Methods for Improving Cancer Surveillance Data in American Indian and Alaska Native Populations

BACKGROUND. The misclassification of race decreases the accuracy of cancer incidence data for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) in some central cancer registries. This article describes the data sources and methods that were used to address this misclassification and to produce the cancer statistics used by most of the articles in this supplement. METHODS. Records from United States cancer registries were linked with Indian Health Service (IHS) records to identify AI/AN cases that were misclassified as non-AI/AN. Data were available from 47 registries that linked their data with IHS, met quality criteria, and agreed to participate. Analyses focused on cases among AI/AN residents in IHS Contract Health Service Delivery Area (CHSDA) counties in 33 states. Cancer incidence and stage data were compiled for non-Hispanic whites (NHWs) and AI/ANs across 6 IHS regions of the United States for 1999 through 2004. RESULTS. Misclassification of AI/AN race as nonnative in central cancer registries ranged from 85 individuals in Alaska (3.4%) to 5297 individuals in the Southern Plains (44.5%). Cancer incidence rates among AI/ANs for all cancers combined were lower than for NHWs, but incidence rates varied by geographic region for AI/ANs. Restricting the rate calculations to CHSDA counties generally resulted in higher rates than those obtained for all counties combined. CONCLUSIONS. The classification of race for AI/AN cases in cancer registries can be improved by linking records to the IHS and stratifying by CHSDA counties. Cancer in the AI/AN population is clarified further by describing incidence rates by geographic region. Improved cancer surveillance data for AI/AN communities should aid in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of more effective cancer control and should reduce health disparities in this population

Causes of Multiple Sclerosis: a functional genomics approach

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common disabling neurological disease affecting young adults in Western Society. To date, 55 strongly associated single nucleotide polymorphisms have been discovered. We now need to identify causal genes. While T-cells as targets for therapeutic intervention have rarely proven useful, there is strong clinical and in-vitro data identifying NK cell deficiencies in patients, and key roles for monocytes in myelin and axon destruction and autoantigen presentation. RNA extracted from magnetic bead sorted monocytes and NK cells, of healthy controls (HC) and untreated patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS), was labelled and hybridised to Affymetrix Human Gene 1.0 ST arrays. Expression values were standardized across chips using RMA and quantile normalization as implemented in GenePattern. Genes were ranked by expression difference significance by Mann Whitney U test and ANOVA. To date, we have analysed monocytes of 30 patients and 39 HC, and NK cells from 25 patients and 32 HC. Expression differences of those genes adjacent to MS associated risk SNPs lying between 110kb upstream and 40kb downstream of a candidate gene were considered. We have identified three genes worthy of further analysis on this basis: RGS1, HHEX and THEMIS. To test the relevance of these candidates to central nervous system (CNS) autoimmunity, we aim to mimic phenotypes associated with these expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) in in-vitro cultures of purified NK cells and monocytes, and in-vivo in a mouse model of MS - experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE)

Biochar Supplementation in Growing and Finishing Diets

Two metabolism studies were conducted to evaluate the effects of biochar (0, 0.8, or 3% of diet dry matter) on digestibility and methane production in growing and finishing diets. Intake was not affected by biochar inclusion in the growing diet and increased with 0.8% biochar inclusion in the finishing study. Digestibility tended to increase quadratically with biochar inclusion in the growing study while digestibility tended to linearly decrease with biochar inclusion in the finishing study. Methane production (g/d) decreased 10.7% in the growing study and 9.9% in the finishing study with 0.8% biochar compared to no biochar. Methane production was reduced 10.6% and 18.4% in the growing and finishing studies, respectively, when measured as g/lb of intake. Although biochar is not FDA approved for animal feeding, the initial research shows potential as a methane mitigation strategy in both growing and finishing diets

Instructional Message Design: Theory, Research, and Practice (Volume 2)

Message design is all around us, from the presentations we see in meetings and classes, to the instructions that come with our latest tech gadgets, to multi-million-dollar training simulations. In short, instructional message design is the real-world application of instructional and learning theories to design the tools and technologies used to communicate and effectively convey information. This field of study pulls from many applied sciences including cognitive psychology, industrial design, graphic design, instructional design, information technology, and human performance technology to name just a few. In this book we visit several foundational theories that guide our research, look at different real-world applications, and begin to discuss directions for future best practice. For instance, cognitive load and multimedia learning theories provide best practice, virtual reality and simulations are only a few of the multitude of applications. Special needs learners and designing for online, e-learning, and web conferencing are only some of many applied areas where effective message design can improve outcomes. Studying effective instructional message design tools and techniques has and will continue to be a critical aspect of the overall instructional design process. Hopefully, this book will serve as an introduction to these topics and inspire your curiosity to explore further!https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/distancelearning_books/1003/thumbnail.jp

Stomach cancer survival in the United States by race and stage (2001-2009): Findings from the CONCORD-2 study.

