Artificial stone-associated silicosis in China: A prospective comparison with natural stone-associated silicosis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

We recently noted a dramatic increase in the number of patients with accelerated silicosis associated with exposure to artificial stone dust. Therefore, the natural history of artificial stone-associated silicosis was compared with that of natural stone-associated silicosis.

METHODS

A total of 18 patients with artificial stone-associated silicosis and 63 with natural stone-associated silicosis were diagnosed sequentially in 2018 and followed up for a period of 6-12 months. Data were collected from clinical charts.

RESULTS

The median duration of exposure prior to onset of symptoms of silicosis was shorter for patients who had been exposed to artificial stone dust (6.4 vs 29.3 years, P < 0.01). Four of the 18 patients experienced rapid deterioration in lung function over the follow-up period, with declines in pre-bronchodilator FVC of 587 (210-960) mL/year and FEV1 of 625 (360-860) mL/year. GGO, PMF, emphysema and pulmonary artery widening were more frequently observed on computed tomography scans of patients with artificial stone-associated silicosis than of those with natural stone-associated silicosis. Approximately 38.9% of the patients with artificial stone-associated silicosis were lung transplant candidates and 27.8% died, both rates being significantly higher than in patients with natural stone-associated silicosis (3.2% and 0%, both P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Compared to natural stone-associated silicosis, artificial stone-associated silicosis was characterized by short latency, rapid radiological progression, accelerated decline in lung function and high mortality.

Association of Dysplastic Coronoid Process with Long-Face Morphology

Vertical malocclusion is a developmental condition, resulting from complex interactions among multiple etiological factors during the growth period. As a tricky dentofacial deformity clinically, long-face (LF) morphology is characterized by excessive vertical facial growth with severe disarrangement of jaws and teeth. Since the improvement of LF patients on facial profile and occlusion is often difficult and lacks long-term stability, it becomes important to unravel the etiology of LF pattern formation for early prevention and treatment. In the current studies, we identified a transgenic mouse model that exhibited a dysplastic coronoid process and LF morphology. Although the mutant mice exhibited jaw structures and occlusion comparable to controls at birth, they all acquired typical LF morphology with anterior open bite during postnatal growth, resembling clinical features of the selected skeletal class III patients. Since the coronoid process provides an insertion site for the temporalis attachment, we examined the initial development and differentiation of the temporalis and found identical results in both control and mutant mice before E17.5 when the temporal muscle makes attachment to the coronoid process. However, thereafter, we observed altered orientation and reduced size of the cross-sectional area of the temporalis in mutant mice, which persisted to the weaning stage. Biomechanical analysis and simulation modeling further support the idea that altered morphology of the coronoid process may impair the efficiency of the vertical temporalis contraction and appears to correlate with LF formation. Consistently, we present evidence that a dysplastic mandibular coronoid process was also seen in some human patients with skeletal III LF morphology. Taken together, the results presented in this study establish an association of the craniofacial bony structures with vertical patterning, which will have implications in earlier prediction for clinical precaution and intervention.

[Epidemiologic characteristics of fall in the elderly in urban and rural areas in Shanghai]

Objective: To understand the epidemiologic characteristics of fall in the elderly in Shanghai, as well as the differences between urban and rural areas, and provide evidence for targeted fall prevention and intervention. Methods: From January to March in 2017, a questionnaire survey was conducted in the elderly aged 60 or above selected from 7 urban communities and 6 rural communities in Shanghai to understand the epidemiologic characteristics of fall in the elderly and analyze the gender and urban-rural differences. Results: In urban area, a total of 3 386 elderly people were surveyed, in whom 441 (13.0%) had fall and 261 (7.7%) were injured after fall. In rural area, a total of 2 826 elderly people were surveyed, in whom 320 (11.3%) had fall and 169 (6.0%) were injured after fall. Fall risk in women were higher than that in men in both urban and rural areas with OR of 1.62 (95%CI: 1.42-1.86) and 1.16 (95%CI: 1.38-1.98) respectively, but the differences of fall related injury were not significant. Compared with urban areas, fall risk and fall related injury risk were both lower in rural areas with OR of 0.86 (95%CI: 0.73-0.99) and 0.74 (95%CI: 0.56-0.99). Compared with urban areas, men had lower risk for fall, and women had lower risk for fall related injury with OR of 0.68 (95%CI: 0.51-0.90) and 0.66 (95%CI: 0.47-0.93) respectively. Fall mainly occurred at home. Fall in urban area more frequently occurred on stairs, and fall in rural area more frequently occurred during farming. More than 60% of the falls had environmental risk factors. Slippery ground and uneven ground were main reasons. The incidence of fracture resulted from fall was high indicated by 89 fracture cases in urban areas (28.2%) and 64 fracture cases in rural areas (36.1%). Conclusions: The risk for fall in Shanghai had gender and urban-rural differences. Targeted intervention should be conducted according to the characteristics of fall in the elderly.

A heterologous 'prime-boost' anti-PEDV immunization for pregnant sows protects neonatal piglets through lactogenic immunity against PEDV

Abstract

Porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus (PEDV) causes severe diarrhoea in neonatal suckling piglets with a high mortality. Maternal vaccines that can induce lactogenic immunity to protect suckling piglets via colostrums and milk are pivotal for the prevention and control of PEDV infection in neonatal suckling piglets. In this study, a group of pregnant sows were first orally immunized with coated PEDV‐loaded microspheres and boosted with killed PEDV vaccines (heterologous prime‐boost). It has been detected that the levels of PEDV‐specific antibodies (IgG and IgA) in their sera and milks were higher than other negative groups (P < 0·001 or P < 0·05). Furthermore, it has been proved by the neutralization assay that the induced antibodies could significantly inhibit virus infection as compared to other negative groups (P < 0·01 or P < 0·05). Importantly, after PEDV challenge, more than 90% of the suckling piglets delivered by the sows in the heterologous prime‐boost group were completely protected. Overall, the results show that ‘heterologous prime‐boost’ form is an efficient and effective way to provide protection for suckling piglets against PEDV through lactogenic immunity.

