Marriage, religion and human flourishing: how sustainable is the classic Durkheim thesis in contemporary Europe?

This paper draws on the three waves of the European Values Survey across five countries (Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Spain and Sweden) to investigate the relationship between indicators of positive psychology (conceptualised as feelings of happiness and satisfaction with life), religiosity (conceptualised as self-assigned religious affiliation and self-reported religious attendance) and marital status. The results demonstrate that religiosity is, in general, positively correlated with both indicators of positive psychology. Further, across all waves and all countries, the pattern emerges that those respondents who are married are likely to report higher levels of happiness and greater satisfaction in life. These data provide contemporary support for the classic Durkheim thesis linking the two institutions of marriage and religion with human flourishing

From Food to Offspring Down: Tissue-Specific Discrimination and Turn-Over of Stable Isotopes in Herbivorous Waterbirds and Other Avian Foraging Guilds

Isotopic discrimination and turn-over are fundamental to the application of stable isotope ecology in animals. However, detailed information for specific tissues and species are widely lacking, notably for herbivorous species. We provide details on tissue-specific carbon and nitrogen discrimination and turn-over times from food to blood, feathers, claws, egg tissues and offspring down feathers in four species of herbivorous waterbirds. Source-to-tissue discrimination factors for carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen stable isotope ratios (δ15N) showed little variation across species but varied between tissues. Apparent discrimination factors ranged between −0.5 to 2.5‰ for δ13C and 2.8 to 5.2‰ for δ15N, and were more similar between blood components than between keratinous tissues or egg tissue. Comparing these results with published data from other species we found no effect of foraging guild on discrimination factors for carbon but a significant foraging-guild effect for nitrogen discrimination factors

Estimating the Diets of Animals Using Stable Isotopes and a Comprehensive Bayesian Mixing Model

Using stable isotope mixing models (SIMMs) as a tool to investigate the foraging ecology of animals is gaining popularity among researchers. As a result, statistical methods are rapidly evolving and numerous models have been produced to estimate the diets of animals—each with their benefits and their limitations. Deciding which SIMM to use is contingent on factors such as the consumer of interest, its food sources, sample size, the familiarity a user has with a particular framework for statistical analysis, or the level of inference the researcher desires to make (e.g., population- or individual-level). In this paper, we provide a review of commonly used SIMM models and describe a comprehensive SIMM that includes all features commonly used in SIMM analysis and two new features. We used data collected in Yosemite National Park to demonstrate IsotopeR's ability to estimate dietary parameters. We then examined the importance of each feature in the model and compared our results to inferences from commonly used SIMMs. IsotopeR's user interface (in R) will provide researchers a user-friendly tool for SIMM analysis. The model is also applicable for use in paleontology, archaeology, and forensic studies as well as estimating pollution inputs

AntEpiSeeker: detecting epistatic interactions for case-control studies using a two-stage ant colony optimization algorithm

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epistatic interactions of multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are now believed to affect individual susceptibility to common diseases. The detection of such interactions, however, is a challenging task in large scale association studies. Ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithms have been shown to be useful in detecting epistatic interactions.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>AntEpiSeeker, a new two-stage ant colony optimization algorithm, has been developed for detecting epistasis in a case-control design. Based on some practical epistatic models, AntEpiSeeker has performed very well.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>AntEpiSeeker is a powerful and efficient tool for large-scale association studies and can be downloaded from <url>http://nce.ads.uga.edu/~romdhane/AntEpiSeeker/index.html</url>.</p

Variability in Isotope Discrimination Factors in Coral Reef Fishes: Implications for Diet and Food Web Reconstruction

Interpretation of stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen (δ13C and δ15N) is generally based on the assumption that with each trophic level there is a constant enrichment in the heavier isotope, leading to diet-tissue discrimination factors of 3.4‰ for 15N (ΔN) and ∼0.5‰ for 13C (ΔC). Diet-tissue discrimination factors determined from paired tissue and gut samples taken from 152 individuals from 26 fish species at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia demonstrate a large amount of variability around constant values. While caution is necessary in using gut contents to represent diet due to the potential for high temporal variability, there were significant effects of trophic position and season that may also lead to variability in ΔN under natural conditions. Nitrogen enrichment increased significantly at higher trophic levels (higher tissue δ15N), with significantly higher ΔN in carnivorous species. Changes in diet led to significant changes in ΔN, but not tissue δ15N, between seasons for several species: Acanthurus triostegus, Chromis viridis, Parupeneus signatus and Pomacentrus moluccensis. These results confirm that the use of meta-analysis averages for ΔN is likely to be inappropriate for accurately determining diets and trophic relationships using tissue stable isotope ratios. Where feasible, discrimination factors should be directly quantified for each species and trophic link in question, acknowledging the potential for significant variation away from meta-analysis averages and, perhaps, controlled laboratory diets and conditions

The Nature of the Dietary Protein Impacts the Tissue-to-Diet 15N Discrimination Factors in Laboratory Rats

