Directional dominance on stature and cognition in diverse human populations

Homozygosity has long been associated with rare, often devastating, Mendelian disorders1, and Darwin was one of the first to recognize that inbreeding reduces evolutionary fitness2. However, the effect of the more distant parental relatedness that is common in modern human populations is less well understood. Genomic data now allow us to investigate the effects of homozygosity on traits of public health importance by observing contiguous homozygous segments (runs of homozygosity), which are inferred to be homozygous along their complete length. Given the low levels of genome-wide homozygosity prevalent in most human populations, information is required on very large numbers of people to provide sufficient power3, 4. Here we use runs of homozygosity to study 16 health-related quantitative traits in 354,224 individuals from 102 cohorts, and find statistically significant associations between summed runs of homozygosity and four complex traits: height, forced expiratory lung volume in one second, general cognitive ability and educational attainment (P < 1 × 10−300, 2.1 × 10−6, 2.5 × 10−10 and 1.8 × 10−10, respectively). In each case, increased homozygosity was associated with decreased trait value, equivalent to the offspring of first cousins being 1.2 cm shorter and having 10 months’ less education. Similar effect sizes were found across four continental groups and populations with different degrees of genome-wide homozygosity, providing evidence that homozygosity, rather than confounding, directly contributes to phenotypic variance. Contrary to earlier reports in substantially smaller samples5, 6, no evidence was seen of an influence of genome-wide homozygosity on blood pressure and low density lipoprotein cholesterol, or ten other cardio-metabolic traits. Since directional dominance is predicted for traits under directional evolutionary selection7, this study provides evidence that increased stature and cognitive function have been positively selected in human evolution, whereas many important risk factors for late-onset complex diseases may not have been.

Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology

Obesity is heritable and predisposes to many diseases. To understand the genetic basis of obesity better, here we conduct a genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI), a measure commonly used to define obesity and assess adiposity, in up to 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P < 5 × 10(-8)), 56 of which are novel. Five loci demonstrate clear evidence of several independent association signals, and many loci have significant effects on other metabolic phenotypes. The 97 loci account for ∼2.7% of BMI variation, and genome-wide estimates suggest that common variation accounts for >20% of BMI variation. Pathway analyses provide strong support for a role of the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and implicate new genes and pathways, including those related to synaptic function, glutamate signalling, insulin secretion/action, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.

We're going on a bear hunt.

Un padre y sus cuatro hijos se lanzan a la caza del oso, al ritmo de un tradicional canto de campamento. Resbalan por una ladera cubierta de hierba, cruzan un río, atraviesan lodos y barro y llegan a un bosque, pasan una ventisca y encuentran, al final, al oso pardo que les persigue hasta su casa. Es una lectura idónea para niños de cuatro a nueve años.

We're going on a bear hunt.

Un padre y sus cuatro hijos se lanzan a la caza del oso, al ritmo de un tradicional canto de campamento. Resbalan por una ladera cubierta de hierba, cruzan un río, atraviesan lodos y barro y llegan a un bosque, pasan una ventisca y encuentran, al final, al oso pardo que les persigue hasta su casa. Es una lectura idónea para niños de cuatro a nueve años y para ser compartida.

We're going on a bear hunt.

Un padre y sus cuatro hijos se lanzan a la caza del oso, al ritmo de un tradicional canto de campamento. Resbalan por una ladera cubierta de hierba, cruzan un río, atraviesan lodos y barro y llegan a un bosque, pasan una ventisca y encuentran, al final, al oso pardo que les persigue hasta su casa. Es una edición dramatizada, idónea para la lectura en voz alta y para cuatro voces.

Catharine Waugh McCullouch papers in the Mary Earhart Dillon collection, 1869-1945

Collection primarily documents McCulloch's research on women's legal status, and her work with the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, and the League of Women Voters. There is also documentation of women in the legal profession, of McCulloch's friendships with the other women suffragists and lawyers, and some biographical material. The papers contain little information about her family or social life.

Letter from S. Jackson Prescott to William Tudor, undated

One undated letter inviting Tudor to dine with Prescott and other friends.

Letter from Samuel Jackson to William Tudor,

One letter requesting information on the state of national agriculture, manufacturing, and industry on behalf of the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of National Industry.

Franklin Park, Boston, Massachusetts, 1885 (Raster Image)

This layer is a georeferenced raster image of the historic paper map entitled: General plan of Franklin Park, [by] City of Boston, Park Dept. ; Fredk. Law Olmsted, landscape architect ; William Jackson, city engineer ; Wm. M. Coombs, del. It was published in 1885. Scale [ca. 1:2,700]. Shows park paths and drives, and park features and areas (fields, hills, gardens, grounds, woods, etc.) Relief is shown by spot heights. The map includes a descriptive text, an index map with key, and tables: distances from park, areas, and lengths of ways. The image inside the map neatline is georeferenced to the surface of the earth and fit to the Massachusetts State Plane Coordinate System, Mainland Zone (in Feet) (Fipszone 2001). All map collar and inset information is also available as part of the raster image, including any inset maps, profiles, statistical tables, directories, text, illustrations, or other information associated with the principal map. This layer is part of a selection of digitally scanned and georeferenced historic maps of Massachusetts from the Harvard Map Collection. These maps typically portray both natural and manmade features. The selection represents a range of regions, originators, ground condition dates (1755-1922), scales, and purposes. The digitized selection includes maps of: the state, Massachusetts counties, town surveys, coastal features, real property, parks, cemeteries, railroads, roads, public works projects, etc.

Les confessions: souvenirs d'un demi-siècle, 1830-1880 /

Mode of access: Internet.

Kadesh-Barnea: its importance and probable site, with the story of a hunt for it; including studies of the route of the exodus and the southern boundary of the Holy Land,

Mode of access: Internet.

Exhibition of drawings in water colour by Alfred William Hunt ...

Biographical sketch of Hunt by Cosmo Monkhouse.

A visit to the South Seas, in the U.S. ship Vincennes : during the years 1829 and 1830 : with notices of Brazil, Peru, Manilla, the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena /

Added t.p., engraved, dated 1832.