Significance and Impact of the Study

As a widespread swine pathogen, PEDV affects the swine industry enormously. It causes enteritis in swine of all ages and is often fatal in neonatal piglets. Our data show that pregnant sows were immunized with ‘coated PEDV‐loaded microspheres + killed PEDV vaccines’ (heterologous prime‐boost immunization) could protect more than 90% suckling piglets delivered by the sows against the virus. These findings provide a new model of developing safe and effective immunizations for newborn animals against established and emerging enteric infections.

[Effects of parthenolide on estradiol-synthesizing enzyme, ER isoforms and VEGF in human endometriotic stromal cells]

Objective: To evaluate the effects of parthenolide on estradiol-synthesizing enzyme, steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), and ER isoforms,VEGF in human endometriotic stromal cells. Methods: Primary endometriotic stromal cells were treated with different concentrations (1, 5, 10 and 20 μmol/L) of parthenolide. The mRNA of StAR, ER isoforms (ERα and ERβ), PR, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumour necrosis factor-α (TNFα), tumour necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) 1, TNFR2 were measured by real-time PCR. The levels of estradiol and progesterone in the cell supernatant were measured by ELISA. Results: Different concentrations of parthenolide could up-regulate the mRNA of StAR in primary endometriotic stromal cells (F=5.722, P<0.05); the mRNA of StAR in the group of 20 μmol/L was significantly higher than that of the control group [2.6±0.3 versus 1.0, P<0.01]. Different concentrations of parthenolide could down-regulate the mRNA of ERα (F=6.921, P<0.01); the mRNA of ERα in the group of 20 μmol/L and 10 μmol/L were significantly lower than those of the control group [0.2±0.3 versus 0.3±0.3 versus 1.0, all P<0.05]. Different concentrations of parthenolide could down-regulate the ratios of ERα/ERβ mRNA levels (F=4.209, P<0.05). Different concentrations of parthenolide could up-regulate the mRNA of VEGF and TNFR1 (F=10.964, P<0.01; F=7.286, P<0.01). There were no statiscal significances with different concentrations of parthenolide on the mRNA of ERβ, PR, IL-6, TNFα and TNFR2, and the levels of estradiol and progesterone in the cell supernatant (all P>0.05). Conclusions: Parthenolide may regulate the expression of estradiol-synthesizing enzyme, ER isoforms and angiogenesis in endometriotic stromal cells. Parthenolide may promote the development of endometriosis.

[Studies on the role of chromobox protein homolog 2 in the inhibition of progression of hepatoma]

Objective: To explore chromobox protein homolog 2 (CBX2) expressions in relation to clinical features of patients and elucidate its role in the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma. Methods: Using the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, R language was used to analyze the distribution of differentially expressed mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma. The different expression of CBX2 in HCC and adjacent tissues and its relationship with survival and clinical characteristics of patients were further analyzed. The expression of CBX2 in liver tissues, liver cancer tissue, and L02, HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cell lines was detected by real time-PCR and western blot. The expression of CBX2 was interfered by siRNA in hepatoma cell line. MTT, colony formation, transwell assays, and flow cytometry were used to identify the proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and clone-formation ability of HepG2 and SMMC-7721 cells after CBX2 down-regulation. According to the different data, t-test, ANOVA, chi-square test, and COX regression model were used for statistical analysis. Survival curve was plotted through Kaplan-Meier method. Results: TCGA public database analysis showed that the expression of CBX2 mRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues (7.296 ± 1.6115) was significantly higher than normal liver tissues (4.706 ± 0.940) (P = 0.000). In addition, the overall survival time of patients with low CBX2 mRNA expression was significantly longer than that of patients with high CBX2 mRNA expression [(5.971 ± 0.411) years vs. (4.650 ± 0.503) years, P = 0.001]. The expression level of CBX2 mRNA was correlated with the pathological TNM stage (P = 0.025) and differentiation degree (P < 0.001) of liver cancer. COX regression analysis showed that CBX2 mRNA expression was an independent predictor of patient survival (P = 0.013). siRNA was transfected and compared with the blank control group. The transgenic ability of HepG2 and SMMC-77221 cells decreased significantly at 72h (P < 0.05) and 96h (P < 0.05), and the apoptosis rate (11.430% ± 0.215%) was higher than blank control group (6.6 00% ± 0.170%) (P = 0.003). The number of invasive cells ((both P < 0.05) and relative colony forming cells ((both P < 0.001) were significantly decreased. In 20 cases of tissue samples, the expression of CBX2 protein (relative expression level 3.020 ± 0.269) in liver cancer was higher than that in adjacent tissues (relative expression level 0.886±0.065) (P < 0.001). The overall survival time of patients with low CBX2 expression in liver cancer was longer than that of patients with high expression [(3.670 + 0.576) years vs. (0.834 + 0.153) years, P = 0.004]. Conclusion: An evident high expression of CBX2 is an independent poor prognostic factor in hepatoma. Down-regulation of CBX2 expression can inhibit the progression of liver cancer. Therefore, CBX2 may be a prognostic biomarker and a new target for HCC treatment.

