Evidence for the role of personality in stereotypy predisposition

It is often suggested that stereotypic behaviour represents a coping response to suboptimal environmental conditions. However, individuals of many species show different coping styles depending on their personality type. Therefore, personality is an important consideration when investigating why only certain individuals become stereotypic under suboptimal conditions. Thus, the aim of this review is to explore the possibility that personality, in particular coping style, may explain why certain individuals are predisposed to stereotypy. We review behavioural and physiological similarities between proactive and stereotypic individuals and suggest that they may in fact be the same phenotype. We also explore how these characteristics might predispose proactive individuals to stereotypy and how this is triggered by the environment. We conclude that personality factors relating to proactivity may mediate whether an animal expresses stereotypic behaviour and that the alternative strategy in such conditions is depression and emotional blunting. We conclude by outlining the animal welfare implications if this hypothesis is correct. © 2013 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.

The influence of market deregulation on fast food consumption and body mass index:A cross-national time series analysis

Objective
To investigate the effect of fast food consumption on mean population body mass index (BMI) and explore the possible influence of market deregulation on fast food consumption and BMI.

Methods
The within-country association between fast food consumption and BMI in 25 high-income member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development between 1999 and 2008 was explored through multivariate panel regression models, after adjustment for per capita gross domestic product, urbanization, trade openness, lifestyle indicators and other covariates. The possible mediating effect of annual per capita intake of soft drinks, animal fats and total calories on the association between fast food consumption and BMI was also analysed. Two-stage least squares regression models were conducted, using economic freedom as an instrumental variable, to study the causal effect of fast food consumption on BMI.

Findings
After adjustment for covariates, each 1-unit increase in annual fast food transactions per capita was associated with an increase of 0.033 kg/m2 in age-standardized BMI (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.013–0.052). Only the intake of soft drinks – not animal fat or total calories – mediated the observed association (β: 0.030; 95% CI: 0.010–0.050). Economic freedom was an independent predictor of fast food consumption (β: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.16–0.37). When economic freedom was used as an instrumental variable, the association between fast food and BMI weakened but remained significant (β: 0.023; 95% CI: 0.001–0.045).

Conclusion
Fast food consumption is an independent predictor of mean BMI in high-income countries. Market deregulation policies may contribute to the obesity epidemic by facilitating the spread of fast food.

The effect of inhaled IFN-β on worsening of asthma symptoms caused by viral infections. a randomized trial

Rationale: Ex vivo, bronchial epithelial cells from people with asthma are more susceptible to rhinovirus infection caused by deficient induction of the antiviral protein, IFN-b. Exogenous IFN-b restores antiviral activity.

Objectives: To compare the efficacy and safety of inhaled IFN-b with placebo administered to people with asthma after onset of cold symptoms to prevent or attenuate asthma symptoms caused by respiratory viruses.

Methods: A total of 147 people with asthma on inhaled corticosteroids (British Thoracic Society Steps 2–5), with a history of virus-associated exacerbations, were randomized to 14-day treatment with inhaled IFN-b (n = 72) or placebo (n = 75) within 24 hours of developing cold symptoms and were assessed clinically, with relevant samples collected to assess virus infection and antiviral responses.

Measurements and Main Results: A total of 91% of randomized patients developed a defined cold. In this modified intention-to-treat population, asthma symptoms did not get clinically significantly worse
(mean change in six-item Asthma Control Questionnaire ,0.5) and IFN-b treatment had no significant effect on this primary endpoint, although it enhanced morning peak expiratory flow recovery (P = 0.033), reduced the need for additional treatment, and boosted innate immunity as assessed by blood and sputum biomarkers. In an exploratory analysis of the subset ofmore difficult-to-treat, Step 4-5 peoplewith asthma (n = 27 IFN-b; n = 31 placebo), Asthma Control Questionnaire-6 increased significantly on placebo; this was prevented by IFN-b (P = 0.004).

Conclusions: Although the trial did not meet its primary endpoint, it suggests that inhaled IFN-b is a potential treatment for virus-induced deteriorations of asthma in difficult-to-treat people with asthma and supports the needforfurther, adequately powered, trialsin this population. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 01126177).

S21 Culture Independent Identification Of Bacterial Communities In The Respiratory Tract Of Patients With Copd, Healthy Non-smokers And Healthy Smokers

Introduction and aims: The role bacteria play in the development and progression of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is unclear. We used culture-independent methods to describe differences and/or similarities in microbial communities in the lower airways of patients with COPD, healthy non-smokers and smokers.

