Prevalence and etiology of vertigo in adult rural population.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrol, R; Nehru, V I; Venkatramana, Y

2001-01-01

A survey on 10.000 adults between the age of 20 and 79 years out of a total population of 66.186 persons in rural settlements under the inrisduction of Union Territory of Chandigarh between June 1993 to June 1995 was conducted to find out the prevalence and various causes of vertigo. In general community, in rural population, we found that more people suffer from non-otologic vertigo rather than otologic vertigo. We found overall prevalence of vertigo in rural adult community to be 0.71%. Vertigo secondary to cardiovascular disease was most common and prevalent in 0.32% of population. Neurologic disease accounted for vertigo in 0.14%, metabolic disease in 0.09% and otologic disease 0.08%. Miscellaneous disorders were present in remaining 0.08% of population studied. To the best of our knowledge this study represents the first population based survey of prevalence of various causes of vertigo in general community in adult rural population.

Post-parturition habitat selection by elk calves and adult female elk in New Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Pitman, James W.; Cain, James W.; Liley, Stewart; Gould, William R.; Quintana, Nichole T.; Ballard, Warren

2014-01-01

Neonatal survival and juvenile recruitment are crucial to maintaining viable elk (Cervus elaphus) populations. Neonate survival is known to be influenced by many factors, including bed-site selection. Although neonates select the actual bed-site location, they must do so within the larger calf-rearing area selected by the mother. As calves age, habitat selection should change to meet the changing needs of the growing calf. Our main objectives were to characterize habitat selection at 2 spatial scales and in areas with different predator assemblages in New Mexico. We evaluated bed-site selection by calves and calf-rearing area selection by adult females. We captured 108 elk calves by hand and fitted them with ear tag transmitters in two areas in New Mexico: the Valle Vidal and Blue Range Wolf Recovery Area. In both study areas, we found that concealing cover structure and distance to that cover influenced bed-site selection of young calves (i.e., age). Older calves (i.e., 3–10 weeks of age) still selected areas in relation to distance to cover, but also preferred areas with higher visibility. At the larger spatial scale of calf-rearing habitat selection by the adult female, concealing cover (e.g., rocks, shrubs, and logs) and other variables important to the hiding calves were still in the most supported models, but selection was also influenced by forage availability and indices of forage quality. Studies that seek to obtain insight into microhabitat selection of ungulate neonates should consider selection by the neonate and selection by the adult female, changes in selection as neonates age, and potential selection differences in areas of differing predation risk. By considering these influences together and at multiple scales, studies can achieve a broader understanding of neonatal ungulate habitat requirements. 

Impact of selective logging on inbreeding and gene dispersal in an Amazonian tree population of Carapa guianensis Aubl.

Science.gov (United States)

Cloutier, D; Kanashiro, M; Ciampi, A Y; Schoen, D J

2007-02-01

Selective logging may impact patterns of genetic diversity within populations of harvested forest tree species by increasing distances separating conspecific trees, and modifying physical and biotic features of the forest habitat. We measured levels of gene diversity, inbreeding, pollen dispersal and spatial genetic structure (SGS) of an Amazonian insect-pollinated Carapa guianensis population before and after commercial selective logging. Similar levels of gene diversity and allelic richness were found before and after logging in both the adult and the seed generations. Pre- and post-harvest outcrossing rates were high, and not significantly different from one another. We found no significant levels of biparental inbreeding either before or after logging. Low levels of pollen pool differentiation were found, and the pre- vs. post-harvest difference was not significant. Pollen dispersal distance estimates averaged between 75 m and 265 m before logging, and between 76 m and 268 m after logging, depending on the value of tree density and the dispersal model used. There were weak and similar levels of differentiation of allele frequencies in the adults and in the pollen pool, before and after logging occurred, as well as weak and similar pre- and post-harvest levels of SGS among adult trees. The large neighbourhood sizes estimated suggest high historical levels of gene flow. Overall our results indicate that there is no clear short-term genetic impact of selective logging on this population of C. guianensis.

The Impact of Selection with Diflubenzuron, a Chitin Synthesis Inhibitor, on the Fitness of Two Brazilian Aedes aegypti Field Populations

Science.gov (United States)

Belinato, Thiago Affonso; Valle, Denise

2015-01-01

Several Aedes aegypti field populations are resistant to neurotoxic insecticides, mainly organophoshates and pyrethroids, which are extensively used as larvicides and adulticides, respectively. Diflubenzuron (DFB), a chitin synthesis inhibitor (CSI), was recently approved for use in drinking water, and is presently employed in Brazil for Ae. aegypti control, against populations resistant to the organophosphate temephos. However, tests of DFB efficacy against field Ae. aegypti populations are lacking. In addition, information regarding the dynamics of CSI resistance, and characterization of any potential fitness effects that may arise in conjunction with resistance are essential for new Ae. aegypti control strategies. Here, the efficacy of DFB was evaluated for two Brazilian Ae. aegypti populations known to be resistant to both temephos and the pyrethroid deltamethrin. Laboratory selection for DFB resistance was then performed over six or seven generations, using a fixed dose of insecticide that inhibited 80% of adult emergence in the first generation. The selection process was stopped when adult emergence in the diflubenzuron-treated groups was equivalent to that of the control groups, kept without insecticide. Diflubenzuron was effective against the two Ae. aegypti field populations evaluated, regardless of their resistance level to neurotoxic insecticides. However, only a few generations of DFB selection were sufficient to change the susceptible status of both populations to this compound. Several aspects of mosquito biology were affected in both selected populations, indicating that diflubenzuron resistance acquisition is associated with a fitness cost. We believe that these results can significantly contribute to the design of control strategies involving the use of insect growth regulators. PMID:26107715

A review of health utilities across conditions common in paediatric and adult populations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hopkins Robert B

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cost-utility analyses are commonly used in economic evaluations of interventions or conditions that have an impact on health-related quality of life. However, evaluating utilities in children presents several challenges since young children may not have the cognitive ability to complete measurement tasks and thus utility values must be estimated by proxy assessors. Another solution is to use utilities derived from an adult population. To better inform the future conduct of cost-utility analyses in paediatric populations, we reviewed the published literature reporting utilities among children and adults across selected conditions common to paediatric and adult populations. Methods An electronic search of Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library up to November 2008 was conducted to identify studies presenting utility values derived from the Health Utilities Index (HUI or EuroQoL-5Dimensions (EQ-5D questionnaires or using time trade off (TTO or standard gamble (SG techniques in children and/or adult populations from randomized controlled trials, comparative or non-comparative observational studies, or cross-sectional studies. The search was targeted to four chronic diseases/conditions common to both children and adults and known to have a negative impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL. Results After screening 951 citations identified from the literature search, 77 unique studies included in our review evaluated utilities in patients with asthma (n = 25, cancer (n = 23, diabetes mellitus (n = 11, skin diseases (n = 19 or chronic diseases (n = 2, with some studies evaluating multiple conditions. Utility values were estimated using HUI (n = 33, EQ-5D (n = 26, TTO (n = 12, and SG (n = 14, with some studies applying more than one technique to estimate utility values. 21% of studies evaluated utilities in children, of those the majority being in the area of oncology. No utility values for children were reported in skin

Age and Time Population Differences: Young Adults, Gen Xers, and Millennials

Science.gov (United States)

Menard, Lauren A.

2013-01-01

Age and Time disparities in young adult research populations are common because young adults are defined by varying age spans; members of Generation X and Millennial generations may both be considered young adults; study years vary, affecting populations; and qualitative methods with limited age/year samples are frequently utilized. The current…

Factors and Mechanisms for Pharmacokinetic Differences between Pediatric Population and Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jose T. Ramos

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Many physiologic differences between children and adults may result in age-related changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Factors such as gastric pH and emptying time, intestinal transit time, immaturity of secretion and activity of bile and pancreatic fluid among other factors determine the oral bioavailability of pediatric and adult populations. Anatomical, physiological and biochemical characteristics in children also affect the bioavailability of other routes of administration. Key factors explaining differences in drug distribution between the pediatric population and adults are membrane permeability, plasma protein binding and total body water. As far as drug metabolism is concerned, important differences have been found in the pediatric population compared with adults both for phase I and phase II metabolic enzymes. Immaturity of glomerular filtration, renal tubular secretion and tubular reabsorption at birth and their maturation determine the different excretion of drugs in the pediatric population compared to adults.

Adult survival and population growth rate in Colorado big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus)

Science.gov (United States)

O'Shea, T.J.; Ellison, L.E.; Stanley, T.R.

2011-01-01

We studied adult survival and population growth at multiple maternity colonies of big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) in Fort Collins, Colorado. We investigated hypotheses about survival using information-theoretic methods and mark-recapture analyses based on passive detection of adult females tagged with passive integrated transponders. We constructed a 3-stage life-history matrix model to estimate population growth rate (??) and assessed the relative importance of adult survival and other life-history parameters to population growth through elasticity and sensitivity analysis. Annual adult survival at 5 maternity colonies monitored from 2001 to 2005 was estimated at 0.79 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.77-0.82). Adult survival varied by year and roost, with low survival during an extreme drought year, a finding with negative implications for bat populations because of the likelihood of increasing drought in western North America due to global climate change. Adult survival during winter was higher than in summer, and mean life expectancies calculated from survival estimates were lower than maximum longevity records. We modeled adult survival with recruitment parameter estimates from the same population. The study population was growing (?? = 1.096; 95% CI = 1.057-1.135). Adult survival was the most important demographic parameter for population growth. Growth clearly had the highest elasticity to adult survival, followed by juvenile survival and adult fecundity (approximately equivalent in rank). Elasticity was lowest for fecundity of yearlings. The relative importances of the various life-history parameters for population growth rate are similar to those of large mammals. ?? 2011 American Society of Mammalogists.

Parallel selection on TRPV6 in human populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Hughes, David A; Tang, Kun; Strotmann, Rainer; Schöneberg, Torsten; Prenen, Jean; Nilius, Bernd; Stoneking, Mark

2008-02-27

We identified and examined a candidate gene for local directional selection in Europeans, TRPV6, and conclude that selection has acted on standing genetic variation at this locus, creating parallel soft sweep events in humans. A novel modification of the extended haplotype homozygosity (EHH) test was utilized, which compares EHH for a single allele across populations, to investigate the signature of selection at TRPV6 and neighboring linked loci in published data sets for Europeans, Asians and African-Americans, as well as in newly-obtained sequence data for additional populations. We find that all non-African populations carry a signature of selection on the same haplotype at the TRPV6 locus. The selective footprints, however, are significantly differentiated between non-African populations and estimated to be younger than an ancestral population of non-Africans. The possibility of a single selection event occurring in an ancestral population of non-Africans was tested by simulations and rejected. The putatively-selected TRPV6 haplotype contains three candidate sites for functional differences, namely derived non-synonymous substitutions C157R, M378V and M681T. Potential functional differences between the ancestral and derived TRPV6 proteins were investigated by cloning the ancestral and derived forms, transfecting cell lines, and carrying out electrophysiology experiments via patch clamp analysis. No statistically-significant differences in biophysical channel function were found, although one property of the protein, namely Ca(2+) dependent inactivation, may show functionally relevant differences between the ancestral and derived forms. Although the reason for selection on this locus remains elusive, this is the first demonstration of a widespread parallel selection event acting on standing genetic variation in humans, and highlights the utility of between population EHH statistics.

Parallel selection on TRPV6 in human populations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David A Hughes

Full Text Available We identified and examined a candidate gene for local directional selection in Europeans, TRPV6, and conclude that selection has acted on standing genetic variation at this locus, creating parallel soft sweep events in humans. A novel modification of the extended haplotype homozygosity (EHH test was utilized, which compares EHH for a single allele across populations, to investigate the signature of selection at TRPV6 and neighboring linked loci in published data sets for Europeans, Asians and African-Americans, as well as in newly-obtained sequence data for additional populations. We find that all non-African populations carry a signature of selection on the same haplotype at the TRPV6 locus. The selective footprints, however, are significantly differentiated between non-African populations and estimated to be younger than an ancestral population of non-Africans. The possibility of a single selection event occurring in an ancestral population of non-Africans was tested by simulations and rejected. The putatively-selected TRPV6 haplotype contains three candidate sites for functional differences, namely derived non-synonymous substitutions C157R, M378V and M681T. Potential functional differences between the ancestral and derived TRPV6 proteins were investigated by cloning the ancestral and derived forms, transfecting cell lines, and carrying out electrophysiology experiments via patch clamp analysis. No statistically-significant differences in biophysical channel function were found, although one property of the protein, namely Ca(2+ dependent inactivation, may show functionally relevant differences between the ancestral and derived forms. Although the reason for selection on this locus remains elusive, this is the first demonstration of a widespread parallel selection event acting on standing genetic variation in humans, and highlights the utility of between population EHH statistics.

Opportunity for natural selection among some selected population groups of Northeast India.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Farida Ahmed; Mithun, Sikdar

2010-05-01

Selection potential based on differential fertility and mortality has been computed for seven population groups inhabiting different geographical locations of Northeast India. Crow's as well as Johnston and Kensinger's index have been used for the present purpose. Irrespective of the methodology, the total index of selection was found to be highest among the Deoris followed by the Kaibartas. The lowest selection index was found among the Oraon population. If the relative contribution of fertility and mortality components to the total index is considered to be multiplicative, it is observed that in all these communities the fertility component exceeds that of mortality component, which may indicate initiation of demographic transitional phase in the selected populations with the betterment of healthcare and socioeconomic condition within the last few decades.

Selection signatures in worldwide sheep populations.

OpenAIRE

Fariello, Maria-Ines; Servin, Bertrand; Tosser-Klopp, Gwenola; Rupp, Rachel; Moreno, Carole; San Cristobal, Magali; Boitard, Simon; Drögemüller, Cord; The International Sheep Genomics Consortium, ISGC

2014-01-01

The diversity of populations in domestic species offers great opportunities to study genome response to selection. The recently published Sheep HapMap dataset is a great example of characterization of the world wide genetic diversity in sheep. In this study, we re-analyzed the Sheep HapMap dataset to identify selection signatures in worldwide sheep populations. Compared to previous analyses, we made use of statistical methods that (i) take account of the hierarchical structure of sheep popula...

Selection Signatures in Worldwide Sheep Populations

OpenAIRE

Fariello, Maria-Ines; Servin, Bertrand; Tosser-Klopp, Gwenola; Rupp, Rachel; Moreno, Carole; Cristobal, Magali San; Boitard, Simon

2014-01-01

The diversity of populations in domestic species offers great opportunities to study genome response to selection. The recently published Sheep HapMap dataset is a great example of characterization of the world wide genetic diversity in sheep. In this study, we re-analyzed the Sheep HapMap dataset to identify selection signatures in worldwide sheep populations. Compared to previous analyses, we made use of statistical methods that (i) take account of the hierarchical structure of sheep popula...

Scale-Dependent Habitat Selection and Size-Based Dominance in Adult Male American Alligators.

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Bradley A Strickland

Full Text Available Habitat selection is an active behavioral process that may vary across spatial and temporal scales. Animals choose an area of primary utilization (i.e., home range then make decisions focused on resource needs within patches. Dominance may affect the spatial distribution of conspecifics and concomitant habitat selection. Size-dependent social dominance hierarchies have been documented in captive alligators, but evidence is lacking from wild populations. We studied habitat selection for adult male American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis; n = 17 on the Pearl River in central Mississippi, USA, to test whether habitat selection was scale-dependent and individual resource selectivity was a function of conspecific body size. We used K-select analysis to quantify selection at the home range scale and patches within the home range to determine selection congruency and important habitat variables. In addition, we used linear models to determine if body size was related to selection patterns and strengths. Our results indicated habitat selection of adult male alligators was a scale-dependent process. Alligators demonstrated greater overall selection for habitat variables at the patch level and less at the home range level, suggesting resources may not be limited when selecting a home range for animals in our study area. Further, diurnal habitat selection patterns may depend on thermoregulatory needs. There was no relationship between resource selection or home range size and body size, suggesting size-dependent dominance hierarchies may not have influenced alligator resource selection or space use in our sample. Though apparent habitat suitability and low alligator density did not manifest in an observed dominance hierarchy, we hypothesize that a change in either could increase intraspecific interactions, facilitating a dominance hierarchy. Due to the broad and diverse ecological roles of alligators, understanding the factors that influence their

Scale-dependent habitat selection and size-based dominance in adult male American alligators

Science.gov (United States)

Strickland, Bradley A.; Vilella, Francisco; Belant, Jerrold L.

2016-01-01

Habitat selection is an active behavioral process that may vary across spatial and temporal scales. Animals choose an area of primary utilization (i.e., home range) then make decisions focused on resource needs within patches. Dominance may affect the spatial distribution of conspecifics and concomitant habitat selection. Size-dependent social dominance hierarchies have been documented in captive alligators, but evidence is lacking from wild populations. We studied habitat selection for adult male American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis; n = 17) on the Pearl River in central Mississippi, USA, to test whether habitat selection was scale-dependent and individual resource selectivity was a function of conspecific body size. We used K-select analysis to quantify selection at the home range scale and patches within the home range to determine selection congruency and important habitat variables. In addition, we used linear models to determine if body size was related to selection patterns and strengths. Our results indicated habitat selection of adult male alligators was a scale-dependent process. Alligators demonstrated greater overall selection for habitat variables at the patch level and less at the home range level, suggesting resources may not be limited when selecting a home range for animals in our study area. Further, diurnal habitat selection patterns may depend on thermoregulatory needs. There was no relationship between resource selection or home range size and body size, suggesting size-dependent dominance hierarchies may not have influenced alligator resource selection or space use in our sample. Though apparent habitat suitability and low alligator density did not manifest in an observed dominance hierarchy, we hypothesize that a change in either could increase intraspecific interactions, facilitating a dominance hierarchy. Due to the broad and diverse ecological roles of alligators, understanding the factors that influence their social dominance

Smokeless tobacco use in adult Nigerian population | Desalu ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study aim was to establish the prevalence and determinants of smokeless tobacco use in Nigerian adults' population. Across-sectional survey of 1776 adults inYola, North-East Nigeria was carried out in June 2007.A modified World Health Organization (WHO) tobacco survey questionnaire was used for interview and ...

On subset selection from Logistic populations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laan, van der P.

1990-01-01

Some distributional results are derived for subset selection from Logistic populations, differing only in their location parameter. The probability of correct selection is determined. Exact and numerical results concerning the expected subset size are presented.

The Benefits of Adult Piano Study as Self-Reported by Selected Adult Piano Students

Science.gov (United States)

Jutras, Peter J.

2006-01-01

Adult piano students (N = 711) from 24 states across the U.S. rated the existence and importance of 31 potential benefits of adult piano study. Benefits selected from existing adult music and leisure-benefit research were organized into three categories: Personal, Skill, and Social/Cultural. The category of Skill Benefits was the most-agreed-upon…

De Novo Advanced Adult-Onset Offending: New Evidence from a Population of Federal Correctional Clients.

Science.gov (United States)

DeLisi, Matt; Tahja, Katherine N; Drury, Alan J; Elbert, Michael J; Caropreso, Daniel E; Heinrichs, Timothy

2018-01-01

Adult antisocial behavior is almost always predated by delinquency during childhood or adolescence; however, there is also evidence of adult-onset criminal offending. This study examined this controversial subgroup of offenders using self-reported and official data from a total population of federal correctional clients selected from the Midwestern United States. Difference of means t-tests, chi-square tests, and logistic regression models found that 11.7% of clients had an adult onset of offending and 2.7% of clients (n = 23) had an onset occurring at age 60 years or older. This group-introduced as de novo advanced adult-onset offenders-had high socioeconomic status, mixed evidence of adverse childhood experiences, and virtually no usage of drugs with the exception of alcohol. These offenders were primarily convicted of social security and white-collar crimes and evinced remarkably low psychopathology and criminal risk. More research is needed to replicate the phenomenon of de novo advanced adult-onset offending. © 2017 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Bigger Is Fitter? Quantitative Genetic Decomposition of Selection Reveals an Adaptive Evolutionary Decline of Body Mass in a Wild Rodent Population.

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Timothée Bonnet

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In natural populations, quantitative trait dynamics often do not appear to follow evolutionary predictions. Despite abundant examples of natural selection acting on heritable traits, conclusive evidence for contemporary adaptive evolution remains rare for wild vertebrate populations, and phenotypic stasis seems to be the norm. This so-called "stasis paradox" highlights our inability to predict evolutionary change, which is especially concerning within the context of rapid anthropogenic environmental change. While the causes underlying the stasis paradox are hotly debated, comprehensive attempts aiming at a resolution are lacking. Here, we apply a quantitative genetic framework to individual-based long-term data for a wild rodent population and show that despite a positive association between body mass and fitness, there has been a genetic change towards lower body mass. The latter represents an adaptive response to viability selection favouring juveniles growing up to become relatively small adults, i.e., with a low potential adult mass, which presumably complete their development earlier. This selection is particularly strong towards the end of the snow-free season, and it has intensified in recent years, coinciding which a change in snowfall patterns. Importantly, neither the negative evolutionary change, nor the selective pressures that drive it, are apparent on the phenotypic level, where they are masked by phenotypic plasticity and a non causal (i.e., non genetic positive association between body mass and fitness, respectively. Estimating selection at the genetic level enabled us to uncover adaptive evolution in action and to identify the corresponding phenotypic selective pressure. We thereby demonstrate that natural populations can show a rapid and adaptive evolutionary response to a novel selective pressure, and that explicitly (quantitative genetic models are able to provide us with an understanding of the causes and consequences of

Bigger Is Fitter? Quantitative Genetic Decomposition of Selection Reveals an Adaptive Evolutionary Decline of Body Mass in a Wild Rodent Population

Science.gov (United States)

Wandeler, Peter; Camenisch, Glauco

2017-01-01

In natural populations, quantitative trait dynamics often do not appear to follow evolutionary predictions. Despite abundant examples of natural selection acting on heritable traits, conclusive evidence for contemporary adaptive evolution remains rare for wild vertebrate populations, and phenotypic stasis seems to be the norm. This so-called “stasis paradox” highlights our inability to predict evolutionary change, which is especially concerning within the context of rapid anthropogenic environmental change. While the causes underlying the stasis paradox are hotly debated, comprehensive attempts aiming at a resolution are lacking. Here, we apply a quantitative genetic framework to individual-based long-term data for a wild rodent population and show that despite a positive association between body mass and fitness, there has been a genetic change towards lower body mass. The latter represents an adaptive response to viability selection favouring juveniles growing up to become relatively small adults, i.e., with a low potential adult mass, which presumably complete their development earlier. This selection is particularly strong towards the end of the snow-free season, and it has intensified in recent years, coinciding which a change in snowfall patterns. Importantly, neither the negative evolutionary change, nor the selective pressures that drive it, are apparent on the phenotypic level, where they are masked by phenotypic plasticity and a non causal (i.e., non genetic) positive association between body mass and fitness, respectively. Estimating selection at the genetic level enabled us to uncover adaptive evolution in action and to identify the corresponding phenotypic selective pressure. We thereby demonstrate that natural populations can show a rapid and adaptive evolutionary response to a novel selective pressure, and that explicitly (quantitative) genetic models are able to provide us with an understanding of the causes and consequences of selection that is

Hydration Status of Adult Population of Yazd

OpenAIRE

MH Lotfi; M Shakiba; S Jafary-Nodushan

2008-01-01

Introduction: Water is an essential nutrient for life. It comprises 75% of total body weight in infants,60% in adult males and 50% in adult females. Decrease in body water is commonly known as dehydration. Acute or chronic dehydration is a common condition in some population groups, especialy the elderly and those who participate in physical activity in warm enviroments. Potential consequences of dehydration include constipation,urinary tract and respiratory infection,urinary stone disease an...

Opportunity for natural selection among some selected population groups of Northeast India

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Farida Ahmed; Mithun, Sikdar

2010-01-01

BACKGROUND: Selection potential based on differential fertility and mortality has been computed for seven population groups inhabiting different geographical locations of Northeast India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Crow’s as well as Johnston and Kensinger’s index have been used for the present purpose. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Irrespective of the methodology, the total index of selection was found to be highest among the Deoris followed by the Kaibartas. The lowest selection index was found among the Oraon population. If the relative contribution of fertility and mortality components to the total index is considered to be multiplicative, it is observed that in all these communities the fertility component exceeds that of mortality component, which may indicate initiation of demographic transitional phase in the selected populations with the betterment of healthcare and socioeconomic condition within the last few decades. PMID:21031053

Prevalence of rheumatic diseases in adult population in Spain (EPISER 2016 study): Aims and methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Seoane-Mato, Daniel; Sánchez-Piedra, Carlos; Silva-Fernández, Lucía; Sivera, Francisca; Blanco, Francisco J; Pérez Ruiz, Fernando; Juan-Mas, Antonio; Pego-Reigosa, José M; Narváez, Javier; Quilis Martí, Neus; Cortés Verdú, Raúl; Antón-Pagés, Fred; Quevedo Vila, Víctor; Garrido Courel, Laura; Del Amo, Natividad Del Val; Paniagua Zudaire, Inmaculada; Añez Sturchio, Gustavo; Medina Varo, Fermín; Ruiz Tudela, María Del Mar; Romero Pérez, Antonio; Ballina, Javier; Brandy García, Anahy; Fábregas Canales, Dolores; Font Gayá, Teresa; Bordoy Ferrer, Carolina; González Álvarez, Beatriz; Casas Hernández, Laura; Álvarez Reyes, Fátima; Delgado Sánchez, Mónica; Martínez Dubois, Cristina; Sánchez-Fernández, Simón Ángel; Rojas Vargas, Luisa Marena; García Morales, Paula Virginia; Olivé, Alejandro; Rubio Muñoz, Paula; Larrosa, Marta; Navarro Ricos, Noemí; Graell Martín, Eduard; Chamizo, Eugenio; Chaves Chaparro, Lara; Rojas Herrera, Sara; Pons Dolset, Jordi; Polo Ostariz, Miguel Ángel; Ruiz-Alejos Garrido, Susana; Macía Villa, Cristina; Cruz Valenciano, Ana; González Gómez, María Luisa; Morcillo Valle, Mercedes; Palma Sánchez, Deseada; Moreno Martínez, María José; Mayor González, Marta; Atxotegi Sáenz de Buruaga, Joana; Urionagüena Onaindia, Irati; Blanco Cáceres, Boris Anthony; Díaz-González, Federico; Bustabad, Sagrario

2017-07-31

To describe the methodology of the EPISER 2016 (study of the prevalence of rheumatic diseases in adult population in Spain), as well its strengths and limitations. The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Sjögren's syndrome (SS), osteoarthritis (knee, hip, hands, and cervical and lumbar spine), fibromyalgia, gout and clinical osteoporotic fracture. Population-based, multicenter, cross-sectional study, with the participation of 45 municipalities in the 17 Spanish autonomous communities. The reference population will consist of adults aged 20 years and over residing in Spain. A computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) system will be used for data collection. Diagnostic suspicions and diagnoses received by the participants will be studied by rheumatologists in the referral hospitals in the selected municipalities. the prevalence of the rheumatic diseases will be calculated using estimators and their 95% confidence intervals. Weights will be calculated in each of the sampling stages in accordance with the probability of selection. The distribution of the population in Spain will be obtained from the Spanish Statistics Institute. Sociodemographic and lifestyle changes over the last 16 years justify EPISER 2016. This study will provide current data about the prevalences of RA, AS, PsA, SLE, SS, osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, gout and clinical osteoporotic fracture. The results will allow comparisons with studies from other countries and EPISER 2000. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier España, S.L.U. and Sociedad Española de Reumatología y Colegio Mexicano de Reumatología. All rights reserved.

Attentional selection and suppression in children and adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Meirong; Wang, Encong; Huang, Jing; Zhao, Chenguang; Guo, Jialiang; Li, Dongwei; Sun, Li; Du, Boqi; Ding, Yulong; Song, Yan

2018-05-15

The fundamental role of covert spatial attention is to enhance the processing of attended items while simultaneously ignoring irrelevant items. However, relatively little is known about how brain electrophysiological activities associated with target selection and distractor suppression are involved as they develop and become fully functional. The current study aimed to identify the neurophysiological bases of the development of covert spatial attention, focusing on electroencephalographic (EEG) markers of attentional selection (N2pc) and suppression (P D ). EEG data were collected from healthy young adults and typically developing children (9-15 years old) as they searched for a shape singleton target in either the absence or the presence of a salient-but-irrelevant color singleton distractor. The ERP results showed that a lateral shape target elicited a smaller N2pc in children compared with adults regardless of whether a distractor was present or not. Moreover, the target-elicited N2pc was always followed by a similar positivity in both age groups. Counterintuitively, a lateral salient-but-irrelevant distractor elicited a large P D in children with low behavioral accuracy, whereas high-accuracy children exhibited a small and "adult-like" P D . More importantly, we found no evidence for a correlation between the target-elicited N2pc and the distractor-elicited P D in either age group. Our results provide neurophysiological evidence for the developmental differences between target selection and distractor suppression. Compared with adults, 9-15-year-old children deploy insufficient attentional selection resources to targets but use "adult-like" or even more attentional suppression resources to resist irrelevant distractors. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhWapx0d75I. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Prevalence and etiology of vertigo in adult rural population

OpenAIRE

Abrol, Raman; Nehru, Vikas I.; Venkatramana, Y.

2001-01-01

A survey on 10.000 adults between the age of 20 and 79 years out of a total population of 66.186 persons in rural settlements under the inrisduction of Union Territory of Chandigarh between June 1993 to June 1995 was conducted to find out the prevalence and various causes of vertigo. In general community, in rural population, we found that more people suffer from non-otologic vertigo rather than otologic vertigo. We found overall prevalence of vertigo in rural adult community to be 0.71%. Ver...

Phenotypic selection in natural populations: what limits directional selection?

Science.gov (United States)

Kingsolver, Joel G; Diamond, Sarah E

2011-03-01

Studies of phenotypic selection document directional selection in many natural populations. What factors reduce total directional selection and the cumulative evolutionary responses to selection? We combine two data sets for phenotypic selection, representing more than 4,600 distinct estimates of selection from 143 studies, to evaluate the potential roles of fitness trade-offs, indirect (correlated) selection, temporally varying selection, and stabilizing selection for reducing net directional selection and cumulative responses to selection. We detected little evidence that trade-offs among different fitness components reduced total directional selection in most study systems. Comparisons of selection gradients and selection differentials suggest that correlated selection frequently reduced total selection on size but not on other types of traits. The direction of selection on a trait often changes over time in many temporally replicated studies, but these fluctuations have limited impact in reducing cumulative directional selection in most study systems. Analyses of quadratic selection gradients indicated stabilizing selection on body size in at least some studies but provided little evidence that stabilizing selection is more common than disruptive selection for most traits or study systems. Our analyses provide little evidence that fitness trade-offs, correlated selection, or stabilizing selection strongly constrains the directional selection reported for most quantitative traits.

Population Genetics and Natural Selection in Rheumatic Disease.

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Ramos, Paula S

2017-08-01

Human genetic diversity is the result of population genetic forces. This genetic variation influences disease risk and contributes to health disparities. Natural selection is an important influence on human genetic variation. Because immune and inflammatory function genes are enriched for signals of positive selection, the prevalence of rheumatic disease-risk alleles seen in different populations is partially the result of differing selective pressures (eg, due to pathogens). This review summarizes the genetic regions associated with susceptibility to different rheumatic diseases and concomitant evidence for natural selection, including known agents of selection exerting selective pressure in these regions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Subset selection for an epsilon-best population : efficiency results

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laan, van der P.

1991-01-01

An almost best or an \\epsilon-best population is defined as a population with location parameter on a distance not larger than \\epsilon (\\geq 0) from the best population (with largest value of the location parameter). For the subset selection tables with the relative efficiency of selecting an

Selective population rate coding: a possible computational role of gamma oscillations in selective attention.

Science.gov (United States)

Masuda, Naoki

2009-12-01

Selective attention is often accompanied by gamma oscillations in local field potentials and spike field coherence in brain areas related to visual, motor, and cognitive information processing. Gamma oscillations are implicated to play an important role in, for example, visual tasks including object search, shape perception, and speed detection. However, the mechanism by which gamma oscillations enhance cognitive and behavioral performance of attentive subjects is still elusive. Using feedforward fan-in networks composed of spiking neurons, we examine a possible role for gamma oscillations in selective attention and population rate coding of external stimuli. We implement the concept proposed by Fries ( 2005 ) that under dynamic stimuli, neural populations effectively communicate with each other only when there is a good phase relationship among associated gamma oscillations. We show that the downstream neural population selects a specific dynamic stimulus received by an upstream population and represents it by population rate coding. The encoded stimulus is the one for which gamma rhythm in the corresponding upstream population is resonant with the downstream gamma rhythm. The proposed role for gamma oscillations in stimulus selection is to enable top-down control, a neural version of time division multiple access used in communication engineering.

Orthodontic treatment need in a Spanish young adult population

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Montiel-Company, José M.; Manzanera-Pastor, David; Almerich-Silla, José M.

2012-01-01

Objectives: Orthodontic treatment need has often been assessed in child populations, but few studies employing internationally-recognized indices have been conducted in adult or young adult populations. The aim of this study was to determine the orthodontic treatment need of a young adult population in Spain by means of the Dental Aesthetic Index (DAI), the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) and the need perceived by the patients. Study design: A cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in a broad, representative sample of 671 adults aged between 35 and 44 years using health centers in the Valencia Region of Spain, following the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO). Results: Orthodontic treatment was required by 31.3% of the sample according to the DAI and 19.2% according to the IOTN (DHC). The orthodontic treatment need perceived by the patients was 21.1%. On relating treatment need to different variables, significant differences in patient perception were encountered by gender, as women perceived a greater need (23.9%) than men (14.4%). Significant differences in previous orthodontic treatment history were found between middle/high (15%) and low (9%) social class and between secondary/tertiary (14%) and primary (3.3%) education. Conclusions: There was no agreement between the treatment need assessed objectively by the indices and that perceived by the patient, or between the indices themselves. The decision to undergo orthodontic treatment can depend on socioeconomic and psychological factors and on values and principles that do not easily lend themselves to objective measurement. Key words:Orthodontics, epidemiology, adult, malocclusion. PMID:22322504

Prevalence of sleepwalking in an adult population

African Journals Online (AJOL)

2010-01-07

Jan 7, 2010 ... Prevalence of sleepwalking in an adult population. Celestine Okorome Mume*. Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun. State, Nigeria. Background: Sleepwalking consists of a series of behavioral activities that occur during sleep. These activities.

Situation Selection and Modification for Emotion Regulation in Younger and Older Adults.

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Livingstone, Kimberly M; Isaacowitz, Derek M

2015-11-01

This research investigated age differences in use and effectiveness of situation selection and situation modification for emotion regulation. Socioemotional selectivity theory suggests stronger emotional well-being goals in older age; emotion regulation may support this goal. Younger and older adults assigned to an emotion regulation or "just view" condition first freely chose to engage with negative, neutral, or positive material (situation selection), then chose to view or skip negative and positive material (situation modification), rating affect after each experience. In both tasks, older adults in both goal conditions demonstrated pro-hedonic emotion regulation, spending less time with negative material compared to younger adults. Younger adults in the regulate condition also engaged in pro-hedonic situation selection, but not modification. Whereas situation selection was related to affect, modification of negative material was not. This research supports more frequent pro-hedonic motivation in older age, as well as age differences in use of early-stage emotion regulation.

Emerging prion disease drives host selection in a wildlife population

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Robinson, Stacie J.; Samuel, Michael D.; Johnson, Chad J.; Adams, Marie; McKenzie, Debbie I.

2012-01-01

Infectious diseases are increasingly recognized as an important force driving population dynamics, conservation biology, and natural selection in wildlife populations. Infectious agents have been implicated in the decline of small or endangered populations and may act to constrain population size, distribution, growth rates, or migration patterns. Further, diseases may provide selective pressures that shape the genetic diversity of populations or species. Thus, understanding disease dynamics and selective pressures from pathogens is crucial to understanding population processes, managing wildlife diseases, and conserving biological diversity. There is ample evidence that variation in the prion protein gene (PRNP) impacts host susceptibility to prion diseases. Still, little is known about how genetic differences might influence natural selection within wildlife populations. Here we link genetic variation with differential susceptibility of white-tailed deer to chronic wasting disease (CWD), with implications for fitness and disease-driven genetic selection. We developed a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assay to efficiently genotype deer at the locus of interest (in the 96th codon of the PRNP gene). Then, using a Bayesian modeling approach, we found that the more susceptible genotype had over four times greater risk of CWD infection; and, once infected, deer with the resistant genotype survived 49% longer (8.25 more months). We used these epidemiological parameters in a multi-stage population matrix model to evaluate relative fitness based on genotype-specific population growth rates. The differences in disease infection and mortality rates allowed genetically resistant deer to achieve higher population growth and obtain a long-term fitness advantage, which translated into a selection coefficient of over 1% favoring the CWD-resistant genotype. This selective pressure suggests that the resistant allele could become dominant in the population within an

A probabilistic method for testing and estimating selection differences between populations.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Yungang; Wang, Minxian; Huang, Xin; Li, Ran; Xu, Hongyang; Xu, Shuhua; Jin, Li

2015-12-01

Human populations around the world encounter various environmental challenges and, consequently, develop genetic adaptations to different selection forces. Identifying the differences in natural selection between populations is critical for understanding the roles of specific genetic variants in evolutionary adaptation. Although numerous methods have been developed to detect genetic loci under recent directional selection, a probabilistic solution for testing and quantifying selection differences between populations is lacking. Here we report the development of a probabilistic method for testing and estimating selection differences between populations. By use of a probabilistic model of genetic drift and selection, we showed that logarithm odds ratios of allele frequencies provide estimates of the differences in selection coefficients between populations. The estimates approximate a normal distribution, and variance can be estimated using genome-wide variants. This allows us to quantify differences in selection coefficients and to determine the confidence intervals of the estimate. Our work also revealed the link between genetic association testing and hypothesis testing of selection differences. It therefore supplies a solution for hypothesis testing of selection differences. This method was applied to a genome-wide data analysis of Han and Tibetan populations. The results confirmed that both the EPAS1 and EGLN1 genes are under statistically different selection in Han and Tibetan populations. We further estimated differences in the selection coefficients for genetic variants involved in melanin formation and determined their confidence intervals between continental population groups. Application of the method to empirical data demonstrated the outstanding capability of this novel approach for testing and quantifying differences in natural selection. © 2015 He et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Background Selection in Partially Selfing Populations

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Roze, Denis

2016-01-01

Self-fertilizing species often present lower levels of neutral polymorphism than their outcrossing relatives. Indeed, selfing automatically increases the rate of coalescence per generation, but also enhances the effects of background selection and genetic hitchhiking by reducing the efficiency of recombination. Approximations for the effect of background selection in partially selfing populations have been derived previously, assuming tight linkage between deleterious alleles and neutral loci. However, loosely linked deleterious mutations may have important effects on neutral diversity in highly selfing populations. In this article, I use a general method based on multilocus population genetics theory to express the effect of a deleterious allele on diversity at a linked neutral locus in terms of moments of genetic associations between loci. Expressions for these genetic moments at equilibrium are then computed for arbitrary rates of selfing and recombination. An extrapolation of the results to the case where deleterious alleles segregate at multiple loci is checked using individual-based simulations. At high selfing rates, the tight linkage approximation underestimates the effect of background selection in genomes with moderate to high map length; however, another simple approximation can be obtained for this situation and provides accurate predictions as long as the deleterious mutation rate is not too high. PMID:27075726

Phenotypic selection varies with pollination intensity across populations of Sabatia angularis.

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Emel, Sarah L; Franks, Steven J; Spigler, Rachel B

2017-07-01

Pollinators are considered primary selective agents acting on plant traits, and thus variation in the strength of the plant-pollinator interaction might drive variation in the opportunity for selection and selection intensity across plant populations. Here, we examine whether these critical evolutionary parameters covary with pollination intensity across wild populations of the biennial Sabatia angularis. We quantified pollination intensity in each of nine S. angularis populations as mean stigmatic pollen load per population. For female fitness and three components, fruit number, fruit set (proportion of flowers setting fruit) and number of seeds per fruit, we evaluated whether the opportunity for selection varied with pollination intensity. We used phenotypic selection analyses to test for interactions between pollination intensity and selection gradients for five floral traits, including flowering phenology. The opportunity for selection via fruit set and seeds per fruit declined significantly with increasing pollen receipt, as expected. We demonstrated significant directional selection on multiple traits across populations. We also found that selection intensity for all traits depended on pollination intensity. Consistent with general theory about the relationship between biotic interaction strength and the intensity of selection, our study suggests that variation in pollination intensity drives variation in selection across S. angularis populations. © 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

Life and health satisfaction in the adult population of Iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Daroudi, Rajabali; Rashidian, Arash; Zeraati, Hojjat; Oliyaeemanesh, Alireza; Akbari Sari, Ali

2016-01-01

Increasing interest has emerged in the use of subjective well-being as a development indicator and for the evaluation of public policies. The aim of this study was to assess life and health satisfaction and their determinants in the adult population of Iran. We conducted a survey of a sample of 3,150 adults at least 18 years of age in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The subjects were selected using a stratified random sampling method, and they were interviewed face-to-face at their usual residence by trained interviewers. Life satisfaction was used as a measure of subjective well-being. We used ordinary least square regression models to assess the associations of life and health satisfaction with socio-demographic variables. On a 0-10 scale, the mean (standard deviation) scores for life and health satisfaction were 6.93 (2.54) and 7.18 (1.97), respectively. The average score for life satisfaction in females was 0.52 points higher than in males. A U-shaped relationship was found between age and life satisfaction, with respondents 35 to 44 years of age having the lowest average level of life satisfaction. Satisfaction with life and health among divorced respondents was significantly lower than among never-married and married participants. The scores for life satisfaction in respondents who rated their health status as poor were 3.83 points lower than in those who rated their health status as excellent. The majority of the population of Tehran was satisfied with their life and health. Self-rated health status had the greatest impact on life satisfaction.

Breeding common bean populations for traits using selection index

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Dayane Cristina Lima

2015-02-01

Full Text Available A common bean (Phaseolus vulgarisL. cultivar must combine desirable genotypes for several traits in order to be accepted by producers and consumers. This study aimed to evaluate selection efficiency when segregating bean populations for traits, by means of a selection index, in order to obtain superior progenies for traits considered. A total of 16 populations from the F4 and F5generations were evaluated in 2011 and 2012, respectively. The traits evaluated were plant architecture, plant disease, grain type and yield. Using standard scores (Z, the sum of the four traits (∑Z was obtained and, based on this information, the best populations were identified. The evaluation of selection effectiveness was performed on 31 progenies from each population. The 496 progenies plus eight controls were evaluated in the F5:6and F5:7 generations for the same traits in July and November 2012, respectively. The selection, using the index based on the sum of standardized variables (∑Z, was efficient for identifying populations with superior progenies for all the traits considered.

Population-based surveillance for invasive pneumococcal disease in homeless adults in Toronto.

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Agron Plevneshi

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Identification of high-risk populations for serious infection due to S. pneumoniae will permit appropriately targeted prevention programs. METHODS: We conducted prospective, population-based surveillance for invasive pneumococcal disease and laboratory confirmed pneumococcal pneumonia in homeless adults in Toronto, a Canadian city with a total population of 2.5 M, from January 1, 2002 to December 31, 2006. RESULTS: We identified 69 cases of invasive pneumococcal disease and 27 cases of laboratory confirmed pneumococcal pneumonia in an estimated population of 5050 homeless adults. The incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease in homeless adults was 273 infections per 100,000 persons per year, compared to 9 per 100,000 persons per year in the general adult population. Homeless persons with invasive pneumococcal disease were younger than other adults (median age 46 years vs 67 years, P<.001, and more likely than other adults to be smokers (95% vs. 31%, P<.001, to abuse alcohol (62% vs 15%, P<.001, and to use intravenous drugs (42% vs 4%, P<.001. Relative to age matched controls, they were more likely to have underlying lung disease (12/69, 17% vs 17/272, 6%, P = .006, but not more likely to be HIV infected (17/69, 25% vs 58/282, 21%, P = .73. The proportion of patients with recurrent disease was five fold higher for homeless than other adults (7/58, 12% vs. 24/943, 2.5%, P<.001. In homeless adults, 28 (32% of pneumococcal isolates were of serotypes included in the 7-valent conjugate vaccine, 42 (48% of serotypes included in the 13-valent conjugate vaccine, and 72 (83% of serotypes included in the 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine. Although no outbreaks of disease were identified in shelters, there was evidence of clustering of serotypes suggestive of transmission of pathogenic strains within the homeless population. CONCLUSIONS: Homeless persons are at high risk of serious pneumococcal infection. Vaccination, physical structure changes

Investigation into Host Selection of the Cecal Acetogen Population in Rabbits after Weaning.

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Chunlei Yang

Full Text Available Homoacetogenic bacteria have received attention as a hydrogenotrophic population that offers a significant energetic advantage to the host animal. Reductive acetogenesis is likely an important hydrogen disposal mechanism in the cecum of rabbits. However, molecular ecology information about cecal acetogen candidates has rarely been reported. To better understand the effect of host selection in the rabbit cecal acetogen community with respect to growth, rabbits at four different age stages (30, 60, 120 and 180 days with the same diet were studied. Although the abundance of potential acetogens and methanogens was high in the cecum of rabbits undergoing growth, many novel potential acetogen populations were observed in the cecum of rabbits across all age groups. Young and adult rabbits had their own distinct acetogen community although they received the same diet, which suggests that as the rabbit ages, acetogens in the cecum undergo developmental changes because of host selection that are independent of diet, and perhaps the different acetogen communities result in different hydrogenotrophic characteristics. The within-group similarity increased with age, indicating that the acetogen community converges to a more homogeneous and stable arrangement with aging.

Impact of selective genotyping in the training population on accuracy and bias of genomic selection.

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Zhao, Yusheng; Gowda, Manje; Longin, Friedrich H; Würschum, Tobias; Ranc, Nicolas; Reif, Jochen C

2012-08-01

Estimating marker effects based on routinely generated phenotypic data of breeding programs is a cost-effective strategy to implement genomic selection. Truncation selection in breeding populations, however, could have a strong impact on the accuracy to predict genomic breeding values. The main objective of our study was to investigate the influence of phenotypic selection on the accuracy and bias of genomic selection. We used experimental data of 788 testcross progenies from an elite maize breeding program. The testcross progenies were evaluated in unreplicated field trials in ten environments and fingerprinted with 857 SNP markers. Random regression best linear unbiased prediction method was used in combination with fivefold cross-validation based on genotypic sampling. We observed a substantial loss in the accuracy to predict genomic breeding values in unidirectional selected populations. In contrast, estimating marker effects based on bidirectional selected populations led to only a marginal decrease in the prediction accuracy of genomic breeding values. We concluded that bidirectional selection is a valuable approach to efficiently implement genomic selection in applied plant breeding programs.

Prevalence of burning mouth syndrome in adult Turkish population

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Hakan Çolak

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Objectives: Burning mouth syndrome (BMS is defined as a chronic orofacial pain condition, characterized symptomatically by burning pain localized to the tongue and lips or may involve the entire oral cavity. The prevalence of burning mouth symptoms reported from international studies ranges from 0.6% to 15%. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of burning mouth syndrome in adult Turkish population.Materials and methods: A questionnaire was designed to collect data on demographic characteristics, medical history and drugs taken by the patients and clinical examination was performed. A cross-sectional study was carried out on 1000 (500 men and 500 women randomly selected patients who attended attending to Kırıkkale University Dental Faculty Department of Restorative Dentistry.Results: BMS was diagnosed in 12 patients with 0.12% prevalence in 2 man and 10 women, with 1:5 ratio respectively. The most common site for BMS was tongue. Para functional habits were the most common local factor. According to visual analogue scale (VAS mean (±SD level of burning intensity was 5.45 (±1.69.Conclusions: Burning Mouth Syndrome in Turkish population has low prevalence and is more frequent in females.

Unhealthy lifestyle factors and depressive symptoms: A Japanese general adult population survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Furihata, Ryuji; Konno, Chisato; Suzuki, Masahiro; Takahashi, Sakae; Kaneita, Yoshitaka; Ohida, Takashi; Uchiyama, Makoto

2018-07-01

To investigate the relationship between unhealthy lifestyles factors and depressive symptoms among the general adult population in Japan. Participants were randomly selected from the Japanese general adult population. Data from 2334 people aged 20 years or older were analyzed. This cross-sectional survey was conducted in August and September 2009. Participants completed a face-to-face interview about unhealthy lifestyle factors, including lack of exercise, skipping breakfast, a poorly balanced diet, snacking between meals, insufficient sleep, current smoking, alcohol drinking, and obesity. Presence of depressive symptoms was defined as a score of ≥ 16 on the Japanese version of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Relationships between unhealthy lifestyle factors and depressive symptoms were evaluated by multivariate logistic regression analysis adjusting for sociodemographic variables and other unhealthy lifestyle factors. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that insufficient sleep, a poorly balanced diet, snacking between meals and lack of exercise were significantly associated with the prevalence of depressive symptoms, with odds ratios ranging from 1.56 for lack of exercise to 3.98 for insufficient sleep. Since this study was a cross-sectional study, causal relationships could not be determined. These results suggest that promoting a healthy lifestyle focused on sleep, food intake and exercise may be important for individuals with depressive symptoms. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nutritional assessment of Esmeraldan adult population (Ecuador

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Sonia MATEOS-MARCOS

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective To analyse the nutritional status of the adult population in Esmeraldas by means of anthropometric measurements, the input of macro and micronutrients in the diet, and the adequacy estimation of nutrient intake by hispanic Dietary Reference Instakes along with the sex and the age influence. Methods Nutrient intake data were obtained by personal interview with the application of two 24 hour recalls (weekend and weekday. The anthropometric indicators analysed were body mass index, waist circumference and blood pressure. Nutriplato version 2.0 software was used for the two 24-hours food recall surveys data processing, and for the respective calculations of macronutrients, micronutrients and Dietary Reference Intakes. Means and standard deviations were calculated for anthropometry, nutrient intakes and Dietary Reference Instakes. The General Linear Model was applied to identify differences in relation to nutrient intakes considering sex, profession, body mass index, group, origin and day of the week as factors. Results Statistical analysis showed significant differences mainly in carbohydrates, fiber, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium, iodine, and vitamin E. Dietary intakes were compared with the Federación Española de Sociedades de Nutrición, Alimentación y Dietética Dietary Reference Intakes requirements and calcium, potassium, iodine, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin D, vitamin E, fiber, monounsaturated fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids are below the Dietary Reference Instakes in all ages and gender subgroups. The anthropometric results obtained indicated that 67.0% of the population were overweight and obese, the 87.7% of the adults suffered from prehypertension and the waist circumference indicated that 73.0% of the subjects were established in the range of high risk of cardiovascular disease. Conclusion Priority nutrition actions and interventions are needed to be developed in Esmeraldas adult

Increasing seroprevalence of Clostridium difficile in an adult Danish general population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fenger, R V; Linneberg, A; Tvede, M

2009-01-01

The incidence of Clostridium difficile-associated infections is increasing, but it remains to be defined whether any change in the seroprevalence of C. difficile has also occurred. In a population-based study of the general adult population, 734 subjects, aged 15-69 years, were examined on two...... occasions 8 years apart (1990 and 1998) for the presence of antibodies against C. difficile in serum. The overall seroprevalence of C. difficile increased significantly from 19% in 1990 to 27% in 1998 (P... was about four times higher in 1998 than in 1990. In conclusion, the observed increase in seroprevalence suggests a higher exposure to C. difficile in the general Danish adult population....

Factor associated with tobacco use among the adult population in Sarawak, Malaysia: a cross sectional study

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Mizanur Rahman

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Consumption of tobacco in any form is one of the leading causes of preventable mortality. The World Health Organization recommends that it should be monitored regularly.  This study was designed to estimate the prevalence of tobacco use among the rural adult population in Sarawak and factors associated with it.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among the adult population in Sarawak. Data were collected from ten villages in Kota Samarahan and Kuching Division by face to face interview using modified Global Adult Tobacco Survey questionnaire. Non-probability sampling method was adopted to select the villages. All the households of the villages were visited and an adult member was selected randomly from each house irrespective of the sex. After missing value imputation, 1000 data were analysed using statistical software SPSS 19.0 version.Results: Analysis showed that 30.9% of the respondents were current tobacco users and 11% were past tobacco users. The mean age (SD at starting tobacco was 18.1 (6.48 years. The frequency of tobacco use was 14 times per day.  Hierarchical Logistic regression analysis revealed that age with male sex (OR=1. 064, 95% CI: 1.052, 1.076, secondary education (OR=-2.712; 95% CI: 1.122, 6.555, higher secondary and above (OR=3. 571; 95% CI: 1.641,7.774, occupation as business (OR=3. 152; 95% CI: 1.732, 5.735 and environmental exposure such as smoking at working place (OR=2. 754;95% CI: 1.895,4.002, coffee house (OR=2. 274;95% CI: 1.32,3.919 and at home (OR=1. 827;95% CI: 1.242,2.687 appeared to be  important predictors of tobacco use (p<0.05.Conclusion: A large proportion of males use tobacco products. Though tobacco use was negligible among females, but they would be potential users. Environmental exposure to tobacco appeared to be important predictors. Tobacco control campaigns should target banning of tobacco use in closed and open areas and also to intensify the monitoring of all forms

Cheese consumption and prevalence of overweight and obesity in a Basque adult population: a cross-sectional study.

Science.gov (United States)

Alegría-Lertxundi, Iker; Rocandio Pablo, Ana; Arroyo-Izaga, Marta

2014-02-01

Studies have reported a negative association between dairy product consumption and weight status. However, not as much research has focused on cheese; therefore, the aim of this study was to study the association between cheese intake and overweight and obesity in a representative Basque adult population. A food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was obtained from a random sample of 1081 adults (530 males and 551 females, 17-96 years old). Cheese consumption data were expressed as g/1000 kcal/day. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was higher in men (55.1%) than in women (35.4%) (p processed cheese demonstrated a higher prevalence of excess weight, compared with those with higher consumption. The confounding variables selected in multivariate analysis were: occupational status and age in both genders; and place of residence in men. In conclusion, negative associations were found between consumption of some types of cheese and overweight and obesity in this population.

