Adipose Tissue Dysfunction and the Role of Adipocyte-Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome.

Obesity is a major public health issue that is associated with metabolic diseases including diabetes mellitus type 2 and metabolic syndrome. This pathology leads to detrimental cardiovascular health and secondary effects, such as lipotoxicity, inflammation, and oxidative stress. Recently, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been highlighted as novel players participating in human physiology and pathophysiology.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is a childhood-onset neurodevelopmental disorder that frequently persists into adulthood with 3% of adult women having a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Many women are diagnosed and treated during their reproductive years, which leads to management implications during pregnancy and the postpartum period. We know from clinical practice that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms frequently become challenging to manage during the perinatal period and require additional support and attention.

Virtual twins for model-informed precision dosing of clozapine in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

Model-informed precision dosing using virtual twins (MIPD-VTs) is an emerging strategy to predict target drug concentrations in clinical practice. Using a high virtualization MIPD-VT approach (Simcyp version 21), we predicted the steady-state clozapine concentration and clozapine dosage range to achieve a target concentration of 350 to 600 ng/mL in hospitalized patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (N = 11). We confirmed that high virtualization MIPD-VT can reasonably predict clozapine concentrations in individual patients with a coefficient of determination (R ) ranging between 0.

A genetic history of the Balkans from Roman frontier to Slavic migrations.

The rise and fall of the Roman Empire was a socio-political process with enormous ramifications for human history. The Middle Danube was a crucial frontier and a crossroads for population and cultural movement. Here, we present genome-wide data from 136 Balkan individuals dated to the 1 millennium CE.

The fitness landscape of a community of Darwin's finches.

Divergent natural selection should lead to adaptive radiation-that is, the rapid evolution of phenotypic and ecological diversity originating from a single clade. The drivers of adaptive radiation have often been conceptualized through the concept of "adaptive landscapes," yet formal empirical estimates of adaptive landscapes for natural adaptive radiations have proven elusive. Here, we use a 17-year dataset of Darwin's ground finches (Geospiza spp.

Starvation decreases immunity and immune regulatory factor NF-κB in the starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis.

Lack of proper nutrition has important consequences for the physiology of all organisms, and nutritional status can affect immunity, based on many studies in terrestrial animals. Here we show a positive correlation between nutrition and immunity in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Gene expression profiling of adult anemones shows downregulation of genes involved in nutrient metabolism, cellular respiration, and immunity in starved animals.

A Genetic Counselor's Reflections on Lessons Learned, Challenges, and Successes Experienced during a One-Year Pilot Integration in a Primary Care Clinic.

This practice-related insight article describes the experience of a genetic counselor being integrated into a multidisciplinary primary care clinic that provides care for a predominantly marginalized patient population in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Reflections on the lessons learned, including challenges and successes during this 1-year pilot integration are shared by the genetic counselor in the context of exploring the potential value a genetic counselor can provide while embedded in a primary care clinic. The relationship between clinical genetic counseling practice and a culturally safe and trauma-informed approach in primary care is explored, and additional steps are described that can be taken to facilitate more equitable and inclusive access to genetic counseling services for underserved and vulnerable patient populations.

Relationships Between Maternal Perinatal Mood, Sex of Infant, and Disappointment with Sex of Infant in a North American Sample.

Objectives: Little is known about the relationships between sex of infant, disappointment with sex of infant, and risk for perinatal depression, particularly in societies where the nature of parental sex preference is thought to be "balanced" between male and female offspring. We sought to explore relationships between these variables in a North American population.

Methods: In this exploratory study, we used data from a large Canadian prospective longitudinal study in which data were collected at up to four timepoints: during pregnancy, and at 1 week, 1 month and 3 months postpartum.

The terroir of the finch: How spatial and temporal variation shapes phenotypic traits in DARWIN'S finches.

The term is used in viticulture to emphasize how the biotic and abiotic characteristics of a local site influence grape physiology and thus the properties of wine. In ecology and evolution, such terroir (i.e.

Look-alike humans identified by facial recognition algorithms show genetic similarities.

The human face is one of the most visible features of our unique identity as individuals. Interestingly, monozygotic twins share almost identical facial traits and the same DNA sequence but could exhibit differences in other biometrical parameters. The expansion of the world wide web and the possibility to exchange pictures of humans across the planet has increased the number of people identified online as virtual twins or doubles that are not family related.

Hot Isostatic Pressing for Fatigue Critical Additively Manufactured Ti-6Al-4V.

The efficacy of hot isostatic pressing (HIP) for enhancing fatigue performance is investigated for additively manufactured (AM) Ti-6Al-4V. The limitations of HIP are probed by varying the initial material state via the selection of AM system, powder chemical composition, and process parameters. We demonstrate that the fatigue performance of HIP'd AM Ti-6Al-4V depends on the as-built quality of the material.

Genomic Analysis of 18th-Century Kazakh Individuals and Their Oral Microbiome.

The Asian Central Steppe, consisting of current-day Kazakhstan and Russia, has acted as a highway for major migrations throughout history. Therefore, describing the genetic composition of past populations in Central Asia holds value to understanding human mobility in this pivotal region. In this study, we analyse paleogenomic data generated from five humans from Kuygenzhar, Kazakhstan.

from a soldier from the 1652 siege of Barcelona (Spain) supports historical transatlantic epidemic contacts.

