Social isolation, cognitive reserve, and cognition in older people with depression and anxiety

This is the final version. Available on open access from Taylor & Francis via the DOI in this record. Objectives: Poor social connections may be associated with poor cognition in older people who are not experiencing mental health problems, and the trajectory of this association may be moderated by cognitive reserve. However, it is unclear whether this relationship is the same for older people with symptoms of depression and anxiety. This paper aims to explore social relationships and cognitive function in older people with depression and anxiety. Method: Baseline and two-year follow-up data were analysed from the Cognitive Function and Ageing Study–Wales (CFAS-Wales). We compared levels of social isolation, loneliness, social contact, cognitive function, and cognitive reserve at baseline amongst older people with and without depression or anxiety. Linear regression was used to assess the relationship between isolation and cognition at baseline and two-year follow-up in a subgroup of older people meeting pre-defined criteria for depression or anxiety. A moderation analysis tested for the moderating effect of cognitive reserve. Results: Older people with depression or anxiety perceived themselves as more isolated and lonely than those without depression or anxiety, despite having an equivalent level of social contact with friends and family. In people with depression or anxiety, social isolation was associated with poor cognitive function at baseline, but not with cognitive change at two-year follow-up. Cognitive reserve did not moderate this association. Conclusion: Social isolation was associated with poor cognitive function at baseline, but not two-year follow-up. This may be attributed to a reduction in mood-related symptoms at follow-up, linked to improved cognitive function.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)Alzheimer’s Societ

Conservation genomics reveals possible illegal trade routes and admixture across pangolin lineages in Southeast Asia

The use of genome-wide genetic markers is an emerging approach for informing evidence-based management decisions for highly threatened species. Pangolins are the most heavily trafficked mammals across illegal wildlife trade globally, but critically endangered Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) have not been widely studied in insular Southeast Asia. We used > 12,000 single nucleotide polymorphic markers (SNPs) to assign pangolin seizures from illegal trade of unknown origin to possible geographic sources via genetic clustering with pangolins of known origin. Our SNPs reveal three previously unrecognized genetic lineages of Sunda pangolins, possibly from Borneo, Java and Singapore/Sumatra. The seizure assignments suggest the majority of pangolins were traded from Borneo to Java. Using mitochondrial markers did not provide the same resolution of pangolin lineages, and to explore if admixture might explain these differences, we applied sophisticated tests of introgression using > 2000 SNPs to investigate secondary gene flow between each of the three Sunda pangolin lineages. It is possible the admixture which we discovered is due to human-mediated movements of pangolins. Our findings impact a range of conservation actions, including tracing patterns of trade, repatriation of rescue animals, and conservation breeding. In order to conserve genetic diversity, we suggest that, pending further research, each pangolin lineage should as a precaution be protected and managed as an evolutionarily distinct conservation unit

Dissemination of multiple carbapenem-resistant clones of Acinetobacter baumannii in the Eastern District of Saudi Arabia

It has previously been shown that carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii are frequently detected in Saudi Arabia. The present study aimed to identify the epidemiology and distribution of antibiotic resistance determinants in these bacteria. A total of 83 A. baumannii isolates were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and screened by PCR for carbapenemase genes and insertion sequences. Antibiotic sensitivity to imipenem, meropenem, tigecycline, and colistin were determined. Eight different PFGE groups were identified, and were spread across multiple hospitals. Many of the PFGE groups contained isolates belonging to World-wide clone 2. Carbapenem resistance or intermediate resistance was detected in 69% of isolates. The blaVIM gene was detected in 94% of isolates, while blaOXA–23–like genes were detected in 58%. The data demonstrate the co-existence and wide distribution of a number of clones of carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii carrying multiple carbapenem-resistance determinants within hospitals in the Eastern Region of Saudi Arabia

Sex-biased parental care and sexual size dimorphism in a provisioning arthropod

The diverse selection pressures driving the evolution of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) have long been debated. While the balance between fecundity selection and sexual selection has received much attention, explanations based on sex-specific ecology have proven harder to test. In ectotherms, females are typically larger than males, and this is frequently thought to be because size constrains female fecundity more than it constrains male mating success. However, SSD could additionally reflect maternal care strategies. Under this hypothesis, females are relatively larger where reproduction requires greater maximum maternal effort – for example where mothers transport heavy provisions to nests. To test this hypothesis we focussed on digger wasps (Hymenoptera: Ammophilini), a relatively homogeneous group in which only females provision offspring. In some species, a single large prey item, up to 10 times the mother’s weight, must be carried to each burrow on foot; other species provide many small prey, each flown individually to the nest. We found more pronounced female-biased SSD in species where females carry single, heavy prey. More generally, SSD was negatively correlated with numbers of prey provided per offspring. Females provisioning multiple small items had longer wings and thoraxes, probably because smaller prey are carried in flight. Despite much theorising, few empirical studies have tested how sex-biased parental care can affect SSD. Our study reveals that such costs can be associated with the evolution of dimorphism, and this should be investigated in other clades where parental care costs differ between sexes and species

In vivo mapping of vascular inflammation using the translocator protein tracer 18F-FEDAA1106

