Alcohol consumption and breast cancer-specific and all-cause mortality in women diagnosed with breast cancer at the New York site of the Breast Cancer Family Registry

Purpose Alcohol consumption is an established and important risk factor for breast cancer incidence in the general population. However, the relationship between alcohol and mortality among women with breast cancer is less clear. This study examines the effect of alcohol consumption on mortality in women affected with breast cancer at baseline from a high-risk family breast and ovarian cancer registry. Methods We studied 1116 women affected with breast cancer at baseline from the Metropolitan New York Registry. The examined reported alcohol consumption (total of beer, wine, liquor) was defined as the average number of drinks per week reported from age 12 to age at baseline. We assessed vital status of each participant using participant or family reported data and we used the National Death Index to supplement deaths reported through family updates. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the association between alcohol intake and overall mortality (HRO), breast cancer-specific mortality (HRBC), and non-breast cancer mortality (HRNBC), adjusted for confounders. Results After a mean follow-up of 9.1 years, we observed 211 total deaths and 58 breast cancer deaths. Compared to non-drinkers, we found that both low and moderate to heavy levels of alcohol intake were not associated with greater overall mortality (≤3 drinks/week: HRO: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.38–1.14); > 3 drinks/week: HRO: 1.16, 95% CI: 0.85–1.58), breast cancer–specific mortality (≤ 3 drinks/week: HRBC:0.62, 95% CI: 0.19–2.03; >3 drinks/week: HR BC: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.49–1.89), or non-breast cancer-specific mortality (≤3 drinks/week: HR NBC: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.32–1.6; >3 drinks/week: HRNBC: 1.18, 95% CI: 0.75–1.86). Conclusions Alcohol intake reported from age 12 to age at baseline was not associated with overall or breast cancer-specific mortality in this cohort of affected women with a family history of breast cancer

Mammographic density and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels

Background: Vitamin D, which influences cellular proliferation and breast tissue characteristics, has been inversely correlated with breast cancer risk. Dietary vitamin D intake has been associated with lower mammographic density (MD), a strong intermediate marker of breast cancer risk. Findings: We examined the relationship between MD and serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], an integrated measure of vitamin D status from dietary sources and sunlight exposure, in a multi-ethnic cohort of women undergoing screening mammography. We recruited women age 40–60 years without a history of breast cancer at the time of their routine screening mammogram, and conducted in-person interviews and collected blood specimens. We enrolled 195 women from 2007–2008, 120 gave blood, and 114 were evaluable, including 25% white, 41% African American, 18% African Caribbean, and 16% Hispanic. We digitized mammograms and calculated percent density, dense area, and non-dense area on cranial-caudal images. We measured serum 25(OH)D in batched, archived specimens. Median serum 25(OH)D was 22 ng/ml (range, 8–66 ng/ml). In univariable analysis, higher serum 25(OH)D was associated with white race, higher educational level, ever breast feeding, and blood draw during the summer. After adjusting for body mass index and other confounders, we found no association between serum 25(OH)D and different measures of MD. However, when stratified by season, 25(OH)D was inversely associated with dense area during July-December (p = 0.034). Conclusions: Overall, our findings suggest that circulating vitamin D, a potentially modifiable breast cancer risk factor, is not associated with MD; the seasonal effects we observed need to be replicated in larger cohorts

Accuracy of Risk Estimates from the iPrevent Breast Cancer Risk Assessment and Management Tool.

BACKGROUND: iPrevent is an online breast cancer (BC) risk management decision support tool. It uses an internal switching algorithm, based on a woman's risk factor data, to estimate her absolute BC risk using either the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study (IBIS) version 7.02, or Breast and Ovarian Analysis of Disease Incidence and Carrier Estimation Algorithm version 3 models, and then provides tailored risk management information. This study assessed the accuracy of the 10-year risk estimates using prospective data. METHODS: iPrevent-assigned 10-year invasive BC risk was calculated for 15 732 women aged 20-70 years and without BC at recruitment to the Prospective Family Study Cohort. Calibration, the ratio of the expected (E) number of BCs to the observed (O) number and discriminatory accuracy were assessed. RESULTS: During the 10 years of follow-up, 619 women (3.9%) developed BC compared with 702 expected (E/O = 1.13; 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.05 to 1.23). For women younger than 50 years, 50 years and older, and BRCA1/2-mutation carriers and noncarriers, E/O was 1.04 (95% CI = 0.93 to 1.16), 1.24 (95% CI = 1.11 to 1.39), 1.13 (95% CI = 0.96 to 1.34), and 1.13 (95% CI = 1.04 to 1.24), respectively. The C-statistic was 0.70 (95% CI = 0.68 to 0.73) overall and 0.74 (95% CI = 0.71 to 0.77), 0.63 (95% CI = 0.59 to 0.66), 0.59 (95% CI = 0.53 to 0.64), and 0.65 (95% CI = 0.63 to 0.68), respectively, for the subgroups above. Applying the newer IBIS version 8.0b in the iPrevent switching algorithm improved calibration overall (E/O = 1.06, 95% CI = 0.98 to 1.15) and in all subgroups, without changing discriminatory accuracy. CONCLUSIONS: For 10-year BC risk, iPrevent had good discriminatory accuracy overall and was well calibrated for women aged younger than 50 years. Calibration may be improved in the future by incorporating IBIS version 8.0b

Validation of the IBIS breast cancer risk evaluator for women with lobular carcinoma in-situ.

BACKGROUND: Management advice for women with lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) is hampered by the lack of accurate personalised risk estimates for subsequent invasive breast cancer (BC). Prospective validation of the only tool that estimates individual BC risk for a woman with LCIS, the International Breast Cancer Intervention Study Risk Evaluation Tool (IBIS-RET), is lacking. METHODS: Using population-based cancer registry data for 732 women with LCIS, the calibration and discrimination accuracy of IBIS-RET Version 7.2 were assessed. RESULTS: The mean observed 10-year risk of invasive BC was 14.1% (95% CI:11.3%-17.5%). IBIS-RET overestimated invasive BC risk (p = 0.0003) and demonstrated poor discriminatory accuracy (AUC 0.54, 95% CI: 0.48 - 0.62). CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians should understand that IBIS-RET Version 7.2 may overestimate 10-year invasive BC risk for Australian women with LCIS. The newer IBIS-RET Version 8.0, released September 2017, includes mammographic density and may perform better, but validation is needed

The Influence of Number and Timing of Pregnancies on Breast Cancer Risk for Women With BRCA1 or BRCA2 Mutations

International audienceBACKGROUND:Full-term pregnancy (FTP) is associated with a reduced breast cancer (BC) risk over time, but women are at increased BC risk in the immediate years following an FTP. No large prospective studies, however, have examined whether the number and timing of pregnancies are associated with BC risk for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers.METHODS:Using weighted and time-varying Cox proportional hazards models, we investigated whether reproductive events are associated with BC risk for mutation carriers using a retrospective cohort (5707 BRCA1 and 3525 BRCA2 mutation carriers) and a prospective cohort (2276 BRCA1 and 1610 BRCA2 mutation carriers), separately for each cohort and the combined prospective and retrospective cohort.RESULTS:For BRCA1 mutation carriers, there was no overall association with parity compared with nulliparity (combined hazard ratio [HRc] = 0.99, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.83 to 1.18). Relative to being uniparous, an increased number of FTPs was associated with decreased BC risk (HRc = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.69 to 0.91; HRc = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.59 to 0.82; HRc = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.40 to 0.63, for 2, 3, and ≥4 FTPs, respectively, P trend < .0001) and increasing duration of breastfeeding was associated with decreased BC risk (combined cohort P trend = .0003). Relative to being nulliparous, uniparous BRCA1 mutation carriers were at increased BC risk in the prospective analysis (prospective hazard ration [HRp] = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.09 to 2.62). For BRCA2 mutation carriers, being parous was associated with a 30% increase in BC risk (HRc = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.69), and there was no apparent decrease in risk associated with multiparity except for having at least 4 FTPs vs. 1 FTP (HRc = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.54 to 0.98).CONCLUSIONS:These findings suggest differential associations with parity between BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers with higher risk for uniparous BRCA1 carriers and parous BRCA2 carriers

A review on preparation process and tribological performance of coatings for internal combustion engine piston ring

Reducing the energy consumption and exhaust emission, and improving the combustion efficiency of internal combustion engine are important for solving the problems of climate change and environmental pollution. The piston ring-liner system is one of the most serious friction pairs in internal combustion engine, accounting for 26% of the total friction loss. Depositing strengthened coatings on the surface of piston rings is an effective method to reduce the friction coefficient and wear rate. This paper reviews the research progress of several representative technologies for preparing coatings, such as electroplating, physical vapor deposition (PVD), thermal spraying and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and so on. Various coatings, such as Cr-Al 2 O 3 coating prepared by representative electroplating process, CrN and DLC coatings prepared by physical vapor deposition, and Mo-based and C-based coatings prepared by thermal spraying process, are briefly discussed. Furthermore, the positive and negative aspects of commonly used piston ring coatings are compared, and their development trends are summarized

Research on Scenic Spot’s Sustainable Development Based on a SD Model: A Case Study of the Jiuzhai Valley

In the field of tourism, the development of tourist attractions is playing an increasingly crucial role in tourism economy, regional economy and national economy. However, the eco-environment has been damaged while tourism industry develops rapidly. Thus, to solve the contradiction between tourism development and eco-environment protection is the key to achieving sustainable development of tourism. This paper builds a SD model, which is based on the analysis of the economic subsystem and environment subsystem, to promote sustainable development. In order to show the effectiveness of the model, Jiuzhai Valley is taken as the research object and a decisive basis is provided for the path adjustment of sustainable development in tourist scenic

Millimeter-Wave Propagation Measurement and Modeling in Indoor Corridor and Stairwell at 26 and 38 GHz

Accurate propagation characteristics are essential for future indoor millimeter-wave (mmWave) small cell network planning. This paper presents propagation measurements at 26 GHz and 38 GHz which are important candidate bands for fifth generation mmWave communication. Measurements are conducted in an indoor corridor, as well as a stairwell whose mmWave channel is seldom investigated before. In these measurements, an omnidirectional biconical antenna is used as transmitter and a steerable directional horn antenna is used as receiver. The directional and omnidirectional path loss exponents, shadow factors, cross-polarization discrimination ratios and root-mean-square delay spreads are analyzed for both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight scenarios in both co-polarization and cross-polarization, and these characteristics are compared for different frequencies and environments. It is found obvious depolarization phenomenon in non-line-of-sight scenario for higher frequency. Compared to the corridor, the stairwell has larger path loss exponents and root-mean-square delay spreads, and the depolarization is also more evident in stairwell. The results in this paper are beneficial to building efficient and robust indoor mmWave communication systems

An Active Voltage Coordinate Control Strategy of DFIG-Based Wind Farm with Hybrid Energy Storage System

In a power system with wind farms, the point of common coupling (PCC) usually suffers from voltage instability under large wind speed variations and the load impact. Using the internal converter of a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind turbine to provide voltage support auxiliary service is an effective scheme to suppress the voltage fluctuation at PCC. To satisfy the reactive power demand of the connected grid, an active voltage coordinate control strategy with the hybrid energy storage system of the wind farm is proposed. The dynamic reactive power balance model is established to show the interaction between the reactive power limitation of the wind farm and the reactive power compensation demand of the grid. This indicates the initial conditions of the active voltage coordinate control strategy. According to the critical operating point and the operation state of the DFIG, the active and reactive power coordinate control strategy composed of active &omega;-&beta; coordinate control and active &beta; control is proposed to enhance the reactive power support capability and stabilize the grid voltage. To compensate the active power shortage, an auxiliary control strategy based on the hybrid energy storage system is introduced. The simulation results show that the proposed strategy can suppress the voltage fluctuation effectively and make full use of primary energy