Combining primary survey data collected from a probability sample of U.S. advertising agencies and semi-structured interviews with advertising practitioners, I tested a novel link from class ...background to creative employment through a cultural process of matching people to jobs. Qualitative data show that shared culture, specifically "omnivorous"—diverse and inclusive—taste and socialization, signals creative potential to employers and motivates people to pursue creative positions. Structural equation modeling reveals that omnivorous socialization and taste mediate the relationship between class background and creative employment: when middle-class parents expose their children to diverse leisure activities, this exposure has a positive indirect effect on creative employment. It may not actually make those children more creative, but such exposure makes them more likely to enter fields in which they will be viewed as creative. The findings highlight a new direction for research on creativity, contribute to the debate on the role of cultural capital in occupational attainment, and extend knowledge on the early origins of career choice.
Background: Beneficial effects of vegetarian and vegan diets on health outcomes have been supposed in previous studies. Objectives: Aim of this study was to clarify the association between ...vegetarian, vegan diets, risk factors for chronic diseases, risk of all-cause mortality, incidence, and mortality from cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, total cancer and specific type of cancer (colorectal, breast, prostate and lung), through meta-analysis. Methods: A comprehensive search of Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, The Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar was conducted. Results: Eighty-six cross-sectional and 10 cohort prospective studies were included. The overall analysis among cross-sectional studies reported significant reduced levels of body mass index, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and glucose levels in vegetarians and vegans versus omnivores. With regard to prospective cohort studies, the analysis showed a significant reduced risk of incidence and/or mortality from ischemic heart disease (RR 0.75; 95% CI, 0.68 to 0.82) and incidence of total cancer (RR 0.92; 95% CI 0.87 to 0.98) but not of total cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, all-cause mortality and mortality from cancer. No significant association was evidenced when specific types of cancer were analyzed. The analysis conducted among vegans reported significant association with the risk of incidence from total cancer (RR 0.85; 95% CI, 0.75 to 0.95), despite obtained only in a limited number of studies. Conclusions: This comprehensive meta-analysis reports a significant protective effect of a vegetarian diet versus the incidence and/or mortality from ischemic heart disease (−25%) and incidence from total cancer (−8%). Vegan diet conferred a significant reduced risk (−15%) of incidence from total cancer.
Widespread contamination of microplastics may lead to internalization in fish. This literature review from March 2019 to March 2020 details that a median of 60% of fish, belonging to 198 species ...captured in 24 countries, contain microplastics in their organs. Carnivores species ingested more microplastics than omnivores. Only 14% of fish were from aquaculture. Most studies focused on digestive systems, with presence in other organs currently being insufficiently assessed. Based on this assessment, knowledge gaps that should be addressed in future studies were identified.
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•Literature review from March 2019 to March 2020•Globally, 60% of fish contained microplastics.•No geographical differences in concentrations and fish (%) with microplastics•Carnivores had more microplastics than omnivores.
Soil micro-food webs play an important role in ecosystem functions through energy flow; they are strongly influenced by land use types. Previous studies have typically utilized the space-for-time ...substitution or single-time sampling method to reflect the land-use change effects by comparing differences among existing land-use types. These methods would increase random error. Research on how synchronized land-use change (starting at the same time and place) influences soil ecological processes and functions is urgently needed. Based on a controlled field experiment and seven years of observations, this study explored the effects of land-use change from natural shrubland to cropland (maize), forage land (tall-grass forage), and economic forest land (walnut plantation) on the community structure and energy dynamics of the soil micro-food webs. Cropland simplified the complexity of the soil food webs compared to the other three land-uses. Forage grassland maintained the highest biomasses of soil total microbes, fungi, and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In addition, economic forest land improved the flow uniformity of the micro-food web by increasing energy transfer from resources to bacterivores, fungivores, and herbivores while decreasing herbivore energy flow to omnivores-predators. Omnivore abundance and nematode diversity were important predictors of total energy flux and flow uniformity of the soil micro-food webs, respectively. In addition, omnivores maintained the complexity of soil micro-food webs by promoting interactions among trophic groups through top-down control. Soil organisms are sensitive to the response of agricultural management and planting time, and it may take several years or more to reach a dynamic equilibrium. Different types and levels of ecosystem disturbance (e.g., tillage and no-tillage, fertilizer rates, aboveground biomass removal intensity) may be the major drivers of soil community during land use change. Our findings highlight the importance of conservation agriculture in maintaining soil food web structure and energy flow for future sustainable land uses, and that promoting omnivore abundance is essential for food web complexity and stability.
