| 1. |
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- 2019
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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| 2. |
- Fresard, Laure, et al.
(author)
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Identification of rare-disease genes using blood transcriptome sequencing and large control cohorts
- 2019
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In: Nature Medicine. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 1078-8956 .- 1546-170X. ; 25:6, s. 911-919
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- It is estimated that 350 million individuals worldwide suffer from rare diseases, which are predominantly caused by mutation in a single gene(1). The current molecular diagnostic rate is estimated at 50%, with whole-exome sequencing (WES) among the most successful approaches(2-5). For patients in whom WES is uninformative, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has shown diagnostic utility in specific tissues and diseases(6-8). This includes muscle biopsies from patients with undiagnosed rare muscle disorders(6,9), and cultured fibroblasts from patients with mitochondrial disorders(7). However, for many individuals, biopsies are not performed for clinical care, and tissues are difficult to access. We sought to assess the utility of RNA-seq from blood as a diagnostic tool for rare diseases of different pathophysiologies. We generated whole-blood RNA-seq from 94 individuals with undiagnosed rare diseases spanning 16 diverse disease categories. We developed a robust approach to compare data from these individuals with large sets of RNA-seq data for controls (n = 1,594 unrelated controls and n = 49 family members) and demonstrated the impacts of expression, splicing, gene and variant filtering strategies on disease gene identification. Across our cohort, we observed that RNA-seq yields a 7.5% diagnostic rate, and an additional 16.7% with improved candidate gene resolution.
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| 3. |
- Kattge, Jens, et al.
(author)
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TRY plant trait database - enhanced coverage and open access
- 2020
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In: Global Change Biology. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 1354-1013 .- 1365-2486. ; 26:1, s. 119-188
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Plant traits-the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants-determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait-based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits-almost complete coverage for 'plant growth form'. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait-environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives.
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| 4. |
- Sawcer, Stephen, et al.
(author)
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Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis
- 2011
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 476:7359, s. 214-219
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Multiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis.
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| 5. |
- Zamora, Juan Carlos, et al.
(author)
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Considerations and consequences of allowing DNA sequence data as types of fungal taxa
- 2018
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In: IMA Fungus. - : INT MYCOLOGICAL ASSOC. - 2210-6340 .- 2210-6359. ; 9:1, s. 167-185
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Nomenclatural type definitions are one of the most important concepts in biological nomenclature. Being physical objects that can be re-studied by other researchers, types permanently link taxonomy (an artificial agreement to classify biological diversity) with nomenclature (an artificial agreement to name biological diversity). Two proposals to amend the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN), allowing DNA sequences alone (of any region and extent) to serve as types of taxon names for voucherless fungi (mainly putative taxa from environmental DNA sequences), have been submitted to be voted on at the 11th International Mycological Congress (Puerto Rico, July 2018). We consider various genetic processes affecting the distribution of alleles among taxa and find that alleles may not consistently and uniquely represent the species within which they are contained. Should the proposals be accepted, the meaning of nomenclatural types would change in a fundamental way from physical objects as sources of data to the data themselves. Such changes are conducive to irreproducible science, the potential typification on artefactual data, and massive creation of names with low information content, ultimately causing nomenclatural instability and unnecessary work for future researchers that would stall future explorations of fungal diversity. We conclude that the acceptance of DNA sequences alone as types of names of taxa, under the terms used in the current proposals, is unnecessary and would not solve the problem of naming putative taxa known only from DNA sequences in a scientifically defensible way. As an alternative, we highlight the use of formulas for naming putative taxa (candidate taxa) that do not require any modification of the ICN.
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| 6. |
- Jelenkovic, Aline, et al.
