Characterization of the association between 8q24 and colon cancer: gene-environment exploration and meta-analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genome-wide association studies and subsequent replication studies have shown that single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the chromosomal region 8q24 are associated with colorectal cancer susceptibility.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We examined 11 SNP markers in the 8q24 region between 128.47 and 128.54 Mb, using a total of 1,987 colon cases and 2,339 controls who self-reported as white from two independent, well-characterized study populations. Analysis was performed separately within each study, and combined using random effects meta-analysis. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) and to test for effect modification by known colon cancer risk factors. We also performed a meta-analysis combining our results with previous studies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed evidence of association for four SNPs in low to high linkage disequilibrium (r²ranging from 0.18 to 0.93) localized in a 16.2 kb region defined by rs10505477 and rs1056368. The combined results for our two studies of colon cancer showed an OR of 1.10 (95% CI: 1.01-1.20, P_trend= 0.023), and a meta-analysis of our results with previously reported studies of colon and colorectal cancer strongly support the association for this SNP (combined OR for rs6983267 = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.18-1.24, p = 5.5 × 10^-44). We did not observe any notable evidence of effect modification by known colon cancer risk factors, and risk did not differ significantly by tumor site or stage.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study confirms the association between polymorphisms on chromosome 8q24 and colon cancer risk and suggests that the susceptibility locus in region 8q24 is not strongly modified by various lifestyle, environmental, and demographic risk factors for colon cancer.</p

Culture, Neurobiology, and Human Behavior: New Perspectives in Anthropology

Our primary goal in this article is to discuss the cross-talk between biological and cultural factors that become manifested in the individual brain development, neural wiring, neurochemical homeostasis, and behavior. We will show that behavioral propensities are the product of both cultural and biological factors and an understanding of these interactive processes can provide deep insights into why people behave the way they do. This interdisciplinary perspective is offered in an effort to generate dialog and empirical work among scholars interested in merging aspects of anthropology and neuroscience, and anticipates that biological and cultural anthropology converge. We discuss new theoretical developments, hypothesis-testing strategies, and cross-disciplinary methods of observation and data collection. We believe that the exigency of integrating anthropology and the neurosciences is indisputable and anthropology's role in an emerging interdisciplinary science of human behavior will be critical because its focus is, and has always been, on human biological and cultural systems

Adaptive Terahertz Absorber Based On Tunable Graphene Multilayer

A new adaptive terahertz absorbing screen providing a reflection coefficient lower than 10 dB in the frequency range 0.6-2.2 THz and with total thickness around 70 mu m is proposed. The designed Salisbury screen, backed by a perfect electric conducting plate, consists of a first graphene layer as lossy sheet and two spacers made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), separated by a tunable graphene/SiO2 laminate (GL). An electrostatic field up to 0.06 V/nm is applied across the GL in order to tune the electrical conductivity of the graphene layers, with the aim of minimizing the screen total reflection coefficient. A design procedure based on the transmission line method is proposed and a parameter sensitivity analysis of the reflection coefficient is carried out. The influence of the carrier charge mobility and of the number of graphene sheets composing the GL is investigated, considering different values of the electrostatic field in the frequency range 0.1-5 THz

Gyrotropic, Shielding and Sensing Low-Gigahertz Properties of Graphene Sheet Biased with Magnetic and Electric Static Fields

Closed-form expressions describing the tensorial conductivity of an electrically or magnetically biased monolayer graphene are provided in order to highlight the low-gigahertz gyrotropic, shielding and sensing properties. The longitudinal and transverse (Hall) conductivities are given as explicit functions of the fundamental electromagnetic quantities, i.e. the magnetic and electric field bias, B-0 and E-0, and the carrier charge mobility mu. The developed simple expressions of the components of the electric field transmission coefficient are utilized to compute the polarization rotation angle theta and the shielding effectiveness (SE), in case of normally incident plane wave. The dependence of theta on B-0 is investigated, and the magnetic field value providing the maximum theta is found. The simulation model is applied to compute gyrotropic, SE and sensing performances of the biased graphene sheet at low-gigahertz regime. Moreover, exploiting the sensing properties of the biased graphene sheet, the measured value of theta is used to evaluate B-0, E-0 and mu

Porous Graphene based PVDF Aerogel Composite for Sweat Sensing Applications

A porous graphene based PVDF aerogel is produced through a cost-effective procedure, for possible application as sweat sensor. The aerogel samples were characterized in terms of porosity, density, morphological and electrical properties through high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) and time-monitoring of the sample dc electrical resistance

Piezoresistive Fabric Produced Through PVDF-Graphene Nanocomposite Film Incorporation in Textile Via Screen Printing Technique

A fabric sensing element has been produced by incorporating a nanocomposite film in a commercial textile via screen printing technique. The nanocomposite is a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) loaded with 3% wt of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) and it has been morphologically characterized. The piezoresistive properties of the resulting fabric sensing element have been investigated under quasi static tensile loadings

Feasibility assessment of a piezoresistive sensor based on graphene nanoplatelets for respiratory monitoring

The demand for wearable systems devoted to monitoring respiratory activity is growing more and more. This interest is mainly related to the possibility of remotely monitoring this activity that is both sensitive to several psychological and physiological stressors and correlated to a variety of pathologies. Among several solutions, sensing elements based on nanocomposite films have gained broad interest for instrumenting wearable systems.In this study, we focused on designing and developing a stretchable sensing element realized with graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) ink. The proposed element has been characterized to assess its metrological properties in terms of sensitivity, calibration curve, and hysteresis error. Finally, a pilot study involving two healthy volunteers has assessed its feasibility for estimating respiratory rate. The trials are performed under two respiratory conditions (i.e., eupnea and tachypnea)