The pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes The expansion of whole-genome sequencing studies from individual ICGC and TCGA working groups presented the opportunity to undertake a meta-analysis of genomic features across tumour types. To achieve this, the PCAWG Consortium was established. A Technical Working Group implemented the informatics analyses by aggregating the raw sequencing data from different working groups that studied individual tumour types, aligning the sequences to the human genome and delivering a set of high-quality somatic mutation calls for downstream analysis (Extended Data Fig. 1). Given the recent meta-analysis

Background Obesity (OB) is a serious epidemic in the United States. Methods We examined OB patterns and time trends across socio-economic and geographic parameters and projected the future situation. Large national databases were used. Overweight (OW), OB and severe obesity (SOB) were defined using body mass index cut-points/percentiles; central obesity (CO), waist circumference cut-point in adults and waist:height ratio cutoff in youth. Various meta-regression analysis models were fit for projection analyses. Results OB prevalence had consistently risen since 1999 and considerable differences existed across groups and regions. Among adults, men’s OB (33.7%) and OW (71.6%) levelled off in 2009–2012, resuming the increase to 38.0 and 74.7% in 2015–2016, respectively. Women showed an uninterrupted increase in OB/OW prevalence since 1999, reaching 41.5% (OB) and 68.9% (OW) in 2015–2016. SOB levelled off in 2013–2016 (men: 5.5–5.6%; women: 9.7–9.5%), after annual increases of 0.2% between 1999 and 2012. Non-Hispanic Blacks had the highest prevalence in women’s OB/SOB and men’s SOB. OB prevalence in boys rose continuously to 20.6% and SOB to 7.5% in 2015–2016, but not in girls. By 2030, most Americans will be OB/OW and nearly 50% of adults OB, whereas ∼33% of children aged 6–11 and ∼50% of adolescents aged 12–19 will be OB/OW. Since 1999, CO has risen steadily, and by 2030 is projected to reach 55.6% in men, 80.0% in women, 47.6% among girls and 38.9% among boys. Regional differences exist in adult OB prevalence (2011–2016) and across ethnicities; South (32.0%) and Midwest (31.4%) had the highest rates. Conclusions US obesity prevalence has been rising, despite a temporary pause in 2009–2012. Wide disparities across groups and geographical regions persist. Effective, sustainable, culturally-tailored interventions are needed.

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: Given that HIV prevalence among MSM in some other parts of China has been as high as 3%, STDs facilitate the transmission of HIV, and high prevalence of STDs and sexual risk behaviors among MSM exist in Jiangsu Province, the potential for the future spread of HIV is of concern, and it is urgent to provide MSMs with STD healthcare services and HIV/AIDS/STD prevention education and intervention.

We examined risk factors associated with Necator americanus infection among persons aged > or =50 years in Hainan Province, People's Republic of China. Age and sex made the most important contributions to the variation in infection intensity (28%-30%), with age alone responsible for 27% of this variation. When stratified by 20-year age intervals, the influence of shared residence was 23% for persons aged > or =50 years and 27% for those aged <20 years, who had the highest and lowest levels of infection intensity, respectively. This points to shared residence as a means of capturing the complex relationship between aging and shared socioeconomic, environmental, and behavioral factors that influence transmission of Necator infection. None of the other 26 personal or 32 household risk factors were found to be significant. The importance of aging in Necator infection reveals an emerging public health problem among the elderly population of developing countries.

Geographic information systems (GIS) data/methods offer good promise for public health programs including obesity-related research. This study systematically examined their applications and identified gaps and limitations in current obesity-related research. A systematic search of PubMed for studies published before 20 May 2016, utilizing synonyms for GIS in combination with synonyms for obesity as search terms, identified 121 studies that met our inclusion criteria. We found primary applications of GIS data/methods in obesity-related research included (i) visualization of spatial distribution of obesity and obesity-related phenomena, and basic obesogenic environmental features, and (ii) construction of advanced obesogenic environmental indicators. We found high spatial heterogeneity in obesity prevalence/risk and obesogenic environmental factors. Also, study design and characteristics varied considerably across studies because of lack of established guidance and protocols in the field, which may also have contributed to the mixed findings about environmental impacts on obesity. Existing findings regarding built environment are more robust than those regarding food environment. Applications of GIS data/methods in obesity research are still limited, and related research faces many challenges. More and better GIS data and more friendly analysis methods are needed to expand future GIS applications in obesity-related research.

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The associations between visceral adiposity index (VAI), body shape index and diabetes in adults were inconsistent. We assessed the predictive capacity of VAI and body shape index for diabetes by comparing them with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC). We used the data of 5838 Chinese men and women aged ≥18 years from the 2009 China Health and Nutrition Survey. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the independent associations between Chinese VAI (CVAI) or body shape index and diabetes. The predictive power of the two indices was assessed using the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, and compared with those of BMI and WC. Both CVAI and body shape index were positively associated with diabetes. The odds ratios for diabetes were 4.9 (2.9–8.1) and 1.8 (1.2–2.8) in men, and 14.2 (5.3–38.2) and 2.0 (1.3–3.1) in women for the highest quartile of CVAI and body shape index, respectively. The area under the ROC (AUC) and Youden index for CVAI was the highest among all four obesity indicators, whereas BMI and WC are better indicators for diabetes screening. Higher CVAI and body shape index scores are independently associated with diabetes risk. CVAI has a higher overall diabetes diagnostic ability than BMI, WC and body shape index in Chinese adults. BMI and WC, however, are more appealing as screening indicators considering their easy use.