Methods: Bronchial wash samples were collected from patients with COPD (GOLD 1–3; n = 18), healthy non-smokers (HV; n = 11) and healthy smokers (HS; n = 8). Samples were processed using the Illumina MiSeq platform. The Shannon-Wiener Index (SW) of diversity, lung obstruction (FEV1/FVC ratio) and ordination by Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity indices were analysed to evaluate how samples were related. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to assess the effect specific taxa had within each cohort. Characteristics of each cohort are shown in Table 1.

Results: There was no difference in taxa richness between cohorts (range: 69–71; p = 0.954). Diversity (SW Index) was significantly lower in COPD samples compared to samples from HV and HS (p = 0.009 and p = 0.033, respectively). There was no significant difference between HV and HS (p = 0.186). The FEV1/FVC ratio was significantly lower for COPD compared to HV (p = 9*10–8) and HS (p = 2*10–6), respectively. NMDS analysis showed that communities belonging to either of the healthy groups were more similar to each other than they were to samples belonging to the COPD group. PCA analysis showed that members of Streptococcus sp. and Haemophilus sp. had the largest effect on the variance explained in COPD. In HS, Haemophilus sp., Fusobaterium sp., Actinomyces sp., Prevotella sp. and Veillonella sp. had the largest effect on the variance explained, while in HV Neisseria sp., Porphyromonas sp., Actinomyces sp., Atopobium sp., Prevotella and Veillonella sp. had the largest effect on the variance explained.

Conclusions: The study demonstrates that microbial communities in the lower airways of patients with COPD are significantly different from that seen in healthy comparison groups. Patients with COPD had lower microbial diversity than either of the healthy comparison groups, higher relative abundance of members of Streptococcus sp. and lower relative abundance of a number of key anaerobes.Characteristics

A comparison of the effectiveness of TiO2 photocatalysis and UVA photolysis for the destruction of three pathogenic micro-organisms

TiO₂ photocatalysis has demonstrated efficacy as a treatment process for water contaminated with chemical pollutants. When exposed to UVA light TiO₂ also demonstrates an effective bactericidal activity. The mechanism of this process has been reported to involve attack by valence band generated hydroxyl radicals. In this study when three common bacterial pathogens, Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, were exposed to TiO₂ and UVA light a substantial decrease in bacterial numbers was observed. Control experiments in which all three pathogens were exposed to UVA light only resulted in a similar reduction in bacterial numbers. Moreover, exposure to UVA light alone resulted in the production of a smaller than average colony phenotype among the surviving bacteria, for all three pathogens examined, a finding which was not observed following treatment with UVA and TiO₂. Small slow growing colonies have been described for several pathogenic bacteria and are referred to as small colony variants. Several studies have demonstrated an association between small colony variants and persistent, recurrent and antibiotic resistant infections. We propose that the production of small colony variants of pathogenic bacteria following UVA treatment of drinking water may represent a health hazard. As these small colony variants were not observed with the UVA/TiO₂ system this potential hazard is not a risk when using this technology. It would also appear that the bactericidal mechanism is different with the UVA/TiO₂ process compared to when UVA light is used alone.

Domestic fridge-freezer load aggregation to support ancillary services

Grid operators and electricity retailers in Ireland manage peak demand, power system balancing and grid congestion by offering relevant incentives to consumers to reduce or shift their load. The need for active consumers in the home using smart appliances has never been greater, due to increased variable renewable generation and grid constraints. In this paper an aggregated model of a single compressor fridge-freezer population is developed. A price control strategy is examined to quantify and value demand response savings during a representative winter and summer week for Ireland in 2020. The results show an average reduction in fridge-freezer operating cost of 8.2% during winter and significantly lower during summer in Ireland. A peak reduction of at least 68% of the average winter refrigeration load is achieved consistently during the week analysed using a staggering control mode. An analysis of the current ancillary service payments confirms that these are insufficient to ensure widespread uptake by the small consumer, and new mechanisms need to be developed to make becoming an active consumer attractive. Demand response is proposed as a new ancillary service called ramping capability, as the need for this service will increase with more renewable energy penetration on the power system.

