Synonymous but not the same: the causes and consequences of codon bias

Despite their name, synonymous mutations have significant consequences for cellular processes in all taxa. As a result, an understanding of codon bias is central to fields as diverse as molecular evolution and biotechnology. Although recent advances in sequencing and synthetic biology have helped resolve longstanding questions about codon bias, they have also uncovered striking patterns that suggest new hypotheses about protein synthesis. Ongoing work to quantify the dynamics of initiation and elongation is as important for understanding natural synonymous variation as it is for designing transgenes in applied contexts

Detectable clonal mosaicism and its relationship to aging and cancer

In an analysis of 31,717 cancer cases and 26,136 cancer-free controls from 13 genome-wide association studies, we observed large chromosomal abnormalities in a subset of clones in DNA obtained from blood or buccal samples. We observed mosaic abnormalities, either aneuploidy or copy-neutral loss of heterozygosity, of >2 Mb in size in autosomes of 517 individuals (0.89%), with abnormal cell proportions of between 7% and 95%. In cancer-free individuals, frequency increased with age, from 0.23% under 50 years to 1.91% between 75 and 79 years (P = 4.8 × 10(-8)). Mosaic abnormalities were more frequent in individuals with solid tumors (0.97% versus 0.74% in cancer-free individuals; odds ratio (OR) = 1.25; P = 0.016), with stronger association with cases who had DNA collected before diagnosis or treatment (OR = 1.45; P = 0.0005). Detectable mosaicism was also more common in individuals for whom DNA was collected at least 1 year before diagnosis with leukemia compared to cancer-free individuals (OR = 35.4; P = 3.8 × 10(-11)). These findings underscore the time-dependent nature of somatic events in the etiology of cancer and potentially other late-onset diseases

Cities, matching and the productivity gains of agglomeration

The striking geographical concentration of economic activities suggests that there are substantial benefits to agglomeration. However, the nature of those benefits remains unclear. In this paper we take advantage of a new dataset to quantify the role of one of the main contenders - the matching of workers and jobs. Using individual level data for two large US states we show that thicker urban labour markets are associated with more assortative matching between workers and firms. Another critical condition is required for this to generate higher productivity: complementarity of worker and firm quality in the production function. Using establishment level productivity regressions, we show that such complementarity is found in our data. Putting together the production and matching relationships, we show that production complementarity and assortative matching is an important source of the urban productivity premium

Ordningsvakt kontra Entrévärd : Vari ligger skillnaden?

För att pröva vår teori om att ”vanligt” folk inte vet skillnaden mellan ordningsvakt och entrévärd använde vi oss av en enkät undersökning. Denna gjordes i en universitetsmiljö där det finns många vana krogbesökare. Resultatet av vår enkätundersökning styrker vår grundtes om att ”vanligt” folk inte har kunskap om regelsystemet gällande ordningsvakter och entrévärdar. I arbetet har vi gett en översiktlig bild av ordningsvaktens respektive entrévärdens rättigheter att agera i sina yrkesroller. För att undersöka problematiken runt kriminellt belastade entrévärdar valde vi att intervjua poliser som arbetar med problemen i krogvärlden, poliserna arbetade i Göteborg och Stockholm. I intervjuerna framkom att det är ett vanligt förekommande problem i Stockholm med kriminellt belastade entrévärdar. I Göteborg var detta inte ett stort problem då polisen har ställt krav på krogarna att de skall ha ett högt antal ordningsvakter i tjänst, detta har gjort att antalet entrévärdar minskat. Poliserna från Göteborg beskriver dock att det har förekommit problem med att kriminella nätverk försökt ta över entréverksamheten. Vi i gruppen tycker att dessa två uttalande är lite motstridiga. Mycket av problemen vid entrédörren bör kunna lösas genom att ordningsvaktens och entrévärdens arbetsuppgifter förtydligas. Vi tycker att det borde införas något slags kontrollsystem gällande entrévärdens lämplighet att utföra sitt jobb

Developments in the Biomechanics and Equipment of Olympic Cross-Country Skiers

Here, our aim was to describe the major changes in cross-country (XC) skiing in recent decades, as well as potential future developments. XC skiing has been an Olympic event since the very first Winter Games in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Over the past decades, considerable developments in skiing techniques and improvements in equipment and track preparation have increased skiing speed. In contrast to the numerous investigations on the physiological determinants of successful performance, key biomechanical factors have been less explored. Today's XC skier must master a wide range of speeds, terrains, and race distances and formats (e.g., distance races with individual start, mass-start or pursuit; knock-out and team-sprint; relays), continuously adapting by alternating between various sub-techniques. Moreover, several of the new events in which skiers compete head-to-head favor technical and tactical flexibility and encourage high-speed techniques (including more rapid development of propulsive force and higher peak forces), as well as appropriate training. Moreover, the trends toward more extensive use of double poling and skiing without grip wax in classical races have given rise to regulations in connection with Olympic distances that appear to have preserved utilization of the traditional classical sub-techniques. In conclusion, although both XC equipment and biomechanics have developed significantly in recent decades, there is clearly room for further improvement. In this context as well, for analyzing performance and optimizing training, sensor technology has a potentially important role to play