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There was a mistake in the values in Table 4 in the parameters total % fat, android fat mass, gynoid fat mass, aLM, android lean mass, and gynoid lean mass. The correct version of Table 4 appears below. The authors apologize for the mistake. This error does not change the scientific conclusions of the article. The nutritional intake data in Table 2 was incorrectly labeled. The correct version of Table 2 appears below. We have also edited the interpretation of the data in the Results section from: Overall, women had higher intakes of all micronutrients. Some notable sex differences include a 21% greater daily habitual calcium intake in women than in men (Table 2). The greatest sex difference was seen in daily habitual iron intake, where women had a 33% greater daily iron intake compared to men. Across the age bands, daily habitual calcium intake [mean (SD)] was 295.9 (175.9) mg/day in men and 378.0 (176.0) mg/day in women (Table 2). To: Overall, men had higher intakes of all micronutrients. Some notable sex differences include a 21% greater daily habitual calcium intake in men than in women (Table 2). The greatest sex difference was seen in daily habitual iron intake, where men had a 33% greater daily iron intake compared to women. Across the age bands, daily habitual calcium intake [mean (SD)] was 378.0 (176.0) mg/day in men and 295.9 (175.9) mg/day in women (Table 2). This error does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way.Copyright © 2018 Zengin, Fulford, Sawo, Jarjou, Schoenmakers, Goldberg, Prentice and Ward.

The Gambian Bone and Muscle Ageing Study is a prospective observational study investigating bone and muscle ageing in men and women from a poor, subsistence farming community of The Gambia, West Africa. Musculoskeletal diseases, including osteoporosis and sarcopenia, form a major part of the current global non-communicable disease burden. By 2050, the vast majority of the world's ageing population will live in low- and middle-income countries with an estimated two-fold rise in osteoporotic fracture. The study design was to characterise change in bone and muscle outcomes and to identify possible preventative strategies for fracture and sarcopenia in the increasing ageing population. Men and women aged >=40 years from the Kiang West region of The Gambia were recruited with stratified sampling by sex and age. Baseline measurements were completed in 488 participants in 2012 who were randomly assigned to follow-up between 1.5 and 2 years later. Follow-up measurements were performed on 465 participants approximately 1.7 years after baseline measurements. The data set comprises a wide range of measurements on bone, muscle strength, anthropometry, biochemistry, and dietary intake. Questionnaires were used to obtain information on health, lifestyle, musculoskeletal pain, and reproductive status. Baseline cross-sectional data show preliminary evidence for bone mineral density and muscle loss with age. Men had greater negative differences in total body lean mass with age than women following adjustments for body size. From peripheral quantitative computed tomography scans, greater negative associations between bone outcomes and age at the radius and tibia were shown in women than in men. Ultimately, the findings from The Gambian Bone and Muscle Ageing Study will contribute to the understanding of musculoskeletal health in a transitioning population and better characterise fracture and sarcopenia incidence in The Gambia with an aim to the development of preventative strategies

SETTING: Greater Banjul and Upper River Regions, The Gambia. OBJECTIVE: To investigate tractable social, environmental and nutritional risk factors for childhood pneumonia. DESIGN: A case-control study examining the association of crowding, household air pollution (HAP) and nutritional factors with pneumonia was undertaken in children aged 2-59 months: 458 children with severe pneumonia, defined according to the modified WHO criteria, were compared with 322 children with non-severe pneumonia, and these groups were compared to 801 neighbourhood controls. Controls were matched by age, sex, area and season. RESULTS: Strong evidence was found of an association between bed-sharing with someone with a cough and severe pneumonia (adjusted OR [aOR] 5.1, 95%CI 3.2-8.2, P < 0.001) and non-severe pneumonia (aOR 7.3, 95%CI 4.1-13.1, P < 0.001), with 18% of severe cases estimated to be attributable to this risk factor. Malnutrition and pneumonia had clear evidence of association, which was strongest between severe malnutrition and severe pneumonia (aOR 8.7, 95%CI 4.2-17.8, P < 0.001). No association was found between pneumonia and individual carbon monoxide exposure as a measure of HAP. CONCLUSION: Bed-sharing with someone with a cough is an important risk factor for severe pneumonia, and potentially tractable to intervention, while malnutrition remains an important tractable determinant.

Lifestyle factors are responsible for a considerable portion of cancer incidence worldwide, but credible estimates from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggest that the fraction of cancers attributable to toxic environmental exposures is between 7% and 19%. To explore the hypothesis that low-dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals in the environment may be combining to contribute to environmental carcinogenesis, we reviewed 11 hallmark phenotypes of cancer, multiple priority target sites for disruption in each area and prototypical chemical disruptors for all targets, this included dose-response characterizations, evidence of low-dose effects and cross-hallmark effects for all targets and chemicals. In total, 85 examples of chemicals were reviewed for actions on key pathways/ mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Only 15% (13/85) were found to have evidence of a dose-response threshold, whereas 59% (50/85) exerted low-dose effects. No dose-response information was found for the remaining 26% (22/85). Our analysis suggests that the cumulative effects of individual (non-carcinogenic) chemicals acting on different pathways, and a variety of related systems, organs, tissues and cells could plausibly conspire to produce carcinogenic synergies. Additional basic research on carcinogenesis and research focused on low-dose effects of chemical mixtures needs to be rigorously pursued before the merits of this hypothesis can be further advanced. However, the structure of the World Health Organization International Programme on Chemical Safety 'Mode of Action' framework should be revisited as it has inherent weaknesses that are not fully aligned with our current understanding of cancer biology.

© The Author 2015. Lifestyle factors are responsible for a considerable portion of cancer incidence worldwide, but credible estimates from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggest that the fraction of cancers attributable to toxic environmental exposures is between 7% and 19%. To explore the hypothesis that low-dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals in the environment may be combining to contribute to environmental carcinogenesis, we reviewed 11 hallmark phenotypes of cancer, multiple priority target sites for disruption in each area and prototypical chemical disruptors for all targets, this included dose-response characterizations, evidence of low-dose effects and cross-hallmark effects for all targets and chemicals. In total, 85 examples of chemicals were reviewed for actions on key pathways/ mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Only 15% (13/85) were found to have evidence of a dose-response threshold, whereas 59% (50/85) exerted low-dose effects. No dose-response information was found for the remaining 26% (22/85). Our analysis suggests that the cumulative effects of individual (non-carcinogenic) chemicals acting on different pathways, and a variety of related systems, organs, tissues and cells could plausibly conspire to produce carcinogenic synergies. Additional basic research on carcinogenesis and research focused on low-dose effects of chemical mixtures needs to be rigorously pursued before the merits of this hypothesis can be further advanced. However, the structure of the World Health Organization International Programme on Chemical Safety 'Mode of Action' framework should be revisited as it has inherent weaknesses that are not fully aligned with our current understanding of cancer biology.