Is the adiposity-associated FTO gene variant related to all-cause mortality independent of adiposity? Meta-analysis of data from 169,551 Caucasian adults.

Previously, a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs9939609, in the FTO gene showed a much stronger association with all-cause mortality than expected from its association with body mass index (BMI), body fat mass index (FMI) and waist circumference (WC). This finding implies that the SNP has strong pleiotropic effects on adiposity and adiposity-independent pathological pathways that leads to increased mortality. To investigate this further, we conducted a meta-analysis of similar data from 34 longitudinal studies including 169,551 adult Caucasians among whom 27,100 died during follow-up.

Genetic and environmental factors are associated with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in older African Americans.

Background: Low circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] is prevalent in African Americans, but predictors of vitamin D status are understudied compared to Caucasian populations.

Objective: We investigated whether certain environmental and genetic factors are predictors of circulating 25(OH)D in 989 elderly African Americans participating in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study.

Methods: Regression analysis estimated the cross-sectional association of nongenetic (environmental) factors with 25(OH)D.

Sensory afferent segregation in three-eared frogs resemble the dominance columns observed in three-eyed frogs.

The formation of proper sensory afferent connections during development is essential for brain function. Activity-based competition is believed to drive ocular dominance columns (ODC) in mammals and in experimentally-generated three-eyed frogs. ODC formation is thus a compromise of activity differences between two eyes and similar molecular cues.

UFSRAT: Ultra-fast Shape Recognition with Atom Types--the discovery of novel bioactive small molecular scaffolds for FKBP12 and 11βHSD1.

Motivation: Using molecular similarity to discover bioactive small molecules with novel chemical scaffolds can be computationally demanding. We describe Ultra-fast Shape Recognition with Atom Types (UFSRAT), an efficient algorithm that considers both the 3D distribution (shape) and electrostatics of atoms to score and retrieve molecules capable of making similar interactions to those of the supplied query.

Results: Computational optimization and pre-calculation of molecular descriptors enables a query molecule to be run against a database containing 3.

The efficacy and safety of plasma exchange in patients with sepsis and septic shock: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Introduction: Sepsis and septic shock are leading causes of intensive care unit (ICU) mortality. They are characterized by excessive inflammation, upregulation of procoagulant proteins and depletion of natural anticoagulants. Plasma exchange has the potential to improve survival in sepsis by removing inflammatory cytokines and restoring deficient plasma proteins.

The efficacy and safety of heparin in patients with sepsis: a systematic review and metaanalysis.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of heparin in patients with sepsis, septic shock, or disseminated intravascular coagulation associated with infection.

Design: Systematic review and metaanalysis.

Data Sources: Randomized controlled trials from MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL, Global Health, Scopus, Web of Science, the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (inception to April 2014), conference proceedings, and reference lists of relevant articles.

A long-term intensive lifestyle intervention and physical function: the look AHEAD Movement and Memory Study.

Objective: To assess the long-term effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention on physical function using a randomized post-test design in the Look AHEAD trial.

Methods: Overweight and obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg m(-2)) middle-aged and older adults (aged 45-76 years at enrollment) with type 2 diabetes (n = 964) at four clinics in Look AHEAD, a trial evaluating an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) designed to achieve weight loss through caloric restriction and increased physical activity compared to diabetes support and education (DSE), underwent standardized assessments of performance-based physical function including an expanded short physical performance battery (SPPBexp ), 20-m and 400-m walk, and grip and knee extensor strength 8 years post-randomization, during the trial's weight maintenance phase.

Results: Eight years post-randomization, individuals randomized to ILI had better SPPBexp scores [adjusted mean (SE) difference: 0.

Low 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations predict incident depression in well-functioning older adults: the health, aging, and body composition study.

Background: Cross-sectional studies suggest that low 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) may be a risk factor for depression; however, there are few prospective studies. We examined the association between 25(OH)D and depressive symptoms in community-dwelling persons aged 70-79 years in the Health, Aging, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study (n = 2598).

Methods: Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) at baseline and 2-, 3- and 4-year follow-up.

Genome-wide meta-analysis identifies six novel loci associated with habitual coffee consumption.

Coffee, a major dietary source of caffeine, is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world and has received considerable attention regarding health risks and benefits. We conducted a genome-wide (GW) meta-analysis of predominately regular-type coffee consumption (cups per day) among up to 91,462 coffee consumers of European ancestry with top single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) followed-up in ~30 062 and 7964 coffee consumers of European and African-American ancestry, respectively. Studies from both stages were combined in a trans-ethnic meta-analysis.

Vitamin D insufficiency and abnormal hemoglobin a1c in black and white older persons.

Background: Although vitamin D has been mechanistically linked to insulin secretion and sensitivity, it remains unclear whether low 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels confer an increased risk of impaired glucose metabolism. We evaluated the relationship between vitamin D insufficiency (25-hydroxyvitamin D < 20ng/mL) and abnormal hemoglobin A1c (A1c) (≥6.5%) in community-dwelling older persons and examined whether this relationship differed according to race.

FTO genetic variants, dietary intake and body mass index: insights from 177,330 individuals.

FTO is the strongest known genetic susceptibility locus for obesity. Experimental studies in animals suggest the potential roles of FTO in regulating food intake. The interactive relation among FTO variants, dietary intake and body mass index (BMI) is complex and results from previous often small-scale studies in humans are highly inconsistent.

Weight change, body composition, and risk of mobility disability and mortality in older adults: a population-based cohort study.

Objectives: To examine associations between weight change, body composition, risk of mobility disability, and mortality in older adults.