(author)
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Zygosity Differences in Height and Body Mass Index of Twins From Infancy to Old Age : A Study of the CODATwins Project
- 2015
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In: Twin Research and Human Genetics. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1832-4274 .- 1839-2628. ; 18:5, s. 557-570
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A trend toward greater body size in dizygotic (DZ) than in monozygotic (MZ) twins has been suggested by some but not all studies, and this difference may also vary by age. We analyzed zygosity differences in mean values and variances of height and body mass index (BMI) among male and female twins from infancy to old age. Data were derived from an international database of 54 twin cohorts participating in the COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins), and included 842,951 height and BMI measurements from twins aged 1 to 102 years. The results showed that DZ twins were consistently taller than MZ twins, with differences of up to 2.0 cm in childhood and adolescence and up to 0.9 cm in adulthood. Similarly, a greater mean BMI of up to 0.3 kg/m(2) in childhood and adolescence and up to 0.2 kg/m(2) in adulthood was observed in DZ twins, although the pattern was less consistent. DZ twins presented up to 1.7% greater height and 1.9% greater BMI than MZ twins; these percentage differences were largest in middle and late childhood and decreased with age in both sexes. The variance of height was similar in MZ and DZ twins at most ages. In contrast, the variance of BMI was significantly higher in DZ than in MZ twins, particularly in childhood. In conclusion, DZ twins were generally taller and had greater BMI than MZ twins, but the differences decreased with age in both sexes.
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| 7. |
- Silventoinen, Karri, et al.
(author)
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The CODATwins Project : The Cohort Description of Collaborative Project of Development of Anthropometrical Measures in Twins to Study Macro-Environmental Variation in Genetic and Environmental Effects on Anthropometric Traits
- 2015
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In: Twin Research and Human Genetics. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1832-4274 .- 1839-2628. ; 18:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- For over 100 years, the genetics of human anthropometric traits has attracted scientific interest. In particular, height and body mass index (BMI, calculated as kg/m2) have been under intensive genetic research. However, it is still largely unknown whether and how heritability estimates vary between human populations. Opportunities to address this question have increased recently because of the establishment of many new twin cohorts and the increasing accumulation of data in established twin cohorts. We started a new research project to analyze systematically (1) the variation of heritability estimates of height, BMI and their trajectories over the life course between birth cohorts, ethnicities and countries, and (2) to study the effects of birth-related factors, education and smoking on these anthropometric traits and whether these effects vary between twin cohorts. We identified 67 twin projects, including both monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins, using various sources. We asked for individual level data on height and weight including repeated measurements, birth related traits, background variables, education and smoking. By the end of 2014, 48 projects participated. Together, we have 893,458 height and weight measures (52% females) from 434,723 twin individuals, including 201,192 complete twin pairs (40% monozygotic, 40% same-sex dizygotic and 20% opposite-sex dizygotic) representing 22 countries. This project demonstrates that large-scale international twin studies are feasible and can promote the use of existing data for novel research purposes.
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| 8. |
- Manzoni, Claudia, et al.
(author)
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Genome-wide analyses reveal a potential role for the MAPT, MOBP, and APOE loci in sporadic frontotemporal dementia
- 2024
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In: American Journal of Human Genetics. - 0002-9297. ; 111:7, s. 1316-1329
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is the second most common cause of early-onset dementia after Alzheimer disease (AD). Efforts in the field mainly focus on familial forms of disease (fFTDs), while studies of the genetic etiology of sporadic FTD (sFTD) have been less common. In the current work, we analyzed 4,685 sFTD cases and 15,308 controls looking for common genetic determinants for sFTD. We found a cluster of variants at the MAPT (rs199443; p = 2.5 × 10−12, OR = 1.27) and APOE (rs6857; p = 1.31 × 10−12, OR = 1.27) loci and a candidate locus on chromosome 3 (rs1009966; p = 2.41 × 10−8, OR = 1.16) in the intergenic region between RPSA and MOBP, contributing to increased risk for sFTD through effects on expression and/or splicing in brain cortex of functionally relevant in-cis genes at the MAPT and RPSA-MOBP loci. The association with the MAPT (H1c clade) and RPSA-MOBP loci may suggest common genetic pleiotropy across FTD and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) (MAPT and RPSA-MOBP loci) and across FTD, AD, Parkinson disease (PD), and cortico-basal degeneration (CBD) (MAPT locus). Our data also suggest population specificity of the risk signals, with MAPT and APOE loci associations mainly driven by Central/Nordic and Mediterranean Europeans, respectively. This study lays the foundations for future work aimed at further characterizing population-specific features of potential FTD-discriminant APOE haplotype(s) and the functional involvement and contribution of the MAPT H1c haplotype and RPSA-MOBP loci to pathogenesis of sporadic forms of FTD in brain cortex.
