Statlige pensjonsfond og offentlige realinvesteringer : hvordan bør store nasjonale finansformuer forvaltes?

I denne oppgaven ser jeg på optimal bruk av statlige finansformuer gjennom en teoretisk økonomisk modell med flere generasjoner. Fremtidig produktivitet påvirkes av learning by doing og offentlige investeringer, og en samfunnsplanlegger ønsker å maksimere dagens og fremtidige generasjoners nytte. Finansformuen kan brukes på pengeoverføringer og realinvesteringer. Modellen finner at optimal bruk av finansformue i periode 1 er større når myndighetene åpner for å gjøre realinvesteringer. Når realinvesteringer gjøres med varer/tjenester fra konkurranseutsatt sektor får vi det høyeste nivået av forbruk og nytte for dagens og fremtidige generasjoner

Feedback modulation of cholesterol metabolism by the lipid-responsive non-coding RNA LeXis.

Liver X receptors (LXRs) are transcriptional regulators of cellular and systemic cholesterol homeostasis. Under conditions of excess cholesterol, LXR activation induces the expression of several genes involved in cholesterol efflux, facilitates cholesterol esterification by promoting fatty acid synthesis, and inhibits cholesterol uptake by the low-density lipoprotein receptor. The fact that sterol content is maintained in a narrow range in most cell types and in the organism as a whole suggests that extensive crosstalk between regulatory pathways must exist. However, the molecular mechanisms that integrate LXRs with other lipid metabolic pathways are incompletely understood. Here we show that ligand activation of LXRs in mouse liver not only promotes cholesterol efflux, but also simultaneously inhibits cholesterol biosynthesis. We further identify the long non-coding RNA LeXis as a mediator of this effect. Hepatic LeXis expression is robustly induced in response to a Western diet (high in fat and cholesterol) or to pharmacological LXR activation. Raising or lowering LeXis levels in the liver affects the expression of genes involved in cholesterol biosynthesis and alters the cholesterol levels in the liver and plasma. LeXis interacts with and affects the DNA interactions of RALY, a heterogeneous ribonucleoprotein that acts as a transcriptional cofactor for cholesterol biosynthetic genes in the mouse liver. These findings outline a regulatory role for a non-coding RNA in lipid metabolism and advance our understanding of the mechanisms that coordinate sterol homeostasis

Past and future spread of the arbovirus vectors Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus

The global population at risk from mosquito-borne diseases—including dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika—is expanding in concert with changes in the distribution of two key vectors: Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. The distribution of these species is largely driven by both human movement and the presence of suitable climate. Using statistical mapping techniques, we show that human movement patterns explain the spread of both species in Europe and the United States following their introduction. We find that the spread of Ae. aegypti is characterized by long distance importations, while Ae. albopictus has expanded more along the fringes of its distribution. We describe these processes and predict the future distributions of both species in response to accelerating urbanization, connectivity and climate change. Global surveillance and control efforts that aim to mitigate the spread of chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever and Zika viruses must consider the so far unabated spread of these mosquitos. Our maps and predictions offer an opportunity to strategically target surveillance and control programmes and thereby augment efforts to reduce arbovirus burden in human populations globally

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Identification of hydroxyapatite spherules provides new insight into sub-retinal pigment epithelial deposit formation in the aging eye

Identification of hydroxyapatite spherules provides new insight into subretinal pigment epithelial deposit formation in the aging eye. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A , 112 Keywords: Hydroxyapatite, calcium, drusen, macula, retinal pigment epithelium, RPE, age-related macular degeneration, AMD, cholesterol, complement factor H, CFH, amyloid-beta, vitronectin Significance Statement Proteins and lipids accumulating in deposits external to the RPE represent a barrier to metabolic exchange between the retina and the choroidal capillaries. With time, these deposits can lead to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the most common cause of blindness in the elderly in the developed world. It remains unclear how sub-RPE deposits are initiated and grow to clinically relevant features. Using a combination of high resolution analytical techniques we found that tiny hydroxyapatite (bone mineral) spherules with cholesterol-containing cores are present in all examined sub-RPE deposits, providing a scaffold to which proteins adhere. If the spherules are important in initiating sub-RPE deposit formation this may provide attractive new approaches for early identification and treatment of AMD

The Metagenomics and Metadesign of the Subways and Urban Biomes (MetaSUB) International Consortium inaugural meeting report

The Metagenomics and Metadesign of the Subways and Urban Biomes (MetaSUB) International Consortium is a novel, interdisciplinary initiative comprised of experts across many fields, including genomics, data analysis, engineering, public health, and architecture. The ultimate goal of the MetaSUB Consortium is to improve city utilization and planning through the detection, measurement, and design of metagenomics within urban environments. Although continual measures occur for temperature, air pressure, weather, and human activity, including longitudinal, cross-kingdom ecosystem dynamics can alter and improve the design of cities. The MetaSUB Consortium is aiding these efforts by developing and testing metagenomic methods and standards, including optimized methods for sample collection, DNA/RNA isolation, taxa characterization, and data visualization. The data produced by the consortium can aid city planners, public health officials, and architectural designers. In addition, the study will continue to lead to the discovery of new species, global maps of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) markers, and novel biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). Finally, we note that engineered metagenomic ecosystems can help enable more responsive, safer, and quantified cities

Neuromatch Academy: a 3-week, online summer school in computational neuroscience

Neuromatch Academy (https://academy.neuromatch.io; (van Viegen et al., 2021)) was designed as an online summer school to cover the basics of computational neuroscience in three weeks. The materials cover dominant and emerging computational neuroscience tools, how they complement one another, and specifically focus on how they can help us to better understand how the brain functions. An original component of the materials is its focus on modeling choices, i.e. how do we choose the right approach, how do we build models, and how can we evaluate models to determine if they provide real (meaningful) insight. This meta-modeling component of the instructional materials asks what questions can be answered by different techniques, and how to apply them meaningfully to get insight about brain function