Update of Vocal Fold Shortening With Retrodisplacement of Anterior Commissure for Voice Feminization.

Objectives: To assess the efficacy and long-term durability of the enhanced technique of Type II Vocal Fold Shortening and Retrodisplacement of the Anterior Commissure (VFSRAC) for voice feminization compared with the preceding Type I method.

Methods: A retrospective analysis encompassed 506 patients drawn from a cohort of 1025 MtF transgender women who underwent VFSRAC between 2003 and 2021. The study period included cases from 2015 to 2021, during which the Type II update technique was implemented, involving a modification to the suture technique.

Objectively assessed sleep and physical activity in depression subtypes and its mediating role in their association with cardiovascular risk factors.

The aims of this study were to investigate the associations of major depressive disorder (MDD) and its subtypes (atypical, melancholic, combined, unspecified) with actigraphy-derived measures of sleep, physical activity and circadian rhythms; and test the potentially mediating role of sleep, physical activity and circadian rhythms in the well-established associations of the atypical MDD subtype with Body Mass Index (BMI) and the metabolic syndrome (MeS). The sample consisted of 2317 participants recruited from an urban area, who underwent comprehensive somatic and psychiatric evaluations. MDD and its subtypes were assessed via semi-structured diagnostic interviews.

Cellular Diversity in Human Subgenual Anterior Cingulate and Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex by Single-Nucleus RNA-Sequencing.

Regional cellular heterogeneity is a fundamental feature of the human neocortex; however, details of this heterogeneity are still undefined. We used single-nucleus RNA-sequencing to examine cell-specific transcriptional features in the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) and the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC), regions implicated in major psychiatric disorders. Droplet-based nuclei-capture and library preparation were performed on replicate samples from 8 male donors without history of psychiatric or neurologic disorder.

Hepatitis C cure and medications for opioid use disorder improve health-related quality of life in patients with opioid use disorder actively engaged in substance use.

Background: This study aims to determine whether Hepatitis C (HCV) treatment improves health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) actively engaged in substance use, and which variables are associated with improving HRQL in patients with OUD during HCV treatment.

Methods: Data are from a prospective, open-label, observational study of 198 patients with OUD or opioid misuse within 1 year of study enrollment who received HCV treatment with the primary endpoint of Sustained Virologic Response (SVR). HRQL was assessed using the Hepatitis C Virus Patient Reported Outcomes (HCV-PRO) survey, with higher scores denoting better HRQL.

Comparison of the serum fibrin-fibrinogen degradation products with cytokeratin 19 fragment as biomarkers in patients with lung cancer.

Lung cancer is one of the main causes of cancer-related mortality. The identification of early diagnostic biomarkers improved outcomes for lung cancer patients. Serum fibrin-fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) levels are elevated in numerous malignancies due to hemostatic alterations.

Principal components ancestry adjustment for Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 data.

Statistical tests on rare variant data may well have type I error rates that differ from their nominal levels. Here, we use the Genetic Analysis Workshop 17 data to estimate type I error rates and powers of three models for identifying rare variants associated with a phenotype: (1) by using the number of minor alleles, age, and smoking status as predictor variables; (2) by using the number of minor alleles, age, smoking status, and the identity of the population of the subject as predictor variables; and (3) by using the number of minor alleles, age, smoking status, and ancestry adjustment using 10 principal component scores. We studied both quantitative phenotype and a dichotomized phenotype.

Assessing the impact of global versus local ancestry in association studies.

Background: To account for population stratification in association studies, principal-components analysis is often performed on single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across the genome. Here, we use Framingham Heart Study (FHS) Genetic Analysis Workshop 16 data to compare the performance of local ancestry adjustment for population stratification based on principal components (PCs) estimated from SNPs in a local chromosomal region with global ancestry adjustment based on PCs estimated from genome-wide SNPs.

Methods: Standardized height residuals from unrelated adults from the FHS Offspring Cohort were averaged from longitudinal data.

The evaluation of individual dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes using absorption and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques.

We have investigated the degree of dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in solution using laser spectroscopic techniques. SWNTs were suspended in aqueous media using a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant. SWNTs with different dispersion states were prepared by controlling the intensity and duration of sonication and centrifugation.

Quantifying the percent increase in minimum sample size for SNP genotyping errors in genetic model-based association studies.

Kang et al. [Genet Epidemiol 2004;26:132-141] addressed the question of which genotype misclassification errors are most costly, in terms of minimum percentage increase in sample size necessary (%MSSN) to maintain constant asymptotic power and significance level, when performing case/control studies of genetic association in a genetic model-free setting. They answered the question for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using the 2 x 3 chi2 test of independence.

What SNP genotyping errors are most costly for genetic association studies?

Which genotype misclassification errors are most costly, in terms of increased sample size necessary (SSN) to maintain constant asymptotic power and significance level, when performing case/control studies of genetic association? We answer this question for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), using the 2x3 chi(2) test of independence. Our strategy is to expand the noncentrality parameter of the asymptotic distribution of the chi(2) test under a specified alternative hypothesis to approximate SSN, using a linear Taylor series in the error parameters. We consider two scenarios: the first assumes Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) for the true genotypes in both cases and controls, and the second assumes HWE only in controls.