Subclinical hypothyroidism and the risk of heart failure, other cardiovascular events, and death.

BACKGROUND: Subclinical hypothyroidism has been associated with systolic and diastolic cardiac dysfunction and an elevated cholesterol level, but data on cardiovascular outcomes and death are limited. METHODS: We studied 2730 men and women, aged 70 to 79 years, with baseline thyrotropin (TSH) measurements and 4-year follow-up data to determine whether subclinical hypothyroidism was associated with congestive heart failure (CHF), coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, and cardiovascular-related and total mortality. After the exclusion of participants with abnormal thyroxine levels, subclinical hypothyroidism was defined as a TSH level of 4.5 mIU/L or greater, and was further classified according to TSH levels (4.5-6.9, 7.0-9.9, and > or = 10.0 mIU/L). RESULTS: Subclinical hypothyroidism was present in 338 (12.4%) of the participants. Compared with euthyroid participants, CHF events occurred more frequently among those with a TSH level of 7.0 mIU/L or greater (35.0 vs 16.5 per 1000 person-years; P = .006), but not among those with TSH levels between 4.5 and 6.9 mIU/L. In multivariate analyses, the risk of CHF was higher among those with high TSH levels (TSH of 7.0-9.9 mIU/L: hazard ratio, 2.58 [95% confidence interval, 1.19-5.60]; and TSH of > or = 10.0 mIU/L: hazard ratio, 3.26 [95% confidence interval, 1.37-7.77]). Among the 2555 participants without CHF at baseline, the hazard ratio for incident CHF events was 2.33 (95% confidence interval, 1.10-4.96; P = .03) in those with a TSH of 7.0 mIU/L or greater. Subclinical hypothyroidism was not associated with increased risk for coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, or cardiovascular-related or total mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Subclinical hypothyroidism is associated with an increased risk of CHF among older adults with a TSH level of 7.0 mIU/L or greater, but not with other cardiovascular events and mortality. Further investigation is warranted to assess whether subclinical hypothyroidism causes or worsens preexisting heart failure.

Metabolic syndrome and the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women.

BACKGROUND: Only a few small studies investigated the association between postmenopausal breast cancer and metabolic syndrome (MetS) as a single entity. Materials and methods: We analyzed the data of two Italian and Swiss case-control studies conducted between 1983 and 2007, including 3869 postmenopausal women with incident breast cancer and 4082 postmenopausal controls admitted to the same hospitals as cases for acute conditions. MetS was defined as the presence of at least three components among diabetes, drug-treated hypertension, drug-treated hyperlipidemia, and obesity. RESULTS: The odds ratios (ORs) of postmenopausal breast cancer were 1.33 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09-1.62] for diabetes, 1.19 (95% CI 1.07-1.33) for hypertension, 1.08 (95% CI 0.95-1.22) for hyperlipidemia, 1.26 (95% CI 1.11-1.44) for body mass index ≥30 kg/m(2), and 1.22 (95% CI 1.09-1.36) for waist circumference ≥88 cm. The risk of postmenopausal breast cancer was significantly increased for women with MetS (OR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.37-2.22, for three or more MetS components, P for trend for increasing number of components < 0.0001) and the risk was higher at older age (OR = 3.04, 95% CI 1.75-5.29, at age ≥70 years for three or more MetS components). CONCLUSIONS: This study supports a direct association between MetS and postmenopausal breast cancer risk.

Bonding and Bridging Social Capital in Step- and First-Time Families and the Issue of Family Boundaries

Divorce and remarriage usually imply a redefinition of family boundaries, with consequences for the production and availability of social capital. This research shows that bonding and bridging social capitals are differentially made available by families. It first hypothesizes that bridging social capital is more likely to be developed in stepfamilies, and bonding social capital in first-time families. Second, the boundaries of family configurations are expected to vary within stepfamilies and within first-time families creating a diversity of family configurations within both structures. Third, in both cases, social capital is expected to depend on the ways in which their family boundaries are set up by individuals by including or excluding ex-partners, new partner's children, siblings, and other family ties. The study is based on a sample of 300 female respondents who have at least one child of their own between 5 and 13 years, 150 from a stepfamily structure and 150 from a first-time family structure. Social capital is empirically operationalized as perceived emotional support in family networks. The results show that individuals in first-time families more often develop bonding social capital and individuals in stepfamilies bridging social capital. In both cases, however, individuals in family configurations based on close blood and conjugal ties more frequently develop bonding social capital, whereas individuals in family configurations based on in-law, stepfamily or friendship ties are more likely to develop bridging social capital.

The use of methylamphetamine chemical profiling in an intelligence-led perspective and the observation of inhomogeneity within seizures

This study focuses on methylamphetamine (MA) seizures made by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to investigate the use of chemical profiling in an intelligence perspective. Correlation coefficients were used to obtain a similarity degree between a population of linked samples and a population of unlinked samples. Although it was demonstrated that a general framework can be followed for the use of any forensic case data in an intelligence-led perspective, threshold values have to be re-evaluated for each type of illicit drug investigated. Unlike the results obtained in a previous study on 3,4-methylenedioxymethylamphetamine (MDMA) seizures, chemical profiles of MA samples coming from the same seizure showed relative inhomogeneity, limiting their ability to link seizures. Different hypotheses were investigated to obtain a better understanding of this inhomogeneity although no trend was observed. These findings raise an interesting discussion in regards to the homogeneity and representativeness of illicit drug seizures (for intelligence purposes). Further, it also provides some grounds to discuss the initial hypotheses and assumptions that most forensic science studies are based on.

Neurochemical profile of the developing mouse cortex determined by in vivo 1H NMR spectroscopy at 14.1 T and the effect of recurrent anaesthesia.

The neurochemical profile of the cortex develops in a region and time specific manner, which can be distorted by psychiatric and other neurological pathologies. Pre-clinical studies often involve experimental mouse models. In this study, we determined the neurochemical profile of C57BL/6 mice in a longitudinal study design to provide a reference frame for the normal developing mouse cortex. Using in vivo proton NMR spectroscopy at 14 T, we measured the concentrations of 18 metabolites in the anterior and posterior cortex on postnatal days (P) 10, 20, 30, 60 and 90. Cortical development was marked by alterations of highly concentrated metabolites, such as N-acetylaspartate, glutamate, taurine and creatine. Regional specificity was represented by early variations in the concentration of glutamine, aspartate and choline. In adult animals, regional concentration differences were found for N-acetylaspartate, creatine and myo-inositol. In this study, animals were exposed to recurrent isoflurane anaesthesia. Additional experiments showed that the latter was devoid of major effects on behaviour or cortical neurochemical profile. In conclusion, the high sensitivity and reproducibility of the measurements achieved at 14 T allowed us to identify developmental variations of cortical areas within the mouse cortex.

U.S. National Parks and "The Tragedy of the Commons" : A contribution to the characterization of U.S. mountain guides' professional practice

This paper aims at presenting the stakes related to the access to protected land in the United States and to its conservation, through the analysis of the professional practice of U.S. mountain guides. From a methodological standpoint, this research is based both on a theoretical analysis grounded in the field of environmental economics and on an empirical study. The authors' starting point is Garrett Hardin's paper, "The Tragedy of the Commons" (Science, 1968), even if it introduces some confusion on the notion of common goods. So as to avoid this confusion, the authors use two theoretical tools pertaining to a typology of common goods and the different property rights that can be applied in National Parks. Finally, they apply this framework to the observations made on the field in Colorado in July 2009.