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| 9. |
- Silventoinen, Karri, et al.
(author)
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Education in twins and their parents across birth cohorts over 100 years : an individual-level pooled analysis of 42 twin cohorts
- 2017
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In: Twin Research and Human Genetics. - Stockholm : Karolinska Institutet, Dept of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics. - 1832-4274 .- 1839-2628.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Whether monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins differ from each other in a variety of phenotypes is important for genetic twin modeling and for inferences made from twin studies in general. We analyzed whether there were differences in individual, maternal and paternal education between MZ and DZ twins in a large pooled dataset. Information was gathered on individual education for 218,362 adult twins from 27 twin cohorts (53% females; 39% MZ twins), and on maternal and paternal education for 147,315 and 143,056 twins respectively, from 28 twin cohorts (52% females; 38% MZ twins). Together, we had information on individual or parental education from 42 twin cohorts representing 19 countries. The original education classifications were transformed to education years and analyzed using linear regression models. Overall, MZ males had 0.26 (95% CI [0.21, 0.31]) years and MZ females 0.17 (95% CI [0.12, 0.21]) years longer education than DZ twins. The zygosity difference became smaller in more recent birth cohorts for both males and females. Parental education was somewhat longer for fathers of DZ twins in cohorts born in 1990-1999 (0.16 years, 95% CI [0.08, 0.25]) and 2000 or later (0.11 years, 95% CI [0.00, 0.22]), compared with fathers of MZ twins. The results show that the years of both individual and parental education are largely similar in MZ and DZ twins. We suggest that the socio-economic differences between MZ and DZ twins are so small that inferences based upon genetic modeling of twin data are not affected.
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| 10. |
- Watson, Hunna J., et al.
(author)
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Common Genetic Variation and Age of Onset of Anorexia Nervosa
- 2022
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In: BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY: GLOBAL OPEN SCIENCE. - : Elsevier BV. - 2667-1743. ; 2:4, s. 368-378
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Genetics and biology may influence the age of onset of anorexia nervosa (AN). The aims of this study were to determine whether common genetic variation contributes to age of onset of AN and to investigate the genetic associations between age of onset of AN and age at menarche.METHODS: A secondary analysis of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium genome-wide association study (GWAS) of AN was performed, which included 9335 cases and 31,981 screened controls, all from European ancestries. We conducted GWASs of age of onset, early-onset AN (,13 years), and typical-onset AN, and genetic correlation, genetic risk score, and Mendelian randomization analyses.RESULTS: Two loci were genome-wide significant in the typical-onset AN GWAS. Heritability estimates (single nucleotide polymorphism-h2) were 0.01-0.04 for age of onset, 0.16-0.25 for early-onset AN, and 0.17-0.25 for typical-onset AN. Early-and typical-onset AN showed distinct genetic correlation patterns with putative risk factors for AN. Specifically, early-onset AN was significantly genetically correlated with younger age at menarche, and typical-onset AN was significantly negatively genetically correlated with anthropometric traits. Genetic risk scores for age of onset and early-onset AN estimated from independent GWASs significantly predicted age of onset. Mendelian randomization analysis suggested a causal link between younger age at menarche and early -onset AN.CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide evidence consistent with a common variant genetic basis for age of onset and implicate biological pathways regulating menarche and reproduction.
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| 11. |
- Beecham, Ashley H, et al.
