We employed Mendelian randomization (MR) to evaluate the causal relationship between leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) with summary statistics from genome-wide association studies (n = ~ 38,000 for LTL and ~ 81,000 for ALS in the European population; n = ~ 23,000 for LTL and ~ 4,100 for ALS in the Asian population). We further evaluated mediation roles of lipi

The role of mammalian Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) as a mechanosensor is controversial. Here, we report that purified human TRPA1 (hTRPA1) with and without its N-terminal ankyrin repeat domain responded with pressure-dependent single-channel current activity when reconstituted into artificial lipid bilayers. The hTRPA1 activity was abolished by the thiol reducing agent TCEP. Thus

Background: Poor health and unmet healthcare needs is common among people with substance use disorder (SUD) including patients in opioid substitution treatment (OST). Low health literacy (HL) is associated with poverty, low education and physical limitations, but is unexplored in an OST context. Methods: Mixed-methods were used. Participants were consecutively recruited by clinic staff or research

Alpine soils are warming strongly, leading to profound alterations in carbon cycling and greenhouse gas budgets, mediated via the soil microbiome. To explore microbial responses to global warming, we incubated eight alpine soils between 4 and 35 °C and linked the temperature dependency of bacterial growth with alterations in community structures and the identification of temperature sensitive taxa

Mafic dykes and dyke swarms in continental settings provide information on the evolution of the subcontinental mantle and can be key elements in the reconstruction of paleo-geographic settings of now separated crustal terranes. This study focuses on the petrogenesis and geochronology of mafic dykes of the WNW (~125°) trending Bhanupratappur swarm in the central Bastar Craton, central India. Dykes

Background: Streptococcus pyogenes is a well-known cause of postpartum infections and is causing significant morbidity and mortality. Aim: To describe measures taken to control an outbreak of postpartum infections caused by S. pyogenes emm75 on a maternity ward. Methods: Patients presenting postpartum with signs and symptoms of infection were cultured for β-haemolytic streptococci with cervical sw

We investigate the trade-off between energy usage and (packet) throughput in wireless mesh networks performing machine-to-machine communication. For this we provide a novel mixed-integer programming formulation to maximise the throughput while maintaining minimal energy usage, together with an effective price-and-branch solution algorithm based on column generation. The resulting optimisation mode

PURPOSE: A prespecified statistical model based on 4 kallikrein markers in blood, commercially available as the 4Kscore®, has been shown to accurately detect high grade (greater than Grade Group 2) prostate cancer in men with moderately elevated prostate specific antigen. We assessed whether the model predicted prostate cancer metastasis or death in men not subject to prostate specific antigen scr

Gluten protein crosslinking is a predetermined process where specific intra-and intermolecular disulfide bonds differ depending on the protein and cysteine motif. In this article, all-atom Monte Carlo simulations were used to understand the formation of disulfide bonds in gliadins and low molecular weight glutenin subunits (LMW-GS). The two intrinsically disordered proteins appeared to contain mos

Background: DNA methylation and gene expression are promising biomarkers of various cancers, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Besides the main effects of biomarkers, the progression of complex diseases is also influenced by gene-gene (G×G) interactions. Research Question: Would screening the functional capacity of biomarkers on the basis of main effects or interactions, using multiomi

Smallpox, one of the most devastating human diseases, killed between 300 million and 500 million people in the 20th century alone. We recovered viral sequences from 13 northern European individuals, including 11 dated to ~600-1050 CE, overlapping the Viking Age, and reconstructed near-complete variola virus genomes for four of them. The samples predate the earliest confirmed smallpox cases by ~100

In the present study, UV-induced membrane destabilization by TiO2 (anatase) nanoparticles was investigated by neutron reflectometry (NR), small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and ζ-potential measurements for phospholipid bilayers formed by zwitterionic palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC) containing biologic

Stroke triggers neurogenesis in the striatum in mice, with new neurons deriving in part from the nearby subventricular zone and in part from parenchymal astrocytes. The initiation of neurogenesis by astrocytes within the striatum is triggered by reduced Notch-signaling, and blocking this signaling pathway by deletion of the gene encoding the obligate Notch coactivator Rbpj is sufficient to activat

Background: The association between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and periodontitis remains unclear. Methods: We studied oral health and periodontitis in a population-based case-control study of individuals with ≥10 remaining teeth ≥61 years of age and either with, or without a diagnosis of RA. 126 dentate individuals with RA were recruited together with age-matched control individuals without RA. The

Proinflammatory cytokines stimulate expression of β-secretase, which increases processing of amyloid precursor protein (APP), ultimately leading to the deposition of amyloid beta (Aβ). The N-terminal domain of β-cleaved APP supports Cu/NO-dependent release of heparan sulfate (HS) from the glypican-1 (Gpc-1) proteoglycan. HS is an inhibitor of β-secretase, thereby constituting a regulatory, negativ

Background: Telephone nursing in primary healthcare has been suggested as a solution to the increased demand for easy access to healthcare, increased number of patients with complex problems, and lack of general practitioners. Registered nurses' assessments may also be of great importance for antibiotic prescriptions according to guidelines. The aim of this study was to describe registered nurses'

In order to effectively tackle the on-going changes in global climate, stakeholders and policy makers across the globe need timely and accurate information they can trust on a wide range of topics. Here we briefly describe how observational data on greenhouse gas concentrations collected from the ICOS network of measurement stations in Europe is transformed via atmospheric modelling into informati