Complementary and alternative medicine use among women at increased genetic risk of breast and ovarian cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use is well documented among breast cancer patients and survivors, but little evidence is available to describe rates and patterns of use among women at increased genetic risk of breast cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A pre-visit telephone interview was conducted to ascertain CAM use among the <it>BRCA </it>mutation carriers enrolled in a high-risk breast cancer screening study. Participants were asked to report on their use of thirteen therapies within the year prior to enrollment into the study. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between various factors and CAM use in this population.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Among the 164 <it>BRCA1 </it>or <it>BRCA2 </it>mutation-positive (<it>BRCA</it>+) women in this analysis, 78% reported CAM use, with prayer and lifestyle diet being the two most commonly reported modalities. Many subjects used multiple CAM therapies, with 34% reporting use of three or more modalities. The most commonly used modalities were mind-body therapies and biologically-based practices, 61.6% and 51.8%, respectively. High-risk women were more likely to use CAM if they were older, more educated, more worried about ovarian cancer risk, or had a previous cancer diagnosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study suggests that the prevalence of CAM use is high among <it>BRCA </it>mutation carriers, with frequency of use comparable to that of breast cancer patients and survivors. Given the high prevalence of CAM use in our subjects, especially biologically-based therapies including herbal supplements, whose safety and efficacy in relation to cancer risk are unknown, our study suggests that future research is necessary to clarify these risks, and that it is important for providers to inquire about and to discuss the pros and cons of CAM use with their <it>BRCA+ </it>patients.</p

The Forward Physics Facility at the High-Luminosity LHC

High energy collisions at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce a large number of particles along the beam collision axis, outside of the acceptance of existing LHC experiments. The proposed Forward Physics Facility (FPF), to be located several hundred meters from the ATLAS interaction point and shielded by concrete and rock, will host a suite of experiments to probe standard model (SM) processes and search for physics beyond the standard model (BSM). In this report, we review the status of the civil engineering plans and the experiments to explore the diverse physics signals that can be uniquely probed in the forward region. FPF experiments will be sensitive to a broad range of BSM physics through searches for new particle scattering or decay signatures and deviations from SM expectations in high statistics analyses with TeV neutrinos in this low-background environment. High statistics neutrino detection will also provide valuable data for fundamental topics in perturbative and non-perturbative QCD and in weak interactions. Experiments at the FPF will enable synergies between forward particle production at the LHC and astroparticle physics to be exploited. We report here on these physics topics, on infrastructure, detector, and simulation studies, and on future directions to realize the FPF's physics potential

Global urban environmental change drives adaptation in white clover.

Urbanization transforms environments in ways that alter biological evolution. We examined whether urban environmental change drives parallel evolution by sampling 110,019 white clover plants from 6169 populations in 160 cities globally. Plants were assayed for a Mendelian antiherbivore defense that also affects tolerance to abiotic stressors. Urban-rural gradients were associated with the evolution of clines in defense in 47% of cities throughout the world. Variation in the strength of clines was explained by environmental changes in drought stress and vegetation cover that varied among cities. Sequencing 2074 genomes from 26 cities revealed that the evolution of urban-rural clines was best explained by adaptive evolution, but the degree of parallel adaptation varied among cities. Our results demonstrate that urbanization leads to adaptation at a global scale

Evidence for Top Quark Production in Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

Peer reviewe

Observation of the B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi Decay

Using a data sample of proton-proton collisions at root s = 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 140 fb(-1) collected by the CMS experiment in 2016-2018, the B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi decay is observed. Decays into J/psi pi(+)pi(-) and K+K- are used to reconstruct, respectively, the X(3872) and phi. The ratio of the product of branching fractions B[B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi]B[X(3872) -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-)] to the product B[B-s(0) ->psi(2S)phi]B[psi(2S) -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-)] is measured to be [2.21 +/- 0.29(stat) +/- 0.17(syst)]%. The ratio B[B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi]/B[B-0 -> X(3872)K-0] is found to be consistent with one, while the ratio B[B-s(0) -> X(3872)phi]/B[B+-> X(3872)K+] is two times smaller. This suggests a difference in the production dynamics of the X(3872) in B-0 and B(0)s meson decays compared to B+. The reported observation may shed new light on the nature of the X(3872) particle.Peer reviewe

