Parenthood and the polarisation of political attitudes in Europe

This is an open access article available via the DOI in this record.Becoming a parent can affect the lives of men and women by introducing salient new social roles and identities, altered social networks and tighter constraints on financial resources and time. Even though modern family life has evolved in many important respects, parenthood continues to shape the lives of men and women in very different ways. Given that parenthood can change the lives of men and women in profoundly different ways, it seems that it would bring about changes in the way women and men think about politics and policy issues. Using data from the Wave 4 of the European Social Survey, this article investigates how parenthood, and the distinctions of motherhood and fatherhood, influence attitudes. The findings suggest that parenthood can have a polarising effect on attitudes, and that the polarising effect is most evident in countries where there is less support from the state for parental responsibilities.The work of Banducci and Stevens was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council [ES/H030883/1

The Molecular Clockwork of the Fire Ant Solenopsis invicta

This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication

Type 1 plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) and its impact on angiogenesis, progression and patient survival after radical nephrectomy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To examine the expression of type 1 plasminogen inhibitor (PAI-1) in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC), and its possible association with microvessel density (MVD), the expression of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), nuclear grade, tumour stage, continuously coded tumour size (CCTS) and to assess the value of PAI as a prognostic marker in 162 patients with CCRCC treated with radical nephrectomy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 172 consecutive patients with CCRCC treated with radical nephrectomy were enrolled in the study. The expression of PAI-1, TSP-1 and factor VIII were analysed on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues without knowledge of the clinical outcome. Ten cases, where PAI-1 immunohistochemistry was not possible due to technical problems and lack of material, were excluded. Sixty-nine patients (43%) died of RCC, while 47 patients (29%) died of other diseases. Median follow-up was 13.8 years for the surviving 46 patients (28%).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Nine percent of the tumours showed PAI-1 positivity. High expression of PAI-1 was significantly inversely correlated with TSP-1 (p = 0.046) and directly with advanced stage (p = 0.008), high NG (3+4) (p = 0.002), tumour size (p = 0.011), microvessel density (p = 0.049) and disease progression (p = 0.002). In univariate analysis PAI-1 was a significant prognosticator of cancer-specific survival (CSS) (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that TNM stage (p < 0.001), PAI-1 (p = 0.020), TSP-1 (p < 0.001) and MVD (p = 0.007) were independent predictors of CSS.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>PAI-1 was found to be an independently significant prognosticator of CSS and a promoter of tumour angiogenesis, aggressiveness and progression in CCRCC.</p

Up-regulation of Toll-like receptors 2, 3 and 4 in allergic rhinitis

BACKGROUND: Toll-like receptors enable the host to recognize a large number of pathogen-associated molecular patterns such as bacterial lipopolysaccharide, viral RNA, CpG-containing DNA and flagellin. Toll-like receptors have also been shown to play a pivotal role in both innate and adaptive immune responses. The role of Toll-like receptors as a primary part of our microbe defense system has been shown in several studies, but their possible function as mediators in allergy and asthma remains to be established. The present study was designed to examine the expression of Toll-like receptors 2, 3 and 4 in the nasal mucosa of patients with intermittent allergic rhinitis, focusing on changes induced by exposure to pollen. METHODS: 27 healthy controls and 42 patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis volunteered for the study. Nasal biopsies were obtained before and during pollen season as well as before and after allergen challenge. The seasonal material was used for mRNA quantification of Toll-like receptors 2, 3 and 4 with real-time polymerase chain reaction, whereas specimens achieved in conjunction with allergen challenge were used for immunohistochemical localization and quantification of corresponding proteins. RESULTS: mRNA and protein representing Toll-like receptors 2, 3 and 4 could be demonstrated in all specimens. An increase in protein expression for all three receptors could be seen following allergen challenge, whereas a significant increase of mRNA only could be obtained for Toll-like receptor 3 during pollen season. CONCLUSION: The up-regulation of Toll-like receptors 2, 3 and 4 in the nasal mucosa of patients with symptomatic allergic rhinitis supports the idea of a role for Toll-like receptors in allergic airway inflammation

The example of CaPSURE: lessons learned from a national disease registry

IntroductionAlthough randomized controlled trials (RCTs) remain the gold standard for determining evidence-based clinical practices, large disease registries that enroll large numbers of patients have become paramount as a relatively cost-effective additional tool.MethodsWe highlight the advantages of disease registries focusing on the example of prostate cancer and the Cancer of the Prostate Strategic Urologic Research Endeavor (CaPSURE™) registry.ResultsCaPSURE collects approximately 1,000 clinical and patient-reported variables, in over 13,000 men that are enrolled. Thus far, CaPSURE has yielded over 130 peer-reviewed publications, with several others in press, in key areas of risk migration, practice patterns, outcome prediction, and quality of life outcomes.ConclusionsDisease registries, like CaPSURE complement RCTs and CaPSURE, have provided a means to better understand many aspects of prostate cancer epidemiology, practice patterns, oncologic and HRQOL outcomes, and costs of care across populations. Specialized observational disease registries such as CaPSURE provide insight and have broad implications for disease management and policy

Family Planning Decisions, Perceptions and Gender Dynamics among Couples in Mwanza, Tanzania: A Qualitative Study.

Contraceptive use is low in developing countries which are still largely driven by male dominated culture and patriarchal values. This study explored family planning (FP) decisions, perceptions and gender dynamics among couples in Mwanza region of Tanzania. Twelve focus group discussions and six in-depth interviews were used to collect information from married or cohabiting males and females aged 18-49. The participants were purposively selected. Qualitative methods were used to explore family planning decisions, perceptions and gender dynamics among couples. A guide with questions related to family planning perceptions, decisions and gender dynamics was used. The discussions and interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed manually and subjected to content analysis. Four themes emerged during the study. First, "risks and costs" which refer to the side effects of FP methods and the treatment of side -effects as well as the costs inherit in being labeled as an unfaithful spouse. Second, "male involvement" as men showed little interest in participating in family planning issues. However, the same men were mentioned as key decision-makers even on the number of children a couple should have and the child spacing of these children. Third, "gender relations and communication" as participants indicated that few women participated in decision-making on family planning and the number of children to have. Fourth, "urban-rural differences", life in rural favoring having more children than urban areas therefore, the value of children depended on the place of residence. Family Planning programs should adapt the promotion of communication as well as joint decision-making on FP among couples as a strategy aimed at enhancing FP use

Selecting CMIP5 GCMs for downscaling over multiple regions

The unprecedented availability of 6-hourly data from a multi-model GCM ensemble in the CMIP5 data archive presents the new opportunity to dynamically downscale multiple GCMs to develop high-resolution climate projections relevant to detailed assessment of climate vulnerability and climate change impacts. This enables the development of high resolution projections derived from the same set of models that are used to characterise the range of future climate changes at the global and large-scale, and as assessed in the IPCC AR5. However, the technical and human resource required to dynamically-downscale the full CMIP5 ensemble are significant and not necessary if the aim is to develop scenarios covering a representative range of future climate conditions relevant to a climate change risk assessment. This paper illustrates a methodology for selecting from the available CMIP5 models in order to identify a set of 8–10 GCMs for use in regional climate change assessments. The selection focuses on their suitability across multiple regions—Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa. The selection (a) avoids the inclusion of the least realistic models for each region and (b) simultaneously captures the maximum possible range of changes in surface temperature and precipitation for three continental-scale regions. We find that, of the CMIP5 GCMs with 6-hourly fields available, three simulate the key regional aspects of climate sufficiently poorly that we consider the projections from those models ‘implausible’ (MIROC-ESM, MIROC-ESM-CHEM, and IPSL-CM5B-LR). From the remaining models, we demonstrate a selection methodology which avoids the poorest models by including them in the set only if their exclusion would significantly reduce the range of projections sampled. The result of this process is a set of models suitable for using to generate downscaled climate change information for a consistent multi-regional assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation

The Mitochondrial Fusion-Promoting Factor Mitofusin Is a Substrate of the PINK1/Parkin Pathway

Loss-of-function mutations in the PINK1 or parkin genes result in recessive heritable forms of parkinsonism. Genetic studies of Drosophila orthologs of PINK1 and parkin indicate that PINK1, a mitochondrially targeted serine/threonine kinase, acts upstream of Parkin, a cytosolic ubiquitin-protein ligase, to promote mitochondrial fragmentation, although the molecular mechanisms by which the PINK1/Parkin pathway promotes mitochondrial fragmentation are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that PINK1 and Parkin promote mitochondrial fragmentation by targeting core components of the mitochondrial morphogenesis machinery for ubiquitination. We report that the steady-state abundance of the mitochondrial fusion-promoting factor Mitofusin (dMfn) is inversely correlated with the activity of PINK1 and Parkin in Drosophila. We further report that dMfn is ubiquitinated in a PINK1- and Parkin-dependent fashion and that dMfn co-immunoprecipitates with Parkin. By contrast, perturbations of PINK1 or Parkin did not influence the steady-state abundance of the mitochondrial fission-promoting factor Drp1 or the mitochondrial fusion-promoting factor Opa1, or the subcellular distribution of Drp1. Our findings suggest that dMfn is a direct substrate of the PINK1/Parkin pathway and that the mitochondrial morphological alterations and tissue degeneration phenotypes that derive from mutations in PINK1 and parkin result at least in part from reduced ubiquitin-mediated turnover of dMfn

Predator Mimicry: Metalmark Moths Mimic Their Jumping Spider Predators

Cases of mimicry provide many of the nature's most convincing examples of natural selection. Here we report evidence for a case of predator mimicry in which metalmark moths in the genus Brenthia mimic jumping spiders, one of their predators. In controlled trials, Brenthia had higher survival rates than other similarly sized moths in the presence of jumping spiders and jumping spiders responded to Brenthia with territorial displays, indicating that Brenthia were sometimes mistaken for jumping spiders, and not recognized as prey. Our experimental results and a review of wing patterns of other insects indicate that jumping spider mimicry is more widespread than heretofore appreciated, and that jumping spiders are probably an important selective pressure shaping the evolution of diurnal insects that perch on vegetation