Design: Prospective, longitudinal, population-based cohort.

Setting: The Health, Aging, and Body Composition Study.

Association between the Mediterranean diet and cognitive decline in a biracial population.

Background: Results from numerous studies suggest protective effects of the Mediterranean diet for cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mortality. Evidence for an association with a decreased risk of cognitive decline is less consistent and studies are limited by a lack of diversity in their populations.

Methods: We followed 2,326 older adults (38.

Association of vitamin D status with arterial blood pressure and hypertension risk: a mendelian randomisation study.

Background: Low plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) concentration is associated with high arterial blood pressure and hypertension risk, but whether this association is causal is unknown. We used a mendelian randomisation approach to test whether 25(OH)D concentration is causally associated with blood pressure and hypertension risk.

Methods: In this mendelian randomisation study, we generated an allele score (25[OH]D synthesis score) based on variants of genes that affect 25(OH)D synthesis or substrate availability (CYP2R1 and DHCR7), which we used as a proxy for 25(OH)D concentration.

Apolipoprotein E Allele and Hearing Thresholds in Older Adults.

Background: Whether apolipoprotein E (APOE) E4 allele status which is associated with an increased risk of cognitive decline is also associated with hearing impairment is unknown.

Methods: We studied 1833 men and women enrolled in the Health, Aging and Body Composition study. Regression models adjusted for demographic and cardiovascular risk factors were used to assess the cross-sectional association of APOE-E4 status with individual pure tone hearing thresholds and the 4-frequency pure tone average (0.

Investigating the effects of Pleistocene events on genetic divergence within Richardsonius balteatus, a widely distributed western North American minnow.

Background: Biogeographers seek to understand the influences of global climate shifts and geologic changes to the landscape on the ecology and evolution of organisms. Across both longer and shorter timeframes, the western North American landscape has experienced dynamic transformations related to various geologic processes and climatic oscillations, including events as recently as the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ~20 Ka) that have impacted the evolution of the North American biota. Redside shiner is a cyprinid species that is widely distributed throughout western North America.

Vowel discrimination by hearing infants as a function of number of spectral channels.

Reduced spectral resolution negatively impacts speech perception, particularly perception of vowels and consonant place. This study assessed impact of number of spectral channels on vowel discrimination by 6-month-old infants with normal hearing by comparing three listening conditions: Unprocessed speech, 32 channels, and 16 channels. Auditory stimuli (/ti/ and /ta/) were spectrally reduced using a noiseband vocoder and presented to infants with normal hearing via visual habituation.

Hearing versus Listening: Attention to Speech and Its Role in Language Acquisition in Deaf Infants with Cochlear Implants.

The advent of cochlear implantation has provided thousands of deaf infants and children access to speech and the opportunity to learn spoken language. Whether or not deaf infants successfully learn spoken language after implantation may depend in part on the extent to which they listen to speech rather than just hear it. We explore this question by examining the role that attention to speech plays in early language development according to a prominent model of infant speech perception - Jusczyk's WRAPSA model - and by reviewing the kinds of speech input that maintains normal-hearing infants' attention.

Relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D and cognitive function in older adults: the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.

Objectives: To examine the relationship between 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels and cognitive performance over time in older adults in the Health, Aging and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Community-dwelling participants in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Memphis, Tennessee.

Long-term impact of behavioral weight loss intervention on cognitive function.

Background: It is unknown whether intentional weight loss provides long-term benefits for cognitive function.

Methods: An ancillary study to a randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted in overweight and obese individuals (N = 978), aged 45-76 years at enrollment, with type 2 diabetes. An intensive behavioral intervention designed to promote and maintain weight loss through caloric restriction and increased physical activity was compared with diabetes support and education.

Vitamin D status is associated with grip strength in centenarians.

Low serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) have been associated with poor physical function in older adults, but few, if any, studies have examined this relationship in the very old. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine this relationship in the very old. Serum 25(OH)D concentrations were obtained from 194 centenarians and near centenarians (98 years and older).

Straight line foraging in yellow-eyed penguins: new insights into cascading fisheries effects and orientation capabilities of marine predators.

Free-ranging marine predators rarely search for prey along straight lines because dynamic ocean processes usually require complex search strategies. If linear movement patterns occur they are usually associated with travelling events or migratory behaviour. However, recent fine scale tracking of flying seabirds has revealed straight-line movements while birds followed fishing vessels.

Vitamin D-responsive SGPP2 variants associated with lung cell expression and lung function.

Background: Vitamin D is associated with lung health in epidemiologic studies, but mechanisms mediating observed associations are poorly understood. This study explores mechanisms for an effect of vitamin D in lung through an in vivo gene expression study, an expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis in lung tissue, and a population-based cohort study of sequence variants.

Methods: Microarray analysis investigated the association of gene expression in small airway epithelial cells with serum 25(OH)D in adult non-smokers.

Preoperative therapeutic apheresis for severe medically refractory amiodarone-induced thyrotoxicosis: a case report.

Introduction: Amiodarone is associated with thyroid dysfunction and life-threatening thyrotoxicosis. In medically refractory cases, or where medical therapy is contraindicated, thyroidectomy may be required. To decrease perioperative thyroid storm and to reduce overall surgical risk, apheresis may be considered preoperatively to restore euthyroidism.

Fine Mapping and Identification of BMI Loci in African Americans.

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) primarily performed in European-ancestry (EA) populations have identified numerous loci associated with body mass index (BMI). However, it is still unclear whether these GWAS loci can be generalized to other ethnic groups, such as African Americans (AAs). Furthermore, the putative functional variant or variants in these loci mostly remain under investigation.