Panel of Genetic Variations as a Potential Non-invasive Biomarker for Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia. Biomarkers such as levels of amyloid beta (Aβ) in cerebrospinal fluid and ApoE genotyping were suggested for the diagnosis of AD, however, the result is either non-conclusive or with invasive procedure. Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for AD suggested single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in many genes are associated with the risk of AD, but each only contributed with small effect to the disease. By incorporating a panel of established genetic susceptibility factors, the risk of an individual in getting AD could be better estimated. Further research will be required to reveal if adding to the current well-developed clinical diagnosis protocol, the accuracy and specificity of diagnosis of AD would be greatly improved and if this might also be beneficial in identifying pre-symptomatic AD patients for early diagnosis and intervention of the disease

If Cumulative Risk Assessment Is the Answer, What Is the Question?

Cumulative risk refers to the combined threats from exposure via all relevant routes to multiple stressors including biological, chemical, physical, and psychosocial entities. Cumulative risk assessment is a tool for organizing and analyzing information to examine, characterize, and possibly quantify the combined adverse effects on human health or ecologic resources from multiple environmental stressors. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated a long-term effort to develop future guidelines for cumulative risk assessment, including publication in 2003 of a framework that describes important features of the process and discusses theoretical issues, technical matters, and key definitions. The framework divides the process of cumulative risk assessment into three interrelated phases: a) planning, scoping, and problem formulation; b) analysis; and c) interpretation and risk characterization. It also discusses the additional complexities introduced by attempts to analyze cumulative risks from multiple stressors and describes some of the theoretical approaches that can be used. The development of guidelines for cumulative risk assessment is an essential element in the transition of the U.S. EPA risk assessment methodology from a narrow focus on a single stressor, end point, source, pathway, and exposure route to a broader, more holistic approach involving analysis of combined effects of cumulative exposure to multiple stressors via all relevant sources, pathways, and routes

Association of the DYX1C1 Gene with Chinese Literacy in a Healthy Chinese Population

DYX1C1, the first dyslexia candidate gene, has been associated with developmental dyslexia in different populations, but its influence on reading abilities in the general population is less well known. Copy number variants (CNVs) have been implicated in neurodevelopmental and childhood-onset disorders involving cognitive development in previous studies. In this report, we investigated the extent to which genomic CNVs for the SNP previously linked to dyslexia, -3G/A (rs3743205) in the gene DYX1C1, contribute to Chinese and English literacy in the general population in a Chinese cohort, and whether these processes, in turn, are influenced by environmental factors, such as family income, parents’ education, and IQ. Our findings suggest that the logR ratio (which is a way to detect CNVs) of a previously reported dyslexia-related SNP, -3G/A (rs3743205) is significantly associated with Chinese literacy in a cohort of Chinese children with normal reading abilities

Living environment and self assessed morbidity: a questionnaire-based survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Health complaints have been reported to be higher among the industrial area residents when compared with reference community.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Such reports being only a few, a questionnaire survey was conducted in three different areas (Industrial, Residential, Commercial) of Ahmedabad city of India to determine the pattern of morbidity and to do a comparative analysis of different areas within the city.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 679 families (243 from commercial, 199 from residential and 237 from industrial area) were included in this study. This study revealed that apart from presence of industry in close proximity to residence (99.2%), industrial area residents are having many other disadvantages from the point of view of public health like waste water stagnation (87.4%), problem of cooking smoke (33.2%) and presence of garbage dumps near residence (72.8%). Consequently, problems like coughing, wheezing, eye irritation, skin irritation, jaundice, asthma, and dental caries have been observed to be more common in industrial area. Comparative risk calculated in terms of odds ratio for different such problems have ranged from 1.83 to 6.2 when industrial area was compared with commercial area. Similarly on comparison of industrial area with residential area, odds ratio for different problems have ranged from 1.82 to 11.5.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study has pointed out the need of separate planning and implementation of specific upliftment programs for addressing the environmental as well as public health issues of industrial localities.</p

Using Nutrition for Intervention and Prevention against Environmental Chemical Toxicity and Associated Diseases

BACKGROUND: Nutrition and lifestyle are well-defined modulators of chronic diseases. Poor dietary habits (such as high intake of processed foods rich in fat and low intake of fruits and vegetables), as well as a sedentary lifestyle clearly contribute to today’s compromised quality of life in the United States. It is becoming increasingly clear that nutrition can modulate the toxicity of environmental pollutants. OBJECTIVES: Our goal in this commentary is to discuss the recommendation that nutrition should be considered a necessary variable in the study of human disease associated with exposure to environmental pollutants. DISCUSSION: Certain diets can contribute to compromised health by being a source of exposure to environmental toxic pollutants. Many of these pollutants are fat soluble, and thus fatty foods often contain higher levels of persistent organics than does vegetable matter. Nutrition can dictate the lipid milieu, oxidative stress, and antioxidant status within cells. The modulation of these parameters by an individual’s nutritional status may have profound affects on biological processes, and in turn influence the effects of environmental pollutants to cause disease or dysfunction. For example, potential adverse health effects associated with exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls may increase as a result of ingestion of certain dietary fats, whereas ingestion of fruits and vegetables, rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory nutrients or bioactive compounds, may provide protection. CONCLUSIONS: We recommend that future directions in environmental health research explore this nutritional paradigm that incorporates a consideration of the relationships between nutrition and lifestyle, exposure to environmental toxicants, and disease. Nutritional interventions may provide the most sensible means to develop primary prevention strategies of diseases associated with many environmental toxic insults