Multiple eigenmodes of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability observed for a fluid interface with smoothly varying density

In this article, multiple eigen-systems including linear growth rates and eigen-functions have been discovered for the Rayleigh-Taylor instability (RTI) by numerically solving the Sturm-Liouville eigen-value problem in the case of two-dimensional plane geometry. The system called the first mode has the maximal linear growth rate and is just extensively studied in literature. Higher modes have smaller eigen-values, but possess multi-peak eigen-functions which bring on multiple pairs of vortices in the vorticity field. A general fitting expression for the first four eigen-modes is presented. Direct numerical simulations show that high modes lead to appearances of multi-layered spike-bubble pairs, and lots of secondary spikes and bubbles are also generated due to the interactions between internal spikes and bubbles. The present work has potential applications in many research and engineering areas, e.g., in reducing the RTI growth during capsule implosions in inertial confinement fusion.

Altered White Matter Microstructure in the Corpus Callosum and Its Cerebral Interhemispheric Tracts in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Diffusion Tensor Imaging Analysis

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Neural system was one of the important contributors to the etiopathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis; additionally, the morphology of corpus callosum interconnecting both hemispheres of the brain was found to be altered morphologically. Our aim was to evaluate and compare the microstructural changes of the corpus callosum and its interhemispheric white matter fiber tracts interconnecting both cerebral hemispheres in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and matched controls using diffusion tensor imaging.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Brain DTI was performed in 69 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (female, right thoracic/thoracolumbar curve) and 40 age-matched controls without adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (female). 2D and 3D segmentation of the corpus callosum were performed using a region-growing method, and the corpus callosum was further divided into 6 regions, including the rostrum, genu, anterior and posterior midbodies, isthmus, and splenium. The laterality index was calculated to quantify the asymmetry of the corpus callosum. Interhemispheric fiber tractography were performed using the Brodmann atlas.

RESULTS

2D ROI analysis revealed reduced fractional anisotropy in the genu and splenium (P = .075 and P = .024, respectively). Consistently reduced fractional anisotropy on the left sides of the genu and splenium was also found in 3D ROI analysis (P = .03 and P = .012, respectively). The laterality index analysis revealed a pseudo-right lateralization of the corpus callosum in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Interhemispheric fibers via the splenium interconnecting Brodmann 3, 1, and 2; Brodmann 17; and Brodmann 18 (corresponding to the primary somatosensory cortex and primary and secondary visual cortices) were also found to have reduced fractional anisotropy (P ≤ .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Reduced fractional anisotropy was found in the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum and corresponding interhemispheric fiber tracts interconnecting the somatosensory and visual cortices via the splenium. Our results are suggestive of altered white matter microstructure within the brain of those with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, which could be related to abnormal brain maturation during adolescence in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and could possibly explain the previously documented somatosensory function impairment and visuo-oculomotor dysfunction in this condition.

Genetic epidemiology of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus circulating in China in 2012-2017 based on spike gene

A porcine epidemic diarrhoea outbreak first occurred in southern China at the end of 2010 and afterwards the disease spread throughout the country. Spike gene is divergent and important for understanding the genetic relations of porcine epidemic diarrhoea virus field strains, the epidemiological status of the virus and vaccine development. In this study, S1 regions of spike gene of 1,235 selected strains collected from 2012 to 2017 in China were clustered along with 25 references of spike sequences mainly from China. The phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that these sequences of S1 regions were genetically more diverse with time. In all strains, G1a, G1b, G2a and G2b clusters accounted for 1.9%, 9.6%, 32.2% and 56.3%, respectively, namely G2a and G2b were the two most prevalent clusters in China. Furthermore, we made a more detailed classification for G2 group based on phylogenetic tree, in which G2a was divided into two subgroups, and G2b was separated into four subgroups.

Attenuated heart rate recovery predicts risk of incident diabetes: insights from a meta-analysis

AIMS

To assess the association between attenuated heart rate recovery, a non-invasive measure of autonomic dysfunction, and risk of diabetes in the general population.

METHODS

Databases were searched for cohort studies up to May 2017 that reported the association of heart rate recovery with the risk of diabetes. The overall hazard ratios for slowest vs fastest heart rate recovery (the referent) and for every 10-beats-per-min decrement in heart rate recovery were calculated using a random effects meta-analysis model.

RESULTS

Four cohort studies with 430 incident cases of diabetes among a total of 9113 participants during a mean follow-up period of 8.1 years were included. Results showed that the slowest heart rate recovery was associated with a higher risk of diabetes (hazard ratio 1.66, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.38) vs the fastest heart rate recovery, and the hazard ratio of risk of diabetes for every 10-beats-per-min decrement in heart rate recovery was 1.29 (95% CI 1.13 to 1.48). No significant interaction effect was observed regarding the efficacy of 1-min and 2-min heart rate recovery in predicting risk of diabetes (both P_{for interaction} >0.60); however, a linear dose-response relationship existed for overall studies and for studies using 1-min heart rate recovery as the exposure (both P >0.60 for non-linearity).

CONCLUSIONS

Attenuated heart rate recovery is associated with an increased risk of diabetes in a dose-dependent manner, and measurement of heart rate recovery is worth recommending as part of diabetes risk assessment in clinical routines.

Association between increased small airway obstruction and asbestos exposure in patients with asbestosis

BACKGROUND

Asbestos exposure may cause asbestos-related lung diseases including asbestosis, pleural abnormalities and malignancies. The role of asbestos exposure in the development of small airway obstruction remains controversial. Anatomic and physiologic small airway abnormalities may develop as part of the pathophysiologic process of asbestosis. We hypothesized that inhalation of asbestos may induce small airway defects in addition to asbestosis and pleural abnormalities.

METHODS

In total, 281 patients with newly diagnosed asbestosis were evaluated. Clinical data were collected from the patients' medical charts. The patients were classified into various stages according to their chest X-ray findings using the International Labour Organization classification. Pulmonary function was evaluated by plethysmography and the forced oscillation technique.

