Acculturation, depressive symptoms, estriol, progesterone, and preterm birth in Hispanic women

In his book, Where Darwin Meets the Bible: Creationists and Evolutionists in America, journalist Larry Witham introduces the reader to the various characters involved in the ongoing controversy over evolution and creationism. His account is subtle and nuanced, and he demonstrates that the controversy is more complicated than many believe. Far from caricatures of godless scientists seeking to discard religion in thedustbin of history and reactionary religious fundamentalists decrying Darwinism as the downfall of mankind, Witham gives us the real stories of real people who dwell in shades far more gray than usually recognized. This book review builds upon Witham\u27s efforts to suggest a different way of understanding themost important historical event identified with the creationism controversy - namely, the trial of John Scopesin 1925. The review argues that to reach any sort of policy compromise regarding the teaching of evolution in the public schools, such a policy solution must also be accompanied by a rich and nuanced understanding of the American historical narrative regarding the clash of religion and science in the public schools, of which the Scopes trial was probably the most prominent moment. Specifically, the review argues that theScopes trial should not be understood as a symbol for either complete academic freedom for teachers to teach whatever they want in science classrooms or as a symbol for the complete rejection of religion from thepublic school setting. Instead, we should understand that the trial represents several significant and potentially complementary aspirations, including promoting individual liberty as a bulwark against government control, ensuring that students learn about a wide variety of theories regarding the origin of thehuman species, respecting the scientific profession and its accompanying norms, and resisting governmental imposition of a specific religious perspective on its citizens. Such a nuanced understanding of the Scopes trial would not only be a pragmatic solution that might support much-needed, compromise-based policy reforms, but would also be faithful to the case itself, which indeed did involve all of these important themes

Micro RNA clusters in maternal plasma are associated with preterm birth and infant outcomes

<div><p>The current study examined micro RNA (miRNAs) clusters from the maternal plasma to determine their association with preterm birth (PTB) and infant birth outcomes. A subsample of 42 participants who spontaneously delivered either preterm (≤37 weeks) or term was selected from a parent sample of 515 pregnant Mexican American women. Plasma samples and prenatal data were collected at a single mid-gestation time point (22–24 weeks’ gestation) and birth outcomes were obtained from medical records after delivery. Circulating miRNAs were analyzed by qPCR. When miRNAs were grouped according to chromosomal cluster rather than expression level, individual miRNAs correlated strongly with other individual miRNAs within their respective genomic locus. miRNAs from the c19mc cluster negatively correlated with c14mc miRNAs, and this relationship was more pronounced in PTB. Clusters c14mc was negatively associated with length of gestation; while the c19mc was positively associated with length of gestation and infant head circumference. Together, these findings suggest that groups of miRNAs from common chromosomal clusters, rather than individual miRNAs, operate as co-regulated groups of signaling molecules to coordinate length of gestation and infant outcomes. From this evidence, differences in cluster-wide expression of miRNAs are involved in spontaneous PTB.</p></div

Sample characteristics (frequency or mean ± SD).

<p>Sample characteristics (frequency or mean ± SD).</p

miRNA correlation comparisons between PTB and term cases.

<p>Average correlations between individual miRNAs were compared between term and PTB to evaluate differences in coordinated expression of miRNA clusters c14mc, c19mc, and miR-17/92. Regions of each respective term and PTB correlation matrices that corresponded to within cluster correlations (A-C) and between clusters correlations (D-F) were compared by ANOVA (Fig 2 key provides a visual guide for which areas of the matrices were compared between term and PTB). (A) PTB showed lower correlated expression of c14mc miRNAs and (B) higher correlated expression of c19mc miRNAs. (C) Within cluster correlations for miR-17/92 miRNAs did not differ between term and PTB. (D) Negative correlations between c14mc and c19mc miRNAs was stronger in PTB, while (E) the negative correlations between miR-17/92 and c19mc miRNAs did not differ between term and PTB. (F) PTB showed stronger correlations between c14mc and miR-17/92 miRNAs. Correlations were calculated using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. *** = p<0.001; ANOVA.</p

Correlations plots of individual miRNAs (-∆CTs) from clusters c14mc, c19mc, and miR-17/92.

<p>Individual miRNAs were grouped according to cluster and ordered within according to genomic position clusters. Pearson’s correlation analysis was performed for individual miRNAs -∆CTs for term (A) and preterm (B) separately. Positive and negative Pearson’s r coefficients are represented by blue and red dots, respectively.</p