Mendelian Randomization of Circulating Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Colorectal Cancer Risk.

Background: Results from epidemiologic studies examining polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and colorectal cancer risk are inconsistent. Mendelian randomization may strengthen causal inference from observational studies. Given their shared metabolic pathway, examining the combined effects of aspirin/NSAID use with PUFAs could help elucidate an association between PUFAs and colorectal cancer risk.

Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip From Birth to Arthroplasty: Clear Indications and New Controversies.

Developmental dysplasia of the hip is the all-encompassing term used to describe the wide spectrum of disorders of the development of the hip that manifest in various forms and at different ages. Developmental dysplasia of the hip often evolves over time because the structures of the hip are normal during embryogenesis but gradually become abnormal. Such variability in pathology is associated with a similarly wide range in management options and recommendations aimed at preventing hip joint arthrosis.

Establishing consensus on the best practice guidelines for the use of bracing in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis.

Study Design: Survey.

Objectives: Bracing is the mainstay of conservative treatment in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS). The purpose of this study was to establish best practice guidelines (BPG) among a multidisciplinary group of international bracing experts including surgeons, physiatrists, physical therapists, and orthotists utilizing formal consensus building techniques.

Circulation of Tick-Borne Spirochetes in Tick and Small Mammal Communities in Santa Barbara County, California, USA.

A diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner) (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae) genomospecies, including the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.), have been identified in the western United States.

Cumulative Burden of Colorectal Cancer-Associated Genetic Variants Is More Strongly Associated With Early-Onset vs Late-Onset Cancer.

Background & Aims: Early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC, in persons younger than 50 years old) is increasing in incidence; yet, in the absence of a family history of CRC, this population lacks harmonized recommendations for prevention. We aimed to determine whether a polygenic risk score (PRS) developed from 95 CRC-associated common genetic risk variants was associated with risk for early-onset CRC.

Methods: We studied risk for CRC associated with a weighted PRS in 12,197 participants younger than 50 years old vs 95,865 participants 50 years or older.

Identification of Novel Loci and New Risk Variant in Known Loci for Colorectal Cancer Risk in East Asians.

Background: Risk variants identified so far for colorectal cancer explain only a small proportion of familial risk of this cancer, particularly in Asians.

Methods: We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of colorectal cancer in East Asians, including 23,572 colorectal cancer cases and 48,700 controls. To identify novel risk loci, we selected 60 promising risk variants for replication using data from 58,131 colorectal cancer cases and 67,347 controls of European descent.

Bracing in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Trial (BrAIST): Development and Validation of a Prognostic Model in Untreated Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Using the Simplified Skeletal Maturity System.

Study Design: Prognostic study and validation using prospective clinical trial data.

Objective: To derive and validate a model predicting curve progression to ≥45° before skeletal maturity in untreated patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS).

Summary Of Background Data: Studies have linked the natural history of AIS with characteristics such as sex, skeletal maturity, curve magnitude, and pattern.

Common Skiing and Snowboarding Injuries.

Participation in skiing, and especially snowboarding, continues to rise. As participation and level of competition in these winter sports increases, the number of injuries increases as well. Upper-extremity injuries are more common in snowboarding, whereas lower-extremity injuries are more common in skiing.

ACR Appropriateness Criteria® Stage I Breast Cancer: Initial Workup and Surveillance for Local Recurrence and Distant Metastases in Asymptomatic Women.

As the proportion of women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer increases, the role of imaging for staging and surveillance purposes is considered. National and international guidelines discourage the use of staging imaging for asymptomatic patients newly diagnosed with stage 0 to II breast cancer, even if there is nodal involvement, as unnecessary imaging can delay care and affect outcomes. In asymptomatic patients with a history of stage I breast cancer that received treatment for curative intent, there is no role for imaging to screen for distant recurrences.

Vitamin D binding protein and risk of renal cell carcinoma in the prostate, lung, colorectal and ovarian cancer screening trial.

Our group has conducted two previous studies on the association between vitamin D binding protein (DBP) and renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common form of kidney cancer, finding strong inverse associations. We undertook the current analysis to replicate our findings in a different study population that included women and nonsmokers. We conducted a nested case-control study in the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial (PLCO).

Serum Retinol and Risk of Overall and Site-Specific Cancer in the ATBC Study.

Retinol, the most biologically active form of vitamin A, might influence cancer-related biological pathways. However, results from observational studies of serum retinol and cancer risk have been mixed. We prospectively examined serum retinol and risk of overall and site-specific cancer in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study (n = 29,104 men), conducted in 1985-1993, with follow-up through 2012.

Publisher Correction: Shared heritability and functional enrichment across six solid cancers.

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

A large-scale chromosomal inversion is not associated with life history development in rainbow trout from Southeast Alaska.

In studying the causative mechanisms behind migration and life history, the salmonids-salmon, trout, and charr-are an exemplary taxonomic group, as life history development is known to have a strong genetic component. A double inversion located on chromosome 5 in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is associated with life history development in multiple populations, but the importance of this inversion has not been thoroughly tested in conjunction with other polymorphisms in the genome. To that end, we used a high-density SNP chip to genotype 192 F1 migratory and resident rainbow trout and focused our analyses to determine whether this inversion is important in life history development in a well-studied population of rainbow trout from Southeast Alaska.