Life and health satisfaction in the adult population of Iran

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

OBJECTIVES Increasing interest has emerged in the use of subjective well-being as a development indicator and for the evaluation of public policies. The aim of this study was to assess life and health satisfaction and their determinants in the adult population of Iran. METHODS We conducted a survey of a sample of 3,150 adults at least 18 years of age in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The subjects were selected using a stratified random sampling method, and they were interviewed face-to-face at their usual residence by trained interviewers. Life satisfaction was used as a measure of subjective well-being. We used ordinary least square regression models to assess the associations of life and health satisfaction with socio-demographic variables. RESULTS On a 0-10 scale, the mean (standard deviation) scores for life and health satisfaction were 6.93 (2.54) and 7.18 (1.97), respectively. The average score for life satisfaction in females was 0.52 points higher than in males. A U-shaped relationship was found between age and life satisfaction, with respondents 35 to 44 years of age having the lowest average level of life satisfaction. Satisfaction with life and health among divorced respondents was significantly lower than among never-married and married participants. The scores for life satisfaction in respondents who rated their health status as poor were 3.83 points lower than in those who rated their health status as excellent. CONCLUSIONS The majority of the population of Tehran was satisfied with their life and health. Self-rated health status had the greatest impact on life satisfaction. PMID:27809456

Adult EFL Reading Selection: Influence on Literacy

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Juan Sebastián Basallo Gómez

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is about the impact of systematic reading selection used to promote English as foreign language learning in adult students. A qualitative action research methodology was used to carry out this project. Ten class sessions were designed to provide students an opportunity to select texts according to criteria based upon their language levels and personal/professional interests. The findings align with three categories of influence: motivation, engagement, and contextualization/interpretation of readings. The main objective of this project was to see how the students’ text selection processes, guided by systematically designed criteria and elaborated strategies, influenced learning and acquisition in terms of motivation, perceptions, and opinions towards reading in English.

Metacognition for strategy selection during arithmetic problem-solving in young and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Geurten, Marie; Lemaire, Patrick

2018-04-19

We examined participants' strategy choices and metacognitive judgments during arithmetic problem-solving. Metacognitive judgments were collected either prospectively or retrospectively. We tested whether metacognitive judgments are related to strategy choices on the current problems and on the immediately following problems, and age-related differences in relations between metacognition and strategy choices. Data showed that both young and older adults were able to make accurate retrospective, but not prospective, judgments. Moreover, the accuracy of retrospective judgments was comparable in young and older adults when participants had to select and execute the better strategy. Metacognitive accuracy was even higher in older adults when participants had to only select the better strategy. Finally, low-confidence judgments on current items were more frequently followed by better strategy selection on immediately succeeding items than high-confidence judgments in both young and older adults. Implications of these findings to further our understanding of age-related differences and similarities in adults' metacognitive monitoring and metacognitive regulation for strategy selection in the context of arithmetic problem solving are discussed.

Tissue-resident adult stem cell populations of rapidly self-renewing organs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Barker, N.; Bartfeld, S.; Clevers, H.

2010-01-01

The epithelial lining of the intestine, stomach, and skin is continuously exposed to environmental assault, imposing a requirement for regular self-renewal. Resident adult stem cell populations drive this renewal, and much effort has been invested in revealing their identity. Reliable adult stem

Population based prevalence of high blood pressure among adults in Addis Ababa: uncovering a silent epidemic.

Science.gov (United States)

Tesfaye, Fikru; Byass, Peter; Wall, Stig

2009-08-23

The prevention and control of high blood pressure or other cardiovascular diseases has not received due attention in many developing countries. This study aims to describe the epidemiology of high blood pressure among adults in Addis Ababa, so as to inform policy and lay the ground for surveillance interventions. Addis Ababa is the largest urban centre and national capital of Ethiopia, hosting about 25% of the urban population in the country. A probabilistic sample of adult males and females, 25-64 years of age residing in Addis Ababa city participated in structured interviews and physical measurements. We employed a population based, cross sectional survey, using the World Health Organization instrument for stepwise surveillance (STEPS) of chronic disease risk factors. Data on selected socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle behaviours, including physical activity, as well as physical measurements such as weight, height, waist and hip circumference, and blood pressure were collected through standardized procedures. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to estimate the coefficient of variability of blood pressure due to selected socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics, and physical measurements. A total of 3713 adults participated in the study. About 20% of males and 38% of females were overweight (body-mass-index > or = 25 kg/m2), with 10.8 (9.49, 12.11)% of the females being obese (body-mass-index > or = 30 kg/m2). Similarly, 17% of the males and 31% of the females were classified as having low level of total physical activity. The age-adjusted prevalence (95% confidence interval) of high blood pressure, defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) > or = 140 mmHg (millimetres of mercury) or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > or = 90 mmHg or reported use of anti-hypertensive medication, was 31.5% (29.0, 33.9) among males and 28.9% (26.8, 30.9) among females. High blood pressure is widely prevalent in Addis Ababa and may represent a silent

Metabolic syndrome prevalence among Northern Mexican adult population.

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Salas, Rogelio; Bibiloni, Maria del Mar; Ramos, Esteban; Villarreal, Jesús Z; Pons, Antoni; Tur, Josep A; Sureda, Antoni

2014-01-01

Dietary habits in the Mexican population have changed dramatically over the last few years, which are reflected in increased overweight and obesity prevalence. The aim was to examine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and associated risk factors in Northern Mexican adults aged ≥ 16 years. The study was a population-based cross-sectional nutritional survey carried out in the State of Nuevo León, Mexico. The study included a sub-sample of 1,200 subjects aged 16 and over who took part in the State Survey of Nutrition and Health-Nuevo León 2011/2012. Anthropometric measurements, physical activity, blood pressure and fasting blood tests for biochemical analysis were obtained from all subjects. The prevalence of MetS in Mexican adults aged ≥ 16 years was 54.8%, reaching 73.8% in obese subjects. This prevalence was higher in women (60.4%) than in men (48.9%) and increased with age in both genders. Multivariate analyses showed no evident relation between MetS components and the level of physical activity. Obese adults, mainly women, are particularly at risk of developing MetS, with the associated implications for their health. The increasing prevalence of MetS highlights the need for developing strategies for its early detection and prevention.

Metabolic syndrome prevalence among Northern Mexican adult population.

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Rogelio Salas

Full Text Available Dietary habits in the Mexican population have changed dramatically over the last few years, which are reflected in increased overweight and obesity prevalence. The aim was to examine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS and associated risk factors in Northern Mexican adults aged ≥ 16 years.The study was a population-based cross-sectional nutritional survey carried out in the State of Nuevo León, Mexico. The study included a sub-sample of 1,200 subjects aged 16 and over who took part in the State Survey of Nutrition and Health-Nuevo León 2011/2012. Anthropometric measurements, physical activity, blood pressure and fasting blood tests for biochemical analysis were obtained from all subjects. The prevalence of MetS in Mexican adults aged ≥ 16 years was 54.8%, reaching 73.8% in obese subjects. This prevalence was higher in women (60.4% than in men (48.9% and increased with age in both genders. Multivariate analyses showed no evident relation between MetS components and the level of physical activity.Obese adults, mainly women, are particularly at risk of developing MetS, with the associated implications for their health. The increasing prevalence of MetS highlights the need for developing strategies for its early detection and prevention.

Demographic Trends of Adults in New York City Opioid Treatment Programs--An Aging Population.

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Han, Benjamin; Polydorou, Soteri; Ferris, Rosie; Blaum, Caroline S; Ross, Stephen; McNeely, Jennifer

2015-01-01

The population of adults accessing opioid treatment is growing older, but exact estimates vary widely, and little is known about the characteristics of the aging treatment population. Further, there has been little research regarding the epidemiology, healt h status, and functional impairments in this population. To determine the utilization of opioid treatment services by older adults in New York City. This study used administrative data from New York State licensed drug treatment programs to examine overall age trends and characteristics of older adults in opioid treatment programs in New York City from 1996 to 2012. We found significant increases in utilization of opioid treatment programs by older adults in New York City. By 2012, those aged 50-59 made up the largest age group in opioid treatment programs. Among older adults there were notable shifts in demographic background including gender and ethnicity, and an increase in self-reported impairments. More research is needed to fully understand the specific characteristics and needs of older adults with opioid dependence.

The genetic consequences of selection in natural populations.

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Thurman, Timothy J; Barrett, Rowan D H

2016-04-01

The selection coefficient, s, quantifies the strength of selection acting on a genetic variant. Despite this parameter's central importance to population genetic models, until recently we have known relatively little about the value of s in natural populations. With the development of molecular genetic techniques in the late 20th century and the sequencing technologies that followed, biologists are now able to identify genetic variants and directly relate them to organismal fitness. We reviewed the literature for published estimates of natural selection acting at the genetic level and found over 3000 estimates of selection coefficients from 79 studies. Selection coefficients were roughly exponentially distributed, suggesting that the impact of selection at the genetic level is generally weak but can occasionally be quite strong. We used both nonparametric statistics and formal random-effects meta-analysis to determine how selection varies across biological and methodological categories. Selection was stronger when measured over shorter timescales, with the mean magnitude of s greatest for studies that measured selection within a single generation. Our analyses found conflicting trends when considering how selection varies with the genetic scale (e.g., SNPs or haplotypes) at which it is measured, suggesting a need for further research. Besides these quantitative conclusions, we highlight key issues in the calculation, interpretation, and reporting of selection coefficients and provide recommendations for future research. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Predicting rates of inbreeding in populations undergoing selection

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Woolliams, J.A.; Bijma, P.

2000-01-01

Tractable forms of predicting rates of inbreeding (F) in selected populations with general indices, nonrandom mating, and overlapping generations were developed, with the principal results assuming a period of equilibrium in the selection process. An existing theorem concerning the relationship

Adult Nutrient Intakes from Current National Dietary Surveys of European Populations

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Holly L. Rippin

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The World Health Organization (WHO encourages countries to undertake national dietary survey (NDS but implementation and reporting is inconsistent. This paper provides an up-to-date review of adult macro and micronutrient intakes in European populations as reported by NDS. It uses WHO Recommended Nutrient Intakes (RNIs to assess intake adequacy and highlight areas of concern. NDS information was gathered primarily by internet searches and contacting survey authors and nutrition experts. Survey characteristics and adult intakes by gender/age group were extracted for selected nutrients and weighted means calculated by region. Of the 53 WHO Europe countries, over a third (n = 19, mainly Central & Eastern European countries (CEEC, had no identifiable NDS. Energy and nutrient intakes were extracted for 21 (40% countries but differences in age group, methodology, under-reporting and nutrient composition databases hindered inter-country comparisons. No country met more than 39% WHO RNIs in all age/gender groups; macronutrient RNI achievement was poorer than micronutrient. Overall RNI attainment was slightly worse in CEEC and lower in women and female elderly. Only 40% countries provided adult energy and nutrient intakes. The main gaps lie in CEEC, where unknown nutrient deficiencies may occur. WHO RNI attainment was universally poor for macronutrients, especially for women, the female elderly and CEEC. All countries could be encouraged to report a uniform nutrient set and sub-analyses of nationally representative nutrient intakes.

Trends in cigarette smoking among adults with HIV compared with the general adult population, United States - 2009-2014.

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Frazier, Emma L; Sutton, Madeline Y; Brooks, John T; Shouse, R Luke; Weiser, John

2018-06-01

Smoking increases HIV-related and non-HIV-related morbidity and mortality for persons with HIV infection. We estimated changes in cigarette smoking among adults with HIV and adults in the general U.S. population from 2009 to 2014 to inform HIV smoking cessation programs. Among HIV-positive adults, rates of current smoking declined from 37.6% (confidence interval [CI]: 34.7-40.6) in 2009 to 33.6% (CI: 29.8-37.8) in 2014. Current smoking among U.S. adults declined from 20.6% (CI: 19.9-21.3) in 2009 to 16.8% (CI: 16.2-17.4) in 2014. HIV-positive adults in care were significantly more likely to be current smokers compared with the general U.S. population; they were also less likely to quit smoking. For both HIV-positive adults in care and the general population, disparities were noted by racial/ethnic, educational level, and poverty-level subgroups. For most years, non-Hispanic blacks, those with less than high school education, and those living below poverty level were more likely to be current smokers and less likely to quit smoking compared with non-Hispanic whites, those with greater than high school education, and those living above poverty level, respectively. To decrease smoking-related causes of illness and death and to decrease HIV-related disparities, smoking cessation interventions are vital as part of routine care with HIV-positive persons. Clinicians who care for HIV-positive persons who smoke should utilize opportunities to discuss and implement smoking cessation strategies during routine clinical visits. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Training set optimization under population structure in genomic selection.

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Isidro, Julio; Jannink, Jean-Luc; Akdemir, Deniz; Poland, Jesse; Heslot, Nicolas; Sorrells, Mark E

2015-01-01

Population structure must be evaluated before optimization of the training set population. Maximizing the phenotypic variance captured by the training set is important for optimal performance. The optimization of the training set (TRS) in genomic selection has received much interest in both animal and plant breeding, because it is critical to the accuracy of the prediction models. In this study, five different TRS sampling algorithms, stratified sampling, mean of the coefficient of determination (CDmean), mean of predictor error variance (PEVmean), stratified CDmean (StratCDmean) and random sampling, were evaluated for prediction accuracy in the presence of different levels of population structure. In the presence of population structure, the most phenotypic variation captured by a sampling method in the TRS is desirable. The wheat dataset showed mild population structure, and CDmean and stratified CDmean methods showed the highest accuracies for all the traits except for test weight and heading date. The rice dataset had strong population structure and the approach based on stratified sampling showed the highest accuracies for all traits. In general, CDmean minimized the relationship between genotypes in the TRS, maximizing the relationship between TRS and the test set. This makes it suitable as an optimization criterion for long-term selection. Our results indicated that the best selection criterion used to optimize the TRS seems to depend on the interaction of trait architecture and population structure.

Selection in a subdivided population with local extinction and recolonization.

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Cherry, Joshua L

2003-01-01

In a subdivided population, local extinction and subsequent recolonization affect the fate of alleles. Of particular interest is the interaction of this force with natural selection. The effect of selection can be weakened by this additional source of stochastic change in allele frequency. The behavior of a selected allele in such a population is shown to be equivalent to that of an allele with a different selection coefficient in an unstructured population with a different size. This equivalence allows use of established results for panmictic populations to predict such quantities as fixation probabilities and mean times to fixation. The magnitude of the quantity N(e)s(e), which determines fixation probability, is decreased by extinction and recolonization. Thus deleterious alleles are more likely to fix, and advantageous alleles less likely to do so, in the presence of extinction and recolonization. Computer simulations confirm that the theoretical predictions of both fixation probabilities and mean times to fixation are good approximations. PMID:12807797

Adult-onset diabetes among Arabs and Jews in Israel: a population-based study.

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Kalter-Leibovici, O; Chetrit, A; Lubin, F; Atamna, A; Alpert, G; Ziv, A; Abu-Saad, K; Murad, H; Eilat-Adar, S; Goldbourt, U

2012-06-01

To study the age at presentation and factors associated with adult-onset diabetes (≥ 20 years) among Arabs and Jews in Israel. Participants (n = 1100) were randomly selected from the urban population of the Hadera District in Israel. The study sample was stratified into equal groups according to sex, ethnicity (Arabs and Jews) and age. Information on age at diabetes presentation, family history of diabetes, history of gestational diabetes, socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics was obtained through personal interviews. Self reports of diabetes were compared with medical records and were found reliable (κ = 0.87). The risk for diabetes was calculated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Factors associated with diabetes in both ethnic groups were studied using Cox proportional hazard model. The prevalence of adult-onset diabetes was 21% among Arabs and 12% among Jews. Arab participants were younger than Jews at diabetes presentation. By the age of 57 years, 25% of Arabs had diagnosed diabetes; the corresponding age among Jews was 68 years, a difference of 11 years (P Arabs was independent of lifestyle factors, family history of diabetes and, among women, history of gestational diabetes; adjusted hazard ratio 1.70; 95% confidence interval 1.19-2.43. Arabs in Israel are at greater risk for adult-onset diabetes than Jews and are younger at diabetes presentation. Culturally sensitive interventions aimed at maintaining normal body weight and active lifestyle should be targeted at this population. Possible genetic factors and gene-environmental interactions underlying the high risk for diabetes among Arabs should be investigated. © 2011 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2011 Diabetes UK.

Fall risk and prevention needs assessment in an older adult Latino population: a model community global health partnership.

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Hanlin, Erin R; Delgado-Rendón, Angélica; Lerner, E Brooke; Hargarten, Stephen; Farías, René

2013-01-01

The impact of falls in older adults presents a significant public health burden. Fall risk is not well-described in Latino populations nor have fall prevention programs considered the needs of this population. The objectives of this study were to develop a needs assessment of falls in older adult Latinos at a community center (CC), determine fall prevention barriers and strengths in this population, determine the level of interest in various fall prevention methods, and provide medical students an opportunity for participation in a culturally diverse community project. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a convenience sample of older adult program participants. The survey was developed in collaboration with both partners. CC participants were approached by the interviewer and asked to participate. They were read the survey in their preferred language and their answers were recorded. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. We conducted 103 interviews. We found that 54% of participants had fallen in the last year, and of those 21% required medical care, 81% were afraid of falling again, and 66% considered themselves at risk for falling again. Of all respondents, 52% had 5 or more of the 10 surveyed risk factors for falling; 4% had no risk factors. Of all respondents, 75% were afraid of falling. Talking with health care providers and participating in an exercise class were the preferred methods of health information delivery (78% and 65%, respectively). Older adult Latinos in this selected population frequently fall and are worried about falling. Risk factors are prevalent. A fall prevention program is warranted and should include exercise classes and a connection with local primary care providers. A partnership between an academic organization and a CC is an ideal collaboration for the future development of prevention program.

Metabolic Syndrome Prevalence among Northern Mexican Adult Population

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Salas, Rogelio; Bibiloni, Maria del Mar; Ramos, Esteban; Villarreal, Jesús Z.; Pons, Antoni; Tur, Josep A.; Sureda, Antoni

2014-01-01

Background and Aims Dietary habits in the Mexican population have changed dramatically over the last few years, which are reflected in increased overweight and obesity prevalence. The aim was to examine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and associated risk factors in Northern Mexican adults aged ≥16 years. Methods and Results The study was a population-based cross-sectional nutritional survey carried out in the State of Nuevo León, Mexico. The study included a sub-sample of 1,200 subjects aged 16 and over who took part in the State Survey of Nutrition and Health–Nuevo León 2011/2012. Anthropometric measurements, physical activity, blood pressure and fasting blood tests for biochemical analysis were obtained from all subjects. The prevalence of MetS in Mexican adults aged ≥16 years was 54.8%, reaching 73.8% in obese subjects. This prevalence was higher in women (60.4%) than in men (48.9%) and increased with age in both genders. Multivariate analyses showed no evident relation between MetS components and the level of physical activity. Conclusions Obese adults, mainly women, are particularly at risk of developing MetS, with the associated implications for their health. The increasing prevalence of MetS highlights the need for developing strategies for its early detection and prevention. PMID:25141255

Prevalence, Awareness, Treatment, and Control of Hypertension among Saudi Adult Population: A National Survey

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Abdalla A. Saeed

2011-01-01

Full Text Available This cross-sectional study aimed at estimating prevalence, awareness, treatment, control, and predictors of hypertension among Saudi adult population. Multistage stratified sampling was used to select 4758 adult participants. Three blood pressure measurements using an automatic sphygmomanometer, sociodemographics, and antihypertensive modalities were obtained. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 25.5%. Only 44.7% of hypertensives were aware, 71.8% of them received pharmacotherapy, and only 37.0% were controlled. Awareness was significantly associated with gender, age, geographical location, occupation, and comorbidity. Applying drug treatment was significantly more among older patients, but control was significantly higher among younger patients and patients with higher level of physical activity. Significant predictors of hypertension included male gender, urbanization, low education, low physical activity, obesity, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia. In conclusion prevalence is high, but awareness, treatment, and control levels are low indicating a need to develop a national program for prevention, early detection, and control of hypertension.

Accuracy of Genomic Selection in a Rice Synthetic Population Developed for Recurrent Selection Breeding.

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Grenier, Cécile; Cao, Tuong-Vi; Ospina, Yolima; Quintero, Constanza; Châtel, Marc Henri; Tohme, Joe; Courtois, Brigitte; Ahmadi, Nourollah

2015-01-01

Genomic selection (GS) is a promising strategy for enhancing genetic gain. We investigated the accuracy of genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV) in four inter-related synthetic populations that underwent several cycles of recurrent selection in an upland rice-breeding program. A total of 343 S2:4 lines extracted from those populations were phenotyped for flowering time, plant height, grain yield and panicle weight, and genotyped with an average density of one marker per 44.8 kb. The relative effect of the linkage disequilibrium (LD) and minor allele frequency (MAF) thresholds for selecting markers, the relative size of the training population (TP) and of the validation population (VP), the selected trait and the genomic prediction models (frequentist and Bayesian) on the accuracy of GEBVs was investigated in 540 cross validation experiments with 100 replicates. The effect of kinship between the training and validation populations was tested in an additional set of 840 cross validation experiments with a single genomic prediction model. LD was high (average r2 = 0.59 at 25 kb) and decreased slowly, distribution of allele frequencies at individual loci was markedly skewed toward unbalanced frequencies (MAF average value 15.2% and median 9.6%), and differentiation between the four synthetic populations was low (FST ≤0.06). The accuracy of GEBV across all cross validation experiments ranged from 0.12 to 0.54 with an average of 0.30. Significant differences in accuracy were observed among the different levels of each factor investigated. Phenotypic traits had the biggest effect, and the size of the incidence matrix had the smallest. Significant first degree interaction was observed for GEBV accuracy between traits and all the other factors studied, and between prediction models and LD, MAF and composition of the TP. The potential of GS to accelerate genetic gain and breeding options to increase the accuracy of predictions are discussed.

Selection dramatically reduces effective population size in HIV-1 infection

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Mittler John E

2008-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In HIV-1 evolution, a 100–100,000 fold discrepancy between census size and effective population size (Ne has been noted. Although it is well known that selection can reduce Ne, high in vivo mutation and recombination rates complicate attempts to quantify the effects of selection on HIV-1 effective size. Results We use the inbreeding coefficient and the variance in allele frequency at a linked neutral locus to estimate the reduction in Ne due to selection in the presence of mutation and recombination. With biologically realistic mutation rates, the reduction in Ne due to selection is determined by the strength of selection, i.e., the stronger the selection, the greater the reduction. However, the dependence of Ne on selection can break down if recombination rates are very high (e.g., r ≥ 0.1. With biologically likely recombination rates, our model suggests that recurrent selective sweeps similar to those observed in vivo can reduce within-host HIV-1 effective population sizes by a factor of 300 or more. Conclusion Although other factors, such as unequal viral reproduction rates and limited migration between tissue compartments contribute to reductions in Ne, our model suggests that recurrent selection plays a significant role in reducing HIV-1 effective population sizes in vivo.

Lineage dynamics and mutation-selection balance in non-adapting asexual populations

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Pénisson, Sophie; Sniegowski, Paul D.; Colato, Alexandre; Gerrish, Philip J.

2013-02-01

In classical population genetics, mutation-selection balance refers to the equilibrium frequency of a deleterious allele established and maintained under two opposing forces: recurrent mutation, which tends to increase the frequency of the allele; and selection, which tends to decrease its frequency. In a haploid population, if μ denotes the per capita rate of production of the deleterious allele by mutation and s denotes the selective disadvantage of carrying the allele, then the classical mutation-selection balance frequency of the allele is approximated by μ/s. This calculation assumes that lineages carrying the mutant allele in question—the ‘focal allele’—do not accumulate deleterious mutations linked to the focal allele. In principle, indirect selection against the focal allele caused by such additional mutations can decrease the frequency of the focal allele below the classical mutation-selection balance. This effect of indirect selection will be strongest in an asexual population, in which the entire genome is in linkage. Here, we use an approach based on a multitype branching process to investigate this effect, analyzing lineage dynamics under mutation, direct selection, and indirect selection in a non-adapting asexual population. We find that the equilibrium balance between recurrent mutation to the focal allele and the forces of direct and indirect selection against the focal allele is closely approximated by γμ/(s + U) (s = 0 if the focal allele is neutral), where γ ≈ eθθ-(ω+θ)(ω + θ)(Γ(ω + θ) - Γ(ω + θ,θ)), \\theta =U/\\tilde {s}, and \\omega =s/\\tilde {s}; U denotes the genomic deleterious mutation rate and \\tilde {s} denotes the geometric mean selective disadvantage of deleterious mutations elsewhere on the genome. This mutation-selection balance for asexual populations can remain surprisingly invariant over wide ranges of the mutation rate.

Awareness of eye donation in an adult population of southern India. A pilot study.

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Priyadarshini Brinda

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose: To determine "awareness of eye donation" and corneal transplantation in an adult population of southern India. Methods: 507 participants chosen by systematic random sampling were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Participants were selected among patients attending two community outreach programmes at different sites, and from patients presenting directly to the hospital. Results: 257 participants (50.69% were aware of eye donations. The major source of awareness was publicity campaigns (n=105. Only 22 (4.34% participants were aware that eye donation had to be done within 6 hours of death. Four hundred and three (79.50% participants were not aware of corneal transplantation. Illiteracy and rural residence were more likely predictors of ignorance. Conclusion: Although multiple strategies are currently followed to increase awareness of eye donations and corneal transplants, more innovative strategies have to be developed, especially to target illiterate and rural populations.

Song tutoring in presinging zebra finch juveniles biases a small population of higher-order song-selective neurons toward the tutor song.

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Adret, Patrice; Meliza, C Daniel; Margoliash, Daniel

2012-10-01

We explored physiological changes correlated with song tutoring by recording the responses of caudal nidopallium neurons of zebra finches aged P21-P24 (days post hatching) to a broad spectrum of natural and synthetic stimuli. Those birds raised with their fathers tended to show behavioral evidence of song memorization but not of singing; thus auditory responses were not confounded by the birds' own vocalizations. In study 1, 37 of 158 neurons (23%) in 17 of 22 tutored and untutored birds were selective for only 1 of 10 stimuli comprising broadband signals, early juvenile songs and calls, female calls, and adult songs. Approximately 30% of the selective neurons (12/37 neurons in 9 birds) were selective for adult conspecific songs. All these were found in the song system nuclei HVC and paraHVC. Of 122 neurons (17 birds) in tutored birds, all of the conspecific song-selective neurons (8 neurons in 6 birds) were selective for the adult tutor song; none was selective for unfamiliar song. In study 2 with a different sampling strategy, we found that 11 of 12 song-selective neurons in 6 of 7 birds preferred the tutor song; none preferred unfamiliar or familiar conspecific songs. Most of these neurons were found in caudal lateral nidopallium (NCL) below HVC. Thus by the time a bird begins to sing, there are small numbers of tutor song-selective neurons distributed in several forebrain regions. We hypothesize that a small population of higher-order auditory neurons is innately selective for complex features of behaviorally relevant stimuli and these responses are modified by specific perceptual/social experience during development.

Isoenzymatic variability in tropical maize populations under reciprocal recurrent selection

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Pinto Luciana Rossini

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Maize (Zea mays L. is one of the crops in which the genetic variability has been extensively studied at isoenzymatic loci. The genetic variability of the maize populations BR-105 and BR-106, and the synthetics IG-3 and IG-4, obtained after one cycle of a high-intensity reciprocal recurrent selection (RRS, was investigated at seven isoenzymatic loci. A total of twenty alleles were identified, and most of the private alleles were found in the BR-106 population. One cycle of reciprocal recurrent selection (RRS caused reductions of 12% in the number of alleles in both populations. Changes in allele frequencies were also observed between populations and synthetics, mainly for the Est 2 locus. Populations presented similar values for the number of alleles per locus, percentage of polymorphic loci, and observed and expected heterozygosities. A decrease of the genetic variation values was observed for the synthetics as a consequence of genetic drift effects and reduction of the effective population sizes. The distribution of the genetic diversity within and between populations revealed that most of the diversity was maintained within them, i.e. BR-105 x BR-106 (G ST = 3.5% and IG-3 x IG-4 (G ST = 4.0%. The genetic distances between populations and synthetics increased approximately 21%. An increase in the genetic divergence between the populations occurred without limiting new selection procedures.

Prevalence of latent tuberculous infection among adults in the general population of Ca Mau, Viet Nam.

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Marks, G B; Nhung, N V; Nguyen, T A; Hoa, N B; Khoa, T H; Son, N V; Phuong, N T B; Tin, D M; Ho, J; Fox, G J

2018-03-01

The study was conducted in a randomly selected sample of persons aged 15 years living in Ca Mau Province, southern Viet Nam. To estimate the prevalence of latent tuberculous infection (LTBI) in the general adult population of this province of Viet Nam. The secondary objective was to examine age and sex differences in prevalence. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a cluster-random sample of the population. Clusters were subcommunes. The presence of LTBI was assessed using the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube test system. QuantiFERON tests were performed among 1319 persons aged 15 years (77.7% of those selected). The overall prevalence of positive tests was 36.8% (95%CI 33.4-40.3). The prevalence of a positive test was lower in females than in males (31.0% vs. 44.7%, OR 0.57, 95%CI 0.45-0.72, P Viet Nam have evidence of LTBI. Although LTBI prevalence is higher in males, the sex difference is not as great as that for TB notification rates.

Selectivity of flesh-footed shearwaters for plastic colour: Evidence for differential provisioning in adults and fledglings.

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Lavers, Jennifer L; Bond, Alexander L

2016-02-01

The ingestion of plastic by seabirds has been used as an indicator of population and ocean health. However, few studies have examined adults and juveniles of the same species concurrent with the availability of plastic in the local marine environment. In King George Sound (KGS), Western Australia, 13% of adult flesh-footed shearwaters (Ardenna carneipes) and 90% of fledglings contained plastic items in their digestive tract. On Lord Howe Island (LHI), New South Wales, 75% of adult shearwaters and 100% of fledglings contained plastic. Ingested items were assessed using Jaccard's Index (where J = 0 indicates complete dissimilarity and J = 1 complete similarity). The colour of items ingested by self- and chick-provisioning shearwaters from KGS exhibited broad overlap with plastic available in the local environment (J = 0.78-0.80), and plastic in adults and fledglings from LHI were less similar to those available (J = 0.31-0.58). Additional data on seabird colour selection would improve our understanding of the factors influencing the behaviour of ingesting plastic, and its contribution to the decline of some species. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The temporal spectrum of adult mosquito population fluctuations: conceptual and modeling implications.

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Yun Jian

Full Text Available An improved understanding of mosquito population dynamics under natural environmental forcing requires adequate field observations spanning the full range of temporal scales over which mosquito abundance fluctuates in natural conditions. Here we analyze a 9-year daily time series of uninterrupted observations of adult mosquito abundance for multiple mosquito species in North Carolina to identify characteristic scales of temporal variability, the processes generating them, and the representativeness of observations at different sampling resolutions. We focus in particular on Aedes vexans and Culiseta melanura and, using a combination of spectral analysis and modeling, we find significant population fluctuations with characteristic periodicity between 2 days and several years. Population dynamical modelling suggests that the observed fast fluctuations scales (2 days-weeks are importantly affected by a varying mosquito activity in response to rapid changes in meteorological conditions, a process neglected in most representations of mosquito population dynamics. We further suggest that the range of time scales over which adult mosquito population variability takes place can be divided into three main parts. At small time scales (indicatively 2 days-1 month observed population fluctuations are mainly driven by behavioral responses to rapid changes in weather conditions. At intermediate scales (1 to several month environmentally-forced fluctuations in generation times, mortality rates, and density dependence determine the population characteristic response times. At longer scales (annual to multi-annual mosquito populations follow seasonal and inter-annual environmental changes. We conclude that observations of adult mosquito populations should be based on a sub-weekly sampling frequency and that predictive models of mosquito abundance must include behavioral dynamics to separate the effects of a varying mosquito activity from actual changes in the

Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in an Adult Urban Population of the West of Iran

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F. Sharifi

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Objectives. We determine the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in an urban population of Zanjan, a province located to the west of Tehran. Methods. Randomly selected adults >20 years were studied using stratified sampling. Target study sample was 2941 (1396 males and 1545 females. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed using Adult Treatment Panel-III (ATP-III guidelines when any three of the following were present: central obesity, raised triglycerides ≥150 mg/dl, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL cholesterol, blood pressure ≥130/≥85 mm Hg, and diabetes or fasting plasma glucose (FPG ≥100 mg/dl. Results. Metabolic syndrome was present in 697 (23.7% subjects (CI 95%:22%–25%, P = .001, prevalence was 23.1% in men and 24.4% in women (P : .4. The prevalence increased from 7.5% in the population younger than 30 y to 45.6% in ages more than 50 years. Low HDL was the most common metabolic abnormality in both sexes. Most of those with metabolic syndrome had three components of the syndrome (75.6%, 170 subjects (24.4% had four and none had five components simultaneously. The prevalence of obesity (BMI≥30 kg/m2, hypercholesterolemia (≥200 mg/dl and high LDL cholesterol (≥130 mg/dl was greater in the metabolic syndrome group than normal subjects (P = .00. Conclusions. There is a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome in this urban population of the northern west of Iran. Focus of cardiovascular prevention should be undertaken in this area.

Mortality Among Adults With Intellectual Disability in England: Comparisons With the General Population

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Hosking, Fay J.; Shah, Sunil M.; Harris, Tess; DeWilde, Stephen; Beighton, Carole; Cook, Derek G.

2016-01-01

Objectives. To describe mortality among adults with intellectual disability in England in comparison with the general population. Methods. We conducted a cohort study from 2009 to 2013 using data from 343 general practices. Adults with intellectual disability (n = 16 666; 656 deaths) were compared with age-, gender-, and practice-matched controls (n = 113 562; 1358 deaths). Results. Adults with intellectual disability had higher mortality rates than controls (hazard ratio [HR] = 3.6; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 3.3, 3.9). This risk remained high after adjustment for comorbidity, smoking, and deprivation (HR = 3.1; 95% CI = 2.7, 3.4); it was even higher among adults with intellectual disability and Down syndrome or epilepsy. A total of 37.0% of all deaths among adults with intellectual disability were classified as being amenable to health care intervention, compared with 22.5% in the general population (HR = 5.9; 95% CI = 5.1, 6.8). Conclusions. Mortality among adults with intellectual disability is markedly elevated in comparison with the general population, with more than a third of deaths potentially amenable to health care interventions. This mortality disparity suggests the need to improve access to, and quality of, health care among people with intellectual disability. PMID:27310347

Urinary arsenic levels in the French adult population: the French National Nutrition and Health Study, 2006-2007.

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Saoudi, Abdessattar; Zeghnoun, Abdelkrim; Bidondo, Marie-Laure; Garnier, Robert; Cirimele, Vincent; Persoons, Renaud; Fréry, Nadine

2012-09-01

The French Nutrition and Health Survey (ENNS) was conducted to describe dietary intakes, nutritional status, physical activity, and levels of various biomarkers for environmental chemicals (heavy metals and pesticides) in the French population (adults aged 18-74 years and children aged 3-17 years living in continental France in 2006-2007). The aim of this paper was to describe the distributions of total arsenic and the sum of iAs+MMA+DMA in the general adult population, and to present their main risk factors. In the arsenic study, 1500 and 1515 adults (requested to avoid seafood intake in the previous 3 days preceding urine collection) were included respectively for the analysis of the sum of inorganic arsenic (iAs) and its two metabolites, monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) and dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), and for the total arsenic. Results were presented as geometric means and selected percentiles of urinary arsenic concentrations (μg/L) and creatinine-adjusted urinary arsenic (μg/g of creatinine) for total arsenic, and the sum of inorganic arsenic and metabolites (iAs+MMA+DMA). The geometric mean concentration of the sum of iAs+MMA+DMA in the adult population living in France was 3.34 μg/g of creatinine [3.23-3.45] (3.75 μg/L [3.61-3.90]) with a 95th percentile of 8.9 μg/g of creatinine (10.68 μg/L). The geometric mean concentration of total arsenic was 11.96 μg/g of creatinine [11.41-12.53] (13.42 μg/L [12.77-14.09]) with a 95th percentile of 61.29 μg/g of creatinine (72.75 μg/L). Urinary concentrations of total arsenic and iAS+MMA+DMA were influenced by sociodemographic and economic factors, and by risk factors such as consumption of seafood products and of wine. In our study, covariate-adjusted geometric means demonstrated several slight differences, due to consumption of fish, shellfish/crustaceans or wine. This study provides the first reference value for arsenic in a representative sample of the French population not particularly exposed to high levels

Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and violence in the population of England: does comorbidity matter?

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Rafael A González

Full Text Available It is unclear whether the association between Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD and violence is explained by ADHD symptoms or co-existing psychopathology. We investigated associations of ADHD and its symptom domains of hyperactivity and inattention, among individuals reporting violence in the UK population.We report data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (2007, a representative sample of the household population of England. A randomly selected sample of 7,369 completed the Adult Self-Report Scale for ADHD and the self-reported violence module, including repetition, injury, minor violence, victims and location of incidents. All models were weighted to account for non-response and carefully adjusted for demography and clinical predictors of violence: antisocial personality, substance misuse and anxiety disorders.ADHD was moderately associated with violence after adjustments (OR 1.75, p = .01. Hyperactivity, but not inattention was associated with several indicators of violence in the domestic context (OR 1.16, p = .03. Mild and moderate ADHD symptoms were significantly associated with violence repetition, but not severe ADHD where the association was explained by co-existing disorders. Stratified analyses further indicated that most violence reports are associated with co-occurring psychopathology.The direct effect of ADHD on violence is only moderate at the population level, driven by hyperactivity, and involving intimate partners and close persons. Because violence associated with severe ADHD is explained by co-existing psychopathology, interventions should primarily target co-existing disorders.

[Television viewing and cardiovascular risk behaviors in the adult population of the French West Indies].

Science.gov (United States)

Carrère, P; Atallah, A; Kelly-Irving, M; Lang, T; Inamo, J

2013-06-01

Recent studies have shown a link between prolonged television viewing and cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality. We aimed to estimate the relationship between television viewing and CV risk behaviors and in the adult population of the French West Indies. We used data from Consant, a cross-sectional study carried out in 2007 on a representative sample of the adult Guadeloupean population (1005 subjects aged 25-74 years selected by stratified random sampling and interviewed at home by trained investigators working in pairs). Among respondents who reported watching television for 2 hours or more per day, 46.5% stated practicing no leisure time physical activity, compared with 35.6% among those who reported watching television for less than 2 hours per day. Adjusting for age, sex, education, income, family status, and perceived CV benefits of physical activity, the odds ratio of physical inactivity was estimated at 1.75 (Ptelevision for 2 hours or more per day, compared with other subjects. A similar relationship was observed when considering dieting to prevent weight gain. In this representative sample of a French Caribbean population, a strong and very significant relationship was observed between prolonged television viewing and CV risk behaviors. Prolonged television viewing seems common to a lifestyle that is characterized by little physical activity and unhealthy eating habits. This may play a role in social inequalities observed in CV diseases. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Sensation seeking and visual selective attention in adults with HIV/AIDS.

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Hardy, David J; Castellon, Steven A; Hinkin, Charles H; Levine, Andrew J; Lam, Mona N

2008-11-01

The association between sensation seeking and visual selective attention was examined in 31 adults with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Sensation seeking was measured with Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale Form V (SSS-V). Selective attention was assessed with a perceptual span task, where a target letter-character must be identified in a quickly presented array of nontarget letter-characters. As predicted, sensation seeking was strongly associated (R(2) = .229) with perceptual span performance in the array size 12 condition, where selective attention demands were greatest, but not in the easier conditions. The Disinhibition, Boredom Susceptibility, and Experience Seeking subscales of the SSS-V were associated with span performance. It is argued that personality factors such as sensation seeking may play a significant role in selective attention and related cognitive abilities in HIV positive adults. Furthermore, sensation seeking differences might explain certain inconsistencies in the HIV neuropsychology literature.

Quantifying selection in evolving populations using time-resolved genetic data

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Illingworth, Christopher J. R.; Mustonen, Ville

2013-01-01

Methods which uncover the molecular basis of the adaptive evolution of a population address some important biological questions. For example, the problem of identifying genetic variants which underlie drug resistance, a question of importance for the treatment of pathogens, and of cancer, can be understood as a matter of inferring selection. One difficulty in the inference of variants under positive selection is the potential complexity of the underlying evolutionary dynamics, which may involve an interplay between several contributing processes, including mutation, recombination and genetic drift. A source of progress may be found in modern sequencing technologies, which confer an increasing ability to gather information about evolving populations, granting a window into these complex processes. One particularly interesting development is the ability to follow evolution as it happens, by whole-genome sequencing of an evolving population at multiple time points. We here discuss how to use time-resolved sequence data to draw inferences about the evolutionary dynamics of a population under study. We begin by reviewing our earlier analysis of a yeast selection experiment, in which we used a deterministic evolutionary framework to identify alleles under selection for heat tolerance, and to quantify the selection acting upon them. Considering further the use of advanced intercross lines to measure selection, we here extend this framework to cover scenarios of simultaneous recombination and selection, and of two driver alleles with multiple linked neutral, or passenger, alleles, where the driver pair evolves under an epistatic fitness landscape. We conclude by discussing the limitations of the approach presented and outlining future challenges for such methodologies.

Protection motivation theory and physical activity: a longitudinal test among a representative population sample of Canadian adults.

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Plotnikoff, Ronald C; Rhodes, Ryan E; Trinh, Linda

2009-11-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to predict physical activity (PA) behaviour in a large, population-based sample of adults. One thousand six hundred and two randomly selected individuals completed two telephone interviews over two consecutive six-month periods assessing PMT constructs. PMT explained 35 per cent and 20 per cent of the variance in intention and behaviour respectively. Coping cognitions as moderators of threat explained 1 per cent of the variance in intention and behaviour. Age and gender as moderators of threat did not provide additional variance in the models. We conclude that salient PMT predictors (e.g. self-efficacy) may guide the development of effective PA interventions in the general population.

Accuracy of Genomic Selection in a Rice Synthetic Population Developed for Recurrent Selection Breeding.

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Cécile Grenier

Full Text Available Genomic selection (GS is a promising strategy for enhancing genetic gain. We investigated the accuracy of genomic estimated breeding values (GEBV in four inter-related synthetic populations that underwent several cycles of recurrent selection in an upland rice-breeding program. A total of 343 S2:4 lines extracted from those populations were phenotyped for flowering time, plant height, grain yield and panicle weight, and genotyped with an average density of one marker per 44.8 kb. The relative effect of the linkage disequilibrium (LD and minor allele frequency (MAF thresholds for selecting markers, the relative size of the training population (TP and of the validation population (VP, the selected trait and the genomic prediction models (frequentist and Bayesian on the accuracy of GEBVs was investigated in 540 cross validation experiments with 100 replicates. The effect of kinship between the training and validation populations was tested in an additional set of 840 cross validation experiments with a single genomic prediction model. LD was high (average r2 = 0.59 at 25 kb and decreased slowly, distribution of allele frequencies at individual loci was markedly skewed toward unbalanced frequencies (MAF average value 15.2% and median 9.6%, and differentiation between the four synthetic populations was low (FST ≤0.06. The accuracy of GEBV across all cross validation experiments ranged from 0.12 to 0.54 with an average of 0.30. Significant differences in accuracy were observed among the different levels of each factor investigated. Phenotypic traits had the biggest effect, and the size of the incidence matrix had the smallest. Significant first degree interaction was observed for GEBV accuracy between traits and all the other factors studied, and between prediction models and LD, MAF and composition of the TP. The potential of GS to accelerate genetic gain and breeding options to increase the accuracy of predictions are discussed.

Selective Pressures Explain Differences in Flower Color among Gentiana lutea Populations.

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Sobral, Mar; Veiga, Tania; Domínguez, Paula; Guitián, Javier A; Guitián, Pablo; Guitián, José M

2015-01-01

Flower color variation among plant populations might reflect adaptation to local conditions such as the interacting animal community. In the northwest Iberian Peninsula, flower color of Gentiana lutea varies longitudinally among populations, ranging from orange to yellow. We explored whether flower color is locally adapted and the role of pollinators and seed predators as agents of selection by analyzing the influence of flower color on (i) pollinator visitation rate and (ii) escape from seed predation and (iii) by testing whether differences in pollinator communities correlate with flower color variation across populations. Finally, (iv) we investigated whether variation in selective pressures explains flower color variation among 12 G. lutea populations. Flower color influenced pollinator visits and differences in flower color among populations were related to variation in pollinator communities. Selective pressures on flower color vary among populations and explain part of flower color differences among populations of G. lutea. We conclude that flower color in G. lutea is locally adapted and that pollinators play a role in this adaptation.

Selective Pressures Explain Differences in Flower Color among Gentiana lutea Populations.

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Mar Sobral

Full Text Available Flower color variation among plant populations might reflect adaptation to local conditions such as the interacting animal community. In the northwest Iberian Peninsula, flower color of Gentiana lutea varies longitudinally among populations, ranging from orange to yellow. We explored whether flower color is locally adapted and the role of pollinators and seed predators as agents of selection by analyzing the influence of flower color on (i pollinator visitation rate and (ii escape from seed predation and (iii by testing whether differences in pollinator communities correlate with flower color variation across populations. Finally, (iv we investigated whether variation in selective pressures explains flower color variation among 12 G. lutea populations. Flower color influenced pollinator visits and differences in flower color among populations were related to variation in pollinator communities. Selective pressures on flower color vary among populations and explain part of flower color differences among populations of G. lutea. We conclude that flower color in G. lutea is locally adapted and that pollinators play a role in this adaptation.

Parallel selection on TRPV6 in human populations

OpenAIRE

Hughes, David A; Tang, Kun; Strotmann, Rainer; Schöneberg, Torsten; Prenen, Jean; Nilius, Bernd; Stoneking, Mark

2008-01-01

We identified and examined a candidate gene for local directional selection in Europeans, TRPV6, and conclude that selection has acted on standing genetic variation at this locus, creating parallel soft sweep events in humans. A novel modification of the extended haplotype homozygosity (EHH) test was utilized, which compares EHH for a single allele across populations, to investigate the signature of selection at TRPV6 and neighboring linked loci in published data sets for Europeans, Asians an...

Subtle but ubiquitous selection on body size in a natural population of collared flycatchers over 33 years.

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Björklund, M; Gustafsson, L

2017-07-01

Understanding the magnitude and long-term patterns of selection in natural populations is of importance, for example, when analysing the evolutionary impact of climate change. We estimated univariate and multivariate directional, quadratic and correlational selection on four morphological traits (adult wing, tarsus and tail length, body mass) over a time period of 33 years (≈ 19 000 observations) in a nest-box breeding population of collared flycatchers (Ficedula albicollis). In general, selection was weak in both males and females over the years regardless of fitness measure (fledged young, recruits and survival) with only few cases with statistically significant selection. When data were analysed in a multivariate context and as time series, a number of patterns emerged; there was a consistent, but weak, selection for longer wings in both sexes, selection was stronger on females when the number of fledged young was used as a fitness measure, there were no indications of sexually antagonistic selection, and we found a negative correlation between selection on tarsus and wing length in both sexes but using different fitness measures. Uni- and multivariate selection gradients were correlated only for wing length and mass. Multivariate selection gradient vectors were longer than corresponding vector of univariate gradients and had more constrained direction. Correlational selection had little importance. Overall, the fitness surface was more or less flat with few cases of significant curvature, indicating that the adaptive peak with regard to body size in this species is broader than the phenotypic distribution, which has resulted in weak estimates of selection. © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2017 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

The cost of selective attention in category learning: Developmental differences between adults and infants

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Best, Catherine A.; Yim, Hyungwook; Sloutsky, Vladimir M.

2013-01-01

Selective attention plays an important role in category learning. However, immaturities of top-down attentional control during infancy coupled with successful category learning suggest that early category learning is achieved without attending selectively. Research presented here examines this possibility by focusing on category learning in infants (6–8 months old) and adults. Participants were trained on a novel visual category. Halfway through the experiment, unbeknownst to participants, the to-be-learned category switched to another category, where previously relevant features became irrelevant and previously irrelevant features became relevant. If participants attend selectively to the relevant features of the first category, they should incur a cost of selective attention immediately after the unknown category switch. Results revealed that adults demonstrated a cost, as evidenced by a decrease in accuracy and response time on test trials as well as a decrease in visual attention to newly relevant features. In contrast, infants did not demonstrate a similar cost of selective attention as adults despite evidence of learning both to-be-learned categories. Findings are discussed as supporting multiple systems of category learning and as suggesting that learning mechanisms engaged by adults may be different from those engaged by infants. PMID:23773914

Immediate movement history influences reach-to-grasp action selection in children and adults.

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Kent, Samuel W; Wilson, Andrew D; Plumb, Mandy S; Williams, Justin H G; Mon-Williams, Mark

2009-01-01

Action selection is subject to many biases. Immediate movement history is one such bias seen in young infants. Is this bias strong enough to affect adult behavior? Adult participants reached and grasped a cylinder positioned to require either pronation or supination of the hand. Successive cylinder positions changed either randomly or systematically between trials. Random positioning led to optimized economy of movement. In contrast, systematic changes in position biased action selection toward previously selected actions at the expense of movement economy. Thus, one switches to a new movement only when the savings outweigh the costs of the switch. Immediate movement history had an even larger influence on children aged 7-15 years. This suggests that switching costs are greater in children, which is consistent with their reduced grasping experience. The presence of this effect in adults suggests that immediate movement history exerts a more widespread and pervasive influence on patterns of action selection than researchers had previously recognized.

Portion distortion: typical portion sizes selected by young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwartz, Jaime; Byrd-Bredbenner, Carol

2006-09-01

The incidence of obesity has increased in parallel with increasing portion sizes of individually packaged and ready-to-eat prepared foods as well as foods served at restaurants. Portion distortion (perceiving large portion sizes as appropriate amounts to eat at a single eating occasion) may contribute to increasing energy intakes and expanding waistlines. The purpose of this study was to determine typical portion sizes that young adults select, how typical portion sizes compare with reference portion sizes (based in this study on the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act's quantities of food customarily eaten per eating occasion), and whether the size of typical portions has changed over time. Young adults (n=177, 75% female, age range 16 to 26 years) at a major northeastern university. Participants served themselves typical portion sizes of eight foods at breakfast (n=63) or six foods at lunch or dinner (n=62, n=52, respectively). Typical portion-size selections were unobtrusively weighed. A unit score was calculated by awarding 1 point for each food with a typical portion size that was within 25% larger or smaller than the reference portion; larger or smaller portions were given 0 points. Thus, each participant's unit score could range from 0 to 8 at breakfast or 0 to 6 at lunch and dinner. Analysis of variance or t tests were used to determine whether typical and reference portion sizes differed, and whether typical portion sizes changed over time. Mean unit scores (+/-standard deviation) were 3.63+/-1.27 and 1.89+/-1.14, for breakfast and lunch/dinner, respectively, indicating little agreement between typical and reference portion sizes. Typical portions sizes in this study tended to be significantly different from those selected by young adults in a similar study conducted 2 decades ago. Portion distortion seems to affect the portion sizes selected by young adults for some foods. This phenomenon has the potential to hinder weight loss, weight maintenance, and

Directional selection effects on patterns of phenotypic (co)variation in wild populations.

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Assis, A P A; Patton, J L; Hubbe, A; Marroig, G

2016-11-30

Phenotypic (co)variation is a prerequisite for evolutionary change, and understanding how (co)variation evolves is of crucial importance to the biological sciences. Theoretical models predict that under directional selection, phenotypic (co)variation should evolve in step with the underlying adaptive landscape, increasing the degree of correlation among co-selected traits as well as the amount of genetic variance in the direction of selection. Whether either of these outcomes occurs in natural populations is an open question and thus an important gap in evolutionary theory. Here, we documented changes in the phenotypic (co)variation structure in two separate natural populations in each of two chipmunk species (Tamias alpinus and T. speciosus) undergoing directional selection. In populations where selection was strongest (those of T. alpinus), we observed changes, at least for one population, in phenotypic (co)variation that matched theoretical expectations, namely an increase of both phenotypic integration and (co)variance in the direction of selection and a re-alignment of the major axis of variation with the selection gradient. © 2016 The Author(s).

Environmental change disrupts communication and sexual selection in a stickleback population.

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Candolin, Ulrika; Tukiainen, Iina; Bertell, Elina

2016-04-01

Environmental change that disrupts communication during mate choice and alters sexual selection could influence population dynamics. Yet little is known about such long-term effects. We investigated experimentally the consequences that disrupted visual communication during mate choice has for the quantity and viability of offspring produced in a threespine stickleback population (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We further related the results to long-term monitoring of population dynamics in the field to determine if changes are apparent under natural conditions. The results show that impaired visual communication because of algal blooms reduces reliability of male visual signals as indicators of offspring survival during their first weeks of life. This relaxes sexual selection but has no effect on the number of offspring hatching, as most males have a high hatching success in turbid water. Despite eutrophication and high turbidity levels that interfere with communication during mate choice, the population has grown during recent decades. Large numbers of offspring hatching, combined with high variation in juvenile fitness, has probably shifted selection to later life history stages and maintained a viable population. Together with reduced cost of sexual selection and ongoing ecosystem changes caused by human activities, this could have promoted population growth. These results point to the complexity of ecosystems and the necessity to consider all influencing factors when attempting to understand impacts of human activities on populations.

Ancestral informative marker selection and population structure visualization using sparse Laplacian eigenfunctions.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Zhang

Full Text Available Identification of a small panel of population structure informative markers can reduce genotyping cost and is useful in various applications, such as ancestry inference in association mapping, forensics and evolutionary theory in population genetics. Traditional methods to ascertain ancestral informative markers usually require the prior knowledge of individual ancestry and have difficulty for admixed populations. Recently Principal Components Analysis (PCA has been employed with success to select SNPs which are highly correlated with top significant principal components (PCs without use of individual ancestral information. The approach is also applicable to admixed populations. Here we propose a novel approach based on our recent result on summarizing population structure by graph laplacian eigenfunctions, which differs from PCA in that it is geometric and robust to outliers. Our approach also takes advantage of the priori sparseness of informative markers in the genome. Through simulation of a ring population and the real global population sample HGDP of 650K SNPs genotyped in 940 unrelated individuals, we validate the proposed algorithm at selecting most informative markers, a small fraction of which can recover the similar underlying population structure efficiently. Employing a standard Support Vector Machine (SVM to predict individuals' continental memberships on HGDP dataset of seven continents, we demonstrate that the selected SNPs by our method are more informative but less redundant than those selected by PCA. Our algorithm is a promising tool in genome-wide association studies and population genetics, facilitating the selection of structure informative markers, efficient detection of population substructure and ancestral inference.

