The proteomic response in glioblastoma in young patients

Increasing age is an important prognostic variable in glioblastoma (GBM). We have defined the proteomic response in GBM samples from 7 young patients (mean age 36 years) compared to peritumoural-control samples from 10 young patients (mean age 32 years). 2-Dimensional-gel-electrophoresis, image analysis, and protein identification (LC/MS) were performed. 68 proteins were significantly altered in young GBM samples with 29 proteins upregulated and 39 proteins downregulated. Over 50 proteins are described as altered in GBM for the first time. In a parallel analysis in old GBM (mean age 67 years), an excellent correlation could be demonstrated between the proteomic profile in young GBM and that in old GBM patients (r(2) = 0.95) with only 5 proteins altered significantly (p < 0.01). The proteomic response in young GBM patients highlighted alterations in protein–protein interactions in the immunoproteosome, NFkB signalling, and mitochondrial function and the same systems participated in the responses in old GBM patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11060-014-1474-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Combining Imagination and Reason in the Treatment of Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Internet-Based Cognitive-Bias Modification and Internet-CBT for Depression

Objective: Computerized cognitive-bias modification (CBM) protocols are rapidly evolving in experimental medicine yet might best be combined with Internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy (iCBT). No research to date has evaluated the combined approach in depression. The current randomizedcontrolled trial aimed to evaluate both the independent effects of a CBM protocol targeting imagery and interpretation bias (CBM-I) and the combined effects of CBM-I followed by iCBT. Method: Patients diagnosed with a major depressive episode were randomized to an 11-week intervention (1 week/CBM-I +10 weeks/iCBT; n = 38) that was delivered via the Internet with no face-to-face patient contact or to a wait-list control (WLC; n = 31). Results: Intent-to-treat marginal models using restricted maximumlikelihood estimation demonstrated significant reductions in primary measures of depressive symptoms and distress corresponding to medium-large effect sizes (Cohen’s d = 0.62–2.40) following CBM-I and the combined (CBM-I + iCBT) intervention. Analyses demonstrated that the change in interpretationbias at least partially mediated the reduction in depression symptoms following CBM-I. Treatment superiority over the WLC was also evident on all outcome measures at both time points (Hedges gs = .59 –.98). Significant reductions were also observed following the combined intervention on secondarymeasures associated with depression: disability, anxiety, and repetitive negative thinking (Cohen’s d = 1.51–2.23). Twenty-seven percent of patients evidenced clinically significant change following CBM-I, and this proportion increased to 65% following the combined intervention. Conclusions: The current study provides encouraging results of the integration of Internet-based technologies into an efficacious and acceptable form of treatment delivery

Theirworld Edinburgh Birth Cohort (TEBC) and PREterm birth as a determinant of Neurodevelopment and COGnition in children: mechanisms and causal evidence (PRENCOG)

TEBC is a prospective, longitudinal cohort of preterm and term infants which aims to investigate neuroanatomic variation and adverse outcomes associated with preterm birth, using brain using MRI linked to biosamples and clinical, environmental and neuropsychological data. PRENCOG is a programme of research with the overarching aim to determine the biological, psychosocial and socioeconomic preterm birth-associated risk factors (PTB-RFs) that lead to adverse neurodevelopmental, cognitive, and educational outcomes in children born preterm and to identify the neuroendocrine and epigenetic axes that embed these risks in brain development. The programme is organised in 4 work packages: WP1 is a national population-based cohort study; WP2 is an exposure-based short-term cohort study; WP3 is an exposure-based longitudinal cohort study (TEBC); WP4 is a participatory project. This vault contains datasets linked to published manuscripts using TEBC and PRENCOG data.Boardman JP "Theirworld Edinburgh Birth Cohort - Publication Datasets" Edinburgh DataVault 202

Gabapentin for the Management of Chronic Pelvic Pain in Women (GaPP1)

