Does CRP Play a Causal Role in the Development of Coronary Heart Disease: Results of a Mendelian Randomisation Experiment Involving 128,935 People

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Whether CRP is causally associated with CHD or merely a marker of underlying atherosclerosis is uncertain. Methods: We used a Mendelian randomisation design to investigate the causal relationship of CRP with CHD. We identified three genetic variants in the CRP locus (rs7553007, rs1130864 and rs1205) which influence CRP levels. We tested the three SNPs for association with CHD amongst 28,112 CHD cases and 100,823 controls. We then compared the observed relationship between the SNPs and CHD, with that predicted from the association of SNPs with CRP levels, and of CRP levels with CHD. Results: SNPs in the CRP locus were not associated with CHD: rs7553007, OR 0.98 (95% CI, 0.94-1.01); rs1130864, OR 1.00 (95% CI, 0.86-1.15); rs1205, OR 1.03 (95% CI, 0.99-1.07); combined OR for all three SNPs, 1.00 (95% CI, 0.97-1.02), per 20% lower CRP (figure). In contrast, the predicted OR for CHD from a 20% lower CRP level is 0.94 (95% CI, 0.94- 0.95), based on meta-analysis of observational studies. Conclusions: Though CRP variants are associated with CRP levels, and CRP levels with risk of CHD, we observed that CRP variants are not associated with CHD risk. Our Mendelian randomisation experiment strongly argues against a causal association of CRP with CHD.

Decreto rectoral No. 935 : Apruébase la extensión, a Bucaramanga, del programa de Especialización en Negociación, Concili ación y Arbitraje en convenio con la Cámara de Comercio de Bucaramanga

Que es política de la Universidad hacer presencia académica en el país; Que la Cámara de Comercio de Bucaramanga, tiene interés en ofrecer en asocio con el Colegio Mayor de Nuestra Señora del Rosario el programa de Especialización en Negociación, Conciliación y Arbitraje.

Na 50 Nachlass Arthur Schopenhauer - 'Schopenhauer-Archiv', 935 - Hervorhebung der Bedeutung Schopenhauers

u.a. Psychologie; Evangelisten und Aposteln; Parerga und Paralipomena; Briefwechsel mit Schopenhauer; Kritik an Schopenhauer von Moritz Busch und Julian Schmidt; Rezeption; Wolfgang Menzel; Giacomo Leopardi;

Horizontal profiles of longwave and shortwave radiation components over sea ice near Barrow, Alaska during the 2011 melt

An integrated instrument package for measuring and understanding the surface radiation budget of sea ice is presented, along with results from its first deployment. The setup simultaneously measures broadband fluxes of upwelling and downwelling terrestrial and solar radiation (four components separately), spectral fluxes of incident and reflected solar radiation, and supporting data such as air temperature and humidity, surface temperature, and location (GPS), in addition to photographing the sky and observed surface during each measurement. The instruments are mounted on a small sled, allowing measurements of the radiation budget to be made at many locations in the study area to see the effect of small-scale surface processes on the large-scale radiation budget. Such observations have many applications, from calibration and validation of remote sensing products to improving our understanding of surface processes that affect atmosphere-snow-ice interactions and drive feedbacks, ultimately leading to the potential to improve climate modelling of ice-covered regions of the ocean. The photographs, spectral data, and other observations allow for improved analysis of the broadband data. An example of this is shown by using the observations made during a partly cloudy day, which show erratic variations due to passing clouds, and creating a careful estimate of what the radiation budget along the observed line would have been under uniform sky conditions, clear or overcast. Other data from the setup's first deployment, in June 2011 on fast ice near Point Barrow, Alaska, are also shown; these illustrate the rapid changes of the radiation budget during a cold period that led to refreezing and new snow well into the melt season.