Insecticide Rotation Programs with Entomopathogenic Organisms for Suppression of Western Flower Thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) Adult Populations under Greenhouse Conditions.

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Kivett, Jessica M; Cloyd, Raymond A; Bello, Nora M

2015-08-01

rotation program. Therefore, by incorporating entomopathogenic organisms into insecticide rotation programs, greenhouse producers can decrease costs without affecting suppression, as well as diminish selection pressure on western flower thrips adult populations, which may avoid or delay resistance development. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Natural selection and infectious disease in human populations

Science.gov (United States)

Karlsson, Elinor K.; Kwiatkowski, Dominic P.; Sabeti, Pardis C.

2015-01-01

The ancient biological 'arms race' between microbial pathogens and humans has shaped genetic variation in modern populations, and this has important implications for the growing field of medical genomics. As humans migrated throughout the world, populations encountered distinct pathogens, and natural selection increased the prevalence of alleles that are advantageous in the new ecosystems in both host and pathogens. This ancient history now influences human infectious disease susceptibility and microbiome homeostasis, and contributes to common diseases that show geographical disparities, such as autoimmune and metabolic disorders. Using new high-throughput technologies, analytical methods and expanding public data resources, the investigation of natural selection is leading to new insights into the function and dysfunction of human biology. PMID:24776769

24 CFR 960.407 - Selection preference for mixed population developments.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... population developments. 960.407 Section 960.407 Housing and Urban Development Regulations Relating to... Elderly Families and Disabled Families in Mixed Population Projects § 960.407 Selection preference for mixed population developments. (a) The PHA must give preference to elderly families and disabled...

Knee complaints vary with age and gender in the adult population. Population-based reference data for the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paradowski, Przemyslaw T; Bergman, Stefan; Sundén-Lundius, Anne

2006-01-01

Self-reported knee complaints may vary with age and gender. Reference data from the adult population would help to better interpret the outcome of interventions due to knee complaints. The objectives of the present study were to describe the variation of self-reported knee pain, function and qual......Self-reported knee complaints may vary with age and gender. Reference data from the adult population would help to better interpret the outcome of interventions due to knee complaints. The objectives of the present study were to describe the variation of self-reported knee pain, function...... and quality of life with age and gender in the adult population and to establish population-based reference data for the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS)....

Rapid Cycling Genomic Selection in a Multiparental Tropical Maize Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xuecai; Pérez-Rodríguez, Paulino; Burgueño, Juan; Olsen, Michael; Buckler, Edward; Atlin, Gary; Prasanna, Boddupalli M; Vargas, Mateo; San Vicente, Félix; Crossa, José

2017-07-05

Genomic selection (GS) increases genetic gain by reducing the length of the selection cycle, as has been exemplified in maize using rapid cycling recombination of biparental populations. However, no results of GS applied to maize multi-parental populations have been reported so far. This study is the first to show realized genetic gains of rapid cycling genomic selection (RCGS) for four recombination cycles in a multi-parental tropical maize population. Eighteen elite tropical maize lines were intercrossed twice, and self-pollinated once, to form the cycle 0 (C 0 ) training population. A total of 1000 ear-to-row C 0 families was genotyped with 955,690 genotyping-by-sequencing SNP markers; their testcrosses were phenotyped at four optimal locations in Mexico to form the training population. Individuals from families with the best plant types, maturity, and grain yield were selected and intermated to form RCGS cycle 1 (C 1 ). Predictions of the genotyped individuals forming cycle C 1 were made, and the best predicted grain yielders were selected as parents of C 2 ; this was repeated for more cycles (C 2 , C 3 , and C 4 ), thereby achieving two cycles per year. Multi-environment trials of individuals from populations C 0, C 1 , C 2 , C 3 , and C 4 , together with four benchmark checks were evaluated at two locations in Mexico. Results indicated that realized grain yield from C 1 to C 4 reached 0.225 ton ha -1 per cycle, which is equivalent to 0.100 ton ha -1  yr -1 over a 4.5-yr breeding period from the initial cross to the last cycle. Compared with the original 18 parents used to form cycle 0 (C 0 ), genetic diversity narrowed only slightly during the last GS cycles (C 3 and C 4 ). Results indicate that, in tropical maize multi-parental breeding populations, RCGS can be an effective breeding strategy for simultaneously conserving genetic diversity and achieving high genetic gains in a short period of time. Copyright © 2017 Zhang et al.

Selfing for the design of genomic selection experiments in biparental plant populations.

Science.gov (United States)

McClosky, Benjamin; LaCombe, Jason; Tanksley, Steven D

2013-11-01

Self-fertilization (selfing) is commonly used for population development in plant breeding, and it is well established that selfing increases genetic variance between lines, thus increasing response to phenotypic selection. Furthermore, numerous studies have explored how selfing can be deployed to maximal benefit in the context of traditional plant breeding programs (Cornish in Heredity 65:201-211,1990a, Heredity 65:213-220,1990b; Liu et al. in Theor Appl Genet 109:370-376, 2004; Pooni and Jinks in Heredity 54:255-260, 1985). However, the impact of selfing on response to genomic selection has not been explored. In the current study we examined how selfing impacts the two key aspects of genomic selection-GEBV prediction (training) and selection response. We reach the following conclusions: (1) On average, selfing increases genomic selection gains by more than 70 %. (2) The gains in genomic selection response attributable to selfing hold over a wide range population sizes (100-500), heritabilities (0.2-0.8), and selection intensities (0.01-0.1). However, the benefits of selfing are dramatically reduced as the number of QTLs drops below 20. (3) The major cause of the improved response to genomic selection with selfing is through an increase in the occurrence of superior genotypes and not through improved GEBV predictions. While performance of the training population improves with selfing (especially with low heritability and small population sizes), the magnitude of these improvements is relatively small compared with improvements observed in the selection population. To illustrate the value of these insights, we propose a practical genomic selection scheme that substantially shortens the number of generations required to fully capture the benefits of selfing. Specifically, we provide simulation evidence that indicates the proposed scheme matches or exceeds the selection gains observed in advanced populations (i.e. F 8 and doubled haploid) across a broad range of

Memory-related subjective cognitive symptoms in the adult population: prevalence and associated factors - results of the LIFE-Adult-Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Luck, Tobias; Roehr, Susanne; Rodriguez, Francisca S; Schroeter, Matthias L; Witte, A Veronica; Hinz, Andreas; Mehnert, Anja; Engel, Christoph; Loeffler, Markus; Thiery, Joachim; Villringer, Arno; Riedel-Heller, Steffi G

2018-05-21

Subjectively perceived memory problems (memory-related Subjective Cognitive Symptoms/SCS) can be an indicator of a pre-prodromal or prodromal stage of a neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's disease. We therefore sought to provide detailed empirical information on memory-related SCS in the dementia-free adult population including information on prevalence rates, associated factors and others. We studied 8834 participants (40-79 years) of the population-based LIFE-Adult-Study. Weighted prevalence rates with confidence intervals (95%-CI) were calculated. Associations of memory-related SCS with participants' socio-demographic characteristics, physical and mental comorbidity, and cognitive performance (Verbal Fluency Test Animals, Trail-Making-Test, CERAD Wordlist tests) were analyzed. Prevalence of total memory-related SCS was 53.0% (95%-CI = 51.9-54.0): 26.0% (95%-CI = 25.1-27.0) of the population had a subtype without related concerns, 23.6% (95%-CI = 22.7-24.5) a subtype with some related concerns, and 3.3% (95%-CI = 2.9-3.7) a subtype with strong related concerns. Report of memory-related SCS was unrelated to participants' socio-demographic characteristics, physical comorbidity (except history of stroke), depressive symptomatology, and anxiety. Adults with and without memory-related SCS showed no significant difference in cognitive performance. About one fifth (18.1%) of the participants with memory-related SCS stated that they did consult/want to consult a physician because of their experienced memory problems. Memory-related SCS are very common and unspecific in the non-demented adult population aged 40-79 years. Nonetheless, a substantial proportion of this population has concerns related to experienced memory problems and/or seeks help. Already available information on additional features associated with a higher likelihood of developing dementia in people with SCS may help clinicians to decide who should be monitored more closely.

Socioeconomic Inequalities in Mental Health of Adult Population: Serbian National Health Survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milena Santric Milicevic

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Background: The global burden of mental disorders is rising. In Serbia, anxiety is the leading cause of disability-adjusted life years. Serbia has no mental health survey at the population level. The information on prevalence of mental disorders and related socioeconomic inequalities are valuable for mental care improvement. Aims: То explore the prevalence of mental health disorders and socioeconomic inequalities in mental health of adult Serbian population, and to explore whether age years and employment status interact with mental health in urban and rural settlements. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: This study is an additional analysis of Serbian Health Survey 2006 that was carried out with standardized household questionnaires at the representative sample of 7673 randomly selected households – 15563 adults. The response rate was 93%. A multivariate logistic regression modeling highlighted the predictors of the 5 item Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5, and of chronic anxiety or depression within eight independent variables (age, gender, type of settlement, marital status and self-perceived health, education, employment status and Wealth Index. The significance level in descriptive statistics, chi square analysis and bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions was set at p<0.05. Results: Chronic anxiety or depression was seen in 4.9% of the respondents, and poor MHI-5 in 47% of respondents. Low education (Odds Ratios 1.32; 95% confidence intervals=1.16-1.51, unemployment (1.36; 1.18-1.56, single status (1.34; 1.23-1.45, and Wealth Index middle class (1.20; 1.08-1.32 or poor (1.33; 1.21-1.47 were significantly related with poor MHI-5. Unemployed persons in urban settlements had higher odds for poormMHI-5 than unemployed in rural areas (0.73; 0.59-0.89. Single (1.50; 1.26-1.78, unemployed (1.39; 1.07-1.80 and inactive respondents (1.42; 1.10-1.83 had a higher odds of chronic anxiety or depression than married individuals, or

Population genetic data of the NGM SElect STR loci in Chinese Han population from Zhejiang region, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Anju; Wu, Weiwei; Liu, Qiuling; Wu, Yeda; Lu, Dejian

2013-03-01

Genetic variations of the 17 NGM SElect STR loci in Chinese Han samples from the Zhejiang region were analyzed. The results show that the NGM SElect is a highly genetic informative system in Zhejiang Han, and this population shows quite different genetic data from other major populations in the world with the exception of the Fujian Han.

Profile of the adult population of the city of Corrientes (Argentina in relation to dental health insurance.

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María Dho.

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Objective: To characterize the adult population of the city of Corrientes (Argentina in relation to dental health insurance according to sociodemographic and dental variables. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the city of Corrientes (Argentina. Information regarding the study variables was collected through the application of a structured survey. Sample size was determined by establishing a 95% confidence level (381 subjects between 35 and 44 years of age. The direct face-to-face observation technique was used for data collection. A simple random sample design was applied for the selection of the homes to be surveyed, which was complemented by a non-probabilistic sampling using quotas for the selection of the individuals to be interviewed from the 2010 Population Census data. Results: Of the total of the participants, 56.4% had dental health insurance. Health insurance was significantly associated with a higher socioeconomic level OR: 1.90 (95% CI 1.26-2.87, p=0.01; greater probability of having had a consultation in the 12 months prior to the interview OR: 1.74 (95% CI 1.13-2.68, p=0.01, going to the dentist for dental treatments OR: 1.5 (95% CI 1.02-2.43, p=0.03, or because of pain or an emergency problem OR: 1.59 (95% CI 1.05-2.42, p=0.02, and presenting better oral hygiene self-care. Conclusions: There are oral health inequities in the adult population of the city of Corrientes (Argentina. Having dental health insurance is associated with a higher socioeconomic level, having more frequent dental consultations to get dental treatment and in emergency situations, as well as presenting better oral hygiene self-care.

Opportunity for natural selection among five population groups of Manipur, North East India.

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Asghar, M; Meitei, S Y; Luxmi, Y; Achoubi, N; Meitei, K S; Murry, B; Sachdeva, M P; Saraswathy, K N

2014-01-01

Opportunity for natural selection among five population groups of Manipur in comparison with other North East Indian population has been studied. Crow's index as well as Johnston and Kensinger's index for natural selection were calculated based on differential fertility and mortality. The mortality component was found to be lower compared to fertility component in all the populations which may attribute to comparatively improved and easily accessible health care facilities. However, different selection pressures, artificial and natural, seem to be influencing the selection intensity through induced abortion and spontaneous abortion among the two non-tribal migrant groups: Bamon and Muslims, respectively. This study highlights the probable interaction of artificial and natural selection in determining the evolutionary fate of any population group.

The cost of selective attention in category learning: developmental differences between adults and infants.

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Best, Catherine A; Yim, Hyungwook; Sloutsky, Vladimir M

2013-10-01

Selective attention plays an important role in category learning. However, immaturities of top-down attentional control during infancy coupled with successful category learning suggest that early category learning is achieved without attending selectively. Research presented here examines this possibility by focusing on category learning in infants (6-8months old) and adults. Participants were trained on a novel visual category. Halfway through the experiment, unbeknownst to participants, the to-be-learned category switched to another category, where previously relevant features became irrelevant and previously irrelevant features became relevant. If participants attend selectively to the relevant features of the first category, they should incur a cost of selective attention immediately after the unknown category switch. Results revealed that adults demonstrated a cost, as evidenced by a decrease in accuracy and response time on test trials as well as a decrease in visual attention to newly relevant features. In contrast, infants did not demonstrate a similar cost of selective attention as adults despite evidence of learning both to-be-learned categories. Findings are discussed as supporting multiple systems of category learning and as suggesting that learning mechanisms engaged by adults may be different from those engaged by infants. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Behind the impact of introduced trout in high altitude lakes: adult, not juvenile fish are responsible of the selective predation on crustacean zooplankton

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Rocco Tiberti

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Introduced fish seriously affect zooplankton communities in mountain lakes, often leading to the loss of large species. Selective predation is recognized to be the ultimate cause of such a strong impact. Here we describe the selection of zooplankton prey by analyzing the stomach contents of more than 300 brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis inhabiting seven alpine lakes in the Gran Paradiso National Park (western Italian Alps. Our results show that planktivory is much more common in young fish, which feed on a larger number of taxa, but also adult fish maintain the ability to feed on zooplankton. There is a direct dependence between the length of zooplankton prey and the length of their fish predators, and adult, not juvenile fish are responsible of the selective predation on large crustacean zooplankton, which drive the impact of introduced fish throughout the entire zooplankton community. In some rare cases, large zooplankton populations develop in the presence of brook trout, and planktivory can become an important temporary resource for adult fish during the ice-free season. Thus, in the early stages of the establishment of non-native trout in alpine lakes, large-bodied zooplankton may represent an important food resource.

Adult hippocampal neurogenesis in natural populations of mammals.

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Amrein, Irmgard

2015-05-01

This review will discuss adult hippocampal neurogenesis in wild mammals of different taxa and outline similarities with and differences from laboratory animals. It begins with a review of evidence for hippocampal neurogenesis in various mammals, and shows the similar patterns of age-dependent decline in cell proliferation in wild and domesticated mammals. In contrast, the pool of immature neurons that originate from proliferative activity varies between species, implying a selective advantage for mammals that can make use of a large number of these functionally special neurons. Furthermore, rapid adaptation of hippocampal neurogenesis to experimental challenges appears to be a characteristic of laboratory rodents. Wild mammals show species-specific, rather stable hippocampal neurogenesis, which appears related to demands that characterize the niche exploited by a species rather than to acute events in the life of its members. Studies that investigate adult neurogenesis in wild mammals are not numerous, but the findings of neurogenesis under natural conditions can provide new insights, and thereby also address the question to which cognitive demands neurogenesis may respond during selection. Copyright © 2015 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.

Population structure, genetic variation and linkage disequilibrium in perennial ryegrass populations divergently selected for freezing tolerance

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Mallikarjuna Rao eKovi

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Low temperature is one of the abiotic stresses seriously affecting the growth of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L. Understanding the genetic control of freezing tolerance would aid in the development of cultivars of perennial ryegrass with improved adaptation to frost. A total number of 80 individuals (24 of High frost [HF]; 29 of Low frost [LF] and 27 of Unselected [US] from the second generation of the two divergently selected populations and an unselected control population were genotyped using 278 genome-wide SNPs derived from Lolium perenne L. transcriptome sequence. Our studies showed that the HF and LF populations are very divergent after selection for freezing tolerance, whereas the HF and US populations are more similar. Linkage disequilibrium (LD decay varied across the seven chromosomes and the conspicuous pattern of LD between the HF and LF population confirmed their divergence in freezing tolerance. Furthermore, two Fst outlier methods; finite island model (fdist by LOSITAN and hierarchical structure model using ARLEQUIN detected six loci under directional selection. These outlier loci are most probably linked to genes involved in freezing tolerance, cold adaptation and abiotic stress and might be the potential marker resources for breeding perennial ryegrass cultivars with improved freezing tolerance.

Population genetics inference for longitudinally-sampled mutants under strong selection.

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Lacerda, Miguel; Seoighe, Cathal

2014-11-01

Longitudinal allele frequency data are becoming increasingly prevalent. Such samples permit statistical inference of the population genetics parameters that influence the fate of mutant variants. To infer these parameters by maximum likelihood, the mutant frequency is often assumed to evolve according to the Wright-Fisher model. For computational reasons, this discrete model is commonly approximated by a diffusion process that requires the assumption that the forces of natural selection and mutation are weak. This assumption is not always appropriate. For example, mutations that impart drug resistance in pathogens may evolve under strong selective pressure. Here, we present an alternative approximation to the mutant-frequency distribution that does not make any assumptions about the magnitude of selection or mutation and is much more computationally efficient than the standard diffusion approximation. Simulation studies are used to compare the performance of our method to that of the Wright-Fisher and Gaussian diffusion approximations. For large populations, our method is found to provide a much better approximation to the mutant-frequency distribution when selection is strong, while all three methods perform comparably when selection is weak. Importantly, maximum-likelihood estimates of the selection coefficient are severely attenuated when selection is strong under the two diffusion models, but not when our method is used. This is further demonstrated with an application to mutant-frequency data from an experimental study of bacteriophage evolution. We therefore recommend our method for estimating the selection coefficient when the effective population size is too large to utilize the discrete Wright-Fisher model. Copyright © 2014 by the Genetics Society of America.

Genome-wide detection and characterization of positive selection in human populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Sabeti, Pardis C; Varilly, Patrick; Fry, Ben; Lohmueller, Jason; Hostetter, Elizabeth; Cotsapas, Chris; Xie, Xiaohui; Byrne, Elizabeth H; McCarroll, Steven A; Gaudet, Rachelle; Schaffner, Stephen F; Lander, Eric S; Frazer, Kelly A; Ballinger, Dennis G; Cox, David R; Hinds, David A; Stuve, Laura L; Gibbs, Richard A; Belmont, John W; Boudreau, Andrew; Hardenbol, Paul; Leal, Suzanne M; Pasternak, Shiran; Wheeler, David A; Willis, Thomas D; Yu, Fuli; Yang, Huanming; Zeng, Changqing; Gao, Yang; Hu, Haoran; Hu, Weitao; Li, Chaohua; Lin, Wei; Liu, Siqi; Pan, Hao; Tang, Xiaoli; Wang, Jian; Wang, Wei; Yu, Jun; Zhang, Bo; Zhang, Qingrun; Zhao, Hongbin; Zhao, Hui; Zhou, Jun; Gabriel, Stacey B; Barry, Rachel; Blumenstiel, Brendan; Camargo, Amy; Defelice, Matthew; Faggart, Maura; Goyette, Mary; Gupta, Supriya; Moore, Jamie; Nguyen, Huy; Onofrio, Robert C; Parkin, Melissa; Roy, Jessica; Stahl, Erich; Winchester, Ellen; Ziaugra, Liuda; Altshuler, David; Shen, Yan; Yao, Zhijian; Huang, Wei; Chu, Xun; He, Yungang; Jin, Li; Liu, Yangfan; Shen, Yayun; Sun, Weiwei; Wang, Haifeng; Wang, Yi; Wang, Ying; Xiong, Xiaoyan; Xu, Liang; Waye, Mary M Y; Tsui, Stephen K W; Xue, Hong; Wong, J Tze-Fei; Galver, Luana M; Fan, Jian-Bing; Gunderson, Kevin; Murray, Sarah S; Oliphant, Arnold R; Chee, Mark S; Montpetit, Alexandre; Chagnon, Fanny; Ferretti, Vincent; Leboeuf, Martin; Olivier, Jean-François; Phillips, Michael S; Roumy, Stéphanie; Sallée, Clémentine; Verner, Andrei; Hudson, Thomas J; Kwok, Pui-Yan; Cai, Dongmei; Koboldt, Daniel C; Miller, Raymond D; Pawlikowska, Ludmila; Taillon-Miller, Patricia; Xiao, Ming; Tsui, Lap-Chee; Mak, William; Song, You Qiang; Tam, Paul K H; Nakamura, Yusuke; Kawaguchi, Takahisa; Kitamoto, Takuya; Morizono, Takashi; Nagashima, Atsushi; Ohnishi, Yozo; Sekine, Akihiro; Tanaka, Toshihiro; Tsunoda, Tatsuhiko; Deloukas, Panos; Bird, Christine P; Delgado, Marcos; Dermitzakis, Emmanouil T; Gwilliam, Rhian; Hunt, Sarah; Morrison, Jonathan; Powell, Don; Stranger, Barbara E; Whittaker, Pamela; Bentley, David R; Daly, Mark J; de Bakker, Paul I W; Barrett, Jeff; Chretien, Yves R; Maller, Julian; McCarroll, Steve; Patterson, Nick; Pe'er, Itsik; Price, Alkes; Purcell, Shaun; Richter, Daniel J; Sabeti, Pardis; Saxena, Richa; Schaffner, Stephen F; Sham, Pak C; Varilly, Patrick; Altshuler, David; Stein, Lincoln D; Krishnan, Lalitha; Smith, Albert Vernon; Tello-Ruiz, Marcela K; Thorisson, Gudmundur A; Chakravarti, Aravinda; Chen, Peter E; Cutler, David J; Kashuk, Carl S; Lin, Shin; Abecasis, Gonçalo R; Guan, Weihua; Li, Yun; Munro, Heather M; Qin, Zhaohui Steve; Thomas, Daryl J; McVean, Gilean; Auton, Adam; Bottolo, Leonardo; Cardin, Niall; Eyheramendy, Susana; Freeman, Colin; Marchini, Jonathan; Myers, Simon; Spencer, Chris; Stephens, Matthew; Donnelly, Peter; Cardon, Lon R; Clarke, Geraldine; Evans, David M; Morris, Andrew P; Weir, Bruce S; Tsunoda, Tatsuhiko; Johnson, Todd A; Mullikin, James C; Sherry, Stephen T; Feolo, Michael; Skol, Andrew; Zhang, Houcan; Zeng, Changqing; Zhao, Hui; Matsuda, Ichiro; Fukushima, Yoshimitsu; Macer, Darryl R; Suda, Eiko; Rotimi, Charles N; Adebamowo, Clement A; Ajayi, Ike; Aniagwu, Toyin; Marshall, Patricia A; Nkwodimmah, Chibuzor; Royal, Charmaine D M; Leppert, Mark F; Dixon, Missy; Peiffer, Andy; Qiu, Renzong; Kent, Alastair; Kato, Kazuto; Niikawa, Norio; Adewole, Isaac F; Knoppers, Bartha M; Foster, Morris W; Clayton, Ellen Wright; Watkin, Jessica; Gibbs, Richard A; Belmont, John W; Muzny, Donna; Nazareth, Lynne; Sodergren, Erica; Weinstock, George M; Wheeler, David A; Yakub, Imtaz; Gabriel, Stacey B; Onofrio, Robert C; Richter, Daniel J; Ziaugra, Liuda; Birren, Bruce W; Daly, Mark J; Altshuler, David; Wilson, Richard K; Fulton, Lucinda L; Rogers, Jane; Burton, John; Carter, Nigel P; Clee, Christopher M; Griffiths, Mark; Jones, Matthew C; McLay, Kirsten; Plumb, Robert W; Ross, Mark T; Sims, Sarah K; Willey, David L; Chen, Zhu; Han, Hua; Kang, Le; Godbout, Martin; Wallenburg, John C; L'Archevêque, Paul; Bellemare, Guy; Saeki, Koji; Wang, Hongguang; An, Daochang; Fu, Hongbo; Li, Qing; Wang, Zhen; Wang, Renwu; Holden, Arthur L; Brooks, Lisa D; McEwen, Jean E; Guyer, Mark S; Wang, Vivian Ota; Peterson, Jane L; Shi, Michael; Spiegel, Jack; Sung, Lawrence M; Zacharia, Lynn F; Collins, Francis S; Kennedy, Karen; Jamieson, Ruth; Stewart, John

2007-10-18

With the advent of dense maps of human genetic variation, it is now possible to detect positive natural selection across the human genome. Here we report an analysis of over 3 million polymorphisms from the International HapMap Project Phase 2 (HapMap2). We used 'long-range haplotype' methods, which were developed to identify alleles segregating in a population that have undergone recent selection, and we also developed new methods that are based on cross-population comparisons to discover alleles that have swept to near-fixation within a population. The analysis reveals more than 300 strong candidate regions. Focusing on the strongest 22 regions, we develop a heuristic for scrutinizing these regions to identify candidate targets of selection. In a complementary analysis, we identify 26 non-synonymous, coding, single nucleotide polymorphisms showing regional evidence of positive selection. Examination of these candidates highlights three cases in which two genes in a common biological process have apparently undergone positive selection in the same population:LARGE and DMD, both related to infection by the Lassa virus, in West Africa;SLC24A5 and SLC45A2, both involved in skin pigmentation, in Europe; and EDAR and EDA2R, both involved in development of hair follicles, in Asia.

Characterizing Adult Sleep Behavior Over 20 Years-The Population-Based Doetinchem Cohort Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zomers, Margot L; Hulsegge, Gerben; van Oostrom, Sandra H; Proper, Karin I.; Verschuren, W M Monique; Picavet, H. Susan J

2017-01-01

Study Objectives: To describe sleep duration patterns of adults over a 20-year period; to compare sociodemographic, lifestyle, and health characteristics across these patterns; and to relate the patterns to sleep quality. Methods: The study population consisted of 3695 adults aged 20 to 59 years at

Population structure and strong divergent selection shape phenotypic diversification in maize landraces.

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Pressoir, G; Berthaud, J

2004-02-01

To conserve the long-term selection potential of maize, it is necessary to investigate past and present evolutionary processes that have shaped quantitative trait variation. Understanding the dynamics of quantitative trait evolution is crucial to future crop breeding. We characterized population differentiation of maize landraces from the State of Oaxaca, Mexico for quantitative traits and molecular markers. Qst values were much higher than Fst values obtained for molecular markers. While low values of Fst (0.011 within-village and 0.003 among-villages) suggest that considerable gene flow occurred among the studied populations, high levels of population differentiation for quantitative traits were observed (ie an among-village Qst value of 0.535 for kernel weight). Our results suggest that although quantitative traits appear to be under strong divergent selection, a considerable amount of gene flow occurs among populations. Furthermore, we characterized nonproportional changes in the G matrix structure both within and among villages that are consequences of farmer selection. As a consequence of these differences in the G matrix structure, the response to multivariate selection will be different from one population to another. Large changes in the G matrix structure could indicate that farmers select for genes of major and pleiotropic effect. Farmers' decision and selection strategies have a great impact on phenotypic diversification in maize landraces.

Levels of Engagement and Barriers to Physical Activity in a Population of Adults with Learning Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkins, Andrew; Look, Roger

2006-01-01

This study examined levels of, and barriers to, physical activity in a population of 19 adults with learning disabilities living in community supported accommodation, using diary records and semi-structured interviews with staff. The levels of physical activity were higher in the sample population than previous figures for adults with learning…

Higher mortality of adults with asthma: A 15-year follow-up of a population-based cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Lemmetyinen, R E; Karjalainen, J V; But, A; Renkonen, R L O; Pekkanen, J R; Toppila-Salmi, S K; Haukka, J K

2018-02-20

Higher all-cause mortality in asthmatics has been shown previously. Polysensitization is associated with higher morbidity among asthmatic children, and allergic rhinitis and/or allergic conjunctivitis (AR/AC) are associated with higher morbidity in adult asthmatics. Little is known about the effect of AR/AC and other factors on mortality among adult asthmatics. The aim was to study mortality and its risk factors in adults with and without asthma. We randomly selected 1648 asthmatics with age over 30 years from national registers and matched the asthma sample with one or two controls. Baseline information was obtained by a questionnaire in 1997, and the study population was linked with the death certificate information of Statistics Finland from 1997 to 2013. Overall and cause-specific survival between the groups was compared in several adjusted models. During a mean follow-up period of 15.6 years, 221 deaths among 1052 asthma patients and 335 deaths among 1889 nonasthmatics were observed. Cardiovascular diseases were the main cause of death in both groups. Asthma was associated with increased all-cause mortality (adjusted HR 1.25; 95% CI 1.05-1.49, P = .011) as well as mortality from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 12.0, 4.18-34.2, P < .001) and malignant neoplasms of respiratory organs (HR 2.33, 1.25-4.42, P = .008). Among asthmatics, smoking was associated with increased all-cause mortality, and self-reported AR/AC was associated with decreased mortality. Among nonasthmatics, smoking, and obesity were associated with increased all-cause mortality, whereas female gender showed an association with a decreased risk. Increased mortality among adult asthmatics was largely explained by the development of COPD, malignant respiratory tract neoplasms, and cardiovascular diseases. Smoking cessation is important for reduction in total mortality in both asthmatic and nonasthmatic adults. AR/AC was associated with decreased mortality only in asthmatics. Thus

Selection and adaptation in irradiated plant and animal populations: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hart, D.R.

1981-03-01

Available literature on the effects of ionizing radiation on mutation rates, variability and adaptive responses to selection in exposed plant and animal populations is reviewed. Accumulated variability, and hence potential selection differentials, may be increased by many times due to induced mutation. The radiation dose that maximizes induced mutation varies greatly among species, strains and genetic systems. Induced variability tends to enhance the respose to selection, but this effect may be delayed or prevented by an initial reduction in the heritability of induced variation. Significantly, the detrimental effects of harmful mutations in irradiated populations may exceed the beneficial effects of selection for adaptive characteristics. Selection for radioresistance may occur at lethal or sub-lethal radiation doses but dose relationships are highly variable. (author)

Coexistence of structured populations with size-based prey selection

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hartvig, Martin; Andersen, Ken Haste

2013-01-01

Abstract Species with a large adult-offspring size ratio and a preferred predator–prey mass ratio undergo ontogenetic trophic niche shift(s) throughout life. Trophic interactions between such species vary throughout life, resulting in different species-level interaction motifs depending on the ma......Abstract Species with a large adult-offspring size ratio and a preferred predator–prey mass ratio undergo ontogenetic trophic niche shift(s) throughout life. Trophic interactions between such species vary throughout life, resulting in different species-level interaction motifs depending...... on the maximum adult sizes and population size distributions. We explore the assembly and potential for coexistence of small communities where all species experience ontogenetic trophic niche shifts. The life-history of each species is described by a physiologically structured model and species identity...... there is a large scope for coexistence of two species, the scope for coexistence of three species is limited and we conclude that further trait differentiation is required for coexistence of more species-rich size-structured communities....

Relation of serum γ-glutamyl transferase activity with copper in an adult population.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, You-Fan; Wang, Chun-Fang; Pan, Guo-Gang

2017-10-26

The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between serum γ-glutamyl transferase (γ-GGT) activity and serum copper in an adult population. We analyzed 281 adult subjects who regularly attended the physical examination center at the Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical University for Nationalities. The demographic and laboratory data of the participants were divided into two groups according to the median of serum γ-GGT activity. Serum copper concentrations in individuals with higher γ-GGT levels were significantly increased compared with those with lower γ-GGT concentrations (9.9±2.41 vs. 11.2±3.36 μmol/L, pcopper in all eligible subjects (r=0.198, p=0.001). Further, serum γ-GGT maintained a positive correlation with serum copper in both males and females (r=0.322, pcopper after adjusting for multiple potential confounders (b=0.464, p=0.001). This study suggests that serum γ-GGT activity is correlated with copper in the study population, indicating that serum γ-GGT may be a biomarker to evaluate serum copper levels in an adult population.

Measurement properties of tools used to assess suicidality in autistic and general population adults: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassidy, S A; Bradley, L; Bowen, E; Wigham, S; Rodgers, J

2018-05-05

Adults diagnosed with autism are at significantly increased risk of suicidal thoughts, suicidal behaviours and dying by suicide. However, it is unclear whether any validated tools are currently available to effectively assess suicidality in autistic adults in research and clinical practice. This is crucial for understanding and preventing premature death by suicide in this vulnerable group. This two stage systematic review therefore aimed to identify tools used to assess suicidality in autistic and general population adults, evaluate these tools for their appropriateness and measurement properties, and make recommendations for appropriate selection of suicidality assessment tools in research and clinical practice. Three databases were searched (PsycInfo, Medline and Web of Knowledge). Four frequently used suicidality assessment tools were identified, and subsequently rated for quality of the evidence in support of their measurement properties using the COSMIN checklist. Despite studies having explored suicidality in autistic adults, none had utilised a validated tool. Overall, there was lack of evidence in support of suicidality risk assessments successfully predicting future suicide attempts. We recommend adaptations to current suicidality assessment tools and priorities for future research, in order to better conceptualise suicidality and its measurement in autism. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Strong selection during the last millennium for African ancestry in the admixed population of Madagascar.

Science.gov (United States)

Pierron, Denis; Heiske, Margit; Razafindrazaka, Harilanto; Pereda-Loth, Veronica; Sanchez, Jazmin; Alva, Omar; Arachiche, Amal; Boland, Anne; Olaso, Robert; Deleuze, Jean-Francois; Ricaut, Francois-Xavier; Rakotoarisoa, Jean-Aimé; Radimilahy, Chantal; Stoneking, Mark; Letellier, Thierry

2018-03-02

While admixed populations offer a unique opportunity to detect selection, the admixture in most of the studied populations occurred too recently to produce conclusive signals. By contrast, Malagasy populations originate from admixture between Asian and African populations that occurred ~27 generations ago, providing power to detect selection. We analyze local ancestry across the genomes of 700 Malagasy and identify a strong signal of recent positive selection, with an estimated selection coefficient >0.2. The selection is for African ancestry and affects 25% of chromosome 1, including the Duffy blood group gene. The null allele at this gene provides resistance to Plasmodium vivax malaria, and previous studies have suggested positive selection for this allele in the Malagasy population. This selection event also influences numerous other genes implicated in immunity, cardiovascular diseases, and asthma and decreases the Asian ancestry genome-wide by 10%, illustrating the role played by selection in recent human history.

Assessing the validity of a self-administered food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) in the adult population of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background The Food- Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) is a dietary assessment tool frequently used in large-scale nutritional epidemiology studies. The goal of the present study is to validate a self-administered version of the Hawaii FFQ modified for use in the general adult population of Newfoundland and Labrador (NL). Methods Over a one year period, 195 randomly selected adults completed four 24-hour dietary recalls (24-HDRs) by telephone and one subsequent self-administered FFQ. Estimates of energy and nutrients derived from the 24-HDRs and FFQs were compared (protein, carbohydrate, fibre, fat, vitamin A, carotene, vitamin D, and calcium). Data were analyzed using the Pearson’s correlation coefficients, cross-classification method, and Bland–Altman plots. Results The mean nutrient intake values of the 24-HDRs were lower than those of the FFQs, except for protein in men. Sex and energy-adjusted de-attenuated Pearson correlation coefficients for each nutrient varied from 0.13 to 0.61. Except for protein in men, all correlations were statistically significant with p food consumption in the general adult population of NL. This tool can be used to classify individual energy and nutrient intakes into quartiles, which is useful in examining relationships between diet and chronic disease. PMID:23590645

You are what you choose to eat: factors influencing young adults' food selection behaviour.

Science.gov (United States)

Hebden, L; Chan, H N; Louie, J C; Rangan, A; Allman-Farinelli, M

2015-08-01

Young or 'emerging' adulthood (ages 18-24 years) is a life-stage characterised by rapid weight gain, particularly among those born in recent decades, when environments have become saturated with cheap, highly palatable, processed foods. Although intervening in the immediate food environments of emerging adults is indicated, little is known about the factors influencing their food selection. The present study aimed to: (i) measure the relative importance of different influences on foods selected by emerging adults for consumption from a tertiary education setting and (ii) examine whether these influences differ according to gender, adiposity status, perceived stress and dieting or physical activity behaviours. An online survey was administered with 112 emerging adults aged 19-24 years assessing demographics, perceived stress, dieting, physical activity and influences on food selection. Adiposity indicators (body mass index and waist circumference) were measured. Analyses compared the importance of influences on food selection by gender, adiposity, perceived stress, dieting and physical activity. Taste was the most important influence on food selection, followed by convenience (availability), cost, nutrition/health value, smell and stimulatory properties (alertness). Participants with an elevated waist circumference selected foods to help them cope with stress and control their weight. Those reporting a higher level of physical activity placed greater importance on nutritional/health value of foods but less importance on taste. Female dieters also placed less importance on taste and value for money. Health promotion strategies addressing tertiary education food environments of emerging adults should ensure the ready availability of tasty and nutritious foods at a low cost. © 2015 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Prevalence and characteristics of reported penicillin allergy in an urban outpatient adult population.

Science.gov (United States)

Albin, Stephanie; Agarwal, Shradha

2014-01-01

Penicillin allergy remains the most common drug allergy, with a reported prevalence of 10% in the United States. Epidemiology of penicillin allergy in outpatient populations is relatively scarce. This study sought to determine the prevalence and characteristics of reported penicillin allergy in an urban outpatient population and to identify trends in clinical evaluation and management from a tertiary center serving a large inner-city population. A retrospective review of electronic medical records was performed of adult patients seen in the Internal Medicine Associates Clinic of Mount Sinai Hospital between January 31, 2012, and July 31, 2012. Medical records were selected based on the documentation of penicillin in patient's allergy section. Of the 11,761 patients seen in the clinic, 1348 patients (11.5%) reported a history of penicillin allergy. The most common allergic reactions were rash (37%), unknown/undocumented (20.2%), hives (18.9%), swelling/angioedema (11.8%), and anaphylaxis (6.8%). There was an increased prevalence of penicillin allergy in female patients compared with male patients (odds ratio [OR] = 1.82; 95% CI = 1.60, 2.08; p penicillin allergy compared with Caucasians (OR = 0.51; 95% CI = 0.32, 0.83; p = 0.007). However, only 78 (6%) of the patients reporting penicillin allergy had a referral to an allergy specialist. Overall, improved referral to an allergist will help to identify patients who have penicillin allergy requiring avoidance.

A descriptive study on selected growth parameters and growth hormone receptor gene in healthy young adults from the American Midwest.

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Hartin, Samantha N; Hossain, Waheeda A; Manzardo, Ann M; Brown, Shaquanna; Fite, Paula J; Bortolato, Marco; Butler, Merlin G

2018-02-12

The first study of growth hormone receptor (GHR) genotypes in healthy young adults in the United States attending a Midwestern university and impact on selected growth parameters. To describe the frequency of GHR genotypes in a sample of healthy young adults from the United States attending a university in the Midwest and analyze the relationship between GHR genotypes and selected growth parameters. Saliva was collected from 459 healthy young adults (237 females, 222 males; age range = 18-25 y) and DNA isolated for genotyping of GHR alleles (fl/fl, fl/d3, or d3/d3). Selected growth parameters were collected and GHR genotype data examined for previously reported associations (e.g., height, weight or bone mass density) or novel findings (e.g., % body water and index finger length). We found 219 participants (48%) homozygous for fl/fl, 203 (44%), heterozygous fl/d3 and 37 (8%) homozygous d3/d3. The distribution of GHR genotypes in our participants was consistent with previous reports of non-US populations. Several anthropometric measures differed by sex. The distribution of GHR genotypes did not significantly differ by sex, weight, or other anthropometric measures. However, the fl/d3 genotype was more common among African-Americans. Our study of growth and anthropometric parameters in relationship to GHR genotypes found no association with height, weight, right index finger length, BMI, bone mass density, % body fat or % body water in healthy young adults. We did identify sex differences with increased body fat, decreased bone density, body water and index finger length in females. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimating the population density of the Asian tapir (Tapirus indicus) in a selectively logged forest in Peninsular Malaysia.

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Rayan, D Mark; Mohamad, Shariff Wan; Dorward, Leejiah; Aziz, Sheema Abdul; Clements, Gopalasamy Reuben; Christopher, Wong Chai Thiam; Traeholt, Carl; Magintan, David

2012-12-01

The endangered Asian tapir (Tapirus indicus) is threatened by large-scale habitat loss, forest fragmentation and increased hunting pressure. Conservation planning for this species, however, is hampered by a severe paucity of information on its ecology and population status. We present the first Asian tapir population density estimate from a camera trapping study targeting tigers in a selectively logged forest within Peninsular Malaysia using a spatially explicit capture-recapture maximum likelihood based framework. With a trap effort of 2496 nights, 17 individuals were identified corresponding to a density (standard error) estimate of 9.49 (2.55) adult tapirs/100 km(2) . Although our results include several caveats, we believe that our density estimate still serves as an important baseline to facilitate the monitoring of tapir population trends in Peninsular Malaysia. Our study also highlights the potential of extracting vital ecological and population information for other cryptic individually identifiable animals from tiger-centric studies, especially with the use of a spatially explicit capture-recapture maximum likelihood based framework. © 2012 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd, ISZS and IOZ/CAS.

Larval Population Density Alters Adult Sleep in Wild-Type Drosophila melanogaster but Not in Amnesiac Mutant Flies

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Michael W. Chi

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Sleep has many important biological functions, but how sleep is regulated remains poorly understood. In humans, social isolation and other stressors early in life can disrupt adult sleep. In fruit flies housed at different population densities during early adulthood, social enrichment was shown to increase subsequent sleep, but it is unknown if population density during early development can also influence adult sleep. To answer this question, we maintained Drosophila larvae at a range of population densities throughout larval development, kept them isolated during early adulthood, and then tested their sleep patterns. Our findings reveal that flies that had been isolated as larvae had more fragmented sleep than those that had been raised at higher population densities. This effect was more prominent in females than in males. Larval population density did not affect sleep in female flies that were mutant for amnesiac, which has been shown to be required for normal memory consolidation, adult sleep regulation, and brain development. In contrast, larval population density effects on sleep persisted in female flies lacking the olfactory receptor or83b, suggesting that olfactory signals are not required for the effects of larval population density on adult sleep. These findings show that population density during early development can alter sleep behavior in adulthood, suggesting that genetic and/or structural changes are induced by this developmental manipulation that persist through metamorphosis.

Accuracy of genomic selection for alfalfa biomass yield in different reference populations.

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Annicchiarico, Paolo; Nazzicari, Nelson; Li, Xuehui; Wei, Yanling; Pecetti, Luciano; Brummer, E Charles

2015-12-01

Genomic selection based on genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) data could accelerate alfalfa yield gains, if it displayed moderate ability to predict parent breeding values. Its interest would be enhanced by predicting ability also for germplasm/reference populations other than those for which it was defined. Predicting accuracy may be influenced by statistical models, SNP calling procedures and missing data imputation strategies. Landrace and variety material from two genetically-contrasting reference populations, i.e., 124 elite genotypes adapted to the Po Valley (sub-continental climate; PV population) and 154 genotypes adapted to Mediterranean-climate environments (Me population), were genotyped by GBS and phenotyped in separate environments for dry matter yield of their dense-planted half-sib progenies. Both populations showed no sub-population genetic structure. Predictive accuracy was higher by joint rather than separate SNP calling for the two data sets, and using random forest imputation of missing data. Highest accuracy was obtained using Support Vector Regression (SVR) for PV, and Ridge Regression BLUP and SVR for Me germplasm. Bayesian methods (Bayes A, Bayes B and Bayesian Lasso) tended to be less accurate. Random Forest Regression was the least accurate model. Accuracy attained about 0.35 for Me in the range of 0.30-0.50 missing data, and 0.32 for PV at 0.50 missing data, using at least 10,000 SNP markers. Cross-population predictions based on a smaller subset of common SNPs implied a relative loss of accuracy of about 25% for Me and 30% for PV. Genome-wide association analyses based on large subsets of M. truncatula-aligned markers revealed many SNPs with modest association with yield, and some genome areas hosting putative QTLs. A comparison of genomic vs. conventional selection for parent breeding value assuming 1-year vs. 5-year selection cycles, respectively, indicated over three-fold greater predicted yield gain per unit time for genomic selection

Estimation of the ancestral effective population sizes of African great apes under different selection regimes.

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Schrago, Carlos G

2014-08-01

Reliable estimates of ancestral effective population sizes are necessary to unveil the population-level phenomena that shaped the phylogeny and molecular evolution of the African great apes. Although several methods have previously been applied to infer ancestral effective population sizes, an analysis of the influence of the selective regime on the estimates of ancestral demography has not been thoroughly conducted. In this study, three independent data sets under different selective regimes were used were composed to tackle this issue. The results showed that selection had a significant impact on the estimates of ancestral effective population sizes of the African great apes. The inference of the ancestral demography of African great apes was affected by the selection regime. The effects, however, were not homogeneous along the ancestral populations of great apes. The effective population size of the ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was more impacted by the selection regime when compared to the same parameter in the ancestor of humans, chimpanzees and gorillas. Because the selection regime influenced the estimates of ancestral effective population size, it is reasonable to assume that a portion of the discrepancy found in previous studies that inferred the ancestral effective population size may be attributable to the differential action of selection on the genes sampled.

Problematic Video Game Play and ADHD Traits in an Adult Population.

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Panagiotidi, Maria

2017-05-01

This study examined the relationship between problematic video game play (PVGP), video game usage, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) traits in an adult population. A sample of 205 healthy adult volunteers completed the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS), a video game usage questionnaire, and the Problem Video Game Playing Test (PVGT). A significant positive correlation was found between the ASRS and the PVGT. More specifically, inattention symptoms and time spent playing video games were the best predictors of PVGP. No relationship was found between frequency and duration of play and ADHD traits. Hyperactivity symptoms were not associated with PVGP. Our results suggest that there is a positive relationship between ADHD traits and problematic video game play. In particular, adults with higher level of self-reported inattention symptoms could be at higher risk of PVGP.

What Is the Prevalence of Adult ADHD? Results of a Population Screen of 966 Adults

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Faraone, Stephen V.; Biederman, Joseph

2005-01-01

To provide a better estimate of the prevalence of ADHD in adulthood, the authors complete a telephone survey of 966 randomly selected adults. They compute two diagnoses from the survey data. Participants meeting "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (4th ed.) criteria for both childhood and adulthood are defined as narrow ADHD.…

Footprints of directional selection in wild Atlantic salmon populations: evidence for parasite-driven evolution?

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Zueva, Ksenia J; Lumme, Jaakko; Veselov, Alexey E; Kent, Matthew P; Lien, Sigbjørn; Primmer, Craig R

2014-01-01

Mechanisms of host-parasite co-adaptation have long been of interest in evolutionary biology; however, determining the genetic basis of parasite resistance has been challenging. Current advances in genome technologies provide new opportunities for obtaining a genome-scale view of the action of parasite-driven natural selection in wild populations and thus facilitate the search for specific genomic regions underlying inter-population differences in pathogen response. European populations of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) exhibit natural variance in susceptibility levels to the ectoparasite Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg 1957, ranging from resistance to extreme susceptibility, and are therefore a good model for studying the evolution of virulence and resistance. However, distinguishing the molecular signatures of genetic drift and environment-associated selection in small populations such as land-locked Atlantic salmon populations presents a challenge, specifically in the search for pathogen-driven selection. We used a novel genome-scan analysis approach that enabled us to i) identify signals of selection in salmon populations affected by varying levels of genetic drift and ii) separate potentially selected loci into the categories of pathogen (G. salaris)-driven selection and selection acting upon other environmental characteristics. A total of 4631 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were screened in Atlantic salmon from 12 different northern European populations. We identified three genomic regions potentially affected by parasite-driven selection, as well as three regions presumably affected by salinity-driven directional selection. Functional annotation of candidate SNPs is consistent with the role of the detected genomic regions in immune defence and, implicitly, in osmoregulation. These results provide new insights into the genetic basis of pathogen susceptibility in Atlantic salmon and will enable future searches for the specific genes involved.

Serum levels of organochlorine pesticides in the French adult population: the French National Nutrition and Health Study (ENNS), 2006-2007.

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Saoudi, Abdessattar; Fréry, Nadine; Zeghnoun, Abdelkrim; Bidondo, Marie-Laure; Deschamps, Valérie; Göen, Thomas; Garnier, Robert; Guldner, Laurence

2014-02-15

Although most organochlorine (OC) pesticides were banned in France in the 1970s and 1980s, they remain a source of public concern. Because of their high persistence in the environment, they are still detected in foodstuffs, leading to continued human exposure. The purpose of this study was to assess the distribution of serum organochlorine (OC) pesticides in the French adult population and to identify the main risk factors for p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl dichlorethylene (DDE), β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB). The selected OC pesticides (HCB, DDE, DDT, α-HCH, β-HCB and γ-HCH) were measured in serum samples collected in 2006-2007 from 386 persons (aged 18-74 years) randomly selected among the participants in the clinical and biological component of the French Nutrition and Health Survey (Etude Nationale Nutrition Santé [ENNS]), a cross-sectional survey carried out in the general population. Collected data included biological samples, socio-demographic characteristics, and data about environmental and occupational exposure factors. Of the six OC pesticides investigated, the highest concentrations were observed for HCB, β-HCH and DDE. Median serum concentrations were as follows: 22.8 ng/g lipid for HCB, 0.74 and 27.0 ng/g lipid, respectively, for α- and ß-HCH, and 3.8 and 104.6 ng/g lipid, respectively, for DDT and DDE. Lindane (γ-HCH) was detected in approximately 10% of the sample. OC pesticide levels in serum in French adults were higher (except for DDT and DDE) than those observed in American, Canadian and German populations and generally lower than or in the same range as those observed in other European countries. The low serum DDT/DDE ratio in the present study (3.7%) would suggest that the concentrations observed for these two OC pesticides were mainly the result of past exposure. The most important predictors of serum DDE, HCB and β-HCH concentrations among the French adult population included individual factors (age, gender

[Osteoarthritis in the adult population of the Republic of Kazakhstan].

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Nogaeva, M G

2015-01-01

To analyze overall and new-onset osteoarthritis (OA) morbidity among the adult population in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2011-2012. The data of annual statistical reports "On Population Health and Public Health System" (Form No. 12) in 2011-2012 were analyzed. The indicators in the Republic of Kazakhstan were taken from the statistical collected articles "Population Health in the Republic of Kazakhstan and Activities of Healthcare Facilities". A comparative analysis of the indicators revealed a rising trend in overall morbidity by 1%, including in the incidence of musculoskeletal diseases (MSD) by 3% (the increase rate per 100,000 population was 2%). An analysis of the incidence of MSD per 100,000 population in some regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan showed an upward trend in the Almaty Region: the incidence increased among the women and the 18 or more year olds by 23 and 16%, respectively. Among the adults (aged 18 years or older) and women, the number of patients with a newly diagnosed coxarthrosis (CA) increased by 43 and 18%, respectively; the number of those with gonarthrosis (GA) rose by 36 and 33%, respectively. The people older than 60 years of age and women showed 122 and 82% rises in the number of patients with a newly diagnosed CA; there were 78% increment rates in the patients with GA and 68% in the women. In the Republic of Kazakhstan, there was a high incidence of OA in both the people aged 18 years or older with newly diagnosed CA, GA and the people over 60 years of age, in women in particular.

Cost-Effectiveness of a Community Exercise and Nutrition Program for Older Adults: Texercise Select.

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Akanni, Olufolake Odufuwa; Smith, Matthew Lee; Ory, Marcia G

2017-05-20

The wide-spread dissemination of evidence-based programs that can improve health outcomes among older populations often requires an understanding of factors influencing community adoption of such programs. One such program is Texercise Select , a community-based health promotion program previously shown to improve functional health, physical activity, nutritional habits and quality of the life among older adults. This paper assesses the cost-effectiveness of Texercise Select in the context of supportive environments to facilitate its delivery and statewide sustainability. Participants were surveyed using self-reported instruments distributed at program baseline and conclusion. Program costs were based on actual direct costs of program implementation and included costs of recruitment and outreach, personnel costs and participant incentives. Program effectiveness was measured using quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained, as well as health outcomes, such as healthy days, weekly physical activity and Timed Up-and-Go (TUG) test scores. Preference-based EuroQol (EQ-5D) scores were estimated from the number of healthy days reported by participants and converted into QALYs. There was a significant increase in the number of healthy days ( p nutrition-related outcomes among participants, this study supports the use of Texercise Select as an intervention with substantial health and cost benefits.

Trends in diet quality among adolescents, adults and older adults: A population-based study

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Samantha Caesar de Andrade, PhD

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to monitor diet quality and associated factors in adolescents, adults and older adults from the city of São Paulo, Brazil. We conducted a cross-sectional population-based study involving 2376 individuals surveyed in 2003, and 1662 individuals in 2008 (Health Survey of São Paulo, ISA-Capital. Participants were of both sexes and aged 12 to 19 years old (adolescents, 20 to 59 years old (adults and 60 years old or over (older adults. Food intake was assessed using the 24-h dietary recall method while diet quality was determined by the Brazilian Healthy Eating Index (BHEI-R. The prevalence of descriptive variables for 2003 and 2008 was compared adopting a confidence interval of 95%. The means of total BHEI-R score and its components for 2003 and 2008 were compared for each age group. Associations between the BHEI-R and independent variables were evaluated for each survey year using multiple linear regression analysis. Results showed that the mean BHEI-R increased (54.9 vs. 56.4 points over the five-year period. However, the age group evaluation showed a deterioration in diet quality of adolescents, influenced by a decrease in scores for dark-green and orange vegetables and legumes, total grains, oils and SoFAAS (solid fat, alcohol and added sugar components. In the 2008 survey, adults had a higher BHEI-R score, by 6.1 points on average, compared to adolescents. Compared to older adults, this difference was 10.7 points. The diet quality remains a concern, especially among adolescents, that had the worst results compared to the other age groups.

