Report with comparison of statistical and physically-deterministic methods of trend assessment and extrapolation in terms of data-requirements, costs and accuracy

AquaTerra - Integrated Modelling of the river-sediment-soil-groundwater system; advanced tools for the management of catchment areas and river basins in the context of global chang

Alcohol control policies and socioeconomic inequalities in hazardous alcohol consumption: a 22-year cross-sectional study in a Swiss urban population.

Harmful use of alcohol represents a large socioeconomic and disease burden and displays a socioeconomic status (SES) gradient. Several alcohol control laws were devised and implemented, but their equity impact remains undetermined.We ascertained if an SES gradient in hazardous alcohol consumption exists in Geneva (Switzerland) and assessed the equity impact of the alcohol control laws implemented during the last two decades. Repeated cross-sectional survey study. We used data from non-abstinent participants, aged 35-74 years, from the population-based cross-sectional Bus Santé study (n=16 725), between 1993 and 2014. SES indicators included educational attainment (primary, secondary and tertiary) and occupational level (high, medium and low). We defined four survey periods according to the implemented alcohol control laws and hazardous alcohol consumption (outcome variable) as >30 g/day for men and >20 g/day for women.The Slope Index of Inequality (SII) and Relative Index of Inequality (RII) were used to quantify absolute and relative inequalities, respectively, and were compared between legislative periods. Lower educated men had a higher frequency of hazardous alcohol consumption (RII=1.87 (1.57; 2.22) and SII=0.14 (0.11; 0.17)). Lower educated women had less hazardous consumption ((RII=0.76 (0.60; 0.97)and SII=-0.04 (-0.07;-0.01]). Over time, hazardous alcohol consumption decreased, except in lower educated men.Education-related inequalities were observed in men in all legislative periods and did not vary between them. Similar results were observed using the occupational level as SES indicator. In women, significant inverse SES gradients were observed using educational attainment but not for occupational level. Population-wide alcohol control laws did not have a positive equity impact on hazardous alcohol consumption. Targeted interventions to disadvantaged groups may be needed to address the hazardous alcohol consumption inequality gap

Increased plasticity of the nuclear envelope and hypermobility of telomeres due to the loss of A-type lamins.

Item does not contain fulltextBACKGROUND: The nuclear lamina provides structural support to the nucleus and has a central role in defining nuclear organization. Defects in its filamentous constituents, the lamins, lead to a class of diseases collectively referred to as laminopathies. On the cellular level, lamin mutations affect the physical integrity of nuclei and nucleo-cytoskeletal interactions, resulting in increased susceptibility to mechanical stress and altered gene expression. METHODS: In this study we quantitatively compared nuclear deformation and chromatin mobility in fibroblasts from a homozygous nonsense LMNA mutation patient and a Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome patient with wild type dermal fibroblasts, based on the visualization of mCitrine labeled telomere-binding protein TRF2 with light-economical imaging techniques and cytometric analyses. RESULTS: Without application of external forces, we found that the absence of functional lamin A/C leads to increased nuclear plasticity on the hour and minute time scale but also to increased intranuclear mobility down to the second time scale. In contrast, progeria cells show overall reduced nuclear dynamics. Experimental manipulation (farnesyltransferase inhibition or lamin A/C silencing) confirmed that these changes in mobility are caused by abnormal or reduced lamin A/C expression. CONCLUSIONS: These observations demonstrate that A-type lamins affect both nuclear membrane and telomere dynamics. GENERAL SIGNIFICANCE: Because of the pivotal role of dynamics in nuclear function, these differences likely contribute to or represent novel mechanisms in laminopathy development.1 april 201

Report on extrapolated time trends at test sites

AquaTerra - Integrated Modelling of the river-sediment-soil-groundwater system; advanced tools for the management of catchment areas and river basins in the context of global chang

Draft overview paper on trend analysis in groundwater summarizing the main results of TREND2 in relation to the new Groundwater Directive

AquaTerra - Integrated Modelling of the river-sediment-soil-groundwater system; advanced tools for the management of catchment areas and river basins in the context of global chang