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Aims/hypothesis: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a common complication among individuals with diabetes. A better understanding of the genetic background of CAD in this population has the potential to suggest novel molecular targets for screening, risk assessment and drug development. Methods: We performed a genome-wide association study of CAD in 15,666 unrelated individuals (3,968 CAD cases and
Nanostructures are found everywhere in our environment, of either natural oranthropogenic origin. Volcanoes emit them, breakdown of plastic releases them, andthey are even produced in candlelight. Designed nanostructures are used in sunscreen,food products, electronics and many more readily available products. Still, there are alot of things we do not know about their behavior. To call them miniscThis thesis presents the results of studies done on various biomolecules and their interactions with nanomaterials. The biomolecule sources are everything from purified, single proteins to the complicated mixture of blood serum and cell culture media. Similarly, the nanomaterial sources vary from spherical titanium dioxide, gold, and polystyrene nanoparticles to novel nanowires of gallium arsenide
Amazonia is an environmentally heterogeneous and biologically megadiverse region, and its biodiversity varies considerably over space. However, existing knowledge on Amazonian biodiversity and its environmental determinants stems almost exclusively from studies of macroscopic above-ground organisms, notably vertebrates and trees. In contrast, diversity patterns of most other organisms remain elusi
Intensive agricultural management negatively affects both natural enemies of pests and pollinators. Such management also has the potential to adversely affect the ecosystem services that these communities confer. Organic management has been proposed as an alternative method to mitigate such problems by restoring the services provided by arthropod communities. We evaluated the effect of organic
1.Offspring size is a key functional trait that can affect all phases of the life history, from birth to reproduction, and is common to all the Metazoa. Despite its ubiquity, reviews of this trait tend to be taxon‐specific. We explored the causes and consequences of offspring size variation across plants, invertebrates and vertebrates.2.We find that offspring size shows clear latitudinal patterns Offspring size is a key functional trait that can affect all phases of the life history, from birth to reproduction, and is common to all the Metazoa. Despite its ubiquity, reviews of this trait tend to be taxon-specific. We explored the causes and consequences of offspring size variation across plants, invertebrates and vertebrates. We find that offspring size shows clear latitudinal patterns amo
High blood pressure is a highly heritable and modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We report the largest genetic association study of blood pressure traits (systolic, diastolic and pulse pressure) to date in over 1 million people of European ancestry. We identify 535 novel blood pressure loci that not only offer new biological insights into blood pressure regulation but also highligh
Background Within public health research, generalised trust has been considered an independent predictor of morbidity and mortality for over two decades. However, there are no population-based studies that have scrutinised both contextual-level and individual-level effects of generalised trust on all-cause mortality. We, therefore, aim to investigate such associations by using pooled nationally re
The EU's farmers are no longer required to produce commodities to receive direct payments as long as they keep their land in good condition. Some believe this is bad for development because it encourages passive farming. We evaluate, using a real options approach, the implications of decoupled payments for the desirability and optimal timing of agricultural land development when considering sunk i
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has provided periodic assessments of the state of knowledge on climate change for 30 years. While these assessments have been central to the making of international climate policy, their relevance has been questioned in the post-Paris era. Can the IPCC's global kinds of knowledge match the demands of an increasingly decentralized and polycentric
Polyphenols may play a chemopreventive role in colorectal cancer (CRC); however, epidemiological evidence supporting a role for intake of individual polyphenol classes, other than flavonoids is insufficient. We evaluated the association between dietary intakes of total and individual classes and subclasses of polyphenols and CRC risk and its main subsites, colon and rectum, within the European Pro
Context: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is accompanied by an increased risk for coronary artery disease (CAD), but the overlapping metabolic disturbances preceding both diseases are insufficiently described. Objective:Wehypothesized that alterations in metabolism occur years before clinical manifestation of T2DM and CAD and that these alterations are reflected in the plasma metabolome. We thus ai
Introduction: Cardiac syncope heralds significantly higher mortality compared with syncope due to noncardiac causes or unknown etiology, commonly considered a benign event. A few epidemiologic studies have examined the outcome of noncardiac/unexplained syncope comparing individuals with and without syncope, but with controversial results. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to clari
Background. Knowledge on the globally outstanding Amazonian biodiversity and its environmental determinants stems almost exclusively from aboveground organisms, notably plants. In contrast, the environmental factors and habitat preferences that drive diversity patterns for micro-organisms in the ground remain elusive, despite the fact that micro-organisms constitute the overwhelming majority of li
Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent problem resulting from nutrient pollution and climate-c
Aims: Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) accounts for 10% of adult mortality in Western populations. We aim to identify potential loci associated with SCA and to identify risk factors causally associated with SCA. Methods and results: We carried out a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) for SCA (n = 3939 cases, 25 989 non-cases) to examine common variation genome-wide and in candidate arrhythmia g
Introduction: Arterial stiffness is recognized as an intermediate phenotype and predictor of cardiovascular disease. Arterial stiffness is complex in origin with contributions from lifestyle and genetic factors. However, the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and arterial stiffness remains unclear. Objective: The aim is to assess whether a multilocus genetic risk score (GRS
Bumblebees are important pollinators for a wide range of crops and wild plants. Performance of their colonies depends on pollen and nectar as food resources, but flowering plants are scarce in modern agricultural landscapes. It is well-known that semi-natural habitats can enhance floral resources and bumblebee abundance, but the impact of different crop types and their heterogeneity at the landsca
This article inquires into the role of good faith for the exercise of treaty-based discretionary powers. As the article argues, not only does the principle of good faith form a source of inspiration and an explanatory background to the vast body of law laid down in international treaties. Furthermore, it sets a limit to the application of any treaty rule that confers a discretionary power, whether
In this trans-ethnic multi-omic study, we reinterpret the genetic architecture of blood pressure to identify genes, tissues, phenomes and medication contexts of blood pressure homeostasis. We discovered 208 novel common blood pressure SNPs and 53 rare variants in genome-wide association studies of systolic, diastolic and pulse pressure in up to 776,078 participants from the Million Veteran Program
