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Titanium-based composites with their desirable and great mechanical properties are in high demand. One of the main problems that arise in this field is the chemical reactions that appear between strengthening the material and the matrix that usually undermines the integrity of the composite. This problem will result in dangerous defects such as debonding or degradation of the properties. In this work, a coating solution is presented; a similar process as discussed in the literature yet analytically different. The coating is commonly used for protecting and preserving the reinforcing material's surface which is in contact with the matrix. Herein, a titanium metal matrix composite reinforced with carbon-coated SiC particles is discussed. Mori-Tanaka method was utilized to firstly determine the properties of the inclusion which is the carbon-coated SiC particle and then using the results based on the thickness of the coating and volume fraction of inclusions, calculating the overall properties of the composite. An incremental method was employed to then calculate the stress-strain curve of the said material. The results obtained were in good agreement with the experimental data. The negative effect of the carbon coating on the elastic properties of the SiC/titanium composite was observed as the coating layer thickness increased. The same thing was observed in the stress-strain curve in the slope of the elastic zone and work hardening growth in the plastic zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the laminate analogy technique is utilized to calculate the elastic properties of metal matrix nanocomposites filled with graphene nanoplatelets. The graphene nanoscale fillers are the most commonly used form of graphene inclusions, which are mostly considered to be disk-shaped. With the help of the Eshelby tensor, the effects of three different shapes of graphene inclusions on the mechanical response are examined. Combining layers of metal matrix composite lamina reinforced by uniformly dispersed graphene inclusions, which are aligned differently in each layer, the metal matrix nanocomposite is simulated. In each lamina, the Mori–Tanaka micromechanical method is employed to calculate the effective elastic properties. Given the fact that the inclusions are aligned, the change in the principal axis of each laminate from the global axis does not affect the Mori–Tanaka results thus resulting in an equivalent laminate composite. Then, classical laminate theory is implemented to obtain the elastic modulus of the equivalent laminate composite. The results obtained from this analytical model are compared with experimental data and a good agreement can be found between them. Two factors are observed to play a critical role in the final results; (i) the number of layers and (ii) the geometrical features of the graphene inclusions. An equivalent laminate composite with few layers acts as a composite material with anisotropic properties, and the increase of the number of layers will cause the isotropic behavior in the equivalent laminate composite. By increasing the aspect ratio, the effective elastic modulus of the nanocomposite exhibits a near-linear growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: The roles of obestatin and adropin in paediatric obesity are poorly understood. We compared obestatin and adropin concentrations in younger (n = 21) and older children (n = 14) with Prader‐Willi syndrome (PWS) and age and BMI‐z‐matched controls (n = 31). Fasting plasma obestatin and adropin were higher in younger children with PWS than controls; adropin was also higher in older children with PWS. Growth hormone treatment had no effects on obestatin or adropin in PWS. The ratio of ghrelin to obestatin declined from early to late childhood but was higher in older PWS than older controls. Adropin correlated with fasting glucose in the PWS group only. Changes in the ratio of ghrelin to obestatin may suggest changes in the processing of preproghrelin to ghrelin and obestatin during development and differential processing of preproghrelin in PWS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Gastric cancer (GC) is among the leading causes of cancer mortality worldwide. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between dietary fiber intake and GC., Methods: We pooled data from 11 population or hospital-based case-control studies included in the Stomach Cancer Pooling (StoP) Project, for a total of 4865 histologically confirmed cases and 10,626 controls. Intake of dietary fibers and other dietary factors was collected using food frequency questionnaires. We calculated the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the association between dietary fiber intake and GC by using a multivariable logistic regression model adjusted for study site, sex, age, caloric intake, smoking, fruit and vegetable intake, and socioeconomic status. We conducted stratified analyses by these factors, as well as GC anatomical site and histological type., Results: The OR of GC for an increase of one quartile of fiber intake was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.85, 0.97), that for the highest compared to the lowest quartile of dietary fiber intake was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.59, 0.88). Results were similar irrespective of anatomical site and histological type., Conclusion: Our analysis supports the hypothesis that dietary fiber intake may exert a protective effect on GC., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background : Although adolescents with obesity have an increased risk of cardiometabolic disease, a subset maintains a healthy cardiometabolic profile. Unhealthy lifestyle behaviors may determine cardiometabolic risk. We aimed to characterize the lifestyle behaviors of adolescents with obesity, compare differences between metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy obesity (MUO), and assess associations between lifestyle behaviors and cardiometabolic profiles. Methods : Participants aged 10-18 years with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 95 th percentile were included. Dietary intake (DI) was estimated from 3-day food records, and diet quality (DQ) was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index-Canadian Adaptation. Physical activity (PA), body composition, anthropometrics, blood markers, and blood pressure (BP) were objectively measured. MUO was defined as having high triglycerides, BP, glucose, or low high-density lipoprotein. Regression analyses were performed between lifestyle behaviors and cardiometabolic markers. Results : Thirty-nine participants (BMI z-score 2.8 [2.5-3.5], age 12.5 [10.9-13.5] years, 56.4% female) were included. A high proportion of participants failed to meet lifestyle recommendations, particularly for DQ (94.7%, n = 36), fiber (94.7%, n = 36), and PA (90.9%, n = 30). No differences in lifestyle behaviors were found between MUO (59.0%, n = 22) and MHO (41.0%, n = 16). Protein intake was negatively associated with BMI and waist circumference z-scores, fat mass index, insulin resistance, low-density lipoprotein, and C-reactive protein, whereas higher DQ was associated with lower C-reactive protein. Higher light PA levels were associated with lower total cholesterol and triglycerides. Conclusion : Adolescents with either MUO or MHO displayed low adherence to DQ, DI, and PA recommendations; no differences in lifestyle behaviors were found. Protein intake, DQ, and PA were associated with a healthier cardiometabolic profile.

