Automatic landmarking identifies new loci associated with face morphology and implicates Neanderthal introgression in human nasal shape.

We report a genome-wide association study of facial features in >6000 Latin Americans based on automatic landmarking of 2D portraits and testing for association with inter-landmark distances. We detected significant associations (P-value <5 × 10-8) at 42 genome regions, nine of which have been previously reported. In follow-up analyses, 26 of the 33 novel regions replicate in East Asians, Europeans, or Africans, and one mouse homologous region influences craniofacial morphology in mice. The novel region in 1q32.3 shows introgression from Neanderthals and we find that the introgressed tract increases nasal height (consistent with the differentiation between Neanderthals and modern humans). Novel regions include candidate genes and genome regulatory elements previously implicated in craniofacial development, and show preferential transcription in cranial neural crest cells. The automated approach used here should simplify the collection of large study samples from across the world, facilitating a cosmopolitan characterization of the genetics of facial features.

"Impact of stature on non-communicable diseases: evidence based on Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2011 data".

BACKGROUND: In this paper, an attempt has been made to explore the relationship between height and occurrence of the non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. METHODS: For the purpose of analysis, Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), 2011 data was used. Bivariate analysis along with a Chi-square test was performed to examine association between height and diseases. To measure the impact of stature on diabetes and hypertension, three different logistic regression models (Model I: considering only quartiles of height, Model II: covariates of model I along with demographic variables and Model III: covariates of model II along with clinical variable) were considered. RESULTS: Occurrence of diabetes and hypertension was found to be inversely related with the height of participants. This inverse association was statistically significant for all three models. After controlling the demographic and clinical variables simultaneously, the odds ratio for highest quartile compared to the lowest quartile was 0.82 with 95% confidence interval (0.69, 0.98) for diabetes; whereas it was 0.72 with 95% confidence interval (0.55, 0.95) for hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of this paper indicate that persons with shorter stature are substantially more likely to develop diabetes as well as hypertension. The occurrence of non-communicable diseases like diabetes and hypertension can be reduced by controlling genetic and non-genetic (early-life and childhood) factors that may influence the height.