RESULTS

Expiratory flow, including the predicted values of the maximum expiratory flow between 25% and 50% of the forced vital capacity (MEF_25-50 ), was significantly lower in the different stages of asbestosis. Accordingly, the predicted percentage of R₅ -R₂₀ was significantly higher with increasing stages of asbestosis. Furthermore, the duration of exposure to asbestos was significantly associated with the forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV₁ )/forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio and the predicted percentage of MEF₂₅ or MEF₅₀ according to the regression analysis in non-smoking patients with asbestosis. The predicted percentage of FEV₁ or the FEV₁ /FVC ratio was significantly lower and the predicted percentage of R₅ -R₂₀ was significantly higher in smokers than non-smokers.

CONCLUSIONS

The patients with asbestosis have small airway obstructive defects that are significantly associated with asbestos exposure.

Serum concentrations of Krebs von den Lungen-6, surfactant protein D, and matrix metalloproteinase-2 as diagnostic biomarkers in patients with asbestosis and silicosis: a case-control study

BACKGROUND

Asbestosis and silicosis are progressive pneumoconioses characterized by interstitial fibrosis following exposure to asbestos or silica dust. We evaluated the potential diagnostic biomarkers for these diseases.

METHODS

The serum concentrations of Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6), surfactant protein D (SP-D), and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), MMP-7, and MMP-9 were measured in 43 patients with asbestosis, 45 patients with silicosis, 40 dust-exposed workers (DEWs) without pneumoconiosis, and 45 healthy controls (HCs). Chest high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) images were reviewed by experts blinded to the clinical data. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, the ideal level of each biomarker and its diagnostic sensitivity were obtained.

RESULTS

The serum KL-6 and MMP-2 concentrations were highest in patients with asbestosis, particularly in comparison with those in DEWs and HCs (P<0.05). The serum SP-D concentration was significantly higher in patients with asbestosis than in patients with silicosis, DEWs, and HCs (P<0.01), whereas no significant difference was noted among patients with silicosis, DEWs, and HCs. No significant difference in the serum MMP-7 or -9 concentration was found among patients with asbestosis, patients with silicosis, DEWs, or HCs. Among patients with asbestosis, the serum KL-6 concentration was significantly correlated with the lung fibrosis scores on HRCT and negatively correlated with the forced vital capacity (FVC) % predicted and diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DL_CO) % predicted. The serum SP-D and MMP-2 concentrations were negatively correlated with the DL_CO % predicted (all P<0.05). The order of diagnostic accuracy according to the ROC curve was KL-6, SP-D, and MMP-2 in patients with asbestosis alone and in the combination of both patients with asbestosis and those with silicosis. The combination of all three biomarkers may increase the possibility of diagnosing asbestosis (sensitivity, 93%; specificity, 57%) and both asbestosis and silicosis (sensitivity, 83%; specificity, 62%).

CONCLUSIONS

KL-6, SP-D, and MMP-2 are available biomarkers for the adjuvant diagnosis of asbestosis and silicosis. The combination of all three biomarkers may improve the diagnostic sensitivity for asbestosis and silicosis.

Hydroxysafflor yellow A attenuates the expression of inflammatory cytokines in acute soft tissue injury

We examined the effect of hydroxysafflor yellow A (HSYA) on the inflammatory response to strike-induced acute soft tissue injury in rats. Soft tissue injury was induced in rat leg muscles using a strike hammer, followed by intraperitoneal administration of HSYA at 16, 32, or 64 mg/kg. After 24 h, the rats were anaesthetized, blood and muscle samples were taken. Plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1β, and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-αwere measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Total RNA and protein were isolated from muscle tissue to determine the mRNA levels of IL-6, IL-1β, TNF-α, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, and intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, and the protein level of phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). Nuclear factor (NF)-κB expression was determined by muscle histopathology and immunohistochemistry. HSYA attenuated pathologic changes instrike-induced soft tissue inflammation. Treatment with HSYA also alleviated strike-induced increases in TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, VCAM-1, and ICAM-1mRNA levels and inhibited the increased activation of NF-κB and phosphorylation of p38 MAPK in muscle tissue. These findings suggest that HSYA effectively inhibits strike-induced inflammatory signal transduction in rats.

