Persistence of poor sleep predicts the severity of the clinical condition after 6months of standard treatment in patients with eating disorders

Clinical evidence suggests that eating disorder (ED) patients experience poor sleep even if they rarely complain of it. However, direct empirical evidence supporting this relationship is still sparse. In order to provide direct evidence, poor sleep, severity of the ED symptoms and depression were obtained in 562 ED patients at treatment admission (T0). For 271 patients out of them, data were also available after 6 months of standard treatment (T1). Results evidence that at T0 poor sleep predicts severity of ED symptoms through the mediation of depression. Persistence of poor sleep at T1 directly predicts the severity of the ED symptoms both directly and through the mediation of depression. These findings suggest that the treatment of ED may benefit from addressing poor sleep since its presence and persistence increase comorbidity and attrition to the standard treatment

Fixation of genetic variation and optimization of gene expression: The speed of evolution in isolated lizard populations undergoing Reverse Island Syndrome

The ecological theory of island biogeography suggests that mainland populations should be more genetically divergent from those on large and distant islands rather than from those on small and close islets. Some island populations do not evolve in a linear way, but the process of divergence occurs more rapidly because they undergo a series of phenotypic changes, jointly known as the Island Syndrome. A special case is Reversed Island Syndrome (RIS), in which populations show drastic phenotypic changes both in body shape, skin colouration, age of sexual maturity, aggressiveness, and food intake rates. The populations showing the RIS were observed on islets nearby mainland and recently raised, and for this they are useful models to study the occurrence of rapid evolutionary change. We investigated the timing and mode of evolution of lizard populations adapted through selection on small islets. For our analyses, we used an ad hoc model system of three populations: wild-type lizards from the mainland and insular lizards from a big island (Capri, Italy), both Podarcis siculus siculus not affected by the syndrome, and a lizard population from islet (Scopolo) undergoing the RIS (called P. s. coerulea because of their melanism). The split time of the big (Capri) and small (Scopolo) islands was determined using geological events, like sea-level rises. To infer molecular evolution, we compared five complete mitochondrial genomes for each population to reconstruct the phylogeography and estimate the divergence time between island and mainland lizards. We found a lower mitochondrial mutation rate in Scopolo lizards despite the phenotypic changes achieved in approximately 8,000 years. Furthermore, transcriptome analyses showed significant differential gene expression between islet and mainland lizard populations, suggesting the key role of plasticity in these unpredictable environments

The +276 G/T Single Nucleotide Polymorphism of the Adiponectin Gene Is Associated With Coronary Artery Disease in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

OBJECTIVE —Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the adiponectin locus (+45T>G and +276G>T) have been associated with low circulating adiponectin levels, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. We investigated whether these genetic markers are determinants of coronary artery disease (CAD) in type 2 diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS —A total of 376 consecutive type 2 diabetic patients were studied: 142 case subjects with coronary stenosis >50% or previous myocardial infarction and 234 control subjects with no symptoms, no electrocardiogram (ECG) signs of myocardial ischemia, and a normal ECG stress test ( n = 189) and/or ( n = 45) with coronary stenosis ≤50%. RESULTS —No association with CAD was observed for the +45 SNP ( P = 0.48). By contrast, a significant association was observed for the +276 SNP, with T/T homozygotes having a lower risk of CAD than carriers of other genotypes (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 0.13 [95% CI 0.037–0.46], P = 0.002). A similarly protective effect of the +276 T/T genotype was observed in 110 case and 45 control subjects for whom the CAD status had been determined by angiography (0.04 [0.006–0.30], P = 0.002).  Serum adiponectin, although clearly related to several features of the proatherogenic/insulin-resistant phenotype, was not different between control subjects and CAD patients (26 ± 17 vs. 25 ± 13 μg/ml). CONCLUSIONS —In conclusion, the +276 G>T polymorphism is a determinant of CAD risk in type 2 diabetic patients. This marker may assist in the identification of diabetic individuals at especially high risk of CAD, so that preventive programs can be targeted at these subjects

