| 1. |
- Brooks, Jonathan, et al.
(författare)
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The Distributional Implications of Agricultural Policies in Developing Countries - Findings from the Development Policy Evaluation Model (DEVPEM)
- 2012
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Ingår i: Agricultural Policies for Poverty Reduction. - 9789264168633 ; , s. 89-108
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Bokkapitel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)abstract
- This chapter presents the Development Policy Evaluation Model (DEVPEM), a new simulation model which captures four critical aspects of rural economies in developing countries: 1) the role of the household as both a producer and a consumer of food crops; 2) high transaction costs of participating in markets; 3) market linkages among heterogeneous rural producers and consumers; 4) the imperfect convertibility of land from one use to another. The results of simulations for six country models show that no untargeted agricultural policy intervention is pro-poor within the rural economy. While agricultural policy instruments are less efficient at raising rural incomes than direct payments, the degree of inefficiency of some market interventions, notably input subsidies, is not inevitably as high as observed in developed OECD countries.
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| 2. |
- Benedict, Christian, et al.
(författare)
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Association between physical activity and brain health in older adults
- 2013
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Ingår i: Neurobiology of Aging. - : Elsevier BV. - 0197-4580 .- 1558-1497. ; 34:1, s. 83-90
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the present cross-sectional study, we examined physical activity (PA) and its possible association with cognitive skills and brain structure in 331 cognitively healthy elderly. Based on the number of self-reported light and hard activities for at least 30 minutes per week, participants were assigned to 4 groups representing different levels of PA. The cognitive skills were assessed by the Mini Mental State Examination score, a verbal fluency task, and the Trail-making test as a measure of visuospatial orientation ability. Participants also underwent a magnetic resonance imaging of the brain. Multiple regression analysis revealed that greater PA was associated with a shorter time to complete the Trail-making test, and higher levels of verbal fluency. Further, the level of self-reported PA was positively correlated with brain volume, white matter, as well as a parietal lobe gray matter volume, situated bilaterally at the precuneus. These present cross-sectional results indicate that PA is a lifestyle factor that is linked to brain structure and function in late life.
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| 3. |
- Benedict, Christian, et al.
(författare)
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Impaired Insulin Sensitivity as Indexed by the HOMA Score Is Associated With Deficits in Verbal Fluency and Temporal Lobe Gray Matter Volume in the Elderly
- 2012
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Ingår i: Diabetes Care. - : American Diabetes Association. - 0149-5992 .- 1935-5548. ; 35:3, s. 488-494
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVEImpaired insulin sensitivity is linked to cognitive deficits and reduced brain size. However, it is not yet known whether insulin sensitivity involves regional changes in gray matter volume. Against this background, we examined the association between insulin sensitivity, cognitive performance, and regional gray matter volume in 285 cognitively healthy elderly men and women aged 75 years from the Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) study.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODSInsulin sensitivity was calculated from fasting serum insulin and plasma glucose determinations using the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) method. Cognitive performance was examined by a categorical verbal fluency. Participants also underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scan. Multivariate analysis using linear regression was conducted, controlling for potential confounders (sex, education, serum LDL cholesterol, mean arterial blood pressure, and abdominal visceral fat volume).RESULTSThe HOMA-IR was negatively correlated with verbal fluency performance, brain size (S1), and temporal lobe gray matter volume in regions known to be involved in speech production (Brodmann areas 21 and 22, respectively). No such effects were observed when examining diabetic (n = 55) and cognitively impaired (n = 27) elderly subjects as separate analyses.CONCLUSIONSThese cross-sectional findings suggest that both pharmacologic and lifestyle interventions improving insulin signaling may promote brain health in late life but must be confirmed in patient studies.
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| 4. |
- Brooks, Samantha J, et al.
(författare)
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Increased prefrontal and parahippocampal activation with reduced dorsolateral prefrontal and insular cortex activation to food images in obesity : a meta-analysis of fMRI studies.
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:4, s. e60393-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Obesity is emerging as the most significant health concern of the twenty-first century. A wealth of neuroimaging data suggest that weight gain might be related to aberrant brain function, particularly in prefrontal cortical regions modulating mesolimbic addictive responses to food. Nevertheless, food addiction is currently a model hotly debated. Here, we conduct a meta-analysis of neuroimaging data, examining the most common functional differences between normal-weight and obese participants in response to food stimuli.DATA SOURCE: We conducted a search using several journal databases and adhered to the 'Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses' (PRISMA) method. To this aim, 10 studies were found with a total of 126 obese participants, 129 healthy controls, equaling 184 foci (146 increased, 38 decreased activation) using the Activation Likelihood Estimation (ALE) technique. Out of the 10 studies, 7 investigated neural responses to food versus non-food images.RESULTS: In response to food images, obese in comparison to healthy weight subjects had increased activation in the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, right parahippocampal gyrus, right precentral gyrus and right anterior cingulate cortex, and reduced activation in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and left insular cortex.CONCLUSIONS: Prefrontal cortex areas linked to cognitive evaluation processes, such as evaluation of rewarding stimuli, as well as explicit memory regions, appear most consistently activated in response to images of food in those who are obese. Conversely, a reduced activation in brain regions associated with cognitive control and interoceptive awareness of sensations in the body might indicate a weakened control system, combined with hypo-sensitivity to satiety and discomfort signals after eating in those who are prone to overeat.
