Disruption of Zfh3 abolishes mulberry-specific monophagy in silkworm larvae.

Feeding behavior is critical for insect survival and fitness. Most researchers have explored the molecular basis of feeding behaviors by identifying and elucidating the function of olfactory receptors (ORs) and gustatory receptors (GRs). Other types of genes, such as transcription factors, have rarely been investigated, and little is known about their potential roles.

Expansion of targetable sites for the ribonucleoprotein-based CRISPR/Cas9 system in the silkworm Bombyx mori.

Background: With the emergence of CRISPR/Cas9 technology, multiple gene editing procedures became available for the silkworm. Although binary transgene-based methods have been widely used to generate mutants, delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 system via DNA-free ribonucleoproteins offers several advantages. However, the T7 promoter that is widely used in the ribonucleoprotein-based method for production of sgRNAs in vitro requires a 5' GG motif for efficient initiation.

Exposure assessment for Cox proportional hazards cure models with interval-censored survival data.

Mixture cure models have been developed as an effective tool to analyze failure time data with a cure fraction. Used in conjunction with the logistic regression model, this model allows covariate-adjusted inference of an exposure effect on the cured probability and the hazard of failure for the uncured subjects. However, the covariate-adjusted inference for the overall exposure effect is not directly provided.

Adiposity is associated with anovulation independent of serum free testosterone: A prospective cohort study.

Background: Obesity, a body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m , is linked to infertility, potentially through a greater risk of anovulation due to elevated androgens. Yet, previous studies have not directly assessed the impact of adiposity, or body fat, on anovulation in the absence of clinical infertility.

Objective: To characterise the associations between adiposity and anovulation among women menstruating on a regular basis.

The Safety of Low-Dose Aspirin on the Mode of Delivery: Secondary Analysis of the Effect of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: This study aimed to examine whether prenatal low-dose aspirin (LDA) therapy affects risk of cesarean versus vaginal delivery.

Study Design: This study is a secondary analysis of the randomized clinical effects of aspirin in gestation and reproduction (EAGeR) trial. Women received 81-mg daily aspirin or placebo from preconception to 36 weeks of gestation.

Recalled maternal lifestyle behaviors associated with anti-müllerian hormone of adult female offspring.

Anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) is an established marker of ovarian reserve that decreases with age. Though the pool of ovarian follicles is established during fetal development, impacts of in utero exposures on AMH are uncertain. Thus, we sought to evaluate associations of in utero exposures with AMH of adult daughters with a prospective cohort study of adult daughters at university medical centers.

Rhythmic Fluctuations in Levels of Liver Enzymes During Menstrual Cycles of Healthy Women and Effects of Body Weight.

Background & Aims: Female sex hormones affect several non-reproductive organs, but little is known about their effects on the liver during a normal menstrual cycle. We aimed to investigate the association between sex hormones and liver enzymes in healthy menstruating women.

Methods: We performed a post-hoc analysis of data from the BioCycle study, a longitudinal cohort study designed to determine the association of sex hormones with markers of oxidative stress during the menstrual cycle.

The influences of sleep duration, chronotype, and nightwork on the ovarian cycle.

Despite research indicating that sleep disorders influence reproductive health, the effects of sleep on reproductive hormone concentrations are poorly characterized. We prospectively followed 259 regularly menstruating women across one to two menstrual cycles (the BioCycle Study, 2005-2007), measuring fasting serum hormone concentrations up to eight times per cycle. Women provided information about daily sleep in diaries and chronotype and night/shift work on a baseline questionnaire.

Shorter Time to Pregnancy With Increasing Preconception Carotene Concentrations Among Women With 1-2 Previous Pregnancy Losses.

Although maternal nutrition may affect fecundity, associations between preconception micronutrient levels and time to pregnancy (TTP) have not been examined. We assessed the relationship between preconception fat-soluble micronutrient concentrations and TTP among women with 1-2 prior pregnancy losses. This was a prospective cohort study of 1,228 women set within the Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction (EAGeR) Trial (United States, 2007-2011), which assessed the association of preconception-initiated daily low-dose aspirin with reproductive outcomes.

Maternal Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Comparing Methods to Address Bias Due to Length of Gestation in Epidemiological Studies.

Background: Studies examining total gestational weight gain (GWG) and outcomes associated with gestational age (GA) are potentially biased. The z-score has been proposed to mitigate this bias. We evaluated a regression-based adjustment for GA to remove the correlation between GWG and GA, and compared it to published weight-gain-for-gestational-age z-scores when applied to a study sample with different underlying population characteristics.

Relationship between physical occupational exposures and health on semen quality: data from the Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment (LIFE) Study.

Objective: To study the relationship among occupation, health, and semen quality in a cohort of men attempting to conceive.

Design: Observational prospective cohort.

Setting: Not applicable.

The effect of a very short interpregnancy interval and pregnancy outcomes following a previous pregnancy loss.

Objective: We sought to assess the relationship between a short interpregnancy interval (IPI) following a pregnancy loss and subsequent live birth and pregnancy outcomes.

Study Design: A secondary analysis of women enrolled in the Effects of Aspirin in Gestation and Reproduction trial with a human chorionic gonadotropin-positive pregnancy test and whose last reproductive outcome was a loss were included in this analysis (n = 677). IPI was defined as the time between last pregnancy loss and last menstrual period of the current pregnancy and categorized by 3-month intervals.

Accuracy loss due to selection bias in cohort studies with left truncation.

