Displaying publications 1 - 20 of 40 in total

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  1. Redhwan AA, Low WY, Mustafa FM, Robert C, Ali A
    MyJurnal
    This study aimed to determine the perceptions and opinions of medical students about food allergy. Universal sampling was used to conduct focus group discussions. The majority of the participants 40 (67%) mentioned that the common symptoms of food allergy are: skin rashes, swollen lips, diarrhea, vomiting, bronchospasm, redness, itchiness, difficulty in breathing, stomach ache and fever. Majority of participants mentioned that seafood is the food that can cause most food allergies 52 (87%), followed by tree nuts 25 (42%), peanuts and dairy products 19 (32%). Regarding the most allergenic food named by the participants are seafood 23 (38%); followed by milk and dairy products 5 (8%) and nuts 5 (8%). The majority of participants mentioned that food allergy can be fatal 48 (80%), a child can catch food allergy 57 (95%), and 10 of 100 people would have food allergy 31 (52%). Half of the participants 30 (50%) mentioned that it is very hard to care for children with food allergy. The majority of participants mentioned that food allergies do run in families 50 (83%), avoiding allergenic food is the best preventive methods 36 (60%) and that food allergy can be treated and will go away and 32 (53%). This study showed that in spite of sufficient knowledge among medical students about food allergy, some misconceptions still exist such as the high prevalence of food allergy and that food allergy can be treated and will go away. Therefore, there is a need for improving the continuous medical education among medical students with regard to food allergy because they are our future physicians.
  2. Zhang M, Wang Z, Obazee O, Jia J, Childs EJ, Hoskins J, et al.
    Oncotarget, 2016 Oct 11;7(41):66328-66343.
    PMID: 27579533 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.11041
    Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified common pancreatic cancer susceptibility variants at 13 chromosomal loci in individuals of European descent. To identify new susceptibility variants, we performed imputation based on 1000 Genomes (1000G) Project data and association analysis using 5,107 case and 8,845 control subjects from 27 cohort and case-control studies that participated in the PanScan I-III GWAS. This analysis, in combination with a two-staged replication in an additional 6,076 case and 7,555 control subjects from the PANcreatic Disease ReseArch (PANDoRA) and Pancreatic Cancer Case-Control (PanC4) Consortia uncovered 3 new pancreatic cancer risk signals marked by single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs2816938 at chromosome 1q32.1 (per allele odds ratio (OR) = 1.20, P = 4.88x10 -15), rs10094872 at 8q24.21 (OR = 1.15, P = 3.22x10 -9) and rs35226131 at 5p15.33 (OR = 0.71, P = 1.70x10 -8). These SNPs represent independent risk variants at previously identified pancreatic cancer risk loci on chr1q32.1 ( NR5A2), chr8q24.21 ( MYC) and chr5p15.33 ( CLPTM1L- TERT) as per analyses conditioned on previously reported susceptibility variants. We assessed expression of candidate genes at the three risk loci in histologically normal ( n = 10) and tumor ( n = 8) derived pancreatic tissue samples and observed a marked reduction of NR5A2 expression (chr1q32.1) in the tumors (fold change -7.6, P = 5.7x10 -8). This finding was validated in a second set of paired ( n = 20) histologically normal and tumor derived pancreatic tissue samples (average fold change for three NR5A2 isoforms -31.3 to -95.7, P = 7.5x10 -4-2.0x10 -3). Our study has identified new susceptibility variants independently conferring pancreatic cancer risk that merit functional follow-up to identify target genes and explain the underlying biology.
  3. Fauzi FM, Koutsoukas A, Lowe R, Joshi K, Fan TP, Glen RC, et al.
    J Ayurveda Integr Med, 2013 Apr;4(2):117-9.
    PMID: 23930045 DOI: 10.4103/0975-9476.113882
    In this article, we discuss our recent work in elucidating the mode-of-action of compounds used in traditional medicine including Ayurvedic medicine. Using computational ('in silico') approach, we predict potential targets for Ayurvedic anti-cancer compounds, obtained from the Indian Plant Anticancer Database given its chemical structure. In our analysis, we observed that: (i) the targets predicted can be connected to cancer pathogenesis i.e. steroid-5-alpha reductase 1 and 2 and estrogen receptor-β, and (ii) predominantly hormone-dependent cancer targets were predicted for the anti-cancer compounds. Through the use of our in silico target prediction, we conclude that understanding how traditional medicine such as Ayurveda work through linking with the 'western' understanding of chemistry and protein targets can be a fruitful avenue in addition to bridging the gap between the two different schools of thinking. Given that compounds used in Ayurveda have been tested and used for thousands of years (although not in the same approach as Western medicine), they can potentially be developed into potential new drugs. Hence, to further advance the case of Ayurvedic medicine, we put forward some suggestions namely: (a) employing and integrating novel analytical methods given the advancements of 'omics' and (b) sharing experimental data and clinical results on studies done on Ayurvedic compounds in an easy and accessible way.
  4. Nahta R, Al-Mulla F, Al-Temaimi R, Amedei A, Andrade-Vieira R, Bay SN, et al.
    Carcinogenesis, 2015 Jun;36 Suppl 1:S2-18.
    PMID: 26106139 DOI: 10.1093/carcin/bgv028
    As part of the Halifax Project, this review brings attention to the potential effects of environmental chemicals on important molecular and cellular regulators of the cancer hallmark of evading growth suppression. Specifically, we review the mechanisms by which cancer cells escape the growth-inhibitory signals of p53, retinoblastoma protein, transforming growth factor-beta, gap junctions and contact inhibition. We discuss the effects of selected environmental chemicals on these mechanisms of growth inhibition and cross-reference the effects of these chemicals in other classical cancer hallmarks.
  5. Machiela MJ, Zhou W, Karlins E, Sampson JN, Freedman ND, Yang Q, et al.
    Nat Commun, 2016 06 13;7:11843.
    PMID: 27291797 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11843
    To investigate large structural clonal mosaicism of chromosome X, we analysed the SNP microarray intensity data of 38,303 women from cancer genome-wide association studies (20,878 cases and 17,425 controls) and detected 124 mosaic X events >2 Mb in 97 (0.25%) women. Here we show rates for X-chromosome mosaicism are four times higher than mean autosomal rates; X mosaic events more often include the entire chromosome and participants with X events more likely harbour autosomal mosaic events. X mosaicism frequency increases with age (0.11% in 50-year olds; 0.45% in 75-year olds), as reported for Y and autosomes. Methylation array analyses of 33 women with X mosaicism indicate events preferentially involve the inactive X chromosome. Our results provide further evidence that the sex chromosomes undergo mosaic events more frequently than autosomes, which could have implications for understanding the underlying mechanisms of mosaic events and their possible contribution to risk for chronic diseases.
  6. Lujan-Barroso L, Zhang W, Olson SH, Gao YT, Yu H, Baghurst PA, et al.
    Pancreas, 2016 11;45(10):1401-1410.
    PMID: 27088489
    OBJECTIVES: We aimed to evaluate the relation between menstrual and reproductive factors, exogenous hormones, and risk of pancreatic cancer (PC).

