UM researchers publish study on genomics of pregnancy-induced diabetes
By a team of researchers from the Faculty of Medicine & Surgery at the University of Malta
2021-07-21
(Press-News.org) Pregnancy-induced diabetes, also known as gestational diabetes, is a common metabolic complication of pregnancy. The disorder carries a significant risk of adverse obstetric outcome. Additionally, it is associated with a high risk of recurrence, progression to maternal type 2 diabetes as well as an elevated risk of obesity in foetuses exposed to hyperglycaemia during gestation.
The mechanisms causing gestational diabetes are complex and incompletely understood. The disorder has a strong underlying genetic element that interacts with lifestyle factors and the physiologic changes accompanying pregnancy to alter maternal glucose regulation.
A team of researchers from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery have applied high-throughput genomics to identify rare highly-penetrant genetic variants that drive the development of gestational diabetes.
The study, entitled 'Screening for monogenic subtypes of gestational diabetes in a high prevalence island population - a whole exome sequencing study' provides the first description of atypical diabetes presenting in pregnancy in the Maltese population.
This research integrates clinical medicine, genomics and protein modelling with longitudinal follow-up data. The paper highlights the genetic heterogeneity underlying disorders of glucose regulation and reinforces the role of precision medicine research in unravelling the aetiology of complex traits.
INFORMATION:
The authors of the study are Dr Nikolai Paul Pace, Ms Barbara Vella, Dr Johann Craus, Dr Ruth Caruana, Prof. Charles Savona-Ventura and Prof. Josanne Vassallo.
The study was supported by a Research Excellence Grant from the University of Malta.
The study has been published in Diabetes Metabolism Research and Reviews and is accessible online: https://doi.org/10.1002/dmrr.3486
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2021-07-21
The tiny organisms living in soil may have a greater effect on the yield and pest and disease resistance of crop plants grown in that soil than previously known.
Researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of Kansas have shown that soil microbes - microscopic organisms like viruses, bacteria and fungi found throughout nature - play a role in the phenomenon of heterosis or "hybrid vigor," the superior performance of crossed plant lines, or hybrids, over inbred plant lines. Hybrids are often used by farmers for agricultural production due their superior crop yields.
Research into hybrid vigor has generally highlighted the roles of genetic ...
2021-07-21
BOSTON - A new study by research, quality improvement and health equity experts at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in The American Journal of Managed Care lays out the challenges of achieving equity for diverse patients in communication at hospital discharge. A survey of 224 recently discharged patients was conducted in five languages just before the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted challenges, including limited understanding of medications; lack of available professional medical interpreters and translated patient instructions at discharge; and worries about support for at home after hospitalization.
Major findings include:
Overall, one in four patients were alone at discharge, without a family member ...
2021-07-21
In the context of meditation practice, meditators can experience a state of "pure awareness" or "pure consciousness", in which they perceive consciousness itself. This state can be experienced in various ways, but evidently incorporates specific sensations as well as non-specific accompanying perceptions, feelings, and thoughts. These are just some of the findings of the most extensive survey of meditators ever conducted on the experience of pure consciousness. The findings of the survey recently have been published in PLOS ONE. The study was conducted by Professor Thomas Metzinger from the Department of Philosophy at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) and Dr. Alex Gamma from the Psychiatric ...
2021-07-21
TORONTO, ON - Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed an innovative tool to aid in the investigation of how we perceive and remember visual experiences.
The new tool, referred to as a "scene wheel," will help researchers study how accurately we construct mental representations of visual experiences for later retrieval -- for example, how well an eyewitness recalls details of a crime or accident.
"We know that eyewitness testimony is not reliable," says Gaeun Son. "With the new scene wheel, we can start to characterize the specific nature of those memory failures."
Son is a PhD student in the Faculty of Arts & Science's Department of Psychology and lead ...
2021-07-21
A new study from Oregon State University found that infants born within 3 kilometers of oil and natural gas drilling facilities in Texas had slightly lower birthweights than those born before drilling began in their vicinity.
The study, published today in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found that the type of drilling or resource being extracted did not change the result.
"Most studies to date focus exclusively on unconventional natural gas drilling, or fracking. That particular process is a small subset of the oil and natural gas industry. ...
2021-07-21
In order to win the battle against COVID-19, studies to develop vaccines, drugs, devices and re-purposed drugs are urgently needed. Randomized clinical trials are used to provide evidence of safety and efficacy as well as to better understand this novel and evolving virus. As of July 15, more than 6,180 COVID-19 clinical trials have been registered through ClinicalTrials.gov, the national registry and database for privately and publicly funded clinical studies conducted around the world. Knowing which ones are likely to succeed is imperative.
Researchers from Florida Atlantic University's College of Engineering and Computer Science are the first to model COVID-19 completion versus cessation in clinical trials using machine learning algorithms and ensemble learning. The study, ...
2021-07-21
Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have found a link between post-cancer treatment frailty and neurocognitive decline in young adult childhood cancer survivors. A paper on this work was published today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Though frailty is often associated with the elderly, 8% of young adult childhood cancer survivors meet the criteria for frailty. This study confirms that those who undergo childhood cancer treatment can experience frailty, which can create an early onset of neurocognitive decline in young adults. This study will help with further research to prevent such neurocognitive decline.
"We ...
2021-07-21
To reach the target of carbon neutral, a transition from fossil energy to renewable energy generation is indispensable. Photovoltaic technology is considered as one of the most prominent sources of renewable energy. For decades, about 90% of global solar cell market has been dominated by silicon solar cells. Although the price of silicon solar panels decreases year by year, it is a big challenge to significantly reduce its manufacturing cost further. Hence, next-generation photovoltaic technologies are in urgent need of new materials and novel techniques. Recently, metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have attracted extensive attention from both academia and industry, due to their excellent photoelectric conversion efficiency and great commercial potential.
Metal halide perovskite ...
2021-07-21
One of the major challenges in modern cancer therapy is the adaptive response of cancer cells to targeted therapies: initially, these therapies are very often effective, then adaptive resistance occurs, allowing the tumor cells to proliferate again. Although this adaptive response is theoretically reversible, such a reversal is hampered by numerous molecular mechanisms that allow the cancer cells to adapt to the treatment. The analysis of these mechanisms is limited by the complexity of cause and effect relationships that are extremely difficult to observe in vivo in tumor samples. In order to overcome this challenge, a team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) ...
2021-07-21
In the United States, climate change is controversial, which makes communicating about the subject a tricky proposition.
A recent study by Portland State researchers Brianne Suldovsky, assistant professor of communication, and Daniel Taylor-Rodriguez, assistant professor of statistics, explored how liberals and conservatives in Oregon think about climate science to get a better sense for what communication strategies might be most effective at reaching people with different political ideologies. The study was published in Climatic Change in June.
Prior studies have shown that exposing climate change skeptics, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] UM researchers publish study on genomics of pregnancy-induced diabetes
By a team of researchers from the Faculty of Medicine & Surgery at the University of Malta
