Changes to Rural Migration in the COVID-19 Pandemic☆

Media stories highlighted accounts of migration away from city centers towards more rural destinations during the COVID-19 pandemic, but systematic research about how the pandemic changed migration in more rural destinations is only starting to emerge. This paper relies on U.S. Postal Service change-of-address data to describe whether and how established domestic migration systems changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on differences across the rural–urban gradient and by outdoor recreation resources. We find little evidence of massive urban exodus. We do find that out-migration from rural counties declined post-pandemic onset and has stayed low in the 3 years since, stemming the tide of net population loss in many rural places. Most rural counties that experienced net population loss prior to the pandemic saw either less net loss or net gains during the pandemic. Rural recreation counties experienced greater gains through both decreased out-migration and increased in-migration in the first year of the pandemic; but by year three, differences between rural recreation and non-recreation counties had balanced. Overall, counties across Rural America saw notable change to pre-pandemic migration patterns. This shift may benefit rural areas through long-term population stability and/or growth but might also exacerbate housing and childcare shortages

Metabolic Signature of Atypical Fibroxanthoma and Pleomorphic Dermal Sarcoma: Expression of Hypoxia-inducible Factor-1α and Several of Its Downstream Targets

Metabolic reprogramming mediated by hypoxia-inducible factors play a crucial role in many human cancers. HIF-1α is activated under hypoxic conditions and is considered a key regulator of oxygen homoeostasis during tumor proliferation under hypoxia. Aim of this research was to analyze the immunohistochemical expression of HIF-1α, VEGF-A, Glut-1, MCT4, and CAIX in atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) and pleomorphic dermal sarcoma (PDS). 21 paraffin-embedded AFX and 22 PDS were analysed by immunohistochemis-try, namely HIF-1α, VEGF-A (referred to as VEGF throughout the manuscript), Glut-1, MCT4, and CAIX. To quantify the protein expression, we considered the percentage of positive tumor cells (0: 0%, 1: up to 1%, 2: 2-10%, 3: 11-50%, 4: >50%) in relation to the staining intensity (0: negative, 1: low, 2: medium, 3: strong). HIF-1α expression (mean ± SD) in AFX (9.33±2.92) was significantly stronger than that in PDS (5.90±4.38; P= 0.007), whereas the expression of VEGF, Glut-1, MCT4, and CAIX did not show differences between AFX and PDS. When comparing all tumors without subgroup stratification, the expression of HIF-1α (P= 0.044) and MCT4 (P= 0.036) was significantly stronger in ulcerated tumors than in tumors without ulceration. Our findings provide the first evidence that HIF-1α-induced metabolic reprogramming may contribute to the pathogenesis of AFX and PDS. HIF-1α expression seems to be higher in AFX than in PDS, and ulcerated tumors show higher expression levels of HIF-1α and MCT4 irrespective of the diagnosis

Genome-wide association and HLA fine-mapping studies identify risk loci and genetic pathways underlying allergic rhinitis

Allergic rhinitis is the most common clinical presentation of allergy, affecting 400 million people worldwide, with increasing incidence in westernized countries1,2. To elucidate the genetic architecture and understand the underlying disease mechanisms, we carried out a meta-analysis of allergic rhinitis in 59,762 cases and 152,358 controls of European ancestry and identified a total of 41 risk loci for allergic rhinitis, including 20 loci not previously associated with allergic rhinitis, which were confirmed in a replication phase of 60,720 cases and 618,527 controls. Functional annotation implicated genes involved in various immune pathways, and fine mapping of the HLA region suggested amino acid variants important for antigen binding. We further performed genome-wide association study (GWAS) analyses of allergic sensitization against inhalant allergens and nonallergic rhinitis, which suggested shared genetic mechanisms across rhinitis-related traits. Future studies of the identified loci and genes might identify novel targets for treatment and prevention of allergic rhinitis

Relative validation of the KiGGS Food Frequency Questionnaire among adolescents in Germany

