Article
Cell Biology
Chia-Ling Kuo, Luke C. Pilling, Zuyun Liu, Janice L. Atkins, Morgan E. Levine
Summary: Biological age measures outperform chronological age in predicting aging outcomes, with genetic predisposition being most strongly associated with the APOE gene. Different biological age measures show unique genetic associations and pathway enrichments, indicating they capture distinct aging domains.
Article
Physics, Fluids & Plasmas
Dongho Lee, Guentae Doh, Holak Kim, Laurent Garrigues, Wonho Choe
Summary: Two distinct discharge modes were observed in a 50 W-class micro-Hall thruster plasma under different operating conditions. In mode B, the thruster showed performance improvements in terms of thrust, specific impulse, and anode efficiency, suggesting that operation is more advantageous in mode B than in mode A for the utilization of such low-power Hall thrusters.
PLASMA SOURCES SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Smitha Rao, Fiona C. Doherty, Samantha Teixeira, David T. Takeuchi, Shanta Pandey
Summary: This study examines the relationship between housing insecurity and disaster preparedness. It finds that housing security and quality are crucial for households to be better prepared, and housing insecurity moderates the relationship between social vulnerability factors and preparedness. The study provides insights for targeting resources and research funds to reduce multidimensional vulnerabilities before a disaster.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE-HUMAN AND POLICY DIMENSIONS
(2023)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Scott F. Farrell, Adrian Campos, Pik-Fang Kho, Rutger M. J. de Zoete, Michele Sterling, Miguel E. Renteria, Trung Thanh Ngo, Gabriel Cuellar-Partida
Summary: Genetic factors were found to be associated with decreased regional grey matter in specific brain regions in individuals with chronic pain, suggesting a shared genetic basis for reduced grey matter morphology and chronic pain. These novel findings warrant further investigation into the neurogenetic pathways underlying chronic pain conditions.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Jia-Rui Shi, Young-Oh Kwon, Susan E. Wijffels
Summary: This study utilizes a pattern recognition method to isolate the forced patterns of anthropogenic aerosols on surface ocean and atmospheric variables. The results show that aerosol-forced responses are dominated by two modes, one associated with the historical change in global mean aerosol concentrations and the other with the transition of aerosol sources.
JOURNAL OF CLIMATE
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Prerana Dash, Rudresh Acharya
Summary: Dynamics is a crucial process for enzyme function, and the protein sequence determines the intrinsic dynamics of the molecule. This study explores the structure-function-dynamics relationship of PanPL, an alginate-specific polysaccharide lyase. The results show that pH affects atomic fluctuations at the N-loop-lid, and substrate binding enhances its dynamics. Simulation suggests the presence of a hidden open state that may facilitate substrate binding.
ACS CENTRAL SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Meng-Yuan Shang, Chu-Yi Zhang, Yong Wu, Lu Wang, Chuang Wang, Ming Li
Summary: This study utilized genome-wide association studies to investigate the polygenic overlap between bipolar disorder (BD) and brain structural phenotypes. It discovered shared genomic loci and identified novel risk genes. These findings provide insights into the genetic basis of BD and its developmental origins.
Article
Psychology, Multidisciplinary
Victoria J. Dunsmore, Shevaun D. Neupert
Summary: This study examines the interaction between personality traits, arthritis, and awareness of aging. The findings suggest that extraversion and openness are related to positive attitudes towards aging and awareness of age-related changes, while neuroticism is associated with negative attitudes, more age-related changes losses, and fewer gains. Additionally, arthritis is linked to more awareness of age-related changes losses. The study highlights the importance of considering behavioral and cognitive factors related to agreeableness in promoting positive views on aging, particularly for individuals with arthritis.
FRONTIERS IN PSYCHOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Cell Biology
Adam R. Bothwell, Susan M. Resnick, Luigi Ferrucci, Qu Tian
Summary: In aging, olfactory deficits have been associated with lower cognition and motor function. Olfactory dysfunction is also one of the earliest features of neurodegenerative disease. This review summarizes the relationship between brain structural and functional measures and olfaction in older adults, highlighting that lower olfactory function is associated with smaller volumes in specific brain areas important for motor function and cognition, especially memory. Future longitudinal studies with neuroimaging across different brain areas are needed to understand the neurobiological changes underlying olfactory changes in the aging brain and the progression of neurodegeneration.
AGEING RESEARCH REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Pietro Demela, Nicola Pirastu, Blagoje Soskic
Summary: Genome-wide association studies have identified thousands of susceptibility loci for immune-mediated diseases. Using genomic structural equation modeling and single-cell eQTL analysis, this study reveals three distinct genetic groups of immune diseases that converge on T cell activation and signaling pathways, suggesting potential drug repurposing candidates.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Ming-qiang Chu, Liu-chao Zhang, Qian Yuan, Ting-juan Zhang, Jing-dong Zhou
Summary: The study revealed that low expression of NEDD4L in AML patients was associated with younger age, higher white blood cell count, and higher bone marrow/peripheral blood blasts. Additionally, NEDD4L underexpression was correlated with genetic abnormalities and prognosis, and may be involved in the pathogenesis of leukemia.