[Alimentation dependent health disorders among adult population of Bashkortostan Republic and their relation with nutritional traits].

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Takaev, R M; Kondrova, N S; Baĭkina, I M; Larionova, T K

2008-01-01

The authors demonstrated relationship between alimentation dependent diseases among adult population of the Republic and nutritional traits of the population, defined major directions of program to optimize nutrition of the population.

Factors Associated with Physical Inactivity among Adult Urban Population of Puducherry, India: A Population Based Cross-sectional Study.

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Newtonraj, Ariarathinam; Murugan, Natesan; Singh, Zile; Chauhan, Ramesh Chand; Velavan, Anandan; Mani, Manikandan

2017-05-01

Physical inactivity is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide. Increase in physical activity decreases the incidence of cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, and improves psychological wellbeing. To study the level of physical inactivity among the adult population in an urban area of Puducherry in India and its associated risk factors. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 569 adult participants from an urban area of Pondicherry. The level of physical inactivity was measured by using WHO standard Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). Overall prevalence of physical inactivity in our study was 49.7% (CI: 45.6-53.8). Among the physically active people, contribution of physical activity by work was 77.4%, leisure time activities were 11.6% and transport time was 11%. Both men and women were equally inactive {Physically inactive among women was 50% (CI:44.1-55.9)} and {Physically inactive among men was 49.5% (CI:43.8-55.2)}. Prevalence of physical inactivity was increasing with increasing age. Non tobacco users were two times more active than tobacco users {Adjusted Odds Ratio: 2.183 (1.175- 4.057)}. Employed were more active as compared to retired {Adjusted Odds Ratio: 0.412 (0.171-0.991)}, students {Adjusted Odds Ratio: 0.456 (0.196-1.060)}, house wives {Adjusted Odds Ratio: 0.757 (0.509-1.127)} and unemployed {Adjusted Odds Ratio: 0.538 (0.271-1.068)}. Non alcoholics were only 0.34 times as active as alcoholics. Level of physical activity was found to be insufficient among adult urban population of Puducherry. Working adult population found to be active, that too due to their work pattern. There is a need to promote leisure time and travelling time physical activity.

Selection from parasites favours immunogenetic diversity but not divergence among locally adapted host populations.

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Tobler, M; Plath, M; Riesch, R; Schlupp, I; Grasse, A; Munimanda, G K; Setzer, C; Penn, D J; Moodley, Y

2014-05-01

The unprecedented polymorphism in the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes is thought to be maintained by balancing selection from parasites. However, do parasites also drive divergence at MHC loci between host populations, or do the effects of balancing selection maintain similarities among populations? We examined MHC variation in populations of the livebearing fish Poecilia mexicana and characterized their parasite communities. Poecilia mexicana populations in the Cueva del Azufre system are locally adapted to darkness and the presence of toxic hydrogen sulphide, representing highly divergent ecotypes or incipient species. Parasite communities differed significantly across populations, and populations with higher parasite loads had higher levels of diversity at class II MHC genes. However, despite different parasite communities, marked divergence in adaptive traits and in neutral genetic markers, we found MHC alleles to be remarkably similar among host populations. Our findings indicate that balancing selection from parasites maintains immunogenetic diversity of hosts, but this process does not promote MHC divergence in this system. On the contrary, we suggest that balancing selection on immunogenetic loci may outweigh divergent selection causing divergence, thereby hindering host divergence and speciation. Our findings support the hypothesis that balancing selection maintains MHC similarities among lineages during and after speciation (trans-species evolution). © 2014 The Authors. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2014 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Spatial distribution of juvenile and adult stages of limnetic Cladocera in relation to selected environmental factors

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Małgorzata Adamczuk

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Environmental factors have a varied impact on the development of juvenile and adult Cladocera, depending on their different physiological conditions and body size. The values of these factors alter spatially and temporarily, thus implying that they play a role in the spatial distribution of the pre-reproductive and potentially reproductive stages of cladocerans. The aim of the study was to determine seasonal and spatial variations in the distribution of juvenile and adult individuals of limnetic Cladocera in relation to selected physicochemical factors (temperature, conductivity, pH, concentration of dissolved oxygen, total organic carbon, total suspended solids and fish predation pressure (measured by Chesson’s coefficient λ in deep Lake Piaseczno (eastern Poland. Adult Cladocera displayed spatial distribution related to fish predation pressure. The species selectively eaten, B. coregoni and D. longispina, and non-selectively eaten, D. cucullata, selected the pelagic zone to exist, whereas those avoided by fish, D. brachyurum and B. longirostris, were evenly distributed in the littoral and pelagic zone. Juvenile cladocerans were strongly impacted by physico-chemical factors. Juvenile Daphnia, Diaphanosoma and B. longirostris showed preferences to biotic zones similar to the adults but differed in their habitat choices. Juvenile and adult stages of B. coregoni differed in their distribution, indicating that adult individuals impacted by high predation pressure alternatively modified their habitat selection. Principal component analysis (PCA ordination showed a seasonal tendency for the spatial segregation of the cladocerans, suggesting that possible competitive interactions between the studied cladocerans may also influence their distribution patterns.

Linking resource selection and mortality modeling for population estimation of mountain lions in Montana

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Robinson, Hugh S.; Ruth, Toni K.; Gude, Justin A.; Choate, David; DeSimone, Rich; Hebblewhite, Mark; Matchett, Marc R.; Mitchell, Michael S.; Murphy, Kerry; Williams, Jim

2015-01-01

To be most effective, the scale of wildlife management practices should match the range of a particular species’ movements. For this reason, combined with our inability to rigorously or regularly census mountain lion populations, several authors have suggested that mountain lions be managed in a source-sink or metapopulation framework. We used a combination of resource selection functions, mortality estimation, and dispersal modeling to estimate cougar population levels in Montana statewide and potential population level effects of planned harvest levels. Between 1980 and 2012, 236 independent mountain lions were collared and monitored for research in Montana. From these data we used 18,695 GPS locations collected during winter from 85 animals to develop a resource selection function (RSF), and 11,726 VHF and GPS locations from 142 animals along with the locations of 6343 mountain lions harvested from 1988–2011 to validate the RSF model. Our RSF model validated well in all portions of the State, although it appeared to perform better in Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (MFWP) Regions 1, 2, 4 and 6, than in Regions 3, 5, and 7. Our mean RSF based population estimate for the total population (kittens, juveniles, and adults) of mountain lions in Montana in 2005 was 3926, with almost 25% of the entire population in MFWP Region 1. Estimates based on a high and low reference population estimates produce a possible range of 2784 to 5156 mountain lions statewide. Based on a range of possible survival rates we estimated the mountain lion population in Montana to be stable to slightly increasing between 2005 and 2010 with lambda ranging from 0.999 (SD = 0.05) to 1.02 (SD = 0.03). We believe these population growth rates to be a conservative estimate of true population growth. Our model suggests that proposed changes to female harvest quotas for 2013–2015 will result in an annual statewide population decline of 3% and shows that, due to reduced dispersal, changes to

Accuracy of genomic selection in European maize elite breeding populations.

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Zhao, Yusheng; Gowda, Manje; Liu, Wenxin; Würschum, Tobias; Maurer, Hans P; Longin, Friedrich H; Ranc, Nicolas; Reif, Jochen C

2012-03-01

Genomic selection is a promising breeding strategy for rapid improvement of complex traits. The objective of our study was to investigate the prediction accuracy of genomic breeding values through cross validation. The study was based on experimental data of six segregating populations from a half-diallel mating design with 788 testcross progenies from an elite maize breeding program. The plants were intensively phenotyped in multi-location field trials and fingerprinted with 960 SNP markers. We used random regression best linear unbiased prediction in combination with fivefold cross validation. The prediction accuracy across populations was higher for grain moisture (0.90) than for grain yield (0.58). The accuracy of genomic selection realized for grain yield corresponds to the precision of phenotyping at unreplicated field trials in 3-4 locations. As for maize up to three generations are feasible per year, selection gain per unit time is high and, consequently, genomic selection holds great promise for maize breeding programs.

Prevalence, awareness, treatment, control and risk factors related to hypertension among urban adults in Inner Mongolia 2014: differences between Mongolian and Han populations

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Guoju Li

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Han and Mongolian populations constitute approximately 96 % of the population of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the two ethnic groups have different genetic backgrounds and lifestyle. We aim to assess the prevalence, awareness, treatment, control, and related risk factors of hypertension among urban adults in Inner Mongolia, with the comparison of the differences between Mongolian and Han populations in this respect. Methods Three thousand two hundred fifty-one individuals aged 20–80 years (2326 Han and 925 Mongolian were selected using a multistage cluster sampling method from Inner Mongolia in 2014. The adjusted prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension were evaluated by the Logistic regression. In addition, possible interactions were also tested. When interactions were found significant, strata-specific analysis were performed. Multivariate logistic regression was used for estimating independent associations between risk factors and hypertension. Results The prevalence of hypertension was 27.47 % for Han population, 31.46 % for Mongolian population. The adjusted prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension were 26.45, 65.43, 78.24 and 48.28 % in Han, and 31.30, 68.22, 85.57 and 50.55 % in Mongolian, respectively. There was no significant difference in the adjusted awareness, treatment and control of hypertension among Mongolian and Han adult residents (all P >0.05. Lower prevalence of hypertension was associated with younger age and healthy weight in both Mongolian and Han adults. Within Han adults, high education, moderate physical activity and non-alcohol drinkers were additionally associated with lower prevalence of hypertension, whereas within Mongolian adults, lower prevalence was associated with being female. Among residents with medium education level, nondrinkers had 0.60 times lower odds of having hypertension than current drinkers (OR = 0.60, 95 % CI: 0.44–0

Health disparities between lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults and the general population in South Korea: Rainbow Connection Project I

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Horim Yi

2017-10-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES This study aims to investigate health disparities between lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB adults and the general population in Korea, where there is low public acceptance of sexual minorities and a lack of research on the health of sexual minorities. METHODS The research team conducted a nationwide survey of 2,335 Korean LGB adults in 2016. Using the dataset, we estimated the age-standardized prevalence ratios (SPRs for poor self-rated health, musculoskeletal pain, depressive symptoms, suicidal behaviors, smoking, and hazardous drinking. We then compared the SPRs of the LGB adults and the general population which participated in three different nationally representative surveys in Korea. SPRs were estimated for each of the four groups (i.e., gay men, bisexual men, lesbians, and bisexual women. RESULTS Korean LGB adults exhibited a statistically significantly higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation and attempts, and musculoskeletal pain than the general population. Lesbian and bisexual women had a higher risk of poor self-rated health and smoking than the general women population, whereas gay and bisexual men showed no differences with the general men population. Higher prevalence of hazardous drinking was observed among lesbians, gay men, and bisexual women compared to the general population, but was not observed in bisexual men. CONCLUSIONS The findings suggest that LGB adults have poorer health conditions compared to the general population in Korea. These results suggest that interventions are needed to address the health disparities of Korean LGB adults.

Health disparities between lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults and the general population in South Korea: Rainbow Connection Project I.

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Yi, Horim; Lee, Hyemin; Park, Jooyoung; Choi, Bokyoung; Kim, Seung-Sup

2017-01-01

This study aims to investigate health disparities between lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adults and the general population in Korea, where there is low public acceptance of sexual minorities and a lack of research on the health of sexual minorities. The research team conducted a nationwide survey of 2,335 Korean LGB adults in 2016. Using the dataset, we estimated the age-standardized prevalence ratios (SPRs) for poor self-rated health, musculoskeletal pain, depressive symptoms, suicidal behaviors, smoking, and hazardous drinking. We then compared the SPRs of the LGB adults and the general population which participated in three different nationally representative surveys in Korea. SPRs were estimated for each of the four groups (i.e., gay men, bisexual men, lesbians, and bisexual women). Korean LGB adults exhibited a statistically significantly higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation and attempts, and musculoskeletal pain than the general population. Lesbian and bisexual women had a higher risk of poor self-rated health and smoking than the general women population, whereas gay and bisexual men showed no differences with the general men population. Higher prevalence of hazardous drinking was observed among lesbians, gay men, and bisexual women compared to the general population, but was not observed in bisexual men. The findings suggest that LGB adults have poorer health conditions compared to the general population in Korea. These results suggest that interventions are needed to address the health disparities of Korean LGB adults.

Sex-specific roost selection by adult red bats in a diverse forested landscape

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Roger W. Perry; Ronald E. Thill; S. Andrew Carter

2007-01-01

The eastern red bat (Lasiurus borealis) is a common, widespread species that occurs throughout eastern North America; however, information on potential differences in roost selection between sexes is limited. We studied summer diurnal roosting of adult red bats in a diverse forested landscape to: (1) characterize roosts of adult males and females, (2...

A general population genetic framework for antagonistic selection that accounts for demography and recurrent mutation.

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Connallon, Tim; Clark, Andrew G

2012-04-01

Antagonistic selection--where alleles at a locus have opposing effects on male and female fitness ("sexual antagonism") or between components of fitness ("antagonistic pleiotropy")--might play an important role in maintaining population genetic variation and in driving phylogenetic and genomic patterns of sexual dimorphism and life-history evolution. While prior theory has thoroughly characterized the conditions necessary for antagonistic balancing selection to operate, we currently know little about the evolutionary interactions between antagonistic selection, recurrent mutation, and genetic drift, which should collectively shape empirical patterns of genetic variation. To fill this void, we developed and analyzed a series of population genetic models that simultaneously incorporate these processes. Our models identify two general properties of antagonistically selected loci. First, antagonistic selection inflates heterozygosity and fitness variance across a broad parameter range--a result that applies to alleles maintained by balancing selection and by recurrent mutation. Second, effective population size and genetic drift profoundly affect the statistical frequency distributions of antagonistically selected alleles. The "efficacy" of antagonistic selection (i.e., its tendency to dominate over genetic drift) is extremely weak relative to classical models, such as directional selection and overdominance. Alleles meeting traditional criteria for strong selection (N(e)s > 1, where N(e) is the effective population size, and s is a selection coefficient for a given sex or fitness component) may nevertheless evolve as if neutral. The effects of mutation and demography may generate population differences in overall levels of antagonistic fitness variation, as well as molecular population genetic signatures of balancing selection.

Dietary intake of metals by Mumbai adult population

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Raghunath, R. [Environmental Assessment Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai-400085 (India); Tripathi, R.M. [Environmental Assessment Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai-400085 (India)]. E-mail: rmt@apsara.barc.ernet.in; Suseela, B. [Environmental Assessment Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai-400085 (India); Bhalke, Sunil [Environmental Assessment Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai-400085 (India); Shukla, V.K. [Environmental Assessment Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai-400085 (India); Puranik, V.D. [Environmental Assessment Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai-400085 (India)

2006-03-01

Daily intake of 12 metals (Na, K, Ca, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Mg, Pb, Cd, Co and Ni) by Mumbai adult population were assessed by analysing duplicate diet samples. These metals were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) and stripping voltammetric techniques. A total of 250 diet samples containing 170 vegetarian diet and 80 non-vegetarian diet collected during April 2003 to March 2004 were analysed during this study. Daily dietary intakes of 2.4 g Na and 1.2 g K were observed for Mumbai adults. Daily dietary intakes of Ca, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn and Mg were 367, 1.0, 6.3, 6.7, 2.0 and 304 mg, respectively. Pb, Cd, Co and Ni intakes by Mumbai adults were 32.3, 2.2, 2.2 and 108 {mu}g/day, respectively. From this study it has been observed that the intake of toxic metals such as Pb, Cd and Ni is much lower than the tolerable daily intake derived from PTWI given by FAO/WHO and could not be considered harmful in this group of subjects. Daily intake of the studied 12 metals was found to be higher in non-vegetarian diet compared to the vegetarian diet (P < 0.02, 0.01)

Dietary intake of metals by Mumbai adult population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raghunath, R.; Tripathi, R.M.; Suseela, B.; Bhalke, Sunil; Shukla, V.K.; Puranik, V.D.

2006-01-01

Daily intake of 12 metals (Na, K, Ca, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn, Mg, Pb, Cd, Co and Ni) by Mumbai adult population were assessed by analysing duplicate diet samples. These metals were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) and stripping voltammetric techniques. A total of 250 diet samples containing 170 vegetarian diet and 80 non-vegetarian diet collected during April 2003 to March 2004 were analysed during this study. Daily dietary intakes of 2.4 g Na and 1.2 g K were observed for Mumbai adults. Daily dietary intakes of Ca, Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn and Mg were 367, 1.0, 6.3, 6.7, 2.0 and 304 mg, respectively. Pb, Cd, Co and Ni intakes by Mumbai adults were 32.3, 2.2, 2.2 and 108 μg/day, respectively. From this study it has been observed that the intake of toxic metals such as Pb, Cd and Ni is much lower than the tolerable daily intake derived from PTWI given by FAO/WHO and could not be considered harmful in this group of subjects. Daily intake of the studied 12 metals was found to be higher in non-vegetarian diet compared to the vegetarian diet (P < 0.02, 0.01)

Selection for narrow gate of emergence results in correlated sex-specific changes in life history of Drosophila melanogaster

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Vishwanath Varma

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Since the ability to time rhythmic behaviours in accordance with cyclic environments is likely to confer adaptive advantage to organisms, the underlying clocks are believed to be selected for stability in timekeeping over evolutionary time scales. Here we report the results of a study aimed at assessing fitness consequences of a long-term laboratory selection for tighter circadian organisation using fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster populations. We selected flies emerging in a narrow window of 1 h in the morning for several generations and assayed their life history traits such as pre-adult development time, survivorship, adult lifespan and lifetime fecundity. We chose flies emerging during the selection window (in the morning and another window (in the evening to represent adaptive and non-adaptive phenotypes, respectively, and examined the correlation of emergence time with adult fitness traits. Adult lifespan of males from the selected populations does not differ from the controls, whereas females from the selected populations have significantly shorter lifespan and produce more eggs during their mid-life compared to the controls. Although there is no difference in the lifespan of males of the selected populations, whether they emerge in morning or evening window, morning emerging females live slightly shorter and lay more eggs during the mid-life stage compared to those emerging in the evening. Interestingly, such a time of emergence dependent difference in fitness is not seen in flies from the control populations. These results, therefore, suggest reduced lifespan and enhanced mid-life reproductive output in females selected for narrow gate of emergence, and a sex-dependent genetic correlation between the timing of emergence and key fitness traits in these populations.

Prevalence and associated factors with alcohol use disorders among adults: a population-based study in southern Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Reisdorfer, Emilene; Büchele, Fátima; Pires, Rodrigo Otávio Moretti; Boing, Antonio Fernando

2012-09-01

The study aimed to describe the prevalence of alcohol use disorders in an adult population from Brazil and its association with demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral variables and health conditions. A population-based cross-sectional survey was conducted with adults (20 to 59 years) of a medium-sized city in Southern Brazil with a random sample of 1,720 individuals. Cluster sampling was done in two stages: census tract first and household second. Alcohol use disorders were measured using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) and associations were tested with selected variables by Poisson Regression. Results of multivariate analysis were expressed as prevalence ratios. The prevalence of alcohol use disorders in the population was 18.4% (95% CI: 16.6% - 20.3%), higher among men (29.9%) than in women (9.3%). The prevalence of abstinence was 30.6%; 6.8% of respondents had already caused problems to themselves or to others after drinking; and 10.3% reported that a relative, friend or doctor had already shown concern on their drinking. After multivariate analysis, an association with alcohol use disorders remained for: being male, age 20 to 29 years, being single, declaring to be light-skinned blacks and being an ex-smoker or current smoker. The prevalence of alcohol use disorders identified is high compared with other similar studies, with differences according to being male, age 20 to 29, skin color and tobacco use. These issues must be considered in formulating public health policies aimed at reducing problems related to alcohol use.

Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Adult Population of District of Tetovo in the Northwest Region of the Republic of Macedonia

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Atila Rexhepi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: To estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS and its separate components in the adult population of the district of Tetovo. Methods: Total of 630 subjects aged over 18 years were selected at random, from the primary healthcare register, to constitute a representative sample of a population in the district of Tetovo, adjusted for age and sex. MetS is defined according to the definition of the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATPIII. Results: The prevalence of MetS in the district of Tetovo was 28.25%. It was significantly higher in women than in men (34.06% versus 22.26%, p=0.004. The largest number of people with MetS living in rural areas (31.32% versus 23.60%, p=0.002. Of the particular components of MetS, 52.06% of the population had increased arterial blood pressure, 46.35% reduced values of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C and 43.17% abdominal adiposity (AA. In women population, more dominated was abdominal adiposity (59.38% and 26.54%, p=0.000, in men more dominated was increased arterial blood pressure (53.44% and 50.65%, p=0.48. Conclusion: The prevalence of MetS in our population is high, particularly in women. The prevalence rates for arterial hypertension and abdominal obesity are among the highest reported for the region. Advice on diet and change in lifestyles, in addition to the pharmacological treatment of this category, would contribute to the prevention of cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and complications from these diseases.

Phenotypic selection on flowering phenology and pollination efficiency traits between Primula populations with different pollinator assemblages.

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Wu, Yun; Li, Qing-Jun

2017-10-01

Floral traits have largely been attributed to phenotypic selection in plant-pollinator interactions. However, the strength of this link has rarely been ascertained with real pollinators. We conducted pollinator observations and estimated selection through female fitness on flowering phenology and floral traits between two Primula secundiflora populations. We quantified pollinator-mediated selection by subtracting estimates of selection gradients of plants receiving supplemental hand pollination from those of plants receiving open pollination. There was net directional selection for an earlier flowering start date at populations where the dominant pollinators were syrphid flies, and flowering phenology was also subjected to stabilized quadratic selection. However, a later flowering start date was significantly selected at populations where the dominant pollinators were legitimate (normal pollination through the corolla tube entrance) and illegitimate bumblebees (abnormal pollination through nectar robbing hole which located at the corolla tube), and flowering phenology was subjected to disruptive quadratic selection. Wider corolla tube entrance diameter was selected at both populations. Furthermore, the strength of net directional selection on flowering start date and corolla tube entrance diameter was stronger at the population where the dominant pollinators were syrphid flies. Pollinator-mediated selection explained most of the between-population variations in the net directional selection on flowering phenology and corolla tube entrance diameter. Our results suggested the important influence of pollinator-mediated selection on floral evolution. Variations in pollinator assemblages not only resulted in variation in the direction of selection but also the strength of selection on floral traits.

Population structure, migration, and diversifying selection in the Netherlands

Science.gov (United States)

Abdellaoui, Abdel; Hottenga, Jouke-Jan; Knijff, Peter de; Nivard, Michel G; Xiao, Xiangjun; Scheet, Paul; Brooks, Andrew; Ehli, Erik A; Hu, Yueshan; Davies, Gareth E; Hudziak, James J; Sullivan, Patrick F; van Beijsterveldt, Toos; Willemsen, Gonneke; de Geus, Eco J; Penninx, Brenda W J H; Boomsma, Dorret I

2013-01-01

Genetic variation in a population can be summarized through principal component analysis (PCA) on genome-wide data. PCs derived from such analyses are valuable for genetic association studies, where they can correct for population stratification. We investigated how to capture the genetic population structure in a well-characterized sample from the Netherlands and in a worldwide data set and examined whether (1) removing long-range linkage disequilibrium (LD) regions and LD-based SNP pruning significantly improves correlations between PCs and geography and (2) whether genetic differentiation may have been influenced by migration and/or selection. In the Netherlands, three PCs showed significant correlations with geography, distinguishing between: (1) North and South; (2) East and West; and (3) the middle-band and the rest of the country. The third PC only emerged with minimized LD, which also significantly increased correlations with geography for the other two PCs. In addition to geography, the Dutch North–South PC showed correlations with genome-wide homozygosity (r=0.245), which may reflect a serial-founder effect due to northwards migration, and also with height (♂: r=0.142, ♀: r=0.153). The divergence between subpopulations identified by PCs is partly driven by selection pressures. The first three PCs showed significant signals for diversifying selection (545 SNPs - the majority within 184 genes). The strongest signal was observed between North and South for the functional SNP in HERC2 that determines human blue/brown eye color. Thus, this study demonstrates how to increase ancestry signals in a relatively homogeneous population and how those signals can reveal evolutionary history. PMID:23531865

Sexual selection protects against extinction.

Science.gov (United States)

Lumley, Alyson J; Michalczyk, Łukasz; Kitson, James J N; Spurgin, Lewis G; Morrison, Catriona A; Godwin, Joanne L; Dickinson, Matthew E; Martin, Oliver Y; Emerson, Brent C; Chapman, Tracey; Gage, Matthew J G

2015-06-25

Reproduction through sex carries substantial costs, mainly because only half of sexual adults produce offspring. It has been theorized that these costs could be countered if sex allows sexual selection to clear the universal fitness constraint of mutation load. Under sexual selection, competition between (usually) males and mate choice by (usually) females create important intraspecific filters for reproductive success, so that only a subset of males gains paternity. If reproductive success under sexual selection is dependent on individual condition, which is contingent to mutation load, then sexually selected filtering through 'genic capture' could offset the costs of sex because it provides genetic benefits to populations. Here we test this theory experimentally by comparing whether populations with histories of strong versus weak sexual selection purge mutation load and resist extinction differently. After evolving replicate populations of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum for 6 to 7 years under conditions that differed solely in the strengths of sexual selection, we revealed mutation load using inbreeding. Lineages from populations that had previously experienced strong sexual selection were resilient to extinction and maintained fitness under inbreeding, with some families continuing to survive after 20 generations of sib × sib mating. By contrast, lineages derived from populations that experienced weak or non-existent sexual selection showed rapid fitness declines under inbreeding, and all were extinct after generation 10. Multiple mutations across the genome with individually small effects can be difficult to clear, yet sum to a significant fitness load; our findings reveal that sexual selection reduces this load, improving population viability in the face of genetic stress.

Levels and predictors of persistent organic pollutants in an adult population from four Spanish regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fernández-Rodríguez, M.; Arrebola, J.P.; Artacho-Cordón, F.; Amaya, E.; Aragones, N.; Llorca, J.; Perez-Gomez, B.

2015-01-01

This research aimed to assess serum concentrations of a group of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in a sample of adults recruited in four different regions from Spain and to assess socio-demographic, dietary, and lifestyle predictors of the exposure. The study population comprised 312 healthy adults selected from among controls recruited in the MCC-Spain multicase-control study. Study variables were collected using standardized questionnaires, and pollutants were analyzed by means of gas chromatography with electron capture detection. Multivariable analyses were performed to identify predictors of log-transformed pollutant concentrations, using combined backward and forward stepwise multiple linear regression models. Detection rates ranged from 89.1% (hexachlorobenzene, HCB) to 93.6% (Polychlorinated biphenyl-153 [PCB-153]); p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p′-DDE) showed the highest median concentrations (1.04 ng/ml), while HCB showed the lowest (0.24 ng/ml). In the multivariable models, age was positively associated with HCB, p,p′-DDE, and PCB-180. BMI was associated positively with p,p′-DDE but negatively with PCB-138. Total accumulated time residing in an urban area was positively associated with PCB-153 concentrations. The women showed higher HCB and lower p,p′-DDE concentrations versus the men. Notably, POP exposure in our study population was inversely associated with the breastfeeding received by participants and with the number of pregnancies of their mothers but was not related to the participants' history of breastfeeding their children or parity. Smoking was negatively associated with HCB and PCB-153 concentrations. Consumption of fatty foods, including blue fish, was in general positively associated with POP levels. Although POP environmental levels are declining worldwide, there is a need for the continuous monitoring of human exposure in the general population. The results of the present study confirm previous findings and point

Levels and predictors of persistent organic pollutants in an adult population from four Spanish regions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fernández-Rodríguez, M., E-mail: mafero@ugr.es [Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.Granada, University of Granada, San Cecilio University Hospital, Granada (Spain); Arrebola, J.P., E-mail: jparrebola@ugr.es [Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.Granada, University of Granada, San Cecilio University Hospital, Granada (Spain); Oncology Unit, Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital, Granada (Spain); Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (Spain); Artacho-Cordón, F.; Amaya, E. [Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.Granada, University of Granada, San Cecilio University Hospital, Granada (Spain); Aragones, N. [Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (Spain); Cancer Epidemiology Unit, National Center for Epidemiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (Spain); Cancer Epidemiology Research Group, Oncology and Hematology Area, IIS Puerta de Hierro (IDIPHIM), Majadahonda, Madrid (Spain); Llorca, J. [Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (Spain); Universidad de Cantabria-IDIVAL, Santander (Spain); Perez-Gomez, B. [Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology & Public Health (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (Spain); Cancer Epidemiology Unit, National Center for Epidemiology, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (Spain); Cancer Epidemiology Research Group, Oncology and Hematology Area, IIS Puerta de Hierro (IDIPHIM), Majadahonda, Madrid (Spain); and others

2015-12-15

This research aimed to assess serum concentrations of a group of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in a sample of adults recruited in four different regions from Spain and to assess socio-demographic, dietary, and lifestyle predictors of the exposure. The study population comprised 312 healthy adults selected from among controls recruited in the MCC-Spain multicase-control study. Study variables were collected using standardized questionnaires, and pollutants were analyzed by means of gas chromatography with electron capture detection. Multivariable analyses were performed to identify predictors of log-transformed pollutant concentrations, using combined backward and forward stepwise multiple linear regression models. Detection rates ranged from 89.1% (hexachlorobenzene, HCB) to 93.6% (Polychlorinated biphenyl-153 [PCB-153]); p,p′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p′-DDE) showed the highest median concentrations (1.04 ng/ml), while HCB showed the lowest (0.24 ng/ml). In the multivariable models, age was positively associated with HCB, p,p′-DDE, and PCB-180. BMI was associated positively with p,p′-DDE but negatively with PCB-138. Total accumulated time residing in an urban area was positively associated with PCB-153 concentrations. The women showed higher HCB and lower p,p′-DDE concentrations versus the men. Notably, POP exposure in our study population was inversely associated with the breastfeeding received by participants and with the number of pregnancies of their mothers but was not related to the participants' history of breastfeeding their children or parity. Smoking was negatively associated with HCB and PCB-153 concentrations. Consumption of fatty foods, including blue fish, was in general positively associated with POP levels. Although POP environmental levels are declining worldwide, there is a need for the continuous monitoring of human exposure in the general population. The results of the present study confirm previous findings and

Brazilian adults' sedentary behaviors by life domain: population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mielke, Grégore I; da Silva, Inácio C M; Owen, Neville; Hallal, Pedro C

2014-01-01

There is rapidly-emerging evidence on the harmful health effects of sedentary behaviors. The aim of this paper was to quantify time in sedentary behaviors and document socio-demographic variations in different life domains among adults. A population-based survey was carried out in 2012 through face-to-face interviews with Brazilian adults aged 20+ years (N = 2,927). Information about time spent sedentary in a typical weekday was collected for five different domains (workplace, commuting, school/university, watching TV, and computer use at home). Descriptive and bivariate analyses examined variations in overall and domain-specific sedentary time by gender, age, educational attainment and socioeconomic position. On average, participants reported spending 5.8 (SD 4.5) hours per day sitting. The median value was 4.5 (interquartile range: 2.5-8) hours. Men, younger adults, those with higher schooling and from the wealthiest socioeconomic groups had higher overall sedentary scores. TV time was higher in women, older adults and among those with low schooling and socioeconomic position. Sedentary time in transport was higher in men, younger adults, and participants with high schooling and high socioeconomic position. Computer use at home was more frequent among young adults and those from high socioeconomic groups. Sitting at work was higher in those with higher schooling and from the wealthiest socioeconomic groups. Sedentary behavior at school was related inversely to age and directly to schooling. Patterns of sedentary behavior are different by life domains. Initiatives to reduce prolonged sitting among Brazilian adults will be required on multiple levels for different life domains.

Brazilian adults' sedentary behaviors by life domain: population-based study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grégore I Mielke

Full Text Available There is rapidly-emerging evidence on the harmful health effects of sedentary behaviors. The aim of this paper was to quantify time in sedentary behaviors and document socio-demographic variations in different life domains among adults.A population-based survey was carried out in 2012 through face-to-face interviews with Brazilian adults aged 20+ years (N = 2,927. Information about time spent sedentary in a typical weekday was collected for five different domains (workplace, commuting, school/university, watching TV, and computer use at home. Descriptive and bivariate analyses examined variations in overall and domain-specific sedentary time by gender, age, educational attainment and socioeconomic position.On average, participants reported spending 5.8 (SD 4.5 hours per day sitting. The median value was 4.5 (interquartile range: 2.5-8 hours. Men, younger adults, those with higher schooling and from the wealthiest socioeconomic groups had higher overall sedentary scores. TV time was higher in women, older adults and among those with low schooling and socioeconomic position. Sedentary time in transport was higher in men, younger adults, and participants with high schooling and high socioeconomic position. Computer use at home was more frequent among young adults and those from high socioeconomic groups. Sitting at work was higher in those with higher schooling and from the wealthiest socioeconomic groups. Sedentary behavior at school was related inversely to age and directly to schooling.Patterns of sedentary behavior are different by life domains. Initiatives to reduce prolonged sitting among Brazilian adults will be required on multiple levels for different life domains.

Highly selective population of two excited states in nonresonant two-photon absorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Hui; Zhang Shi-An; Sun Zhen-Rong

2011-01-01

A nonresonant two-photon absorption process can be manipulated by tailoring the ultra-short laser pulse. In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate a highly selective population of two excited states in the nonresonant two-photon absorption process by rationally designing a spectral phase distribution. Our results show that one excited state is maximally populated while the other state population is widely tunable from zero to the maximum value. We believe that the theoretical results may play an important role in the selective population of a more complex nonlinear process comprising nonresonant two-photon absorption, such as resonance-mediated (2+1)-three-photon absorption and (2+1)-resonant multiphoton ionization. (atomic and molecular physics)

Identifying footprints of selection in stocked brown trout populations: a spatio-temporal approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Michael Møller; Meier, Kristian; Mensberg, Karen-Lise Dons

2010-01-01

Studies of interactions between farmed and wild salmonid fishes have suggested reduced fitness of farmed strains in the wild, but evidence for selection at the genic level is lacking. We studied three brown trout populations in Denmark which have been significantly admixed with stocked hatchery...... trout (19–64%), along with two hatchery strains used for stocking. The wild populations were represented by contemporary samples (2000–2006) and two of them by historical samples (1943–1956). We analysed 61 microsatellite loci, nine of which showed putative functional relationships [expressed sequence...... trout. In the most strongly admixed population, however, there was no evidence for selection, possibly because of immigration by stocked trout overcoming selection against hatchery-derived alleles or supportive breeding practices allowing hatchery strain trout to escape natural selection. To our...

Validation of the Community Integration Questionnaire in the adult burn injury population.

Science.gov (United States)

Gerrard, Paul; Kazis, Lewis E; Ryan, Colleen M; Shie, Vivian L; Holavanahalli, Radha; Lee, Austin; Jette, Alan; Fauerbach, James A; Esselman, Peter; Herndon, David; Schneider, Jeffrey C

2015-11-01

With improved survival, long-term effects of burn injuries on quality of life, particularly community integration, are important outcomes. This study aims to assess the Community Integration Questionnaire's psychometric properties in the adult burn population. Data were obtained from a multicenter longitudinal data set of burn survivors. The psychometric properties of the Community Integration Questionnaire (n = 492) were examined. The questionnaire items were evaluated for clinical and substantive relevance; validation procedures were conducted on different samples of the population; construct validity was assessed using exploratory factor analysis; internal consistency reliability was examined using Cronbach's α statistics; and item response theory was applied to the final models. The CIQ-15 was reduced by two questions to form the CIQ-13, with a two-factor structure, interpreted as self/family care and social integration. Item response theory testing suggests that Factor 2 captures a wider range of community integration levels. Cronbach's α was 0.80 for Factor 1, 0.77 for Factor 2, and 0.79 for the test as a whole. The CIQ-13 demonstrates validity and reliability in the adult burn survivor population addressing issues of self/family care and social integration. This instrument is useful in future research of community reintegration outcomes in the burn population.

Using variable combination population analysis for variable selection in multivariate calibration.

Science.gov (United States)

Yun, Yong-Huan; Wang, Wei-Ting; Deng, Bai-Chuan; Lai, Guang-Bi; Liu, Xin-bo; Ren, Da-Bing; Liang, Yi-Zeng; Fan, Wei; Xu, Qing-Song

2015-03-03

Variable (wavelength or feature) selection techniques have become a critical step for the analysis of datasets with high number of variables and relatively few samples. In this study, a novel variable selection strategy, variable combination population analysis (VCPA), was proposed. This strategy consists of two crucial procedures. First, the exponentially decreasing function (EDF), which is the simple and effective principle of 'survival of the fittest' from Darwin's natural evolution theory, is employed to determine the number of variables to keep and continuously shrink the variable space. Second, in each EDF run, binary matrix sampling (BMS) strategy that gives each variable the same chance to be selected and generates different variable combinations, is used to produce a population of subsets to construct a population of sub-models. Then, model population analysis (MPA) is employed to find the variable subsets with the lower root mean squares error of cross validation (RMSECV). The frequency of each variable appearing in the best 10% sub-models is computed. The higher the frequency is, the more important the variable is. The performance of the proposed procedure was investigated using three real NIR datasets. The results indicate that VCPA is a good variable selection strategy when compared with four high performing variable selection methods: genetic algorithm-partial least squares (GA-PLS), Monte Carlo uninformative variable elimination by PLS (MC-UVE-PLS), competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS) and iteratively retains informative variables (IRIV). The MATLAB source code of VCPA is available for academic research on the website: http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/authors/498750. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Seroprevalence and disease burden of acute hepatitis A in adult population in South Korea.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jin Gu Yoon

Full Text Available Adult seroprevalence of HAV is decreasing in developed countries including South Korea, due to general sanitation improvement. Although hepatitis A vaccination was introduced in South Korea more than 20 years ago, recent infection rates have not decreased. In this study, we investigate the seroprevalence of anti-HAV IgG, and estimate the national disease burden of acute hepatitis A in adult population.Seroprevalence data were collected from health promotion center of Korea University Guro Hospital, in Seoul, Korea from 2010 to 2014. Data from adults (≥20-years being tested for anti-HAV IgG were included. In addition, epidemiological and clinical data of patients diagnosed with acute hepatitis A from 2009 to 2013, were collected from Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS and the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS database. Data were stratified and compared by age groups.A total of 11,177 subjects were tested for anti-HAV IgG from 2010 to 2014. Age-related seroprevalence showed relatively low seropositivity in young adults. Incidence of acute hepatitis A was highest in 2009 and lowest in 2013. When categorized by age group, adults in their 20s and 30s had more HAV infections and related-admissions than older adults. However, ICU admission rate and average insurance-covered cost was high in older adults.The anti-HAV IgG seropositivity in Korean younger adult population was low while the incidence of acute hepatitis A was high, especially in the 20-39 aged. However, a substantial number of older adults were infected, and required more intensive procedures and incurred higher insurance-covered medical costs.

Population pharmacokinetics of imatinib mesylate and its metabolite in children and young adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Menon-Andersen, Divya; Mondick, John T; Jayaraman, Bhuvana; Thompson, Patrick A; Blaney, Susan M; Bernstein, Mark; Bond, Mason; Champagne, Martin; Fossler, Michael J; Barrett, Jeffrey S

2009-01-01

Imatinib mesylate (Gleevec) is a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor approved for use in the management of chronic myeloid leukemia in adults and children and in gastrointestinal stromal tumors in adults. Population pharmacokinetic (PPK) studies evaluating the effect of population covariates on the pharmacokinetics of imatinib and its active metabolite have been developed in adults with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). However, this still remains to be described in children. The objectives of the analysis were to develop a PPK model of imatinib and its active metabolite, CGP74588, to describe exposure in children and young adults and to identify covariates that are predictors of variability in disposition. Plasma concentrations from 26 subjects with Philadelphia (Ph+) leukemia (Phase I study) and 15 subjects with refractory solid tumors (Phase II study), who received oral imatinib at doses ranging from 260 to 570 mg/m(2), were available for the PPK analysis in NONMEM. Blood samples were drawn prior to dosing and over 24-48 h on days 1 and 8 of the studies. Covariates studied included weight, age, albumin, alanine aminotransferase and the study population. The pharmacokinetics of imatinib and CGP 74588 were well described by one and two compartment models, respectively. Total body weight was the only covariate found to significantly affect Cl/F and V/F. The final imatinib-CGP 74588 model is summarized as follows: CL/F (imatinib) (L/h) = 10.8 x (WT/70)(0.75), V/F (imatinib) (L) = 284 x (WT/70) and D1(duration of zero order absorption,imatinib) (h) = 1.67 and CL/F (CGP 74588) (L/h) = 9.65 x (WT/70)(0.75), V1/F (CGP 74588) (L) = 11.6 x (WT/70), Q (CGP 74588) (L/h) = 2.9 x (WT/70)(0.75) and V2/F (CGP 74588) (L) = 256*(WT/70). Model evaluation indicated that the final model was robust and satisfactory. Current imatinib dosing guidelines in pediatrics is based on the achievement of exposures consistent with doses known to be

Modelling population effects of juvenile offshore fish displacement towards adult habitat

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

van de Wolfshaar, K.E.; Tulp, I.; Wennhage, H.

2015-01-01

consequences on population dynamics through changes in resource use and competition. To explore this, a conceptual stage-structured model was developed with 3 stages and 2 resources and allowing a move of large juveniles from the shallow to the deep habitat. Large juveniles compete with small juveniles...... in shallow waters and with adults in deeper waters. Alternative stable states occur, with one state dominated by small juvenile biomass and the other dominated by adult biomass. The model results show for both states that while large juvenile biomass responds to a change in time spent in the deep habitat...

Chronic periodontitis and oral health-related quality of life in Chinese adults: A population-based, cross-sectional study.

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He, Songlin; Wei, Shicheng; Wang, Jinhua; Ji, Ping

2018-03-01

This population-based, cross-sectional study explored the association between chronic periodontitis and oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in Chinese adults, independently of sociodemographic factors and other common oral conditions. The present study was carried out in a sample population of 480 adults aged 35 to 74 years from Chongqing municipality. A multi-stage stratified random sampling approach was adopted to select participants. The Chinese version of the short-form oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) was used to assess OHRQoL. Chronic periodontitis was trichotomized into mild, moderate, and severe periodontitis. Logistic regression models were adopted to explore the association between the severity of chronic periodontitis and OHIP-14 scores. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors and other common clinical conditions, participants with severe and moderate chronic periodontitis, respectively, had 1.63- (95% CI: 1.41 to 1.98) and 1.42-fold (95% CI: 1.29 to 1.63) higher odds for the OHIP-14 scores being above the median compared with participants without chronic periodontitis. However, participants with mild periodontitis did not have significantly higher odds for the OHIP-14 scores being above the median than participants without chronic periodontitis. Certain sociodemographic variables, including higher age, lower education level, number of missing teeth, and current smoker, had negative associations with OHRQoL. Chronic periodontitis was associated with poorer OHRQoL in Chinese adults. In addition, the impairment in OHRQoL showed a significant correlation with the severity of chronic periodontitis. © 2018 American Academy of Periodontology.

Bias due to sample selection in propensity score matching for a supportive housing program evaluation in New York City.

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Sungwoo Lim

Full Text Available OBJECTIVES: Little is known about influences of sample selection on estimation in propensity score matching. The purpose of the study was to assess potential selection bias using one-to-one greedy matching versus optimal full matching as part of an evaluation of supportive housing in New York City (NYC. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTINGS: Data came from administrative data for 2 groups of applicants who were eligible for an NYC supportive housing program in 2007-09, including chronically homeless adults with a substance use disorder and young adults aging out of foster care. We evaluated the 2 matching methods in their ability to balance covariates and represent the original population, and in how those methods affected outcomes related to Medicaid expenditures. RESULTS: In the population with a substance use disorder, only optimal full matching performed well in balancing covariates, whereas both methods created representative populations. In the young adult population, both methods balanced covariates effectively, but only optimal full matching created representative populations. In the young adult population, the impact of the program on Medicaid expenditures was attenuated when one-to-one greedy matching was used, compared with optimal full matching. CONCLUSION: Given covariate balancing with both methods, attenuated program impacts in the young adult population indicated that one-to-one greedy matching introduced selection bias.

The dynamics of diverse segmental amplifications in populations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae adapting to strong selection.

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Payen, Celia; Di Rienzi, Sara C; Ong, Giang T; Pogachar, Jamie L; Sanchez, Joseph C; Sunshine, Anna B; Raghuraman, M K; Brewer, Bonita J; Dunham, Maitreya J

2014-03-20

Population adaptation to strong selection can occur through the sequential or parallel accumulation of competing beneficial mutations. The dynamics, diversity, and rate of fixation of beneficial mutations within and between populations are still poorly understood. To study how the mutational landscape varies across populations during adaptation, we performed experimental evolution on seven parallel populations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae continuously cultured in limiting sulfate medium. By combining quantitative polymerase chain reaction, array comparative genomic hybridization, restriction digestion and contour-clamped homogeneous electric field gel electrophoresis, and whole-genome sequencing, we followed the trajectory of evolution to determine the identity and fate of beneficial mutations. During a period of 200 generations, the yeast populations displayed parallel evolutionary dynamics that were driven by the coexistence of independent beneficial mutations. Selective amplifications rapidly evolved under this selection pressure, in particular common inverted amplifications containing the sulfate transporter gene SUL1. Compared with single clones, detailed analysis of the populations uncovers a greater complexity whereby multiple subpopulations arise and compete despite a strong selection. The most common evolutionary adaptation to strong selection in these populations grown in sulfate limitation is determined by clonal interference, with adaptive variants both persisting and replacing one another.

The validity and reliability of the four square step test in different adult populations: a systematic review.

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Moore, Martha; Barker, Karen

2017-09-11

The four square step test (FSST) was first validated in healthy older adults to provide a measure of dynamic standing balance and mobility. The FSST has since been used in a variety of patient populations. The purpose of this systematic review is to determine the validity and reliability of the FSST in these different adult patient populations. The literature search was conducted to highlight all the studies that measured validity and reliability of the FSST. Six electronic databases were searched including AMED, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PEDro, Web of Science and Google Scholar. Grey literature was also searched for any documents relevant to the review. Two independent reviewers carried out study selection and quality assessment. The methodological quality was assessed using the QUADAS-2 tool, which is a validated tool for the quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies, and the COSMIN four-point checklist, which contains standards for evaluating reliability studies on the measurement properties of health instruments. Fifteen studies were reviewed studying community-dwelling older adults, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, vestibular disorders, post stroke, post unilateral transtibial amputation, knee pain and hip osteoarthritis. Three of the studies were of moderate methodological quality scoring low in risk of bias and applicability for all domains in the QUADAS-2 tool. Three studies scored "fair" on the COSMIN four-point checklist for the reliability components. The concurrent validity of the FSST was measured in nine of the studies with moderate to strong correlations being found. Excellent Intraclass Correlation Coefficients were found between physiotherapists carrying out the tests (ICC = .99) with good to excellent test-retest reliability shown in nine of the studies (ICC = .73-.98). The FSST may be an effective and valid tool for measuring dynamic balance and a participants' falls risk. It has been shown to have strong

Felbamate in an adult population with severe refractory epilepsy.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Kearney, H

2011-04-05

Felbamate (FBM) is efficacious in treating patients with refractory epilepsy but was withdrawn due to cases of aplastic anaemia, hepatic failure and five reported deaths. FBM is currently used in specialist centres and is only being used in one Irish centre to date. This papers aim is to review the efficacy and safety experience of FBM in Irish adult patients with refractory epilepsy. A retrospective chart review was done on patients\\' medical records. Patients were subdivided into responders and non responders based on change in seizure frequency and side effects were recorded for all. Of the 13 patients on FBM nine patients responded to FBM, four patients did not. FBM is a safe and efficacious alternative in an Irish adult population with refractory epilepsy. However close monitoring is still required given the potential fatal side effects that are possible with this anticonvulsant.

Occupational risk and chronic kidney disease: a population-based study in the United States adult population.

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Rubinstein, Sofia; Wang, Chengwei; Qu, Wenchun

2013-01-01

Previous studies on occupational risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD) have analyzed a limited range of occupations and focused on nephrotoxins. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relative risk for the occurrence of CKD between different occupations in the US adult population. This was a population-based survey study of 91,340 participants in the US, who completed the National Health Interview Survey, 2004 through 2008. The outcome variable, CKD, was defined as having weakening/failing kidneys in the past 12 months, as diagnosed by a physician. The predictor variable, occupation, was obtained using the census occupational codes, regrouped according to North American Industrial Classification System. After controlling for age, gender, hypertension, and education, and with the category Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations as a reference group, the likelihood of developing CKD was 4.3 times higher in respondents working in Building, Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations, 4.4 times higher in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, 4.7 times higher in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations and in Computer and Mathematical Occupations, 4.8 times higher in Production Occupations, 5.3 times higher in Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations, and 6.1 times higher in Healthcare Support Occupations and in Legal Occupations. This study identified occupation groups in US adult population with increased risk for CKD. Alleviation of workplace stress is suggested as a goal for behavioral intervention in high-risk occupations.

Detection of selection signatures of population-specific genomic regions selected during domestication process in Jinhua pigs.

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Li, Zhengcao; Chen, Jiucheng; Wang, Zhen; Pan, Yuchun; Wang, Qishan; Xu, Ningying; Wang, Zhengguang

2016-12-01

Chinese pigs have been undergoing both natural and artificial selection for thousands of years. Jinhua pigs are of great importance, as they can be a valuable model for exploring the genetic mechanisms linked to meat quality and other traits such as disease resistance, reproduction and production. The purpose of this study was to identify distinctive footprints of selection between Jinhua pigs and other breeds utilizing genome-wide SNP data. Genotyping by genome reducing and sequencing was implemented in order to perform cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity to reveal strong signatures of selection for those economically important traits. This work was performed at a 2% genome level, which comprised 152 006 SNPs genotyped in a total of 517 individuals. Population-specific footprints of selective sweeps were searched for in the genome of Jinhua pigs using six native breeds and three European breeds as reference groups. Several candidate genes associated with meat quality, health and reproduction, such as GH1, CRHR2, TRAF4 and CCK, were found to be overlapping with the significantly positive outliers. Additionally, the results revealed that some genomic regions associated with meat quality, immune response and reproduction in Jinhua pigs have evolved directionally under domestication and subsequent selections. The identified genes and biological pathways in Jinhua pigs showed different selection patterns in comparison with the Chinese and European breeds. © 2016 Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.

Risk and protective factors for chronic diseases in adults: a population-based study

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Danielle Cristina Guimarães da Silva

Full Text Available Abstract The article describes the relative frequency ok of risk and protective behaviors for chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs in adults residing in Viçosa, Brazil. A cross-section-al population-based study including 1,226 adults living in the municipality. We used a structured questionnaire containing questions sociodemographic and behavioral The risk and protection factors evaluated were: smoking, physical activity, excessive consumption of alcohol and food consumption. The proportion of risk and protection factors was calculated in the total population, according to gender, education and socioeconomic status. The studied population has a high frequency of risk factors for NCDs, such as excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, habit of consuming whole milk, habit of eating meat with visible fat, regular consumption of soft drinks and 78.5% did not achieve the minimum recommendation for physical activity in leisure time. With regard to protective factors, 86.2% of the population reported regular consumption of fruits and vegetables, and 73%, of beans. It was found the highest frequency of risk factors in among males, in younger people and middle socioeconomic status. This population has an urgent need for public policy of municipal planning to change this current scenario.

Prevalence of refractive errors in the European adult population: the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS).

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Wolfram, Christian; Höhn, René; Kottler, Ulrike; Wild, Philipp; Blettner, Maria; Bühren, Jens; Pfeiffer, Norbert; Mirshahi, Alireza

2014-07-01

To study the distribution of refractive errors among adults of European descent. Population-based eye study in Germany with 15010 participants aged 35-74 years. The study participants underwent a detailed ophthalmic examination according to a standardised protocol. Refractive error was determined by an automatic refraction device (Humphrey HARK 599) without cycloplegia. Definitions for the analysis were myopia +0.5 D, astigmatism >0.5 cylinder D and anisometropia >1.0 D difference in the spherical equivalent between the eyes. Exclusion criterion was previous cataract or refractive surgery. 13959 subjects were eligible. Refractive errors ranged from -21.5 to +13.88 D. Myopia was present in 35.1% of this study sample, hyperopia in 31.8%, astigmatism in 32.3% and anisometropia in 13.5%. The prevalence of myopia decreased, while the prevalence of hyperopia, astigmatism and anisometropia increased with age. 3.5% of the study sample had no refractive correction for their ametropia. Refractive errors affect the majority of the population. The Gutenberg Health Study sample contains more myopes than other study cohorts in adult populations. Our findings do not support the hypothesis of a generally lower prevalence of myopia among adults in Europe as compared with East Asia.

Intelligence Assessment Instruments in Adult Prison Populations: A Systematic Review.

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van Esch, A Y M; Denzel, A D; Scherder, E J A; Masthoff, E D M

2017-10-01

Detection of intellectual disability (ID) in the penitentiary system is important for the following reasons: (a) to provide assistance to people with ID in understanding their legal rights and court proceedings; (b) to facilitate rehabilitation programs tailored to ID patients, which improves the enhancement of their quality of life and reduces their risk of reoffending; and (c) to provide a reliable estimate of the risk of offence recidivism. It requires a short assessment instrument that provides a reliable estimation of a person's intellectual functioning at the earliest possible stage of this process. The aim of this systematic review is (a) to provide an overview of recent short assessment instruments that provide a full-scale IQ score in adult prison populations and (b) to achieve a quality measurement of the validation studies regarding these instruments to determine which tests are most feasible in this target population. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses Statement is used to ensure reliability. The Satz-Mögel, an item-reduction short form of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, shows the highest correlation with the golden standard and is described to be most reliable. Nevertheless, when it comes to applicability in prison populations, the shorter and less verbal Quick Test can be preferred over others. Without affecting these conclusions, major limitations emerge from the present systematic review, which give rise to several important recommendations for further research.