    METHODS: Eleven case-control studies within the International Pancreatic Cancer Case-control Consortium took part in the present study, including in total 2838 case and 4748 control women. Pooled estimates of odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a 2-step logistic regression model and adjusting for relevant covariates.

    RESULTS: An inverse OR was observed in women who reported having had hysterectomy (ORyesvs.no, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67-0.91), remaining significant in postmenopausal women and never-smoking women, adjusted for potential PC confounders. A mutually adjusted model with the joint effect for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and hysterectomy showed significant inverse associations with PC in women who reported having had hysterectomy with HRT use (OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.48-0.84).

    CONCLUSIONS: Our large pooled analysis suggests that women who have had a hysterectomy may have reduced risk of PC. However, we cannot rule out that the reduced risk could be due to factors or indications for having had a hysterectomy. Further investigation of risk according to HRT use and reason for hysterectomy may be necessary.

  7. Chidambaram VA, Anita CSY, Robert C, Garry C
    Med J Malaysia, 2018 12;73(6):415-417.
    PMID: 30647218
    IgG4-related disease is a newly described systemic autoimmune and allergic disease, characterized histologically by a fibroinflammatory response with IgG4 plasma cells. It was initially described as affecting the pancreas, but commonly involves the head and neck region as well. While a biopsy is essential for definitive diagnosis, cross sectional imaging may be the initial modality which may suggest this entity. We describe a case of pathologically proven IgG4 related disease which highlights some key radiologic features seen in this entity. Our case highlights some key radiological features of IgG4- related disease in the head and neck, with involvement of the lacrimal glands, pituitary gland and cranial nerves on CT.
  8. Shearer FM, Longbottom J, Browne AJ, Pigott DM, Brady OJ, Kraemer MUG, et al.
    Lancet Glob Health, 2018 03;6(3):e270-e278.
    PMID: 29398634 DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(18)30024-X
    BACKGROUND: Yellow fever cases are under-reported and the exact distribution of the disease is unknown. An effective vaccine is available but more information is needed about which populations within risk zones should be targeted to implement interventions. Substantial outbreaks of yellow fever in Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Brazil, coupled with the global expansion of the range of its main urban vector, Aedes aegypti, suggest that yellow fever has the propensity to spread further internationally. The aim of this study was to estimate the disease's contemporary distribution and potential for spread into new areas to help inform optimal control and prevention strategies.

    METHODS: We assembled 1155 geographical records of yellow fever virus infection in people from 1970 to 2016. We used a Poisson point process boosted regression tree model that explicitly incorporated environmental and biological explanatory covariates, vaccination coverage, and spatial variability in disease reporting rates to predict the relative risk of apparent yellow fever virus infection at a 5 × 5 km resolution across all risk zones (47 countries across the Americas and Africa). We also used the fitted model to predict the receptivity of areas outside at-risk zones to the introduction or reintroduction of yellow fever transmission. By use of previously published estimates of annual national case numbers, we used the model to map subnational variation in incidence of yellow fever across at-risk countries and to estimate the number of cases averted by vaccination worldwide.

    FINDINGS: Substantial international and subnational spatial variation exists in relative risk and incidence of yellow fever as well as varied success of vaccination in reducing incidence in several high-risk regions, including Brazil, Cameroon, and Togo. Areas with the highest predicted average annual case numbers include large parts of Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and South Sudan, where vaccination coverage in 2016 was estimated to be substantially less than the recommended threshold to prevent outbreaks. Overall, we estimated that vaccination coverage levels achieved by 2016 avert between 94 336 and 118 500 cases of yellow fever annually within risk zones, on the basis of conservative and optimistic vaccination scenarios. The areas outside at-risk regions with predicted high receptivity to yellow fever transmission (eg, parts of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand) were less extensive than the distribution of the main urban vector, A aegypti, with low receptivity to yellow fever transmission in southern China, where A aegypti is known to occur.

    INTERPRETATION: Our results provide the evidence base for targeting vaccination campaigns within risk zones, as well as emphasising their high effectiveness. Our study highlights areas where public health authorities should be most vigilant for potential spread or importation events.

    FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

  9. Cheng Q, Jing Q, Spear RC, Marshall JM, Yang Z, Gong P
    PLoS Negl Trop Dis, 2017 Jun;11(6):e0005701.
    PMID: 28640895 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005701
    Dengue is a fast spreading mosquito-borne disease that affects more than half of the population worldwide. An unprecedented outbreak happened in Guangzhou, China in 2014, which contributed 52 percent of all dengue cases that occurred in mainland China between 1990 and 2015. Our previous analysis, based on a deterministic model, concluded that the early timing of the first imported case that triggered local transmission and the excessive rainfall thereafter were the most important determinants of the large final epidemic size in 2014. However, the deterministic model did not allow us to explore the driving force of the early local transmission. Here, we expand the model to include stochastic elements and calculate the successful invasion rate of cases that entered Guangzhou at different times under different climate and intervention scenarios. The conclusion is that the higher number of imported cases in May and June was responsible for the early outbreak instead of climate. Although the excessive rainfall in 2014 did increase the success rate, this effect was offset by the low initial water level caused by interventions in late 2013. The success rate is strongly dependent on mosquito abundance during the recovery period of the imported case, since the first step of a successful invasion is infecting at least one local mosquito. The average final epidemic size of successful invasion decreases exponentially with introduction time, which means if an imported case in early summer initiates the infection process, the final number infected can be extremely large. Therefore, dengue outbreaks occurring in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam in early summer merit greater attention, since the travel volumes between Guangzhou and these countries are large. As the climate changes, destroying mosquito breeding sites in Guangzhou can mitigate the detrimental effects of the probable increase in rainfall in spring and summer.
  10. Hawkins RC
    Clin Chem Lab Med, 2010;48(1):105-8.
    PMID: 19929751 DOI: 10.1515/CCLM.2010.010
    It has been suggested that potassium concentrations may vary between different geographical regions, possibly reflecting ethnic differences in potassium status. This study compared the serum potassium concentrations of three Asian ethnicities in a single geographical location.
  11. Burstein R, Henry NJ, Collison ML, Marczak LB, Sligar A, Watson S, et al.
    Nature, 2019 Oct;574(7778):353-358.
    PMID: 31619795 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1545-0
    Since 2000, many countries have achieved considerable success in improving child survival, but localized progress remains unclear. To inform efforts towards United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.2-to end preventable child deaths by 2030-we need consistently estimated data at the subnational level regarding child mortality rates and trends. Here we quantified, for the period 2000-2017, the subnational variation in mortality rates and number of deaths of neonates, infants and children under 5 years of age within 99 low- and middle-income countries using a geostatistical survival model. We estimated that 32% of children under 5 in these countries lived in districts that had attained rates of 25 or fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births by 2017, and that 58% of child deaths between 2000 and 2017 in these countries could have been averted in the absence of geographical inequality. This study enables the identification of high-mortality clusters, patterns of progress and geographical inequalities to inform appropriate investments and implementations that will help to improve the health of all populations.
  12. Saner P, Loh YY, Ong RC, Hector A
    PLoS One, 2012;7(1):e29642.
    PMID: 22235319 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029642
    Deforestation in the tropics is an important source of carbon C release to the atmosphere. To provide a sound scientific base for efforts taken to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD+) good estimates of C stocks and fluxes are important. We present components of the C balance for selectively logged lowland tropical dipterocarp rainforest in the Malua Forest Reserve of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Total organic C in this area was 167.9 Mg C ha⁻¹±3.8 (SD), including: Total aboveground (TAGC: 55%; 91.9 Mg C ha⁻¹±2.9 SEM) and belowground carbon in trees (TBGC: 10%; 16.5 Mg C ha⁻¹±0.5 SEM), deadwood (8%; 13.2 Mg C ha⁻¹±3.5 SEM) and soil organic matter (SOM: 24%; 39.6 Mg C ha⁻¹±0.9 SEM), understory vegetation (3%; 5.1 Mg C ha⁻¹±1.7 SEM), standing litter (<1%; 0.7 Mg C ha⁻¹±0.1 SEM) and fine root biomass (<1%; 0.9 Mg C ha⁻¹±0.1 SEM). Fluxes included litterfall, a proxy for leaf net primary productivity (4.9 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹±0.1 SEM), and soil respiration, a measure for heterotrophic ecosystem respiration (28.6 Mg C ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹±1.2 SEM). The missing estimates necessary to close the C balance are wood net primary productivity and autotrophic respiration.Twenty-two years after logging TAGC stocks were 28% lower compared to unlogged forest (128 Mg C ha⁻¹±13.4 SEM); a combined weighted average mean reduction due to selective logging of -57.8 Mg C ha⁻¹ (with 95% CI -75.5 to -40.2). Based on the findings we conclude that selective logging decreased the dipterocarp stock by 55-66%. Silvicultural treatments may have the potential to accelerate the recovery of dipterocarp C stocks to pre-logging levels.
  13. Tuck SL, O'Brien MJ, Philipson CD, Saner P, Tanadini M, Dzulkifli D, et al.
    Proc Biol Sci, 2016 Dec 14;283(1844).
    PMID: 27928046
    One of the main environmental threats in the tropics is selective logging, which has degraded large areas of forest. In southeast Asia, enrichment planting with seedlings of the dominant group of dipterocarp tree species aims to accelerate restoration of forest structure and functioning. The role of tree diversity in forest restoration is still unclear, but the 'insurance hypothesis' predicts that in temporally and spatially varying environments planting mixtures may stabilize functioning owing to differences in species traits and ecologies. To test for potential insurance effects, we analyse the patterns of seedling mortality and growth in monoculture and mixture plots over the first decade of the Sabah biodiversity experiment. Our results reveal the species differences required for potential insurance effects including a trade-off in which species with denser wood have lower growth rates but higher survival. This trade-off was consistent over time during the first decade, but growth and mortality varied spatially across our 500 ha experiment with species responding to changing conditions in different ways. Overall, average survival rates were extreme in monocultures than mixtures consistent with a potential insurance effect in which monocultures of poorly surviving species risk recruitment failure, whereas monocultures of species with high survival have rates of self-thinning that are potentially wasteful when seedling stocks are limited. Longer-term monitoring as species interactions strengthen will be needed to more comprehensively test to what degree mixtures of species spread risk and use limited seedling stocks more efficiently to increase diversity and restore ecosystem structure and functioning.
  14. Goodson WH, Lowe L, Carpenter DO, Gilbertson M, Manaf Ali A, Lopez de Cerain Salsamendi A, et al.
    Carcinogenesis, 2015 Jun;36 Suppl 1:S254-96.
    PMID: 26106142 DOI: 10.1093/carcin/bgv039
    Lifestyle factors are responsible for a considerable portion of cancer incidence worldwide, but credible estimates from the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) suggest that the fraction of cancers attributable to toxic environmental exposures is between 7% and 19%. To explore the hypothesis that low-dose exposures to mixtures of chemicals in the environment may be combining to contribute to environmental carcinogenesis, we reviewed 11 hallmark phenotypes of cancer, multiple priority target sites for disruption in each area and prototypical chemical disruptors for all targets, this included dose-response characterizations, evidence of low-dose effects and cross-hallmark effects for all targets and chemicals. In total, 85 examples of chemicals were reviewed for actions on key pathways/mechanisms related to carcinogenesis. Only 15% (13/85) were found to have evidence of a dose-response threshold, whereas 59% (50/85) exerted low-dose effects. No dose-response information was found for the remaining 26% (22/85). Our analysis suggests that the cumulative effects of individual (non-carcinogenic) chemicals acting on different pathways, and a variety of related systems, organs, tissues and cells could plausibly conspire to produce carcinogenic synergies. Additional basic research on carcinogenesis and research focused on low-dose effects of chemical mixtures needs to be rigorously pursued before the merits of this hypothesis can be further advanced. However, the structure of the World Health Organization International Programme on Chemical Safety 'Mode of Action' framework should be revisited as it has inherent weaknesses that are not fully aligned with our current understanding of cancer biology.
  15. GBD 2017 Child and Adolescent Health Collaborators, Reiner RC, Olsen HE, Ikeda CT, Echko MM, Ballestreros KE, et al.
    JAMA Pediatr, 2019 06 01;173(6):e190337.
    PMID: 31034019 DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.0337
    Importance: Understanding causes and correlates of health loss among children and adolescents can identify areas of success, stagnation, and emerging threats and thereby facilitate effective improvement strategies.

