Disentangling the complexity of infectious diseases: Time is ripe to improve the first-line statistical toolbox for epidemiologists.

Because many biological processes related to the dynamics of infectious diseases are caused by complex interactions between the environment, the host(s) and the agent(s), the necessity to address the methodological implications of this inherent complexity has recently emerged in epidemiology. Most epidemiologists now acknowledge that most human infectious diseases are likely to have complex dynamics. However, this knowledge still percolates with difficulty in their statistical "modus operandi".

Low testosterone and the risk of dementia in elderly men: Impact of age and education.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the association of plasma estradiol and testosterone with risk for dementia in elderly men.

Methods: Within the population based Three-City study, including 3650 men age 65 years and older, a case-cohort design was set up after 4-years of follow-up. Baseline plasma levels of total 17-β estradiol (Total-E2), total testosterone (total-T) and bioavailable testosterone (bio-T) were measured for all cases of incident dementia (n=105) and for a random sample of the cohort (n=413).

Cumulative incidence rate of medical consultation for fecundity problems--analysis of a prevalent cohort using competing risks.

Study Question: What is the incidence of medical consultation for fecundity problems in the French population, taking into account pregnancy occurrence and resumption of contraceptive use?.

Summary Answer: Considering the occurrence of a pregnancy and resumption of use of contraception as competing risks, the cumulative incidence rate of medical consultation for fecundity problems was 9.0% [95% confidence interval (CI): 6.

The individual determinants of care-seeking among middle-aged women reporting urinary incontinence: analysis of a 2273-woman cohort.

Aims: Our main objective was to analyze individual determinants that lead middle-aged women to seek medical care for urinary incontinence (UI).

Methods: Observational longitudinal study among GAZEL cohort participants: 2,640 women aged 50-62 completed a self-administered questionnaire at baseline. Eight years later (2008) 2,273 (86%) responded to a follow-up questionnaire.

Material, psychosocial and behavioural factors associated with self-reported health in the Republic of Ireland: cross-sectional results from the SLAN survey.

Objectives: To explore the associations between various material, psychosocial and behavioural factors and self-reported health (SRH), and to determine whether these associations varied according to educational level.

Design: Representative national cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Republic of Ireland.

Risk of lung cancer associated with occupational exposure to mineral wools: updating knowledge from a french population-based case-control study, the ICARE study.

Objectives: To assess the risk of lung cancer associated with exposure to mineral wools (MWs), while taking into account smoking, asbestos, and crystalline silica exposures.

Methods: The analyses were restricted to men (1350 cases and 1912 controls). Lifelong occupational history was collected.

Temporal asthma patterns using repeated questionnaires over 13 years in a large French cohort of women.

Variable expression is one aspect of the heterogeneity of asthma. We aimed to define a variable pattern, which is relevant in general health epidemiological cohorts. Our objectives were to assess whether: 1) asthma patterns defined using simple asthma questions through repeated measurements could reflect disease variability 2) these patterns may further be classified according to asthma severity/control.

Association between socio-demographic, psychosocial, material and occupational factors and self-reported health among workers in Europe.

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the associations between socio-demographic, psychosocial, material and occupational factors and self-reported health (SRH) in the European working population. Another objective was to examine whether these associations varied according to occupation and country.

Methods: This study was based on data from the European quality of life survey 2007 including 17,005 workers from 31 European countries.

Fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to psychosocial work factors in 31 countries in Europe.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the fractions of cardiovascular diseases and mental disorders attributable to three psychosocial work factors, job strain, effort-reward imbalance (ERI) and job insecurity, in 31 countries in Europe.

Methods: The prevalence of exposure (Pe) to job strain, ERI and job insecurity was calculated using the sample of 29,680 workers from 31 countries of the 2005 European Working Conditions Survey. Relative risks (RR) were obtained from three published meta-analyses.

Impact of objectively measured sedentary behaviour on changes in insulin resistance and secretion over 3 years in the RISC study: interaction with weight gain.

Aims: The importance of reducing sedentary time is increasingly being recognized in the prevention of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Despite this, the prospective association between sedentary time and physical activity with insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic risk factors has been little studied.

Methods: In an analysis of data from the European RISC study, sedentary time and time spent in activity of moderate or vigorous intensity were assessed by accelerometry at baseline in 313 men and 414 women, aged 30-60 years, with insulin sensitivity as measured by euglycaemic-hyperinsulinaemic clamp.

Fertility after ectopic pregnancy: the DEMETER randomized trial.

Study Question: Does treatment for the resolution of ectopic pregnancy (EP) affect subsequent spontaneous fertility [occurrence of an intrauterine pregnancy (IUP)]?

Summary Answer: There is no significant difference in 2 years subsequent fertility neither between methotrexate and conservative surgery for less active EP nor between conservative and radical surgery for the most active EP.

What Is Known Already: No randomized trial has compared radical and conservative surgery treatments. A recent review of the Cochrane database did not conclude about fertility due to insufficient data.

Gene-environment interactions in asthma and allergic diseases: challenges and perspectives.

The concept of gene-environment (GxE) interactions has dramatically evolved in the last century and has now become a central theme in studies that assess the causes of human disease. Despite the numerous efforts to discover genes associated in asthma and allergy through various approaches, including the recent genome-wide association studies, investigation of GxE interactions has been mainly limited to candidate genes, candidate environmental exposures, or both. This review discusses the various strategies from hypothesis-driven strategies to the full agnostic search of GxE interactions with an illustration from recently published articles.

