Prospective prediction of childhood body mass index trajectories using multi-task Gaussian processes.

Background: Body mass index (BMI) trajectories have been used to assess the growth of children with respect to their peers, and to anticipate future obesity and disease risk. While retrospective BMI trajectories have been actively studied, models to prospectively predict continuous BMI trajectories have not been investigated.

Materials And Methods: Using longitudinal BMI measurements between birth and age 10 y from a mother-offspring cohort, we leveraged a multi-task Gaussian process approach to develop and evaluate a unified framework for modeling, clustering, and prospective prediction of BMI trajectories.

The prospective associations of fetal growth-related pregnancy complications with subsequent breastfeeding duration and markers of human milk production.

Background: The development of the breast for lactation occurs throughout pregnancy. It is unknown whether pregnancy complications resulting in poor fetal growth can affect breastfeeding (BF) success.

Objectives: We examined whether fetal growth-related pregnancy complications were associated with earlier BF cessation and changes in the concentrations of human milk biomarkers of low milk production.

A clinical and molecular characterization of a Pakistani family with multicentric osteolysis, nodulosis and arthropathy (MONA) syndrome.

Multicentric osteolysis nodulosis and arthropathy (MONA) is a rare skeletal dysplasia characterized primarily by progressive osteolysis, particularly affecting the carpal and tarsal bones, accompanied by osteoporosis. In addition, it features subcutaneous nodules on the palms and soles, along with the progressive onset of arthropathy, encompassing joint contractures, pain, swelling and stiffness. It is caused by a deficiency of the Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2).

Exploring multi-omics and clinical characteristics linked to accelerated biological aging in Asian women of reproductive age: insights from the S-PRESTO study.

Background: Phenotypic age (PhenoAge), a widely used marker of biological aging, has been shown to be a robust predictor of all-cause mortality and morbidity in different populations. Existing studies on biological aging have primarily focused on individual domains, resulting in a lack of a comprehensive understanding of the multi-systemic dysregulation that occurs in aging.

Methods: PhenoAge was evaluated based on a linear combination of chronological age (CA) and 9 clinical biomarkers in 952 multi-ethnic Asian women of reproductive age.

Health screening and its association with emergency department visits and related costs among home-dwelling older adults.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the health screening procedure for home-dwelling older adults in reducing emergency department visits and associated costs.

Methods: Data were derived from health screenings from 2020 to 2021 for 75-year-old home-dwelling residents of Western Finland. The study compared emergency department visits and associated costs between older adults who participated in the health screening (intervention group) and those who did not (non-intervention group).

Increasing student well-being through a positive psychology intervention: changes in salivary cortisol, depression, psychological well-being, and hope.

The significant prevalence of mental health problems among children and adolescents is a major concern worldwide. The current study evaluates the impact of a year-long, school-based intervention, Flourishing Students, on adolescents' salivary cortisol levels, depressive symptoms, psychological well-being, and hope. Utilizing a cluster randomized design with intervention and control classes, 72 students engaged in 32 well-being lessons during academic year 2016-2017, whereas 68 students followed their standard curriculum.

Excessive occupational sitting increases risk of cardiovascular events among working individuals with type 1 diabetes in the prospective Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy Study.

Background: Sedentary behavior, such as excessive sitting, increases risk of cardiovascular disease and premature mortality in the general population, but this has not been assessed in type 1 diabetes. Occupational sitting is increasingly ubiquitous and often constitutes the largest portion of daily sitting time. Our aim was to identify clinical factors associated with excessive occupational sitting in type 1 diabetes and, in a prospective setting, to explore its association with cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality, independent of leisure-time physical activity.

Effects of probiotics and fibers on markers of nephropathy, inflammation, intestinal barrier dysfunction and endothelial dysfunction in individuals with type 1 diabetes and albuminuria. The ProFOS Study.

Aims: To estimate whether a mix of pre- and probiotics would strengthen the gut barrier and protect the kidneys in individuals with type 1 diabetes and albuminuria.

Methods: Randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Forty-one participants received synbiotic (pre- and probiotics) mix or placebo for 12 weeks with 6 weeks washout.

