The telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene is responsible for telomere maintenance in germline and stem cells, and is re-expressed in 90% of human cancers. CpG methylation in the TERT promoter (TERTp) was correlated with TERT mRNA expression. Furthermore, two hotspot mutations in TERTp, dubbed C228T and C250T, have been revealed to facilitate binding of transcription factor ETS/TCF and subsequent TERT expression. This study aimed to elucidate the combined contribution of epigenetic (promoter methylation and chromatin accessibility) and genetic (promoter mutations) mechanisms in regulating TERT gene expression in healthy skin samples and in melanoma cell lines (n = 61). We unexpectedly observed that the methylation of TERTp was as high in a subset of healthy skin cells, mainly keratinocytes, as in cutaneous melanoma cell lines. In spite of the high promoter methylation fraction in wild-type (WT) samples, TERT mRNA was only expressed in the melanoma cell lines with either high methylation or intermediate methylation in combination with TERT mutations. TERTp methylation was positively correlated with chromatin accessibility and TERT mRNA expression in 8 melanoma cell lines. Cooperation between epigenetic and genetic mechanisms were best observed in heterozygous mutant cell lines as chromosome accessibility preferentially concerned the mutant allele. Combined, these results suggest a complex model in which TERT expression requires either a widely open chromatin state in TERTp-WT samples due to high methylation throughout the promoter or a combination of moderate methylation fraction/chromatin accessibility in the presence of the C228T or C250T mutations.BACKGROUND Homocysteine has been known as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. This study sought to evaluate the influence of homocysteine on the risk of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in asymptomatic individuals. METHODS We reviewed 3,186 asymptomatic individuals (mean age 53.8 ± 8.0 years, 2,202 men [69.1%]) with no prior history of coronary artery disease who voluntarily underwent coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) and laboratory tests as part of a general health examination. The subjects were stratified into tertiles according to their homocysteine levels. The degree and extent of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis were assessed by CCTA. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the association between homocysteine levels and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis. RESULTS The prevalence of significant coronary artery stenosis, any atherosclerotic, calcified, mixed, and non-calcified plaques increased with homocysteine tertiles (all p less then 0.05). However, after adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, there were no statistically significant differences in the adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for any atherosclerotic plaque (OR 1.06; 95% CI [confidence interval] 0.85-1.32; p = 0.610), calcified plaques (OR 1.17; 95% CI 0.92-1.48; p = 0.199), non-calcified plaques (OR 0.80; 95% CI 0.61-1.04; p = 0.089), and mixed plaques (OR 1.42; 95% CI 0.96-2.11; p = 0.077) between the third and first homocysteine tertiles. In addition, the adjusted OR for significant coronary artery stenosis (OR 0.92; 95% CI 0.63-1.36; p = 0.687) did not differ between the first and third tertiles. CONCLUSIONS In asymptomatic individuals, homocysteine is not associated with an increased risk of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis.With the global-scale loss of biodiversity, current restoration programs have been often required as part of conservation plans for species richness and ecosystem integrity. The restoration of pelagic-oriented cisco (Coregonus artedi) has been an interest of Lake Michigan managers because it may increase the diversity and resilience of the fish assemblages and conserve the integrity of the ecosystems in a changing environment. To inform restoration, we described historical habitat use of cisco by analyzing a unique fishery-independent dataset collected in 1930-1932 by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries' first research vessel Fulmar and a commercial catch dataset reported by the State of Michigan in the same period, both based on gear fished on the bottom. Our results confirmed that the two major embayments, Green Bay and Grand Traverse Bay, were important habitats for cisco and suggest that the Bays were capable of supporting cisco to complete its entire life cycle in the early 20th century as there was no lack of summer feeding and fall spawning habitats. Seasonally, our results showed that cisco stayed in nearshore waters in spring, migrated to offshore waters in summer, and then migrated back to nearshore waters in fall. The results also suggest that in summer, most ciscoes were in waters with bottom depths of 20-70 m, but the highest cisco density occurred in waters with a bottom depth around 40 m. We highlight the importance of embayment habitats to cisco restoration and the seasonal migration pattern of cisco identified in this study, which suggests that a restored cisco population can diversify the food web by occupying different habitats from the exotic fishes that now dominate the pelagic waters of Lake Michigan.BACKGROUND Women's participation in decision-making in the household is an indicator of women's empowerment. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/msab.html Few studies have compared domestic decision-making power and its effect on postpartum health between immigrant and native-born women. This study aimed to examine the effect of domestic decision-making power and social support during pregnancy on predicting postpartum depressive and physical symptoms among immigrant and native-born mothers in Taiwan. METHODS AND FINDINGS This prospective study recruited 177 marriage-based immigrant mothers and 230 native-born women who were at least twelve weeks pregnant from hospitals, clinics and health centers. Data were collected in the 2nd or 3rd trimester of pregnancy and at 3 months postpartum from March 2013 to March 2015. Postpartum depression and the severity of postpartum physical symptoms were measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and a 17-item, 4-point Likert scale, respectively. Linear regression was used to examine the relationship betwon-making power and social support during pregnancy are protective predictors of postpartum depressive and physical symptoms. However, the effect of domestic decision-making power appeared to be less salient for immigrants, probably due to the "healthy immigrant effect" and/or lower expectations toward domestic decision-making power among immigrants. The finding that immigrant women demonstrated a lower level of domestic decision-making power suggests that empowerment issues need to be addressed among immigrants.BACKGROUND The Modified Oswestry Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire (MODQ) is used for evaluating the functional disability in patients with low back pain (LBP). However, the measurement characteristics of the MODQ among Arab patients are unknown. In this study, we aimed to translate and cross-culturally adapt the MODQ into Arabic and evaluate its psychometric properties. METHODS An Arabic version of the MODQ was developed through forward translation, translation synthesis, and backward translation. Sixty-eight patients (55 males and 13 females) with a mean age 37.01 ± 7.57 years were recruited to assess its psychometric properties. Reliability was evaluated using internal consistency (Cronbach's α), test retest reliability (utilizing intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]), standard error of measurement (SEM), minimal detectable change at 95% confidence level (MDC95%), and 95% limits of agreement (LOA). The construct validity was investigated by correlating the new translation with four other measures of LBP (using Spearman's rho). Finally, receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed to compute the sensitivity, using the area under the curve (AUC), and the minimum important change (MIC). An alpha level of 0.05 was set for statistical tests and all the psychometric values were tested against a priori hypotheses. RESULTS The culturally aligned MODQ showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.85). The ICC, SEM, MDC95%, and LOA between baseline and two days later were 0.98, 1.60, 4.43, and -4.23 to 7.70, respectively, while the values between baseline and 14 days later were 0.94, 2.77, 7.67, and -6.59 to 13.53, respectively. The scale also demonstrated moderate to excellent correlation (rho = 0.54-0.86) with the other four questionnaires. The AUC value of the Arabic-MODQ was 0.68, and the MIC was 3 points. CONCLUSION The Arabic version of the MODQ demonstrates adequate psychometric properties and can be used to assess disability level in patients with LBP in Arabic-speaking communities.This study aimed to investigate the risk of metabolic syndrome (MS) in participants whose alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were within the normal range in the general population. A cross-sectional study was conducted using nationally representative samples from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-2015. A total of 43,402 adults (men, 17,535; women, 25,867) with ALT ≤40 U/L without a history of hepatitis B and C, liver cirrhosis, or liver cancer were analyzed. The risk of MS was evaluated according to the ALT level. The prevalence of MS significantly increased as the ALT levels increased. The proportions of MS in men were 12.6%, 25.2%, and 39.7% in the ALT levels of less then 15, 15~30, and 30~40 U/L, respectively (p less then 0.001), and those of women were 7.2%, 23.3%, and 44.7% in the ALT levels of less then 10, 10~20, and 20~40 U/L, respectively (p less then 0.001). There was an ALT-dependent relationship in the risk of MS in participants with normal ALT level after adjustment for age, alcohol intake, and body mass index. The adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of MS in men was 2.48 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.16-2.85) in an ALT level of 30~40 U/L compared with that in ALT less then 15 U/L (p less then 0.001), and the aOR of MS in women was 2.67 (95% CI, 2.26-3.15) in an ALT level of 20~40 U/L compared with that in ALT less then 10 U/L (p less then 0.001). Although within the normal range of ALT, the risk of MS increases as the ALT levels increase. The ALT level in the general population without a history of chronic liver disease may be a useful marker to evaluate for MS.The rapid increase in anthropogenic activities, socioeconomic development, and land use land cover (LULC) changes since the opening of economic reforms (1978), have changed the ecosystem service value (ESV) in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao (GKHM) region located in South China. This leads to the requirement of a significant tailored analysis of ecosystem services regarding incisive and relevant planning to ensure sustainability at regional level. This study focuses on the use of Landsat satellite imagery to quantify the precise impact of LULC changes on the ecosystem services in GHKM over the past three decades (1986-2017). The most renowned established unit value transfer method has been employed to calculate the ESV. The results show that the total ecosystem service value in GHKM has decreased from 680.23 billion CNY in 1986 to 668.45 billion CNY in 2017, mainly due to the decrease in farmland and fishponds. This overall decrease concealed the more dynamic and complex nature of the individual ESV. The most significant decrease took place in the values of water supply (-22.