(author)
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Analysis of immune-related loci identifies 48 new susceptibility variants for multiple sclerosis.
- 2013
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In: Nature genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1546-1718 .- 1061-4036. ; 45:11, s. 1353-60
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using the ImmunoChip custom genotyping array, we analyzed 14,498 subjects with multiple sclerosis and 24,091 healthy controls for 161,311 autosomal variants and identified 135 potentially associated regions (P < 1.0 × 10(-4)). In a replication phase, we combined these data with previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) data from an independent 14,802 subjects with multiple sclerosis and 26,703 healthy controls. In these 80,094 individuals of European ancestry, we identified 48 new susceptibility variants (P < 5.0 × 10(-8)), 3 of which we found after conditioning on previously identified variants. Thus, there are now 110 established multiple sclerosis risk variants at 103 discrete loci outside of the major histocompatibility complex. With high-resolution Bayesian fine mapping, we identified five regions where one variant accounted for more than 50% of the posterior probability of association. This study enhances the catalog of multiple sclerosis risk variants and illustrates the value of fine mapping in the resolution of GWAS signals.
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| 12. |
- Stuart-Smith, Rick D., et al.
(author)
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Integrating abundance and functional traits reveals new global hotspots of fish diversity
- 2013
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In: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 501:7468, s. 539-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Species richness has dominated our view of global biodiversity patterns for centuries(1,2). The dominance of this paradigm is reflected in the focus by ecologists and conservation managers on richness and associated occurrence-based measures for understanding drivers of broad-scale diversity patterns and as a biological basis for management(3,4). However, this is changing rapidly, as it is now recognized that not only the number of species but the species present, their phenotypes and the number of individuals of each species are critical in determining the nature and strength of the relationships between species diversity and a range of ecological functions (such as biomass production and nutrient cycling)(5). Integrating these measures should provide a more relevant representation of global biodiversity patterns in terms of ecological functions than that provided by simple species counts. Here we provide comparisons of a traditional global biodiversity distribution measure based on richness with metrics that incorporate species abundances and functional traits. We use data from standardized quantitative surveys of 2,473 marine reef fish species at 1,844 sites, spanning 133 degrees of latitude from all ocean basins, to identify new diversity hotspots in some temperate regions and the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean. These relate to high diversity of functional traits amongst individuals in the community (calculated using Rao's Q(6)), and differ from previously reported patterns in functional diversity and richness for terrestrial animals, which emphasize species-rich tropical regions only(7,8). There is a global trend for greater evenness in the number of individuals of each species, across the reef fish species observed at sites ('community evenness'), at higher latitudes. This contributes to the distribution of functional diversity hotspots and contrasts with well-known latitudinal gradients in richness(2,4). Our findings suggest that the contribution of species diversity to a range of ecosystem functions varies over large scales, and imply that in tropical regions, which have higher numbers of species, each species contributes proportionally less to community-level ecological processes on average than species in temperate regions. Metrics of ecological function usefully complement metrics of species diversity in conservation management, including when identifying planning priorities and when tracking changes to biodiversity values.
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| 13. |
- Aebersold, Ruedi, et al.
(author)
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How many human proteoforms are there?
- 2018
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In: Nature Chemical Biology. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 1552-4450 .- 1552-4469. ; 14:3, s. 206-214
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Despite decades of accumulated knowledge about proteins and their post-translational modifications (PTMs), numerous questions remain regarding their molecular composition and biological function. One of the most fundamental queries is the extent to which the combinations of DNA-, RNA-and PTM-level variations explode the complexity of the human proteome. Here, we outline what we know from current databases and measurement strategies including mass spectrometry-based proteomics. In doing so, we examine prevailing notions about the number of modifications displayed on human proteins and how they combine to generate the protein diversity underlying health and disease. We frame central issues regarding determination of protein-level variation and PTMs, including some paradoxes present in the field today. We use this framework to assess existing data and to ask the question, "How many distinct primary structures of proteins (proteoforms) are created from the 20,300 human genes?" We also explore prospects for improving measurements to better regularize protein-level biology and efficiently associate PTMs to function and phenotype.
