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The use of diagenetic alterations in bone microstructure ('histotaphonomy') as indicators of funerary treatment in the past and for post-mortem interval calculations in forensic cases has received increasing attention in the last decade. Studies have used histological changes to conclude in-situ decomposition, mummification, infanticide and post-mortem interval. There has been very little attempt to experimentally validate the links between decomposition, depositional conditions, time-since-death and microscopic changes in human bone so that meaningful interpretations of archaeological and forensic observations can be made. Here, we address this problem experimentally using the largest sample of human remains from anatomical donors and the longest-term deposition framework to date. This study tests one key assumption of histotaphonomy; that putrefaction during the early stages of decay is reflected in bone microanatomy and composition. Seventeen human donors and six pigs were deposited on the surface in a known Australian environment and left to decompose between 463 and 1238 days. All remains underwent all stages of decomposition reaching skeletonisation. Rib and femur samples were analysed using conventional histological methods and scanning electron microscopy, by applying the Oxford Histological Index, and examining collagen birefringence, microcracking and re- and de mineralisation. Biomolecular changes of the femoral samples were analysed using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The results indicate that bioerosion in human bone does not occur due to putrefaction. There were no correlations between bone histology and the following variables: human vs pigs, season, primary vs secondary deposition, position, fresh vs frozen and time-since-deposition. Furthermore, no trends were observed between biomolecular changes and time-since-deposition. The study also shows that pigs cannot be used as substitutes for human remains for bone biodegradation research. This is the first, controlled, larger scale study of human remains providing a lack of support for a long-assumed relationship between putrefaction and bone histology bioerosion. Using bone degradation as an argument to prove putrefaction, in-situ decomposition and early taphonomic processes cannot be supported based on the experimental human data presented., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Schotsmans et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Historical data on smoking can enhance our comprehension of the effectiveness of past tobacco control policies and play a key role in developing targeted public health interventions. This study was undertaken to assess trends in smoking initiation and cessation in Australia for the period 1910-2005., Methods: Rates of smoking initiation and cessation were calculated for participants in two population-based cohorts, the Busselton Health Study and the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study. The effects of time trends, gender and age group were evaluated., Results: Of the 29,971 participants, 56.8% ever smoked. In males, over the period 1910-1999, the rate of smoking initiation in young adolescents remained high with a peak in the 1970s; in older adolescents it peaked in the 1940s and then declined; in young adults it showed a steady decline. In females, the rate of smoking initiation in young adolescents rose sharply in the 1960s and peaked in the 1970s, in older adolescents it increased throughout the period, and in young adults it declined after 1970. In the period 1930-2005, 27.3% of 9,605 people aged 36-50 years who smoked ceased smoking. Rates of cessation in this age group increased throughout but decreased in males after 1990 and plateaued around 2000 in females., Conclusion: Our findings show substantial variation in the efficacy of tobacco control policies across age groups, with a notable lack of success among the younger population., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 James et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Rationale: The term "pre-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease" ("pre-COPD") refers to individuals at high risk of developing COPD who do not meet conventional spirometric criteria for airflow obstruction. New approaches to identifying these individuals are needed, particularly in younger populations. Objectives: To determine whether lung function thresholds and respiratory symptoms can be used to identify individuals at risk of developing COPD. Methods: The Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study comprises a population-based cohort first studied in 1968 (at age 7 yr). Respiratory symptoms, pre- and post-bronchodilator (BD) spirometry, diffusing capacity, and static lung volumes were measured in a subgroup at age 45, and the incidence of COPD was assessed at age 53. For each lung function measure, z -scores were calculated using Global Lung Function Initiative references. The optimal threshold for best discrimination of COPD incidence was determined by the unweighted Youden index. Measurements and Main Results: Among 801 participants who did not have COPD at age 45, the optimal threshold for COPD incidence by age 53 was pre-BD FEV 1 /FVC z -score less than -1.264, corresponding to the lowest 10 th percentile. Those below this threshold had a 36-fold increased risk of developing COPD over an 8-year follow-up period (risk ratio, 35.8; 95% confidence interval, 8.88 to 144), corresponding to a risk difference of 16.4% (95% confidence interval, 3.7 to 67.4). The sensitivity was 88%, and the specificity was 87%. Positive and negative likelihood ratios were 6.79 and 0.14, respectively. Respiratory symptoms, post-BD spirometry, diffusing capacity, and static lung volumes did not improve on the classification achieved by pre-BD FEV 1 /FVC alone. Conclusions: This is the first study, to our knowledge, to evaluate the discriminatory accuracy of spirometry, diffusing capacity, and static lung volume thresholds for COPD incidence in middle-aged adults. Our findings support the inclusion of pre-BD spirometry in the physiological definition of pre-COPD and indicate that pre-BD FEV 1 /FVC at the 10th percentile accurately identifies individuals at high risk of developing COPD in community-based settings.

