Integrating approaches requires more than a division of labour: commentary on Wӧlfer & Hewstone

Wӧlfer and Hewstone (2015; hereafter W&H) argue that evolutionary psychology (EP) is useful for understanding sex differences in same-sex aggression, while social role theory (SRT) is best applied to sex differences in opposite-sex aggression. W&H tested this proposal using a rich dataset on high school students’ peer-reported aggression. They regressed classroom-level sex differences in same- and opposite-sex aggression onto five variables drawn from the two theoretical positions. Three variables (gender and masculinity norms, derived from SRT and body dimorphism, derived from EP) did not differ in their association with the two forms of aggression. Another variable (sex ratio: EP) was not interpretable because it was confounded with number of available targets, leaving a fifth (male hierarchy: EP) predicting sex differences in same-sex but not opposite-sex aggression. Our focus is not on the study itself, but on their proposal that theoretical disputes between EP and SRT can be resolved by assigning one form of aggression to EP and another to SRT. We believe that this argument mischaracterises both theories, reinforces the ‘evolutionary vs social’ divide, and falls short of integration.PostprintPeer reviewe

The electronic frailty index as an indicator of community healthcare service utilisation in the older population

Background: older people with frailty are particularly high users of healthcare services, however a lack of standardised recording of frailty in different healthcare electronic datasets has limited investigations into healthcare service usage and demand of the older frail population. Objectives: to investigate the community service demand of frail patients using the electronic frailty index (eFI) as a measure of frailty. Study design and setting a retrospective cohort study using anonymised linked healthcare patient data from primary care, community services and acute hospitals in Norfolk. Participants: patients aged 65 and over who had an eFI assessment score established in their primary care electronic patient record in Norwich based General Practices. Results: we include data from 22,859 patients with an eFI score. Frailty severity increased with age and was associated with increased acute hospital admission within a 6-month window. Patients with a frail eFI score were also more likely to have a community service referral within a 6-month window of frailty assessment, with a RR of 1.84 (1.76–1.93) for mild frailty, 1.96 (1.83–2.09) for moderate frailty and 2.95 (2.76–3.14) for severe frailty scores. We also found that frail patients had more community referrals per patient then those classified as fit and required more care plans per community referral. Conclusions: eFI score was an indicator of community service use, with increasing severity of frailty being associated with higher community healthcare requirements. The eFI may help planning of community services for the frail population

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Plagiarism by Undergraduate Healthcare Science in Gauteng

Plagiarism is a growing concern in Healthcare Sciences in the current digital era. Plagiarism threatens institutions’ integrity and academic reputation; therefore, it is essential to understand all contributing factors to eradicate unethical practices effectively. The study aimed to establish the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of plagiarism among Healthcare Science students at a selected higher education institution in Gauteng. A cross-sectional study was used, with a total population of 803 second to fourth-year students from the School of Healthcare Sciences, and 83 students completing the survey. Ethical clearance and approval (617/2021) were obtained from the ethics and research committee of a selected higher educational institution in Gauteng. An adapted Likert scale self-reported questionnaire was sent via a Google form link to the teaching platform with the consent form embedded. The statistical Package for Social Science was used to analyse demographic data descriptively, and Spearman’s rho test determined the correlation between study variables. Most students were female (94.0%) and non-native English speakers (71.1%). The majority (83.1%) of the students reported understanding the instances of plagiarism; however, approximately one-third (36.1%) were unable to identify specific instances correctly. Just over half (56.6%) of the students felt self-plagiarism should not be punishable. The correlation between the knowledge of plagiarism and negative attitudes towards plagiarism was found to be statistically significant (p=0.009). The results demonstrated low practice of plagiarism, possibly due to a lack of self-awareness. Therefore, continuous in-depth education on plagiarism and improved policies should be fostered to promote the integrity of future healthcare professionals

Imagining the highway:Anticipating infrastructural and environmental change in Belize

This article examines the social and political, as well physical, construction of infrastructure, by attending to the implications of a highway yet to be built. In southern Belize, where the development of rural road networks figures strongly in historical narratives of political and environmental change, the recent paving of a major domestic highway has had distinctive implications for livelihoods and land rights among the predominantly Maya population of rural Toledo district. At the time of research, a plan for a new paved highway to the Guatemalan border animated longstanding debates over territoriality, environment and development, even as the details remained elusive. Bringing political ecology into conversation with attention to the perception of sensory environments, and the affective power of anticipation, I argue for extending anthropological conversations about infrastructure to encompass the meanings and consequences of imagined infrastructures for the ways people encounter, experience and enact social and environmental change

