FTO genotype is associated with phenotypic variability of body mass index.

There is evidence across several species for genetic control of phenotypic variation of complex traits, such that the variance among phenotypes is genotype dependent. Understanding genetic control of variability is important in evolutionary biology, agricultural selection programmes and human medicine, yet for complex traits, no individual genetic variants associated with variance, as opposed to the mean, have been identified. Here we perform a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of phenotypic variation using ∼170,000 samples on height and body mass index (BMI) in human populations. We report evidence that the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs7202116 at the FTO gene locus, which is known to be associated with obesity (as measured by mean BMI for each rs7202116 genotype), is also associated with phenotypic variability. We show that the results are not due to scale effects or other artefacts, and find no other experiment-wise significant evidence for effects on variability, either at loci other than FTO for BMI or at any locus for height. The difference in variance for BMI among individuals with opposite homozygous genotypes at the FTO locus is approximately 7%, corresponding to a difference of ∼0.5 kilograms in the standard deviation of weight. Our results indicate that genetic variants can be discovered that are associated with variability, and that between-person variability in obesity can partly be explained by the genotype at the FTO locus. The results are consistent with reported FTO by environment interactions for BMI, possibly mediated by DNA methylation. Our BMI results for other SNPs and our height results for all SNPs suggest that most genetic variants, including those that influence mean height or mean BMI, are not associated with phenotypic variance, or that their effects on variability are too small to detect even with samples sizes greater than 100,000.

Suomalainen maisema, sielunmaisema : suomalaisten rakkain maisema -kilpailun satoa

Suomalainen maisema - maisemankuvaamisen historiaa kahdensadan vuoden ajalta. Näyttely Kansalliskirjaston Galleriassa 8.6. - 26.10.2002.

Uskonnollisen vuorovaikutuksen uskonnollisuus

Väitöksenalkajaisesitelmä Tampereen yliopistossa 15. marraskuuta 2002

La tutoria entre iguals com a eina per millorar l'aprenentatge universitari

L'article presenta el programa de tutoria entre iguals que es va posar en marxa el curs 2009-2010 en el marc del Pla d¿acció tutorial de la Facultat d'Economia i Empresa, i una part dels resultats del procés d'avaluació dut a terme. La incorporació de la figura de l'alumne tutor en la política tutorial del centre tenia com un dels seus objectius principals incrementar la motivació i l'aprenentatge d¿alumnes de cursos superiors mitjançant la seva implicació en activitats extracurriculars vinculades a la titulació. L'estudi va voler copsar quin impacte té participar com a company tutor en el procés de formació, mitjançant la tècnica de la discussió de grup i una enquesta per qüestionari. Els resultats apunten que la tutoria entre iguals repercuteix en l¿aprenentatge, de manera que beneficia els alumnes tutors en l'adquisició de competències comunicatives i en l¿accés a recursos de la universitat fins aleshores desconeguts.

Determinants of maternal sex steroids during the first half of pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations of maternal and child characteristics with early pregnancy maternal concentrations of testosterone, androstenedione, progesterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and estradiol (E2). METHODS: We analyzed these hormones among 1,343 women with singleton pregnancies who donated serum samples to the Finnish Maternity Cohort from 1986 to 2006 during the first half of pregnancy (median 11 weeks). The associations of maternal and child characteristics with hormone concentrations were investigated by correlation and multivariable regression. RESULTS: Women older than age 30 years had lower androgen and E2 but higher progesterone concentrations than women younger than that age. Multiparous women had 14% lower testosterone, 11% lower androstenedione and 17-hydroxyprogesterone, 9% lower progesterone, and 16% lower E2 concentrations compared with nulliparous women (all P<.05). Smoking mothers had 11%, 18%, and 8% higher testosterone, androstenedione, and 17-hydroxyprogesterone levels, respectively, but 10% lower progesterone compared with nonsmoking women (all P<.05). E2 concentrations were 9% higher (P<.05) among women with a female fetus compared with those with a male fetus. CONCLUSION: Parity, smoking, and, to a lesser extent, maternal age and child sex are associated with sex steroid levels during the first half of a singleton pregnancy. The effects of smoking on the maternal hormonal environment and the possible long-term deleterious consequences on the fetus deserve further evaluation. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.

Vielä Lehtisen väitöskirjan arvioimisesta

Kirjoitus on vastine tiedeyhteisön kannanottoihin Lasse Lehtisen väitöskirjasta Aatosta jaloa ja alhaista mieltä