The influence of lexical characteristics and talker accent on the recognition of English words by native speakers of Korean.

This study investigated the influences of lexical characteristics and talker accent on English spoken word recognition by first-language (L1) Korean second-language (L2) speakers of English. Stimuli were words that varied in phonological neighborhood density (PND) and word frequency (WF), produced by a L1 English speaker (L1 talker) and a L1 Korean speaker (L2 talker). Participants were 60 listeners from three groups: 20 L1 English speakers, 20 Korean L2 English speakers studying in the United States, and 20 Korean L2 English speakers studying in Korea.

Exome-wide analysis of rare coding variation identifies novel associations with COPD and airflow limitation in MOCS3, IFIT3 and SERPINA12.

Background: Several regions of the genome have shown to be associated with COPD in genome-wide association studies of common variants.

Objective: To determine rare and potentially functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the risk of COPD and severity of airflow limitation.

Methods: 3226 current or former smokers of European ancestry with lung function measures indicative of Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2 COPD or worse were genotyped using an exome array.

Why do thin people have elevated all-cause mortality? Evidence on confounding and reverse causality in the association of adiposity and COPD from the British Women's Heart and Health Study.

Low adiposity has been linked to elevated mortality from several causes including respiratory disease. However, this could arise from confounding or reverse causality. We explore the association between two measures of adiposity (BMI and WHR) with COPD in the British Women's Heart and Health Study including a detailed assessment of the potential for confounding and reverse causality for each adiposity measure.

Social capital, mortality, cardiovascular events and cancer: a systematic review of prospective studies.

Background: Social capital is considered to be an important determinant of life expectancy and cardiovascular health. Evidence on the association between social capital and all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer was systematically reviewed.

Methods: Prospective studies examining the association of social capital with these outcomes were systematically sought in Medline, Embase and PsycInfo, all from inception to 8 October 2012.

Adherence to physical activity guidelines in older adults, using objectively measured physical activity in a population-based study.

Background: Physical activity (PA) levels in older adults decline with age. The prevalence and correlates of adherence to current UK PA guidelines in older adults has not been studied using objectively measured PA, which can examine precisely whether PA is carried out in bouts of specified length and intensity.

Methods: Free living men and women aged 70-93 years from 25 towns in the United Kingdom, participating in parallel on-going population based cohort studies were invited (by post) to wear a GT3x accelerometer over the hip for one week in 2010-12.

Area-level deprivation and overall and cause-specific mortality: 12 years' observation on British women and systematic review of prospective studies.

Background: Prospective studies have suggested a negative impact of area deprivation on overall mortality, but its effect on cause-specific mortality and the mechanisms that account for this association remain unclear. We investigate the association of area deprivation, using Index of Multiple deprivation (IMD), with overall and cause-specific mortality, contextualising findings within a systematic review.

Methods And Findings: We used data from 4,286 women from the British Women's Heart Health Study (BWHHS) recruited at 1999-2001 to examine the association of IMD with overall and cause-specific mortality using Cox regression models.

Effect of changes in moderate or vigorous physical activity on changes in health-related quality of life of elderly British women over seven years.

Purpose: This study investigates the effect of changes in moderate or vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on trajectories in health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) over 7 years in British elderly women.

Methods: A total of 1,926 women from the British Women's Heart and Health Study with information on MVPA and HR-QoL [measured using Euro quality of life 5 dimension (EQ-5D)] at baseline and at 7 years of follow-up were included in the analysis. Baseline and 7-year follow-up MVPA values were categorised into 3 groups, generating 9 categories of change in MVPA.