marked variation
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2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara M Mandalaywala

Status is a complex, but crucially important, aspect of life across species. In recent decades, researchers have made significant contributions to our understanding of both the pathways by which status can be attained, as well as our underlying capacities for reasoning about these pathways. In 2001, Henrich & Gil-White proposed a prestige-based pathway to status where low status actors willingly defer to competent or knowledgeable high status actors, as a means of facilitating social learning and cultural transmission. Although this type of status hierarchy, and the capacity to reason about it, was hypothesized to be unique to humans, here I argue that there are several reasons why we might observe prestige-based status, and the capacity for reasoning about this pathway to status, in some nonhuman species as well. These reasons focus on the prevalence, importance, and sophistication of social learning in certain taxa, as well as the marked variation in hierarchy characteristics and structure across species. I point out places where our current methodologies encounter difficulties distinguishing whether a hierarchy in the wild is based on dominance or prestige, where our experimental methods leave us unable to assess whether an individual is reasoning about a high status actor as being prestigious or formidable, and provide suggestions for addressing these limitations. Adopting a comparative approach will clarify whether prestige-based status truly is unique to humans, and—if not—precisely what selective pressures facilitate the emergence of prestige-based status and the capacity for reasoning about it.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinhui Li ◽  
Lei Ai ◽  
Steve Giavasis ◽  
Hecheng Jin ◽  
Eric Feczko ◽  
...  

AbstractWhen fields lack consensus standards and ground truths for their analytic methods, reproducibility tends to be more of an ideal than a reality. Such has been the case for functional neuroimaging, where there exists a sprawling space of tools from which scientists can construct processing pipelines and draw interpretations. We provide a critical evaluation of the impact of differences observed in results across five independently developed functional MRI minimal preprocessing pipelines. We show that even when handling the same exact data, inter-pipeline agreement was only moderate, with the specific steps that contribute to the lack of agreement varying across pipeline comparisons. Using a densely sampled test-retest dataset, we show that the limitations imposed by inter-pipeline agreement mainly become appreciable when the reliability of the underlying data is high. We highlight the importance of comparison among analytic tools and parameters, as both widely debated (e.g., global signal regression) and commonly overlooked (e.g., MNI template version) decisions were each found to lead to marked variation. We provide recommendations for incorporating tool-based variability in functional neuroimaging analyses and a supporting infrastructure.


Alergoprofil ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Rapiejko ◽  
Małgorzata Malkiewicz ◽  
Tomasz Wolski ◽  
Agata Konarska ◽  
Monika Ziemianin ◽  
...  

The study aims to monitor the alder pollen season in selected Polish cities: Bialystok, Cracow, Lublin, Olsztyn, Opole, Piotrkow Trybunalski, Sosnowiec, Szczecin, Warsaw, Wroclaw and Zielona Gora in 2021. Pollen concentrations were recorded by volumetric method using a Burkard-type sampler operating in a continuous volumetric mode. Alder pollen season, defined as the period with 98% of the annual total catch, started in 3rd decade of February in all monitoring sites. There was a marked variation in duration of the season between the sites. It lasted from 31 in Cracow to 54 days in Bialystok (38 days on average). The highest peak daily alder pollen concentrations were observed in Wroclaw (1879 grains/m3) on February 26th). The longest exposure to high concentrations of alder pollen, lasting 22–24 days, was detected in Zielona Gora, Piotrkow Trybunalski and Olsztyn. The alder pollen season in 2021, compared to the previous year, was longer, with higher average sum of daily concentrations over the season, higher maximum daily concentrations and longer exposure to high pollen concentrations at most monitoring sites.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Assadullah Sheikh ◽  
Deepika Slathia

