Alien Registration- Andrews, Howard T. (Gardiner, Kennebec County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/29100/thumbnail.jp

Thiopurines are negatively associated with anthropometric parameters in pediatric Crohn's disease.

AimTo determine the distribution of anthropometric parameter (AP)-z-scores and characterize associations between medications/serum biomarkers and AP-z-scores in pediatric Crohn's disease (CD).MethodsCD patients [< chronological age (CA) 21 years] were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Descriptive statistics were generated for participants' demographic characteristics and key variables of interest. Paired t-tests were used to compare AP-z-scores calculated based on CA (CA z-scores) and bone age (BA) (BA z-scores) for interpretation of AP's. Linear regression was utilized to examine associations between medications and serum biomarkers with AP-z-scores calculated based on CA (n = 82) and BA (n = 49). We reported regression coefficients as well as their corresponding p-values and 95% confidence intervals.ResultsMean CA at the time of the study visit was 15.3 ± 3.5 (SD; range = 4.8-20.7) years. Mean triceps skinfold (P = 0.039), subscapular skinfold (P = 0.002) and mid-arm circumference (MAC) (P = 0.001) BA z-scores were higher than corresponding CA z-scores. Medications were positively associated with subscapular skinfold [adalimumab (P = 0.018) and methotrexate (P = 0.027)] and BMI CA z-scores [adalimumab (P = 0.029)]. Azathioprine/6-mercaptopurine were negatively associated with MAC (P = 0.045), subscapular skinfold (P = 0.014), weight (P = 0.002) and BMI (P = 0.013) CA z-scores. ESR, CRP, and WBC count were negatively associated, while albumin and IGF-1 BA z-scores were positively associated, with specific AP z-scores (P < 0.05). Mean height CA z-scores were higher in females, not males, treated with infliximab (P = 0.038). Hemoglobin (P = 0.018) was positively associated, while platelets (P = 0.005), ESR (P = 0.003) and CRP (P = 0.039) were negatively associated with height CA z-scores in males, not females.ConclusionOur results suggest poor efficacy of thiopurines and a possible sex difference in statural growth response to infliximab in pediatric CD. Prospective longitudinal studies are required

Steady-state MreB helices inside bacteria: dynamics without motors

Within individual bacteria, we combine force-dependent polymerization dynamics of individual MreB protofilaments with an elastic model of protofilament bundles buckled into helical configurations. We use variational techniques and stochastic simulations to relate the pitch of the MreB helix, the total abundance of MreB, and the number of protofilaments. By comparing our simulations with mean-field calculations, we find that stochastic fluctuations are significant. We examine the quasi-static evolution of the helical pitch with cell growth, as well as timescales of helix turnover and denovo establishment. We find that while the body of a polarized MreB helix treadmills towards its slow-growing end, the fast-growing tips of laterally associated protofilaments move towards the opposite fast-growing end of the MreB helix. This offers a possible mechanism for targeted polar localization without cytoplasmic motor proteins.Comment: 7 figures, 1 tabl

Q&A: Epistasis

Molecular and Cellular Biolog

Prevalence of essential tremor in a multiethnic, community-based study in northern Manhattan, New York, N.Y.

Our aims were to: (1) estimate the prevalence of essential tremor (ET) in a community-based study in northern Manhattan, New York, N.Y., USA; (2) compare prevalence across ethnic groups, and (3) provide prevalence estimates for the oldest old. Methods: This study did not rely on a screening questionnaire. Rather, as part of an in-person neurological evaluation, each participant produced several handwriting samples, from which ET diagnoses were assigned. Results: There were 1,965 participants (76.7 ± 6.9 years, range = 66–102 years); 108 had ET [5.5%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.5–6.5%]. Odds of ET were robustly associated with Hispanic ethnicity versus white ethnicity [odds ratio (OR) = 2.19, 95% CI = 1.03–4.64, p = 0.04] and age (OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.03–1.26, p = 0.01), i.e. with every 1 year advance in age, the odds of ET increased by 14%. Prevalence reached 21.7% among the oldest old (age ≥95 years). Conclusions: This study reports a significant ethnic difference in the prevalence of ET. The prevalence of ET was high overall (5.5%) and rose markedly with age so that in the oldest old, more than 1 in 5 individuals had this disease

Catastrophic eruption of magnetic flux rope in the corona and solar wind with and without magnetic reconnection

It is generally believed that the magnetic free energy accumulated in the corona serves as a main energy source for solar explosions such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). In the framework of the flux rope catastrophe model for CMEs, the energy may be abruptly released either by an ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) catastrophe, which belongs to a global magnetic topological instability of the system, or by a fast magnetic reconnection across preexisting or rapidly-developing electric current sheets. Both ways of magnetic energy release are thought to be important to CME dynamics. To disentangle their contributions, we construct a flux rope catastrophe model in the corona and solar wind and compare different cases in which we either prohibit or allow magnetic reconnection to take place across rapidly-growing current sheets during the eruption. It is demonstrated that CMEs, even fast ones, can be produced taking the ideal MHD catastrophe as the only process of magnetic energy release. Nevertheless, the eruptive speed can be significantly enhanced after magnetic reconnection sets in. In addition, a smooth transition from slow to fast eruptions is observed when increasing the strength of the background magnetic field, simply because in a stronger field there is more free magnetic energy at the catastrophic point available to be released during an eruption. This suggests that fast and slow CMEs may have an identical driving mechanism.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, ApJ, in press (vol. 666, Sept. 2007

Introduction to and Screening Visit Results of the Multicenter Pediatric Crohn's Disease Growth Study.

BackgroundStatural growth impairment is more common in males with Crohn's disease (CD). We assessed sex differences in height Z score differences and bone age (BA) Z scores and characterized age of menarche in a novel contemporary cohort of pediatric CD patients undergoing screening for enrollment in the multicenter longitudinal Growth Study.MethodsCrohn's disease patients (females with chronological age [CA] 5 years and older and younger than 14 years; males with CA 6 years and older and younger than 16 years) participated in a screening visit for the Growth Study. Height BA-Z scores are height Z scores calculated based on BA. Height CA-Z scores are height Z scores calculated based on CA. The height Z score difference equals height CA-Z score minus height BA-Z score.ResultsOne hundred seventy-one patients (60% male) qualified for this analysis. Mean CA was 12.2 years. Mean height CA-Z score was -0.4, and mean height BA-Z score was 0.4 in females. Mean height CA-Z score was -0.1, and mean height BA-Z score was 0.2 in males. The absolute value of the mean height Z score difference was significantly greater in females (0.8) than males (0.3; P = 0.005). The mean BA-Z score in females (-1.0) was significantly lower than in males (-0.2; P = 0.002). The median CA at menarche was 13.6 (95% CI, 12.6-14.6) years.ConclusionsOur screening visit data suggest that standardized height gain is lower in males with skeletal maturation and delayed puberty is common in females in CD. We are investigating these findings in the ongoing Growth Study