Identification of four novel susceptibility loci for oestrogen receptor negative breast cancer

Common variants in 94 loci have been associated with breast cancer including 15 loci with genome-wide significant associations (P<5 × 10−8) with oestrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer and BRCA1-associated breast cancer risk. In this study, to identify new ER-negative susceptibility loci, we performed a meta-analysis of 11 genome-wide association studies (GWAS) consisting of 4,939 ER-negative cases and 14,352 controls, combined with 7,333 ER-negative cases and 42,468 controls and 15,252 BRCA1 mutation carriers genotyped on the iCOGS array. We identify four previously unidentified loci including two loci at 13q22 near KLF5, a 2p23.2 locus near WDR43 and a 2q33 locus near PPIL3 that display genome-wide significant associations with ER-negative breast cancer. In addition, 19 known breast cancer risk loci have genome-wide significant associations and 40 had moderate associations (P<0.05) with ER-negative disease. Using functional and eQTL studies we implicate TRMT61B and WDR43 at 2p23.2 and PPIL3 at 2q33 in ER-negative breast cancer aetiology. All ER-negative loci combined account for ∼11% of familial relative risk for ER-negative disease and may contribute to improved ER-negative and BRCA1 breast cancer risk prediction

CYP3A7*1C allele: linking premenopausal oestrone and progesterone levels with risk of hormone receptor-positive breast cancers

Funder: Breast Cancer Now (BCN); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100009794Funder: Cancer Research UK (CRUK); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000289Funder: RCUK | Medical Research Council (MRC); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000265Funder: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | National Institutes of Health (NIH)Funder: Wellcome Trust (Wellcome); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100004440Funder: EC | EC Seventh Framework Programm | FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific Programme: "Ideas" Implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2007 to 2013)); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100011199; Grant(s): HEALTH-F2-2009-223175, HEALTH-F2-2009-223175Funder: Genome Canada (Génome Canada); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100008762Funder: Gouvernement du Canada | Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Instituts de Recherche en Santé du Canada); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000024Funder: Quebec Breast cancer Foundation Genome QuebecFunder: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100000092Funder: EC | EC Seventh Framework Programm | FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific Programme: "Ideas" Implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2007 to 2013))Funder: European Union’s Horizon 2020Funder: Deutsche Krebshilfe (German Cancer Aid); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100005972Funder: BCAST - European Union’s Horizon 2020Funder: Breast Cancer Now; doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100007913Abstract: Background: Epidemiological studies provide strong evidence for a role of endogenous sex hormones in the aetiology of breast cancer. The aim of this analysis was to identify genetic variants that are associated with urinary sex-hormone levels and breast cancer risk. Methods: We carried out a genome-wide association study of urinary oestrone-3-glucuronide and pregnanediol-3-glucuronide levels in 560 premenopausal women, with additional analysis of progesterone levels in 298 premenopausal women. To test for the association with breast cancer risk, we carried out follow-up genotyping in 90,916 cases and 89,893 controls from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium. All women were of European ancestry. Results: For pregnanediol-3-glucuronide, there were no genome-wide significant associations; for oestrone-3-glucuronide, we identified a single peak mapping to the CYP3A locus, annotated by rs45446698. The minor rs45446698-C allele was associated with lower oestrone-3-glucuronide (−49.2%, 95% CI −56.1% to −41.1%, P = 3.1 × 10–18); in follow-up analyses, rs45446698-C was also associated with lower progesterone (−26.7%, 95% CI −39.4% to −11.6%, P = 0.001) and reduced risk of oestrogen and progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer (OR = 0.86, 95% CI 0.82–0.91, P = 6.9 × 10–8). Conclusions: The CYP3A7*1C allele is associated with reduced risk of hormone receptor-positive breast cancer possibly mediated via an effect on the metabolism of endogenous sex hormones in premenopausal women

Identification of four novel susceptibility loci for oestrogen receptor negative breast cancer

Common variants in 94 loci have been associated with breast cancer including 15 loci with genome-wide significant associations (PPeer reviewe