•High level of disturbance in maize cropland suppressed the soil biota and food web energy flow.•Omnivores enhance the soil micro-food web complexity by strengthening the interactions between trophic groups.•Omnivore abundance is good predictor of total energy flux through soil food webs.•Nematode diversity is good indicator of flow uniformity of soil food webs.•Conservation agriculture maintains soil biota and food web energy flow and is a sustainable land use type.
l-Carnitine, an abundant nutrient in red meat, accelerates atherosclerosis in mice via gut microbiota-dependent formation of trimethylamine (TMA) and trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) via a multistep ...pathway involving an atherogenic intermediate, γ-butyrobetaine (γBB). The contribution of γBB in gut microbiota-dependent l-carnitine metabolism in humans is unknown.
Omnivores and vegans/vegetarians ingested deuterium-labeled l-carnitine (d3-l-carnitine) or γBB (d9-γBB), and both plasma metabolites and fecal polymicrobial transformations were examined at baseline, following oral antibiotics, or following chronic (≥2 months) l-carnitine supplementation. Human fecal commensals capable of performing each step of the l-carnitine→γBB→TMA transformation were identified.
Studies with oral d3-l-carnitine or d9-γBB before versus after antibiotic exposure revealed gut microbiota contribution to the initial 2 steps in a metaorganismal l-carnitine→γBB→TMA→TMAO pathway in subjects. Moreover, a striking increase in d3-TMAO generation was observed in omnivores over vegans/vegetarians (>20-fold; P = 0.001) following oral d3-l-carnitine ingestion, whereas fasting endogenous plasma l-carnitine and γBB levels were similar in vegans/vegetarians (n = 32) versus omnivores (n = 40). Fecal metabolic transformation studies, and oral isotope tracer studies before versus after chronic l-carnitine supplementation, revealed that omnivores and vegans/vegetarians alike rapidly converted carnitine to γBB, whereas the second gut microbial transformation, γBB→TMA, was diet inducible (l-carnitine, omnivorous). Extensive anaerobic subculturing of human feces identified no single commensal capable of l-carnitine→TMA transformation, multiple community members that converted l-carnitine to γBB, and only 1 Clostridiales bacterium, Emergencia timonensis, that converted γBB to TMA. In coculture, E. timonensis promoted the complete l-carnitine→TMA transformation.
In humans, dietary l-carnitine is converted into the atherosclerosis- and thrombosis-promoting metabolite TMAO via 2 sequential gut microbiota-dependent transformations: (a) initial rapid generation of the atherogenic intermediate γBB, followed by (b) transformation into TMA via low-abundance microbiota in omnivores, and to a markedly lower extent, in vegans/vegetarians. Gut microbiota γBB→TMA/TMAO transformation is induced by omnivorous dietary patterns and chronic l-carnitine exposure.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01731236.
NIH and Office of Dietary Supplements grants HL103866, HL126827, and DK106000, and the Leducq Foundation.
Meat consumption is increasingly seen as unsustainable, unhealthy, and unethical. Understanding what factors help people reduce their meat intake is urgently needed. One such factor is meat disgust, ...a feeling reported by many vegetarians, and which could be a promising basis for meat reduction interventions. However, meat disgust and its impact on meat consumption is poorly understood. We examined meat disgust and its role in vegetarianism and reducing meat intake in a cross-sectional and longitudinal online study. We measured self-reported meat consumption, meat disgust (by self-report and Implicit Association Test), meat liking, self-control, and disgust sensitivity in N = 711 adults (57% omnivores, 28% flexitarians, 15% vegetarians) recruited from a community cohort. Results showed that 73% of vegetarians can be classified as ‘meat disgusted’, and that meat disgust predicted meat intake better than self-control in omnivores and flexitarians at baseline. Following up a sub-sample of participants (N = 197) after six months revealed that changes in meat intake over time were also associated with changes in meat disgust. This is the first study to quantify the impact of meat disgust on (changes in) meat consumption and its prevalence in the vegetarian and the general population. Our findings advance research into meat disgust and encourage the development of disgust-based interventions to reduce meat intake.