Passiflora foetida is a climbing herb employed in ethno-medicine for the treatment of various ailments. The essential oil from flowers of P. foetida was obtained by hydrodistillation. The ethanol extract of the leaves was dissolved in water, then partitioned with n -hexane and n -butanol to obtain the various fractions; the fractions and isolated compound were subjected to in vitro antioxidant activity. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry afforded the identification of forty-two constituents in the floral oil, dominated by β-caryophyllene (17.2%), cedrol (11.5%), and α-humulene (11.5%). The n -butanol fraction was the most active (70% inhibition and absorbance 0.401; 100 µg/mL) in the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radicals and ferric reducing power assays, respectively. Chromatographic analysis facilitated the isolation of 8-C-β-d-glucosylapigenin (vitexin) from the butanol fraction of P. foetida. Vitexin demonstrated good antioxidant activities (75% inhibition and absorbance 0.424; 100 µg/mL) compared with ascorbic acid. The volatile metabolites of P. foetida flowers are reported for the first time.

Background: Cough is a common yet heterogeneous condition. Little is known about the characteristics and course of cough in general populations. We aimed to investigate cough subclasses, their characteristics from childhood across six decades of life, and potential treatable traits in a community-based cohort., Methods: For our analysis of the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study (TAHS), a prospective, community-based cohort study that began on Feb 23, 1968, and has so far followed up participants in Tasmania, Australia, at intervals of 10 years from a mean age of 7 years to a mean age of 53 years, we used data collected as part of the TAHS to distinguish cough subclasses among current coughers at age 53 years. For this analysis, participants who answered Yes to at least one cough-related question via self-report questionnaire were defined as current coughers and included in a latent class analysis of cough symptoms; participants who answered No to all nine cough-related questions were defined as non-coughers and excluded from this analysis. Two groups of longitudinal features were assessed from age 7 years to age 53 years: previously established longitudinal trajectories of FEV 1 , forced vital capacity [FVC], FEV 1 /FVC ratio, asthma, and allergies-identified via group-based trajectory analysis or latent class analysis-and symptoms at different timepoints, including asthma, current productive cough, ever chronic productive cough, current smoking, and second-hand smoking., Findings: Of 8583 participants included at baseline in the TAHS, 6128 (71·4%) were traced and invited to participate in a follow-up between Sept 3, 2012, and Nov 8, 2016; 3609 (58·9%) of these 6128 returned the cough questionnaire. The mean age of participants in this analysis was 53 years (SD 1·0). 2213 (61·3%) of 3609 participants were defined as current coughers and 1396 (38·7%) were categorised as non-coughers and excluded from the latent class analysis. 1148 (51·9%) of 2213 participants in this analysis were female and 1065 (48·1%) were male. Six distinct cough subclasses were identified: 206 (9·3%) of 2213 participants had minimal cough, 1189 (53·7%) had cough with colds only, 305 (13·8%) had cough with allergies, 213 (9·6%) had intermittent productive cough, 147 (6·6%) had chronic dry cough, and 153 (6·9%) had chronic productive cough. Compared with people with minimal cough, and in contrast to other cough subclasses, people in the chronic productive cough and intermittent productive cough subclasses had worse lung function trajectories (FEV 1 persistent low trajectory 2·9%, 6·4%, and 16·1%; p=0·0011, p<0·0001; FEV 1 /FVC early low-rapid decline trajectory 2·9%, 12·1%, and 13·0%; p=0·012, p=0·0007) and a higher prevalence of cough (age 53 years 0·0%, 32·4% [26·1-38·7], and 