Sex-specific association of the lunar cycle with sleep

This short epilogue takes the story of the leading colonialists into the post-1945 period and assesses the historiographical narrative of post-war colonial amnesia. This amnesia did not begin in 1945, however, but in the 1930s and 1940s through the work of colonialists. In their efforts to situate overseas colonialism within the needs of the present and of value for the future, colonialists had created an overly positive narrative that emphasized an inherent German aptitude for administering Africa. After the war, these ideals could find expression through development or nature preservation, even though (or perhaps because) they no longer bore a specific association with Germany’s past of formal colonialism.

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Lunar Cycle Influences Reproductive Performance of Crossbred Brahman Cows Under Tropical Conditions

Journal of Biological Rhythms ◽

10.1177/0748730420983638 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 074873042098363

Author(s):

Alejandro A. Aguirre ◽

Roberto A. Palomares ◽

Aitor D. De Ondiz ◽

Eleazar R. Soto ◽

Mariana S. Perea ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reproductive Performance ◽

Full Moon ◽

Lunar Cycle ◽

The Moon ◽

Crossbred Cows ◽

Lunar Phases ◽

Tropical Conditions ◽

Service Conception ◽

New Moon ◽

Postpartum Estrus

Evidence has accumulated over the years indicating that the moon influences some aspects of the reproductive activity in animals and humans. However, little is known about the influence of the lunar cycle on the reproductive performance of cows under tropical conditions, where the environment strongly affects reproduction. This retrospective study was conducted with the aim of assessing the influence of the lunar cycle on some reproductive traits of tropical crossbred cows managed in a pasture-based system. Data from 5869 reproductive records from two commercial farms localized in the Maracaibo Lake Basin of Zulia State, Venezuela, were analyzed. Variables studied were first service conception rate, calving frequency, first postpartum estrous frequency, and pregnancy frequency. In addition to the lunar cycle, the effects of farm, season, and predominant breed were also considered. Data were analyzed using logistic regression and general linear model from SAS. First service conception was affected by lunar phases and predominant breed, but not by farm or season. For frequencies of calving, first postpartum estrus, and pregnancy, there was no main effect of farm, season, and predominant breed, whereas the effect of lunar phases was highly significant. First service conception was significantly greater in waning than in crescent phase of the lunar cycle. Frequencies of calving, first estrus, and pregnancy were highly correlated and showed greater figures around full moon and new moon. In conclusion, lunar cycle influenced first service conception, attaining greater values in the waning phase of the moon cycle. Frequencies of calving, first postpartum estrus, and pregnancy in crossbred cows showed a clear bimodal rhythm, whose greatest values coincided with new moon and full moon.

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Dietary Behaviors and Incident COVID-19 in the UK Biobank

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13062114 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 2114

Author(s):

Thanh-Huyen T. Vu ◽

Kelsey J. Rydland ◽

Chad J. Achenbach ◽

Linda Van Horn ◽

Marilyn C. Cornelis

Keyword(s):

Dietary Behaviors ◽

Processed Meat ◽

Uk Biobank ◽

Processed Meats ◽

Additional Tool ◽

Oily Fish ◽

Case Rate ◽

Specific Association ◽

Socio Demographic Factors ◽

The Uk

Background: Nutritional status influences immunity but its specific association with susceptibility to COVID-19 remains unclear. We examined the association of specific dietary data and incident COVID-19 in the UK Biobank (UKB). Methods: We considered UKB participants in England with self-reported baseline (2006–2010) data and linked them to Public Health England COVID-19 test results—performed on samples from combined nose/throat swabs, using real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)—between March and November 2020. Baseline diet factors included breastfed as baby and specific consumption of coffee, tea, oily fish, processed meat, red meat, fruit, and vegetables. Individual COVID-19 exposure was estimated using the UK’s average monthly positive case rate per specific geo-populations. Logistic regression estimated the odds of COVID-19 positivity by diet status adjusting for baseline socio-demographic factors, medical history, and other lifestyle factors. Another model was further adjusted for COVID-19 exposure. Results: Eligible UKB participants (n = 37,988) were 40 to 70 years of age at baseline; 17% tested positive for COVID-19 by SAR-CoV-2 PCR. After multivariable adjustment, the odds (95% CI) of COVID-19 positivity was 0.90 (0.83, 0.96) when consuming 2–3 cups of coffee/day (vs. <1 cup/day), 0.88 (0.80, 0.98) when consuming vegetables in the third quartile of servings/day (vs. lowest quartile), 1.14 (1.01, 1.29) when consuming fourth quartile servings of processed meats (vs. lowest quartile), and 0.91 (0.85, 0.98) when having been breastfed (vs not breastfed). Associations were attenuated when further adjusted for COVID-19 exposure, but patterns of associations remained. Conclusions: In the UK Biobank, consumption of coffee, vegetables, and being breastfed as a baby were favorably associated with incident COVID-19; intake of processed meat was adversely associated. Although these findings warrant independent confirmation, adherence to certain dietary behaviors may be an additional tool to existing COVID-19 protection guidelines to limit the spread of this virus.

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Maternal and paternal unsupportive parenting and children's externalizing symptoms: The mediational role of children's attention biases to negative emotion

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579421000171 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Patrick T. Davies ◽

Morgan J. Thompson ◽

Jesse L. Coe ◽

Melissa L. Sturge-Apple

Keyword(s):

Developmental Psychopathology ◽

Negative Emotion ◽

Negative Emotions ◽

Externalizing Symptoms ◽

Family Adversity ◽

Children's Attention ◽

Specific Association ◽

Mediational Role ◽

And Behavior

Abstract This study examined children's duration of attention to negative emotions (i.e., anger, sadness, fear) as a mediator of associations among maternal and paternal unsupportive parenting and children's externalizing symptoms in a sample of 240 mothers, fathers, and their preschool children (Mage = 4.64 years). The multimethod, multi-informant design consisted of three annual measurement occasions. Analysis of maternal and paternal unsupportive parenting as predictors in latent difference changes in children's affect-biased attention and behavior problems indicated that children's attention to negative emotions mediated the specific association between maternal unsupportive parenting and children's subsequent increases in externalizing symptoms. Maternal unsupportive parenting at Wave 1 predicted decreases in children's attention to negative facial expressions of adults from Wave 1 to 2. Reductions in children's attention to negative emotion, in turn, predicted increases in their externalizing symptoms from Wave 1 to 3. Additional tests of children's fearful distress and hostile responses to parental conflict as explanatory mechanisms revealed that increases in children's fearful distress reactivity from Wave 1 to 2 accounted for the association between maternal unsupportive parenting and concomitant decreases in their attention to negative emotions. Results are discussed in the context of information processing models of family adversity and developmental psychopathology.

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The influence of lunar cycle at the time of conception on sex offspring distribution in dogs

Chronobiology International ◽

10.1080/07420528.2021.1933001 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Daniela Alberghina ◽

Mauro Gioè ◽

Marco Quartuccio ◽

Luigi Liotta

Keyword(s):

Lunar Cycle ◽

Offspring Distribution

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