Dietary folate intake has been identified as a potentially modifiable factor of gastric cancer (GC) risk, although the evidence is still inconsistent. We evaluate the association between dietary folate intake and the risk of GC as well as the potential modification effect of alcohol consumption. We pooled data for 2829 histologically confirmed GC cases and 8141 controls from 11 case-control studies from the international Stomach Cancer Pooling Consortium. Dietary folate intake was estimated using food frequency questionnaires. We used linear mixed models with random intercepts for each study to calculate adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Higher folate intake was associated with a lower risk of GC, although this association was not observed among participants who consumed >2.0 alcoholic drinks/day. The OR for the highest quartile of folate intake, compared with the lowest quartile, was 0.78 (95% CI, 0.67-0.90, P-trend = 0.0002). The OR per each quartile increment was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.87-0.96) and, per every 100 μg/day of folate intake, was 0.89 (95% CI, 0.84-0.95). There was a significant interaction between folate intake and alcohol consumption (P-interaction = 0.02). The lower risk of GC associated with higher folate intake was not observed in participants who consumed >2.0 drinks per day, OR Q4v Q1  = 1.15 (95% CI, 0.85-1.56), and the OR 100 μg/day  = 1.02 (95% CI, 0.92-1.15). Our study supports a beneficial effect of folate intake on GC risk, although the consumption of >2.0 alcoholic drinks/day counteracts this beneficial effect., (© 2024 The Authors. International Journal of Cancer published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of UICC.)

