Herding and Social Pressure in Trading Tasks: A Behavioural Analysis

We extend the experimental literature on Bayesian herding using evidence from a financial decision-making experiment. We identify significant propensities to herd increasing with the degree of herd-consensus. We test various herding models to capture the differential impacts of Bayesian-style thinking versus behavioural factors. We find statistically significant associations between herding and individual characteristics such as age and personality traits. Overall, our evidence is consistent with explanations of herding as the outcome of social and behavioural factors. Suggestions for further research are outlined and include verifying these findings and identifying the neurological correlates of propensities to herd

Parenting style in childhood and mortality risk at older ages: a longitudinal cohort study

BACKGROUND: Parenting style is associated with offspring health, but whether it is associated with offspring mortality at older ages remains unknown. AIMS: We examined whether childhood experiences of suboptimal parenting style are associated with increased risk of death at older ages. METHOD: Longitudinal cohort study of 1964 community-dwelling adults aged 65-79 years. RESULTS: The association between parenting style and mortality was inverse and graded. Participants in the poorest parenting style score quartile had increased risk of death (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.72, 95% CI 1.20-2.48) compared with those in the optimal parenting style score quartile after adjustment for age and gender. Full adjustment for covariates partially explained this association (HR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.02-2.18). Parenting style was inversely associated with cancer and other mortality, but not cardiovascular mortality. Maternal and paternal parenting styles were individually associated with mortality. CONCLUSIONS: Experiences of suboptimal parenting in childhood are associated with increased risk of death at older ages

Modellbasierte Optimierung dynamischer Fahrmanöver mittels Prüfständen

Inhalt dieser Arbeit ist die Darstellung einer systematischen, modellbasierten Methode zur Optimierung längsdynamischer Fahrmanöver auf Prüfständen. Hinsichtlich der straßennahen Abbildung von dynamischem Antriebsstrangverhalten werden Rollenprüfstände und Antriebsstrangprüfstände mit unterschiedlichen Regelungskonzepten untersucht. Die in der Arbeit beschriebene Vorgehensweise erleichtert die Applikation von Steuergeräteparametern und ermöglicht die objektive Beurteilung des Ergebnisses hinsichtlich der Zielgrößen Agilität, Komfort und mechanische Beanspruchung. Durch fahrmanöverspezifische Kennwerte wird das ursprünglich dynamische Übertragungsverhalten der Fahrmanöver auf statisches Übertragungsverhalten zurückgeführt. Dies ermöglicht die Anwendung statischer, empirischer Modellansätze. Durch Anwendungsbeispiele wird belegt, dass die verwendeten Modelle in der Lage sind, die Abhängigkeit der fahrmanöverspezifischen Kennwerte von den Applikationsparametern und den wesentlichen Randbedingungen, beispielsweise Motormoment und Motordrehzahl, abzubilden. Auf Basis der Modelle werden Optimierungen der Applikationsparameter einer Lastwechselkomfortfunktion und des Kupplungswechsels eines Automatikgetriebes durchgeführt

Early Childhood Development and Schooling Attainment: Longitudinal Evidence from British, Finnish and Philippine Birth Cohorts