BACKGROUND: Stomach cancer was a leading cause of cancer-related deaths early in the 20th century and has steadily declined over the last century in the United States. Although incidence and death rates are now low, stomach cancer remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in black, Asian and Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native populations. METHODS: Data from the CONCORD-2 study were used to analyze stomach cancer survival among males and females aged 15 to 99 years who were diagnosed in 37 states covering 80% of the US population. Survival analyses were corrected for background mortality using state-specific and race-specific (white and black) life tables and age-standardized using the International Cancer Survival Standard weights. Net survival is presented up to 5 years after diagnosis by race (all, black, and white) for 2001 through 2003 and 2004 through 2009 to account for changes in collecting Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Summary Stage 2000 data from 2004. RESULTS: Almost one-third of stomach cancers were diagnosed at a distant stage among both whites and blacks. Age-standardized 5-year net survival increased between 2001 to 2003 and 2004 to 2009 (26.1% and 29%, respectively), and no differences were observed by race. The 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year survival estimates were 53.1%, 33.8%, and 29%, respectively. Survival improved in most states. Survival by stage was 64% (local), 28.2% (regional), and 5.3% (distant). CONCLUSIONS: The current results indicate high fatality for stomach cancer, especially soon after diagnosis. Although improvements in stomach cancer survival were observed, survival remained relatively low for both blacks and whites. Primary prevention through the control of well-established risk factors would be expected to have the greatest impact on further reducing deaths from stomach cancer. Cancer 2017;123:4994-5013. Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA

Multiple Sclerosis risk variants regulate gene expression in innate and adaptive immune cells

At least 200 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) risk. A key function that could mediate SNP-encoded MS risk is their regulatory effects on gene expression. We performed microarrays using RNA extracted from purified immune cell types from 73 untreated MS cases and 97 healthy controls and then performed Cis expression quantitative trait loci mapping studies using additive linear models. We describe MS risk expression quantitative trait loci associations for 129 distinct genes. By extending these models to include an interaction term between genotype and phenotype, we identify MS risk SNPs with opposing effects on gene expression in cases compared with controls, namely, rs2256814 MYT1 in CD4 cells (q = 0.05) and rs12087340 RF00136 in monocyte cells (q = 0.04). The rs703842 SNP was also associated with a differential effect size on the expression of the METTL21B gene in CD8 cells of MS cases relative to controls (q = 0.03). Our study provides a detailed map of MS risk loci that function by regulating gene expression in cell types relevant to MS

Instructional Message Design: Theory, Research, and Practice (Volume 2)

Message design is all around us, from the presentations we see in meetings and classes, to the instructions that come with our latest tech gadgets, to multi-million-dollar training simulations. In short, instructional message design is the real-world application of instructional and learning theories to design the tools and technologies used to communicate and effectively convey information. This field of study pulls from many applied sciences including cognitive psychology, industrial design, graphic design, instructional design, information technology, and human performance technology to name just a few. In this book we will visit several foundational theories that guide our research, look at different real-world applications, and begin to discuss directions for future best practice. For instance, cognitive load and multimedia learning theories provide best practice, virtual reality and simulations are only a few of the multitude of applications. Special needs learners and designing for online, e-learning, and web conferencing are only some of many applied areas where effective message design can improve outcomes. Studying effective instructional message design tools and techniques has and will continue to be a critical aspect of the overall instructional design process. Hopefully, this book will serve as an introduction to these topics and inspire your curiosity to explore further

Clinical impairment in premanifest and early Huntington's disease is associated with regionally specific atrophy.

TRACK-HD is a multicentre longitudinal observational study investigating the use of clinical assessments and 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging as potential biomarkers for future therapeutic trials in Huntington's disease (HD). The cross-sectional data from this large well-characterized dataset provide the opportunity to improve our knowledge of how the underlying neuropathology of HD may contribute to the clinical manifestations of the disease across the spectrum of premanifest (PreHD) and early HD. Two hundred and thirty nine gene-positive subjects (120 PreHD and 119 early HD) from the TRACK-HD study were included. Using voxel-based morphometry (VBM), grey and white matter volumes were correlated with performance in four domains: quantitative motor (tongue force, metronome tapping, and gait); oculomotor [anti-saccade error rate (ASE)]; cognition (negative emotion recognition, spot the change and the University of Pennsylvania smell identification test) and neuropsychiatric measures (apathy, affect and irritability). After adjusting for estimated disease severity, regionally specific associations between structural loss and task performance were found (familywise error corrected, P < 0.05); impairment in tongue force, metronome tapping and ASE were all associated with striatal loss. Additionally, tongue force deficits and ASE were associated with volume reduction in the occipital lobe. Impaired recognition of negative emotions was associated with volumetric reductions in the precuneus and cuneus. Our study reveals specific associations between atrophy and decline in a range of clinical modalities, demonstrating the utility of VBM correlation analysis for investigating these relationships in HD