Human genome meeting 2016 : Houston, TX, USA. 28 February - 2 March 2016

O1 The metabolomics approach to autism: identification of biomarkers for early detection of autism spectrum disorder A. K. Srivastava, Y. Wang, R. Huang, C. Skinner, T. Thompson, L. Pollard, T. Wood, F. Luo, R. Stevenson O2 Phenome-wide association study for smoking- and drinking-associated genes in 26,394 American women with African, Asian, European, and Hispanic descents R. Polimanti, J. Gelernter O3 Effects of prenatal environment, genotype and DNA methylation on birth weight and subsequent postnatal outcomes: findings from GUSTO, an Asian birth cohort X. Lin, I. Y. Lim, Y. Wu, A. L. Teh, L. Chen, I. M. Aris, S. E. Soh, M. T. Tint, J. L. MacIsaac, F. Yap, K. Kwek, S. M. Saw, M. S. Kobor, M. J. Meaney, K. M. Godfrey, Y. S. Chong, J. D. Holbrook, Y. S. Lee, P. D. Gluckman, N. Karnani, GUSTO study group O4 High-throughput identification of specific qt interval modulating enhancers at the SCN5A locus A. Kapoor, D. Lee, A. Chakravarti O5 Identification of extracellular matrix components inducing cancer cell migration in the supernatant of cultivated mesenchymal stem cells C. Maercker, F. Graf, M. Boutros O6 Single cell allele specific expression (ASE) IN T21 and common trisomies: a novel approach to understand DOWN syndrome and other aneuploidies G. Stamoulis, F. Santoni, P. Makrythanasis, A. Letourneau, M. Guipponi, N. Panousis, M. Garieri, P. Ribaux, E. Falconnet, C. Borel, S. E. Antonarakis O7 Role of microRNA in LCL to IPSC reprogramming S. Kumar, J. Curran, J. Blangero O8 Multiple enhancer variants disrupt gene regulatory network in Hirschsprung disease S. Chatterjee, A. Kapoor, J. Akiyama, D. Auer, C. Berrios, L. Pennacchio, A. Chakravarti O9 Metabolomic profiling for the diagnosis of neurometabolic disorders T. R. Donti, G. Cappuccio, M. Miller, P. Atwal, A. Kennedy, A. Cardon, C. Bacino, L. Emrick, J. Hertecant, F. Baumer, B. Porter, M. Bainbridge, P. Bonnen, B. Graham, R. Sutton, Q. Sun, S. Elsea O10 A novel causal methylation network approach to Alzheimer’s disease Z. Hu, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, M. Xiong, David A Bennett O11 A microRNA signature identifies subtypes of triple-negative breast cancer and reveals MIR-342-3P as regulator of a lactate metabolic pathway A. Hidalgo-Miranda, S. Romero-Cordoba, S. Rodriguez-Cuevas, R. Rebollar-Vega, E. Tagliabue, M. Iorio, E. D’Ippolito, S. Baroni O12 Transcriptome analysis identifies genes, enhancer RNAs and repetitive elements that are recurrently deregulated across multiple cancer types B. Kaczkowski, Y. Tanaka, H. Kawaji, A. Sandelin, R. Andersson, M. Itoh, T. Lassmann, the FANTOM5 consortium, Y. Hayashizaki, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest O13 Elevated mutation and widespread loss of constraint at regulatory and architectural binding sites across 11 tumour types C. A. Semple O14 Exome sequencing provides evidence of pathogenicity for genes implicated in colorectal cancer E. A. Rosenthal, B. Shirts, L. Amendola, C. Gallego, M. Horike-Pyne, A. Burt, P. Robertson, P. Beyers, C. Nefcy, D. Veenstra, F. Hisama, R. Bennett, M. Dorschner, D. Nickerson, J. Smith, K. Patterson, D. Crosslin, R. Nassir, N. Zubair, T. Harrison, U. Peters, G. Jarvik, NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing Project O15 The tandem duplicator phenotype as a distinct genomic configuration in cancer F. Menghi, K. Inaki, X. Woo, P. Kumar, K. Grzeda, A. Malhotra, H. Kim, D. Ucar, P. Shreckengast, K. Karuturi, J. Keck, J. Chuang, E. T. Liu O16 Modeling genetic interactions associated with molecular subtypes of breast cancer B. Ji, A. Tyler, G. Ananda, G. Carter O17 Recurrent somatic mutation in the MYC associated factor X in brain tumors H. Nikbakht, M. Montagne, M. Zeinieh, A. Harutyunyan, M. Mcconechy, N. Jabado, P. Lavigne, J. Majewski O18 Predictive biomarkers to metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment J. B. Goldstein, M. Overman, G. Varadhachary, R. Shroff, R. Wolff, M. Javle, A. Futreal, D. Fogelman O19 DDIT4 gene expression as a prognostic marker in several malignant tumors L. Bravo, W. Fajardo, H. Gomez, C. Castaneda, C. Rolfo, J. A. Pinto O20 Spatial organization of the genome and genomic alterations in human cancers K. C. Akdemir, L. Chin, A. Futreal, ICGC PCAWG Structural Alterations Group O21 Landscape of targeted therapies in solid tumors S. Patterson, C. Statz, S. Mockus O22 Genomic analysis reveals novel drivers and progression pathways in skin basal cell carcinoma S. N. Nikolaev, X. I. Bonilla, L. Parmentier, B. King, F. Bezrukov, G. Kaya, V. Zoete, V. Seplyarskiy, H. Sharpe, T. McKee, A. Letourneau, P. Ribaux, K. Popadin, N. Basset-Seguin, R. Ben Chaabene, F. Santoni, M. Andrianova, M. Guipponi, M. Garieri, C. Verdan, K. Grosdemange, O. Sumara, M. Eilers, I. Aifantis, O. Michielin, F. de Sauvage, S. Antonarakis O23 Identification of differential biomarkers of hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma via transcriptome microarray meta-analysis S. Likhitrattanapisal O24 Clinical validity and actionability of multigene tests for hereditary cancers in a large multi-center study S. Lincoln, A. Kurian, A. Desmond, S. Yang, Y. Kobayashi, J. Ford, L. Ellisen O25 