Exposure to antibiotics and risk of latent autoimmune diabetes in adults and type 2 diabetes: results from a Swedish case-control study (ESTRID) and the Norwegian HUNT study.

Aims/hypothesis: Some studies find an increased risk of type 1 diabetes in children exposed to antibiotics. We investigated if exposure to antibiotics increases the risk of latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) and type 2 diabetes.

Methods: We used data from a Swedish case-control study (Epidemiological Study of Risk Factors for LADA and Type 2 Diabetes [ESTRID]: LADA, n=597; type 2 diabetes, n=2065; control participants matched on participation time, n=2386) and a case-control study nested within the Norwegian Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) (n=82/1279/2050).

Correction: Toivio et al. Ketogenic Diet High in Saturated Fat Promotes Colonic Claudin Expression without Changes in Intestinal Permeability to Iohexol in Healthy Mice. 2024, , 18.

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Infrared-A to improve mood: an exploratory study of water-filtered infrared-A (wIRA) exposure.

Diurnal preference to eveningness might predispose to depression. There is preliminary evidence of infrared-A (IR-A) induced whole-body hyperthermia (WBH) in the treatment of depression. In this exploratory study with 19 adults, we investigated the effects of a 20-min exposure of water-filtered IR-A (wIRA) to the skin of back and buttock area, without inducing WBH, on mood and assessed the outcome by diurnal preference (#R19047, approval on 7 May 2019).

Novel Insights: A Novel PHIP Variant in a Family with Severe Early-Onset Obesity.

Introduction: Severe childhood obesity can be caused by pathogenic variants in several genes involved in monogenic and syndromic obesity. Recently, heterozygous variants in pleckstrin homology domain interacting protein (PHIP) have been identified in patients with obesity as part of Chung-Jansen syndrome.

Case Presentation: The index patient is a 5-year-old boy with severe obesity since 1 year of age, developmental delay, facial dysmorphism, and behavior problems.

A retrospective longitudinal study of 52 Finnish patients with X-linked retinoschisis.

Purpose: To describe clinical characteristics in Finnish patients with X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS) longitudinally with emphasis on retinal morphology and genotype-phenotype correlations.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study reviewed medical records from patients with genetically confirmed XLRS from the Department of Ophthalmology, Helsinki University Hospital. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), refraction, colour fundus photography, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and genetic information were collected.

Increased purchases of prescription medicines in offspring of women with type 1 diabetes: a Finnish register-based cohort study between 1995 and 2018.

Objective: This study aimed to assess whether exposure to hyperglycemia influences prescription medicine purchases in the offspring of women with type 1 diabetes (exposed offspring).

Patients/materials And Methods: We identified all singleton exposed offspring born in the hospital district of Helsinki and Uusimaa, Finland, between 1988 and 2011 from the Finnish Medical Birth Register, maintained by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. For each exposed offspring, we obtained five age- and province-matched offspring of women without diabetes (reference offspring), from the Finnish Medical Birth Register.

The DoGA consortium expression atlas of promoters and genes in 100 canine tissues.

The dog, Canis lupus familiaris, is an important model for studying human diseases. Unlike many model organisms, the dog genome has a comparatively poor functional annotation, which hampers gene discovery for development, morphology, disease, and behavior. To fill this gap, we established a comprehensive tissue biobank for both the dog and wolf samples.

Cohort comparison of vision and hearing in 75- and 80-year-old men and women born 28 years apart.

Purpose: We compared the vision and hearing of older men and women born 28 years apart. In addition, we explored factors explaining the possible cohort differences.

Methods: Two independent cohorts of 75- and 80-year-old men and women were assessed as a part of the Evergreen study in 1989-1990 (n = 500) and the Evergreen II study in 2017-2018 (n = 726).

Prospective In Vivo Confocal Microscopy of the Central Cornea in Terrien Marginal Degeneration.

Purpose: To analyze central corneal in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) in Terrien marginal degeneration (TMD).

Methods: An observational prospective case-control study. Ten Finnish patients with TMD from a tertiary referral center were compared with 10 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers.