Milan Savic

Obesity, metabolic factors and risk of different histological types of lung cancer: A Mendelian randomization study.

Background Assessing the relationship between lung cancer and metabolic conditions is challenging because of the confounding effect of tobacco. Mendelian randomization (MR), or the use of genetic instrumental variables to assess causality, may help to identify the metabolic drivers of lung cancer. Methods and findings We identified genetic instruments for potential metabolic risk factors and evaluated these in relation to risk using 29,266 lung cancer cases (including 11,273 adenocarcinomas, 7,426 squamous cell and 2,664 small cell cases) and 56,450 controls. The MR risk analysis suggested a causal effect of body mass index (BMI) on lung cancer risk for two of the three major histological subtypes, with evidence of a risk increase for squamous cell carcinoma (odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.20 [1.01–1.43] and for small cell lung cancer (OR [95%CI] = 1.52 [1.15–2.00]) for each standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI [4.6 kg/m2]), but not for adenocarcinoma (OR [95%CI] = 0.93 [0.79–1.08]) (Pheterogeneity = 4.3x10-3). Additional analysis using a genetic instrument for BMI showed that each SD increase in BMI increased cigarette consumption by 1.27 cigarettes per day (P = 2.1x10-3), providing novel evidence that a genetic susceptibility to obesity influences smoking patterns. There was also evidence that low-density lipoprotein cholesterol was inversely associated with lung cancer overall risk (OR [95%CI] = 0.90 [0.84–0.97] per SD of 38 mg/dl), while fasting insulin was positively associated (OR [95%CI] = 1.63 [1.25–2.13] per SD of 44.4 pmol/l). Sensitivity analyses including a weighted-median approach and MR-Egger test did not detect other pleiotropic effects biasing the main results. Conclusions Our results are consistent with a causal role of fasting insulin and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in lung cancer etiology, as well as for BMI in squamous cell and small cell carcinoma. The latter relation may be mediated by a previously unrecognized effect of obesity on smoking behavior.

Grammatical priming of inflected nouns by inflected adjectives

Abstract Two experiments are reported in which subjects made rapid lexical decisions about inflected nouns preceded by inflected adjectives or pseudoadjectives that did or did not agree grammatically. Both adjectives and pseudoadjectives were shown to affect lexical decision times for nouns, suggesting that the priming of inflected nouns by inflected adjectives occurred at the level of the inflections. Inflected pseudonouns, however, were not affected similarly, suggesting that lexical factors were contributing to the priming in addition to grammatical factors. This instance of grammatical priming is described as an effect that arises post-lexically, based on the outcomes of relatively independent lexical and syntactical processors.

Bi-Alphabetical Lexical Decision.

The Serbo-Croatian language is written in two alphabets, Roman and Cyrillic. The majority of the total number of alphabet characters are unique to one or the other alphabet. There are, however, a number of shared characters, some of which receive the same reading in the two alphabets, and some of which receive a different reading in the two alphabets. Letter-strings were constructed, all of which could be given a phonological interpretation in Roman, but only some of which could be given a phonological interpretation in Cyrillic; some of these letter-strings had a lexical entry in Roman, some had a lexical entry in Cyrillic, some had a lexical entry - the same or different - in both alphabets, and some had no lexical entry in either alphabet. In three experiments, subjects reading in the Roman alphabet mode decided as rapidly as possible whether a given letter-string was a word. Taken together, the experiments suggest that in the lexical decision task, Serbo-Croatian letter-strings (where their structure permits) receive simultaneously two phonologic interpretations. Whether or not this phonologic bivalence impedes lexical decision in the assigned alphabet mode depends on whether or not the letter-string has a lexical entry in at least one of the alphabets.

Hemispheric asymmetries in phonological processing

In Serbo-Croat, lexical decision to phonologically bivalent letter strings is slowed relative to their phonologically unique counterparts. This feature was exploited in order to assess the linguistic capacity of the two hemispheres. Lexical decision to laterally presented words and pseudowords revealed a right visual field advantage for both males and females in words and pseudowords. But the demands of phonological processing were not met in the same way by the two hemispheres, the two hemispheres did not respond in the same way in the two sexes, and the pattern of these differences was opposite for words and pseudowords.

