The Molecular Genetic Architecture of Self-Employment

Economic variables such as income, education, and occupation are known to affect mortality and morbidity, such as cardiovascular disease, and have also been shown to be partly heritable. However, very little is known about which genes influence economic variables, although these genes may have both a direct and an indirect effect on health. We report results from the first large-scale collaboration that studies the molecular genetic architecture of an economic variable-entrepreneurship-that was operationalized using self-employment, a widely-available proxy. Our results suggest that common SNPs when considered jointly explain about half of the narrow-sense heritability of self-employment estimated in twin data (σg2/σP2= 25%, h2= 55%). However, a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies across sixteen studies comprising 50,627 participants did not identify genome-wide significant SNPs. 58 SNPs with p<10-5were tested in a replication sample (n = 3,271), but none replicated. Furthermore, a gene-based test shows that none of the genes that were previously suggested in the literature to influence entrepreneurship reveal significant associations. Finally, SNP-based genetic scores that use results from the meta-analysis capture less than 0.2% of the variance in self-employment in an independent sample (p≥0.039). Our results are consistent with a highly polygenic molecular genetic architecture of self-employment, with many genetic variants of small effect. Although self-employment is a multi-faceted, heavily environmentally influenced, and biologically distal trait, our results are similar to those for other genetically complex and biologically more proximate outcomes, such as height, intelligence, personality, and several diseases

Genetic variants associated with subjective well-being, depressive symptoms, and neuroticism identified through genome-wide analyses

Very few genetic variants have been associated with depression and neuroticism, likely because of limitations on sample size in previous studies. Subjective well-being, a phenotype that is genetically correlated with both of these traits, has not yet been studied with genome-wide data. We conducted genome-wide association studies of three phenotypes: subjective well-being (n = 298,420), depressive symptoms (n = 161,460), and neuroticism (n = 170,911). We identify 3 variants associated with subjective well-being, 2 variants associated with depressive symptoms, and 11 variants associated with neuroticism, including 2 inversion polymorphisms. The two loci associated with depressive symptoms replicate in an independent depression sample. Joint analyses that exploit the high genetic correlations between the phenotypes (|ρ^| ≈ 0.8) strengthen the overall credibility of the findings and allow us to identify additional variants. Across our phenotypes, loci regulating expression in central nervous system and adrenal or pancreas tissues are strongly enriched for association.</p

Polygenic prediction of educational attainment within and between families from genome-wide association analyses in 3 million individuals

We conduct a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of educational attainment (EA) in a sample of ~3 million individuals and identify 3,952 approximately uncorrelated genome-wide-significant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A genome-wide polygenic predictor, or polygenic index (PGI), explains 12-16% of EA variance and contributes to risk prediction for ten diseases. Direct effects (i.e., controlling for parental PGIs) explain roughly half the PGI's magnitude of association with EA and other phenotypes. The correlation between mate-pair PGIs is far too large to be consistent with phenotypic assortment alone, implying additional assortment on PGI-associated factors. In an additional GWAS of dominance deviations from the additive model, we identify no genome-wide-significant SNPs, and a separate X-chromosome additive GWAS identifies 57

The Molecular Genetic Architecture of Self-Employment

Peer reviewe

Genome-wide association study identifies 74 loci associated with educational attainment

Educational attainment is strongly influenced by social and other environmental factors, but genetic factors are estimated to account for at least 20% of the variation across individuals1. Here we report the results of a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for educational attainment that extends our earlier discovery sample1,2 of 101,069 individuals to 293,723 individuals, and a replication study in an independent sample of 111,349 individuals from the UK Biobank. We identify 74 genome-wide significant loci associated with the number of years of schooling completed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with educational attainment are disproportionately found in genomic regions regulating gene expression in the fetal brain. Candidate genes are preferentially expressed in neural tissue, especially during the prenatal period, and enriched for biological pathways involved in neural development. Our findings demonstrate that, even for a behavioural phenotype that is mostly environmentally determined, a well-powered GWAS identifies replicable associated genetic variants that suggest biologically relevant pathways. Because educational attainment is measured in large numbers of individuals, it will continue to be useful as a proxy phenotype in efforts to characterize the genetic influences of related phenotypes, including cognition and neuropsychiatric diseases

Strategimodell för storhushåll - en anpassning till tjänstelogiken

Syftet med uppsatsen är att beskriva och analysera välkända strategimodellers applikationsförmåga för de specifika förutsättningar som tjänsteföretag inom storhushåll verkar inom. Metoden som vi valt är kvalitativ och materialet som används tar sin utgångspunkt i sekundärdata i form av offentliga och institutionella källor från kända strategiforskare och branschspecialister. Uppsatsen utgår teorimässigt från de tre strategiska analysmodellerna, Five Forces, SWOT och VRIO-modellen. Dessa analyseras i förhållande till den inriktning av storhushållsföretag som vi valt. Vi har i analys och slutsatser visat på vissa svagheter hos Five Forces-modellen, SWOT-modellen och VRIO-modellen när det gäller dessa modellers respektive applikationsförmåga på tjänsteföretag inom storhushåll. De svagheter som redovisats är att modellerna saknar viktiga yttre påverkansfaktorer som bör uppmärksammas av företag verksamma inom denna kategori samt att den mänskliga faktorn kommer i skymundan. Detta måste anses som viktigt i en strategimodell för storhushållsföretag då människan är utgångspunkten inom den serviceverksamhet som bedrivs. Slutsatserna har vidareutvecklats till en egenskapad modell som ska vara mer anpassad till tjänsteföretag inom storhushålls specifika förutsättningar

