Shared heritability and functional enrichment across six solid cancers

Correction: Nature Communications 10 (2019): art. 4386 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12095-8Quantifying the genetic correlation between cancers can provide important insights into the mechanisms driving cancer etiology. Using genome-wide association study summary statistics across six cancer types based on a total of 296,215 cases and 301,319 controls of European ancestry, here we estimate the pair-wise genetic correlations between breast, colorectal, head/neck, lung, ovary and prostate cancer, and between cancers and 38 other diseases. We observed statistically significant genetic correlations between lung and head/neck cancer (r(g) = 0.57, p = 4.6 x 10(-8)), breast and ovarian cancer (r(g) = 0.24, p = 7 x 10(-5)), breast and lung cancer (r(g) = 0.18, p = 1.5 x 10(-6)) and breast and colorectal cancer (r(g) = 0.15, p = 1.1 x 10(-4)). We also found that multiple cancers are genetically correlated with non-cancer traits including smoking, psychiatric diseases and metabolic characteristics. Functional enrichment analysis revealed a significant excess contribution of conserved and regulatory regions to cancer heritability. Our comprehensive analysis of cross-cancer heritability suggests that solid tumors arising across tissues share in part a common germline genetic basis.Peer reviewe

Shared heritability and functional enrichment across six solid cancers

Quantifying the genetic correlation between cancers can provide important insights into the mechanisms driving cancer etiology. Using genome-wide association study summary statistics across six cancer types based on a total of 296,215 cases and 301,319 controls of European ancestry, here we estimate the pair-wise genetic correlations between breast, colorectal, head/neck, lung, ovary and prostate cancer, and between cancers and 38 other diseases. We observed statistically significant genetic correlations between lung and head/neck cancer (r(g) = 0.57, p = 4.6 x 10(-8)), breast and ovarian cancer (r(g) = 0.24, p = 7 x 10(-5)), breast and lung cancer (r(g) = 0.18, p = 1.5 x 10(-6)) and breast and colorectal cancer (r(g) = 0.15, p = 1.1 x 10(-4)). We also found that multiple cancers are genetically correlated with non-cancer traits including smoking, psychiatric diseases and metabolic characteristics. Functional enrichment analysis revealed a significant excess contribution of conserved and regulatory regions to cancer heritability. Our comprehensive analysis of cross-cancer heritability suggests that solid tumors arising across tissues share in part a common germline genetic basis

Changing clinical practice through research: the case of delirium.

Promoting application of study findings to the clinical setting is a constant challenge for nurse researchers. This project used change theory to include staff RNs in a research study on delirium and to use relevant findings. The research hypothesis was: Staff nurses who use a standardized protocol will have improved ability to identify delirium in elderly hospital patients. Staff nurses on the intervention unit used this protocol to screen for delirium on all consenting inpatients 75 years of age and over, and control unit nurses continued using their standard assessment practices. Intervention unit nurses demonstrated an improved ability to identify the presence and absence of delirium, and voluntarily requested to continue using the protocol after the study was terminated. Use of a theoretical model to include nurses in the study promoted the successful conduct of the research and subsequent use of findings

Seabed Substrate Classification Charts for Vancouver Harbour and Vicinity

As part of the World Class Tanker Safety initiative of the Government of Canada, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Pacific region science division has been tasked with predicting species distributions and habitat suitability along northern shipping routes. Bottom substrate charts are key tools in developing habitat charts. They are important to stakeholders within DFO, Parks Canada, and Environment Canada as they are used to identify areas of potentially high biodiversity, increased oil spill susceptibility, or heightened importance to an ecosystem. Science staff at the Pacific Biological Station (PBS), and Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) have been developing a seabed classification model that analyses Multi-beam Echo Sounder (MBES) backscatter derivatives and bathymetry derivatives. This Iso-Cluster model has been enhanced with sediment grab data and ROV observations to further refine the algorithm. Additionally, a new tool using Random Forests (RF) machine learning has been developed and applied that may provide an objective and automated approach for predicting seafloor bottom types. The CHS has previously collected backscatter data from MBES bathymetric surveys conducted in and around Vancouver harbour from 2000-2012. While this data has traditionally been secondary to navigational chart production, more recently, CHS has received increasing requests for seabed classification products. With recent developments to MBES hardware and software, combined with the newly developed processing models, CHS is poised to provide better support for a seabed substrate charting project with Port Metro Vancouver. CHS will process this existing data using the ISO-Cluster model and present unsupervised initial bottom substrate maps

Seeking informal and formal help for mental health problems in the community: a secondary analysis from a psychiatric morbidity survey in South London

Background Only 30-35% of people with mental health problems seek help from professionals. Informal help, usually from friends, family and religious leaders, is often sought but is under-researched. This study aimed to contrast patterns of informal and formal help-seeking using data from a community psychiatric morbidity survey (n=1692) (South East London Community Health (SELCOH) Study). Methods Patterns of help-seeking were analysed by clinical, sociodemographic and socioeconomic indicators. Factors associated with informal and formal help-seeking were investigated using logistic regression. Cross-tabulations examined informal help-seeking patterns from different sources. Results ‘Cases’ (n = 386) were participants who had scores of ≥ 12 on the Revised Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS-R), indicating a common mental disorder. Of these, 40.1% had sought formal help, (of whom three-quarters (29%) had also sought informal help), 33.6% had sought informal help only and only 26.3% had sought no help. When controlling for non-clinical variables, severity, depression, suicidal ideas, functioning and longstanding illnesses were associated with formal rather than informal help-seeking. Age and ethnic group influenced sources of informal help used. Younger people most frequently sought informal help only whereas older people tended to seek help from their family. There were ethnic group differences in whether help was sought from friends, family or religious leaders. Conclusions This study has shown how frequently informal help is used, whether in conjunction with formal help or not. Among the ‘cases’, over 60% had sought informal help, whether on its own or together with formal help. Severity was associated with formal help-seeking. Patterns of informal help use have been found. The use and effectiveness of informal help merit urgent research

The role of the advanced practice nurse in facilitating a clinical research study. Screening for delirium.

As advanced practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners have a leadership role in integrating and promoting nursing research in clinical settings. In this quasi-experimental study, the role of the advanced practice nurse in developing and implementing an intervention that improved delirium screening by staff nurses is described. Screening practices of the treatment group nurses were accurate in 100% of the cases. Control nurses failed to detect any cases of delirium. A discussion of study findings and their relevance to advanced practice nursing are discussed

Evidence for rapid avoidance of rockfish habitat under reduced quota and comprehensive at-sea monitoring in the British Columbia Pacific Halibut fishery

The British Columbia longline fishery for Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) has experienced important recent management changes, including the introduction of comprehensive electronic catch monitoring on all vessels; an integrated transferable quota system; a reduction in Pacific halibut quotas; and, beginning in 2016, sharp decreases in quota for yelloweye rockfish (Sebastes ruberrimus, an incidentally caught species). We describe this fishery before integration, after integration, and after the yelloweye rockfish quota reduction using spatial clustering methods to define discrete fishing opportunities. We calculate the relative utilization of these fishing opportunities and their overlap with areas with high encounter rates of yelloweye rockfish during each of the three periods. The spatial footprint (area fished) increased before integration, then decreased after integration. Each period showed shifts in utilization among four large fishing areas. Immediately after the reductions in yelloweye rockfish quota, fishing opportunities with high encounter rates of yelloweye rockfish had significantly lower utilization than areas with low encounter rates, implying rapid avoidance behaviour.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author