The Role of A Priori-Identified Addiction and Smoking Gene Sets in Smoking Behaviors.

Introduction: Smoking is a leading cause of death, and genetic variation contributes to smoking behaviors. Identifying genes and sets of genes that contribute to risk for addiction is necessary to prioritize targets for functional characterization and for personalized medicine.

Methods: We performed a gene set-based association and heritable enrichment study of two addiction-related gene sets, those on the Smokescreen Genotyping Array and the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, using the largest available GWAS summary statistics.

Association between preadmission frailty and care level at discharge in older adults undergoing emergency laparotomy.

Background: Older adults undergoing emergency abdominal surgery have significantly poorer outcomes than younger adults. For those who survive, the level of care required on discharge from hospital is unknown and such information could guide decision-making. The ELF (Emergency Laparotomy and Frailty) study aimed to determine whether preoperative frailty in older adults was associated with increased dependence at the time of discharge.

Onset of regular cannabis use and young adult insomnia: an analysis of shared genetic liability.

Study Objectives: Estimate the genetic and environmental influences on the relationship between onset of regular cannabis use and young adult insomnia.

Methods: In a population-based twin cohort of 1882 twins (56% female, mean age = 22.99, SD = 2.

Investigating the causal effect of cannabis use on cognitive function with a quasi-experimental co-twin design.

Background: It is unclear whether cannabis use causes cognitive decline; several studies show an association between cannabis use and cognitive decline, but quasi-experimental twin studies have found little support for a causal effect. Here, we evaluate the association of cannabis use with general cognitive ability and executive functions (EFs) while controlling for genetic and shared environmental confounds in a longitudinal twin study.

Methods: We first examined the phenotypic associations between cannabis initiation, frequency, and use disorder with cognitive abilities, while also controlling for pre-use general cognitive ability and other substance involvement.

The development of a national approach to monitoring estuarine health based on multivariate analysis.

New Zealand has a complex coastal environment spanning a large latitudinal gradient and three water masses. Here we assess whether multivariate analyses of benthic macrofaunal community composition can be a sensitive approach to assessing relative estuarine health across the country, negating the need for regional indices and reducing reliance on reference sites. Community data were used in separate canonical analyses of principal coordinates to create multivariate models of community responses to gradients in mud content and heavy metal contamination.

Common Genetic Influences on Impulsivity Facets are Related to Goal Management, Psychopathology, and Personality.

In this study, we characterized the genetic/environmental commonality and heterogeneity of impulsivity facets and tested the hypothesis that goal-management is central to their common variance. 764 young-adult twins completed the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale and measures of goal management, personality, and psychopathology. We found common genetic influences across all impulsivity facets except sensation seeking.

Whole-cortex mapping of common genetic influences on depression and a social deficits dimension.

Social processes are associated with depression, particularly understanding and responding to others, deficits in which can manifest as callousness/unemotionality (CU). Thus, CU may reflect some of the genetic risk to depression. Further, this vulnerability likely reflects the neurological substrates of depression, presenting biomarkers to capture genetic vulnerability of depression severity.

Genetic and Environmental Influence on the Human Functional Connectome.

Detailed mapping of genetic and environmental influences on the functional connectome is a crucial step toward developing intermediate phenotypes between genes and clinical diagnoses or cognitive abilities. We analyzed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data from two adult twin samples (Nos = 446 and 371) to quantify genetic and environmental influence on all pairwise functional connections between 264 brain regions (~35 000 functional connections). Nonshared environmental influence was high across the whole connectome.

The Colorado Twin Registry: 2019 Update.

The Colorado Twin Registry (CTR) is a population-based registry formed from birth and school records including twins born between 1968 and the present. Two previous reports on the CTR [Rhea et al., (2006).

Onset of regular cannabis use and adult sleep duration: Genetic variation and the implications of a predictive relationship.

Background: Limited evidence suggests that early cannabis use is associated with sleep problems. Research is needed to understand the developmental impact of early regular cannabis use on later adult sleep duration.

Methods: In a sample of 1656 adult twins (56% female, Mean age = 25.

Retrospective Analysis of Pneumonic Tularemia in Operation Whitecoat Human Subjects: Disease Progression and Tetracycline Efficacy.

is a highly infectious Gram-negative bacterium that is the etiologic agent of tularemia in animals and humans. The incidence of tularemia is very low with a lack of comprehensive data that describe disease in humans due to difficulty in understanding time and routes of exposure. Under the title Operation Whitecoat, researchers at Ft.

