pSESYNTH project: Community mobilization for a multi-disciplinary paleo database of the Global South

How to enhance paleoscientific research, collaboration and application in the Global South? The INQUA-funded multi-year pSESYNTH project envisions the first multi-disciplinary Holocene paleo database through a collaborative vision for past human-environmental systems in the Global South, and their future sustainability

Refined mapping of autoimmune disease associated genetic variants with gene expression suggests an important role for non-coding RNAs

Genome-wide association and fine-mapping studies in 14 autoimmune diseases (AID) have implicated more than 250 loci in one or more of these diseases. As more than 90% of AID-associated SNPs are intergenic or intronic, pinpointing the causal genes is challenging. We performed a systematic analysis to link 460 SNPs that are associated with 14 AID to causal genes using transcriptomic data from 629 blood samples. We were able to link 71 (39%) of the AID-SNPs to two or more nearby genes, providing evidence that for part of the AID loci multiple causal genes exist. While 54 of the AID loci are shared by one or more AID, 17% of them do not share candidate causal genes. In addition to finding novel genes such as ULK3, we also implicate novel disease mechanisms and pathways like autophagy in celiac disease pathogenesis. Furthermore, 42 of the AID SNPs specifically affected the expression of 53 non-coding RNA genes. To further understand how the non-coding genome contributes to AID, the SNPs were linked to functional regulatory elements, which suggest a model where AID genes are regulated by network of chromatin looping/non-coding RNAs interactions. The looping model also explains how a causal candidate gene is not necessarily the gene closest to the AID SNP, which was the case in nearly 50% of cases. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.</p

Refined mapping of autoimmune disease associated genetic variants with gene expression suggests an important role for non-coding RNAs

Genome-wide association and fine-mapping studies in 14 autoimmune diseases (AID) have implicated more than 250 loci in one or more of these diseases. As more than 90% of AID-associated SNPs are intergenic or intronic, pinpointing the causal genes is challenging. We performed a systematic analysis to link 460 SNPs that are associated with 14 AID to causal genes using transcriptomic data from 629 blood samples. We were able to link 71 (39%) of the AID-SNPs to two or more nearby genes, providing evidence that for part of the AID loci multiple causal genes exist. While 54 of the AID loci are shared by one or more AID, 17% of them do not share candidate causal genes. In addition to finding novel genes such as ULK3, we also implicate novel disease mechanisms and pathways like autophagy in celiac disease pathogenesis. Furthermore, 42 of the AID SNPs specifically affected the expression of 53 non-coding RNA genes. To further understand how the non-coding genome contributes to AID, the SNPs were linked to functional regulatory elements, which suggest a model where AID genes are regulated by network of chromatin looping/non-coding RNAs interactions. The looping model also explains how a causal candidate gene is not necessarily the gene closest to the AID SNP, which was the case in nearly 50% of cases

BACKWARD ANGLE N-P DIFFERENTIAL CROSS-SECTION AT 96 MEV

An accurate measurement of the n-p differential cross section, in the angular range 116-degrees-180-degrees, at 96 MeV is reported. Between 150-degrees and 180-degrees the angular distribution is steeper than earlier measurements and potential predictions. The sensitivity of the differential cross section to isospin-singlet, J less-than-or-equal-to 4 phase-shift parameters was studied, and it was found that the observed difference at the most backward angles is sensitive mainly to L greater-than-or-equal-to 3 phase shifts

El desarrollo: perspectivas y dimensiones : aportes interdisciplinarios

Este libro recoge las ponencias presentadas al Seminario Nacional "Estudios interdisciplinarios sobre desarrollo: características y retos", organizado por el CIDER, de la Universidad de los Andes en Bogotá, Colombia, el 12 de octubre de 2006, con motivo de cumplir treinta años de actividades. El CIDER agradece a todos aquellos que hicieron posible este evento, y en particular a la embajada del Reino de los Países Bajos que contribuyó con una parte sustancial de su financiación. Los temas discutidos en el libro corresponden a las actuales prioridades académicas e investigativas del CIDER. Se espera, en consecuencia, que las reflexiones que sigue adelantando en torno a ellos le permitan brindar nuevos aportes en un futuro cercano

Alternate Atlantic forest and climate phases during the early Pleistocene 41 kyr cycles in southeastern Brazil

International audienceThe early Pleistocene was driven by 41 kyr glacial cycles that have been rarely characterized in continental records, especially in South America. Most of long-term records derive from marine records (e.g. sea surface temperatures (SST)) and have been widely used to infer past climate dynamics but implications for the continent have rarely been evaluated. We present an early Pleistocene record (COL17c) from the Colônia basin in the Atlantic forest domain in southeastern Brazil. Our aim was to integrate past environmental dynamics and the drivers of change between ca. 1.5 to 1.3 Myr at the latitude of Colônia (23°S; ca. 700 m a.s.l.). We applied a multi-proxy approach including pollen, charcoal, X-Ray fluorescence scanning (XRF), biomarkers and diatoms. We identified three glacial periods and four interglacials containing a continuous cool forest, mainly dominated by Araucaria. The glacial periods were characterized by increases in organic matter input on the lake, semi-deciduous forest, and shore and herbaceous vegetation. In contrast, the interglacials were marked by increases in evergreen forest and reduced organic matter input. We attribute these alternating phases of vegetation and lake productivity to meridional temperature differences that regulated the input of moisture at the latitude of Colônia. After 1.430 Myr, glacial and interglacial periods showed a different dynamism with an increase in Araucaria forests and drops in relative temperature, concomitant with regional long-trend cooling observed in marine records. The observed forest responses inferred from the COL17c record are in phase with regional climate features such as the development of the cold Pacific tongue and the equatorward migration of subpolar fronts, highlighting the strong influence of the Southern Hemisphere at Colônia during the early Pleistocene