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Natural olfactory stimuli are volatile-chemical mixtures in which relative perceptual saliencies determine which odor-components are identified. Odor identification also depends on rapid selective adaptation, as shown for 4 odor stimuli in an earlier experimental simulation of natural conditions. Adapt-test pairs of mixtures of water-soluble, distinct odor stimuli with chemical features in common were studied. Identification decreased for adapted components but increased for unadapted mixture-suppressed components, showing compound identities were retained, not degraded to individual molecular features...

Background and Objectives: Veterans enter nursing homes (NHs) for short-term postacute, rehabilitation, respite, or end-of-life care. They also enter NHs on a long-term basis due to frailty, disability, functional deficits, and cognitive impairment. Little is known about how a particular NH is chosen once the decision to enter a NH has been made. This study identified VA staff perceptions of the key factors influencing the search and selection of NHs within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA)...

UK Biobank is a population-based cohort of 500,000 participants recruited between 2006 and 2010. Approximately 9.2 million individuals aged 40-69 years who lived within 25 miles of the 22 assessment centres in England, Wales and Scotland were invited, and 5.4% participated in the baseline assessment. The representativeness of the UK Biobank cohort was investigated by comparing demographic characteristics between non-responders and responders. Sociodemographic, physical, lifestyle and health-related characteristics of the cohort were compared with nationally representative data sources...

INTRODUCTION: Transcutaneous oximetry measurement (TCOM) is a non-invasive method of determining oxygen tension at the skin level using heated electrodes. AIM: To compare TCOM values generated by different machines and to establish lower limb TCOM values in a cohort of healthy individuals younger than 40 years of age. METHOD: Sixteen healthy, non-smoking volunteers aged 18 to 39 years were recruited. TCOM was obtained at six locations on the lower leg and foot using three different Radiometer machines...

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Polydrug use is a complicated phenomenon that is measured in a wide variety of different ways. Using Finland as an example, we aimed to demonstrate how the prevalence and prevalence trends of concurrent polydrug use (CPU) varied in the general population based on the different measurements used. METHODS: Population-based Drug Surveys conducted every 4 years during 1998-2014 were used. CPU was measured with different measurements: strict, medial and loose definition of CPU, which were based on different combinations of alcohol, illicit drugs, pharmaceutical drugs and cigarettes used during the last 12 months/30 days...

BACKGROUND: Psychosocial stress during pregnancy has been proposed as a major contributor of glucocorticoid-mediated programming of the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis, with later adverse health consequences. However, evidence linking maternal stress to maternal cortisol values during pregnancy is inconclusive. A possible explanation for this is that other maternal factors overshadow any potential effects of stress on cortisol levels. We studied a large cohort of pregnant women with extensive data on pregnancy characteristics to determine the respective contributions of biological, environmental and psychosocial stress factors to cortisol levels in pregnancy...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the associations between depression and incident cancer risk. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, MEDLINE, and PubMed databases were searched to identify studies. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale. Risk ratios (RRs) were used to measure effect size. A random-effects model was applied to synthesize the associations between depression and cancer risk...

Under a traditional paradigm, only those with the expected background knowledge consume academic literature. The lay press, as well as government and non-government agencies, play a complementary role of extracting findings of high interest or importance and translating them for general viewing. The need for accurate reporting and public advising is paramount when attempting to tackle epidemic outbreaks through behavior change. Yet, public trust in media outlets is at a historic low. The Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) model for media reporting on public health emergencies was established in 2005 and has subsequently been used to analyze media reporting on outbreaks of influenza and measles as well as smoking habits and medication compliance...

BACKGROUND: Understanding the relationship of cardiovascular structure and function to age is confounded by the high prevalence of traditional risk factors in the United States. The purpose of the study is to compare left ventricular (LV) and aortic structural, and functional parameters in individuals with and without traditional risk factors in a population-based cohort. METHODS AND RESULTS: 3015 study participants (48% men, age 55-94, mean 69.01±9.17 years) in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging from 2010-2012...