Background: Previous studies suggest that dietary vitamin C is inversely associated with gastric cancer (GC), but most of them did not consider intake of fruit and vegetables. Thus, we aimed to evaluate this association within the Stomach cancer Pooling (StoP) Project, a consortium of epidemiological studies on GC., Methods: Fourteen case-control studies were included in the analysis (5362 cases, 11,497 controls). We estimated odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between dietary intake of vitamin C and GC, adjusted for relevant confounders and for intake of fruit and vegetables. The dose-response relationship was evaluated using mixed-effects logistic models with second-order fractional polynomials., Results: Individuals in the highest quartile of dietary vitamin C intake had reduced odds of GC compared with those in the lowest quartile (OR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.58, 0.72). Additional adjustment for fruit and vegetables intake led to an OR of 0.85 (95% CI: 0.73, 0.98). A significant inverse association was observed for noncardia GC, as well as for both intestinal and diffuse types of the disease. The results of the dose-response analysis showed decreasing ORs of GC up to 150-200 mg/day of vitamin C (OR: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.41, 0.71), whereas ORs for higher intakes were close to 1.0., Conclusions: The findings of our pooled study suggest that vitamin C is inversely associated with GC, with a potentially beneficial effect also for intakes above the currently recommended daily intake (90 mg for men and 75 mg for women)., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: Evidence on the potential association between dietary copper intake and gastric cancer (GC) is lacking. Thus, we aimed to evaluate this association within the Stomach cancer Pooling (StoP) Project-an international consortium of epidemiological studies on GC., Methods: Data from five case-control studies within the StoP Project were included (2448 cases, 4350 controls). We estimated adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for the association between dietary copper intake and GC using multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression models. We also modelled the dose-response relationship between copper intake and GC using a logistic mixed-effects model with fractional polynomial., Results: The OR for the highest quartile of copper intake compared with the lowest one was 0.78 (95% CI: 0.63-0.95; P for trend = 0.013). Results were similar for non-cardia-type (OR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.57-0.91), intestinal-type (OR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.56-0.99) and other histological-type GC (OR: 0.65; 95% CI: 0.44-0.96). The dose-response analysis showed a steep decrease in ORs for modest intakes (<1 mg/day), which were subsequently steady for ≤3 mg/day (OR: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.02-0.41) and slowly increased for higher intakes., Conclusions: The findings of our large study suggest that copper intake might be inversely associated with GC, although their confirmation by prospective studies is required., (© The Author(s) 2024; all rights reserved. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association.)

Background: The metabolic load-capacity index (LCI), which represents the ratio of adipose to skeletal muscle tissue-containing compartments, is potentially associated with cardiometabolic diseases., Objectives: To examine the associations between the LCI and cardiometabolic risk factors in children and youth with obesity., Methods: This is a cross-sectional study including 10-18 years-old participants with a BMI of ≥95 th . LCI by air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) was calculated as fat mass divided by fat-free mass, and LCI by ultrasound (US) as subcutaneous adipose tissue divided by skeletal muscle thickness. Sex-specific medians stratified participants into high versus low LCI. Single (inflammation, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia and hypertension) and clustered cardiometabolic risk factors were evaluated. Linear and logistic regression models tested the associations between these variables, adjusted for sexual maturation., Results: Thirty-nine participants (43.6% males; 59% mid-late puberty) aged 12.5 (IQR: 11.1-13.5) years were included. LCI by ADP was positively associated with markers of inflammation and dyslipidemia; having a higher LCI predicted dyslipidemia in logistic regression. Similarly, LCI by US was positively associated with markers of dyslipidemia and blood pressure. In mid-late pubertal participants, LCI by US was positively associated with markers of insulin resistance and inflammation., Conclusions: Participants with unfavourable cardiometabolic profile had higher LCI, suggesting its potential use for predicting and monitoring cardiometabolic health in clinical settings., (© 2024 The Authors. Pediatric Obesity published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of World Obesity Federation.)

Competing Interests: Statement of interest: None

Background: Patients with cancer experience significant symptom burden. We investigated symptom severity in adolescents and young adults (18- to 39-year-olds) during the year following a cancer diagnosis and made comparisons with older adult (those older than 40 years of age) patients with cancer., Methods: All Albertan residents diagnosed with a first primary neoplasm at 18 years of age or older between April 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019, and who completed at least 1 electronic patient-reported outcome questionnaire were included. Symptom severity was assessed using the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System-revised. Descriptive statistics, multivariable logistic modeling, and mixed logistic regression modeling were used to describe symptom severity, identify risk factors, and assess symptom trajectories, respectively., Results: In total, 473 and 322 adolescents and young adults completed a patient-reported outcomes questionnaire at diagnosis and 1 year after diagnosis, respectively. Adolescent and young adult patients with cancer reported high levels of tiredness, poor well-being, and anxiety. Important risk factors included metastatic disease, female sex, treatment types received, and age at diagnosis. Symptom severity varied by clinical tumor group, with those diagnosed with sarcoma having the worst scores for all symptoms at diagnosis and patients with intrathoracic or endocrine tumors having the worst scores for all symptoms at 1 year after diagnosis. Statistically significant differences in symptom severity over the 1-year period were observed between adolescents and young adults and older adults-specifically, the odds of having moderate to severe symptoms were statistically significantly greater among adolescents and young adults with respect to pain, tiredness, nausea, depression, anxiety, and poor well-being (all P < .01)., Conclusions: A substantial proportion of adolescents and young adults experience moderate to severe symptoms during the year following diagnosis. Modifying existing supportive services and developing interventions based on the needs of adolescent and young adult patients with cancer could aid symptom control., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press.)