Correlation with tumor ploidy status is essential for correct determination of genome-wide copy number changes by SNP array T. L. Peters, K. R. Alvarez, E. F. Hollingsworth, D. H. Lopez-Terrada O26 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for interrogation of clinically relevant structural variation A. Hastie, Z. Dzakula, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Anantharaman, M. Saghbini, H. Cao, BioNano Genomics O27 Mutation spectrum in a pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) cohort and identification of associated truncating mutations in TBX4 C. Gonzaga-Jauregui, L. Ma, A. King, E. Berman Rosenzweig, U. Krishnan, J. G. Reid, J. D. Overton, F. Dewey, W. K. Chung O28 NORTH CAROLINA macular dystrophy (MCDR1): mutations found affecting PRDM13 K. Small, A. DeLuca, F. Cremers, R. A. Lewis, V. Puech, B. Bakall, R. Silva-Garcia, K. Rohrschneider, M. Leys, F. S. Shaya, E. Stone O29 PhenoDB and genematcher, solving unsolved whole exome sequencing data N. L. Sobreira, F. Schiettecatte, H. Ling, E. Pugh, D. Witmer, K. Hetrick, P. Zhang, K. Doheny, D. Valle, A. Hamosh O30 Baylor-Johns Hopkins Center for Mendelian genomics: a four year review S. N. Jhangiani, Z. Coban Akdemir, M. N. Bainbridge, W. Charng, W. Wiszniewski, T. Gambin, E. Karaca, Y. Bayram, M. K. Eldomery, J. Posey, H. Doddapaneni, J. Hu, V. R. Sutton, D. M. Muzny, E. A. Boerwinkle, D. Valle, J. R. Lupski, R. A. Gibbs O31 Using read overlap assembly to accurately identify structural genetic differences in an ashkenazi jewish trio S. Shekar, W. Salerno, A. English, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle O32 Legal interoperability: a sine qua non for international data sharing A. Thorogood, B. M. Knoppers, Global Alliance for Genomics and Health - Regulatory and Ethics Working Group O33 High throughput screening platform of competent sineups: that can enhance translation activities of therapeutic target H. Takahashi, K. R. Nitta, A. Kozhuharova, A. M. Suzuki, H. Sharma, D. Cotella, C. Santoro, S. Zucchelli, S. Gustincich, P. Carninci O34 The undiagnosed diseases network international (UDNI): clinical and laboratory research to meet patient needs J. J. Mulvihill, G. Baynam, W. Gahl, S. C. Groft, K. Kosaki, P. Lasko, B. Melegh, D. Taruscio O36 Performance of computational algorithms in pathogenicity predictions for activating variants in oncogenes versus loss of function mutations in tumor suppressor genes R. Ghosh, S. Plon O37 Identification and electronic health record incorporation of clinically actionable pharmacogenomic variants using prospective targeted sequencing S. Scherer, X. Qin, R. Sanghvi, K. Walker, T. Chiang, D. Muzny, L. Wang, J. Black, E. Boerwinkle, R. Weinshilboum, R. Gibbs O38 Melanoma reprogramming state correlates with response to CTLA-4 blockade in metastatic melanoma T. Karpinets, T. Calderone, K. Wani, X. Yu, C. Creasy, C. Haymaker, M. Forget, V. Nanda, J. Roszik, J. Wargo, L. Haydu, X. Song, A. Lazar, J. Gershenwald, M. Davies, C. Bernatchez, J. Zhang, A. Futreal, S. Woodman O39 Data-driven refinement of complex disease classification from integration of heterogeneous functional genomics data in GeneWeaver E. J. Chesler, T. Reynolds, J. A. Bubier, C. Phillips, M. A. Langston, E. J. Baker O40 A general statistic framework for genome-based disease risk prediction M. Xiong, L. Ma, N. Lin, C. Amos O41 Integrative large-scale causal network analysis of imaging and genomic data and its application in schizophrenia studies N. Lin, P. Wang, Y. Zhu, J. Zhao, V. Calhoun, M. Xiong O42 Big data and NGS data analysis: the cloud to the rescue O. Dobretsberger, M. Egger, F. Leimgruber O43 Cpipe: a convergent clinical exome pipeline specialised for targeted sequencing S. Sadedin, A. Oshlack, Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance O44 A Bayesian classification of biomedical images using feature extraction from deep neural networks implemented on lung cancer data V. A. A. Antonio, N. Ono, Clark Kendrick C. Go O45 MAV-SEQ: an interactive platform for the Management, Analysis, and Visualization of sequence data Z. Ahmed, M. Bolisetty, S. Zeeshan, E. Anguiano, D. Ucar O47 Allele specific enhancer in EPAS1 intronic regions may contribute to high altitude adaptation of Tibetans C. Zeng, J. Shao O48 Nanochannel based next-generation mapping for structural variation detection and comparison in trios and populations H. Cao, A. Hastie, A. W. Pang, E. T. Lam, T. Liang, K. Pham, M. Saghbini, Z. Dzakula O49 Archaic introgression in indigenous populations of Malaysia revealed by whole genome sequencing Y. Chee-Wei, L. Dongsheng, W. Lai-Ping, D. Lian, R. O. Twee Hee, Y. Yunus, F. Aghakhanian, S. S. Mokhtar, C. V. Lok-Yung, J. Bhak, M. Phipps, X. Shuhua, T. Yik-Ying, V. Kumar, H. Boon-Peng O50 Breast and ovarian cancer prevention: is it time for population-based mutation screening of high risk genes? I. Campbell, M.