Vad betyder ledaren? -en studie om ledarskapets påverkan för en servicekultur

Sammanfattning Titel: Vad betyder ledaren? – en studie om ledarskapets betydelse för en servicekultur Författare: Anna Amberntsson, Philip Hjelt, Katja Johannesson Handledare: Anette Svingstedt, Filippa Säwe Kurs: SMT 302, kandidatuppsats 10 p, Institutionen för Service Management, Campus Helsingborg, Lunds Universitet Problemdiskussion: Ute i arbetslivet är det inte alla ledare inom servicesektorn som handlar såsom de borde för bibehållandet av en bra servicekultur inom organisationen. För att en servicekultur överhuvudtaget ska vara möjlig finns det en rad samverkande processer mellan ledare och personal som kan leda till att en god servicekultur skapas och bibehålls. Vi tyckte därför att det skulle vara intressant att närmare undersöka vilken betydelse och vilka möjligheter, färdigheter och tekniker för påverkan av servicekulturen en ledare egentligen har. Syfte: Syftet med undersökningen är att öka kunskapen kring ledningens möjligheter till att bibehålla en servicekultur. Detta genom att lyfta fram teoretiska begrepp som sedan illustreras utifrån två hotellföretag. Metod: Genom att utföra en rad kvalitativa djupintervjuer med ledare och personal på två hotell har vi fått fram hur dessa intervjupersoner ser på sin organisation när det gäller ledarskap och servicekultur. Teori: Teorin är i första hand hämtad från tjänsteforskningen och den nordiska skolans teorier. Andra ämnen, från vilka vi också hämtat litteratur är: beteendeforskning, företagsekonomi, organisationsteori och ledarskap, media och kommunikationsvetenskap. Empiri: De två hotell som undersökts är utvalda till stor del för att vi trodde oss kunna hitta både likheter och skillnader i organisation och ledningsstil vilket i sig skulle kunna färga servicekulturen samt då det handlar om en lite större och en lite mindre organisation. Hotellen är belägna i Lund/Malmö-området. Slutsatser: De viktigaste slutsatserna som vi kunnat dra utav vår undersökning är att ledarskapet och servicekulturen går hand i hand. En ledare som signalerar mjuka värden och inte sätter sig över sin personal utan väljer att se och kommunicera med dem har större chans att lyckas påverka servicekulturen i positiv riktning. Det finns en rad viktiga punkter i vilka ett ledarskap kan brista och på så sätt påverka servicekulturen och bemötandet gentemot gästen i olika grad. Nyckelord: servicekultur, kultur, ledarskap och kommunikatio

Influence of frost damage and sample preconditioning on the porosity characterization of cement based materials using low temperature calorimetry

Low temperature calorimetry (LTC) can be used to study the mesa-porosity of cement based materials. The influence of frost damage on the mesa-porosity determination by LTC was explored on a model material MCM-41 and two cement pastes by conducting repeated cycles of freezing and melting measurements. The results indicate that the pressure generated during freezing and melting measurements has little impact on the pore structure of the powder MCM-41 samples. As for the studied cylinder samples of cement pastes, frost damage probably took place and it changed the pore connectivity while it had limited effect on changing the interior size distribution of the mesa-pores. The analysis of the freezing and melting behavior of the pore liquid of cement based materials is complicated by the presence of ions. The freezing and melting behavior of the pore solution of cement paste samples preconditioned in either a small amount or a big amount of saturated limewater was compared. The results suggest that either the preconditioning in a big amount of limewater does not change the ionic concentration of the pore solution very much or the possible leaching of ions from cement hydrates during the preconditioning has limited influence on the freezing and melting behavior of the pore solution in the studied cement paste samples. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Impact of sample crushing on porosity characterization of hardened cement pastes by low temperature calorimetry : Comparison of powder and cylinder samples

The impact of sample crushing on the detected porosity of hardened cement pastes by low temperature calorimetry (LTC) was studied using powder and cylinder samples. Two types of cements, CEM I and CEM III were used to prepare the pastes. A model porous material, MCM-41, was also used in order to investigate some aspects of the measurement and the evaluation approach. The powder and cylinder samples of the cement pastes were compared in terms of the calculated ice content curves, total pore volumes and pore size distribution curves. For the two studied cement pastes, the calculated ice content curves of freezing of the powder sample differed from that of the cylinder samples, especially for the paste CEM III. The results indicate that sample crushing changed the pore connectivity as compared to non-crushed samples. One important difference between the powder sample and the cylinder samples of the paste CEM III was that the determined maximum ice content in the powder sample was much higher than that in the cylinder samples, the relatively difference being about 40–50%. However, this kind of marked difference was not found in the paste CEM I. The observed difference between the calculated pore volume of the powder and the cylinder samples of the paste CEM III is possibly due to some of the “isolated” pores which, presumably, cannot be fully filled with water in the preparation of the cylinder samples. However, sample crushing makes it possible to saturate the pores to a greater extent if the crushing contributes to open up the “isolated” pores. Consequently, more pores are detected in the powder samples. The argument that the “isolated” pores have a tendency to be opened up by the crushing process is supported by results using gravimetric measurements and “dynamic (water) vapor sorption” measurements on powder samples