Alternating hemiplegia of childhood: challenges in a changing climate
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Genetic architectures of childhood maltreatment and causal influence of childhood maltreatment on health outcomes in adulthood
Childhood maltreatment is increasingly recognized as a pivotal risk factor for adverse health outcomes. However, comprehensive analyses of its long-term impact are scarce. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the genetic architectures of childhood maltreatment and its influence on adult health and socioeconomic outcomes. Utilizing data from the UK Biobank (N = 129,017), we conducted sex-combined and sex-stratified genome-wide association studies to identify genomic loci associated with five childhood maltreatment subtypes. We then performed genetic correlation and Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to assess the effects of childhood maltreatment on high-burden diseases, healthcare costs, lifespan, and educational attainment. We identified several novel loci for childhood maltreatment, including one locus for sexual abuse in sex-combined analysis, one novel locus for sexual abuse in males, one locus for emotional neglect in females, and one locus for sexual abuse in females. The pairwise genetic correlations between subtypes of childhood maltreatment were moderate to high, and similar patterns of genetic correlations between childhood maltreatment subtypes were observed in males and females. Childhood maltreatment was genetically correlated with ten out of 16 high-burden diseases significantly after multiple testing correction. Moreover, MR analyses suggest childhood maltreatment may increase the risk of age-related and other hearing loss, low back pain, major depressive disorder, and migraine in adulthood, and reduce the lifespan. Our study elucidates the genetic architecture of specific childhood maltreatment subtypes and the influence of childhood maltreatment on health outcomes in adulthood, highlighting the enduring influence of childhood maltreatment on lifelong health consequences. It is important to develop prevention strategies to lower the incidence of childhood maltreatment and provide support and care for victims of childhood maltreatment for better long-term health outcomes in the population.
Event triggers and opinion leaders shape climate change discourse on Weibo
Understanding how real-world events and opinion leaders shape climate change discussions is vital for improving communication and policy formulation to meet global carbon mitigation goals. This study analyzed 5.3 million original posts from Weibo (2012–2022), China’s largest social media platform, to examine climate change discourse. We found five event types triggering 48 discussion peaks, including online activities, international conferences, extreme weather, domestic policies, and international news. Posts generally conveyed positive attitudes, though sentiment decreased during haze pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Network analysis revealed seven opinion leader groups with distinct strategies: official media and institutions emphasized political will, global initiatives, and socio-economic implications, while universities and grassroots individuals focused on scientific reality and personal actions. Celebrities and unofficial accounts often highlighted geopolitical topics, especially China-US relations. We suggest reducing fragmented echo chambers and fostering personal connections through digital media platforms to enhance public awareness.
Climate change threatens crop diversity at low latitudes
Climate change alters the climatic suitability of croplands, likely shifting the spatial distribution and diversity of global food crop production. Analyses of future potential food crop diversity have been limited to a small number of crops. Here we project geographical shifts in the climatic niches of 30 major food crops under 1.5–4 °C global warming and assess their impact on current crop production and potential food crop diversity across global croplands. We found that in low-latitude regions, 10–31% of current production would shift outside the climatic niche even under 2 °C global warming, increasing to 20–48% under 3 °C warming. Concurrently, potential food crop diversity would decline on 52% (+2 °C) and 56% (+3 °C) of global cropland. However, potential diversity would increase in mid to high latitudes, offering opportunities for climate change adaptation. These results highlight substantial latitudinal differences in the adaptation potential and vulnerability of the global food system under global warming.
Decarbonizing urban residential communities with green hydrogen systems
Community green hydrogen systems, typically consisting of rooftop photovoltaic panels paired with hybrid hydrogen-battery storage, offer urban environments with improved access to clean, on-site energy. However, economically viable pathways for deploying hydrogen storage within urban communities remain unclear. Here we develop a bottom-up energy model linking climate, human behavior and community characteristics to assess the impacts of pathways for deploying community green hydrogen systems in North America from 2030 to 2050. We show that for the same community conditions, the cost difference between the best and worst pathways can be as high as 60%. In particular, the household centralized option emerges as the preferred pathway for most communities. Furthermore, enhancing energy storage demands within these deployment pathways can reduce system design costs up to fourfold. To achieve cost-effective urban decarbonization, the study underscores the critical role of selecting the right deployment pathway and prioritizing the integration of increased energy storage in pathway designs.
Maternal weight during pregnancy and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in offspring
In addition to biological factors, maternal exposures during pregnancy can contribute to leukemogenesis in offspring. We conducted a population-based cohort study in Sweden to investigate the association between risk of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) in offspring and maternal anthropometrics during pregnancy. A total of 2,961,435 live-born singletons during 1983–2018 were followed from birth to ALL diagnosis, end of age 18, or end of 2018. 1388 children were diagnosed with ALL (55.6% boys). We observed an increased risk of ALL among daughters of overweight/obese mothers in early pregnancy [Body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2; Standardized incidence ratio (SIR) = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.2–1.6] compared with the risk in daughters of mothers with normal BMI. This association was not found in their sons (SIR = 1.0, 95% CI: 0.9–1.1). Similar results were found for the association between ALL and maternal BMI before delivery. We did not find an association between low or high gestational weight gain (GWG) and risk of ALL (both SIRs = 1.0) in male/female offspring. These suggest that maternal overweight/obesity are important risk factors for childhood ALL in daughters, whereas GWG is not associated with risk of ALL. Further research on this mother-daughter association may shed light on a possible sex hormone/chromosome-related etiology of ALL.
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