No abstract

Regarding 'maté' intake (infusion of Ilex paraguariensis herb, a staple beverage in temperate South American regions), most epidemiologic studies showed positive associations with risk of some cancers, (e.g. upper aerodigestive tract), but evidence on breast cancer (BC) risk is limited to a previous multi-site study, which reported a non significant odds ratio [OR]=0.85, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.67-1.09, p for trend=0.31) for the highest quartile of intake. The present study was conducted in order to further assess associations of 'mate' intake with BC risk. We combined two databases of women belonging to public and private healthcare hospitals. The sample included 572 BC incident cases and 889 controls interviewed with a specific questionnaire featured by socio-demographic, reproductive and lifestyle variables, and a food frequency questionnaire of 64 items, also analyzing 'mate' intake (consumer status, daily intake, age at start, age at quit, duration of habit, intensity of intake). ORs and their 95%CI were calculated through unconditional logistic regression, adjusting for relevant potential confounders. The highest quartile of 'mate' intake was inversely associated with BC risk (OR=0.40, 95%CI 0.26-0.57, p for trend <0.001). Stratified analyses also displayed strong significant inverse associations for 'mate' in frequent tea drinkers (OR=0.22), high energy intake (OR=0.23), high body mass index (OR=0.29) and in postmenopausal women (OR=0.36), among other results. As conclusions, we found evidence of a significant inverse association for 'mate' intake and BC risk.

We found evidence of different significant inverse associations for tea, 'mate' and coffee intake and CRC risk. To our knowledge, this is the first epidemiologic study reporting inverse results on 'mate' intake and CRC, which are explained by a stronger association among women.European Journal of Clinical Nutrition advance online publication, 23 August 2017; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2017.130.

The halogen–lithium exchange reaction is of one of the most powerful method for the preparation of organolithium compounds, but its mechanism is still controversial. To afford some new elements, we synthesized a new suitable fast radical clock, bearing a phenyl group at the alkene C‐terminal. The examination of some mechanistic clues, as well as the identification of the unexpected by‐products allowed the conclusion that the reaction proceeds by a polar mechanism and no evidence for radicals were found. The second reaction discussed is the insertion of NO in the NLi bond of lithium amides. Evidence for the involving of paramagnetic and nitrosonium intermediates, as well as equilibria between different reactive species were essential for the proposal of a whole complex mechanism, which was confirmed by theoretical calculations. Finally, results on the addition of heteroaromatic organocuprates to α,β‐unsaturated substrates are presented. Several reaction conditions were looked for to lead the reaction toward the more interesting 1,4‐conjugated addition. Thus, addition of up to 6 equivalents of TMSCl to the reaction with arylcuprates leads to a clean addition yielding more than 95% of the 1,4‐addition product. A further objective of the paper is to show how the search of unexpected routes of reaction allowed developing original pathways to lead them toward the formation of appealing functionalized compounds. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.