An introduction to Elinor Glyn : her life and legacy

This special issue of Women: A Cultural Review re-evaluates an author who was once a household name, beloved by readers of romance, and whose films were distributed widely in Europe and the Americas. Elinor Glyn (1864–1943) was a British author of romantic fiction who went to Hollywood and became famous for her movies. She was a celebrity figure of the 1920s, and wrote constantly in Hearst's press. She wrote racy stories which were turned into films—most famously, Three Weeks (1924) and It (1927). These were viewed by the judiciary as scandalous, but by others—Hollywood and the Spanish Catholic Church—as acceptably conservative. Glyn has become a peripheral figure in histories of this period, marginalized in accounts of the youth-centred ‘flapper era’. Decades on, the idea of the ‘It Girl’ continues to have great pertinence in the post-feminist discourses of the twenty-first century. The 1910s and 1920s saw the development of intermodal networks between print, sound and screen cultures. This introduction to Glyn's life and legacy reviews the cross-disciplinary debate sparked by renewed interest in Glyn by film scholars and literary and feminist historians, and offers a range of views of Glyn's cultural and historical significance and areas for future research

Molecular Marker Linkage Map for Apple

Linkage maps for two apple clones, White Angel and Rome Beauty, were constructed using isozyme and DNA polymorphisms segregating in a population produced from a Rome Beauty × White Angel cross. The linkage map for White Angel consists of 253 markers arranged in 24 linkage groups and extends over 950 cM. The Rome Beauty map contains 156 markers on 21 linkage groups. The White Angel map was taken as the standard, and we were able to identify linkage groups in Rome Beauty homologous to 13 White Angel linkage groups. The location of several genes not segregating in the Rome Beauty × White Angel population could be determined on the basis of known linkages with segregating markers. Hence, the standard map for apple now contains about 360 markers, with most linkage groups saturated at 10-15 cM. The double pseudotestcross format of the mapping population permitted the comparison of recombination frequencies in male and female parents in certain regions of the genome where appropriate markers were available. The recombination frequencies observed for the approximately 170 cM that were comparable gave no indication that a sex-related difference in recombination rate was characteristic of appl

Das Ertragsniveau von Composite Cross Winterweizenpopulationen mit unterschiedlichen Managementhistorien in zwei Bodenbearbeitungssystemen

Die Züchtung heterogener Composite Cross Populationen (CCPs) und ihre darauffolgende Anpassung an lokal vorherrschende biotische und abiotische Stressfaktoren hat zum Ziel, die Ertragsstabilität und Resilienz des Weizens zu steigern. Die Ertragsleistung von sechs CCPs mit identischem genetischen Hintergrund aber unterschiedlichen Managementhistorien wurde in einem Langzeitversuch mit verschiedenen Bodenbearbeitungs- und Düngungssystemen getestet. Diejenigen CCPs, die seit 2005 konventionell angebaut wurden, erzielten einen signifikant höheren Ertrag unter Pflug- als unter Minimalbodenbearbeitung. Für die seit 2005 ökologisch angebauten CCPs konnte kein signifikanter Ertragsunterschied zwischen den Bearbeitungssystemen festgestellt werden. Die seit 2008 in einem Breitsaatverfahren ohne Unkrautkontrolle angebauten ökologischen CCPs waren sogar tendenziell ertragsstärker unter Minimalbodenbearbeitung. Daraus ergibt sich, dass die jeweiligen Selektionskräfte, die durch langfristiges Management auf die CCPs eingewirkt haben, zu einer unterschiedlichen Anpassung an spezifischen Umweltbedingungen geführt haben

Anpassungsprozesse in der Frühentwicklung von Weizenpopulationen über 11 Generationen an das Anbausystem