The present ecological investigation communicates the macrophytic diversity of six wetlands of Jammu region comprising of three lacustrine wetlands viz. Surinsar, Mansar and Sanasar and three riverine wetlands i.e., Gharana, Kukarian and Pargwal. A total of 43 macrophytic species belonging to 34 genera and 24 families with 30 monocot species and 13 dicots were recorded, thereby showing the dominance of monocot flora. Among various ecological groups, emergent with 22 species showed qualitative dominance over submersed (13 species) and rooted floatingleaved types=free-floating types (4 species each). The present study revealed that there is no well-marked variation in the macrophytic groups among the studied wetlands and mostly mixed distribution was observed. Maximum macrophytic diversity was recorded in Mansar wetland (26) followed by Pargwal (22), Surinsar (16), Gharana (14), Kukarian (14) and Sanasar (11). The present study provides a baseline information on the macropytes of wetlands for subsequent research on the vital aspects of these aquatic ecosystems and would be helpful in planning management strategies.


Author(s):  
Tonnii L L Sia ◽  
Anand Mohan ◽  
Mong-How Ooi ◽  
Su-Lin Chien ◽  
Lee-See Tan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Burkholderia pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, is intrinsically resistant to a broad range of antibiotics, including aminoglycosides. In Sarawak, Malaysia, a high proportion of melioidosis cases are caused by gentamicin-susceptible isolates. There are limited epidemiological and clinical data on these infections. Methods We conducted a retrospective study of culture-confirmed melioidosis among adults admitted to Bintulu Hospital in Sarawak, Malaysia, from January 2011 until December 2016. Results One-hundred and forty-eight adults with culture-confirmed melioidosis were identified. Of 129 (87%) tested, 84 (65%) had gentamicin-susceptible B. pseudomallei. The average annual incidence of melioidosis was 12·3 per 100,000 population, with marked variation between districts ranging from 5·8-29·3 per 100,000 population. Rural districts had higher incidences of melioidosis and overwhelmingly larger proportions of gentamicin-susceptible B. pseudomallei infection. Significantly more patients with gentamicin-susceptible infection had no identified risk factors, with diabetes less frequently present in this group. Ninety-eight percent had acute presentations. Pneumonia, reported in 71%, was the most common presentation. Splenic abscesses were found in 54% of those imaged. Bacteremia was present in 88%; septic shock occurred in 47%. Forty-five (35%) patients died. No differences in clinical, laboratory, or outcome characteristics were noted between gentamicin-susceptible and gentamicin-resistant infections. Conclusions Gentamicin-susceptible B. pseudomallei infections are common in Sarawak and dominate in the high incidence rural interior regions. Clinical manifestations and outcomes are the same as for gentamicin-resistant B. pseudomallei infections. Further studies are required to determine if all gentamicin-susceptible B. pseudomallei in Sarawak are clonal and to ascertain their environmental drivers and niches.


BJGP Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. BJGPO.2021.0020
Author(s):  
Paul Bogowicz ◽  
Helen J Curtis ◽  
Alex J Walker ◽  
Philip Cowen ◽  
John Geddes ◽  
...  

BackgroundAntidepressants are commonly prescribed. There are clear national guidelines in relation to treatment sequencing. The study examined trends and variation in antidepressant prescribing across English primary care.AimTo examine trends and variation in antidepressant prescribing in England, with a focus on: monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs); paroxetine; and dosulepin and trimipramine.Design & settingRetrospective longitudinal study using national and practice level data on antidepressant items prescribed per year (1998–2018) and per month (2010–2019).MethodClass- and drug-specific proportions were calculated at national and practice levels. Descriptive statistics were generated, percentile charts and maps were plotted, and conducted logistic regression analysis was conducted.ResultsAntidepressant prescriptions more than tripled between 1998 and 2018, from 377 items per 1000 population to 1266 per 1000. MAOI prescribing fell substantially, from 0.7% of all antidepressant items in 1998 to 0.1% in 2018. There was marked variation between practices in past year prescribing of paroxetine (median practice proportion [MPP] = 1.7%, interdecile range [IDR] = 0.7% to 3.3%) and dosulepin (MPP = 0.7%, IDR = 0% to 1.9%), but less for trimipramine (MPP = 0%, IDR = 0% to 0.2%).ConclusionRapid growth and substantial variation in antidepressant prescribing behaviour was found between practices. The causes could be explored using mixed-methods research. Interventions to reduce prescribing of specific antidepressants, such as dosulepin, could include review prompts, alerts at the time of prescribing, and clinician feedback through tools like OpenPrescribing.net.


