Positive psychology is the study of what is "right" about people-their positive attributes, psychological assets, and strengths. Its aim is to understand and foster the factors that allow ...individuals, communities, and societies to thrive. Cross-sectional, experimental, and longitudinal research demonstrates that positive emotions are associated with numerous benefits related to health, work, family, and economic status. Growing biomedical research supports the view that positive emotions are not merely the opposite of negative emotions but may be independent dimensions of mental affect. The asset-based paradigms of positive psychology offer new approaches for bolstering psychological resilience and promoting mental health. Ultimately, greater synergy between positive psychology and public health might help promote mental health in innovative ways.
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CEKLJ, FSPLJ, ODKLJ, UL, VSZLJ
Objective
To examine the form of the relationship between sleep duration and anthropometric measures and possible differences in these relationships by gender and race or ethnicity.
Design and ...Methods
Data for 13,742 participants aged ≥20 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005‐2010 were used. Sleep duration was categorized as ≤6 (short sleepers), 7‐9, and ≥10 hours (long sleepers).
Results
Short sleepers were as much as 1.7 kg/m2 (SE 0.4) heavier and had 3.4 cm (SE 1.0) more girth than long sleepers. Among participants without depression or a diagnosed sleep disorder, sleep duration was significantly associated with body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference in an inverse linear association in the entire sample, men, women, whites, African Americans, and participants aged 20‐39 years. No evidence for statistical interaction by gender and race or ethnicity was observed. Regression coefficients were notably stronger among adults aged 20‐39 years. Compared to participants who reported sleeping 7‐9 hours per night, short sleepers were more likely to be obese and have abdominal obesity.
Conclusions
In this nationally representative sample of US adults, an inverse linear association most consistently characterized the association between sleep duration and BMI and waist circumference.
Many writers have sought to outline Wesley’s conception of how human beings obtain revelational knowledge. In this regard, the use of what has been dubbed the Wesleyan quadrilateral continues to ...remain widespread in both the academy and the pulpit. However, this presentation of Wesley’s thought has received severe criticism from the late William Abraham, philosopher of religion and Methodist commentator. He has proposed the creation of a new subdiscipline in epistemology for examining theology. This view has prompted a handful of attempts to extrapolate John Wesley’s epistemology of theology from his various writings. The present essay will contribute to this discussion by examining Wesley’s approach to these questions. In doing so, it explores mainly the function and place of nature in Wesley’s theological reflections. Drawing mainly upon Wesley’s A View of the Wisdom of God in Creation (1763), this essay shows that the natural world (read: creation) played an important, neglected role in Wesley’s epistemology of theology.Contribution This article contributes to a new subdiscipline in epistemology for examining theology by presenting a new perspective on John Wesley by exploring the role of nature in his thought. Offering an epistemological–theological interpretation of John Wesley, this article fits well within the scope of HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, particularly this subsection.
Purpose
Our study assesses the relationships between self-reported adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) (including sexual, physical, or verbal abuse, along with household dysfunction including ...parental separation or divorce, domestic violence, mental illness, substance abuse, or incarcerated household member) and unemployment status in five US states in 2009.
Methods
We examined these relationships using the 2009 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey data from 17,469 respondents (aged 18–64 years) who resided in five states, completed the ACE Questionnaire, and provided socio-demographic and social support information. We also assessed the mediation of these relationships by respondents’ educational attainment, marital status, and social support.
Results
About two-third of respondents reported having had at least one ACEs, while 15.1 % of men and 19.3 % of women reported having had ≥4 ACEs. Among both men and women, the unemployment rate in 2009 was significantly higher among those who reported having had any ACE than among those who reported no ACEs (
p
< 0.05). Educational attainment, marital status, and social support mediated the relationship between ACEs and unemployment, particularly among women.
Conclusions
ACEs appear to be associated with increased risk for unemployment among men and women. Further studies may be needed to better understand how education, marital status, and social support mediate the association between multiple ACEs and unemployment.
Background: Research examining the association between childhood abuse and depressive disorders has frequently assessed abuse categorically, thus not permitting discernment of the cumulative impact ...of multiple types of abuse. As previous research has documented that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are highly interrelated, we examined the association between the number of such experiences (ACE score) and the risk of depressive disorders.
Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 9460 adult health maintenance organization members in a primary care clinic in San Diego, CA who completed a survey addressing a variety of health-related concerns, which included standardized assessments of lifetime and recent depressive disorders, childhood abuse and household dysfunction.
Results: Lifetime prevalence of depressive disorders was 23%. Childhood emotional abuse increased risk for lifetime depressive disorders, with adjusted odds ratios (ORs) of 2.7 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.3–3.2 in women and 2.5 (95% CI, 1.9–3.2) in men. We found a strong, dose–response relationship between the ACE score and the probability of lifetime and recent depressive disorders (
P<0.0001). This relationship was attenuated slightly when a history of growing up with a mentally ill household member was included in the model, but remained significant (
P<0.001).
Conclusions: The number of ACEs has a graded relationship to both lifetime and recent depressive disorders. These results suggest that exposure to ACEs is associated with increased risk of depressive disorders up to decades after their occurrence. Early recognition of childhood abuse and appropriate intervention may thus play an important role in the prevention of depressive disorders throughout the life span.
Biotic interactions have been considered as an important factor to be included in species distribution modelling, but little is known about how different types of interaction or different strategies ...for modelling affect model performance. is study compares different methods for including interspecific interactions in distribution models for bees, their brood parasites, and the plants they pollinate. Host–parasite interactions among bumble bees (genus Bombus: generalist pol-linators and brood parasites) and specialist plant–pollinator interactions between Centris bees and Krameria flowers were used as case studies. We used 7 different modelling algorithms available in the BIOMOD R package. For Bombus, the inclusion of interacting species distributions generally increased model predictive accuracy. The improvement was better when the interacting species was included with its raw distribution rather than with its modeled suitability. However, incorporating the distributions of non-interacting species sometimes resulted in similarly increased model accuracy despite their being no significance of any interaction for the distribution. For the Centris-Krameria system the best strategy for modelling biotic interactions was to include the interacting species model-predicted values. However, the results were less consistent than those for Bombus species, and most models including biotic interactions showed no significant improvement over abiotic models. Our results are consistent with previous studies showing that biotic interactions can be important in structuring species distributions at regional scales. However, correlations between species distributions are not necessarily indicative of interactions.Therefore, choosing the correct biotic information, based on biological and ecological knowledge, is critical to improve the accuracy of species distribution models and forecast distribution change.
To determine if symptoms of sleep disordered breathing (SDB) are associated with depression symptomology in a national sample.
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
U.S., 2005-2008.
9,714 ...adults (≥ 18 years).
Respondents were asked about frequency of snoring and snorting, gasping, or stopping breathing while asleep and completed the PHQ-9 (a 9-item depression screener). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for SDB symptom-associated probable major depression (defined as a PHQ-9 score ≥ 10) were obtained from sex-specific logistic regression analyses adjusted for body mass index, age, race/ethnicity, and education.
Among men, 6.0% reported physician-diagnosed sleep apnea, 37.2% snored ≥ 5 nights/week, 7.1% snorted/stopped breathing ≥ 5 nights/week, and 5.0% had PHQ-9 scores ≥ 10. Among women, 3.1% reported sleep apnea, 22.4% snored ≥ 5 nights/week, 4.3% snorted/stopped breathing ≥ 5 nights/week, and 8.4% had PHQ-9 scores ≥ 10. Sleep apnea was associated with probable major depression (OR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.5, 3.6 among men; OR = 5.2; 95% CI: 2.7, 9.9 among women). Snoring was not associated with depression symptoms in men or women. Snorting/stopping breathing ≥ 5 nights/week compared to never was strongly associated with probable major depression in men (OR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.8, 5.2) and women (OR = 3.0; 95% CI: 1.6, 5.4).
Frequent snorting/stopping breathing was associated with probable major depression by the PHQ-9 in a national sample of adults. Additional research may be needed to determine whether regular screening for these conditions by mental health professionals and sleep specialists should be recommended.
