Background: Lung cancer is the leading cancer diagnosis worldwide and the number one cause of cancer deaths. Exposure to cigarette smoke, the primary risk factor in lung cancer, reduces epithelial barrier integrity and increases susceptibility to infections. Herein, we hypothesize that somatic mutations together with cigarette smoke generate a dysbiotic microbiota that is associated with lung carcinogenesis. Using lung tissue from 33 controls and 143 cancer cases, we conduct 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) bacterial gene sequencing, with RNA-sequencing data from lung cancer cases in The Cancer Genome Atlas serving as the validation cohort. Results: Overall, we demonstrate a lower alpha diversity in normal lung as compared to non-tumor adjacent or tumor tissue. In squamous cell carcinoma specifically, a separate group of taxa are identified, in which Acidovorax is enriched in smokers. Acidovorax temporans is identified within tumor sections by fluorescent in situ hybridization and confirmed by two separate 16S rRNA strategies. Further, these taxa, including Acidovorax, exhibit higher abundance among the subset of squamous cell carcinoma cases with TP53 mutations, an association not seen in adenocarcinomas. Conclusions: The results of this comprehensive study show both microbiome-gene and microbiome-exposure interactions in squamous cell carcinoma lung cancer tissue. Specifically, tumors harboring TP53 mutations, which can impair epithelial function, have a unique bacterial consortium that is higher in relative abundance in smoking-associated tumors of this type. Given the significant need for clinical diagnostic tools in lung cancer, this study may provide novel biomarkers for early detection.

The Global Flourishing Study (GFS) is an international collaboration to develop a publicly accessible data resource to promote global research on human flourishing. These data include over 200,000 participants from 22 geographically and culturally diverse countries and one territory designed to be nationally representative of the adult population. The GFS is intended as a longitudinal panel study with recruitment and empanelment for Wave 1 occurring between April 2022 and December 2023. Future waves of data collection will invite participants to complete a survey annually. The annual survey covers a robust set of measures on well-being, health, social, economic, political, religious, spiritual, psychological and demographic variables. The current paper describes the sampling methodology and weighting approaches used to project the samples to be nationally representative. Details are provided on interviewer training and data collection, probability and non-probability samples, creating weights, design effects, and future data collection stages.

Objective Obesity is a risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC), accounting for more than 14% of CRC incidence. Microbial dysbiosis and chronic inflammation are common characteristics in both obesity and CRC. Human and murine studies, together, demonstrate the significant impact of the microbiome in governing energy metabolism and CRC development; yet, little is understood about the contribution of the microbiome to development of obesity-associated CRC as compared to individuals who are not obese. Design In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis using five publicly available stool and tissue-based 16S rRNA and whole genome sequencing (WGS) data sets of CRC microbiome studies. High-resolution analysis was employed for 16S rRNA data, which allowed us to achieve species-level information to compare with WGS. Results Characterisation of the confounders between studies, 16S rRNA variable region and sequencing method did not reveal any significant effect on alpha diversity in CRC prediction. Both 16S rRNA and WGS were equally variable in their ability to predict CRC. Results from diversity analysis confirmed lower diversity in obese individuals without CRC; however, no universal differences were found in diversity between obese and non-obese individuals with CRC. When examining taxonomic differences, the probability of being classified as CRC did not change significantly in obese individuals for all taxa tested. However, random forest classification was able to distinguish CRC and non-CRC stool when body mass index was added to the model. Conclusion Overall, microbial dysbiosis was not a significant factor in explaining the higher risk of colon cancer among individuals with obesity.

Contemporary cross-cultural research on flourishing and development has been limited by a focus on Western populations and typically Western priorities, and by attention to only a few indicators of flourishing, such as life satisfaction, life expectancy, or GDP per capita. This paper highlights some significant challenges for robust cross-national and cross-cultural research on the domains and drivers of flourishing. Using data from the recently proposed Global Comparison Framework and the Gallup World Poll, we explore the within- and between-country heterogeneity of flourishing and its determinants across the 22 countries which are the subject of the Global Flourishing Study. Sources of heterogeneity considered include potential tradeoffs among domains of flourishing; the effects of cultural differences on the conceptualization and actualization of flourishing; and the cultural specificity of core analytical concepts, including “life evaluation” and “nation.”

Although peace is invariably regarded as a universal good, most research focuses on ‘outer’ forms (e.g., societal relations), with little attention to ‘inner’ peace (IP, i.e., tranquil states of mind). This may reflect the Western-centrism of academia, with low arousal positive states like IP being relatively undervalued in the West. But alongside broader efforts to redress such Western-centricity, an emergent literature is now exploring this concept. This report adds to this by presenting the most ambitious longitudinal study to date of IP, namely as an item – “In general, how often do you feel you are at peace with your thoughts and feelings?” – in the Global Flourishing Study, a five-year (minimum) panel study of the predictors of flourishing, involving (in this first year) 202,898 participants from 22 countries. This paper looks at demographic variation vis-à-vis IP, with our primary analyses consisting of meta-analyses across countries for each demographic group, focusing on three research questions. (1) What are the distributions and descriptive statistics of key demographic factors? (2) How does IP order across countries, with considerable variation observed, with the percentage always or often at peace ranging from 89% (95% CI = 87,90) in Hong Kong to just 49% (0.46,0.52) in Turkey. (3) How does IP vary across demographic categories, with the greatest variation among those always/often at peace observed in relation to age (68% [63,73] of 18–24 year olds versus 86% [73,94] of the 80+), followed by employment status (63% [0.57,0.68] of unemployed job-seekers versus 78% [65,75] of retirees), then religious attendance (68% [62,73] for non-attendees versus 80% [73,85] for more than once weekly). The results shed new light on the personal and contextual factors that shape this valued yet under-studied outcome, and provide a helpful foundation for further enquiry.

The “extended Rasch modeling” (eRm) package in R provides users with a comprehensive set of tools for Rasch modeling for scale evaluation and general modeling. We provide a brief introduction to Rasch modeling followed by a review of literature that utilizes the eRm package. Then, the key features of the eRm package for scale evaluation are reviewed. The ease of use and the advantages of the R environment make the eRm package an appealing, free option for rigorous Rasch modeling. We demonstrate the functionality with a small example using data from the Rosenberg Self-Esteem scale. Using these data we show how to 1) fit dichotomous and polytomous Rasch models, 2) obtain key figures (e.g., item characteristic curves and person-item maps) to aid model assessment, 3) assess dimensionality and 4) obtain item fit statistics.