| 1. |
- Sawcer, Stephen, et al.
(författare)
-
Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 476:7359, s. 214-219
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Multiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis.
|
|
| 2. |
- Kilpeläinen, Tuomas O, et al.
(författare)
-
Physical activity attenuates the influence of FTO variants on obesity risk: a meta-analysis of 218,166 adults and 19,268 children.
- 2011
-
Ingår i: PLoS medicine. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1549-1676 .- 1549-1277. ; 8:11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The FTO gene harbors the strongest known susceptibility locus for obesity. While many individual studies have suggested that physical activity (PA) may attenuate the effect of FTO on obesity risk, other studies have not been able to confirm this interaction. To confirm or refute unambiguously whether PA attenuates the association of FTO with obesity risk, we meta-analyzed data from 45 studies of adults (n=218,166) and nine studies of children and adolescents (n=19,268). METHODS AND FINDINGS: All studies identified to have data on the FTO rs9939609 variant (or any proxy [r(2)>0.8]) and PA were invited to participate, regardless of ethnicity or age of the participants. PA was standardized by categorizing it into a dichotomous variable (physically inactive versus active) in each study. Overall, 25% of adults and 13% of children were categorized as inactive. Interaction analyses were performed within each study by including the FTO×PA interaction term in an additive model, adjusting for age and sex. Subsequently, random effects meta-analysis was used to pool the interaction terms. In adults, the minor (A-) allele of rs9939609 increased the odds of obesity by 1.23-fold/allele (95% CI 1.20-1.26), but PA attenuated this effect (p(interaction) =0.001). More specifically, the minor allele of rs9939609 increased the odds of obesity less in the physically active group (odds ratio =1.22/allele, 95% CI 1.19-1.25) than in the inactive group (odds ratio =1.30/allele, 95% CI 1.24-1.36). No such interaction was found in children and adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: The association of the FTO risk allele with the odds of obesity is attenuated by 27% in physically active adults, highlighting the importance of PA in particular in those genetically predisposed to obesity.
|
|
| 3. |
- Lorenzen, Eline D., et al.
(författare)
-
Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 479:7373, s. 359-364
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Despite decades of research, the roles of climate and humans in driving the dramatic extinctions of large-bodied mammals during the Late Quaternary period remain contentious. Here we use ancient DNA, species distribution models and the human fossil record to elucidate how climate and humans shaped the demographic history of woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth, wild horse, reindeer, bison and musk ox. We show that climate has been a major driver of population change over the past 50,000 years. However, each species responds differently to the effects of climatic shifts, habitat redistribution and human encroachment. Although climate change alone can explain the extinction of some species, such as Eurasian musk ox and woolly rhinoceros, a combination of climatic and anthropogenic effects appears to be responsible for the extinction of others, including Eurasian steppe bison and wild horse. We find no genetic signature or any distinctive range dynamics distinguishing extinct from surviving species, emphasizing the challenges associated with predicting future responses of extant mammals to climate and human-mediated habitat change.
|
|
| 4. |
- Lloyd-Davies, E. J., et al.
(författare)
-
The XMM Cluster Survey : X-ray analysis methodology
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 418:1, s. 14-53
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The XMM Cluster Survey (XCS) is a serendipitous search for galaxy clusters using all publicly available data in the XMMNewton Science Archive. Its main aims are to measure cosmological parameters and trace the evolution of X-ray scaling relations. In this paper we describe the data processing methodology applied to the 5776 XMM observations used to construct the current XCS source catalogue. A total of 3675 > 4s cluster candidates with > 50 background-subtracted X-ray counts are extracted from a total non-overlapping area suitable for cluster searching of 410 deg2. Of these, 993 candidates are detected with > 300 background-subtracted X-ray photon counts, and we demonstrate that robust temperature measurements can be obtained down to this count limit. We describe in detail the automated pipelines used to perform the spectral and surface brightness fitting for these candidates, as well as to estimate redshifts from the X-ray data alone. A total of 587 (122) X-ray temperatures to a typical accuracy of < 40 (< 10) per cent have been measured to date. We also present the methodology adopted for determining the selection function of the survey, and show that the extended source detection algorithm is robust to a range of cluster morphologies by inserting mock clusters derived from hydrodynamical simulations into real XMMimages. These tests show that the simple isothermal beta-profiles is sufficient to capture the essential details of the cluster population detected in the archival XMM observations. The redshift follow-up of the XCS cluster sample is presented in a companion paper, together with a first data release of 503 optically confirmed clusters.
|
|
| 5. |
- Kondratyuk, Sergey Y., et al.
(författare)
-
Four new Caloplaca species with depsidones from Australia.
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Bibiotheca Lichenologica 106. Biomonitoring, ecology, and systematics of lichens. Recognizing the lichenological legacy of Thomas H. Nash III on his 65th birthday.. - 1436-1698. - 9783443580858 ; 106, s. 179-186
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Four new Caloplaca species with depsidones are described, C. ochrolechioides S.Y. Kondr., Kärnefelt & Elix, with variolaric and isosubnotatic acids, C. phaeocincta S.Y. Kondr. & Elix, C. sconensis S.Y.Kondr., Kärnefelt & A.Thell, and C. tomnashii S.Y. Kondr., Elix & Kärnefelt, with caloploicin, vicanicin, diploicin, fulgidin, and isofulgidin. The new combination Crocynia glaucescens (F. Wilson) S.Y. Kondr., Elix & Kärnefelt, containing atranorin, is proposed for Amphiloma glaucescens F.Wilson.
|
|
| 6. |
- Arup, Ulf, et al.