Examining the redox and formate mechanisms for water-gas shift reaction on Au/CeO2 using density functional theory

We perform DFT calculations to investigate the redox and formate mechanisms of water-gas-shift (WGS) reaction on Au/CeO2 catalysts. In the redox mechanism, we analyze all the key elementary steps and find that the OH cleavage is the key step. Three possible pathways of OH cleavage are calculated: (1) OHad '' + *'--> H-ad' + O-ad"; (2) H-ad' + OHad '' --> H-2(g) + O-ad '' + *'; and (3) OHad" + OHad '' --> 2O(ad '') + H-2(g) (*': the free adsorption sites on the oxides; ad': adsorption on the metal; ad": adsorption on the oxide, respectively). In the formate mechanism, we identify all the possible pathways for the formation and decomposition of surface formates in the WGS reaction. It is found that there is a shortcoming in the redox and formate mechanisms which is related to surface oxygen reproduction. Four possible pathways for producing surface oxygen are studied, and all the barriers of the four pathways are more than 1 eV. Our results suggest that the processes to reproduce surface oxygen in the reaction circle are not kinetically easy. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Late Quaternary climatic record from ODP Site 705 in the Northern Indian Ocean

The uppermost 500cm sedimentary core from ODP site located at the Eastern flank of Najareth bank in the Northern Indian Ocean has yielded altogether twenty four species of planktonic foraminifera. Among all these species, Globorotalia menardii has been found to be consistently dominant in the faunal assemblages from most of the samples. The 18O measured on the tests of Globorotalia menardii from all levels help in precisely working out the sediment accumulation rates at different isotopic stages, and deciphering the change in climate in the Late Quaternary as well.

Effect of contact pressure on fretting fatigue behavior of Ti-1023

With a new test facility, we have investigated fretting fatigue properties of Ti-1023 titanium alloy at different contact pressure. Both fatigue fracture and fretting scar were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Moreover, the depth of crack initiation area in fatigue fracture has been analyzed quantitatively, to investigate the relationship between the depth of crack initiation area and the fretting fatigue strength. The changing trends of the depth of crack initiation area and fretting fatigue strength with the increase of contact pressure show obvious opposite correlations. The depth of crack initiation area increases rapidly with the increase of contact pressure at low contact pressure (smaller than 10 MPa), and the fretting fatigue strength drops rapidly. At the contact pressure of 10–45 MPa, both the depth of crack initiation area and the fretting fatigue strength do not vary significantly. Contact pressure influences fatigue strength through influencing the initiation of fatigue crack. The main damage patterns are fatigue flake and plow.

Induction of the inflammatory regulator A20 by gibberellic acid in airway epithelial cells

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: NF-κB-driven inflammation is negatively regulated by the zinc finger protein A20. Gibberellic acid (GA3 ) is a plant-derived diterpenoid with documented anti-inflammatory activity, which is reported to induce A20-like zinc finger proteins in plants. Here, we sought to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of GA3 in airway epithelial cells and determine if the anti-inflammatory action relates to A20 induction.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Primary nasal epithelial cells and a human bronchial epithelial cell line (16HBE14o-) were used. Cells were pre-incubated with GA3 , stimulated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa LPS; IL-6 and IL-8 release, A20, NF-κB and IκBα expression were then evaluated. To determine if any observed anti-inflammatory effect occurred via an A20-dependent mechanism, A20 was silenced using siRNA.

KEY RESULTS: Cells pre-incubated with GA3 had significantly increased levels of A20 mRNA (4 h) and protein (24 h), resulting in a significant reduction in IL-6 and IL-8 release. This effect was mediated via reduced IκBα degradation and reduced NF-κB (p65) expression. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory action of GA3 was abolished in A20-silenced cells.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: We showed that A20 induction by GA3 attenuates inflammation in airway epithelial cells, at least in part through its effect on NF-κB and IκBα. GA3 or gibberellin-derived derivatives could potentially be developed into anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases associated with A20 dysfunction.

Demand response to improved walking infrastructure: A study into the economics of walking and health behaviour change

Walking is the most common form of moderate‐intensity physical activity among adults, is widely accessible and especially appealing to obese people. Most often policy makers are interested in valuing the effect on walking of changes in some characteristics of a neighbourhood, the demand response for walking, of infrastructure changes. A positive demand response to improvements in the walking environment could help meet the public health target of 150 minutes of at least moderate‐intensity physical activity per week. We model walking in an individual’s local neighbourhood as a ‘weak complement’ to the characteristics of the neighbourhood itself. Walking is affected by neighbourhood
characteristics, substitutes, and individual’s characteristics, including their opportunity cost of time.  Using compensating variation, we assess the economic benefits of walking and how walking behaviour is affected by improvements to the neighbourhood.  Using a sample of 1,209 respondents surveyed over a 12 month period (Feb 2010‐Jan 2011) in East Belfast, United Kingdom, we find that a policy that increased walkability and people’s perception of access to shops and facilities  would lead to an increase in walking of about 36 minutes/person/week, valued at £13.65/person/week. When focusing on inactive residents, a policy that improved the walkability of the area would lead to guidelines for physical activity being reached by only 12.8% of the population who are currently inactive. Additional interventions would therefore be needed to encourage inactive residents to
achieve the recommended levels of physical activity, as it appears that interventions that improve the walkability of an area are particularly effective in increasing walking among already active citizens, and, among the inactive ones, the best response is found among healthier, younger and wealthier citizens.

