230 research outputs found
Fuchs-et-alii_InfectiousDiseases_information-supplemental-material_revised – Supplemental material for Infectious diseases and Neolithic transformations: Evaluating biological and archaeological proxies in the German loess zone between 5500 and 2500 BCE
No full textSupplemental material, Fuchs-et-alii_InfectiousDiseases_information-supplemental-material_revised for Infectious diseases and Neolithic transformations: Evaluating biological and archaeological proxies in the German loess zone between 5500 and 2500 BCE by Katharina Fuchs, Christoph Rinne, Clara Drummer, Alexander Immel, Ben Krause-Kyora and Almut Nebel in The Holocene</p
Fuchs-et-alii_supplemental_material – Supplemental material for Infectious diseases and Neolithic transformations: Evaluating biological and archaeological proxies in the German loess zone between 5500 and 2500 BCE
No full textSupplemental material, Fuchs-et-alii_supplemental_material for Infectious diseases and Neolithic transformations: Evaluating biological and archaeological proxies in the German loess zone between 5500 and 2500 BCE by Katharina Fuchs, Christoph Rinne, Clara Drummer, Alexander Immel, Ben Krause-Kyora and Almut Nebel in The Holocene</p
HOL857230_References_to_supplement – Supplemental material for Infectious diseases and Neolithic transformations: Evaluating biological and archaeological proxies in the German loess zone between 5500 and 2500 BCE
No full textSupplemental material, HOL857230_References_to_supplement for Infectious diseases and Neolithic transformations: Evaluating biological and archaeological proxies in the German loess zone between 5500 and 2500 BCE by Katharina Fuchs, Christoph Rinne, Clara Drummer, Alexander Immel, Ben Krause-Kyora and Almut Nebel in The Holocene</p
Projected impacts of climate change and increased atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub> concentrations on biodiversity and ecosystem processes (republished from Arneth et al 2020 under a CC BY license, with permission from contributing author Almut Arneth, November 2022).
No full textProjected impacts of climate change and increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations on biodiversity and ecosystem processes (republished from Arneth et al 2020 under a CC BY license, with permission from contributing author Almut Arneth, November 2022).</p
Cultural learning through drama tasks: An action research approach
No full textAnja Jäger (2011): Kultur szenisch erfahren. Interkulturelles Lernen mit Jugendliteratur und szenischen Aufgaben im Fremdsprachenunterricht. Frankfurt/Main et al.: Peter Lang ISBN 978-3-631-61155-5 Teaching a language is a complex endeavor. Promoting cultural learning seems to be an even more sophisticated teaching challenge. The question of how to research multilayered processes of subtle cultural learning in a foreign language classroom setting has not yet been adequately answered – much rather (and despite DESI) it still remains an unexplored island in what appears to be a much more cultivated land, namely that of foreign language research. In her study “Kultur szenisch erfahren” Anja Jäger has opted for a research design which sets out to explore intercultural learning from the inside out as a teacher-researcher. The author is a middle school teacher herself who has had a number of years of teaching experience under her belt, before she embarked on an action research project. Anja Jäger, thus, knew the field under investigation very well when she started to illuminate the following questions: Which kind of drama tasks are especially suitable in order to develop intercultural communicative competences in English foreign language learners and under which teaching conditions do the tasks unfold their potential most ..
Why trying to keep the Germans close on EU competences is risky for Britain. EPIN Commentary No. 13, 3 December 2013
No full textA new Commentary published by the European Policy Institutes Network (EPIN) offers an interesting piece of advice to the UK if it is to succeed in winning over Germany on EU reform. The author, Almut Möller, asserts that the UK needs to understand how Germany’s federal system, with its intricate balance of competences between the various levels, is an integral part of modern Germany and key to the country’s thinking on Europe
Identifying genetic susceptibility loci of granulomatous lung diseases
No full textEs ist bekannt, dass die granulomatösen Lungenkrankheiten Tuberkulose und Sarkoidose neben anderen Auslösern auch genetische Ursachen haben. Die genetische Ätiologie dieser beiden Lungenkrankheiten ist bislang jedoch nicht vollständig geklärt. Mit zwei unabhängige Studien die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit durchgeführt wurden, sollten weitere prädisponierende genetische Faktoren entzündlicher granulomatöser Lungenkrankheiten identifiziert werden:
Identifizierung von Risikoloci der Sarkoidose und ihrer Subphänotypen
In einer genomweiten Assoziationsstudie wurden 1.294.967 SNPs in 564 Sarkoidosepatienten und 1.575 gesunden Kontrollpersonen mit Hilfe der Methode der Imputation genotypisiert. Zusätzlich wurde getestet, ob SNPs subphänotypspezifische Assoziationen zeigen. Von den 30 SNPs mit der höchsten Signifikanz, die in einer größeren unabhängigen Stichprobe genotypisiert wurden, konnte die Assoziation eines SNPs (rs479777) mit Sarkoidose in einer genreichen Region auf Chromosom 11q13.1 validiert und in weiteren unabhängigen europäischen Stichproben repliziert werden. Die durchgeführte Feinkartierung der Region führte zur Identifikation eines weiteren noch stärker assoziierten SNPs (rs671976). In silico-Analysen der SNPs mit der höchsten Signifikanz der Region identifizierten die Gene CCDC88B, KCNK4 und PRDX5 als mögliche Risikofaktoren der Sarkoidose. Expressionsanalysen zeigten eine erhöhte CCDC88B-Expression für homozygote Träger des rs671976-Risikoallels.
