Lack of evidence for a role of Epstein–Barr virus in the increase of lung cancer in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

AbstractIdiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is known as an independent risk factor for lung cancer. Because Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) may be involved in the genesis of IPF as well as certain malignancies, we investigated whether EBV contributes to the increased incidence of lung cancer in IPF. The formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded lung sections were prepared from 22 lung cancer patients with IPF and 22 lung cancer patients without IPF. All of the IPF patients pathologically showed usual interstitial pneumonia. In situ hybridization for EBV-encoded small non-polyadenylated RNAs failed to show positive signals in the cancer tissues of either IPF or non-IPF patients. This study did not provide evidence for an etiologic role of EBV in the development of lung cancer in IPF

Non-equilibrium Fluctuation Relations in a Quantum Coherent Conductor

We experimentally demonstrate the validity of non-equilibrium fluctuation relations by using a quantum coherent conductor. In equilibrium the fluctuation-dissipation relation leads to the correlation between current and current noise at the conductor, namely, Johnson-Nyqusit relation. When the conductor is voltage-biased so that the non-linear regime is entered, the fluctuation theorem has predicted similar non-equilibrium fluctuation relations, which hold true even when the Onsager-Casmir relations are broken in magnetic fields. Our experiments qualitatively validate the predictions as the first evidence of this theorem in the non-equilibrium quantum regime. In the appendix, we give simple deduction of the higher order correlations between the current and the current noise based on the fluctuation theorem.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures with 1-page appendix

Daily life stress and the cortisol awakening response : testing the anticipation hypothesis

Acknowledgments We thank Paul Stewart for his contribution to data collection and Dr Matthew Jones for programming the handheld computers. Author Contributions Conceived and designed the experiments: WS DJP. Performed the experiments: DJP. Analyzed the data: WS. Wrote the paper: WS DJP.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The impact of emotional well-being on long-term recovery and survival in physical illness: a meta-analysis

This meta-analysis synthesized studies on emotional well-being as predictor of the prognosis of physical illness, while in addition evaluating the impact of putative moderators, namely constructs of well-being, health-related outcome, year of publication, follow-up time and methodological quality of the included studies. The search in reference lists and electronic databases (Medline and PsycInfo) identified 17 eligible studies examining the impact of general well-being, positive affect and life satisfaction on recovery and survival in physically ill patients. Meta-analytically combining these studies revealed a Likelihood Ratio of 1.14, indicating a small but significant effect. Higher levels of emotional well-being are beneficial for recovery and survival in physically ill patients. The findings show that emotional well-being predicts long-term prognosis of physical illness. This suggests that enhancement of emotional well-being may improve the prognosis of physical illness, which should be investigated by future research

Life satisfaction and mortality in elderly people: The Kangwha Cohort Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As well as biomedical risk factors, psychological factors have been reported to be related to mortality rate. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between life satisfaction and mortality in elderly people through an 11.8-year follow-up study of a prospective cohort.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Among 3,600 participants of the Kangwha Cohort Study who survived in 1994, 1,939 respondents of the Life Satisfaction Index (LSI)-A questionnaire were included (men, 821; women, 1118). The mortality risk for the period up to December 2005 was measured using the Cox Proportional Hazard Model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>When the relationship between LSI and mortality was evaluated in men, the unsatisfied group with lower LSI scores showed a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR], 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.83) than the satisfied group with higher LSI scores. In women, the unsatisfied group showed a significantly higher risk of all-cause mortality (HR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.18-1.92) and cardiovascular mortality (HR, 2.23; 95% CI, 1.30-3.85) than the satisfied group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found that elderly people with a lower LSI score, regardless of gender, were at risk of increased mortality from all causes, and low LSI score was also associated with cardiovascular mortality.</p