No abstract

No abstract

preprint). 15 Katikireddi SV, Cerqueira-Silva T, et al. Twodose ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine protection against COVID-19 hospital admissions and deaths over time: a retrospective, populationbased cohort study in Scotland and Brazil.

The human genome contains more than 200,000 gene isoforms. However, different isoforms can be highly similar, and with an average length of 1.5kb remain difficult to study with short read sequencing. To systematically evaluate the ability to study the transcriptome at a resolution of individual isoforms we profiled 5 human cell lines with short read cDNA sequencing and Nanopore long read direct RNA, amplification-free direct cDNA, PCR-cDNA sequencing. The long read protocols showed a high level of consistency, with amplification-free RNA and cDNA sequencing being most similar. While short and long reads generated comparable gene expression estimates, they differed substantially for individual isoforms. We find that increased read length improves read-to-transcript assignment, identifies interactions between alternative promoters and splicing, enables the discovery of novel transcripts from repetitive regions, facilitates the quantification of full-length fusion isoforms and enables the simultaneous profiling of m6A RNA modifications when RNA is sequenced directly. Our study demonstrates the advantage of long read RNA sequencing and provides a comprehensive resource that will enable the development and benchmarking of computational methods for profiling complex transcriptional events at isoform-level resolution.

Objectives: Approximately 10 to 35% of people with a hearing impairment own a hearing aid. The present study aims to identify barriers to obtaining a hearing aid and inform future interventions by examining the biopsychosocial characteristics of adults aged 50+ according to 7 categories: (i) Did not report hearing difficulties, (ii) Reported hearing difficulties, (iii) Told a healthcare professional about experiencing hearing difficulties, (iv) Referred for a hearing assessment, (v) Offered a hearing aid, (vi) Accepted a hearing aid, and (vii) Reported using a hearing aid regularly. Design: The research was conducted using the English Longitudinal Study of Aging wave 7 with data obtained from 9666 adults living in England from June 2014 to May 2015. Cross-sectional data were obtained from a subset of 2845 participants aged 50 to 89 years of age with a probable hearing impairment measured by hearing screening (indicating a hearing threshold of >20 dB HL at 1 kHz or >35 dB HL at 3 kHz in the better ear). Classification according to hearing health-seeking category was via participants’ self-report. Participants in each category were compared with people in all subsequent categories to examine the associations between each category and biopsychosocial correlates (sex, age, ethnicity, educational level, wealth, audiometric hearing level, self-reported health status, cognitive performance, attitudes to aging, living alone, and engagement in social activities) using multiple logistic regression. Results: The proportions of individuals (N = 2845) in categories i to vii were 40.0% (n = 1139), 14.0% (n = 396), 4.5% (n = 129), 4.0% (n = 114), 1.2% (n = 34), 7.7% (n = 220), and 28.6% (n = 813), respectively. Severity of hearing impairment was the only factor predictive of all the categories of hearing health-seeking that could be modeled. Other correlates predictive of at least one category of hearing health-seeking included sex, age, self-reported heath, participation in social activities, and cognitive function. Conclusions: For the first time, it was shown that 40.0% of people with an audiometrically identified probable hearing impairment did not report hearing difficulties. Each of the five categories of hearing health-seeking that could be modeled had different drivers and consequently, interventions likely should vary depending on the category of hearing health-seeking.