Nutrient transporter expression in both the placenta and fetal liver are affected by maternal smoking

ACKNOWLEGDEMENTS Authors would like to thank the nurses of ward 309 (Aberdeen Royal Infirmary) for consenting participants and NHS Grampian Biorepository staff. Also, Gary Cameron for performing the LC-MS/MS cotinine analyses and Ms Linda Robertson for technical assistance. The authors state there are no conflicts of interest. Author contributions: NW, PF and PAF designed the research; NW conducted research, analysed data and wrote paper; PAF responsible for ethics (SAFeR study). All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Authors would like to thank the study funders: Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity YRSS/PHD/2016/05 and UK Medical Research Council: MR/L010011/1, to PAF & PJOS and MR/P011535/1 to PAF. The funders played no role in the conduct, analysis or publication of the studyPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Can spillover effects provide forecasting gains? The case of oil price volatility

We consider spillovers between oil price volatility and key uncertainty indicators. Adding to existing studies, we extend the applicability of the spillover index beyond economic inference, by generating forecasts of oil price volatility. Findings suggest that spillover effects do not contain significant predictive information. This in turn, raises critical questions regarding the usefulness of the spillover index for such task. However, it is critical to collect further evidence for the support of our findings

Can spillover effects provide forecasting gains? The case of oil price volatility

We consider spillovers between oil price volatility and key uncertainty indicators. Adding to existing studies, we extend the applicability of the spillover index beyond economic inference, by generating forecasts of oil price volatility. Findings suggest that spillover effects do not contain significant predictive information. This in turn, raises critical questions regarding the usefulness of the spillover index for such task. However, it is critical to collect further evidence for the support of our findings

Can spillover effects provide forecasting gains? The case of oil price volatility

We consider spillovers between oil price volatility and key uncertainty indicators. Adding to existing studies, we extend the applicability of the spillover index beyond economic inference, by generating forecasts of oil price volatility. Findings suggest that spillover effects do not contain significant predictive information. This in turn, raises critical questions regarding the usefulness of the spillover index for such task. However, it is critical to collect further evidence for the support of our findings

Placental transporter localization and expression in the Human : the importance of species, sex, and gestational age differences

Grant Support: This work was supported by the Medical Research Council, UK (MR/L010011/1 to PAF, PJOS) and a Glasgow Children's Hospital Charity Research Fund and University of Aberdeen, UK, Elphinstone Scholarship to NW.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Calretinin is a novel candidate marker for adverse ovarian effects of early life exposure to mixtures of endocrine disruptors in the rat

Open Access via Springer Compact Acknowledgements This work was funded by the Ministry of Environment and Food of Denmark, and by a grant from the European Commission 7th Framework Program CONTAMED (Contaminant mixtures and human reproductive health-novel strategies for health impact and risk assessment of endocrine disrupters, grant agreement no.: 215202), as well as the Medical Research Council (UK) (MR/L010011/1 to PAF) and the EU Horizon 2020 project FREIA (Grant Number 825100). We would like to thank Heidi Letting, the Animal facilities at DTU food, and the University of Aberdeen Proteomics Core Facility for their support and assistance in this work.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Maternal smoking and high BMI disrupt thyroid gland development

This study was supported by grants from the Medical Research Council (MR/L010011/1) (to PAF & PJOS), the Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for TK and SHK, and NHS Endowment Grant (to PF).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Hepatic Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Risk of Liver Disease in an Ovine Model of “PCOS Males”

First-degree male relatives of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) sufferers can develop metabolic abnormalities evidenced by elevated circulating cholesterol and triglycerides, suggestive of a male PCOS equivalent. Similarly, male sheep overexposed to excess androgens in fetal life develop dyslipidaemia in adolescence. Dyslipidaemia, altered lipid metabolism, and dysfunctional hepatic mitochondria are associated with the development of non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD). We therefore dissected hepatic mitochondrial function and lipid metabolism in adolescent prenatally androgenized (PA) males from an ovine model of PCOS. Testosterone was directly administered to male ovine fetuses to create prenatal androgenic overexposure. Liver RNA sequencing and proteomics occurred at 6 months of age. Hepatic lipids, glycogen, ATP, reactive oxygen species (ROS), DNA damage, and collagen were assessed. Adolescent PA males had an increased accumulation of hepatic cholesterol and glycogen, together with perturbed glucose and fatty acid metabolism, mitochondrial dysfunction, with altered mitochondrial transport, decreased oxidative phosphorylation and ATP synthesis, and impaired mitophagy. Mitochondrial dysfunction in PA males was associated with increased hepatic ROS level and signs of early liver fibrosis, with clinical relevance to NAFLD progression. We conclude that excess in utero androgen exposure in male fetuses leads to a PCOS-like metabolic phenotype with dysregulated mitochondrial function and likely lifelong health sequelae

Dynamics of the transcriptional landscape during human fetal testis and ovary development

Acknowledgements We thank all members of the SEQanswers forums for helpful advice; Steven Salzberg and Cole Trapnell for continuous support with the ‘Tuxedo’ suite; and the UCSC Genome team members. Sequencing was performed by the GenomEast platform, a member of the ‘France Génomique’ consortium (ANR-10-INBS-0009). We thank Ms Linda Robertson, Ms Margaret Fraser, Ms Samantha Flannigan (University of Aberdeen) and the staff at Grampian NHS Pregnancy Counselling Service and all the staff of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Rennes Sud Hospital for their expert assistance and help, and the participating women, without whom this study would not have been possible. The authors are grateful for Ms Gersende Lacombe and Mr Laurent Deleurme from the Biosit CytomeTri cytometry core facility of Rennes 1 University. Funding French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm); University of Rennes 1; French School of Public Health (EHESP); Swiss National Science Foundation [SNF n° CRS115_171007 to B.J.]; the French National Research Agency [ANR n° 16-CE14-0017-02 and n°18-CE14-0038-02 to F.C]; Medical Research Council [MR/L010011/1 to PAF]; European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007–2013) [under grant agreement no 212885 to PAF]; European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme [under grant agreement no 825100 to P.A.F. and S.M.G.].Peer reviewedPostprin

Splenic rupture as the presenting manifestation of primary splenic angiosarcoma in a teenage woman: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Primary splenic angiosarcoma is a rare neoplasm of vascular origin carrying a very poor prognosis, partly due to its high metastatic potential. This disease presents frequently with splenic rupture and hemorrhage. We report the case of a 17-year-old woman who presented with rupture of a primary splenic angiosarcoma.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>The patient presented with diffuse abdominal pain and distention. Clinical examination revealed severe tenderness in the left upper abdominal quadrant, a palpable abdominal mass, and hemodynamic instability with a systolic arterial blood pressure of 75 mmHg and heart rate of 135 beats per minute. Blood tests revealed anemia (hemoglobin 7.0 g/dl) and thrombocytopenia (platelets 70 × 10⁹/liter). After initial fluid resuscitation and stabilization, abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography were performed, revealing a large quantity of intraperitoneal free fluid, an enlarged spleen, and a heterogeneous low-density signal within the splenic parenchyma, which showed varying degrees of contrast enhancement. At laparotomy a huge (weight 1530 g, diameter 19 cm) actively bleeding spleen was identified and splenectomy was performed. Histopathology showed a primary splenic angiosarcoma. After an uneventful recovery, the patient was discharged on the sixth postoperative day.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Primary splenic angiosarcoma is rare. Although this malignancy is usually encountered in advanced age, there have been a few reported cases among younger patients. The case reported here presented with splenic rupture, was treated by laparotomy and splenectomy, and the patient is disease free 16 months after surgery.</p