Parental cancer diagnosis and child mortality : a population-based cohort study in Sweden

OBJECTIVE: Cancer diagnosis is known to induce severe psychological stress for the diagnosed patients; however, how it affects the next-of-kin is less well documented. This study aimed to assess the impact of parental cancer on the risk of childhood death. METHODS: A population-based cohort study was conducted using the Swedish national registries, including 2,871,242 children followed during the period of 1991-2009. Parental cancer diagnosis was defined as a time-varying exposure. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) and its corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) as an estimate of the association between parental cancer and childhood mortality. We adjusted for attained age, sex, gestational age, mode of delivery and birth weight of the child, maternal age at child's birth, as well as educational level and socio-economic classification of the parents in the analyses. RESULTS: Among 113,555 children with parental cancer, 127 deaths occurred during 561,198 person-years of follow-up. A parental cancer diagnosis was associated with an increased rate of death among children at the age of 1-18 (HR for all-cause death: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.16-1.66). For young children (aged 1-12), an increased rate was only noted for death due to cancer (HR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.13-3.75) after parental cancer diagnosis. Among adolescents (aged 13-18), an increased rate was noted for all-cause death (HR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.25-1.86), and for both non-cancer-related (HR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.14-1.79) and cancer-related (HR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.33-3.24) death in the exposed children. CONCLUSION: Children have an increased rate of death if they have a parent diagnosed with cancer as compared to children without such experience; this association appears to be slightly stronger among adolescents.Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council for Health Working Life & Welfare (Forte), 2012-0498Swedish Research Council SIMSAM, 80748301, 340-2013-5867China Scholarship Council, 201206100002Swedish Society for Medical Research (SSMF)Karolinska InstitutetPublishe

What is known about the health and living conditions of the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia, the Sami?

The Sami are the indigenous ethnic population of northern Scandinavia. Their health condition is poorly known, although the knowledge has improved over the last decade.The aim was to review the current information on mortality, diseases, and risk factor exposure in the Swedish Sami population.Health-related research on Sami cohorts published in scientific journals and anthologies was used to compare the health condition among the Sami and the majority non-Sami population. When relevant, data from the Sami populations in Swedish were compared with corresponding data from Norwegian and Finnish Sami populations.Life expectancy and mortality patterns of the Sami are similar to those of the majority population. Small differences in incidences of cancer and cardiovascular diseases have been reported. The traditional Sami lifestyle seems to contain elements that reduce the risk to develop cancer and cardiovascular diseases, e.g. physical activity, diet rich in antioxidants and unsaturated fatty acids, and a strong cultural identity. Reindeer herding is an important cultural activity among the Sami and is associated with high risks for accidents. Pain in the lower back, neck, shoulders, elbows, and hands are frequent among both men and women in reindeer-herding families. For men, these symptoms are related to high exposure to terrain vehicles, particularly snowmobile, whereas for women psychosocial risk factors seem to more important, e.g. poor social support, high effort, low reward, and high economical responsibilities.Although the health condition of the Sami population appears to be rather similar to that of the general Swedish population, a number of specific health problems have been identified, especially among the reindeer-herding Sami. Most of these problems have their origin in marginalization and poor knowledge of the reindeer husbandry and the Sami culture in the majority population. It is suggested that the most sustainable measure to improve the health among the reindeer-herding Sami would be to improve the conditions of the reindeer husbandry and the Sami culture

On the precipitation hardening of selective laser melted AlSi10Mg

Precipitation hardening of selective laser melted AlSi10Mg was investigated in terms of solution heat treatment and aging duration. The influence on the microstructure and hardness was established, as was the effect on the size and density of Si particles. Although the hardness changes according to the treatment duration, the maximum hardening effect falls short of the hardness of the as-built parts with their characteristic fine microstructure. This is due to the difference in strengthening mechanisms

Quasiparticle Effective Mass for the Two- and Three-Dimensional Electron Gas

We calculate the quasiparticle effective mass for the electron gas in two and three dimensions in the metallic region. We employ the single particle scattering potential coming from the Sj\"{o}lander-Stott theory and enforce the Friedel sum rule by adjusting the effective electron mass in a scattering calculation. In 3D our effective mass is a monotonically decreasing function of $r_s$ throughout the whole metallic domain, as implied by the most recent numerical results. In 2D we obtain reasonable agreement with the experimental data, as well as with other calculations based on the Fermi liquid theory. We also present results of a variety of different treatments for the effective mass in 2D and 3D.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figure

Childhood injury after a parental cancer diagnosis

A parental cancer diagnosis is psychologically straining for the whole family. We investigated whether a parental cancer diagnosis is associated with a higher-than-expected risk of injury among children by using a Swedish nationwide register-based cohort study. Compared to children without parental cancer, children with parental cancer had a higher rate of hospital contact for injury during the first year after parental cancer diagnosis (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.27, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.22-1.33), especially when the parent had a comorbid psychiatric disorder after cancer diagnosis (HR = 1.41, 95% CI = 1.08-1.85). The rate increment declined during the second and third year after parental cancer diagnosis (HR = 1.10, 95% CI = 1.07-1.14) and became null afterwards (HR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.99-1.03). Children with parental cancer also had a higher rate of repeated injuries than the other children (HR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.12-1.15). Given the high rate of injury among children in the general population, our findings may have important public health implications

Gene Function Classification Using Bayesian Models with Hierarchy-Based Priors

We investigate the application of hierarchical classification schemes to the annotation of gene function based on several characteristics of protein sequences including phylogenic descriptors, sequence based attributes, and predicted secondary structure. We discuss three Bayesian models and compare their performance in terms of predictive accuracy. These models are the ordinary multinomial logit (MNL) model, a hierarchical model based on a set of nested MNL models, and a MNL model with a prior that introduces correlations between the parameters for classes that are nearby in the hierarchy. We also provide a new scheme for combining different sources of information. We use these models to predict the functional class of Open Reading Frames (ORFs) from the E. coli genome. The results from all three models show substantial improvement over previous methods, which were based on the C5 algorithm. The MNL model using a prior based on the hierarchy outperforms both the non-hierarchical MNL model and the nested MNL model. In contrast to previous attempts at combining these sources of information, our approach results in a higher accuracy rate when compared to models that use each data source alone. Together, these results show that gene function can be predicted with higher accuracy than previously achieved, using Bayesian models that incorporate suitable prior information

CLUSS: Clustering of protein sequences based on a new similarity measure

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The rapid burgeoning of available protein data makes the use of clustering within families of proteins increasingly important. The challenge is to identify subfamilies of evolutionarily related sequences. This identification reveals phylogenetic relationships, which provide prior knowledge to help researchers understand biological phenomena. A good evolutionary model is essential to achieve a clustering that reflects the biological reality, and an accurate estimate of protein sequence similarity is crucial to the building of such a model. Most existing algorithms estimate this similarity using techniques that are not necessarily biologically plausible, especially for hard-to-align sequences such as proteins with different domain structures, which cause many difficulties for the alignment-dependent algorithms. In this paper, we propose a novel similarity measure based on matching amino acid subsequences. This measure, named SMS for Substitution Matching Similarity, is especially designed for application to non-aligned protein sequences. It allows us to develop a new alignment-free algorithm, named CLUSS, for clustering protein families. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first alignment-free algorithm for clustering protein sequences. Unlike other clustering algorithms, CLUSS is effective on both alignable and non-alignable protein families. In the rest of the paper, we use the term "<it>phylogenetic</it>" in the sense of "<it>relatedness of biological functions</it>".</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To show the effectiveness of CLUSS, we performed an extensive clustering on COG database. To demonstrate its ability to deal with hard-to-align sequences, we tested it on the GH2 family. In addition, we carried out experimental comparisons of CLUSS with a variety of mainstream algorithms. These comparisons were made on hard-to-align and easy-to-align protein sequences. The results of these experiments show the superiority of CLUSS in yielding clusters of proteins with similar functional activity.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have developed an effective method and tool for clustering protein sequences to meet the needs of biologists in terms of phylogenetic analysis and prediction of biological functions. Compared to existing clustering methods, CLUSS more accurately highlights the functional characteristics of the clustered families. It provides biologists with a new and plausible instrument for the analysis of protein sequences, especially those that cause problems for the alignment-dependent algorithms.</p

Aspirin and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders following a cancer diagnosis: a nationwide register-based cohort study

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)Background: Cancer patients have a highly increased risk of psychiatric disorders following diagnosis, compared with cancer-free individuals. Inflammation is involved in the development of both cancer and psychiatric disorders. The role of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the subsequent risk of psychiatric disorders after cancer diagnosis is however unknown. Methods: We performed a cohort study of all patients diagnosed with a first primary malignancy between July 2006 and December 2013 in Sweden. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the association of NSAID use during the year before cancer diagnosis with the risk of depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders during the first year after cancer diagnosis. Results: Among 316,904 patients identified, 5613 patients received a diagnosis of depression, anxiety, or stress-related disorders during the year after cancer diagnosis. Compared with no use of NSAIDs, the use of aspirin alone was associated with a lower rate of depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders (hazard ratio [HR], 0.88; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.81 to 0.97), whereas the use of non-aspirin NSAIDs alone was associated with a higher rate (HR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.15 to 1.32), after adjustment for sociodemographic factors, comorbidity, indications for NSAID use, and cancer characteristics. The association of aspirin with reduced rate of depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders was strongest for current use (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.75 to 0.93), low-dose use (HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.80 to 0.98), long-term use (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.76 to 0.94), and among patients with cardiovascular disease (HR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.68 to 0.95) or breast cancer (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.56 to 0.98). Conclusion: Pre-diagnostic use of aspirin was associated with a decreased risk of depression, anxiety, and stress-related disorders during the first year following cancer diagnosis.This study was supported by grants awarded to FF by Swedish Cancer Society (No. CAN 2017/322) and the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (No. 2017-00531), to KH by China Scholarship Council (No. 201806240005), to ES by National Health and Medical Research Council (GNT1147498) and National Breast Cancer Foundation (IIRS-20 to 025), and to AW by the National Breast Cancer Foundation (PF-15 to 014). The researchers were independent of the funding agencies. The funding bodies have no role in the design of the study or collection, analysis, and interpretation of data or in writing the manuscript. Open access funding provided by Karolinska Institute.Peer Reviewe

Lattice Dynamics of LaFeAsO_{1-x}F_{x} and PrFeAsO_{1-y} via Inelastic X-Ray Scattering and First-Principles Calculation

The lattice dynamics of LaFeAsO_{1-x}F_{x} (x=0, 0.1) and PrFeAsO_{1-y} (y~0.1) are investigated using inelastic x-ray scattering and ab-initio calculation. Measurements of powder samples provide an approximation to the phonon DOS, while dispersion is measured from a single crystal of PrFeAsO_{1-y}. A model that agrees reasonably well with all of the data at room temperature is built from results of ab-initio calculations by softening the strength of the Fe-As bond by 30%.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; some changes of the text and a revision of figure