Publications by authors named "D K Quek"
Background: Freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD) has a poorly understood pathophysiology, which hinders treatment development. Recent work showed a dysfunctional fronto-striato-limbic circuitry at rest in PD freezers compared to non-freezers in the dopamine "OFF" state. While other studies found that dopaminergic replacement therapy alters functional brain organization in PD, the specific effect of dopamine medication on fronto-striato-limbic functional connectivity in freezers remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Our study aimed to examine the relationship between cardiovascular diseases (CVD) with peripapillary retinal fiber layer (RNFL) and macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness profiles in a large multi-ethnic Asian population study.
Methods: 6,024 Asian subjects were analyzed in this study. All participants underwent standardized examinations, including spectral domain OCT imaging (Cirrus HD-OCT; Carl Zeiss Meditec).
Article Synopsis
- This study examines the relationship between resting heart rate and cardiovascular diseases, identifying 493 genetic variants linked to this trait through a large-scale analysis of 835,465 individuals.
- It highlights the significance of higher genetically predicted resting heart rates, which are associated with an increased risk of dilated cardiomyopathy but lower risk for conditions like atrial fibrillation and ischemic strokes.
- The study also challenges previous findings on resting heart rate and all-cause mortality, suggesting earlier results may have been influenced by biases, ultimately enhancing our understanding of the biological implications of resting heart rate in cardiovascular health.
Within the hair follicle (HF) niche, dermal papilla (DP) cells are well known for the hair induction capacity; however, DP cell signaling also regulates HF pigmentation. Here we describe how Sox2 in the DP is a key regulator of melanocyte signaling. To study the largely unknown regulatory role the DP has on hair pigmentation, we characterize leptin receptor (Lepr) expression in the skin and as a genetic tool to target the DP.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The relationship between baseline cognitive impairment (CI) and incident visual impairment (VI) in Asians is unclear.
Objective: To determine the associations between baseline CI with incident VI and visual acuity (VA) at 6-year follow-up in multiethnic Asians.
Design: Cohort.