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of patient characteristics on the course of spinal radiographic progression in a large prospective longitudinal cohort study of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients treated long-term with TNF-α inhibitors. METHODS: Consecutive patients from the Groningen Leeuwarden AS (GLAS) cohort starting TNF-α inhibitors with spinal radiographs at least available at baseline and 6 years of follow-up were included. Radiographs were scored using mSASSS by two independent readers...

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/npjpcrm.2016.52.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the generalizability of crowdsourced, electronic health data from self-selected individuals using a national survey as a reference. METHODS: Using the world's largest crowdsourcing platform in 2015, we collected data on characteristics known to influence cardiovascular disease risk and identified comparable data from the 2013 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. We used age-stratified logistic regression models to identify differences among groups...

OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and patterns of polysubstance use among US reproductive-aged women who use opioids for nonmedical purposes. METHODS: We used the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (2005-2014) data on female respondents aged 18 to 44 years reporting nonmedical opioid use in the past 30 days (unweighted n = 4498). We categorized patterns of polysubstance use in the past 30 days, including cigarettes, binge drinking, and other legal and illicit substances and reported prevalence adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, and educational attainment...

Brown carbon (BrC) are those organic compounds in atmospheric aerosols that absorb solar radiation and may play an important role on planetary radiative forcing and climate. However, little is known about the production and loss mechanisms of BrC in the atmosphere. Here, we study how the light absorptivity of BrC from wood smoke and secondary BrC generated from reaction of ammonium sulfate with methylglyoxal changes under photolytic aging by UVA radiation in the aqueous phase. Owing to its chemical complexity, BrC is separated by molecular weight using size exclusion chromatography and the response of each molecular weight fraction to aging is studied...

Introduction: The purpose was to measure nicotine levels to the tobacco and levels emitted to the aerosol of a heat-not-burn product (HnB, IQOS) compared to e-cigarettes (ECs) and a tobacco cigarette. Methods: The HnB device and regular and menthol sticks were purchased from Italy. Three types of ECs (ciga-like, eGo-style and variable wattage) and a commercially-available tobacco cigarette were also tested. A custom-made liquid containing 2% nicotine was used with ECs...

Lung malignancy is the foremost cause of cancer-related deaths globally and is frequently related to long-term tobacco smoking. Recent studies reveal that the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) is extremely high in lung tumors compared to non-malignant lung tissue. MMPs are zinc-dependent proteases and are involved in the degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM). Several investigations have shown that MMPs manipulate the activity of non-ECM molecules, including cytokines, growth factors and receptors which control the tumor microenvironment...

Introduction: In South Africa, people living with HIV (PLWH) have a high prevalence of smoking, which undermines the beneficial effects of antiretroviral therapy (ART). However, little is known about barriers to smoking cessation and what interventions work for PLWH in this setting. Methods: A randomized trial comparing intensive anti-smoking counseling versus counseling and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) was recently concluded in Klerksdorp, South Africa. In a post-trial follow-up, 23 in-depth interviews with patients and one focus group discussion with counselors from the trial were conducted...

Background: Bloodstream infections (BSI) cause considerable morbidity and mortality, and primary prevention should be a priority. Lifestyle factors are of particular interest since they represent a modifiable target. Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study among participants in the population-based Norwegian HUNT2 Survey, where 64 027 participants were followed from 1995-97 through 2011 by linkage to prospectively recorded information on BSI at local and regional hospitals...

Comparing risk factor associations between invasive breast cancers and possible precursors may further understanding of factors related to initiation versus progression. Accordingly, among 190,325 postmenopausal participants in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study (1995-2011), we compared risk factor associations between incident ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS: n = 1,453) and invasive ductal carcinomas (n = 7,525) and lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS: n = 186) and invasive lobular carcinomas (n = 1,191)...

Synthetic cannabinoids have become a ubiquitous challenge in forensic toxicology and seized drug analysis. Thermal degradation products have yet to be identified and evaluated for toxicity in comparison to parent and metabolic compounds. An investigation into these pyrolytic products, as the major route of ingestion is inhalation, may produce additional insight to understand the toxicity of synthetic cannabinoids. The pyrolysis of JWH-018 and 11 additional synthetic cannabinoids and six herbal plant substrates were conducted using an in-house constructed smoking simulator...