Sleep deficiency and breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women in the California teachers study (CTS).

PURPOSE: There is provocative, yet inconsistent, evidence that sleep deficiency may influence the development of breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the risk of breast cancer associated with sleep deficiency among postmenopausal women in the California Teachers Study (CTS). METHODS: We conducted a case-control study of 2,856 invasive breast cancer cases and 38,649 cancer-free controls, nested within the CTS. Self-administered questionnaires were used to ascertain several components of sleep deficiency, including quality, latency, duration, disturbance and use of sleep medications. Additionally, a Global Sleep Index (GSI) was created by summing the individual sleep components and categorizing into quartiles. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (OR, 95% CI). RESULTS: Increased breast cancer risks were associated with sleep deficiency. With the exception of duration, linear increases in risk were associated with all the other individual components of sleep deficiency (p-trend ≤ 0.002). The OR for the highest GSI quartile vs. lowest was 1.24, 95% CI 1.12-1.38; p-trend < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Sleep deficiency may be a risk factor for breast cancer. Additional prospective studies and those aimed at elucidating underlying mechanism are warranted.

Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma mimicking gynecological malignancies of the vagina and cervix: a report of four cases.

Although in the past two decades there has been a sharp rise in the incidence of extranodal primary lymphomas in the United States, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the female genital tract is still rare. We present four cases of extranodal NHL presenting with signs and symptoms consistent with cancer of the vagina or cervix and lacking the "B" symptoms often associated with systemic lymphoma such as fever, weight loss, night sweat, and fatigue. It is important for gynecologists to be aware of this neoplastic disease and to include cervical or vaginal lymphoma in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with examinations suggestive of cervical or vaginal cancer. A correct diagnosis leads to the appropriate therapy, and radical gynecological surgery can be avoided for primary cervical and vaginal lymphoma.

ATR and GADD45alpha mediate HIV-1 Vpr-induced apoptosis.

The human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) accessory gene vpr encodes a conserved 96-amino-acid protein that is necessary and sufficient for the HIV-1-induced block of cellular proliferation. Expression of vpr in CD4+ lymphocytes results in G2 arrest, followed by apoptosis. In a previous study, we identified the ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) and Rad3-related protein (ATR) as a cellular factor that mediates Vpr-induced cell cycle arrest. In the present study, we report that the breast cancer-associated protein-1 (BRCA1), a known target of ATR, is activated in the presence of Vpr. In addition, the gene encoding the growth arrest and DNA damage-45 protein alpha (GADD45alpha), a known transcriptional target of BRCA1, is upregulated by Vpr in an ATR-dependent manner. We demonstrate that RNAi-mediated silencing of either ATR or GADD45alpha leads to nearly complete suppression of the proapoptotic effect of Vpr. Our results support a model in which Vpr-induced apoptosis is mediated via ATR phosphorylation of BRCA1, and consequent upregulation of GADD45alpha.

Dissolved oxygen determination by electrocatalysed chemiluminescence with in-line solid phase media.

Dissolved elemental oxygen is determined in a flowing aqueous stream using glucose oxidase to catalyse the reaction between D-glucose and O2 to produce hydrogen peroxide. The levels of the resulting H2O2 are detected and quantified by luminol chemiluminescence using in-line solid phase media for pH adjustment of the reagent stream and for controlled release of the luminophore. The reaction is initiated by electrochemical catalysis. By the use of excess D-glucose in the reagent flow stream, the intensity of chemiluminescence is rendered proportional only to fluctuations in the dissolved O2 concentration. The methodology provides a means for the detection of aqueous O2 in the range 0-10 mg/L.

Aqueous alteration of the Bali CV3 chondrite: evidence from mineralogy, mineral chemistry, and oxygen isotopic compositions.

A petrographic, geochemical, and oxygen isotopic study of the Bali CV3 carbonaceous chondrite revealed that the meteorite has undergone extensive deformation and aqueous alteration on its parent body. Deformation textures are common and include flattened chondrules, a well-developed foliation, and the presence of distinctive (100) planar defects in olivine. The occurrence of alteration products associated with the planar defects indicates that the deformation features formed prior to the episode of aqueous alteration. The secondary minerals produced during the alteration event include well-crystallized Mg-rich saponite, framboidal magnetite, and Ca-phosphates. The alteration products are not homogeneously distributed throughout the meteorite, but occur in regions adjacent to relatively unaltered material, such as veins of altered material following the foliation. The alteration assemblage formed under oxidizing conditions at relatively low temperatures (<100 degrees C). Altered regions in Bali have higher Na, Ca, and P contents than unaltered regions which suggests that the fluid phase carried significant dissolved solids. Oxygen isotopic compositions for unaltered regions in Bali fall within the field for other CV3 whole-rocks, however, the oxygen isotopic compositions of the heavily altered material lie in the region for the CM and CR chondrites. The heavy-isotope enrichment of the altered regions in Bali suggest alteration conditions similar to those for the petrographic type-2 carbonaceous chondrites.

Generation of monoclonal antibodies against HILDA/LIF and their use in the quantitative assay of the cytokine.

An adoptive transfer immunization/fusion protocol in mice has been successfully used to raise a series of monoclonal antibodies directed against the Human Interleukin for DA-1a (HILDA)/Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF) cytokine. These antibodies which were raised using recombinant HILDA/LIF purified from conditioned medium of transfected Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells also react with natural HILDA/LIF from the HSB2 T lymphoma cell line and unglycosylated HILDA/LIF produced in E. coli. They define four separate epitopes, one of which is involved in receptor binding and induction of biological activity. A sensitive sandwich immunoradiometric assay which is linear up to 5 ng/ml HILDA/LIF and can detect as low as 25 pg/ml of the cytokine has been developed.