    Objective: To estimate mortality and morbidity in children and adolescents from 1990 to 2017 by age and sex in 195 countries and territories.

    Design, Setting, and Participants: This study examined levels, trends, and spatiotemporal patterns of cause-specific mortality and nonfatal health outcomes using standardized approaches to data processing and statistical analysis. It also describes epidemiologic transitions by evaluating historical associations between disease indicators and the Socio-Demographic Index (SDI), a composite indicator of income, educational attainment, and fertility. Data collected from 1990 to 2017 on children and adolescents from birth through 19 years of age in 195 countries and territories were assessed. Data analysis occurred from January 2018 to August 2018.

    Exposures: Being under the age of 20 years between 1990 and 2017.

    Main Outcomes and Measures: Death and disability. All-cause and cause-specific deaths, disability-adjusted life years, years of life lost, and years of life lived with disability.

    Results: Child and adolescent deaths decreased 51.7% from 13.77 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI], 13.60-13.93 million) in 1990 to 6.64 million (95% UI, 6.44-6.87 million) in 2017, but in 2017, aggregate disability increased 4.7% to a total of 145 million (95% UI, 107-190 million) years lived with disability globally. Progress was uneven, and inequity increased, with low-SDI and low-middle-SDI locations experiencing 82.2% (95% UI, 81.6%-82.9%) of deaths, up from 70.9% (95% UI, 70.4%-71.4%) in 1990. The leading disaggregated causes of disability-adjusted life years in 2017 in the low-SDI quintile were neonatal disorders, lower respiratory infections, diarrhea, malaria, and congenital birth defects, whereas neonatal disorders, congenital birth defects, headache, dermatitis, and anxiety were highest-ranked in the high-SDI quintile.

