Do Socio-Economic Conditions Influence Dynastic Politics? Initial Evidence from the 16th Lok Sabha of India

This study contributes to the literature on political dynasties and their links to economic development by focusing on the case of India, in particular the members of the parliament (MPs) of sixteenth Lok Sabha (i.e., the lower house of the Indian parliament). It is notable for it marked a decline in the dominance of the Indian National Congress in the country\u27s political scene. The Congress party, once led by India\u27s founding fathers Mohandas Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, has long been dominated by the political family started by Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi. The situation of India mirrors the politics of other countries in South Asia, where the national governments are -- or were -- led by entrenched ruling families: the Bhuttos of Pakistan; the Bandernaikes of Sri Lanka; the Koirala family of Nepal; and the Sheikh Mujib dynasty of Bangladesh. The research hypothesizes that state-level socio-economic indicators influence dynastic representation to the Lok Sabha. The results of the study do not claim causation but suggest the existence of patterns and relationships worth exploring in future studies. These patterns are then compared to the Philippine case

Genome-wide association of early-onset myocardial infarction with single nucleotide polymorphisms and copy number variants

We conducted a genome-wide association study testing single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and copy number variants (CNVs) for association with early-onset myocardial infarction in 2,967 cases and 3,075 controls. We carried out replication in an independent sample with an effective sample size of up to 19,492. SNPs at nine loci reached genome-wide significance: three are newly identified (21q22 near MRPS6-SLC5A3-KCNE2, 6p24 in PHACTR1 and 2q33 in WDR12) and six replicated prior observations (9p21, 1p13 near CELSR2-PSRC1-SORT1, 10q11 near CXCL12, 1q41 in MIA3, 19p13 near LDLR and 1p32 near PCSK9). We tested 554 common copy number polymorphisms (>1% allele frequency) and none met the pre-specified threshold for replication (P < 10(-3)). We identified 8,065 rare CNVs but did not detect a greater CNV burden in cases compared to controls, in genes compared to the genome as a whole, or at any individual locus. SNPs at nine loci were reproducibly associated with myocardial infarction, but tests of common and rare CNVs failed to identify additional associations with myocardial infarction risk