This is a pilot study looking at the effect of Gabapentin in women with chronic pelvic pain. Participants were assigned at random to the placebo or the drug group. The design follows procedure of double blinding, i.e. neither patients, nor people involved in data collection or analysis knew the participants group. There was two sessions on thermal stimulation, in which a thermal probe was applied to the abdomen or to the hand. After each stimulation are two rating scales were presentated in succession. In a third session, punctuations were applied to he hand and fMRI scans conducted. The full study (not fMRI) report has been published here: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153037 .Horne, Andrew; Vincent, Katy; Pernet, Cyril. (2018). Gabapentin for the Management of Chronic Pelvic Pain in Women (GaPP1), [dataset]. University of Edinburgh. College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine. Clinical Sciences. Edinburgh Imaging. http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/ds/2411

Morphology, orthography, and phonology in reading Chinese compound words

The interaction between morphological, orthographic, and phonological information in reading Chinese compound words was investigated in five sets of experiments, using both masked priming and visual-visual priming lexical decision tasks. Words sharing common morphemes were consistently found to facilitate each other, although the priming effects were modulated by spatial overlap of orthographic forms in masked priming. Priming effects were also found for words having homographic-homophonic characters, but the effect tended to be inhibitory when the SOA between primes and targets was long and when the competing morphemes corresponding to the characters were at the initial constituent position of primes and targets. Priming effects between words having homographic but non-homophonic characters were more inhibitory, compared with effects between words having homographic-homophonic characters. Words having orthographically different homophonic morphemes did not prime each other throughout the experiments. The results were discussed in terms of how lexical representations incorporate morphological structure and how morphological, orthographic, and phonological information interacts in constraining semantic activation of constituent morphemes and compound words

Epilepsy-related mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide study of routine Scottish data

Methods: This was a national, population-based, cross-sectional study of routinely-collected mortality and demographic data pertaining to March–August of 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic) compared to the corresponding periods in 2015–2019. ICD-10-coded causes of death of deceased people of any age were obtained from a national mortality registry of death certificates. The G40–41 ICD-10 codes for epilepsy were used to define epilepsy-related deaths, with or without a U07·1–07·2 ICD-10 code for COVID-19 listed as an additional cause. Deaths unrelated to epilepsy were defined as all remaining Scottish deaths without G40–41 ICD-10 codes listed as a cause. We assessed the number of epilepsy-related deaths in 2020 compared to mean year-to-year variation observed in 2015–2019 (overall, men, women). We assessed proportionate mortality and odds ratios (OR) for deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause in people with epilepsy-related deaths compared to in deaths unrelated to epilepsy, reporting 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Sheet 1 contains a key to the remaining dataset.Mbizvo, Gashirai K; Schnier, Christian; Ramsay, Julie; Duncan, Susan E; Chin, Richard FM. (2020). Epilepsy-related mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide study of routine Scottish data, 2015-2020 [dataset]. Muir Maxwell Epilepsy Centre

Genome-wide mapping of human loci for essential hypertension

Background:Blood pressure may contribute to 50% of the global cardiovascular disease epidemic. By understanding the genes predisposing to common disorders such as human essential hypertension we may gain insights into novel pathophysiological mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets. In the Medical Research Council BRItish Genetics of HyperTension (BRIGHT) study, we aim to identify these genetic factors by scanning the human genome for susceptibility genes for essential hypertension. We describe the results of a genome scan for hypertension in a large white European population. Methods: We phenotyped 2010 affected sibling pairs drawn from 1599 severely hypertensive families, and completed a 10 centimorgan genome-wide scan. After rigorous quality control, we analysed the genotypic data by non-parametric linkage, which tests whether genes are shared in excess among the affected sibling pairs. Lod scores, calculated at regular points along each chromosome, were used to assess the support for linkage. Findings: Linkage analysis identified a principle locus on chromosome 6q, with a lod score of 3·21 that attained genome-wide significance (p=0·042). The inclusion of three further loci with lod scores higher than 1·57 (2q, 5q, and 9q) also show genome-wide significance (p=0·017) when assessed under a locus-counting analysis. Interpretation: These findings imply that human essential hypertension has an oligogenic element (a few genes may be involved in determination of the trait) possibly superimposed on more minor genetic effects, and that several genes may be tractable to a positional cloning strategy