Aromatase inhibitors versus tamoxifen in early breast cancer: patient-level meta-analysis of the randomised trials

BACKGROUND: The optimal ways of using aromatase inhibitors or tamoxifen as endocrine treatment for early breast cancer remains uncertain.

METHODS: We undertook meta-analyses of individual data on 31 920 postmenopausal women with oestrogen-receptor-positive early breast cancer in the randomised trials of 5 years of aromatase inhibitor versus 5 years of tamoxifen; of 5 years of aromatase inhibitor versus 2-3 years of tamoxifen then aromatase inhibitor to year 5; and of 2-3 years of tamoxifen then aromatase inhibitor to year 5 versus 5 years of tamoxifen. Primary outcomes were any recurrence of breast cancer, breast cancer mortality, death without recurrence, and all-cause mortality. Intention-to-treat log-rank analyses, stratified by age, nodal status, and trial, yielded aromatase inhibitor versus tamoxifen first-event rate ratios (RRs).

FINDINGS: In the comparison of 5 years of aromatase inhibitor versus 5 years of tamoxifen, recurrence RRs favoured aromatase inhibitors significantly during years 0-1 (RR 0·64, 95% CI 0·52-0·78) and 2-4 (RR 0·80, 0·68-0·93), and non-significantly thereafter. 10-year breast cancer mortality was lower with aromatase inhibitors than tamoxifen (12·1% vs 14·2%; RR 0·85, 0·75-0·96; 2p=0·009). In the comparison of 5 years of aromatase inhibitor versus 2-3 years of tamoxifen then aromatase inhibitor to year 5, recurrence RRs favoured aromatase inhibitors significantly during years 0-1 (RR 0·74, 0·62-0·89) but not while both groups received aromatase inhibitors during years 2-4, or thereafter; overall in these trials, there were fewer recurrences with 5 years of aromatase inhibitors than with tamoxifen then aromatase inhibitors (RR 0·90, 0·81-0·99; 2p=0·045), though the breast cancer mortality reduction was not significant (RR 0·89, 0·78-1·03; 2p=0·11). In the comparison of 2-3 years of tamoxifen then aromatase inhibitor to year 5 versus 5 years of tamoxifen, recurrence RRs favoured aromatase inhibitors significantly during years 2-4 (RR 0·56, 0·46-0·67) but not subsequently, and 10-year breast cancer mortality was lower with switching to aromatase inhibitors than with remaining on tamoxifen (8·7% vs 10·1%; 2p=0·015). Aggregating all three types of comparison, recurrence RRs favoured aromatase inhibitors during periods when treatments differed (RR 0·70, 0·64-0·77), but not significantly thereafter (RR 0·93, 0·86-1·01; 2p=0·08). Breast cancer mortality was reduced both while treatments differed (RR 0·79, 0·67-0·92), and subsequently (RR 0·89, 0·81-0·99), and for all periods combined (RR 0·86, 0·80-0·94; 2p=0·0005). All-cause mortality was also reduced (RR 0·88, 0·82-0·94; 2p=0·0003). RRs differed little by age, body-mass index, stage, grade, progesterone receptor status, or HER2 status. There were fewer endometrial cancers with aromatase inhibitors than tamoxifen (10-year incidence 0·4% vs 1·2%; RR 0·33, 0·21-0·51) but more bone fractures (5-year risk 8·2% vs 5·5%; RR 1·42, 1·28-1·57); non-breast-cancer mortality was similar.

INTERPRETATION: Aromatase inhibitors reduce recurrence rates by about 30% (proportionately) compared with tamoxifen while treatments differ, but not thereafter. 5 years of an aromatase inhibitor reduces 10-year breast cancer mortality rates by about 15% compared with 5 years of tamoxifen, hence by about 40% (proportionately) compared with no endocrine treatment.

FUNDING: Cancer Research UK, Medical Research Council.

