New methods for studying complex diseases via genetic association studies

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have delivered many novel insights about the etiology of many common heritable diseases. However, in most disorders studied by GWAS, the known single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with the disease do not account for a large portion of the genetic factors underlying the condition. This suggests that many of the undiscovered variants contributing to the risk of common diseases have weak effects or are relatively rare. This thesis introduces novel adaptations of techniques for improving detection power for both of these types of risk variants, and reports the results of analyses applying these methods to real datasets for common diseases. Chapter 2 describes a novel approach to improve the detection of weak-effect risk variants that is based on an adaptive sampling technique known as Distilled Sensing (DS). This procedure entails utilization of a portion of the total sample to exclude from consideration regions of the genome where there is no evidence of genetic association, and then testing for association with a greatly reduced number of variants in the remaining sample. Application of the method to simulated data sets and GWAS data from studies of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) demonstrated that, in many situations, DS can have superior power over traditional meta-analysis techniques to detect weak-effect loci. Chapter 3 describes an innovative pipeline to screen for rare variants in next generation sequencing (NGS) data. Since rare variants, by definition, are likely to be present in only a few individuals even in large samples, efficient methods to screen for rare causal variants are critical for advancing the utility of NGS technology. Application of our approach, which uses family-based data to identify candidate rare variants that could explain aggregation of disease in some pedigrees, resulted in the discovery of novel protein-coding variants linked to increased risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) in African Americans. The techniques presented in this thesis address different aspects of the "missing heritability" problem and offer efficient approaches to discover novel risk variants, and thereby facilitate development of a more complete picture of genetic risk for common diseases

Returns Management Practices in Swiss Online Apparel Retailing: A Multiple Case Study Approach

Product returns are a critical, costly task for online retailers; yet the process of managing and avoiding returns is neither actively coordinated nor investigated. Based on a multiple case study approach, six in-depth interviews with top- and middle-level apparel industry managers were conducted to explore and describe practices of managing product returns in online apparel retailing. Our findings revealed returns management practices implemented in online apparel retailing and identified several applications to reduce the environmental footprint of product returns and improving the company’s performance, based on five facets of returns management: (1) the interplay of return policy, product category, and preventive actions; (2) the application of avoidance practices; (3) the management of returns in omnichannel retail; (4) the potential of artificial intelligence to reduce return rates; and (5) the role of sustainability in consumer behaviour. To reduce product returns and enhance a company’s performance, we propose to map the practices against different phases of the return journey

Zuwanderung zum Zweck der Erwerbstätigkeit

ZUWANDERUNG ZUM ZWECK DER ERWERBSTÄTIGKEIT Zuwanderung zum Zweck der Erwerbstätigkeit / Schu, Cornelia (Rights reserved) ( -

Fakten zur Einwanderung in Deutschland

FAKTEN ZUR EINWANDERUNG IN DEUTSCHLAND Fakten zur Einwanderung in Deutschland / Schu, Cornelia (Rights reserved) ( -

A dynamical system approach to higher order gravity

The dynamical system approach has recently acquired great importance in the investigation on higher order theories of gravity. In this talk I review the main results and I give brief comments on the perspectives for further developments.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables, talk given at IRGAC 2006, July 200

Assistência técnica e extensão rural – EMATER-RS/ASCAR em Salvador do Sul-RS

O estágio foi realizado na Empresa de Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural – Emater-RS/ASCAR, no período de 08 de janeiro a 28 de fevereiro de 2019, no escritório municipal de Salvador do Sul, que é responsável pelo serviço oficial de assistência técnica, extensão rural e social do estado do Rio Grande do Sul, e atua, também na execução das políticas públicas do governo, cujo objetivo é promover o desenvolvimento econômico, social e regional sustentável. O estágio permitiu o acompanhamento das atividades dos extensionistas que prestam assistência e auxiliam produtores em diferentes realidades, permitindo, assim, agregar conhecimentos em diversas áreas que foram trabalhadas, voltadas a realidade do pequeno produtor, bem como, adquirir conhecimentos na área de planejamento de atividades e relacionadas as políticas públicas voltadas a esse público

Convergence theorems for nonself asymptotically nonexpansive mappings

In this paper, we prove some strong and weak convergence theorems using a modified iterative process for nonself asymptotically nonexpansive mappings in a uniformly convex Banach space. This will improve and generalize the corresponding results in the existing literature. Finally, we will state that our theorems can be generalized to the case of finitely many mappings

Acompanhamento de pomar de oliveira no sistema superintensivo de cultivo

O presente trabalho tem como finalidade descrever as atividades de acompanhamento de consultorias técnicas, realizadas pela empresa Base Agro Assessoria Agrícola LTDA, situada em Nova Prata-RS e que atende a região de metropolitana de Porto Alegre. O período de realização do estágio ocorreu de 22 de agosto à 20 de dezembro de 2022. O objetivo do estágio foi acompanhar as atividades práticas em diferentes propriedades assessoradas. O foco principal é a cultura da oliveira, mas a consultoria atende uma ampla gama de produtores com diferentes atividades em suas propriedades. As principais atividades realizadas foram o monitoramento de pragas e doenças na cultura da oliveira, planejamento de tratos fitossanitários, manejo de poda, manejo de fertilidade, colheita, gestão de propriedades, e demais atividades de rotina