Aflatoxins (AFs), an important category of pollutants, are formed in many foods and adversely affect human health. Therefore, their determination is critical to ensuring human food health. An efficient dispersive solid-phase microextraction technique was developed as a simple and straightforward sample preparation technique for determination of four aflatoxins using a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) fluorescence detector. A novel efficient, green sorbent for extracting AFs was synthesized based on hydrothermal and chemical strategies. The amounts of three sorbent components were optimized using a mixture design (simplex lattice design), including 14 experiments. The optimal amount of amino-bimetallic Fe/Ni-MIL-53 nanospheres, chitosan, and magnetic Fe 3 O 4 nanoparticles as sorbent components was 0.87, 0.67, and 0.47 g, respectively. Also, various factors affecting the process of AF determination were studied and optimized in two successive experimental designs, including the definitive screening design and the Box-Behnken design. Under optimal conditions, the linear ranges for measuring aflatoxin B1, aflatoxin B2, aflatoxin G1, and aflatoxin G2 were 0.05-82.6, 0.07-86.4, 0.08-85.7, and 0.07-89.5 ng mL -1 , respectively. The relative standard deviations under inter-day and intra-day conditions for measuring AFs at three analyte concentrations were determined in triplicate analysis and were in the ranges of 3.7-4.6% and 4.9-6.1% for water sample analysis, respectively. The qualitative detection limits for determining AFs were between 0.01 and 0.05 ng mL -1 . The pre-concentration factor of the method for measuring AFs ranged from 739.7 to 802.1. The proposed method was used for determining AFs in several real samples, including herbal distillate, black tea, corn, and real water samples. The relative recovery and standard deviation were 87.8-97.8% and 4.10-6.82%, respectively., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH, DE part of Springer Nature.)

Background and Aims: It is unclear whether regular consumption of dairy products is associated with the risk of developing non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Thus, we conducted a systematic review followed by a meta-analysis of studies reporting on the association of dairy consumption with NAFLD risk., Methods and Results: We comprehensively searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus for observational studies that evaluated the association between dairy intake and NAFLD likelihood that were published before September 1, 2022. The reported odds ratios (ORs) of fully adjusted models and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using a random-effects model for the meta-analysis. Out of 1206 articles retrieved, 11 observational studies, including 43,649 participants and 11,020 cases, were included. Pooled OR indicated a significant association between dairy intake and NAFLD (OR = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.83, 0.98; I 2  = 67.8%, n = 11). Pooled ORs revealed that milk (OR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.78, 0.95; I 2  = 65.7%, n = 6), yogurt (OR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.82; I 2  = 0.0%, n = 4), and high-fat dairy (OR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.19, 0.75; I 2  = 0.0%, n = 5) consumption was inversely associated with NAFLD while cheese was not linked to NAFLD risk., Conclusion: We observed that consumption of dairy products is linked to a reduced risk of developing NAFLD. Overall, the data in the source articles is of low to moderate quality; therefore, further observational studies are required to support the current findings (PROSPERO Reg. number: CRD42022319028)., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The association between height and risk of gastric cancer has been studied in several epidemiological studies with contrasting results. The aim of this study is to examine the association between adult height and gastric cancer within a large pooled analysis of case-control studies members of the Stomach cancer Pooling (StoP) Project consortium., Methods: Data from 18 studies members of the StoP consortium were collected and analyzed. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to estimate the study-specific odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the association between 10-cm increase in height and risk of gastric cancer. Age, sex, tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption, social class, geographical area and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori ) status were included in the regression model. Resulting estimates were then pooled with random-effect model. Analyses were conducted overall and in strata of selected variables., Results: A total of 7562 cases and 19 033 controls were included in the analysis. The pooled OR was 0.96 (95% CI 0.87-1.05). A sensitivity analysis was performed restricting the results to the studies with information on H. pylori status, resulting in an OR of 0.97 (95% CI 0.79-1.20)., Conclusion: Our study does not support a strong and consistent association between adult height and gastric cancer., (Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

