Rapid Communication: The Very-Long-Chain Acyl-CoA Dehydrogenase Gene Maps to Pig Chromosome 12

Source and Description of Primers. Primers for the very-long-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (ACADVL) gene were designed from a bovine cDNA sequence (GenBank accession No. U30817) aligned with the human ACADVL gene (GenBank accession No. L46590). The forward primer was 5¢-TTT GGG GAG AAA ATT CAC AAC-3¢ and the reverse primer was 5¢-GCG GCC TCT ATC TGG AAG T-3¢. The amplification product was expected to span from exon 11 to exon 12 of the ACADVL gene. Exonic parts (103 bp) of the pig sequence were 91% identical at the nucleotide level with the human ACADVL sequence. The pig sequence produced here has been submitted to GenBank (accession no. AF022255)

Rapid Communication: A HincII Polymorphism in the Porcine Calpain, Large Polypeptide L3 (CAPN3) Gene

Source and Description of Primers. Primers were designed from a published, partial porcine cDNA sequence (Genbank accession no. U05678) in positions corresponding to exons 11 and 13 of the human CAPN3 gene (Genbank accession no. X85030). Sequences were obtained from the ends of the PCR fragment and compared with the porcine cDNA sequence showing 98.1% identity in a 108-bp overlap at the exon 11 end and 99.2% identity in a 124-bp overlap at the exon 13 end. Sequences produced in this study have been submitted to Genbank (accession no. AF025660-AF025661)

Mapping five new candidate genes in the pig

Five new candidate genes for growth and carcass traits have recently been mapped in the pig by using either linkage analysis or analysis of a hybrid cell line panel. The genes mapped include the very long chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase gene (ACADVL) mapped to pig chromosome 12, the adenylate cyclase activating peptide, pituitary 1 gene (ADCYAP1) on chromosome 6, the calpain large polypeptide L3 gene (CAPN3), the myocyte-specific enhancer factor 2A gene (MEF2A) on chromosome 1, and the thyroid stimulating hormone receptor gene (TSHR) on chromosome 7. All five genes have the potential to influence carcass traits in the pig. Future studies will be conducted to investigate if any of the genes actually do influence these traits

Empirical Evidence on the Use of Credit Scoring for Predicting Insurance Losses with Psycho-social and Biochemical Explanations

An important development in personal lines of insurance in the United States is the use of credit history data for insurance risk classification to predict losses. This research presents the results of collaboration with industry conducted by a university at the request of its state legislature. The purpose was to see the viability and validity of the use of credit scoring to predict insurance losses given its controversial nature and criticism as redundant of other predictive variables currently used. Working with industry and government, this study analyzed more than 175,000 policyholders’ information for the relationship between credit score and claims. Credit scores were significantly related to incurred losses, evidencing both statistical and practical significance. We investigate whether the revealed relationship between credit score and incurred losses was explainable by overlap with existing underwriting variables or whether the credit score adds new information about losses not contained in existing underwriting variables. The results show that credit scores contain significant information not already incorporated into other traditional rating variables (e.g., age, sex, driving history). We discuss how sensation seeking and self-control theory provide a partial explanation of why credit scoring works (the psycho-social perspective). This article also presents an overview of biological and chemical correlates of risk taking that helps explain why knowing risk-taking behavior in one realm (e.g., risky financial behavior and poor credit history) transits to predicting risk-taking behavior in other realms (e.g., automobile insurance incurred losses). Additional research is needed to advance new nontraditional loss prediction variables from social media consumer information to using information provided by technological advances. The evolving and dynamic nature of the insurance marketplace makes it imperative that professionals continue to evolve predictive variables and for academics to assist with understanding the whys of the relationships through theory development.IC2 Institut

Impact of age at type 2 diabetes mellitus diagnosis on mortality and vascular complications: systematic review and meta-analyses

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Few studies examine the association between age at diagnosis and subsequent complications from type 2 diabetes. This paper aims to summarise the risk of mortality, macrovascular complications and microvascular complications associated with age at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. METHODS: Data were sourced from MEDLINE and All EBM (Evidence Based Medicine) databases from inception to July 2018. Observational studies, investigating the effect of age at diabetes diagnosis on macrovascular and microvascular diabetes complications in adults with type 2 diabetes were selected according to pre-specified criteria. Two investigators independently extracted data and evaluated all studies. If data were not reported in a comparable format, data were obtained from authors, presented as minimally adjusted ORs (and 95% CIs) per 1 year increase in age at diabetes diagnosis, adjusted for current age for each outcome of interest. The study protocol was recorded with PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42016043593). RESULTS: Data from 26 observational studies comprising 1,325,493 individuals from 30 countries were included. Random-effects meta-analyses with inverse variance weighting were used to obtain the pooled ORs. Age at diabetes diagnosis was inversely associated with risk of all-cause mortality and macrovascular and microvascular disease (all p < 0.001). Each 1 year increase in age at diabetes diagnosis was associated with a 4%, 3% and 5% decreased risk of all-cause mortality, macrovascular disease and microvascular disease, respectively, adjusted for current age. The effects were consistent for the individual components of the composite outcomes (all p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Younger, rather than older, age at diabetes diagnosis was associated with higher risk of mortality and vascular disease. Early and sustained interventions to delay type 2 diabetes onset and improve blood glucose levels and cardiovascular risk profiles of those already diagnosed are essential to reduce morbidity and mortality. Graphical abstract