Does publication bias inflate the apparent efficacy of psychological treatment for major depressive disorder? A systematic review and meta-analysis of US national institutes of health-funded trials

Background The efficacy of antidepressant medication has been shown empirically to be overestimated due to publication bias, but this has only been inferred statistically with regard to psychological treatment for depression. We assessed directly the extent of study publication bias in trials examining the efficacy of psychological treatment for depression. Methods and Findings We identified US National Institutes of Health grants awarded to fund randomized clinical trials comparing psychological treatment to control conditions or other treatments in patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder for the period 1972–2008, and we determined whether those grants led to publications. For studies that were not published, data were requested from investigators and included in the meta-analyses. Thirteen (23.6%) of the 55 funded grants that began trials did not result in publications, and two others never started. Among comparisons to control conditions, adding unpublished studies (Hedges’ g = 0.20; CI95% -0.11~0.51; k = 6) to published studies (g = 0.52; 0.37~0.68; k = 20) reduced the psychotherapy effect size point estimate (g = 0.39; 0.08~0.70) by 25%. Moreover, these findings may overestimate the "true" effect of psychological treatment for depression as outcome reporting bias could not be examined quantitatively. Conclusion The efficacy of psychological interventions for depression has been overestimated in the published literature, just as it has been for pharmacotherapy. Both are efficacious but not to the extent that the published literature would suggest. Funding agencies and journals should archive both original protocols and raw data from treatment trials to allow the detection and correction of outcome reporting bias. Clinicians, guidelines developers, and decision makers should be aware that the published literature overestimates the effects of the predominant treatments for depression

Limited genetic variation and structure in softshell clams (Mya arenaria) across their native and introduced range

Author Posting. © Springer, 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Conservation Genetics 10 (2009): 803-814, doi:10.1007/s10592-008-9641-y.To offset declines in commercial landings of the softshell clam, Mya arenaria, resource managers are engaged in extensive stocking of seed clams throughout its range in the northwest Atlantic. Because a mixture of native and introduced stocks can disrupt locally adapted genotypes, we investigated genetic structure in M. arenaria populations across its current distribution to test for patterns of regional differentiation. We sequenced mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) for a total of 212 individuals from 12 sites in the northwest Atlantic (NW Atlantic), as well as two introduced sites, the northeast Pacific (NE Pacific) and the North Sea and Europe (NS Europe). Populations exhibited extremely low genetic variation, with one haplotype dominating (65-100%) at all sites sampled. Despite being introduced in the last 150-400 years, both NE Pacific and NS Europe populations had higher diversity measures than those in the NW Atlantic and both contained private haplotypes at frequencies of 10% to 27% consistent with their geographic isolation. While significant genetic structure (FST = 0.159, p<0.001) was observed between NW Atlantic and NS Europe, there was no evidence for genetic structure across the pronounced environmental clines of the NW Atlantic. Reduced genetic diversity in mtDNA combined with previous studies reporting reduced genetic diversity in nuclear markers strongly suggests a recent population expansion in the NW Atlantic, a pattern that may result from the retreat of ice sheets during Pleistocene glacial periods. Lack of genetic diversity and regional genetic differentiation suggests that present management strategies for the commercially important softshell clam are unlikely to have a significant impact on the regional distribution of genetic variation, although the possibility of disrupting locally adapted stocks cannot be excluded.This work was supported by NSF grants OCE-0326734 and OCE-0215905 to L. Mullineaux and OCE- 0349177 (Biological Oceanography) to PHB

Preferences across the Menstrual Cycle for Masculinity and Symmetry in Photographs of Male Faces and Bodies

Background: Previous studies have shown that women increase their preference for masculinity during the fertile phase of the menstrual cycle. Evidence for a similar preference shift for symmetry is equivocal. These studies have required participants to choose between subtle variations in computer-generated stimuli, and preferences for more natural stimuli have not been investigated. Methodology/Principal Findings: Our study employed photographs of individual males to investigate women’s preferences for face and body masculinity and symmetry across the menstrual cycle. We collected attractiveness ratings from 25 normally cycling women at high- and low-fertility days of the menstrual cycle. Attractiveness ratings made by these women were correlated with independent ratings of masculinity and symmetry provided by different sets of raters. We found no evidence for any cyclic shift in female preferences. Correlations between attractiveness and masculinity, and attractiveness and symmetry did not differ significantly between high- and low-fertility test sessions. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between high- and low-fertility ratings of attractiveness. Conclusions: These results suggest that a menstrual cycle shift in visual preferences for masculinity and symmetry may be too subtle to influence responses to real faces and bodies, and subsequent mate-choice decisions

