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Type 2 diabetes ( T2D) has become a leading public health challenge worldwide. To date, a total of 83 susceptibility loci for T2D have been identified by genome-wide association studies ( GWAS). Application of meta-analysis and modern genotype imputation approaches to GWAS data from diverse ethnic populations has been key in the effort to discover T2D loci. Genetic information is expected to play a vital role in the prediction of T2D, and many efforts have been made to develop T2D risk models that include both conventional and genetic risk factors. Yet, because most T2D genetic variants identified have small effect size individually (10%-20% increased risk of T2D per risk allele), their clinical utility remains unclear. Most studies report that a genetic risk score combining multiple T2D genetic variants does not substantially improve T2D risk prediction beyond conventional risk factors. In this article, we summarize the recent progress of T2D GWAS and further review the incremental predictive performance of genetic markers for T2D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pig point cloud data can be used to digitally reconstruct surface features, calculate pig body volume and estimate pig body weight. Volume, as a pig novel phenotype feature, has the following functions: (a) It can be used to estimate livestock weight based on its high correlation with body weight. (b) The volume proportion of various body parts (such as head, legs, etc.) can be obtained through point cloud segmentation, and the new phenotype information can be utilized for breeding pigs with smaller head volumes and stouter legs. However, as the pig point cloud has an irregular shape and may be partially missing, it is difficult to form a closed loop surface for volume calculation. Considering the better water tightness of Poisson reconstruction, this article adopts an improved Poisson reconstruction algorithm to reconstruct pig body point clouds, making the reconstruction results smoother, more continuous, and more complete. In the present study, standard shape point clouds, a known-volume Stanford rabbit standard model, a measured volume piglet model, and 479 sets of pig point cloud data with known body weight were adopted to confirm the accuracy and reliability of the improved Poisson reconstruction and volume calculation algorithm. Among them, the relative error was 4% in the piglet model volume result. The average absolute error was 2.664 kg in the weight estimation obtained from pig volume by collecting pig point clouds, and the average relative error was 2.478%. Concurrently, it was determined that the correlation coefficient between pig body volume and pig body weight was 0.95.

In 2013, an innovative MAGE-A3-directed cancer therapeutic of great potential value was terminated in the clinic because of neurotoxicity. The safety problems were hypothesized to originate from off-target T-cell receptor activity against a closely related MAGE-A12 peptide. A combination of published and new data led us to test this hypothesis with current technology. Our results call into question MAGE-A12 as the source of the neurotoxicity. Rather, the data imply that an alternative related peptide from EPS8L2 may be responsible. Given the qualities of MAGE-A3 as an onco-testis antigen widely expressed in tumors and largely absent from normal adult tissues, these findings suggest that MAGE-A3 may deserve further consideration as a cancer target. As a step in this direction, the authors isolated 2 MAGE-A3 peptide-major histocompatibility complex-directed chimeric antigen receptors, 1 targeting the same peptide as the clinical T-cell receptor. Both chimeric antigen receptors have improved selectivity over the EPS8L2 peptide that represents a significant risk for MAGE-A3-targeted therapeutics, showing that there may be other options for MAGE-A3 cell therapy., (Copyright © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background . To explore the feasibility of careHPV (human papillomavirus) with cytology triage as a cervical cancer screening in rural areas of China. Methods . A total of 7138 women aged 35 to 64 years were divided into 2 groups. Women in careHPV group (n = 3536) underwent careHPV and 288 positive subjects underwent cytology, of which 65 women were ≥ASC-US (atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance). Women in the cytology group (n = 3602) underwent cytology and 111 women were ≥ASC-US. All subjects with ≥ASC-US were referred to colposcopy and biopsy. Results . The average age of subjects was 48.2 ± 7.8 years. In the careHPV group, the HPV-positive rate was 8.1%. The detection rate of ≥ASC-US was 1.8% in the careHPV group and 3.1% in the cytology group ( P = .001). There was no significant difference in detection rate of ≥CINII (cervical intraepithelial neoplasia) in the careHPV group (0.7%) and the cytology group (0.6%; P = .416). In addition, to identify 1 case ≥CINII, an average of 2.6 colposcopies were needed in the careHPV group, and 5.3 colposcopies were performed to diagnose 1 case ≥CINII in the cytology group. Conclusions . careHPV with cytology triage offered similar efficiency in identifying abnormalities of CINII and above compared with cytology screening. With the reduced requirement for cytology testing and colposcopy, careHPV may be a more favorable cervical cancer screening strategy in areas of China where there is a lack of cytology services.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of prenatal negative life events, and explore the effect of prenatal negative life events on pregnancy outcomes., Methods: A total of 9137 postpartum women( average age: 28. 76±6. 53 years) who delivered live neonates with gestational age ≥28 weeks between April, 2012 to March, 2013 in 15 hospitals in Beijing, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces were enrolled. Self-made questionnaire was used to collect general information, occurrence of negative life events during pregnancy, complications during pregnancy and pregnancy outcomes. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the effect of prenatal negative life events on adverse pregnancy outcomes and influencing factors of adverse pregnancy outcomes., Results: In total of 1395 women( 15. 3%) had experienced prenatal negative life events, and 5439 women( 59. 5%) had adverse pregnancy outcomes. After adjusting for covariates, women who experienced prenatal negative life events had an increased risk of preterm birth( OR = 1. 257, 95% CI 1. 051-1. 504), and delivering low birth weight infants( OR = 1. 316, 95% CI 1. 055-1. 643). Multivariate Logistic regression models showed that prenatal negative life events( OR = 1. 201, 95% CI1. 056-1. 365), pregnancy-induced hypertension( OR = 2. 278, 95% CI 1. 867-2. 781), pre-pregnancy overweight or obese( OR = 1. 299, 95% CI 1. 140-1. 480) and delivery age above 35 years old( OR = 1. 197, 95% CI 1. 014-1. 413) were risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes; and primiparity( OR = 0. 808, 95% CI 0. 715-0. 913) were protective factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Among different types of negative life events, women with family disharmony had increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes than those without family disharmony after adjusting for covariates( OR = 1. 259, 95% CI1. 076-1. 473)., Conclusion: In this study, prenatal negative life events were prevalent, and prenatal negative life events may increase the risk of pregnancy outcomes.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive and irreversible neurodegenerative disorder. The abnormal accumulation and deposition of amyloid-beta peptide (Aβ) in senile plaques and cerebral vasculature is widely recognized to be the most likely culprit in the pathogenesis of AD. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a kind of evolutionarily conserved non-coding RNAs with over 200 nucleotides in length, have introduced a novel field of biology, and are involved in various human diseases, including neurological diseases. Recently, lncRNA X-inactive specific transcript (XIST) is reported to be upregulated in the rat spinal cord injury (a neurological disease) model and XIST knockdown has a prominent protective effect on the recovery of spinal cord injury. However, little is known about the expression and function of XIST in AD. Here, we showed that Aβ 25-35 treatment increased XIST expression in hippocampal neurons. XIST knockdown ameliorated toxicity, oxidative stress, and apoptosis induced by Aβ 25-35 treatment in hippocampal neurons. We further identified and confirmed that miR-132 was the target of XIST, and XIST functioned by targeting miR-132. Collectively, these data show that knockdown of XIST relieves Aβ 25-35 -induced toxicity, oxidative stress, and apoptosis in primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons by upregulation of miR-132. These findings encourage continued investigation of the potential of manipulating XIST in the treatment of AD., Competing Interests: None., (IJCEP Copyright © 2018.)