Detecting Positive Selection of Korean Native Goat Populations Using Next-Generation Sequencing

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Wonseok; Ahn, Sojin; Taye, Mengistie; Sung, Samsun; Lee, Hyun-Jeong; Cho, Seoae; Kim, Heebal

2016-01-01

Goats (Capra hircus) are one of the oldest species of domesticated animals. Native Korean goats are a particularly interesting group, as they are indigenous to the area and were raised in the Korean peninsula almost 2,000 years ago. Although they have a small body size and produce low volumes of milk and meat, they are quite resistant to lumbar paralysis. Our study aimed to reveal the distinct genetic features and patterns of selection in native Korean goats by comparing the genomes of native Korean goat and crossbred goat populations. We sequenced the whole genome of 15 native Korean goats and 11 crossbred goats using next-generation sequencing (Illumina platform) to compare the genomes of the two populations. We found decreased nucleotide diversity in the native Korean goats compared to the crossbred goats. Genetic structural analysis demonstrated that the native Korean goat and crossbred goat populations shared a common ancestry, but were clearly distinct. Finally, to reveal the native Korean goat’s selective sweep region, selective sweep signals were identified in the native Korean goat genome using cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity (XP-EHH) and a cross-population composite likelihood ratio test (XP-CLR). As a result, we were able to identify candidate genes for recent selection, such as the CCR3 gene, which is related to lumbar paralysis resistance. Combined with future studies and recent goat genome information, this study will contribute to a thorough understanding of the native Korean goat genome. PMID:27989103

Detecting Positive Selection of Korean Native Goat Populations Using Next-Generation Sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Wonseok; Ahn, Sojin; Taye, Mengistie; Sung, Samsun; Lee, Hyun-Jeong; Cho, Seoae; Kim, Heebal

2016-12-01

Goats ( Capra hircus ) are one of the oldest species of domesticated animals. Native Korean goats are a particularly interesting group, as they are indigenous to the area and were raised in the Korean peninsula almost 2,000 years ago. Although they have a small body size and produce low volumes of milk and meat, they are quite resistant to lumbar paralysis. Our study aimed to reveal the distinct genetic features and patterns of selection in native Korean goats by comparing the genomes of native Korean goat and crossbred goat populations. We sequenced the whole genome of 15 native Korean goats and 11 crossbred goats using next-generation sequencing (Illumina platform) to compare the genomes of the two populations. We found decreased nucleotide diversity in the native Korean goats compared to the crossbred goats. Genetic structural analysis demonstrated that the native Korean goat and crossbred goat populations shared a common ancestry, but were clearly distinct. Finally, to reveal the native Korean goat's selective sweep region, selective sweep signals were identified in the native Korean goat genome using cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity (XP-EHH) and a cross-population composite likelihood ratio test (XP-CLR). As a result, we were able to identify candidate genes for recent selection, such as the CCR3 gene, which is related to lumbar paralysis resistance. Combined with future studies and recent goat genome information, this study will contribute to a thorough understanding of the native Korean goat genome.

Influence of Maximum Inbreeding Avoidance under BLUP EBV Selection on Pinzgau Population Diversity

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Radovan Kasarda

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Evaluated was effect of mating (random vs. maximum avoidance of inbreeding under BLUP EBV selection strategy. Existing population structure was under Monte Carlo stochastic simulation analyzed from the point to minimize increase of inbreeding. Maximum avoidance of inbreeding under BLUP selection resulted into comparable increase of inbreeding then random mating in average of 10 generation development. After 10 generations of simulation of mating strategy was observed ΔF= 6,51 % (2 sires, 5,20 % (3 sires, 3,22 % (4 sires resp. 2,94 % (5 sires. With increased number of sires selected, decrease of inbreeding was observed. With use of 4, resp. 5 sires increase of inbreeding was comparable to random mating with phenotypic selection. For saving of genetic diversity and prevention of population loss is important to minimize increase of inbreeding in small populations. Classical approach was based on balancing ratio of sires and dams in mating program. Contrariwise in the most of commercial populations small number of sires was used with high mating ratio.

Sexual selection is influenced by both developmental and adult environments.

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Gillespie, Stephanie R; Scarlett Tudor, M; Moore, Allen J; Miller, Christine W

2014-12-01

Sexual selection is often assumed to be strong and consistent, yet increasing research shows it can fluctuate over space and time. Few experimental studies have examined changes in sexual selection in response to natural environmental variation. Here, we use a difference in resource quality to test for the influence of past environmental conditions and current environmental conditions on male and female mate choice and resulting selection gradients for leaf-footed cactus bugs, Narnia femorata. We raised juveniles on natural high- and low-quality diets, cactus pads with and without ripe cactus fruits. New adults were again assigned a cactus pad with or without fruit, paired with a potential mate, and observed for mating behaviors. We found developmental and adult encounter environments affected mating decisions and the resulting patterns of sexual selection for both males and females. Males were not choosy in the low-quality encounter environment, cactus without fruit, but they avoided mating with small females in the high-quality encounter environment. Females were choosy in both encounter environments, avoiding mating with small males. However, they were the choosiest when they were in the low-quality encounter environment. Female mate choice was also context dependent by male developmental environment. Females were more likely to mate with males that had developed on cactus with fruit when they were currently in the cactus with fruit environment. This pattern disappeared when females were in the cactus without fruit environment. Altogether, these results experimentally demonstrate context-dependent mate choice by both males and females. Furthermore, we demonstrate that simple, seasonal changes in resources can lead to fluctuations in sexual selection. © 2014 The Author(s). Evolution © 2014 The Society for the Study of Evolution.

Selection processes in a citrus hybrid population using RAPD markers

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Oliveira Roberto Pedroso de

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to evaluate the processes of selection in a citrus hybrid population using segregation analysis of RAPD markers. The segregation of 123 RAPD markers between 'Cravo' mandarin (Citrus reticulata Blanco and 'Pêra' sweet orange (C. sinensis (L. Osbeck was analysed in a F1 progeny of 94 hybrids. Genetic composition, diversity, heterozygosity, differences in chromosomal structure and the presence of deleterious recessive genes are discussed based on the segregation ratios obtained. A high percentage of markers had a skeweness of the 1:1 expected segregation ratio in the F1 population. Many markers showed a 3:1 segregation ratio in both varieties and 1:3 in 'Pêra' sweet orange, probably due to directional selection processes. The distribution analysis of the frequencies of the segregant markers in a hybrid population is a simple method which allows a better understanding of the genetics of citrus group.

SELECTION OF FISÁLIS POPULATIONS FOR HIBRIDIZATIONS, BASED ON FRUIT TRAITS

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NICOLE TREVISANI

2016-01-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The objective of this study was to characterize the genetic variability in fisális populations and select promising parents based on fruit traits. The experimental design consisted of randomized blocks, with six populations. Five plants per treatment were sampled. The evaluated traits were fruit weight, capsule weight, 1000- seed weight and fruit diameter. The data were subjected to multivariate analysis of variance with error specification between and within (p <0.05. Mahalanobis’ distance was used as a measure of genetic dissimilarity. Significant differences for the assessed traits were detected between fisális populations. The ratio error among by within indicated no need for sampling within the experimental unit. Dissimilarity was greatest between Lages and Vacaria. The most discriminating traits were capsule weight, fruit weight and fruit diameter. The multivariate contrasts indicated differences between the populations of Vacaria and from Caçador, Lages and Peru, selected for hybridizations.

Selection, Inclusion, Evaluation and Defense of Transgender-Inclusive Fiction for Young Adults: A Resource Guide

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Rockefeller, Elsworth I.

2009-01-01

An increasingly visible youth transgender population is emerging and the number of transgender-inclusive fiction texts for young adults is growing. Adults serving teens in schools, libraries, and community agencies must begin actively pursuing, utilizing, and incorporating these texts into resource collections. This article provides an overview of…

Toxocara canis, Trichinella spiralis and Taenia solium helminthozoonoses: seroprevalence among selected populations in north India.

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Singh, B B; Sharma, R; Gill, J P S

2015-09-01

Helminthozoonoses are being considered as a research priority in India and many other tropical and subtropical countries. Taenia solium and Trichinella spiralis are emerging public health and food safety issues in the country and the developing world. The asymptomatic Ta. solium carriers act as important risk for neurocysticercosis, leading to adult onset epilepsy in the country. Human toxocariasis is another common zoonosis which occurs due to larvae of Toxocara canis or T. cati. The current study was planned to obtain baseline seropositivity data for Ta. solium, To. canis and Tr. spiralis antibodies among selected populations in Punjab province of northern India. In the present study, 122 human subjects belonging to selected occupations viz. farmers and veterinary practitioners were screened using the RIDASCREEN(®) Ta. solium IgG, RIDASCREEN(®) Toxocara IgG and RIDASCREEN(®) Trichinella IgG enzyme immunoassays for the qualitative determination of IgG antibodies against Ta. solium, Tr. spiralis and To. canis, respectively in human serum. The seropositivity of To. canis, Tr. spiralis and Ta. solium infections were found to be 22.13, 5.73 and 11.47 %, respectively in human serum samples. The relative risk of being infected for To. canis, Tr. spiralis and Ta. solium infections was found to be 1.91 (95 % CI 0.786-4.669), 2.61 (95 % CI 0.3258-20.94) and 1.596 (95 % CI 0.427-5.3893) times high respectively in farmers when compared to veterinary practitioners. The present study indicates that exposure to To. canis and Ta. solium is not uncommon among farmers and veterinary practitioners in this part of the country. These results provided evidence of Tr. spiralis among selected human populations in the country and demand more research related to trichinellosis in their respective animal and human hosts.

A review of the neurobiological basis of dyslexia in the adult population.

Science.gov (United States)

Soriano-Ferrer, M; Piedra Martínez, E

Adult dyslexia affects about 4% of the population. However, studies on the neurobiological basis of dyslexia in adulthood are scarce compared to paediatric studies. This review investigates the neurobiological basis of dyslexia in adulthood. Using PsycINFO, a database of psychology abstracts, we identified 11 studies on genetics, 9 neurostructural studies, 13 neurofunctional studies and 24 neurophysiological studies. Results from the review show that dyslexia is highly heritable and displays polygenic transmission. Likewise, adult neuroimaging studies found structural, functional, and physiological changes in the parieto-occipital and occipito-temporal regions, and in the inferior frontal gyrus, in adults with dyslexia. According to different studies, aetiology in cases of adult dyslexia is complex. We stress the need for neurobiological studies of dyslexia in languages with transparent spelling systems. Copyright © 2014 Sociedad Española de Neurología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Selection for altruism through random drift in variable size populations

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Houchmandzadeh Bahram

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Altruistic behavior is defined as helping others at a cost to oneself and a lowered fitness. The lower fitness implies that altruists should be selected against, which is in contradiction with their widespread presence is nature. Present models of selection for altruism (kin or multilevel show that altruistic behaviors can have ‘hidden’ advantages if the ‘common good’ produced by altruists is restricted to some related or unrelated groups. These models are mostly deterministic, or assume a frequency dependent fitness. Results Evolutionary dynamics is a competition between deterministic selection pressure and stochastic events due to random sampling from one generation to the next. We show here that an altruistic allele extending the carrying capacity of the habitat can win by increasing the random drift of “selfish” alleles. In other terms, the fixation probability of altruistic genes can be higher than those of a selfish ones, even though altruists have a smaller fitness. Moreover when populations are geographically structured, the altruists advantage can be highly amplified and the fixation probability of selfish genes can tend toward zero. The above results are obtained both by numerical and analytical calculations. Analytical results are obtained in the limit of large populations. Conclusions The theory we present does not involve kin or multilevel selection, but is based on the existence of random drift in variable size populations. The model is a generalization of the original Fisher-Wright and Moran models where the carrying capacity depends on the number of altruists.

Health effects of ambient levels of respirable particulate matter (PM) on healthy, young-adult population

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Shaughnessy, William J.; Venigalla, Mohan M.; Trump, David

2015-12-01

There is an absence of studies that define the relationship between ambient particulate matter (PM) levels and adverse health outcomes among the young and healthy adult sub-group. In this research, the relationship between exposures to ambient levels of PM in the 10 micron (PM10) and 2.5 micron (PM2.5) size fractions and health outcomes in members of the healthy, young-adult subgroup who are 18-39 years of age was examined. Active duty military personnel populations at three strategically selected military bases in the United States were used as a surrogate to the control group. Health outcome data, which consists of the number of diagnoses for each of nine International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision (ICD-9) categories related to respiratory illness, were derived from outpatient visits at each of the three military bases. Data on ambient concentrations of particulate matter, specifically PM10 and PM2.5, were obtained for these sites. The health outcome data were correlated and regressed with the PM10 and PM2.5 data, and other air quality and weather-related data on a daily and weekly basis for the period 1998 to 2004. Results indicate that at Fort Bliss, which is a US Environmental Protection Agency designated non-attainment area for PM10, a statistically significant association exists between the weekly-averaged number of adverse health effects in the young and healthy adult population and the corresponding weekly-average ambient PM10 concentration. A least squares regression analysis was performed on the Fort Bliss data sets indicated that the health outcome data is related to several environmental parameters in addition to PM10. Overall, the analysis estimates a .6% increase in the weekly rate of emergency room visits for upper respiratory infections for every 10 μg/m3 increase in the weekly-averaged PM10 concentration above the mean. The findings support the development of policy and guidance opportunities that can be developed to mitigate exposures

[Renal length measured by ultrasound in adult mexican population].

Science.gov (United States)

Oyuela-Carrasco, J; Rodríguez-Castellanos, F; Kimura, E; Delgado-Hernández, R; Herrera-Félix, J P

2009-01-01

Renal length estimation by ultrasound is an important parameter in clinical evaluation of kidney disease and healthy donors. Changes in renal volume may be a sign of kidney disease. Correct interpretation of renal length requires the knowledge of normal limits, these have not been described for Latin American population. To describe normal renal length (RL) by ultrasonography in a group of Mexican adults. Ultrasound measure of RL in 153 healthy Mexican adults stratified by age. Describe the association of RL to several anthropometric variables. A total of 77 males and 76 females were scanner. The average age for the group was 44.12 +/- 15.44 years. The mean weight, body mass index (BMI) and height were 68.87 +/- 11.69 Kg, 26.77 +/- 3.82 kg/m2 and 160 +/- 8.62 cm respectively. Dividing the population by gender, showed a height of 166 +/- 6.15 cm for males and 154.7 +/- 5.97 cm for females (p =0.000). Left renal length (LRL) in the whole group was 105.8 +/- 7.56 mm and right renal length (RRL) was 104.3 +/- 6.45 mm (p = 0.000.) The LRL for males was 107.16 +/- 6.97 mm and for females was 104.6 +/- 7.96 mm. The average RRL for males was 105.74 +/- 5.74 mm and for females 102.99 +/- 6.85 mm (p = 0.008.) We noted that RL decreased with age and the rate of decline accelerates alter 60 years of age. Both lengths correlated significantly and positively with weight, BMI and height. The RL was significantly larger in males than in females in both kidneys (p = 0.036) in this Mexican population. Renal length declines after 60 years of age and specially after 70 years.

Prey selection by a reintroduced lion population in the Greater ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Prey selection by a reintroduced lion population in the Greater Makalali Conservancy, South Africa. Dave Druce, Heleen Genis, Jonathan Braak, Sophie Greatwood, Audrey Delsink, Ross Kettles, Luke Hunter, Rob Slotow ...

Genome Scan for Selection in Structured Layer Chicken Populations Exploiting Linkage Disequilibrium Information.

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Mahmood Gholami

Full Text Available An increasing interest is being placed in the detection of genes, or genomic regions, that have been targeted by selection because identifying signatures of selection can lead to a better understanding of genotype-phenotype relationships. A common strategy for the detection of selection signatures is to compare samples from distinct populations and to search for genomic regions with outstanding genetic differentiation. The aim of this study was to detect selective signatures in layer chicken populations using a recently proposed approach, hapFLK, which exploits linkage disequilibrium information while accounting appropriately for the hierarchical structure of populations. We performed the analysis on 70 individuals from three commercial layer breeds (White Leghorn, White Rock and Rhode Island Red, genotyped for approximately 1 million SNPs. We found a total of 41 and 107 regions with outstanding differentiation or similarity using hapFLK and its single SNP counterpart FLK respectively. Annotation of selection signature regions revealed various genes and QTL corresponding to productions traits, for which layer breeds were selected. A number of the detected genes were associated with growth and carcass traits, including IGF-1R, AGRP and STAT5B. We also annotated an interesting gene associated with the dark brown feather color mutational phenotype in chickens (SOX10. We compared FST, FLK and hapFLK and demonstrated that exploiting linkage disequilibrium information and accounting for hierarchical population structure decreased the false detection rate.

Accuracy of genomic selection in biparental populations of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.

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Frank M. You

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Flax is an important economic crop for seed oil and stem fiber. Phenotyping of traits such as seed yield, seed quality, stem fiber yield, and quality characteristics is expensive and time consuming. Genomic selection (GS refers to a breeding approach aimed at selecting preferred individuals based on genomic estimated breeding values predicted by a statistical model based on the relationship between phenotypes and genome-wide genetic markers. We evaluated the prediction accuracy of GS (rMP and the efficiency of GS relative to phenotypic selection (RE for three GS models: ridge regression best linear unbiased prediction (RR-BLUP, Bayesian LASSO (BL, and Bayesian ridge regression (BRR, for seed yield, oil content, iodine value, linoleic, and linolenic acid content with a full and a common set of genome-wide simple sequence repeat markers in each of three biparental populations. The three GS models generated similar rMP and RE, while BRR displayed a higher coefficient of determination (R2 of the fitted models than did RR-BLUP or BL. The mean rMP and RE varied for traits with different heritabilities and was affected by the genetic variation of the traits in the populations. GS for seed yield generated a mean RE of 1.52 across populations and marker sets, a value significantly superior to that for direct phenotypic selection. Our empirical results provide the first validation of GS in flax and demonstrate that GS could increase genetic gain per unit time for linseed breeding. Further studies for selection of training populations and markers are warranted.

Lower virus infections in Varroa destructor-infested and uninfested brood and adult honey bees (Apis mellifera) of a low mite population growth colony compared to a high mite population growth colony.

Science.gov (United States)

Emsen, Berna; Hamiduzzaman, Mollah Md; Goodwin, Paul H; Guzman-Novoa, Ernesto

2015-01-01

A comparison was made of the prevalence and relative quantification of deformed wing virus (DWV), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), black queen cell virus (BQCV), Kashmir bee virus (KBV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) and sac brood virus (SBV) in brood and adult honey bees (Apis mellifera) from colonies selected for high (HMP) and low (LMP) Varroa destructor mite population growth. Two viruses, ABPV and SBV, were never detected. For adults without mite infestation, DWV, IAPV, BQCV and KBV were detected in the HMP colony; however, only BQCV was detected in the LMP colony but at similar levels as in the HMP colony. With mite infestation, the four viruses were detected in adults of the HMP colony but all at higher amounts than in the LMP colony. For brood without mite infestation, DWV and IAPV were detected in the HMP colony, but no viruses were detected in the LMP colony. With mite infestation of brood, the four viruses were detected in the HMP colony, but only DWV and IAPV were detected and at lower amounts in the LMP colony. An epidemiological explanation for these results is that pre-experiment differences in virus presence and levels existed between the HMP and LMP colonies. It is also possible that low V. destructor population growth in the LMP colony resulted in the bees being less exposed to the mite and thus less likely to have virus infections. LMP and HMP bees may have also differed in susceptibility to virus infection.

Mercury reduces avian reproductive success and imposes selection: an experimental study with adult- or lifetime-exposure in zebra finch.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Claire W Varian-Ramos

Full Text Available Mercury is a global pollutant that biomagnifies in food webs, placing wildlife at risk of reduced reproductive fitness and survival. Songbirds are the most diverse branch of the avian evolutionary tree; many are suffering persistent and serious population declines and we know that songbirds are frequently exposed to mercury pollution. Our objective was to determine the effects of environmentally relevant doses of mercury on reproductive success of songbirds exposed throughout their lives or only as adults. The two modes of exposure simulated philopatric species versus dispersive species, and are particularly relevant because of the heightened mercury-sensitivity of developing nervous systems. We performed a dosing study with dietary methylmercury in a model songbird species, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata, at doses from 0.3 - 2.4 parts per million. Birds were exposed to mercury either as adults only or throughout their lives. All doses of mercury reduced reproductive success, with the lowest dose reducing the number of independent offspring produced in one year by 16% and the highest dose, representing approximately half the lethal dose for this species, causing a 50% reduction. While mercury did not affect clutch size or survivorship, it had the most consistent effect on the proportion of chicks that fledged from the nest, regardless of mode of exposure. Among birds exposed as adults, mercury caused a steep increase in the latency to re-nest after loss of a clutch. Birds exposed for their entire lifetimes, which were necessarily the offspring of dosed parents, had up to 50% lower reproductive success than adult-exposed birds at low doses of methylmercury, but increased reproductive success at high doses, suggesting selection for mercury tolerance at the highest level of exposure. Our results indicate that mercury levels in prey items at contaminated sites pose a significant threat to populations of songbirds through reduced reproductive

Mercury Reduces Avian Reproductive Success and Imposes Selection: An Experimental Study with Adult- or Lifetime-Exposure in Zebra Finch

Science.gov (United States)

Varian-Ramos, Claire W.; Swaddle, John P.; Cristol, Daniel A.

2014-01-01

Mercury is a global pollutant that biomagnifies in food webs, placing wildlife at risk of reduced reproductive fitness and survival. Songbirds are the most diverse branch of the avian evolutionary tree; many are suffering persistent and serious population declines and we know that songbirds are frequently exposed to mercury pollution. Our objective was to determine the effects of environmentally relevant doses of mercury on reproductive success of songbirds exposed throughout their lives or only as adults. The two modes of exposure simulated philopatric species versus dispersive species, and are particularly relevant because of the heightened mercury-sensitivity of developing nervous systems. We performed a dosing study with dietary methylmercury in a model songbird species, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata), at doses from 0.3 – 2.4 parts per million. Birds were exposed to mercury either as adults only or throughout their lives. All doses of mercury reduced reproductive success, with the lowest dose reducing the number of independent offspring produced in one year by 16% and the highest dose, representing approximately half the lethal dose for this species, causing a 50% reduction. While mercury did not affect clutch size or survivorship, it had the most consistent effect on the proportion of chicks that fledged from the nest, regardless of mode of exposure. Among birds exposed as adults, mercury caused a steep increase in the latency to re-nest after loss of a clutch. Birds exposed for their entire lifetimes, which were necessarily the offspring of dosed parents, had up to 50% lower reproductive success than adult-exposed birds at low doses of methylmercury, but increased reproductive success at high doses, suggesting selection for mercury tolerance at the highest level of exposure. Our results indicate that mercury levels in prey items at contaminated sites pose a significant threat to populations of songbirds through reduced reproductive success. PMID

Metropolitan migration and population growth in selected developing countries.

Science.gov (United States)

1983-01-01

The purpose of this article is to estimate the components of metropolitan population growth in selected developing countries during 1960-1970 period. The study examines population growth in 26 cities: 5 are in Africa, 8 in Asia, and 13 in Latin America, using data from national census publications. These cities in general are the political capitals of their countries, but some additional large cities were selected in Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa. All cities, at the beginning of the 1960-1970 decade had over 500,000 population; Accra, the only exception, reached this population level during the 1960s. Some cities had over 4 million residents in 1970. Net migration contributed about 37% to total metropolitan population growth; the remainder of the growth is attributable to natural increase. Migration has a much stronger impact on metropolitan growth than suggested by the above figure: 1) Several metropolitan areas, for various reasons, are unlikely to receive many migrants; without those cities, the share of metropolitan growth from net migration is 44%. 2) Estimates of the natural increase of migrants after their arrival in the metropolitan areas, when added to migration itself, changes the total contribution of migration to 49% in some metropolitan areas. 3) Even where net migration contributes a smaller proportion to metropolitan growth than natural increase, the rates of net migration are generally high and should be viewed in the context of rapid metropolitan population growth from natural increase alone. Finally, the paper also compares the components of metropolitan growth with the components of growth in the remaining urban areas. The results show that the metropolitan areas, in general, grow faster than the remaining urban areas, and that this more rapid growth is mostly due to a higher rate of net migration. Given the significance of migration for metropolitan growth, further investigations of the effects of these migration streams, particularly with

Family losses following truncation selection in populations of half-sib families

Science.gov (United States)

J. H. Roberds; G. Namkoong; H. Kang

1980-01-01

Family losses during truncation selection may be sizable in populations of half-sib families. Substantial losses may occur even in populations containing little or no variation among families. Heavier losses will occur, however, under conditions of high heritability where there is considerable family variation. Standard deviations and therefore variances of family loss...

Prevalence of traumatic brain injury in the general adult population: a meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Frost, R Brock; Farrer, Thomas J; Primosch, Mark; Hedges, Dawson W

2013-01-01

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant public-health concern. To understand the extent of TBI, it is important to assess the prevalence of TBI in the general population. However, the prevalence of TBI in the general population can be difficult to measure because of differing definitions of TBI, differing TBI severity levels, and underreporting of sport-related TBI. Additionally, prevalence reports vary from study to study. In this present study, we used meta-analytic methods to estimate the prevalence of TBI in the adult general population. Across 15 studies, all originating from developed countries, which included 25,134 adults, 12% had a history of TBI. Men had more than twice the odds of having had a TBI than did women, suggesting that male gender is a risk factor for TBI. The adverse behavioral, cognitive and psychiatric effects associated with TBI coupled with the high prevalence of TBI identified in this study indicate that TBI is a considerable public and personal-health problem. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Mitochondrial DNA deletion mutations in adult mouse cardiac side population cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lushaj, Entela B.; Lozonschi, Lucian; Barnes, Maria; Anstadt, Emily; Kohmoto, Takushi

2012-01-01

We investigated the presence and potential role of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletion mutations in adult cardiac stem cells. Cardiac side population (SP) cells were isolated from 12-week-old mice. Standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to screen for the presence of mtDNA deletion mutations in (a) freshly isolated SP cells and (b) SP cells cultured to passage 10. When present, the abundance of mtDNA deletion mutation was analyzed in single cell colonies. The effect of different levels of deletion mutations on SP cell growth and differentiation was determined. MtDNA deletion mutations were found in both freshly isolated and cultured cells from 12-week-old mice. While there was no significant difference in the number of single cell colonies with mtDNA deletion mutations from any of the groups mentioned above, the abundance of mtDNA deletion mutations was significantly higher in the cultured cells, as determined by quantitative PCR. Within a single clonal cell population, the detectable mtDNA deletion mutations were the same in all cells and unique when compared to deletions of other colonies. We also found that cells harboring high levels of mtDNA deletion mutations (i.e. where deleted mtDNA comprised more than 60% of total mtDNA) had slower proliferation rates and decreased differentiation capacities. Screening cultured adult stem cells for mtDNA deletion mutations as a routine assessment will benefit the biomedical application of adult stem cells.

Kansas Adult Observational Safety Belt Usage Rates

Science.gov (United States)

2011-07-01

Methodology of Adult Survey - based on the federal guidelines in the Uniform Criteria manual. The Kansas survey is performed at 548 sites on 6 different road types in 20 randomly selected counties which encompass 85% of the population of Kansas. The ...

Seroprevalence of antibodies against chikungunya virus in Singapore resident adult population.

Science.gov (United States)

Ang, Li Wei; Kam, Yiu Wing; Lin, Cui; Krishnan, Prabha Unny; Tay, Joanne; Ng, Lee Ching; James, Lyn; Lee, Vernon J M; Goh, Kee Tai; Ng, Lisa F P; Lin, Raymond T P

2017-12-01

We determined the seroprevalence of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection in the adult resident population in Singapore following local outbreaks of chikungunya fever (CHIKF) in 2008-2009. Our cross-sectional study involved residual sera from 3,293 adults aged 18-79 years who had participated in the National Health Survey in 2010. Sera were tested for IgG antibodies against CHIKV and dengue virus (DENV) and neutralizing antibodies against CHIKV. The prevalence of CHIKV-neutralizing antibodies among Singapore residents aged 18-79 years was 1.9% (95% confidence interval: 1.4%- 2.3%). The CHIKV seroprevalence was highest in the elderly aged 70-79 years at 11.5%, followed by those aged 30-39 years at 3.1%. Men had significantly higher CHIKV seroprevalence than women (2.5% versus 1.3%, p = 0.01). Among the three main ethnic groups, Indians had the highest seroprevalence (3.5%) compared to Chinese (1.6%) and Malays (0.7%) (p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively). Multivariable logistic regression identified adults aged 30-39 years and 70-79 years, men, those of Indian ethnicity and ethnic minority groups, and residence on ground floor of public and private housing apartments as factors that were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of exposure to CHIKV. The overall prevalence of anti-DENV IgG antibodies was 56.8% (95% CI: 55.1%- 58.5%), while 1.5% (95% CI: 1.1%- 2.0%) of adults possessed both neutralizing antibodies against CHIKV and IgG antibodies against DENV. Singapore remains highly susceptible to CHIKV infection. There is a need to maintain a high degree of vigilance through disease surveillance and vector control. Findings from such serological study, when conducted on a regular periodic basis, could supplement surveillance to provide insights on CHIKV circulation in at-risk population.

Biomarkers of adult and developmental neurotoxicity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Slikker, William; Bowyer, John F.

2005-01-01

Neurotoxicity may be defined as any adverse effect on the structure or function of the central and/or peripheral nervous system by a biological, chemical, or physical agent. A multidisciplinary approach is necessary to assess adult and developmental neurotoxicity due to the complex and diverse functions of the nervous system. The overall strategy for understanding developmental neurotoxicity is based on two assumptions: (1) significant differences in the adult versus the developing nervous system susceptibility to neurotoxicity exist and they are often developmental stage dependent; (2) a multidisciplinary approach using neurobiological, including gene expression assays, neurophysiological, neuropathological, and behavioral function is necessary for a precise assessment of neurotoxicity. Application of genomic approaches to developmental studies must use the same criteria for evaluating microarray studies as those in adults including consideration of reproducibility, statistical analysis, homogenous cell populations, and confirmation with non-array methods. A study using amphetamine to induce neurotoxicity supports the following: (1) gene expression data can help define neurotoxic mechanism(s) (2) gene expression changes can be useful biomarkers of effect, and (3) the site-selective nature of gene expression in the nervous system may mandate assessment of selective cell populations

Selected fishery and population parameters of eight shore-angling ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Selected fishery and population parameters of eight shore-angling species in the ... Five different estimates of natural mortality (M), and the coefficients of ... for the most abundant species, blacktail Diplodus capensis, with a mean CPUE of 0.252 ... Keywords: catch per unit effort; fisheries management; marine protected area; ...

Allozyme diversity of selected and natural loblolly pine populations

Science.gov (United States)

Ronald C. Schmidtling; E. Carroll; T. LaFarge

1999-01-01

Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) megagametophytes and embryos were examined electrophoretically to compare the extent and distribution of genetic variability in allozymes of selected and wild populations. Range-wide collections of three different types were investigated in this study. These consisted of seed sampled from (1) a provenance test...

Determinant of Adult Education Program: A Critical Analysis of Adult Education in Some Selected Training Centers of Eastern Regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yilfashewa Seyoum

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to analyze the factors affecting adult education in the eastern part of Ethiopia. The study employed a survey design that involved qualitative and quantitative approaches. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select 515 male and 285 female respondents. A questionnaire and an interview for collecting information from the primary sources were designed and implemented. Data were analyzed with linear correlation and Ordinary Least Square (OLS regression. The findings indicated that the relationship of overall adult learning achievement to assessment of learning (r = 0,29, P < 0,01, and the methods used by facilitators (r = 0,23, P < 0,01 is positive and significant. The regression model demonstrated that overall adult learning condition is significantly affected by variables such as relevance of the content, methods of teaching, assessment of learning outcome, and locality of the adult education learners. 

Objective and subjective need for cosmetic dentistry in the Dutch adult population

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Burgersdijk, R.; Truin, G.J.; Kalsbeek, H.; Hof, M. van 't; Mulder, J.

1991-01-01

In order to assess the objective and subjective need for cosmetic dentistry in the Dutch adult population in 1986 a stratified sample of 2784 dentate persons, aged 15-74 yr, participated in the study. The aesthetics of anterior teeth and first premolars in the maxillary mandibular arch were

Vitamin D deficiency: knowledge and practices among the adult population in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Science.gov (United States)

Salmanpour, Vida A; Ibrahim, Hassan S; Salameh, Ahmad G; Yahya, Amel M; Debal, Basel K

2016-01-01

Research demonstrate that vitamin D deficiency is significantly associated with bone diseases (e.g., osteoporosis), muscle cramps, back pain, heart diseases, diabetes mellitus, etc. The lack of knowledge and poor practice of study subjects regarding vitamin D deficiency became evident in this study. Vitamin D is vital for the growth and development of the body throughout the life span. The aim of this study is to investigate the knowledge and the practices related to vitamin D deficiency among the adult population in Sharjah, UAE. A cross-sectional study was conducted among adults aged 20-40 years in Sharjah, UAE. Participants were selected from public places using convenience sampling method. They were subjected to a self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS 20 software. All knowledge-related questions were summed up, where a correct answer was given 1 point and incorrect one a 0, yielding a score out of 43. Subjects' scores were then transformed to a percentage. A total of 503 adults were included in the study. They had a mean age of 30 years (±5.47) with a relatively homogenous gender distribution (51 % females). The mean knowledge score on vitamin D deficiency was 16.7 out of 43 (39 %). Less than half of the respondents (43 %) knew that sunlight is the main source of vitamin D. The mean score for participants' practice was 2.34 out of 6 (39 %); 77 % of them reported that they tried to avoid sun exposure, and 97 % had not tested vitamin D levels in their blood before. The majority of the adults demonstrated significant lack of knowledge and poor practices towards vitamin D and its deficiency. Therefore, attempts to increase the awareness about this issue are required through establishing educational campaigns targeting the general public in Sharjah, UAE.

Protection Provided by Hepatitis B Vaccine in Adult Population of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province, Iran in 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Moezzi, Masoumeh; Imani, Reza

2016-04-01

Hepatitis B vaccination has been integrated into National Expanded Program on Immunization in Iran since the year 1993 and young adult national vaccination project was done in 2008. So we have three subpopulations with vaccination coverage for hepatitis B and different antibody levels. Consisting of Subpopulation 1 born after 1993, subpopulation 2 born between 1989 and 1993 and receiving vaccination under adult national project, and subpopulation 3 born prior to the year 1989. The present study was conducted to investigate community protection by hepatitis B vaccine in adult population in an accessible population in Iran and compare vaccination coverage, HBs Ab level, and its effective titration among the three above-mentioned subpopulations. This cross-sectional study was done on a 3000-individual adult population from all seven counties of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province enrolled by clustering. After obtaining written consent and filling out a questionnaire of demographic data and history of hepatitis B vaccination by trained interviewers, necessary blood sample was taken and HBs Ab titration was checked. The data were analysed by chi-square in SPSS 19. The level of significance was considered as 0.05 and effective Ab titration as ≥ 10. The mean age of the participants was 38.4±16.3 years. Of the participants 48.2% had effective titration. For vaccination coverage, 77.4% were unvaccinated, 20% completely vaccinated, and 2.6% incompletely vaccinated with a significant association with effective titration (ptitration between them (ptitration was significantly associated with being married and residence place (p=0.003). There was a significant association between effective titration and the time at vaccination (p<0.001). Protection provided by hepatitis B vaccine in adult population is relatively suitable especially in the youth population; however, catch-up programs of the groups exposed to risk are recommended.

Sonographic determination of normal spleen size in an adult African population

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mustapha, Zainab; Tahir, Abdulrahman [Department of Radiology, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State (Nigeria); Tukur, Maisaratu [Department of Human Physiology, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Borno State (Nigeria); Bukar, Mohammed [Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Maiduguri, Borno State (Nigeria); Lee, Wai-Kit, E-mail: leewk33@hotmail.co [Department of Medical Imaging, St. Vincent' s Hospital, University of Melbourne, 41 Victoria Parade, Fitzroy, Victoria 3065 (Australia)

2010-07-15

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the normal range of spleen size in an adult African population, and compare the findings to published data to determine any correlation with ethnicity. Materials and methods: Three hundred and seventy-four African adults without conditions that can affect the spleen or splenic abnormalities were evaluated with ultrasonography. Spleen length, width and thickness were measured and spleen volume calculated. Spleen size was correlated with age, gender, height, weight, and body mass index. Results: The mean spleen volume was 120 cm{sup 3}. Spleen volume correlated with spleen width (r = 0.85), thickness (r = 0.83) and length (r = 0.80). Men had a larger mean spleen volume than women. No correlation was found between spleen volume and age, weight, height, or body mass index. Conclusion: Mean spleen volume in African adults is smaller than data from Western sources, and cannot be explained by difference in body habitus.

Selection Component Analysis of Natural Polymorphisms using Population Samples Including Mother-Offspring Combinations, II

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jarmer, Hanne Østergaard; Christiansen, Freddy Bugge

1981-01-01

Population samples including mother-offspring combinations provide information on the selection components: zygotic selection, sexual selection, gametic seletion and fecundity selection, on the mating pattern, and on the deviation from linkage equilibrium among the loci studied. The theory...

It's a bear market: evolutionary and ecological effects of predation on two wild sockeye salmon populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, J E; Hard, J J; Naish, K A; Peterson, D; Hilborn, R; Hauser, L

2016-05-01

Predation can affect both phenotypic variation and population productivity in the wild, but quantifying evolutionary and demographic effects of predation in natural environments is challenging. The aim of this study was to estimate selection differentials and coefficients associated with brown bear (Ursus arctos) predation in wild sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) populations spawning in pristine habitat that is often subject to intense predation pressure. Using reconstructed genetic pedigrees, individual reproductive success (RS) was estimated in two sockeye salmon populations for two consecutive brood years with very different predation intensities across brood years. Phenotypic data on individual adult body length, body depth, stream entry timing and reproductive lifespan were used to calculate selection coefficients based on RS, and genetic variance components were estimated using animal models. Bears consistently killed larger and more recently arrived adults, although selection differentials were small. In both populations, mean RS was higher in the brood year experiencing lower predation intensity. Selection coefficients were similar across brood years with different levels of predation, often indicating stabilizing selection on reproductive lifespan as well as directional selection for longer reproductive lifespan. Despite these selection pressures, genetic covariation of morphology, phenology and lifespan appears to have maintained variation in spawner body size and stream entry timing in both populations. Our results therefore suggest considerable demographic but limited evolutionary effects of bear predation in the two study populations.

Increasing prevalence of specific IgE to aeroallergens in an adult population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Linneberg, A; Nielsen, N H; Madsen, F

2000-01-01

E to aeroallergens had increased in an adult general population over an 8-year period. METHODS: Two cross-sectional surveys were carried out in 1990 and 1998. A mailed screening questionnaire on respiratory symptoms sent to random samples of 15- to 41-year-old subjects living in Copenhagen (Denmark) preceded both...

Alleles versus genotypes: Genetic interactions and the dynamics of selection in sexual populations

Science.gov (United States)

Neher, Richard

2010-03-01

Physical interactions between amino-acids are essential for protein structure and activity, while protein-protein interactions and regulatory interactions are central to cellular function. As a consequence of these interactions, the combined effect of two mutations can differ from the sum of the individual effects of the mutations. This phenomenon of genetic interaction is known as epistasis. However, the importance of epistasis and its effects on evolutionary dynamics are poorly understood, especially in sexual populations where recombination breaks up existing combinations of alleles to produce new ones. Here, we present a computational model of selection dynamics involving many epistatic loci in a recombining population. We demonstrate that a large number of polymorphic interacting loci can, despite frequent recombination, exhibit cooperative behavior that locks alleles into favorable genotypes leading to a population consisting of a set of competing clones. As the recombination rate exceeds a certain critical value this ``genotype selection'' phase disappears in an abrupt transition giving way to ``allele selection'' - the phase where different loci are only weakly correlated as expected in sexually reproducing populations. Clustering of interacting sets of genes on a chromosome leads to the emergence of an intermediate regime, where localized blocks of cooperating alleles lock into genetic modules. Large populations attain highest fitness at a recombination rate just below critical, suggesting that natural selection might tune recombination rates to balance the beneficial aspect of exploration of genotype space with the breaking up of synergistic allele combinations.

Serological evidence of exposure to globally relevant zoonotic parasites in the Estonian population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lassen, Brian; Janson, Marilin; Viltrop, Arvo

2016-01-01

We investigated Estonian population and its selected subgroups for serological evidence of exposure to Ascaris lumbricoides, Echinococcus spp., Taenia solium, Toxocara canis, Toxoplasma gondii, and Trichinella spiralis. Serum samples from 999 adults representing general population, 248 children a...

Assessment of the use in adults of four vaccines: a population survey in Argentina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carla Vizzotti

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Vaccination is one of the most effective strategies for disease prevention. Argentina initiated the transition from child vaccination to family vaccination through the incorporation of an adult schedule. One of the difficulties with this last group is to assess the percentage of use (PU of the vaccines. With the aim of determining the PU of adult vaccines in Argentina, a vaccination module was included in the National Survey of Risk Factors carried out in 2013 by the National Ministry of Health. The sampling had a stratified multistage design. A total of 32 365 people = 18 year-old were surveyed about the use of four vaccines included in the National Vaccination Calendar: hepatitis B, tetanus, influenza, and pneumococcus. The entire population was surveyed for tetanus and hepatitis B while certain groups at risk were evaluated for influenza and pneumococcus, according to current recommendations. PU varied according to the vaccine analyzed: tetanus 49.8%, hepatitis B 21.7%, influenza 51.6% and pneumococcus 16.2%. The main information sources on adult vaccination were media (television, internet, etc. followed by health personnel (70.8% and 27.9%, respectively. The survey is a suitable tool to assess the use of vaccines by adults, identify low coverage populations, and to plan and implement strategies to improve coverage

Suboptimal effectiveness of the 2011-2012 seasonal influenza vaccine in adult Korean populations.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Won Suk Choi

Full Text Available The effectiveness of the 2011-2012 seasonal influenza vaccine was evaluated in adult Korean populations with regard to how well it could prevent laboratory-confirmed influenza and influenza-related complications.A retrospective case-control and retrospective cohort study was conducted among patients who visited four selected hospitals from September 2011 to May 2012. The analysis included 1,130 laboratory-confirmed influenza patients. For each influenza case, one control patient was chosen at a ratio of 1:1. A control was defined as an age group-matched patient who visited the same hospital with influenza-like illness within 48 hours of symptom onset but for whom laboratory tests were negative for influenza. Age group and visit date were matched between the cases and controls. Vaccine effectiveness (VE was defined as [100 × (1-odds ratio for influenza in vaccinated versus non-vaccinated persons]. The patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza were followed for at least one month through reviewing the medical records and conducting a telephone interview.The VE of the 2011-2012 seasonal influenza vaccine was 3.8% [95% confidence interval (CI, -16.5% to 20.6%] for preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza, -16.1% (95% CI, -48.3 to 9.1 for influenza A and 26.2% (95% CI, -2.6 to 46.2 for influenza B. The age-specific adjusted VE was 0.3% (95% CI, -29.4 to 23.1 among participants aged 19 to 49 years, 11.9% (95% CI, -34.3 to 42.2 among those aged 50 to 64 years and -3.9% (-60.1 to 32.5 among those aged ≥65 years. The adjusted VE for preventing any influenza-related complications was -10.7% (95% CI, -41.1% to 42.2%.The 2011-2012 seasonal influenza vaccine was not effective in preventing laboratory-confirmed influenza or influenza-related complications in adult Korean populations.

Burden of Proteinuria and Risk Factors of Chronic Kidney Disease among Adult Population in Urban Puducherry, India.

Science.gov (United States)

Jhawar, Manan; Jayaseelan, Venkatachalam; Selvaraj, Ramya

2017-08-01

In the recent times, Chronic Kidney Diseases (CKDs) are emerging as a serious problem all over the world along with diabetes mellitus and hypertension. The presence of proteinuria is considered as an indicator of increased risk of progressive kidney diseases. To determine the prevalence of proteinuria among an adult population of a tertiary care institute of Puducherry, India. A cross-sectional study was carried out in the field practice areas of an urban health centre of a tertiary care institute, in Puducherry, India. A total of 215 study respondents were selected by systematic random sampling. All adults aged above 18 years who were residing for at least a year in Puducherry were included in the study. The study period was from July 2015 to October 2015. All the categorical variables were described as proportions. Chi square test was done to compare between two proportions. Univariate analysis was done to estimate the Odds Ratio (OR) with 95% CI. The mean age of the study participants was 38.5±12.8 years. Majority, 145 (67.4%) of the study participants were females. The prevalence of proteinuria was found to be 9.3%. While 4.7% and 11.2% of participants used tobacco and alcohol respectively, 13.5% and 27.9% had diabetes mellitus and hypertension respectively. Elderly age, diabetes mellitus and hypertension were found to be statistically significant predictors for proteinuria. The prevalence of proteinuria was high in our study population (9.3%) and hypertension and diabetes mellitus were also found to be risk factors for CKD. Routine screening among the general population for proteinuria in community-based settings might be an effective step to bring down the rate of progression of CKD.

[Socioeconomic status and risky health behaviors in Croatian adult population].

Science.gov (United States)

Pilić, Leta; Dzakula, Aleksandar

2013-03-01

Based on the previous research, there is strong association between low socioeconomic status (SES) and high morbidity and mortality rates. Even though association between SES and risky health behaviors as the main factors influencing health has been investigated in Croatian population, some questions are yet to be answered. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, smoking and excessive drinking in low, middle, and high socioeconomic group of adult Croatian population included in the cohort study on regionalism of cardiovascular health risk behaviors. We also investigated the association between SES measured by income, education and occupation, as well as single SES indicators, and risky health behaviors. We analyzed data on 1227 adult men and women (aged 19 and older at baseline) with complete data on health behaviors, SES and chronic diseases at baseline (2003) and 5-year follow up. Respondents were classified as being healthy or chronically ill. SES categories were derived from answers to questions on monthly household income, occupation and education by using two-step cluster analysis algorithm. At baseline, for the whole sample as well as for healthy respondents, SES was statistically significantly associated with unhealthy diet (whole sample/healthy respondents: p = 0.001), physical inactivity (whole sample/healthy respondents p = 0.44/ p = 0.007), and smoking (whole sample/healthy respondents p < 0.001/p = 0.002). The proportion of respondents with unhealthy diet was greatest in the lowest social class, smokers in the middle and physically inactive in the high social class. During the follow up, smoking and physical inactivity remained statistically significantly associated with SES. In chronically ill respondents, only smoking was statistically significantly associated with SES, at baseline and follow up (p = 0.001/p = 0.002). The highest share of smokers was in the middle social class. Results of our

Group selection on population size affects life-history patterns in the entomopathogenic nematode Steinernema carpocapsae.

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Bashey, Farrah; Lively, Curtis M

2009-05-01

Selection is recognized to operate on multiple levels. In disease organisms, selection among hosts is thought to provide an important counterbalance to selection for faster growth within hosts. We performed three experiments, each selecting for a divergence in group size in the entomopathogenic nematode, Steinernema carpocapsae. These nematodes infect and kill insect larvae, reproduce inside the host carcass, and emerge as infective juveniles. We imposed selection on group size by selecting among hosts for either high or low numbers of emerging nematodes. Our goal was to determine whether this trait could respond to selection at the group level, and if so, to examine what other traits would evolve as correlated responses. One of the three experiments showed a significant response to group selection. In that experiment, the high-selected treatment consistently produced more emerging nematodes per host than the low-selected treatment. In addition, nematodes were larger and they emerged later from hosts in the low-selected lines. Despite small effective population sizes, the effects of inbreeding were small in this experiment. Thus, selection among hosts can be effective, leading to both a direct evolutionary response at the population level, as well as to correlated responses in populational and individual traits.

HLA DNA sequence variation among human populations: molecular signatures of demographic and selective events.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stéphane Buhler

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Molecular differences between HLA alleles vary up to 57 nucleotides within the peptide binding coding region of human Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC genes, but it is still unclear whether this variation results from a stochastic process or from selective constraints related to functional differences among HLA molecules. Although HLA alleles are generally treated as equidistant molecular units in population genetic studies, DNA sequence diversity among populations is also crucial to interpret the observed HLA polymorphism. In this study, we used a large dataset of 2,062 DNA sequences defined for the different HLA alleles to analyze nucleotide diversity of seven HLA genes in 23,500 individuals of about 200 populations spread worldwide. We first analyzed the HLA molecular structure and diversity of these populations in relation to geographic variation and we further investigated possible departures from selective neutrality through Tajima's tests and mismatch distributions. All results were compared to those obtained by classical approaches applied to HLA allele frequencies.Our study shows that the global patterns of HLA nucleotide diversity among populations are significantly correlated to geography, although in some specific cases the molecular information reveals unexpected genetic relationships. At all loci except HLA-DPB1, populations have accumulated a high proportion of very divergent alleles, suggesting an advantage of heterozygotes expressing molecularly distant HLA molecules (asymmetric overdominant selection model. However, both different intensities of selection and unequal levels of gene conversion may explain the heterogeneous mismatch distributions observed among the loci. Also, distinctive patterns of sequence divergence observed at the HLA-DPB1 locus suggest current neutrality but old selective pressures on this gene. We conclude that HLA DNA sequences advantageously complement HLA allele frequencies as a source of data used

The Introduction of Adult Appendicitis Score Reduced Negative Appendectomy Rate.

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Sammalkorpi, H E; Mentula, P; Savolainen, H; Leppäniemi, A

2017-09-01

Implementation of a clinical risk score into diagnostics of acute appendicitis may provide accurate diagnosis with selective use of imaging studies. The aim of this study was to prospectively validate recently described diagnostic scoring system, Adult Appendicitis Score, and evaluate its effects on negative appendectomy rate. Adult Appendicitis Score stratifies patients into three groups: high, intermediate, and low risk of appendicitis. The score was implemented in diagnostics of adult patients suspected of acute appendicitis in two university hospitals. We analyzed the effects of Adult Appendicitis Score on diagnostic accuracy, imaging studies, and treatment. The study population was compared with a reference population of 829 patients suspected of acute appendicitis originally enrolled for the study of construction of the Adult Appendicitis Score. This study enrolled 908 patients of whom 432 (48%) had appendicitis. The score stratified 49% of all appendicitis patients into high-risk group with specificity of 93.3%. In the low-risk group, prevalence of appendicitis was 7%. The histologically confirmed negative appendectomy rate decreased from 18.2% to 8.7%, pAppendicitis Score is a reliable tool for stratification of patients into selective imaging, which results in low negative appendectomy rate.

Young adults' trajectories of Ecstasy use: a population based study.

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Smirnov, Andrew; Najman, Jake M; Hayatbakhsh, Reza; Plotnikova, Maria; Wells, Helene; Legosz, Margot; Kemp, Robert

2013-11-01

Young adults' Ecstasy use trajectories have important implications for individual and population-level consequences of Ecstasy use, but little relevant research has been conducted. This study prospectively examines Ecstasy trajectories in a population-based sample. Data are from the Natural History Study of Drug Use, a retrospective/prospective cohort study conducted in Australia. Population screening identified a probability sample of Ecstasy users aged 19-23 years. Complete data for 30 months of follow-up, comprising 4 time intervals, were available for 297 participants (88.4% of sample). Trajectories were derived using cluster analysis based on recent Ecstasy use at each interval. Trajectory predictors were examined using a generalized ordered logit model and included Ecstasy dependence (World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Instrument), psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale), aggression (Young Adult Self Report) and contextual factors (e.g. attendance at electronic/dance music events). Three Ecstasy trajectories were identified (low, intermediate and high use). At its peak, the high-use trajectory involved 1-2 days Ecstasy use per week. Decreasing frequency of use was observed for intermediate and high-use trajectories from 12 months, independently of market factors. Intermediate and high-use trajectory membership was predicted by past Ecstasy consumption (>70 pills) and attendance at electronic/dance music events. High-use trajectory members were unlikely to have used Ecstasy for more than 3 years and tended to report consistently positive subjective effects at baseline. Given the social context and temporal course of Ecstasy use, Ecstasy trajectories might be better understood in terms of instrumental rather than addictive drug use patterns. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Nose profile morphology and accuracy study of nose profile estimation method in Scottish subadult and Indonesian adult populations.

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Sarilita, Erli; Rynn, Christopher; Mossey, Peter A; Black, Sue; Oscandar, Fahmi

2018-05-01

This study investigated nose profile morphology and its relationship to the skull in Scottish subadult and Indonesian adult populations, with the aim of improving the accuracy of forensic craniofacial reconstruction. Samples of 86 lateral head cephalograms from Dundee Dental School (mean age, 11.8 years) and 335 lateral head cephalograms from the Universitas Padjadjaran Dental Hospital, Bandung, Indonesia (mean age 24.2 years), were measured. The method of nose profile estimation based on skull morphology previously proposed by Rynn and colleagues in 2010 (FSMP 6:20-34) was tested in this study. Following this method, three nasal aperture-related craniometrics and six nose profile dimensions were measured from the cephalograms. To assess the accuracy of the method, six nose profile dimensions were estimated from the three craniometric parameters using the published method and then compared to the actual nose profile dimensions.In the Scottish subadult population, no sexual dimorphism was evident in the measured dimensions. In contrast, sexual dimorphism of the Indonesian adult population was evident in all craniometric and nose profile dimensions; notably, males exhibited statistically significant larger values than females. The published method by Rynn and colleagues (FSMP 6:20-34, 2010) performed better in the Scottish subadult population (mean difference of maximum, 2.35 mm) compared to the Indonesian adult population (mean difference of maximum, 5.42 mm in males and 4.89 mm in females).In addition, regression formulae were derived to estimate nose profile dimensions based on the craniometric measurements for the Indonesian adult population. The published method is not sufficiently accurate for use on the Indonesian population, so the derived method should be used. The accuracy of the published method by Rynn and colleagues (FSMP 6:20-34, 2010) was sufficiently reliable to be applied in Scottish subadult population.

Applications of random forest feature selection for fine-scale genetic population assignment.

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Sylvester, Emma V A; Bentzen, Paul; Bradbury, Ian R; Clément, Marie; Pearce, Jon; Horne, John; Beiko, Robert G

2018-02-01

Genetic population assignment used to inform wildlife management and conservation efforts requires panels of highly informative genetic markers and sensitive assignment tests. We explored the utility of machine-learning algorithms (random forest, regularized random forest and guided regularized random forest) compared with F ST ranking for selection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) for fine-scale population assignment. We applied these methods to an unpublished SNP data set for Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) and a published SNP data set for Alaskan Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ). In each species, we identified the minimum panel size required to obtain a self-assignment accuracy of at least 90% using each method to create panels of 50-700 markers Panels of SNPs identified using random forest-based methods performed up to 7.8 and 11.2 percentage points better than F ST -selected panels of similar size for the Atlantic salmon and Chinook salmon data, respectively. Self-assignment accuracy ≥90% was obtained with panels of 670 and 384 SNPs for each data set, respectively, a level of accuracy never reached for these species using F ST -selected panels. Our results demonstrate a role for machine-learning approaches in marker selection across large genomic data sets to improve assignment for management and conservation of exploited populations.

