The role of emotional resilience, childhood parentification, and attachment style on antisocial behaviour in adulthood: a comparison of an offender and normative population

Purpose: Despite a robust link between poor caregiver attachment and antisociality, few studies have examined the influence of parentification and emotional resilience on delinquency in later life, in groups at differing risk for antisocial conduct. Methodology: This pilot study compared the influence of parentification, attachment style (avoidant or anxious) and emotional resilience on adulthood antisocial behaviour in an offender and normative sample. Of the 137 participants in this study, 66 were supervised by the National Probation Service (age M = 36.90, SD = 13.91), and 71 were recruited from community-dwelling and student populations (age M = 31.83, SD = 13.25). Findings: In partial support of the predictions, participants in the offender group reported significantly greater levels of attachment anxiety compared to the normative group. However, emotional resilience was positively associated with antisociality in the normative sample. Research implications: This small-scale investigation indicates value in exploring these specific variables in a larger, matched samples study, to enable clearer comparisons to be made between offender and normative groups. Practical implications: The preliminary findings suggest that attachment anxiety is associated with antisociality in offender populations, which indicate a therapeutic focus on attachment anxiety as part of correctional care and offender rehabilitation. Originality: This study is novel in its aim to examine the influence of childhood parentification, attachment deficits and emotional resilience on adulthood antisociality in participants from a high-risk offender sample and non-high-risk normative sample

Review: Evidence of Neurological Sequelae in Children With Acquired Zika Virus Infection

Limited information is available on health outcomes related to Zika virus infection acquired during childhood. Zika virus can cause severe central nervous system malformations in congenitally exposed fetuses and neonates. In vitro studies show the capacity of Zika virus to infect neural progenitor cells, induce central and peripheral neuronal cell deaths, and target different brain cells over the course of brain development. Studies of postnatally infected mice and nonhuman primates have detected degradation of neural cells and morphologic brain cell changes consistent with a broad neuroinflammatory response. In addition, case reports of central nervous system disease in adults and in adolescents secondary to Zika virus infection suggest that Zika virus may have a broader impact on neurological health beyond that observed in congenitally exposed newborns. Long-term neurological complications have been observed with other acquired flaviviral infections, with clinical symptoms manifesting for years after primary infection. The extent to which postnatal Zika virus infection in humans negatively affects the central and peripheral nervous systems and causes long-term neurological damage or cognitive effects is currently unknown. To better understand the potential for neurological sequelae associated with acquired Zika virus infection in children, we reviewed the biological, clinical, and epidemiologic literature and summarized the evidence for this link. First, we review biological mechanisms for neurological manifestations of Zika virus infection in experimental studies. Second, we review observational studies of congenital Zika virus infection and case studies and surveillance reports of neurological sequelae of Zika virus infection in adults and in children. Lastly, we discuss the challenges of conducting Zika virus-neurological sequela studies and future directions for pediatric Zika virus research

SuperWIMP Dark Matter Signals from the Early Universe

Cold dark matter may be made of superweakly-interacting massive particles, superWIMPs, that naturally inherit the desired relic density from late decays of metastable WIMPs. Well-motivated examples are weak-scale gravitinos in supergravity and Kaluza-Klein gravitons from extra dimensions. These particles are impossible to detect in all dark matter experiments. We find, however, that superWIMP dark matter may be discovered through cosmological signatures from the early universe. In particular, superWIMP dark matter has observable consequences for Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and may explain the observed underabundance of 7Li without upsetting the concordance between deuterium and CMB baryometers. We discuss implications for future probes of CMB black body distortions and collider searches for new particles. In the course of this study, we also present a model-independent analysis of entropy production from late-decaying particles in light of WMAP data.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, typos correcte

Body size, trophic position, and the coupling of different energy pathways across a saltmarsh landscape

