Whole lung lavage therapy for pulmonary alveolar proteinosis: a global survey of current practices and procedures

Maija Halme on työryhmän WLL International Study Group jäsen.Peer reviewe

Copper cable theft: revisiting the price–theft hypothesis

Objectives: To test the commonly espoused but little examined hypothesis that fluctuations in the price of metal are associated with changes in the volume of metal theft. Specifically, we analyze the relationship between the price of copper and the number of police recorded 'live’ copper cable thefts from the British railway network (2006 to 2012)

International Relations Study Team Briefing Paper

Fifteen papers discussing post-war constructions in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Vietnam are included

Interrogating the Genetic Determinants of Tourette’s Syndrome and Other Tic Disorders Through Genome-Wide Association Studies

Objective: Tourette’s syndrome is polygenic and highly heritable. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) approaches are useful for interrogating the genetic architecture and determinants of Tourette’s syndrome and other tic disorders. The authors conducted a GWAS meta-analysis and probed aggregated Tourette’s syndrome polygenic risk to test whether Tourette’s and related tic disorders have an underlying shared genetic etiology and whether Tourette’s polygenic risk scores correlate with worst-ever tic severity and may represent a potential predictor of disease severity. Methods: GWAS meta-analysis, gene-based association, and genetic enrichment analyses were conducted in 4,819 Tourette’s syndrome case subjects and 9,488 control subjects. Replication of top loci was conducted in an independent population-based sample (706 case subjects, 6,068 control subjects). Relationships between Tourette’s polygenic risk scores (PRSs), other tic disorders, ascertainment, and tic severity were examined. Results: GWAS and gene-based analyses identified one genome-wide significant locus within FLT3 on chromosome 13, rs2504235, although this association was not replicated in the population-based sample. Genetic variants spanning evolutionarily conserved regions significantly explained 92.4% of Tourette’s syndrome heritability. Tourette’s-associated genes were significantly preferentially expressed in dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Tourette’s PRS significantly predicted both Tourette’s syndrome and tic spectrum disorders status in the population-based sample. Tourette’s PRS also significantly correlated with worst-ever tic severity and was higher in case subjects with a family history of tics than in simplex case subjects. Conclusions: Modulation of gene expression through noncoding variants, particularly within cortico-striatal circuits, is implicated as a fundamental mechanism in Tourette’s syndrome pathogenesis. At a genetic level, tic disorders represent a continuous spectrum of disease, supporting the unification of Tourette’s syndrome and other tic disorders in future diagnostic schemata. Tourette’s PRSs derived from sufficiently large samples may be useful in the future for predicting conversion of transient tics to chronic tic disorders, as well as tic persistence and lifetime tic severity

Correlation between genetic polymorphisms and stroke recovery: analysis of the GAIN Americas and GAIN International Studies.

Background and purposeRecovery after stroke occurs on the basis of specific molecular events. Genetic polymorphisms associated with impaired neural repair or plasticity might reduce recovery from stroke and might also account for some of the intersubject variability in stroke recovery. This study hypothesized that the ApoE ε4 polymorphism and the val(66) met polymorphism for brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) are each associated with poorer outcome after stroke. Associations with mitochondrial genotype were also explored.MethodsGenotypes were determined in 255 stroke patients who also received behavioral evaluations in the Glycine Antagonist In Neuroprotection (GAIN) clinical trials. The primary outcome measure was recovery during the first month post-stroke, as this is the time when neural repair is at a maximum and so when genetic influences might have their largest impact. Two secondary outcome measures at 3 months post-stroke were also examined.Results  Genotype groups were similar acutely post-stroke. Presence of the ApoE ε4 polymorphism was associated with significantly poorer recovery over the first month post-stroke (P = 0.023) and with a lower proportion of subjects with minimal or no disability (modified Rankin score 0-1, P = 0.01) at 3 months post-stroke. Indeed, those with this polymorphism were approximately half as likely to achieve minimal or no disability (18.2%) versus those with polymorphism absent (35.5%). Findings were confirmed in multivariate models. Results suggested possible effects from the val(66) met BDNF polymorphism and from the R0 mitochondrial DNA haplotype.Conclusions  Genetic factors, particularly the ApoE ε4 polymorphism, might contribute to variability in outcomes after stroke

Intrapreneurship - An international study

This paper presents the results of a novel international study of intrapreneurship ( i.e., employees developing new business activities for their employer), carried out in eleven countries in the framework of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. At the individual level, it is found that intrapreneurs are much more likely to have intentions to start a new independent business than other employees. However, at the macro level�the study finds a negative correlation between intrapreneurship and independent entrepreneurship. One explanation for these contrasting outcomes is�a diverging effect of per capita income on intrapreneurship (positive effect) and early-stage entrepreneurial activity (negative effect). �

Unravelling Secularization: an International Study

The current study examines individuals who were raised in a certain religion and at some stage of their life left it. Currently, they define their religious affiliation as ‘no religion’. A battery of explanatory variables (countryspecific ones, personal attributes and marriage variables) was employed to test for the determinants of this decision. It was found that the tendency of individuals to leave their religion is strongly correlated with the degree of strictness of their country and with their spouse's religious characteristics. Moreover, personal socio-demographic features seem to be less relevant.religion, convert-out, church attendance, prayer, parental religiosity,Europe.

'How to feel safe': international students study migration

A variety of institutional and representational mechanisms are used in the construction of 'international students' and other 'migrants' or 'ethnic minorities' as two distinctive social categories. As part of these construction processes, the individuals affiliated with each group are located in different positions within the matrix of social power relations: they are granted with differential abilities to exercise their right to freedom of movement, and play different roles in the process of knowledge production. This article will explore how these processes occur in a specific context, through an autoethnographic account of the experiences of the author as an international student at the University of Amsterdam. This account suggests a thematic and methodological alternative to the safe position that the academic training as prospective migration scholars offers to students

The Transformative Power of the International Sojourn: an Ethnographic Study of the International Student Experience

The findings from an ethnographic study of international postgraduate students’ adjustment journey through life in England illustrates the transformative potential of the international student sojourn. It is shown that removal from the familiar home environment gave students freedom from cultural and familial expectations and the opportunity for self-discovery, whilst exposure to a new culture offered them the chance to improve their cross-cultural communication skills. The durability of change was questioned by students who were apprehensive about re-entry to the origin culture and the receptivity of those left behind to the changes they had made. By pointing to the possible similarities between the experiences of international students and long-stay tourists, this paper calls for research into the outcome of long-stay tourism, in order to measure the extent of change in tourists’ self-concept and cross-cultural awareness