Notes

Intra-cellular coupling modulates biflagellar synchrony.
control ones. Our results demonstrate that ALAN can play a role in determination of the glucocorticoid phenotype of wild animals, and may thus contribute to phenotypic differences between urban and rural animals.
Contradictory findings were reported in observational studies on the association of thyroid function [thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (FT4) levels] with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

To determine whether genetically determined TSH/FT4 levels within reference range are causally associated with AD.

Bi-directional two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) study.

With summary statistics from the largest genome-wide association studies (GWAS)/GWAS meta-analysis of TSH level(n≥54,288), FT4 level(n=49,269) and AD(71,880 cases; 383,378 controls), we used MR approach to evaluate the bi-directional causal relationship between TSH/FT4 levels and AD. Inverse-variance weighted method was adopted as the main analysis.

One standard deviation increase in genetically determined TSH level within reference range was causally associated with reduced risk of AD (Odds ratio0.988; 95% CI0.977-0.998). Similar inverse association was observed in sex-specific analysis. The causal association was attenuated aftotterdam study, whether the causal estimates derived from this MR study are underestimated warrants further investigations.
Gray matter morphology in the prefrontal cortex and subcortical regions, including the hippocampus and amygdala, are affected in youth with classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH). It remains unclear if white matter connecting these aforementioned brain regions is compromised in youth with CAH.

To examine brain white matter microstructure in youth with CAH compared to controls.

A cross-sectional sample of 23 youths with CAH due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency (12.9±3.5 year; 61% female) and 33 healthy controls (13.1±2.8 year; 61% female) with 3T multi-shell diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance brain scans.

Complementary modeling approaches, including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI), to examine in vivo white matter microstructure in six white matter tracts that innervate the prefrontal and subcortical regions.

DTI showed CAH youth had lower fractional anisotropy in both the fornix and stria terminalis, and higher mean diffusivity in turocircuitry in individuals with CAH.
Military veterans continue to struggle with addiction even after receiving treatment for substance use disorders (SUDs). Identifying factors that may influence SUD relapse upon receiving treatment in veteran populations is crucial for intervention and prevention efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine risk factors that contribute to SUD relapse upon treatment completion in a sample of U.S. veterans using logistic regression and classification tree analysis.

Data from the 2017 Treatment Episode Data Set-Discharge (TEDS-D) included 40,909 veteran episode observations. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression analysis were conducted to determine factors associated with SUD relapse after treatment discharge. Classification trees were constructed to identify high-risk subgroups for substance use after discharge from treatment for SUDs.

Approximately 94% of the veterans relapsed upon discharge from outpatient or residential SUD treatment. Veterans aged 18-34 years old were signifon among this vulnerable population. The findings of this study can inform healthcare policy and practices targeting veteran-tailored treatment programs to improve SUD treatment completion and lower substance use after treatment.Choosing among types of genomic markers to be used in a phylogenomic study can have a major influence on the cost, design, and results of a study. Yet few attempts have been made to compare categories of next-generation sequence markers limiting our ability to compare the suitability of these different genomic fragment types. Here, we explore properties of different genomic markers to find if they vary in the accuracy of component phylogenetic trees and to clarify the causes of conflict obtained from different data sets or inference methods. As a test case, we explore the causes of discordance between phylogenetic hypotheses obtained using a novel data set of ultraconserved elements (UCEs) and a recently published exon data set of the cichlid tribe Heroini. Resolving relationships among heroine cichlids has historically been difficult, and the processes of colonization and diversification in Middle America and the Greater Antilles are not yet well understood. Despite differences in informativeness and levels gments when inferring enigmatic phylogenetic relationships.In cancer, copy number aberrations (CNAs) represent a type of nearly ubiquitous and frequently extensive structural genome variations. To disentangle the molecular mechanisms underlying tumorigenesis as well as identify and characterize molecular subtypes, the comparative and meta-analysis of large genomic variant collections can be of immense importance. Over the last decades, cancer genomic profiling projects have resulted in a large amount of somatic genome variation profiles, however segregated in a multitude of individual studies and datasets. The Progenetix project, initiated in 2001, curates individual cancer CNA profiles and associated metadata from published oncogenomic studies and data repositories with the aim to empower integrative analyses spanning all different cancer biologies. During the last few years, the fields of genomics and cancer research have seen significant advancement in terms of molecular genetics technology, disease concepts, data standard harmonization as well as data availability, in an increasingly structured and systematic manner. For the Progenetix resource, continuous data integration, curation and maintenance have resulted in the most comprehensive representation of cancer genome CNA profiling data with 138 663 (including 115 357 tumor) copy number variation (CNV) profiles. In this article, we report a 4.5-fold increase in sample number since 2013, improvements in data quality, ontology representation with a CNV landscape summary over 51 distinctive National Cancer Institute Thesaurus cancer terms as well as updates in database schemas, and data access including new web front-end and programmatic data access. Database URL progenetix.org.IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD), which are commonly accompanied by dyslipidemia. Obesity is also associated with dyslipidemia and risk of CKD, but the relation of the dyslipidemia patterns with obesity and disease progression in IgAN patients remains unknown. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the combined treatment with corticosteroids and TCM have been shown to be of benefit for IgAN patients, but predictive markers for guiding these treatments are lacking. Here, we quantified 545 lipid species in the plasma from 196 participants, including 140 IgAN patients and 56 healthy volunteers, and revealed an altered plasma lipidome in IgAN patients as compared to healthy participants. Association analysis showed that a sub-group of glycerides, particularly triacylglycerols (TGs) containing docosahexaenoic acid, were positively associated with high body mass index (BMI) in under- or normal weight IgAN patients, while several free fatty acids and sphingomyelins were positively associated with high BMI in overweight or obese IgAN patients. Further, our study suggested that elevated levels of eight lipids, mainly TG species containing linolenic acid, were independent risk factors for IgAN progression and also reported the prospective association of circulating lipids with treatment outcomes in IgAN. Taken together, our findings may not only help to achieve precision medicine but also provide a knowledge base for dietary intervention in the treatment of IgAN.
The American Heart Association created the Life's Simple 7 (LS7) metrics to promote cardiovascular health by achieving optimal levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, physical activity, diet, weight, and smoking status. The degree to which psychosocial factors such as stress and depression impact one's ability to achieve optimal cardiovascular health is unclear, particularly among hypertensive African Americans.