(författare)
-
Three new dark-fruited Caloplaca species.
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Bibiotheca Lichenologica 106. Biomonitoring, ecology, and systematics of lichens. Recognizing the lichenological legacy of Thomas H. Nash III on his 65th birthday.. - 1436-1698. - 9783443580858 ; 106, s. 1-6
-
Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Three species of Caloplaca are described as new to science: Caloplaca caesiosorediata Arup & van den Boom, a corticolous species and two saxicolous species, Caloplaca catillarioides Arup & van den Boom, and C. caesioisidiata Arup & van den Boom, all from the archipelago of Cape Verde. They are dark-fruited and have a pale to dark greyish crustose thallus. None of the new species are phylogentically related to the Pyrenodesmia group, but closely related to each other.
|
|
| 7. |
- Baldwin, Scott A., et al.
(författare)
-
Intraclass correlation associated with therapists : estimates and applications in planning psychotherapy research
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. - : Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. - 1650-6073 .- 1651-2316. ; 40:1, s. 15-33
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- It is essential that outcome research permit clear conclusions to be drawn about the efficacy of interventions. The common practice of nesting therapists within conditions can pose important methodological challenges that affect interpretation, particularly if the study is not powered to account for the nested design. An obstacle to the optimal design of these studies is the lack of data about the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), which measures the statistical dependencies introduced by nesting. To begin the development of a public database of ICC estimates, the authors investigated ICCs for a variety outcomes reported in 20 psychotherapy outcome studies. The magnitude of the 495 ICC estimates varied widely across measures and studies. The authors provide recommendations regarding how to select and aggregate ICC estimates for power calculations and show how researchers can use ICC estimates to choose the number of patients and therapists that will optimize power. Attention to these recommendations will strengthen the validity of inferences drawn from psychotherapy studies that nest therapists within conditions.
|
|
| 8. |
|
|
| 9. |
- Lin, Lin, et al.
(författare)
-
Burst and Persistent Emission Properties during the Recent Active Episode of the Anomalous X-Ray Pulsar 1E 1841-045
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal Letters. - : Institute of Physics (IOP). - 2041-8205 .- 2041-8213. ; 740:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Swift/Burst Alert Telescope detected the first burst from 1E 1841-045 in 2010 May with intermittent burst activity recorded through at least 2011 July. Here we present Swift and Fermi/Gamma-ray Burst Monitor observations of this burst activity and search for correlated changes to the persistent X-ray emission of the source. The T 90 durations of the bursts range between 18 and 140 ms, comparable to other magnetar burst durations, while the energy released in each burst ranges between (0.8-25) × 1038 erg, which is on the low side of soft gamma repeater bursts. We find that the bursting activity did not have a significant effect on the persistent flux level of the source. We argue that the mechanism leading to this sporadic burst activity in 1E 1841-045 might not involve large-scale restructuring (either crustal or magnetospheric) as seen in other magnetar sources.
|
|
| 10. |
- Scott, Milcah C., et al.
(författare)
-
Molecular subtypes of osteosarcoma identified by reducing tumor heterogeneity through an interspecies comparative approach
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Bone. - : Elsevier BV. - 8756-3282 .- 1873-2763. ; 49:3, s. 356-367
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The heterogeneous and chaotic nature of osteosarcoma has confounded accurate molecular classification, prognosis, and prediction for this tumor. The occurrence of spontaneous osteosarcoma is largely confined to humans and dogs. While the clinical features are remarkably similar in both species, the organization of dogs into defined breeds provides a more homogeneous genetic background that may increase the likelihood to uncover molecular subtypes for this complex disease. We thus hypothesized that molecular profiles derived from canine osteosarcoma would aid in molecular subclassification of this disease when applied to humans. To test the hypothesis, we performed genome wide gene expression profiling in a cohort of dogs with osteosarcoma, primarily from high-risk breeds. To further reduce inter-sample heterogeneity, we assessed tumor-intrinsic properties through use of an extensive panel of osteosarcoma-derived cell lines. We observed strong differential gene expression that segregated samples into two groups with differential survival probabilities. Groupings were characterized by the inversely correlated expression of genes associated with 'G2/M transition and DNA damage checkpoint' and 'microenvironment-interaction' categories. This signature was preserved in data from whole tumor samples of three independent dog osteosarcoma cohorts, with stratification into the two expected groups. Significantly, this restricted signature partially overlapped a previously defined, predictive signature for soft tissue sarcomas, and it unmasked orthologous molecular subtypes and their corresponding natural histories in five independent data sets from human patients with osteosarcoma. Our results indicate that the narrower genetic diversity of dogs can be utilized to group complex human osteosarcoma into biologically and clinically relevant molecular subtypes. This in turn may enhance prognosis and prediction, and identify relevant therapeutic targets.
|
|