50·3% [42·5-58·2]) and asthma (age 53 years 6·3% [3·7-10·6], 26·9% [21·3-33·3], and 41·7% [24·1-49·7]) from age 7 years to age 53 years., Interpretation: We identified potential treatable traits for six cough subclasses (eg, asthma, allergies, and active and passive smoking for productive cough). The required management of productive cough in primary care (eg, routine spirometry) might differ from that of dry cough if our findings are supported by other studies. Future population-based studies could apply our framework to address the heterogeneity and complexity of cough in the community., Funding: The National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, The University of Melbourne, Clifford Craig Medical Research Trust of Tasmania, Victorian Asthma Foundation, Queensland Asthma Foundation, Tasmanian Asthma Foundation, The Royal Hobart Hospital Research Foundation, the Helen MacPherson Smith Trust, GlaxoSmithKline, and the China Scholarship Council., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests SCD, CJL, AJL, DSB, MJA, and JLP have investigator-initiated grants from GlaxoSmithKline. SCD, AJL, and MJA have investigator-initiated grants from Sanofi. SCD, JLP, CJL, DSB, and ABC are supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC). JLP is financially supported by the Australian Asthma Foundation, Craig Clifford Medical Trust, Helen McPherson Trust, and GlaxoSmithKline. AJL has received non-financial, technical support from Primus Pharmaceuticals. ABC has investigator-initiated grants from the NHMRC and the Australian Medical Research Future Fund; is a member of a data safety monitoring committee for GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, and Moderna; and was on the NHMRC Health Impact Committee, NHMRC Women in Science, and the European Respiratory Society Guideline Committee. JLP and SCD have an investigator-initiated grant from AstraZeneca. MJA has investigator-initiated grants from Pfizer and Boehringer-Ingelheim, was a consultant for Sanofi, received a speaker's fee from GlaxoSmithKline, and is an honorary member of the independent data monitoring committee for the NHMRC-funded Vietnam COPD Asthma and Prevention of Smoking 4 Trial via the Woolcock Institute. JZ is supported by The University of Melbourne and the China Scholarship Council joint PhD scholarship. All other authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In a 3-arm presurgical trial, four-six weeks exemestane 25 mg three times/week (TIW) was non-inferior to 25 mg/day (QD) in suppressing circulating estradiol in postmenopausal women with ER-positive breast cancer. Since obesity may decrease exemestane efficacy, we analyzed changes in sex steroids, adipokines, Ki-67, and drug levels in relation to obesity. Postmenopausal women with early-stage ER-positive breast cancer were randomized to either exemestane 25 mg QD (n = 57), 25 mg TIW (n = 57), or 25 mg/week (QW, n = 62) for 4-6 weeks before breast surgery. Serum and tissue pre- and post-treatment biomarkers were stratified by body mass index (BMI)< or ≥30 kg/m 2 . Post-treatment median exemestane and 17-OH exemestane levels were 5-6 times higher in the QD arm compared to the TIW arm. For obese women, TIW maintained comparable reductions to QD in systemic estradiol levels, although the reduction in estrone was less with the TIW regimen. There was less suppression of SHBG with the TIW versus the QD dose schedule in obese women which should result in less systemic bioavailable estrogens. Metabolically, the effect of the TIW regimen was similar to the QD regimen for obese women in terms of leptin suppression and increase in the adiponectin-leptin ratio. Reduction in tissue Ki-67 was less for obese women on the TIW regimen than QD, although changes were similar for non-obese women. Our findings suggest that TIW exemestane should be explored further for primary cancer prevention in both normal weight and obese cohorts., (© 2024. The Author(s).)