Eine wichtige Anpassung an den ökologischen Anbau ist eine zügige Frühentwicklung und ein Wurzelsystem, das an organische Düngung angepasst ist. Eine Halbdiallelkreuzung aus insgesamt 20 europäischen Winterweizensorten wurde 2001 hergestellt und insgesamt drei Subpopulationen aus neun Hochertragseltern (CY), eine mit 12 Backqualitätseltern (CQ) und eine aus allen Eltern (CYQ) zusammengestellt. Seit der F5 wird Saatgut unter konventionellen und ökologischen Anbaubedingungen in jeweils zwei parallelen Populationen getrennt nachgebaut. Saat jeder Generation wird bei -20o C aufbewahrt. Für die Versuche wurden Generationen F6, F10, F11, F15 in einem Feld zu F6.1, F10.1, F11.1, F15.1 vermehrt. Frisches Saatgut wurde im Hydrokultursystem zwei Wochen bei 18/12 oC (Tag/Nacht) angebaut und die Wurzel- und Sproßlängen und Gewichte gemessen. Von der F6.1 zur F15.1 verlängerten sich die Seminalwurzeln unter ökologischen aber nicht unter konventionellen Bedingungen signifikant. Eine Ausnahme stellt die F11.1 Generation dar, die in der F11 extremem Kahlfrost durchlitten hatte und unter beiden Anbaubedingungen deutlich kürzere Wurzeln produzierte als ein Jahr zuvor oder vier Jahre später. Die Seminalwurzellänge in den konventionell angebauten Y CCPs signifikant kürzer als in den ökologisch angebauten. Im Gegensatz dazu unterschieden sich die Q Populationen nicht, während sich die YQ Populationen unter ökologischen Bedingungen wie die Q CCPs verhielten, unter konventionellen Bedingungen aber eine Zwischenposition zwischen Y und Q einnahmen. Insgesamt nahmen die Sproßlängen in allen Populationen leicht zu in den ersten vier Generationen und blieben danach gleich. Die CCPs zeigen auch nach 15 Generationen konsistent ihre ursprünglichen genetischen Unterschiede. Der Nachbau in großen Parzellen kann die genetische Breite der CCPs auch durch einmaligen Extremereignisse grundsätzlich erhalten

Type 2 Diabetes Risk Alleles Are Associated With Reduced Size at Birth

OBJECTIVE: Low birth weight is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The mechanisms underlying this association are unknown and may represent intrauterine programming or two phenotypes of one genotype. The fetal insulin hypothesis proposes that common genetic variants that reduce insulin secretion or action may predispose to type 2 diabetes and also reduce birth weight, since insulin is a key fetal growth factor. We tested whether common genetic variants that predispose to type 2 diabetes also reduce birth weight. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at five recently identified type 2 diabetes loci (CDKAL1, CDKN2A/B, HHEX-IDE, IGF2BP2, and SLC30A8) in 7,986 mothers and 19,200 offspring from four studies of white Europeans. We tested the association between maternal or fetal genotype at each locus and birth weight of the offspring. RESULTS: We found that type 2 diabetes risk alleles at the CDKAL1 and HHEX-IDE loci were associated with reduced birth weight when inherited by the fetus (21 g [95% CI 11-31], P = 2 x 10(-5), and 14 g [4-23], P = 0.004, lower birth weight per risk allele, respectively). The 4% of offspring carrying four risk alleles at these two loci were 80 g (95% CI 39-120) lighter at birth than the 8% carrying none (P(trend) = 5 x 10(-7)). There were no associations between birth weight and fetal genotypes at the three other loci or maternal genotypes at any locus. CONCLUSIONS: Our results are in keeping with the fetal insulin hypothesis and provide robust evidence that common disease-associated variants can alter size at birth directly through the fetal genotype

Multilingual gendered identities: female undergraduate students in London talk about heritage languages

In this paper I explore how a group of female university students, mostly British Asian and in their late teens and early twenties, perform femininities in talk about heritage languages. I argue that analysis of this talk reveals ways in which the participants enact ‘culturally intelligible’ gendered subject positions. This frequently involves negotiating the norms of ‘heteronormativity’, constituting femininity in terms of marriage, motherhood and maintenance of heritage culture and language, and ‘girl power’, constituting femininity in terms of youth, sassiness, glamour and individualism. For these young women, I ask whether higher education can become a site in which they have the opportunities to explore these identifications and examine other ways of imagining the self and what their stories suggest about ‘doing being’ a young British Asian woman in London

