Detecting early signs of depressive and manic episodes in patients with bipolar disorder using the signature-based model

Recurrent major mood episodes and subsyndromal mood instability cause substantial disability in patients with bipolar disorder. Early identification of mood episodes enabling timely mood stabilisation is an important clinical goal. Recent technological advances allow the prospective reporting of mood in real time enabling more accurate, efficient data capture. The complex nature of these data streams in combination with challenge of deriving meaning from missing data mean pose a significant analytic challenge. The signature method is derived from stochastic analysis and has the ability to capture important properties of complex ordered time series data. To explore whether the onset of episodes of mania and depression can be identified using self-reported mood data.Comment: 12 pages, 3 tables, 10 figure

Sialoadhesin deficiency does not influence the severity of lupus nephritis in New Zealand Black x New Zealand White F1 mice

Acknowledgements This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellowship 087078 (to DK) and Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship 081882MA (to PRC). PAL was funded by a Wellcome Trust Programme Grant (083650/Z/07/Z). We thank the Renal Unit in Ninewells Hospital, Dundee, Scotland, UK, for their support with the immunohistochemistry analysis.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Major features and forcing of high‐latitude northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation using a 110,000‐year‐long glaciochemical series

The Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 glaciochemical series (sodium, potassium, ammonium, calcium, magnesium, sulfate, nitrate, and chloride) provides a unique view of the chemistry of the atmosphere and the history of atmospheric circulation over both the high latitudes and mid‐low latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Interpretation of this record reveals a diverse array of environmental signatures that include the documentation of anthropogenically derived pollutants, volcanic and biomass burning events, storminess over marine surfaces, continental aridity and biogenic source strength plus information related to the controls on both high‐ and low‐frequency climate events of the last 110,000 years. Climate forcings investigated include changes in insolation of the order of the major orbital cycles that control the long‐term behavior of atmospheric circulation patterns through changes in ice volume (sea level), events such as the Heinrich events (massive discharges of icebergs first identified in the marine record) that are found to operate on a 6100‐year cycle due largely to the lagged response of ice sheets to changes in insolation and consequent glacier dynamics, and rapid climate change events (massive reorganizations of atmospheric circulation) that are demonstrated to operate on 1450‐year cycles. Changes in insolation and associated positive feedbacks related to ice sheets may assist in explaining favorable time periods and controls on the amplitude of massive rapid climate change events. Explanation for the exact timing and global synchroneity of these events is, however, more complicated. Preliminary evidence points to possible solar variability‐climate associations for these events and perhaps others that are embedded in our ice‐core‐derived atmospheric circulation records

Stock Identification of summer Flounder (Paralichthis dentatus) in the Southern Mid-Atlantic Bight

A total of 12, 339 summer flounder were tagged from Virginia waters during 1987-89. A total of 874 were recaptured for an overall return rate of 7 . 1%. Most of the returns ( 48.5%) were from Virginia waters, or areas to the south. A smaller number ( 21.6%) were from areas north and offshore of Virginia. Another 29. 9% were recaptured and returned with inadequate location data. Examining only the returns with adequate location data, yielded a separation of 69.2% and 30.8% between the groups. No differences were noted in the sizes at tagging between these groups. Tagged flounder held at VIMS exhibited no behavioral differences from untagged fish. No differences in growth and mortality were noted in these fish. The sex ratio of males to females was 1:1.16. Male summer flounder reached 50% maturity at approximately 280 mm, while females reached 50% maturity at about 330 mm. A total of 1040 flounder were successfully aged. The population was dominated by young fish ( 0- 2 years old). The compression of age structure i s indicative of a population being heavily overfished

The Contribution of Transcriptomics to Biomarker Development in Systemic Vasculitis and SLE.

A small but increasing number of gene expression based biomarkers are becoming available for routine clinical use, principally in oncology and transplantation. These underscore the potential of gene expression arrays and RNA sequencing for biomarker development, but this potential has not yet been fully realized and most candidates do not progress beyond the initial report. The first part of this review examines the process of gene expression- based biomarker development, highlighting how systematic biases and confounding can significantly skew study outcomes. Adequate validation in an independent cohort remains the single best means of protecting against these concerns. The second part considers gene-expression based biomarkers in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and systemic vasculitis. The type 1 interferon inducible gene signature remains by far the most studied in autoimmune rheumatic disease. While initially presented as an objective, blood-based biomarker of active SLE, subsequent research has shown that it is not specific to SLE and that its association with disease activity is considerably more nuanced than first thought. Nonetheless, it is currently under evaluation in ongoing trials of anti-interferon therapy. Other candidate markers of note include a prognostic CD8+ T-cell gene signature validated in SLE and ANCA-associated vasculitis, and a disease activity biomarker for SLE derived from modules of tightly correlated genes.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Bentham Science via http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138161282166615031313025

The Dominion Range Ice Core, Queen Maud Mountains, Antarctica - General Site and Core Characteristics with Implications

The Transantarctic Mountains of East Antarctica provide a new milieu for retrieval of ice-core records. We report here on the initial findings from the first of these records, the Dominion Range ice-core record. Sites such as the Dominion Range are valuable for the recovery of records detailing climate change, volcanic activity, and changes in the chemistry of the atmosphere. The unique geographic location of this site and a relatively low accumulation rate combine to provide a relatively long record of change for this potentially sensitive climatic region. As such, information concerning the site and general core characteristics are presented, including ice surface, ice thickness, bore-hole temperature, mean annual net accumulation, crystal size, crystal fabric, oxygen-isotope composition, and examples of ice chemistry and isotopic composition of trapped gases

An Ice-Core-Based, Late Holocene History for the Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica

Ice core records (major anions and cations, MSA, oxygen isotopes and particles) developed from two shallow (~200 m depth) sites in the Transantarctic Mountains provide documentation of much of the Holocene paleoenvironmental history of this region. From the more southerly site, Dominion Range, an ~7000-year-long record reveals change in the influence of tropospheric transport to the region. At this site, milder conditions and increased tropospheric inflow prior to ~1500 yr BP are characterized by increased seasalt (ss), terrestrial and marine biogenic inputs. Increased persistence and/or extent of polar stratospheric clouds accompanying generally cooler conditions characterize much of the period since ~1500 yr BP. From the more northerly site, Newall Glacier, the dramatic influence of the retreat of grounded ice from McMurdo Sound dated at[Denton et al., 1989] dominates much of the ice core record. This regional environmental change is documented by massive influxes to the core site of evaporitic salts from areas exposed during low lake level stands. During the past ~150 yr, both Dominion Range and Newall Glacier appear to be experiencing an overall increase in the exposure of ice-free terrain

Confirmation of the genetic association of CTLA4 and PTPN22 with ANCA-associated vasculitis.

BACKGROUND: The genetic contribution to the aetiology of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) is not well defined. Across different autoimmune diseases some genes with immunomodulatory roles, such as PTPN22, are frequently associated with multiple diseases, whereas specific HLA associations, such as HLA-B27, tend to be disease restricted. We studied ten candidate loci on the basis of their immunoregulatory role and prior associations with type 1 diabetes (T1D). These included PTPN22, CTLA4 and CD226, which have previously been associated with AAV. METHODS: We genotyped the following 11 SNPs, from 10 loci, in 641 AAV patients using TaqMan genotyping: rs2476601 in PTPN22, rs1990760 in IFIH1, rs3087243 in CTLA4, rs2069763 in IL2, rs10877012 in CYP27B1, rs2292239 in ERBB3, rs3184504 in SH2B3, rs12708716 in CLEC16A, rs1893217 and rs478582 in PTPN2 and rs763361 in CD226. Where possible, we performed a meta-analysis with previous analyses. RESULTS: Both CTLA4 rs3087243 and PTPN22 rs2476601 showed association with AAV, P = 6.4 x 10-3 and P = 1.4 x 10-4 respectively. The minor allele (A) of CTLA4 rs3087243 is protective (odds ratio = 0.84), whereas the minor allele (A) of PTPN22 rs2476601 confers susceptibility (odds ratio = 1.40). These results confirmed previously described associations with AAV. After meta-analysis, the PTPN22 rs2476601 association was further strengthened (combined P = 4.2 x 10-7, odds ratio of 1.48 for the A allele). The other 9 SNPs, including rs763361 in CD226, showed no association with AAV. CONCLUSION: Our study of T1D associated SNPs in AAV has confirmed CTLA4 and PTPN22 as susceptibility loci in AAV. These genes encode two key regulators of the immune response and are associated with many autoimmune diseases, including T1D, autoimmune thyroid disease, celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and now AAV

Polarimetric and Multi-Doppler Radar Observations of Sprite-producing Storms

Sprites are caused by luminous electrical breakdown of the upper atmosphere, and frequently occur over large mesoscale precipitation systems. Two spriteproducing storms (on 8 and 25 June) were observed in Colorado during the summer of 2012. Unlike most past studies of sprites, these storms were observed by a polarimetric radar the CSUCHILL facility which provided both PPI and RHI scans of the cases. Also available were multipleDoppler syntheses from CSUCHILL, local NEXRAD radars, and the CSUPawnee radar; as well as data from the Colorado Lightning Mapping Array (COLMA), high speed cameras, and other lightningdetection instrumentation. This unique dataset provided an unprecedented look at the detailed kinematic and microphysical structures of the thunderstorms as they produced sprites, including electrical alignment signatures in the immediate location of the charge layers neutralized by spriteparent positive cloudtoground lightning strokes. One of the spriteproducing cases (25 June) featured an anomalous charge structure and may serve as a model for how sprites can be produced over convection rather than the more typical stratiform regions. Also to be presented will be evidence for advection of charge into a common stratiform precipitation region (on 8 June), which was then tapped by lightning originating from multiple different convective cores to produce sprites. Depending on the outcome of the 2013 convective season, polarimetric data from additional storms that produce sprites and other transient luminous events (TLEs) may be presented