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Aims/Introduction: Diabetes can increase the risk of cancers at several sites, but the association between diabetes and lung cancer remains unclear. We aimed to provide the quantitative estimates for the association between diabetes or antidiabetic treatment and lung cancer risk in the present meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: Cohort studies were identified by searching the PubMed database (January 1960 through October 2012) and manually assessing the cited references in the retrieved articles. Study-specific relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using a random-effects model. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Results: A total of 19 cohort studies were included in the present meta-analysis. Of these, 14 studies focused on the association between diabetes and lung cancer incidence, and seven studies focused on the association between antidiabetic treatment and lung cancer incidence. Compared with non-diabetic individuals, diabetic patients do not have an increased risk of lung cancer (RR = 1.04, 95% CI 0.87-1.24). The association between diabetes and lung cancer remained not statistically significant in subgroup analysis stratified by study characteristics, study quality, diabetes ascertainment or important confounders. A null association between insulin or biguanides therapy and lung cancer risk was found. However, the diabetic patients receiving thiazolidinedione (TZD) treatment had a 20% reduced risk of lung cancer than those without TZD treatment. Conclusions: No association between diabetes and lung cancer risk was found. However, TZD treatment might reduce lung cancer risk in diabetic patients. (J Diabetes Invest,

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This study explored threshold concepts and areas of troublesome knowledge among students enrolled in a basic biostatistics course at the university level. The main area of troublesome knowledge among students was targeted by using technology to improve student learning. A total of 102 undergraduate students who responded to structured questionnaires were included in this study. The results suggest that threshold concepts regarding “statistics” and “random sample” need to be better understood. “Confidence interval” and “hypothesis testing” were the two most frequent troublesome areas among the participants.The pedagogical role of technology in teaching and learning statistics, and the mechanisms whereby technology may improve student learning were discussed. First published May 2014 at Statistics Education Research Journal Archives