Menopause, hormone treatment and urinary incontinence at midlife.

Whether there is any association between urinary incontinence and menopause is the subject of debate, partly due to the fact it is difficult to tell the difference between the effects of menopause and those of ageing. For some time it was hoped that hormonal treatment for menopause would be beneficial for urinary incontinence because there are hormonal receptors in the urinary tract. The goal of this survey of current knowledge on the subject is to explore thoroughly the relationship between menopause and urinary incontinence.

A multi-plane source model for out-of-field head scatter dose calculations in external beam photon therapy.

Our purpose was to assess the out-of-field dose component related to head scatter radiation in high-energy photon therapy beams and then derive a multisource model for this dose component. For scattered photons, several planar sources have been defined, with number, location and tilt depending on the complexity of the field shape. In the absence of precise knowledge of out-of-field scattering characteristics, several assumptions are made to derive emission spectra and radiation intensity from measurements.

Comparison of two drug safety signals in a pharmacovigilance data mining framework.

Since adverse drug reactions are a major public health concern, early detection of drug safety signals has become a top priority for regulatory agencies and the pharmaceutical industry. Quantitative methods for analyzing spontaneous reporting material recorded in pharmacovigilance databases through data mining have been proposed in the last decades and are increasingly used to flag potential safety problems. While automated data mining is motivated by the usually huge size of pharmacovigilance databases, it does not systematically produce relevant alerts.

Dietary patterns, goitrogenic food, and thyroid cancer: a case-control study in French Polynesia.

French Polynesia has one of the world's highest thyroid cancer incidence rates. A case-control study among native residents of French Polynesia included 229 cases of differentiated thyroid cancer diagnosed between 1979 and 2004, and 371 population controls. Dietary patterns and goitrogenic food consumption (cabbage, cassava) were analyzed.

Psychosocial work factors, major depressive and generalised anxiety disorders: results from the French national SIP study.

Background: Anxiety and depression are prevalent mental disorders in working populations. The risk factors of these disorders are not completely well known. Developing knowledge on occupational risk factors for mental disorders appears crucial.

Testing independence between two sequential gap times in the presence of covariates.

In the risk analysis of sequential events, the successive gap times are often correlated, e.g. as a result of an individual heterogeneity.

A review of methods to assess parental feeding practices and preschool children's eating behavior: the need for further development of tools.

We reviewed tools developed to measure parental feeding practices and eating behavior and food intake or preferences of children aged 0 to 5 years. Two electronic literature databases (Medline and Psycinfo) were used to search for both observational and experimental studies in human beings. The articles selected for review were those presenting tools with data on internal consistency and/or test-retest reliability and/or construct validity.

Psychosocial work factors and sickness absence in 31 countries in Europe.

Background: The studies on the associations between psychosocial work factors and sickness absence have rarely included a large number of factors and European data. The objective was to examine the associations between a large set of psychosocial work factors following well-known and emergent concepts and sickness absence in Europe.

Methods: The study population consisted of 14,881 male and 14,799 female workers in 31 countries from the 2005 European Working Conditions Survey.

A review of risk factors for oral cavity cancer: the importance of a standardized case definition.

The aim of this work is to review the literature on risk factors of oral cavity cancer with a special attention to the definition of the cases, in order to highlight special features of these cancers and of their subsites. PubMed database was systematically searched to access relevant articles published between 1980 and 2010. Reference lists of selected papers were examined to identify further articles.

Results from pooled Phase III studies of ulipristal acetate for emergency contraception.

Background: Ulipristal acetate (UPA) is a new effective option to prevent unintended pregnancies up to 5 days after unprotected intercourse. We used pooled data from two Phase III studies to refine our understanding of the efficacy of UPA by time from unprotected intercourse and the effects of other factors on pregnancy rates.

Study Design: Data from two Phase III studies were pooled to create a larger analysis population.

Plasma and exhaled breath condensate nitrite-nitrate level in relation to environmental exposures in adults in the EGEA study.

This study evaluated the associations between biological markers in the nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway and four environmental exposures among subjects examined in the second survey (2003-2007) of the French Epidemiological study on Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA). Total nitrite and nitrate (NO(2)(-) /NO(3)(-)) levels were measured both in plasma and in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) in 949 adults. Smoking, diet and exposure to chlorine products were assessed using standardized questionnaires.

Transformations in the medicalization of sex: HIV prevention between discipline and biopolitics.

This article examines transformations in HIV prevention strategies from the 1980s to the present. Drawing on the concepts of medicalization (Conrad, 2007 ), discipline and biopolitics (Foucault, 1976/ 1988 ), and biomedicalization (Clarke, Fishman, Fosket, Mamo, & Shim, 2003 ), it explores the shift from behavioral to biomedical and surgical prevention techniques-a shift symbolic of a more general trend toward the biomedicalization of sexuality. It argues that, although biomedical and surgical approaches (chemoprevention and male circumcision) have certain benefits, their efficacy is limited and uncertain.

Contribution of occupational factors to social inequalities in self-reported health among French employees.

Objectives: Social inequalities in health have been widely demonstrated. However, the mechanisms underlying these inequalities are not completely understood. The objective of the study was to examine the contribution of various types of occupational exposures to social inequalities in self-reported health (SRH).