University of Kiel

About: University of Kiel is a education organization based out in Kiel, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 27816 authors who have published 57114 publications receiving 2061802 citations. The organization is also known as: Christian Albrechts University & Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel.

Y-Chromosomal Diversity in Europe Is Clinal and Influenced Primarily by Geography, Rather than by Language

Abstract: Clinal patterns of autosomal genetic diversity within Europe have been interpreted in previous studies in terms of a Neolithic demic diffusion model for the spread of agriculture; in contrast, studies using mtDNA have traced many founding lineages to the Paleolithic and have not shown strongly clinal variation. We have used 11 human Y-chromosomal biallelic polymorphisms, defining 10 haplogroups, to analyze a sample of 3,616 Y chromosomes belonging to 47 European and circum-European populations. Patterns of geographic differentiation are highly nonrandom, and, when they are assessed using spatial autocorrelation analysis, they show significant clines for five of six haplogroups analyzed. Clines for two haplogroups, representing 45% of the chromosomes, are continentwide and consistent with the demic diffusion hypothesis. Clines for three other haplogroups each have different foci and are more regionally restricted and are likely to reflect distinct population movements, including one from north of the Black Sea. Principal-components analysis suggests that populations are related primarily on the basis of geography, rather than on the basis of linguistic affinity. This is confirmed in Mantel tests, which show a strong and highly significant partial correlation between genetics and geography but a low, nonsignificant partial correlation between genetics and language. Genetic-barrier analysis also indicates the primacy of geography in the shaping of patterns of variation. These patterns retain a strong signal of expansion from the Near East but also suggest that the demographic history of Europe has been complex and influenced by other major population movements, as well as by linguistic and geographic heterogeneities and the effects of drift.

Lot sizing and scheduling: Survey and extensions

Abstract: This contribution summarizes recent work in the field of lot sizing and scheduling. The objective is not to give a comprehensive literature survey, but to explain differences of formal models and to provide some first readings recommendations. Our focus is on capacitated, dynamic, and deterministic cases. To underscore the importance of the research efforts, current practice is described and its shortcomings are exposed. Mathematical programming models where the planning horizon is subdivided into several discrete periods are given for both, approaches that are well-established and approaches which may represent tomorrow's state of the art. Two research directions are discussed in more detail: Continuous time models and multi-level lot sizing and scheduling. The paper concludes with some advice for future research activities.

Meta-analysis and imputation refines the association of 15q25 with smoking quantity

Abstract: Smoking is a leading global cause of disease and mortality. We established the Oxford-GlaxoSmithKline study (Ox-GSK) to perform a genome-wide meta-analysis of SNP association with smoking-related behavioral traits. Our final data set included 41,150 individuals drawn from 20 disease, population and control cohorts. Our analysis confirmed an effect on smoking quantity at a locus on 15q25 (P = 9.45 x 10(-19)) that includes CHRNA5, CHRNA3 and CHRNB4, three genes encoding neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunits. We used data from the 1000 Genomes project to investigate the region using imputation, which allowed for analysis of virtually all common SNPs in the region and offered a fivefold increase in marker density over HapMap2 (ref. 2) as an imputation reference panel. Our fine-mapping approach identified a SNP showing the highest significance, rs55853698, located within the promoter region of CHRNA5. Conditional analysis also identified a secondary locus (rs6495308) in CHRNA3.

Deep roots of the Messinian salinity crisis

Abstract: The Messinian salinity crisis—the desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea between 5.96 and 5.33 million years (Myr) ago1—was one of the most dramatic events on Earth during the Cenozoic era2. It resulted from the closure of marine gateways between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the causes of which remain enigmatic. Here we use the age and composition of volcanic rocks to reconstruct the geodynamic evolution of the westernmost Mediterranean from the Middle Miocene epoch to the Pleistocene epoch (about 12.1–0.65 Myr ago). Our data show that a marked shift in the geochemistry of mantle-derived volcanic rocks, reflecting a change from subduction-related to intraplate-type volcanism, occurred between 6.3 and 4.8 Myr ago, largely synchronous with the Messinian salinity crisis. Using a thermomechanical model, we show that westward roll back of subducted Tethys oceanic lithosphere and associated asthenospheric upwelling provides a plausible mechanism for producing the shift in magma chemistry and the necessary uplift (approx1 km) along the African and Iberian continental margins to close the Miocene marine gateways, thereby causing the Messinian salinity crisis.

Gender Differences in Human Sepsis

Abstract: Background: In animal studies, gender differences were related to hormonal and immunologic changes that were associated with an increased susceptibility to sepsis in males. Objective: In a prospective study, gender differences in patients with surgical sepsis were evaluated in terms of survival, sex hormones, and proinflammatory as well as anti-inflammatory mediators. Setting: Surgical intensive care unit of a university hospital. Patients: Fifty-two patients (19 women and 33 men) with surgical sepsis. Measurements and Main Results: In a prospective study, tumor necrosis factor a and interleukin 6 bioactivity and plasma levels of interleukin 10 (using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), total testosterone, and 17-β estradiol (using radioimmunoassay) were determined on days 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 after diagnosis of sepsis. There were no differences in characteristics of patients in age (mean age, 55.4 years for women and 53. years for men) or cause and severity of sepsis (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score, 17.3 for women and 18.5 for men; multiple organ dysfunction score, 9.9 vs 10.8, respectively). Although no difference could be found in the multiple organ dysfunction score from day 1 to day 28, the prognosis of sepsis was significantly different in women compared with men. Hospital-mortality rate was 70% (23 of 33 patients) in male and 26% (5 of 19) in female patients (P<.008, log-rank test). Bioactivity of tumor necrosis factor continuously increased in men after diagnosis of sepsis, with significantly elevated levels on day 10 (P<.05, Mann-Whitney U test with Bonferroni correction), whereas no difference was found for interleukin 6 bioactivity. Women displayed enhanced interleukin 10 levels compared with men from day 1 to day 10 that reached a significant difference on days 3 and 5 (P<.05). Total testosterone levels were below the normal range for men, and estradiol levels were initially increased in both men and postmenopausal women, with higher levels for women. Conclusions: In this prospective study, gender differences were confirmed in human sepsis, with a significantly better prognosis for women, which may be related to increased levels of anti-inflammatory mediators. The hypothetical different ratio of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory mediators may be important for further therapeutic interventions in sepsis.