Comparative Disease Assessment: a multi-causal approach for estimating the burden of mortality

Journal of Public Health - The Comparative Risk Assessment (CRA) framework comprehensively evaluates the impact of exposure to risk factors on health populations using the counterfactual causal...     

Associations of Dietary Patterns with Incident Depression: The Maastricht Study

Our aim was to assess the association between a priori defined dietary patterns and incident depressive symptoms. We used data from The Maastricht Study, a population-based cohort study (n = 2646, mean (SD) age 59.9 (8.0) years, 49.5% women; 15,188 person-years of follow-up). Level of adherence to the Dutch Healthy Diet (DHD), Mediterranean Diet, and Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension (DASH) were derived from a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire. Depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and annually over seven-year-follow-up (using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire). We used Cox proportional hazards regression analyses to assess the association between dietary patterns and depressive symptoms. One standard deviation (SD) higher adherence in the DHD and DASH was associated with a lower hazard ratio (HR) of depressive symptoms with HRs (95%CI) of 0.78 (0.69–0.89) and 0.87 (0.77–0.98), respectively, after adjustment for sociodemographic and cardiovascular risk factors. After further adjustment for lifestyle factors, the HR per one SD higher DHD was 0.83 (0.73–0.96), whereas adherence to Mediterranean and DASH diets was not associated with incident depressive symptoms. Higher adherence to the DHD lowered risk of incident depressive symptoms. Adherence to healthy diet could be an effective non-pharmacological preventive measure to reduce the incidence of depression.     

Alterations in Breast Cancer Biomarkers Following Neoadjuvant Therapy

Annals of Surgical Oncology - Biomarker changes in patients with residual disease (RD) after neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAT) have unclear consequences. This study examined the prevalence of...     

Comparison of multiple oncotype DX® from the same patient

For women with breast cancer in whom multiple Oncotype DX^® Recurrence Scores (RS) are obtained, RS concordance utilizing current NCCN recommendations has not been evaluated. Patients with two or more RS were identified. RS were stratified by NCCN guidelines and compared for concordance. Twenty-four patients were evaluated. RS concordance varied by tumor type: 100% in the same tumor, 91.7% in multiple ipsilateral tumors, 71.4% in contralateral tumors, and 66.7% in in-breast recurrent tumors. RS concordance for multiple assays in the same patient is not high enough to omit Oncotype DX^® testing for each tumor.     

Mental health services and the city: a neighbourhood-level epidemiological study

Journal of Public Health - Neighbourhood composition is considered a social determinant of mental health that can be addressed by policymakers to improve outcomes. Deprived neighbourhoods typically...     

Development of an immuno-lectin-enzymatic assay for the detection of serum cancer-associated glycoproteins bearing Tn determinant

We report the development of an immuno-lectin-enzymatic assay (CA83.4) with the purpose of quantifying serum glycoproteins bearing Tn determinant (GalNAc alpha-O-Ser/Thr). An anti-Tn monoclonal antibody (83D4) is bound to the solid phase in order to capture glycoproteins. After the addition of a test sample, we used biotinylated isolectin B4 from Vicia villosa and avidin-peroxydase to act as a detection system. The linear relationship between CA83.4 determinations and the serum dilutions, the reproducibility of the dosage in intra- and inter-assay, and the specificity of the test for the N-acetylgalactosamine residue in a-glycosidic O-linkages, demonstrated the reliability of this trial. Self-recognition of Vicia villosa B4 molecules (K-D: 0.73x10(-6) M determined using biosensor technology) could determine an additional step of signal amplification in this assay. Using 0.25 units/ml of CA83.4 antigen as the cut-off level, higher values were found in 25/49 patients with breast cancer, 8/13 with colorectal carcinoma, 3/11 with lung cancer, but in none of the 49 patients with non-malignant diseases nor in 97 healthy controls. This first report on soluble Tn-glycoprotein detection assays suggests that Tn-glycoproteins are specific serological tumor markers and we believe that they could represent a valuable tool in the diagnosis of cancer.     

Sexuelles Verhalten der italienischen Jugendlichen in Bezug auf das AIDS-Risiko

Zusammenfassung Ziel unserer Untersuchung ist es, die Kenntnisse und Einstellungen zum Thema AIDS sowie das sexuelle Verhalten der Jugendlichen zu erforschen. Die im Jahr 1993 begonnene Untersuchung wird durch die Aussendung eines anonymen Fragebogens an eine randomisierte Mustergruppe von 52 000 Jugendlichen im Alter von 19 bis 24 Jahren aus 363 Gemeinden durchgeführt. Für die gegenwärtige Zwischenauswertung sind 6929 der 18 132 bis zum jetzigen Zeitpunkt ausgesandten Fragebogen analysiert worden, wobei alle italienischen Regionen proportional eingeschlossen sind. Unsere Daten haben bislang ergeben, dass das Verhalten der Jugendlichen nicht immer darauf hinzielt, das Risiko einer sexuellen Übertragung der HIV-Infektion zu vermeiden. Es sind aber immerhin zwei Veränderungen beobachtet worden: Ein Ansteigen des Durchschnittsalters beim ersten Geschlechtsverkehr und ein häufigerer Gebrauch von Kondomen.

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Sexual behaviour of young Italians as regards risk of contracting AIDS

Summary The objective of this survey is to evaluate knowledge and sexual behaviour among young Italians (19 to 24 years). The project, began in 1993, is being carried out through an anonymous postal questionnaire, sent to a representative sample of the young Italian population (a total of 52 000 people from 363 Italian towns). In the present intermediate evaluation, we have analysed 6929 of the 18 132 questionnairs sent till now, with all Italian regions being proportionally included. Our data show that, after sexual activity has been started, it hardly seems to be limited to monogamy or to be always regulated by AIDS-preventing practices. Data show that the age of the first sexual intercourse is increasing (after age 18) and that condoms are used more frequently, particularly in occasional sex.

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Les comportements sexual des jeunes Italiens rapport le risque de contracter le SIDA

Résumé L'objectif de l'enquète est d'evaluer les connaissances et les comportements sexuels des jeunes Italiens d'àge consideré à risque pour l'infection du HIV (19–24 années). Le projet, débuté en 1993, à été mené avec un anonyme questionnaire postal, envoyé à l'echantillon représentatif des jeunes d'Italie (52 000 individues de 362 villes italiennes). Dans la présent partielle évaluation, nous avons evalué 6929 questionnaires des 18 132 jusqu'ici envoyé, toutes les régions italiennes sont proportionnellement compris. Les donnés montrent que, si les jeunes sont sexuellement actifs, c'est difficile qu'ils tendent à la monogamie ou qu'ils aient toujours pratiques sans risque du SIDA. Les donnés montrent aussi que l'âge du premier rapport sexuel est augmenté (àpres 18 ans) et que le preservatif est assez utilisé, surtout dans les rapports sexuels occasionels.

     

Dolichol-bound oligosaccharides and the transfer of distal monosaccharides in the synthesis of glycoproteins by normal and tumor mammary epithelial cells

Summary The main dolichol diphosphate-bound oligosaccharides present in primary cultures of both normal and tumor mouse mammary epithelial cells had the same size, yielded the same pattern after acetolysis and paper chromatography, had the same number of mannose residues susceptible to-mannosidase degradation, and were composed of the same monosaccharide residues. This is the first demonstration that normal and tumor mammary cells have dolichol diphosphate-bound oligosaccharides with very similar, if not identical, structures. These compounds are intermediates in the synthesis of asparagine-linked oligosaccharides. On the other hand, normal and tumor cells showed differences in the specific activities of the enzymes involved in the transfer of the distal monosaccharides from the sugar nucleotides to glycoproteins. Sialyl- and fucosyl-transferases were elevated and galactosyl- and N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases were diminished in mammary tumor cells. The intact tumor cells showed an increased fucosylation of glycoproteins of the asparagine-linkage type. Address for reprints: Roberto L. Ceriani, M.D., Ph.D., Bruce Lyon Memorial Research Laboratory, Children's Hospital Medical Center, 51st and Grove Streets, Oakland, CA 94609, USA.