Background: Selection is a common problem in paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, and truncation can be thought of as missing person time that can result in selection bias. Left truncation, also known as late or staggered entry, may induce selection bias and/or adversely affect precision. There are two kinds of left truncation: fixed left truncation where the start of follow-up is initiated at a set time, and variable left truncation where follow-up begins at a stochastically varying time-point.

Validation of different instruments for caffeine measurement among premenopausal women in the BioCycle study.

Effects of caffeine on women's health are inconclusive, in part because of inadequate exposure assessment. In this study we determined 1) validity of a food frequency questionnaire compared with multiple 24-hour dietary recalls (24HDRs) for measuring monthly caffeine and caffeinated beverage intakes; and 2) validity of the 24HDR compared with the prior day's diary record for measuring daily caffeinated coffee intake. BioCycle Study (2005-2007) participants, women (n = 259) aged 18-44 years from western New York State, were followed for 2 menstrual cycles.

Energy-containing beverages: reproductive hormones and ovarian function in the BioCycle Study.

Background: Energy-containing beverages are widely consumed among premenopausal women, but their association with reproductive hormones is not well understood.

Objective: The objective was to assess the association of energy-containing beverages, added sugars, and total fructose intake with reproductive hormones among ovulatory cycles and sporadic anovulation in healthy premenopausal women.

Design: Women (n = 259) in the BioCycle Study were followed for up to 2 menstrual cycles; they provided fasting blood specimens during up to 8 visits/cycle and four 24-h dietary recalls/cycle.

Assessment of skewed exposure in case-control studies with pooling.

Pooling-based strategies that combine samples from multiple participants for laboratory assays have been proposed for epidemiologic investigations of biomarkers to address issues including cost, efficiency, detection, and when minimal sample volume is available. A modification of the standard logistic regression model has been previously described to allow use with pooled data; however, this model makes assumptions regarding exposure distribution and logit-linearity of risk (i.e.

Caffeinated beverage intake and reproductive hormones among premenopausal women in the BioCycle Study.

Background: Caffeinated beverages are widely consumed among women of reproductive age, but their association with reproductive hormones, and whether race modifies any such associations, is not well understood.

Objective: We assessed the relation between caffeine and caffeinated beverage intake and reproductive hormones in healthy premenopausal women and evaluated the potential effect modification by race.

Design: Participants (n = 259) were followed for up to 2 menstrual cycles and provided fasting blood specimens for hormonal assessment at up to 8 visits per cycle and four 24-h dietary recalls per cycle.

Realignment and multiple imputation of longitudinal data: an application to menstrual cycle data.

Reproductive hormone levels are highly variable among premenopausal women during the menstrual cycle. Accurate timing of hormone measurement is essential, especially when investigating day- or phase-specific effects. The BioCycle Study used daily urine home fertility monitors to help detect the luteinising hormone (LH) surge in order to schedule visits with biologically relevant windows of hormonal variability.

Age at menarche and metabolic markers for type 2 diabetes in premenopausal women: the BioCycle Study.

Context: Early age at menarche has been linked to an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes. However, the underlying mechanism is unclear.

Objective: Our objective was to examine associations between age at menarche and type 2 diabetes risk factors.

Longitudinal study of insulin resistance and sex hormones over the menstrual cycle: the BioCycle Study.

Context: Conflicting findings have been reported regarding the effect of menstrual cycle phase and sex hormones on insulin sensitivity.

Objective: The aim was to determine the pattern of insulin resistance over the menstrual cycle and whether variations in sex hormones explain these patterns.

Design: The BioCycle study is a longitudinal study that measured hormones at different phases of the menstrual cycle.

Static and dynamic second hyperpolarizability calculated by time-dependent density functional cubic response theory with local contribution and natural bond orbital analysis.

The static and dynamic second hyperpolarizability gamma has been investigated by time-dependent density functional cubic response theory. The third-order coupled perturbed Kohn-Sham equations were solved to obtain the third-order perturbed charge density. Calculations on a number of small molecules (N(2), CO(2), C(2)H(4), CO, HF, H(2)O, and CH(4)), paradisubstituted oligoacetylene chains, benzene, and eight paradisubstituted benzenes were performed to verify the implementation and to assess the accuracy of the nonhybrid and hybrid time-dependent density functional theory computations.

Impact of bridging units on the dynamics of photoinduced charge generation and charge recombination in donor-acceptor dyads.

We estimate, at a full quantum-chemical level, the various molecular parameters governing the rate of photoinduced charge generation and charge recombination in model organic structures containing a donor and an acceptor unit in view of the possible use of such systems in organic solar cells. The rate of through-space excitation dissociation, as predicted in the framework of the Marcus-Levich-Jortner theory, is found to be low in comparison to intramolecular decay processes when the donor and acceptor molecules are lying in a head-to-tail arrangement and high when the donor and acceptor molecules are superimposed in a cofacial arrangement. The charge separation rates for side-by-side donor-acceptor dyads are significantly increased by promoting through-bond interactions in covalently linked donor and acceptor units.

Study of static and dynamic first hyperpolarizabilities using time-dependent density functional quadratic response theory with local contribution and natural bond orbital analysis.

We apply time-dependent density-functional quadratic response theory to investigate the static and dynamic second-order polarizabilities (first hyperpolarizability) beta. A new implementation using Slater-type basis functions, numerical integration, and density fitting techniques is reported. The second order coupled perturbed Kohn-Sham equations are solved and the second-order perturbed charge density is obtained.