On the fate of sexual traits under asexuality.

Environmental shifts and life-history changes may result in formerly adaptive traits becoming non-functional or maladaptive. In the absence of pleiotropy and other constraints, such traits may decay as a consequence of neutral mutation accumulation or selective processes, highlighting the importance of natural selection for adaptations. A suite of traits are expected to lose their adaptive function in asexual organisms derived from sexual ancestors, and the many independent transitions to asexuality allow for comparative studies of parallel trait maintenance versus decay. In addition, because certain traits, notably male-specific traits, are usually not exposed to selection under asexuality, their decay would have to occur as a consequence of drift. Selective processes could drive the decay of traits associated with costs, which may be the case for the majority of sexual traits expressed in females. We review the fate of male and female sexual traits in 93 animal lineages characterized by asexual reproduction, covering a broad taxon range including molluscs, arachnids, diplopods, crustaceans and eleven different hexapod orders. Many asexual lineages are still able occasionally to produce males. These asexually produced males are often largely or even fully functional, revealing that major developmental pathways can remain quiescent and functional over extended time periods. By contrast, for asexual females, there is a parallel and rapid decay of sexual traits, especially of traits related to mate attraction and location, as expected given the considerable costs often associated with the expression of these traits. The level of decay of female sexual traits, in addition to asexual females being unable to fertilize their eggs, would severely impede reversals to sexual reproduction, even in recently derived asexual lineages. More generally, the parallel maintenance versus decay of different trait types across diverse asexual lineages suggests that neutral traits display little or no decay even after extended periods under relaxed selection, while extensive decay for selected traits occurs extremely quickly. These patterns also highlight that adaptations can fix rapidly in natural populations of asexual organisms, in spite of their mode of reproduction.

History of offending behavior in first episode psychosis patients: A marker of specific clinical needs and a call for early detection strategies among young offenders.

OBJECTIVES: Previous literature suggests that early psychosis (EP) patients with a history of offending behavior (HOB) have specific clinical needs. The aims of this study were to assess: (1) the prevalence of HOB in a representative sample of EP; (2) the premorbid and baseline characteristics of patients with HOB, and (3) the potential differences in short-term outcome of such patients when compared to patients without HOB. METHODS: The Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre (EPPIC) admitted 786 EP patients between 1998 and 2000. Data were collected from patients' files using a standardized questionnaire. Data of 647 patients could be analyzed. RESULTS: HOB patients (29% of the sample) were more likely to be male with lower level of premorbid functioning and education, have used illicit substances and have attempted suicide. They presented with a more complex clinical picture and had poorer 18-month outcome. Most importantly, they had a significantly longer duration of untreated psychosis. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the high prevalence and specific features of EP patients with HOB, our study confirms a need for additional research in this domain and for the development of specific treatment strategies. Most importantly, it suggests a need for the promotion of early detection strategies among the populations of young offenders, considering that some of them may be going through the early phases of a psychotic disorder and that reduction of treatment delay and provision of well adapted interventions may have a significant impact at numerous levels in such patients.

A Study of Sexual Health Issues, Attitudes and Behaviours: The Views of Early School Leavers

This research aimed to explore the sexual attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of early school leavers and how a group of young people, without the advantage of completing post-primary education, deal with the complicated issues of constructing, defining and experiencing sexual practice.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

History of diabetes and risk of head and neck cancer: a pooled analysis from the international head and neck cancer epidemiology consortium.

BACKGROUND: A history of diabetes is associated with an increased risk of several types of cancers. Whether diabetes is a risk factor for head and neck cancer (HNC) has received little attention. METHODS: We pooled data from 12 case-control studies including 6,448 cases and 13,747 controls, and estimated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the associations between diabetes and HNC, adjusted for age, education level, sex, race/ethnicity, study center, cigarette smoking, alcohol use and body mass index (BMI). RESULTS: We observed a weak association between diabetes and the incidence of HNC overall (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.95-1.24). However, we observed a modest association among never smokers (OR, 1.59; 95% CI, 1.22-2.07), and no association among ever smokers (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.83-1.11); likelihood ratio test for interaction p=0.001. CONCLUSIONS: A history of diabetes was weakly associated with HNC overall, but we observed evidence of effect modification by smoking status, with a positive association among those who never smoked cigarettes. Impact: This study suggests that glucose metabolism abnormalities may be a HNC risk factor in subgroups of the population. Prospective studies incorporating biomarkers are needed to improve our understanding of the relationship between diabetes and HNC risk, possibly providing new strategies in the prevention of HNC.

The History of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in Iowa,1945.

History of the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction in Iowa from when Iowa was a Territory to 1938

Mortality associated with diabetes mellitus in comparison with history of cardiovascular disease in older women.

