Influence of sleep deprivation and circadian misalignment on cortisol, inflammatory markers, and cytokine balance.

Cortisol and inflammatory proteins are released into the blood in response to stressors and chronic elevations of blood cortisol and inflammatory proteins may contribute to ongoing disease processes and could be useful biomarkers of disease. How chronic circadian misalignment influences cortisol and inflammatory proteins, however, is largely unknown and this was the focus of the current study. Specifically, we examined the influence of weeks of chronic circadian misalignment on cortisol, stress ratings, and pro- and anti-inflammatory proteins in humans.

Statins, fibrates, and melanoma risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Large randomized, controlled clinical trials of lovastatin and gemfibrozil for heart disease prevention have reported statistically significantly lower melanoma incidences in persons receiving these medications. Results of in vitro animal model and human case-control studies also suggest that statins and fibrates may reduce the risk of melanoma.

Methods: We performed a systematic review of trials that randomly assigned participants to receive statins or fibrates versus an alternative therapy for a minimum of 6 months.

Compliance with youth access regulations for indoor UV tanning.

Objectives: To describe youth access to indoor UV tanning and youth discount pricing incentives in 4 states with different age restrictions: Colorado (no age restrictions), Texas (age 13 years), Illinois (age 14 years), and Wisconsin (age 16 years).

Design: Cross-sectional telephone survey conducted in October 2003 using a standardized script to assess the practices of randomly selected UV tanning operators.

Participants: Randomly selected licensed indoor UV tanning facility operators in Colorado, Texas, Illinois, and Wisconsin.

A case for informed consent? Indoor UV tanning facility operator's provision of health risks information (United States).

Objective: Indoor UV tanning is associated with skin cancer. This study describes consumer health risks information provided by indoor UV tanning facility operators in four states (Colorado, Illinois, Texas, and Wisconsin) with varying operator training, regulations, enforcement and penalties.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional survey study design, 100 randomly selected licensed indoor UV tanning facilities from each state were surveyed anonymously by telephone.

Avoiding URL reference degradation in scientific publications.

Arguments are presented concerning the deposit of Internet-based information into the Internet Archive, a digital library of Internet sites and other digital data

Information science. Going, going, gone: lost Internet references.

The use of Internet references in academic literature is common, and Internet references are frequently inaccessible. The extent of Internet referencing and Internet reference activity in medical or scientific publications was systematically examined in more than 1000 articles published between 2000 and 2003 in the New England Journal of Medicine, The Journal of the American Medical Association, and Science. Internet references accounted for 2.