Dehydration and ADH-induced changes in renal stanniocalcin-1 mRNA levels in the rat

STC-l is expressed in kidney collecting duct cells and targeted to most other nephron segments. However, its function and regulation are both unclear. The present study explored the regulation of Stc-1 mRNA levels in vivo in rat models of dehydration and overhydration. Dehydration caused an upregulation in Stc-1 mRNA levels in kidney cortex and to a lesser extent the inner medulla. Antidiuretic hormone was identified as a potential mediator of gene induction during dehydration acting through the V2 receptor. In contrast overhydration did not produce changes in renal gene activity. Histological studies revealed no difference in STC-1 receptor distribution along the nephron indicative of similar targeting pathways irrespective of hydration states. Together the findings are suggestive of a novel role for renal STC-1 in the regulation of extracellular fluid volume, in particular during water deprivation

Establishing the range of variability of the skull structures in adulthood

One of the most relevant direction of modern craniological anatomy ̶ is an individual variability of the shape, size, position and relations of skull’s regions and their structures. The research was conducted on craniometric study of 100 coherent and fragmented skull’s bones included in the collections of human anatomy department in Kharkiv National Medical University. For facial skull studies used different measuring instruments and devices: dividers, set of facial lines, protractors, goniometer.In adulthood people of our region there is a direct dependence on the morphological type of the structures of the head and certain indicators of the cranial, altitude-longitudinal and altitude-latitudinal indexes. Most often, there are males with expanded and rounded forms of the skull with a predominance of moderate head size, that is relate them to the brachicranial type of the skull’s structure. The middle group consists of males and females who have a classical middle form of the head, and belong to the mesomorphic structure of the skull. The smallest group consists of adulthood people with a narrow and elongated form of the head, referred to the dolichocranial type of skull structure

Антропологическое понимание города и методология урбанистического изучения

Предметом статьи является анализ города как социального и культурного объекта. Рассматриваются точки зрения зарубежных и отечественных авторов по изучению культурного пространства города, его культурного образа и городской идентичности. Представленные точки зрения и накопленный исследовательский материал позволяют сделать вывод, что вопрос о культурной специфике города находится в начальной стадии исследований. В культурологии, этнологии и социологии урбанистическое направление до сих пор остается неинституционализированным: в стране нет авторитетных центров изучения городских сообществ и городской культуры. В отечественных учебниках ни антропологическое, ни социологическое, ни этнологическое изучение города не представлены самостоятельными научными направлениями, в то время как в классических западных учебниках ситуация противоположная. В российской науке до настоящего времени до сих пор достаточно четко не определены ни предметное поле российской городской антропологии, ни ее методы, хотя уже проводятся конференции, темой которых обозначается именно антропология города. Дискуссии по поводу предмета и методов уже имели место, но они ограничились констатацией того факта, что город — весьма сложный объект для изучения, и потому при анализе культурных процессов, происходящих в нем, необходим междисциплинарный подход. Не претендуя на то, чтобы изложить всю проблематику антропологии города, авторы статьи поставили своей целью очертить историческую эволюцию западной и отечественной антропологии города, а также ее актуальные современные проблемы

Genome-wide association and epidemiological analyses reveal common genetic origins between uterine leiomyomata and endometriosis

Abstract: Uterine leiomyomata (UL) are the most common neoplasms of the female reproductive tract and primary cause for hysterectomy, leading to considerable morbidity and high economic burden. Here we conduct a GWAS meta-analysis in 35,474 cases and 267,505 female controls of European ancestry, identifying eight novel genome-wide significant (P < 5 × 10−8) loci, in addition to confirming 21 previously reported loci, including multiple independent signals at 10 loci. Phenotypic stratification of UL by heavy menstrual bleeding in 3409 cases and 199,171 female controls reveals genome-wide significant associations at three of the 29 UL loci: 5p15.33 (TERT), 5q35.2 (FGFR4) and 11q22.3 (ATM). Four loci identified in the meta-analysis are also associated with endometriosis risk; an epidemiological meta-analysis across 402,868 women suggests at least a doubling of risk for UL diagnosis among those with a history of endometriosis. These findings increase our understanding of genetic contribution and biology underlying UL development, and suggest overlapping genetic origins with endometriosis

Association studies of up to 1.2 million individuals yield new insights into the genetic etiology of tobacco and alcohol use

Tobacco and alcohol use are leading causes of mortality that influence risk for many complex diseases and disorders 1 . They are heritable 2,3 and etiologically related 4,5 behaviors that have been resistant to gene discovery efforts 6–11 . In sample sizes up to 1.2 million individuals, we discovered 566 genetic variants in 406 loci associated with multiple stages of tobacco use (initiation, cessation, and heaviness) as well as alcohol use, with 150 loci evidencing pleiotropic association. Smoking phenotypes were positively genetically correlated with many health conditions, whereas alcohol use was negatively correlated with these conditions, such that increased genetic risk for alcohol use is associated with lower disease risk. We report evidence for the involvement of many systems in tobacco and alcohol use, including genes involved in nicotinic, dopaminergic, and glutamatergic neurotransmission. The results provide a solid starting point to evaluate the effects of these loci in model organisms and more precise substance use measures

Polygenic prediction of educational attainment within and between families from genome-wide association analyses in 3 million individuals

We conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of educational attainment (EA) in a sample of ~3 million individuals and identify 3,952 approximately uncorrelated genome-wide-significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A genome-wide polygenic predictor, or polygenic index (PGI), explains 12-16% of EA variance and contributes to risk prediction for ten diseases. Direct effects (i.e., controlling for parental PGIs) explain roughly half the PGI's magnitude of association with EA and other phenotypes. The correlation between mate-pair PGIs is far too large to be consistent with phenotypic assortment alone, implying additional assortment on PGI-associated factors. In an additional GWAS of dominance deviations from the additive model, we identify no genome-wide-significant SNPs, and a separate X-chromosome additive GWAS identifies 57