Uppsala University

About: Uppsala University is a education organization based out in Uppsala, Sweden. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Gene. The organization has 36485 authors who have published 107509 publications receiving 4220668 citations. The organization is also known as: Uppsala universitet & uu.se.

Deletion polymorphism upstream of IRGM associated with altered IRGM expression and Crohn's disease.

Abstract: Following recent success in genome-wide association studies, a critical focus of human genetics is to understand how genetic variation at implicated loci influences cellular and disease processes. Crohn's disease (CD) is associated with SNPs around IRGM, but coding-sequence variation has been excluded as a source of this association. We identified a common, 20-kb deletion polymorphism, immediately upstream of IRGM and in perfect linkage disequilibrium (r2 = 1.0) with the most strongly CD-associated SNP, that causes IRGM to segregate in the population with two distinct upstream sequences. The deletion (CD risk) and reference (CD protective) haplotypes of IRGM showed distinct expression patterns. Manipulation of IRGM expression levels modulated cellular autophagy of internalized bacteria, a process implicated in CD. These results suggest that the CD association at IRGM arises from an alteration in IRGM regulation that affects the efficacy of autophagy and identify a common deletion polymorphism as a likely causal variant.

Face the beast and fear the face: animal and social fears as prototypes for evolutionary analyses of emotion.

Abstract: This paper applies a functional-evolutionary perspective to fear in the context of encounters with animals and threatening humans It is argued that animal fear originates in a predatory defense system whose function is to allow animals to avoid and escape predators Animal stimuli are postulated to be differentially prepared to become learned elicitors of fear within this system Social fears are viewed as originating in a dominance/submissiveness system The function of submissiveness is to avert attacks from dominating conspecifics Signs of dominance paired with aversive outcomes provide for learning fear to specific individuals Data which in general are interpreted as supportive of this conceptualization are reviewed To explain the mechanism behind the causal relationships suggested in the evolutionary analysis, an information-processing model is presented and empirically tested It is argued that responses to evolutionary fear-relevant stimuli can elicit the physiological concomitants of fear after only a very quick, “unconsciousness,’ or preattentive stimulus analysis Support for this notion is presented from backward masking studies where it is demonstrated that conditioned autonomic responses to fear-relevant stimuli can be elicited even with masked stimuli

Trees, forests and water : Cool insights for a hot world

Abstract: Forest-driven water and energy cycles are poorly integrated into regional, national, continental and global decision-making on climate change adaptation, mitigation, land use and water management. This constrains humanity's ability to protect our planet's climate and life-sustaining functions. The substantial body of research we review reveals that forest, water and energy interactions provide the foundations for carbon storage, for cooling terrestrial surfaces and for distributing water resources. Forests and trees must be recognized as prime regulators within the water, energy and carbon cycles. If these functions are ignored, planners will be unable to assess, adapt to or mitigate the impacts of changing land cover and climate. Our call to action targets a reversal of paradigms, from a carbon-centric model to one that treats the hydrologic and climate-cooling effects of trees and forests as the first order of priority. For reasons of sustainability, carbon storage must remain a secondary, though valuable, by-product. The effects of tree cover on climate at local, regional and continental scales offer benefits that demand wider recognition. The forest- and tree-centered research insights we review and analyze provide a knowledge-base for improving plans, policies and actions. Our understanding of how trees and forests influence water, energy and carbon cycles has important implications, both for the structure of planning, management and governance institutions, as well as for how trees and forests might be used to improve sustainability, adaptation and mitigation efforts.