Tag: pubmed

BMC Med Genomics. 2023 Jul 15;16(1):167. doi: 10.1186/s12920-023-01591-y.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES: Epidemiological studies have confirmed that low birth weight (BW) is related to neuroticism and they may have a common genetic mechanism based on phenotypic correlation research. We conducted our study on a European population with 159,208 neuroticism and 289,142 birth weight samples. In this study, we aimed to identify new neuroticism single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and pleiotropic SNPs associated with neuroticism and BW and to provide more theoretical basis for the pathogenesis of the disease.

METHODS: We estimated the pleiotropic enrichment between neuroticism and BW in two independent Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) when the statistical thresholds were Conditional False Discovery Rate (cFDR) < 0.01 and Conjunctional Conditional False Discovery Rate (ccFDR) < 0.05. We performed gene annotation and gene functional analysis on the selected significant SNPs to determine the biological role of gene function and pathogenesis. Two-sample Mendelian Randomization (TSMR) analysis was performed to explore the causal relationship between the neuroticism and BW.

RESULTS: The conditional quantile-quantile plots (Q-Q plot) indicated that neuroticism and BW have strong genetic pleiotropy enrichment trends. With the threshold of cFDR < 0.001, we identified 126 SNPs related to neuroticism and 172 SNPs related to BW. With the threshold of ccFDR < 0.05, we identified 62 SNPs related to both neuroticism and BW. Among these SNPs, rs8039305 and rs35755513 have eQTL (expressed quantitative trait loci) and meQTL (methylation quantitative trait loci) effects simultaneously. Through GO enrichment analysis we also found that the two pathways of positive regulation of “mesenchymal cell proliferation” and “DNA-binding transcription factor activity” were significantly enriched in neuroticism and BW. Mendelian randomization analysis results indicate that there is no obvious causal relationship between neuroticism and birth weight.

CONCLUSION: We found 126 SNPs related to neuroticism, 172 SNPs related to BW and 62 SNPs associated with both neuroticism and BW, which provided a theoretical basis for their genetic mechanism and novel potential targets for treatment/intervention development.

PMID:37454083 | DOI:10.1186/s12920-023-01591-y

AIDS Res Ther. 2023 Jul 15;20(1):49. doi: 10.1186/s12981-023-00546-8.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Kidney disease is an important comorbidity in people living with HIV(PLWH), and is associated with poor outcomes. However, data on renal function of PLWH are limited in China so far. In this study we assessed the prevalence of kidney disease in patients either on antiretroviral therapy (ART) or not respectively in a single center in China and explored the possible risk factors associated.

METHODS: In the cross-sectional study, we recruited hospitalized adult PLWH. Demographic characteristics, clinical information and laboratory variables were collected. Kidney disease was defined as estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) < 60 mL/min/1.73 m², and/or isolated hematuria, proteinuria, microalbuminuria. We calculated the prevalence of kidney disease and used logistic regression to assess its associated risk factors.

RESULTS: A total of 501 adult PLWH were enrolled, 446 (89.0%) males and 55 (11.0%) females. The median age was 39 (IQR 30-50) years old. The prevalence of kidney disease was 19.0%, 22 (4.4%) patients with eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m², 53 (10.6%) patients with hematuria, 11 (2.2%) patients with proteinuria, and 40 (8.0%) patients with microalbuminuria. 297 (59.3%) patients were receiving ART. The patients on ART had a higher prevalence of renal disease than those had not been administrated with ART (22.6% vs. 13.7%, P = 0.013). On the multivariate logistic regression analysis among patients not on ART, lower haemoglobin (OR 0.994, 95%CI: 0.902-0.988, P = 0.013) were significantly associated with kidney disease. While among those on ART, older age (OR 1.034, 95%CI: 1.003-1.066, P = 0.032), lower haemoglobin (OR 0.968, 95%CI: 0.948-0.988, P = 0.002) and lower albumin (OR 0.912, 95%CI: 0.834-0.997, P = 0.044) were significantly associated with kidney disease.

CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of kidney disease among hospitalized PLWH in China is high, especially in patients on ART. A larger scale study on Chinese outpatient PLWH should be conducted, so as to precisely assess prevalence of kidney disease in general Chinese PLWH.

PMID:37454082 | DOI:10.1186/s12981-023-00546-8

BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2023 Jul 15;24(1):578. doi: 10.1186/s12891-023-06713-2.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical efficacy of surgical treatment for multilevel cervical spondylotic myelopathy (MCSM) between the hybrid procedure, posterior endoscopic decompression (PED) combined with anterior cervical discectomy fusion (ACDF), and posterior cervical laminectomy and fusion (PCLF).

METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed on 38 patients who received surgical treatment for MCSM from January 2018 to December 2021, including 19 cases in hybrid procedure group (13 males and 6 females), followed up for 10 to 22 (12.8 ± 10.3) months, and 19 cases in PCLF group (15 males and 4 females), followed up for 10 to 21 (11.7 ± 8.9) months. Perioperative information, including operation time, intraoperative blood loss, length of hospitalization, and complications, were compared between two groups. Visual analogue scale (VAS) of pain, neck disability index (NDI) and Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) score were recorded to evaluate clinical efficacy. Cervical lordosis was calculated by radiographic examination.

RESULTS: Intraoperative blood loss, length of hospital stay were less in hybrid group than PCLF group, while operation time is longer in hybrid group, with a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05). Increased lordosis was better in hybrid group. There was no significant difference in preoperative VAS, JOA and NDI at pre-operation and final follow-up between two groups. But at post-operation and final follow-up, VAS was less in hybrid group than PCLF group (p < 0.05). There were 2 cases of neurostimulation symptoms in hybrid group, 2 cases of C5 nerve root palsy, 2 cases of subcutaneous fat necrosis and 1 case of dural tear in PCLF group, and all patients relieved with symptomatic treatment.

CONCLUSION: The hybrid procedure of PED combined with ACDF showed satisfied clinical outcome, with less intraoperative blood loss, shorter length of hospitalization and lower post-operative neck pain than PCLF. It is an effective surgical treatment for MCSM.

PMID:37454072 | DOI:10.1186/s12891-023-06713-2

BMC Vet Res. 2023 Jul 15;19(1):84. doi: 10.1186/s12917-023-03638-9.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Confinement of cattle imposes spatial restrictions and predisposes to aversive social encounters that can lead to contusions, wounds, pain, stress, fright, and reduced productivity. Although endogenous testosterone concentrations are linked to agonistic dominance behaviors in males, it is unknown whether decreased blood testosterone concentrations after castration alter social hierarchy rank in Nelore bulls. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the impact of the surgical would inflammation post-orchiectomy on social dynamics in a group of Nelore bulls (Bos indicus). Fourteen Nelore (Bos indicus) bulls were castrated and assessed pre- and post-surgically. Parameters evaluated were agonistic (mounting, headbutting, and fighting) and affiliative (head-play) behavior, plasma testosterone concentrations, average daily weight gain (ADG), and a score for severity of post-surgical infection. Exploratory statistics included social network analysis (SNA), hierarchy rank delta (Δ), and principal component analysis (PCA). Furthermore, statistical inferences included the Wilcoxon test, multiple logistic regression models, and Spearman’s correlation.

RESULTS: The social dynamic of Nelore bulls was modified after castration based on the findings of the SNA and the PCA. The moderate correlation between the postoperative inflammation level with the Δ, and the significant effect of this level in the logistic model post-castration were partially attributed to effects of pain on social relations.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest the severity of post-surgical inflammation, which has an association with pain intensity, was closely associated with changes in the social hierarchy.

PMID:37454070 | DOI:10.1186/s12917-023-03638-9

BMC Neurol. 2023 Jul 15;23(1):269. doi: 10.1186/s12883-023-03288-2.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the potential causal link between genetic variants associated with gut microbiome and risk of intracranial aneurysm (IA) using two-sample mendelian randomization (MR).