Evidence of declines in insect populations has recently received considerable scientific and societal attention. However, the lack of long‐term insect monitoring makes it difficult to assess whether ...declines are geographically widespread. By contrast, bird populations are well monitored and often used as indicators of environmental change. We compared the population trends of European insectivorous birds with those of other birds to assess whether patterns in bird population trends were consistent with declines of insects. We further examined whether declines were evident for insectivores with different habitats, foraging strata, and other ecological preferences. Bird population trends were estimated for Europe (1990–2015) and Denmark (1990–2016). On average, insectivores declined over the study period (13% across Europe and 28% in Denmark), whereas omnivores had stable populations. Seedeaters also declined (28% across Europe; 34% in Denmark), but this assessment was based on fewer species than for other groups. The effects of insectivory were stronger for farmland species (especially grassland species), for ground feeders, and for cold‐adapted species. Insectivory was associated with long‐distance migration, which was also linked to population declines. However, many insectivores had stable populations, especially habitat generalists. Our findings suggest that the decline of insectivores is primarily associated with agricultural intensification and loss of grassland habitat. The loss of both seed and insect specialists indicates an overall trend toward bird communities dominated by diet generalists.
Declinaciones a Largo Plazo de Poblaciones de Aves Insectívoras en Europa y las Causas Probables
Resumen
La evidencia de las declinaciones poblacionales de insectos ha recibido recientemente una atención considerable por parte de la comunidad científica y la sociedad. Sin embargo, la falta de un monitoreo prolongado de los insectos complica valorar si estas declinaciones tienen una distribución extensa geográficamente. Como contraste, las poblaciones de aves tienen un monitoreo constante y con frecuencia se usan como indicadores del cambio climático. Comparamos las tendencias poblacionales de las aves insectívoras de Europa con las de otras aves para valorar si los patrones en las tendencias poblacionales de aves son consistentes con las declinaciones de insectos. Además examinamos si las declinaciones eran evidentes para aves insectívoras con diferentes hábitats, estratos de alimentación, y otras preferencias ecológicas. Las tendencias poblacionales de las aves se estimaron para Europa (1990 – 2015) y para Dinamarca (1990 – 2016). En promedio, las aves insectívoras declinaron a lo largo del periodo de estudio (13% en Europa y 28% en Dinamarca) mientras que las aves omnívoras tuvieron poblaciones estables. Las poblaciones de aves que se alimentan de semillas también declinaron (28% en Europa; 34% en Dinamarca), pero esta valoración se basó en menos especies que para los otros grupos. Los efectos de la insectivoría fueron más evidentes para las especies de tierras agrícolas (especialmente las especies de pastizales), para las especies que se alimentan sobre el suelo y para las especies adaptadas al frío. La insectivoría estuvo asociada con la migración de larga distancia, la cual también estuvo ligada a las declinaciones poblacionales. Sin embargo, muchas aves insectívoras tuvieron poblaciones estables, especialmente aquellas generalistas de hábitat. Nuestros hallazgos sugieren que la declinación de las aves insectívoras está asociada principalmente con la intensificación agrícola y la pérdida de pastizales. La pérdida de aves cuya alimentación es especialista en insectos o en semillas indica una tendencia general hacia comunidades de aves dominadas por aquellas con dietas generalistas.
Article impact statement: Insectivorous bird populations have declined across Europe, whereas omnivorous birds have not.
Species' ranges are shifting globally in response to climate warming, with substantial variability among taxa, even within regions. Relationships between range dynamics and intrinsic species traits ...may be particularly apparent in the ocean, where temperature more directly shapes species' distributions. Here, we test for a role of species traits and climate velocity in driving range extensions in the ocean‐warming hotspot of southeast Australia. Climate velocity explained some variation in range shifts, however, including species traits more than doubled the variation explained. Swimming ability, omnivory and latitudinal range size all had positive relationships with range extension rate, supporting hypotheses that increased dispersal capacity and ecological generalism promote extensions. We find independent support for the hypothesis that species with narrow latitudinal ranges are limited by factors other than climate. Our findings suggest that small‐ranging species are in double jeopardy, with limited ability to escape warming and greater intrinsic vulnerability to stochastic disturbances.
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