A selective sweep in a Varroa destructor resistant honeybee (Apis mellifera) population.

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Lattorff, H Michael G; Buchholz, Josephine; Fries, Ingemar; Moritz, Robin F A

2015-04-01

The mite Varroa destructor is one of the most dangerous parasites of the Western honeybee (Apis mellifera) causing enormous colony losses worldwide. Various chemical treatments for the control of the Varroa mite are currently in use, which, however, lead to residues in bee products and often to resistance in mites. This facilitated the exploration of alternative treatment methods and breeding for mite resistant honeybees has been in focus for breeders in many parts of the world with variable results. Another approach has been applied to a honeybee population on Gotland (Sweden) that was exposed to natural selection and survived Varroa-infestation for more than 10years without treatment. Eventually this population became resistant to the parasite by suppressing the reproduction of the mite. A previous QTL mapping study had identified a region on chromosome 7 with major loci contributing to the mite resistance. Here, a microsatellite scan of the significant candidate QTL regions was used to investigate potential footprints of selection in the original population by comparing the study population on Gotland before (2000) and after selection (2007). Genetic drift had caused an extreme loss of genetic diversity in the 2007 population for all genetic markers tested. In addition to this overall reduction of heterozygosity, two loci on chromosome 7 showed an even stronger and significant reduction in diversity than expected from genetic drift alone. Within the selective sweep eleven genes are annotated, one of them being a putative candidate to interfere with reduced mite reproduction. A glucose-methanol-choline oxidoreductase (GMCOX18) might be involved in changing volatiles emitted by bee larvae that might be essential to trigger oogenesis in Varroa. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Socioemotional selectivity in older adults: Evidence from the subjective experience of angry memories.

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Uzer, Tugba; Gulgoz, Sami

2015-01-01

Few studies have compared the phenomenological properties of younger and older adults' memories for emotional events. Some studies suggest that younger adults remember negative information more vividly than positive information whereas other studies suggest that positive emotion yields phenomenologically richer memories than negative emotion for both younger and older adults. One problem with previous studies is a tendency to treat emotion as a dichotomous variable. In contrast, emotional richness demands inclusion of assessments beyond just a positive and negative dimension (e.g., assessing specific emotions like anger, fear and happiness). The present study investigated different properties of autobiographical remembering as a function of discrete emotions and age. Thirty-two younger and thirty-one older adults participated by recalling recent and remote memories associated with six emotional categories and completed the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire for each. Results demonstrated that older adults' angry memories received lower ratings on some phenomenological properties than other emotional memories whereas younger adults' angry memories did not show this same pattern. These results are discussed within the context of socioemotional selectivity theory.

Age differences in everyday problem-solving effectiveness: older adults select more effective strategies for interpersonal problems.

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Blanchard-Fields, Fredda; Mienaltowski, Andrew; Seay, Renee Baldi

2007-01-01

Using the Everyday Problem Solving Inventory of Cornelius and Caspi, we examined differences in problem-solving strategy endorsement and effectiveness in two domains of everyday functioning (instrumental or interpersonal, and a mixture of the two domains) and for four strategies (avoidance-denial, passive dependence, planful problem solving, and cognitive analysis). Consistent with past research, our research showed that older adults were more problem focused than young adults in their approach to solving instrumental problems, whereas older adults selected more avoidant-denial strategies than young adults when solving interpersonal problems. Overall, older adults were also more effective than young adults when solving everyday problems, in particular for interpersonal problems.

Measuring self-rated health status among resettled adult refugee populations to inform practice and policy - a scoping review.

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Dowling, Alison; Enticott, Joanne; Russell, Grant

2017-12-08

The health status of refugees is a significant factor in determining their success in resettlement and relies heavily on self-rated measures of refugee health. The selection of robust and appropriate self-rated health measurement tools is challenging due to the number and methodological variation in the use of assessment tools across refugee health studies. This study describes the existing self-report health measures which have been used in studies of adult refugees living in the community to allow us to address the challenges of selecting appropriate assessments to measure health within refugee groups. Electronic databases of Ovid Medline, CINAHL, SCOPUS, Embase and Scopus. This review identified 45 different self-rated health measurements in 183 studies. Most of the studies were cross sectional explorations of the mental health status of refugees living in community settings within Western nations. A third of the tools were designed specifically for use within refugee populations. More than half of the identified measurement tools have been evaluated for reliability and/or validity within refugee populations. Much variation was found in the selection, development and testing of measurement tools across the reviewed studies. This review shows that there are currently a number of reliable and valid tools available for use in refugee health research; however, further work is required to achieve consistency in the quality and in the use of these tools. Methodological guidelines are required to assist researchers and clinicians in the development and testing of self-rated health measurement tools for use in refugee research.

Population genomics identifies the origin and signatures of selection of Korean weedy rice

OpenAIRE

He, Qiang; Kim, Kyu?Won; Park, Yong?Jin

2016-01-01

Summary Weedy rice is the same biological species as cultivated rice (Oryza sativa); it is also a noxious weed infesting rice fields worldwide. Its formation and population?selective or ?adaptive signatures are poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the phylogenetics, population structure and signatures of selection of Korean weedy rice by determining the whole genomes of 30 weedy rice, 30 landrace rice and ten wild rice samples. The phylogenetic tree and results of ancestry infere...

Lower Virus Infections in Varroa destructor-Infested and Uninfested Brood and Adult Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) of a Low Mite Population Growth Colony Compared to a High Mite Population Growth Colony

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Emsen, Berna; Hamiduzzaman, Mollah Md.; Goodwin, Paul H.; Guzman-Novoa, Ernesto

2015-01-01

A comparison was made of the prevalence and relative quantification of deformed wing virus (DWV), Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), black queen cell virus (BQCV), Kashmir bee virus (KBV), acute bee paralysis virus (ABPV) and sac brood virus (SBV) in brood and adult honey bees (Apis mellifera) from colonies selected for high (HMP) and low (LMP) Varroa destructor mite population growth. Two viruses, ABPV and SBV, were never detected. For adults without mite infestation, DWV, IAPV, BQCV and KBV were detected in the HMP colony; however, only BQCV was detected in the LMP colony but at similar levels as in the HMP colony. With mite infestation, the four viruses were detected in adults of the HMP colony but all at higher amounts than in the LMP colony. For brood without mite infestation, DWV and IAPV were detected in the HMP colony, but no viruses were detected in the LMP colony. With mite infestation of brood, the four viruses were detected in the HMP colony, but only DWV and IAPV were detected and at lower amounts in the LMP colony. An epidemiological explanation for these results is that pre-experiment differences in virus presence and levels existed between the HMP and LMP colonies. It is also possible that low V. destructor population growth in the LMP colony resulted in the bees being less exposed to the mite and thus less likely to have virus infections. LMP and HMP bees may have also differed in susceptibility to virus infection. PMID:25723540

Unlocking Diversity in Germplasm Collections via Genomic Selection: A Case Study Based on Quantitative Adult Plant Resistance to Stripe Rust in Spring Wheat.

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Muleta, Kebede T; Bulli, Peter; Zhang, Zhiwu; Chen, Xianming; Pumphrey, Michael

2017-11-01

Harnessing diversity from germplasm collections is more feasible today because of the development of lower-cost and higher-throughput genotyping methods. However, the cost of phenotyping is still generally high, so efficient methods of sampling and exploiting useful diversity are needed. Genomic selection (GS) has the potential to enhance the use of desirable genetic variation in germplasm collections through predicting the genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) for all traits that have been measured. Here, we evaluated the effects of various scenarios of population genetic properties and marker density on the accuracy of GEBVs in the context of applying GS for wheat ( L.) germplasm use. Empirical data for adult plant resistance to stripe rust ( f. sp. ) collected on 1163 spring wheat accessions and genotypic data based on the wheat 9K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) iSelect assay were used for various genomic prediction tests. Unsurprisingly, the results of the cross-validation tests demonstrated that prediction accuracy increased with an increase in training population size and marker density. It was evident that using all the available markers (5619) was unnecessary for capturing the trait variation in the germplasm collection, with no further gain in prediction accuracy beyond 1 SNP per 3.2 cM (∼1850 markers), which is close to the linkage disequilibrium decay rate in this population. Collectively, our results suggest that larger germplasm collections may be efficiently sampled via lower-density genotyping methods, whereas genetic relationships between the training and validation populations remain critical when exploiting GS to select from germplasm collections. Copyright © 2017 Crop Science Society of America.

Warning signal brightness variation: sexual selection may work under the radar of natural selection in populations of a polytypic poison frog.

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Crothers, Laura R; Cummings, Molly E

2013-05-01

Though theory predicts consistency of warning signals in aposematic species to facilitate predator learning, variation in these signals often occurs in nature. The strawberry poison frog Dendrobates pumilio is an exceptionally polytypic (populations are phenotypically distinct) aposematic frog exhibiting variation in warning color and brightness. In the Solarte population, males and females both respond differentially to male brightness variation. Here, we demonstrate through spectrophotometry and visual modeling that aposematic brightness variation within this population is likely visible to two putative predators (crabs, snakes) and conspecifics but not to the presumed major predator (birds). This study thus suggests that signal brightness within D. pumilio populations can be shaped by sexual selection, with limited opportunity for natural selection to influence this trait due to predator sensory constraints. Because signal brightness changes can ultimately lead to changes in hue, our findings at the within-population level can provide insights into understanding this polytypism at across-population scales.

The Yin and Yang of chromatin dynamics in adult stem cell fate selection

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Adam, Rene C.; Fuchs, Elaine

2015-01-01

Adult organisms rely on tissue stem cells for maintenance and repair. During homeostasis, the concerted action of local niche signals and epigenetic regulators establish stable gene expression patterns to ensure that stem cells are not lost over time. However, stem cells also provide host tissues with a remarkable plasticity to respond to perturbations. How adult stem cells choose and acquire new fates is unknown, but the genome-wide mapping of epigenetic landscapes suggests a critical role for chromatin remodeling in these processes. Here, we explore the emerging role of chromatin modifiers and pioneer transcription factors in adult stem cell fate decisions and plasticity, which ensure that selective lineage choices are only made when environmentally cued. PMID:26689127

Population SAMC vs SAMC: Convergence and Applications to Gene Selection Problems

KAUST Repository

Faming Liang, Mingqi Wu

2013-01-01

The Bayesian model selection approach has been adopted by more and more people when analyzing a large data. However, it is known that the reversible jump MCMC (RJMCMC) algorithm, which is perhaps the most popular MCMC algorithm for Bayesian model selection, is prone to get trapped into local modes when the model space is complex. The stochastic approximation Monte Carlo (SAMC) algorithm essentially overcomes the local trap problem suffered by conventional MCMC algorithms by introducing a self-adjusting mechanism based on the past samples. In this paper, we propose a population SAMC (Pop-SAMC) algorithm, which works on a population of SAMC chains and can make use of crossover operators from genetic algorithms to further improve its efficiency. Under mild conditions, we show the convergence of this algorithm. Comparing to the single chain SAMC algorithm, Pop-SAMC provides a more efficient self-adjusting mechanism and thus can converge faster. The effectiveness of Pop-SAMC for Bayesian model selection problems is examined through a change-point identification problem and a gene selection problem. The numerical results indicate that Pop-SAMC significantly outperforms both the single chain SAMC and RJMCMC.

Socioeconomic Position, Rural Residence, and Marginality Influences on Obesity Status in the Adult Mexican Population

OpenAIRE

Sparks, P. Johnelle; Sparks, Corey S.

2012-01-01

This paper assesses individual and social environment determinants of obesity in the adult Mexican population based on socioeconomic position, rural residence, and areal deprivation. Using a nationally representative health and nutrition survey, this analysis considers individual and structural determinants of obesity from a socioeconomic position and health disparities conceptual framework using multilevel logistic regression models. We find that more than thirty percent of Mexican adults we...

Medical Cannabis in Serbia: The Survey of Knowledge and Attitudes in an Urban Adult Population.

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Gazibara, Tatjana; Prpic, Milica; Maric, Gorica; Pekmezovic, Tatjana; Kisic-Tepavcevic, Darija

2017-01-01

There are some indices in which legalization of medical cannabis in the Republic of Serbia might be considered. The purpose of this research was to assess knowledge and attitudes towards medical cannabis in an urban adult population. This cross-sectional study was conducted in December 2015 and January 2016. A convenience sample of study participants comprised users of the Community Health Center. A total of 360 adults were invited to participate. Data were collected through an anonymous questionnaire. Most participants (77.1%) answered correctly that cancer was indicative of medical cannabis treatment, while the remaining conditions were less frequently recognized. A total of 42% answered correctly that adverse effects of cannabis were hallucinations and dizziness. Persons who previously used cannabis were more knowledgeable on conditions for medical cannabis treatment (ρ = 0.155; p = 0.006). Study respondents expressed positive attitude towards legalization of medical cannabis (median 5 out of 5) and negative towards legalization of recreational cannabis (median 2 out of 5). In conclusion, the adult population in Belgrade had some knowledge of medical cannabis. The overall attitude of our population regarding legalization of medical cannabis was positive, while the attitude towards legalization of cannabis for recreational purposes was negative.

Taxonomic separation of hippocampal networks: principal cell populations and adult neurogenesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roelof Maarten evan Dijk

2016-03-01

Full Text Available While many differences in hippocampal anatomy have been described between species, it is typically not clear if they are specific to a particular species and related to functional requirements or if they are shared by species of larger taxonomic units. Without such information, it is difficult to infer how anatomical differences may impact on hippocampal function, because multiple taxonomic levels need to be considered to associate behavioral and anatomical changes. To provide information on anatomical changes within and across taxonomic ranks, we present a quantitative assessment of hippocampal principal cell populations in 20 species or strain groups, with emphasis on rodents, the taxonomic group that provides most animals used in laboratory research. Of special interest is the importance of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in species-specific adaptations relative to other cell populations. Correspondence analysis of cell numbers shows that across taxonomic units, phylogenetically related species cluster together, sharing similar proportions of principal cell populations. CA3 and hilus are strong separators that place rodent species into a tight cluster based on their relatively large CA3 and small hilus while non-rodent species (including humans and non-human primates are placed on the opposite side of the spectrum. Hilus and CA3 are also separators within rodents, with a very large CA3 and rather small hilar cell populations separating mole-rats from other rodents that, in turn, are separated from each other by smaller changes in the proportions of CA1 and granule cells. When adult neurogenesis is included, the relatively small populations of young neurons, proliferating cells and hilar neurons become main drivers of taxonomic separation within rodents. The observations provide challenges to the computational modeling of hippocampal function, suggest differences in the organization of hippocampal information streams in rodent and non

Detecting Signatures of Positive Selection along Defined Branches of a Population Tree Using LSD.

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Librado, Pablo; Orlando, Ludovic

2018-06-01

Identifying the genomic basis underlying local adaptation is paramount to evolutionary biology, and bears many applications in the fields of conservation biology, crop, and animal breeding, as well as personalized medicine. Although many approaches have been developed to detect signatures of positive selection within single populations and population pairs, the increasing wealth of high-throughput sequencing data requires improved methods capable of handling multiple, and ideally large number of, populations in a single analysis. In this study, we introduce LSD (levels of exclusively shared differences), a fast and flexible framework to perform genome-wide selection scans, along the internal and external branches of a given population tree. We use forward simulations to demonstrate that LSD can identify branches targeted by positive selection with remarkable sensitivity and specificity. We illustrate a range of potential applications by analyzing data from the 1000 Genomes Project and uncover a list of adaptive candidates accompanying the expansion of anatomically modern humans out of Africa and their spread to Europe.

Site selection and evaluation for nuclear power plants with respect to population distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-01-01

This safety guide, relating population distribution to site selection and evaluation, for nuclear power plants, forms part of the IAEA's programme, referred to as the NUSS programme (Nuclear Safety Standards). The guide presents population distribution data, requirements, examples of site screening methods, and an overview of radiological impact assessment with respect to population distribution

Comorbidities in adults with asthma: Population-based cross-sectional analysis of 1.4 million adults in Scotland.

Science.gov (United States)

Weatherburn, C J; Guthrie, B; Mercer, S W; Morales, D R

2017-10-01

Comorbidity in people with asthma can significantly increase asthma morbidity and lower adherence to asthma guidelines. The objective of this study was to comprehensively measure the prevalence of physical and mental health comorbidities in adults with asthma using a large nationally representative population. Cross-sectional analysis of routine primary care electronic medical records for 1 424 378 adults in the UK, examining the prevalence of 39 comorbidities in people with and without asthma, before and after adjustment for age, sex, social deprivation and smoking status using logistic regression. Of 39 comorbidities measured, 36 (92%) were significantly more common in adults with asthma; 62.6% of adults with asthma had ≥1 comorbidity vs 46.2% of those without, and 16.3% had ≥4 comorbidities vs 8.7% of those without. Comorbidities with the largest absolute increase in prevalence in adults with asthma were as follows: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (13.4% vs 3.1%), depression (17.3% vs 9.1%), painful conditions (15.4% vs 8.4%) and dyspepsia (10.9% vs 5.2%). Comorbidities with the largest relative difference in adults with asthma compared to those without were as follows: COPD (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 5.65, 95% CI 5.52-5.79), bronchiectasis (aOR 4.65, 95% CI 4.26-5.08), eczema/psoriasis (aOR 3.30, 95% CI 3.14-3.48), dyspepsia (aOR 2.20, 95% CI 2.15-2.25) and chronic sinusitis (aOR 2.12, 95% CI 1.99-2.26). Depression and anxiety were more common in adults with asthma (aOR 1.60, 95% CI 1.57-1.63, and aOR 1.53, 95% CI 1.48-1.57, respectively). Physical and mental health comorbidities are the norm in adults with asthma. Appropriate recognition and management should form part of routine asthma care. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evolution of disease phenotype in adult and pediatric onset Crohn’s disease in a population-based cohort

Science.gov (United States)

Lovasz, Barbara Dorottya; Lakatos, Laszlo; Horvath, Agnes; Szita, Istvan; Pandur, Tunde; Mandel, Michael; Vegh, Zsuzsanna; Golovics, Petra Anna; Mester, Gabor; Balogh, Mihaly; Molnar, Csaba; Komaromi, Erzsebet; Kiss, Lajos Sandor; Lakatos, Peter Laszlo

2013-01-01

AIM: To investigate the evolution of disease phenotype in adult and pediatric onset Crohn’s disease (CD) populations, diagnosed between 1977 and 2008. METHODS: Data of 506 incident CD patients were analyzed (age at diagnosis: 28.5 years, interquartile range: 22-38 years). Both in- and outpatient records were collected prospectively with a complete clinical follow-up and comprehensively reviewed in the population-based Veszprem province database, which included incident patients diagnosed between January 1, 1977 and December 31, 2008 in adult and pediatric onset CD populations. Disease phenotype according to the Montreal classification and long-term disease course was analysed according to the age at onset in time-dependent univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Among this population-based cohort, seventy-four (12.8%) pediatric-onset CD patients were identified (diagnosed ≤ 17 years of age). There was no significant difference in the distribution of disease behavior between pediatric (B1: 62%, B2: 15%, B3: 23%) and adult-onset CD patients (B1: 56%, B2: 21%, B3: 23%) at diagnosis, or during follow-up. Overall, the probability of developing complicated disease behaviour was 49.7% and 61.3% in the pediatric and 55.1% and 62.4% in the adult onset patients after 5- and 10-years of follow-up. Similarly, time to change in disease behaviour from non stricturing, non penetrating (B1) to complicated, stricturing or penetrating (B2/B3) disease was not significantly different between pediatric and adult onset CD in a Kaplan-Meier analysis. Calendar year of diagnosis (P = 0.04), ileal location (P < 0.001), perianal disease (P < 0.001), smoking (P = 0.038) and need for steroids (P < 0.001) were associated with presence of, or progression to, complicated disease behavior at diagnosis and during follow-up. A change in disease location was observed in 8.9% of patients and it was associated with smoking status (P = 0.01), but not with age at diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Long

Demographic Variables and Selective, Sustained Attention and Planning through Cognitive Tasks among Healthy Adults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Afsaneh Zarghi

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Cognitive tasks are considered to be applicable and appropriate in assessing cognitive domains. The purpose of our study is to determine the relationship existence between variables of age, sex and education with selective, sustained attention and planning abilities by means of computerized cognitive tasks among healthy adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study was implemented during 6 months from June to November, 2010 on 84 healthy adults (42 male and 42 female. The whole participants performed computerized CPT, STROOP and TOL tests after being content and trained. Results: The obtained data indicate that there is a significant correlation coefficient between age, sex and education variables (p<0.05. Discussion: The above-mentioned tests can be used to assess selective, sustained attention and planning.

Populations of subplate and interstitial neurons in fetal and adult human telencephalon.

Science.gov (United States)

Judaš, Miloš; Sedmak, Goran; Pletikos, Mihovil; Jovanov-Milošević, Nataša

2010-10-01

In the adult human telencephalon, subcortical (gyral) white matter contains a special population of interstitial neurons considered to be surviving descendants of fetal subplate neurons [Kostovic & Rakic (1980) Cytology and the time of origin of interstitial neurons in the white matter in infant and adult human and monkey telencephalon. J Neurocytol9, 219]. We designate this population of cells as superficial (gyral) interstitial neurons and describe their morphology and distribution in the postnatal and adult human cerebrum. Human fetal subplate neurons cannot be regarded as interstitial, because the subplate zone is an essential part of the fetal cortex, the major site of synaptogenesis and the 'waiting' compartment for growing cortical afferents, and contains both projection neurons and interneurons with distinct input-output connectivity. However, although the subplate zone is a transient fetal structure, many subplate neurons survive postnatally as superficial (gyral) interstitial neurons. The fetal white matter is represented by the intermediate zone and well-defined deep periventricular tracts of growing axons, such as the corpus callosum, anterior commissure, internal and external capsule, and the fountainhead of the corona radiata. These tracts gradually occupy the territory of transient fetal subventricular and ventricular zones.The human fetal white matter also contains distinct populations of deep fetal interstitial neurons, which, by virtue of their location, morphology, molecular phenotypes and advanced level of dendritic maturation, remain distinct from subplate neurons and neurons in adjacent structures (e.g. basal ganglia, basal forebrain). We describe the morphological, histochemical (nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase) and immunocytochemical (neuron-specific nuclear protein, microtubule-associated protein-2, calbindin, calretinin, neuropeptide Y) features of both deep fetal interstitial neurons and deep (periventricular

Occupational risk and chronic kidney disease: a population-based study in the United States adult population

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Rubinstein S

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Sofia Rubinstein,1 Chengwei Wang,1 Wenchun Qu2 1Department of Medicine, Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, NY, USA; 2Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA Objective: Previous studies on occupational risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD have analyzed a limited range of occupations and focused on nephrotoxins. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relative risk for the occurrence of CKD between different occupations in the US adult population. Materials and methods: This was a population-based survey study of 91,340 participants in the US, who completed the National Health Interview Survey, 2004 through 2008. The outcome variable, CKD, was defined as having weakening/failing kidneys in the past 12 months, as diagnosed by a physician. The predictor variable, occupation, was obtained using the census occupational codes, regrouped according to North American Industrial Classification System. Results: After controlling for age, gender, hypertension, and education, and with the category Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations as a reference group, the likelihood of developing CKD was 4.3 times higher in respondents working in Building, Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations, 4.4 times higher in Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations, 4.7 times higher in Transportation and Material Moving Occupations and in Computer and Mathematical Occupations, 4.8 times higher in Production Occupations, 5.3 times higher in Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations, and 6.1 times higher in Healthcare Support Occupations and in Legal Occupations. Conclusion: This study identified occupation groups in US adult population with increased risk for CKD. Alleviation of workplace stress is suggested as a goal for behavioral intervention in high-risk occupations. Keywords: CKD, risk factors, occupations

"Subtypes" in the Presentation of Autistic Traits in the General Adult Population

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Palmer, Colin J.; Paton, Bryan; Enticott, Peter G.; Hohwy, Jakob

2015-01-01

The present study examined the presentation of autistic traits in a large adult population sample (n = 2,343). Cluster analysis indicated two subgroups with clearly distinguishable trait profiles. One group (n = 1,059) reported greater social difficulties and lower detail orientation, while the second group (n = 1,284) reported lesser social…

A comparison of two methods for prediction of response and rates of inbreeding in selected populations with the results obtained in two selection experiments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Loywyck, V.; Bijma, P.; Pinard-van der Laan, M.H.; Arendonk, van J.A.M.; Verrier, E.

2005-01-01

Selection programmes are mainly concerned with increasing genetic gain. However, short-term progress should not be obtained at the expense of the within-population genetic variability. Different prediction models for the evolution within a small population of the genetic mean of a selected trait,

Estimating young Australian adults' risk of hearing damage from selected leisure activities.

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Beach, Elizabeth; Williams, Warwick; Gilliver, Megan

2013-01-01

Several previous studies have attempted to estimate the risk of noise-induced hearing loss from loud leisure noise. Some of these studies may have overestimated the risk because they used noise estimates taken from the higher end of reported levels. The aim of the present study was to provide a realistic estimate of the number of young Australian adults who may be at risk of hearing damage and eventual hearing loss from leisure-noise exposure. Average noise levels at five high-noise leisure activities, (1) nightclubs; (2) pubs, bars, and registered clubs; (3) fitness classes; (4) live sporting events; (5) concerts and live music venues, were calculated using 108 measurements taken from a large database of leisure noise measurements. In addition, an online survey was administered to a convenience sample of 1000 young adults aged 18 to 35 years, who reported the time spent at these leisure activities and the frequency with which they undertook the activities. They also answered questions about tinnitus and their perceived risk of hearing damage. Although the survey data cannot be considered representative of the population of young Australian adults, it was weighted to this population in respect of age, gender, education, and location. The survey data and the average noise levels were used to estimate each individual's annual noise exposure, and in turn, estimate those at risk of hearing damage from leisure-noise exposure. For the majority of participants (n = 868), the accumulated leisure noise level was within the acceptable workplace limit. However, 132 participants or 14.1% (population weighted) were exposed to an annual noise dose greater than the acceptable workplace noise limit. By far, the main source of high-risk leisure noise was from nightclubs. Those with more leisure-noise exposure experienced more tinnitus and perceived themselves to be more at risk than those with lower noise exposures. It is recommended that nightclub operators reduce noise levels

The third molar maturity index in indicating the legal adult age in Kosovar population.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelmendi, Jeta; Cameriere, Roberto; Koçani, Ferit; Galić, Ivan; Mehmeti, Blerim; Vodanović, Marin

2017-12-16

The third molar tooth, known as the "wisdom tooth," is the only tooth that can be used to determine legal adult age. This study aimed to test the accuracy of Cameriere's third molar maturity index (I 3M ) in assessing the legal adult age of 18 years in the Kosovar population. Orthopantomographs (OPTs) of 1221 healthy living Kosovar individuals, aged between 12 and 23 years and with no congenital or developmental anomalies, were analyzed. Intra-class correlation coefficients were 0.858 (95% CI, 0.786 to 0.906) and 0.852 (95% CI, 0.779 to 0.903) for intra-rater and for inter-rater agreement, respectively. The sample was divided into training dataset (800 OPTs) and test dataset (421 OPTs). The training dataset was used to generate the logistic regression model, while the test dataset was used to study the performance of the model. I 3M and gender as independent variables and adult age (≥ 18 years) or minor age (age. The results showed that only I 3M statistically significantly contributed to discriminating adults and minors. ROC analysis showed that the cut-off value of I 3M  age gradually increased. The performance of the cut-off value of I 3M  age in a Kosovar population.

Severely disabling chronic pain in young adults: prevalence from a population-based postal survey in North Staffordshire

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Thomas Elaine

2005-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Severely disabling chronic pain in the adult population is strongly associated with a range of negative health consequences for individuals and high health care costs, yet its prevalence in young adults is less clear. Methods All adults aged 18–25 years old registered with three general practices in North Staffordshire were invited to complete a postal questionnaire containing questions on pain within the last 6 months, pain location and duration. Severity of chronic pain was assessed by the Chronic Pain Grade. Severely disabling chronic pain was defined as pain within the last six months that had lasted for three months or more and was highly disabling-severely limiting (Grade IV. Results 858 responses from 2,389 were received (adjusted response = 37.0%. The prevalence of any pain within the previous six months was 66.9% (95%CI: 63.7%, 70.1%. Chronic pain was reported by 14.3% (95%CI: 12.0%, 16.8% of respondents with severely disabling chronic pain affecting 3.0% (95%CI: 2.0%, 4.4% of this population. Late responders were very similar to early responders in their prevalence of pain. Cross-checking the practice register against the electoral roll suggested register inaccuracies contributed to non-response. Conclusion Pain is a common phenomenon encountered by young adults, affecting 66.9% of this study population. Previously observed age-related trends in severely disabling chronic pain in older adults extend to younger adults. Although a small minority of younger adults are affected, they are likely to represent a group with particularly high health care needs. High levels of non-response in the present study means that these estimates should be interpreted cautiously although there was no evidence of non-response bias.

Evolution in an Afternoon: Rapid Natural Selection and Adaptation of Bacterial Populations

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Delpech, Roger

2009-01-01

This paper describes a simple, rapid and low-cost technique for growing bacteria (or other microbes) in an environmental gradient, in order to determine the tolerance of the microbial population to varying concentrations of sodium chloride ions, and suggests how the evolutionary response of a microbial population to the selection pressure of the…

Prey selection and feeding habits of the large carnivores in the Southern Kalahari

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M. G. L Mills

1984-12-01

Full Text Available Prey selection and feeding habits of lions Panthera leo, spotted hyaenas Crocuta crocuta, cheetahs Acinonyx jubatus and leopards Panthera pardus are investigated. Lions kill mainly adult gemsbok Oryx gazella and blue wildebeest Connochaetes taurinus, tending to select older animals of both species and males in the case of gemsbok. Spotted hyaenas also prey mainly on gemsbok and wildebeest, but select for juveniles, particularly from gemsbok. Cheetahs prey heavily on springbok Antidorcas marsupialis lambs and then on adult males and older individuals. Leopards also prey relatively heavily on springbok, but appear to have a wider diet than cheetahs do. It is concluded that predators generally have a small impact on their prey populations in the southern Kalahari, although in the case of springbok they do appear to influence the structure of the population.

Diets and selected lifestyle practices of self-defined adult vegetarians from a population-based sample suggest they are more 'health conscious'

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Barr Susan I

2005-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Few population-based studies of vegetarians have been published. Thus we compared self-reported vegetarians to non-vegetarians in a representative sample of British Columbia (BC adults, weighted to reflect the BC population. Methods Questionnaires, 24-hr recalls and anthropometric measures were completed during in-person interviews with 1817 community-dwelling residents, 19–84 years, recruited using a population-based health registry. Vegetarian status was self-defined. ANOVA with age as a covariate was used to analyze continuous variables, and chi-square was used for categorical variables. Supplement intakes were compared using the Mann-Whitney test. Results Approximately 6% (n = 106 stated that they were vegetarian, and most did not adhere rigidly to a flesh-free diet. Vegetarians were more likely female (71% vs. 49%, single, of low-income status, and tended to be younger. Female vegetarians had lower BMI than non-vegetarians (23.1 ± 0.7 (mean ± SE vs. 25.7 ± 0.2 kg/m2, and also had lower waist circumference (75.0 ± 1.5 vs. 79.8 ± 0.5 cm. Male vegetarians and non-vegetarians had similar BMI (25.9 ± 0.8 vs. 26.7 ± 0.2 kg/m2 and waist circumference (92.5 ± 2.3 vs. 91.7 ± 0.4 cm. Female vegetarians were more physically active (69% vs. 42% active ≥4/wk while male vegetarians were more likely to use nutritive supplements (71% vs. 51%. Energy intakes were similar, but vegetarians reported higher % energy as carbohydrate (56% vs. 50%, and lower % protein (men only; 13% vs. 17% or % fat (women only; 27% vs. 33%. Vegetarians had higher fiber, magnesium and potassium intakes. For several other nutrients, differences by vegetarian status differed by gender. The prevalence of inadequate magnesium intake (% below Estimated Average Requirement was lower in vegetarians than non-vegetarians (15% vs. 34%. Female vegetarians also had a lower prevalence of inadequate thiamin, folate, vitamin B6 and C intakes. Vegetarians were

Gender differences in psychiatric comorbidity: a population-based study of 40 000 adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

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Solberg, B S; Halmøy, A; Engeland, A; Igland, J; Haavik, J; Klungsøyr, K

2018-03-01

We aimed at determining whether gender modified associations between ADHD and psychiatric comorbidities in adults. We identified adults with ADHD by linking Norwegian national registries and compared them with the remaining adult population (born 1967-1997, ADHD and bipolar during 2004-2015, other psychiatric disorders 2008-2015). Prevalence differences (PDs) and prevalence ratios (PRs) of psychiatric disorders were determined by Poisson regression. Interaction by gender was evaluated on additive (PDs) and multiplicative (PRs) scales. Proportions of psychiatric disorders attributable to ADHD were calculated. We identified 40 103 adults with ADHD (44% women) and 1 661 103 adults (49% women) in the remaining population. PDs associated with ADHD were significantly larger in women than in men for anxiety, depression, bipolar and personality disorders, for example depression in women: 24.4 (95% CI, 23.8-24.9) vs. in men: 13.1 (12.8-13.4). PDs were significantly larger in men for schizophrenia and substance use disorder (SUD), for example SUD in men: 23.0 (22.5-23.5) vs. in women: 13.7 (13.3-14.0). Between 5.6 and 16.5% of psychiatric disorders in the population were attributable to ADHD. The association between ADHD and psychiatric comorbidities differed significantly among men and women. Clinicians treating adults with ADHD should be aware of these frequent and gender-specific comorbidities, such that early treatment can be offered. © 2017 The Authors. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Gender Differences in Psychiatric Comorbidity: Population-based study of 40,000 Adults with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

OpenAIRE

Solberg, Berit Skretting; Halmøy, Anne; Engeland, Anders; Igland, Jannicke; Haavik, Jan; Klungsøyr, Kari

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: We aimed at determining whether gender modified associations between ADHD and psychiatric comorbidities in adults. METHOD: We identified adults with ADHD by linking Norwegian national registries and compared them with the remaining adult population (born 1967-1997, ADHD and bipolar during 2004-2015, other psychiatric disorders 2008-2015). Prevalence differences (PDs) and prevalence ratios (PRs) of psychiatric disorders were determined by Poisson regression. Interaction by gender wa...

Evidence for a Selectively Regulated Prioritization Shift Depending on Walking Situations in Older Adults

OpenAIRE

Salkovic, Dina; Hobert, Markus A.; Bellut, Carolin; Funer, Florian; Renno, Sarah; Haertner, Linda; Hasmann, Sandra E.; Staebler, Jana; Geritz, Johanna; Suenkel, Ulrike; Fallgatter, Andreas J.; Eschweiler, Gerhard W.; Berg, Daniela; Maetzler, Walter

2017-01-01

Background: Older adults have increased risks of balance issues and falls when walking and performing turns in daily situations. Changes of prioritization during different walking situations associated with dual tasking may contribute to these deficits. The objective of this study was therefore to investigate whether older adults demonstrate changes of prioritization during different walking paths. Methods: In total, 1,054 subjects with an age range from 50 to 83 years were selected from t...

Demographic Variables and Selective, Sustained Attention and Planning through Cognitive Tasks among Healthy Adults

OpenAIRE

Afsaneh Zarghi; Zali; A; Tehranidost; M; Mohammad Reza Zarindast; Ashrafi; F; Doroodgar; Khodadadi

2011-01-01

Introduction: Cognitive tasks are considered to be applicable and appropriate in assessing cognitive domains. The purpose of our study is to determine the relationship existence between variables of age, sex and education with selective, sustained attention and planning abilities by means of computerized cognitive tasks among healthy adults. Methods: A cross-sectional study was implemented during 6 months from June to November, 2010 on 84 healthy adults (42 male and 42 female). The whole part...

Effects of different protein concentrations on longevity and feeding behavior of two adult populations of Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann (Diptera: Tephritidae)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Placido-Silva, Maria do Carmo; Silva Neto, Alberto M. da; Joachim-Bravo, Iara S.; Zucoloto, Fernando S.

2006-01-01

The effects of protein intake on two adult male and female populations of Ceratitis capitata Wiedemann were assessed. One population consisted of flies reared for twenty years in the laboratory (Lab-pop); the other population consisted both of flies reared in the laboratory for approximately fifteen years and of the periodically introduced wild flies (Hybrid-pop). Three diets were tested: a no-yeast diet and two diets containing yeast (protein source) at the concentrations 6.5 g or 1.5 g per 100 ml diet. The parameters analyzed were: adult longevity, diet intake with and without yeast, and discrimination threshold for yeast. Protein intake increased Lab-pop adult longevity and did not affect longevity of the Hybrid-pop. Longevity in each population was similar for males and females fed on the same diet. Food behavior were similar for male and female adults of both populations; all preferred diets containing protein (yeast). Males and females in both populations ingested similar amounts of each diet. The discrimination threshold for yeast was similar for all males (0.5 g yeast/100 ml diet); Lab-pop females were able to detect the presence of smaller quantities of yeast in their diet, thus having a higher discrimination capacity (0.4 g/100 ml diet) as compared to the Hybrid-pop females (0.6 g/ 100 ml diet). (author)

Effects of the Ordering of Natural Selection and Population Regulation Mechanisms on Wright-Fisher Models.

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He, Zhangyi; Beaumont, Mark; Yu, Feng

2017-07-05

We explore the effect of different mechanisms of natural selection on the evolution of populations for one- and two-locus systems. We compare the effect of viability and fecundity selection in the context of the Wright-Fisher model with selection under the assumption of multiplicative fitness. We show that these two modes of natural selection correspond to different orderings of the processes of population regulation and natural selection in the Wright-Fisher model. We find that under the Wright-Fisher model these two different orderings can affect the distribution of trajectories of haplotype frequencies evolving with genetic recombination. However, the difference in the distribution of trajectories is only appreciable when the population is in significant linkage disequilibrium. We find that as linkage disequilibrium decays the trajectories for the two different models rapidly become indistinguishable. We discuss the significance of these findings in terms of biological examples of viability and fecundity selection, and speculate that the effect may be significant when factors such as gene migration maintain a degree of linkage disequilibrium. Copyright © 2017 He et al.

Genome-wide Selective Sweeps in Natural Bacterial Populations Revealed by Time-series Metagenomics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chan, Leong-Keat; Bendall, Matthew L.; Malfatti, Stephanie; Schwientek, Patrick; Tremblay, Julien; Schackwitz, Wendy; Martin, Joel; Pati, Amrita; Bushnell, Brian; Foster, Brian; Kang, Dongwan; Tringe, Susannah G.; Bertilsson, Stefan; Moran, Mary Ann; Shade, Ashley; Newton, Ryan J.; Stevens, Sarah; McMcahon, Katherine D.; Mamlstrom, Rex R.

2014-05-12

Multiple evolutionary models have been proposed to explain the formation of genetically and ecologically distinct bacterial groups. Time-series metagenomics enables direct observation of evolutionary processes in natural populations, and if applied over a sufficiently long time frame, this approach could capture events such as gene-specific or genome-wide selective sweeps. Direct observations of either process could help resolve how distinct groups form in natural microbial assemblages. Here, from a three-year metagenomic study of a freshwater lake, we explore changes in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequencies and patterns of gene gain and loss in populations of Chlorobiaceae and Methylophilaceae. SNP analyses revealed substantial genetic heterogeneity within these populations, although the degree of heterogeneity varied considerably among closely related, co-occurring Methylophilaceae populations. SNP allele frequencies, as well as the relative abundance of certain genes, changed dramatically over time in each population. Interestingly, SNP diversity was purged at nearly every genome position in one of the Chlorobiaceae populations over the course of three years, while at the same time multiple genes either swept through or were swept from this population. These patterns were consistent with a genome-wide selective sweep, a process predicted by the ecotype model? of diversification, but not previously observed in natural populations.

Genome-wide Selective Sweeps in Natural Bacterial Populations Revealed by Time-series Metagenomics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chan, Leong-Keat; Bendall, Matthew L.; Malfatti, Stephanie; Schwientek, Patrick; Tremblay, Julien; Schackwitz, Wendy; Martin, Joel; Pati, Amrita; Bushnell, Brian; Foster, Brian; Kang, Dongwan; Tringe, Susannah G.; Bertilsson, Stefan; Moran, Mary Ann; Shade, Ashley; Newton, Ryan J.; Stevens, Sarah; McMahon, Katherine D.; Malmstrom, Rex R.

2014-06-18

Multiple evolutionary models have been proposed to explain the formation of genetically and ecologically distinct bacterial groups. Time-series metagenomics enables direct observation of evolutionary processes in natural populations, and if applied over a sufficiently long time frame, this approach could capture events such as gene-specific or genome-wide selective sweeps. Direct observations of either process could help resolve how distinct groups form in natural microbial assemblages. Here, from a three-year metagenomic study of a freshwater lake, we explore changes in single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequencies and patterns of gene gain and loss in populations of Chlorobiaceae and Methylophilaceae. SNP analyses revealed substantial genetic heterogeneity within these populations, although the degree of heterogeneity varied considerably among closely related, co-occurring Methylophilaceae populations. SNP allele frequencies, as well as the relative abundance of certain genes, changed dramatically over time in each population. Interestingly, SNP diversity was purged at nearly every genome position in one of the Chlorobiaceae populations over the course of three years, while at the same time multiple genes either swept through or were swept from this population. These patterns were consistent with a genome-wide selective sweep, a process predicted by the ‘ecotype model’ of diversification, but not previously observed in natural populations.

Host population structure and treatment frequency maintain balancing selection on drug resistance

Science.gov (United States)

Baskerville, Edward B.; Colijn, Caroline; Hanage, William; Fraser, Christophe; Lipsitch, Marc

2017-01-01

It is a truism that antimicrobial drugs select for resistance, but explaining pathogen- and population-specific variation in patterns of resistance remains an open problem. Like other common commensals, Streptococcus pneumoniae has demonstrated persistent coexistence of drug-sensitive and drug-resistant strains. Theoretically, this outcome is unlikely. We modelled the dynamics of competing strains of S. pneumoniae to investigate the impact of transmission dynamics and treatment-induced selective pressures on the probability of stable coexistence. We find that the outcome of competition is extremely sensitive to structure in the host population, although coexistence can arise from age-assortative transmission models with age-varying rates of antibiotic use. Moreover, we find that the selective pressure from antibiotics arises not so much from the rate of antibiotic use per se but from the frequency of treatment: frequent antibiotic therapy disproportionately impacts the fitness of sensitive strains. This same phenomenon explains why serotypes with longer durations of carriage tend to be more resistant. These dynamics may apply to other potentially pathogenic, microbial commensals and highlight how population structure, which is often omitted from models, can have a large impact. PMID:28835542

A genomic portrait of haplotype diversity and signatures of selection in indigenous southern African populations.

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Emile R Chimusa

2015-03-01

Full Text Available We report a study of genome-wide, dense SNP (∼ 900K and copy number polymorphism data of indigenous southern Africans. We demonstrate the genetic contribution to southern and eastern African populations, which involved admixture between indigenous San, Niger-Congo-speaking and populations of Eurasian ancestry. This finding illustrates the need to account for stratification in genome-wide association studies, and that admixture mapping would likely be a successful approach in these populations. We developed a strategy to detect the signature of selection prior to and following putative admixture events. Several genomic regions show an unusual excess of Niger-Kordofanian, and unusual deficiency of both San and Eurasian ancestry, which were considered the footprints of selection after population admixture. Several SNPs with strong allele frequency differences were observed predominantly between the admixed indigenous southern African populations, and their ancestral Eurasian populations. Interestingly, many candidate genes, which were identified within the genomic regions showing signals for selection, were associated with southern African-specific high-risk, mostly communicable diseases, such as malaria, influenza, tuberculosis, and human immunodeficiency virus/AIDs. This observation suggests a potentially important role that these genes might have played in adapting to the environment. Additionally, our analyses of haplotype structure, linkage disequilibrium, recombination, copy number variation and genome-wide admixture highlight, and support the unique position of San relative to both African and non-African populations. This study contributes to a better understanding of population ancestry and selection in south-eastern African populations; and the data and results obtained will support research into the genetic contributions to infectious as well as non-communicable diseases in the region.

A genomic portrait of haplotype diversity and signatures of selection in indigenous southern African populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Chimusa, Emile R; Meintjies, Ayton; Tchanga, Milaine; Mulder, Nicola; Seoighe, Cathal; Seioghe, Cathal; Soodyall, Himla; Ramesar, Rajkumar

2015-03-01

We report a study of genome-wide, dense SNP (∼ 900K) and copy number polymorphism data of indigenous southern Africans. We demonstrate the genetic contribution to southern and eastern African populations, which involved admixture between indigenous San, Niger-Congo-speaking and populations of Eurasian ancestry. This finding illustrates the need to account for stratification in genome-wide association studies, and that admixture mapping would likely be a successful approach in these populations. We developed a strategy to detect the signature of selection prior to and following putative admixture events. Several genomic regions show an unusual excess of Niger-Kordofanian, and unusual deficiency of both San and Eurasian ancestry, which were considered the footprints of selection after population admixture. Several SNPs with strong allele frequency differences were observed predominantly between the admixed indigenous southern African populations, and their ancestral Eurasian populations. Interestingly, many candidate genes, which were identified within the genomic regions showing signals for selection, were associated with southern African-specific high-risk, mostly communicable diseases, such as malaria, influenza, tuberculosis, and human immunodeficiency virus/AIDs. This observation suggests a potentially important role that these genes might have played in adapting to the environment. Additionally, our analyses of haplotype structure, linkage disequilibrium, recombination, copy number variation and genome-wide admixture highlight, and support the unique position of San relative to both African and non-African populations. This study contributes to a better understanding of population ancestry and selection in south-eastern African populations; and the data and results obtained will support research into the genetic contributions to infectious as well as non-communicable diseases in the region.

Neutral Theory: From Complex Population History to Natural Selection and Sociocultural Phenomena in Human Populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Austerlitz, Frédéric; Heyer, Evelyne

2018-06-01

Here, we present a synthetic view on how Kimura's Neutral theory has helped us gaining insight on the different evolutionary forces that shape human evolution. We put this perspective in the frame of recent emerging challenges: the use of whole genome data for reconstructing population histories, natural selection on complex polygenic traits, and integrating cultural processes in human evolution.

Genome-wide scans between two honeybee populations reveal putative signatures of human-mediated selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Parejo, M; Wragg, D; Henriques, D; Vignal, A; Neuditschko, M

2017-12-01

Human-mediated selection has left signatures in the genomes of many domesticated animals, including the European dark honeybee, Apis mellifera mellifera, which has been selected by apiculturists for centuries. Using whole-genome sequence information, we investigated selection signatures in spatially separated honeybee subpopulations (Switzerland, n = 39 and France, n = 17). Three different test statistics were calculated in windows of 2 kb (fixation index, cross-population extended haplotype homozygosity and cross-population composite likelihood ratio) and combined into a recently developed composite selection score. Applying a stringent false discovery rate of 0.01, we identified six significant selective sweeps distributed across five chromosomes covering eight genes. These genes are associated with multiple molecular and biological functions, including regulation of transcription, receptor binding and signal transduction. Of particular interest is a selection signature on chromosome 1, which corresponds to the WNT4 gene, the family of which is conserved across the animal kingdom with a variety of functions. In Drosophila melanogaster, WNT4 alleles have been associated with differential wing, cross vein and abdominal phenotypes. Defining phenotypic characteristics of different Apis mellifera ssp., which are typically used as selection criteria, include colour and wing venation pattern. This signal is therefore likely to be a good candidate for human mediated-selection arising from different applied breeding practices in the two managed populations. © 2017 The Authors. Animal Genetics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.

Reliability of pedigree-based and genomic evaluations in selected populations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gorjanc, G.; Bijma, P.; Hickey, J.M.

2015-01-01

Background: Reliability is an important parameter in breeding. It measures the precision of estimated breeding values (EBV) and, thus, potential response to selection on those EBV. The precision of EBV is commonly measured by relating the prediction error variance (PEV) of EBV to the base population

Algorithms for selecting informative marker panels for population assignment.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenberg, Noah A

2005-11-01

Given a set of potential source populations, genotypes of an individual of unknown origin at a collection of markers can be used to predict the correct source population of the individual. For improved efficiency, informative markers can be chosen from a larger set of markers to maximize the accuracy of this prediction. However, selecting the loci that are individually most informative does not necessarily produce the optimal panel. Here, using genotypes from eight species--carp, cat, chicken, dog, fly, grayling, human, and maize--this univariate accumulation procedure is compared to new multivariate "greedy" and "maximin" algorithms for choosing marker panels. The procedures generally suggest similar panels, although the greedy method often recommends inclusion of loci that are not chosen by the other algorithms. In seven of the eight species, when applied to five or more markers, all methods achieve at least 94% assignment accuracy on simulated individuals, with one species--dog--producing this level of accuracy with only three markers, and the eighth species--human--requiring approximately 13-16 markers. The new algorithms produce substantial improvements over use of randomly selected markers; where differences among the methods are noticeable, the greedy algorithm leads to slightly higher probabilities of correct assignment. Although none of the approaches necessarily chooses the panel with optimal performance, the algorithms all likely select panels with performance near enough to the maximum that they all are suitable for practical use.

Nudging Our Way to a Healthier Population: The Effect of Calorie Labeling and Self-Control on Menu Choices of Emerging Adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Rising, Camella J; Bol, Nadine

2017-08-01

Emerging adults are among those in the United States with concerning rates of overweight and obesity, putting them at risk for chronic diseases. One proposed intervention to address these issues across populations is to require that chain restaurants and similar establishments provide nutrition information, such as calorie labels, on menu items. This study therefore aims to examine the effect of menu calorie labeling and self-control on food and beverage choices of emerging adults. Results of a between-subjects experiment (n = 179) revealed that calorie labeling increased the likelihood of choosing lower calorie food and beverage options. Moreover, calorie labeling only led to selecting a lower calorie food option among those with high self-control, but not among those with low self-control. This moderating effect was not revealed for beverage choice. Public health practitioners and policymakers should consider intervention approaches that address other drivers of choice, such as self-control, in addition to nutrition information.

Tri-spine horseshoe crab, Tachypleus tridentatus (L. in Sabah, Malaysia: the adult body sizes and population estimate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azwarfarid Manca

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The dwindling number of the tri-spine horseshoe crab, Tachypleus tridentatus has been reported globally and its status in Malaysia is not much known. Study on dimorphism in adult body sizes and population size estimation were conducted using capture–mark–recapture method of adult T. tridentatus in Tawau, Sabah. Camry the estimated population sizes of T. tridentatus ranged from 182 to 1095 with 95% confident limits of 56–42,942 individuals (Schnabel formula. The multivariate discriminant Hotelling’s T2 test verifies the sexual size dimorphism among the adult T. tridentatus with 97.7% separation among sexes (Hotelling’s T2 = 778.49, F = 152.85, p < 0.001 with females being larger and heavier than the male individuals. The number estimated from the study is the first reported for T. tridentatus in Malaysia, particularly in Sabah. Even though this number may slightly overestimate the actual population size in the area owing to the low number of individuals recaptured, for now it could serve as baseline data for horseshoe crab management purpose.

The value of cows in reference populations for genomic selection of new functional traits

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Buch, Line Hjortø; Kargo, Morten; Berg, Peer

2012-01-01

Today, almost all reference populations consist of progeny tested bulls. However, older progeny tested bulls do not have reliable estimated breeding values (EBV) for new traits. Thus, to be able to select for these new traits, it is necessary to build a reference population. We used a deterministic...... of the direct genomic values (DGV) for a new functional trait, regardless of its heritability. For small-scale recording, we compared two scenarios where the reference population consisted of the 2000 cows with phenotypic records or the 30 sires of these cows in the first year with measurements of the new...... to achieve accuracies of the DGV that enable selection for new functional traits recorded on a large scale within 3 years from commencement of recording; and (iv) a higher heritability benefits a reference population of cows more than a reference population of bulls....

Healthy Behaviors and Lifestyles in Young Adults with a History of Developmental Disabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Rurangirwa, Jacqueline; Braun, Kim Van Naarden; Schendel, Diana; Yeargin-Allsopp, Marshalyn

2006-01-01

Objective: Measure select Healthy People 2010 Leading Health Indicators in young adults with and without a history of developmental disabilities (DD) using a population-based cohort. Methods: Young adults were interviewed to assess the prevalence of seven Leading Health Indicators: physical activity, overweight and obesity, tobacco use, substance…

Length of urethra in the Indian adult male population

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Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: The urethral length has not been measured in the Indian population. Even the international literature in this arena is very sparse. This paper is an attempt to develop a simple anatomical database for urethral length. Materials and Methods: Between January 2010 and April 2011, the urethral lengths of 422 adult male patients who required catheterization as part of regular treatment at our hospital, were recorded after obtaining consent from the patients and from the scientific and ethics review boards of the institution. Patients with history of prostatic or urethral abnormalities were excluded. The balloon of a sterile Foley′s catheter was inflated using 10 cc of saline. The length from the junction of the balloon to the ′Y′ junction of the Foley was measured. The catheter was then passed into the bladder and re-inflated to same volume. The penis was gently straightened and the length of the catheter outside the penis was measured till the premarked point at the ′Y′ junction. Subtracting this from the original length gave the length of the urethra. Results: The mean length of the urethra was 17.55 + 1.42 cm with a range between 14 and 22.5 cm. Conclusions: Literature in which the length of the normal adult male urethra is recorded for a significant sample size is very scarce. Our data adds to basic anatomic information of the male urethra specific to the Indian population. Statistical Methods: Descriptive statistical analysis was performed. The non-linear regression analysis was employed to find the normative values of urethral length according to age class.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms and loneliness among adults in the general population.