Prediction of Treatment Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer via Early Changes in Tumor Heterogeneity Captured by DCE-MRI Registration.

We analyzed DCE-MR images from 132 women with locally advanced breast cancer from the I-SPY1 trial to evaluate changes of intra-tumor heterogeneity for augmenting early prediction of pathologic complete response (pCR) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Utilizing image registration, voxel-wise changes including tumor deformations and changes in DCE-MRI kinetic features were computed to characterize heterogeneous changes within the tumor. Using five-fold cross-validation, logistic regression and Cox regression were performed to model pCR and RFS, respectively.

Acute Onset Atypical Severe Scoliosis: A Case Report.

Background: Although most cases of scoliosis are idiopathic, scoliosis may also be congenital or associated with other diseases. Herniated Nucleus Pulposus (HNP) has been reported as a potential cause of non-structural scoliosis. HNP is unusual in adolescents and the clinical features are typically different from those in adults.

Rare Post Traumatic Kyphoscoliosis of the Thoracolumbar Spine After Posterior Fusion for Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: A Case Report and Review of the Literature.

Background: Vertebral fracture after posterior arthrodesis and instrumentation for idiopathic scoliosis is a rare occurrence with limited reported cases in the literature.

Case Presentation: A 16-year-old female patient surgically treated for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis with T2-L1 posterior spinal fusion was in a low-energy fall resulting in fracture of L1 and new kyphosis and scoliosis of the thoracolumbar spine at the distal aspect of the fusion. The fracture was initially managed conservatively, however pain persisted and thus she was indicated for extension of the fusion and correction of the post-traumatic kyphosis.

Determining the Prevalence and Costs of Unnecessary Referrals in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.

Background: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) has been associated with unnecessary referrals, but the provider and patient costs associated with these referrals remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated costs of unnecessary referrals for AIS in a university hospital-based orthopaedic clinic. These data are required to estimate the cost-efficacy of scoliosis screening programs.

Genetic overlap between autoimmune diseases and non-Hodgkin lymphoma subtypes.

Epidemiologic studies show an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) in patients with autoimmune disease (AD), due to a combination of shared environmental factors and/or genetic factors, or a causative cascade: chronic inflammation/antigen-stimulation in one disease leads to another. Here we assess shared genetic risk in genome-wide-association-studies (GWAS). Secondary analysis of GWAS of NHL subtypes (chronic lymphocytic leukemia, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, and marginal zone lymphoma) and ADs (rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis).

Risk factors for postoperative delirium in patients undergoing lower extremity joint arthroplasty: a retrospective population-based cohort study.

Background: With an ageing population, the demand for joint arthroplasties and the burden of postoperative delirium is likely to increase. Given the lack of large-scale data, we investigated associations between perioperative risk factors and postoperative delirium in arthroplasty surgery.

Methods: This retrospective population-based cohort study, utilized national claims data from the all-payer Premier Healthcare database containing detailed billing information from >25% nationwide hospitalizations.

Family Chaos and Asthma Control.

Objectives: Asthma is a highly prevalent childhood chronic disease, with particularly high rates among poor and minority youth. Psychosocial factors have been linked to asthma severity but remain poorly understood. This study examined (1) relationships between parent and child depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, family functioning, and child asthma control in a sample of urban minority youth with uncontrolled asthma and (2) family functioning as a pathway linking parent depression and asthma outcomes.

Circulating markers of cellular immune activation in prediagnostic blood sample and lung cancer risk in the Lung Cancer Cohort Consortium (LC3).

Cell-mediated immune suppression may play an important role in lung carcinogenesis. We investigated the associations for circulating levels of tryptophan, kynurenine, kynurenine:tryptophan ratio (KTR), quinolinic acid (QA) and neopterin as markers of immune regulation and inflammation with lung cancer risk in 5,364 smoking-matched case-control pairs from 20 prospective cohorts included in the international Lung Cancer Cohort Consortium. All biomarkers were quantified by mass spectrometry-based methods in serum/plasma samples collected on average 6 years before lung cancer diagnosis.

Southern California and range-wide raccoon gastrointestinal helminth database.

Local and global measurements of parasite prevalence and abundance are critical for understanding the dynamics that underlie the diversity, distribution, and evolution of infectious diseases. Here, we present a data set of gut helminths found in (1) raccoons throughout their range, based on primary literature from 1925-2017 and (2) raccoons in Santa Barbara County, California, USA surveyed from 2012 to 2015. The range-wide data set has 1,256 parasite entries from 217 literature sources across three continents and 32 states in the USA.

Infection at an ecotone: cross-system foraging increases satellite parasites but decreases core parasites in raccoons.

Ecotones can increase free-living species richness, but little is known about how parasites respond to ecotones. Here, we use parasite communities in raccoons (Procyon lotor) to test the hypothesis that parasite communities can be divided into core and satellite species, each with fundamentally different responses to ecotones. We used published parasite surveys to classify parasites as common core or rare satellite species, and then surveyed raccoons in coastal California to examine how proximity to two aquatic ecotones altered parasite communities.