Investigation of ACE, ACE2 and AGTR1 genes for association with nephropathy in Type 1 diabetes mellitus

Background Polymorphisms in ACE and AGTR1 genes have been assessed in multiple studies for association with diabetic nephropathy; however, results are conflicting. The ACE2 gene has not been studied extensively for association with diabetic nephropathy.

Association of VEGF-1499C -> T polymorphism with diabetic nephropathy in type 1 diabetes mellitus

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is reported to be implicated in the development of diabetic nephropathy. We performed a case-control study to determine if VEGF-2578C -> A, VEGF-1499C -> T, and VEGF-635G -> C single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the VEGF gene are associated with predisposition to diabetic nephropathy in type I diabetes. Genomic DNA was obtained from Irish type I diabetic individuals with nephropathy (cases, n=242) and those without nephropathy (controls, n=301), in addition to 400 healthy control samples. These samples were genotyped for the three SNPs using TaqMan or Pyrosequencing technology. Chi-squared analyses revealed no significant differences in genotype or allele frequencies in cases versus controls for VEGF-2578C -> A (genotype, P=.58; allele, P=.52) and VEGF-635G -> C (genotype, P=.58; allele, P=.33). However, a positive association with diabetic nephropathy was observed for the VEGF-1499T allele in the Northern Ireland population (P

Association of Genetic Variants at 3q22 with Nephropathy in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the primary cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) and affects about 30% of these patients. We have previously localized a DN locus on chromosome 3q with suggestive linkage in Finnish individuals. Linkage to this region has also been reported earlier by several other groups. To fine map this locus, we conducted a multistage case-control association study in T1DM patients, comprising 1822 cases with nephropathy and 1874 T1DM patients free of nephropathy, from Finland, Iceland, and the British Isles. At the screening stage, we genotyped 3072 tag SNPs, spanning a 28 Mb region, in 234 patients and 215 controls from Finland. SNPs that met the significance threshold of p

No Association of Dysbindin With Symptom Factors of Schizophrenia in an Irish Case-Control Sample

Robust associations between the dysbindin gene (DTNBP1) and schizophrenia have been demonstrated in many but not all samples, and evidence that this gene particularly predisposes to negative symptoms in this illness has been presented. The current study sought to replicate the previously reported negative symptom associations in an Irish case-control sample. Association between dysbindin and schizophrenia has been established in this cohort, and a factor analysis of the assessed symptoms yielded three factors, Positive, Negative, and Schneiderian. The sequential addition method was applied using UNPHASED to assess the relationship between these symptom factors and the high-risk haplotype. No associations were detected for any of the symptom factors indicating that the dysbindin risk haplotype does not predispose to a particular group of symptoms in this sample. Several possibilities, such as differing risk haplotypes, may explain this finding. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Do psychosocial factors moderate the association of fixed-term employment with work interference with family and sleeping problems in registered nurses: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey

Background: The use affixed-term employment has increased lately, particularly in Europe and in the health care sector. Previous studies have shown that especially among the health care sector employee's organizational justice perceptions and job control are important factors that are directly related to the welfare and attitudes of employees and may also help to buffer the negative impacts of many detrimental factors.

Association of impulsivity with sleep duration and insomnia in an employee population

Clinical studies have linked impulsivity and insomnia in patients, but little is known about this association in non-clinical settings. This study examined whether impulsive temperament is associated with sleep duration and insomnia complaints in a large cohort of hospital employees (535 men and 4014 women). Linear regression models were related to prospective data from two surveys conducted in 1998 and 2000. Adjustments were made for age, marital status, education, shift work, smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, physical activity, minor psychiatric morbidity, social support, somatic disease, depression and other psychiatric disease in 1998. In men, higher impulsivity predicted shorter sleep duration and waking up several times per night independent of baseline characteristics. In women, higher impulsivity predicted having difficulty falling asleep and waking up feeling tired after the usual amount of sleep after adjustment for most of covariates. However, these associations turned out to be non-significant after adjustment for somatic and psychiatric disease. These results support the hypothesis that impulsive temperament could be a risk factor for insomnia in men. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the association of ULXs with young superclusters: M82 X-1 and a new candidate in NGC 7479

We investigate the spatial coincidence of ultraluminous X-ray sources (ULXs) with young massive stellar clusters. In particular, we perform astrometry on Chandra and Hubble Space Telescope (HST) data of two ULXs that are possibly associated with such clusters.

