Group size adjustment to ecological demand in a cooperative breeder

Environmental factors can determine which group size will maximize the fitness of group members. This is particularly important in cooperative breeders, where group members often serve different purposes. Experimental studies are yet lacking to check whether ecologically mediated need for help will change the propensity of dominant group members to accept immigrants. Here, we manipulated the perceived risk of predation for dominant breeders of the cooperatively breeding cichlid fish Neolamprologus pulcher to test their response to unrelated and previously unknown immigrants. Potential immigrants were more readily accepted if groups were exposed to fish predators or egg predators than to herbivorous fish or control situations lacking predation risk. Our data are consistent with both risk dilution and helping effects. Egg predators were presented before spawning, which might suggest that the fish adjust acceptance rates also to a potential future threat. Dominant group members of N. pulcher apparently consider both present and future need of help based on ecological demand. This suggests that acceptance of immigrants and, more generally, tolerance of group members on demand could be a widespread response to ecological conditions in cooperatively breeding animals.

Patient adjustment to reduced olfactory function

To compare the importance of olfaction in daily life between patients with olfactory disorders and healthy normosmic individuals.

Time Heals Some Wounds: Psychological Adjustment To Marital Breakup

Marital breakup is among the most incisive stressors in adult life. While the negative effects of divorce on well-being are well documented in research literature, the large interindividual differences in psychological adaptation to this critical life event over time are still not well understood. Particularly the question, whether marital breakup represents a temporary crisis or rather a chronic strain is still controversially discussed. Against this empirical and theoretical background the aim of this study is to investigate the psychological adaptation (depression, perceived stress and life satisfaction) to marital breakup in a sample of 289 middle aged persons (M = 50.2 years) who were partnered at least 10 years (M = 23. 5 years). We compared two groups: one with a separation within the last 12 months (58 women, 25 men), another with a separation within the last 2-5 years (97 women, 38 men). A group of 441 age-matched married people served as control group. Findings from group comparison reveal that time passed since separation is indeed associated with better psychological adaptation (lower depression and perceived stress rates). Results from regression analyses show that differences in psychological adaptation are a function of neuroticism, resilience, new partnership and time passed since separation. These results provide support for the crisis approach and offer important insights into the process of adaptation to marital breakup, which in can be used for counselling.

Ultrasound evaluation of synovitis in RA: correlation with clinical disease activity and sensitivity to change in an observational cohort study.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the correlation between clinical measures of disease activity and a ultrasound (US) scoring system for synovitis applied by many different ultrasonographers in a daily routine care setting within the Swiss registry for RA (SCQM) and further to determine the sensitivity to change of this US Score. METHODS One hundred and eight Swiss rheumatologists were trained in performing the Swiss Sonography in Arthritis and Rheumatism (SONAR) score. US B-mode and Power Doppler (PwD) scores were correlated with DAS28 and compared between the clinical categories in a cross-sectional cohort of patients. In patients with a second US (longitudinal cohort), we investigated if change in US score correlated with change in DAS and evaluated the responsiveness of both methods. RESULTS In the cross-sectional cohort with 536 patients, correlation between the B-mode score and DAS28 was significant but modest (Pearson coefficient r = 0.41, P < 0.0001). The same was true for the PwD score (r = 0.41, P < 0.0001). In the longitudinal cohort with 183 patients we also found a significant correlation between change in B-mode and in PwD score with change in DAS28 (r = 0.54, P < 0.0001 and r = 0.46, P < 0.0001, respectively). Both methods of evaluation (DAS and US) showed similar responsiveness according to standardized response mean (SRM). CONCLUSIONS The SONAR Score is practicable and was applied by many rheumatologists in daily routine care after initial training. It demonstrates significant correlations with the degree of as well as change in disease activity as measured by DAS. On the level of the individual, the US score shows many discrepancies and overlapping results exist.

Cohort and Gender Differences in Psychosocial Adjustment to Later-Life Widowhood

Objectives. Despite the large body of literature on bereavement, little is known about the impact of sociohistorical context on individual reactions to spousal loss. This study examines the effect of marital status, time period and gender on physical and mental health, and whether reported difficulties following spousal loss differ at 2 distinctive time periods. Method. Two cohorts of older bereaved persons (n = 753) in Switzerland, surveyed in 1979 and 2011, were compared regarding their reports of difficulties related to marital loss. The bereaved spouses were also compared with a group of married contemporaries (n = 1,517) regarding subjective health and depressive symptoms. Results. Marital status and gender each have independent effects on subjective health and depressive symptoms. The effects of widowhood on subjective health differed significantly at both time points. Widowed individuals in 2011, especially women, reported fewer social and financial difficulties than their counterparts in 1979. However, the effect of widowhood on depressive symptoms and psychological difficulties did not differ significantly across time points. Discussion. Social changes in the late 20th century may be protective for older adults’ physical, social, and financial well-being in the face of spousal loss, yet these changes do not alleviate widow(er)s’ psychological distress.

The effects of benefit finding on athletes’ quality of adjustment to career termination

Retirement from elite sports requires athletes to cope with adjustments on an occupational, financial, physical, social or emotional level. Research on critical life events (e.g., Filipp & Aymanns, 2010) suggests that benefit finding, defined as “the process of deriving positive growth from adversity” (Cassidy et al., 2014), may have a positive impact on this transition. The present study examined the effects of benefit finding on the quality of adjustment to career termination in the short, middle and long term. Former Swiss elite athletes (N = 290) completed a written survey collecting information on a) their emotional reaction to career termination, b) the amount of adjustment in various respects, c) situational characteristics of their career termination, d) the duration and quality of the transition, and e) their subjective well-being. Using Latent Variable Modelling, finding benefit in career termination was found to have both a direct and an indirect effect on long-term well-being (γ=.18). It predicts favorable emotional reactions to career termination (γ = .53) and less adjustment (γ = -.38) which in turn shortens the transition duration (β = -.15 and β = .55, respectively) and quality (β = -.15), and finally augments well-being (β = .41). The data suggest that a focus on benefit finding in both crisis-prevention and crisis-coping interventions may prove useful to prevent crisis transitions.

