Predicting the work ability of security guards at a university in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, Thailand.

Objectives. The number of security guards in universities has increased significantly. This study aimed to predict work ability of university security guards. Methods. A cross-sectional study of 97 university security guards in Thailand was performed. Data were collected through interviews using a questionnaire covering social demographics, behavioral health and work ability. The data were analyzed using χ2 tests and logistic regression models. Results. The average work ability index (WAI) score was 38.1 ± 3.8, with 65.0% of participants scoring 'good'. Social support significantly influenced the WAI (p = 0.004). Those with insufficient support were 4.3 times more likely to show poor work ability. Mental health also impacted the WAI (p = 0.006); those with poor mental health were 4.7 times at risk. Additionally, work experience affected the WAI (p = 0.039). Those with ≥5 years of experience showed reduced work ability compared to their less-experienced counterparts (adjusted odds ratio 0.4; 95% confidence interval [0.20, 0.96]). Conclusions. Supervisors should provide social support and offer rewards and commendations to enhance employees' abilities, health behaviors and management of underlying diseases. Additionally, organizations should prioritize health and safety in the workplace to ensure their employees are healthier and perform their tasks more effectively.

Molecular signatures of alternative reproductive strategies in a facultatively social hover wasp.

Social insect reproductives and non-reproductives represent ideal models with which to understand the expression and regulation of alternative phenotypes. Most research in this area has focused on the developmental regulation of reproductive phenotypes in obligately social taxa such as honey bees, while relatively few studies have addressed the molecular correlates of reproductive differentiation in species in which the division of reproductive labour is established only in plastic dominance hierarchies. To address this knowledge gap, we generate the first genome for any stenogastrine wasp and analyse brain transcriptomic data for non-reproductives and reproductives of the facultatively social species Liostenogaster flavolineata, a representative of one of the simplest forms of social living. By experimentally manipulating the reproductive 'queues' exhibited by social colonies of this species, we show that reproductive division of labour in this species is associated with transcriptomic signatures that are more subtle and variable than those observed in social taxa in which colony living has become obligate; that variation in gene expression among non-reproductives reflects their investment into foraging effort more than their social rank; and that genes associated with reproductive division of labour overlap to some extent with those underlying division of labour in the separate polistine origin of wasp sociality but only explain a small portion of overall variation in this trait. These results indicate that broad patterns of within-colony transcriptomic differentiation in this species are similar to those in Polistinae but offer little support for the existence of a strongly conserved 'toolkit' for sociality.

DRD4 allele frequencies in greylag geese vary between urban and rural sites.

With the increasing urbanization of the last decades, more and more bird species occur in urban habitats. Birds which thrive in urban habitats often have a higher tolerance toward human disturbance and show behaviors which differ from their rural counterparts. There is increasing evidence that many behaviors have a genetic basis. One candidate gene is the dopamine receptor D4 (DRD4), which has been associated with fear and thus, flight initiation distance (FID). In this study, we analyzed a segment of DRD4 in greylag geese Anser anser, describing the variability of this gene across several geographically distant populations, and comparing its variability between an urban and a rural site in south-west Germany. We additionally measured FIDs of urban and rural geese to test for a possible correlation with DRD4 genotypes. We found a high variation within DRD4, with 10 variable sites leading to 11 alleles and 35 genotypes. Two genotypes occurred in 60% of all geese and were thus defined as common genotypes versus 33 rare genotypes. Population differentiation was very low between the urban and rural sites in Germany but common genotypes occurred more often in the urban area and rare genotypes more often in the rural area. FID was significantly higher at the rural site, but no significant correlation between FID and DRD4 genotypes could be detected. Nevertheless, our results suggest that local site selection may be related to DRD4 genotypes.

A complete absence of indirect genetic effects on brain gene expression in a highly social context.

Genes not only control traits of their carrier organism (known as direct genetic effects or DGEs) but also shape their carrier's physical environment and the phenotypes of their carrier's social partners (known as indirect genetic effects or IGEs). Theoretical research has shown that the effects that genes exert on social partners can have profound consequences, potentially altering heritability and the direction of trait evolution. Complementary empirical research has shown that in various contexts (particularly in animal agriculture) IGEs can explain a large proportion of variation in specific traits. However, little is known about the general prevalence of IGEs. We conducted a reciprocal cross-fostering experiment with two genetic lineages of the clonal raider ant Ooceraea biroi to quantify the relative contribution of DGEs and IGEs to variation in brain gene expression (which underlies behavioural variation). We found that thousands of genes are differentially expressed by DGEs but not a single gene is differentially expressed by IGEs. This is surprising given the highly social context of ant colonies and given that individual behaviour varies according to the genotypic composition of the social environment in O. biroi. Overall, these findings indicate that we have a lot to learn about how the magnitude of IGEs varies across species and contexts.

