Oestrogen exposure and breast cancer risk

Epidemiological and experimental evidence implicates oestrogens in the aetiology of breast cancer. Most established risk factors for breast cancer in humans probably act through hormone-related pathways, and increased concentrations of circulating oestrogens have been found to be strongly associated with increased risk for breast cancer in postmenopausal women. This article explores the evidence for the hypothesis that oestrogen exposure is a major determinant of risk for breast cancer. We review recent data on oestrogens and breast cancer risk, consider oestrogen-related risk factors and examine possible mechanisms that might account for the effects of oestrogen. Finally, we discuss how these advances might influence strategies for reducing the incidence of breast cancer

The good, the bad and the hijab: A study of implicit associations made by practicing Muslims in their native Muslim country

Recent research indicates that wearing the hijab reduces the attractiveness of female faces perceived by practicing Muslim men and women in their native Muslim country (the United Arab Emirates). The purpose of the current research was to develop this finding to investigate whether other aspects of person perception are also affected when women wear the hijab in this Muslim country. Of particular relevance is that changes in physical attractiveness often affect the personal qualities assigned to individuals. Accordingly, we sought to determine whether such effects occur when the physical attractiveness of women is altered by wearing the hijab. To do this, we used an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to investigate how native Muslim participants in the UAE associated pleasant and unpleasant connotations with images of women either wearing the hijab or with their heads uncovered. As in previous research with native Muslim participants, female faces were again perceived as significantly less attractive when the hijab was worn. However, the accompanying IAT findings showed that these less attractive hijab-wearing images were associated more with pleasant connotations than were the matched uncovered images. These findings provide fresh insight into the effects of the hijab on perceptions of Muslim women in a Muslim country and provide support for the view that cultural clothing can influence person perception beyond physical attractiveness alone.WOS:00079989440000

Barriers to local residents’ participation in community-based tourism: lessons from Houay Kaeng Village in Laos

This study aims to identify the barriers to local residents’ participation in the process of community-based tourism planning and development in a developing country. Focusing on the case of Houay Kaeng Village in Sayabouly Province, Laos, a qualitative exploratory study was conducted by adopting in-depth interviews with the various levels of local community’s members. The key barriers to local community participation identified in this research include: (1) low education levels and lack of knowledge about tourism; (2) poor living conditions and lack of financial support; (3) busy daily routine and lack of time for tourism participation; (4) local community’s perception of tourism as a seasonal business with low income; and (5) power disparities, institutional disincentives and local’s distrust in authorities. The results suggest that only a small number of the local residents in the village were satisfied with their current and on-going participation expressing their strong willingness to continue in participating in the process of tourism planning and development, whereas a large group of the residents were not willing to do it at all in the future. The paper further discusses implications for the government and communities in regard to community-based sustainable tourism development

Effects of Acute Stress on Aircrew Performance: Literature Review and Analysis of Operational Aspects

Situational stress can adversely affect the cognition and skilled performance of pilots, as well as experts in other domains. Emergencies and other threatening situations require pilots to execute infrequently practiced procedures correctly and to use their skills and judgment to select an appropriate course of action, often under high workload, time pressure, and ambiguous indications, all of which can be stressful. Our current study, consited of three parts, starting with a critical review of the research literature on the effects of stress on skilled performance, going back to World War II and continuing to recent and more sophisticated studies of the cognitive effects of anxiety. In the second part we analyzed the specific ways stress may have impaired the performance of airline crews in twelve major accidents, selected for diversity of the situations the crews encountered. The third part examined the operational significance and practical implications of the findings from the first two parts, suggested specific ways to reduce the harmful effects of stress on flight crews, and identified aspects requiring further research. Even thought this study focused on flight crews, the findings apply to the effects of stress on the skilled performance of experts in almost any domain

Diet and risk of diverticular disease in Oxford cohort of European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC): prospective study of British vegetarians and non-vegetarians

Objective To examine the associations of a vegetarian diet and dietary fibre intake with risk of diverticular disease

Association between physical activity and body fat percentage, with adjustment for BMI:a large cross-sectional analysis of UK Biobank

