusual fish landings during monsoon season of 2018 along the Trivandrum and Kanyakumari coast

Bumper catch of Odonus niger (Redtoothed triggerfish) at Thengapattanam Fisheries Harbour and Moonfish Mene maculata along Vizhinjam coast was one of the major observations during the monsoon 2018. An estimated 50 t of O. niger was landed at the Thengapattanam Fisheries Harbour. Fishing vessels of 32 feet overall length (OAL) with two outboard engines (9.9hp each) operating boat seines were used for fishing

Design of low-cost indigenous recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for broodstock maturation of marine fishes

Maturation of most coastal fishes may well be achieved if the animals are maintained in good quality seawater, provided they are well fed and reared without the stress of overcrowding and disturbances. RAS provides perfect opportunity to manipulate environmental conditions that are critical in maturation processes such as temperature, photoperiod, nutrition and other water quality parameters in addition to facilitating observation of the behaviour of fishes and do various husbandry steps. There is a need for the development of cost-effective, economically viable systems that minimize the environmental impact while at the same time ensuring optimal rearing conditions. Present article describes design and operation of low-cost RAS systems developed by ICAR-CMFRI for broodstock development of marine fishes, which include 30000 to 2000 l FRP systems with mechanical, biological filtration sub systems including disinfection, temperature control and photoperiod manipulation, using equipment such as, proteins skimmer, UV filters, chillers, biological filter cabinets and LED lighting with timer control

Emerging fishery for Japanese ruby fish in Vizhinjam

Unique catch of Japanese ruby fish, Erythrocles schlegelii (Richardson, 1846) locally known as Imbooraan accurred at Vizhinjam Landing Centre for the last few months. A demersal fish (family Emmelichthyidae) they are commonly known as ruby fishes, rovers, bonnet mouths and redbaits. Marine plywood boats fitted with two 9.9 HP engines are operating hooks and line to exploit these fishes. Daily trips with fishermen departing early at 3.00 am from the shore, travelling about 20-25 km to operate at more than 100 m depths and reaching back by 3.00 pm in the afternoon is common

Morphometry and Length - Weight Relationship of Uranoscopus marmoratus Cuvier, 1829 (Family: Uranoscopidae) from Palk Bay, India

Uranoscopus marmoratus Cuvier, 1829 (Family: Uranoscopidae, Order: Perciformes, Class: Actinopterygii) is one of the stargazers occurred in the Eastern and Western Indian Ocean. The stargazers are purely marine, distributed throughout the world in deep and shallow waters, include about 50 extant and one extinct species in eight gener