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The aim of this study was to determine the relative validity of the self-administered Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) "What do you eat?", which was used in the German National Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS 2003-2006).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The validation was conducted in the EsKiMo Nutrition Module, a subsample of KiGGS. The study population included 1,213 adolescents aged between 12 and 17. A modified diet history interview DISHES (Dietary Interview Software for Health Examination Studies) was used as the reference method. In order to compare the food groups, the data assessed with both instruments were aggregated to 40 similar food groups. The statistical analysis included calculating and comparing Spearman's correlation coefficients, calculating the mean difference between both methods, and ranking participants (quartiles) according to food group consumption, including weighted kappa coefficients. Correlations were also evaluated for relative body weight and socioeconomic status subgroups.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In the total study population the Spearman correlation coefficients ranged from 0.22 for pasta/rice to 0.69 for margarine; most values were 0.50 and higher. The mean difference ranged between 1.4% for milk and 100.3% for pasta/rice. The 2.5 percentiles and 97.5 percentiles indicated a wide range of differences. Classifications in the same and adjacent quartile varied between 70.1% for pasta/rice and 90.8% for coffee. For most groups, Cohen's weighted kappa showed values between 0.21 and 0.60. Only for white bread and pasta/rice were values less than 0.20. Most of the 40 food groups showed acceptable to good correlations in all investigated subgroups concerning age, sex, body weight and socio-economic status.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The KiGGS FFQ showed fair to moderate ranking validity except for pasta/rice and white bread. However, the ability to assess absolute intakes is limited. The correlation coefficients for most food items were similar for normal weight and overweight as well as for different socio-economic status groups. Overall, the results of the relative validity were comparable to FFQs from the current literature.</p

Induction of autophagy by spermidine promotes longevity.

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High-energy neutrinos in the context of multimessenger physics

The field of astroparticle physics is currently developing rapidly, since new experiments challenge our understanding of the investigated processes. Three messengers can be used to extract information on the properties of astrophysical sources: photons, charged Cosmic Rays and neutrinos. This review focuses on high-energy neutrinos (E>100 GeV) with the main topics as follows. The production mechanism of high-energy neutrinos in astrophysical shocks. The connection between the observed photon spectra and charged Cosmic Rays is described and the source properties as they are known from photon observations and from charged Cosmic Rays are presented. High-energy neutrino detection. Current detection methods are described and the status of the next generation neutrino telescopes are reviewed. In particular, water and ice Cherenkov detectors as well as radio measurements in ice and with balloon experiments are presented. In addition, future perspectives for optical, radio and acoustic detection of neutrinos are reviewed. Sources of neutrino emission. The main source classes are reviewed, i.e. galactic sources, Active Galactic Nuclei, starburst galaxies and Gamma Ray Bursts. The interaction of high energy protons with the cosmic microwave background implies the production of neutrinos, referred to as GZK neutrinos. Implications of neutrino flux limits. Recent limits given by the AMANDA experiment and their implications regarding the physics of the sources are presented.Comment: accepted for publication by Physics Reports, 127 pages, 29 figure

Globally invariant metabolism but density-diversity mismatch in springtails.

Soil life supports the functioning and biodiversity of terrestrial ecosystems. Springtails (Collembola) are among the most abundant soil arthropods regulating soil fertility and flow of energy through above- and belowground food webs. However, the global distribution of springtail diversity and density, and how these relate to energy fluxes remains unknown. Here, using a global dataset representing 2470 sites, we estimate the total soil springtail biomass at 27.5 megatons carbon, which is threefold higher than wild terrestrial vertebrates, and record peak densities up to 2 million individuals per square meter in the tundra. Despite a 20-fold biomass difference between the tundra and the tropics, springtail energy use (community metabolism) remains similar across the latitudinal gradient, owing to the changes in temperature with latitude. Neither springtail density nor community metabolism is predicted by local species richness, which is high in the tropics, but comparably high in some temperate forests and even tundra. Changes in springtail activity may emerge from latitudinal gradients in temperature, predation and resource limitation in soil communities. Contrasting relationships of biomass, diversity and activity of springtail communities with temperature suggest that climate warming will alter fundamental soil biodiversity metrics in different directions, potentially restructuring terrestrial food webs and affecting soil functioning

