49 research outputs found
Paternity alone does not predict long-term investment in juveniles by male baboons
Adult male chacma baboons (Papio hamadryas ursinus) form preferential associations, or friendships, with particular lactating females. Males exhibit high levels of affiliative contact with their friends’ infants and defend them from potentially infanticidal attacks (Palombit et al. 1997). Little is known about males’ associations with juveniles once they have passed the period of infanticidal risk. We conducted an observational, experimental, and genetic study of adult male and juvenile chacma baboons in the Moremi Reserve, Botswana. We identified preferential associations between males and juveniles and used behavioral data and a playback experiment to explore whether those associations have potential fitness benefits for juveniles. We determined whether males preferentially invest in care of their own offspring. We also determined how often males invest in care of their former friends’ offspring. The majority of juveniles exhibited preferential associations with one or two males, who had almost always been their mother’s friend during infancy. However, in only a subset of these relationships was the male the actual father, in part because many fathers died or disappeared before their offspring were weaned. Male caretakers intervened on behalf of their juvenile associates in social conflicts more often than they intervened on behalf of unconnected juveniles, and they did not appear to differentiate between genetic offspring and unrelated associates. Playbacks of juveniles’ distress calls elicited a stronger response from their caretakers than from control males. Chacma males may provide care to unrelated offspring of former friends because the costs associated with such care are low compared with the potentially high fitness costs of refusing aid to a juvenile who is a possible offspring
Reproductive toxicity of seafood contaminants: Prospective comparisons of Swedish east and west coast fishermen's families
Cohorts comprising fishermen's families on the east coast of Sweden have been found to have a high consumption of contaminated fish as well as high body burdens of persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs). Their west coast correspondents are socio-economically similar, but with considerably lower POP exposure since the fish caught on the west coast is far less contaminated. The rationale for this was that the cohorts residing on the east coast of Sweden have been found to have a high consumption of contaminated fish as well as high body burdens of POPs, whereas their west coast correspondents are socio-economically similar, but with considerably lower POP exposure since the fish caught on the west coast is far less contaminated. Among the reproductive outcomes investigated are included both male and female parameters, as well as couple fertility and effects on the fetus. A range of exposure measures, including both questionnaire assessments of fish consumption and biomarkers, have been used
International Paediatric Mitochondrial Disease Scale
OBJECTIVE : There is an urgent need for reliable and universally
applicable outcome measures for children with mitochondrial
diseases. In this study, we aimed to adapt the currently available
Newcastle Paediatric Mitochondrial Disease Scale
(NPMDS) to the International Paediatric Mitochondrial
Disease Scale (IPMDS) during a Delphi-based process with
input from international collaborators, patients and caretakers,
as well as a pilot reliability study in eight patients.
Subsequently, we aimed to test the feasibility, construct validity
and reliability of the IPMDS in a multicentre study.
METHODS : A clinically, biochemically and genetically heterogeneous
group of 17 patients (age 1.6–16 years) from five different expert centres from four different continents were
evaluated in this study.
RESULTS : The feasibility of the IPMDS was good, as indicated
by a low number of missing items (4 %) and the positive
evaluation of patients, parents and users. Principal component
analysis of our small sample identified three factors, which
explained 57.9 % of the variance. Good construct validity
was found using hypothesis testing. The overall interrater reliability
was good [median intraclass correlation coefficient
for agreement between raters (ICCagreement) 0.85; range
0.23–0.99).
CONCLUSION : In conclusion, we suggest using the IPMDS for
assessing natural history in children with mitochondrial diseases. These data should be used to further explore construct
validity of the IPMDS and to set age limits. In parallel,
responsiveness and the minimal clinically important difference
should be studied to facilitate sample size calculations
in future clinical trials.The work of SK and JS was sponsored by ZonMW
(The Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development).http://link.springer.com/journal/10545am2017Paediatrics and Child Healt
Peatland Types and Tropical Swamp Forests on the Maputaland Coastal Plain (South Africa)
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