METHODS: We performed two sets of MR analyses. At first, we selected the genome-wide statistical significant(P < 5 × 10^-8) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as instrumental variables (IVs). Then, we selected the locus-wide significant (P < 1 × 10^-5) SNPs as IVs for the other set of analyses to obtain more comprehensive conclusions. Gut microbiome genetic association estimates were derived from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 18,473 individuals. Summary-level statistics for IA were obtained from 79,429 individuals, which included 7,495 cases and 71,934 controls.

RESULTS: On the basis of locus-wide significance level, inverse variance weighted(IVW) showed that Clostridia [(odds ratio (OR): 2.60; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.00-6.72, P = 0.049)], Adlercreutzia (OR: 1.81; 95% CI: 1.10-2.99, P = 0.021) and Victivallis (OR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.01-1.88, P = 0.044) were positively related with the risk of unruptured intracranial aneurysm(UIA); Weighted median results of MR showed Oscillospira (OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.17-0.84, P = 0.018) was negatively with the risk of UIA and Sutterella (OR: 1.84; 95% CI: 1.04-3.23, P = 0.035) was positively related with the risk of UIA; MR-Egger method analysis indicated that Paraprevotella (OR: 0.32; 95% CI: 0.13-0.80, P = 0.035) was negatively with the risk of UIA and Rhodospirillaceae (OR: 13.39; 95% CI: 1.44-124.47, P = 0.048) was positively related with the risk of UIA. The results suggest that Streptococcus (OR: 5.19; 95% CI: 1.25-21.56; P = 0.024) and Peptostreptococcaceae (OR: 4.92; 95% CI: 1.32-18.32; P = 0.018) may increase the risk of UIA according to genome-wide statistical significance thresholds.

CONCLUSION: This MR analysis indicates that there exists a beneficial or detrimental causal effect of gut microbiota composition on IAs.

PMID:37454067 | DOI:10.1186/s12883-023-03288-2

Environ Entomol. 2023 Jul 15:nvad068. doi: 10.1093/ee/nvad068. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Forest fires in North America are becoming larger in area and burning with higher severity as a result of climate change and land management practices. High-severity, stand-replacement fires can inflict major changes to forest insect communities, potentially extirpating many species through altered post-fire habitat resources. We assessed forest-dwelling macrolepidopteran moth communities in mixed conifer and ponderosa pine forests during the first year after the 2011 Las Conchas fire in New Mexico, USA. We deployed blacklight traps in replicated burned and unburned stands during June, July, and August in 2012. We collected 9,478 individuals, representing 211 species and 8 families. Noctuidae (124 species) and Geometridae (53) comprised the majority of the taxa, followed by Erebidae (21), Sphingidae (5), Notodontidae (3), Lasiocampidae (2), Saturniidae (2), and Drepanidae (1). Moth communities (species composition and abundances) in each forest type (mixed conifer vs. ponderosa pine) were statistically distinguishable, but shared 56.4% (119) of observed species. Overall, compared to unburned forests, post-fire moth communities in both forest types had significantly lower numbers of individuals, species richness and diversity, and lower evenness in ponderosa pine forests. As expected, categorizing moth taxa by larval host plant taxa revealed that reductions of moth populations following fire were associated with the elimination or reduction of available larval host plants (particularly conifers, oaks, and junipers). We predict that future moth community succession will likely parallel the overall transformation from a forested landscape to a montane meadow/grassland ecosystem, with continued reduction in tree-feeding species and increasing dominance by forb/grass-feeding species.