Estimation of the surge arrester outage rate caused by lightning overvoltages

The computation based on the lightning limiting parameters method of the surge arrester minimum energy absorption capability is presented. The sensitivity analyses of certain lightning parameters like lightning current-wave duration and equivalent circuit parameters are performed. The influence of the tower footing impedance to the surge arrester failure rate due to the exceeding energy absorption capability is investigated. The method of selection of the medium voltage surge arrester energy absorption capability based on the allowed failure rate is proposed.

Lexical decision for inflected nouns.

Lexical decision times were measured for three grammatical cases of inflected Serbo-Croatian nouns. The grammatical cases occur with different frequencies. Decision times were not related by a unique constant multiplier to the logarithms of the respective case frequencies. The result suggests that a principle of organization in addition to frequency of occurrence is involved in the lexical memory of inflected nouns.

When nonwords activate semantics better than words

We conducted a strong test of the idea that visual word processing and the activation of a printed words meaning proceeds at a rate scaled by the temporal evolution of a unique and stable phonological code. Using the lexical decision task, and readers fluent in the two alphabets of Serbo-Croatian, we compared the priming of a target word such as automat by the semantically related word ROBOT and by the nonword ROBOT. Whereas the Serbo-Croatian word ROBOT can support two phonological codes, /robot/ and /rovot/, the nonword ROBOT composed by illegally mixing Roman and Cyrillic letters can support only the phonological code /robot/, that corresponding to the word whose meaning is related to automats. At a prime duration of 35 ms, the lexical decision on the target automat was facilitated by ROBOT but not by ROBOT. At a prime duration of 125 ms, the word ROBOT was the more effective prime. One consequence of phonologys leading role in visual word recognition is that a nonword can sometimes activate a given words meaning better than the word itself.

Experimental Research on the Influence of Wind Turbine Blade Rotation on the Characteristics of Atmospheric Discharges

The experimental research, whose most important segments are described in this paper, is one of the first attempts to determine the influence of wind turbine blade rotation on likelihood of getting struck by lightning. The tests were conducted in the high-voltage laboratory, applying the up-and-down method for determination of the 50% flashover standard switching voltage. The impulse voltage waves were applied between the specially de signed arching electrode and the blades of a reduced-size wind turbine model, driven by a frequency controlled motor. Two types of lightning protection systems and the case of absent protection system were examined. According to the theory of similarity this pa per discusses the characteristics of direct atmospheric discharges for the following typical rotational speeds of the wind turbine: w = 0 r/min (when the wind turbine is idle), w = 250 r/min (for the winds of moderate strength), and w = 400 r/min (rated rotor speed).

The high-voltage substation configuration influence on the estimated lightning performance

ContentsThe substation configuration has a great influence on the lightning overvoltages caused by backflashes at the lines connected in front of the substations. In most of the analyses the critical substation configuration is assumed with only one connected line. In the paper the influence of the substation configuration the line performance is analyzed. The mean time between power transformer insulation failures is computed taking into account the monthly distribution of the lightning activities and also the monthly probability distribution of certain substation configurations. The method is illustrated by a 400 kV substation example.ÜbersichtDie Schaltungen von Hochspannungsanlagen beinflussen erheblich die Höhe und Form der Überspannungen, die von rückwärtigen Überschlägen auf den zugeschalteten Freileitungen verursacht werden. In konventionellen Überspannungsberechnungen wird die Schaltung mit nur einer Freileitung betrachtet. Der vorliegende Aufsatz analysiert den Einfluß von verschiedenen Schaltungen auf die Überspannungen. Das mittlere Zeit-intervall zwischen Isolationsfehlern von Transformatoren wird berechnet unter Berücksichtigung der monatlichen Verteilung und auch der Verteilungsfunktion der monatlichen Wahrscheinlichkeit von Blitzeinschlägen von verschiedenen Anlageschaltungen. Die Berechnungsmethode wird am Beispiel einer 400 kV-Schaltanlage eingehend dargestellt.

Substation Lightning Performance Estimation Due to Strikes Into Connected Overhead Lines

The generalization of the probabilistic lightning limiting parameter (LLP) method for high-voltage substation lightning performance estimation due to the discharges into connected overhead lines (OHLs) is described. The method improvement is made only for the case of lightning strokes to the shield wire of OHL, causing back-flashover in front of the substation. The improved LLP method is illustrated at the insulation coordination study of the 400-kV line with long connecting cable with direct entry into the gas-insulated substation of the hydroelectric plant. The number of surge arrester sets and sensitivity analyses of the number of connected step-up transformers influence to the mean time between failures of the 400-kV transformer and equipment insulation are investigated.