A many-analysts approach to the relation between religiosity and well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N=10,535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β=0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β=0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

A Many-analysts Approach to the Relation Between Religiosity and Well-being

The relation between religiosity and well-being is one of the most researched topics in the psychology of religion, yet the directionality and robustness of the effect remains debated. Here, we adopted a many-analysts approach to assess the robustness of this relation based on a new cross-cultural dataset (N = 10, 535 participants from 24 countries). We recruited 120 analysis teams to investigate (1) whether religious people self-report higher well-being, and (2) whether the relation between religiosity and self-reported well-being depends on perceived cultural norms of religion (i.e., whether it is considered normal and desirable to be religious in a given country). In a two-stage procedure, the teams first created an analysis plan and then executed their planned analysis on the data. For the first research question, all but 3 teams reported positive effect sizes with credible/confidence intervals excluding zero (median reported β = 0.120). For the second research question, this was the case for 65% of the teams (median reported β = 0.039). While most teams applied (multilevel) linear regression models, there was considerable variability in the choice of items used to construct the independent variables, the dependent variable, and the included covariates

Deciphering the hearts: geometric morphometrics reveals shape variation in Abatus sea urchins across subantarctic and Antarctic seas.

International audienceAbatus is a genus of irregular brooding sea urchins to the Southern Ocean. Among the 11 described species, three shared morphological traits and present an infaunal lifestyle in the infralittoral from the Subantarctic province; A. cavernosus in Patagonia, A. cordatus in Kerguelen, and A. agassizii in Tierra del Fuego and South Shetlands. The systematic of Abatus, based on morphological characters and incomplete phylogenies, is complex and largely unresolved. This study evaluates the shape variation among these species using geometric morphometrics analysis (GM). For this, 72 individuals from four locations; South Shetlands, Kerguelen, Patagonia, and Falklands/Malvinas were photographed, and 37 landmarks were digitized. To evaluate the shape differences among species, a principal component analysis and a Procrustes ANOVA were performed. Our results showed a marked difference between the Falklands/Malvinas and the other localities, characterized by a narrower and more elongated shape and a significant influence of location in shape but not sex. Additionally, the effect of allometry was evaluated using a permutation test and a regression between shape and size, showing significant shape changes during growth in all groups. The possibility that the Falklands/Malvinas group shows phenotypic plasticity or represents a distinct evolutionary unit is discussed. Finally, GM proved to be a powerful tool to differentiate these species, highlighting its utility in systematic studies

The variant hERG/R148W associated with LQTS is a mutation that reduces current density on co-expression with the WT

International audienceBackground: A variant of the ether-à-go-go related channel (hERG), p.Arg148Trp (R148W) was found at heterozygous state in two infants who died from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), one with documented prolonged QTc and Torsade de Pointes (TdP), and in an adult woman with QTc > 500 ms, atrio-ventricular block and TdP. This variant was previously reported in cases of severe ventricular arrhythmia but very rarely in control subjects. Its classification as mutation or polymorphism awaited electrophysiological characterization. Methods: The properties of this N-terminal, proximal domain, hERG variant were explored in Xenopus oocytes injected with the same amount of RNA encoding for either hERG/WT or hERG/R148W or their equimolar mixture. The human ventricular cell (TNNP) model was used to test the effects of changes in hERG current.Results: R148W alone produced a current similar to the WT (369±76 nA (mean±SEM), n=13 versus 342±55 nA in WT, n=13), while the coexpression of 1/2 WT + 1/2 R148W lowered the current by 29 % versus WT (243±35 nA, n=13, p<0.05). The voltage dependencies of steady-state activation and inactivation were not changed in the variant alone or in coexpression with the WT. The time constants of fast recovery from inactivation and of fast and slow deactivation analyzed between –120 and +20 mV were not changed. The voltage-dependent distribution of the current amplitudes among fast-, slow- and non-deactivating fractions was unaltered. A 6.6 % increase in APD90 from 323.5 ms to 345 ms was observed using the human cardiac ventricular myocyte model.Conclusions: Such a decrease in hERG current as evidenced here when co-expressing the hERG/R148W variant with the WT may have predisposed to the observed long QT syndrome and associated TdP. Therefore, the heterozygous carriers of hERG/R148W may be at risk of cardiac sudden death

Substitutions of the S4DIV R2 residue (R1451) in NaV1.4 lead to complex forms of paramyotonia congenita and periodic paralyses

Abstract Mutations in NaV1.4, the skeletal muscle voltage-gated Na+ channel, underlie several skeletal muscle channelopathies. We report here the functional characterization of two substitutions targeting the R1451 residue and resulting in 3 distinct clinical phenotypes. The R1451L is a novel pathogenic substitution found in two unrelated individuals. The first individual was diagnosed with non-dystrophic myotonia, whereas the second suffered from an unusual phenotype combining hyperkalemic and hypokalemic episodes of periodic paralysis (PP). The R1451C substitution was found in one individual with a single attack of hypoPP induced by glucocorticoids. To elucidate the biophysical mechanism underlying the phenotypes, we used the patch-clamp technique to study tsA201 cells expressing WT or R1451C/L channels. Our results showed that both substitutions shifted the inactivation to hyperpolarized potentials, slowed the kinetics of inactivation, slowed the recovery from slow inactivation and reduced the current density. Cooling further enhanced these abnormalities. Homology modeling revealed a disruption of hydrogen bonds in the voltage sensor domain caused by R1451C/L. We concluded that the altered biophysical properties of R1451C/L well account for the PMC-hyperPP cluster and that additional factors likely play a critical role in the inter-individual differences of clinical expression resulting from R1451C/L