Objectives The objective of this study was to examine if, in the general population, physically active adults have less body fat after taking body mass index (BMI) into account. Design A cross-sectional analysis of participants recruited into UK Biobank in 2006–2010. Setting UK Biobank assessment centres throughout the UK. Participants 119 230 men and 140 578 women aged 40–69 years, with complete physical activity information, and without a self-reported long-term illness, disability or infirmity. Exposures Physical activity measured as excess metabolic equivalent (MET)-hours per week, estimated from a combination of walking, and moderate and vigorous physical activity. BMI from measured height and weight. Main outcome measure Body fat percentage estimated from bioimpedance. Results BMI and body fat percentage were highly correlated (r=0.85 in women; r=0.79 in men), and both were inversely associated with physical activity. Compared with <5 excess MET-hours/week at baseline, ≥100 excess MET-hours/week were associated with a 1.1 kg/m2 lower BMI (27.1 vs 28.2 kg/m2) and 2.8 percentage points lower body fat (23.4% vs 26.3%) in men, and 2.2 kg/m2 lower BMI (25.6 vs 27.7 kg/m2) and 4.0 percentage points lower body fat (33.9% vs 37.9%) in women. For a given BMI, greater physical activity was associated with lower average body fat percentage (for a BMI of 22.5–24.99 kg/m2: 2.0 (95% CI 1.8 to 2.2), percentage points lower body fat in men and 1.8 (95% CI 1.6 to 2.0) percentage points lower body fat in women, comparing ≥100 excess MET-hours per week with <5 excess MET-hours/week). Conclusions In this sample of middle-aged adults, drawn from the general population, physical activity was inversely associated with BMI and body fat percentage. For people with the same BMI, those who were more active had a lower body fat percentage

The P2X7 Receptor is an Important Regulator of Extracellular ATP Levels

Controlled ATP release has been demonstrated from many neuronal and non-neuronal cell types. Once released, extracellular ATP acts on cells in a paracrine manner via purinergic receptors. Considerable evidence now suggests that extracellular nucleotides, signaling via P2 receptors, play important roles in bone homeostasis modulating both osteoblast and osteoclast function. In this study, we demonstrate that mouse osteoclasts and their precursors constitutively release ATP into their extracellular environment. Levels were highest at day 2 (precursor cells), possibly reflecting the high number of red blood cells and accessory cells present. Mature osteoclasts constitutively released ATP in the range 0.05–0.5 pmol/ml/cell. Both osteoclasts and osteoblasts express mRNA and protein for the P2X7 receptor. We found that in osteoclasts, expression levels are fourfold higher in mature cells relative to precursors, whilst in osteoblasts expression remains relatively constant during differentiation. Selective antagonists (0.1–100 μM AZ10606120, A438079, and KN-62) were used to determine whether this release was mediated via P2X7 receptors. AZ10606120, A438079, and KN-62, at 0.1–10 μM, decreased ATP release by mature osteoclasts by up to 70, 60, and 80%, respectively. No differences in cell viability were observed. ATP release also occurs via vesicular exocytosis; inhibitors of this process (1–100 μM NEM or brefeldin A) had no effect on ATP release from osteoclasts. P2X7 receptor antagonists (0.1–10 μM) also decreased ATP release from primary rat osteoblasts by up to 80%. These data show that ATP release via the P2X7 receptor contributes to extracellular ATP levels in osteoclast and osteoblast cultures, suggesting an important additional role for this receptor in autocrine/paracrine purinergic signaling in bone

Vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters in the UK show discrepant environmental impacts

Modelled estimates of the environmental burden associated with low meat consumption suggest that substantial benefits could accrue from shifts in diet. However, modelled dietary scenarios may not reflect true dietary practice and have not previously accounted for variation in the environmental burden of food due to sourcing and production methods. We link dietary data from a sample of 55,504 vegans, vegetarians, fish-eaters and meat-eaters with food-level data on greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4 and N2O and three aggregated measures of CO2 equivalents), land use, water use, eutrophication risk and potential biodiversity loss from a review of 570 life cycle assessments covering more than 38,000 farms in 119 countries. By conducting Monte Carlo analyses drawing from food-level distributions of the environmental indicators that are due to variations in sourcing and production methods we estimate both mean impact and 95% uncertainty intervals for each diet group. We find that for all of the environmental indicators there is a positive association with amount of animal-based food consumed. Dietary impacts for vegans were 25.1% (95% uncertainty interval: 15.1% - 37.0%) of high meat-eaters (>=100g total meat consumed per day) for greenhouse gas emissions, 25.1% (7.1% - 44.5%) for land use, 46.4% (21.0% - 81.0%) for water use, 27.0% (19.4% - 40.4%) for eutrophication and 34.3% (12.0% - 65.3%) for biodiversity. Large differences (at least 30% for GHG emissions, eutrophication, and land use) in the environmental impact of diets are also observed between low (<50g/d) and high meat-eaters. Although there is substantial variation in environmental indicators due to where and how food is produced, the resultant uncertainty does not obscure the strong relationship between animal-based food consumption and environmental impact. Debate about sourcing and production of foods should therefore not prevent action aimed at reducing consumption of animal-based foods