Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pregnancy, risk perception and use of complementary and alternative medicine

Pregnancy and childbirth are events of major significance in women’s lives. In western countries women are increasingly using complementary and alternative medicine during this time. However, there is little research exploring the factors that are influential in women’s motivations to use complementary and alternative medicine during pregnancy and childbirth. This article draws on data from a narrative-based study designed to explore women’s experiences of complementary and alternative medicine use during pregnancy and childbirth. The study involved 14 women living in the South-west of England, who had used complementary and alternative medicine during pregnancy and childbirth. We elicited narratives by interviewing women two to three times. The women in our study used complementary and alternative medicine both as a response to the uncertainty of pregnancy and childbirth and as a defence against manufactured risk, and in doing so indicated their desire to transform an unpredictable and unmanageable future into one which is more predictable and manageable. It was a means of dealing with the stress and anxiety associated with uncertainty which has to be dealt with. Their consciousness of the risks of biomedicine developed though the practice of complementary and alternative medicine, and their high educational status and relative affluence facilitated their choices. There was a tension evident in their narratives between a need to ‘be in control’ versus a desire for a natural childbirth without medical intervention. Women in the study showed their autonomy by actively pursuing complementary and alternative medicine while at the same time selectively using expert medical knowledge.
INBREEDING DEPRESSION IN A SELF‐COMPATIBLE, ANDRODIOECIOUS CRUSTACEAN, EULIMNADIA TEXANA

The observation that offspring produced by the mating of close relatives are often less fit than those produced by matings between unrelated individuals (i.e., inbreeding depression) has commonly been explained in terms of the increased probability of expressing deleterious recessive alleles among inbred offspring (the partial dominance model). This model predicts that inbreeding depression should be limited in regularly inbreeding populations because the deleterious alleles that cause inbreeding depression (i.e., the genetic load) should be purged by regularly exposing these alleles to natural selection. We indirectly test the partial dominance model using four highly inbred populations of an androdioecious crustacean, the clam shrimp Eulimnadia texana. These shrimp are comprised of males and hermaphrodites, the latter capable of either self‐fertilizing or mating with a male (i.e., outcrossing between hermaphrodites is impossible). Hermaphrodites are further subdivided into monogenics (produced via self‐fertilization) and amphigenics (produced via self‐fertilization or outcrossing). Electrophoretic evidence suggests significant differences in heterozygosity among populations, but that selfing rates were not statistically different (average s = 0.67). Additional electrophoretic analyses reveal that three previously described sex‐linked loci (Fum, Idh‐1, and Idh‐2) are all tightly linked to each other, with crossing over on the order of 1% per generation. Although selfing rates are clearly high, we present evidence that early inbreeding depression (hatching rates, juvenile survival, and age at sexual maturity) exists in all four populations. For all of these factors, inbreeding depression was inferred by the positive correlation of multilocus heterozygosity and fitness. Cumulative inbreeding depression (8) is between 0.41 and 0.47 across all populations, which appears to be too low to limit the effects of purging via identity disequilibrium. Instead, we suggest that the maintenance of inbreeding depression in these populations is due to the observed linkage group, which we suggest contains a large number of genes including many related to fitness. Segregation of such a large linkage group would explain our observations of the predominance of amphigenic hermaphrodites in our field samples and of survival differences between monogenics and amphigenics within selfed clutches. We propose that a modified form of the overdominance model for inbreeding depression operating at the level of linkage groups maintains the observed levels of inbreeding depression in these populations even in the face of high rates of selfing.
Lipid metabolism in critical illness

Purpose of reviewThis article describes recent findings regarding lipid metabolism in critical illness as well as in lipid therapy. Recent findingsIn critical illness, in the presence of a decrease in lipid absorption, adipose tissue lipolysis raises triglyceride levels. High-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein are decreased because of impairment of lecithin–cholesterol acyltransferase, mainly in sepsis. In septic patients, lipid profile may be a predictor of survival. Nonsurvivors have lower levels of high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein. In metabolomic studies, most of the changes from baseline in septic patients were related to lipid metabolism. Lysophosphatidylcholine was also significantly lower in nonsurviving septic patients. SummaryLipid profile results are too often neglected by the clinician despite increasing knowledge in the modifications related to septic state as well as the importance of these values in the prognosis of the critically ill. Lipid administration (enterally or parenterally) should be guided by better knowledge of the lipid metabolism of the patient.
The SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) pandemic in Hong Kong: Effects on the subjective wellbeing of elderly and younger people