PMID:37452672 | DOI:10.1093/ee/nvad068

Integr Environ Assess Manag. 2023 Jul 15. doi: 10.1002/ieam.4812. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

There is increasing interest in further developing the plant protection product environmental risk assessment, particularly within the European Union, to include the assessment of soil microbial community composition, as measured by metabarcoding approaches. However, to date, there has been little discussion as to how this could be implemented in a standardised, reliable, and robust manner suitable for regulatory decision making. Introducing metabarcoding-based assessments of the soil microbiome into the plant protection product risk assessment would represent a significant increase in the degree of complexity of the data that needs to be processed and analysed in comparison to the existing risk assessment on in-soil organisms. The bioinformatics procedures to process DNA sequences into community compositional datasets currently lack standardisation, while little information exists on how this data should be used to generate regulatory endpoints and the ways in which these endpoints should be interpreted. Through a thorough and critical review, we explore these challenges. We conclude that currently, we do not have a sufficient degree of standardisation or understanding of the required bioinformatics and data analysis procedures to consider their use in an environmental risk assessment context. However, we highlight critical knowledge gaps and the further research required to understand whether metabarcoding-based assessments of the soil microbiome can be utilised in a statistically and ecologically relevant manner within a plant protection product risk assessment. Only once these challenges are addressed can we consider if and how we should use metabarcoding as a tool for regulatory decision making to assess and monitor ecotoxicological effects on soil microorganisms within an environmental risk assessment of plant protection products.

PMID:37452668 | DOI:10.1002/ieam.4812

Integr Environ Assess Manag. 2023 Jul 15. doi: 10.1002/ieam.4813. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

The Fundão Dam breached on 5 November 2015 (the “Event”), resulting in the release of tailings, water, scoured sediment/soil and other debris to downstream watercourses. Statistical analyses using historical and recent water quality measurements were conducted to assess the extent to which water quality in the Rio Doce was recovering to baseline conditions. A review of station-/parameter-specific water quality time series in the Rio Doce revealed two challenges: pre-Event data imbalance and seasonality. Due to the combined effects of these two factors, data gathered from Rio Doce water quality stations before the Event likely underestimated concentration ranges and limited the usefulness of common recovery assessment techniques such as times series and water quality standard exceedance analyses. These challenges were addressed by calculating quarterly and watershed-specific river-to-tributary ratios. R code was used to produce spatiotemporal time series for 44 investigated parameters that were measured both before and after the Fundão event. The water quality recovery durations shown by the parameter-/region-specific river-to-tributary ratio time series indicated that: (a) turbidity provides the most conservative measure for water quality recovery; (b) chemical parameters associated with the tailings, like manganese and iron recovered faster than turbidity, and (c) other investigated parameters unrelated to the tailings showed either no discernable impact or rapid recovery after the Fundão event. The resulting parameter-/region-specific river-to-tributary ratio time series provided reliable and quantifiable estimates of water quality recovery durations. The water quality in the region furthest from Fundão Dam, in Espírito Santo, recovered one year after the Event, while water quality in the closest region to Fundão Dam, upstream of Risoleta Neves (Candonga) Dam, recovered 4.2 years after the Event.

PMID:37452664 | DOI:10.1002/ieam.4813

Public Health Res (Southampt). 2023 Jun;11(5):1-102. doi: 10.3310/WTMH3198.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: E-cigarettes are a popular smoking-cessation tool. Although less harmful than tobacco, use of e-cigarettes by non-smokers should be prevented. There is concern about the use of e-cigarettes by young people and that e-cigarettes may renormalise smoking. In May 2016, Tobacco Products Directive regulations aimed to reduce e-cigarettes’ appeal to young people.

AIMS: To examine the effects of the Tobacco Products Directive regulations on young people’s use of e-cigarettes, and the role of e-cigarettes in renormalising smoking.

DESIGN: A mixed-method natural experimental evaluation combining secondary analyses of survey data, with process evaluation, including interviews with young people, policy stakeholders, retailers and trading standards observers, and observations of retail settings.

SETTINGS: Wales, Scotland and England.

PARTICIPANTS: Survey participants were aged 13-15 years, living in England, Scotland or Wales and participated in routinely conducted surveys from 1998 to 2019. Process evaluation participants included 14- to 15-year-olds in England, Scotland and Wales, policy stakeholders, trading standards offices and retailers.

