Environmental Protection and Quality of Life

Development of environmental protection together with economic and social development can be considered sustainable only if they support individual quality of life. Conceptually, quality of life is closely related to sustainable development, since sustainability implies a balance between environmental, social, and economic qualities. Environmental quality is reflected in its ability to meet the basic human needs. Quality of life is a complex and multi-dimensional construct that warrants multiple approaches from different theoretical perspectives. Evaluation of the quality of life determined by the environment can be facilitated using objective and subjective measurements. Regardless of how these two indicators are classified, both are considered equally beneficial and valuable for research. Considering all the above mentioned, the aim of this chapter is to shed light on the importance of environmental protection for the quality of life, as well as the necessity to measure quality of life determined by environmental factors in order to adequately manage them.

Relocation to avoid costs: a hypothesis on red carotenoid-based signals based on recent CYP2J19 gene expression data

Sexual and social selections promote the evolution of many conspicuous colorations in animals. These traits would act as individual quality signals when they transmit reliable information. Reliability should be assured by production costs unaffordable for low-quality trait bearers or guaranteed if trait expression is tightly linked to individual quality and cannot be falsified (“index signals”). It has been suggested that colored ornaments produced by red ketocarotenoid pigments could meet the latter. These ketocarotenoids are often obtained by enzymatic transformation of dietary yellow carotenoids. Recently, the first enzyme performing this transformation has been described: CYP2J19. This enzyme, belonging to the cytochrome p450 superfamily, is presumably located in the inner mitochondrial membrane, thus linking color expression with cell respiration efficacy. However, it remains to be clarified if the tissue where this intracellular mechanism acts could influence signal reliability and trait evolution. CYP2J19 expression data are now available for different species and tissues. Here, we review current data in birds and hypothesize that CYP2J19 activity could have evolved in some species by being relocated from the liver tissue to the ornaments (epidermis), a pattern more strongly observed in those birds where the red is expressed in non-feathered bare parts (e.g. bill, legs). One potential explanation is that bare parts, unlike feathers, require a constant carotenoid mobilization to maintain color throughout the year. We propose that tissue relocation allows for avoiding production costs derived from potential CYP2J19 interference on vital liver functions. Implications for signal reliability in ornamental evolution are discussed.

Causes and consequences of variation in early-life telomere length in a bird metapopulation

1.Environmental conditions during early-life development can have lasting effects on individual quality and fitness. Telomere length (TL) may correlate with early-life conditions and may be an important mediator or biomarker of individual quality or pace-of-life, as periods of increased energy demands can increase telomere attrition due to oxidative stress. Thus, knowledge of the mechanisms that generate variation in TL, and the relation between TL and fitness, is important in understanding the role of telomeres in ecology and life-history evolution. 2.Here, we investigate how environmental conditions and morphological traits are associated with early-life TL and if TL predicts natal dispersal probability or components of fitness in two populations of wild house sparrows (Passer domesticus). 3.We measured morphological traits and blood TL in 2746 nestlings from 20 cohorts (1994-2013) and retrieved data on weather conditions. We monitored population fluctuations, and individual survival and reproductive output using field observations and genetic pedigrees. We then used generalized linear mixed-effects models to test which factors affected TL in early-life, and if TL predicted dispersal propensity, or was associated with recruitment probability, mortality risk, or reproductive success.4.We found a negative effect of population density on TL, but only in one of the populations. There was a curvilinear association between TL and the maximum daily North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index during incubation, suggesting that there are optimal weather conditions that result in the longest TL. Dispersers tended to have shorter telomeres than non-dispersers. TL did not predict survival, but we found a tendency for individuals with short telomeres to have higher annual reproductive success.5.Our study showed how early-life TL is shaped by effects of growth, weather conditions and population density, supporting that environmental stressors negatively affect TL in wild populations. In addition, TL may be a mediator or biomarker of individual pace-of-life, with higher dispersal rates and annual reproduction tending to be associated with shorter early-life TL in this study. However, clear associations between early-life TL and individual fitness seems difficult to establish and may differ between different populations in the wild.

Pain, disease severity and associations with individual quality of life in patients with motor neuron diseases

Background Up to 85% of people with motor neuron disease (MND) report pain, but whether pain has negative impact on quality of life is unclear. The aim was to study associations between pain, disease severity and individual quality of life (IQOL) in patients with MND. Methods In this cross sectional study, 61 patients were recruited from four multidisciplinary teams in Sweden, whereof 55 responded to the pain measure (The Brief Pain Inventory – Short form) and were included in the main analyses. Disease severity was measured with the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale - Revised Version, and individual quality of life was measured with a study-specific version of the Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life - Direct Weighting. Results Forty-one (74%) of the participants who answered BPI-SF (n = 55) reported pain. Thirty-nine (71%) of those reported pain during the past 24 h. The severity of pain was on average moderate, with eight participants (14%) reporting severe pain (PSI ≥ 7). Satisfaction with IQOL for the entire sample was good (scale 1-7, where 1 equals poor quality of life): median 5, interquartile range (IQR) 2.75 and there was no difference in satisfaction with IQOL between those reporting pain/not reporting pain (median 5, IQR 2/median 5, IQR 3.5, Mann-Whitney U = 249, p = 0.452). There was neither any correlation between pain severity and satisfaction with IQOL, nor between disease severity and satisfaction with IQOL. Conclusions The results add to the hypothesis that associations between non-motor symptoms such as pain prevalence and pain severity and IQOL in MND are weak. Pain prevalence was high and the results pointed to that some participants experienced high pain severity, which indicate that pain assessments and pain treatments tailored to the specific needs of the MND population should be developed and scientifically evaluated.

