Declining mortality from kidney cancer in Europe

Mortality rates from kidney cancer increased throughout Europe up until the late 1980s or early 1990s. Trends in western European countries, the European Union (EU) and selected central and eastern European countries have been updated using official death certification data for kidney cancer abstracted from the World Health Organisation (WHO) database over the period 1980-1999. In EU men, death rates increased from 3.92 per 100 000 (age standardised, world standard) in 1980-81 to 4.63 in 1994-95, and levelled off at 4.15 thereafter. In women, corresponding values were 1.86 in 1980-81, 2.04 in 1994-95 and 1.80 in 1998-99. Thus, the fall in kidney cancer mortality over the last 5 years was over 10% for both sexes in the EU. The largest falls were in countries with highest mortality in the early 1990s, such as Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. Kidney cancer rates levelled off, but remained very high, in the Czech Republic, Baltic countries, Hungary, Poland and other central European countries. Thus, in the late 1990s, a greater than three-fold difference in kidney cancer mortality was observed between the highest rates in the Czech Republic, the Baltic Republics and Hungary, and the lowest ones in Romania, Portugal and Greece. Tobacco smoking is the best recognised risk factor for kidney cancer, and the recent trends in men, mainly in western Europe, can be related to a reduced prevalence of smoking among men. Tobacco, however, cannot account for the recent trends registered in women. [Authors]]]> Kidney Neoplasms https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_63C5E2E6DA59.P001/REF.pdf http://nbn-resolving.org/urn/resolver.pl?urn=urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_63C5E2E6DA599 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/urn/urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_63C5E2E6DA599 info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Copying allowed only for non-profit organizations https://serval.unil.ch/disclaimer application/pdf oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_63C5FDDEDBF6 2022-05-07T01:19:15Z <oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"> https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_63C5FDDEDBF6 Diagnose und Therapie von Kardiomyopathien im Kindersalter Sekarski, N. Günthard, J. info:eu-repo/semantics/article article 2000 Therapeutische Umschau, vol. 58, pp. 201-205 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pissn/0040-5930 oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_63C809539955 2022-05-07T01:19:15Z <oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"> https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_63C809539955 The effect of a low dose of quinidine on the disposition of flecainide in healthy volunteers info:doi:10.1007/BF02220625 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1007/BF02220625 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/1451729 Munafo, A. Buclin, T. Tuto, D. Biollaz, J. info:eu-repo/semantics/article article 1992 European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 441-3 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pissn/0031-6970 <![CDATA[We have studied the effects of quinidine on ECG intervals and on the pharmacokinetics of flecainide and its two metabolites in 6 healthy men in an open randomized crossover study. Flecainide acetate (150 mg) was given as a constant rate i.v. infusion over 30 min. Quinidine (50 mg orally), given the previous evening, did not change the volume of distribution of flecainide (7.9 vs 7.4 l.kg-1), but significantly increased its half-life (8.8 vs 10.7 h). This was attributable to a reduction in total clearance (10.6 vs 8.1 ml.min-1 x kg-1), most of it being accounted for by a reduction in non-renal clearance (7.2 vs 5.2 ml.min-1 x kg-1). The excretion of the metabolites of flecainide over 48 h was significantly reduced. These findings suggest that quinidine inhibits the first step of flecainide metabolism, although it may also reduce its renal clearance, but to a lesser extent (3.5 vs 2.9 ml.min-1 x kg-1). The effects of flecainide on ECG intervals were not altered by quinidine. Thus, quinidine tends to shift extensive metabolizer status for flecainide towards poor metabolizer status and may also alter its renal excretion

Dietary vitamin D and cancers of the oral cavity and esophagus

Background: Data on the association between vitamin D and upper digestive tract neoplasms are limited. Methods: In two case-control studies in Italy, we examined the relation between dietary vitamin D intake and squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus (SCCE; 304 cases) and oral/pharyngeal cancer (804 cases). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by multiple logistic regression. Results: Adjusted ORs for SCCE and oral/pharyngeal cancer were 0.58 (95% CI 0.39-0.86) and 0.76 (95% CI 0.60-0.94), respectively, for the highest tertile of vitamin D intake. Using a reference group of those in the highest tertile of vitamin D who were never/former smokers, ORs were 8.7 (95% CI 4.1-18.7) for SCCE and 10.4 (95% CI 6.9-15.5) for oral/pharyngeal cancer among heavy smokers in the lowest vitamin D tertile; similarly, compared with those in the highest tertile of vitamin D who drank <3 alcoholic drinks/day, corresponding ORs were 41.9 (95% CI 13.7-128.6) for SCCE and 8.5 (95% CI 5.7-12.5) for oral/pharyngeal cancer, among heavy alcohol drinkers in the lowest vitamin D tertile. Conclusion: We observed inverse associations between dietary vitamin D intake and risk of SCCE and, perhaps, oral/pharyngeal cancer, which were most pronounced among heavy current smokers and heavy consumers of alcoho

