Participation in Self-Collection of Maternal and Infant DNA in a Case-Control Study on Clubfoot

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD051804

Utdanning er ikke hva det en gang var.

Notatet er basert på tiltredelsesforelesningen ved Høgskulen i Volda 20. oktober 2010. Det argumenteres med en potensiell nytteeffekt for pedagogikken (som disiplin) og for samfunnet. Nytten ligger i hva samfunnet kan lære om seg selv gjennom erkjennelsen som disiplinen klarer å produsere. Slik sett kan man snakke om opplysning som gjør refleksjonsprosesser mulig

Computer-Aided Techniques as a Tool for the Integration of Industrial Processes

The main topics of this working paper are: (1) To roughly characterize the main processes of industrial systems by their essential features. (2) To point out the possibilities of rationalization of the main processes of industrial systems -- first of all by utilization of computers. (3) To sketch some methodological aspects of analysis and synthesis of industrial processes. (4) To recommend problems that could be investigated in IIASA in connection with the rationalization of Integrated Industrial Systems by utilization of computers. (5) To investigate the role of CAD techniques as a tool for the integration of industrial processes. The main objective of this working paper is to explain the problems and to fix the limits of the area to be discussed at the CAD conference at IIASA in November 1974. We shall not describe here state-of-the-art reports or solutions to the problems but will only point out the direction of possible research and various ideas which will be explained in some papers presented at the conference

Ignition delay times of methane/diethyl ether (DEE) blends measured in a rapid compression machine (RCM)

Diethyl ether (DEE) is an interesting species for combustion for at least two reasons: On the one hand, it is used as a kind of "worst case" reference substance for studies concerned with the prevention of accidental ignition events. On the other hand, it is also a candidate bio-fuel. For this reason, in this work, auto-ignition of two different CH$_{4}$/DEE-mixtures (90/10 and 95/5 mol-% CH$_{4}$/DEE) are studied in a rapid compression machine (RCM). In the RCM, the gas mixture is compressed in a piston-cylinder device up to 20 bar and held under isochoric conditions at top dead center. Autoignition occurs after an ignition delay time (IDT). IDTs are measured for compression temperatures ranging between 515 and 925 K, for both, stoichiometric and fuel-rich mixtures (equivalence ratio $\phi$ = 2). The experimental data are compared to results of simulations involving detailed chemistry, as well as to other fuels investigated in the same RCM (results from literature)

Untersuchungen der Niedertemperaturoxidation von Kohlenwasserstoffen in einer schnellen Kompressions-Expansions-Maschine

In dieser Arbeit wird die Weiterentwicklung des experimentellen Aufbaus einer schnellen Kompressions-Expansions-Maschine zur Untersuchung von chemischer Reaktionskinetik beschrieben. Neben der Charakterisierung des Experiments wird auch die Entwicklung eines Wärmeverlustmodells zur numerischen Beschreibung des Versuchs erläutert. Gemessene Zündverzugszeiten sowie Spezieszusammensetzungen zur Validierung von Reaktionsmechanismen werden im Ergebnisteil vorgestellt

Risk factors and prevalence of limb deficiencies associated with amniotic band sequence : A population-based case-control study

Peer reviewe

Impact of cannabis use on brain metabolism using 31P and 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Purpose This prospective cross-sectional study investigated the infuence of regular cannabis use on brain metabolism in young cannabis users by using combined proton and phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Methods The study was performed in 45 young cannabis users aged 18–30, who had been using cannabis on a regular basis over a period of at least 2 years and in 47 age-matched controls. We acquired 31P MRS data in diferent brain regions at 3T with a double-resonant 1H/31P head coil, anatomic images, and 1H MRS data with a standard 20-channel 1H head coil. Absolute concentration values of proton metabolites were obtained via calibration from tissue water as an internal reference, whereas a standard solution of 75 mmol/l KH2PO4 was used as an external reference for the calibration of phosphorus signals. Results We found an overall but not statistically signifcant lower concentration level of several proton and phosphorus metabolites in cannabis users compared to non-users. In particular, energy-related phosphates such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and inorganic phosphate (Pi) were reduced in all regions under investigation. Phosphocreatine (PCr) showed lowered values mainly in the left basal ganglia and the left frontal white matter. Conclusion The results suggest that the increased risk of functional brain disorders observed in long-term cannabis users could be caused by an impairment of the energy metabolism of the brain, but this needs to be verifed in future studies

Genome-Wide Studies of Histone Demethylation Catalysed by the Fission Yeast Homologues of Mammalian LSD1

In order to gain a more global view of the activity of histone demethylases, we report here genome-wide studies of the fission yeast SWIRM and polyamine oxidase (PAO) domain homologues of mammalian LSD1. Consistent with previous work we find that the two S. pombe proteins, which we name Swm1 and Swm2 (after SWIRM1 and SWIRM2), associate together in a complex. However, we find that this complex specifically demethylates lysine 9 in histone H3 (H3K9) and both up- and down-regulates expression of different groups of genes. Using chromatin-immunoprecipitation, to isolate fragments of chromatin containing either H3K4me2 or H3K9me2, and DNA microarray analysis (ChIP-chip), we have studied genome-wide changes in patterns of histone methylation, and their correlation with gene expression, upon deletion of the swm1+ gene. Using hyper-geometric probability comparisons we uncover genetic links between lysine-specific demethylases, the histone deacetylase Clr6, and the chromatin remodeller Hrp1. The data presented here demonstrate that in fission yeast the SWIRM/PAO domain proteins Swm1 and Swm2 are associated in complexes that can remove methyl groups from lysine 9 methylated histone H3. In vitro, we show that bacterially expressed Swm1 also possesses lysine 9 demethylase activity. In vivo, loss of Swm1 increases the global levels of both H3K9me2 and H3K4me2. A significant accumulation of H3K4me2 is observed at genes that are up-regulated in a swm1 deletion strain. In addition, H3K9me2 accumulates at some genes known to be direct Swm1/2 targets that are down-regulated in the swm1¿ strain. The in vivo data indicate that Swm1 acts in concert with the HDAC Clr6 and the chromatin remodeller Hrp1 to repress gene expression. In addition, our in vitro analyses suggest that the H3K9 demethylase activity requires an unidentified post-translational modification to allow it to act. Thus, our results highlight complex interactions between histone demethylase, deacetylase and chromatin remodelling activities in the regulation of gene expression