Background While recent literature has highlighted the importance of early childhood development for later life outcomes, comparatively little is known regarding the relative importance of early physical and cognitive development in predicting educational attainment cross-culturally. Methods We used prospective data from three birth cohorts: the Northern Finland Birth Cohort of 1986 (NFBC1986), the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS1970), and the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey of 1983 (CLHNS) to assess the association of height-for-age z-score (HAZ) and cognitive development measured prior to age 8 with schooling attainment. Multivariate linear regression models were used to estimate baseline and adjusted associations. Results Both physical and cognitive development were highly predictive of adult educational attainment conditional on parental characteristics. The largest positive associations between physical development and schooling were found in the CLHNS (β = 0.53, 95%-CI: [0.32, 0.74]) with substantially smaller associations in the BCS1970 (β = 0.10, 95% CI [0.04, 0.16]) and the NFBC1986 (β = 0.06, 95% CI [-0.05, 0.16]). Strong associations between cognitive development and educational attainment were found for all three cohorts (NFBC1986: β = 0.22, 95%-CI: [0.12, 0.31], BCS1970: β = 0.58, 95%-CI: [0.52, 0.64], CLHNS: β = 1.08, 95%-CI: [0.88, 1.27]). Models jointly estimating educational associations of physical and cognitive development demonstrated weaker associations for physical development and minimal changes for cognitive development. Conclusion The results indicate that although physical and cognitive early development are both important predictors of educational attainment, cognitive development appears to play a particularly important role. The large degree of heterogeneity in the observed effect sizes suggest that the importance of early life physical growth and cognitive development is highly dependent on socioeconomic and institutional contexts

Genome-wide association study of primary tooth eruption identifies pleiotropic loci associated with height and craniofacial distances

Twin and family studies indicate that the timing of primary tooth eruption is highly heritable, with estimates typically exceeding 80%. To identify variants involved in primary tooth eruption we performed a population based genome-wide association study of ‘age at first tooth’ and ‘number of teeth’ using 5998 and 6609 individuals respectively from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and 5403 individuals from the 1966 Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC1966). We tested 2,446,724 SNPs imputed in both studies. Analyses were controlled for the effect of gestational age, sex and age of measurement. Results from the two studies were combined using fixed effects inverse variance meta-analysis. We identified a total of fifteen independent loci, with ten loci reaching genome-wide significance (p<5x10−8) for ‘age at first tooth’ and eleven loci for ‘number of teeth’. Together these associations explain 6.06% of the variation in ‘age of first tooth’ and 4.76% of the variation in ‘number of teeth’. The identified loci included eight previously unidentified loci, some containing genes known to play a role in tooth and other developmental pathways, including a SNP in the protein-coding region of BMP4 (rs17563, P= 9.080x10−17). Three of these loci, containing the genes HMGA2, AJUBA and ADK, also showed evidence of association with craniofacial distances, particularly those indexing facial width. Our results suggest that the genome-wide association approach is a powerful strategy for detecting variants involved in tooth eruption, and potentially craniofacial growth and more generally organ development

Inequalities in dental caries in children within the UK: Have there been changes over time?

OBJECTIVES: To examine any change over time in the association between deprivation and caries experience between 2003 and 2013 in a nationally representative sample of UK children. METHODS: Data from UK Children's Dental Health Surveys, 2003 and 2013, were used. The target population was 5-, 8-, 12- and 15-year-olds. A total of 9604 children in 2003 and 9866 in 2013 were included in the surveys. Outcome variables were any active caries, caries experience and total number of carious teeth. Family socio-economic position (SEP) or deprivation level was measured at school level using eligibility for free school meals (FSM) to identify children from low-income families. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) and pooled standardized incidence rates ratios were calculated to measure dichotomous outcome variables by year, age group and status of deprivation. The study continuous outcome was modelled using a zero-inflated Poisson regression while the dichotomous outcomes were modelled using logistic regressions. The multivariable analyses were run by age groups accounting for year, sex and deprivation status. RESULTS: The percentage of those identified as deprived was significantly higher in 2013 (35.8% in 2013 vs 26.0% in 2003, P < 0.001). Among both deprived and non-deprived children, the prevalence of any active caries significantly dropped over the years, observed in all age groups. Comparing 2013 with 2003 and accounting for sex, deprivation level, "any active caries," "any caries experience" and "total number of carious teeth" significantly dropped were observed in all age groups. Comparing the years, the association of deprivation with caries outcomes mostly remained the same or decreased. This decrease was predominantly seen in "any caries experience." Only among the 5-year-olds, did the association between deprivation and total number of carious teeth over the years significantly increase. For all age groups, the likelihood of "any active caries" and "total number of carious teeth" by deprivation remained the same comparing the two points in time: 2003 and 2013. However, irrespective of year, deprivation was significantly associated with caries observed in all age groups. CONCLUSION: In the UK, the prevalence of active dental caries and caries experience has decreased in the period between 2003 and 2013. Similarly, the likelihood of having dental caries by deprivation in 2013 was predominantly lower than that observed in 2003

