The strength of sexual selection on secondary sexual traits varies depending on prevailing economic and ecological conditions. In humans, cross-cultural evidence suggests women's preferences for ...men's testosterone dependent masculine facial traits are stronger under conditions where health is compromised, male mortality rates are higher and economic development is higher. Here we use a sample of 4483 exclusively heterosexual women from 34 countries and employ mixed effects modelling to test how social, ecological and economic variables predict women's facial masculinity preferences. We report women's preferences for more masculine looking men are stronger in countries with higher sociosexuality and where national health indices and human development indices are higher, while no associations were found between preferences and indices of intra-sexual competition. Our results show that women's preferences for masculine faces are stronger under conditions where offspring survival is higher and economic conditions are more favorable.
Abstract Primary immunodeficiencies (PID) are genetic diseases that affect the immune system and for the last 20 years, the Latin American Society for Immunodeficiencies (LASID) has been promoting ...initiatives in awareness, research, diagnosis, and treatment for the affected patients in Latin America. These initiatives have resulted in the development of programmes such as the LASID Registry (with 4900 patients registered as of January 2014), fellowships in basic and clinical research, PID summer schools, biannual meetings, and scientific reports, amongst others. These achievements highlight the critical role that LASID plays as a scientific organisation in promoting science, research and education in this field in Latin America. However, challenges remain in some of these areas and the Society must envision additional strategies to tackle them for the benefit of the patients. In June 2013, a group of experts in the field met to discuss the contributions of LASID to the initiatives of PID in Latin America, and this article summarises the current state and future perspectives of this society and its role in the advance of PIDs in Latin America.
Biofouling represents an important limitation in photobioreactor cultures. The biofouling propensity of different materials (polystyrene, borosilicate glass, polymethyl methacrylate, and polyethylene ...terephthalate glycol‐modified) and coatings (two spray‐applied and nanoparticle‐based superhydrophobic coatings and a hydrogel‐based fouling release coating) was evaluated by means of a short‐term protein test, using bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a model protein, and by the long‐term culture of the marine microalga Nannochloropsis gaditana under practical conditions. The results from both methods were similar, confirming that the BSA test predicts microalgal biofouling on surfaces exposed to microalgae cultures whose cells secrete macromolecules, such as proteins, with a high capacity for forming a conditioning film before cell adhesion. The hydrogel‐based coating showed significantly reduced BSA and N. gaditana adhesion, whereas the other surfaces failed to control biofouling. Microalgal biofouling was associated with an increased concentration of sticky extracellular proteins at low N/P ratios (below 15).
The present work focuses on the development of bimetallic Au–Cu catalyst supported on CeO₂ for the oxygen-assisted water-gas-shift (OWGS) reaction. Au–CuO/CeO₂ catalyst with Au loadings of 0.5, 1 and ...1.5wt.% and Cu loadings of 7, 11 and 20wt.% were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. The as-prepared catalysts were characterized by means of XRD, BET, and a set of temperature programmed methods. The catalysts activity was evaluated in CO-PROX, WGS and OWGS reactions. For WGS reaction the gold addition did not improve the activity of the better 7% CuO/CeO₂ catalyst. Addition of 1% of gold to CuO/CeO₂ improved the catalyst activity in CO-PROX and widened the operation window. Either with λ=1 and 2, complete CO conversion is achieved at low temperature, usually below 120°C, with high selectivities with all gold-containing catalysts. When small oxygen amount is added to the WGS mixture, the activities of all the catalysts tested were improved in terms of CO conversion, particularly catalysts containing both Au and CuO, although parallel hydrogen oxidation also is slightly improved. Catalyst with 1% Au and 7% CuO supported on ceria achieves almost equilibrium CO conversion at 220°C when O₂/CO=0.5 is added to the feedstream.
Objective
To evaluate whether maintenance treatment with vaginal progesterone after an arrested preterm labour reduces the incidence of preterm delivery.
Design
Multicentre, randomised, double‐blind, ...placebo‐controlled trial.
Setting
Twelve tertiary care centres in Spain.
Population
A total of 265 women with singleton pregnancy, preterm labour successfully arrested with tocolytic treatment, and cervical length of <25 mm.
Methods
Randomisation was stratified by gestational age (from 24.0 to <31.0 weeks of gestation and from 31.0 to <34.0 weeks of gestation) and centre. Patients were randomly assigned, in a 1 : 1 ratio, to either daily vaginal capsules of 200 mg progesterone or placebo until delivery or 36.6 weeks of gestation, whichever occurred first.
Main outcome measures
Primary outcome was delivery before 34.0 and 37.0 weeks of gestation. Secondary outcomes were discharge‐to‐delivery time, readmissions because of preterm labour, emergency service use, and neonatal morbidity and mortality.
