DNA methylation of the Lamin A/C gene is associated with congenital heart disease.

Background: Prior studies report associations of maternal serum Lamin A, encoded by the LMNA gene, with fetal congenital heart disease (CHD). It is unknown whether DNA methylation (DNAm) of cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites in LMNA impacts the CHD susceptibility.

Methods: We investigated the associations of LMNA DNAm with CHD using publicly available data of CHD cases (n = 197) and controls (n = 134) from the Gene Expression Omnibus repository.

Mixed-Methods Study of Disability Self-Management in Mexican Americans With Osteoarthritis.

Background: Health disparities in osteoarthritis (OA) outcomes exist both in the occurrence and treatment of functional limitation and disability for Mexican Americans. Although the effect of self-management of chronic illness is well established, studies demonstrate little attention to self-management of function or disability, despite the strong potential effect on both and, consequently, on patients' lives.

Objective: The purpose of this study pilot was to develop and test key variable relationships for a measure of disability self-management among Mexican Americans.

Targeting allosteric binding site in methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 2 (MTHFD2) to identify natural product inhibitors via structure-based computational approach.

Cancer has been viewed as one of the deadliest diseases worldwide. Among various types of cancer, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women. Methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 2 (MTHFD2) is a promising druggable target and is overexpressed in cancerous cells, like, breast cancer.

Epigenetic Aging and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

This is the first known comparative assessment of the associations of epigenetic age estimates with the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We used data available in Gene Expression Omnibus (GSE42861) from the Swedish Epidemiological Investigation of Rheumatoid Arthritis study. Information regarding RA diagnosis and 450K DNA methylation (DNAm) of 18- to 70-year-old participants was available.

Association of Metabolites, Nutrients, and Toxins in Maternal and Cord Serum with Asthma, IgE, SPT, FeNO, and Lung Function in Offspring.

The role of metabolites, nutrients, and toxins (MNTs) in sera at the end of pregnancy and of their association with offspring respiratory and allergic disorders is underexplored. Untargeted approaches detecting a variety of compounds, known and unknown, are limited. In this cohort study, we first aimed at discovering associations of MNTs in grandmaternal (F0) serum with asthma, immunoglobulin E, skin prick tests, exhaled nitric oxide, and lung function parameters in their parental (F1) offspring.

Fucoxanthin levels in maternal serum at birth and eczema risk in offspring in early childhood: A birth cohort study.

Background: Fucoxanthin, a marine xanthophyll carotenoid, has been shown to exert beneficial health effects. Cell-based and animal-based experimental studies have shown that fucoxanthin has the potential to mitigate eczema symptoms. Hence, we sought to assess whether fucoxanthinol 3-arachidate, a fucoxanthin metabolite, measured in maternal serum at birth is associated with eczema development during early childhood.

An ontology-based approach to designing a NoSQL database for semi-structured and unstructured health data.

With the advent of ICT-based healthcare applications, various formats of health data are generated every day in huge volume. Such data, consisting of unstructured, semi-structured and structured data, has every characteristic of Big data. NoSQL databases are generally preferred for storing such type of health data with the objective of improving query performance.

Analysis and mining of an election-based network using large-scale twitter data: a retrospective study.

The user-generated Twitter data are a rich source of study and research that reflects the various social, economic, political, and other issues affecting people across the world. Analysis of the social interactions among users, who express themselves online, reveals different internal dynamics and provides detailed insights into real-world phenomena. In this paper, the structure and dynamics of the state assembly election-based tweet-reply network have been studied, as generated by Twitter users across the country of India for a period of 6-weeks.

Quantum-Controlled Collisions of H Molecules.

The amount of information that can be obtained from a scattering experiment depends upon the precision with which the quantum states are defined in the incoming channel. By precisely defining the incoming states and measuring the outgoing states in a scattering experiment, we set up the boundary condition for experimentally solving the Schrödinger equation. In this Perspective we discuss cold inelastic scattering experiments using the most theoretically tractable H and its isotopologues as the target.

Quantum Controlled Cold Scattering Challenges Theory.

Our previous rotationally inelastic cold scattering experiments between state prepared D ( = 2, = 2, = 0) and He disagreed with theory, raising serious concerns about either our understanding of the anisotropic potential or the accuracy of the measurement. To further interrogate interactions between molecular hydrogen and atomic helium, we study the Δ = 1and Δ = 2 rotational relaxation of HD ( = 2, = 2, = 0) by collision with He. The two rotational transitions probe different anisotropic components of the van der Waals potential.

Resonant cold scattering of highly vibrationally excited D with Ne.

To accurately map weak D-Ne long-range interactions, we have studied rotationally inelastic cold scattering of D prepared in the vibrationally excited (v = 4) and rotationally aligned (j = 2, m) quantum state within the moving frame of a supersonically expanded mixed molecular beam. In contrast to earlier high energy D-Ne collision experiments, the (j = 2 → j' = 0) cold scattering produced highly symmetric angular distributions that strongly suggest a resonant quasi-bound collision complex that lives long enough to make a few rotations. Our partial wave analysis indicates that the scattering dynamics is dominated by a single resonant l = 2 orbital, even in the presence of a broad temperature (0-5 K) distribution that allows incoming orbitals up to l = 5.

Coherent Preparation of Highly Vibrating and Rotating D Molecules.

Highly vibrationally and rotationally excited hydrogen molecules are of immense interest for understanding and modeling the physics and chemistry of the cold interstellar medium. Using a sequence of two Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passages, we demonstrate the preparation of rotationally excited D molecules in the fourth excited vibrational level within its ground electronic state. The nearly complete population transfer to the target state is confirmed by observing both the threshold behavior as a function of the laser power and the depletion of the intermediate level.

Anisotropic dynamics of resonant scattering between a pair of cold aligned diatoms.

The collision dynamics between a pair of aligned molecules in the presence of a partial-wave resonance provide the most sensitive probe of the long-range anisotropic forces important to chemical reactions. Here we control the collision temperature and geometry to probe the dynamics of cold (1-3 K) rotationally inelastic scattering of a pair of optically state-prepared D molecules. The collision temperature is manipulated by combining the gating action of laser state preparation and detection with the velocity dispersion of the molecular beam.

Association of prenatal acetaminophen use and acetaminophen metabolites with DNA methylation of newborns: analysis of two consecutive generations of the Isle of Wight birth cohort.

Acetaminophen is used by nearly two-thirds of pregnant women. Although considered safe, studies have demonstrated associations between prenatal acetaminophen use and adverse health outcomes in offspring. Since DNA methylation (DNAm) at birth may act as an early indicator of later health, assessments on whether DNAm of newborns is associated with gestational acetaminophen use or its metabolites are needed.

Sex-specific developmental trajectories of eczema from infancy to age 26 years: A birth cohort study.

Background: Eczema is a common inflammatory skin disease with varying developmental trajectories/patterns that are influenced by different risk factors. The aim of this study was to investigate eczema development from infancy to early adulthood by identifying distinct developmental trajectories that describe disease patterns over time and evaluate the role of prenatal and early-life risk factors.

Methods: The Isle of Wight Birth Cohort (n = 1456) was prospectively assessed at birth, 1, 2, 4, 10, 18 and 26 years.

Quantum mechanical double slit for molecular scattering.

Interference observed in a double-slit experiment most conclusively demonstrates the wave properties of particles. We construct a quantum mechanical double-slit interferometer by rovibrationally exciting molecular deuterium (D) in a biaxial ( = 2, = 2) state using Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage, where and represent the vibrational and rotational quantum numbers, respectively. In D ( = 2, = 2) → D ( = 2, ′ = 0) rotational relaxation via a cold collision with ground state helium, the two coherently coupled bond axis orientations in the biaxial state act as two slits that generate two indistinguishable quantum mechanical pathways connecting initial and final states of the colliding system.

