Novel Approaches in Landslide Monitoring and Data Analysis

Significant progress has been made in the last few years that has expanded the knowledge of landslide processes. It is, therefore, necessary to summarize, share and disseminate the latest knowledge and expertise. This Special Issue brings together novel research focused on landslide monitoring, modelling and data analysis

Recommendations for the quantitative analysis of landslide risk

This paper presents recommended methodologies for the quantitative analysis of landslide hazard, vulnerability and risk at different spatial scales (site-specific, local, regional and national), as well as for the verification and validation of the results. The methodologies described focus on the evaluation of the probabilities of occurrence of different landslide types with certain characteristics. Methods used to determine the spatial distribution of landslide intensity, the characterisation of the elements at risk, the assessment of the potential degree of damage and the quantification of the vulnerability of the elements at risk, and those used to perform the quantitative risk analysis are also described. The paper is intended for use by scientists and practising engineers, geologists and other landslide experts.JRC.H.5-Land Resources Managemen

Evangelizing Korean women and gender in the early modern world : The power of body and text

This monograph examines how Korean women and men came to engage with Catholic missions during Europe’s late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a profoundly volatile period in East Asian history during which political, cultural, and social disruption created opportunities for new interactions in the region. It analyzes the nature of that engagement, as women and men became both subjects for, and agents of, catechizing practices. As their evangelization, experience of faith, proselytizing, and suffering were recorded in mission archives, the monograph explores contact between Catholic Christianity and Korean women in particular. Broomhall demonstrates how gender ideologies shaped interactions between missionary men and Korean women, and how women’s experiences would come to be narrated, circulated, and memorialized

Genetic And Functional Approaches To Understanding Autoimmune And Inflammatory Pathologies

Our understanding of genetic predisposition to inflammatory and autoimmune diseases has been enhanced by large scale quantitative trait loci (QTL) linkage mapping and genome-wide association studies (GWAS). However, the resolution and interpretation of QTL linkage mapping or GWAS findings are limited. In this work, we complement genetic predictions for several human diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS) and systemic capillary leakage syndrome (SCLS) with genetic and functional data in model organisms to associate genes with phenotypes and diseases. Focusing on MS, an autoimmune inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS), we experimentally tested the effect of three of the GWAS candidate genes (SLAMF1, SLAMF2 and SLAMF7) in the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model and found a male-specific locus distal to these loci regulating CNS autoimmune disease. Functional data in mouse suggests this male-specific locus modulates the frequency of immune cells including CD11b+, TCRαβ+CD4+Foxp3+, and TCRαβ+CD8+IL-17+ cells during EAE disease. Orchiectomy experiments demonstrate that this male specific phenotype is dependent on testis but not testosterone (T) or 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Using a bioinformatic approach, we identified SLAMF8 and SLAMF9 along with other differentially expressed genes in linkage with MS-GWAS predictions whose expression is testis-dependent, but not directly regulated by T or DHT, as potential positional candidates regulating CNS autoimmune disease. Further refinement of this locus is required to identify the causal gene(s) that may be targeted for prevention and/or treatment of MS in men. Using SCLS, an extremely rare disorder of unknown etiology characterized by recurrent episodes of vascular leakage, we identified and modeled this disease in an inbred mouse strain, SJL, using susceptibility to histamine- and infection-triggered vascular leak as the major phenotypic readout. This trait “Histamine hypersensitivity” (Histh/Histh) was mapped to a region on Chr 6. Remarkably, Histh is syntenic to the genomic locus most strongly associated with SCLS in humans (3p25.3). Subsequent studies found that the Histh locus is not unique to SJL but additional mouse strains also exhibit Histh phenotype. Considering GWAS studies in SCLS are limited by the small number of patients, we utilized interval-specific SNP-based association testing among Histh phenotyped mouse strains to predict Histh candidates. Furthermore, to dissect the complexity of Histh QTL, we developed network-based functional prediction methods to rank genes in this locus by predicting functional association with multiple Histh-related processes. The top-ranked genes include Cxcl12, Ret, Cacna1c, and Cntn3, all of which have strong functional associations and are proximal to SNPs segregating with Histh. Lastly, we utilized the power of integrating genetic and functional approaches to understand susceptibility to Bordetella pertussis and pertussis toxin (PTX) induced histamine sensitization (Bphs/Bphs), a sub-phenotype with an established role in autoimmunity. Congenic mapping in mice had earlier linked Bphs to histamine H1 receptor gene (Hrh1/H1R) and demonstrated that H1R differs at three amino acid residues in Bphs-susceptible and -resistant mice. Our subsequent studies identified eight inbred mouse strains that were susceptible to Bphs despite carrying a resistant H1R allele. Genetic analyses mapped the locus complementing Bphs to mouse Chr 6, in linkage disequilibrium with Hrh1; we have designated this Bphs-enhancer (Bphse). Similar to the approaches used for Histh, we utilized interval-specific SNP based association testing and network-based functional enrichment to predict nine candidate loci for Bphse including Atp2b2, Atg7, Pparg, Syn2, Ift122, Raf1, Mkrn2, Timp4 and Gt(ROSA)26Sor. Overall, these studies demonstrate the power of integrating genetic and functional methods in humans and animal models to predict highly plausible loci underlying QTL/GWAS data