Objectives: This study examined the impact of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003, on the subjective wellbeing (SWB) of elderly people and a younger comparative sample. The Personal Wellbeing Index (PWI), a contemporary instrument employed to measure SWB, was also examined for its psychometric performance to substantiate its use. Method: A total of 302 older adults (age 65 + years) and 158 younger adults (age 35–46 years) were recruited from different districts. Data were collected by individual face-to-face interviews. Result: While elderly people living in severely infected districts showed significantly lower levels of SWB, these levels and those of the younger sample were found to remain within the normative range. A major mitigating factor was an increased sense of community-connectedness. Other characteristics linked to low wellbeing levels included chronic illness, female gender, low education and unemployment. The living districts, characterized by varying extents of infection, had stronger associations with SWB than participants’ age. The PWI demonstrated good psychometric performance and also more robustness with elderly people, including its sensitivity to the sense of population threat. Conclusion: Psychological resilience was identified among both the elderly and younger age-groups in Hong Kong during the SARS pandemic. The PWI is verified as a suitable instrument for SWB measurements.
Knowledge about aging and worry in older adults: Testing the mediating role of intolerance of uncertainty

Objectives: This study aims to explore the relationship between knowledge about aging and severity of worry in older adults, and to test the potential mediational role of intolerance of uncertainty. Method: The sample was composed of 120 community-dwelling older adults, with a mean of age of 71.0 years (SD = 6.3). Mediational analyses and structural equation modeling were used to analyze and compare different models. Results: Greater knowledge about aging was negatively related to both intolerance of uncertainty and worry, and its effect on worry was partially mediated by intolerance of uncertainty. The mediational model obtained an excellent fit to the data (i.e. Goodness of fit index (GFI) = 0.995) and clearly had a better fit than alternative models. Conclusion: These results suggest that a good knowledge of the aging process could help decrease aversive uncertainty and thus reduce the level of worry among older adults. Thus, educational programs to increase knowledge about aging could serve as one preventive strategy for anxiety in old age.
Factorial structure and psychometric properties of the reminiscence functions scale

Objectives: This study reports on the psychometric properties and the factorial structure of the Reminiscence Functions Scale (RFS), a 43-item self-report instrument used to assess the frequencies of reminiscence for distinct functions. Method: The factorial validity (exploratory factor analysis, n = 453; confirmatory factor analysis, n = 456), the invariance of factorial structure across gender (males = 228; females = 240), and psychometric properties were examined. Results: They support an eight-factor structure similar to the original one, yet question the value of a few of the items. Cronbach's alphas for the various subscales ranged from 0.76 to 0.87. Test–retest reliability ranged from r = 0.48–0.63. Conclusion: The RFS is confirmed as a psychometrically sound instrument for use in research on the functions of reminiscence with samples of older adults.
β Globin messenger RNA content of bone marrow erythroblasts in heterozygous β‐thalassemia

RNA from bone marrow erythroblasts and peripheral blood reticulocytes of patients with heterozygous β‐thalassemia was analyzed for relative content of α and β globin messenger RNA by molecular hybrization. Erythroblasts from nonthalassemic patients exhibited approximately the same α and β globin mRNA content (β/α mRNA ratio = 0.8–1.0) as circulating reticulocytes (β/α mRNA ratio = 0.74–1.2). The mRNA ratios corresponded well to levels of globin synthesis observed in bone marrow and peripheral blood. Erythroblasts from four patients with heterozygous β‐thalassemia also exhibited approximately the same β/α mRNA ratios in bone marrow erythroblasts (0.34–0.59) as in reticulocytes (0.34–0.4): β globin mRNA was clearly deficient in bone marrow erythroblasts. Globin biosynthesis by erythroblasts of β‐thalassemia heterozygotes was balanced despite the mRNA deficiency (β/α = 0.9–1.0), suggesting that post‐translational phenoma (eg, proteolysis of free globin chains), rather than instability of β mRNA, accounts for the balanced globin chain synthesis frequently observed in bone marrow erythroblasts of patients with β‐thalassemia trait.
HIERARCHICAL COMPARISON OF GENETIC VARIANCE‐COVARIANCE MATRICES. I. USING THE FLURY HIERARCHY

The comparison of additive genetic variance‐covariance matrices (G‐matrices) is an increasingly popular exercise in evolutionary biology because the evolution of the G‐matrix is central to the issue of persistence of genetic constraints and to the use of dynamic models in an evolutionary time frame. The comparison of G‐matrices is a nontrivial statistical problem because family structure induces nonindependence among the elements in each matrix. Past solutions to the problem of G‐matrix comparison have dealt with this problem, with varying success, but have tested a single null hypothesis (matrix equality or matrix dissimilarity). Because matrices can differ in many ways, several hypotheses are of interest in matrix comparisons. Flury (1988) has provided an approach to matrix comparison in which a variety of hypotheses are tested, including the two extreme hypotheses prevalent in the evolutionary literature. The hypotheses are arranged in a hierarchy and involve comparisons of both the principal components (eigenvectors) and eigenvalues of the matrix. We adapt Flury's hierarchy of tests to the problem of comparing G‐matrices by using randomization testing to account for nonindependence induced by family structure. Software has been developed for carrying out this analysis for both genetic and phenotypic data. The method is illustrated with a garter snake test case.
Confirmatory factor analysis of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression Scale in Black and White dementia caregivers

