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Previous Mendelian randomization (MR) studies on 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and cancer have typically adopted a handful of variants and found no relationship between 25(OH)D and cancer; however, issues of horizontal pleiotropy cannot be reliably addressed. Using a larger set of variants associated with 25(OH)D (74 SNPs, up from 6 previously), we perform a unified MR analysis to re-evaluate the relationship between 25(OH)D and ten cancers. Our findings are broadly consistent with previous MR studies indicating no relationship, apart from ovarian cancers (OR 0.89; 95% C.I: 0.82 to 0.96 per 1 SD change in 25(OH)D concentration) and basal cell carcinoma (OR 1.16; 95% C.I.: 1.04 to 1.28). However, after adjustment for pigmentation related variables in a multivariable MR framework, the BCC findings were attenuated. Here we report that lower 25(OH)D is unlikely to be a causal risk factor for most cancers, with our study providing more precise confidence intervals than previously possible., Studies of the genetic association between vitamin D and cancer risk have typically been underpowered. Here the authors analyse this using Mendelian Randomisation with more than 70 vitamin D variants obtained from the UK Biobank and large-scale data from various consortia, confirming null associations between vitamin D and most cancers.

Summary Alternate-day fasting (ADF) causes body weight (BW) loss in humans and rodents. However, it is not clear that ADF while maintaining a high-fat (HF) diet results in weight loss and the accompanying improvement in control of circulating glucose. We tested the hypotheses that a high-fat ADF protocol in obese mice would result in (i) BW loss, (ii) improved glucose control, (iii) fluctuating phenotypes on ‘fasted’ days when compared to ‘fed’ days and (iv) induction of torpor on ‘fasted days’. We evaluated the physiological effects of ADF in diet-induced obese mice for BW, heart rate (HR), body temperature (Tb), glucose tolerance, insulin responsiveness, blood parameters (leptin, insulin, free fatty acids) and hepatic gene expression. Diet-induced obese male C57BL/6J mice lost one-third of their pre-diet BW while on an ADF diet for 10 weeks consisting of HF food. The ADF protocol improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, although mice on a fast day were less glucose tolerant than the same mice on a fed day. ADF mice on a fast day had low circulating insulin, but had an enhanced response to an insulin-assisted glucose tolerance test, suggesting the impaired glucose tolerance may be a result of insufficient insulin production. On fed days, ADF mice were the warmest, had a high HR and displayed hepatic gene expression and circulating leptin that closely mimicked that of mice fed an ad lib HF diet. ADF mice never entered torpor as assessed by HR and Tb. However, on fast days, they were the coolest, had the slowest HR, and displayed hepatic gene expression and circulating leptin that closely mimicked that of Chow-Fed mice. Collectively, the ADF regimen with a HF diet in obese mice results in weight loss, improved blood glucose control, and daily fluctuations in selected physiological and biochemical parameters in the mouse.

Modern business requires effective communication facilities. The communication requirements of a small business may be met by a single telephone, and probably a fax machine, or a few telephones served by a key system. A larger business requires a private automatic branch exchange (PABX) to serve a larger number of extension lines and provide connections between them and the public switched telephone network (PSTN). A business which operates on several sites will have a PABX at each. If extension users generate sufficient traffic between these PABXs, it may be economic to join the PABXs by a private network, rather than route traffic between them over the public network. Organisations also have a need for data communication which may justify a private data network.

It is necessary to exchange information between the various institutions of the medical faculty of the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg. For example, basic patient data, which is collected in a central computer, must be distributed to various stations and laboratories. Also medical findings, which are already captured in computers in central laboratories, must be transmitted to various parts of the university hospitals. After the data network, consisting of a glass fiber backbone linking the buildings and cabling in the individual departments, had been implemented, it became possible to provide an electronic exchange of medical information.

A major problem for many Hospital Information Systems is separating modules to meet the information requirements of specialized parts before integration into one system. In most cases the interfaces are proprietary, leading to an enormous amount of implementation work for access to other systems. International Standards, such as a common language in Medical Communication, offer the possibility of reducing this variety and enhancing the information interchange by connecting more systems in shorter time with less cost.

This paper reports on the functional evaluation of the three 16-bit microprocessors, namely the Intel 8086, the Zilog Z8000, and the Motorola MC68000. These microprocessors were employed in several CRT applications, both monochrome and color. Execution time benchmark tests were made, mechanization problems compared and instruction/architectural characteristics highlighted. Conclusions and recommendations are made applicable to terminals and similar Sperry Univac products.