Couple-Focused Smartphone Intervention to Reduce Problem Drinking: Pilot Randomized Control Trial.

Background: Alcohol use disorder is among the most pervasive substance use disorders in the United States, with a lifetime prevalence of 30%. Recommended treatment options include evidence-based behavioral interventions; smartphone-based interventions confer a number of benefits such as portability, continuous access, and stigma avoidance; and research suggests that interventions involving couples may outperform those for patients only. In this context, a behavioral intervention delivered to couples through smartphones may serve as an effective adjunct to alcohol use disorder treatment.

Automated Quantification of Simple and Complex Aortic Flow Using 2D Phase Contrast MRI.

(1) : Flow assessment using cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) provides important implications in determining physiologic parameters and clinically important markers. However, post-processing of CMR images remains labor- and time-intensive. This study aims to assess the validity and repeatability of fully automated segmentation of phase contrast velocity-encoded aortic root plane.

Can Psychedelic Use Benefit Meditation Practice? Examining Individual, Psychedelic, and Meditation-Related Factors.

Introduction: Meditation practice and psychedelic use have attracted increasing attention in the public sphere and scientific research. Both methods induce non-ordinary states of consciousness that may have significant therapeutic benefits. Thus, there is growing scientific interest in potential synergies between psychedelic use and meditation practice with some research suggesting that psychedelics may benefit meditation practice.

Trajectories of egg sensitization in childhood: Two birth cohorts in Asia and Europe.

Background: Hen's egg exposure through impaired skin barrier is considered a major mechanism of sensitization to eggs. However, the impact of filaggrin (FLG) gene loss-of-function mutations on the natural history of egg sensitization lacks consensus among studies.

Objective: To evaluate the association between the natural course of egg sensitization and FLG mutations.

Identification of differences in CD4 T-cell gene expression between people with asthma and healthy controls.

Functional enrichment analysis of genome-wide association study (GWAS)-summary statistics has suggested that CD4 T-cells play an important role in asthma pathogenesis. Despite this, CD4 T-cells are under-represented in asthma transcriptome studies. To fill the gap, 3'-RNA-Seq was used to generate gene expression data on CD4 T-cells (isolated within 2 h from collection) from peripheral blood from participants with well-controlled asthma (n = 32) and healthy controls (n = 11).

European and multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of atopic dermatitis highlights importance of systemic immune regulation.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin condition and prior genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified 71 associated loci. In the current study we conducted the largest AD GWAS to date (discovery N = 1,086,394, replication N = 3,604,027), combining previously reported cohorts with additional available data. We identified 81 loci (29 novel) in the European-only analysis (which all replicated in a separate European analysis) and 10 additional loci in the multi-ancestry analysis (3 novel).

Circulating CC16 and Asthma: A Population-based, Multicohort Study from Early Childhood through Adult Life.

Club cell secretory protein (CC16) is an antiinflammatory protein highly expressed in the airways. CC16 deficiency has been associated with lung function deficits, but its role in asthma has not been established conclusively. To determine ) the longitudinal association of circulating CC16 with the presence of active asthma from early childhood through adult life and ) whether CC16 in early childhood predicts the clinical course of childhood asthma into adult life.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of childhood wheezing phenotypes identifies as a susceptibility locus for persistent wheezing.

Background: Many genes associated with asthma explain only a fraction of its heritability. Most genome-wide association studies (GWASs) used a broad definition of 'doctor-diagnosed asthma', thereby diluting genetic signals by not considering asthma heterogeneity. The objective of our study was to identify genetic associates of childhood wheezing phenotypes.

The Importance of Mitral Valve Prolapse Doming Volume in the Assessment of Left Ventricular Stroke Volume with Cardiac MRI.

There remains a debate whether the ventricular volume within prolapsing mitral valve (MV) leaflets should be included in the left ventricular (LV) end-systolic volume, and therefore factored in LV stroke volume (SV), in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) assessments. This study aims to compare LV volumes during end-systolic phases, with and without the inclusion of the volume of blood on the left atrial aspect of the atrioventricular groove but still within the MV prolapsing leaflets, against the reference LV SV by four-dimensional flow (4DF). A total of 15 patients with MV prolapse (MVP) were retrospectively enrolled in this study.

Evolution of Eczema, Wheeze, and Rhinitis from Infancy to Early Adulthood: Four Birth Cohort Studies.

The relationship between eczema, wheeze or asthma, and rhinitis is complex, and epidemiology and mechanisms of their comorbidities is unclear. To investigate within-individual patterns of morbidity of eczema, wheeze, and rhinitis from birth to adolescence/early adulthood. We investigated onset, progression, and resolution of eczema, wheeze, and rhinitis using descriptive statistics, sequence mining, and latent Markov modeling in four population-based birth cohorts.

Integration of Genomic Risk Scores to Improve the Prediction of Childhood Asthma Diagnosis.

Genome-wide and epigenome-wide association studies have identified genetic variants and differentially methylated nucleotides associated with childhood asthma. Incorporation of such genomic data may improve performance of childhood asthma prediction models which use phenotypic and environmental data. Using genome-wide genotype and methylation data at birth from the Isle of Wight Birth Cohort ( = 1456), a polygenic risk score (PRS), and newborn (nMRS) and childhood (cMRS) methylation risk scores, were developed to predict childhood asthma diagnosis.

Modeling Wheezing Spells Identifies Phenotypes with Different Outcomes and Genetic Associates.

Longitudinal modeling of current wheezing identified similar phenotypes, but their characteristics often differ between studies. We propose that a more comprehensive description of wheeze may better describe trajectories than binary information on the presence/absence of wheezing. We derived six multidimensional variables of wheezing spells from birth to adolescence (including duration, temporal sequencing, and the extent of persistence/recurrence).

Effect of an eHealth intervention on older adults' quality of life and health-related outcomes: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: By 2030, the number of US adults age ≥65 will exceed 70 million. Their quality of life has been declared a national priority by the US government.

Objective: Assess effects of an eHealth intervention for older adults on quality of life, independence, and related outcomes.

Novel loci for childhood body mass index and shared heritability with adult cardiometabolic traits.

The genetic background of childhood body mass index (BMI), and the extent to which the well-known associations of childhood BMI with adult diseases are explained by shared genetic factors, are largely unknown. We performed a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of BMI in 61,111 children aged between 2 and 10 years. Twenty-five independent loci reached genome-wide significance in the combined discovery and replication analyses.

Facilitated referral pathway for genetic testing at the time of ovarian cancer diagnosis: uptake of genetic counseling and testing and impact on patient-reported stress, anxiety and depression.

Background: Timely genetic testing at ovarian cancer diagnosis is essential as results impact front line treatment decisions. Our objective was to determine rates of genetic counseling and testing with an expedited genetics referral pathway wherein women with newly-diagnosed ovarian cancer are contacted by a genetics navigator to facilitate genetic counseling.

Methods: Patients were referred for genetic counseling by their gynecologic oncologist, contacted by a genetics navigator and offered appointments for genetic counseling.

Stress Allostasis in Substance Use Disorders: Promise, Progress, and Emerging Priorities in Clinical Research.

Clinicians and researchers alike have long believed that stressors play a pivotal etiologic role in risk, maintenance, and/or relapse of alcohol and other substance use disorders (SUDs). Numerous seminal and contemporary theories on SUD etiology posit that stressors may motivate drug use and that individuals who use drugs chronically may display altered responses to stressors. We use foundational basic stress biology research as a lens through which to evaluate critically the available evidence to support these key stress-SUD theses in humans.

A trans-ancestral meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies reveals loci associated with childhood obesity.

Although hundreds of genome-wide association studies-implicated loci have been reported for adult obesity-related traits, less is known about the genetics specific for early-onset obesity and with only a few studies conducted in non-European populations to date. Searching for additional genetic variants associated with childhood obesity, we performed a trans-ancestral meta-analysis of 30 studies consisting of up to 13 005 cases (≥95th percentile of body mass index (BMI) achieved 2-18 years old) and 15 599 controls (consistently <50th percentile of BMI) of European, African, North/South American and East Asian ancestry. Suggestive loci were taken forward for replication in a sample of 1888 cases and 4689 controls from seven cohorts of European and North/South American ancestry.

Differential associations of allergic disease genetic variants with developmental profiles of eczema, wheeze and rhinitis.

Background: Allergic diseases (eczema, wheeze and rhinitis) in children often present as heterogeneous phenotypes. Understanding genetic associations of specific patterns of symptoms might facilitate understanding of the underlying biological mechanisms.

Objective: To examine associations between allergic disease-related variants identified in a recent genome-wide association study and latent classes of allergic diseases (LCADs) in two population-based birth cohorts.

Acute prazosin administration does not reduce stressor reactivity in healthy adults.

Rationale: Norepinephrine plays a critical role in the stress response. Clarifying the psychopharmacological effects of norepinephrine manipulation on stress reactivity in humans has important implications for basic neuroscience and treatment of stress-related psychiatric disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorders. Preclinical research implicates the norepinephrine alpha-1 receptor in responses to stressors.