Prevalence and factors associated with use of smokeless tobacco in young Swiss men.

BACKGROUND: Smokeless tobacco is of increasing interest to public health researchers and policy makers. This study aims to measure prevalence of smokeless tobacco use (nasal dry snuff, snus and chewing tobacco) among young Swiss men, and to describe its correlates. METHODS: We invited 13 245 young men to participate in this survey on socio-economic and substance use data. Response rate was 45.2%. We included 5720 participants. Descriptive statistics and multivariable-adjusted logistic regression were performed. RESULTS: Mean age of participants was 19.5 years. Self-reported use once a month or more often was 8% for nasal dry snuff, 3% for snus and negligible for chewing tobacco. In multivariable-adjusted logistic regression, the odds for nasal dry snuff use increased in non daily smokers [odds ratio (OR) 2.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.90-3.05], compared with non smokers, participants reporting risky weekly drinking volume (OR 3.93, 95% CI 1.86-8.32), compared with abstinents, and binge drinking once a month or more often (OR 7.41, 95% CI 4.11-13.38), compared with never binge drinking. Nasal dry snuff use was positively associated with higher BMI, average or above family income and German language, compared with French, and negatively associated with academic higher education, compared with non higher education, and occasional cannabis use, compared with no cannabis use. Correlates of snus were similar to those of nasal dry snuff. CONCLUSION: One in 12 young Swiss men use nasal dry snuff and 3% use snus. Consumption of smokeless tobacco is associated with a cluster of other risky behaviours, especially binge drinking.

Global Nash convergence of Foster and Young's regret testing

We construct an uncoupled randomized strategy of repeated play such that, if every player follows such a strategy, then the joint mixed strategy profiles converge, almost surely, to a Nash equilibrium of the one-shot game. The procedure requires very little in terms of players' information about the game. In fact, players' actions are based only on their own past payoffs and, in a variant of the strategy, players need not even know that their payoffs are determined through other players' actions. The procedure works for general finite games and is based on appropriate modifications of a simple stochastic learningrule introduced by Foster and Young.

Expression of neutral endopeptidase, endothelin-1, and nuclear factor kappa B in prostate cancer: interrelations and associations with prostate-specific antigen recurrence after radical prostatectomy.

Objective. To study the impact of the neutral endopeptidase (NEP)/neuropeptides (NPs) axis and nuclear factor kappa B (NFκB) as predictors of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) recurrence after radical prostatectomy (RP). Patients and Methods. 70 patients with early-stage PC were treated with RP and their tumor samples were evaluated for expression of NEP, endothelin-1 (ET-1) and NFκB (p65). Time to PSA recurrence was correlated with the examined parameters and combined with preoperative PSA level, Gleason score, pathological TNM (pT) stage, and surgical margin (SM) assessment. Results and Limitations. Membranous expression of NEP (P < 0.001), cytoplasmic ET-1 (P = 0.002), and cytoplasmic NFκB (P < 0.001) were correlated with time to PSA relapse. NEP was associated with ET-1 (P < 0.001) and NFκB (P < 0.001). ET-1 was also correlated with NFκB (P < 0.001). NEP expression (P = 0.017), pT stage (P = 0.013), and SMs (P = 0.036) were independent predictors of time to PSA recurrence. Conclusions. There seems to be a clinical model of NEP/NPs and NFκB pathways interconnection, with their constituents following inverse patterns of expression in accordance with their biological roles and molecular interrelations.

Gender gaps in performance: Evidence from young lawyers

This paper documents and studies the gender gap in performance among associatelawyers in the United States. Unlike most high-skilled professions, the legal professionhas widely-used objective methods to measure and reward lawyers' productivity: thenumber of hours billed to clients and the amount of new-client revenue generated. Wefind clear evidence of a gender gap in annual performance with respect to bothmeasures. Male lawyers bill ten-percent more hours and bring in more than double thenew-client revenue. We show that the differential impact across genders in the presenceof young children and the differences in aspirations to become a law-firm partneraccount for a large part of the difference in performance. These performance gaps haveimportant consequences for gender gaps in earnings. While individual and firmcharacteristics explain up to 50 percent of earnings gap, the inclusion of performancemeasures explains most of the remainder.

Thermogenic response to an oral glucose load in man: comparison between young and elderly subjects.

