More illness in offspring of bipolar patients from the U.S. compared to Europe.

Background Evidence suggests that patients with bipolar disorder from the United States have an earlier age of onset and a more difficult course of illness than those from Germany and the Netherlands. These characteristics were related to a greater family burden of psychiatric illness and the experience of more psychosocial adversity in childhood. We hypothesized that this greater illness burden would extend to the offspring of the US patients. Methods 968 outpatients (average age 41) with bipolar illness gave informed consent for participation in a treatment outcome network and filled out a detailed questionnaire about their illness and family history of illness, including whether their offspring had a diagnosis of depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol or substance abuse, suicide attempt or “other” illness. Of those with children, 356 were from the US and 132 were from Europe. Results Compared to the Europeans, offspring of patients from the US had significantly (p\u3c0.001) more depression, bipolar disorder, drug abuse, and “other” illnesses. The number of illnesses in the offspring was related to the bipolar parent being from the US, having had childhood adversity, more than 20 prior episodes, and more parental psychiatric illness. Conclusions While the findings are limited by their basis on self report, the distribution of the percentages in the US offspring are similar to those of Axelson et al. (2015) who used direct interviews. The higher burden of illness in the offspring and their in directprogenitors from the US compared to Europe warrant new attempts at better treatment and prevention

The Relationship between Social Network Body Size and the Body Size Norms of Black and Hispanic Adults

Objective To examine the relationship between the body size norms of Black and Hispanic adults and the body sizes of their social network members. Methods Egocentric network data were examined for 245 adults recruited from 2012–2013 in New York City. A multivariable regression model was used to examine the relationship between participants\u27 perception of normal body size and the body sizes of their network members adjusted for participant age, education, race/ethnicity and network size. Participants\u27 body size norms were also examined stratified by the following characteristics of obese network members: frequency of contact, living proximity, relationship, and importance of relationship. Results Index participants were 89% female with mean body mass index 33.5 kg/m2. There were 2571 network members identified (31% overweight, 10% obese). In the fully adjusted multivariable model, perception of normal body size increased as the number of network members with obesity increased (p \u3c 0.01). Larger body size norms were associated with increased frequency of contact with obese network members (p = 0.04), and obese members living in the home (p = 0.049). Conclusions These findings support a relationship between the body size norms of Black and Hispanic adults and their social network body size

Humans have impacted atmospheric C-exchange since the introduction of agriculture by changing the geomorphic cascade

Early human impact on the global C cycle through deforestation has been demonstrated and it is estimated that between 50 and 357 Pg C have been released from vegetation and soils to the atmosphere in the pre-Industrial era. However, the contribution of erosion and sediment storage on C exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere has not been accounted for, although long-term sediment budget studies show that large volumes of soil material have been mobilized since the introduction of agriculture. Furthermore, through human impact also the geomorphic setting itself has changed thus altering ecosystems such that the C exchange with the atmosphere changed as well. For the 780 km² Dijle River catchment in the western European loess belt, the impact of human induced soil erosion on C exchange with the atmosphere was quantified by combining a sediment budget with detailed inventories of C in soils and sediments. For the period 4000 BC to AD 2000 it was estimated that anthropogenic erosion induced a net C sink, offsetting 39% of the C emissions due to land cover change since the advent of agriculture. However, this sink is limited by a significant loss of buried C in colluvial settings lagging the burial: ca. half of the original C buried in the colluvial stores remains after 500 years. Contrary to colluvial settings, C burial in alluvial settings appears to be more conservative, which is most probably related to higher autochthonous production and preservation rates in wet floodplain soils. Data from the floodplain sediments also indicate that human induced high rates of minerogenic sedimentation since the Middle Ages were able to capture more C in the floodplain than the Mid-Holocene natural wetlands through peat formation. The result for the Dijle River catchment, with a long history of human impact, can be used to estimate the longer term impact of the major agricultural expansion of the 19th and 20th century worldwide on global C budgets