This research investigated two sources of sire-specific genetic effects on the birth weight (BWT) and weaning weight (WWT) of Bruna dels Pirineus beef calves. More specifically, we focused on the influence of genes located in the non-autosomal region of the Y chromosome and the contribution of paternal imprinting. Our analyses were performed on 8130 BWT and 1245 WWT records from 12 and 2 purebr...

BACKGROUND The objectives of this study were to examine the independent and dependent associations of maternal and paternal age and risk of offspring autism spectrum disorders (ASD), with and without intellectual disability (ID). METHODS The sample consisted of 417 303 Swedish children born 1984-2003. ASD case status (N = 4746) was ascertained using national and regional registers. Smoothing ...

Data on frequency of church attendance have been obtained from separate cohorts of twins and their families from the USA and Australia (29,063 and 20,714 individuals from 5670 and 5615 families, respectively). The United States sample displayed considerably higher frequency of attendance at church services. Sources of family resemblance for this trait also differed between the Australian and US...

BACKGROUND The transgenerational metabolic effects of betel-quid chewing have been reported in mice but not in humans. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine whether exposure to paternal chewing of betel nut quids led to an increased risk of early manifestation of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in human offspring. DESIGN The subjects were selected from 66,971 residents aged >19 y who attend...

BACKGROUND Moderate-vigorous physical activity (%MVPA) confers beneficial effects on child musculoskeletal health, cardiovascular fitness, and psychosocial well-being; in contrast, sedentary time (%SED) is emerging as a risk factor for health. This study aimed to identify parental, child and neighborhood factors influencing longitudinal assessments of body mass index (BMI) and activity patterns...

BACKGROUND To date, the only estimate of the heritability of telomere length in wild populations comes from humans. Thus, there is a need for analysis of natural populations with respect to how telomeres evolve. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here, we show that telomere length is heritable in free-ranging sand lizards, Lacerta agilis. More importantly, heritability estimates analysed within, ...

Objective. Paternal depressive disorder is associated with adverse effects on child development. One possible mechanism for this is through the effects of the disorder on parenting capacities. The link between paternal depression and father-infant interactions was investigated at three-months postpartum. Design. Major depressive disorder was assessed in N = 192 fathers using a structured clinic...

We read with interest the study by Teras et al. (1) in which they found a positive association between advanced paternal age and the risk of hematological malignancies at 40 years of age or older among offspring with no siblings but no overall association. The mechanism proposed to explain the subgroup-specific association (1), namely the joint effects of paternal age (through genetic and epige...