Synthetic light-cone catalogues of modern redshift and weak lensing surveys waith abacussummit

The joint analysis of different cosmological probes, such as galaxy clustering and weak lensing, can potentially yield invaluable insights into the nature of the primordial Universe, dark energy, and dark matter. However, the development of high-fidelity theoretical models is a necessary stepping stone. Here, we present public high-resolution weak lensing maps on the light-cone, generated using the N-body simulation suite abacussummit, and accompanying weak lensing mock catalogues, tuned to the Early Data Release small-scale clustering measurements of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument. Available in this release are maps of the cosmic shear, deflection angle, and convergence fields at source redshifts ranging from z = 0.15 to 2.45 as well as cosmic microwave background convergence maps for each of the 25 base-resolution simulations (and Npart = 69123) as well as for the two huge simulations (and Npart = 86403) at the fiducial abacussummit cosmology. The pixel resolution of each map is 0.21 arcmin, corresponding to a healpix Nside of 16 384. The sky coverage of the base simulations is an octant until z ≈ 0.8 (decreasing to about 1800 deg2 at z ≈ 2.4), whereas the huge simulations offer full-sky coverage until z ≈ 2.2. Mock lensing source catalogues are sampled matching the ensemble properties of the Kilo-Degree Survey, Dark Energy Survey, and Hyper Suprime-Cam data sets. The mock catalogues are validated against theoretical predictions for various clustering and lensing statistics, such as correlation multipoles, galaxy-shear, and shear-shear, showing excellent agreement. All products can be downloaded via a Globus endpoint (see Data Availability section)

A validation of the first genome-wide association study of calcaneus ultrasound parameters in the European Male Ageing Study

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.Abstract Background A number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been associated with broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and speed of sound (SOS) as measured by quantitative ultrasound (QUS) at the calcaneus in the Framingham 100K genome-wide association study (GWAS) but have not been validated in independent studies. The aim of this analysis was to determine if these SNPs are associated with QUS measurements assessed in a large independent population of European middle-aged and elderly men. The association between these SNPs and bone mineral density (BMD) measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was also tested. Methods Men aged 40-79 years (N = 2960) were recruited from population registers in seven European centres for participation in an observational study of male ageing, the European Male Ageing Study (EMAS). QUS at the calcaneus was measured in all subjects and blood was taken for genetic analysis. Lumbar spine (LS), femoral neck (FN) and total hip (TH) BMD were measured by DXA in a subsample of 620 men in two centres. SNPs associated with BUA or SOS in the Framingham study with p < 10-4 were selected and genotyped using SEQUENOM technology. Linear regression was used to test for the association between SNPs and standardised (SD) bone outcomes under an additive genetic model adjusting for centre. The same direction of effect and p < 0.05 indicated replication. Results Thirty-four of 38 selected SNPs were successfully genotyped in 2377 men. Suggestive evidence of replication was observed for a single SNP, rs3754032, which was associated with a higher SOS (β(SD) = 0.07, p = 0.032) but not BUA (β(SD) = 0.02, p = 0.505) and is located in the 3'UTR of WDR77 (WD repeat domain 77) also known as androgen receptor cofactor p44. A single SNP, rs238358, was associated with BMD at the LS (β(SD) = -0.22, p = 0.014), FN (β(SD) = -0.31,p = 0.001) and TH (β(SD) = -0.36, p = 0.002) in a locus previously associated with LS BMD in large-scale GWAS, incorporating AKAP11 and RANKL. Conclusions We found suggestive evidence of association between a single SNP located in the 3'UTR of WDR77 with calcaneal ultrasound parameters. The majority of SNPs, associated with QUS parameters in the Framingham Study, were not replicated in an independent population sample of European men.Published versio

Influence of age and sex steroids on bone density and geometry in middle-aged and elderly European men

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Summary&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The influence of age and sex steroids on bone density and geometry of the radius was examined in two European Caucasian populations. Age-related change in bone density and geometry was observed. In older men, bioavailable oestradiol may play a role in the maintenance of cortical and trabecular bone mineral density (BMD). &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Introduction&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;To examine the effect of age and sex steroids on bone density and geometry of the radius in two European Caucasian populations.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Methods&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;European Caucasian men aged 40–79 years were recruited from population registers in two centres: Manchester (UK) and Leuven (Belgium), for participation in the European Male Ageing Study. Total testosterone (T) and oestradiol (E2) were measured by mass spectrometry and the free and bioavailable fractions calculated. Peripheral quantitative computed tomography was used to scan the radius at distal (4%) and midshaft (50%) sites.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Results&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Three hundred thirty-nine men from Manchester and 389 from Leuven, mean ages 60.2 and 60.0 years, respectively, participated. At the 50% radius site, there was a significant decrease with age in cortical BMD, bone mineral content (BMC), cortical thickness, and muscle area, whilst medullary area increased. At the 4% radius site, trabecular and total volumetric BMD declined with age. Increasing bioavailable E2 (bioE2) was associated with increased cortical BMD (50% radius site) and trabecular BMD (4% radius site) in Leuven, but not Manchester, men. This effect was predominantly in those aged 60 years and over. In older Leuven men, bioavailable testosterone (Bio T) was linked with increased cortical BMC, muscle area and SSI (50% radius site) and total area (4% radius site).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Conclusions&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;There is age-related change in bone density and geometry at the midshaft radius in middle-aged and elderly European men. In older men bioE2 may maintain cortical and trabecular BMD. BioT may influence bone health through associations with muscle mass and bone area.&lt;/p&gt

Frailty and bone health in European men

© The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society.All rights reserved. Background: frailty is associated with an increased risk of fragility fractures. Less is known, however, about the association between frailty and bone health.Methods: men aged 40-79 years were recruited from population registers in eight European centres for participation in the European Male Aging Study. Subjects completed a comprehensive assessment which included quantitative ultrasound (QUS) scan of the heel (Hologic-SAHARA) and in two centres, dual-energy bone densitometry (dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, DXA). Frailty was defined based on an adaptation of Fried's phenotype criteria and a frailty index (FI) was constructed. The association between frailty and the QUS and DXA parameters was determined using linear regression, with adjustments for age, body mass index and centre.Results: in total, 3,231 subjects contributed data to the analysis. Using the Fried categorisation of frailty, pre-frail and frail men had significantly lower speed of sound (SOS), broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and quantitative ultrasound index (QUI) compared to robust men (P 0.35) was associated with lower lumbar spine BMD (P < 0.05) when compared to those with low (FI < 0.2), but not lower femoral neck BMD. When analysed as a continuous variable, higher FI was linked with lower SOS, BUA and QUI (P < 0.05).Conclusions: optimisation of bone health as well as prevention of falls should be considered as strategies to reduce fractures in frail older people

Gastric intestinal metaplasia eleven years after randomized selective proximal vagotomy for peptic ulcer

The presence of intestinal metaplasia (IM) 11 years after selective proximal vagotomy (SPV), selective proximal vagotomy with pyloroplasty (SPV + PP) and selective vagotomy with pyloroplasty (SV + PP) was investigated in 38 consecutive patients. IM was significantly more frequent in SPV than in SV + PP, SPV + PP or in unoperated controls of matching ages. IM occurred more frequently both at an older age (260 years) in SPV and in a larger number of gastric areas than in the other group of patients. Reports in the literature indicate that vagotomy may increase the risk of gastric carcinoma and that IM inay antedate malignant transformation. It would thus appear that patients previously operated with SPV (without pyloroplasty) having IM, should be the group of patients to be enrolled in endocospical surveillance programs for detection of possible cancer development