Obesity is a risk factor for incident asthma in adults, and obesity is a major component of metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to explore the associations of metabolic syndrome and its components with the cumulative incidence of asthma in adults.We conducted a prospective cohort study of participants who were asthma-free at baseline (n523 191) in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study from 1995 to 2008. Baseline metabolic syndrome was categorised using the definition of the Joint Interim Statement from several international organisations. Incident asthma was self-reported at follow-up, which averaged 11 years.Metabolic syndrome was a risk factor for incident asthma (adjusted OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.31-1.87). This association was consistent in sensitivity analyses using a stricter asthma definition (adjusted OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.13-1.79). Among the components of metabolic syndrome, two remained associated with incident asthma after mutual adjustment for the other metabolic components: high waist circumference (adjusted OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.36-1.94) and elevated glucose or diabetes (adjusted OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.01-2.04).Metabolic syndrome and two of its components (high waist circumference and elevated glucose or diabetes) were associated with an increased risk of incident asthma in adults. @ERSpublications Metabolic syndrome and two of its components were associated with an increased risk of incident asthma in adults

As an adaptation to the daily light–dark (diel) cycle, cyanobacteria exhibit diurnal rhythms of gene expression and cell cycle. The light–dark cycle also affects the life cycle of viruses (cyanophages) that infect the unicellular picocyanobacteriaProchlorococcusandSynechococcus, which are the major primary producers in the oceans. For example, the adsorption of some cyanophages to the host cells depends on light, and the burst sizes of cyanophages are positively correlated to the length of light exposure during infection. Recent metatranscriptomic studies revealed transcriptional rhythms of field cyanophage populations. However, the underlying mechanism remains to be determined, as cyanophage laboratory cultures have not been shown to exhibit diurnal transcriptional rhythms. Here, we studied variation in infection patterns and gene expression ofProchlorococcusphages in laboratory culture conditions as a function of light. We found three distinct diel-dependent life history traits in dark conditions (diel traits): no adsorption (cyanophage P-HM2), adsorption but no replication (cyanophage P-SSM2), and replication (cyanophage P-SSP7). Under light–dark cycles, each cyanophage exhibited rhythmic transcript abundance, and cyanophages P-HM2 and P-SSM2 also exhibited rhythmic adsorption patterns. Finally, we show evidence to link the diurnal transcriptional rhythm of cyanophages to the photosynthetic activity of the host, thus providing a mechanistic explanation for the field observations of cyanophage transcriptional rhythms. Our study identifies that cultured viruses can exhibit diurnal rhythms during infection, which might impact cyanophage population-level dynamics in the oceans.

No abstract

The sequencing data for all congenital hydrocephalus parent-offspring trios reported in this study have been deposited in the National Center for Biotechnology Information database of Genotypes and Phenotypes under the accession number phs000744.v4.p2.