A High-Resolution Map of Human Evolutionary Constraint Using 29 Mammals

The comparison of related genomes has emerged as a powerful lens for genome interpretation. Here we report the sequencing and comparative analysis of 29 eutherian genomes. We confirm that at least 5.5% of the human genome has undergone purifying selection, and locate constrained elements covering ~4.2% of the genome. We use evolutionary signatures and comparisons with experimental data sets to suggest candidate functions for ~60% of constrained bases. These elements reveal a small number of new coding exons, candidate stop codon readthrough events and over 10,000 regions of overlapping synonymous constraint within protein-coding exons. We find 220 candidate RNA structural families, and nearly a million elements overlapping potential promoter, enhancer and insulator regions. We report specific amino acid residues that have undergone positive selection, 280,000 non-coding elements exapted from mobile elements and more than 1,000 primate- and human-accelerated elements. Overlap with disease-associated variants indicates that our findings will be relevant for studies of human biology, health and disease.National Human Genome Research Institute (U.S.)National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (Grant number GM82901)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Postdoctural Fellowship (Award 0905968)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Career (0644282)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R01-HG004037)Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.Austrian Science Fund. Erwin Schrodinger Fellowshi

Genome-wide association study of primary tooth eruption identifies pleiotropic loci associated with height and craniofacial distances

Twin and family studies indicate that the timing of primary tooth eruption is highly heritable, with estimates typically exceeding 80%. To identify variants involved in primary tooth eruption we performed a population based genome-wide association study of ‘age at first tooth’ and ‘number of teeth’ using 5998 and 6609 individuals respectively from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and 5403 individuals from the 1966 Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC1966). We tested 2,446,724 SNPs imputed in both studies. Analyses were controlled for the effect of gestational age, sex and age of measurement. Results from the two studies were combined using fixed effects inverse variance meta-analysis. We identified a total of fifteen independent loci, with ten loci reaching genome-wide significance (p<5x10−8) for ‘age at first tooth’ and eleven loci for ‘number of teeth’. Together these associations explain 6.06% of the variation in ‘age of first tooth’ and 4.76% of the variation in ‘number of teeth’. The identified loci included eight previously unidentified loci, some containing genes known to play a role in tooth and other developmental pathways, including a SNP in the protein-coding region of BMP4 (rs17563, P= 9.080x10−17). Three of these loci, containing the genes HMGA2, AJUBA and ADK, also showed evidence of association with craniofacial distances, particularly those indexing facial width. Our results suggest that the genome-wide association approach is a powerful strategy for detecting variants involved in tooth eruption, and potentially craniofacial growth and more generally organ development

Genome-Wide Association Study Reveals Multiple Loci Associated with Primary Tooth Development during Infancy

Tooth development is a highly heritable process which relates to other growth and developmental processes, and which interacts with the development of the entire craniofacial complex. Abnormalities of tooth development are common, with tooth agenesis being the most common developmental anomaly in humans. We performed a genome-wide association study of time to first tooth eruption and number of teeth at one year in 4,564 individuals from the 1966 Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC1966) and 1,518 individuals from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). We identified 5 loci at P<5×10−8, and 5 with suggestive association (P<5×10−6). The loci included several genes with links to tooth and other organ development (KCNJ2, EDA, HOXB2, RAD51L1, IGF2BP1, HMGA2, MSRB3). Genes at four of the identified loci are implicated in the development of cancer. A variant within the HOXB gene cluster associated with occlusion defects requiring orthodontic treatment by age 31 years