In this technical note, we primarily demonstrate the computation of confidence limits for a novel measure of average lifespan shortened (ALSS). We identified women who had died from cervical and ovarian cancer between 2000 and 2020 from the Alberta cancer registry. Years of life lost (YLL) was calculated using the national life tables of Canada. We estimated the ALSS as a ratio of YLL in relation to the expected lifespan. We computed the confidence limits of the measure using various approaches, including the normal distribution, gamma distribution, and bootstrap method. The new ALSS measure shows a modest gain in lifespan of women, particularly women with ovarian cancer, over the study period.

Antidepressants are an important class of drugs to treat various types of depression. The determination of antidepressants is crucial in biological samples to control adverse effects in humans and study pharmacokinetics and bioavailability. Direct measurement of antidepressants in biological and water samples is a considerable challenge for analysts due to their low concentration, the high matrix effects of real samples, and the presence of metabolites of these drugs in biological samples. The challenge leads to using sample preparation processes as a critical step in determining antidepressants. Extraction and microextraction procedures have been widely utilized as sample preparation procedures for these drugs. The purposes of extraction or microextraction methods for antidepressant medications are to preconcentrate the analyte, reduce the matrix effects, increase the selectivity of the procedures, and convert the sample to a suitable format for introducing it into detection systems. In the review, the various extraction and microextraction methods of these drugs in biological, real water, and wastewater samples were investigated. The theory of each technique was briefly addressed to understand the features and factors affecting each method. The extraction and microextraction methods were classified based on their application for antidepressants, and the advantages and disadvantages of each technique were reviewed. The new developments to overcome the limitations of each procedure were discussed. The investigation indicated the number of applications of liquid-phase microextraction for extracting antidepressants has been almost equal to that of solid-phase microextraction.

Background and Aims: We aimed to extract dairy consumption patterns of men and women from a population-based cohort and then assess the association of each consumption pattern with incident T2D risk., Methods and Results: This prospective study was conducted within the framework of Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP), in which 8615 men and 15,016 women provided information on dietary intake by completing a food-frequency questionnaire at baseline, and then were followed up over time to determine the incidence of T2D via questionnaires. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to extract dairy consumption patterns (DCPs). The association between each extracted pattern and T2D incidence was estimated using multivariable logistic regression models.The incidence of T2D among men and women was 3.8 and 3.2%, respectively, and the mean duration of follow-up was 5.2 years. Three major DCPs were identified. After controlling for potential confounders, the OR for risk of T2D in men in the highest compared with those in the lowest quartile of the DCP3 (whole milk, regular cheese, and non-fat milk as a beverage and in cereal) was 0.64 (95%CI: 0.47 to 0.88, P-trend=0.001), whereas it was not significant for women. DCP1 and DCP2 were not associated with incident T2D in men or women., Conclusion: Adherence to a DCP characterized by higher consumption of whole milk, regular cheese, and non-fat milk was associated with decreased risk of incident T2D only in men. Our results support current evidence that a combination of different dairy products, regardless of their fat content, might be favorable for health maintenance, at least in men., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine demographic profiles, tumour characteristics and treatment factors related to oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer (OCC and OPC) and comparatively analyze these cancers in the adult population of Alberta, Canada, over 12 years., Methods: Demographic, tumour characteristics and treatment data regarding OCC and OPC incidence in Alberta residents ≥18 years in 2005-2017 were extracted from the Alberta Cancer Registry database. Age-standardized incidence and mortality rates (ASIR and ASMR) were computed., Results: Among 3448 OCC and OPC cases, mean (standard deviation) age at diagnosis was 63.9 (14.4) and 60.1 (10.2) years, respectively. There was a male predilection for both OCC (58.2%) and OPC (81.7%). With some fluctuations, ASIR remained the same for OCC but increased for OPC. ASMR increased for both. The most common site for OCC was tongue and for OPC tonsil. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common diagnosis for OCC and OPC. Involvement of at least 1 lymph node was observed in 38.5% of OCC and 85.8% of OPC cases. For 45.2% of OCC and 82.3% of OPC cases, diagnosis occurred at stage IV. The most common initial treatments for OCC were surgery, alone or combined with radiation, whereas radiation with chemotherapy was the main treatment modality for OPC., Conclusion: The incidence of OPC in younger males was higher than that of OCC. Although incidence of OPC per 100 000 population increased over the 12-year study period, it remained largely unchanged for OCC. For both cancers, initial diagnoses were made at advanced stages, with almost twice as many stage IV OPC cases than OCC cases.

