Alcohol intake in relation to fatal and non-fatal incident coronary heart disease and stroke in the EPIC-CVD study.

ABSTRACT Objective To investigate the association between alcohol consumption (at baseline and over lifetime) and non-fatal and fatal coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. Design Multicentre case-cohort study. Setting A study of cardiovascular disease (CVD) aetiology (EPIC-CVD) within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and nutrition cohort from 8 European countries. Participants A case-cohort study of 32 549 participants without baseline CVD, comprised of incident CVD cases and a subcohort for comparison. Main outcome measure Non-fatal and fatal CHD and stroke (including ischaemic and haemorrhagic). Results There were 9307 non-fatal CHD, 1699 fatal CHD, 5855 non-fatal stroke and 733 fatal stroke events. Baseline alcohol intake was inversely associated with non-fatal CHD, with a hazard ratio of 0.94 (95% confidence interval 0.92 to 0.96) per 12 g/day higher intake. There was a J-shaped association between baseline alcohol intake and risk of fatal CHD (hazard ratios=0.83 [95% confidence interval 0.70 to 0.98], 0.65 [0.53 to 0.81], and 0.82 [0.65 to 1.03] for categories 5.0-14.9 g/day, 15.0-29.9 g/day, and 30.0-59.9 g/day, respectively, compared with 0.1-4.9 g/day. In contrast, hazard ratios for non-fatal and fatal stroke risk were 1.04 (95% confidence interval 1.02 to 1.07), and 1.05 (0.98 to 1.13) per 12 g/day increase in baseline alcohol intake, respectively, including broadly similar findings for ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke. Associations with cardiovascular outcomes were broadly similar with average lifetime alcohol consumption as for baseline alcohol intake, and across the eight countries we studied. There was no strong evidence for interactions of alcohol consumption with smoking status on the risk of CVD events. Conclusions Alcohol intake was inversely associated with non-fatal CHD risk but positively associated with risk of different stroke subtypes, highlighting the opposing associations of alcohol intake with different cardiovascular disease types and strengthening the evidence for policies to reduce alcohol consumption.This work was supported by the Direction Générale de la Santé (French Ministry of Health) (grant GR-IARC-2003-09-12-01). EPIC-CVD has been supported by the European Union Framework 7 (HEALTH-F2-2012-279233), the European Research Council (268834), the UK Medical Research Council (G0800270 and MR/L003120/1), the British Heart Foundation (SP/09/002 and RG/08/014 and RG13/13/30194), and the UK National Institute of Health Research. The establishment of the random subcohort was supported by the EU Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) (grant LSHM_CT_2006_037197 to the InterAct project) and the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit (grants MC_UU_12015/1 and MC_UU_12015/5)

Pengaruh Variasi Jarak Pondasi Dari Tepi Lereng Dan Tebal Lipatan Geotekstil Terhadap Daya Dukung Pondasi Pada Pemodelan Fisik Lereng Pasir Kepadatan 74%

Terbatasnya lahan datar di Indonesia mengakibatkan semakin meningkatnya pembangunan rumah atau gedung yang dibangun di atas lereng. Padahal menurut penelitian bahwa daya dukung di lereng lebih kecil apabila dibandingkan dengan di tanah datar, oleh karena itu pembangunan rumah atau gedung di atas tanah lereng sungguh berbahaya. Oleh karena itu dilakukan penelitian untuk melakukan perkuatan pada lereng dengan menggunakan geotekstil. Pada penelitian ini dilakukan perhitungan pengaruh pemasangan perkuatan geotekstil pada penurunan pondasi menerus di lereng pasir. Analisa perkuatan dilakukan pada tanah pasir yang diberikan perkuatan 1 lapis dengan variasi jarak pondasi dari tepi lereng dan tebal lipatan geotekstil untuk mendapatkan daya dukung yang maksimal. Dari hasil yang didapatkan adalah lereng pasir mengalami peningkatan daya dukung setelah diberi perkuatan geotekstil, dimana untuk daya dukung maksimum terjadi saat jarak pondasi dari tepi lereng adalah 12 cm dengan tebal lipatan yaitu 7,7 cm

