PLoS medicine
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Editorial Comment
Defining Abnormal Fetal Growth and Perinatal Risk: Population or Customized Standards?
In January's Guest Editorial, Sarah Stock and Jenny Myers discuss approaches to fetal and neonatal growth assessment.
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Alison Galvani and colleagues describe a community-based protocol to improve cooperation with Ebola testing as well as contact tracing, quarantining, and treatment.
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The link between DNA methylation, obesity, and adiposity-related diseases in the general population remains uncertain. ⋯ We present robust associations of BMI with differential DNA methylation at numerous loci in blood cells. BMI-related DNA methylation and gene expression provide mechanistic insights into the relationship between DNA methylation, obesity, and adiposity-related diseases.
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KRAS is the most frequently mutated gene in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), but the mechanisms underlying the transcriptional response to oncogenic KRAS are still not fully understood. We aimed to uncover transcription factors that regulate the transcriptional response of oncogenic KRAS in pancreatic cancer and to understand their clinical relevance. ⋯ Our results characterize the regulatory mechanisms underlying the transcriptional response to oncogenic KRAS and provide a framework to develop strategies for specific subtypes of this disease using current therapeutics and by identifying targets for new groups.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) stated in March 2016 that there was scientific consensus that the mosquito-borne Zika virus was a cause of the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and of microcephaly and other congenital brain abnormalities based on rapid evidence assessments. Decisions about causality require systematic assessment to guide public health actions. The objectives of this study were to update and reassess the evidence for causality through a rapid and systematic review about links between Zika virus infection and (a) congenital brain abnormalities, including microcephaly, in the foetuses and offspring of pregnant women and (b) GBS in any population, and to describe the process and outcomes of an expert assessment of the evidence about causality. ⋯ Rapid and systematic reviews with frequent updating and open dissemination are now needed both for appraisal of the evidence about Zika virus infection and for the next public health threats that will emerge. This systematic review found sufficient evidence to say that Zika virus is a cause of congenital abnormalities and is a trigger of GBS.