BACKGROUND: Women with diabetes mellitus have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and current treatment guidelines consider diabetes to be equivalent to existing CVD, but few data exist about the relative importance of these risk factors for total and cause-specific mortality in older women. METHODS: We studied 9704 women aged ≥65 years enrolled in a prospective cohort study (Study of Osteoporotic Fractures) during a mean follow-up of 13 years and compared all-cause, CVD and coronary heart disease (CHD) mortality among non-diabetic women without and with a prior history of CVD at baseline and diabetic women without and with a prior history of CVD. Diabetes mellitus and prior CVD (history of angina, myocardial infarction or stroke) were defined as self-report of physician diagnoses. Cause of death was adjudicated from death certificates and medical records when available (>95% deaths confirmed). Ascertainment of vital status was 99% complete. Log-rank tests for the rates of death and multivariate Cox hazard models adjusted for age, smoking, physical activity, systolic blood pressure, waist girth and education were used to compare mortality among the four groups with non-diabetic women without CVD as the referent group. Results are reported as adjusted hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: At baseline mean age was 71.7±5.3 years, 7.0% reported diabetes mellitus and 14.5% reported prior CVD. 4257 women died during follow-up, 36.6% were attributed to CVD. The incidence of CVD death per 1000 person-years was 9.9 and 21.6 among non-diabetic women without and with CVD, respectively, and 23.8 and 33.3 among diabetic women without and with CVD, respectively. Compared to nondiabetic women without prior CVD, the risk of CVD mortality was elevated among both non-diabetic women with CVD (HR=1.82, CI: 1.60-2.07, P<0.001) and diabetic women without prior CVD (HR=2.24, CI: 1.87-2.69, P<0.001). CVD mortality was highest among diabetic women with CVD (HR=3.41, CI: 2.61-4.45, P<0.001). Compared to non-diabetic women with CVD, diabetic women without prior CVD had a significantly higher adjusted HR for total and CVD mortality (P<0.001 and P<0.05 respectively). CHD mortality did not differ significantly between non-diabetic women with CVD and diabetic women without prior CVD. CONCLUSION: Older diabetic women without prior CVD have a higher risk of all-cause and CVD mortality and a similar risk of CHD mortality compared to non-diabetic women with pre-existing CVD. For older women, these data support the equivalence of prior CVD and diabetes mellitus in current guidelines for the prevention of CVD.

Family history of cancer and the risk of laryngeal cancer: a case-control study from Italy and Switzerland.

Only limited data is available on the relationship between family history of laryngeal and other neoplasms and laryngeal cancer risk. We investigated the issue using data from a multicentre case-control study conducted in Italy and Switzerland between 1992 and 2009 including 852 cases with histologically confirmed laryngeal cancer and 1970 controls admitted to hospital for acute, non neoplastic conditions. Unconditional logistic regression models adjusted for age, sex, study center, education, tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking and number of siblings were used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) of laryngeal cancer. The multivariate OR was 2.8 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5-5.3) in subjects reporting a first-degree relative with laryngeal cancer, as compared to subjects with no family history. The OR was higher when the relative was diagnosed before 60 years of age (OR = 3.5, 95% CI 1.4-8.8). As compared to subjects without family history, non-smokers, and moderate drinkers, the OR was 37.1 (95% CI 9.9-139.4) for current smokers, heavy drinkers, with family history of laryngeal cancer. Family history of colorectal (OR = 1.5, 95% CI 1.0-2.3) and kidney (OR = 3.8, 95% CI 1.2-12.1) cancer were also associated to an increased risk of laryngeal cancer, while no significant increase in risk was found for family history of cancer at all sites, excluding the larynx (OR = 1.1).

Two Cultures of Arts Education, Finland and Canada? An integrated View

Taidekasvatuksen kaksi kulttuuria, Suomi ja Kanada? Integroitu näkemys Tutkimuksessa kuvataan kanadalaisen Learning Through The Arts –pedagogiikan mukainen suomalainen kokeiluhanke, jonka aikana taiteilija–opettaja-parit opettivat yhdessä eri oppiaineita koululuokille: esim. matematiikkaa tanssien, biologiaa maalaten tai yhdistäen eri taiteenlajeja projektimuotoiseen oppimiseen. Hanketta arvioitaessa nousee esille, ei niinkään yksittäisten taiteilijoiden ja opettajien toiminta, vaan pikemminkin Kanadan ja Suomen rakenteelliset sekä kulttuuriset eroavuudet. Tutkimus sivuaa myös Suomessa käytävää keskustelua taiteen hyödyllisyydestä ja pohtii samalla taito- ja taideaineiden asemaa koulussa. Työn teoreettisessa osassa integroidaan opetussuunnitelmateoriaa, kasvatuksen historiaa ja filosofiaa, tähdentäen taidekasvatuksen merkitystä osana koko ihmisen kasvatusta. Opetussuunnitelmateorian osalta tarkastellaan romanttista ja klassista opetussuunnitelmaa, jotka eroavat toisistaan menetelmiensä, sisältöjensä, tavoitteidensa sekä arvioinnin osalta. Ns. kovat ja pehmeät aineet tai matemaattis-luonnontieteelliset aineet vastakohtanaan humanismi, voidaan ymmärtää sekä historiallisia että epistemologisia taustojaan vasten. Pepperin maailmanhypoteesien mukaisesti on kasvatuksen ongelmien ratkaisemiseksi hahmotettavissa neljä selvästi toisistaan eroavaa lähestymistapaa: formismi; organisismi; mekanisismi; sekä kontekstualismi. Kantin filosofiaan viitaten tutkimus puolustaa käsitystä taiteesta rationaalisena ja propositionaalisena kokonaisuutena, joka ei ole vain kommunikaation väline, vaan yksi todellisuuden kohtaamisen lajeista, tiedon ja etiikan rinnalla. Näin ajateltuna taito- ja taidekasvatuksen tulisi olla luonteeltaan aina myös kulttuurikasvatusta. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella voidaan väittää, että moniammatillinen yhteistyö monipuolistaa koulun opetusta. Mikäli huolehditaan siitä, että taiteilijat saavat riittävästi koulutusta opettamiseen liittyvissä asioissa, on mahdollista käyttää taiteilijoita opettajien rinnalla koulutyössä.

