The COllaborative project of Development of Anthropometrical measures in Twins (CODATwins) project is a large international collaborative effort to analyze individual-level phenotype data from twins in multiple cohorts from different environments. The main objective is to study factors that modify genetic and environmental variation of height, body mass index (BMI, kg/m2) and size at birth, and additionally to address other research questions such as long-term consequences of birth size. The project started in 2013 and is open to all twin projects in the world having height and weight measures on twins with information on zygosity. Thus far, 54 twin projects from 24 countries have provided individual-level data. The CODATwins database includes 489,981 twin individuals (228,635 complete twin pairs). Since many twin cohorts have collected longitudinal data, there is a total of 1,049,785 height and weight observations. For many cohorts, we also have information on birth weight and length, own smoking behavior and own or parental education. We found that the heritability estimates of height and BMI systematically changed from infancy to old age. Remarkably, only minor differences in the heritability estimates were found across cultural–geographic regions, measurement time and birth cohort for height and BMI. In addition to genetic epidemiological studies, we looked at associations of height and BMI with education, birth weight and smoking status. Within-family analyses examined differences within same-sex and opposite-sex dizygotic twins in birth size and later development. The CODATwins project demonstrates the feasibility and value of international collaboration to address gene-by-exposure interactions that require large sample sizes and address the effects of different exposures across time, geographical regions and socioeconomic status.

By applying a display ecology to the Deeper, Wider, Faster proactive, simultaneous telescope observing campaign, we have shown a dramatic reduction in the time taken to inspect DECam CCD images for potential transient candidates and to produce time-critical triggers to standby telescopes. We also show how facilitating rapid corroboration of potential candidates and the exclusion of non-candidates improves the accuracy of detection; and establish that a practical and enjoyable workspace can improve the experience of an otherwise taxing task for astronomers. We provide a critical road test of two advanced displays in a research context—a rare opportunity to demonstrate how they can be used rather than simply discuss how they might be used to accelerate discovery.

Infectious mononucleosis is a clinical manifestation of primary Epstein–Barr virus infection. It is unknown whether genetic factors contribute to risk. To assess heritability, we compared disease concordance in monozygotic to dizygotic twin pairs from the population-based California Twin Program and assessed the risk to initially unaffected co-twins. One member of 611 and both members of 58 twin pairs reported a history of infectious mononucleosis. Pairwise concordance in monozygotic and dizygotic pairs was respectively 12·1% [standard error (s.e.)=1·9%] and 6·1% (s.e.=1·2%). The relative risk (hazard ratio) of monozygotic compared to dizygotic unaffected co-twins of cases was 1·9 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1·1–3·4, P=0·03], over the follow-up period. When the analysis was restricted to same-sex twin pairs, that estimate was 2·5 (95% CI 1·2–5·3, P=0·02). The results are compatible with a heritable contribution to the risk of infectious mononucleosis.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011.

The three-dimensional structure of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-xL complexed to a 25-residue peptide from the death promoting region of Bad was determined using NMR spectroscopy. Although the overall structure is similar to Bcl-xL bound to a 16-residue peptide from the Bak protein (Sattler et al., 1997), the Bad peptide forms additional interactions with Bcl-xL. However, based upon site-directed mutagenesis experiments, these additional contacts do not account for the increased affinity of the Bad 25-mer for Bcl-xL compared to the Bad 16-mer. Rather, the increased helix propensity of the Bad 25-mer is primarily responsible for its greater affinity for Bcl-xL. Based on this observation, a pair of 16-residue peptides were designed and synthesized that were predicted to have a high helix propensity while maintaining the interactions important for complexation with Bcl-xL. Both peptides showed an increase in helix propensity compared to the wild-type and exhibited an enhanced affinity for Bcl-xL.

The thin film reaction between Ti and Al-0.5%Cu to form TiAl3 is common in the microelectronics industry. In this paper the stress changes in Al-0.5%Cu films at elevated temperatures during the reaction are measured. The changes are measured in blanket films as well as in passivated interconnect lines. Results show that in blanket films the Al-0.5%Cu does not experience any stress change due to the reaction. However in passivated lines, where the layers are not allowed to relax in the normal direction, tensile stresses build up in the Al-0.5%Cu due to the volume shrinkage that happens when these films react.

We describe an Escherichia coli O157[ratio ]H7 outbreak associated with a fresh water lake at a county park. Campers were surveyed for diarrhoeal illness within 10 days of their visit, and a case-control study of day visitors was conducted. A confirmed case was a symptomatic person with a stool culture positive for E. coli O157[ratio ]H7 and a probable case was a person with bloody diarrhoea. Clinical isolates of E. coli O157 were subtyped by pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). In the camper survey, 12 (38%) of 32 swimmers had a diarrhoeal illness (relative risk [RR]=12·4; 95% confidence interval [RR]=1·7–89·7). For the case-control study, the 12 cases were more likely than controls to have purposefully ingested lake water (odds ratio [OR]=6·9, 95% CI=0·9–55·8). The PFGE patterns of six clinical isolates were indistinguishable. This report further demonstrates that contaminated fresh-water lakes can be the source of community outbreaks of E. coli O157[ratio ]H7.