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| 14. |
- Falster, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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AusTraits, a curated plant trait database for the Australian flora
- 2021
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In: Scientific Data. - : Nature Portfolio. - 2052-4463. ; 8:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We introduce the AusTraits database - a compilation of values of plant traits for taxa in the Australian flora (hereafter AusTraits). AusTraits synthesises data on 448 traits across 28,640 taxa from field campaigns, published literature, taxonomic monographs, and individual taxon descriptions. Traits vary in scope from physiological measures of performance (e.g. photosynthetic gas exchange, water-use efficiency) to morphological attributes (e.g. leaf area, seed mass, plant height) which link to aspects of ecological variation. AusTraits contains curated and harmonised individual- and species-level measurements coupled to, where available, contextual information on site properties and experimental conditions. This article provides information on version 3.0.2 of AusTraits which contains data for 997,808 trait-by-taxon combinations. We envision AusTraits as an ongoing collaborative initiative for easily archiving and sharing trait data, which also provides a template for other national or regional initiatives globally to fill persistent gaps in trait knowledge.
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| 15. |
- Murray, Alison E., et al.
(author)
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Roadmap for naming uncultivated Archaea and Bacteria
- 2020
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In: Nature Microbiology. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2058-5276. ; 5:8, s. 987-994
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The assembly of single-amplified genomes (SAGs) and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) has led to a surge in genome-based discoveries of members affiliated with Archaea and Bacteria, bringing with it a need to develop guidelines for nomenclature of uncultivated microorganisms. The International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) only recognizes cultures as 'type material', thereby preventing the naming of uncultivated organisms. In this Consensus Statement, we propose two potential paths to solve this nomenclatural conundrum. One option is the adoption of previously proposed modifications to the ICNP to recognize DNA sequences as acceptable type material; the other option creates a nomenclatural code for uncultivated Archaea and Bacteria that could eventually be merged with the ICNP in the future. Regardless of the path taken, we believe that action is needed now within the scientific community to develop consistent rules for nomenclature of uncultivated taxa in order to provide clarity and stability, and to effectively communicate microbial diversity. In this Consensus Statement, the authors discuss the issue of naming uncultivated prokaryotic microorganisms, which currently do not have a formal nomenclature system due to a lack of type material or cultured representatives, and propose two recommendations including the recognition of DNA sequences as type material.
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| 16. |
- Stuart-Smith, Rick D., et al.
(author)
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The potential of trait-based approaches to contribute to marine conservation
- 2015
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In: Marine Policy. - : Elsevier BV. - 0308-597X .- 1872-9460. ; 51, s. 148-150
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The value of diversity metrics to represent ecological communities and inform broad-scale conservation objectives and policy has often been subject to debate and uncertainty [1,2]. In practice, diversity metrics are important in setting management and conservation priorities, just as economic indices contribute to global monetary and financial policies. Thus, key challenges for ecologists are to identify new ways to view and summarise patterns in biodiversity and improve on the metrics available for management purposes. In a recent paper on functional diversity patterns in reef fishes [3], we highlighted the potential of new insights gained from functional trait-based approaches to inform marine management, stressing the need to develop and refine biodiversity measures that are linked to ecology (rather than taxonomy). We used a unique, fisheries-independent reef fish identity and abundance dataset, collected using standardised methods from equatorial to high latitude regions all over the world, to provide the first global view of the distribution of individuals amongst species (including a measure of evenness) and functional traits amongst marine communities. A recent paper by Robinson et al. [4] published in Marine Policy criticised the use of our evenness index as a measure of biodiversity, and questioned the use of functional trait-based metrics derived from surveys of standardised areas for decisions relating to broad-scale management of marine systems. In this paper we respond to Robinson et al. and rebut their claims related to sampling bias and broad-scale applicability of trait-based approaches.