-A. Young, P. James, Lifepool O53 Comprehensive coverage from low DNA input using novel NGS library preparation methods for WGS and WGBS C. Schumacher, S. Sandhu, T. Harkins, V. Makarov O54 Methods for large scale construction of robust PCR-free libraries for sequencing on Illumina HiSeqX platform H. DoddapaneniR. Glenn, Z. Momin, B. Dilrukshi, H. Chao, Q. Meng, B. Gudenkauf, R. Kshitij, J. Jayaseelan, C. Nessner, S. Lee, K. Blankenberg, L. Lewis, J. Hu, Y. Han, H. Dinh, S. Jireh, K. Walker, E. Boerwinkle, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O55 Rapid capture methods for clinical sequencing J. Hu, K. Walker, C. Buhay, X. Liu, Q. Wang, R. Sanghvi, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Ding, N. Veeraraghavan, Y. Yang, E. Boerwinkle, A. L. Beaudet, C. M. Eng, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O56 A diploid personal human genome model for better genomes from diverse sequence data K. C. C. Worley, Y. Liu, D. S. T. Hughes, S. C. Murali, R. A. Harris, A. C. English, X. Qin, O. A. Hampton, P. Larsen, C. Beck, Y. Han, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, C. L. Kovar, W. J. Salerno, A. Yoder, S. Richards, J. Rogers, J. R. Lupski, D. M. Muzny, R. A. Gibbs O57 Development of PacBio long range capture for detection of pathogenic structural variants Q. Meng, M. Bainbridge, M. Wang, H. Doddapaneni, Y. Han, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs O58 Rhesus macaques exhibit more non-synonymous variation but greater impact of purifying selection than humans R. A. Harris, M. Raveenedran, C. Xue, M. Dahdouli, L. Cox, G. Fan, B. Ferguson, J. Hovarth, Z. Johnson, S. Kanthaswamy, M. Kubisch, M. Platt, D. Smith, E. Vallender, R. Wiseman, X. Liu, J. Below, D. Muzny, R. Gibbs, F. Yu, J. Rogers O59 Assessing RNA structure disruption induced by single-nucleotide variation J. Lin, Y. Zhang, Z. Ouyang P1 A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of mitochondrial dna copy number A. Moore, Z. Wang, J. Hofmann, M. Purdue, R. Stolzenberg-Solomon, S. Weinstein, D. Albanes, C.-S. Liu, W.-L. Cheng, T.-T. Lin, Q. Lan, N. Rothman, S. Berndt P2 Missense polymorphic genetic combinations underlying down syndrome susceptibility E. S. Chen P4 The evaluation of alteration of ELAM-1 expression in the endometriosis patients H. Bahrami, A. Khoshzaban, S. Heidari Keshal P5 Obesity and the incidence of apolipoprotein E polymorphisms in an assorted population from Saudi Arabia population K. K. R. Alharbi P6 Genome-associated personalized antithrombotical therapy for patients with high risk of thrombosis and bleeding M. Zhalbinova, A. Akilzhanova, S. Rakhimova, M. Bekbosynova, S. Myrzakhmetova P7 Frequency of Xmn1 polymorphism among sickle cell carrier cases in UAE population M. Matar P8 Differentiating inflammatory bowel diseases by using genomic data: dimension of the problem and network organization N. Mili, R. Molinari, Y. Ma, S. Guerrier P9 Vulnerability of genetic variants to the risk of autism among Saudi children N. Elhawary, M. Tayeb, N. Bogari, N. Qotb P10 Chromatin profiles from ex vivo purified dopaminergic neurons establish a promising model to support studies of neurological function and dysfunction S. A. McClymont, P. W. Hook, L. A. Goff, A. McCallion P11 Utilization of a sensitized chemical mutagenesis screen to identify genetic modifiers of retinal dysplasia in homozygous Nr2e3^rd7 mice Y. Kong, J. R. Charette, W. L. Hicks, J. K. Naggert, L. Zhao, P. M. Nishina P12 Ion torrent next generation sequencing of recessive polycystic kidney disease in Saudi patients B. M. Edrees, M. Athar, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. M. Taher, W. Khan, A. Bouazzaoui, N. A. Harbi, R. Safar, H. Al-Edressi, A. Anazi, N. Altayeb, M. A. Ahmed, K. Alansary, Z. Abduljaleel P13 Digital expression profiling of Purkinje neurons and dendrites in different subcellular compartments A. Kratz, P. Beguin, S. Poulain, M. Kaneko, C. Takahiko, A. Matsunaga, S. Kato, A. M. Suzuki, N. Bertin, T. Lassmann, R. Vigot, P. Carninci, C. Plessy, T. Launey P14 The evolution of imperfection and imperfection of evolution: the functional and functionless fractions of the human genome D. Graur P16 Species-independent identification of known and novel recurrent genomic entities in multiple cancer patients J. Friis-Nielsen, J. M. Izarzugaza, S. Brunak P18 Discovery of active gene modules which are densely conserved across multiple cancer types reveal their prognostic power and mutually exclusive mutation patterns B. S. Soibam P19 Whole exome sequencing of dysplastic leukoplakia tissue indicates sequential accumulation of somatic mutations from oral precancer to cancer D. Das, N. Biswas, S. Das, S. Sarkar, A. Maitra, C. Panda, P. Majumder P21 Epigenetic mechanisms of carcinogensis by hereditary breast cancer genes J. J. Gruber, N. Jaeger, M. Snyder P22 RNA direct: a novel RNA enrichment strategy applied to transcripts associated with solid tumors K. Patel, S. Bowman, T. Davis, D. Kraushaar, A. Emerman, S. Russello, N. Henig, C. Hendrickson P23 RNA sequencing identifies gene mutations for neuroblastoma K. Zhang P24 Participation of SFRP1 in the modulation of TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene in prostate cancer cell lines M. Rodriguez-Dorantes, C. D. Cruz-Hernandez, C. D. P. Garcia-Tobilla, S. Solorzano-Rosales P25 Targeted Methylation Sequencing of Prostate Cancer N. Jäger, J. Chen, R. Haile, M. Hitchins, J. D. Brooks, M. Snyder P26 Mutant TPMT alleles in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia from México City and Yucatán, Mexico