Background : Inconsistent findings have been reported regarding the relationship between dietary iron intake and the risk of gastric cancer (GC). Methods : We pooled data from 11 case-control studies from the Stomach Cancer Pooling (StoP) Project. Total dietary iron intake was derived from food frequency questionnaires combined with national nutritional tables. We derived the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for quartiles of dietary iron through multivariable unconditional logistic regression models. Secondary analyses stratified by sex, smoking status, caloric intake, anatomical subsite and histological type were performed. Results : Among 4658 cases and 12247 controls, dietary iron intake was inversely associated with GC (per quartile OR 0.88; 95% CI: 0.83-0.93). Results were similar between cardia (OR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.77-0.94) and non-cardia GC (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.81-0.94), and for diffuse (OR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.69-0.89) and intestinal type (OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.79-0.98). Iron intake exerted an independent effect from that of smoking and salt intake. Additional adjustment by meat and fruit/vegetable intake did not alter the results. Conclusions : Dietary iron is inversely related to GC, with no difference by subsite or histological type. While the results should be interpreted with caution, they provide evidence against a direct effect of iron in gastric carcinogenesis.

Background: The role of allium vegetables on gastric cancer (GC) risk remains unclear., Methods: We evaluated whether higher intakes of allium vegetables reduce GC risk using individual participant data from 17 studies participating in the "Stomach cancer Pooling (StoP) Project", including 6097 GC cases and 13,017 controls. Study-specific odds ratios (ORs) were pooled using a two-stage modelling approach., Results: Total allium vegetables intake was inversely associated with GC risk. The pooled OR for the highest versus the lowest study-specific tertile of consumption was 0.71 (95% confidence interval, CI, 0.56-0.90), with substantial heterogeneity across studies (I 2  > 50%). Pooled ORs for high versus low consumption were 0.69 (95% CI, 0.55-0.86) for onions and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.75-0.93) for garlic. The inverse association with allium vegetables was evident in Asian (OR 0.50, 95% CI, 0.29-0.86) but not European (OR 0.96, 95% CI, 0.81-1.13) and American (OR 0.66, 95% CI, 0.39-1.11) studies. Results were consistent across all other strata., Conclusions: In a worldwide consortium of epidemiological studies, we found an inverse association between allium vegetables and GC, with a stronger association seen in Asian studies. The heterogeneity of results across geographic regions and possible residual confounding suggest caution in results interpretation., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Purpose: Previous studies show that consuming foods preserved by salting increases the risk of gastric cancer, while results on the association between total salt or added salt and gastric cancer are less consistent and vary with the exposure considered. This study aimed to quantify the association between dietary salt exposure and gastric cancer, using an individual participant data meta-analysis of studies participating in the Stomach cancer Pooling (StoP) Project., Methods: Data from 25 studies (10,283 cases and 24,643 controls) from the StoP Project with information on salt taste preference (tasteless, normal, salty), use of table salt (never, sometimes, always), total sodium intake (tertiles of grams/day), and high-salt and salt-preserved foods intake (tertiles of grams/day) were used. A two-stage approach based on random-effects models was used to pool study-specific adjusted (sex, age, and gastric cancer risk factors) odds ratios (aORs), and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CI)., Results: Gastric cancer risk was higher for salty taste preference (aOR 1.59, 95% CI 1.25-2.03), always using table salt (aOR 1.33, 95% CI 1.16-1.54), and for the highest tertile of high-salt and salt-preserved foods intake (aOR 1.24, 95% CI 1.01-1.51) vs. the lowest tertile. No significant association was observed for the highest vs. the lowest tertile of total sodium intake (aOR 1.08, 95% CI 0.82-1.43). The results obtained were consistent across anatomic sites, strata of Helicobacter pylori infection, and sociodemographic, lifestyle and study characteristics., Conclusion: Salty taste preference, always using table salt, and a greater high-salt and salt-preserved foods intake increased the risk of gastric cancer, though the association was less robust with total sodium intake., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Background: Measuring the outcomes of palliative care plays an important role to improve the quality, efficiency, and availability of these services in patients with cancer. Using valid, reliable, and culturally appropriate tools has a considerable role to measure these outcomes. This study aimed to assess the psychometric properties of the translated version of the Palliative care Outcome Scale (POS)., Methods: This methodological study was conducted in two outpatient clinics related to Shohada Tajrish and Baqiyatallah hospitals in Tehran in 2019-2020. The translation was done using the Forward-Backward approach after gaining permission from the developer. Face validity was tested with 10 patients with cancer through cognitive interviewing, as well as content validity with four experts. Construct validity was performed by ( n = 203) exploratory factor analysis and confirmation ( N = 150). To assess the reliability, internal consistency was assessed by using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, and relative stability was assessed using the interclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Furthermore, interpretability and ceiling and floor effects were assessed., Results: A total of 353 patients with cancer under palliative care were included in the study. Then, three psychological (30%), physical (12.25%), and social factors (12.08%) with a cumulative variance of 54.34% were extracted in exploratory factor analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the model has a good fit of information. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for scale was 0.719. Furthermore, the ICC was 0.812. The scale was interpretable, and ceiling and floor effects were 0%., Conclusion: Persian version of the POS was evaluated as a valid and reliable tool. Therefore, it can be used by the clinician to monitor the consequences of palliative care in Iranian cancer patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Sirati Nir, Rassouli, Ebadi, Moosavi, Pakseresht, Hasan Shiri, Souri, Nasiri, Karami, Fereidouni and Barasteh.)

