Consortium profile: the methylation, imaging and NeuroDevelopment (MIND) consortium.

Epigenetic processes, such as DNA methylation, show potential as biological markers and mechanisms underlying gene-environment interplay in the prediction of mental health and other brain-based phenotypes. However, little is known about how peripheral epigenetic patterns relate to individual differences in the brain itself. An increasingly popular approach to address this is by combining epigenetic and neuroimaging data; yet, research in this area is almost entirely comprised of cross-sectional studies in adults.

Pirin does not bind to p65 or regulate NFκB-dependent gene expression but does modulate cellular quercetin levels.

Pirin is a nonheme iron-binding protein with a variety of proposed functions, including serving as a coactivator of p65 NFκB and quercetinase activity. We report here, failure to confirm pirin's primary proposed mechanism, binding of Fe(III)-pirin and p65. Analytical size exclusion chromatography and fluorescence polarization studies did not detect an interaction.

Risk Factors for Hyperglycemic Emergency Department Visits in Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes: History of Depression as a Key Predictor.

Aims: To identify risk factors for hyperglycemia in emergency department visits within 1 year following type 2 diabetes diagnosis.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, electronic medical record data from 3333 adult patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes across 57 primary care clinics in West Michigan between April 2021 and January 2023 were analyzed. The primary outcome was hyperglycemia at ED encounters within 12 months of diagnosis.

Genetic variants affecting RNA stability influence complex traits and disease risk.

Gene expression is modulated jointly by transcriptional regulation and messenger RNA stability, yet the latter is often overlooked in studies on genetic variants. Here, leveraging metabolic labeling data (Bru/BruChase-seq) and a new computational pipeline, RNAtracker, we categorize genes as allele-specific RNA stability (asRS) or allele-specific RNA transcription events. We identify more than 5,000 asRS variants among 665 genes across a panel of 11 human cell lines.

Barriers and boosters of adolescent mental health recovery: The dual roles of positive and adverse childhood experiences.

Background: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) play critical roles in adolescent mental health, influencing onset and recovery. Informed by the Social-Ecological Risk and Protective Factors framework, the current study examines ACEs as barriers and PCEs as facilitators in recovery from anxiety and depression. We used continuous score and categorical subgroup models to capture both linear and potential threshold effects.

Perceived social contribution and its associations with political participation.

Many people who are eligible to participate in the political process do not, suggesting the interests of a large portion of the electorate are not adequately represented in government. While some past work has found that subjective well-being is related to political engagement, less is known about which specific aspects of well-being might drive this effect. We propose and test the idea that self-perceived social contribution - the belief that one's life and everyday activities provide something of value to society - is related to multiple forms of political participation, likely because people who believe they provide something of value to society feel more integrated with society and therefore may be more likely to act on its behalf via political participation.

BioID2-Based Tau Interactome Reveals Novel and Known Protein Interactions Associated with Multiple Cellular Pathways.

Pathological inclusions composed of tau are hallmarks of neurodegenerative diseases termed tauopathies, the most common of which is Alzheimer's disease. Accumulating evidence suggests that tau is involved in a multitude of physiological functions that are regulated, in part, by direct and/or transient protein interactions. Deciphering the tau interactome is critical for understanding the physiological and pathological roles of tau.

Comprehensive review of avobenzone (butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane) toxicology data and human exposure assessment for personal care products.

A comprehensive review of existing toxicity and human exposure data for the ultraviolet filter avobenzone (butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane) was conducted to assess its safety as currently used in over-the-counter sunscreen formulations. Avobenzone has a suitable safety profile without any clear markers of toxicity or endpoints of concern. There are sufficient clinical studies and and toxicity studies in animal models to assess avobenzone's pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and potential toxicological properties, supportive of its long history of safe use.

AOP 460: Antagonism of Smoothened receptor leading to orofacial clefting.

Sonic hedgehog (SHH) is a major intercellular signaling pathway involved in the orchestration of embryogenesis, including orofacial morphogenesis. The SHH pathway is sensitive to disruption, including both genetic predisposition and chemical-induced disruption at multiple molecular targets including antagonism of the SHH signal transducer Smoothened (SMO). Here we report the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) 460 describing the linkage between antagonism of the SMO receptor, a key intermediate in the hedgehog signaling, and orofacial clefts (OFCs).

Targeting the selectivity filter to drastically alter the activity and substrate spectrum of a promiscuous metal transporter.

d-Block metal transporters are attractive engineering targets for selectively enriching or excluding metals in living organisms. However, systematic efforts to engineer these transporters have been hindered by limited knowledge on the determinants of substrate specificity. Here, we applied a focused-screen approach to human ZIP8, a promiscuous d-block divalent metal transporter, by systematically changing the residues that form a proposed selectivity filter at the entrance of the transport pathway.

A meta-analysis and systematic review of plant growth regulator use in blueberry production.

Plant growth regulators (PGRs) include natural and synthetic plant phytohormones and other substances with the capacity to shape one or more aspects of plant growth and development at small concentrations. PGRs are commonly utilized in tree fruit and table grape production to reduce fruit set (thinning) and increase fruit size, coloration, and quality. However, use of PGRs in the production of berry crops, such as blueberry, is less common despite the abundance of production issues and the breadth of PGRs generally registered for fruit crops.

To Play or Not to Play? Effects of Social Isolation Length and Stimulus Rat Familiarity on Social Play Engagement in Three Laboratory Rat Strains.

Social play is displayed by juveniles of many mammalian species and is vital to the development of social skills as shown in humans and rats. Here, we determined how two external conditions, social isolation length and social stimulus familiarity, modulate social play levels (by the experimental animals) and social play defense tactics (by the stimulus animals) in juveniles of three common laboratory rat strains: Long-Evans, Sprague-Dawley, and Wistar. Experimental rats were socially isolated for either 2h or 48h and were then exposed in their home cage to a familiar (cage mate) or novel sex-, age-, and strain-matched stimulus rat.