Swim exercise in extends neuromuscular and gut healthspan, enhances learning ability, and protects against neurodegeneration.

Regular physical exercise is the most efficient and accessible intervention known to promote healthy aging in humans. The molecular and cellular mechanisms that mediate system-wide exercise benefits, however, remain poorly understood, especially as applies to tissues that do not participate directly in training activity. The establishment of exercise protocols for short-lived genetic models will be critical for deciphering fundamental mechanisms of transtissue exercise benefits to healthy aging.

Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationships of N-(4-Benzamidino)-Oxazolidinones: Potent and Selective Inhibitors of Kallikrein-Related Peptidase 6.

Kallikrein-related peptidase 6 (KLK6) is a secreted serine protease that belongs to the family of tissue kallikreins. Aberrant expression of KLK6 has been found in different cancers and neurodegenerative diseases, and KLK6 is currently studied as a potential target in these pathologies. We report a novel series of KLK6 inhibitors discovered in a high-throughput screen within the European Lead Factory program.

Pluronic gel-based burrowing assay for rapid assessment of neuromuscular health in C. elegans.

Whole-organism phenotypic assays are central to the assessment of neuromuscular function and health in model organisms such as the nematode C. elegans. In this study, we report a new assay format for engaging C.

The Prevalence of Delirium in An Older Acute Surgical Population and Its Effect on Outcome.

Background: With an ageing population, an increasing number of older adults are admitted for assessment to acute surgical units. Older adults have specific factors that may influence outcomes, one of which is delirium (acute cognitive impairment).

Objectives: To establish the prevalence of delirium on admission in an older acute surgical population and its effect on mortality.

Linking changes in species-trait relationships and ecosystem function using a network analysis of traits.

A major challenge in ecology and environmental management is linking changes in community composition to ecosystem functions. We developed the network analysis of traits (NAT) to show changes in community network structure based on the changes in the composition and connectivity between clusters of species that share traits that imply shifts in functional diversity. We tested the application of NAT on a 113 species found on an intertidal sandflat that was subject to experimental nitrogen addition (control [0 g N/m ], medium [150 g N/m ], and high [600 g N/m ]).

Multiple stressor effects on coral reef ecosystems.

Global climate change has profound implications on species distributions and ecosystem functioning. In the coastal zone, ecological responses may be driven by various biogeochemical and physical environmental factors. Synergistic interactions can occur when the combined effects of stressors exceed their individual effects.

Synthesis of 3,3-Disubstituted Heterocycles by Pd-Catalyzed Arylallylation of Unactivated Alkenes.

Finding new methods of carbon-carbon bond formation is a key goal in expanding current methodology for heterocycle formation. Because of their inherently nonplanar shape, new methods of forming sp-rich scaffolds are of particular importance. Although there are methods for combining heterocyclization and formation of new sp-sp carbon-carbon bonds, these form the carbon-heteroatom bond rather than a carbon-carbon bond of the heterocycle.

Is the bereavement grief intensity of survivors linked with their perception of death quality?

Background: Some people experience exceptionally severe bereavement grief, and this level of post-death grief could potentially be the result of a low quality dying process.

Aims: A pilot study was conducted to determine if a relationship exists between perceived death quality and bereavement grief intensity.

Methods: A questionnaire was developed and posted online for data on bereavement grief intensity, perceived death quality, and decedent and bereaved person characteristics.

Image processing and analysis methods for the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.

The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study is an ongoing, nationwide study of the effects of environmental influences on behavioral and brain development in adolescents. The main objective of the study is to recruit and assess over eleven thousand 9-10-year-olds and follow them over the course of 10 years to characterize normative brain and cognitive development, the many factors that influence brain development, and the effects of those factors on mental health and other outcomes. The study employs state-of-the-art multimodal brain imaging, cognitive and clinical assessments, bioassays, and careful assessment of substance use, environment, psychopathological symptoms, and social functioning.

Author Correction: Human sex reversal is caused by duplication or deletion of core enhancers upstream of SOX9.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Age of initiation and transition times to tobacco dependence: Early onset and rapid escalated use increase risk for dependence severity.

Background: Research indicates that early tobacco initiation increases risk for dependence, but despite this, early initiation is associated with slower transitions to escalated tobacco use. In contrast to these findings, other studies suggest that rapid escalated tobacco use is associated with increased dependence outcomes.

Methods: Our sample was comprised of 5668 twins (2834 twin-pairs, mean age: 26.