Gaining entrance to the Venetian patriciate in the seventeenth century : The van Axel and Ghelthof families from the Low Countries

This contribution traces how two immigrant families from the Low Countries, the van Axels and Ghelthofs, gained entrance to the Venetian patriciate during the seventeenth century. Venice’s reduced commercial power, the demographic crisis of the patriciate, and increasing financial pressures made this process of social climbing possible. Yet it was the conscious and multigenerational efforts of both the van Axel and Ghelthof families that ensured them a place among the Venetian elite. Long before aggregation to the patriciate became possible, members of both families sought to construct and preserve a stable social lineage, which could hold its own among the Venetian elite. This process involved different generations and entailed forming bonds with established and new Venetian noble families. By the time the van Axels and Ghelthofs requested admittance to the Venetian nobility, they enjoyed the support of a lobby within the patriciate strong enough to overcome opposition

Stadsgeschiedenis in buitenlandse tijdschriften (2018)

Cities, Migration and Global Interdependenc

Sensitivity to systemic therapy for metastatic breast cancer in CHEK2 1100delC mutation carriers

Purpose: The role of CHEK2 in DNA repair by homologous recombination suggests that CHEK2-associated breast cancer (BC) patients might be more sensitive to chemotherapy inducing double-strand DNA breaks, but results hereon are lacking. We compared the sensitivity to first-line chemotherapy and endocrine therapy between CHEK2 1100delC and non-CHEK2 metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients. Methods: Sixty-two CHEK2 1100delC MBC patients were selected from three cohorts genotyped for CHEK2 1100delC (one non-BRCA1/2 cohort and two sporadic cohorts). Controls were 62 non-CHEK2 MBC patients, matched for age at and year of primary BC diagnosis, and year of metastatic disease. Objective response rate (complete and partial response) to, and progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) after start of first-line chemotherapy and endocrine therapy were compared between CHEK2 and non-CHEK2 patients. Results: Median age at BC diagnosis was 46 and 51 years at MBC diagnosis. First-line chemotherapy consisted of anthracycline-based chemotherapy (n = 73), taxanes (n = 16), CMF(-like) chemotherapy (n = 33) and taxane/anthracycline regimens (n = 2). CHEK2 and non-CHEK2 patients had a comparable objective response rate (44 vs. 52 %). Also, PFS and OS after start of chemotherapy were comparable between both patient groups (hazard ratio 0.91; 95 % confidence interval 0.63–1.30 and 1.03; 95 % CI 0.71–1.49, respectively). Thirty-six CHEK2 and 32 non-CHEK2 patients received first-line endocrine therapy (mainly tamoxifen) for MBC. No significant differences were observed in objective response rate to, and PFS and OS after start of endocrine therapy. Conclusion: No differ

Multi-ethnic genome-wide association study for atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects more than 33 million individuals worldwide and has a complex heritability. We conducted the largest meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for AF to date, consisting of more than half a million individuals, including 65,446 with AF. In total, we identified 97 loci significantly associated with AF, including 67 that were novel in a combined-ancestry analysis, and 3 that were novel in a European-specific analysis. We sought to identify AF-associated genes at the GWAS loci by performing RNA-sequencing and expression quantitative trait locus analyses in 101 left atrial samples, the most relevant tissue for AF. We also performed transcriptome-wide analyses that identified 57 AF-associated genes, 42 of which overlap with GWAS loci. The identified loci implicate genes enriched within cardiac developmental, electrophysiological, contractile and structural pathways. These results extend our understanding of the biological pathways underlying AF and may facilitate the development of therapeutics for AF

Gaining entrance to the Venetian patriciate in the seventeenth century : The van Axel and Ghelthof families from the Low Countries

This contribution traces how two immigrant families from the Low Countries, the van Axels and Ghelthofs, gained entrance to the Venetian patriciate during the seventeenth century. Venice’s reduced commercial power, the demographic crisis of the patriciate, and increasing financial pressures made this process of social climbing possible. Yet it was the conscious and multigenerational efforts of both the van Axel and Ghelthof families that ensured them a place among the Venetian elite. Long before aggregation to the patriciate became possible, members of both families sought to construct and preserve a stable social lineage, which could hold its own among the Venetian elite. This process involved different generations and entailed forming bonds with established and new Venetian noble families. By the time the van Axels and Ghelthofs requested admittance to the Venetian nobility, they enjoyed the support of a lobby within the patriciate strong enough to overcome opposition