Selection on personality in a songbird affects maternal hormone levels tuned to its effect on timing of reproduction

The increase or decrease in yolk androgens over the laying sequence of a clutch in birds may mitigate or enhance, respectively, the disadvantage of the last-hatched chicks, providing a potentially adaptive tool to adjust brood size to food conditions. This variation may involve a genetic component on which Darwinian selection can act. We found that two lines of a wild bird species selected for bold and shy personalities show, respectively, increased and decreased androgen concentrations over the laying sequence. The line showing the increase laid earlier in the season, when food conditions are normally sufficient to raise the whole brood. The line showing the decrease laid later, when food is normally scarce, which may facilitate brood reduction. The results indicate a correlated response in maternal hormone transfer to genetic selection on personality, which relates to ecological conditions

Utilization of Genetic Counseling after Direct‐to‐Consumer Genetic Testing: Findings from the Impact of Personal Genomics (PGen) Study

Direct‐to‐consumer personal genomic testing (DTC‐PGT) results lead some individuals to seek genetic counseling (GC), but little is known about these consumers and why they seek GC services. We analyzed survey data pre‐ and post‐PGT from 1026 23andMe and Pathway Genomics customers. Participants were mostly white (91%), female (60%), and of high socioeconomic status (80% college educated, 43% household income of ≥$100,000). After receiving PGT results, 43 participants (4%) made or planned to schedule an appointment with a genetic counselor; 390 (38%) would have used in‐person GC had it been available. Compared to non‐seekers, GC seekers were younger (mean age of 38 vs 46 years), more frequently had children <18 (26% vs 16%), and were more likely to report previous GC (37% vs 7%) and genetic testing (30% vs 15%). In logistic regression analysis, seeking GC was associated with previous GC use (OR = 6.5, CI = 3.1–13.8), feeling motivated to pursue DTC‐PGT for health reasons (OR = 4.3, CI = 1.8–10.1), fair or poor self‐reported health (OR = 3.1, CI = 1.1–8.3), and self‐reported uncertainty about the results (OR = 1.8, CI = 1.1–2.7). These findings can help GC providers anticipate who might seek GC services and plan for clinical discussions of DTC‐PGT results.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146977/1/jgc41270.pd

Transcriptome analysis of Brachypodium during fungal pathogen infection reveals both shared and distinct defense responses with wheat

© 2017 The Author(s). Fusarium crown rot (FCR) of wheat and barley, predominantly caused by the fungal pathogen Fusarium pseudograminearum, is a disease of economic significance. The quantitative nature of FCR resistance within cultivated wheat germplasm has significantly limited breeding efforts to enhanced FCR resistance in wheat. In this study, we characterized the molecular responses of Brachypodium distachyon (Brachypodium hereafter) to F. pseudograminearum infection using RNA-seq to determine whether Brachypodium can be exploited as a model system towards better understanding of F. pseudograminearum-wheat interaction. The transcriptional response to infection in Brachypodium was strikingly similar to that previously reported in wheat, both in shared expression patterns of wheat homologs of Brachypodium genes and functional overlap revealed through comparative gene ontology analysis in both species. Metabolites produced by various biosynthetic pathways induced in both wheat and Brachypodium were quantified, revealing a high degree of overlap between these two species in metabolic response to infection but also showed Brachypodium does not produce certain defence-related metabolites found in wheat. Functional analyses of candidate genes identified in this study will improve our understanding of resistance mechanisms and may lead to the development of new strategies to protect cereal crops from pathogen infection

The impact of direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing on perceived risk of breast, prostate, colorectal, and lung cancer: findings from the PGen study

Abstract Background Direct access to genomic information has the potential to transform cancer risk counseling. We measured the impact of direct-to-consumer genomic risk information on changes to perceived risk (ΔPR) of breast, prostate, colorectal and lung cancer among personal genomic testing (PGT) customers. We hypothesized that ΔPR would reflect directionality of risk estimates, attenuate with time, and be modified by participant characteristics. Methods Pathway Genomics and 23andMe customers were surveyed prior to receiving PGT results, and 2 weeks and 6 months post-results. For each cancer, PR was measured on a 5-point ordinal scale from “much lower than average” to “much higher than average.” PGT results, based on genotyping of common genetic variants, were dichotomized as elevated or average risk. The relationship between risk estimate and ΔPR was evaluated with linear regression; generalized estimating equations modeled this relationship over time. Results With the exception of lung cancer (for which ΔPR was positive regardless of result), elevated risk results were significantly associated with positive ΔPR, and average risk results with negative ΔPR (e.g., prostate cancer, 2 weeks: least squares-adjusted ΔPR = 0.77 for elevated risk versus −0.21 for average risk; p-valuedifference < 0.0001) among 1154 participants. Large changes were rare: for each cancer, <4 % of participants overall reported a ΔPR of ±3 or more units. Effect modification by age, cancer family history, and baseline interest was observed for breast, colorectal, and lung cancer, respectively. A pattern of decreasing impact on ΔPR over time was consistently observed, but this trend was significant only in the case of colorectal cancer. Conclusions We have quantified the effect on consumer risk perception of returning genetic-based cancer risk information directly to consumers without clinician mediation. Provided via PGT, this information has a measurable but modest effect on perceived cancer risk, and one that is in some cases modified by consumers’ non-genetic risk context. Our observations of modest marginal effect sizes, infrequent extreme changes in perceived risk, and a pattern of diminishing impact with time, suggest that the ability of PGT to effect changes to cancer screening and prevention behaviors may be limited by relatively small changes to perceived risk.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/114396/1/12920_2015_Article_140.pd