Science.gov (United States)

Stickley, Andrew; Koyanagi, Ai; Takahashi, Hidetoshi; Ruchkin, Vladislav; Kamio, Yoko

2017-03-01

Research on the association between adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and loneliness is scarce even though factors which have been previously linked to loneliness, such as divorce and poorer mental health may be more prevalent among adults with ADHD. This study investigated the relation between ADHD symptoms/symptom severity and loneliness in the general adult population. Data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007 (N=7403, aged ≥16years) were analyzed. ADHD symptoms and common mental disorders (CMDs) were assessed with the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) Screener and the Clinical Interview Schedule Revised, respectively. Loneliness was measured with a question from the Social Functioning Questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to examine the associations. In the fully adjusted model, an ASRS score ≥14 was strongly associated with loneliness (OR=2.48 95%CI=1.83-3.36). ADHD symptom severity was related to loneliness in a dose-response fashion. Over one-third of the association between ADHD symptoms and loneliness was explained by CMDs. Adults with more ADHD symptoms are at an increased risk of feeling lonely. Future research should determine how ADHD symptoms are linked to loneliness and if loneliness is affecting well-being. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Use of proton pump inhibitors is associated with fractures in young adults: a population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Freedberg, D E; Haynes, K; Denburg, M R; Zemel, B S; Leonard, M B; Abrams, J A; Yang, Y-X

2015-10-01

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are associated with risk for fracture in osteoporotic adults. In this population-based study, we found a significant association between PPIs and fracture in young adults, with evidence of a dose-response effect. Young adults who use PPIs should be cautioned regarding risk for fracture. Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are associated with fracture in adults with osteoporosis. Because PPI therapy may interfere with bone accrual and attainment of peak bone mineral density, we studied the association between use of PPIs and fracture in children and young adults. We conducted a population-based, case-control study nested within records from general medical practices from 1994 to 2013. Participants were 4-29 years old with ≥ 1 year of follow-up who lacked chronic conditions associated with use of long-term acid suppression. Cases of fracture were defined as the first incident fracture at any site. Using incidence density sampling, cases were matched with up to five controls by age, sex, medical practice, and start of follow-up. PPI exposure was defined as 180 or more cumulative doses of PPIs. Conditional logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratio and confidence interval for use of PPIs and fracture. We identified 124,799 cases and 605,643 controls. The adjusted odds ratio for the risk of fracture associated with PPI exposure was 1.13 (95% CI 0.92 to 1.39) among children aged young adults aged 18-29 years old. In young adults but not children, we observed a dose-response effect with increased total exposure to PPIs (p for trend young adults, but overall evidence did not support a PPI-fracture relationship in children. Young adults who use PPIs should be cautioned regarding potentially increased risk for fracture, even if they lack traditional fracture risk factors.

Experimental Ascaris suum infection in the pig: protective memory response after three immunizations and effect of intestinal adult worm population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jungersen, Gregers; Eriksen, Lis; Roepstorff, Allan

1999-01-01

The protective immune response to larval migration in pigs, with or without adult intestinal worm populations, 10 weeks after 3 weekly Ascaris suum inoculations, was studied in 45 pigs. Controlled adult worm populations were achieved by oral transfer of 10 adult worms to previously immunized pigs...... after anthelmintic drenching. A significant reduction in larval recovery from lungs on day 7, and small intestine on day 14, was observed in immunized pigs compared with previously uninfected control pigs after challenge inoculation. The strong anamnestic response to larval migration was characterized...

Observed differentials in the levels of selected environmental contaminants among Mexican and other Hispanic American children, adolescents, adults, and senior citizens.

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, Ram B

2018-02-01

Starting with the 2007-2008 cycle, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) also oversampled Hispanics other than Mexicans (OHISP) making it possible to treat OHISP as a separate demographic group along with Mexican Americans (MAs), non-Hispanic whites (NHWs), and non-Hispanic blacks (NHBs). Yet, more often than not, OHISP have been merged with MA to form an all-Hispanic demographic group (HISP) thus limiting comparisons between NHW, NHB, and HISP. Consequently, for the first time, this study was undertaken to evaluate differences in the observed levels of selected environmental contaminants between MA and OHISP from five groups of environmental contaminants, namely, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), iodine uptake inhibitors (IUIs), environmental phenols (EPHs), priority pesticides (PPs), and perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs). Data for 2007-2010 from NHANES were used to conduct this study. OHISP children born in USA had higher levels of selected PAH metabolites than USA-born MA, and Mexican-born MA adolescents had higher levels of selected PAH metabolites than USA-born MA adolescents. USA-born adolescent MA had higher levels of selected parabens than USA-born adolescent OHISP, and OHISP adults born in another Spanish-speaking country had higher levels of selected parabens than USA-born OHISP adults. USA-born MA adults and seniors had higher levels of selected dichlorophenols than Mexico-born MA adults and seniors, respectively. Females had higher levels of selected PAH metabolites, EPHs, and PPs than males among children, adolescents, adults, and seniors, but the reverse was true for the levels of selected IUIs and PFAAs among adolescents and seniors. Smokers had higher levels of almost all PAH metabolites than non-smokers for adolescents, adults, and seniors. The same was true for urinary thiocynate for adolescents, adults, and seniors. OHISP is a multiracial multiethnic demographic group substantially different from MA with possibly

Prevalence and correlates of depressive symptoms in Chinese older adults: A population-based study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yu, J.; Li, J.; Cuijpers, P.; Wu, S.; Wu, Z.

2012-01-01

Objective In China, the rapid socioeconomic transition and the consequential traditional culture change had significant influences on Chinese older-adult depression. In the present study, the prevalence, the potential risk, and the protective factors of depression in the Chinese older population

Associations among depressive symptoms, childhood abuse, neuroticism, and adult stressful life events in the general adult population

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Ono K

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Kotaro Ono,1 Yoshikazu Takaesu,1 Yukiei Nakai,2 Akiyoshi Shimura,1 Yasuyuki Ono,1 Akiko Murakoshi,1 Yasunori Matsumoto,1 Hajime Tanabe,3 Ichiro Kusumi,2 Takeshi Inoue1 1Department of Psychiatry, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, 2Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido, 3Department of Clinical Human Sciences, Graduate school of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka, Japan Background: Recent studies have suggested that the interactions among several factors affect the onset, progression, and prognosis of major depressive disorder. This study investigated how childhood abuse, neuroticism, and adult stressful life events interact with one another and affect depressive symptoms in the general adult population. Subjects and methods: A total of 413 participants from the nonclinical general adult population completed the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, the Child Abuse and Trauma Scale, the neuroticism subscale of the shortened Eysenck Personality Questionnaire – Revised, and the Life Experiences Survey, which are self-report scales. Structural equation modeling (Mplus version 7.3 and single and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. Results: Childhood abuse, neuroticism, and negative evaluation of life events increased the severity of the depressive symptoms directly. Childhood abuse also indirectly increased the negative appraisal of life events and the severity of the depressive symptoms through enhanced neuroticism in the structural equation modeling. Limitations: There was recall bias in this study. The causal relationship was not clear because this study was conducted using a cross-sectional design. Conclusion: This study suggested that neuroticism is the mediating factor for the two effects of childhood abuse on adulthood depressive symptoms and negative evaluation of life events. Childhood abuse directly and indirectly predicted the severity of depressive symptoms

Exon 3-deleted/full-length growth hormone receptor polymorphism genotype frequencies in Spanish short small-for-gestational-age (SGA) children and adolescents (n = 247) and in an adult control population (n = 289) show increased fl/fl in short SGA.

Science.gov (United States)

Audí, Laura; Esteban, Cristina; Carrascosa, Antonio; Espadero, Rosa; Pérez-Arroyo, Annalisa; Arjona, Rosa; Clemente, María; Wollmann, Hartmut; Fryklund, Linda; Parodi, Luis A

2006-12-01

A polymorphism in the human GH receptor gene (d3/fl-GHR) resulting in genomic deletion of exon 3 has been associated with the degree of height increase in response to GH therapy. The objective of the study was to evaluate the frequencies of d3/fl-GHR polymorphism genotypes in control and short small-for-gestational-age (SGA) populations. An adult control population with heights normally distributed (ACPNH) between -2 and +2 sd score (SDS) and a short non-GH-deficient SGA child population were selected. Thirty Spanish hospitals participated in the selection of the short non-GH-deficient SGA children in the setting of a controlled, randomized trial, and one of these hospitals selected the ACPNH. CONTROLS AND PATIENTS: Two hundred eighty-nine adult subjects of both sexes constituted the ACPNH and 247 children and adolescents of both sexes the short SGA patients. Heights and weights were recorded in the ACPNH, and auxologic and biochemical data were recorded at each hospital for the SGA patients; d3/fl-GHR genotypes were determined and data analyzed in a single hospital. In short SGA patients, d3/fl-GHR genotype frequencies were significantly different from those in ACPNH, with a higher frequency of fl/fl genotype (P or=-2 SDS, n = 60). Our data showed significant differences in the frequency distribution of the d3/fl-GHR genotypes between a normally distributed adult height population and short SGA children, with the biologically less active fl/fl genotype being almost twice as frequent in SGA patients. These data suggest that the d3/fl-GHR polymorphism might be considered among the factors that contribute to the phenotypic expression of growth.

Gambling Problems in the General Danish Population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Harrison, Glenn W.; Jessen, Lasse J.; Lau, Morten

We compare several popular survey instruments for measuring gambling behavior and gambling propensity to assess if they differ in their classification of individuals in the general adult Danish population. We also examine correlations with standard survey instruments for alcohol use, anxiety......, depression and impulsivity. A feature of our design is that nobody was excluded on the basis of their response to a “trigger,” “gateway” or “diagnostic item” question about previous gambling history. Our sample consists of 8,405 adult Danes. We administered the Focal Adult Gambling Screen to all subjects...... and estimate prevalence of gambling problems using sample weights and controlling for sample selection. We find that 95.4% of the population has no detectable risk, 2.9% has an early risk, 0.8% has an intermediate risk, 0.7% has an advanced risk, and 0.2% can be classified as problem gamblers...

Reference interval for the disc-macula distance to disc diameter ratio in a large population of healthy Japanese adults

Science.gov (United States)

Sato, Ken-ichi

2017-01-01

Abstract This study presents the calculated reference interval for the disc-to-macula distance to disc diameter ratio (DM:DD) based on a large population of healthy Japanese adults. A total of 308 consecutive, healthy Japanese adults were examined in this prospective observational study. Eighteen subjects were also excluded because of poor quality of the fundus photograph of one or both eyes; 290 (161 men and 129 women) were included in this study. For each subject, a color fundus photograph of one eye, either the right or left, was randomly selected and used for analysis. On the photograph, the distances between the fovea and the nearest temporal margin of the optic disc (Dft), and the two kinds of disc diameters (D1 and D2), which bisected at right angles and one of which was directed to the fovea (D1), were measured. DM:DD was estimated using the formula: (2Dft + D1)/(D1 + D2). The mean ± standard deviation of DM:DD was 2.91 ± 0.49 for men and 2.96 ± 0.54 for women; there was no sex difference (P = .78, Mann–Whitney U test). Also, almost no relationship was found between DM:DD and age (ρ = −.12, P = .04, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient). The data did not fit a normal distribution (P < .001, Kolmogorov–Smirnov test). The estimated reference interval for DM:DD corresponding to the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles was 2.12 to 4.18. Using a nonparametric approach, the reference interval for DM:DD of a large population of healthy Japanese adults was calculated to be 2.12 to 4.18, regardless of age or sex. PMID:28403107

The genealogy of sequences containing multiple sites subject to strong selection in a subdivided population.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordborg, Magnus; Innan, Hideki

2003-03-01

A stochastic model for the genealogy of a sample of recombining sequences containing one or more sites subject to selection in a subdivided population is described. Selection is incorporated by dividing the population into allelic classes and then conditioning on the past sizes of these classes. The past allele frequencies at the selected sites are thus treated as parameters rather than as random variables. The purpose of the model is not to investigate the dynamics of selection, but to investigate effects of linkage to the selected sites on the genealogy of the surrounding chromosomal region. This approach is useful for modeling strong selection, when it is natural to parameterize the past allele frequencies at the selected sites. Several models of strong balancing selection are used as examples, and the effects on the pattern of neutral polymorphism in the chromosomal region are discussed. We focus in particular on the statistical power to detect balancing selection when it is present.

Transgender Population Size in the United States: a Meta-Regression of Population-Based Probability Samples

Science.gov (United States)

Sevelius, Jae M.

2017-01-01

Background. Transgender individuals have a gender identity that differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. The population size of transgender individuals in the United States is not well-known, in part because official records, including the US Census, do not include data on gender identity. Population surveys today more often collect transgender-inclusive gender-identity data, and secular trends in culture and the media have created a somewhat more favorable environment for transgender people. Objectives. To estimate the current population size of transgender individuals in the United States and evaluate any trend over time. Search methods. In June and July 2016, we searched PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Web of Science for national surveys, as well as “gray” literature, through an Internet search. We limited the search to 2006 through 2016. Selection criteria. We selected population-based surveys that used probability sampling and included self-reported transgender-identity data. Data collection and analysis. We used random-effects meta-analysis to pool eligible surveys and used meta-regression to address our hypothesis that the transgender population size estimate would increase over time. We used subsample and leave-one-out analysis to assess for bias. Main results. Our meta-regression model, based on 12 surveys covering 2007 to 2015, explained 62.5% of model heterogeneity, with a significant effect for each unit increase in survey year (F = 17.122; df = 1,10; b = 0.026%; P = .002). Extrapolating these results to 2016 suggested a current US population size of 390 adults per 100 000, or almost 1 million adults nationally. This estimate may be more indicative for younger adults, who represented more than 50% of the respondents in our analysis. Authors’ conclusions. Future national surveys are likely to observe higher numbers of transgender people. The large variety in questions used to ask

Evidence for natural selection at the melanocortin-3 receptor gene in European and African populations.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoshiuchi, Issei

2016-08-01

Obesity is increasing steadily in worldwide prevalence and is known to cause serious health problems in association with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), including hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular diseases. According to the thrifty gene hypothesis, the natural selection of obesity-related genes is important during feast and famine because they control body weight and fat levels. Past human adaptations to environmental changes in food supply, lifestyle, and geography may have influenced the selection of genes associated with the metabolism of glucose, lipids, and energy. The melanocortin-3 receptor gene (MC3R) is associated with obesity, with MC3R-deficient mice showing increased fat mass. MC3R variations are also linked with childhood obesity and insulin resistance. Here, we aimed to uncover evidence of selection at MC3R. We performed a three-step method to detect selection at MC3R using HapMap population data. We used Wright's F statistics as a measure of population differentiation, the long-range haplotype test to identify extended haplotypes, and the integrated haplotype score (iHS) to detect selection at MC3R. We observed high population differentiation between European and African populations at two MC3R childhood obesity- and insulin resistance-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (rs3746619 and rs3827103) using Wright's F statistics. The iHS revealed evidence of natural selection at MC3R. These findings provide evidence for natural selection at MC3R. Further investigation is warranted into adaptive evolution at T2DM- and obesity-associated genes.

Disparity in dental attendance among older adult populations: a comparative analysis across selected European countries and the USA.

Science.gov (United States)

Manski, Richard; Moeller, John; Chen, Haiyan; Widström, Eeva; Listl, Stefan

2016-02-01

The current study addresses the extent to which diversity in dental attendance across population subgroups exists within and between the USA and selected European countries. The analyses relied on 2006/2007 data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and 2004-2006 data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) in the USA for respondents≥51 years of age. Logistic regression models were estimated to identify impacts of dental-care coverage, and of oral and general health status, on dental-care use. We were unable to discern significant differences in dental attendance across population subgroups in countries with and without social health insurance, between the USA and European countries, and between European countries classified according to social welfare regime. Patterns of diverse dental use were found, but they did not appear predominately in countries classified according to welfare state regime or according to the presence or absence of social health insurance. The findings of this study suggest that income and education have a stronger, and more persistent, correlation with dental use than the correlation between dental insurance and dental use across European countries. We conclude that: (i) higher overall rates of coverage in most European countries, compared with relatively lower rates in the USA, contribute to this finding; and that (ii) policies targeted to improving the income of older persons and their awareness of the importance of oral health care in both Europe and the USA can contribute to improving the use of dental services. © 2015 FDI World Dental Federation.

The Danish adult diabetes registry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Marit Eika; Kristensen, Jette K.; Husted, Gitte Reventlov

2016-01-01

Aim of the database: The aim of the Danish Adult Diabetes Registry (DADR) is to provide data from both the primary health care sector (general practice [GP]) and the secondary sector (specialized outpatient clinics) to assess the quality of treatment given to patients with diabetes. The indicators...... represent process and outcome indicators selected from the literature. Study population: The total diabetes population in Denmark is estimated to be ∼300,000 adult diabetes patients. Approximately 10% have type 1 diabetes, which is managed mainly in the secondary sector, and 90% have type 2 diabetes......, glucose-, blood pressure-, and lipid-lowering treatment (yes/no), insulin pump treatment (yes/ no), and date of last eye and foot examination. Descriptive data: In 2014, the annual report included data regarding over 38,000 patients from outpatient clinics, which is assumed to have included almost all...

Sexting Leads to "Risky" Sex? An Analysis of Sexting Behaviors in a Nonuniversity-Based, Older Adult Population.

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Currin, Joseph M; Hubach, Randolph D; Sanders, Carissa; Hammer, Tonya R

2017-10-03

Since few researchers have analyzed sexting behaviors in nonuniversity-based adult samples, we sought to determine if sexting is associated with negative psychological correlates and risky sexual behaviors in this population. Analysis of individuals who indicated having vaginal or anal sex in the past 12 months and who identified as single (n = 377) showed that condomless sex is independent of sexting behaviors. Results for those in committed relationships (n = 374) and having had vaginal or anal sex in the past 12 months also demonstrated condomless sex and sexting behaviors were not related. Furthermore, alcohol consumption and relational health were predictive of sexting behaviors in adults in committed relationships. These findings demonstrate that while risky sexual behavior and negative psychological correlates are associated with sexting and younger populations, the same might not be true for a nonuniversity-based, older adult sample.

Gender Dependence in Mouth Opening Dimensions in Normal Adult Malaysians Population

OpenAIRE

Shaari, Ramizu; Hwa, Teoh Eng; Rahman, Shaifulizan Abdul

2011-01-01

While measurement of mouth opening is an important clinica examination in diagnosis and management of oral disease, data on non-Western populations are limited. This study was therefore conducted to determine the range of mouth opening in normal Malaysian male and female adults. A total of 34 dental students of Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) were chosen randomly and their maximum mouth opening was measured after being asked to open their mouth sufficiently to accommodate three fingers. Measu...

Ecstasy use and serotonin syndrome: a neglected danger to adolescents and young adults prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Science.gov (United States)

Dobry, Yuriy; Rice, Timothy; Sher, Leo

2013-01-01

At present, there are scarce clinical and basic lab data concerning the risk of acute serotonin toxicity from selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) co-administration. The health care community can strongly benefit from efforts to address the high risks associated with serotonin syndrome from this specific drug combination. The aim of this work is to review the risk of serotonin syndrome in adolescents and young adults prescribed with SSRIs and are concurrently using ecstasy. An electronic search of the major behavioral science bibliographic databases (Pubmed, PsycINFO, Medline) was conducted to retrieve peer-reviewed articles, which detail the clinical characteristics, biological mechanisms and social implications of SSRIs, MDMA, and their potential synergism in causing serotonin syndrome in the pediatric and young adult population. Search terms included "serotonin syndrome", "ecstasy", "MDMA", "pediatric", and "SSRI". Additional references were incorporated from the bibliographies of these retrieved articles. MDMA, in combination with the widely-prescribed SSRI antidepressant class, can lead to rapid, synergistic rise of serotonin (5-HT) concentration in the central nervous system, leading to the acute medical emergency known as serotonin syndrome. This review addresses such complication through an exploration of the theoretical mechanisms and clinical manifestations of this life-threatening pharmacological interaction. The increasing incidences of recreational ecstasy use and SSRI pharmacotherapy among multiple psychiatric disorders in the adolescent population have made this an overlooked yet increasingly relevant danger, which poses a threat to public health. This can be curbed through further research, as well as greater health care provision and attention from a regulatory body owing.

Testing for a genetic response to sexual selection in a wild Drosophila population.

Science.gov (United States)

Gosden, T P; Thomson, J R; Blows, M W; Schaul, A; Chenoweth, S F

2016-06-01

In accordance with the consensus that sexual selection is responsible for the rapid evolution of display traits on macroevolutionary scales, microevolutionary studies suggest sexual selection is a widespread and often strong form of directional selection in nature. However, empirical evidence for the contemporary evolution of sexually selected traits via sexual rather than natural selection remains weak. In this study, we used a novel application of quantitative genetic breeding designs to test for a genetic response to sexual selection on eight chemical display traits from a field population of the fly, Drosophila serrata. Using our quantitative genetic approach, we were able to detect a genetically based difference in means between groups of males descended from fathers who had either successfully sired offspring or were randomly collected from the same wild population for one of these display traits, the diene (Z,Z)-5,9-C27 : 2 . Our experimental results, in combination with previous laboratory studies on this system, suggest that both natural and sexual selection may be influencing the evolutionary trajectories of these traits in nature, limiting the capacity for a contemporary evolutionary response. © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

Comparisons of Growth and Survival Performance Among Selected Families and Wild Populations of Fenneropenaeus chinensis

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Kun; Kong, Jie; Meng, Xianhong; Luan, Sheng; Cao, Baoxiang; Chen, Baolong

2018-04-01

In this study, families of selected population for growth (SP_BWT), selected population for white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) resistance (SP_RW), Bohai wild population (WP_BH) and Huanghai wild population (WP_HH) of F. chinensis were constructed through artificial insemination and with the standardized procedure of larvae rearing. Growth and survival performance were studied among four populations after a 70 days common test. The results showed that the maximum least square mean of body weight was 17.50 g in SP_BWT while the minimum was 13.03 g in WP_HH. Compared with WP_BH, body weight of SP_BWT increased by 23.41% ( P 0.05). Body weights of SP_BWT and SP_RW were significantly higher than that of WP_HH, which increased by 34.31% ( P populations was 0.19, 0.18, 0.17 and 0.16 g d-1, respectively. Coefficient of variation of body weight among four populations was high, which ranged from 32.67% to 35.25%. Such a range showed that there was the potentiality for further improvement in selected populations. Coefficient of variation of survival rate among four populations was low, varying between 3.20% and 5.90%. The difference of survival was highly significant ( P populations ( P growth performances were also observed among different families in each population. The body weight of 798F family was the highest. The absolute growth rate (AGR) was 0.25 g d-1, 150% higher than that of the lowest one, 0.1 g d-1 in 807F family. Survival rate of families among four populations was different. The highest was 94.74%, and the lowest was 71.88%.

Study on Quality Improvement Effect and Separate Character of Soybean Male Sterile (MS1) Recurrent Selection Population

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

ZHAO Shuang-jin; ZHANG Meng-chen; JIANG Chun-zhi; YANG Chun-yan; LIU Bing-qiang; CUI Jue

2007-01-01

To solve the problem that soybean has narrow genetic base, we constructed a series of male sterile recurrent selection populations, and studied the effects of quality improvement and practical value. An LD-base population, which fits to our ecology type was constructed by 6 years' gene enrichment through the introduction of new genes from 23 local varieties and recurrent selection. The LD-base populations were then improved by making crosses with high protein and high oil genotypes. As a result we obtained a high protein sub-population (db) and a high oil sub-population (gy). For the db sub-population, the protein content is 1.18% higher than the base population, 22.38% of the individuals contain 45% or more of protein, which is 10.99% higher than the base population. For the gy sub-population, oil content is 0.24% higher than the base population. Individuals with oil content of 20% or more are 11.05% higher than the base population. The quantitative characters such as flowering date, mature date, pod habit, and hilum color, etc., all showed wide range of separation, and the segregation ratio approached balance. The c.v. of branch number of ms1 recurrent population (72.8%) is higher than general cross-population (57.3%), and the c.v. of 100 seed weight of ms1 (18.1%) is higher than general cross population (16.5%), the coefficient of variation of plant height, pods per plant, and seeds per pod were not significantly different. It was demonstrated in this paper that the quality character of ms1 male sterile recurrent selection population was improved by adding new genes. And the segregation of other characters widened, making the populations suitable for the objective of soybean breeding. In this paper, we also discussed the breeding method, key technology, and selection effect of soybean ms1 population.

pH and bacterial profile of dental plaque in children and adults of a low caries population.

Science.gov (United States)

Raner, Elisabeth; Lindqvist, Lina; Johansson, Sofia; Hassan, Haidar; Carlén, Anette; Suksu-art, Narong; Dahlén, Gunnar

2014-06-01

This study compares pH and microbiological profile of dental plaque in children and adults of a low caries population. Thirty-nine children, 12-14 years of age and 45 adults between 20 and 39 years of age in 5 Karen villages of the Tak province, Northern Thailand were examined for plaque, calculus, caries (DMFT) and pH measurements in resting plaque and after a sucrose rinse. Information on dietary and oral hygiene habits was obtained through interviews using a fixed questionnaire. Microbiological profile of plaque samples was analyzed with DNA-DNA checkerboard technique. Mean DMFT was 0.77 ± 1.56 and 87% of the adults and 67% of the children were caries free (p plaque samples showed high levels of low acidogenic and anaerobic species, which dominated over strong acid producers such as streptococci. The study indicates that the Karen children and adults has a plaque physiology and microbiology predominating by low acidogenic anaerobes, which in addition to the low sucrose intake explains the low caries prevalence in this population. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Relationship Between Pedometer-Determined Ambulatory Activity and Balance Variables Within an Older Adult Population

OpenAIRE

Campbell, Candice; Kress, Jeff; Schroeder, Jan; Donlin, Ayla; Rozenek, Ralph

2016-01-01

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the differences between gender, physical activity level, and balance in an older adult population. A secondary purpose was to examine the relationship between pedometer-determined ambulatory activity and balance. Forty-six older adults aged 73.7 ± 6.2 years participated in the study. Participants completed the Fullerton Advanced Balance (FAB) Scale and completed a 2-week daily step recording to determine average steps taken per day. Low-level...

Knowledge, perceptions and myths regarding infertility among selected adult population in Pakistan: a cross-sectional study

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Ali Syed F

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The reported prevalence of infertility in Pakistan is approximately 22% with 4% primary and 18% secondary infertility. Infertility is not only a medical but also a social problem in our society as cultural customs and perceived religious dictums may equate infertility with failure on a personal, interpersonal, or social level. It is imperative that people have adequate knowledge about infertility so couples can seek timely medical care and misconceptions can be rectified. We aim to assess the knowledge, perception and myths regarding infertility and suggest ways to improve it. Methods A cross-sectional survey was carried out by interviewing a sample of 447 adults who were accompanying the patients at two tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan. They were interviewed one-on-one with the help of a pretested questionnaire drafted by the team after a thorough literature review and in consultation with infertility specialists. Results The correct knowledge of infertility was found to be limited amongst the participants. Only 25% correctly identified when infertility is pathological and only 46% knew about the fertile period in women's cycle. People are misinformed that use of IUCD (53% and OCPs (61% may cause infertility. Beliefs in evil forces and supernatural powers as a cause of infertility are still prevalent especially amongst people with lower level of education. Seeking alternative treatment for infertility remains a popular option for 28% of the participant as a primary preference and 75% as a secondary preference. IVF remains an unfamiliar (78% and an unacceptable option (55%. Conclusions Knowledge about infertility is limited in the population and a lot of misconceptions and myths are prevalent in the society. Alternative medicine is a popular option for seeking infertility treatment. The cultural and religious perspective about assisted reproductive technologies is unclear, which has resulted in its reduced

Knowledge, perceptions and myths regarding infertility among selected adult population in Pakistan: a cross-sectional study.

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Ali, Sumera; Sophie, Raafay; Imam, Ayesha M; Khan, Faisal I; Ali, Syed F; Shaikh, Annum; Farid-ul-Hasnain, Syed

2011-10-04

The reported prevalence of infertility in Pakistan is approximately 22% with 4% primary and 18% secondary infertility. Infertility is not only a medical but also a social problem in our society as cultural customs and perceived religious dictums may equate infertility with failure on a personal, interpersonal, or social level. It is imperative that people have adequate knowledge about infertility so couples can seek timely medical care and misconceptions can be rectified. We aim to assess the knowledge, perception and myths regarding infertility and suggest ways to improve it. A cross-sectional survey was carried out by interviewing a sample of 447 adults who were accompanying the patients at two tertiary care hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan. They were interviewed one-on-one with the help of a pretested questionnaire drafted by the team after a thorough literature review and in consultation with infertility specialists. The correct knowledge of infertility was found to be limited amongst the participants. Only 25% correctly identified when infertility is pathological and only 46% knew about the fertile period in women's cycle. People are misinformed that use of IUCD (53%) and OCPs (61%) may cause infertility. Beliefs in evil forces and supernatural powers as a cause of infertility are still prevalent especially amongst people with lower level of education. Seeking alternative treatment for infertility remains a popular option for 28% of the participant as a primary preference and 75% as a secondary preference. IVF remains an unfamiliar (78%) and an unacceptable option (55%). Knowledge about infertility is limited in the population and a lot of misconceptions and myths are prevalent in the society. Alternative medicine is a popular option for seeking infertility treatment. The cultural and religious perspective about assisted reproductive technologies is unclear, which has resulted in its reduced acceptability.

Signatures of natural selection at the FTO (fat mass and obesity associated locus in human populations.

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Xuanshi Liu

Full Text Available Polymorphisms in the first intron of FTO have been robustly replicated for associations with obesity. In the Sorbs, a Slavic population resident in Germany, the strongest effect on body mass index (BMI was found for a variant in the third intron of FTO (rs17818902. Since this may indicate population specific effects of FTO variants, we initiated studies testing FTO for signatures of selection in vertebrate species and human populations.First, we analyzed the coding region of 35 vertebrate FTO orthologs with Phylogenetic Analysis by Maximum Likelihood (PAML, ω = dN/dS to screen for signatures of selection among species. Second, we investigated human population (Europeans/CEU, Yoruba/YRI, Chinese/CHB, Japanese/JPT, Sorbs SNP data for footprints of selection using DnaSP version 4.5 and the Haplotter/PhaseII. Finally, using ConSite we compared transcription factor (TF binding sites at sequences harbouring FTO SNPs in intron three.PAML analyses revealed strong conservation in coding region of FTO (ω<1. Sliding-window results from population genetic analyses provided highly significant (p<0.001 signatures for balancing selection specifically in the third intron (e.g. Tajima's D in Sorbs = 2.77. We observed several alterations in TF binding sites, e.g. TCF3 binding site introduced by the rs17818902 minor allele.Population genetic analysis revealed signatures of balancing selection at the FTO locus with a prominent signal in intron three, a genomic region with strong association with BMI in the Sorbs. Our data support the hypothesis that genes associated with obesity may have been under evolutionary selective pressure.

Efficiency of selection methods for increased ratio of pupal-larval to adult-larval weight gains in Tribolium.

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Campo, J L; Cobos, P

1994-01-12

Four lines of Tribolium castaneum were selected in each of three replicates for increased ratio of (pupal-larval) to (adult-larval) weight gains, using selection for increased (pupal-larval) weight gain (PL), selection for decreased (adult-larval) weight gain (AL), direct selection for the ratio (R) and linear selection index of larval, pupal and adult weights (I), respectively, for four generations. Linear index was calculated with economic weights of m(2) -m(3) , m(3) -m(1) and m(1) -m(2) , respectively, with m(1) , m(2) and m(3) being the means for larval, pupal and adult weights. Selection to increase the ratio is considered to be a method to maximize the mean response in (adult-larval) weight while controlling the response in (pupal-adult) weight, and as a form of antagonistic selection to increase the weight gain during a given age period relative to the gain at another age period. Larval, pupal and adult weights were measured at 14, 21 and 28 days after adult emergence, respectively. The selected proportion was 20 % in all lines. The response observed for the ratio differed significantly among lines (p adulto-peso de larva en Tribolium Cuatro líneas de Tribolium castaneum fueron seleccionadas en cada una de tres repeticiones para incrementar el cociente (peso de pupa-peso de larva)/(peso de adulto-peso de larva); la línea PL fue seleccionada para aumentar la diferencia (peso de pupa-pesp de larva), la línea AL fue seleccionada para disminuir la diferencia (peso de adulto-peso de larva), fa línea R fue seleccionada directamente para el cociente, y la línea I fue seleccionada por medio de un índice lineal basado en los pesos de larva, pupa y adulto, durante cuatro generaciones. El índice lineal se calculó con pesos económicos de (m(2) -m(3) ), (m(3) -m(1) ), y (m(1) -m(2) ) respectivamentee, siendo m(1) , m(2) , y m(3) los valores medios para el peso de larva, pupa y adulto. La selección para aumentar el cociente indicado es un método para maximizar

Population attributable risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes related to smoking in adolescents and adults

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Delpisheh, A.; Kelly, Y.; Rizwan, S.; Attia, E.; Drammond, S.; Brabin, B. J.

2007-01-01

BACKGROUND: Little is known about how population-attributable risks (PAR) for adverse birth outcomes due to smoking differ in adolescent and adult pregnancies. METHODS: An analysis of community and hospital-based cross-sectional studies in Liverpool was undertaken to estimate the PAR values of low

High blood pressure, antihypertensive medication and lung function in a general adult population

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Several studies showed that blood pressure and lung function are associated. Additionally, a potential effect of antihypertensive medication, especially beta-blockers, on lung function has been discussed. However, side effects of beta-blockers have been investigated mainly in patients with already reduced lung function. Thus, aim of this analysis is to determine whether hypertension and antihypertensive medication have an adverse effect on lung function in a general adult population. Methods Within the population-based KORA F4 study 1319 adults aged 40-65 years performed lung function tests and blood pressure measurements. Additionally, information on anthropometric measurements, medical history and use of antihypertensive medication was available. Multivariable regression models were applied to study the association between blood pressure, antihypertensive medication and lung function. Results High blood pressure as well as antihypertensive medication were associated with lower forced expiratory volume in one second (p = 0.02 respectively p = 0.05; R2: 0.65) and forced vital capacity values (p = 0.01 respectively p = 0.05, R2: 0.73). Furthermore, a detailed analysis of antihypertensive medication pointed out that only the use of beta-blockers was associated with reduced lung function, whereas other antihypertensive medication had no effect on lung function. The adverse effect of beta-blockers was significant for forced vital capacity (p = 0.04; R2: 0.65), while the association with forced expiratory volume in one second showed a trend toward significance (p = 0.07; R2: 0.73). In the same model high blood pressure was associated with reduced forced vital capacity (p = 0.01) and forced expiratory volume in one second (p = 0.03) values, too. Conclusion Our analysis indicates that both high blood pressure and the use of beta-blockers, but not the use of other antihypertensive medication, are associated with reduced lung function in a general adult

Code-specific learning rules improve action selection by populations of spiking neurons.

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Friedrich, Johannes; Urbanczik, Robert; Senn, Walter

2014-08-01

Population coding is widely regarded as a key mechanism for achieving reliable behavioral decisions. We previously introduced reinforcement learning for population-based decision making by spiking neurons. Here we generalize population reinforcement learning to spike-based plasticity rules that take account of the postsynaptic neural code. We consider spike/no-spike, spike count and spike latency codes. The multi-valued and continuous-valued features in the postsynaptic code allow for a generalization of binary decision making to multi-valued decision making and continuous-valued action selection. We show that code-specific learning rules speed up learning both for the discrete classification and the continuous regression tasks. The suggested learning rules also speed up with increasing population size as opposed to standard reinforcement learning rules. Continuous action selection is further shown to explain realistic learning speeds in the Morris water maze. Finally, we introduce the concept of action perturbation as opposed to the classical weight- or node-perturbation as an exploration mechanism underlying reinforcement learning. Exploration in the action space greatly increases the speed of learning as compared to exploration in the neuron or weight space.

The establishment of tocopherol reference intervals for Hungarian adult population using a validated HPLC method.

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Veres, Gábor; Szpisjak, László; Bajtai, Attila; Siska, Andrea; Klivényi, Péter; Ilisz, István; Földesi, Imre; Vécsei, László; Zádori, Dénes

2017-09-01

Evidence suggests that decreased α-tocopherol (the most biologically active substance in the vitamin E group) level can cause neurological symptoms, most likely ataxia. The aim of the current study was to first provide reference intervals for serum tocopherols in the adult Hungarian population with appropriate sample size, recruiting healthy control subjects and neurological patients suffering from conditions without symptoms of ataxia, myopathy or cognitive deficiency. A validated HPLC method applying a diode array detector and rac-tocol as internal standard was utilized for that purpose. Furthermore, serum cholesterol levels were determined as well for data normalization. The calculated 2.5-97.5% reference intervals for α-, β/γ- and δ-tocopherols were 24.62-54.67, 0.81-3.69 and 0.29-1.07 μm, respectively, whereas the tocopherol/cholesterol ratios were 5.11-11.27, 0.14-0.72 and 0.06-0.22 μmol/mmol, respectively. The establishment of these reference intervals may improve the diagnostic accuracy of tocopherol measurements in certain neurological conditions with decreased tocopherol levels. Moreover, the current study draws special attention to the possible pitfalls in the complex process of the determination of reference intervals as well, including the selection of study population, the application of internal standard and method validation and the calculation of tocopherol/cholesterol ratios. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Phenotypic selection on leaf water use efficiency and related ecophysiological traits for natural populations of desert sunflowers.

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Donovan, Lisa A; Dudley, Susan A; Rosenthal, David M; Ludwig, Fulco

2007-05-01

Plant water-use efficiency (WUE) is expected to affect plant fitness and thus be under natural selection in arid habitats. Although many natural population studies have assessed plant WUE, only a few related WUE to fitness. The further determination of whether selection on WUE is direct or indirect through functionally related traits has yielded no consistent results. For natural populations of two desert annual sunflowers, Helianthus anomalus and H. deserticola, we used phenotypic selection analysis with vegetative biomass as the proxy for fitness to test (1) whether there was direct and indirect selection on WUE (carbon isotope ratio) and related traits (leaf N, area, succulence) and (2) whether direct selection was consistent with hypothesized drought/dehydration escape and avoidance strategies. There was direct selection for lower WUE in mesic and dry H. anomalus populations, consistent with dehydration escape, even though it is the longer lived of the two species. For mesic H. anomalus, direct selection favored lower WUE and higher N, suggesting that plants may be "wasting water" to increase N delivery via the transpiration stream. For the shorter lived H. deserticola in the direr habitat, there was indirect selection for lower WUE, inconsistent with drought escape. There was also direct selection for higher leaf N, succulence and leaf size. There was no direct selection for higher WUE consistent with dehydration avoidance in either species. Thus, in these natural populations of two desert dune species higher fitness was associated with some combination direct and indirect selection for lower WUE, higher leaf N and larger leaf size. Our understanding of the adaptive value of plant ecophysiological traits will benefit from further consideration of related traits such as leaf nitrogen and more tests in natural populations.

Age-associated impact on presentation and outcome for penetrating thoracic trauma in the adult and pediatric patient populations.

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Mollberg, Nathan M; Tabachnick, Deborah; Lin, Fang-Ju; Merlotti, Gary J; Varghese, Thomas K; Arensman, Robert M; Massad, Malek G

2014-02-01

Studies reporting on penetrating thoracic trauma in the pediatric population have been limited by small numbers and implied differences with the adult population. Our objectives were to report on a large cohort of pediatric patients presenting with penetrating thoracic trauma and to determine age-related impacts on management and outcome through comparison with an adult cohort. A Level I trauma center registry was queried between 2006 and 2012. All patients presenting with penetrating thoracic trauma were identified. Patient demographics, injury mechanism, injury severity, admission physiology, and outcome were recorded. Patients were compared, and outcomes were analyzed based on age at presentation, with patients 17 years or younger defining our pediatric cohort. A total of 1,423 patients with penetrating thoracic trauma were admitted during the study period. Two hundred twenty patients (15.5%) were pediatric, with 205 being adolescents (13-17 years) and 15 being children (≤ 12 years). In terms of management for the pediatric population, tube thoracostomy alone was needed in 32.7% (72 of 220), whereas operative thoracic exploration was performed in 20.0% (44 of 220). Overall mortality was 13.6% (30 of 220). There was no significant difference between the pediatric and adult population with regard to injury mechanism or severity, need for therapeutic intervention, operative approach, use of emergency department thoracotomy, or outcome. Stepwise logistic regression failed to identify age as a predictor for the need for either therapeutic intervention or mortality between the two age groups as a whole. However, subgroup analysis revealed that being 12 years or younger (odds ratio, 3.84; 95% confidence interval, 1.29-11.4) was an independent predictor of mortality. Management of traumatic penetrating thoracic injuries in terms of the need for therapeutic intervention and operative approach was similar between the adult and pediatric populations. Mortality from

Topology of evolving, mutagenized viral populations: quasispecies expansion, compression, and operation of negative selection.

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Ojosnegros, Samuel; Agudo, Rubén; Sierra, Macarena; Briones, Carlos; Sierra, Saleta; González-López, Claudia; Domingo, Esteban; Cristina, Juan

2008-07-17

The molecular events and evolutionary forces underlying lethal mutagenesis of virus (or virus extinction through an excess of mutations) are not well understood. Here we apply for the first time phylogenetic methods and Partition Analysis of Quasispecies (PAQ) to monitor genetic distances and intra-population structures of mutant spectra of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) quasispecies subjected to mutagenesis by base and nucleoside analogues. Phylogenetic and PAQ analyses have revealed a highly dynamic variation of intrapopulation diversity of FMDV quasispecies. The population diversity first suffers striking expansions in the presence of mutagens and then compressions either when the presence of the mutagenic analogue was discontinued or when a mutation that decreased sensitivity to a mutagen was selected. The pattern of mutations found in the populations was in agreement with the behavior of the corresponding nucleotide analogues with FMDV in vitro. Mutations accumulated at preferred genomic sites, and dn/ds ratios indicate the operation of negative (or purifying) selection in populations subjected to mutagenesis. No evidence of unusually elevated genetic distances has been obtained for FMDV populations approaching extinction. Phylogenetic and PAQ analysis provide adequate procedures to describe the evolution of viral sequences subjected to lethal mutagenesis. These methods define the changes of intra-population structure more precisely than mutation frequencies and Shannon entropies. PAQ is very sensitive to variations of intrapopulation genetic distances. Strong negative (or purifying) selection operates in FMDV populations subjected to enhanced mutagenesis. The quantifications provide evidence that extinction does not imply unusual increases of intrapopulation complexity, in support of the lethal defection model of virus extinction.

Reproductive habitat selection in alien and native populations of the genus Discoglossus

Science.gov (United States)

Escoriza, Daniel; Boix, Dani

2014-08-01

The existence of suitable breeding habitats is an important factor explaining the regional presence of an anuran species. This study examined patterns of habitat selection in populations of three species of the genus Discoglossus: Discoglossusgalganoi (south-western Iberian Peninsula), Discoglossusscovazzi (Morocco) and Discoglossuspictus (three different areas were included in the study: Sicily, Tunisia and north-eastern Iberian Peninsula). The populations of D. pictus on the Iberian Peninsula are allochthonous, and analysis of these patterns may provide insights into the processes that regulate the invasion phase. The hypotheses tested were: (i) congeneric species show the same patterns of habitat selection, and alien species have been established following these patterns; (ii) there are differences in species associations between assemblages structured deterministically and by chance, i.e. native versus invaded assemblages. The larval habitats of three species of this genus were characterized by measuring physical and chemical parameters of the water bodies. We examined the covariation between the presence of Discoglossus species and the species richness of sympatric anurans, and investigated a possible relationship between morphological similarity (as a proxy of functional group) and overlap in habitat use. The results showed that congeneric species are morphologically conservative and also select very similar types of aquatic habitat. The alien population and other sympatric species showed a high degree of overlap in habitat use, which was greater than that observed in the native assemblage with a similar functional richness. Species associations were not structured on the basis of morphological similarity in any of the assemblages. Among native populations, the presence of Discoglossus was either negatively correlated or not significantly correlated with species richness. Only the alien population showed a positive correlation between its presence and species

Loss of DNA mismatch repair imparts a selective advantage in planarian adult stem cells.

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Jessica P Hollenbach

Full Text Available Lynch syndrome (LS leads to an increased risk of early-onset colorectal and other types of cancer and is caused by germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair (MMR genes. Loss of MMR function results in a mutator phenotype that likely underlies its role in tumorigenesis. However, loss of MMR also results in the elimination of a DNA damage-induced checkpoint/apoptosis activation barrier that may allow damaged cells to grow unchecked. A fundamental question is whether loss of MMR provides pre-cancerous stem cells an immediate selective advantage in addition to establishing a mutator phenotype. To test this hypothesis in an in vivo system, we utilized the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea which contains a significant population of identifiable adult stem cells. We identified a planarian homolog of human MSH2, a MMR gene which is mutated in 38% of LS cases. The planarian Smed-msh2 is expressed in stem cells and some progeny. We depleted Smed-msh2 mRNA levels by RNA-interference and found a striking survival advantage in these animals treated with a cytotoxic DNA alkylating agent compared to control animals. We demonstrated that this tolerance to DNA damage is due to the survival of mitotically active, MMR-deficient stem cells. Our results suggest that loss of MMR provides an in vivo survival advantage to the stem cell population in the presence of DNA damage that may have implications for tumorigenesis.

Chemical variation in a dominant tree species: population divergence, selection and genetic stability across environments.

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Julianne M O'Reilly-Wapstra

Full Text Available Understanding among and within population genetic variation of ecologically important plant traits provides insight into the potential evolutionary processes affecting those traits. The strength and consistency of selection driving variability in traits would be affected by plasticity in differences among genotypes across environments (G×E. We investigated population divergence, selection and environmental plasticity of foliar plant secondary metabolites (PSMs in a dominant tree species, Eucalyptus globulus. Using two common garden trials we examined variation in PSMs at multiple genetic scales; among 12 populations covering the full geographic range of the species and among up to 60 families within populations. Significant genetic variation in the expression of many PSMs resides both among and within populations of E. globulus with moderate (e.g., sideroxylonal A h(2op = 0.24 to high (e.g., macrocarpal G h(2op = 0.48 narrow sense heritabilities and high coefficients of additive genetic variation estimated for some compounds. A comparison of Qst and Fst estimates suggest that variability in some of these traits may be due to selection. Importantly, there was no genetic by environment interaction in the expression of any of the quantitative chemical traits despite often significant site effects. These results provide evidence that natural selection has contributed to population divergence in PSMs in E. globulus, and identifies the formylated phloroglucinol compounds (particularly sideroxylonal and a dominant oil, 1,8-cineole, as candidates for traits whose genetic architecture has been shaped by divergent selection. Additionally, as the genetic differences in these PSMs that influence community phenotypes is stable across environments, the role of plant genotype in structuring communities is strengthened and these genotypic differences may be relatively stable under global environmental changes.

Association between adult otitis media and nasopharyngeal cancer: A nationwide population-based cohort study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang, Wen-Yen; Lin, Che-Chen; Jen, Yee-Min; Lin, Kuen-Tze; Yang, Muh-Hwa; Chen, Chang-Ming; Chang, Ying-Nan; Sung, Fung-Chang; Kao, Chia-Hung

2012-01-01

Purpose: To determine whether the diagnosis of otitis media (OM) in adults is associated with an increased risk for the subsequent development of nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC) using a nationwide population-based retrospective study. Methods and materials: We selected 13,513 adult patients that had been previously diagnosed with OM between 2000 and 2005 from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000 as the study cohort, and randomly extracted the data of 135,130 participants matched by sex, age, and baseline year for the comparison cohort. The follow-up period was terminated upon developing NPC, withdrawal from the national health insurance system, or the end of 2009. Cumulative incidences and hazard ratios (HRs) of NPC development were determined. Results: The subsequent NPC incidence rates in the OM and comparison cohorts were 6.41 and 0.58 per 10 000 person-years, respectively (adjusted HR, 11.04; 95% CI, 7.68–5.87; P < 0.0001). The NPC risk for males was significantly higher than that for females (adjusted HR = 3.24; 95% CI, 2.16–4.85). In both female and male patients, the diagnosis of OM was associated with a significantly increased risk for NPC (adjusted HR, 11.91 vs. 10.78, respectively). Among the OM cohort, 62 participants were subsequently diagnosed with NPC, with 71% of them occurring within 1 year following the diagnosis of OM. However, even after 5-year follow-up, the OM cohort still displayed a higher risk for NPC (adjusted HR = 2.50). Stratified by the frequency of OM episodes, more than one episode per year had a significantly greater risk of developing NPC, compared with the comparison cohort (HR = 29.22; 95% CI, 20.19–42.27). Conclusion: We found that adult OM is a warning sign for the development of NPC in Taiwan, with approximately an 11-fold higher risk for adult OM patients. We recommend that OM patients undergo follow-up examinations for at least 5 years. To extrapolate our findings, further studies are warranted in other

Identifying signatures of natural selection in Tibetan and Andean populations using dense genome scan data.

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Abigail Bigham

2010-09-01

Full Text Available High-altitude hypoxia (reduced inspired oxygen tension due to decreased barometric pressure exerts severe physiological stress on the human body. Two high-altitude regions where humans have lived for millennia are the Andean Altiplano and the Tibetan Plateau. Populations living in these regions exhibit unique circulatory, respiratory, and hematological adaptations to life at high altitude. Although these responses have been well characterized physiologically, their underlying genetic basis remains unknown. We performed a genome scan to identify genes showing evidence of adaptation to hypoxia. We looked across each chromosome to identify genomic regions with previously unknown function with respect to altitude phenotypes. In addition, groups of genes functioning in oxygen metabolism and sensing were examined to test the hypothesis that particular pathways have been involved in genetic adaptation to altitude. Applying four population genetic statistics commonly used for detecting signatures of natural selection, we identified selection-nominated candidate genes and gene regions in these two populations (Andeans and Tibetans separately. The Tibetan and Andean patterns of genetic adaptation are largely distinct from one another, with both populations showing evidence of positive natural selection in different genes or gene regions. Interestingly, one gene previously known to be important in cellular oxygen sensing, EGLN1 (also known as PHD2, shows evidence of positive selection in both Tibetans and Andeans. However, the pattern of variation for this gene differs between the two populations. Our results indicate that several key HIF-regulatory and targeted genes are responsible for adaptation to high altitude in Andeans and Tibetans, and several different chromosomal regions are implicated in the putative response to selection. These data suggest a genetic role in high-altitude adaption and provide a basis for future genotype/phenotype association

Collecting Evidence to Inform Salt Reduction Policies in Argentina: Identifying Sources of Sodium Intake in Adults from a Population-Based Sample

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Natalia Elorriaga

2017-08-01

Full Text Available The maximum content of sodium in selected processed foods (PF in Argentina was limited by a law enacted in 2013. Data about intake of these and other foods are necessary for policy planning, implementation, evaluation, and monitoring. We examined data from the CESCAS I population-based cohort study to assess the main dietary sources among PF and frequency of discretionary salt use by sex, age, and education attainment, before full implementation of the regulations in 2015. We used a validated 34-item FFQ (Food Frequency Questionnaire to assess PF intake and discretional salt use. Among 2127 adults in two Argentinean cities, aged 35–76 years, mean salt intake from selected PFs was 4.7 g/day, higher among male and low education subgroups. Categories of foods with regulated maximum limits provided near half of the sodium intake from PFs. Use of salt (always/often at the table and during cooking was reported by 9% and 73% of the population, respectively, with higher proportions among young people. Reducing salt consumption to the target of 5 g/day may require adjustments to the current regulation (reducing targets, including other food categories, as well as reinforcing strategies such as education campaigns, labeling, and voluntary agreement with bakeries.

Genome-wide population-based association study of extremely overweight young adults--the GOYA study

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Paternoster, Lavinia; Evans, David M; Nohr, Ellen Aagaard

2011-01-01

Thirty-two common variants associated with body mass index (BMI) have been identified in genome-wide association studies, explaining ∼1.45% of BMI variation in general population cohorts. We performed a genome-wide association study in a sample of young adults enriched for extremely overweight...

A comparison of two methods for prediction of response and rates of inbreeding in selected populations with the results obtained in two selection experiments

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Verrier Etienne

2005-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Selection programmes are mainly concerned with increasing genetic gain. However, short-term progress should not be obtained at the expense of the within-population genetic variability. Different prediction models for the evolution within a small population of the genetic mean of a selected trait, its genetic variance and its inbreeding have been developed but have mainly been validated through Monte Carlo simulation studies. The purpose of this study was to compare theoretical predictions to experimental results. Two deterministic methods were considered, both grounded on a polygenic additive model. Differences between theoretical predictions and experimental results arise from differences between the true and the assumed genetic model, and from mathematical simplifications applied in the prediction methods. Two sets of experimental lines of chickens were used in this study: the Dutch lines undergoing true truncation mass selection, the other lines (French undergoing mass selection with a restriction on the representation of the different families. This study confirmed, on an experimental basis, that modelling is an efficient approach to make useful predictions of the evolution of selected populations although the basic assumptions considered in the models (polygenic additive model, normality of the distribution, base population at the equilibrium, etc. are not met in reality. The two deterministic methods compared yielded results that were close to those observed in real data, especially when the selection scheme followed the rules of strict mass selection: for instance, both predictions overestimated the genetic gain in the French experiment, whereas both predictions were close to the observed values in the Dutch experiment.

Can interbreeding of wild and artificially propagated animals be prevented by using broodstock selected for a divergent life history?

Science.gov (United States)

Seamons, Todd R; Hauser, Lorenz; Naish, Kerry A; Quinn, Thomas P

2012-01-01

Two strategies have been proposed to avoid negative genetic effects of artificially propagated individuals on wild populations: (i) integration of wild and captive populations to minimize domestication selection and (ii) segregation of released individuals from the wild population to minimize interbreeding. We tested the efficacy of the strategy of segregation by divergent life history in a steelhead trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, system, where hatchery fish were selected to spawn months earlier than the indigenous wild population. The proportion of wild ancestry smolts and adults declined by 10–20% over the three generations since the hatchery program began. Up to 80% of the naturally produced steelhead in any given year were hatchery/wild hybrids. Regression model selection analysis showed that the proportion of hatchery ancestry smolts was lower in years when stream discharge was high, suggesting a negative effect of flow on reproductive success of early-spawning hatchery fish. Furthermore, proportions of hybrid smolts and adults were higher in years when the number of naturally spawning hatchery-produced adults was higher. Divergent life history failed to prevent interbreeding when physical isolation was ineffective, an inadequacy that is likely to prevail in many other situations. PMID:23144657

Dietary Energy Density in the Australian Adult Population from National Nutrition Surveys 1995 to 2012.