Background: The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori -negative gastric cancer (HpNGC) can be as low as 1%, when infection is assessed using more sensitive tests or considering the presence of gastric atrophy. HpNGC may share a high-risk profile contributing to the occurrence of cancer in the absence of infection. We estimated the proportion of HpNGC, using different criteria to define infection status, and compared HpNGC and positive cases regarding gastric cancer risk factors., Methods: Cases from 12 studies from the Stomach cancer Pooling (StoP) Project providing data on H. pylori infection status determined by serologic test were included. HpNGC was reclassified as positive (eight studies) when cases presented CagA markers (four studies), gastric atrophy (six studies), or advanced stage at diagnosis (three studies), and were compared with positive cases. A two-stage approach (random-effects models) was used to pool study-specific prevalence and adjusted odds ratios (OR)., Results: Among non-cardia cases, the pooled prevalence of HpNGC was 22.4% ( n = 166/853) and decreased to 7.0% ( n = 55) when considering CagA status; estimates for all criteria were 21.8% ( n = 276/1,325) and 6.6% ( n = 97), respectively. HpNGC had a family history of gastric cancer more often [OR = 2.18; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.03-4.61] and were current smokers (OR = 2.16; 95% CI, 0.52-9.02)., Conclusion: This study found a low prevalence of HpNGC, who are more likely to have a family history of gastric cancer in first-degree relatives., Impact: Our results support that H. pylori infection is present in most non-cardia gastric cancers, and suggest that HpNGC may have distinct patterns of exposure to other risk factors., (©2021 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Background: This short report aims to investigate changes in lifespan of Australian women with breast cancer using the novel average lifespan shortened (ALSS) measure METHODS: We obtained the mortality data of Australian women with breast cancer from the World Health Organization mortality database for the 1990-2015 period. We calculated the age-standardized rate (ASR) according to the World Standard Population. We estimated the ALSS as a ratio of years of life lost in relation to the expected lifespan to examine changes in lifespan of Australian women with breast cancer over the study period., Results: Over a 25-year period, the ASR of breast cancer deaths decreased from 20.5 to 12.6 deaths per 100,000 women. We observed a decline in ALSS values from 24.0% of their lifespan in 1990 to 22.0% in 2015., Conclusion: The novel ALSS measure indicates an improvement of two percentage points in the lifespan of Australian women with breast cancer over the study., (© 2021. The Japanese Breast Cancer Society.)