Objectives: In order to better understand if measurement problems underlie the inconsistent findings that exist regarding differences in depression levels between Black and White caregivers, this study examined the factor structure and invariance of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) Scale. Method: A confirmatory factor analysis of the 20-item CES-D was performed on a sample of 167 Black and 214 White family caregivers of older adults with dementia from Los Angeles County. Results: The relationships between the 20 items and the four factors, as well as the relationships among each of the factors, were equivalent across both caregiver groups, indicating that the four-factor model fit the data for both the racial groups. Conclusion: These findings offer further evidence that the standard four-factor model is the best fitting model for the CES-D and is invariant across racial groups.
The 10-word learning task in the differential diagnosis of early Alzheimer's disease and elderly depression: A cross-sectional pilot study

Objectives: Identification of early Alzheimer's disease (AD) has become very important. Episodic memory tasks appear to have predictive power for indicating early AD. Deficits in encoding and storage processes that are characteristic of AD, however, must be distinguished from non-AD deficits that can also affect memory, including difficulties that may be present in depression. This pilot study was set up to ascertain whether a 10-word-list-learning task (delayed recognition and rate of forgetting) may be useful in making the differentiation between mild AD and depression. Method: A Dutch version of Rey's auditory verbal learning test was administered to 36 mild AD patients, 41 depressed patients, and 47 healthy controls. Data were analyzed in a cross-sectional manner. Results: Receiver operating characteristic analyses showed that for differentiating mild AD and depression, both delayed recognition and percentage of forgetting have sufficient diagnostic accuracy. Conclusion: Percentage of forgetting had the highest diagnostic accuracy for differentiating mild AD and depressed patients and may be useful in the early detection of AD.
Nonrandom Factors in Modern Human Morphological Diversification: A Study of Craniofacial Variation in Southern South American Populations

The causes of craniofacial variation among human populations have been the subject of controversy. In this work, we studied aboriginal populations from southern South America, the last continental region peopled by humans and with a wide range of ecological conditions. Because of these characteristics, southern South America provides a unique opportunity to study the relative importance of random and nonrandom factors in human diversification. Previous craniometric studies recognized remarkable differences among populations from this region, usually resorting to random factors as the main explanation. In contrast, here we suggest, using tests based on quantitative genetic models, that: (1) the rate of craniofacial divergence among these populations is too high and (2) the patterns of variation within and between populations are too different to be explained by genetic drift alone. In addition, the among-sample craniofacial variation is correlated with climate and diet but not with mtDNA variation. We suggest that the influence of nonrandom factors (e.g., plasticity, selection) on human craniofacial diversification in regions with large ecological variation is more important than generally acknowledged and capable to generate large craniofacial divergence in a short period of time. These results bring nonrandom factors into focus for the interpretation of human craniofacial variation.
Multiple Hiv-1 Infection of Cells and the Evolutionary Dynamics of Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte Escape Mutants

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are an important branch of the immune system, killing virus-infected cells. Many viruses can mutate so that infected cells are not killed by CTL anymore. This escape can contribute to virus persistence and disease. A prominent example is HIV-1. The evolutionary dynamics of CTL escape mutants in vivo have been studied experimentally and mathematically, assuming that a cell can only be infected with one HIV particle at a time. However, according to data, multiple virus particles frequently infect the same cell, a process called coinfection. Here, we study the evolutionary dynamics of CTL escape mutants in the context of coinfection. A mathematical model suggests that an intermediate strength of the CTL response against the wild-type is most detrimental for an escape mutant, minimizing overall virus load and even leading to its extinction. A weaker or, paradoxically, stronger CTL response against the wild-type both lead to the persistence of the escape mutant and higher virus load. It is hypothesized that an intermediate strength of the CTL response, and thus the suboptimal virus suppression observed in HIV-1 infection, might be adaptive to minimize the impact of existing CTL escape mutants on overall virus load.
SEX‐SPECIFIC GENETIC VARIANCE AND THE EVOLUTION OF SEXUAL DIMORPHISM: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF CROSS‐SEX GENETIC CORRELATIONS

The independent evolution of the sexes may often be constrained if male and female homologous traits share a similar genetic architecture. Thus, cross‐sex genetic covariance is assumed to play a key role in the evolution of sexual dimorphism (SD) with consequent impacts on sexual selection, population dynamics, and speciation processes. We compiled cross‐sex genetic correlations (rMF) estimates from 114 sources to assess the extent to which the evolution of SD is typically constrained and test several specific hypotheses. First, we tested if rMF differed among trait types and especially between fitness components and other traits. We also tested the theoretical prediction of a negative relationship between rMF and SD based on the expectation that increases in SD should be facilitated by sex‐specific genetic variance. We show that rMF is usually large and positive but that it is typically smaller for fitness components. This demonstrates that the evolution of SD is typically genetically constrained and that sex‐specific selection coefficients may often be opposite in sign due to sub‐optimal levels of SD. Most importantly, we confirm that sex‐specific genetic variance is an important contributor to the evolution of SD by validating the prediction of a negative correlation between rMF and SD.
The relationships among family, friends, and psychological well-being for Thai elderly

