Toronto 2009 Data Release Workshop AuthorsOpen discussion of ideas and full disclosure of supporting facts provide the bedrock for scientific discourse and new developments. Traditionally, this has been formally accomplished through published papers, in which both the salient ideas and the supporting facts are combined in a single discrete 'package'. With the advent of methods for large-scale and high-throughput analyses, the generation and transmission of the underlying factual information -the data -are being transformed in an electronic process that involves submitting and retrieving information to and from scientific databases.

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We provide further evidence that mutation of the SEPT9 gene is the molecular basis of some cases of hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy (HNA). DNA sequencing of SEPT9 demonstrates a restricted set of mutations in this cohort of HNA pedigrees. Nonetheless, sequence analysis will have an important role in mutation detection in HNA. Additional techniques will be required to find SEPT9 mutations in an HNA founder haplotype and other pedigrees.

Recent studies have suggested that 25‐hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) may be a poor biomarker of bone health, in part because measured levels incorporate both protein‐bound and free vitamin D. The ratio of its catabolic product (24,25‐dihydroxyvitamin D [24,25(OH)2D]) to 25(OH)D (the vitamin D metabolite ratio [VMR]) may provide more information on sufficient vitamin D stores and is not influenced by vitamin D–binding protein concentrations. We evaluated whether the VMR or 25(OH)D are more strongly associated with bone loss and fracture risk in older adults. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 786 community‐dwelling adults aged 70 to 79 years who participated in the Health Aging and Body Composition study. Our primary outcomes were annual changes in bone density and incident fracture. The mean age of these participants was 75 ± 3 years, 49% were female, 42% were Black, and 23% had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/mL/1.73m2. In fully adjusted models, a 50% lower VMR was associated with 0.3% (0.2%, 0.6%) more rapid decline in total hip bone mineral density (BMD). We found similar relationships with thoracic and lumbar spine BMD. In contrast, 25(OH)D3 concentrations were not associated with longitudinal change in BMD. There were 178 fractures during a mean follow‐up of 10 years. Each 50% lower VMR was associated with a 49% (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06, 2.08) greater fracture risk, whereas lower 25(OH)D3 concentrations were not significantly associated with fracture risk (hazard ratio [HR] per 50% lower 1.07 [0.80, 1.43]). In conclusion, among a diverse cohort of community‐dwelling older adults, a lower VMR was more strongly associated with both loss of BMD and fracture risk compared with 25(OH)D3. Trials are needed to evaluate the VMR as a therapeutic target in persons at risk for worsening BMD and fracture. © 2021 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR).