Long-term inter-sexual association patterns among wild chimpanzees

The widely accepted socio-ecological model of primate sociality assumes that males and female chimpanzees do not exhibit differentiated social relationships. However, despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary, this assumption has never been explicitly tested. We used 14 years of data from the Kanyawara community in Kibale National Park, Uganda to describe inter-sexual association patterns among these chimpanzees. We calculated a composite index using temporal and spatial association data to characterize the relationships between data to characterize the relationships between 336 male-females dyads. We considered any dyad with a composite index greater than one standard deviation above the mean to be strongly associated. We found that: (1) while the majority of male-female dyads were not strongly associated, a subset of dyads showed greater than average association across several two-year time periods; (2) all but one of the maternal kin dyads (either mother-son or brother-sister) had differentiated relationships; and (3) the association preferences of some dyads remained consistent despite changes in the reproductive condition of the female over time. We used generalized linear models to determine the effect of reproductive state, rank and seasonality on patterning these long-term associations. Our finding that chimpanzees exhibit differentiated inter-sexual association patterns will have far-reaching effects on studies of other forms of male-female interaction such as aggression, and further our understanding of the evolution of human pair-bonding.AnthropologyHuman Evolutionary Biolog

Opinions on registering trial details: a survey of academic researchers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The World Health Organization (WHO) has established a set of items related to study design and administrative information that should build the minimum set of data in a study register. A more comprehensive data set for registration is currently developed by the Ottawa Group. Since nothing is known about the attitudes of academic researchers towards prospective study registration, we surveyed academic researchers about their opinion regarding the registration of study details proposed by the WHO and the Ottawa Group.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This was a web-based survey of academic researchers currently running an investigator-initiated clinical study which is registered with clinicaltrials.gov. In July 2006 we contacted 1299 principal investigators of clinical studies by e-mail explaining the purpose of the survey and a link to access a 52-item questionnaire based on the proposed minimum data set by the Ottawa Group. Two reminder e-mails were sent each two weeks apart. Association between willingness to disclose study details and study phase was assessed using the chi-squared test for trend. To explore the potential influence of non-response bias we used logistic regression to assess associations between factors associated with non-response and the willingness to register study details.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall response was low as only 282/1299 (22%) principal investigators participated in the survey. Disclosing study documents, in particular the study protocol and financial agreements, was found to be most problematic with only 31% of respondents willing to disclose these publicly. Consequently, only 34/282 (12%) agreed to disclose all details proposed by the Ottawa Group. Logistic regression indicated no association between characteristics of non-responders and willingness to disclose details.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Principal investigators of non-industry sponsored studies are reluctant to disclose all data items proposed by the Ottawa Group. Disclosing the study protocol and financial agreements was found to be most problematic. Future discussions on trial registration should not only focus on industry but also on academic researchers.</p

Vocal signals facilitate cooperative hunting in wild chimpanzees

Cooperation and communication likely co-evolved in humans. However, the evolutionary roots of this interdependence remain unclear. We address this issue by investigating the role of vocal signals in facilitating a group cooperative behavior in an ape species: hunting in wild chimpanzees. First, we show that bark vocalizations produced before hunt initiation are reliable signals of behavioral motivation, with barkers being most likely to participate in the hunt. Next, we find that barks are associated with greater hunter recruitment and more effective hunting, with shorter latencies to hunting initiation and prey capture. Our results indicate that the co-evolutionary relationship between vocal communication and group-level cooperation is not unique to humans in the ape lineage, and is likely to have been present in our last common ancestor with chimpanzees

Problem gambling: a suitable case for social work?

Problem gambling attracts little attention from health and social care agencies in the UK. Prevalence surveys suggest that 0.6% of the population are problem gamblers and it is suggested that for each of these individuals, 10–17 other people, including children and other family members, are affected. Problem gambling is linked to many individual and social problems including: depression, suicide, significant debt, bankruptcy, family conflict, domestic violence, neglect and maltreatment of children and offending. This makes the issue central to social work territory. Yet, the training of social workers in the UK has consistently neglected issues of addictive behaviour. Whilst some attention has been paid in recent years to substance abuse issues, there has remained a silence in relation to gambling problems. Social workers provide more help for problems relating to addictions than other helping professions. There is good evidence that treatment, and early intervention for gambling problems, including psycho-social and public health approaches, can be very effective. This paper argues that problem gambling should be moved onto the radar of the social work profession, via inclusion on qualifying and post-qualifying training programmes and via research and dissemination of good practice via institutions such as the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE). Keywords: problem gambling; addictive behaviour; socia

Objective indicators of pasture degradation from spectral mixture analysis of Landsat imagery

