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

Historien, estetikken og etikken

Sammendrag I artikkelen diskuteres Sara Stridsbergs debutroman Happy Sally (2004) med utgangspunkt i de tre begrepene historie, estetikk og etikk. Teoretisk fundert i narrativ psykologi og estetisk teori viser artikkelens to første deler henholdsvis hvordan historien og historiefortellingen spiller en sentral tematisk rolle i romanen, og hvordan romanen kan leses som en tematisering av vilkårene for å gripe og forstå fortiden, og av kunstens privilegerte rolle i så henseende. I siste del låner jeg perspektiver fra den såkalt etiske kritikken idet jeg diskuterer etiske aspekter ved romanens egen bruk av historiske elementer, og forholdet mellom begrepene estetikk og etikk

«et sus bak skranken / om videnskapens kongelige lund». Om naturvitenskap, erkjennelse og kunst i Olaf Bulls «Ignis Ardens»

SammendragOlaf Bulls kantate «Ignis Ardens» har i stor grad falt utenfor Bull-resepsjonens interessefelt, et forhold som trolig i hvert fall til dels skyldes at diktet med sin vitenskapelige tematikk har blitt oppfattet som fremmed overfor forestillingen om en spesifikt lyrisk erkjennelsesmåte. I den foreliggende artikkelen søkes en slik oppfatning utfordret ved at diktet tvert imot leses som en lyrisk fortolkning av vitenskapelig frambragte innsikter om menneskets grunnleggende eksistensvilkår. Lest i lys av samtidig naturvitenskapelig formidling forstås diktet her som en lyrisk iscenesettelse og behandling av en konflikt mellom et materialistisk og et idealistisk verdens- og vitenskapssyn, hvor kunsten til slutt – i allianse med moderne naturvitenskap – innsettes som veien til den sanneste og dypeste erkjennelsen av selve (menneske-)livets grunnvilkår. Slik forsøker jeg gjennom artikkelen ikke bare å fylle et tomrom i Bull-resepsjonen, men også å problematisere en formalistisk og (post-)nykritisk oppfatning av en grunnleggende motsetning mellom vitenskapelig og kunstnerisk frambragt erkjennelse, mellom sak og dikt.AbstractOlaf Bull’s cantata «Ignis Ardens» has largely been overlooked in the scholarly research on Bull’s poetry, probably due to the preconception that a poem such as this with its scientific subject is alien to the particular mode of realization often attributed to the genre of lyric poetry. In this article, I aim to challenge this view, reading the poem as a lyric interpretation of fundamental conditions of human existence newly conceived by advancing contemporary natural science. The poem is understood as a lyric display of a conflict between a materialistic and an idealistic preception of the world and of the sciences, a display in which art itself – in alliance with modern natural science – is made the privileged medium for the realization of the fundamentals of (human) life and existence. The article thus aims not only to fill a void in the scholarship on Olaf Bull, but also to problematize a Formalist and (post) New Critical conception of a polarity bewteen realization scientifically and lyrically produced, between subject matter and poetry.

Literature and Honour

The articles included in this volume emanate from the project After Honour, initiated by the research group Literature and Affect, Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, at the University of Oslo. The following 15 articles are written by scholars from Norway, Denmark and Iceland. In May 2015, the research group arranged a kick-off workshop, and during the autumn we organized two seminars, each followed by workshop: ‘Honour, war and violence in literature’ (25 September), and ‘The welfare state and the fall of honour groups’ (20 November). In Spring 2016, the Master’ course NOR4460 Literature and honour was a part of the teaching portfolio at the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies. It was led by Thorstein Norheim, and several of the contributors to this volume, and research group members, contributed with lectures. The course generated several Master’s theses related to the honour concept. In August 2016, Cecilie Takle initiated her Ph.D.-project, ‘Honor Codes in Contemporary Scandinavian Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults’. We would like to thank the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies at the University of Oslo for the financial support, which helped us to initiate the research group and work out the research project. We are particularly grateful to Per Thomas Andersen for his major role in initiating this, and outlining the research project. We would also like to thank Stefka Georgieva Eriksen for her contribution during the start-up phase and the first seminars. This OA-book is financially supported by the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo, by the Publishing fund for UiO researchers, and the foundation Fritt Ord

The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape: A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 100 genetic variants contributing to BMI, a measure of body size, or waist-to-hip ratio (adjusted for BMI, WHRadjBMI), a measure of body shape. Body size and shape change as people grow older and these changes differ substantially between men and women. To systematically screen for age- and/or sex-specific effects of genetic variants on BMI and WHRadjBMI, we performed meta-analyses of 114 studies (up to 320,485 individuals of European descent) with genome-wide chip and/or Metabochip data by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) Consortium. Each study tested the association of up to ~2.8M SNPs with BMI and WHRadjBMI in four strata (men ≤50y, men >50y, women ≤50y, women >50y) and summary statistics were combined in stratum-specific meta-analyses. We then screened for variants that showed age-specific effects (G x AGE), sex-specific effects (G x SEX) or age-specific effects that differed between men and women (G x AGE x SEX). For BMI, we identified 15 loci (11 previously established for main effects, four novel) that showed significant (FDR<5%) age-specific effects, of which 11 had larger effects in younger (<50y) than in older adults (≥50y). No sex-dependent effects were identified for BMI. For WHRadjBMI, we identified 44 loci (27 previously established for main effects, 17 novel) with sex-specific effects, of which 28 showed larger effects in women than in men, five showed larger effects in men than in women, and 11 showed opposite effects between sexes. No age-dependent effects were identified for WHRadjBMI. This is the first genome-wide interaction meta-analysis to report convincing evidence of age-dependent genetic effects on BMI. In addition, we confirm the sex-specificity of genetic effects on WHRadjBMI. These results may provide further insights into the biology that underlies weight change with age or the sexually dimorphism of body shape

Correction: The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape: A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005378.].status: publishe

Defining the role of common variation in the genomic and biological architecture of adult human height

Using genome-wide data from 253,288 individuals, we identified 697 variants at genome-wide significance that together explained one-fifth of the heritability for adult height. By testing different numbers of variants in independent studies, we show that the most strongly associated ∼2,000, ∼3,700 and ∼9,500 SNPs explained ∼21%, ∼24% and ∼29% of phenotypic variance. Furthermore, all common variants together captured 60% of heritability. The 697 variants clustered in 423 loci were enriched for genes, pathways and tissue types known to be involved in growth and together implicated genes and pathways not highlighted in earlier efforts, such as signaling by fibroblast growth factors, WNT/β-catenin and chondroitin sulfate-related genes. We identified several genes and pathways not previously connected with human skeletal growth, including mTOR, osteoglycin and binding of hyaluronic acid. Our results indicate a genetic architecture for human height that is characterized by a very large but finite number (thousands) of causal variants

Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology

Note: A full list of authors and affiliations appears at the end of the article. Obesity is heritable and predisposes to many diseases. To understand the genetic basis of obesity better, here we conduct a genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI), a measure commonly used to define obesity and assess adiposity, in up to 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P 20% of BMI variation. Pathway analyses provide strong support for a role of the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and implicate new genes and pathways, including those related to synaptic function, glutamate signalling, insulin secretion/action, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.</p

Age-dependent BMI loci.

<p>Effect estimates (beta ±95CI) per standard deviation in BMI and risk allele for loci showing age-differences in men & women ≤50y compared to men & women >50y. Loci are ordered by greater magnitude of effect in men & women ≤50y compared to men & women >50y. (95%CI: 95% confidence interval; BMI: body mass index; SD: standard deviation, *Newly identified loci).</p