Ancient pathogen genomics is an emerging field allowing reconstruction of past epidemics. The demise of post-contact American populations may, at least in part, have been caused by paratyphoid fever brought by Europeans. We retrieved genome-wide data from two Spanish soldiers who were besieging the city of Barcelona in 1652, during the Reapers' War.

Genetic counseling research and COVID-19: A lesson in resiliency.

GenCOUNSEL is the largest genetic counseling research grant awarded to date and brings together experts in genetic counseling, genomics, law and policy, health services implementation, and health economics research. It is the first project of its kind to examine the genetic counseling issues associated with the clinical implementation of genome-wide sequencing (exome and genome sequencing). GenCOUNSEL is a Canadian-based, multi-method research study that takes place over a variety of sites, including non-clinical, clinical, and laboratory research sites and includes the training of undergraduate and graduate students.

A cross-sectional study of the relationship between CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 variations and depression symptoms, for women taking SSRIs during pregnancy.

Depression during pregnancy affects 10-15% of women, and 5% of women take antidepressants during pregnancy. Clinical guidelines provide recommendations for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) drug choice and dose based on CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genotype; however, they are based on evidence from non-pregnant cohorts. This study aimed to test the hypothesis that women with function-altering variants (increased, decreased, or no function) in these pharmacogenes, taking SSRIs prenatally, would have more depression symptoms than women whose pharmacogenetic variants are associated with normal SSRI metabolism.

Reflections of parents of children with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome on the experience of receiving psychiatric genetic counseling: 'Awareness to Act'.

Individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22qDS) have a 25%-41% risk for a psychotic disorder. Although early intervention for psychiatric conditions leads to the best long-term outcomes, healthcare providers often provide inadequate information about these issues and psychiatric services are underused by this population.

Multicolor Fluorescent Graphene Oxide Quantum Dots for Sensing Cancer Cell Biomarkers.

Onion-like carbon nanoparticles were synthesized from diamond nanoparticles to be used as the precursor for graphene oxide quantum dots. Onion-like carbon nanoparticles were exfoliated to produce two types of nanoparticles, graphene oxide quantum dots that showed size-dependent fluorescence and highly stable inner cores. Multicolor fluorescent quantum dots were obtained and characterized using different techniques.

Psychiatric genetic counseling for serious mental illness: Impact on psychopathology and psychotropic medication adherence.

For people with serious mental illness (SMI) (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder), psychiatric genetic counseling (PGC) has been shown to significantly increase empowerment and illness management self-efficacy. While these outcomes are important, they are also theoretical precursors for behavior changes (e.g.

A prospective study to explore the relationship between MTHFR C677T genotype, physiological folate levels, and postpartum psychopathology in at-risk women.

Background: The etiology of postpartum psychopathologies are not well understood, but folate metabolism pathways are of potential interest. Demands for folate increase dramatically during pregnancy, low folate level has been associated with psychiatric disorders, and supplementation may improve symptomatology. The MTHFR C677T variant influences folate metabolism and has been implicated in depression during pregnancy.

Preliminary examination of the validity of the NIH toolbox cognition battery in treatment-resistant psychosis.

Prior research has suggested that treatment-resistant psychosis (TRP) may be a categorically distinct subtype from treatment-responsive psychotic disorders. However, relatively few studies have investigated the cognitive profile of individuals with TRP. Moreover, no prior studies have investigated the effectiveness of using the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (NTCB) for assessing cognition among psychiatric inpatients despite its promising efficiency and practicality in such settings.

Proteomic insights into the immune response of the Colorado potato beetle larvae challenged with Bacillus thuringiensis.

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) toxins constitute effective, environmentally safe biopesticides. Nevertheless, insects' tolerance to Bt is influenced by environmental factors affecting immunity. To understand larval immune response in the devastating coleopteran insect pest Colorado potato beetle (CPB), we undertook a proteomic analysis of hemolymph of non-treated control larvae and larvae consuming non-lethal doses of spore-crystal mixtures containing the coleopteran-active Cry3Aa toxin.

A Matched Cohort Study of Postpartum Placentophagy in Women With a History of Mood Disorders: No Evidence for Impact on Mood, Energy, Vitamin B Levels, or Lactation.

Objective: Although empirical studies investigating its effects are scarce, postpartum placentophagy is increasing in popularity because of purported benefits on mood, energy, lactation, and overall nutrition. Therefore, this study sought to test the hypotheses that women who consumed their placenta (placentophagy exposed [PE]) would have (1) fewer depressive symptoms, (2) more energy, (3) higher vitamin B levels, and (4) less pharmaceutical lactation support during the postpartum than women who did not consume their placenta (non-placentophagy exposed [NE]).

Methods: Using data from a large, longitudinal study of gene × environment effects involving perinatal women with a history of mood disorders, the study investigators identified a PE cohort and matched them 4:1 (by psychiatric diagnosis, psychotropic medication use, supplementation, income, and age) with an NE cohort from the same dataset.

Self-Stigma in Relatives of people with Mental Illness scale: development and validation.

Background: Serious mental illness (SMI) is profoundly stigmatised, such that there is even an impact on relatives of people with SMI. Aims To develop and validate a scale to comprehensively measure self-stigma among first-degree relatives of individuals with SMI.

Method: We conducted group interviews focusing on self-stigma with first-degree relatives (n = 20) of people with SMI, from which 74 representative quotations were reframed as Likert-type items.