Mit Hilfe einer imputieren genomweiten Sarkoidose-Assoziationsstudie konnte ein neuer Sarkoidose-Suszeptibilitätslocus auf Chromosom 11q13.1 identifiziert werden. Erste Analysen deuten auf das Gen CCDC88B als Sarkoidose-Risikofaktor hin, doch weitere funktionelle Studien der Gene in diesem Locus müssen deren genaue Rolle bei der Pathogenese klären.
Identifizierung gemeinsamer genetischer Faktoren der Krankheiten Tuberkulose und Sarkoidose
Durch die Kombination einer imputierten genomweiten Tuberkulose- und Sarkoidose-Assoziationsstudie konnten 949.988 SNPs in 564 Sarkoidosepatienten, 1.288 Tuberkulosepatienten und 3.365 gesunden Kontrollpersonen analysiert werden. Mit vier Analysemethoden wurden insgesamt 52 SNPs identifiziert, die am stärksten mit den beiden Krankheiten assoziiert sind. In größeren unabhängigen Stichproben wurden diese SNPs erneut genotypisiert und die vier SNPs mit der höchsten Signifikanz als Kandidaten für die zweite Replikationsphase in weiteren unabhängigen Stichproben ausgewählt. Des Weiteren konnte in den Tuberkulose-Daten in dem MYO1D-Gen ein SNP als Kandidat für eine tuberkulosespezifische Assoziation identifiziert werden. Auf Grund zu geringer statistischer Teststärken konnten die erste und die zweite Replikationsphase teilweise keine der Assoziationen bestätigen oder widerlegen. Mittels in silico-Analysen konnten zwei Kandidaten-SNPs in den Bereichen der Gene IL6 und IFNG als mögliche Suszeptibilitätsloci für Tuberkulose und Sarkoidose identifiziert werden. Zusätzlich wurde eine potentielle Assoziation mit Sarkoidose im Chromosom 10q22.3 und eine mögliche Assoziation mit Tuberkulose im MYO1D-Gen identifiziert.
Weitere Studien in zusätzlichen Stichproben müssen klären, ob die hier beobachteten vielversprechenden Assoziationen Risikoloci für Tuberkulose und Sarkoidose darstellen.Amongst other causes it is known that genetic factors contribute to the development of the granulomatous lung diseases tuberculosis and sarcoidosis. So far the genetic etiology of these two lung diseases has not been fully elucidated. In order to identify novel susceptibility loci for diseases with granulomatous inflammation, two independent studies were carried out in context of this thesis:
Identification of risk loci for sarcoidosis and its subphenotypes
After carrying out imputation in a genome-wide association study, 1,294,967 SNPs were successfully genotyped in 564 sarcoidosis cases and 1,575 controls. Additionally, all SNPs were screened for subphenotype specific associations. Validation of the top 30 significant SNPs in a large independent panel confirmed association of one SNP (rs479777) with sarcoidosis. This association was successfully replicated in independent European panels further confirming its status. The SNP is located in a gene dense region on chromosome 11q13.1 and fine mapping of the region revealed the strongest association at rs671976. In silico analyses of the most significant associated SNPs identified the genes CCDC88B, KCNK4, and PRDX5 as potential risk factors for sarcoidosis. Performed expression analyses showed elevated CCDC88B expression in patients homozygous for the rs671976 risk allele.
Imputation of a genome-wide sarcoidosis association study identified 11q13.1 as a novel risk locus for sarcoidosis. Initial studies link CCDC88B to be the underlying risk factor, but further functional studies of the individual genes at this locus are required to clarify their role in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis.
Identification of shared genetic factors for tuberculosis and sarcoidosis
By combining an imputed tuberculosis GWAS dataset and an imputed sarcoidosis GWAS dataset, 949,988 SNPs, genotyped in 564 sarcoidosis patients, 1,288 tuberculosis patients, and 3,365 controls, were available for analysis. Four different methods identified a total of 52 top significant SNPs. These SNPs were genotyped in additional large independent panels, identifying four most significant associated SNPs as candidates for a second replication phase in further independent panels. Additionally, in the tuberculosis data a SNP in the MYO1D gene was identified as a candidate for a tuberculosis specific association. Due to insufficient statistical power of the second and in part of the first replication phase the observed associations could not be refuted. In silico analyses identified two candidate SNPs in the areas of the genes IL6 and IFNG as possible susceptibility loci for tuberculosis and sarcoidosis. Additionally, a potential genetic association between sarcoidosis and 10q22.3 and a possible association of MYO1D with tuberculosis were identified.
