Associations of depression status with plasma levels of candidate lipid and amino acid metabolites: a meta-analysis of individual data from three independent samples of US postmenopausal women.

Recent animal and small clinical studies have suggested depression is related to altered lipid and amino acid profiles. However, this has not been examined in a population-based sample, particularly in women. We identified multiple metabolites associated with depression as potential candidates from prior studies.

Pharmacokinetic Approach of Clinically Important Drug Interactions of Hormonal Contraceptives - A Review.

Hormonal contraceptives contain an Estrogen and/or a Progestin, which are the substrates of the CYP3A4 enzyme and the drugs inducing the CYP3A4 enzyme can decrease the plasma concentrations and thereby therapeutic efficacy of Hormonal contraceptives resulting in unintended pregnancy. Moreover, the hormonal contraceptives associated risk of thrombotic events are further exacerbated by the simultaneous administration of drugs like Tranexamic acid and tobacco smoke. Therefore, while prescribing hormonal contraception and other drugs to women, drug interactions should always be considered because there could be a possible contraceptive failure or other adverse drug effects.

The epidemiology of dengue outbreaks in 2016 and 2017 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Background: Dengue is prevalent in as many as 128 countries with more than 100 million clinical episodes reported annually and four billion people estimated to be at risk. While dengue fever is systematically diagnosed in large parts of Asia and South America, the disease burden in Africa is less well investigated. This report describes two consecutive dengue outbreaks in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in 2016 and 2017.

TCF12 haploinsufficiency causes autosomal dominant Kallmann syndrome and reveals network-level interactions between causal loci.

Dysfunction of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) axis causes a range of reproductive phenotypes resulting from defects in the specification, migration and/or function of GnRH neurons. To identify additional molecular components of this system, we initiated a systematic genetic interrogation of families with isolated GnRH deficiency (IGD). Here, we report 13 families (12 autosomal dominant and one autosomal recessive) with an anosmic form of IGD (Kallmann syndrome) with loss-of-function mutations in TCF12, a locus also known to cause syndromic and non-syndromic craniosynostosis.

Integrating multi-omics data to investigate pseudogene expression in Mycolicibacterium smegmatis.

Large-scale -omics data now allows for investigating genome-wide functional elements. Using RNA-Seq data, we tested the expression of 134 pseudogenes which do not show duplicated protein coding genes in the M. smegmatis genome.

Pubertal timing predicts adult psychosexuality: Evidence from typically developing adults and adults with isolated GnRH deficiency.

Evidence suggests that psychosexuality in humans is modulated by both organizational effects of prenatal and peripubertal sex steroid hormones, and by activational effects of circulating hormones in adulthood. Experimental work in male rodents indicates that sensitivity to androgen-driven organization of sexual motivation decreases across the pubertal window, such that earlier puberty leads to greater sex-typicality. We test this hypothesis in typically developing men (n = 231) and women (n = 648), and in men (n = 72) and women (n = 32) with isolated GnRH deficiency (IGD), in whom the precise timing of peripubertal hormone exposure can be ascertained via the age at which hormone replacement therapy (HRT) was initiated.

Metabolic signatures associated with Western and Prudent dietary patterns in women.

Background: The Western dietary pattern (WD) is positively associated with risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) and cancer, whereas the Prudent dietary pattern (PD) may be protective. Foods may influence metabolite concentrations as well as oxidative stress and lipid dysregulation, biological mechanisms associated with CAD and cancer.

Objective: The aim was to assess the association of 2 derived dietary pattern scores with serum metabolites and identify metabolic pathways associated with the metabolites.

Cardioprotective Effect of Stem Bark Extract and Solvent Fractions on Cyclophosphamide-Induced Cardiotoxicity in Rats.

Objective: To evaluate the antioxidant and cardioprotective activities of stem bark extract and solvent fractions of on cyclophosphamide-induced cardiotoxicity in rats. . DPPH free radical scavenging assay method was used to determine antioxidant activity whereas Sprague-Dawley rats were used to evaluate the cardioprotective activity.

Detection of coronaviruses in & species of bats from different States of India.

Background & Objectives: Bats are considered to be the natural reservoir for many viruses, of which some are potential human pathogens. In India, an association of Pteropus medius bats with the Nipah virus was reported in the past. It is suspected that the recently emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) also has its association with bats.

Non-random sampling leads to biased estimates of transcriptome association.

Integration of independent data resources across -omics platforms offers transformative opportunity for novel clinical and biological discoveries. However, application of emerging analytic methods in the context of selection bias represents a noteworthy and pervasive challenge. We hypothesize that combining differentially selected samples for integrated transcriptome analysis will lead to bias in the estimated association between predicted expression and the trait.

Genome-wide identification of the context-dependent sRNA expression in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Background: Tuberculosis remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Therefore, understanding the pathophysiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is imperative for developing new drugs. Post-transcriptional regulation plays a significant role in microbial adaptation to different growth conditions.

Evaluation of the effectiveness of a portable air cleaner in mitigating indoor human exposure to cooking-derived airborne particles.

Gas cooking is an important source of airborne particulate matter (PM) indoors. Exposure to cooking-derived PM can lead to adverse human health impacts on non-smokers, especially in poorly-ventilated residential homes. Most of the previous studies on gas cooking emissions mainly focused on fine particles (PM) with little information on their size-fractionation.

Timing of peripubertal steroid exposure predicts visuospatial cognition in men: Evidence from three samples.

Experiments in male rodents demonstrate that sensitivity to the organizational effects of steroid hormones decreases across the pubertal window, with earlier androgen exposure leading to greater masculinization of the brain and behavior. Similarly, some research suggests the timing of peripubertal exposure to sex steroids influences aspects of human psychology, including visuospatial cognition. However, prior studies have been limited by small samples and/or imprecise measures of pubertal timing.

Wire guided localisation for targeted axillary node dissection is accurate in axillary staging in node positive breast cancer following neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Aim: This study investigated whether wire localisation of the histologically proven positive, clipped axillary lymph node (ALN) with subsequent targeted axillary dissection (TAD) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) improves axillary staging in breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients with primary breast cancer and core biopsy proven metastatic ALNs, that had an excellent nodal radiological response following NACT, treated at our centre between January 2016 and December 2018. The initial cohort of patients (Group 1) underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), with a minimum of three nodes were sampled.

Diagnostic Dilemma of an Umbilical Mass in a Newborn Infant - a Twin or a Tumor?

We present the diagnostic dilemma of a neonate with two umbilical soft tissue masses. : The baby had an umbilical mass herniating through the umbilical cord, and another mass hanging from the umbilical mass by a string of tissue. Both masses were amorphous solid soft tissues and the hanging mass had hair on the surface.

Breast cancer prevention in high-risk women.

Women at high risk of developing breast cancer are a heterogeneous group of women including those with and without high-risk germline mutation/s. Prevention in these women requires a personalised and multidisciplinary approach. Preventive therapy with selective oestrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) like tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors (AIs) substantially reduces breast cancer risk well beyond the active treatment period.

Genetics of breast cancer: management strategies and risk-reducing surgery.

The last two decades have witnessed major advances in genetic sequencing which have led to more accurate identification of women at risk of developing breast cancer and calculating the associated cancer risk. This review discusses the current genetic mutations conferring risk of developing breast cancer and the management pathway for these women with identifiable mutations as well as those with a strong family history for breast cancer. Management of these individuals is complex and should involve a multidisciplinary team with interest and expertise in breast cancer genetics.

Gli3 Regulates Vomeronasal Neurogenesis, Olfactory Ensheathing Cell Formation, and GnRH-1 Neuronal Migration.

During mammalian development, gonadotropin-releasing-hormone-1 neurons (GnRH-1ns) migrate from the developing vomeronasal organ (VNO) into the brain asserting control of pubertal onset and fertility. Recent data suggest that correct development of the olfactory ensheathing cells (OEC) is imperative for normal GnRH-1 neuronal migration. However, the full ensemble of molecular pathways that regulate OEC development remains to be fully deciphered.

Insights into characteristics of light absorbing carbonaceous aerosols over an urban location in Southeast Asia.

Light absorbing carbonaceous aerosols (LACA) consisting of black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC) have received considerable attention because of their climate and health implications, but their sources, characteristics and fates remain unclear in Southeast Asia (SEA). In this study, we investigated spatio-temporal characteristics of LACA, their radiative properties and potential sources in Singapore under different weather conditions. Hourly BC concentrations, measured from May 2017 to March 2018, ranged from 0.

Metabolomic profiles associated with all-cause mortality in the Women's Health Initiative.

Background: Metabolomics profiling has shown promise in elucidating the biological pathways underpinning mortality, but there are limited data in female populations.

Methods: We applied a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry metabolomics platform to EDTA-plasma to measure 470 metabolites at baseline in a discovery set of 943 postmenopausal women (including 417 incident deaths, median time to death of 10.6 years) with validation in an independent set of 1355 postmenopausal women (including 685 deaths, median time to death of 9.

A Balanced Translocation in Kallmann Syndrome Implicates a Long Noncoding RNA, RMST, as a GnRH Neuronal Regulator.

Context: Kallmann syndrome (KS) is a rare, genetically heterogeneous Mendelian disorder. Structural defects in KS patients have helped define the genetic architecture of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neuronal development in this condition.

Objective: Examine the functional role a novel structural defect affecting a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA), RMST, found in a KS patient.

The missing indicator approach for censored covariates subject to limit of detection in logistic regression models.

Purpose: In several biomedical studies, one or more exposures of interest may be subject to nonrandom missingness because of the failure of the measurement assay at levels below its limit of detection. This issue is commonly encountered in studies of the metabolome using tandem mass spectrometry-based technologies. Owing to a large number of metabolites measured in these studies, preserving statistical power is of utmost interest.