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| 17. |
- Pace, Rishika A., et al.
(author)
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Collagen VI glycine mutations: Perturbed assembly and a spectrum of clinical severity
- 2008
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In: Annals of Neurology. - : Wiley. - 1531-8249 .- 0364-5134. ; 64:3, s. 294-303
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: The collagen VI muscular dystrophies, Bethlem myopathy and Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy, form a continuum of clinical phenotypes. Glycine mutations in the triple helix have been identified in both Bethlem and Ullrich congenital muscular dystrophy, but it is not known why they cause these different phenotypes. Methods: We studied eight new patients who presented with a spectrum of clinical severity, screened the three collagen VI messenger RNA for mutations, and examined collagen VI biosynthesis and the assembly pathway. Results: All eight patients had heterozygous glycine mutations toward the N-terminal end of the triple helix. The mutations produced two assembly phenotypes. In the first patient group, collagen VI dimers accumulated in the cell but not the medium, microfibril formation in the medium was moderately reduced, and the amount of collagen VI in the extracellular matrix was not significantly altered. The second group had more severe assembly defects: some secreted collagen VI tetramers were not disulfide bonded, microfibril formation in the medium was severely compromised, and collagen VI in the extracellular matrix was reduced. Interpretation: These data indicate that collagen VI glycine mutations impair the assembly pathway in different ways and disease severity correlates with the assembly abnormality. In mildly affected patients, normal amounts of collagen VI were deposited in the fibroblast matrix, whereas in patients with moderate-to-severe disability, assembly defects led to a reduced collagen VI fibroblast matrix. This study thus provides an explanation for how different glycine mutations produce a spectrum of clinical severity.
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| 18. |
- Sen, Partha, et al.
(author)
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Novel FOXF1 Mutations in Sporadic and Familial Cases of Alveolar Capillary Dysplasia with Misaligned Pulmonary Veins Imply a Role for its DNA Binding Domain
- 2013
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In: Human Mutation. - : Hindawi Limited. - 1059-7794. ; 34:6, s. 801-811
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins (ACD/MPV) is a rare and lethal developmental disorder of the lung defined by a constellation of characteristic histopathological features. Nonpulmonary anomalies involving organs of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, and genitourinary systems have been identified in approximately 80% of patients with ACD/MPV. We have collected DNA and pathological samples from more than 90 infants with ACD/MPV and their family members. Since the publication of our initial report of four point mutations and 10 deletions, we have identified an additional 38 novel nonsynonymous mutations of FOXF1 (nine nonsense, seven frameshift, one inframe deletion, 20 missense, and one no stop). This report represents an up to date list of all known FOXF1 mutations to the best of our knowledge. Majority of the cases are sporadic. We report four familial cases of which three show maternal inheritance, consistent with paternal imprinting of the gene. Twenty five mutations (60%) are located within the putative DNA-binding domain, indicating its plausible role in FOXF1 function. Five mutations map to the second exon. We identified two additional genic and eight genomic deletions upstream to FOXF1. These results corroborate and extend our previous observations and further establish involvement of FOXF1 in ACD/MPV and lung organogenesis.
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| 19. |
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| 20. |
- Bertoldi, Bridget M., et al.
(author)
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Relationship between resting heart rate and law enforcement involvement : The moderating role of socioeconomic status in a sample of urban youth
- 2022
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In: Journal of criminal justice. - : Elsevier. - 0047-2352 .- 1873-6203. ; 82
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: Resting heart rate (RHR) is a well-established biological risk factor for criminal behavior. However, potential moderating effects of social risk factors like socioeconomic status on this relationship remain unclear. The current study sought to clarify the moderating impact of socioeconomic status on the relation between low RHR in childhood and adolescence and subsequent legal system involvement by young adulthood.Methods: A subset of twins and triplets from the Risk Factors for Antisocial Behavior (RFAB) project (N = 347) were utilized to test hypotheses. Logistic regression analyses were performed to test for a moderating effect of socioeconomic status on the relationship between RHR and later law enforcement involvement (trouble with police, arrest).Results: Resting HR and SES were individually associated with an increased likelihood of being in trouble with the police and being arrested. In addition, RHR and SES in adolescence interacted to predict trouble with the police and arrest history by young adulthood, such that low RHR predicted these outcomes among adolescents who remained in low SES backgrounds.Conclusions: Adolescents who remain in low socioeconomic backgrounds from childhood will be a particularly important group to target in terms of treatment efforts to prevent criminal behavior.