Emotion regulation, emotionality, and expression of emotions: A link between social skills, behavior, and emotion problems in children with ASD and their peers.

This study aimed to investigate differences between emotion regulation (ER), emotionality, and expression of emotions in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their typically developing (TD) peers; and to examine the potential links between these areas of development with social skills in both groups, as well as with behavioral, emotional, and social problems in ASD. Forty-four children (40 males and 4 females, ages 3 to 7 years) with ASD (n = 22) and their TD peers (n = 22) were included in this study. Mothers reported about their children's ASD symptoms, social, emotional, and behavioral functioning. As predicted, children with ASD were described as showing decreased ER, increased emotionality, and decreased expression of emotions when compared to their TD peers. Moreover, in the ASD group, increased social skills were associated with enhanced ER and increased expression of emotions; and in the TD group, increased social skills were correlated with decreased emotionality. Finally, enhanced ER was linked to decreased peer problems, and increased prosocial behaviors; and decreased emotionality was linked to decreased behavior and emotional problems in the ASD group. Implications for further research are discussed.

U.S. county level analysis to determine If social distancing slowed the spread of COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the effectiveness of social distancing in the United States (U.S.). METHODS: A novel cell-phone ping data was used to quantify the measures of social distancing by all U.S. counties. RESULTS: Using a difference-in-difference approach results show that social distancing has been effective in slowing the spread of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: As policymakers face the very difficult question of the necessity and effectiveness of social distancing across the U.S., counties where the policies have been imposed have effectively increased social distancing and have seen slowing the spread of COVID-19. These results might help policymakers to make the public understand the risks and benefits of the lockdown.

OBJETIVO: Analizar la efectividad del distanciamiento social en los Estados Unidos. MÉTODOS: Se empleó un método novedoso de contacto con teléfonos celulares (ping) para cuantificar las medidas de distanciamiento social de todos los condados de EE.UU. RESULTADOS: Usando un enfoque de diferencia en diferencias los resultados indicaron que el distanciamiento social ha sido efectivo para reducir la propagación de la COVID-19. CONCLUSIONES: A medida que los responsables de la formulación de políticas se enfrentan a la muy difícil cuestión de la necesidad y la eficacia del distanciamiento social en Estados Unidos, los condados en los que se han impuesto las políticas han aumentado efectivamente el distanciamiento social y en ellos se ha enlentecido la propagación de la COVID-19. Estos resultados pueden ayudar a los responsables de las políticas a hacer comprender a la población los riesgos y beneficios de las restricciones.

Transitions in paternal social status predict patterns of offspring growth and metabolic transcription.

One type of parental effect occurs when changes in parental phenotype or environment trigger changes to offspring phenotype. Such nongenetic parental effects can be precisely triggered in response to an environmental cue in time-locked fashion, or in other cases, persist for multiple generations after the cue has been removed, suggesting multiple timescales of action. For parental effects to serve as reliable signals of current environmental conditions, they should be reversible, such that when cues change, offspring phenotypes change in accordance. Social hierarchy is a prevalent feature of the environment, and current parental social status could signal the environment in which offspring will be born. Here, we sought to address parental effects of social status and their timescale of action in mice. We show that territorial competition in seminatural environments affects offspring growth. Although dominant males are not heavier than nondominant or control males, they produce faster growing offspring, particularly sons. The timing, effect-size, and sex-specificity of this association are modulated by maternal social experience. We show that a change in paternal social status is sufficient to modulate offspring weight: from one breeding cycle to the next, status-ascending males produce heavier sons than before, and status-descending males produce lighter sons than before. Current paternal status is also highly predictive of liver transcription in sons, including molecular pathways controlling oxidative phosphorylation and iron metabolism. These results are consistent with a parental effect of social experience, although alternative explanations are considered. In summary, changes in paternal social status are associated with changes in offspring growth and metabolism.

