Identification of Candidate Genes for Dyslexia Susceptibility on Chromosome 18

Background: Six independent studies have identified linkage to chromosome 18 for developmental dyslexia or general reading ability. Until now, no candidate genes have been identified to explain this linkage. Here, we set out to identify the gene(s) conferring susceptibility by a two stage strategy of linkage and association analysis. Methodology/Principal Findings: Linkage analysis: 264 UK families and 155 US families each containing at least one child diagnosed with dyslexia were genotyped with a dense set of microsatellite markers on chromosome 18. Association analysis: Using a discovery sample of 187 UK families, nearly 3000 SNPs were genotyped across the chromosome 18 dyslexia susceptibility candidate region. Following association analysis, the top ranking SNPs were then genotyped in the remaining samples. The linkage analysis revealed a broad signal that spans approximately 40 Mb from 18p11.2 to 18q12.2. Following the association analysis and subsequent replication attempts, we observed consistent association with the same SNPs in three genes; melanocortin 5 receptor (MC5R), dymeclin (DYM) and neural precursor cell expressed, developmentally down-regulated 4-like (NEDD4L). Conclusions: Along with already published biological evidence, MC5R, DYM and NEDD4L make attractive candidates for dyslexia susceptibility genes. However, further replication and functional studies are still required.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The Theocracy of John Paul II

The Catholic church is the senior institution of Western civilisation, its unbroken line of succession running like a spine from the height of the Roman Empire to the present. This phenomenal endurance is the product of a genius capable of a fluid adaptation to the vicissitudes of history, while retaining a granite core of identity. The conjuncture of these two traits is of course a sine qua non for any successful religion; but in the case of Roman Catholicism it is all the more remarkable given the marked degree of temporal power associated with the church. The secular orders with which it has been associated have gone their way; but the church endures, borrowing, adapting, transforming its outer shell when necessary. Today, long past the tocsin announced for it by the Enlightenment, Catholicism continues to grow in influence

In Nicaragua

https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/petry-books/1190/thumbnail.jp

Post-Communist Anti-Communism: America's New Ideological Frontiers

In the eight years since Socialist Register devoted an entire issue to the phenomenon of anticommunism, the scarcely thinkable has happened. Anticommunism has won. No longer the ideology of one side in a global struggle, it now stands uncontested astride its fallen adversary. What are the implications of this turn of events? What happens when there is no longer a Communism to hate? The Cold War would be better called the 'Forty Years War,' since it was anything but cold for all the Caucasian fraction of its command structure, and also because its intensely ideological character suggests comparison with the Thirty Years War, last of the overtly religious bloodbaths to have wracked the Western world. The ideological fervour with which the Cold War was waged was a throwback to pre-Enlightenment days, even though the Western side, spearheaded by the United States, professed to be fighting for Enlightenment virtue against Eastern barbarism. This claim was very successfully advanced, to the extent that the terms 'democracy' and 'freedom' came to be automatically associated with 'capitalism' in the dichotomous thinking which characterised Cold War discourse