Germany's Foreign Policy Towards Poland and the Czech Republic

This is a new exploration of how the events of the twentieth century still cast a shadow over relations between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. Using social constructivism theory, it provides a comparative assessment of Germany's post-reunification relations with the Czech Republic and Poland within the framework of the contemporary alliance structure. Identifying the key actors and factors, Cordell and Wolff examine the long-standing continuity in the norms and values that underpin German foreign policy and explore the issues of borders, territory, identities, minorities and population transfers. Paying particular attention to the process of European integration and the role of the new Germany within Europe, the authors identify how new possibilities for co-operation might finally overcome legacies of the past. This pioneering study will be of particular interest to students of European politics and international studies

A genome-wide scan for type 1 diabetes susceptibility genes in nuclear families with multiple affected siblings in Finland

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A genome-wide search for genes that predispose to type 1 diabetes using linkage analysis was performed using 900 microsatellite markers in 70 nuclear families with affected siblings from Finland, a population expected to be more genetically homogeneous than others, and having the highest incidence of type 1 diabetes in the world and, yet, the highest proportion in Europe of cases (10%) carrying neither of the highest risk <it>HLA </it>haplotypes that include DR3 or DR4 alleles.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In addition to the evidence of linkage to the <it>HLA </it>region on 6p21 (nominal p = 4.0 × 10^-6), significant evidence of linkage in other chromosome regions was not detected with a single-locus analysis. The two-locus analysis conditional on the <it>HLA </it>gave a maximum lod score (MLS) of 3.1 (nominal p = 2 × 10^-4) on chromosome 9p13 under an additive model; MLS of 2.1 (nominal p = 6.1 × 10^-3) on chromosome 17p12 and MLS of 2.5 (nominal p = 2.9 × 10^-3) on chromosome 18p11 under a general model.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our genome scan data confirmed the primary contribution of the <it>HLA </it>genes also in the high-risk Finnish population, and suggest that non-<it>HLA </it>genes also contribute to the familial clustering of type 1 diabetes in Finland.</p

Congenital heart disease risk loci identified by genome-wide association study in European patients

Genetic factors undoubtedly affect the development of congenital heart disease (CHD) but still remain ill defined. We sought to identify genetic risk factors associated with CHD and to accomplish a functional analysis of SNP-carrying genes. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of 4034 White patients with CHD and 8486 healthy controls. One SNP on chromosome 5q22.2 reached genome-wide significance across all CHD phenotypes and was also indicative for septal defects. One region on chromosome 20p12.1 pointing to the MACROD2 locus identified 4 highly significant SNPs in patients with transposition of the great arteries (TGA). Three highly significant risk variants on chromosome 17q21.32 within the GOSR2 locus were detected in patients with anomalies of thoracic arteries and veins (ATAV). Genetic variants associated with ATAV are suggested to influence the expression of WNT3, and the variant rs870142 related to septal defects is proposed to influence the expression of MSX7. We analyzed the expression of all 4 genes during cardiac differentiation of human and murine induced pluripotent stem cells in vitro and by single-cell RNA-Seq analyses of developing murine and human hearts. Our data show that MACROD2, GOSR2, WNT3, and MSX7 play an essential functional role in heart development at the embryonic and newborn stages

Germany's Foreign Policy Towards Poland and the Czech Republic

This is a new exploration of how the events of the twentieth century still cast a shadow over relations between Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic. Using social constructivism theory, it provides a comparative assessment of Germany's post-reunification relations with the Czech Republic and Poland within the framework of the contemporary alliance structure. Identifying the key actors and factors, Cordell and Wolff examine the long-standing continuity in the norms and values that underpin German foreign policy and explore the issues of borders, territory, identities, minorities and population transfers. Paying particular attention to the process of European integration and the role of the new Germany within Europe, the authors identify how new possibilities for co-operation might finally overcome legacies of the past. This pioneering study will be of particular interest to students of European politics and international studies