YesNon-invasive imaging methods are required to monitor the inflammatory content of atherosclerotic plaques. FEDAA1106 (N-(5-fluoro-2-phenoxyphenyl)-N-(2-(2-fluoroethoxy)-5- methoxybenzyl) acetamide) is a selective ligand for TSPO-18kDa (also known as peripheral benzodiazepine receptor), which is expressed by activated macrophages. We compared 18F- FEDAA1106 and 18F-FDG (a marker of glucose metabolism) for PET imaging of vascular inflammation. This was tested using a murine model where focal inflammation was induced in the carotid artery via placement of a constrictive cuff. Immunostaining revealed CD68-positive cells (macrophages) at a disturbed flow site located downstream from the cuff. Dynamic PET imaging using 18F-FEDAA1106 or 18F-FDG was registered to anatomical data generated by CT/CT angiography. Standardized uptake values (SUV) were significantly increased at cuffed compared to contralateral arteries using either 18F-FEDAA1106 (p<0.01) or FDG (p<0.05). However, the 18F-FEDAA1106 signal was significantly higher at the inflamed disturbed flow region compared to the non-inflamed uniform flow regions, whereas differences in FDG uptake were less distinct. We conclude that 18F-FEDAA1106 can be used in vivo for detection of vascular inflammation. Moreover, the signal pattern of 18F-FEDAA1106 correlated with vascular inflammation more specifically than FDG uptake.: This study was funded by the British Heart Foundation and through a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (310030_143343/1 to B.R.K.

A New Calibrated Bayesian Internal Goodness-of-Fit Method: Sampled Posterior p-Values as Simple and General p-Values That Allow Double Use of the Data

Background: Recent approaches mixing frequentist principles with Bayesian inference propose internal goodness-of-fit (GOF) p-values that might be valuable for critical analysis of Bayesian statistical models. However, GOF p-values developed to date only have known probability distributions under restrictive conditions. As a result, no known GOF p-value has a known probability distribution for any discrepancy function. Methodology/Principal Findings: We show mathematically that a new GOF p-value, called the sampled posterior p-value (SPP), asymptotically has a uniform probability distribution whatever the discrepancy function. In a moderate finite sample context, simulations also showed that the SPP appears stable to relatively uninformative misspecifications of the prior distribution. Conclusions/Significance: These reasons, together with its numerical simplicity, make the SPP a better canonical GOF p-value than existing GOF p-values

Disease Dynamics in a Specialized Parasite of Ant Societies

Coevolution between ant colonies and their rare specialized parasites are intriguing, because lethal infections of workers may correspond to tolerable chronic diseases of colonies, but the parasite adaptations that allow stable coexistence with ants are virtually unknown. We explore the trade-offs experienced by Ophiocordyceps parasites manipulating ants into dying in nearby graveyards. We used field data from Brazil and Thailand to parameterize and fit a model for the growth rate of graveyards. We show that parasite pressure is much lower than the abundance of ant cadavers suggests and that hyperparasites often castrate Ophiocordyceps. However, once fruiting bodies become sexually mature they appear robust. Such parasite life-history traits are consistent with iteroparity– a reproductive strategy rarely considered in fungi. We discuss how tropical habitats with high biodiversity of hyperparasites and high spore mortality has likely been crucial for the evolution and maintenance of iteroparity in parasites with low dispersal potential

Environmental and Parental Influences on Offspring Health and Growth in Great Tits (Parus major)

PMCID: PMC3728352This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

End of life care interventions for people with dementia in care homes : addressing uncertainty within a framework for service delivery and evaluation

© 2015 Goodman et al. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise statedMethods: The data from three studies on EoL care in care homes: (i) EVIDEM EoL , (ii) EPOCH , and (iii) TTT EoL were used to inform the development of the framework. All used mixed method designs and two had an intervention designed to improve how care home staff provided end of life care. The EVIDEM EoL and EPOCH studies tracked the care of older people in care homes over a period of 12 months. The TTT study collected resource use data of care home residents for three months, and surveyed decedents' notes for ten months, Results: Across the three studies, 29 care homes, 528 residents, 205 care home staff, and 44 visiting health care professionals participated. Analysis of showed that end of life interventions for people with dementia were characterised by uncertainty in three key areas; what treatment is the 'right' treatment, who should do what and when, and in which setting EoL care should be delivered and by whom? These uncertainties are conceptualised as Treatment uncertainty, Relational uncertainty and Service uncertainty. This paper proposes an emergent framework to inform the development and evaluation of EoL care interventions in care homes. Conclusion: For people with dementia living and dying in care homes, EoL interventions need to provide strategies that can accommodate or "hold" the inevitable and often unresolvable uncertainties of providing and receiving care in these settingsPeer reviewe

Further investigation of confirmed urinary tract infection (UTI) in children under five years: a systematic review.

Background: Further investigation of confirmed UTI in children aims to prevent renal scarring and future complications. Methods: We conducted a systematic review to determine the most effective approach to the further investigation of confirmed urinary tract infection (UTI) in children under five years of age. Results: 73 studies were included. Many studies had methodological limitations or were poorly reported. Effectiveness of further investigations: One study found that routine imaging did not lead to a reduction in recurrent UTIs or renal scarring. Diagnostic accuracy: The studies do not support the use of less invasive tests such as ultrasound as an alternative to renal scintigraphy, either to rule out infection of the upper urinary tract (LR- = 0.57, 95%CI: 0.47, 0.68) and thus to exclude patients from further investigation or to detect renal scarring (LR+ = 3.5, 95% CI: 2.5, 4.8). None of the tests investigated can accurately predict the development of renal scarring. The available evidence supports the consideration of contrast-enhanced ultrasound techniques for detecting vesico-ureteric reflux (VUR), as an alternative to micturating cystourethrography (MCUG) (LR+ = 14.1, 95% CI: 9.5, 20.8; LR- = 0.20, 95%CI: 0.13, 0.29); these techniques have the advantage of not requiring exposure to ionising radiation. Conclusion: There is no evidence to support the clinical effectiveness of routine investigation of children with confirmed UTI. Primary research on the effectiveness, in terms of improved patient outcome, of testing at all stages in the investigation of confirmed urinary tract infection is urgently required