INTERVENTION: Regulation of e-cigarettes, including bans on cross-border advertising, health warnings and restrictions on product strength.

COMPARISON GROUP: Interrupted time series design, with baseline trends as the comparator.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was ever e-cigarette use. Secondary outcomes included regular use, ever and regular smoking, smoking attitudes, alcohol and cannabis use.

DATA CAPTURE AND ANALYSIS: Our primary statistical analysis used data from Wales, including 91,687 young people from the 2013-19 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children and School Health Research Network surveys. In Scotland, we used the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey and in England we used the Smoking Drinking and Drug Use surveys. The process evaluation included interviews with 73 young people in 2017 and 148 young people in 2018, 12 policy stakeholders, 13 trading standards officers and 27 retailers. We observed 30 retail premises before and after implementation. Data were integrated using the Medical Research Council’s process evaluation framework.

RESULTS: Ever smoking continued to decline alongside the emergence of e-cigarettes, with a slight slowing in decline for regular use. Tobacco Products Directive regulations were described by stakeholders as well implemented, and observations indicated good compliance. Young people described e-cigarettes as a fad and indicated limited interaction with the components of the Tobacco Products Directive regulations. In primary statistical analyses in Wales [i.e. short (to 2017) and long term (to 2019)], growth in ever use of e-cigarettes prior to Tobacco Products Directive regulations did not continue after implementation. Change in trend was significant in long-term analysis, although of similar magnitude at both time points (odds ratio 0.96). Data from England and Scotland exhibited a similar pattern. Smoking followed the opposite pattern, declining prior to the Tobacco Products Directive regulations, but plateauing as growth in e-cigarette use stalled.

LIMITATIONS: Alternative causal explanations for changes cannot be ruled out because of the observational design.

CONCLUSIONS: Young people’s ever and regular use of e-cigarettes appears to have peaked around the time of the Tobacco Products Directive regulations and may be declining. Although caution is needed in causal attributions, findings are consistent with an effect of regulations. Our analysis provides little evidence that e-cigarettes renormalise smoking. More recent data indicate that declines in smoking are plateauing.

FUTURE WORK: International comparative work to understand differences in use of e-cigarettes, and tobacco, within varying regulatory frameworks is a priority.

STUDY REGISTRATION: This study is registered as ResearchRegistry4336.

FUNDING: This project was funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme and will be published in full in Public Health Research; Vol. 11, No. 5. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

PMID:37452656 | DOI:10.3310/WTMH3198

Adv Mater. 2023 Jul 15:e2305074. doi: 10.1002/adma.202305074. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Producing indispensable hydrogen and oxygen for social development via water electrolysis shows more prospects than other technologies. Although electrocatalysts have been explored for centuries, a universal activity descriptor for both hydrogen-evolving (HER) and oxygen-evolving reactions (OER) has not been developed. Moreover, a unifying concept has not been established to simultaneously understand HER/OER mechanisms. Here, we rationally bridge the relationships between HER/OER activities in three common electrolytes and over 10 representative material properties on 12 3d-metal-based model oxides through statistical methodologies. Orbital charge-transfer energy (Δ) can serve as an ideal universal descriptor, where a neither too large nor too small Δ (∼1 eV) with optimal electron-cloud density around Fermi level affords the best activities, fulfilling Sabatier’s principle. Systematic experiments and computations unravel that pristine oxide with Δ ≈ 1 eV possesses metal-like high-valence configurations and active lattice-oxygen sites to help adsorb key protons in HER and induce lattice-oxygen participation in OER, respectively. After reactions, partially generated metals in HER and high-valence hydroxides in OER dominate proton adsorption and couple with pristine lattice-oxygen activation, respectively. These can be successfully rationalized by the unifying orbital charge-transfer theory. This work provides the foundation of rational material design and mechanism understanding for many potential applications. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:37452655 | DOI:10.1002/adma.202305074