CANCER CELL INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Casey S. Philbin, Lee A. Dyer, Christopher S. Jeffrey, Andrea E. Glassmire, Lora A. Richards
Summary: The study examines the trade-offs between structural complexity and compositional diversity in phytochemical mixtures, focusing on two species of Piper plants. It found that changes in understorey forest light can lead to increased herbivory, which in turn increases compositional diversity but decreases structural complexity in the plants. This complex interaction highlights the importance of considering both dimensions in ecological studies of chemical diversity.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Hui Chen, Michelle M. Dunk, Binghan Wang, Mengjia Zhao, Jie Shen, Geng Zong, Yuesong Pan, Lusha Tong, Weili Xu, Changzheng Yuan
Summary: Adherence to the MIND diet is associated with larger brain volumes in certain regions and is not influenced by genetic factors. However, there is no significant association between the MIND diet and longitudinal changes in brain structure.
ALZHEIMERS & DEMENTIA
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Edda Russo, Leandro Di Gloria, Matteo Cerboneschi, Serena Smeazzetto, Gian Paolo Baruzzi, Francesca Romano, Matteo Ramazzotti, Amedeo Amedei
Summary: In this study, the variation in facial skin microbiome architecture through aging and its functional association with host genetic factors were investigated in a cohort of healthy women. The facial skin microbiota showed different composition in different age groups and between normal and dry skins. Functional variations associated with collagen biosynthesis and oxidative stress damage repair were observed in middle-aged women.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Remi Stevelink, Bobby P. C. Koeleman, Sanjay M. Sisodiya
Summary: Focal and generalized epilepsies show differences in brain structure, but these differences are not genetically related to the risk of epilepsy.
Article
Neurosciences
Fidel Alfaro-Almagro, Paul McCarthy, Soroosh Afyouni, Jesper L. R. Andersson, Matteo Bastiani, Karla L. Miller, Thomas E. Nichols, Stephen M. Smith
Summary: Dealing with confounds is essential in large cohort studies to address unexplained variance and spurious correlations. The UK Biobank is a powerful resource for studying associations between imaging and non-imaging measures, but the high statistical power also increases sensitivity to confound effects. Researchers must carefully consider these factors.
Article
Neurosciences
Julia O. Linke, Rany Abend, Katharina Kircanski, Michal Clayton, Caitlin Stavish, Brenda E. Benson, Melissa A. Brotman, Olivier Renaud, Stephen M. Smith, Thomas E. Nichols, Ellen Leibenluft, Anderson M. Winkler, Daniel S. Pine
Summary: This study investigates the associations between intrinsic functional connectivity and pediatric symptoms as well as evaluates the replicability of latent dimensions in an independent sample. The findings reveal two replicable types of clinical variates, one related to multiple symptom dimensions and the other relatively specific to anxiety. Both types involve broadly distributed, weak brain connections instead of strong connections encompassing known resting-state networks.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2021)
Article
Biology
Thomas J. Vanasse, Peter T. Fox, P. Mickle Fox, Franco Cauda, Tommaso Costa, Stephen M. Smith, Simon B. Eickhoff, Jack L. Lancaster
Summary: Research indicates a high concordance between neuropsychiatric disorders and structural-functional networks, supporting the network degeneration hypothesis. There is a positive linear association between disease and behavioral entropy, suggesting nodal stress as a common mechanism.
COMMUNICATIONS BIOLOGY
(2021)
Editorial Material
Biology
Kan Keeratimahat, Thomas E. Nichols
Summary: Wu et al. have made a significant contribution to MRI data-driven analysis methodology, but need to consider new potential applications and the impact of random initialization. Reanalyzing the data multiple times revealed a wide variability in reliability of the discovered independent components.
Article
Neurosciences
Alexander Bowring, Thomas E. Nichols, Camille Maumet
Summary: The choice of software package used to run the analysis pipeline in task-fMRI investigations can have a considerable impact on the final group-level results, with variation largely attributable to specific individual analysis stages.
HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
A. Topiwala, B. Taschler, K. P. Ebmeier, S. Smith, H. Zhou, D. F. Levey, V Codd, N. J. Samani, J. Gelernter, T. E. Nichols, S. Burgess
Summary: This study found a causal relationship between alcohol traits and telomere length, suggesting that alcohol consumption may shorten telomeres. The findings have implications for age-related diseases.
MOLECULAR PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Daniel J. Delbarre, Luis Santos, Habib Ganjgahi, Neil Horner, Aaron McCoy, Henrik Westerberg, Dieter A. Haering, Thomas E. Nichols, Ann-Marie Mallon
Summary: This study addresses the challenges of anonymizing large-scale neuroimaging datasets using a convolutional neural network (CNN) to assist with quality control checks, leading to a reduction in time spent on visual QC checks.
COMPUTERS IN BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Celeste McCracken, Zahra Raisi-Estabragh, Michele Veldsman, Betty Raman, Andrea Dennis, Masud Husain, Thomas E. Nichols, Steffen E. Petersen, Stefan Neubauer
Summary: This study explores the cross-sectional relationships across the heart-brain-liver axis using state-of-the-art imaging techniques. Significant associations between imaging-derived phenotypes of the heart, brain, and liver were observed, even after controlling for various demographic and clinical factors. Simultaneous three-organ modeling revealed differentially important pathways across the heart-brain-liver axis.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Respiratory System
Sarah L. Finnegan, Olivia K. Harrison, Sara Booth, Andrea Dennis, Martyn Ezra, Catherine J. Harmer, Mari Herigstad, Bryan Guillaume, Thomas E. Nichols, Najib M. Rahman, Andrea Reinecke, Olivier Renaud, Kyle T. S. Pattinson
Summary: The study found that D-cycloserine did not improve the efficacy of pulmonary rehabilitation in treating chronic breathlessness. However, it did interact with breathlessness anxiety. Therefore, a phase 3 clinical trial of D-cycloserine may not be worthwhile.
Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Adriana Roca-Fernandez, Rajarshi Banerjee, Helena Thomaides-Brears, Alison Telford, Arun Sanyal, Stefan Neubauer, Thomas E. Nichols, Betty Raman, Celeste McCracken, Steffen E. Petersen, Ntobeko A. B. Ntusi, Daniel J. Cuthbertson, Michele Lai, Andrea Dennis, Amitava Banerjee
Summary: This study found that early signs of liver disease, measured by cT1, were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Liver disease activity (cT1) was associated with major CVD events, CVD hospitalisation, and all-cause mortality, while liver fat (PDFF) was not associated.
JOURNAL OF HEPATOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Ahmed M. M. Salih, Esmeralda Ruiz Pujadas, Victor M. Campello, Celeste McCracken, Nicholas C. C. Harvey, Stefan Neubauer, Karim Lekadir, Thomas E. E. Nichols, Steffen E. E. Petersen, Zahra Raisi-Estabragh
Summary: This study estimates the biological age of different cardiac regions using magnetic resonance imaging radiomics phenotypes and investigates the determinants of aging in those regions. The results show associations between age gap and factors like visceral adiposity, mental health, dental problems, and bone mineral density.
JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING
(2023)
Letter
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Brenden Tervo-Clemmens, Scott Marek, Roselyne J. Chauvin, Andrew N. Van, Benjamin P. Kay, Timothy O. Laumann, Wesley K. Thompson, Thomas E. Nichols, B. T. Thomas Yeo, Deanna M. Barch, Beatriz Luna, Damien A. Fair, Nico U. F. Dosenbach
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Anya C. Topiwala, Thomas Nichols, Logan Z. J. Williams, Emma Robinson, Fidel P. Alfaro-Almagro, Bernd L. Taschler, Chaoyue Wang, Christopher J. Nelson, Karla M. Miller, Veryan Codd, Nilesh Samani, Stephen Smith
Summary: Telomeres form protective caps at the ends of chromosomes and their attrition is linked to biological aging. Short telomeres are associated with increased risk of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including dementia. The relationship between telomere length and neuroimaging markers is not well-defined.
Article
Mathematical & Computational Biology
Farhad Hatami, Alex Ocampo, Gordon Graham, Thomas E. Nichols, Habib Ganjgahi
Summary: In this article, an optimization technique for fitting continuous time Markov models (CTMM) in the presence of covariates is proposed. This technique combines a stochastic gradient descent algorithm with differentiation of the matrix exponential using a Pade approximation, making it feasible to fit large scale data. Two methods for computing standard errors are presented, one utilizing the Pade expansion and the other using power series expansion of the matrix exponential. Simulation results show improved performance compared to existing CTMM methods, and the method is demonstrated on a large-scale multiple sclerosis NO.MS dataset.
Article
Neurosciences
Gina-Isabelle Henze, Julian Konzok, Brigitte M. Kudielka, Stefan Wuest, Thomas E. Nichols, Ludwig Kreuzpointner
Summary: This study investigated the relationship between neural measures of limbic structures and hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis responses to acute stress exposure in healthy young adults. The findings suggest that limbic volume and thickness measures are associated with acute cortisol stress responses, providing new insights into the involvement of striato-limbic structures in psychosocial stress processing.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
