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Insect and disease outbreaks in forests are biotic disturbances that can profoundly alter ecosystem dynamics. In many parts of the world, these disturbance regimes are intensifying as the climate changes and shifts the distribution of species and biomes. As a result, key forest ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, regulation of water flows, wood production, protection of soils, and th
Dysregulation of circulating lipids is a central element for the metabolic syndrome. However, it is not well established whether human subcutaneous adipose tissue is affected by or affect circulating lipids through epigenetic mechanisms. Hence, our aim was to investigate the association between circulating lipids and DNA methylation levels in human adipose tissue. DNA methylation and gene expressi
Background: Insulin resistance (IR) is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, insulin immunoassay variability and scarce research of the elderly have hindered the adoption of IR assessment for CVD prevention. We asked whether the probability of having IR [p(IR)]—derived from insulin and C-peptide mass-spectrometry assays—was associated with CVD in the elderly. Methods: A random coh
Precision medicine is part of the logical evolution of contemporary evidence-based medicine that seeks to reduce errors and optimize outcomes when making medical decisions and health recommendations. Diabetes affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, many of whom will develop life-threatening complications and die prematurely. Precision medicine can potentially address this enormous proble
Recent studies have revealed a close connection between cellular metabolism and the chronic inflammatory process of atherosclerosis. While the link between systemic metabolism and atherosclerosis is well established, the implications of altered metabolism in the artery wall are less understood. Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK)-dependent inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH) has been identi
Acute dyspnea with underlying congestion is a leading cause of emergency department (ED) visits with high rates of hospitalization. Adrenomedullin is a vasoactive neuropeptide hormone secreted by the endothelium that mediates vasodilation and maintains vascular integrity. Plasma levels of biologically active adrenomedullin (bio-ADM) predict septic shock and vasopressor need in critically ill patie
Background: Human CUB and Sushi multiple domains 1 (CSMD1) is a large membrane-bound tumor suppressor in breast cancer. The current study aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the effect of CSMD1 in highly invasive triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Methods: We examined the antitumor action of CSMD1 in three TNBC cell lines overexpressing CSMD1, MDA-MB-231, BT-20 and MDA-MB-486,
Background: Carotid atherosclerotic plaques with intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) are associated with elevated stroke risk. IPH is predominantly imaged based on paramagnetic properties of the upstream hemoglobin degradation product methemoglobin. This is an explorative observational study to test the feasibility of a spoiled gradient echo based T2* weighted MRI sequence (3D MEDIC) for carotid plaque i
The patients’ burden of comorbidities is a cornerstone in risk assessment, clinical management and follow-up. The aim of this study was to evaluate if biomarkers associated with comorbidity burden can predict outcome in acute dyspnea patients. We included 774 patients with dyspnea admitted to an emergency department and measured 80 cardiovascular protein biomarkers in serum collected at admission.
BACKGROUND: The balance between stabilizing and destabilizing atherosclerotic plaque components is used in experimental studies and in imaging studies to identify rupture prone plaques. However, we lack the evidence that this balance predicts future cardiovascular events. Here we explore whether a calculated histological ratio, referred to as vulnerability index (VI), can predict patients at highe
Diabetes impacts on brain metabolism, structure and function. Alterations in brain metabolism have been observed in obesity and diabetes models induced by exposure to diets rich in saturated fat and/or sugar and have been linked to memory impairment. However, it remains to be determined whether brain dysfunction induced by obesogenic diets results from permanent brain alterations. We tested the hy
BACKGROUND: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for more than 80% of kidney cancers in adults, and obesity is a known risk factor. Regular consumption of sweetened beverages has been linked to obesity and several chronic diseases, including some types of cancer. It is uncertain whether soft drink and juice consumption is associated with risk of RCC. We investigated the associations of soft drink a
Aquaporins play a crucial role in water homeostasis in the human body, and recently the physiological importance of aquaporins as glycerol channels have been demonstrated. The aquaglyceroporins (AQP3, AQP7, AQP9 and AQP10) represent key glycerol channels, enabling glycerol flux across the membranes of cells. Adipocytes are the major source of glycerol and during lipolysis, glycerol is released to
Childless men are reported to have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. Information on inherited genetic risk for CVD has improved the predictive models. Presuming that childlessness is a proxy of infertility we aimed to investigate if childless men inherit more often genetic traits for CVD and if combining genetic and parenthood information improves predictive models for C
Repetitive iodinated contrast media exposure may be harmful for the kidneys. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) undergoing CT angiography (CTA) and local continuous thrombolysis for acute lower limb ischemia (ALI) had an increased risk of developing contrast-associated acute kidney injury (CA-AKI) compared to patients without DM. Methods: This is a
BACKGROUND: Copy number (CN) variation (CNV) of the salivary amylase gene (AMY1) influences the ability to digest starch and may influence glucose homeostasis, obesity and gut microbiota composition. Hence, the aim was to examine the association of AMY1 CNV with fasting glucose, BMI, and gut microbiota composition considering habitual starch intake and to investigate the effect of AMY1 CNV on the
Barnobesitas är sedan flera år ett ökat hälsoproblem bland barn. Obesitas vid 4 års ålder ger en kraftigt ökad risk för obesitas senare i livet. Att förebygga uppkomst och utveckling av obesitas är en långsiktig investering för framtiden. Idag finns ingen evidensbaserad metod för vägledning inom barnhälsovården för att främja hälsosamma levnadsvanor och förebygga obesitas hos förskolebarn. Det övePrevention of childhood obesity with its effects on children’s mental and physical health and well-being is an international public health priority and is suggested to be effective when started early. As Child Health Services lack an evidence-based model, there is the need for development of a low-intensive health promotion model that is feasible and cost-effective in preventing obesity in prescho
Matola, a major Mozambican city, has witnessed flooding, mainly caused by rainfall. The study aims to produce flood-hazard and flood-risk maps for Matola using the hydrological model TFM-DYN. For 2000, 2020, and 2040, the modeled extent of medium-risk area is 50.6 km2 (13.7%), 44.8 km2 (12.2%), and 39.0 km2 (10.6%) and of high-risk area is 43.3 km2 (11.8%), 31.8 km2 (8.6%), and 28.9 km2 (7.8%), re
Genetic variation at the MTIF3 (Mitochondrial Translational Initiation Factor 3) locus has been robustly associated with obesity in humans, but the functional basis behind this association is not known. Here, we applied luciferase reporter assay to map potential functional variants in the haplotype block tagged by rs1885988 and used CRISPR-Cas9 to edit the potential functional variants to confirm
The brain is the key organ that orchestrates the stress response which translates to the retina. The retina is an extension of the brain and retinal symptoms in subjects with neurodegenerative diseases substantiated the eye as a window to the brain. The retina is used in this study to determine whether chronic stress reflects neurodegenerative signs indicative of neurodegenerative conditions. A 3-