Using Supervised Principal Components Analysis to Assess Multiple Pollutant Effects

BACKGROUND: Many investigations of the adverse health effects of multiple air pollutants analyze the time series involved by simultaneously entering the multiple pollutants into a Poisson log-linear model. This method can yield unstable parameter estimates when the pollutants involved suffer high intercorrelation; therefore, traditional approaches to dealing with multicollinearity, such as principal component analysis (PCA), have been promoted in this context. OBJECTIVES: A characteristic of PCA is that its construction does not consider the relationship between the covariates and the adverse health outcomes. A refined version of PCA, supervised principal components analysis (SPCA), is proposed that specifically addresses this issue. METHODS: Models controlling for long-term trends and weather effects were used in conjunction with each SPCA and PCA to estimate the association between multiple air pollutants and mortality for U.S. cities. The methods were compared further via a simulation study. RESULTS: Simulation studies demonstrated that SPCA, unlike PCA, was successful in identifying the correct subset of multiple pollutants associated with mortality. Because of this property, SPCA and PCA returned different estimates for the relationship between air pollution and mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Although a number of methods for assessing the effects of multiple pollutants have been proposed, such methods can falter in the presence of high correlation among pollutants. Both PCA and SPCA address this issue. By allowing the exclusion of pollutants that are not associated with the adverse health outcomes from the mixture of pollutants selected, SPCA offers a critical improvement over PCA

Sea level changes along the Indian coast: Observations and projections

Sea level changes can be of two types: (i) changes in the mean sea level and (ii) changes in the extreme sea level. The former is a global phenomenon while the latter is a regional phenomenon. Estimates of mean sea level rise made from past tide gauge data at selected stations along the coast of India indicate a rise of slightly less than 1 mm/year; however these estimates need to be corrected by including the rates of vertical land movements, whose measurements are not available at present. Simulation results of a regional climate model, HadRM2, were analysed for the northern Indian Ocean to provide the future scenarios of the occurrence of tropical cyclones in the Bay of Bengal for the period 2041-60. This model simulations consist of a control run with concentration of CO2 kept constant at 1990 levels and a perturbed run with transient increase in the concentrations of CO2 (GHG) according to the IS92a scenario for the period 2041-2060. The simulation results show increase in frequencies of tropical cyclones in the Bay, particularly intense events during the postmonsoon period, for the increased GHG run. A storm surge model was used to compute the surges associated with the cyclones generated by the climate model. The storm surge model was forced by the wind field from HadRM2 over the model domain and tides prescribed along the open boundary from a global tidal model. The frequency of high surges is found to be higher in the model run forced by winds from increased GHG run than in the model run forced by winds from the control run

Molecular Beam Epitaxy Growth and Characterization of Germanium-Doped Cubic AlxGa1−xN

In cubic (c-)GaN Ge has emerged as a promising alternative to Si for n-type doping, offering the advantage of slightly improved electrical properties. Herein, a study on Ge doping of the ternary alloy c-AlxGa1−xN is presented. Ge-doped c-AlxGa1−xN layers are grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. In two sample series, both the Al mole fraction x and the doping level are varied. The incorporation of Ge is verified by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. Ge incorporation and donor concentrations rise exponentially with increasing Ge cell temperature. A maximum donor concentration of 1.4 × 1020 cm−3 is achieved. While the incorporation of Ge is almost independent of x, incorporation of O, which acts as an unintentional donor, increases for higher x. Dislocation densities start increasing when doping levels of around 3 × 1019 cm−3 are exceeded. Also photoluminescence intensities begin to drop at these high doping levels. Optical emission of layers with x > 0.25 is found to originate from a defect level 0.9 eV below the indirect bandgap, which is not related to Ge. In the investigated range 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.6, Ge is a suitable donor in c-AlxGa1−xN up to the low 1019 cm−3 range

Proteomics of intracellular freezing survival.

Panagrolaimus sp. DAW1, a nematode cultured from the Antarctic, has the extraordinary physiological ability to survive total intracellular freezing throughout all of its compartments. While a few other organisms, all nematodes, have subsequently also been found to survive freezing in this manner, P. sp. DAW1 has so far shown the highest survival rates. In addition, P. sp. DAW1 is also, depending on the rate or extent of freezing, able to undergo cryoprotective dehydration. In this study, the proteome of P. sp DAW1 is explored, highlighting a number of differentially expressed proteins and pathways that occur when the nematodes undergo intracellular freezing. Among the strongest signals after being frozen is an upregulation of proteases and the downregulation of cytoskeletal and antioxidant activity, the latter possibly accumulated before freezing much in the way the sugar trehalose has been shown to be stored during acclimation

Regular breakfast consumption and type 2 diabetes risk markers in 9- to 10-year-old children in the child heart and health study in England (CHASE): a cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND: Regular breakfast consumption may protect against type 2 diabetes risk in adults but little is known about its influence on type 2 diabetes risk markers in children. We investigated the associations between breakfast consumption (frequency and content) and risk markers for type 2 diabetes (particularly insulin resistance and glycaemia) and cardiovascular disease in children. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 4,116 UK primary school children aged 9-10 years. Participants provided information on breakfast frequency, had measurements of body composition, and gave fasting blood samples for measurements of blood lipids, insulin, glucose, and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c). A subgroup of 2,004 children also completed a 24-hour dietary recall. Among 4,116 children studied, 3,056 (74%) ate breakfast daily, 450 (11%) most days, 372 (9%) some days, and 238 (6%) not usually. Graded associations between breakfast frequency and risk markers were observed; children who reported not usually having breakfast had higher fasting insulin (percent difference 26.4%, 95% CI 16.6%-37.0%), insulin resistance (percent difference 26.7%, 95% CI 17.0%-37.2%), HbA1c (percent difference 1.2%, 95% CI 0.4%-2.0%), glucose (percent difference 1.0%, 95% CI 0.0%-2.0%), and urate (percent difference 6%, 95% CI 3%-10%) than those who reported having breakfast daily; these differences were little affected by adjustment for adiposity, socioeconomic status, and physical activity levels. When the higher levels of triglyceride, systolic blood pressure, and C-reactive protein for those who usually did not eat breakfast relative to those who ate breakfast daily were adjusted for adiposity, the differences were no longer significant. Children eating a high fibre cereal breakfast had lower insulin resistance than those eating other breakfast types (p for heterogeneity <0.01). Differences in nutrient intakes between breakfast frequency groups did not account for the differences in type 2 diabetes markers. CONCLUSIONS: Children who ate breakfast daily, particularly a high fibre cereal breakfast, had a more favourable type 2 diabetes risk profile. Trials are needed to quantify the protective effect of breakfast on emerging type 2 diabetes risk. Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

SCN5A allelic expression imbalance in African-Americans heterozygous for the common variant p.Ser1103Tyr

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Heterozygous and homozygous carriers of <it>SCN5A</it>-p.Ser1103Tyr, a common genetic variant with functional effects among African-Americans, have an increased risk of sudden death. We hypothesized that some heterozygous carriers may have unequal expression of wild-type and variant alleles and secondarily that predominance of the variant gene copy could further increase risk for sudden death in this population.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We quantified allele-specific expression of <it>SCN5A</it>-p.Ser1103Tyr by real-time reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in heart tissue from heterozygous African-American infants, who died from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or from other causes, to test for allelic expression imbalance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed significant allelic expression imbalance in 13 of 26 (50%) African-American infant hearts heterozygous for <it>SCN5A</it>-p.Ser1103Tyr, and a significant (p < 0.0001) bimodal distribution of log₂allelic expression ratios. However, <b>t</b>here were no significant differences in the mean log₂allelic expression ratios in hearts of infants dying from SIDS as compared to infants dying from other causes and no significant difference in the proportion of cases with greater expression of the variant allele.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data provide evidence that <it>SCN5A </it>allelic expression imbalance occurs in African-Americans heterozygous for p.Ser1103Tyr, but this phenomenon alone does not appear to be a marker for risk of SIDS.</p