To investigate the effect of age and change in body composition on the increase in energy expenditure consecutive to the ingestion of a 75-g glucose load, respiratory exchange measurements were performed on 24 subjects, 12 elderly (mean +/- SEM, 73 +/- 1 yr) and 12 young (25 +/- 1 yr). The body weight was comparable, 62 +/- 2 kg in the elderly group vs 61 +/- 3 in the young, but the body fat content of the elderly group was significantly greater than that of the young (29 +/- 2% vs 19 +/- 2%, p less than 0.001). The elderly group presented a slight glucose intolerance according to the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, with a 120-min plasma glucose of 149 +/- 9 mg/dl (p less than 0.005 vs young). The postabsorptive resting energy expenditure (REE) was 0.83 +/- 0.03 kcal/min in the elderly group vs 0.98 +/- 0.04 in the young (p less than 0.02); this decrease of 15% was mainly related to the decrease in fat free mass (FFM) in the elderly group, which averaged 14%. The difference was not significant when REE was expressed per kg FFM. The glucose-induced thermogenesis (GIT) expressed as percent of energy content of the load was 6.2 +/- 0.6% in the elderly group and 8.9 +/- 0.9% in the young (p less than 0.05). It is concluded that the glucose-induced thermogenesis is decreased in elderly subjects. However, when expressed per kg FFM, the increment in energy expenditure (EE), in response to the glucose load, is not different in elderly subjects, suggesting that the decrease of thermogenesis may be attributed to the age-related decrease in FFM.

Alterations of bone microarchitecture in young patients with inflammatory bowel diseases are associated with fracture risk during growth

Aims: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) appearing during childhood and adolescence compromise peak bone mass acquisition and increase fracture risk. The structural determinants of bone fragility in IBD however remain unknown. Methods: We investigated volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), trabecular and cortical bone microstructure at distal radius and tibia by high-resolution pQCT (XtremeCT, Scanco, Switzerland), aBMD at distal radius, hip and spine and vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) by DXA in 107 young patients (mean age 22.8 yrs, range 12.2-33.7 yrs; 62 females and 45 males) with Crohn's disease (n=75), ulcerative colitis (n=25), undetermined colitis (n=2), and no definitive diagnosis (n=5), and in 389 healthy young individuals. Results: Mean disease duration was 6.1 yrs, 89/107 IBD patients received corticosteroids, 83 other immunomodulators, and 59 vitamin D. Clinical fractures were reported by 38 patients (mean age at 1st fracture, 12.6 yrs), the vast majority of the forearm, arm or hand; 5 had vertebral crush fractures (Grade 1 or 2) and 11 had multiple fractures. As compared to healthy controls (matched 2:1 for age, sex, height and fracture history), the 102 patients with established IBD had similar weight but significantly lower aBMD at all sites, lower trabecular (Tb) BV/TV and number, and greater Tb separation and inhomogeneous Tb distribution (1/SD TbN) at both distal radius and tibia, lower tibia cortical thickness (CTh), but no differences in cortical vBMD nor bone perimeter. Among IBD's, aBMD was not associated with fractures (by logistic regression adjusted for age, age square, sex, height, weight and protein intake). However, radius and tibia Tb BV/TV, thickness and SD 1/TbN, as well as radius Tb separation and perimeter, were significantly associated with fracture risk (fully adjusted as above), whereas cortical vBMD and CTh were not. After adjustment for aBMD at radius, respectively at femur neck, radius SD 1/TbN and tibia BV/TV, TbTh and perimeter remained independently associated with fracture risk. Conclusions: Young subjects with IBD have low bone mass and poor bone microarchitecture compared to healthy controls. Alterations of bone microarchitecture, particularly in the trabecular bone compartment, are specifically associated with increased fracture risk during growth.

Status of Young Women in the Juvenile Justice System Preliminary Data, 2007

Young women involved in the juvenile justice system present with characteristics and experiences that differentiate them from their male counterparts. As such, the juvenile justice system in Iowa must consider these factors if it is to effectively and efficiently impact recidivism and rehabilitation.

Sexual associations for two species of mutillid wasps (Hymenoptera, Mutillidae), with the description of a new species of Anomophotopsis

The sexes of Pseudometocha melanocephala (Perty, 1833) and of a new species of Anomophotopsis are associated based on mating pairs found in the field and also in laboratory mating trials. The previously unknown male of Pseudomethoca melanocephala (Perty, 1833) and both sexes of Anomophotopsis quinteroi Cambra, sp. nov., are described. We present the first distribution record of P. melanocephala from Argentina. Anecdotal data on their mating behavior are also discussed.

