In the last decades, the development of high-throughput molecular assays has revolutionised cancer diagnostics, paving the way for the concept of personalised cancer medicine. This progress has been driven by the introduction of such technologies through biomarker-driven oncology trials. In this review, strengths and limitations of various state-of-the-art sequencing technologies, including gene p

BACKGROUND: The nearly neutral theory of molecular evolution predicts that the efficacy of natural selection increases with the effective population size. This prediction has been verified by independent observations in diverse taxa, which show that life-history traits are strongly correlated with measures of the efficacy of selection, such as the dN/dS ratio. Surprisingly, avian taxa are an excep

The rate of recombination impacts on rates of protein evolution for at least two reasons: it affects the efficacy of selection due to linkage and influences sequence evolution through the process of GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC). We studied how recombination, via gBGC, affects inferences of selection in gene sequences using comparative genomic and population genomic data from the collared flyca

Theoretical work suggests that sexual conflict should promote the maintenance of genetic diversity by the opposing directions of selection on males and females. If such conflict is pervasive, it could potentially lead to genomic heterogeneity in levels of genetic diversity an idea that so far has not been empirically tested on a genomewide scale. We used large-scale population genomic and transcri

Relatively little is known about the character of gene expression evolution as species diverge. It is for instance unclear if gene expression generally evolves in a clock-like manner (by stabilizing selection or neutral evolution) or if there are frequent episodes of directional selection. To gain insights into the evolutionary divergence of gene expression, we sequenced and compared the transcrip

The typically repetitive nature of the sex-limited chromosome means that it is often excluded from or poorly covered in genome assemblies, hindering studies of evolutionary and population genomic processes in non-recombining chromosomes. Here, we present a draft assembly of the non-recombining region of the collared flycatcher W chromosome, containing 46 genes without evidence of female-specific f

Background: To date, studies investigating the association between pre-biologic biomarker levels and post-biologic outcomes have been limited to single biomarkers and assessment of biologic efficacy from structured clinical trials. Aim: To elucidate the associations of pre-biologic individual biomarker levels or their combinations with pre-to-post biologic changes in asthma outcomes in real-life.

The Coulomb excitation of 124, 128, 130, 132, 134Sn isotopes in the electric field of a Pb target have been studied using the R3B setup as a part of the FAIR Phase-0 program. The experiment was motivated by the possibility of using the nuclear dipole response to infer valuable information on the slope of the symmetry energy of the nuclear equation of state. Measurements were performed in inverse k

Tonsillar Fusobacterium necrophorum PCR Ct-values were higher in participants with asymptomatic tonsillar carriage than patients with pharyngeal infections. However, Ct-values were not associated with severity of disease or predictive of development of complications and hence lacked clinical usefulness. The reporting of F. necrophorum Ct-values in clinical samples is not recommended.

This open access book contributes to ongoing discussions about how societies should respond to children who have experienced violence and abuse by delving into the Barnahus model: a multidisciplinary and co-located model whose aim is to provide both justice and recovery to victimised children. The promising model was first implemented in the Nordic region and is currently being diffused across Eur

Vocal problems are common among workers in voice demanding occupations. For sustaining vocal health, it is important to find efficient ways to reduce strain on the voice at work. One way to do so is optimizing the room acoustics for communication. However, we do not know enough about what kind of room acoustic conditions that support voice and speech most efficiently, and if talkers of different a

Circular business models are seen by many as an attractive way for companies to develop new business opportunities, while simultaneously addressing growing social and environmental challenges beyond traditional Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes. The development of such business models requires continuous testing and evaluation, which contrasts with the largely linear and interventio

Since the Barnahus model was first introduced in Iceland in 1998, it has spread to a number of European countries, both within and beyond the Nordic region. This introductory chapter has two main objectives: The first is to describe the further diffusion of the Barnahus model throughout Europe and to exemplify various translations at local levels; the second is to set the framework for the book by

Based on research in the archive of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society in Stockholm, this article sheds light on the complex production history behind Peter Watkins’ fourteen-and-a-half-hour documentary Resan (The Journey) (1987). Set in a dozen countries around the world, the film presents a complex web of thematic tropes about global peace, consistently highlighting the connection between

Background: PolyQ diseases are autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorders caused by the expansion of CAG repeats. While of slow progression, these diseases are ultimately fatal and lack effective therapies. Methods: A high-throughput chemical screen was conducted to identify drugs that lower the toxicity of a protein containing the first exon of Huntington's disease (HD) protein huntingtin (HT

Although ensuring that victimised children receive timely medical health assessments is among the key aims of Barnahus, this goal has proven difficult to achieve in Norway, the empirical case examined in this chapter. Few children are offered a medical examination, and most examinations that are performed primarily serve a role in the “penal track” of the Barnahus model. Based on data from two nat

Somatic evolution selects cancer cell phenotypes that maximize survival and proliferation in dynamic environments. Although cancer cells are molecularly heterogeneous, we hypothesized convergent adaptive strategies to common host selection forces can be inferred from patterns of epigenetic and genetic evolutionary selection in similar tumors. We systematically investigated gene mutations and expre