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| 5. |
- Ferrari, Raffaele, et al.
(författare)
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Frontotemporal dementia and its subtypes: a genome-wide association study.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Lancet Neurology. - 1474-4465. ; 13:7, s. 686-699
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a complex disorder characterised by a broad range of clinical manifestations, differential pathological signatures, and genetic variability. Mutations in three genes-MAPT, GRN, and C9orf72-have been associated with FTD. We sought to identify novel genetic risk loci associated with the disorder.
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| 6. |
- Gallagher, Michael D., et al.
(författare)
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TMEM106B is a genetic modifier of frontotemporal lobar degeneration with C9orf72 hexanucleotide repeat expansions
- 2014
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Ingår i: Acta Neuropathologica. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0001-6322 .- 1432-0533. ; 127:3, s. 407-418
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hexanucleotide repeat expansions in chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9orf72) have recently been linked to frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and may be the most common genetic cause of both neurodegenerative diseases. Genetic variants at TMEM106B influence risk for the most common neuropathological subtype of FTLD, characterized by inclusions of TAR DNA-binding protein of 43 kDa (FTLD-TDP). Previous reports have shown that TMEM106B is a genetic modifier of FTLD-TDP caused by progranulin (GRN) mutations, with the major (risk) allele of rs1990622 associating with earlier age at onset of disease. Here, we report that rs1990622 genotype affects age at death in a single-site discovery cohort of FTLD patients with C9orf72 expansions (n = 14), with the major allele correlated with later age at death (p = 0.024). We replicate this modifier effect in a 30-site international neuropathological cohort of FTLD-TDP patients with C9orf72 expansions (n = 75), again finding that the major allele associates with later age at death (p = 0.016), as well as later age at onset (p = 0.019). In contrast, TMEM106B genotype does not affect age at onset or death in 241 FTLD-TDP cases negative for GRN mutations or C9orf72 expansions. Thus, TMEM106B is a genetic modifier of FTLD with C9orf72 expansions. Intriguingly, the genotype that confers increased risk for developing FTLD-TDP (major, or T, allele of rs1990622) is associated with later age at onset and death in C9orf72 expansion carriers, providing an example of sign epistasis in human neurodegenerative disease.
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| 7. |
- Hogenkamp, Pleunie, et al.
(författare)
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Calorie anticipation alters food intake after low-caloric but not high-caloric preloads
- 2013
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Ingår i: Obesity. - : Wiley. - 1930-7381 .- 1930-739X. ; 21:8, s. 1548-1553
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: Cognitive factors and anticipation are known to influence food intake. The current study examined the effect of anticipation and actual consumption of food on hormone (ghrelin, cortisol, insulin) and glucose levels, appetite and ad libitum intake, to assess whether changes in hormone levels might explain the predicted differences in subsequent food intake. Design and Methods: During four breakfast sessions, participants consumed a yogurt preload that was either low-caloric (LC; 180 kcal/300 g) or high-caloric (HC; 530 kcal/300 g), and were provided with either consistent or inconsistent calorie information (i.e. stating the caloric content of the preload was low or high). Appetite ratings and hormone and glucose levels were measured at baseline (t=0), after providing the calorie information about the preload (t=20), after consumption of the preload (t=40) and just before ad libitum intake (t=60). Results: Ad libitum intake was lower after HC preloads (as compared to LC preloads; p<0.01). Intake after LC preloads was higher when provided with (consistent) LC-information (467±254 kcal) as compared to (inconsistent) HC-information (346±210 kcal), but intake after the HC preloads did not depend on the information provided (LC-info: 290±178 kcal, HC-info: 333±179 kcal; caloric load*information p=0.03). Hormone levels did not respond in an anticipatory manner, and the post-prandial responses depended on actual calories consumed. Conclusions: These results suggest that both cognitive and physiological information determine food intake. When actual caloric intake was sufficient to produce physiological satiety, cognitive factors played no role; however, when physiological satiety was limited, cognitively-induced satiety reduced intake to comparable levels.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Weinstein, John N., et al.
(författare)
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The cancer genome atlas pan-cancer analysis project
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 45:10, s. 1113-1120
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network has profiled and analyzed large numbers of human tumors to discover molecular aberrations at the DNA, RNA, protein and epigenetic levels. The resulting rich data provide a major opportunity to develop an integrated picture of commonalities, differences and emergent themes across tumor lineages. The Pan-Cancer initiative compares the first 12 tumor types profiled by TCGA. Analysis of the molecular aberrations and their functional roles across tumor types will teach us how to extend therapies effective in one cancer type to others with a similar genomic profile. © 2013 Nature America, Inc. All rights reserved.
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