The Formation and Evolution of Virgo Cluster Galaxies - I. Broadband Optical & Infrared Colours

We use a combination of deep optical (gri) and near-infrared (H) photometry to study the radially-resolved colours of a broad sample of 300 Virgo cluster galaxies. For most galaxy types, we find that the median g-H colour gradient is either flat (gas-poor giants and gas-rich dwarfs) or negative (i.e., colours become bluer with increasing radius; gas-poor dwarfs, spirals, and gas-poor peculiars). Later-type galaxies typically exhibit more negative gradients than early-types. Given the lack of a correlation between the central colours and axis ratios of Virgo spiral galaxies, we argue that dust likely plays a small role, if at all, in setting those colour gradients. We search for possible correlations between galaxy colour and photometric structure or environment and find that the Virgo galaxy colours become redder with increasing concentration, luminosity and surface brightness, while no dependence with cluster-centric radius or local galaxy density is detected (over a range of ~2 Mpc and ~3-16 Mpc^-2, respectively). However, the colours of gas-rich Virgo galaxies do correlate with neutral gas deficiency, such that these galaxies become redder with higher deficiencies. Comparisons with stellar population models suggest that these colour gradients arise principally from variations in stellar metallicity within these galaxies, while age variations only make a significant contribution to the colour gradients of Virgo irregulars. A detailed stellar population analysis based on this material is presented in Roediger et al (2011b; arXiv:1011.3511).Comment: 34 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, submitted to MNRAS; Paper II (arXiv:1011.3511) has also been update

Energy, macronutrients and laryngeal cancer risk

BACKGROUND: A role for diet in laryngeal carcinogenesis has been suggested, but only a few studies have examined the potential relationship with a wide variety of macronutrients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A case-control study was conducted between 1992 and 2000 in Italy and Switzerland, including 527 incident cases of laryngeal cancer, and 1297 controls hospitalized for acute, non-neoplastic conditions. The subjects' usual diet was investigated through a validated food frequency questionnaire, including 78 foods and beverages. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using unconditional multiple logistic regression models. RESULTS: Cases reported higher energy intake than controls. The continuous OR for 100 kcal/day was 1.16 (95% CI 1.12-1.21) for alcohol energy, and 1.02 (95% CI 1.01-1.04) for non-alcohol energy. A significantly increased risk of laryngeal cancer was observed for animal protein (continuous OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.03-1.41), polyunsaturated fats other than linoleic and linolenic fatty acids (OR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.19-1.70), and cholesterol intake (OR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.19-1.71). Laryngeal cancer risk was slightly reduced with increasing vegetable protein (OR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.62-0.91), sugar (OR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.71-1.00) and monounsaturated fatty acid intake (OR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.70-0.99). CONCLUSIONS: Laryngeal cancer cases have a higher energy intake than control subjects, and report a higher intake of animal protein and cholesterol. [authors]]]> eng https://serval.unil.ch/resource/serval:BIB_26D8787AF96A.P001/REF.pdf http://nbn-resolving.org/urn/resolver.pl?urn=urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_26D8787AF96A3 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/urn/urn:nbn:ch:serval-BIB_26D8787AF96A3 info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Copying allowed only for non-profit organizations https://serval.unil.ch/disclaimer application/pdf oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_26D8AFEA3D4D 2022-05-07T01:13:16Z <oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"> https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_26D8AFEA3D4D Symbiose et sénescence: étude du cycle glyoxylique chez le soja (Glycine max. L., var. Maple arrow) et Bradyrhizobium japonicum Fargeix, C. Université de Lausanne, Faculté des sciences info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis phdthesis 2001 fre oai:serval.unil.ch:BIB_26D955FDA835 2022-05-07T01:13:16Z openaire documents <oai_dc:dc xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:oai_dc="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"> https://serval.unil.ch/notice/serval:BIB_26D955FDA835 New emerging tasks for microRNAs in the control of β-cell activities info:doi:10.1016/j.bbalip.2016.05.003 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.bbalip.2016.05.003 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/27178175 Guay, Claudiane Regazzi, Romano info:eu-repo/semantics/review article 2016-12 Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular and Cell Biology of Lipids, vol. 1861, no. 12, pp. 2121-2129 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pissn/1388-1981 urn:issn:1879-2618 <![CDATA[MicroRNAs are key regulators of β-cell physiology. They participate to the differentiation of insulin-producing cells and are instrumental for the acquisition of their unique secretory properties. Moreover, they contribute to the adaptation of β-cells to conditions of increased insulin demand and, if expressed at inappropriate levels, certain microRNAs cause β-cell dysfunction and promote the development of different forms of diabetes mellitus. While these functions are increasingly better understood, additional tasks for these small non-coding RNAs have been recently unveiled. Thus, microRNAs are emerging as signaling molecules of a novel exosome-mediated cell-to-cell communication mode permitting a coordinated response of the β-cells to inflammatory conditions and to modifications in the insulin demand. These discoveries raise a number of important issues that once addressed promise to shed new light on the molecular mechanism governing the functions of the β-cells under normal and disease states. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: MicroRNAs and lipid/energy metabolism and related diseases edited by Carlos Fernández-Hernando and Yajaira Suárez

