Pre-surgical depression and anxiety and recovery following coronary artery bypass graft surgery

We aimed to explore the combined contribution of pre-surgical depression and anxiety symptoms for recovery following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) using data from 251 participants. Participants were assessed prior to surgery for depression and anxiety symptoms and followed up at 12 months to assess pain and physical symptoms, while hospital emergency admissions and death/major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were monitored on average 2.68 years after CABG. After controlling for covariates, baseline anxiety symptoms, but not depression, were associated with greater pain (β = 0.231, p = 0.014) and greater physical symptoms (β = 0.194, p = 0.034) 12 months after surgery. On the other hand, after controlling for covariates, baseline depression symptoms, but not anxiety, were associated with greater odds of having an emergency admission (OR 1.088, CI 1.010–1.171, p = 0.027) and greater hazard of death/MACE (HR 1.137, CI 1.042–1.240, p = 0.004). These findings point to different pathways linking mood symptoms with recovery after CABG surgery

Causes and consequences of female centrality in cetacean societies

Cetaceans are fully aquatic predatory mammals that have successfully colonized virtually all marine habitats. Their adaptation to these habitats, so radically different from those of their terrestrial ancestors, can give us comparative insights into the evolution of female roles and kinship in mammalian societies. We provide a review of the diversity of such roles across the Cetacea, which are unified by some key and apparently invariable life-history features. Mothers are uniparous, while paternal care is completely absent as far as we currently know. Maternal input is extensive, lasting months to many years. Hence, female reproductive rates are low, every cetacean calf is a significant investment, and offspring care is central to female fitness. Here strategies diverge, especially between toothed and baleen whales, in terms of mother–calf association and related social structures, which range from ephemeral grouping patterns to stable, multi-level, societies in which social groups are strongly organized around female kinship. Some species exhibit social and/or spatial philopatry in both sexes, a rare phenomenon in vertebrates. Communal care can be vital, especially among deep-diving species, and can be supported by female kinship. Female-based sociality, in its diverse forms, is therefore a prevailing feature of cetacean societies. Beyond the key role in offspring survival, it provides the substrate for significant vertical and horizontal cultural transmission, as well as the only definitive non-human examples of menopause. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The evolution of female-biased kinship in humans and other mammals’.PostprintPeer reviewe

Submerged Production of Oxalic Acid from Glucose by Immobilized Aspergillus Niger

Oxalic acid is now considered as a useful chemical in various hydrometallurgical processes. For its massive applications in hydrometallurgy, cost-effective production of the acid is necessary. In this direction, fermentative production of the acid from glucose appears attractive. Aspergillus niger, the main oxalic acid producing organism, in general oxidizes glucose rapidly to gluconic acid, and conversion of this sugar to oxalic and citric acid is always sufficiently less. In this article, we have shown that immobilized mycelia (bioparticles) of A. niger NCIM 548 strain secreted more oxalic acid from glucose than the amounts produced from either sucrose, lactose or glucose under submerged condition. Germination of immobilized spores in polyurethane foam yielded bioparticles which produced more (average: 3-fold on 7th day and 3.7-fold on 9th day) oxalic acid from glucose compared to free mycelium cells, mainly during the 2nd and 6th cycle. Recycled bioparticles maintained average activity of acid production up to six cycles

Diagnóstico das neuropatias periféricas diagnósticos sindrômicos, topográficos e etiológicos: syndromic, topographic and etiological diagnoses

Por avaliação retrospectiva, discriminam-se no presente estudo os diagnósticos sindrômicos topográficos e etiológicos aos quais se conseguiu chegar em 209 casos de neuropatias periféricas. A anamnese e o exame clínico-neurológico foram fundamentais para a realização dos diagnósticos sindrômicos e topográficos. A eletromiografia teve papel relevante, particularmente no que se refere aos diagnósticos topográficos. Os diagnósticos etiológicos dependeram, adicionalmente, de outros exames complementares, dentre os quais se destacam: glicemia e curva glicêmica; avaliação nutricional; avaliação familiar; biópsias de nervo, pele, faringe e seio maxilar; teste qualitativo para a presença de porfirinas na urina; ácido delta-aminolevulínico e porfobilinogênio urinários; exames radiológicos. As polineuropatias mais frequentemente encontradas foram as: etílico-carenciais, diabéticas, inflamatórias desmielinizantes agudas e hereditárias. As síndromes do túnel do carpo, as lesões traumáticas do VII nervo craniano e as neuralgias do trigêmeo foram os diagnósticos mais frequentes entre os de mono-neuropatias. A hanseníase, as lesões traumáticas! do plexo braquial e a síndrome do desfiladeiro torácico predominaram entre as multineuropatias

Genetic diversity and spatial structure within a natural stand of a tropical forest tree species, Carapa procera (Meliaceae), in French Guiana

Isozyme markers were used to characterize levels of diversity, genotypic structure and spatial genetic structure for the low-density tree species, #Carapa procera# (five adults per ha), within 300 ha of a continuous tropical rain forest stand. Both seed and adult stages were investigated, a high level of genetic diversity being found in both. Fixation indices showed excess homozygosity in seeds, and excess heterozygosity in adults, which might be caused by selection in favour of heterozygotes. Autocorrelation analysis of the spatial distribution of genotypes revealed no significant pattern in adults or in seeds before dispersal, and there was a high variability in correlogram shapes among alleles. This suggests that gene flow is extensive in #C procera#, probably mainly through long-distance pollen dispersal, as seed dispersal is expected to be rather limited in this species (maximum distances of about 50 m). No clear-cut spatial pattern was observed in pollen allele frequencies, which supports the hypothesis of extensive pollen flow. This overall lack of structure is consistent with the data already available on the mating system of this predominantly outcrossing species. (Résumé d'auteur

The Role of Negative Cognition, Intolerance of Uncertainty, Mindfulness, and Self-Compassion in Weight Regulation Among Male Army Recruits

The present study examined weight gain in a stressful environment (i.e., following compulsory enrollment in the Greek army). It was predicted that higher levels of mindfulness and self-compassion would relate negatively to weight gain, whilst negative automatic thoughts and intolerance of uncertainty would positively relate to weight gain. This research also explored the strength of independent variables when predicting weight gain, plus the additional contribution of self-compassion when controlling for the effect of mindfulness on weight gain. Ninety-seven military recruits completed the psychological scales on the first day of enrollment. Their height and weight were measured at baseline and after 5 weeks to record weight gain. Results revealed that 43 participants gained weight, whilst 54 lost weight. Those who lost weight reported significantly higher scores in mindfulness and self-compassion, whereas those who gained weight reported significantly higher scores in negative automatic thoughts and intolerance of uncertainty. Furthermore, negative automatic thoughts and intolerance of uncertainty did not significantly predict weight gain, after mindfulness and self-compassion were taken into account. Also, self-compassion uniquely contributed to the negative prediction of weight gain, once mindfulness was taken into account. This research concluded that negative cognition may play a role in weight gain; however, mindfulness and self-compassion may be more useful traits in predicting weight gain, given that once they are taken into account, negative cognition stop being significant predictors