    Conclusions and Relevance: Mortality reductions over this 27-year period mean that children are more likely than ever to reach their 20th birthdays. The concomitant expansion of nonfatal health loss and epidemiological transition in children and adolescents, especially in low-SDI and middle-SDI countries, has the potential to increase already overburdened health systems, will affect the human capital potential of societies, and may influence the trajectory of socioeconomic development. Continued monitoring of child and adolescent health loss is crucial to sustain the progress of the past 27 years.

  16. Burton AC, Beirne C, Gaynor KM, Sun C, Granados A, Allen ML, et al.
    Nat Ecol Evol, 2024 May;8(5):924-935.
    PMID: 38499871 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02363-2
    Wildlife must adapt to human presence to survive in the Anthropocene, so it is critical to understand species responses to humans in different contexts. We used camera trapping as a lens to view mammal responses to changes in human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Across 163 species sampled in 102 projects around the world, changes in the amount and timing of animal activity varied widely. Under higher human activity, mammals were less active in undeveloped areas but unexpectedly more active in developed areas while exhibiting greater nocturnality. Carnivores were most sensitive, showing the strongest decreases in activity and greatest increases in nocturnality. Wildlife managers must consider how habituation and uneven sensitivity across species may cause fundamental differences in human-wildlife interactions along gradients of human influence.
  17. Imai N, Samejima H, Langner A, Ong RC, Kita S, Titin J, et al.
    PLoS One, 2009;4(12):e8267.
    PMID: 20011516 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0008267
    Sustainable forest management (SFM), which has been recently introduced to tropical natural production forests, is beneficial in maintaining timber resources, but information about the co-benefits for biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration is currently lacking.
  18. Childs EJ, Mocci E, Campa D, Bracci PM, Gallinger S, Goggins M, et al.
    Nat Genet, 2015 Aug;47(8):911-6.
    PMID: 26098869 DOI: 10.1038/ng.3341
    Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the developed world. Both inherited high-penetrance mutations in BRCA2 (ref. 2), ATM, PALB2 (ref. 4), BRCA1 (ref. 5), STK11 (ref. 6), CDKN2A and mismatch-repair genes and low-penetrance loci are associated with increased risk. To identify new risk loci, we performed a genome-wide association study on 9,925 pancreatic cancer cases and 11,569 controls, including 4,164 newly genotyped cases and 3,792 controls in 9 studies from North America, Central Europe and Australia. We identified three newly associated regions: 17q25.1 (LINC00673, rs11655237, odds ratio (OR) = 1.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.19-1.34, P = 1.42 × 10(-14)), 7p13 (SUGCT, rs17688601, OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.84-0.92, P = 1.41 × 10(-8)) and 3q29 (TP63, rs9854771, OR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.85-0.93, P = 2.35 × 10(-8)). We detected significant association at 2p13.3 (ETAA1, rs1486134, OR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.09-1.19, P = 3.36 × 10(-9)), a region with previous suggestive evidence in Han Chinese. We replicated previously reported associations at 9q34.2 (ABO), 13q22.1 (KLF5), 5p15.33 (TERT and CLPTM1), 13q12.2 (PDX1), 1q32.1 (NR5A2), 7q32.3 (LINC-PINT), 16q23.1 (BCAR1) and 22q12.1 (ZNRF3). Our study identifies new loci associated with pancreatic cancer risk.
  19. Williams PJ, Ong RC, Brodie JF, Luskin MS
    Nat Commun, 2021 Mar 12;12(1):1650.
    PMID: 33712621 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21978-8
    Overhunting reduces important plant-animal interactions such as vertebrate seed dispersal and seed predation, thereby altering plant regeneration and even above-ground biomass. It remains unclear, however, if non-hunted species can compensate for lost vertebrates in defaunated ecosystems. We use a nested exclusion experiment to isolate the effects of different seed enemies in a Bornean rainforest. In four of five tree species, vertebrates kill many seeds (13-66%). Nonetheless, when large mammals are excluded, seed mortality from insects and fungi fully compensates for the lost vertebrate predation, such that defaunation has no effect on seedling establishment. The switch from seed predation by generalist vertebrates to specialist insects and fungi in defaunated systems may alter Janzen-Connell effects and density-dependence in plants. Previous work using simulation models to explore how lost seed dispersal will affect tree species composition and carbon storage may require reevaluation in the context of functional redundancy within complex species interactions networks.
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