A Cartoon History of Iowa, 1968

This book is for students to learn about the history of Iowa through cartoons and drawings with questions to answer at the end of each of the 75 chapters. The author and artist is Herb V. Hake.

Mortality associated with diabetes mellitus in comparison with history of cardiovascular disease in older women.

Current treatment guidelines consider diabetes to be equivalent to existing cardiovascular disease (CVD), but few data exist about the relative importance of these risk factors for total and CVD mortality in older women.We studied 9704 women aged >= 65 years enrolled in a prospective cohort study (Study of Osteoporotic Fracture) during a mean follow-up of 13 years and compared all-cause and CVD mortality among non-diabetic women without and with history of CVD at baseline and diabetic women without and with history of CVD. Diabetes mellitus and CVD were defined as self-report of physician diagnoses. Cause of death was adjudicated from death certificates and medical records when available. Ascertainment of vital status was 99% complete. Multivariate Cox hazard models adjusted for age, smoking, physical activity, systolic blood pressure, waist girth and education were used to compare mortality among the four groups with non-diabetic women without CVD as the referent group. At baseline mean age was 71.7 } 5.3 years, 7.0% reported diabetes mellitus and 14.5% reported prior CVD. 4257 women died during follow-up, 36.6% were attributed to CVD. Compared to non-diabetic women without prior CVD, the risk of CVD mortality was elevated among both non-diabetic women with CVD (HR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.60-2.07, P <0.001) and diabetic women without prior CVD (HR = 2.24, CI: 1.87-2.69, P <0.001). CVD mortality was highest among diabetic women with CVD (HR = 3.41, CI: 2.61-4.45, P <0.001). Compared to non-diabetic women with CVD, diabetic women without prior CVD had a significantly higher adjusted HR for total and CVD mortality (P < 0.001 and P <0.05 respectively). Older diabetic women without prior CVD have a higher risk of all-cause and CVD mortality compared to nondiabetic women with pre-existing CVD. For older women, these data support the equivalence of prior CVD and diabetes mellitus in current guidelines for the prevention of CVD in primary care.

Transatlantic Influence in the Shaping of Business Education: The Origins of IMD, 1946-1990

The history of the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), one of the most prestigious business schools in the world, highlights the role of multinationals in establishing business education in Europe and the problem of legitimacy. The creation of IMD's predecessors CEI and IMEDE by Alcan and Nestlé also illuminates the role of Harvard Business School in their development and the reciprocal influences of American and European management education after World War II.

Infection with human papillomaviruses of sexual partners of women having cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Epidemiological studies show that human papillomaviruses (HPV) are strongly related to cervical cancer and cervical intraepithelial neoplasias (CIN). Unlike the case for women, there are no consistent data on the natural history of HPV in the male population even though these viruses are prevalent in males. We carried out a prospective study to assess the prevalence of HPV in males as well as the factors that determine such infections in 99 male sexual partners of women with CIN. The genitalia of the males were physically examined and subjected to peniscopy for the collection of scrapings which were subjected to the polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism to detect HPV. Of the 99 males sampled, 54 (54.5%) were positive for HPV DNA, 24% of whom presented normal peniscopy, 28% presented evident clinical lesions and 48% isolated lesions consistent with subclinical infection. In the HPV-negative group, 53% showed normal peniscopy, 4% presented evident clinical lesions and 42% isolated lesions consistent with subclinical infection. The study detected a statistically significant association (P < 0.02, Pearson chi-square test) between HPV infection and both the mean number of sexual partners which a male had during his life and the mean number of sexual partners in the year prior to testing. Viral types 6 and 11 were most frequently encountered. The study shows that infection with HPV was frequent in male sexual partners of women with CIN.