Associations of burnout with awakening and diurnal cortisol among police officers.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the associations of burnout with cortisol parameters in 197 police officers from the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress (BCOPS) study (2010-2014). The Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey assessed depersonalization, exhaustion, and professional efficacy. Officers provided salivary cortisol samples collected upon awakening, and 15, 30, and 45 min thereafter as well as three additional samples at lunchtime, dinnertime, and bedtime. Total area under the curve with respect to increase (AUCWI for waking and AUCDI for diurnal), total area under the curve with respect to ground (AUCWG for waking and AUCDG for diurnal), and diurnal slope were determined and used in this study. Unadjusted and adjusted (age, sex, and race/ethnicity) associations were examined using linear regression. The mean age of the officers was 48 years and 72% were males. The depersonalization component of burnout was negatively associated with AUCDG (ß = -108.4; p = 0.036). Similarly, as exhaustion increased, AUCWI (ß = -9.58, p = 0.038), AUCDG (ß = -114.7, p = 0.029) and the diurnal slope (ß = -0.000038; p = 0.017) decreased. The Professional efficacy was not associated with any of the cortisol parameters. These results suggest that certain characteristics of burnout may be associated with diminished cortisol secretion in this group of urban police officers. Our findings add to previous studies examining associations of burnout with the cortisol awakening response. Future longitudinal studies are needed to evaluate the temporal relationship between burnout and these cortisol parameters.

Employment and work schedule are related to telomere length in women.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of employment and work schedule with shorter DNA telomeres, a marker of cellular ageing and disease risk factor, and consider whether differences were related to health, behaviours and sociodemographic factors, or varied by stress levels or menopausal status. METHODS: This cross-sectional analysis of 608 women aged 35-74 in the Sister Study examined determinants of relative telomere length (rTL) measured by quantitative PCR in leucocyte DNA. Age-adjusted regression models estimated base pair (bp) rTL differences for current and lifetime schedule characteristics (ie, part-time, full-time or overtime hours; multiple jobs; irregular hours; shiftwork; work at night). Covariates included race, smoking, perceived stress, sleep, physical activity, health and menopausal status, education, marital status, live births, children under 18, measured body mass index and urinary stress hormones. RESULTS: Compared with non-employed women with moderate or substantial past work histories (n=190), those currently working full-time (n=247; median 40 h/week) had a shorter rTL, an age-adjusted difference of -329 bp (95% CI -110 to -548). Longer-duration full-time work was also associated with shorter rTL (age-adjusted difference of -472 bp, 95% CI -786 to -158 for 20+ vs 1-5 years). Findings were not explained by health and demographic covariates. However, rTL differences for working at least full-time were greater in women with higher stress and epinephrine levels. CONCLUSIONS: Current and long-term full-time work were associated with shorter rTL, with differences of similar magnitude to smoking and history of heart disease or diabetes. Longitudinal data with specific stress measures are needed to further evaluate the impact of work schedule on rTL.

Distribution of HER2(V655) genotypes in breast cancer cases and controls in the United States.

The minor variant frequency of a HER2 polymorphism (HER2(V655)) has been determined for 471 United States women enrolled in a multiracial case-control study. Allelic frequencies varied significantly by race. Genotypic distributions showed no excess breast cancer risk associated with inheritance of HER2(V655) either as carriers (OR=1.2, 95% CI=0.8-1.9), heterozygotes (OR=1.2, 95% CI=0.8-1.9), or homozygotes (OR=1.4, 95% CI=0.4-4.2). Nor was there a significant association when each racial group was considered separately. The current study suggests the HER2(V655) allele is not a breast cancer risk factor for Caucasians, African-Americans, or Latinas.

Highly conserved repetitive DNA sequences are present at human centromeres.

Highly conserved repetitive DNA sequence clones, largely consisting of (GGAAT)n repeats, have been isolated from a human recombinant repetitive DNA library by high-stringency hybridization with rodent repetitive DNA. This sequence, the predominant repetitive sequence in human satellites II and III, is similar to the essential core DNA of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae centromere, centromere DNA element (CDE) III. In situ hybridization to human telophase and Drosophila polytene chromosomes shows localization of the (GGAAT)n sequence to centromeric regions. Hyperchromicity studies indicate that the (GGAAT)n sequence exhibits unusual hydrogen bonding properties. The purine-rich strand alone has the same thermal stability as the duplex. Hyperchromicity studies of synthetic DNA variants indicate that all sequences with the composition (AATGN)n exhibit this unusual thermal stability. DNA-mobility-shift assays indicate that specific HeLa-cell nuclear proteins recognize this sequence with a relative affinity greater than 10(5). The extreme evolutionary conservation of this DNA sequence, its centromeric location, its unusual hydrogen bonding properties, its high affinity for specific nuclear proteins, and its similarity to functional centromeres isolated from yeast suggest that this sequence may be a component of the functional human centromere.