Work stress and risk of cancer:meta-analysis of 5700 incident cancer events in 116 000 European men and women

To investigate whether work related stress, measured and defined as job strain, is associated with the overall risk of cancer and the risk of colorectal, lung, breast, or prostate cancers.

Marie Sallé, a Wise Professional Woman of Influence

This study maps the extent of Sallé's influence while identifying her self agency in moulding her image and developing her career.

Marie Sallé and the development of the ballet en action

Sallé's ballets en action are evaluated in terms of Enlightenment dramaturgical principles, and her role in shaping this aesthetic is mooted.

Marie Sallé, Handel, Rameau and the development of narrative dance music:Bericht vom Internationalen Symposium an der Hochschule fur Musik und Theater Leipzig

Paradigmatic analysis reveals that these two composers developed distinct responses to creating narrative in dance music

Marie Sallé as muse, Handel's music for mime

Considers Handel's musical response to a dancer-choreographer in line with then-current styles of dance

'Dancing at the English Opera':'Marie Salle's letter to the Duchess of Richmond

A letter from dancer Marie Salle to her patroness dated 1731 reveals her ambitions to dance at the English opera.

'Marie Salle'

This dictionary entry, which highlights the choreographer's significance to the historical study of music, is placed in a very high profile and reputable online resource.

Depicting Characters and danced Narratives: Handel, 'The Italian troupe', and Marie Sallé

Handel’s London career afforded opportunities for responding to dancers working in distinct styles of movement—most notably the Italian troupe resident at the King’s Theatre in 1726-27, and Marie Sallé at Covent Garden in 1734-35. By studying the dances from Admeto (1727) and Ariodante (1735), this paper will explore Handel's response to the serious and grotesque styles, as well as to the character and narrative modes.

Dietary fat and breast cancer mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: The influence of dietary fat upon breast cancer mortality remains largely understudied despite extensive investigation into its influence upon breast cancer risk 

Objective: To conduct meta-analyses of studies to clarify the association between dietary fat and breast cancer mortality Design: MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched for relevant articles published up to March 2012. Risk of all-cause or breast cancer specific death was evaluated by combining multivariable adjusted estimates comparing highest versus lowest categories of intake; and per 20 gram increase in intake of total and/or saturated fat (g/day) using random-effects meta-analyses. 

Results: Fifteen prospective cohort studies investigating total fat and/or saturated fat intake (g/day) and breast cancer mortality were included. There was no difference in risk of breast cancer specific death (n = 6; HR = 1.14; 95% CI: 0.86, 1.52; P = 0.34) or all cause death (n = 4; HR = 1.73; 95% CI: 0.82, 3.6; P = 0.15) for women in the highest versus lowest category of total fat intake. Breast cancer specific death (n = 5; HR = 1.63; 95% CI: 1.19, 2.24; p <0.01) was higher for women in the highest versus lowest category of saturated fat intake. 

Conclusions: These meta-analyses have shown that saturated fat intake negatively impacts upon breast cancer survival.

Exposure to aflatoxin B1 in utero is associated with DNA methylation in white blood cells of infants in The Gambia

BACKGROUND: Exposure to environmental toxins during embryonic development may lead to epigenetic changes that influence disease risk in later life. Aflatoxin is a contaminant of staple foods in sub-Saharan Africa, is a known human liver carcinogen and has been associated with stunting in infants.

METHODS: We have measured aflatoxin exposure in 115 pregnant women in The Gambia and examined the DNA methylation status of white blood cells from their infants at 2-8 months old (mean 3.6 ± 0.9). Aflatoxin exposure in women was assessed using an ELISA method to measure aflatoxin albumin (AF-alb) adducts in plasma taken at 1-16 weeks of pregnancy. Genome-wide DNA methylation of infant white blood cells was measured using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450beadchip.

RESULTS: AF-alb levels ranged from 3.9 to 458.4 pg/mg albumin. We found that aflatoxin exposure in the mothers was associated to DNA methylation in their infants for 71 CpG sites (false discovery rate < 0.05), with an average effect size of 1.7% change in methylation. Aflatoxin-associated differential methylation was observed in growth factor genes such as FGF12 and IGF1, and immune-related genes such as CCL28, TLR2 and TGFBI. Moreover, one aflatoxin-associated methylation region (corresponding to the miR-4520b locus) was identified.

CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that maternal exposure to aflatoxin during the early stages of pregnancy is associated with differential DNA methylation patterns of infants, including in genes related to growth and immune function. This reinforces the need for interventions to reduce aflatoxin exposure, especially during critical periods of fetal and infant development.

CSI 2264: Simultaneous Optical and Infrared Light Curves of Young Disk-bearing Stars in NGC 2264 with CoRoT and Spitzer—Evidence for Multiple Origins of Variability

We present the Coordinated Synoptic Investigation of NGC 2264, a continuous 30 day multi-wavelength photometric monitoring campaign on more than 1000 young cluster members using 16 telescopes. The unprecedented combination of multi-wavelength, high-precision, high-cadence, and long-duration data opens a new window into the time domain behavior of young stellar objects. Here we provide an overview of the observations, focusing on results from Spitzer and CoRoT. The highlight of this work is detailed analysis of 162 classical T Tauri stars for which we can probe optical and mid-infrared flux variations to 1% amplitudes and sub-hour timescales. We present a morphological variability census and then use metrics of periodicity, stochasticity, and symmetry to statistically separate the light curves into seven distinct classes, which we suggest represent different physical processes and geometric effects. We provide distributions of the characteristic timescales and amplitudes and assess the fractional representation within each class. The largest category (>20%) are optical "dippers" with discrete fading events lasting ~1-5 days. The degree of correlation between the optical and infrared light curves is positive but weak; notably, the independently assigned optical and infrared morphology classes tend to be different for the same object. Assessment of flux variation behavior with respect to (circum)stellar properties reveals correlations of variability parameters with Hα emission and with effective temperature. Overall, our results point to multiple origins of young star variability, including circumstellar obscuration events, hot spots on the star and/or disk, accretion bursts, and rapid structural changes in the inner disk. Based on data from the Spitzer and CoRoT missions. The CoRoT space mission was developed and is operated by the French space agency CNES, with participation of ESA's RSSD and Science Programmes, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Germany, and Spain.