Determination of third-order nonlinear optical susceptibilities of polysilane thin films

Third-order nonlinear optical susceptibilities χ(3)(−3ω; ω, ω, ω) have been measured by third-harmonic generation for thin films of a series of polysilane polymers and copolymers and polycarbosilanes with different alkyl and aryl side groups. χ(3)(−3ω; ω, ω, ω) values for all the polymers studied were found to be in the range 0.3 × 10−12–4.5 × 10−12 esu. Factors affecting the magnitude of χ(3), including the nature of the substituents, Si sequence length, polymer conformation, and film preparation, are discussed

Design, methods, and participant characteristics of the Impact of Personal Genomics (PGen) Study, a prospective cohort study of direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing customers

Designed in collaboration with 23andMe and Pathway Genomics, the Impact of Personal Genomics (PGen) Study serves as a model for academic-industry partnership and provides a longitudinal dataset for studying psychosocial, behavioral, and health outcomes related to direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing (PGT). Web-based surveys administered at three time points, and linked to individual-level PGT results, provide data on 1,464 PGT customers, of which 71% completed each follow-up survey and 64% completed all three surveys. The cohort includes 15.7% individuals of non-white ethnicity, and encompasses a range of income, education, and health levels. Over 90% of participants agreed to re-contact for future research. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13073-014-0096-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Consumer Perspectives on Access to Directâ toâ Consumer Genetic Testing: Role of Demographic Factors and the Testing Experience

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137391/1/milq12262.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137391/2/milq12262_am.pd

Incidence, Predictors, and Significance of Abnormal Cardiac Enzyme Rise in Patients Treated With Bypass Surgery in the Arterial Revascularization Therapies Study (ARTS)

BACKGROUND: Although it has been suggested that elevation of CK-MB after percutaneous coronary intervention is associated with adverse clinical outcomes, limited data are available in the setting of coronary bypass grafting. The aim of the present study was to determine the incidence, predictors, and prognostic significance of CK-MB elevation following multivessel coronary bypass grafting (CABG). METHODS AND RESULTS: The population comprises 496 patients with multivessel coronary disease assigned to CABG in the Arterial Revascularization Therapies Study (ARTS). CK-MB was prospectively measured at 6, 12, and 18 hours after the procedure. Thirty-day and 1-year clinical follow-up were performed. Abnormal CK-MB elevation occurred in 61.9% of the patients. Patients with increased cardiac-enzyme levels after CABG were at increased risk of both death and repeat myocardial infarction within the first 30 days (P=0.001). CK-MB elevation was also independently related to late adverse outcome (P=0.009, OR=0.64). CONCLUSIONS: Increased concentrations of CK-MB, which are often dismissed as inconsequential in the setting of multivessel CABG, appear to occur very frequently and are associated with a significant increase in both repeat myocardial infarction and death beyond the immediate perioperative period

Toxicity and genotoxicity of wastewater from gasoline stations

The toxicity and genotoxicity of wastewater from eight gasoline stations in Brasília, Brazil's capital city, was studied by assessing chromosomal aberrations, chromosomal malsegregation and the mitotic index in Alliumcepa root cells, and the occurrence of micronucleus and nuclear abnormalities in peripheral erythrocytes of tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus). The content of gasoline station effluents was also analyzed based on several physico-chemical parameters. None of the wastewater samples was genotoxic to A. cepa root cells, although cell proliferation was significantly inhibited, especially at the highest concentrations. Likewise, no micronuclei were observed in O. niloticus peripheral erythrocytes, even after exposure to high concentrations, but there was an increase in the number of nuclear abnormalities and fish mortality. These results show that although the effluent from gasoline stations is processed by an oil/water separation system before being discharged into the main sewage system, the wastewater still contains toxic compounds