CPO and quantitative textural analyses within sheath folds

Acknowledgments This has been a multi-national collaboration from authors based in Europe, North America, Australia and India. Erasmus funding to GIA in 2018 enabled a visit to Catania leading to discussion and initiation of this project. The authors are grateful to Amarnath Dandapat for preparation of superpolished rock thin sections at the Department of Geology and Geophysics (IIT Kharagpur, India). Niloy Bhowmik is thanked for assistance with SEM-EBSD data generation in the Central Research Facility (IIT Kharagpur, India). E.F. thanks Sibio Carmelo for thin sections preparation at the University of Turin (Italy). Authors are grateful to ANSTO laboratory personnel for the preparation of specimens (funded proposals: P9835 with the title “Sheath fold texture characterisation”, principal scientist: E.F.; co-proposers: G.I.A. and V.L.; DB6749 with the title “Texture analysis of rocks”, principal scientist: V.L.; co-proposer: E.F.; DB9606 with the title “A pilot experiment for texture characterisation in a sheath fold”, principal scientist: E.F..; co-proposers: G.I.A. and V.L.). L.N. and R.G. report that this publication has been assigned the NRCan contribution number 20230109. Many thanks to Richard D. Law and an anonymous reviewer for their careful revision that substantially improved the original version of the manuscript. We also thanks Dr. T.K. Cawood from the Geological Survey of Canada for her useful comments on the drafted manuscript. The editorial handling by Fabrizio Agosta is greatly appreciated.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Positive selection in Europeans and East-Asians at the ABCA12 gene

Natural selection acts on genetic variants by increasing the frequency of alleles responsible for a cellular function that is favorable in a certain environment. In a previous genome-wide scan for positive selection in contemporary humans, we identified a signal of positive selection in European and Asians at the genetic variant rs10180970. The variant is located in the second intron of the ABCA12 gene, which is implicated in the lipid barrier formation and down-regulated by UVB radiation. We studied the signal of selection in the genomic region surrounding rs10180970 in a larger dataset that includes DNA sequences from ancient samples. We also investigated the functional consequences of gene expression of the alleles of rs10180970 and another genetic variant in its proximity in healthy volunteers exposed to similar UV radiation. We confirmed the selection signal and refine its location that extends over 35 kb and includes the first intron, the first two exons and the transcription starting site of ABCA12. We found no obvious effect of rs10180970 alleles on ABCA12 gene expression. We reconstructed the trajectory of the T allele over the last 80,000 years to discover that it was specific to H. sapiens and present in non-Africans 45,000 years ago

Monge Distance between Quantum States

We define a metric in the space of quantum states taking the Monge distance between corresponding Husimi distributions (Q--functions). This quantity fulfills the axioms of a metric and satisfies the following semiclassical property: the distance between two coherent states is equal to the Euclidean distance between corresponding points in the classical phase space. We compute analytically distances between certain states (coherent, squeezed, Fock and thermal) and discuss a scheme for numerical computation of Monge distance for two arbitrary quantum states.Comment: 9 pages in LaTex - RevTex + 2 figures in ps. submitted to Phys. Rev.

A Serum Resistin and Multicytokine Inflammatory Pathway Is Linked With and Helps Predict All-cause Death in Diabetes