Exploration of Shared Genetic Architecture Between Subcortical Brain Volumes and Anorexia Nervosa

In MRI scans of patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), reductions in brain volume are often apparent. However, it is unknown whether such brain abnormalities are influenced by genetic determinants that partially overlap with those underlying AN. Here, we used a battery of methods (LD score regression, genetic risk scores, sign test, SNP effect concordance analysis, and Mendelian randomization) to investigate the genetic covariation between subcortical brain volumes and risk for AN based on summary measures retrieved from genome-wide association studies of regional brain volumes (ENIGMA consortium, n = 13,170) and genetic risk for AN (PGC-ED consortium, n = 14,477). Genetic correlations ranged from − 0.10 to 0.23 (all p > 0.05). There were some signs of an inverse concordance between greater thalamus volume and risk for AN (permuted p = 0.009, 95% CI: [0.005, 0.017]). A genetic variant in the vicinity of ZW10, a gene involved in cell division, and neurotransmitter and immune system relevant genes, in particular DRD2, was significantly associated with AN only after conditioning on its association with caudate volume (pFDR = 0.025). Another genetic variant linked to LRRC4C, important in axonal and synaptic development, reached significance after conditioning on hippocampal volume (pFDR = 0.021). In this comprehensive set of analyses and based on the largest available sample sizes to date, there was weak evidence for associations between risk for AN and risk for abnormal subcortical brain volumes at a global level (that is, common variant genetic architecture), but suggestive evidence for effects of single genetic markers. Highly powered multimodal brain- and disorder-related genome-wide studies are needed to further dissect the shared genetic influences on brain structure and risk for AN

Global fine-resolution data on springtail abundance and community structure

Springtails (Collembola) inhabit soils from the Arctic to the Antarctic and comprise an estimated ~32% of all terrestrial arthropods on Earth. Here, we present a global, spatially-explicit database on springtail communities that includes 249,912 occurrences from 44,999 samples and 2,990 sites. These data are mainly raw sample-level records at the species level collected predominantly from private archives of the authors that were quality-controlled and taxonomically-standardised. Despite covering all continents, most of the sample-level data come from the European continent (82.5% of all samples) and represent four habitats: woodlands (57.4%), grasslands (14.0%), agrosystems (13.7%) and scrublands (9.0%). We included sampling by soil layers, and across seasons and years, representing temporal and spatial within-site variation in springtail communities. We also provided data use and sharing guidelines and R code to facilitate the use of the database by other researchers. This data paper describes a static version of the database at the publication date, but the database will be further expanded to include underrepresented regions and linked with trait data.</p

Genetic fine mapping and genomic annotation defines causal mechanisms at type 2 diabetes susceptibility loci.

We performed fine mapping of 39 established type 2 diabetes (T2D) loci in 27,206 cases and 57,574 controls of European ancestry. We identified 49 distinct association signals at these loci, including five mapping in or near KCNQ1. 'Credible sets' of the variants most likely to drive each distinct signal mapped predominantly to noncoding sequence, implying that association with T2D is mediated through gene regulation. Credible set variants were enriched for overlap with FOXA2 chromatin immunoprecipitation binding sites in human islet and liver cells, including at MTNR1B, where fine mapping implicated rs10830963 as driving T2D association. We confirmed that the T2D risk allele for this SNP increases FOXA2-bound enhancer activity in islet- and liver-derived cells. We observed allele-specific differences in NEUROD1 binding in islet-derived cells, consistent with evidence that the T2D risk allele increases islet MTNR1B expression. Our study demonstrates how integration of genetic and genomic information can define molecular mechanisms through which variants underlying association signals exert their effects on disease