Antibiotics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 516
Author(s):  
Neil Powell ◽  
Philip Howard ◽  
Martin J. Llewelyn ◽  
Tamas Szakmany ◽  
Mahableswhar Albur ◽  
...  

A minority of patients presenting to hospital with COVID-19 have bacterial co-infection. Procalcitonin testing may help identify patients for whom antibiotics should be prescribed or withheld. This study describes the use of procalcitonin in English and Welsh hospitals during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A web-based survey of antimicrobial leads gathered data about the use of procalcitonin testing. Responses were received from 148/151 (98%) eligible hospitals. During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was widespread introduction and expansion of PCT use in NHS hospitals. The number of hospitals using PCT in emergency/acute admissions rose from 17 (11%) to 74/146 (50.7%) and use in Intensive Care Units (ICU) increased from 70 (47.6%) to 124/147 (84.4%). This increase happened predominantly in March and April 2020, preceding NICE guidance. Approximately half of hospitals used PCT as a single test to guide decisions to discontinue antibiotics and half used repeated measurements. There was marked variation in the thresholds used for empiric antibiotic cessation and guidance about interpretation of values. Procalcitonin testing has been widely adopted in the NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic in an unevidenced, heterogeneous way and in conflict with relevant NICE guidance. Further research is needed urgently that assesses the impact of this change on antibiotic prescribing and patient safety.


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
V Shaji ◽  
A Lander

Abstract Introduction The cardiac anomalies associated with left and right atrial appendage isomerism (LAAI and RAAI) are systematically described. However, for the associated abdominal abnormalities, only the laterality of the organs, cardinality of the spleen (asplenia or polysplenia) and the presence or absence of intestinal malrotation are noted. This study aimed to describe in greater detail the abdominal anatomy in abdominal heterotaxia. Method A detailed review of the imaging and clinical records of 23 patients (16 LAAI, 7 RAAI) with abdominal heterotaxia in a cardiac database was performed. Results In no patient was a complete description of abdominal anatomy possible, with all patients displaying unique anatomical presentations. There was a significant association between isomerism and splenic cardinality (12/16 LAAI had polysplenia and 6/7 RAAI had asplenia, p = 0.02). Right-sided stomachs were more commonly associated with gastro-oesophageal reflux (p = 0.048). The stomach and pylorus were ipsilateral in 15/20 patients, with marked variation in gastric orientation; these were novel observations. Ladd’s procedures were performed in 15/23 patients but terminology for intestinal malrotation was inconsistently used. Conclusions The heterotaxic anatomy demands better descriptions for scholarly reasons, but these may lead to a better understanding of upper intestinal dysfunction and the subsequent management of these patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Higham ◽  
Michael Heistermann ◽  
Muhammad Agil ◽  
Dyah Perwitasari-Farajallah ◽  
Anja Widdig ◽  
...  

AbstractHigh social status is the primary determinant of reproductive success among group-living male mammals. Primates living in multimale–multifemale groups show the greatest variation in the strength of this link, with marked variation in reproductive skew by male dominance among species, dependent on the degree of female fertile phase synchrony, and the number of competing males. Here, we present data on two groups of wild crested macaques (Macaca nigra), living in the Tangkoko Reserve, Sulawesi, Indonesia. We investigated male monopolization of fertile females in 31 cycles of 19 females, and genetic paternity of 14 offspring conceived during the study period. We show that female fertile phase synchrony was low, that females had few mating partners in their fertile phase, and that dominant males monopolized a high proportion of consortships and matings, resulting in marked and steep mating and reproductive skew. We conclude that female cycle asynchrony provides the opportunity for strong direct male–male competition in crested macaques, resulting in monopolization of females by dominant males, consistent with their marked sexual dimorphism. Our study provides a test of the underlying factors that determine the relative occurrence and strength of different mechanisms of sexual selection, and the phenotypes that evolve as a result.


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