Science.gov (United States)

Grech, Amanda Lee; Rangan, Anna; Allman-Farinelli, Margaret

2017-12-01

It is hypothesized that the observed proliferation of energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods globally is an important contributing factor to the development of the obesity epidemic. However, evidence that the population's dietary energy density has increased is sparse. The World Cancer Research Fund recommends that dietary energy density be density of the Australian population has changed between 1995 and 2012. A secondary analysis of two cross-sectional Australian national nutrition surveys from 1995 and 2011/2012 was conducted. Participants of the surveys included adults aged 18 years and older (1995 n=10,986 and 2011/2012 n=9,435) completing 24-hour dietary recalls, including a second recall for a subset of the population (10.4% in 1995 and 64.6% in 2011/2012). Outcome measures included the change in dietary energy density (calculated as energy/weight of food [kcal/g] for food only) between surveys. The National Cancer Institute method for "estimating ratios of two dietary components that are consumed nearly every day" was used to determine the usual distribution and the percentage of participants reporting energy density density was 1.59 (0.26) kcal/g and 1.64 (0.32) kcal/g (Pdensity recommendations. For those aged 70 years and older, the percentage with energy density density density has increased between the two surveys and few people consumed low energy-dense diets in line with recommendations. The change was largely due to increased energy density of older adult's diets, while young adults had high dietary energy density at both time points. These data suggest efforts now focus on the evaluation of the role of modifying energy density of the diet to reduce the risk of weight gain in adults. Copyright © 2017 Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Subset selection from Type-I and Type-II generalized logistic populations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Laan, van der M.J.; Laan, van der P.

1996-01-01

We give an introduction to the logistic and generalized logistic distributions. We obtain exact results for the probability of correct selection from Type-I and Type-II generalized logistic populations which only differ in their location parameter. Some open problems are formulated.

Prevalence of Spondylolysis and Its Relationship with Low Back Pain in Selected Population

OpenAIRE

Ko, Sang-Bong; Lee, Sang-Wook

2011-01-01

Background To determine the prevalence of spondylolysis in a selected population and evaluate the association of spondylolysis with low back pain (LBP). Spondylolysis is widespread in the general population but the prevalence of spondylolysis and its relationship with LBP in the Korean population is controversial. Methods A sample of 855 participants (age, 20 to 86 years) from our medical center who underwent multidetector computed tomography (CT) imaging to assess abdominal and urological le...

Selection for life-history traits to maximize population growth in an invasive marine species

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jaspers, Cornelia; Marty, Lise; Kiørboe, Thomas

2018-01-01

Species establishing outside their natural range, negatively impacting local ecosystems, are of increasing global concern. They often display life-history features characteristic for r-selected populations with fast growth and high reproduction rates to achieve positive population growth rates (r...

Comparing the predictive abilities of phenotypic and marker-assisted selection methods in a biparental lettuce population

Science.gov (United States)

Breeding and selection for the traits with polygenic inheritance is a challenging task that can be done by phenotypic selection, by marker-assisted selection or by genome wide selection. We tested predictive ability of four selection models in a biparental population genotyped with 95 SNP markers an...

Measuring selection for genes that promote long life in a historical human population.

Science.gov (United States)

Moorad, Jacob A; Walling, Craig A

2017-11-01

The unusually long lifespans of humans and the persistence of post-reproductive lifespans in women represent evolutionary puzzles because natural selection cannot directly favour continued living in post-menopausal women or elderly men. Suggested sources of indirect selection require genetic correlations between fitness and survival or reproduction at younger ages, reproduction in the opposite sex, or late-life contributions to offspring or grandoffspring fitness. Here we apply quantitative genetic analyses to data from a historical human population to explicitly test these evolutionary genetic hypotheses. Total genetic selection increased the male post-50 lifespans by 0.138 years per generation; 94% of this arose from indirect selection acting to favour early-life fitness in both sexes. These results argue strongly against life-history models of ageing that depend on trade-offs between reproduction and late-life survival. No source of indirect selection for female post-50 lifespan was detected, deepening the mystery of why female post-reproductive survival persists. This result is probably due to recent changes in the genetic architecture of female lifespan, and it highlights the need for similar quantitative genetic analyses of human populations at other points along demographic transitions.

Associations between dietary factors and markers of NAFLD in a general Dutch adult population

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rietman, A.; Sluik, D.; Feskens, E.J.M.; Kok, F.J.; Mensink, M.R.

2018-01-01

Background/Objectives: The objective of this sudy was to assess the relationship between dietary intake and fatty liver as scored by the validated Fatty Liver Index (FLI) in a large cross-sectional study among a general Dutch adult population. Diet is known to affect liver fat accumulation in

Is cancer a good way to die? A population-based survey among middle-aged and older adults in the United Kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Vrinten, Charlotte; Wardle, Jane

2016-03-01

Despite improved outcomes, cancer remains widely feared, often because of its association with a long and protracted death as opposed to the quick death that people associate with that other common cause of adult mortality: heart disease. Former editor-in-chief of the BMJ Richard Smith's view that 'cancer is the best way to die' therefore attracted much criticism. We examined middle-aged and older adults' agreement with this view and compared their attitudes towards dying from cancer versus heart disease in terms of which was a good death. This study was part of an online survey (February 2015) in a United Kingdom (UK) population sample of 50- to 70-year olds (n = 391), with sampling quotas for gender and education. Five characteristics of 'a good death' were selected from the end-of-life literature. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of each characteristic for their own death to ensure their relevance to a population sample and the likelihood of each for death from cancer and heart disease. We also asked whether they agreed with Smith's view. At least 95% of respondents considered the selected five characteristics important for their own death. Death from cancer was rated as more likely to provide control over what happens (p ones (p  0.05). Almost half (40%) agreed that cancer is 'the best way to die', with no differences by age (p = 0.40), gender (p = 0.85), or education (p = 0.27). Despite the media commotion, a surprisingly high proportion of middle-aged and older adults viewed cancer as 'the best way to die' and rated cancer death as better than heart disease. Given that one in two of us are likely to be diagnosed with cancer, conversations about a good death from cancer may in a small way mitigate fear of cancer. Future research could explore variations by type of cancer or heart disease and by previous experience of these illnesses in others. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Quantitative thoracic CT techniques in adults: can they be applied in the pediatric population?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yoon, Soon Ho [Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Goo, Jin Mo [Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Department of Radiology, Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Institute of Radiation Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Seoul National University College of Medicine, Cancer Research Institute, Jongno-gu, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Goo, Hyun Woo [University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiology, Asan Medical Center, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2013-03-15

With the rapid evolution of the multidetector row CT technique, quantitative CT has started to be used in clinical studies for revealing a heterogeneous entity of airflow limitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that is caused by a combination of lung parenchymal destruction and remodeling of the small airways in adults. There is growing evidence of a good correlation between quantitative CT findings and pathological findings, pulmonary function test results and other clinical parameters. This article provides an overview of current quantitative thoracic CT techniques used in adults, and how to translate these CT techniques to the pediatric population. (orig.)

Semiparametric efficient and robust estimation of an unknown symmetric population under arbitrary sample selection bias

KAUST Repository

Ma, Yanyuan

2013-09-01

We propose semiparametric methods to estimate the center and shape of a symmetric population when a representative sample of the population is unavailable due to selection bias. We allow an arbitrary sample selection mechanism determined by the data collection procedure, and we do not impose any parametric form on the population distribution. Under this general framework, we construct a family of consistent estimators of the center that is robust to population model misspecification, and we identify the efficient member that reaches the minimum possible estimation variance. The asymptotic properties and finite sample performance of the estimation and inference procedures are illustrated through theoretical analysis and simulations. A data example is also provided to illustrate the usefulness of the methods in practice. © 2013 American Statistical Association.

Topology of evolving, mutagenized viral populations: quasispecies expansion, compression, and operation of negative selection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sierra Saleta

2008-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The molecular events and evolutionary forces underlying lethal mutagenesis of virus (or virus extinction through an excess of mutations are not well understood. Here we apply for the first time phylogenetic methods and Partition Analysis of Quasispecies (PAQ to monitor genetic distances and intra-population structures of mutant spectra of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV quasispecies subjected to mutagenesis by base and nucleoside analogues. Results Phylogenetic and PAQ analyses have revealed a highly dynamic variation of intrapopulation diversity of FMDV quasispecies. The population diversity first suffers striking expansions in the presence of mutagens and then compressions either when the presence of the mutagenic analogue was discontinued or when a mutation that decreased sensitivity to a mutagen was selected. The pattern of mutations found in the populations was in agreement with the behavior of the corresponding nucleotide analogues with FMDV in vitro. Mutations accumulated at preferred genomic sites, and dn/ds ratios indicate the operation of negative (or purifying selection in populations subjected to mutagenesis. No evidence of unusually elevated genetic distances has been obtained for FMDV populations approaching extinction. Conclusion Phylogenetic and PAQ analysis provide adequate procedures to describe the evolution of viral sequences subjected to lethal mutagenesis. These methods define the changes of intra-population structure more precisely than mutation frequencies and Shannon entropies. PAQ is very sensitive to variations of intrapopulation genetic distances. Strong negative (or purifying selection operates in FMDV populations subjected to enhanced mutagenesis. The quantifications provide evidence that extinction does not imply unusual increases of intrapopulation complexity, in support of the lethal defection model of virus extinction.

Selective Predation of a Stalking Predator on Ungulate Prey.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Heurich

Full Text Available Prey selection is a key factor shaping animal populations and evolutionary dynamics. An optimal forager should target prey that offers the highest benefits in terms of energy content at the lowest costs. Predators are therefore expected to select for prey of optimal size. Stalking predators do not pursue their prey long, which may lead to a more random choice of prey individuals. Due to difficulties in assessing the composition of available prey populations, data on prey selection of stalking carnivores are still scarce. We show how the stalking predator Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx selects prey individuals based on species identity, age, sex and individual behaviour. To address the difficulties in assessing prey population structure, we confirm inferred selection patterns by using two independent data sets: (1 data of 387 documented kills of radio-collared lynx were compared to the prey population structure retrieved from systematic camera trapping using Manly's standardized selection ratio alpha and (2 data on 120 radio-collared roe deer were analysed using a Cox proportional hazards model. Among the larger red deer prey, lynx selected against adult males-the largest and potentially most dangerous prey individuals. In roe deer lynx preyed selectively on males and did not select for a specific age class. Activity during high risk periods reduced the risk of falling victim to a lynx attack. Our results suggest that the stalking predator lynx actively selects for size, while prey behaviour induces selection by encounter and stalking success rates.

Epidemiology of constipation in children and adults: A systematic review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mugie, Suzanne M.; Benninga, Marc A.; Di Lorenzo, Carlo

2011-01-01

We aimed to review the published literature regarding the epidemiology of constipation in the general paediatric and adult population and to assess its geographic, gender and age distribution, and associated factors. A search of the Medline database was performed. Study selection criteria included:

APPEALING OF ADULT POPULATION TO TERRITORIAL DENTAL POLYCLINIC AND DEMAND FOR MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Анатолий Иванович Бабенко

2017-10-01

Conclusion. The presented information and analytical technology of the use of the personalized database of territorial dental polyclinic has allowed revealing not only the nature of appealing of adult population for the dental care, but also defining the demand for dental technologies of the general, therapeutic and surgical profiles, establishing the significance of separate types of technologies in quantitative expression.

Population based reference intervals for common blood haematological and biochemical parameters in the akuapem north district.

Science.gov (United States)

Koram, Ka; Addae, Mm; Ocran, Jc; Adu-Amankwah, S; Rogers, Wo; Nkrumah, Fk

2007-12-01

To estimate the reference intervals for commonly used blood haematology and biochemical parameters in an adult (18-55yrs) population of residents of Mampong Akuapem. This was a population based cross sectional study of a randomly selected sample of the adult population of Mampong. The sample was selected from an updated census list of the Mampong area. Median values (95% range) for measured parameters were established as follows: Haemoglobin, (males) 14.2 g/dl (females) 12.0 g/dl Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), (female) 19.6 U/L (males) 26.1 U/L and Creatinine, (males) 108 mmol/L (females) 93 mmol/L. In comparison to reference values that are commonly used in Ghana, the haemoglobulin levels from this study were lower, and liver function parameters higher. This could be a result of genetic or environmental differences and calls for the need to establish site specific reference values applicable to our population.

Long-term response to genomic selection: effects of estimation method and reference population structure for different genetic architectures.

Science.gov (United States)

Bastiaansen, John W M; Coster, Albart; Calus, Mario P L; van Arendonk, Johan A M; Bovenhuis, Henk

2012-01-24

Genomic selection has become an important tool in the genetic improvement of animals and plants. The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of breeding value estimation method, reference population structure, and trait genetic architecture, on long-term response to genomic selection without updating marker effects. Three methods were used to estimate genomic breeding values: a BLUP method with relationships estimated from genome-wide markers (GBLUP), a Bayesian method, and a partial least squares regression method (PLSR). A shallow (individuals from one generation) or deep reference population (individuals from five generations) was used with each method. The effects of the different selection approaches were compared under four different genetic architectures for the trait under selection. Selection was based on one of the three genomic breeding values, on pedigree BLUP breeding values, or performed at random. Selection continued for ten generations. Differences in long-term selection response were small. For a genetic architecture with a very small number of three to four quantitative trait loci (QTL), the Bayesian method achieved a response that was 0.05 to 0.1 genetic standard deviation higher than other methods in generation 10. For genetic architectures with approximately 30 to 300 QTL, PLSR (shallow reference) or GBLUP (deep reference) had an average advantage of 0.2 genetic standard deviation over the Bayesian method in generation 10. GBLUP resulted in 0.6% and 0.9% less inbreeding than PLSR and BM and on average a one third smaller reduction of genetic variance. Responses in early generations were greater with the shallow reference population while long-term response was not affected by reference population structure. The ranking of estimation methods was different with than without selection. Under selection, applying GBLUP led to lower inbreeding and a smaller reduction of genetic variance while a similar response to selection was

Population avoidance in aimpoint selection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andre, C.G.

1978-01-01

In most past studies of the effectiveness of tactical nuclear weapons vs the amount of collateral damage produced (civilian casualties), civilians have been congregated into idealized shaped towns and cities, and criteria for city avoidance were usually formulated in terms relating to a town's population. This treatment was sufficient in those studies where weapon yields were so large that great numbers of civilians were almost always placed at risk. As further studies developed, demonstrating that real progress could be made in reducing the numbers of civilians potentially placed at risk in tactical nuclear warfare situations, the inadequacies of the present treatment became obvious. The need existed for a more detailed description of the distribution of civilians. The method described determines the number of civilians at risk for a weapon under consideration being detonated at a given point and displays a symbol relating to the numbers at risk on a map or a transparency that overlays a 1:50,000 map of the region. Thus, a weapons planner making the selection of aimpoints for inflicting the necessary military damage required has the means to reduce potential civilian casualties by properly choosing the weapon and aimpoints

Problematic internet use and psychiatric co-morbidity in a population of Japanese adult psychiatric patients

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Vries, Hille T; Nakamae, Takashi; Fukui, Kenji; Denys, D.; Narumoto, Jin

2018-01-01

BACKGROUND: Many studies reported the high prevalence of problematic internet use (PIU) among adolescents (13-50%), and PIU was associated with various psychiatric symptoms. In contrast, only a few studies investigated the prevalence among the adult population (6%). This study aimed to investigate

Prevalence of spondylolysis and its relationship with low back pain in selected population.

Science.gov (United States)

Ko, Sang-Bong; Lee, Sang-Wook

2011-03-01

To determine the prevalence of spondylolysis in a selected population and evaluate the association of spondylolysis with low back pain (LBP). Spondylolysis is widespread in the general population but the prevalence of spondylolysis and its relationship with LBP in the Korean population is controversial. A sample of 855 participants (age, 20 to 86 years) from our medical center who underwent multidetector computed tomography (CT) imaging to assess abdominal and urological lesions were enrolled in this study. The occurrence of LBP requiring medication in the preceding 12 months was evaluated using a self-report questionnaire (a modified Nordic Low Back Pain Questionnaire). The presence of spondylolysis was characterized by CT imaging. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the association between spondylolysis and LBP, while adjusting for gender and age. Seventy-eight study subjects (9%) demonstrated spondylolysis on CT imaging. There was no significant difference between the age groups (p = 0.177). The p-value of gender was 0.033 but this was not significant due to the selected population bias. Three hundred eleven study subjects (36%) had back pain. There was a significant difference between gender (p = 0.001). No significant association was identified between spondylolysis and the occurrence of LBP. The prevalence of LBP was 36.37% and the prevalence of lumbar spondylolysis in a selected population, who visited hospital for abdominal or urological lesions except LBP, was 9.12% based on CT imaging. Males demonstrated a similar presence of LBP to females but a significantly higher incidence of spondylolysis (p = 0.033). The prevalence of spondylolysis was not associated with the presence of LBP and age in adulthood.

Ecological dynamics of age selective harvesting of fish population: Maximum sustainable yield and its control strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jana, Debaldev; Agrawal, Rashmi; Upadhyay, Ranjit Kumar; Samanta, G.P.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Age-selective harvesting of prey and predator are considered by multi-delayed prey-predator system. • System experiences stable coexistence to oscillatory mode and vice versa via Hopf-bifurcation depending upon the parametric restrictions. • MSY, bionomic equilibrium and optimal harvesting policy are also depending upon the age-selection of prey and predator. • All the analytic results are delay dependent. • Numerical examples support the analytical findings. - Abstract: Life history of ecological resource management and empirical studies are increasingly documenting the impact of selective harvesting process on the evolutionary stable strategy of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. In the present study, the interaction between population and their independent and combined selective harvesting are framed by a multi-delayed prey-predator system. Depending upon the age selection strategy, system experiences stable coexistence to oscillatory mode and vice versa via Hopf-bifurcation. Economic evolution of the system which is mainly featured by maximum sustainable yield (MSY), bionomic equilibrium and optimal harvesting vary largely with the commensurate age selections of both population because equilibrium population abundance becomes age-selection dependent. Our study indicates that balance between harvesting delays and harvesting intensities should be maintained for better ecosystem management. Numerical examples support the analytical findings.

Seroepidemiology of pertussis in a cross-sectional study of an adult general population in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rønn, P F; Dalby, T; Simonsen, J

2014-01-01

SUMMARY An increase in pertussis has been observed in several countries over the last decades, especially in adult populations. The seroprevalence of pertussis was determined in a cross-sectional study of the adult population in the Copenhagen area, Denmark, conducted between 2006 and 2008....... Specific IgG antibodies against pertussis toxin (PT) were measured in 3440 persons resulting in an age-standardized seroprevalence of 3·0% (95% confidence interval 1·9-4·7) using an IgG anti-PT cut-off of 75 IU/ml. By using antibody decay profiles from longitudinal data the estimated seroincidence was 143....../1000 person-years. In contrast, an incidence of 0·03/1000 person-years was estimated from the official data of notified cases during the same period. Of the investigated risk factors, only age and education were significantly associated with pertussis infection. This study indicates that pertussis is highly...

[Determining Factors in the Access to Mental Health Services by the Adult Colombian Population].

Science.gov (United States)

González, Lina María; Peñaloza, Rolando Enrique; Matallana, María Alexandra; Gil, Fabián; Gómez-Restrepo, Carlos; Landaeta, Angela Patricia Vega

2016-12-01

Access to mental health services by people with mental disorders has traditionally been limited, and is associated with attitudinal, social, and structural variables. To analyse the factors that determine access to mental health services by the adult population (18-44 years old) in Colombia, from the results obtained in the 2015 National Mental Health Survey. Analysis of variables of access to attention in mental health care for adults. The reasons for not consulting were classified as barriers of behavioural supply and demand. To analyse the factors associated with access to mental health services in the Colombian adult population, the use of health services in the last 12 months for emotional, nervous or mental health problems was taken into account, as well as associated variables such as demographic characteristics, occupational activity, affiliation to social security, and health status variables. The relationships between these variables were estimated using bivariate multinomial logistic regression models. Rural residence, being married, and having a chronic disease were associated with the decision to consult or not to consult the doctor. Further studies should be conducted to evaluate the situation as regards mental health care access, as well as to determine the potential factors associated with these limitations. Copyright © 2016 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

Patterns of care and outcomes in adolescent and young adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a population-based study.

Science.gov (United States)

Muffly, Lori; Alvarez, Elysia; Lichtensztajn, Daphne; Abrahão, Renata; Gomez, Scarlett Lin; Keegan, Theresa

2018-04-24

Adolescents and young adults (AYAs, 15-39 years) with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) represent a heterogeneous population who receive care in pediatric or adult cancer settings. Using the California Cancer Registry, we describe AYA ALL patterns of care and outcomes over the past decade. Sociodemographics, treatment location, and front-line therapies administered to AYAs diagnosed with ALL between 2004 and 2014 were obtained. Cox regression models evaluated associations between ALL setting and regimen and overall survival (OS) and leukemia-specific survival (LSS) for the entire cohort, younger AYA (<25 years), and AYAs treated in the adult cancer setting only. Of 1473 cases, 67.7% were treated in an adult setting; of these, 24.8% received a pediatric ALL regimen and 40.7% were treated at a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated center. In multivariable analyses, front-line treatment in a pediatric (vs adult) setting (OS HR = 0.53, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.37-0.76; LSS HR = 0.51, 95% CI, 0.35-0.74) and at an NCI/Children's Oncology Group (COG) center (OS HR = 0.80, 95% CI, 0.66-0.96; LSS HR = 0.80, 95% CI, 0.65-0.97) were associated with significantly superior survival. Results were similar when analyses were limited to younger AYAs. Outcomes for AYAs treated in an adult setting did not differ following front-line pediatric or adult ALL regimens. Our population-level findings demonstrate that two-thirds of AYAs with newly diagnosed ALL are treated in an adult cancer setting, with the majority receiving care in community settings. Given the potential survival benefits, front-line treatment of AYA ALL at pediatric and/or NCI/COG-designated cancer centers should be considered. © 2018 by The American Society of Hematology.

Simultaneous inference of selection and population growth from patterns of variation in the human genome

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Williamson, Scott H.; Hernandez, Ryan; Fledel-Alon, Adi

2005-01-01

Natural selection and demographic forces can have similar effects on patterns of DNA polymorphism. Therefore, to infer selection from samples of DNA sequences, one must simultaneously account for demographic effects. Here we take a model-based approach to this problem by developing predictions fo......-specific methods, and (iii) strong evidence for very recent population growth....... for patterns of polymorphism in the presence of both population size change and natural selection. If data are available from different functional classes of variation, and a priori information suggests that mutations in one of those classes are selectively neutral, then the putatively neutral class can...... this method to a large polymorphism data set from 301 human genes and find (i) widespread negative selection acting on standing nonsynonymous variation, (ii) that the fitness effects of nonsynonymous mutations are well predicted by several measures of amino acid exchangeability, especially site...

Chilli consumption and the incidence of overweight and obesity in a Chinese adult population.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Z; Riley, M; Taylor, A W; Page, A

2017-07-01

The frequency of spicy food intake has recently been associated with a reduced risk of mortality in the Chinese population. This study aimed to prospectively examine the association between chilli intake and the incidence of overweight/obesity in a Chinese adult population. Adults aged 20-75 years in the China Health and Nutrition Survey were followed between 1991 and 2011. Dietary data were collected during home visits using a 3-day food record in 1991, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2011. Cox regression was used in the analysis. Overweight/obesity was defined as body mass index ⩾25 kg m - 2 . A total 12 970 adults were followed for a median of 9 years. During 126 884 person-years of follow-up, 3203 subjects developed overweight/obesity. The absolute incidence rate of overweight/obesity was 26.4, 22.3, 24.4 and 20.5 per 1000 person-years among those who consumed no chilli or 1-20, 20.1-50, ⩾50.1 g per day, respectively. Chilli consumption was therefore inversely associated with the incidence of overweight/obesity. After adjusting for age, gender, energy and fat intake, smoking, alcohol drinking and physical activity, those whose cumulative average chilli intake was 0, 1-20, 20.1-50 and ⩾50.1 g per day had a hazard ratio for overweight/obesity of 1.00, 0.81 (95% confidence interval=0.73-0.89), 0.77 (0.69-0.86) and 0.73 (0.63-0.84); P for trend overweight/obesity. Chilli intake is inversely associated with the risk of becoming overweight/obese in Chinese adults.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices regarding Swine Flu among adult population

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Harjot Kaur

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Prevention is the most appropriate measure to control H1N1 flu pandemic and awareness of H1N1 flu is ranked very high in preventive measures. Keeping this in view, study was designed to assess the awareness level and to compare it among urban and rural participants. Aims and objectives: To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices regarding swine flu among adult population, to assess whether there is any difference among rural and urban population and to assess the response generated by the media coverage and the Government efforts.Methods: This cross-sectional study was done from April to July 2015 on 300 houses from the urban area and 150 houses from rural area, chosen from study population by random sampling. Mean and standard deviation for continuous variables and percentages for categorical were calculated. Results: 94% of urban and 91.3% of the rural participants had previously heard about swine flu, main source being TV. 46% of urban and 74% of rural participants had myth about spread of swine flu by eating pork. 41.3% of urban and 8.7% of rural population thought that government measures are sufficient for controlling swine flu. Conclusion: Knowledge regarding swine flu pandemic is good among study participants but role of health care providers is minimal and requires more dedicated effort. Lack of awareness among study population regarding some key focus areas like health promoting habits, vaccination and myths regarding the spread is of serious concern and needs to be addressed by the media, health workers and the Government efforts

Components of the metabolic syndrome differ between young and old adults in the US population.

Science.gov (United States)

Sumner, Andrew D; Sardi, Gabriel L; Reed, James F

2012-08-01

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is high in the United States and is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. The authors examined whether the prevalence of the MetS and its components differs across age groups. Data were analyzed from 4 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys between the years 1999 and 2006. Prevalence of MetS as defined by the Third Report of the Adult Treatment Panel criteria and prevalence of associated cardiac risk factors were determined in 41,474 participants aged 18 years and older without a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD). All estimates were weighted. Prevalence of MetS among asymptomatic adults without CVD was 20.5% and remained stable for the total population during survey periods. Prevalence of MetS increased with age: 6.6% in young adults (age 18-29 years) and 34.6% in older adults (70 and older). Components of MetS differed between young and old adults. Young adults had lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, less glucose intolerance, and less hypertension. This study provides an estimate of MetS prevalence in asymptomatic adults in the United States during an 8-year period revealing that MetS affects a large number of Americans. Components of MetS differ between young and old adults and may have important implications in their clinical management. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Phenotypic differentiation is associated with divergent sexual selection among closely related barn swallow populations

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Wilkins, M. R.; Karaardic, H.; Vortman, Y.; Parchman, T. L.; Albrecht, Tomáš; Petrželková, Adéla; Özkan, L.; Pap, P. L.; Hubbard, J. K.; Hund, A. K.; Safran, R. J.

2016-01-01

Roč. 29, č. 12 (2016), s. 2410-2421 ISSN 1010-061X R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LH14045 Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : birds * natural selection * population genetics * sexual selection & conflicts * speciation Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 2.792, year: 2016

Identifying Copy Number Variants under Selection in Geographically Structured Populations Based on -statistics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hae-Hiang Song

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Large-scale copy number variants (CNVs in the human provide the raw material for delineating population differences, as natural selection may have affected at least some of the CNVs thus far discovered. Although the examination of relatively large numbers of specific ethnic groups has recently started in regard to inter-ethnic group differences in CNVs, identifying and understanding particular instances of natural selection have not been performed. The traditional FST measure, obtained from differences in allele frequencies between populations, has been used to identify CNVs loci subject to geographically varying selection. Here, we review advances and the application of multinomial-Dirichlet likelihood methods of inference for identifying genome regions that have been subject to natural selection with the FST estimates. The contents of presentation are not new; however, this review clarifies how the application of the methods to CNV data, which remains largely unexplored, is possible. A hierarchical Bayesian method, which is implemented via Markov Chain Monte Carlo, estimates locus-specific FST and can identify outlying CNVs loci with large values of FST. By applying this Bayesian method to the publicly available CNV data, we identified the CNV loci that show signals of natural selection, which may elucidate the genetic basis of human disease and diversity.

Disparity in Dental Attendance Among Older Adult Populations: A Comparative Analysis Across Selected European Countries and the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Manski, Richard; Moeller, John; Chen, Haiyan; Widström, Eeva; Listl, Stefan

2015-01-01

Background The current study addresses the extent to which diversity in dental attendance across population subgroups exists within and between the United States and selected European countries. Method The analyses relied on 2006/2007 data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and 2004–2006 data from of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) in the United States for respondents aged 51 years and older. Logistic regression models were estimated to identify impacts of dental care coverage and oral as well as general health status on dental care use. Results We were unable to discern significant differences in dental attendance across population subgroups in countries with and without social health insurance, between the USA and European countries, and between European countries classified by social welfare regime. Patterns of diverse dental use were found, but they did not appear predominately in countries classified by welfare state regime or by presence or absence of social health insurance. Conclusions Findings of this study suggest that income and education have stronger and more persistent correlation with dental use than the correlation between dental insurance and dental use across European countries. We conclude that (1) higher overall rates of coverage in most European countries, compared to relatively lower rates in the USA, contribute to this finding and that (2) policies targeted to improving the income of older persons and their awareness of the importance of oral health care in both Europe and the USA can contribute to improving the use of dental services. PMID:26465093

Identifying footprints of directional and balancing selection in marine and freshwater three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) populations.

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Mäkinen, H S; Cano, J M; Merilä, J

2008-08-01

Natural selection is expected to leave an imprint on the neutral polymorphisms at the adjacent genomic regions of a selected gene. While directional selection tends to reduce within-population genetic diversity and increase among-population differentiation, the reverse is expected under balancing selection. To identify targets of natural selection in the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) genome, 103 microsatellite and two indel markers including expressed sequence tags (EST) and quantitative trait loci (QTL)-associated loci, were genotyped in four freshwater and three marine populations. The results indicated that a high proportion of loci (14.7%) might be affected by balancing selection and a lower proportion (2.8%) by directional selection. The strongest signatures of directional selection were detected in a microsatellite locus and two indel markers located in the intronic regions of the Eda-gene coding for the number of lateral plates. Yet, other microsatellite loci previously found to be informative in QTL-mapping studies revealed no signatures of selection. Two novel microsatellite loci (Stn12 and Stn90) located in chromosomes I and VIII, respectively, showed signals of directional selection and might be linked to genomic regions containing gene(s) important for adaptive divergence. Although the coverage of the total genomic content was relatively low, the predominance of balancing selection signals is in agreement with the contention that balancing, rather than directional selection is the predominant mode of selection in the wild.

Benefits of regular aerobic exercise for executive functioning in healthy populations.

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Guiney, Hayley; Machado, Liana

2013-02-01

Research suggests that regular aerobic exercise has the potential to improve executive functioning, even in healthy populations. The purpose of this review is to elucidate which components of executive functioning benefit from such exercise in healthy populations. In light of the developmental time course of executive functions, we consider separately children, young adults, and older adults. Data to date from studies of aging provide strong evidence of exercise-linked benefits related to task switching, selective attention, inhibition of prepotent responses, and working memory capacity; furthermore, cross-sectional fitness data suggest that working memory updating could potentially benefit as well. In young adults, working memory updating is the main executive function shown to benefit from regular exercise, but cross-sectional data further suggest that task-switching and post error performance may also benefit. In children, working memory capacity has been shown to benefit, and cross-sectional data suggest potential benefits for selective attention and inhibitory control. Although more research investigating exercise-related benefits for specific components of executive functioning is clearly needed in young adults and children, when considered across the age groups, ample evidence indicates that regular engagement in aerobic exercise can provide a simple means for healthy people to optimize a range of executive functions.

The adult spinal cord harbors a population of GFAP-positive progenitors with limited self-renewal potential.

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Fiorelli, Roberto; Cebrian-Silla, Arantxa; Garcia-Verdugo, Jose-Manuel; Raineteau, Olivier

2013-12-01

Adult neural stem cells (aNSCs) of the forebrain are GFAP-expressing cells that are intercalated within ependymal cells of the subventricular zone (SVZ). Cells showing NSCs characteristics in vitro can also be isolated from the periaqueductal region in the adult spinal cord (SC), but contradicting results exist concerning their glial versus ependymal identity. We used an inducible transgenic mouse line (hGFAP-CreERT2) to conditionally label GFAP-expressing cells in the adult SVZ and SC periaqueduct, and directly and systematically compared their self-renewal and multipotential properties in vitro. We demonstrate that a population of GFAP(+) cells that share the morphology and the antigenic properties of SVZ-NSCs mostly reside in the dorsal aspect of the central canal (CC) throughout the spinal cord. These cells are non-proliferative in the intact spinal cord, but incorporate the S-phase marker EdU following spinal cord injury. Multipotent, clonal YFP-expressing neurospheres (i.e., deriving from recombined GFAP-expressing cells) were successfully obtained from both the intact and injured spinal cord. These spheres however showed limited self-renewal properties when compared with SVZ-neurospheres, even after spinal cord injury. Altogether, these results demonstrate that significant differences exist in NSCs lineages between neurogenic and non-neurogenic regions of the adult CNS. Thus, although we confirm that a population of multipotent GFAP(+) cells co-exists alongside with multipotent ependymal cells within the adult SC, we identify these cells as multipotent progenitors showing limited self-renewal properties. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Secular trends in child and adult sexual violence--one decreasing and the other increasing: a population survey in Ireland.

OpenAIRE

McGee, Hannah; Garavan, Rebecca; Byrne, Joanne; O'Higgins, Madeleine; Conroy, Ronán M

2011-01-01

BACKGROUND: Sexual violence is a worldwide problem affecting children and adults. Knowledge of trends in prevalence is essential to inform the design and evaluation of preventive and intervention programmes. We aimed to assess the prevalence of lifetime sexual violence for both sexes and to document the prevalence of adult and child abuse by birth year in the general population. METHODS: National cluster-randomized telephone interview study of 3120 adults in Ireland was done. RESULTS: C...

Predicting Motor Vehicle Collisions in a Driving Simulator in Young Adults Using the Useful Field of View Assessment.

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McManus, Benjamin; Cox, Molly K; Vance, David E; Stavrinos, Despina

2015-01-01

Being involved in motor vehicle collisions is the leading cause of death in 1- to 34-year-olds, and risk is particularly high in young adults. The Useful Field of View (UFOV) task, a cognitive measure of processing speed, divided attention, and selective attention, has been shown to be predictive of motor vehicle collisions in older adults, but its use as a predictor of driving performance in a young adult population has not been investigated. The present study examined whether UFOV was a predictive measure of motor vehicle collisions in a driving simulator in a young adult population. The 3-subtest version of UFOV (lower scores measured in milliseconds indicate better performance) was administered to 60 college students. Participants also completed an 11-mile simulated drive to provide driving performance metrics. Findings suggested that subtests 1 and 2 suffered from a ceiling effect. UFOV subtest 3 significantly predicted collisions in the simulated drive. Each 30 ms slower on the subtest was associated with nearly a 10% increase in the risk of a simulated collision. Post hoc analyses revealed a small partially mediating effect of subtest 3 on the relationship between driving experience and collisions. The selective attention component of UFOV subtest 3 may be a predictive measure of crash involvement in a young adult population. Improvements in selective attention may be the underlying mechanism in how driving experience improves driving performance.

Genome patterns of selection and introgression of haplotypes in natural populations of the house mouse (Mus musculus.

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Fabian Staubach

Full Text Available General parameters of selection, such as the frequency and strength of positive selection in natural populations or the role of introgression, are still insufficiently understood. The house mouse (Mus musculus is a particularly well-suited model system to approach such questions, since it has a defined history of splits into subspecies and populations and since extensive genome information is available. We have used high-density single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP typing arrays to assess genomic patterns of positive selection and introgression of alleles in two natural populations of each of the subspecies M. m. domesticus and M. m. musculus. Applying different statistical procedures, we find a large number of regions subject to apparent selective sweeps, indicating frequent positive selection on rare alleles or novel mutations. Genes in the regions include well-studied imprinted loci (e.g. Plagl1/Zac1, homologues of human genes involved in adaptations (e.g. alpha-amylase genes or in genetic diseases (e.g. Huntingtin and Parkin. Haplotype matching between the two subspecies reveals a large number of haplotypes that show patterns of introgression from specific populations of the respective other subspecies, with at least 10% of the genome being affected by partial or full introgression. Using neutral simulations for comparison, we find that the size and the fraction of introgressed haplotypes are not compatible with a pure migration or incomplete lineage sorting model. Hence, it appears that introgressed haplotypes can rise in frequency due to positive selection and thus can contribute to the adaptive genomic landscape of natural populations. Our data support the notion that natural genomes are subject to complex adaptive processes, including the introgression of haplotypes from other differentiated populations or species at a larger scale than previously assumed for animals. This implies that some of the admixture found in inbred strains of mice

Effect of adult weight and CT-based selection on rabbit meat quality

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Zsolt Szendrő

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This study compared the meat quality of different genotypes. Maternal (M; adult weight/AW/=4.0-4.5kg; selected for the number of kits born alive, Pannon White (P; AW=4.3-4.8kg and Large type (L; AW=4.8-5.4kg rabbits were analysed. P and L genotypes were selected for carcass traits based on CT/Computer tomography/data. Rabbits were slaughtered at 11wk of age and hindleg (HL meat and M. Longissimus dorsi (LD were analysed for proximate composition and fatty acid (FA profile. Proximate composition was unaffected by the selection programme, even though the meat of P rabbits was leaner and had higher ash content (P<0.10. The LD meat of P rabbits exhibited significantly lower MUFA contents compared to M and L rabbits (25.4 vs 28.0 vs 27.7%; P<0.01 and higher PUFA content compared to M rabbits (31.9 vs 24.9%; P<0.05. This study revealed that long-term CT-based selection is effective in increasing meat leanness and PUFA content.

Selective grazing by adults and larvae of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha): application of flow cytometry to natural seston

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dionisio Pires, L.M.; Jonker, R.R.; Donk, E.van; Laanbroek, H.J.

2004-01-01

1. Selective grazing of adults and larvae of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) on phytoplankton and detritus from both laboratory cultures and natural seston was quantified using flow cytometry. 2. Mean clearance rate of adult zebra mussels was higher on a mixture of the green

Effects of age and gender in quantitative sacroiliac scintigraphy in a control adult population

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ladron de Guevara, David; Lobo, Gabriel; Perez, Andres; Jim ez, Cesar

2002-01-01

Several factors influence MDP-Tc99m uptake by sacroiliac joint, and therefore the quantitative sacroiliac scintigraphy index. Age and gender have been reported how not influencing SI/S ratio, although previous reports show discordant results. The aim of our study was evaluate the influence of age and gender in sacroiliac joint uptake in an adult control population (Au)

Efficient Generation and Selection of Virtual Populations in Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Models.

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Allen, R J; Rieger, T R; Musante, C J

2016-03-01

Quantitative systems pharmacology models mechanistically describe a biological system and the effect of drug treatment on system behavior. Because these models rarely are identifiable from the available data, the uncertainty in physiological parameters may be sampled to create alternative parameterizations of the model, sometimes termed "virtual patients." In order to reproduce the statistics of a clinical population, virtual patients are often weighted to form a virtual population that reflects the baseline characteristics of the clinical cohort. Here we introduce a novel technique to efficiently generate virtual patients and, from this ensemble, demonstrate how to select a virtual population that matches the observed data without the need for weighting. This approach improves confidence in model predictions by mitigating the risk that spurious virtual patients become overrepresented in virtual populations.

Genetic diversity and natural selection footprints of the glycine amidinotransferase gene in various human populations.

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Khan, Asifullah; Tian, Lei; Zhang, Chao; Yuan, Kai; Xu, Shuhua

2016-01-05

The glycine amidinotransferase gene (GATM) plays a vital role in energy metabolism in muscle tissues and is associated with multiple clinically important phenotypes. However, the genetic diversity of the GATM gene remains poorly understood within and between human populations. Here we analyzed the 1,000 Genomes Project data through population genetics approaches and observed significant genetic diversity across the GATM gene among various continental human populations. We observed considerable variations in GATM allele frequencies and haplotype composition among different populations. Substantial genetic differences were observed between East Asian and European populations (FST = 0.56). In addition, the frequency of a distinct major GATM haplotype in these groups was congruent with population-wide diversity at this locus. Furthermore, we identified GATM as the top differentiated gene compared to the other statin drug response-associated genes. Composite multiple analyses identified signatures of positive selection at the GATM locus, which was estimated to have occurred around 850 generations ago in European populations. As GATM catalyzes the key step of creatine biosynthesis involved in energy metabolism, we speculate that the European prehistorical demographic transition from hunter-gatherer to farming cultures was the driving force of selection that fulfilled creatine-based metabolic requirement of the populations.

Self-reported oral health of a metropolitan homeless population in Australia: comparisons with population-level data.

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Parker, E J; Jamieson, L M; Steffens, M A; Cathro, P; Logan, R M

2011-09-01

There is limited information on self-perceived oral health of homeless populations. This study quantified self-reported oral health among a metropolitan homeless adult population and compared against a representative sample of the metropolitan adult population obtained from the National Survey of Adult Oral Health. A total of 248 homeless participants (age range 17-78 years, 79% male) completed a self-report questionnaire. Data for an age-matched, representative sample of metropolitan-dwelling adults were obtained from Australia's second National Survey of Adult Oral Health. Percentage responses and 95% confidence intervals were calculated, with non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals used to identify statistically significant differences between the two groups. Homeless adults reported poorer oral health than their age-matched general population counterparts. Twice as many homeless adults reported visiting a dentist more than a year ago and that their usual reason for dental attendance was for a dental problem. The proportion of homeless adults with a perceived need for fillings or extractions was also twice that of their age-matched general population counterparts. Three times as many homeless adults rated their oral health as 'fair' or 'poor'. A significantly greater proportion of homeless adults in an Australian metropolitan location reported poorer oral health compared with the general metropolitan adult population. © 2011 Australian Dental Association.

A review of the relationship between leg power and selected chronic disease in older adults

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Strollo, S. E.; Caserotti, Paolo; Ward, R. E.

2015-01-01

characterized. Importantly, individuals with these conditions have shown improved leg power with training. METHODS: A search was performed using PubMed to identify original studies published in English from January 1998 to August 2013. Leg power studies, among older adults ≥ 50 years of age, which assessed......OBJECTIVE: This review investigates the relationship between leg muscle power and the chronic conditions of osteoarthritis, diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular disease among older adults. Current literature assessing the impact of chronic disease on leg power has not yet been comprehensively......), diabetes mellitus (n=5), and cardiovascular disease (n=6). Studies generally supported associations of lower leg power among older adults with chronic disease, although small sample sizes, cross-sectional data, homogenous populations, varied disease definitions, and inconsistent leg power methods limited...

Selective grazing by adults and larvae of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha): application of flow cytometry to natural seston

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pires, L.M.D.; Jonker, R.M.; Van Donk, E.; Laanbroek, H.J.

2004-01-01

1. Selective grazing of adults and larvae of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) on phytoplankton and detritus from both laboratory cultures and natural seston was quantified using flow cytometry. 2. Mean clearance rate of adult zebra mussels was higher on a mixture of the green alga Scenedesmus

Psychological consequences of screening for cardiovascular risk factors in an un-selected general population

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Løkkegaard, Thomas; S. Andersen, John; K. Jacobsen, Rikke

2015-01-01

Background: Concerns that general health checks, including screening for risk factors to ischemic heart disease (IHD),have negative psychological consequences seem widely unfounded; however, previous studies are only based on selfreports from participants. Aim: To investigate if risk factor...... screening in healthy adults leads to mental distress in the study population, independent of participation. Methods: The Inter99 study (1999 – 2006) was a randomised intervention in the general population, aiming to prevent IHD by a healthier lifestyle. We included the whole study population, independent......-screening of psychological status did not influence the psychological impact of screening. Conclusions: This large, randomised intervention study supports that screening for risk factors to IHD does not increase mental distress, not even in the mentally or socioeconomically most vulnerable persons.This study included...

Consequences of habitat change and resource selection specialization for population limitation in cavity-nesting birds

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Thomas E.

2015-01-01

Resource selection specialization may increase vulnerability of populations to environmental change. One environmental change that may negatively impact some populations is the broad decline of quaking aspen Populus tremuloides, a preferred nest tree of cavity-nesting organisms who are commonly limited by nest-site availability. However, the long-term consequences of this habitat change for cavity-nesting bird populations are poorly studied.

Sexual selection by male choice in monogamous and polygynous human populations.

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Ihara, Y; Aoki, K

1999-02-01

The theoretical possibility of coevolution of a viability-reducing female physical trait and a male mating preference for that trait by Fisherian sexual selection in monogamous and polygynous populations is demonstrated using two-locus haploid models. It is assumed that there is dichotomous variation in male resources, resource-rich males have a wider choice among females than resource-poor males, and a female has greater reproductive success when mated with a resource-rich male than a resource-poor one. Under these assumptions, we find that sexual selection operates effectively when female reproductive success is strongly dependent on male resource, the proportion of females that mate with resource-rich males is neither small nor large, the degree of polygyny is low, and resources are inherited from father to son. We suggest that some human female physical traits may have evolved by sexual selection through male choice. The evolution of skin color by sexual selection is discussed as an example. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Evolution under domestication: ongoing artificial selection and divergence of wild and managed Stenocereus pruinosus (Cactaceae) populations in the Tehuacan Valley, Mexico.

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Parra, Fabiola; Casas, Alejandro; Peñaloza-Ramírez, Juan Manuel; Cortés-Palomec, Aurea C; Rocha-Ramírez, Víctor; González-Rodríguez, Antonio

2010-09-01

The Tehuacán Valley in Mexico is a principal area of plant domestication in Mesoamerica. There, artificial selection is currently practised on nearly 120 native plant species with coexisting wild, silvicultural and cultivated populations, providing an excellent setting for studying ongoing mechanisms of evolution under domestication. One of these species is the columnar cactus Stenocereus pruinosus, in which we studied how artificial selection is operating through traditional management and whether it has determined morphological and genetic divergence between wild and managed populations. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 83 households of three villages to investigate motives and mechanisms of artificial selection. Management effects were studied by comparing variation patterns of 14 morphological characters and population genetics (four microsatellite loci) of 264 plants from nine wild, silvicultural and cultivated populations. Variation in fruit characters was recognized by most people, and was the principal target of artificial selection directed to favour larger and sweeter fruits with thinner or thicker peel, fewer spines and pulp colours other than red. Artificial selection operates in agroforestry systems favouring abundance (through not felling plants and planting branches) of the preferred phenotypes, and acts more intensely in household gardens. Significant morphological divergence between wild and managed populations was observed in fruit characters and plant vigour. On average, genetic diversity in silvicultural populations (H(E) = 0.743) was higher than in wild (H(E) = 0.726) and cultivated (H(E) = 0.700) populations. Most of the genetic variation (90.58 %) occurred within populations. High gene flow (Nm(FST) > 2) was identified among almost all populations studied, but was slightly limited by mountains among wild populations, and by artificial selection among wild and managed populations. Traditional management of S. pruinosus involves

The effect of exposure to biomass smoke on respiratory symptoms in adult rural and urban Nepalese populations

OpenAIRE

Kurmi, Om P; Semple, Sean; Devereux, Graham S; Gaihre, Santosh; Lam, Kin Bong Hubert; Sadhra, Steven; Steiner, Markus FC; Simkhada, Padam; Smith, William CS; Ayres, Jon G

2014-01-01

Background Half of the world’s population is exposed to household air pollution from biomass burning. This study aimed to assess the relationship between respiratory symptoms and biomass smoke exposure in rural and urban Nepal. Methods A cross-sectional study of adults (16+ years) in a rural population (n = 846) exposed to biomass smoke and a non-exposed urban population (n = 802) in Nepal. A validated questionnaire was used along with measures of indoor air quality (PM2.5 and CO) and outdoor...

The vascular health status of a population of adult Canadian Indigenous peoples from British Columbia.

Science.gov (United States)

Foulds, H J A; Bredin, S S D; Warburton, D E R

2016-04-01

Indigenous populations currently experience greater cardiovascular disease burdens. However, subclinical vascular structure and function among these populations is not well known. This investigation evaluated vascular structure and function among Canadian Indigenous populations. Blood pressure, body composition, pulse-wave velocity (PWV), baroreceptor sensitivity (BRS), arterial compliance and intima-media thickness (IMT) were measured. Vascular measures were evaluated across sexes and age groups. Vascular assessments were conducted among 55 Indigenous adults (38±18 years, 29 Female), including both First Nations (N=36) and Métis (N=19) individuals. Some differences in vascular measures were found between males and females, respectively (spectral BRS: 9.6±6.8 ms mm Hg(-1) vs 16.9±10.0 ms mm Hg(-1), P=0.01; small arterial compliance: 8.9±3.7 ml mm Hg(-1) × 100 vs 6.4±2.3 ml mm Hg(-1) × 100, P=0.004), with similar measures of overall IMT (0.61±0.14 mm vs 0.57±0.08 mm, P=0.19) and central PWV (5.7±2.5 m s(-1) vs 5.1±2.3 m s(-1), P=0.58). Greater IMT, and lower BRS and arterial compliance were identified among older adults. This relatively healthy population demonstrated healthy vascular measures, with poorer measures among older individuals.

Television viewing time in Hong Kong adult population: associations with body mass index and obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Yao Jie; Stewart, Sunita M; Lam, Tai Hing; Viswanath, Kasisomayajula; Chan, Sophia S

2014-01-01

Obesity is increasing dramatically in the Asia-Pacific region particularly China. The population of Hong Kong was exposed to modernization far earlier than the rest of China, reflecting conditions that are likely to be replicated as other Chinese cities undergo rapid change. This study examined the relationship between television viewing and obesity in a Hong Kong sample. Information about the relationship between a key sedentary behavior, TV viewing, and obesity, and its moderation by demographic characteristics may identify sectors of the population at highest risk for excess weight. Data were from Hong Kong Family and Health Information Trends Survey (2009-2010), a population-based survey on the public's use of media for health information and family communication by telephone interviews with 3,016 Hong Kong adults (age ≥ 18 years). TV viewing time, body mass index (BMI), physical activity and other lifestyle variables were analyzed. Viewing time was longer in women, increased with age but decreased with education level and vigorous physical activity (all Ptelevision viewing time was observed. TV viewing time positively associated with BMI and obesity. The TV viewing--BMI associations were strongest in women and young adults, suggesting vulnerable groups to target for obesity prevention by decreasing TV viewing.

Prayer Attendance and General Health in the Iranian Adult Urban Population.

Science.gov (United States)

Sotodehasl, Nemat; Ghorbani, Raheb; Mahdavi-Nejad, Gholamhosein; Haji-Aghajani, Saeed; Mehdizadeh, Jamileh

2016-02-01

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between prayer attendance and general health among adult urban population in Iran. A total of 470 males older than 17 years, chosen by multistage sampling, were investigated. The results showed that people who did not perform prayers compared to those who said prayers on time and performed Nafilahs (supererogatory prayers) were 2.87 (OR 2.87, 95 % CI 1.23-6.70, p = 0.015) times at risk of general health problems. In conclusion, the findings show that increasing the degree of people's belief in prayer can lead to improve general health.

Whole-genome sequencing of two North American Drosophila melanogaster populations reveals genetic differentiation and positive selection.

Science.gov (United States)

Campo, D; Lehmann, K; Fjeldsted, C; Souaiaia, T; Kao, J; Nuzhdin, S V

2013-10-01

The prevailing demographic model for Drosophila melanogaster suggests that the colonization of North America occurred very recently from a subset of European flies that rapidly expanded across the continent. This model implies a sudden population growth and range expansion consistent with very low or no population subdivision. As flies adapt to new environments, local adaptation events may be expected. To describe demographic and selective events during North American colonization, we have generated a data set of 35 individual whole-genome sequences from inbred lines of D. melanogaster from a west coast US population (Winters, California, USA) and compared them with a public genome data set from Raleigh (Raleigh, North Carolina, USA). We analysed nuclear and mitochondrial genomes and described levels of variation and divergence within and between these two North American D. melanogaster populations. Both populations exhibit negative values of Tajima's D across the genome, a common signature of demographic expansion. We also detected a low but significant level of genome-wide differentiation between the two populations, as well as multiple allele surfing events, which can be the result of gene drift in local subpopulations on the edge of an expansion wave. In contrast to this genome-wide pattern, we uncovered a 50-kilobase segment in chromosome arm 3L that showed all the hallmarks of a soft selective sweep in both populations. A comparison of allele frequencies within this divergent region among six populations from three continents allowed us to cluster these populations in two differentiated groups, providing evidence for the action of natural selection on a global scale. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Population structure of a widespread species under balancing selection: the case of Arbutus unedo L.

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Xabier eSantiso

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Arbutus unedo L. is an evergreen shrub with a circum-Mediterranean distribution that also reaches the Eurosiberian region in northern Iberia, Atlantic France, and a disjunct population in southern Ireland. Due to the variety of climatic conditions across its distribution range, the populations of A. unedo were expected to display local adaptation. Conversely, common garden experiments revealed that diverse genotypes from a range of provenances produce similar phenotypes through adaptive plasticity, suggesting the action of stabilizing selection across its climatically heterogeneous range. Nonetheless, since an uniform response might also result from extensive gene flow, we have inferred the population structure of A. unedo and assessed whether its extended and largely one-dimensional range influences gene flow with the help of AFLP genotypes for 491 individuals from 19 populations covering the whole range of the species. As we had anticipated, gene flow is restricted in A. unedo, providing further support to the hypothesis that stabilizing selection is the most likely explanation for the homogeneous phenotypes along the range. The Euro-Siberian populations were not particularly isolated from the Mediterranean. Instead, there was a distinct genetic divide between the populations around the Mediterranean Sea and those sampled along Atlantic coasts from northern Africa up to Ireland. This genetic structure suggests the action of historic rather than biogeographic factors as it seems consistent with a scenario of independent glacial refugia in the Atlantic and Mediterranean portions of the range of A. unedo. Genetic exchange was likewise restricted within each set of populations. Nevertheless, IBD was stronger, and FST increased faster with distance, along the Atlantic, suggesting that gene flow might be larger among Mediterranean populations. Genetic diversity was significantly lower in NW Iberia and Ireland than in other populations whereas