Genetic factors play an important role in determining bone mass and several genes probably act as regulators of this process. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a candidate gene for regulation of bone density, since it has stimulatory effects on cells of the osteoclast lineage and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of bone loss associated with estrogen deficiency. Here we studied the relationship betwee

Candidate gene studies are one of the most widely used approaches in the dissection of the genetic basis of disease. High-throughput methods for genotyping single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are necessary to perform large-scale association studies. We describe the use of the TaqMan or 5' nuclease allelic discrimination assay for genotyping polymorphisms of the collagen I alpha 1 (COLIA1) and v

SUMMARY: Fall prevention is a key strategy for reducing osteoporotic fractures. We investigated the association between vitamin D receptor (VDR) polymorphisms and reported falls in postmenopausal women. Bsm1 polymorphisms were associated with falls, balance and muscle power measurements. These results may explain some of the excess fracture risk associated with VDR in some studies.INTRODUCTION: Fa

This account describes our efforts toward developing a stereodivergent entry to perophoramidine and the communesin alkaloids. The original approach toward our simplified model substrates relied on a palladium-catalyzed carbopalladation–carbonylation of a tetrasubstituted olefin to install the vicinal all-carbon quaternary stereocenters present in the target molecules, the olefin's stereochemistry

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between low vitamin D levels (

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is an inflammatory lung disease. Platelets have an emerging role in inflammation, however previous studies of platelet activation in CF have generated conflicting results. In this study, we determined platelet function in CF patients and correlated platelet activation to establish clinical and laboratory parameters. Twenty-two patients, aged 20.7 to 54.4 (mean 34.0, SD 9.45) y

Multi-objective performance assessment of operational strategies at wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) is a challenging task. The holistic perspective applied to evaluation of modern WWTPs, including not only effluent quality but also resource efficiency and recovery, global environmental impact and operational cost calls for assessment methods including both on- and off-site effects. In this stu

In this paper using time-series data for a large number of Islamic bank stocks belonging to eight Islamic countries we test for evidence of price discovery. We find that in each of the eight countries there appears a bank that dominates the price discovery process. We then utilize this information on price discovery to form a portfolio of price discovery dominating bank stocks and compare its perf

There is plenty of evidence that speech and gesture form a tightly integrated system, as reflected in parallelisms in language production, comprehension, and development (Kendon, 2004; McNeill, 1992). Yet, it is a common assumption that speakers use gestures to compensate for their expressive difficulties, a notion found in developmental studies of both first and second language acquisition, and i

After the restoration of independence in 1991, Estonia continued with a parallel school system with separate public schools operating for Russian- and Estonian-speaking children. Seen as a developmental ‘growing pains’ of a transitional state, dur- ing the last 27 years the separate school system has contributed to infrastructural difficulties, educational injustice, and societal segregation. This

The traditional industry of inshore commercial fisheries is in a state of transformation, which manifests itself in the fisheries management, in harbors and within the community of fishermen. With the help of discourse theory and the concept of positioning, an ethnographic material of docu­ ments, observations, interviews and news articles generated between 2011­2015 is analyzed. The aim is to exp

A search for the supersymmetric partners of the Standard Model bottom and top quarks is presented. The search uses 36.1 fb−1 of pp collision data at s=13 TeV collected by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. Direct production of pairs of bottom and top squarks (b¯ 1 and t¯ 1) is searched for in final states with b-tagged jets and missing transverse momentum. Distinctive selections ar

Fan worms, represented by sabellid and serpulid polychaetes, have an astonishing array of unusual eyes and photoreceptors located on their eponymous feeding appendages. Here we organize the previous descriptions of these eyes in serpulids and report new anatomical, molecular, and physiological data regarding their structure, function, and evolution and the likely identity of their phototransductio

Osteoporosis is a common disease with a strong genetic component, characterized by reduced bone mineral density and increased fracture risk. Although the genetic basis of osteoporosis is incompletely understood, previous studies have identified a polymorphism affecting an Sp1 binding site in the COLIA1 gene that predicts bone mineral density and osteoporotic fractures in several populations. Here

UNLABELLED: Here we show that a common polymorphism causing a valine to methionine amino acid substitution at codon 418 (V418M) in the CLCN7 gene is associated with femoral neck BMD in women. Our study adds to accumulating evidence that shows that common allelic variants in monogenic bone disease genes often contribute to BMD regulation in normal subjects.INTRODUCTION: The CLCN7 gene is a strong c

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: The Pro12Ala polymorphism of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)gamma has been consistently associated with Type 2 diabetes. The rare Ala12 variant is estimated to reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 20 percent. This variant is in linkage disequilibrium with another common variant, T1431. Both have opposing associations with body weight. We therefore exa

Context: In older women, the magnitude of elevated parathyroid hormone (PTH) and its consequence is unclear.Objective: To describe normal PTH profiles over time and the association with mortality.Design and Participants: There were 1044 community-dwelling women in the Malmö Osteoporosis Prospective Risk Assessment cohort (OPRA) who attended baseline (age 75 years). Follow-ups were attended by 715

Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a complex disease characterised by chronic hyperglycaemia. The effects of elevated glucose on global gene expression in combination with DNA methylation patterns have not yet been studied in human pancreatic islets. Our aim was to study the impact of 48 h exposure to high (19 mM) versus control (5.6 mM) glucose levels on glucose-stimulated insulin secretion, ge