Is Economics Entering its Post-Witchcraft Era?

Recently, an awareness is emerging in economics about the fact that important problems are not solvable algorithmically, that is, by any finite number of steps. This statement can be made mathematically exact and this paper reviews the contributions that have been made in this regard, related to standard topics in economics

Is Economics Entering its Post-Witchcraft Era?

Recently, an awareness is emerging in economics about the fact that important problems are not solvable algorithmically, that is, by any finite number of steps. This statement can be made mathematically exact and this paper reviews the contributions that have been made in this regard, related to standard topics in economics

Is Economics Entering its Post-Witchcraft Era?

Recently, an awareness is emerging in economics about the fact that important problems are not solvable algorithmically, that is, by any finite number of steps. This statement can be made mathematically exact and this paper reviews the contributions that have been made in this regard, related to standard topics in economics

Genomic correlates of glatiramer acetate adverse cardiovascular effects lead to a novel locus mediating coronary risk

Glatiramer acetate is used therapeutically in multiple sclerosis but also known for adverse effects including elevated coronary artery disease (CAD) risk. The mechanisms underlying the cardiovascular side effects of the medication are unclear. Here, we made use of the chromosomal variation in the genes that are known to be affected by glatiramer treatment. Focusing on genes and gene products reported by drug-gene interaction database to interact with glatiramer acetate we explored a large meta-analysis on CAD genome-wide association studies aiming firstly, to investigate whether variants in these genes also affect cardiovascular risk and secondly, to identify new CAD risk genes. We traced association signals in a 200-kb region around genomic positions of genes interacting with glatiramer in up to 60 801 CAD cases and 123 504 controls. We validated the identified association in additional 21 934 CAD cases and 76 087 controls. We identified three new CAD risk alleles within the TGFB1 region on chromosome 19 that independently affect CAD risk. The lead SNP rs12459996 was genome-wide significantly associated with CAD in the extended meta-analysis (odds ratio 1.09, p = 1.58×10-12). The other two SNPs at the locus were not in linkage disequilibrium with the lead SNP and by a conditional analysis showed p-values of 4.05 × 10-10 and 2.21 × 10-6. Thus, studying genes reported to interact with glatiramer acetate we identified genetic variants that concordantly with the drug increase the risk of CAD. Of these, TGFB1 displayed signal for association. Indeed, the gene has been associated with CAD previously in both in vivo and in vitro studies. Here we establish genome-wide significant association with CAD in large human samples.This work was supported by grants from the Fondation Leducq (CADgenomics: Understanding CAD Genes, 12CVD02), the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the framework of the e:Med research and funding concept (e:AtheroSysMed, grant 01ZX1313A-2014 and SysInflame, grant 01ZX1306A), and the European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under grant agreement no HEALTH-F2-2013-601456 (CVgenes-at-target). Further grants were received from the DFG as part of the Sonderforschungsbereich CRC 1123 (B2). T.K. was supported by a DZHK Rotation Grant. I.B. was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) cluster of excellence ‘Inflammation at Interfaces’. F.W.A. is supported by a Dekker scholarship-Junior Staff Member 2014T001 - Netherlands Heart Foundation and UCL Hospitals NIHR Biomedical Research Centre

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Is Economics Entering its Post-Witchcraft Era?

Recently, an awareness is emerging in economics about the fact that important problems are not solvable algorithmically, that is, by any finite number of steps. This statement can be made mathematically exact and this paper reviews the contributions that have been made in this regard, related to standard topics in economics.Computability economics; general equilibrium theory; Arrow's impossibility theorem; Debreu's theorem; Malleus Maleficiarum

Is Economics Entering its Post-Witchcraft Era?

Recently, an awareness is emerging in economics about the fact that important problems are not solvable algorithmically, that is, by any finite number of steps. This statement can be made mathematically exact and this paper reviews the contributions that have been made in this regard, related to standard topics in economics. 1 Introduction: on the Medieval Horror of Malleus Maleficarum Quite a long time ago, when one of the authors was in school, he was asked to read the infamous late 15th century inquisitorial book Malleus Maleficarum and, beyond the endless gory details of tortures to be applied to witches, to comment on what he found as by far the most important feature of that text. As it happened, what he found was the most surprising perfect identity in their respective view