Body size is considered an important structuring mechanism of food webs because consumers are usually larger and more mobile than their prey and may couple energy among habitats. We explored the links among trophic position (TP), body size, and the coupling of different energy channels (phytoplankton and C4-marsh plants) in a saltmarsh landscape in the northern Gulf of Mexico—a dynamic system considered weakly shaped by biotic interactions. Body size was positively associated with TP, and this relationship was stronger in the phytoplankton pathway vs. the C4-marsh pathway. There was a gradual increase in the coupling of phytoplankton and C4-marsh plants at larger body sizes and higher TP. Phytoplankton supported longer food chains and larger body sizes than C4-marsh plants. Results support predictions of the landscape theory for food web architecture and indicate that the role of body size in determining trophic interactions may vary across food web compartments

Neurological and neuropsychological sequelae of Zika virus infection in children in León, Nicaragua

Objectives. To describe the presence and persistence of neurological and neuropsychological sequelae among children with acquired Zika virus infection and assess whether those sequelae were more common in children infected with Zika virus compared to uninfected children. Methods. We conducted a prospective cohort study of children with and without Zika virus infection in León, Nicaragua, using a standard clinical assessment tool and questionnaire to collect data on symptoms at three visits, about 6 months apart, and a battery of standardized instruments to evaluate neurocognitive function, behavior, depression, and anxiety at the last two visits. Results. Sixty-two children were enrolled, with no significant differences in demographics by infection group. Children infected with Zika virus had a range of neurological symptoms, some of which persisted for 6 to 12 months; however, no consistent pattern of symptoms was observed. At baseline a small percentage of children infected with Zika virus had an abnormal finger-to-nose test (13%), cold touch response (13%), and vibration response (15%) versus 0% in the uninfected group. Neurocognitive deficits and behavioral problems were common in both groups, with no significant differences between the groups. Children infected with Zika virus had lower cognitive efficiency scores at the 6-month visit. Anxiety and depression were infrequent in both groups. Conclusions. Larger studies are needed to definitively investigate the relationship between Zika virus infection and neurological symptoms and neurocognitive problems, with adjustment for factors affecting cognition and behavior, including mood and sleep disorders, home learning environment, history of neuroinvasive infections, and detailed family history of neuropsychological problems

Size Doesn't Matter: Towards a More Inclusive Philosophy of Biology

notes: As the primary author, O’Malley drafted the paper, and gathered and analysed data (scientific papers and talks). Conceptual analysis was conducted by both authors.publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticlePhilosophers of biology, along with everyone else, generally perceive life to fall into two broad categories, the microbes and macrobes, and then pay most of their attention to the latter. ‘Macrobe’ is the word we propose for larger life forms, and we use it as part of an argument for microbial equality. We suggest that taking more notice of microbes – the dominant life form on the planet, both now and throughout evolutionary history – will transform some of the philosophy of biology’s standard ideas on ontology, evolution, taxonomy and biodiversity. We set out a number of recent developments in microbiology – including biofilm formation, chemotaxis, quorum sensing and gene transfer – that highlight microbial capacities for cooperation and communication and break down conventional thinking that microbes are solely or primarily single-celled organisms. These insights also bring new perspectives to the levels of selection debate, as well as to discussions of the evolution and nature of multicellularity, and to neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary mechanisms. We show how these revisions lead to further complications for microbial classification and the philosophies of systematics and biodiversity. Incorporating microbial insights into the philosophy of biology will challenge many of its assumptions, but also give greater scope and depth to its investigations

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis. Pathway enrichment analyses confirmed the involvement of amyloid/tau pathways and highlighted microglia implication. Gene prioritization in the new loci identified 31 genes that were suggestive of new genetically associated processes, including the tumor necrosis factor alpha pathway through the linear ubiquitin chain assembly complex. We also built a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future AD/dementia or progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD/dementia. The improvement in prediction led to a 1.6- to 1.9-fold increase in AD risk from the lowest to the highest decile, in addition to effects of age and the APOE ε4 allele