Context: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) shows a high mortality rate, partly mediated by atherosclerotic plaque instability. Discovering novel biomarkers may help identify high-risk patients who would benefit from more aggressive and specific managements. We recently described a serum resistin and multicytokine inflammatory pathway (REMAP), including resistin, interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-alpha, that is associated with cardiovascular disease.Objective: We investigated whether REMAP is associated with and improves the prediction of mortality in T2D.Methods: A REMAP score was investigated in 3 cohorts comprising 1528 patients with T2D (409 incident deaths) and in 59 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy (CEA; 24 deaths). Plaques were classified as unstable/stable according to the modified American Heart Association atherosclerosis classification.Results: REMAP was associated with all-cause mortality in each cohort and in all 1528 individuals (fully adjusted hazard ratio [HR] for 1 SD increase=1.34, P<.001). In CEA patients, REMAP was associated with mortality (HR=1.64, P=.04) and a modest change was observed when plaque stability was taken into account (HR=1.58; P=.07). REMAP improved discrimination and reclassification measures of both Estimation of Mortality Risk in Type 2 Diabetic Patients and Risk Equations for Complications of Type 2 Diabetes, well-established prediction models of mortality in T2D (P<.05-<.001).Conclusion: REMAP is independently associated with and improves predict all-cause mortality in T2D; it can therefore be used to identify high-risk individuals to be targeted with more aggressive management. Whether REMAP can also identify patients who are more responsive to IL-6 and IL-1 beta monoclonal antibodies that reduce cardiovascular burden and total mortality is an intriguing possibility to be tested

Integrating Human Factors Engineering and Information Processing Approaches to Facilitate Evaluations in Criminal Justice Technology Research

Background: Evaluations are routinely conducted by government agencies and research organizations to assess the effectiveness of technology in criminal justice. Interdisciplinary research methods are salient to this effort. Technology evaluations are faced with a number of challenges including (1) the need to facilitate effective communication between social science researchers, technology specialists, and practitioners, (2) the need to better understand procedural and contextual aspects of a given technology, and (3) the need to generate findings that can be readily used for decision making and policy recommendations. Objectives: Process and outcome evaluations of technology can be enhanced by integrating concepts from human factors engineering and information processing. This systemic approach, which focuses on the interaction between humans, technology, and information, enables researchers to better assess how a given technology is used in practice. Subjects: Examples are drawn from complex technologies currently deployed within the criminal justice system where traditional evaluations have primarily focused on outcome metrics. Although this evidence-based approach has significant value, it is vulnerable to fully account for human and structural complexities that compose technology operations. Conclusions: Guiding principles for technology evaluations are described for identifying and defining key study metrics, facilitating communication within an interdisciplinary research team, and for understanding the interaction between users, technology, and information. The approach posited here can also enable researchers to better assess factors that may facilitate or degrade the operational impact of the technology and answer fundamental questions concerning whether the technology works as intended, at what level, and cost

Unraveling the role of male reproductive tract and haemolymph in cantharidin-exuding Lydus trimaculatus and Mylabris variabilis (Coleoptera: Meloidae): a comparative transcriptomics approach

Background: Meloidae (blister beetles) are known to synthetize cantharidin (CA), a toxic and defensive terpene mainly stored in male accessory glands (MAG) and emitted outward through reflex-bleeding. Recent progresses in understanding CA biosynthesis and production organ(s) in Meloidae have been made, but the way in which self-protection is achieved from the hazardous accumulation and release of CA in blister beetles has been experimentally neglected. To provide hints on this pending question, a comparative de novo assembly transcriptomic approach was performed by targeting two tissues where CA is largely accumulated and regularly circulates in Meloidae: the male reproductive tract (MRT) and the haemolymph. Differential gene expression profiles in these tissues were examined in two blister beetle species, Lydus trimaculatus (Fabricius, 1775) (tribe Lyttini) and Mylabris variabilis (Pallas, 1781) (tribe Mylabrini). Upregulated transcripts were compared between the two species to identify conserved genes possibly involved in CA detoxification and transport. Results: Based on our results, we hypothesize that, to avoid auto-intoxication, ABC, MFS or other solute transporters might sequester purported glycosylated CA precursors into MAG, and lipocalins could bind CA and mitigate its reactivity when released into the haemolymph during the autohaemorrhaging response. We also found an over-representation in haemolymph of protein-domains related to coagulation and integument repairing mechanisms that likely reflects the need to limit fluid loss during reflex-bleeding. Conclusions: The de novo assembled transcriptomes of L. trimaculatus and M. variabilis here provided represent valuable genetic resources to further explore the mechanisms employed to cope with toxicity of CA in blister beetle tissues. These, if revealed, might help conceiving safe and effective drug-delivery approaches to enhance the use of CA in medicine