Improvement of dentin bonding via adhesive monomers with multiple hydrogen bonding moieties.

Despite advancements in bonding techniques, the resin-dentin interface remains the weakest point in dental restorations, susceptible to collagen degradation and methacrylate hydrolysis. One strategy to enhance the resin-dentin interface is to incorporate hydrogen-bonding-rich functional groups into dental adhesive resins, such as 2-ureido-4[1H]-pyrimidinone (UPy). These hydrogen bonds may bridge the adhesive resin and dentin substrate, which contains collagen and hydroxyapatite, as well as form non-covalent crosslinks within the resin.

Ionic composition of gastric reflux and small intestinal fluid in horses: implications for fluid replacement.

Background: Small intestinal (SI) distension and gastric reflux (GR) are common in horses with mechanical and functional ileus. Removal of GR results in fluid/ion losses.

Aims/objectives: 1) Determine the capacity of healthy SI; 2) measure ion concentrations in normal SI fluid, GR, or fluid from SI undergoing resection.

Contributions of inherited mtDNA to longevity: evidence from extended pedigrees with 176 million kinship pairs.

Background: Mitochondria are bacteria-like organelles with their own DNA (mtDNA) that exist in the cellular cytoplasm of almost every cell in the human body. Because mitochondria are critical for sustaining life, it follows that inherited mtDNA could be a key aetiologic element underlying longevity. Unfortunately, biometric approaches able to quantify heritable contributions of mtDNA have not been available.

Age and gender intersectionality among African Americans: Salivary uric acid is associated with shorter telomere length in younger adults and men.

Age related diseases present disproportionately among African Americans and have been tied to broad social inequalities and accompanying stress. Yet, there is considerable variability among African Americans in susceptibility, highlighting potential connections to both intersectionality and stress-related biological processes. A growing body of research links exposure to racism and discrimination to telomere length (TL)-an indicator of biological aging that is increasingly implicated in explaining stress-related racial health disparities.

Midlife Vascular Risk Factors, Parkinson Disease, and Parkinson Disease-Dementia: The ARIC Study.

Background And Objectives: Vascular risk factors (VRFs) such as smoking, hypertension, obesity, and diabetes are associated with dementia, but their importance in Parkinson disease (PD) and PD-dementia (PDD) is less well understood. Previous studies demonstrated that smoking may be protective of PD, but its role in PDD is unclear. The primary objective was to examine the association between midlife VRFs and the risk of developing PD and PDD in older adults.

Can the global drone revolution make agriculture more sustainable?

Rapid growth in drone use is upending expectations but also inducing trade-offs.

When the Tumor Leaves but the Damage Lingers: A Case of Delayed Cardiomyopathy Recovery Post-Paraganglioma Resection.

Catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy secondary to paraganglioma is a rare and potentially reversible condition. However, the course of recovery post-resection remains variable and may be delayed despite biochemical cure. We present the case of a 47-year-old male with biopsy-confirmed extra-adrenal paraganglioma who developed acute decompensated heart failure due to catecholamine-induced cardiomyopathy (left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) 30-35%) and multiorgan dysfunction.

A New Species and Eight New Records of Ascomycetes from Freshwater Niches in Korea.

Freshwater ascomycetes are fungi that play an important role in the decomposition of submerged plant debris in freshwater habitats. At present, approximately 3000 species of ascomycetes have been described from freshwater habitats. However, the number of fungi in freshwater habitats in South Korea is small, and many species are still completely unknown.

Metabolic flux analysis in leaf metabolism quantifies the link between photorespiration and one carbon metabolism.

Photorespiration is the second largest carbon flux in most leaves and is integrated into metabolism broadly including one-carbon (C) metabolism. Photorespiratory intermediates such as serine and others may serve as sources of C units, but it is unclear to what degree this happens in vivo, whether altered photorespiration changes flux to C metabolism, and if so through which intermediates. To clarify these questions, we quantified carbon flux from photorespiration to C metabolism using CO labelling and isotopically non-stationary metabolic flux analysis in Arabidopsis thaliana under different O concentrations which modulate photorespiration.

Get4/5-Mediated Remodeling of Get3's Substrate Binding Chamber: Insights into Tail-Anchored Protein Targeting by the GET Pathway.

The Guided Entry of Tail-Anchored Proteins (GET) pathway ensures accurate targeting of Tail-Anchored proteins (TAs) - a diverse class of membrane proteins - to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane. In yeast, newly synthesized TAs are captured by Sgt2 and transferred to Get3 for delivery to the ER, where they undergo subsequent membrane insertion. Efficient and protected handoff of hydrophobic TAs from Sgt2 to Get3 is facilitated by the Get4/5 complex, which is thought to act as a scaffold to position TA-bound Sgt2 and Get3 in proximity while trapping Get3 in an ATP-bound conformation necessary for TA binding.

Identifying potential bacterial pathogens in wastewater by expert reliability analysis of full-length 16S rRNA and untargeted RNA sequencing data processed with four bioinformatic workflows.

Municipal wastewater may serve as a critical community-composite sample for monitoring bacteria excreted by the contributing population, providing insights into public health risks and microbial diversity. The present study emphasizes the integration of DNA (full-length 16S rRNA) methods, untargeted RNA methods, and different bioinformatic protocols to identify potential human bacterial pathogens in wastewater. Results revealed that, DNA surveillance identified roughly 50 % of the sequencing reads were associated with potentially pathogenic bacteria, as compared to RNA surveillance, which identified roughly 33 % of the reads as associated with potential bacterial pathogens.