Creating a Language Archive of Insular South East Asia and West New Guinea

The geographical region of Insular South East Asia and New Guinea is well-known as an area of mega-biodiversity. Less well-known is the extreme linguistic diversity in this area: over a quarter of the world’s 6,000 languages are spoken here. As small minority languages, most of them will cease to be spoken in the coming few generations. The project described here ensures the preservation of unique records of languages and the cultures encapsulated by them in the region. The language resources were gathered by twenty linguists at, or in collaboration with, Dutch universities over the last 40 years, and were compiled and archived in collaboration with The Language Archive (TLA) at the Max Planck Institute in Nijmegen. The resulting archive constitutes a collection ofmultimediamaterials and written documents from 48 languages in Insular South East Asia and West New Guinea. At TLA, the data was archived according to state-of-the-art standards (TLA holds the Data Seal of Approval): the component metadata infrastructure CMDI was used; all metadata categories as well as relevant units of annotation were linked to the ISO data category registry ISOcat. This guaranteed proper integration of the language resources into the CLARIN framework. Through the archive, future speaker communities and researchers will be able to extensively search thematerials for answers to their own questions, even if they do not themselves know the language, and even if the language dies

Positive Body Image and Sexual Functioning in Dutch Female University Students: The Role of Adult Romantic Attachment

This study focused on links between romantic attachment, positive body image, and sexual functioning. Dutch female university students (N = 399) completed an online survey that included self-report items about body appreciation, sexual functioning, and romantic attachment. A proposed conceptual model was tested using structural equation modeling and a good fit to the data was found. Results revealed that attachment avoidance in a romantic context was negatively related to sexual arousal, vaginal lubrication, the ability to reach orgasm, and sexual satisfaction. Attachment anxiety was negatively related to body appreciation which, in turn, was positively related to sexual desire and arousal. Findings indicated that romantic attachment is meaningfully linked to body appreciation and sexual functioning. Therefore, the concept of adult attachment may be a useful tool for the treatment of sexual problems of young women

Sex differences in cardiovascular complications and mortality in hospital patients with covid-19: registry based observational study

Objective To assess whether the risk of cardiovascular complications of covid-19 differ between the sexes and to determine whether any sex differences in risk are reduced in individuals with pre-existing cardiovascular disease. Design Registry based observational study. Setting 74 hospitals across 13 countries (eight European) participating in CAPACITY-COVID (Cardiac complicAtions in Patients With SARS Corona vIrus 2 regisTrY), from March 2020 to May 2021 Participants All adults (aged ≥18 years), predominantly European, admitted to hospital with highly suspected covid-19 disease or covid-19 disease confirmed by positive laboratory test results (n=11 167 patients). Main outcome measures Any cardiovascular complication during admission to hospital. Secondary outcomes were in-hospital mortality and individual cardiovascular complications with ≥20 events for each sex. Logistic regression was used to examine sex differences in the risk of cardiovascular outcomes, overall and grouped by pre-existing cardiovascular disease. Results Of 11 167 adults (median age 68 years, 40% female participants) included, 3423 (36% of whom were female participants) had pre-existing cardiovascular disease. In both sexes, the most common cardiovascular complications were supraventricular tachycardias (4% of female participants, 6% of male participants), pulmonary embolism (3% and 5%), and heart failure (decompensated or de novo) (2% in both sexes). After adjusting for age, ethnic group, pre-existing cardiovascular disease, and risk factors for cardiovascular disease, female individuals were less likely than male individuals to have a cardiovascular complication (odds ratio 0.72, 95% confidence interval 0.64 to 0.80) or die (0.65, 0.59 to 0.72). Differences between the sexes were not modified by pre-existing cardiovascular disease; for the primary outcome, the female-to-male ratio of the odds ratio in those without, compared with those with, pre-existing cardiovascular disease was 0.84 (0.67 to 1.07). Conclusions In patients admitted to hospital for covid-19, female participants were less likely than male participants to have a cardiovascular complication. The differences between the sexes could not be attributed to the lower prevalence of pre-existing cardiovascular disease in female individuals. The reasons for this advantage in female individuals requires further research

Niche of harmful alga Aureococcus anophagefferens revealed through ecogenomics

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of National Academy of Sciences for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108 (2011): 4352-4357, doi:10.1073/pnas.1016106108.Harmful algal blooms (HABs) cause significant economic and ecological damage worldwide. Despite considerable efforts, a comprehensive understanding of the factors that promote these blooms has been lacking because the biochemical pathways that facilitate their dominance relative to other phytoplankton within specific environments have not been identified. Here, biogeochemical measurements demonstrated that the harmful 43 Aureococcus anophagefferens outcompeted co-occurring phytoplankton in estuaries with elevated levels of dissolved organic matter and turbidity and low levels of dissolved inorganic nitrogen. We subsequently sequenced the first HAB genome (A. anophagefferens) and compared its gene complement to those of six competing phytoplankton species identified via metaproteomics. Using an ecogenomic approach, we specifically focused on the gene sets that may facilitate dominance within the environmental conditions present during blooms. A. anophagefferens possesses a larger genome (56 mbp) and more genes involved in light harvesting, organic carbon and nitrogen utilization, and encoding selenium- and metal-requiring enzymes than competing phytoplankton. Genes for the synthesis of microbial deterrents likely permit the proliferation of this species with reduced mortality losses during blooms. Collectively, these findings suggest that anthropogenic activities resulting in elevated levels of turbidity, organic matter, and metals have opened a niche within coastal ecosystems that ideally suits the unique genetic capacity of A. anophagefferens and thus has facilitated the proliferation of this and potentially other HABs.Joint Genome Institute is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. Efforts were also supported by awards from New York Sea Grant to Stony Brook University, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research award #NA09NOS4780206 to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, NIH grant GM061603 to Harvard University, and NSF award IOS-0841918 to The University of Tennessee

