In this task, you are given a passage which has a question and the context. You have to generate an answer to the question based on the information present in the context.

Q: Context: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a complex chronic inflammatory disease of the nasal mucosa, caused by an interaction between genetic and environmental factors. As evidence suggests that some genetic variants may increase susceptibility to both AR and asthma, the objective of this study was to identify asthma susceptibility variants associated with AR in the Chinese population.', 'A cohort of 402 individuals with physician-diagnosed AR and 416 healthy controls were recruited from the Han Chinese population in Beijing. DNA was extracted from the peripheral blood and a total of 12 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) shown to be associated with asthma in Japanese subjects were selected for genotyping using the SequenomMassARRAY technology platform.', 'Analysis of frequency differences of allele between the AR patients and control subjects showed that the C allele of rs204993 in the pre-B-cell leukemia homeobox 2 (PBX2) gene from the 6p21.3 locus was significantly associated with AR (p = 0.0006, pcorrected = 0.0340). Genotype analysis further confirmed the difference in distribution of this variant between AR patients and controls in the both the dominant (pT/C+C/C vs T/T = 7.37×10(-5) ) and co-dominant (pT/C vs T/T = 1.98 × 10(-4) , pC/C vs T/T = 0.004) models.\Question: Does variant of PBX2 gene in the 6p21.3 asthma susceptibility locus is associate with allergic rhinitis in Chinese subjects?

A: These results suggest that the PBX2 gene in the 6p21.3 asthma susceptibility locus may be associated with increased risk for both AR and asthma in Chinese subjects.
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Q: Context: No formal assessment of life expectancy in women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations in these genes has been reported previously. We have evaluated life expectancy using actuarial analysis and assessed the effect of breast and ovarian cancers on premature death in >1,000 BRCA1/2 carriers.', 'Families with pathogenic mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been ascertained in a 10-million population region of United Kingdom since 1996. Mutation carriers and their first-degree relatives were used in an analysis of breast and ovarian cancer incidence and mortality as well as to derive and compare an actuarial assessment of life expectancy.', 'Six hundred twelve BRCA1 and 482 BRCA2 female mutation carriers were identified from 482 families. Life expectancy was significantly reduced for BRCA1 carriers compared with BRCA2 (P = 0.0002). This effect was attributable to an increased death rate from ovarian cancer (P = 0.04). Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed a better long-term survival from early-stage ovarian cancer in BRCA2 carriers but no significant differences in deaths from breast cancer or from women presenting with late-stage ovarian cancer. There was no other major contributing cause to death other than breast/ovarian cancer in BRCA1/2 female carriers.\Question: Is better life expectancy in women with BRCA2 compared with BRCA1 mutations attributable to lower frequency and later onset of ovarian cancer?

A: Interventions to reduce ovarian cancer incidence are likely to have a greater effect on life expectancy in BRCA1 compared with BRCA2 carriers.
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Q: Context: A cross-sectional study of spinal loading in healthy volunteers.', 'To measure the bending and compressive forces acting on the lumbar spine, in a range of postures, when unknown loads are delivered unexpectedly to the hands.', 'Epidemiologic studies suggest that sudden and unexpected loading events often lead to back injuries. Such incidents have been shown to increase back muscle activity, but their effects on the compressive force and bending moment acting on the spine have not been fully quantified. Furthermore, previous investigations have focused on the upright posture only.', 'In this study, 12 volunteers each stood on a force plate while weights of 0, 2, 4, and 6 kg (for men, 40% less for women) were delivered into their hands in one of three ways: 1) by the volunteer holding an empty box with handles, into which an unknown weight was dropped; 2) by the same way as in 1, but with volunteer wearing a blindfold and earphones to eliminate sensory cues; or 3) by the volunteer sliding a box of unknown weight off a smooth table. Experiments were carried out with participants standing in upright, partially flexed, and moderately flexed postures. Spinal compression resulting from muscular activity was quantified using electromyographic signals recorded from the back and abdominal muscles. The axial inertial force acting up the long axis of the spine was calculated from the vertical ground reaction force. The bending moment acting on the osteoligamentous spine was quantified by comparing measurements of lumbar curvature with the bending stiffness properties of cadaveric lumbar spines.', 'The contribution from abdominal muscle contraction to overall spinal compression was small (average, 8%), as was the axial inertial force (average, 2.5%), and both were highest in the upright posture. Peak bending moments were higher in flexed postures, but did not increase much at the moment of load delivery in any posture. Peak spinal compressive forces were increased by 30% to 70% when loads were suddenly and unexpectedly dropped into the box, and by 20% to 30% when they were slid off the table, as compared with loads simply held statically in the same posture (P < 0.001). The removal of audiovisual cues had little effect.\Question: Does sudden and unexpected loading generate high forces on the lumbar spine?

A:
Sudden and alarming events associated with manual handling cause a reflex overreaction of the back muscles, which substantially increases spine compressive loading. Manual handling regulations should aim to prevent such events and limit the weight of objects to be lifted.
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