Novel hybrid organic thermoelectric materials:three-component hybrid films consisting of a nanoparticle polymer complex, carbon nanotubes, and vinyl polymer.

A novel class of hybrid organic thermoelectric materials is demonstrated for the first time for constructing flexible thermoelectric devices on polyimide substrates with high output power by using nanotechnology instead of conducting polymers such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene). The hybrid organic thermoelectric materials are composed of nanoparticles of a polymer complex, carbon nanotubes, and poly(vinyl chloride), and show high performance (dimensionless thermoelectric figure-of-merit, ZT ≈ 0.3, based on the thermal conductivity through the film).

Dietary habits and risk of death due to hepatocellular carcinoma in a large scale cohort study in Japan. Univariate analysis of JACC study data.

To explore the association between dietary habits and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) mortality in Japan, univariate analyses was performed using data from the JACC Study. A cohort of 46,465 males and 64,327 females aged 40 to 79 in 19 prefectures in Japan completed the baseline survey during 1988-1990 and were followed up until the end of 1999. The hazard ratio (HR) of HCC mortality for each food item by gender, age group (40-59 and 60-79 years) and history of liver diseases was obtained by Cox proportional hazards model. Some categories, such as boiled rice, ham and sausage, chicken, fish and pickles among men without history of liver diseases and those of miso-soup, fish, carrots and squash, and potatoes among women without history of liver diseases showed a significant inverse association with HCC mortality. Frequent intake of eggs was significantly associated with increased HCC mortality in men without history of liver diseases. Potatoes and foods boiled down in soy sauce (tsukudani) showed a significant positive association, and pickles had a significant inverse association with HCC mortality in men with history of liver diseases. Frequent intake of coffee showed a significant inverse association with HCC mortality both in men and women with history of liver diseases. It is considered that further analysis using a multivariate Cox proportional hazards model including other confounding factors will be required for a more meaningful interpretation of the data.

Risk of death due to hepatocellular carcinoma among drinkers and ex-drinkers. Univariate analysis of JACC study data.

Hazard ratios (HR) of death due to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were analyzed by gender and age strata (40-59 and 60-79) among drinkers and ex-drinkers in 66,974 eligible subjects from a a large cohort of male and female subjects aged 40-79 years, based on information about several drinking related characteristics. The HR of dying from HCC for ex-drinkers was 4 to 8 times higher than for those who had never consumed alcohol at the baseline survey. When the subjects were restricted to those without history of liver disease (LD), the HR was still high for ex-drinkers among younger males, though the difference was not statistically significant. It appeared that the earlier drinking habits were established, the higher the HR, especially for younger males without LD. Among total current drinkers, the amount ingested per occasion and the cumulative amount ingested at the baseline did not show significantly increased HRs. Among subjects without LD, larger amounts ingested per occasion and larger cumulative amount seemed to have higher HRs in older male current drinkers. Frequent drinking and later age (50 to 79) at cessation of drinking were associated with higher HRs among both genders and both age strata. After restricting the analysis to subjects without LD, many of these increased HRs remained among males. The results suggested that the association between alcohol drinking history and HR of HCC differs depending on the presence of LD. Major confounders other than age and gender associated with both drinking and HCC, e.g. smoking, hepatitis virus infection, or history of diabetes, were not considered in this analysis, and the observed associations might be confounded by any of these factors. To clarify the net association between alcohol drinking and HCC, further analysis is needed to control potential confounders, including past history of liver disease, and to consider probable effect modifiers.

Risk of death due to hepatocellular carcinoma among smokers and ex-smokers. Univariate analysis of JACC study data.

Hazard ratios (HR) of death due to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were analyzed by gender and age strata (40-59 and 60-79) among smokers and ex-smokers in 65,528 eligible subjects from a large cohort of males and females aged 40-79 years, based on information about several smoking-related characteristics. Both current smokers and ex-smokers among total older males had hazard ratios (HR) for dying from HCC that were 2 to 4 times higher than those who had never smoked at the baseline survey. When subjects were restricted to those without history of liver disease (LD), older male (60-79) ex-smokers presented a statistically significant HR of 5.0. Earlier age at start of smoking (15 to 19) showed a significantly increased HR of 4 to 8 for both current and ex-smokers. Moderate number of cigarettes smoked per day showed an increased HR, and later age at cessation of smoking had a higher HR compared to earlier cessation. Larger cumulative amount of smoking resulted in an elevated HR of 11 times than in those who had never smoked. Cigarette smoking was suggested to be an important risk factor for death from HCC regardless of whether the smoking habit was in the past or was continuing at present. To eliminate confounding effects and interaction with other risk factors of HCC and to clarify the net association between smoking habits and HCC, farther careful analysis using multivariate models is needed.

Past medical history and risk of death due to hepatocellular carcinoma, univariate analysis of JACC study data.

The relationship between the past history of selected diseases and the risk of dying from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was analyzed using 110,792 cohort members (46,465 males and 64,327 females) recruited between 1988 and 1990 by the JACC Study (the Japan Collaborative Cohort Study for Evaluation of Cancer Risk). Significantly elevated hazard ratios (HRs) were observed in both genders for the past history of kidney diseases, liver diseases, gallstones or cholecystitis, diabetes mellitus, and blood transfusion. Further, when analyzed by age group (those 40-59 years of age were "younger" and those 60-79 years of age were "older"), although the significant associations were generally maintained, the magnitude of the HRs for liver diseases and diabetes mellitus seemed to be considerably different between the younger and older age groups for male cohort members. When the analyses were limited to cohort members without the past history of liver diseases, the past histories which had significantly elevated HRs were hypertension (HR = 3.14, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.25-7.89), diabetes mellitus (HR = 4.17, 95% CI: 1.22-14.25), and blood transfusion (HR = 7.69, 95% CI: 3.09-19.15) in the younger male age group and gallstone or cholecystitis (HR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.11-5.98) in the older male age group. On the other hand, for females, the significantly elevated HRs were gastric or duodenal ulcer (HR = 4.33, 95% CI: 1.09-17.25) in the younger age group and diabetes mellitus (HR = 6.16, 95%CI: 2.25-16.90) and blood transfusion (HR = 3.86, 95%CI: 1.58-9.41) in the older age group. However, since the evidence from our univariate analyses might not be decisive, multivariate Cox proportional hazards models controlling for potential confounders and effect modifiers will be required to obtain more valid or unbiased hazard ratios.