Association of the G4 rotavirus genotype with gastroenteritis in adults

Rotavirus is the most common etiological cause of acute viral gastroenteritis in infants and young children worldwide, yet its role in the adult population is less well understood. We have recently identified rotavirus as the causative agent of severe diarrhea in adults, specifically in two gastroenteritis outbreaks in separate care for the elderly homes. Strain typing has shown the continued presence of P[8]G1, the emergence of P[8]G9, and the reemergence of P[8]G4. A total of 26 community cases and 6 outbreak cases of rotavirus infection, positive via a molecular screening assay, were subsequently amplified using VP4 and VP7 specific primers (Con2/Con3 and 1A/1B primer sets, respectively). The age range of patients investigated was from

Association of dietary fat intakes with risk of esophageal and gastric cancer in the NIH-AARP diet and health study

The aim of our study was to investigate whether intakes of total fat and fat subtypes were associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), gastric cardia or gastric noncardia adenocarcinoma. From 1995–1996, dietary intake data was reported by 494,978 participants of the NIH-AARP cohort. The 630 EAC, 215 ESCC, 454 gastric cardia and 501 gastric noncardia adenocarcinomas accrued to the cohort. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to examine the association between the dietary fat intakes, whilst adjusting for potential confounders. Although apparent associations were observed in energy-adjusted models, multivariate adjustment attenuated results to null [e.g., EAC energy adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.66 (1.27–2.18) p for trend <0.01; EAC multivariate adjusted HR (95% CI) 1.17 (0.84–1.64) p for trend 5 0.58]. Similar patterns were also observed for fat subtypes [e.g., EAC saturated fat, energy adjusted HR (95% CI) 1.79 (1.37–2.33) p for trend <0.01; EAC saturated fat, multivariate adjusted HR (95% CI) 1.27 (0.91–1.78) p for trend 5 0.28]. However, in multivariate models an inverse association for polyunsaturated fat (continuous) was seen for EAC in subjects with a body mass index (BMI) in the normal range (18.5–<25 kg/m2) [HR (95% CI) 0.76 (0.63–0.92)], that was not present in overweight subjects [HR (95% CI) 1.04 (0.96–1.14)], or in unstratified analysis [HR (95% CI) 0.97 (0.90–1.05)]. p for interaction 5 0.02. Overall, we found null associations between the dietary fat intakes with esophageal or gastric cancer risk; although a protective effect of polyunsaturated fat intake was seen for EAC in subjects with a normal BMI.

Association of MYH9/APOL1 with chronic kidney disease in a UK population

Following the first report on the association between MYH9 gene variants and glomerular disorders [1], many studies have evaluated MYH9 loci for association with a range of kidney diseases [2]. In 2010, functional mutations in the adjacent APOL1 gene were identified as the primary variants responsible for associations with kidney disease that had previously been attributed to the MHY9 gene [3]. Nevertheless, several loci within MHY9 continue to be independently reported as risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD) [2, 4].

Association between participation in life situations of children with cerebral palsy and their physical, social, and attitudinal environment:A cross-sectional multicenter European study

Objective:
To evaluate how participation of children with cerebral palsy (CP) varied with their environment.

Design:
Home visits to children. Administration of Assessment of Life Habits and European Child Environment Questionnaires. Structural equation modeling of putative associations between specific domains of participation and environment, while allowing for severity of child's impairments and pain.

Setting:
European regions with population-based registries of children with CP.

Participants:
Children (n=1174) aged 8 to 12 years were randomly selected from 8 population-based registries of children with CP in 6 European countries. Of these, 743 (63%) agreed to participate; 1 further region recruited 75 children from multiple sources. Thus, there were 818 children in the study.

Interventions:
Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measure:
Participation in life situations.

Results:
For the hypothesized associations, the models confirmed that higher participation was associated with better availability of environmental items. Higher participation in daily activities—mealtimes, health hygiene, personal care, and home life—was significantly associated with a better physical environment at home (P<.01). Mobility was associated with transport and physical environment in the community. Participation in social roles (responsibilities, relationships, recreation) was associated with attitudes of classmates and social support at home. School participation was associated with attitudes of teachers and therapists. Environment explained between 14% and 52% of the variation in participation.

Conclusions:
The findings confirmed the social model of disability. The physical, social, and attitudinal environment of disabled children influences their participation in everyday activities and social roles.