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| 21. |
- Duncanson, Laura, et al.
(author)
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Aboveground biomass density models for NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) lidar mission
- 2022
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In: Remote Sensing of Environment. - : Elsevier BV. - 0034-4257 .- 1879-0704. ; 270
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- NASA's Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) is collecting spaceborne full waveform lidar data with a primary science goal of producing accurate estimates of forest aboveground biomass density (AGBD). This paper presents the development of the models used to create GEDI's footprint-level (~25 m) AGBD (GEDI04_A) product, including a description of the datasets used and the procedure for final model selection. The data used to fit our models are from a compilation of globally distributed spatially and temporally coincident field and airborne lidar datasets, whereby we simulated GEDI-like waveforms from airborne lidar to build a calibration database. We used this database to expand the geographic extent of past waveform lidar studies, and divided the globe into four broad strata by Plant Functional Type (PFT) and six geographic regions. GEDI's waveform-to-biomass models take the form of parametric Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) models with simulated Relative Height (RH) metrics as predictor variables. From an exhaustive set of candidate models, we selected the best input predictor variables, and data transformations for each geographic stratum in the GEDI domain to produce a set of comprehensive predictive footprint-level models. We found that model selection frequently favored combinations of RH metrics at the 98th, 90th, 50th, and 10th height above ground-level percentiles (RH98, RH90, RH50, and RH10, respectively), but that inclusion of lower RH metrics (e.g. RH10) did not markedly improve model performance. Second, forced inclusion of RH98 in all models was important and did not degrade model performance, and the best performing models were parsimonious, typically having only 1-3 predictors. Third, stratification by geographic domain (PFT, geographic region) improved model performance in comparison to global models without stratification. Fourth, for the vast majority of strata, the best performing models were fit using square root transformation of field AGBD and/or height metrics. There was considerable variability in model performance across geographic strata, and areas with sparse training data and/or high AGBD values had the poorest performance. These models are used to produce global predictions of AGBD, but will be improved in the future as more and better training data become available.
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| 22. |
- Gould, Rebecca L., et al.
(author)
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy plus usual care for improving quality of life in people with motor neuron disease (COMMEND) : a multicentre, parallel, randomised controlled trial in the UK
- 2024
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In: The Lancet. - : Elsevier. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 403:10442, s. 2381-2394
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Motor neuron disease is a progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a psychological therapy incorporating acceptance, mindfulness, and behaviour change techniques. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of ACT plus usual care, compared with usual care alone, for improving quality of life in people with motor neuron disease.Methods: We conducted a parallel, multicentre, two -arm randomised controlled trial in 16 UK motor neuron disease care centres or clinics. Eligible participants were aged 18 years or older with a diagnosis of definite or laboratory -supported probable, clinically probable, or possible familial or sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; progressive muscular atrophy; or primary lateral sclerosis; which met the World Federation of Neurology's El Escorial diagnostic criteria. Participants were randomly assigned (1:1) to receive up to eight sessions of ACT adapted for people with motor neuron disease plus usual care or usual care alone by a web -based system, stratified by site. Participants were followed up at 6 months and 9 months post -randomisation. Outcome assessors and trial statisticians were masked to treatment allocation. The primary outcome was quality of life using the McGill Quality of Life Questionnaire -Revised (MQOL-R) at 6 months post -randomisation. Primary analyses were multi -level modelling and modified intention to treat among participants with available data. This trial was pre -registered with the ISRCTN Registry (ISRCTN12655391).Findings: Between Sept 18, 2019, and Aug 31, 2022, 435 people with motor neuron disease were approached for the study, of whom 206 (47%) were assessed for eligibility, and 191 were recruited. 97 (51%) participants were randomly assigned to ACT plus usual care and 94 (49%) were assigned to usual care alone. 80 (42%) of 191 participants were female and 111 (58%) were male, and the mean age was 63⋅1 years (SD 11⋅0). 155 (81%) participants had primary outcome data at 6 months post -randomisation. After controlling for baseline scores, age, sex, and therapist clustering, ACT plus usual care was superior to usual care alone for quality of life at 6 months (adjusted mean difference on the MQOL-R of 0⋅66 [95% CI 0⋅22-1⋅10]; d=0⋅46 [0⋅16-0⋅77]; p=0⋅0031). Moderate effect sizes were clinically meaningful. 75 adverse events were reported, 38 of which were serious, but no adverse events were deemed to be associated with the intervention.Interpretation: ACT plus usual care is clinically effective for maintaining or improving quality of life in people with motor neuron disease. As further evidence emerges confirming these findings, health-care providers should consider how access to ACT, adapted for the specific needs of people with motor neuron disease, could be provided within motor neuron disease clinical services.
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| 23. |
- Kasten, Erich, et al.
(author)
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European Clinical Neuropsychology : Role in Healthcare and Access to Neuropsychological Services
- 2021
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In: Healthcare. - : MDPI. - 2227-9032. ; 9:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This study analyzed aspects of the work of clinical neuropsychologists across Europe. There are no published comparisons between European countries regarding the nature of clinical neuropsychologists' work. Forty-one national psychological and neuropsychological societies were approached, of which 31 (76%) responded. Data from seven countries with less than 10 neuropsychologists were excluded. A license is required to practice clinical neuropsychology in 50% of the countries. Clinical neuropsychologists work independently in 62.5%. Diagnostic/assessment work is the most frequently reported activity (54%). Most neuropsychologists work in public hospitals, followed by health centers. Adult neuropsychology was the most frequent area of activity. Services in public institutions are covered by public entities (45.8%), or by a combination of patient funds and public entities (29.2%) and only 4.2% by the patient; whereas services in private institutions are covered by the patient (26.1%) and the combination of patient, public entities (21.7%) or patient and private entities (17.4%). The data suggest that the number of neuropsychologists working across European countries is considerably low in comparison to other medical professionals. The results of the survey identified similar aspects of neuropsychologists' work, despite variations in terms of reimbursement and mechanisms, reflecting economic and healthcare differences. Estimates on the number of clinical neuropsychologists suggest insufficient access to neuropsychological services.
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| 25. |
- Moretti, Rocco, et al.
(author)
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Community-wide evaluation of methods for predicting the effect of mutations on protein-protein interactions
- 2013
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In: Proteins. - : Wiley. - 0887-3585 .- 1097-0134. ; 81:11, s. 1980-1987
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Community-wide blind prediction experiments such as CAPRI and CASP provide an objective measure of the current state of predictive methodology. Here we describe a community-wide assessment of methods to predict the effects of mutations on protein-protein interactions. Twenty-two groups predicted the effects of comprehensive saturation mutagenesis for two designed influenza hemagglutinin binders and the results were compared with experimental yeast display enrichment data obtained using deep sequencing. The most successful methods explicitly considered the effects of mutation on monomer stability in addition to binding affinity, carried out explicit side-chain sampling and backbone relaxation, evaluated packing, electrostatic, and solvation effects, and correctly identified around a third of the beneficial mutations. Much room for improvement remains for even the best techniques, and large-scale fitness landscapes should continue to provide an excellent test bed for continued evaluation of both existing and new prediction methodologies. Proteins 2013; 81:1980-1987.
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