Due to the existence of isotope effects on some metabolic pathways of amino acid and protein metabolism, animal tissues are 15N-enriched relative to their dietary nitrogen sources and this 15N enrichment varies among different tissues and metabolic pools. The magnitude of the tissue-to-diet discrimination (Δ15N) has also been shown to depend on dietary factors. Since dietary protein sources affect amino acid and protein metabolism, we hypothesized that they would impact this discrimination factor, with selective effects at the tissue level. To test this hypothesis, we investigated in rats the influence of a milk or soy protein-based diet on Δ15N in various nitrogen fractions (urea, protein and non-protein fractions) of blood and tissues, focusing on visceral tissues. Regardless of the diet, the different protein fractions of blood and tissues were generally 15N-enriched relative to their non-protein fraction and to the diet (Δ15N>0), with large variations in the Δ15N between tissue proteins. Δ15N values were markedly lower in tissue proteins of rats fed milk proteins compared to those fed soy proteins, in all sampled tissues except in the intestine, and the amplitude of Δ15N differences between diets differed between tissues. Both between-tissue and between-diet Δ15N differences are probably related to modulations of the relative orientation of dietary and endogenous amino acids in the different metabolic pathways. More specifically, the smaller Δ15N values observed in tissue proteins with milk than soy dietary protein may be due to a slightly more direct channeling of dietary amino acids for tissue protein renewal and to a lower recycling of amino acids through fractionating pathways. In conclusion, the present data indicate that natural Δ15N of tissue are sensitive markers of the specific subtle regional modifications of the protein and amino acid metabolism induced by the protein dietary source

Guidelines for delineation of lymphatic clinical target volumes for high conformal radiotherapy: head and neck region

The success of radiotherapy depends on the accurate delineation of the clinical target volume. The delineation of the lymph node regions has most impact, especially for tumors in the head and neck region. The purpose of this article was the development an atlas for the delineation of the clinical target volume for patients, who should receive radiotherapy for a tumor of the head and neck region. Literature was reviewed for localisations of the adjacent lymph node regions and their lymph drain in dependence of the tumor entity. On this basis the lymph node regions were contoured on transversal CT slices. The probability for involvement was reviewed and a recommendation for the delineation of the CTV was generated

An Advanced Method to Assess the Diet of Free-Ranging Large Carnivores Based on Scats

<div><h3>Background</h3><p>The diet of free-ranging carnivores is an important part of their ecology. It is often determined from prey remains in scats. In many cases, scat analyses are the most efficient method but they require correction for potential biases. When the diet is expressed as proportions of consumed mass of each prey species, the consumed prey mass to excrete one scat needs to be determined and corrected for prey body mass because the proportion of digestible to indigestible matter increases with prey body mass. Prey body mass can be corrected for by conducting feeding experiments using prey of various body masses and fitting a regression between consumed prey mass to excrete one scat and prey body mass (correction factor 1). When the diet is expressed as proportions of consumed individuals of each prey species and includes prey animals not completely consumed, the actual mass of each prey consumed by the carnivore needs to be controlled for (correction factor 2). No previous study controlled for this second bias.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3><p>Here we use an extended series of feeding experiments on a large carnivore, the cheetah (<em>Acinonyx jubatus</em>), to establish both correction factors. In contrast to previous studies which fitted a linear regression for correction factor 1, we fitted a biologically more meaningful exponential regression model where the consumed prey mass to excrete one scat reaches an asymptote at large prey sizes. Using our protocol, we also derive correction factor 1 and 2 for other carnivore species and apply them to published studies. We show that the new method increases the number and proportion of consumed individuals in the diet for large prey animals compared to the conventional method.</p> <h3>Conclusion/Significance</h3><p>Our results have important implications for the interpretation of scat-based studies in feeding ecology and the resolution of human-wildlife conflicts for the conservation of large carnivores.</p> </div

Atomoxetine Enhances Connectivity of Prefrontal Networks in Parkinson's Disease.

Cognitive impairment is common in Parkinson's disease (PD), but often not improved by dopaminergic treatment. New treatment strategies targeting other neurotransmitter deficits are therefore of growing interest. Imaging the brain at rest ('task-free') provides the opportunity to examine the impact of a candidate drug on many of the brain networks that underpin cognition, while minimizing task-related performance confounds. We test this approach using atomoxetine, a selective noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor that modulates the prefrontal cortical activity and can facilitate some executive functions and response inhibition. Thirty-three patients with idiopathic PD underwent task-free fMRI. Patients were scanned twice in a double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover design, following either placebo or 40-mg oral atomoxetine. Seventy-six controls were scanned once without medication to provide normative data. Seed-based correlation analyses were used to measure changes in functional connectivity, with the right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) a critical region for executive function. Patients on placebo had reduced connectivity relative to controls from right IFG to dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and to left IFG and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Atomoxetine increased connectivity from the right IFG to the dorsal anterior cingulate. In addition, the atomoxetine-induced change in connectivity from right IFG to dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was proportional to the change in verbal fluency, a simple index of executive function. The results support the hypothesis that atomoxetine may restore prefrontal networks related to executive functions. We suggest that task-free imaging can support translational pharmacological studies of new drug therapies and provide evidence for engagement of the relevant neurocognitive systems.This work was funded by the Wellcome trust (103838), Parkinson’s UK, National Institute for Health Research’s Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre and the Medical Research Council (MC_US_A060_0016 and RG62761) and the James F McDonnell Foundation (21st century science initiative on Understanding Human Cognition). The BCNI is supported by a joint award from the Wellcome Trust and Medical Research Council.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Nature Publishing Group via http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npp.2016.1

Regional spread of HIV-1 M subtype B in middle-aged patients by random env-C2V4 region sequencing

A transmission cluster of HIV-1 M:B was identified in 11 patients with a median age of 52 (range 26–65) in North-East Germany by C2V4 region sequencing of the env gene of HIV-1, who—except of one—were not aware of any risky behaviour. The 10 male and 1 female patients deteriorated immunologically, according to their information made available, within 4 years after a putative HIV acquisition. Nucleic acid sequence analysis showed a R5 virus in all patients and in 7 of 11 a crown motif of the V3 loop, GPGSALFTT, which is found rarely. Analysis of formation of this cluster showed that there is still a huge discrepancy between awareness and behaviour regarding HIV transmission in middle-aged patients, and that a local outbreak can be detected by nucleic acid analysis of the hypervariable env region