Cross-sectional analyses included 1,819 African Americans with hypertension participating in the Jackson Heart Study (2000-2004). Outcomes were LS7 composite and individual component scores (defined as poor, intermediate, ideal). High perceived chronic stress was defined as the top quartile of Weekly Stress Inventory scores. High depressive symptoms were defined as Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale scores of ≥16. We compared four groups high stress alone; high depressive symptoms alone; high stress and high depressive symptoms; low stress and low depressive symptoms (re
The objective assessment of beauty is challenging and subject to current research efforts. Recently, a new means of objectively determining the aesthetic appeal of body features has been investigated by analyzing gaze patterns and eye movements.

The objective of this study was to assess differences in observers' gaze patterns presented with standardized 3-dimensional images with different degrees of breast asymmetry using objective eye-tracking technology.

A total of 83 Caucasian study participants with a mean age of 38.60 (19.8) years were presented with 5 images depicting varying degrees of breast symmetry. In addition to the assessment of eye movements, participants were asked to rate the aesthetic appeal and the asymmetry of the breasts on a 5-point Likert scale.

Overall, the data show that participants rating of the breasts' aesthetic appeal was inversely related to the level of asymmetry. Time until fixation was shortest for the image depicting the greatest breast asymmetry (50 cc) with 0.77 (0.7), p <0.001. In addition, the mammary region was also viewed longest in this image with 3.76 (0.5) seconds, p < 0.001. A volume difference of 35 cc between breasts deflected the observers' gaze significantly toward the larger of the asymmetrical breasts, p<0.001.

Surgeons should focus on symmetrical breast volume (ie, differences < 35 cc between breasts) to avoid noticeable asymmetry with regard to breast size.
Surgeons should focus on symmetrical breast volume (ie, differences less then 35 cc between breasts) to avoid noticeable asymmetry with regard to breast size.
For children with growth hormone deficiency (GHD), treatment burden with daily somatropin injections (hGH) is high, which may lead to poor adherence and suboptimal overall treatment outcomes. Lonapegsomatropin (TransCon hGH) is an investigational long-acting, once-weekly prodrug for the treatment of GHD.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of once-weekly lonapegsomatropin vs daily somatropin.

The heiGHt Trial was a randomized, open-label, active-controlled, 52-week phase 3 trial (NCT02781727).

This trial took place at 73 sites across 15 countries.

This trial enrolled and dosed 161 treatment-naïve, prepubertal patients with GHD.

Patients were randomized 21 to receive lonapegsomatropin 0.24mg hGH/kg/wk or an equivalent weekly dose of somatropin, delivered daily.

The primary end point was annualized height velocity (AHV) at Week 52. Secondary efficacy end points included change from baseline in height standard deviation scores (SDS).

Least squares (LS) mean (SE) AHV at 52 weeks was 11.
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