Aphid parasitoids (Hymenoptera, Braconidae, Aphidiinae) and their associations related to biological control in Brazil

This study evaluated the parasitoid-aphid-plant associations in Brazil with the objective of developing a useful research database for further studies of aphid parasitoid ecology and aphid management. The original material was obtained from collections made in Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, and São Paulo states. The published information on the Aphidiinae in Brazil is revised. The general features of the target parasitoid fauna of Central and South America is summarized and promising biological control programs of some aphid species in Brazil is discussed.

Parent-of-origin-specific allelic associations among 106 genomic loci for age at menarche.

Age at menarche is a marker of timing of puberty in females. It varies widely between individuals, is a heritable trait and is associated with risks for obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and all-cause mortality. Studies of rare human disorders of puberty and animal models point to a complex hypothalamic-pituitary-hormonal regulation, but the mechanisms that determine pubertal timing and underlie its links to disease risk remain unclear. Here, using genome-wide and custom-genotyping arrays in up to 182,416 women of European descent from 57 studies, we found robust evidence (P < 5 × 10(-8)) for 123 signals at 106 genomic loci associated with age at menarche. Many loci were associated with other pubertal traits in both sexes, and there was substantial overlap with genes implicated in body mass index and various diseases, including rare disorders of puberty. Menarche signals were enriched in imprinted regions, with three loci (DLK1-WDR25, MKRN3-MAGEL2 and KCNK9) demonstrating parent-of-origin-specific associations concordant with known parental expression patterns. Pathway analyses implicated nuclear hormone receptors, particularly retinoic acid and γ-aminobutyric acid-B2 receptor signalling, among novel mechanisms that regulate pubertal timing in humans. Our findings suggest a genetic architecture involving at least hundreds of common variants in the coordinated timing of the pubertal transition.

How feeding on young and old leaves affects the performance of Ascia monuste orseis (Godart) (Lepidoptera, Pieridae)

In the field, immature individuals of Ascia monuste orseis (Godart), the kale caterpillars, migrate in great proportion to other regions of the host in order to complete their development; there, they find leaves of different ages and are exposed to the nutritional variation of these leaves. The objective of this study was to find out how the change to leaves of different ages affects the A. monuste orseis performance. The experiments were carried out providing one kind of leaf during the three first instars, and afterwards providing leaves of different ages during the fourth and fifth instars, since it is in these two instars that the changing movement prevails in that species. The parameters to measure performance were time of development (both to complete the three first instars and the fourth and fifth instars), ingestion of food, incorporated biomass, digestive indices that evaluated efficiency in food utilization, relative growth and intake rates, percentage of emergence, weight and size of the adults. In general, the caterpillars which were first fed on new leaves presented a better performance, but this study concluded that the A. monuste orseis caterpillars have shown skills to compensate food with lower nutritional value or less abundant in nature.

Workshop: Capacity building for national public health advocacy: case studies from national associations

The first statement of the EUPHA on the Future of Public Health in Europe refers to the need for going 'to policymakers, politicians and practitioners in all sectors of society and advise them on how to promote public health throughout society'. WHO-EURO Director General Marc Danzon, quoted in the second EUPHA statement on the responsibility of policy makers indicates that 'learning is not systematically applied in health policy development in our continent'. Statement 3 calls for the integration of public health into the political agenda in all sectors. The first EUPHA president, Louise Gunning-Schepers, quoted in Statement 10 called on EUPHA to become 'a powerful advocate of the public health community'. In addition to the above, the EU is now actively seeking ways to build capacity to implement its health strategy. Learning and building the capacity to achieve our aims The aims and objectives to promote the public's health as reflected in EUPHA's 10 statements are also mirrored in the national public health associations. However, many of EUPHA's national associations have little or limited experience in promoting public health policy at the national level. To assist in the learning of advocacy for public health policies, case studies presenting experiences of national public health organizations in lobbying for national public health policy will be presented and discussed. In addition to sharing experiences, the presentations will identify successful approaches to public health advocacy as well as lessons learned from unsuccessful attempts.