Development and genetics of red coloration in the zebrafish relative Danio albolineatus

Animal pigment patterns play important roles in behavior and, in many species, red coloration serves as an honest signal of individual quality in mate choice. Among Danio fishes, some species develop erythrophores, pigment cells that contain red ketocarotenoids, whereas other species, like zebrafish (D. rerio) only have yellow xanthophores. Here, we use pearl danio (D. albolineatus) to assess the developmental origin of erythrophores and their mechanisms of differentiation. We show that erythrophores in the fin of D. albolineatus share a common progenitor with xanthophores and maintain plasticity in cell fate even after differentiation. We further identify the predominant ketocarotenoids that confer red coloration to erythrophores and use reverse genetics to pinpoint genes required for the differentiation and maintenance of these cells. Our analyses are a first step toward defining the mechanisms underlying the development of erythrophore-mediated red coloration in Danio and reveal striking parallels with the mechanism of red coloration in birds.

Psychological factors influencing motivation, cooperation, participation, satisfaction, self appraisal, and individual quality of life in adolescents and adults undergoing Orthodontic treatment

Introduction: To bring the best outcome from both the sides i.e. the orthodontist and the patient , it is of prime importance to understand certain psychological factors, and to treat every patient with an individualistic approach. The need was to study all such psychological factors and to find a method to deal with the same; to evaluate the psychological factors that influences the self appraisal and individual Quality of life. To compare psychological factor affecting the self appraisal and individual quality of life before treatment and after treatment, to study psychological factors of patients which influences the treatment outcome and to find a method to manage them. Materials and Method: This In-vivo study, includes case study and survey. Two separate sets of questionnaires (before and after undergoing orthodontic treatment) were given to patients. The study also included psychological test scales like OHIP-14 and 12-CSES. The sample size of patient was 150. Result: The study revealed that esthetics (95%) is the main concern for getting treatment especially for female (56%). There is improvement in OHIP and CSES (interval of 12.63, 14.66) score of patients before and after treatment. Patients’ satisfaction (94.7%) increases on having healthy orthodontist-patient relationship. Conclusion: Esthetics is the main concern. Most patients wants improvement in smile. Lack of awareness and lack of financial supports is the main reason for delay in getting treatment. The main discomfort about the treatment reported by participants was pain after activation appointments, ulcers and change in food eating habit. The orthodontic therapy improves confidence, satisfaction, individuals’ appraisal and quality of life. There were no variations in response for patients’ satisfaction by gender, age, education or by treatment duration.

Consistent differences among individuals more influential than energetic trade-offs in life history variation in grey seals (Halichoerus grypus)

Life history variation is thought to be mainly a result of energetic trade-offs among fitness components; however, detecting these trade-offs in natural populations has yielded mixed results. Individual quality and environmental variation may mask expected relationships among fitness components because some higher quality individuals may be able to acquire more resources and invest more in all functions. Thus, life history variation may be more affected by variation in individual quality than varying strategies to resolve energetic trade-offs, e.g. costs of reproduction. Here, we investigated whether variation in female quality or costs of reproduction is a larger factor in shaping differences in life history trajectories by assessing the relationship between survival and individual reproductive performance using a 32-year longitudinal data set of repeated reproductive measurements from 273 individually marked, known-aged female grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) from the Sable Island breeding colony. We defined individual reproductive performance using two traits: reproductive frequency (a female's probability of breeding) and provisioning performance (provisions given to young measured by offspring mass), computed using mixed effects models separately for (1) all reproductive events, and (2) an age-class specific reproductive investment. Individual differences contributed a large portion of the variance in reproductive traits, with individuals displaying a range in individual reproductive frequencies from 0.45 to 0.94, and a range of average pup weaning masses from 34.9 kg to 61.8 kg across their lifetime. We used a Cormack-Jolly-Seber open-population model to estimate the effect of these reproductive performance traits on adult survival probability. Our approach estimated a positive relationship between reproductive performance and survival, where individuals that consistently invest well in their offspring survive longer. The best supported model estimated survival as a function of age-class specific provisioning performance, where late-life performance was quite variable and had the greatest impact on survival, possibly indicating individual variation in senescence. There was no evidence to support a trade-off in reproductive performance and survival at the individual level. These results suggest that in grey seals, individual quality is a stronger driver in life history variation than varying strategies to mitigate trade-offs among fitness components.

Quality of life among relatives of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A prospective and longitudinal study

Objective Relatives are often central in caring for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), involving considerable physical, emotional, and social challenges. The aim of this study was to describe individual quality of life (iQoL) among relatives of patients with ALS, from diagnosis through disease progression. Method A total of 31 relatives were included. Data collection was performed at five time points: 1–3 months after their relatives had been diagnosed with ALS and every 6 months for 2 years. Quality of life was determined using the Schedule of Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life — Direct Weighting (SEIQoL-DW), emotional distress with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the illness severity of the patients was determined with the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale (ALS FRS-R). Results The SEIQoL-DW involves participants nominating the important life areas. The most nominated areas were family, friends, health, and leisure. Although most relatives had overall good and stable iQoL, several had scores indicating poor iQoL on some occasions during the disease trajectory. The relatives’ iQoL correlated with emotional well-being and the patient's physical function at different time points. Significant of result Social relations, emotional well-being, and rapid decline in the patient's physical function influence the relatives’ iQoL. Measuring both emotional well-being and iQoL, with a focus on the relatives’ own descriptions of perceived iQoL and those factors contributing to their iQoL during the disease trajectory may improve the possibility of identifying and supporting those relatives with poor iQoL.