Awareness and attitudes towards the emerging use of nanotechnology in the agri-food sector

Nanotechnology has relevance to applications in all areas of agri-food including agriculture, aquaculture, production, processing, packaging, safety and nutrition. Scientific literature indicates uncertainties in food safety aspects about using nanomaterials due to potential health risks. To date the agri-food industry's awareness and attitude towards nanotechnology have not been addressed. We surveyed the awareness and attitudes of agri-food organisations on the island of Ireland (IoI) with regards to nanotechnology. A total of 14 agri-food stakeholders were interviewed and 88 agri-food stakeholders responded to an on-line questionnaire. The findings indicate that the current awareness of nanotechnology applications in the agri-food sector on the IoI is low and respondents are neither positive nor negative towards agri-food applications of nanotechnology. Safer food, reduced waste and increased product shelf life were considered to be the most important benefits to the agri-food industry. Knowledge of practical examples of agri-food applications is limited however opportunities were identified in precision farming techniques, innovative packaging, functional ingredients and nutrition of foods, processing equipment, and safety testing. Perceived impediments to nanotechnology adoption were potential unknown human health and environmental impacts, consumer acceptance and media framing. The need for a risk assessment framework, research into long term health and environmental effects, and better engagement between scientists, government bodies, the agri-food industry and the public were identified as important.

Impacts of culling and exclusion of browsers on vegetation recovery across New Zealand forests

Introduced browsing animals negatively impact New Zealand's indigenous ecosystems. Eradicating introduced browsers is currently unfeasible at large scales, but culling since the 1960s has successfully reduced populations to a fraction of their earlier sizes. Here we ask whether culling of ungulates has allowed populations of woody plant species to recover across New Zealand forests. Using 73 pairs of permanent fenced exclosure and unfenced control plots, we found rapid increases in sapling densities within exclosures located in disturbed forests, particularly if a seedling bank was already present. Recovery was slower in thinning stands and hampered by dense fern cover. We inferred ungulate diet preference from species recovery rates inside exclosures to test whether culling increased abundance of preferred species across a national network of 574 unfenced permanent forest plots. Across this network, saplings were observed irrespective of their preference to ungulates in the 1970s, but preferred species were rarer within disturbed sites in the 1990s after long-term culling and despite nationwide increases in sapling densities. This indicates that preferred species are relatively heavily affected by browsing after culling, presumably because remaining animals will increase consumption of preferred species as competition is reduced. Our results clearly suggest that culling will not return preferred plants to the landscape immediately, even given suitable conditions for regeneration. Complete removal of ungulates rather than simply reducing their densities may be required for recovery in heavily browsed temperate forests, but since this is only feasible at small spatial scales, management efforts must target sites of high conservation value. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.

Adiposity as a cause of cardiovascular disease: a Mendelian randomization study

Background: Adiposity, as indicated by body mass index (BMI), has been associated with risk of cardiovascular diseases in epidemiological studies. We aimed to investigate if these associations are causal, using Mendelian randomization (MR) methods.

Methods: The associations of BMI with cardiovascular outcomes [coronary heart disease (CHD), heart failure and ischaemic stroke], and associations of a genetic score (32 BMI single nucleotide polymorphisms) with BMI and cardiovascular outcomes were examined in up to 22 193 individuals with 3062 incident cardiovascular events from nine prospective follow-up studies within the ENGAGE consortium. We used random-effects meta-analysis in an MR framework to provide causal estimates of the effect of adiposity on cardiovascular outcomes.

Results: There was a strong association between BMI and incident CHD (HR = 1.20 per SD-increase of BMI, 95% CI, 1.12–1.28, P = 1.9·10−7), heart failure (HR = 1.47, 95% CI, 1.35–1.60, P = 9·10−19) and ischaemic stroke (HR = 1.15, 95% CI, 1.06–1.24, P = 0.0008) in observational analyses. The genetic score was robustly associated with BMI (β = 0.030 SD-increase of BMI per additional allele, 95% CI, 0.028–0.033, P = 3·10−107). Analyses indicated a causal effect of adiposity on development of heart failure (HR = 1.93 per SD-increase of BMI, 95% CI, 1.12–3.30, P = 0.017) and ischaemic stroke (HR = 1.83, 95% CI, 1.05–3.20, P = 0.034). Additional cross-sectional analyses using both ENGAGE and CARDIoGRAMplusC4D data showed a causal effect of adiposity on CHD.

Conclusions: Using MR methods, we provide support for the hypothesis that adiposity causes CHD, heart failure and, previously not demonstrated, ischaemic stroke.