Adverse events to antiretrovirals in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study: effect on mortality and treatment modification

BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) decreases morbidity and mortality in HIV-infected patients but is associated with considerable adverse events (AEs). METHODS: We examined the effect of AEs to ART on mortality, treatment modifications and drop-out in the Swiss HIV Cohort Study. A cross-sectional evaluation of prevalence of 13 clinical and 11 laboratory parameters was performed in 1999 in 1,078 patients on ART. AEs were defined as abnormalities probably or certainly related to ART. A score including the number and severity of AEs was defined. The subsequent progression to death, drop-out and treatment modification due to intolerance were evaluated according to the baseline AE score and characteristics of individual AEs. RESULTS: Of the 1,078 patients, laboratory AEs were reported in 23% and clinical AEs in 45%. During a median follow up of 5.9 years, laboratory AEs were associated with higher mortality with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.3 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.2-1.5; P < 0.001) per score point. For clinical AEs no significant association with increased mortality was found. In contrast, an increasing score for clinical AEs (HR 1.11,95% CI 1.04-1.18; P = 0.002), but not for laboratory AEs (HR 1.07, 95% CI 0.97-1.17; P = 0.17), was associated with antiretroviral treatment modification. AEs were not associated with a higher drop-out rate. CONCLUSIONS: The burden of laboratory AEs to antiretroviral drugs is associated with a higher mortality. Physicians seem to change treatments to relieve clinical symptoms, while accepting laboratory AEs. Minimizing laboratory drug toxicity seems warranted and its influence on survival should be further evaluated.

Effects of various forms of calcium added to chewing gum on initial enamel carious lesions in situ

The purpose of this randomized, cross-over in situ study was to determine the effects of 4 chewing gums on artificial caries-like subsurface lesions. Two chewing gums (1 with zinc citrate and 1 without) contained dicalcium phosphate (3.9%), calcium gluconate (1.8%) and calcium lactate (0.45%), 1 chewing gum contained casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate nanocomplexes (0.7%), and another one contained no calcium. Fifteen subjects without current caries activity (7 male, 8 female; mean age: 27.5 +/- 2.5 years) wore removable buccal appliances in the lower jaw with 4 bovine enamel slabs with subsurface lesions. The appliances were inserted immediately before gum chewing for 20 min and then retained for an additional 20 min. This was performed 4 times per day. Every subject chewed 4 different chewing gums over 4 periods of 14 days each. During a fifth period (control) the subjects only wore the appliances without chewing gum. At completion of each period the enamel slabs were embedded, sectioned and subjected to transversal microradiography. With regard to change of mineral loss and of lesion depth no significant differences could be found between chewing gums containing calcium and calcium-free chewing gums. Moreover, the chewing gum groups and the control group did not differ significantly if adjustments were made for baseline values (p > 0.05; ANCOVA). Under the conditions of the present study it may be concluded that the use of chewing gum offers no additional remineralizing benefit to buccal tooth surfaces, even if the chewing gum contains calcium compounds.

Dosimetric impact of geometric errors due to respiratory motion prediction on dynamic multileaf collimator-based four-dimensional radiation delivery

The synchronization of dynamic multileaf collimator (DMLC) response with respiratory motion is critical to ensure the accuracy of DMLC-based four dimensional (4D) radiation delivery. In practice, however, a finite time delay (response time) between the acquisition of tumor position and multileaf collimator response necessitates predictive models of respiratory tumor motion to synchronize radiation delivery. Predicting a complex process such as respiratory motion introduces geometric errors, which have been reported in several publications. However, the dosimetric effect of such errors on 4D radiation delivery has not yet been investigated. Thus, our aim in this work was to quantify the dosimetric effects of geometric error due to prediction under several different conditions. Conformal and intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans for a lung patient were generated for anterior-posterior/posterior-anterior (AP/PA) beam arrangements at 6 and 18 MV energies to provide planned dose distributions. Respiratory motion data was obtained from 60 diaphragm-motion fluoroscopy recordings from five patients. A linear adaptive filter was employed to predict the tumor position. The geometric error of prediction was defined as the absolute difference between predicted and actual positions at each diaphragm position. Distributions of geometric error of prediction were obtained for all of the respiratory motion data. Planned dose distributions were then convolved with distributions for the geometric error of prediction to obtain convolved dose distributions. The dosimetric effect of such geometric errors was determined as a function of several variables: response time (0-0.6 s), beam energy (6/18 MV), treatment delivery (3D/4D), treatment type (conformal/IMRT), beam direction (AP/PA), and breathing training type (free breathing/audio instruction/visual feedback). Dose difference and distance-to-agreement analysis was employed to quantify results. Based on our data, the dosimetric impact of prediction (a) increased with response time, (b) was larger for 3D radiation therapy as compared with 4D radiation therapy, (c) was relatively insensitive to change in beam energy and beam direction, (d) was greater for IMRT distributions as compared with conformal distributions, (e) was smaller than the dosimetric impact of latency, and (f) was greatest for respiration motion with audio instructions, followed by visual feedback and free breathing. Geometric errors of prediction that occur during 4D radiation delivery introduce dosimetric errors that are dependent on several factors, such as response time, treatment-delivery type, and beam energy. Even for relatively small response times of 0.6 s into the future, dosimetric errors due to prediction could approach delivery errors when respiratory motion is not accounted for at all. To reduce the dosimetric impact, better predictive models and/or shorter response times are required.