Rise of oceanographic barriers in continuous populations of a cetacean: the genetic structure of harbour porpoises in Old World waters

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Understanding the role of seascape in shaping genetic and demographic population structure is highly challenging for marine pelagic species such as cetaceans for which there is generally little evidence of what could effectively restrict their dispersal. In the present work, we applied a combination of recent individual-based landscape genetic approaches to investigate the population genetic structure of a highly mobile extensive range cetacean, the harbour porpoise in the eastern North Atlantic, with regards to oceanographic characteristics that could constrain its dispersal.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analyses of 10 microsatellite loci for 752 individuals revealed that most of the sampled range in the eastern North Atlantic behaves as a 'continuous' population that widely extends over thousands of kilometres with significant isolation by distance (IBD). However, strong barriers to gene flow were detected in the south-eastern part of the range. These barriers coincided with profound changes in environmental characteristics and isolated, on a relatively small scale, porpoises from Iberian waters and on a larger scale porpoises from the Black Sea.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The presence of these barriers to gene flow that coincide with profound changes in oceanographic features, together with the spatial variation in IBD strength, provide for the first time strong evidence that physical processes have a major impact on the demographic and genetic structure of a cetacean. This genetic pattern further suggests habitat-related fragmentation of the porpoise range that is likely to intensify with predicted surface ocean warming.</p

Effects of Elevated Temperature and Carbon Dioxide on the Growth and Survival of Larvae and Juveniles of Three Species of Northwest Atlantic Bivalves

Rising CO2 concentrations and water temperatures this century are likely to have transformative effects on many coastal marine organisms. Here, we compared the responses of two life history stages (larval, juvenile) of three species of calcifying bivalves (Mercenaria mercenaria, Crassostrea virginica, and Argopecten irradians) to temperatures (24 and 28°C) and CO2 concentrations (∼250, 390, and 750 ppm) representative of past, present, and future summer conditions in temperate estuaries. Results demonstrated that increases in temperature and CO2 each significantly depressed survival, development, growth, and lipid synthesis of M. mercenaria and A. irradians larvae and that the effects were additive. Juvenile M. mercenaria and A. irradians were negatively impacted by higher temperatures while C. virginica juveniles were not. C. virginica and A. irradians juveniles were negatively affected by higher CO2 concentrations, while M. mercenaria was not. Larvae were substantially more vulnerable to elevated CO2 than juvenile stages. These findings suggest that current and future increases in temperature and CO2 are likely to have negative consequences for coastal bivalve populations

Protocol for Fit Bodies, Fine Minds: a randomized controlled trial on the affect of exercise and cognitive training on cognitive functioning in older adults

Background. Declines in cognitive functioning are a normal part of aging that can affect daily functioning and quality of life. This study will examine the impact of an exercise training program, and a combined exercise and cognitive training program, on the cognitive and physical functioning of older adults. Methods/Design. Fit Bodies, Fine Minds is a randomized, controlled trial. Community-dwelling adults, aged between 65 and 75 years, are randomly allocated to one of three groups for 16 weeks. The exercise-only group do three 60-minute exercise sessions per week. The exercise and cognitive training group do two 60-minute exercise sessions and one 60-minute cognitive training session per week. A no-training control group is contacted every 4 weeks. Measures of cognitive functioning, physical fitness and psychological well-being are taken at baseline (0 weeks), post-test (16 weeks) and 6-month follop (40 weeks). Qualitative responses to the program are taken at post-test. Discussion. With an increasingly aged population, interventions to improve the functioning and quality of life of older adults are particularly important. Exercise training, either alone or in combination with cognitive training, may be an effective means of optimizing cognitive functioning in older adults. This study will add to the growing evidence base on the effectiveness of these interventions. Trial Registration. Australian Clinical Trials Register: ACTRN012607000151437

Joy leads to overconfidence, and a simple countermeasure

Overconfidence has been identified as a source of suboptimal decision making in many real-life domains, with often far-reaching consequences. This study identifies a mechanism that can cause overconfidence and demonstrates a simple, effective countermeasure in an incentive-compatible experimental study. We observed that joy induced overconfidence if the reason for joy (an unexpected gift) was u