Space Station Engineering Design Issues

Space Station Freedom topics addressed include: general design issues; issues related to utilization and operations; issues related to systems requirements and design; and management issues relevant to design

Common polymorphism in H19 associated with birthweight and cord blood IGF-II levels in humans.

BACKGROUND: Common genetic variation at genes that are imprinted and exclusively maternally expressed could explain the apparent maternal-specific inheritance of low birthweight reported in large family pedigrees. We identified ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in H19, and we genotyped three of these SNPs in families from the contemporary ALSPAC UK birth cohort (1,696 children, 822 mothers and 661 fathers) in order to explore associations with size at birth and cord blood IGF-II levels. RESULTS: Both offspring's and mother's H19 2992C>T SNP genotypes showed associations with offspring birthweight (P = 0.03 to P = 0.003) and mother's genotype was also associated with cord blood IGF-II levels (P = 0.0003 to P = 0.0001). The offspring genotype association with birthweight was independent of mother's genotype (P = 0.01 to P = 0.007). However, mother's untransmitted H19 2992T allele was also associated with larger birthweight (P = 0.04) and higher cord blood IGF-II levels (P = 0.002), suggesting a direct effect of mother's genotype on placental IGF-II expression and fetal growth. The association between mother's untransmitted allele and cord blood IGF-II levels was more apparent in offspring of first pregnancies than subsequent pregnancies (P-interaction = 0.03). Study of the independent Cambridge birth cohort with available DNA in mothers (N = 646) provided additional support for mother's H19 2992 genotype associations with birthweight (P = 0.04) and with mother's glucose levels (P = 0.01) in first pregnancies. CONCLUSION: The common H19 2992T allele, in the mother or offspring or both, may confer reduced fetal growth restraint, as indicated by associations with larger offspring birth size, higher cord blood IGF-II levels, and lower compensatory early postnatal catch-up weight gain, that are more evident among mother's smaller first-born infants.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

Weekly chemotherapy with radiation versus high‐dose cisplatin with radiation as organ preservation for patients with HPV‐positive and HPV‐negative locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106948/1/hed23339.pd

Prevalence and predictive role of p16 and epidermal growth factor receptor in surgically treated oropharyngeal and oral cavity cancer

Background The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship of p16 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression with survival in surgically treated patients who had oropharyngeal or oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Methods Tissue from 36 patients with oropharyngeal SCC and 49 patients with oral cavity SCC treated between 1997 and 2001 was imbedded and immunostained using a tissue microarray. Results The p16 was positive in 57% and 13% of patients with oropharyngeal SCC and oral cavity SCC, respectively. EGFR was positive in 60% and 63% of patients with oropharyngeal SCC and oral cavity SCC, respectively. In patients with oropharyngeal SCC, p16 expression was associated with improved disease‐specific survival (DSS), overall survival (OS), and time to recurrence (TTR) ( p < .01, < .01, and <.01, respectively). EGFR expression was associated with poorer DSS, OS, and TTR ( p < .01, = .01, and < .01, respectively). For oropharyngeal SCC, when examining both p16 and EGFR expression as combined biomarkers, high p16 expression coupled with low EGFR expression was associated with improved DSS ( p p16 = .01; p EGFR = .01). Patients with oral cavity SCC showed no association between biomarker and outcome. Conclusions For patients with oropharyngeal SCC, high p16 and low EGFR were associated with improved outcome, suggesting a predictive role in surgically treated patients. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2013Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/99017/1/23087_ftp.pd

Consequences of epistasis on growth in an erhualian × white duroc pig cross

Epistasis describes an interaction between the effects of loci. We included epistasis in quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping of growth at a series of ages in a cross of a Chinese pig breed, Erhualian, with a commercial line, White Duroc. Erhualian pigs have much lower growth rates than White Duroc. We improved a method for genomewide testing of epistasis and present a clear analysis workflow. We also suggest a new approach for interpreting epistasis results where significant additive and dominance effects of a locus in specific backgrounds are determined. In total, seventeen QTL were found and eleven showed epistasis. Loci on chromosomes 2, 3, 4 and 7 were highlighted as affecting growth at more than one age or forming an interaction network. Epistasis resulted in both the QTL on chromosomes 3 and 7 having effects in opposite directions. We believe it is the first time for the chromosome 7 locus that an allele from a Chinese breed has been found to decrease growth. The consequences of epistasis were diverse. Results were impacted by using growth rather than body weight as the phenotype and by correcting for an effect of mother. Epistasis made a considerable contribution to growth in this population and modelling epistasis was important for accurately determining QTL effects

Biomarkers in advanced larynx cancer

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/102058/1/lary24245.pd

Common variants near MC4R in relation to body fat, body fat distribution, metabolic traits and energy expenditure

Udgivelsesdato: 2010-JanOBJECTIVE: Common variants near melanocortin receptor 4 (MC4R) have been related to fatness and type 2 diabetes. We examined the associations of rs17782313 and rs17700633 in relation to body fat, body fat distribution, metabolic traits, weight development and energy expenditure. METHODS: Obese young men (n = 753, BMI &gt; or = 31.0 kg m(-2)) and a randomly selected group (n = 874) identified from a population of 174 800 men were re-examined in three surveys at mean ages 35, 46 and 49 years (S-35, S-46 and S-49). Measurements were available at upto eight times from birth to adulthood. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess odds ratio (OR) for the presence of the carrier allele for a given difference in phenotypic values. RESULTS: Rs17782313 minor C-allele was associated with overall, abdominal and peripheral fatness (range of OR = 1.06-1.14 per z-score units) at all three surveys, although only consistently significant at S-35 and S-46. Rs17700633 minor A-allele was also associated with the fatness measures, but significantly so only at S-49 for overall and abdominal fatness (range of OR = 1.03-1.15 per z-score units), and peripheral fatness (OR = 1.15-1.20 per z-score units). There were only few significant associations with metabolic traits. The rs17782313 C-allele and the rs17700633 A-allele were both associated with lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (range of OR = 0.64-0.84 per mol l(-1)), significantly at S-46. The rs17700633 A-allele was significantly associated with insulin (OR = 1.25 per 50 pmol l(-1)), leptin (OR = 1.42 per 10 ng microl(-1)) and insulin sensitivity (OR = 0.81 per model unit). The rs17782313 C-allele and the rs17700633 A-allele were both associated with BMI in childhood and adolescence (range of OR = 1.04-1.17 per z-score units), significant for the rs17782313 C-allele at the age of 13-19 years and for rs17700633 A-allele at age 7, 10, 13 and 19 years. No significant associations were found for energy expenditure. CONCLUSION: Near MC4R variants appear to contribute to body fat, body fat distribution, some metabolic traits, weight development during childhood, but not to energy expenditure

What Does It Take to Synergistically Combine Sub-Potent Natural Products into Drug-Level Potent Combinations?

10.1371/journal.pone.0049969PLoS ONE711