Association of grandmaternal smoking during pregnancy with DNA methylation of grandchildren: the Isle of Wight study.

To investigate the intergenerational effects of grandmaternal smoking during pregnancy (GMSDP) on the DNA methylation of grandchildren. Data from the Isle of Wight birth cohort with information regarding GMSDP and DNA methylation profiling at the birth of grandchildren (n = 161) were used. Differentially methylated CpG sites related to GMSDP were identified using testing-training screening, analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of covariance.

Shape resonance determined from angular distribution in D (v = 2, j = 2) + He → D (v = 2, j = 0) + He cold scattering.

We find an l = 2 shape resonance fingerprinted in the angular distribution of the cold (∼1 K) Δj = 2 rotationally inelastic collision of D with He in a single supersonic expansion. The Stark-induced adiabatic Raman passage is used to prepare D in the (v = 2, j = 2) rovibrational level with control of the spatial distribution of the bond axis of the molecule by magnetic sublevel selection. We show that the rate of Δj = 2 D-D relaxation is nearly two orders of magnitude weaker than that of D-He.

Nicotine and Its Downstream Metabolites in Maternal and Cord Sera: Biomarkers of Prenatal Smoking Exposure Associated with Offspring DNA Methylation.

Nicotine is a major constituent of cigarette smoke. Its primary metabolite in maternal and cord sera, cotinine, is considered a biomarker of prenatal smoking. Nicotine and cotinine half-lives are decreased in pregnancy due to their increased rate of metabolism and conversion to downstream metabolites such as norcotinine and 3-hydroxycotinine.

Epigenome-Wide Association of Infant Feeding and Changes in DNA Methylation from Birth to 10 Years.

Epigenetic factors have been suggested as mediators of early-life nutrition to future health. Prior studies focused on breastfeeding effects on DNA methylation (DNAm), ignoring other feeding modes. In this analysis of the Isle of Wight birth cohort, feeding modes were categorized as exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), exclusive formula feeding (EFF), and mixed feeding based on whether the respective feeding mode lasted for at least 3 months.

DNA methylation at birth is associated with lung function development until age 26 years.

Little is known about whether DNA methylation (DNAm) of cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites at birth predicts patterns of lung function development. We used heel prick DNAm from the F1-generation of Isle of Wight birth cohort (IOWBC-F1) for discovery of CpGs associated with lung function trajectories (forced expiratory volume in 1 s, forced vital capacity, their ratio, and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of forced vital capacity) over the first 26 years, stratified by sex. We replicated the findings in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) using cord blood DNAm.

Paternal DNA Methylation May Be Associated With Gestational Age at Birth.

Background: How epigenetic modifications of DNA are associated with gestational age at birth is not fully understood. We investigated potential effects of differential paternal DNA methylation (DNAm) on offspring gestational age at birth by conducting an epigenome-wide search for cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites.

Methods: Study participants in this study consist of male cohort members or partners of the F1-generation of the Isle of Wight Birth Cohort (IoWBC).

Building a trust-based doctor recommendation system on top of multilayer graph database.

In healthcare applications, developing a data model for storing patient-doctor relationships is important. Though relational models are popular for many commercial and business applications, they may not be appropriate for modeling patient-doctor relationships due to their inherent irregular nature and complexities. In this paper, as a case study, we propose to build a doctor recommendation system for the patients.

Association of Maternal DNA Methylation and Offspring Birthweight.

This study aims to evaluate the association of maternal DNA methylation (DNAm) during pregnancy and offspring birthweight. One hundred twenty-two newborn-mother dyads from the Isle of Wight (IOW) cohort were studied to identify differentially methylated cytosine-phosphate-guanine sites (CpGs) in maternal blood associated with offspring birthweight. Peripheral blood samples were drawn from mothers at 22-38 weeks of pregnancy for epigenome-wide DNAm assessment using the Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450K array.