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 113 (2008): G00B03, doi:10.1029/2007JG000622.Degradation of cattle pastures is a management concern that influences future land use in Amazonia. However, “degradation” is poorly defined and has different meanings for ranchers, ecologists, and policy makers. Here we analyze pasture degradation using objective scalars of photosynthetic vegetation (PV), nonphotosynthetic vegetation (NPV), and exposed soil (S) derived from Landsat imagery. A general, probabilistic spectral mixture model decomposed satellite spectral reflectance measurements into subpixel estimates of PV, NPV, and S covers at ranches in western and eastern Amazonia. Most pasture management units at all ranches fell along a single line of decreasing PV with increasing NPV and S, which could be considered a degradation continuum. The ranch with the highest stocking densities and most intensive management had greater NPV and S than a less intensively managed ranch. The number of liming, herbiciding, and disking treatments applied to each pasture management unit was positively correlated with NPV and negatively correlated with PV. Although these objective scalars revealed signs of degradation, intensive management kept exposed soil to <40% cover and maintained economically viable cattle production over several decades. In ranches with few management inputs, the high PV cover in young pastures declined with increasing pasture age, while NPV and S increased, even where grazing intensity was low. Both highly productive pastures and vigorous regrowth of native vegetation cause high PV values. Analysis of spectral properties holds promise for identifying areas where grazing intensity has exceeded management inputs, thus increasing coverage of senescent foliage and exposed soil.This research was supported by grant NNG06GE88A of NASA’s Terrestrial Ecology Program as part of the Large-scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA) project

Trial Publication after Registration in ClinicalTrials.Gov: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Joseph Ross and colleagues examine publication rates of clinical trials and find low rates of publication even following registration in Clinicaltrials.gov

Deficiencies in the transfer and availability of clinical trials evidence: A review of existing systems and standards

Background: Decisions concerning drug safety and efficacy are generally based on pivotal evidence provided by clinical trials. Unfortunately, finding the relevant clinical trials is difficult and their results are only available in text-based reports. Systematic reviews aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the evidence in a specific area, but may not provide the data required for decision making. Methods: We review and analyze the existing information systems and standards for aggregate level clinical trials information from the perspective of systematic review and evidence-based decision making. Results: The technology currently used has major shortcomings, which cause deficiencies in the transfer, traceability and availability of clinical trials information. Specifically, data available to decision makers is insufficiently structured, and consequently the decisions cannot be properly traced back to the underlying evidence. Regulatory submission, trial publication, trial registration, and systematic review produce unstructured datasets that are insufficient for supporting evidence-based decision making. Conclusions: The current situation is a hindrance to policy decision makers as it prevents fully transparent decision making and the development of more advanced decision support systems. Addressing the identified deficiencies would enable more efficient, informed, and transparent evidence-based medical decision making

MBL2 and Hepatitis C Virus Infection among Injection Drug Users

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Genetic variations in <it>MBL2 </it>that reduce circulating levels and alter functional properties of the mannose binding lectin (MBL) have been associated with many autoimmune and infectious diseases. We examined whether <it>MBL2 </it>variants influence the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants were enrolled in the Urban Health Study of San Francisco Bay area injection drug users (IDU) during 1998 through 2000. Study subjects who had a positive test for HCV antibody were eligible for the current study. Participants who were positive for HCV RNA were frequency matched to those who were negative for HCV RNA on the basis of ethnicity and duration of IDU. Genotyping was performed for 15 single nucleotide polymorphisms in <it>MBL2</it>. Statistical analyses of European American and African American participants were conducted separately.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The analysis included 198 study subjects who were positive for HCV antibody, but negative for HCV RNA, and 654 IDUs who were positive for both antibody and virus. There was no significant association between any of the genetic variants that cause MBL deficiency and the presence of HCV RNA. Unexpectedly, the <it>MBL2 </it>-289X promoter genotype, which causes MBL deficiency, was over-represented among European Americans who were HCV RNA negative (OR = 1.65, 95% CI 1.05–2.58), although not among the African Americans.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study found no association between genetic variants that cause MBL deficiency and the presence of HCV RNA. The observation that <it>MBL2 </it>-289X was associated with the absence of HCV RNA in European Americans requires validation.</p

The Quality of Registration of Clinical Trials

BACKGROUND: Lack of transparency in clinical trial conduct, publication bias and selective reporting bias are still important problems in medical research. Through clinical trials registration, it should be possible to take steps towards resolving some of these problems. However, previous evaluations of registered records of clinical trials have shown that registered information is often incomplete and non-meaningful. If these studies are accurate, this negates the possible benefits of registration of clinical trials. METHODS AND FINDINGS: A 5% sample of records of clinical trials that were registered between 17 June 2008 and 17 June 2009 was taken from the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) database and assessed for the presence of contact information, the presence of intervention specifics in drug trials and the quality of primary and secondary outcome reporting. 731 records were included. More than half of the records were registered after recruitment of the first participant. The name of a contact person was available in 94.4% of records from non-industry funded trials and 53.7% of records from industry funded trials. Either an email address or a phone number was present in 76.5% of non-industry funded trial records and in 56.5% of industry funded trial records. Although a drug name or company serial number was almost always provided, other drug intervention specifics were often omitted from registration. Of 3643 reported outcomes, 34.9% were specific measures with a meaningful time frame. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical trials registration has the potential to contribute substantially to improving clinical trial transparency and reducing publication bias and selective reporting. These potential benefits are currently undermined by deficiencies in the provision of information in key areas of registered records