Results
From June 2008 through June 2012, 1419 women were screened: 472 met the inclusion criteria and 265 were randomised. The final analysis included 258 women: 126 in the progesterone group and 132 in the placebo group. There were no significant differences between the progesterone and placebo groups in terms of delivery at <34 weeks of gestation 9/126 (7.1%) versus 10/132 (7.6%), P = 0.91 or <37 weeks of gestation 36/126 (28.6%) versus 29/132 (22.0%), P = 0.22. There were no differences observed between groups when considering the two strata of gestational age at inclusion.
Conclusions
A maintenance treatment of 200 mg of daily vaginal progesterone capsules in women discharged home after an episode of arrested preterm labour did not significantly reduce the rate of preterm delivery.
Tweetable
Maintenance progesterone in 258 women after arrested PTL showed no benefit.
Tweetable
Maintenance progesterone in 258 women after arrested PTL showed no benefit.
Calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystal deposition disease (CPPD) is an inflammatory arthritis produced by the deposition of calcium pyrophosphate (CPP) crystals in the synovium and periarticular ...soft tissues. It is the third most common inflammatory arthritis. Diagnosis is suspected on the basis of the clinical picture and radiographic/laboratory findings. The reference standard for the diagnosis of CPPD is based on the identification of CPP crystals in synovial fluid by light microscopy, compensated polarized light microscopy, or phase contrast microscopy. Most treatment approaches for CPPD are based upon clinical experience and not upon controlled trials. They range - depending on the subtype and the characteristics of symptoms - from no treatment to interleukin-1 blockade antibodies or specific therapy for an underlying disease. This review summarizes all we know so far about the diagnosis and management of CPPD.
Background and purpose
X‐linked dystonia‐parkinsonism (XDP) is an inherited neurodegenerative adult‐onset movement disorder associated with striatal atrophy. As the dopaminergic system has not yet ...been systemically studied in this basal ganglia model disease, it is unclear whether nigrostriatal dysfunction contributes to parkinsonism in XDP.
Methods
Pre‐ and post‐synaptic dopaminergic function was assessed in XDP. A total of 10 123jod‐benzamide (IBZM) single‐photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images were obtained for nine patients aged 42.3 ± 9.5 years (SD; range 30–52) and one asymptomatic mutation carrier (38 years), and four ioflupane (FP‐CIT) SPECT images were obtained for four patients, aged 41.5 ± 11.6 years (range 30–52 years). Structural magnetic resonance imaging was also performed for all mutation carriers and 10 matched healthy controls.
Results
All patients were men who suffered from severe, disabling segmental or generalized dystonia and had varying degrees of parkinsonism. IBZM SPECT images were pathological in 8/9 symptomatic patients with distinct reduced post‐synaptic tracer uptake in the caudate nucleus and putamen, and unremarkable in the asymptomatic mutation carrier. Longer disease duration was correlated with lower IBZM binding ratios. All subjects exhibited slightly reduced FP‐CIT uptake values compared to controls for each analyzed region (−37% to −41%) which may be linked to basal ganglia volume loss. Visual inspection revealed physiological FP‐CIT uptake in 1/4 patients.
Conclusions
This nuclear imaging study provides evidence that the functional decline of post‐synaptic dopaminergic neurotransmission is related to disease duration and ongoing neurodegeneration. Given the severe striatal cell loss which could be verified with post‐synaptic nuclear imaging, both parkinsonism and dystonia in XDP are probably mainly due to striatal dysfunction.
Issues like why students felt far from physics and did not choose physics as their prime learning option are familiar in education. This paper aims to study the effectiveness of the ...STEM-Project-Based learning module in physics on students' personal interest and sense-making and effort. This research used the quasi-experimental model, employing a two-group pre-survey-post-survey design. Quantitative data were collected using the Colorado Learning Attitude about Science Survey (CLASS) instrument at two selected schools in Sabah, Malaysia, and Seoul, Korea. The sample size was 88 Form 4 students in Malaysia and 66 second-year high school students in Korea who learned classical mechanics. The students were divided into two groups, respectively, i.e., the experimental group (Malaysia=44, Korea=33) and the control group (Malaysia=44, Korea=33). Participants in the experimental group were intervened with the integrated STEM-PBL physics module, whilst participants in the control group learned physics through a conventional approach for eight weeks. Participants in both groups were then administered a pre-survey before and post-survey after the intervention. This research showed that the integrated STEM-PBL physics module significantly improved students' personal interest, and sense-making and effort after the intervention. The paper also highlighted the research's implications and suggestions.
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