Energy, macronutrients and laryngeal cancer risk

Background: A role for diet in laryngeal carcinogenesis has been suggested, but only a few studies have examined the potential relationship with a wide variety of macronutrients. Patients and methods: A case-control study was conducted between 1992 and 2000 in Italy and Switzerland, including 527 incident cases of laryngeal cancer, and 1297 controls hospitalized for acute, non-neoplastic conditions. The subjects' usual diet was investigated through a validated food frequency questionnaire, including 78 foods and beverages. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using unconditional multiple logistic regression models. Results: Cases reported higher energy intake than controls. The continuous OR for 100 kcal/day was 1.16 (95% CI 1.12-1.21) for alcohol energy, and 1.02 (95% CI 1.01-1.04) for non-alcohol energy. A significantly increased risk of laryngeal cancer was observed for animal protein (continuous OR = 1.21, 95% CI 1.03-1.41), polyunsaturated fats other than linoleic and linolenic fatty acids (OR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.19-1.70), and cholesterol intake (OR = 1.43, 95% CI 1.19-1.71). Laryngeal cancer risk was slightly reduced with increasing vegetable protein (OR = 0.75, 95% CI 0.62-0.91), sugar (OR = 0.84, 95% CI 0.71-1.00) and monounsaturated fatty acid intake (OR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.70-0.99). Conclusions: Laryngeal cancer cases have a higher energy intake than control subjects, and report a higher intake of animal protein and cholestero

An Irradiation Effect in Nova DN Gem 1912 and the Significance of the Period Gap for Classical Novae

Continuous CCD photometry of the classical nova DN Gem during 52 nights in the years 1992-98 reveals a modulation with a period 0.127844 d. The semi-amplitude is about 0.03 mag. The stability of the variation suggests that it is the orbital period of the binary system. This interpretation makes DN Gem the fourth nova inside the cataclysmic variable (CV) period gap, as defined by Diaz and Bruch (1997), and it bolsters the idea that there is no period gap for classical novae. However, the number of known nova periods is still too small to establish this idea statistically. We eliminate several possible mechanisms for the variation, and propose that the modulation is driven by an irradiation effect. We find that model light curves of an irradiated secondary star, fit the data well. The inclination angle of the system is restricted by this model to 10 deg < i < 65 deg. We also refine a previous estimate of the distance to the binary system, and find d=1.6+/-0.6 kpc.Comment: 7 pages, Latex file, 2 .ps files and 3 .eps files. accepted for publication in MNRAS. also available at: ftp://ftp.astro.keele.ac.uk/pub/preprints/preprints.htm