An evidence-based framework for predicting the impact of differing autotroph-heterotroph thermal sensitivities on consumer-prey dynamics

Increased temperature accelerates vital rates, influencing microbial population and wider ecosystem dynamics, for example, the predicted increases in cyanobacterial blooms associated with global warming. However, heterotrophic and mixotrophic protists, which are dominant grazers of microalgae, may be more thermally sensitive than autotrophs, and thus prey could be suppressed as temperature rises. Theoretical and meta-analyses have begun to address this issue, but an appropriate framework linking experimental data with theory is lacking. Using ecophysiological data to develop a novel model structure, we provide the first validation of this thermal sensitivity hypothesis: increased temperature improves the consumer’s ability to control the autotrophic prey. Specifically, the model accounts for temperature effects on auto- and mixotrophs and ingestion, growth and mortality rates, using an ecologically and economically important system (cyanobacteria grazed by a mixotrophic flagellate). Once established, we show the model to be a good predictor of temperature impacts on consumer–prey dynamics by comparing simulations with microcosm observations. Then, through simulations, we indicate our conclusions remain valid, even with large changes in bottom-up factors (prey growth and carrying capacity). In conclusion, we show that rising temperature could, counterintuitively, reduce the propensity for microalgal blooms to occur and, critically, provide a novel model framework for needed, continued assessment

Advances in the treatment of ocular dryness associated with Sjögren׳s syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Sjögren´s syndrome (SS) is an autoimmune rheumatic disease that is characterised by decreased exocrine gland function and frequent ocular symptoms associated with eye dryness. Significantly, dry eyes can lead to corneal abrasions, infection, ulceration, chronic scarring and, in severe cases, perforation. The available conventional therapies have limited efficacy and there are no biologic therapies licensed for use in SS patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A literature search of PubMed (MEDLINE) and EMBASE electronic data bases was performed covering the period from January 1994 to September 2014. Evidence was graded in categories I-IV and a treatment algorithm, comprising first line, second line and rescue therapies for ocular dryness associated with SS was proposed. It is based on the current evidence of efficacy of different therapies and explores their link with the pathogenesis of ocular dryness associated with SS. RESULTS: Recent developments in the understanding of the pathogenesis of SS provided evidence that the ocular dryness is associated with pathologic infiltration and dysfunction of the lacrimal glands and changes in the tear composition, together with abnormalities involving the neurosecreting circuits. There is good evidence for the efficacy of topical artificial tears, antiinflammatories and Cyclosporine, and oral Pilocarpine and Cevimeline in controlling the symptoms of ocular dryness associated with SS. CONCLUSIONS: Conventional DMARDs are not particularly effective in addressing the symptoms of ocular dryness associated with SS, despite being commonly prescribed for other SS manifestations. Emerging evidence suggests that B cell and co-stimulatory targeted therapy may play a role in the future

Grazing Rates of Calanus finmarchicus on Thalassiosira weissflogii Cultured under Different Levels of Ultraviolet Radiation

UVB alters photosynthetic rate, fatty acid profiles and morphological characteristics of phytoplankton. Copepods, important grazers of primary production, select algal cells based upon their size, morphological traits, nutritional status, and motility. We investigated the grazing rates of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus on the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii cultured under 3 levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR): photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) only (4 kJ-m−2/day), and PAR supplemented with UVR radiation at two intensities (24 kJ-m−2/day and 48 kJ-m−2/day). There was no significant difference in grazing rates between the PAR only treatment and the lower UVR treatment. However, grazing rates were significantly (∼66%) higher for copepods feeding on cells treated with the higher level of UVR. These results suggest that a short-term increase in UVR exposure results in a significant increase in the grazing rate of copepods and, thereby, potentially alters the flow rate of organic matter through this component of the ecosystem

Detecting Specific Genotype by Environment Interactions Using Marginal Maximum Likelihood Estimation in the Classical Twin Design

Considerable effort has been devoted to the analysis of genotype by environment (G × E) interactions in various phenotypic domains, such as cognitive abilities and personality. In many studies, environmental variables were observed (measured) variables. In case of an unmeasured environment, van der Sluis et al. (2006) proposed to study heteroscedasticity in the factor model using only MZ twin data. This method is closely related to the Jinks and Fulker (1970) test for G × E, but slightly more powerful. In this paper, we identify four challenges to the investigation of G × E in general, and specifically to the heteroscedasticity approaches of Jinks and Fulker and van der Sluis et al. We propose extensions of these approaches purported to solve these problems. These extensions comprise: (1) including DZ twin data, (2) modeling both A × E and A × C interactions; and (3) extending the univariate approach to a multivariate approach. By means of simulations, we study the power of the univariate method to detect the different G × E interactions in varying situations. In addition, we study how well we could distinguish between A × E, A × C, and C × E. We apply a multivariate version of the extended model to an empirical data set on cognitive abilities