Adult height variants affect birth length and growth rate in children

Previous studies identified 180 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with adult height, explaining ∼10% of the variance. The age at which these begin to affect growth is unclear. We modelled the effect of these SNPs on birth length and childhood growth. A total of 7768 participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children had data available. Individual growth trajectories from 0 to 10 years were estimated using mixed-effects linear spline models and differences in trajectories by individual SNPs and allelic score were determined. The allelic score was associated with birth length (0.026 cm increase per ‘tall’ allele, SE = 0.003, P = 1 × 10−15, equivalent to 0.017 SD). There was little evidence of association between the allelic score and early infancy growth (0–3 months), but there was evidence of association between the allelic score and later growth. This association became stronger with each consecutive growth period, per ‘tall’ allele per month effects were 0.015 SD (3 months–1 year, SE = 0.004), 0.023 SD (1–3 years, SE = 0.003) and 0.028 SD (3–10 years, SE = 0.003). By age 10, the mean height difference between individuals with ≤170 versus ≥191 ‘tall’ alleles (the top and bottom 10%) was 4.7 cm (0.8 SD), explaining ∼5% of the variance. There was evidence of associations with specific growth periods for some SNPs (rs3791675, EFEMP1 and rs6569648, L3MBTL3) and supportive evidence for previously reported age-dependent effects of HHIP and SOCS2 SNPs. SNPs associated with adult height influence birth length and have an increasing effect on growth from late infancy through to late childhood. By age 10, they explain half the height variance (∼5%) of that explained in adults (∼10%)

Overdiagnosis in breast cancer screening: the importance of length of observation period and lead time

PMCID: PMC3706885This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

The functional "KL-VS" variant of KLOTHO is not associated with type 2 diabetes in 5028 UK Caucasians

BACKGROUND: Klotho has an important role in insulin signalling and the development of ageing-like phenotypes in mice. The common functional "KL-VS" variant in the KLOTHO (KL) gene is associated with longevity in humans but its role in type 2 diabetes is not known. We performed a large case-control and family-based study to test the hypothesis that KL-VS is associated with type 2 diabetes in a UK Caucasian population. METHODS: We genotyped 1793 cases, 1619 controls and 1616 subjects from 509 families for the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) F352V (rs9536314) that defines the KL-VS variant. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared between cases and controls. Family-based analysis was used to test for over- or under-transmission of V352 to affected offspring. RESULTS: Despite good power to detect odds ratios of 1.2, there were no significant associations between alleles or genotypes and type 2 diabetes (V352 allele: odds ratio = 0.96 (0.84–1.09)). Additional analysis of quantitative trait data in 1177 healthy control subjects showed no association of the variant with fasting insulin, glucose, triglycerides, HDL- or LDL-cholesterol (all P > 0.05). However, the HDL-cholesterol levels observed across the genotype groups showed a similar, but non-significant, pattern to previously reported data. CONCLUSION: This is the first large-scale study to examine the association between common functional variation in KL and type 2 diabetes risk. We have found no evidence that the functional KL-VS variant is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes in a large UK Caucasian case-control and family-based study

Indigenous knowledges and development: a postcolonial caution

As a result of the failure of formal top-down development, there has recently been increased interest in the possibilities of drawing upon the indigenous knowledges of those in the communities involved, in an attempt to produce more effective development strategies. The concept of indigenous knowledge calls for the inclusion of local voices and priorities, and promises empowerment through ownership of the process. However, there has been little critical examination of the ways in which indigenous knowledges have been included in the development process. Drawing upon postcolonial theory, this article suggests that indigenous knowledges are often drawn into development by both theorists and development institutions in a very limited way, failing to engage with other ways of perceiving development, and thus missing the possibility of devising more challenging alternatives