The diastereoselective Meth-Cohn epoxidation of camphor-derived vinyl sulfones

Some camphor-derived vinyl sulfones bearing oxygen functionality at the allylic position have been synthesized and their nucleophilic epoxidation reactions under Meth-Cohn conditions have been explored. The γ-oxygenated camphor-derived vinyl sulfones underwent mildly diastereoselective nucleophilic epoxidation reactions, affording the derived sulfonyloxiranes in up to 5.8:1 dr. The observed diastereoselectivities were sensitive to the reaction conditions employed. In contrast, no stereoselectivity was observed in the nucleophilic epoxidation of the corresponding γ-oxygenated isobornyl vinyl sulfone. A tentative mechanism has been proposed to explain the origins of the diastereoselectivit

#Sleepyteens: social media use in adolescence is associated with poor sleep quality, anxiety, depression and low self-esteem

This study examined how social media use related to sleep quality, self-esteem, anxiety and depression in 467 Scottish adolescents. We measured overall social media use, nighttime-specific social media use, emotional investment in social media, sleep quality, self-esteem and levels of anxiety and depression. Adolescents who used social media more – both overall and at night – and those who were more emotionally invested in social media experienced poorer sleep quality, lower self-esteem and higher levels of anxiety and depression. Nighttime-specific social media use predicted poorer sleep quality after controlling for anxiety, depression and self-esteem. These findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that social media use is related to various aspects of wellbeing in adolescents. In addition, our results indicate that nighttime-specific social media use and emotional investment in social media are two important factors that merit further investigation in relation to adolescent sleep and wellbeing

Bioavailability in soils

The consumption of locally-produced vegetables by humans may be an important exposure pathway for soil contaminants in many urban settings and for agricultural land use. Hence, prediction of metal and metalloid uptake by vegetables from contaminated soils is an important part of the Human Health Risk Assessment procedure. The behaviour of metals (cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, lead and zinc) and metalloids (arsenic, boron and selenium) in contaminated soils depends to a large extent on the intrinsic charge, valence and speciation of the contaminant ion, and soil properties such as pH, redox status and contents of clay and/or organic matter. However, chemistry and behaviour of the contaminant in soil alone cannot predict soil-to-plant transfer. Root uptake, root selectivity, ion interactions, rhizosphere processes, leaf uptake from the atmosphere, and plant partitioning are important processes that ultimately govern the accumulation ofmetals and metalloids in edible vegetable tissues. Mechanistic models to accurately describe all these processes have not yet been developed, let alone validated under field conditions. Hence, to estimate risks by vegetable consumption, empirical models have been used to correlate concentrations of metals and metalloids in contaminated soils, soil physico-chemical characteristics, and concentrations of elements in vegetable tissues. These models should only be used within the bounds of their calibration, and often need to be re-calibrated or validated using local soil and environmental conditions on a regional or site-specific basis.Mike J. McLaughlin, Erik Smolders, Fien Degryse, and Rene Rietr

Engineering mono- and multi-valent inhibitors on a modular scaffold.

Here we exploit the simple, ultra-stable, modular architecture of consensus-designed tetratricopeptide repeat proteins (CTPRs) to create a platform capable of displaying both single as well as multiple functions and with diverse programmable geometrical arrangements by grafting non-helical short linear binding motifs (SLiMs) onto the loops between adjacent repeats. As proof of concept, we built synthetic CTPRs to bind and inhibit the human tankyrase proteins (hTNKS), which play a key role in Wnt signaling and are upregulated in cancer. A series of mono-valent and multi-valent hTNKS binders was assembled. To fully exploit the modular scaffold and to further diversify the multi-valent geometry, we engineered the binding modules with two different formats, one monomeric and the other trimeric. We show that the designed proteins are stable, correctly folded and capable of binding to and inhibiting the cellular activity of hTNKS leading to downregulation of the Wnt pathway. Multivalency in both the CTPR protein arrays and the hTNKS target results in the formation of large macromolecular assemblies, which can be visualized both in vitro and in the cell. When delivered into the cell by nanoparticle encapsulation, the multivalent CTPR proteins displayed exceptional activity. They are able to inhibit Wnt signaling where small molecule inhibitors have failed to date. Our results point to the tremendous potential of the CTPR platform to exploit a range of SLiMs and assemble synthetic binding molecules with built-in multivalent capabilities and precise, pre-programmed geometries.BBSRC Doctoral Training Programme (DTP) scholarship Oliver Gatty Studentship AstraZeneca PhD studentship. UK Medical Research Foundation. CRUK Pioneer Award (C17838/A22676) CRUK BTERP Award (C17838/A27225) Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2014-089) Cambridge Newton Trust BBSRC project grant (BB/T002697/1)