Objectives. Chest pain is a common complaint in the emergency department (ED), and it is a challenge to identify low-risk chest pain patients eligible for early discharge. We aimed to develop a simple objective decision rule to exclude 30-day major adverse cardiac events (MACE) in ED chest pain patients. Design. We analyzed prospectively included patients presenting with chest pain. Low risk patie

G protein-coupled receptor 30 (GPR30) is a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that is attracting considerable attention in breast cancer and cardiometabolic regulation. Following reports that GPR30 is required for some rapid estrogen responses, e.g. increased cAMP production and ERK1/2 activity, in estrogen receptor (ER)-negative cells, GPR30 was renamed G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1 (GPER1

The objective of the present study was to map the mechanism whereby G protein-coupled receptor 30 (GPR30), also called G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER), stimulates extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)1/2 signaling. GPR30 plays important roles in cancer and cardiometabolic regulation. We showed recently that GPR30 forms a plasma membrane complex through its C-terminal type I PSD-95

Background: Successful cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) requires appropriate left ventricular (LV) lead placement on a suitable segment of the free LV wall. Current guidelines suggest targeted lead placement, but the individual anatomy of the cardiac veins is often a limiting factor. Purpose: To map cardiac veins with multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and plot the veins in cardiac se

BACKGROUND: Arsenic methylation efficiency, a susceptibility factor for arsenic toxicity, is in adults partly explained by variation in arsenite methyltransferase (AS3MT) gene. Little is known about the role of AS3MT for children's arsenic methylation.OBJECTIVES: Evaluating associations between AS3MT polymorphisms and children's arsenic methylation efficiency.METHODS: Bangladeshi children's arseni

BACKGROUND: The relationship between maternal selenium (Se) status and child neurodevelopment has been scarcely assessed. In a previous study we observed an inverse U-shaped association between maternal Se concentrations and infant neurodevelopment at 12 months of age. In this study, this non-linear association was explored at preschool age. The effect modification by breastfeeding, child's sex an

Exposure to inorganic arsenic (As), a carcinogen and epigenetic toxicant, has been associated with lower circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) and impaired growth in children of pre-school age. The aim of this study was to assess the potential impact of exposure to As on IGF1 and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) as well as DNA methylation changes in 9-year-

Selenium (Se) has been positively associated with neurodevelopment in early life. However, its margin of safety is rather narrow, and few prospective studies have evaluated its potential neurotoxic effects at intermediate levels. We aimed to explore the association between maternal Se concentrations and child neuropsychological development, including the genetic effect modification of the Se metab

Treatments of emissions of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) were implemented in the global Earth System model EC-Earth. These emission schemes were improved to account for the strong peaks of PBAP concentrations in connection to precipitation events, which has been measured recently. The model is now able to treat the emission of bacteria, spores and pollen in dependency of precipitatio

Shorter relative telomere length in peripheral blood is a risk marker for some types of cancers and cardiovascular diseases. Several environmental hazards appear to shorten telomeres, and this shortening may predispose individuals to disease. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to assess the effect of environmental exposure to lead on relative telomere length (rTL) in children. A coho

Prenatal exposure to the highly toxic and common pollutant cadmium has been associated with adverse effects on child health and development. However, the underlying biological mechanisms of cadmium toxicity remain partially unsolved. Epigenetic disruption due to early cadmium exposure has gained attention as a plausible mode of action, since epigenetic signatures respond to environmental stimuli a

The 450k Chip Analysis Methylation Pipeline (ChAMP) is a novel Illumina Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip data processing algorithm that allows the analysis of copy number alterations (CNAs). With this pipeline we evaluated the prevalence of CNAs in peripheral blood leukocyte samples from healthy Argentinean Andean women with varying exposure to inorganic arsenic in drinking water. Arsenic exp

Methylation of the promoter of BRCA1 gene in peripheral blood (epimutation) has been associated with increased risk for breast cancer. Some studies have indicated that this epimutation is of constitutional origin and hence it could potentially be transmitted across generations. We used methylation sensitive high resolution melting technique to measure methylation of BRCA1 promoter in blood samples

Individuals differ in susceptibility to mercury neurotoxicity, in part, due to underlying genetic differences. This review aims to evaluate the state-of-the-art of the effect of (1) genetics on mercury toxicokinetics and (2) gene-mercury interactions on neurodevelopment and neurotoxicity. We conducted a PubMed search in September 2014 and retrieved 14 studies on the influence of genetics on mercur

Early-life lead exposure impairs neurodevelopment and later exposure affects the cardiovascular system. Lead has been associated with reduced global 5-methylcytosine DNA methylation, suggesting that lead toxicity acts through epigenetic mechanisms. The objective of this study is to clarify how early-life lead exposure alters DNA methylation of specific genes, using an epigenomic approach. We measu

We evaluated the use of two radiolabeled lambda DNA/Hpa II substrates to detect 5'-->3', 3'-->5' single and double stranded DNA dependent exonuclease and phosphatase activities found as contaminants in restriction and modifying enzyme preparations. Looking for the meaning of the radioactive assays results in a real cloning experience, we performed a cloning simulation assay using the same conditio

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a ubiquitous and persistent neurotoxin that poses a risk to human health. Although the mechanisms of MeHg toxicity are not fully understood, factors that contribute to susceptibility are even less well known. Studies of human gene polymorphisms have identified a potential role for the multidrug resistance-like protein (MRP/ABCC) family, ATP-dependent transporters, in MeHg s