Indicators of ocean health and human health: developing a research and monitoring framework

This is the final version of the article. Available from NIEHS via the DOI in this record.We need to critically assess the present quality of the marine ecosystem, especially the connection between ecosystem change and threats to human health. In this article we review the current state of indicators to link changes in marine organisms with eventual effects to human health, identify research opportunities in the use of indicators of ocean and human health, and discuss how to establish collaborations between national and international governmental and private sector groups. We present a synthesis of the present state of understanding of the connection between ocean health and human health, a discussion of areas where resources are required, and a discussion of critical research needs and a template for future work in this field. To understand fully the interactions between ocean health and human health, programs should be organized around a "models-based" approach focusing on critical themes and attributes of marine environmental and public health risks. Given the extent and complex nature of ocean and human health issues, a program networking across geographic and disciplinary boundaries is essential. The overall goal of this approach would be the early detection of potential marine-based contaminants, the protection of marine ecosystems, the prevention of associated human illness, and by implication, the development of products to enhance human well-being. The tight connection between research and monitoring is essential to develop such an indicator-based effort.This work was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (UNESCO), and the Bermuda Biological Station for Research, Inc. (contribution 1615)

Environmental threats to children's health in Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific.

The Southeast Asia and Western Pacific regions contain half of the world's children and are among the most rapidly industrializing regions of the globe. Environmental threats to children's health are widespread and are multiplying as nations in the area undergo industrial development and pass through the epidemiologic transition. These environmental hazards range from traditional threats such as bacterial contamination of drinking water and wood smoke in poorly ventilated dwellings to more recently introduced chemical threats such as asbestos construction materials; arsenic in groundwater; methyl isocyanate in Bhopal, India; untreated manufacturing wastes released to landfills; chlorinated hydrocarbon and organophosphorous pesticides; and atmospheric lead emissions from the combustion of leaded gasoline. To address these problems, pediatricians, environmental health scientists, and public health workers throughout Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific have begun to build local and national research and prevention programs in children's environmental health. Successes have been achieved as a result of these efforts: A cost-effective system for producing safe drinking water at the village level has been devised in India; many nations have launched aggressive antismoking campaigns; and Thailand, the Philippines, India, and Pakistan have all begun to reduce their use of lead in gasoline, with resultant declines in children's blood lead levels. The International Conference on Environmental Threats to the Health of Children, held in Bangkok, Thailand, in March 2002, brought together more than 300 representatives from 35 countries and organizations to increase awareness on environmental health hazards affecting children in these regions and throughout the world. The conference, a direct result of the Environmental Threats to the Health of Children meeting held in Manila in April 2000, provided participants with the latest scientific data on children's vulnerability to environmental hazards and models for future policy and public health discussions on ways to improve children's health. The Bangkok Statement, a pledge resulting from the conference proceedings, is an important first step in creating a global alliance committed to developing active and innovative national and international networks to promote and protect children's environmental health

Effect of computerized cognitive training on mood, cognition, and serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor level in late-life depression — a pilot randomized controlled trial

BackgroundThe aim of this pilot randomized controlled trial was to test the feasibility of a computerized cognitive training targeting executive dysfunction in late-life depression and to investigate its impact on mood, cognition, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels.MethodsA total of 28 community-living Chinese individuals aged 55–75 with moderate-to-severe depression and cognitive symptoms (but without mild cognitive impairment or dementia) were recruited from a community centre in Hong Kong. Participants were randomly allocated to either the experimental (receiving computerized cognitive training) or the control group (receiving computer-based health education). Both programs lasted for one hour and were conducted twice a week for 6 weeks at the community centre. We assessed mood using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) and Patient Health Questionaire-9 (PHQ-9), cognition using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and serum BDNF levels at baseline and follow-up. We performed repeated measures analysis of variance to compare the differences in outcome changes between groups and correlation analysis to test if changes in mood and cognition correlated with changes in BDNF level.ResultsOur sample had a mean age of 66.8 (SD = 5.3) years, a mean HAM-D score of 19.4 (SD = 7.5), and a mean PHQ-9 score of 18.0 (SD = 6.3). No adverse effects were reported. Significant differences were observed between the experimental and control groups in changes in HAM-D (-8.4 vs. -2.9; group difference = -5.5; p = 0.01), PHQ-9 (-6.6 vs. -0.6; -6.0; p &lt; 0.001), MoCA (1.4 vs. -1.3; 2.7; p = 0.001), and serum BDNF levels (in pg/ml; 2088.3 vs. -3277.4; 5365.6; p = 0.02). Additionally, changes in HAM-D, PHQ-9, and MoCA scores correlated significantly with changes in BDNF level.ConclusionWith computerized cognitive training improving mood and cognition and increasing serum BDNF levels in 6 weeks, it may serve as a safe and effective evidence-based alternative or adjuvant treatment for late-life depression.Clinical trial registrationhttps://www.chictr.org.cn/indexEN.html, identifier ChiCTR1900027029

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal