| 1. |
- Daneshjou, Roxana, et al.
(författare)
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Working toward precision medicine : Predicting phenotypes from exomes in the Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation (CAGI) challenges
- 2017
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Ingår i: Human Mutation. - : Hindawi Limited. - 1059-7794 .- 1098-1004. ; 38:9, s. 1182-1192
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Precision medicine aims to predict a patient's disease risk and best therapeutic options by using that individual's genetic sequencing data. The Critical Assessment of Genome Interpretation (CAGI) is a community experiment consisting of genotype-phenotype prediction challenges; participants build models, undergo assessment, and share key findings. For CAGI 4, three challenges involved using exome-sequencing data: Crohn's disease, bipolar disorder, and warfarin dosing. Previous CAGI challenges included prior versions of the Crohn's disease challenge. Here, we discuss the range of techniques used for phenotype prediction as well as the methods used for assessing predictive models. Additionally, we outline some of the difficulties associated with making predictions and evaluating them. The lessons learned from the exome challenges can be applied to both research and clinical efforts to improve phenotype prediction from genotype. In addition, these challenges serve as a vehicle for sharing clinical and research exome data in a secure manner with scientists who have a broad range of expertise, contributing to a collaborative effort to advance our understanding of genotype-phenotype relationships.
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| 2. |
- Milfont, T. L., et al.
(författare)
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On the Relation Between Social Dominance Orientation and Environmentalism: A 25-Nation Study
- 2018
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Ingår i: Social Psychological and Personality Science. - : SAGE Publications. - 1948-5506 .- 1948-5514. ; 9:7, s. 802-814
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Approval of hierarchy and inequality in society indexed by social dominance orientation (SDO) extends to support for human dominance over the natural world. We tested this negative association between SDO and environmentalism and the validity of the new Short Social Dominance Orientation Scale in two cross-cultural samples of students (N = 4,163, k = 25) and the general population (N = 1,237, k = 10). As expected, the higher people were on SDO, the less likely they were to engage in environmental citizenship actions, pro-environmental behaviors and to donate to an environmental organization. Multilevel moderation results showed that the SDO-environmentalism relation was stronger in societies with marked societal inequality, lack of societal development, and environmental standards. The results highlight the interplay between individual psychological orientations and social context, as well as the view of nature subscribed to by those high in SDO.
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| 3. |
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| 4. |
- Dumitrescu, L., et al.
(författare)
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Sex differences in the genetic predictors of Alzheimer's pathology
- 2019
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Ingår i: Brain. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0006-8950 .- 1460-2156. ; 142, s. 2581-2589
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Autopsy measures of Alzheimer's disease neuropathology have been leveraged as endophenotypes in previous genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, despite evidence of sex differences in Alzheimer's disease risk, sex-stratified models have not been incorporated into previous GWAS analyses. We looked for sex-specific genetic associations with Alzheimer's disease endophenotypes from six brain bank data repositories. The pooled dataset included 2701 males and 3275 females, the majority of whom were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at autopsy (70%). Sex-stratified GWAS were performed within each dataset and then meta-analysed. Loci that reached genome-wide significance (P < 5 x 10(-8)) in stratified models were further assessed for sex interactions. Additional analyses were performed in independent datasets leveraging cognitive, neuroimaging and CSF endophenotypes, along with age-at-onset data. Outside of the APOE region, one locus on chromosome 7 (rs34331204) showed a sex-specific association with neurofibrillary tangles among males (P = 2.5 x 10(-8)) but not females (P = 0.85, sex-interaction P = 2.9 x 10(-4)). In follow-up analyses, rs34331204 was also associated with hippocampal volume, executive function, and age-at-onset only among males. These results implicate a novel locus that confers male-specific protection from tau pathology and highlight the value of assessing genetic associations in a sex-specific manner.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Jefferson, A. L., et al.
(författare)
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The Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project: Study Design and Baseline Cohort Overview
- 2016
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Ingår i: Journal of Alzheimers Disease. - : IOS Press. - 1387-2877 .- 1875-8908. ; 52:2, s. 539-559
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Vascular health factors frequently co-occur with Alzheimer's disease (AD). A better understanding of how systemic vascular and cerebrovascular health intersects with clinical and pathological AD may inform prevention and treatment opportunities. Objective: To establish the Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project, a case-control longitudinal study investigating vascular health and brain aging, and describe baseline methodology and participant characteristics. Methods: From September 2012 to November 2014, 335 participants age 60-92 were enrolled, including 168 individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, 73 +/- 8 years, 41% female) and 167 age-, sex-, and race-matched cognitively normal controls (NC, 72 +/- 7 years, 41% female). At baseline, participants completed a physical and frailty examination, fasting blood draw, neuropsychological assessment, echocardiogram, cardiac MRI, and brain MRI. A subset underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collection. Results: As designed, participant groups were comparable for age (p = 0.31), sex (p = 0.95), and race (p = 0.65). MCI participants had greater Framingham Stroke Risk Profile scores (p = 0.008), systolic blood pressure values (p = 0.008), and history of left ventricular hypertrophy (p = 0.04) than NC participants. As expected, MCI participants performed worse on all neuropsychological measures (p-values <0.001), were more likely to be APOE epsilon 4 carriers (p = 0.02), and had enhanced CSF biomarkers, including lower A beta(42) (p = 0.02), higher total tau (p = 0.004), and higher p-tau (p = 0.02) compared to NC participants. Conclusion: Diverse sources of baseline and longitudinal data will provide rich opportunities to investigate pathways linking vascular and cerebrovascular health, clinical and pathological AD, and neurodegeneration contributing to novel strategies to delay or prevent cognitive decline.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Osborn, K. E., et al.
(författare)
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Cerebrospinal fluid beta-amyloid(42) and neurofilament light relate to white matter hyperintensities
- 2018
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Aging. - : Elsevier BV. - 0197-4580. ; 68, s. 18-25
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are associated with poorer brain health, but their pathophysiological substrates remain elusive. To better understand the mechanistic underpinnings of WMHs among older adults, this study examined in vivo cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers of beta-amyloid(42) deposition (A beta(42)), hyperphosphorylated tau pathology, neurodegeneration (total tau), and axonal injury (neurofilament light [NFL]) in relation to log-transformed WMHs volume. Participants free of clinical stroke and dementia were drawn from the Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project (n = 148, 72 +/- 6 years). Linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, intracranial volume, modified Framingham Stroke Risk Profile (excluding points assigned for age), cognitive diagnosis, and APOE-epsilon 4 carrier status. A beta(42) (beta = -0.001, p = 0.007) and NFL (beta = 0.0003, p = 0.01) concentrations related to WMHs but neither hyperphosphorylated tau nor total tau associations with WMHs reached statistical significance (p-values > 0.21). In a combined model, NFL accounted for 3.2% of unique variance in WMHs and A beta(42) accounted for an additional 4.3% beyond NFL, providing novel evidence of the co-occurrence of at least 2 distinct pathways for WMHs among older adults, including amyloid deposition and axonal injury. (C) 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 9. |
- Archer, D. B., et al.
(författare)
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The relationship between white matter microstructure and self-perceived cognitive decline
- 2021
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Ingår i: Neuroimage-Clinical. - : Elsevier BV. - 2213-1582. ; 32
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is a perceived cognitive change prior to objective cognitive deficits, and although it is associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, it likely results from multiple underlying pathologies. We investigated the association of white matter microstructure to SCD as a sensitive and early marker of cognitive decline and quantified the contribution of white matter microstructure separate from amyloidosis. Vanderbilt Memory & Aging Project participants with diffusion MRI data and a 45-item measure of SCD were included [n = 236, 137 cognitively unimpaired (CU), 99 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 73 +/- 7 years, 37% female]. A subset of participants (64 CU, 40 MCI) underwent a fasting lumbar puncture for quantification of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid-beta(CSF A beta(42)), total tau (CSF t-tau), and phosphorylated tau (CSF p-tau). Diffusion MRI data was post-processed using the free-water (FW) elimination technique, which allowed quantification of extracellular (FW) and intracellular compartment (fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity) microstructure. Microstructural values were quantified within 11 cognitive-related white matter tracts, including medial temporal lobe, frontal transcallosal, and fronto-parietal tracts using a region of interest approach. General linear modeling related each tract to SCD scores adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, Framingham Stroke Risk Profile scores, APOE epsilon 4 carrier status, diagnosis, Geriatric Depression Scale scores, hippocampal volume, and total white matter volume. Competitive models were analyzed to determine if white matter microstructural values have a unique role in SCD scores separate from CSF A1342. FW-corrected radial diffusivity (RDT) was related to SCD scores in 8 tracts: cingulum bundle, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, as well as inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) pars opercularis, IFG orbitalis, IFG pars triangularis, tapetum, medial frontal gyrus, and middle frontal gyrus transcallosal tracts. While CSF A beta(42) was related to SCD scores in our cohort (R-adj(2) = 39.03%; beta =-0.231; p = 0.020), competitive models revealed that fornix and IFG pars triangularis transcallosal tract RDT contributed unique variance to SCD scores beyond CSF A beta(42) (R-adj(2) = 44.35% and R-adj(2) = 43.09%, respectively), with several other tract measures demonstrating nominal significance. All tracts which demonstrated nominal significance (in addition to covariates) were input into a backwards stepwise regression analysis. ILF RDT, fornix RDT, and UF FW were best associated with SCD scores (R-adj(2) = 46.69%; p = 6.37 x 10(-12)). Ultimately, we found that medial temporal lobe and frontal transcallosal tract microstructure is an important driver of SCD scores independent of early amyloid deposition. Our results highlight the potential importance of abnormal white matter diffusivity as an early contributor to cognitive decline. These results also highlight the value of incorporating multiple biomarkers to help disentangle the mechanistic heterogeneity of SCD as an early stage of cognitive decline.
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| 10. |
- Dalal, Koustuv, et al.
(författare)
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Attitudes of women in Cambodia towards child physical abuse [version 1; peer review : 1 approved with reservations]
- 2018
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Ingår i: F1000 Research. - : F1000 Research Ltd. - 2046-1402. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: This study attempted to explore the women’s attitude towards child physical abuse in relation to the respondent’s background factors, personal issues and autonomy. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 18,749 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) using 2010 Cambodia Demographic and Health Survey. Chi-square tests and bivariate analyses were performed. Results: A significant proportion of women supported beating physically abusing sons (69.2%) and daughters (67.2%). Rural, non-Buddhist, those with no or primary education, poverty, seasonal or occasional employment seem to be risk factor for supporting child physical abuse by women (in bivariate analysis). Age, education and household economic status of the women are significantly relevant for child physical abuse (in bivariate analysis). Women who came from male-headed households more often supported beating their children. Female autonomy is an important factor for child physical abuse. Women who justify physical abuse towards wives were also generally supportive of child physical abuse. Conclusions: The current study provides knowledge about maternal factors such as age, education, economic status, rural/urban dwelling, two or more lifetime partners and autonomy in the supporting of beating sons and daughters. Further attention needs to be paid to increasing women’s education and autonomy in Cambodian family life. © 2018 Dalal K et al.
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