Does testosterone influence activity budget in the male Greek tortoise (Testudo graeca graeca)?

The stimulatory effect of testosterone on male sexual activity is one of the clearest examples linking hormones and behaviors. However, this relationship is complex in Chelonians. We experimentally studied the influence of testosterone levels on the activity budget and space use in male Greek tortoises (Testudo graeca graeca) during the spring mating season.

Papillary microcarcinoma of the thyroid among atomic bomb survivors: tumor characteristics and radiation risk.

Background: : Radiation exposure is an established cause of clinical thyroid cancer, but little is known about radiation effects on papillary microcarcinoma (PMC) of the thyroid, a relatively common subclinical thyroid malignancy. Because the incidence of these small thyroid cancers has been increasing, it is important to better understand them and their relation to radiation.

Methods: : PMCs were identified in a subset of 7659 members of the Life Span Study of atomic bomb survivors who had archived autopsy or surgical materials.

Understanding estimation of time and age effect-modification of radiation-induced cancer risks among atomic-bomb survivors.

In radiation risk assessment based on follow-up data, estimation of the excess relative cancer rate involves evaluation of effect-modification by time-related factors such as age at exposure, time since exposure, and attained age. Because these variables are collinear, the regression coefficients purportedly measuring effect-modification of the radiation-related excess relative rate by time and age factors generally differ from the individual effects of these factors. For example, depending on whether it is an age-at-exposure/attained-age effect-modification model or an age-at-exposure/time-since-exposure model which is used, the regression coefficient for the effect of changes in age at exposure on the excess relative rate per Gray measures the combined effects of changes in both age at exposure and time since exposure, or of age at exposure and attained age, respectively, rather than the individual effect of changes in age at exposure, which is of interest for scientific purposes.

Residential radon and lung cancer--detailed results of a collaborative analysis of individual data on 7148 persons with lung cancer and 14,208 persons without lung cancer from 13 epidemiologic studies in Europe.

Objectives: Studies seeking direct estimates of the lung cancer risk associated with residential radon exposure lasting several decades have been conducted in many European countries. Individually these studies have not been large enough to assess moderate risks reliably. Therefore data from all 13 European studies of residential radon and lung cancer satisfying certain prespecified criteria have been brought together and analyzed.

Lifestyle factors, radiation and gastric cancer in atomic-bomb survivors (Japan).

Objective: To examine the association between the incidence of gastric cancer and lifestyle factors such as cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, and diet as well as atomic bomb radiation exposure.

Methods: Longitudinal study including 38,576 atomic-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, followed-up between 1980 and 1999. Individual radiation dose was estimated according to the Dosimetry System 1986 (DS86).

Relationship of hepatocellular carcinoma to soya food consumption: a cohort-based, case-control study in Japan.

To determine if the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is reduced by consumption of soya foods, we conducted a case-control study within a cohort of Japanese A-bomb survivors. We compared the prediagnosis consumption of isoflavone-rich miso soup and tofu to HCC risk, adjusting for hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) viral infections, the major HCC risk factors in this population. The study included 176 pathologist-confirmed cases of HCC diagnosed in 1964-1988 and 560 controls who died of diseases other than liver cancer.

Cytomegalovirus infection and development of allergic diseases in early childhood: interaction with EBV infection?

Background: Chronic replication of cytomegalovirus and EBV in early life may affect the immune system and play a role in the development of allergy in children.

Objective: To assess the relation between cytomegalovirus infection and allergic disorders in children, including a possible interaction with EBV infection.

Methods: From a prospective birth cohort study in Stockholm, on factors of importance for development of allergy, 2581 four-year-old children were enrolled.

Cadmium exposure and distal forearm fractures.

Unlabelled: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between low-level cadmium exposure and distal forearm fractures. Altogether, 1021 men and women exposed to cadmium in Sweden were included. The study indicates that cadmium exposure is associated with increased risk of forearm fractures in people over the age of 50.

Plasma steroid and nutrient levels during the active season in wild Testudo horsfieldi.

Plasma concentrations of sex steroids (testosterone and progesterone), proteins (total protein and albumin), lipids (phospholipids, cholesterol, and triglycerides), and minerals (calcium and phosphorus) were measured in wild Testudo horsfieldi in Uzbekistan, during the short, 3-month activity period (March-May, 1998). Testosterone concentration in males was highest (52 ng/ml) when they had just emerged from brumation (hibernation) in mid-March, which was also the beginning of the mating period, and fell in April. In females, progesterone peaked in mid-April (at 10 ng/ml), just before ovulation of the first clutches at the end of April and beginning of May.

Epstein-Barr virus infection is not associated with development of allergy in children.

Background: Differences in concentrations of antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in atopic and nonatopic children have been observed, suggesting that EBV infection may play a role in allergic diseases. AIM To assess the association between EBV infection and atopy in Swedish children at 4 years of age.

Materials And Methods: Were studied 2561 children born in 1994 through 1996 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Effects of the Asian dust events on daily mortality in Seoul, Korea.

The Korean peninsula has a long history of dust clouds blown by winds from the arid deserts of Mongolia and China in springtime; these are called Asian dust events. Public concern about the possible adverse effects of this dust has increased, because the dust arrives in Korea after having passed over heavily industrialized eastern China. The present study explored the effect of Asian dust events on daily mortality in Seoul, South Korea, during the period 1995-1998.

Glass-based radon-exposure assessment and lung cancer risk.

Lung cancer risk estimation in relation to residential radon exposure remains uncertain, partly as a result of imprecision in air-based retrospective radon-exposure assessment in epidemiological studies. A recently developed methodology provides estimates for past radon concentrations and involves measurement of the surface activity of a glass object that has been in a subject's dwellings through the period for exposure assessment. Such glass measurements were performed for 110 lung cancer subjects, diagnosed 1985 to 1995, and for 231 control subjects, recruited in a case-control study of residential radon and lung cancer among never-smokers in Sweden.