Biological invasions are a major driver of global change, for which models can attribute causes, assess impacts and guide management. However, invasion models typically focus on spread from known ...introduction points or non‐native distributions and ignore the transport processes by which species arrive. Here, we developed a simulation model to understand and describe plant invasion at a continental scale, integrating repeated transport through trade pathways, unintentional release events and the population dynamics and local anthropogenic dispersal that drive subsequent spread. We used the model to simulate the invasion of Europe by common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), a globally invasive plant that causes serious harm as an aeroallergen and crop weed. Simulations starting in 1950 accurately reproduced ragweed's current distribution, including the presence of records in climatically unsuitable areas as a result of repeated introduction. Furthermore, the model outputs were strongly correlated with spatial and temporal patterns of ragweed pollen concentrations, which are fully independent of the calibration data. The model suggests that recent trends for warmer summers and increased volumes of international trade have accelerated the ragweed invasion. For the latter, long distance dispersal because of trade within the invaded continent is highlighted as a key invasion process, in addition to import from the native range. Biosecurity simulations, whereby transport through trade pathways is halted, showed that effective control is only achieved by early action targeting all relevant pathways. We conclude that invasion models would benefit from integrating introduction processes (transport and release) with spread dynamics, to better represent propagule pressure from native sources as well as mechanisms for long‐distance dispersal within invaded continents. Ultimately, such integration may facilitate better prediction of spatial and temporal variation in invasion risk and provide useful guidance for management strategies to reduce the impacts of invasion.
Human cytomegalovirus uses a variety of mechanisms to evade immune recognition through major histocompatibility complex class I molecules. One mechanism mediated by the immunoevasin protein US2 ...causes rapid disposal of newly synthesized class I molecules by the endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation pathway. Although several components of this degradation pathway have been identified, there are still questions concerning how US2 targets class I molecules for degradation. In this study we identify cyclophilin C, a peptidyl prolyl isomerase of the endoplasmic reticulum, as a component of US2-mediated immune evasion. Cyclophilin C could be co-isolated with US2 and with the class I molecule HLA-A2. Furthermore, it was required at a particular expression level since depletion or overexpression of cyclophilin C impaired the degradation of class I molecules. To better characterize the involvement of cyclophilin C in class I degradation, we used LC-MS/MS to detect US2-interacting proteins that were influenced by cyclophilin C expression levels. We identified malectin, PDIA6, and TMEM33 as proteins that increased in association with US2 upon cyclophilin C knockdown. In subsequent validation all were shown to play a functional role in US2 degradation of class I molecules. This was specific to US2 rather than general ER-associated degradation since depletion of these proteins did not impede the degradation of a misfolded substrate, the null Hong Kong variant of α1-antitrypsin.
Summary
Pollinator network structure arising from the extent and strength of interspecific mutualistic interactions can promote species persistence and community robustness. However, environmental ...change may re‐organise network structure limiting capacity to absorb or resist shocks and increasing species extinctions.
We investigated if habitat disturbance and the level of mutualism dependence between species affected the robustness of insect–flower visitation networks Following a recently developed Stochastic Co‐extinction Model (SCM), we ran simulations to produce the number of extinction episodes (cascade degree), which we correlated with network structure in undisturbed and disturbed habitat. We also explicitly modelled whether a species’ intrinsic dependence on mutualism affected the propensity for extinction cascades in the network.
Habitat disturbance generated a gradient in network structure with those from disturbed sites being less connected, but more speciose and so larger. Controlling for network size (z‐score standardisation against the null model) revealed that disturbed networks had disproportionately low linkage density, high specialisation, fewer insect visitors per plant species (vulnerability) and lower nestedness (NODF).
This network structure gradient driven by disturbance increased and decreased different aspects of robustness to simulated plant extinction. Disturbance decreased the risk that an initial insect extinction would follow a plant species loss. Although, this effect disappeared when network size and connectance were standardised, suggesting the lower connectance of disturbed networks increased robustness to an initial secondary extinction.
However, if a secondary extinction occurred then networks from disturbed habitat were more prone to large co‐extinction cascades, likely resulting from a greater chance of extinction in these larger, speciose networks. Conversely, when species mutualism dependency was explicit in the SCM simulations the disturbed networks were disproportionately more robust to very large co‐extinction cascades, potentially caused by non‐random patterns of interaction between species differing in dependence on mutualism.
Our results showed disturbance altered the size and the distribution of interspecific interactions in the networks to affect their robustness to co‐extinction cascades. Controlling for effects due to network size and the interspecific variation in demographic dependence on mutualism can improve insight into properties conferring the structural robustness of networks to environmental changes.
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