It is necessary to perform further studies in additional panels to confirm whether the identified associations are true risk loci for tuberculosis and sarcoidosis
The pastoralist distinction of Central Asia: Isotopic and genetic approaches to food ways, mobility, and trans-regional contact from the early Bronze Age to medieval period
No full textIn this cumulative dissertation, I offer four case studies, presented here as Papers 1-4, concerning the distinction of human lifeways that are focused on the management of herd animals, typically, sheep, goat, cattle, horses, and camels. These so-called “nomadic” lifeways are in contrast to living in singular places, typically urban spaces and large settlements, that echo familiar human experiences to what we know from the modern world. The fundamental distinction of pastoralist societies, compared to settled communities, is a huge degree of subsistence adaptability, which depends on knowledge and practice of enhancing the human-animal relationship. The first paper, “Urban and nomadic isotopic niches reveal dietary connectivities along Central Asia’s Silk Roads,” examines the dietary diversity of communities that comprised Silk Road phenomena by analyzing variability in carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ15N) in human bone collagen as a means to access cultural distinctions that are not recorded in historical texts. In the second paper, “Ahead of the curve? Implications for isolating vertical transhumance in seasonal montane environments using sequential oxygen isotope analyses of tooth enamel,” I model what vertical transhumance would look like in the oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O) of tooth enamel of an animal that moved from low to high elevation and back. In the third paper, “Millet farming by early Bronze Age herders coincided with first crop transmissions across Eurasia,” we describe the initial adoption of a new cereal crop, which was domesticated in northern China, by pastoralist communities in the Eurasian steppe zone. In the final paper, “Mitochondrial diversity of ancient goats in Eurasia and translocation vectors of pastoralist economies into Central Asia,” I shift from a stable isotopic approach to a genetic analysis of domesticated and wild goats from Bronze and Iron Age sites across Central Asia
From Hydra to Humans: Insights into molecular mechanisms of aging and longevity
No full textHuman aging is characterized by progressive functional decline that coincides with both increased morbidity and mortality. Aging affects every human being and only few individuals achieve longevity, a very special phenotype marked by extraordinary healthy aging. This thesis consists of three chapters; each one is devoted to a separate project that contributes to the growing body of knowledge about aging and longevity. The work required the compilation, management and analysis of diverse big data sets and the application of cutting-edge statistical and computational methods.
Chapter 1 - A functional genomics study was conducted in the potentially immortal freshwater polyp Hydra using body part-specific microarray and RNA sequencing data. The results revealed gene expression patterns that allow boundary maintenance during Hydra’s continuous cell proliferation and tissue self-renewal. Furthermore, this study provided evidence for de-acetylation as a key mechanism underlying compartmentalization. Surprisingly, FoxO, which is known to substantially drive developmental processes and stem cell renewal in Hydra, did not seem to be affected by the acetylation status.
Chapter 2 - Long-lived individuals (LLI, >95 years of age) epitomize the healthy aging phenotype and are thought to carry beneficial genetic variants that predispose to human longevity. Despite extensive research efforts, only few of these genetic factors in LLI have been identified so far. In contrast to previous investigations which mainly focused on intronic variants, a genome-wide exome-based case-control study was performed. DNA samples of more than 1,200 German LLI, including 599 centenarians (≥100 years), and about 6,900 younger controls were used for single-variant and gene-based association analyses that yielded two new candidate longevity genes, fructosamine 3 kinase related protein (FN3KRP) and phosphoglycolate phosphatase (PGP). FN3KRP functions in the deglycation of proteins to restore their function, while PGP via controlling glycerol-3-phosphate levels affects both glucose and fat metabolism. Given the biological functions of the genes, their longevity-associations appear very plausible.
Chapter 3 - In recent years, the intestinal microbiome (GM) has increasingly gained attention in aging and longevity research. A 16S rRNA microbiome study was conducted using 1301 stool samples of healthy individuals (age range: 19 - 104 years) that were drawn from three cohorts. The aim was to investigate potential associations among GM composition, host genetics and environmental factors during aging. The GM composition changed with age, showing an increase of opportunistic pathogens that may generate an inflammatory environment in the gut. Age explained only ~1% of the inter-individual variation, whereas anthropometric measures, genetic background and dietary patterns together explained 20%. Strikingly, clear GM population stratification in terms of four enterotype-like clusters was observed, which were predominantly associated with dietary patterns. The correction for these clusters was shown to increase the comparability of findings from the different cohorts. In addition, the LLI showed a specific gut microbial pattern, which is in line with previously published reports.
The present work shows that a thorough bioinformatics expertise helps to address the complexity of the two phenotypes aging and longevity. One highlight of the thesis is the discovery of two new candidate longevity loci that, in view of the limited output of previous study approaches, enlarge the existing database
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