The Logan River watershed, located in Northern Utah, USA, consists of a relatively pristine, mountainous area that drains to a lower elevation, valley area influenced by both urban development and ...agriculture. The Logan River Observatory has been collecting aquatic (streamflow and water quality) and climate data throughout the Logan River watershed since 2014. While streamflow measurements are commonly made at the outlets of research watersheds, the Logan River watershed consists of diverse hydrologic, topographic, and geologic settings that require a detailed understanding of streamflow variability over time at many locations. Here, we illustrate: (a) the importance of collecting streamflow time series throughout complex watersheds, and (b) how simple flow balances can provide much needed hydrologic insight into the locations and timing of gains and losses over reaches to guide future investigations.
Abstract DNAJC13 mutations have been suggested to cause Parkinson's disease (PD), yet subsequent studies reported conflicting results on this association. In the present study, we sequenced the ...coding region of DNAJC13 in a French-Canadian/French cohort of 528 PD patients and 692 controls. A total of 62 (11.7%) carriers of rare DNAJC13 variants were identified among the PD patients compared with 82 (11.8%) among controls ( p = 1.0). Two variants that were previously suggested to be associated with PD, p.R1516H and p.L2170W, were identified with similar directions of association as previously reported. The p.R1516H was found in 2 (0.4%) patients versus 6 (0.9%, nonsignificant) controls and the p.L2170W variant was found in 9 (1.7%) patients and 5 (0.7%, nonsignificant) controls. Meta-analysis with previous reports resulted in odds ratios of 0.32 (95% confidence interval = 0.15–0.68, p = 0.0037) and 2.68 (95% confidence interval = 1.32–5.42, p = 0.007), respectively. Our results provide some support for the possibility that specific DNAJC13 variants may play a minor role in PD susceptibility, although studies in additional populations are necessary.
The present study aimed to examine whether the APOE ε4 allele, associated with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and possibly with dementia in Parkinson's disease (PD), is also associated with ...idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD). Two single nucleotide polymorphisms, rs429358 and rs7412, were genotyped in RBD patients (n = 480) and in controls (n = 823). APOE ε4 allele frequency was 0.14 among RBD patients and 0.13 among controls (OR = 1.11, 95% CI: 0.88–1.40, p = 0.41). APOE ε4 allele frequencies were similar in those who converted to DLB (0.14) and those who converted to Parkinson's disease (0.12) or multiple system atrophy (0.14, p = 1.0). The APOE ε4 allele is neither a risk factor for RBD nor it is associated with conversion from RBD to DLB or other synucleinopathies.
Abstract Variants in the RIC3 gene have recently been suggested as a novel cause of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Herein, the entire RIC3 gene was sequenced in a French-Canadian and French sample series ...of 535 PD patients and 527 unaffected controls. The effect of single variants and the combined effect of variants were calculated. Sequence Kernel association tests (SKAT, SKAT-O) were done on the entire gene level, and on the different domains and exons of RIC3 . A total of 28 common and rare variants were identified in patients and controls. No significant association was found between any variant and haplotype in RIC3 and PD, and there was no over-representation of RIC3 variants at the entire gene, domain, or exon levels in patients vs. controls. Our results do not support a role for RIC3 mutations as a common cause of PD in the French Canadian and French populations.
Abstract The MC1R gene, suggested to be involved in Parkinson disease (PD) and melanoma, was sequenced in PD patients (n = 539) and controls (n = 265) from New York, and PD patients (n = 551), rapid ...eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD) patients (n = 351), and controls (n = 956) of European ancestry. Sixty-eight MC1R variants were identified, including 7 common variants with frequency > 0.01. None of the common variants was associated with PD or RBD in the different regression models. In a meta-analysis with fixed-effect model, the p.R160W variant was associated with an increased risk for PD (odds ratio = 1.22, 95% confidence interval = 1.02–1.47, p = 0.03) but with significant heterogeneity ( p = 0.048). Removing one study that introduced the heterogeneity resulted in nonsignificant association (odds ratio = 1.11, 95% confidence interval, 0.92–1.35, p = 0.27, heterogeneity p = 0.57). Rare variants had similar frequencies in patients and controls (10.54% and 10.15%, respectively, p = 0.75), and no cumulative effect of carrying more than one MC1R variant was found. The present study does not support a role for the MC1R p.R160W and other variants in susceptibility for PD or RBD.
Intracranial Aneurysm (IA) is a common disease with a worldwide prevalence of 1-3%. In the French-Canadian (FC) population, where there is an important founder effect, the incidence of IA is higher ...and is frequently seen in families. In this study, we genotyped a cohort of 257 mostly familial FC IA patients and 1,992 FC controls using the Illumina NeuroX SNP-chip. The most strongly associated loci were tested in 34 Inuit IA families and in 32 FC IA patients and 106 FC controls that had been exome sequenced (WES). After imputation, one locus at 3p14.2 (FHIT, rs1554600, p = 4.66 × 10
) reached a genome-wide significant level of association and a subsequent validation in Nunavik Inuit cohort further confirmed the significance of the FHIT variant association (rs780365, FBAT-O, p = 0.002839). Additionally, among the other promising loci (p < 5 × 10
), the one at 3q13.2 (rs78125721, p = 4.77 × 10
), which encompasses CCDC80, also showed an increased mutation burden in the WES data (CCDC80, SKAT-O, p = 0.0005). In this study, we identified two new potential IA loci in the FC population: FHIT, which is significantly associated with hypertensive IA, and CCDC80, which has potential genetic and functional relevance to IA pathogenesis, providing evidence on the additional risk loci for familial IA. We also replicated the previous IA GWAS risk locus 18q11.2, and suggested a potential locus at 8p23.1 that warrants further study.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is the most common motor neuron diseases (MND), while frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is the second most common cause of early-onset dementia. Many ALS ...families segregating FTLD have been reported, particularly over the last decade. Recently, mutations in TARDBP, FUS/TLS, and C9ORF72 have been identified in both ALS and FTLD patients, while mutations in VCP, a FTLD associated gene, have been found in ALS families. Distinct variants located in the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of the SIGMAR1 gene were previously reported in three unrelated FTLD or FTLD-MND families. We directly sequenced the coding and UTR regions of the SIGMAR1 gene in a targeted cohort of 25 individual familial ALS cases of Caucasian origin with a history of cognitive impairments. This screening identified one variant in the 3'-UTR of the SIGMAR1 gene in one ALS patient, but the same variant was also observed in 1 out of 380 control chromosomes. Subsequently, we screened the same samples for a C9ORF72 repeat expansion: 52% of this cohort was found expanded, including the sample with the SIGMAR1 3'-UTR variant. Consequently, coding and noncoding variants located in the 3'-UTR region of the SIGMAR1 gene are not the cause of FTLD-MND in our cohort, and more than half of this targeted cohort is genetically explained by C9ORF72 repeat expansions.
To test for somatic
hexanucleotide repeat expansion (HRE) and hexanucleotide repeat length instability in the spinal cord of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cases.
Whole and partial spinal cords ...of 19 ALS cases were dissected into transversal sections (5 mm thick). The presence of
HRE was tested in each independent section using RepeatPrimed PCR and amplicon-size genotyping. Index measures for the testing of mosaicism were obtained through serial dilutions of genomic DNA from an individual carrying a germline
HRE in the genomic DNA of an individual without a
HRE.
None of the sections examined supported the presence of a subpopulation of cells with a
HRE. Moreover, the
hexanucleotide repeat lengths measured were identical across all the spinal cord sections of each individual patient.
We did not observe somatic instability of the
HRE in disease relevant tissues of ALS cases.
The Zero Childhood Cancer Program is a precision medicine program to benefit children with poor-outcome, rare, relapsed or refractory cancer. Using tumor and germline whole genome sequencing (WGS) ...and RNA sequencing (RNAseq) across 252 tumors from high-risk pediatric patients with cancer, we identified 968 reportable molecular aberrations (39.9% in WGS and RNAseq, 35.1% in WGS only and 25.0% in RNAseq only). Of these patients, 93.7% had at least one germline or somatic aberration, 71.4% had therapeutic targets and 5.2% had a change in diagnosis. WGS identified pathogenic cancer-predisposing variants in 16.2% of patients. In 76 central nervous system tumors, methylome analysis confirmed diagnosis in 71.1% of patients and contributed to a change of diagnosis in two patients (2.6%). To date, 43 patients have received a recommended therapy, 38 of whom could be evaluated, with 31% showing objective evidence of clinical benefit. Comprehensive molecular profiling resolved the molecular basis of virtually all high-risk cancers, leading to clinical benefit in some patients.
Acute respiratory failure (ARF) is a frequent emergency department (ED) presentation. The definition and common causes of ARF are discussed in this article and ED management of the condition is ...discussed, using an illustrative case report. The paper considers the role of B-type natriuretic peptide in diagnosis and non-invasive ventilation (NIV) in treatment. Intensive care unit admission denial is common in ARF, although the evidence base is lacking. Finally, the decision-making process is described when a patient with ARF fails to improve with NIV.
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