S. Jiménez-Morales, M. Ramírez, J. Nuñez, V. Bekker, Y. Leal, E. Jiménez, A. Medina, A. Hidalgo, J. Mejía P28 Genetic modifiers of Alström syndrome J. Naggert, G. B. Collin, K. DeMauro, R. Hanusek, P. M. Nishina P31 Association of genomic variants with the occurrence of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitor (ACEI)-induced coughing among Filipinos E. M. Cutiongco De La Paz, R. Sy, J. Nevado, P. Reganit, L. Santos, J. D. Magno, F. E. Punzalan , D. Ona , E. Llanes, R. L. Santos-Cortes , R. Tiongco, J. Aherrera, L. Abrahan, P. Pagauitan-Alan; Philippine Cardiogenomics Study Group P32 The use of “humanized” mouse models to validate disease association of a de novo GARS variant and to test a novel gene therapy strategy for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2D K. H. Morelli, J. S. Domire, N. Pyne, S. Harper, R. Burgess P34 Molecular regulation of chondrogenic human induced pluripotent stem cells M. A. Gari, A. Dallol, H. Alsehli, A. Gari, M. Gari, A. Abuzenadah P35 Molecular profiling of hematologic malignancies: implementation of a variant assessment algorithm for next generation sequencing data analysis and clinical reporting M. Thomas, M. Sukhai, S. Garg, M. Misyura, T. Zhang, A. Schuh, T. Stockley, S. Kamel-Reid P36 Accessing genomic evidence for clinical variants at NCBI S. Sherry, C. Xiao, D. Slotta, K. Rodarmer, M. Feolo, M. Kimelman, G. Godynskiy, C. O’Sullivan, E. Yaschenko P37 NGS-SWIFT: a cloud-based variant analysis framework using control-accessed sequencing data from DBGAP/SRA C. Xiao, E. Yaschenko, S. Sherry P38 Computational assessment of drug induced hepatotoxicity through gene expression profiling C. Rangel-Escareño, H. Rueda-Zarate P40 Flowr: robust and efficient pipelines using a simple language-agnostic approach;ultraseq; fast modular pipeline for somatic variation calling using flowr S. Seth, S. Amin, X. Song, X. Mao, H. Sun, R. G. Verhaak, A. Futreal, J. Zhang P41 Applying “Big data” technologies to the rapid analysis of heterogenous large cohort data S. J. Whiite, T. Chiang, A. English, J. Farek, Z. Kahn, W. Salerno, N. Veeraraghavan, E. Boerwinkle, R. Gibbs P42 FANTOM5 web resource for the large-scale genome-wide transcription start site activity profiles of wide-range of mammalian cells T. Kasukawa, M. Lizio, J. Harshbarger, S. Hisashi, J. Severin, A. Imad, S. Sahin, T. C. Freeman, K. Baillie, A. Sandelin, P. Carninci, A. R. R. Forrest, H. Kawaji, The FANTOM Consortium P43 Rapid and scalable typing of structural variants for disease cohorts W. Salerno, A. English, S. N. Shekar, A. Mangubat, J. Bruestle, E. Boerwinkle, R. A. Gibbs P44 Polymorphism of glutathione S-transferases and sulphotransferases genes in an Arab population A. H. Salem, M. Ali, A. Ibrahim, M. Ibrahim P46 Genetic divergence of CYP3A5*3 pharmacogenomic marker for native and admixed Mexican populations J. C. Fernandez-Lopez, V. Bonifaz-Peña, C. Rangel-Escareño, A. Hidalgo-Miranda, A. V. Contreras P47 Whole exome sequence meta-analysis of 13 white blood cell, red blood cell, and platelet traits L. Polfus, CHARGE and NHLBI Exome Sequence Project Working Groups P48 Association of adipoq gene with type 2 diabetes and related phenotypes in african american men and women: The jackson heart study S. Davis, R. Xu, S. Gebeab, P Riestra, A Gaye, R. Khan, J. Wilson, A. Bidulescu P49 Common variants in casr gene are associated with serum calcium levels in koreans S. H. Jung, N. Vinayagamoorthy, S. H. Yim, Y. J. Chung P50 Inference of multiple-wave population admixture by modeling decay of linkage disequilibrium with multiple exponential functions Y. Zhou, S. Xu P51 A Bayesian framework for generalized linear mixed models in genome-wide association studies X. Wang, V. Philip, G. Carter P52 Targeted sequencing approach for the identification of the genetic causes of hereditary hearing impairment A. A. Abuzenadah, M. Gari, R. Turki, A. Dallol P53 Identification of enhancer sequences by ATAC-seq open chromatin profiling A. Uyar, A. Kaygun, S. Zaman, E. Marquez, J. George, D. Ucar P54 Direct enrichment for the rapid preparation of targeted NGS libraries C. L. Hendrickson, A. Emerman, D. Kraushaar, S. Bowman, N. Henig, T. Davis, S. Russello, K. Patel P56 Performance of the Agilent D5000 and High Sensitivity D5000 ScreenTape assays for the Agilent 4200 Tapestation System R. Nitsche, L. Prieto-Lafuente P57 ClinVar: a multi-source archive for variant interpretation M. Landrum, J. Lee, W. Rubinstein, D. Maglott P59 Association of functional variants and protein physical interactions of human MUTY homolog linked with familial adenomatous polyposis and colorectal cancer syndrome Z. Abduljaleel, W. Khan, F. A. Al-Allaf, M. Athar , M. M. Taher, N. Shahzad P60 Modification of the microbiom constitution in the gut using chicken IgY antibodies resulted in a reduction of acute graft-versus-host disease after experimental bone marrow transplantation A. Bouazzaoui, E. Huber, A. Dan, F. A. Al-Allaf, W. Herr, G. Sprotte, J. Köstler, A. Hiergeist, A. Gessner, R. Andreesen, E. Holler P61 Compound heterozygous mutation in the LDLR gene in Saudi patients suffering severe hypercholesterolemia F. Al-Allaf, A. Alashwal, Z. Abduljaleel, M. Taher, A. Bouazzaoui, H. Abalkhail, A. Al-Allaf, R. Bamardadh, M. Athar