Objectives: The extent to which family and friends contribute to psychological well-being (PWB) may be subject to cultural variability. This study examines the mechanisms by which relationships with family and friends contribute to PWB among Thai elders. Method: Interviews were conducted with 469 men and women aged 60 and older in Nan Province, Thailand. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling, controlling for age, gender, education, income, marital status, and health status. Results: Family and friendship networks have a significant direct effect on family and friendship support. However, family and friendship networks do not have a significant direct effect on PWB, but rather an indirect effect via social support. Similarly, friendship support mediates the relationship between friendship networks and family support. Both family support and friendship support are significantly related to PWB but family support is the stronger predictor. Conclusion: Using an adapting theoretical framework developed by Berkman, Glass, Brissette, & Seeman (2000) allows researchers to map the various pathways by which relationships with family and friends may contribute to PWB among older Thai adults.
UNEXPLAINED SPLIT SEX RATIOS IN THE NEOTROPICAL PLANT‐ANT, ALLOMERUS OCTOARTICULATUS VAR. DEMERARAE (MYRMICINAE): A TEST OF HYPOTHESES

We investigated sex allocation in the Neotropical ant Allomerus octoarticulatus var. demerarae. Because Allomerus is a plant symbiont, we could make geographically extensive collections of complete colonies and of foundresses in saplings, allowing us to estimate not only population‐ and colony‐level sex allocation but also colony resource levels and the relatednesses of competing ant foundresses. This species exhibits a strongly split sex ratio, with 80% of mature colonies producing ≥90% of one sex or the other. Our genetic analyses (DNA microsatellites) reveal that Allomerus has a breeding system characterized by almost complete monogyny and a low frequency of polyandry. Contrary to theoretical explanations, we find no difference in worker relatedness asymmetries between female‐ and male‐specialist colonies. Furthermore, no clear link was found between colony sex allocation and life history traits such as the number of mates per queen, or colony size, resource level, or fecundity. We also failed to find significant support for male production by workers, infection by Wolbachia, local resource competition, or local mate competition. We are left with the possibility that Allomerus exhibits split sex ratios because of the evolution of alternative biasing strategies in queens or workers, as recently proposed in the literature.
FORAGING TRAIT (CO)VARIANCES IN STICKLEBACK EVOLVE DETERMINISTICALLY AND DO NOT PREDICT TRAJECTORIES OF ADAPTIVE DIVERSIFICATION

How does natural selection shape the structure of variance and covariance among multiple traits, and how do (co)variances influence trajectories of adaptive diversification? We investigate these pivotal but open questions by comparing phenotypic (co)variances among multiple morphological traits across 18 derived lake‐dwelling populations of threespine stickleback, and their marine ancestor. Divergence in (co)variance structure among populations is striking and primarily attributable to shifts in the variance of a single key foraging trait (gill raker length). We then relate this divergence to an ecological selection proxy, to population divergence in trait means, and to the magnitude of sexual dimorphism within populations. This allows us to infer that evolution in (co)variances is linked to variation among habitats in the strength of resource‐mediated disruptive selection. We further find that adaptive diversification in trait means among populations has primarily involved shifts in gill raker length. The direction of evolutionary trajectories is unrelated to the major axes of ancestral trait (co)variance. Our study demonstrates that natural selection drives both means and (co)variances deterministically in stickleback, and strongly challenges the view that the (co)variance structure biases the direction of adaptive diversification predictably even over moderate time spans.
Association of socio-demographic factors and parental education with depressive symptoms among older African Americans and Caribbean Blacks

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine ethnic variation in the relationship between individual socio-demographic factors, parental educational level, and late-life depressive symptoms in older African Americans and Caribbean Blacks. Method: This cross-sectional study used data from the National Survey of American Life. A subsample of older African Americans (N = 837) and Caribbean Blacks (N = 271) was analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results: Findings suggest differences in predictors of depressive symptoms for the two ethnic groups. Among older African Americans, lower educational attainment and lower income were predictive risk factors for higher depressive symptoms. Findings among older Caribbean Blacks suggest that nativity and income were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. This study did not find support for any association between parental education and late-life depressive symptoms. Conclusion: This study adds new information by considering ethnic variation in an examination of depressive symptoms in older Black Americans. The results contribute to the growing awareness of the older Caribbean Black population in the United States.