Updated Nucleosynthesis Constraints on Unstable Relic Particles

We revisit the upper limits on the abundance of unstable massive relic particles provided by the success of Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis calculations. We use the cosmic microwave background data to constrain the baryon-to-photon ratio, and incorporate an extensively updated compilation of cross sections into a new calculation of the network of reactions induced by electromagnetic showers that create and destroy the light elements deuterium, he3, he4, li6 and li7. We derive analytic approximations that complement and check the full numerical calculations. Considerations of the abundances of he4 and li6 exclude exceptional regions of parameter space that would otherwise have been permitted by deuterium alone. We illustrate our results by applying them to massive gravitinos. If they weigh ~100 GeV, their primordial abundance should have been below about 10^{-13} of the total entropy. This would imply an upper limit on the reheating temperature of a few times 10^7 GeV, which could be a potential difficulty for some models of inflation. We discuss possible ways of evading this problem.Comment: 40 pages LaTeX, 18 eps figure

Partitioning the Heritability of Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Reveals Differences in Genetic Architecture

The direct estimation of heritability from genome-wide common variant data as implemented in the program Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA) has provided a means to quantify heritability attributable to all interrogated variants. We have quantified the variance in liability to disease explained

The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape : A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 100 genetic variants contributing to BMI, a measure of body size, or waist-to-hip ratio (adjusted for BMI, WHRadjBMI), a measure of body shape. Body size and shape change as people grow older and these changes differ substantially between men and women. To systematically screen for age-and/or sex-specific effects of genetic variants on BMI and WHRadjBMI, we performed meta-analyses of 114 studies (up to 320,485 individuals of European descent) with genome-wide chip and/or Metabochip data by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) Consortium. Each study tested the association of up to similar to 2.8M SNPs with BMI and WHRadjBMI in four strata (men 50y, women 50y) and summary statistics were combined in stratum-specific meta-analyses. We then screened for variants that showed age-specific effects (G x AGE), sex-specific effects (G x SEX) or age-specific effects that differed between men and women (G x AGE x SEX). For BMI, we identified 15 loci (11 previously established for main effects, four novel) that showed significant (FDR= 50y). No sex-dependent effects were identified for BMI. For WHRadjBMI, we identified 44 loci (27 previously established for main effects, 17 novel) with sex-specific effects, of which 28 showed larger effects in women than in men, five showed larger effects in men than in women, and 11 showed opposite effects between sexes. No age-dependent effects were identified for WHRadjBMI. This is the first genome-wide interaction meta-analysis to report convincing evidence of age-dependent genetic effects on BMI. In addition, we confirm the sex-specificity of genetic effects on WHRadjBMI. These results may providefurther insights into the biology that underlies weight change with age or the sexually dimorphism of body shape.Peer reviewe

Should the diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity disorder be considered in children with Pervasive Developmental Disorder?

Objective: To assess the overlap between Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in a consecutive sample of referred youth. We hypothesized that children with PDD plus ADHD-like symptoms would have a symptom profile similar to ADHD children. Method: Subjects were consecutively referred children meeting DSM-III-R criteria for PDD with (PDD+ADHD, N = 50) and without (PDD, N= 10) ADHD-like symptoms and ADHD without PDD (ADHD, N= 105). All subjects were comprehensively assessed with structured diagnostic interviews. Results: Clinical characteristics of PDD were similar in those PDD children who did and who did not have ADHD, and ADHD features were very similar in ADHD children with and without PDD. Conclusion: These results suggest that children with PDD with concomitant symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity may have true comorbid ADHD. If confirmed, these findings challenge the exclusionary criteria for the diagnosis of ADHD in PDD youth

Finding the essential: Improving conservation monitoring across scales

To account for progress towards conservation targets, monitoring systems should capture not only information on biodiversity but also knowledge on the dynamics of ecological processes and the related effects on human well-being. Protected areas represent complex social-ecological systems with strong human-nature interactions. They are able to provide relevant information about how global and local scale drivers (e.g., climate change, land use change) impact biodiversity and ecosystem services. Here we develop a framework that uses an ecosystem-focused approach to support managers in identifying essential variables in an integrated and scalable approach. We advocate that this approach can complement current essential variable developments, by allowing conservation managers to draw on system-level knowledge and theory of biodiversity and ecosystems to identify locally important variables that meet the local or sub-global needs for conservation data. This requires the development of system narratives and causal diagrams that pinpoints the social-ecological variables that represent the state and drivers of the different components, and their relationships. We describe a scalable framework that builds on system based narratives to describe all system components, the models used to represent them and the data needed. Considering the global distribution of protected areas, with an investment in standards, transparency, and on active data mobilisation strategies for essential variables, these have the potential to be the backbone of global biodiversity monitoring, benefiting countries, biodiversity observation networks and the global biodiversity community.Mathematical Physic

How much did you actually drink last night? An evaluation of standard drink labels as an aid to monitoring personal consumption

Background: Barriers exist for drinkers who wish to comply with low-risk guidelines when these are expressed in terms of numbers of “standard drinks” of alcohol. The increasing variability of container sizes and alcoholic strengths mean that percent alcohol by volume (%ABV) labels alone may be insufficient. Aims: To investigate whether standard drink (SD) labels would improve drinkers’ accuracy when estimating personal alcohol consumption. Setting: Private liquor stores near the University of Victoria, BC. Design: A 2 × 3 × 3 experimental design was employed with two labels (%ABV and SD), three beverages (beer, wine, and spirits) and three beverage strengths in balanced order. Subjects estimated the number of standard drinks that would be consumed in scenarios involving containers of their preferred beverages presented with different labels. Participants: A convenience sample of 301 liquor store patrons, aged 19 years and over. Measurements: Participants’ accuracy was determined by the relative and absolute percent errors in their estimations in comparison with correct answers. Results: Estimates were significantly more accurate with SD than %ABV labels in almost all the scenarios. Significantly more underestimation errors were made with %ABV labels. Mixed model regression analysis indicated younger respondents, beer drinkers and those with higher education made significantly fewer errors. Most (82.7%) supported SD labelling and believed SD labels would help them to comply with low-risk drinking guidelines (68.3%). Conclusions: The addition of clear SD labels helps consumers to make more accurate estimates of the SD content of their usual beverages than %ABV labels alone and would be more likely to help them comply with drinking guidelines