Measurements of pp → ZZ production cross sections and constraints on anomalous triple gauge couplings at √ = 13 TeV

© 2021 The CMS Collaboration. The production of Z boson pairs in proton–proton (pp) collisions, pp → (Z/∗)(Z/∗) → 2ℓ2ℓ′, where ℓ,ℓ′ = e or μ, is studied at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 137fb−1, collected during 2016–2018. The ZZ production cross section, tot(pp → ZZ) = 17.4 ± 0.3 (stat) ± 0.5 (syst) ± 0.4 (Theo) ± 0.3 (lumi) pb, measured for events with two pairs of opposite-sign, same-flavor leptons produced in the mass region 60 < ℓ+ℓ− < 120 GeV is consistent with standard model predictions. Differential cross sections are also measured and agree with theoretical predictions. The invariant mass distribution of the four-lepton system is used to set limits on anomalous ZZZ and ZZ couplings.SCOAP

Reliability and score ranges of the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 in a primary and secondary care mental health service

The reliability of the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 as measures of depression and anxiety is well established in primary care. The present study evaluates whether or not differences occur for patients cared within a primary versus secondary mental health service. Pre-treatment scores for patients were included in a cross-sectional cohort design. Reliability of the PHQ-9 and the GAD-7 ranged from “acceptable” to “excellent”. Reliability and overall scores did not significantly differ between services. However many clients in both groups scored the maximum score on the GAD-7 and there were few differences in scores based on diagnosis for both measures. The PHQ-9 and the GAD-7 are reliable measures of depression and anxiety symptoms for patients cared within a primary or secondary mental health service. However, the GAD-7 has a ceiling effect and both measures may not distinguish between services and diagnosis and therefore may not be useful for screening purposes

Financial difficulties and psychosis risk in British undergraduate students : a longitudinal analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine whether financial variables impact psychosis risk over time in students. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 408 first-year British undergraduate students completed measures assessing psychosis risk and finances at three time points. Findings: Greater financial difficulties increased psychosis risk cross sectionally both in terms of symptoms and distress. Other financial variables such as student loan amount were not significant. In longitudinal analysis financial difficulties increase psychotic symptoms and distress over time, but there was no impact of psychotic symptoms on later financial difficulties. Research limitations/implications: The study used a relatively small and heavily female sample. Future research is needed to confirm the findings. Practical implications: Whilst amount of debt does not appear to impact psychotic symptoms in students, greater financial difficulties appear to increase the risk of psychosis over time. Professionals working with students should be aware of this potential link. Originality/value: This is the first time a longitudinal study has examined the effect of finances on psychosis symptoms.</p

Effect of human activities on the behaviour of breeding Spanish imperial eagles (Aquila adalberti): management implications for the conservation of a threatened species

We studied (14 500 h of field observations during 20 breeding attempts by 10 pairs) the effects of human activities on the behaviour of breeding Spanish imperial eagles. The probability that human activities around nest sites provoked a flight reaction varied significantly among territories and among types of activity, and increased when the distance between the activity and the nest site decreased, and increased when the number of people involved in each intrusion was higher. Pedestrian activities (mainly by hunters, campers and ecotourists) caused more flight reactions than vehicles. Overall, the probability of a reaction increased sharply when activities occurred at less than 450 m from the nest, but was negligible if they occurred at 800 m. Reaction probability was lower in territories with higher intrusion frequencies (which suggests that some habituation occurs), where the nest was not visible from the tracks, and in less ‘plain’ or ‘accessible’ territories. Hatching rate was affected negatively by the frequency of human activities. Our results suggest that the critical inner buffer zone around Spanish imperial eagle nests should be established at a minimum radius of 500 m, and the vulnerable zones at a minimum of 800 m, bearing in mind the physiography of the terrain and the visibility of the nests. Finally, in future studies of nest-site selection with this species, it would be advisable to use a variable that quantifies (through field observations) human disturbance frequenc