U.S. county level analysis to determine If social distancing slowed the spread of COVID-19 / Análisis a nivel de condado para determinar si el distanciamiento social ralentizó la propagación de la COVID-19 en los Estados Unidos

ABSTRACT Objective. To analyze the effectiveness of social distancing in the United States (U.S.). Methods. A novel cell-phone ping data was used to quantify the measures of social distancing by all U.S. counties. Results. Using a difference-in-difference approach results show that social distancing has been effective in slowing the spread of COVID-19. Conclusions. As policymakers face the very difficult question of the necessity and effectiveness of social distancing across the U.S., counties where the policies have been imposed have effectively increased social distancing and have seen slowing the spread of COVID-19. These results might help policymakers to make the public understand the risks and benefits of the lockdown.(AU)

RESUMEN Objetivo. Analizar la efectividad del distanciamiento social en los Estados Unidos. Métodos. Se empleó un método novedoso de contacto con teléfonos celulares (ping) para cuantificar las medidas de distanciamiento social de todos los condados de EE.UU. Resultados. Usando un enfoque de diferencia en diferencias los resultados indicaron que el distanciamiento social ha sido efectivo para reducir la propagación de la COVID-19. Conclusiones. A medida que los responsables de la formulación de políticas se enfrentan a la muy difícil cuestión de la necesidad y la eficacia del distanciamiento social en Estados Unidos, los condados en los que se han impuesto las políticas han aumentado efectivamente el distanciamiento social y en ellos se ha enlentecido la propagación de la COVID-19. Estos resultados pueden ayudar a los responsables de las políticas a hacer comprender a la población los riesgos y beneficios de las restricciones.(AU)

Alloparental care in the sea: Brood parasitism and adoption within and between two species of coral reef Altrichthys damselfish?

The evolution of parental care opens the door for the evolution of brood parasitic strategies that allow individuals to gain the benefits of parental care without paying the costs. Here we provide the first documentation for alloparental care in coral reef fish and we discuss why these patterns may reflect conspecific and interspecific brood parasitism. Species-specific barcodes revealed the existence of low levels (3.5% of all offspring) of mixed interspecific broods, mostly juvenile Amblyglyphidodon batunai and Pomacentrus smithi damselfish in Altrichthys broods. A separate analysis of conspecific parentage based on microsatellite markers revealed that mixed parentage broods are common in both species, and the genetic patterns are consistent with two different modes of conspecific brood parasitism, although further studies are required to determine the specific mechanisms responsible for these mixed parentage broods. While many broods had offspring from multiple parasites, in many cases a given brood contained only a single foreign offspring, perhaps a consequence of the movement of lone juveniles between nests. In other cases, broods contained large numbers of putative parasitic offspring from the same parents and we propose that these are more likely to be cases where parasitic adults laid a large number of eggs in the host nest than the result of movements of large numbers of offspring from a single brood after hatching. The evidence that these genetic patterns reflect adaptive brood parasitism, as well as possible costs and benefits of parasitism to hosts and parasites, are discussed.

Unravelling the evolution of complex reproductive traits with phenotypic engineering.

The social dynamics surrounding courtship, mating and parental care are complex enough when just a single male and female are involved, but for species that employ multiple strategies for achieving fertilization success, the network of interactions among rivals, allies and suitors can be utterly complicated. Such is the case in the ocellated wrasse, Symphodus ocellatus, in which males adopt one of three mating strategies. The large, colourful "nesting males" court females, defend territories and care for fertilized eggs until they hatch. The smaller "satellite males" help the nesting males court females and guard against the third morph, the "sneaker males", which sneak in when a nesting male is spawning with a female and surreptitiously release sperm. Sneaker males perform no courtship displays nor defend territories, so their reproductive investment is devoted entirely to sperm production. And these alternative male strategies work: 100% of nests contain some eggs fertilized by sneaker and satellite males, despite the fact that parental care is solely the responsibility of nesting males In this issue of Molecular Ecology, work to untangle the proximate mechanisms regulating the reproductive physiology of nesting males and their behaviour towards other males, which impacts the entire social network. Moreover, they describe how variation in neuroendocrine regulation can give rise to variation in reproductive traits, upon which sexual selection can act.

How to estimate kinship.

The concept of kinship permeates many domains of fundamental and applied biology ranging from social evolution to conservation science to quantitative and human genetics. Until recently, pedigrees were the gold standard to infer kinship, but the advent of next-generation sequencing and the availability of dense genetic markers in many species make it a good time to (re)evaluate the usefulness of genetic markers in this context. Using three published data sets where both pedigrees and markers are available, we evaluate two common and a new genetic estimator of kinship. We show discrepancies between pedigree values and marker estimates of kinship and explore via simulations the possible reasons for these. We find these discrepancies are attributable to two main sources: pedigree errors and heterogeneity in the origin of founders. We also show that our new marker-based kinship estimator has very good statistical properties and behaviour and is particularly well suited for situations where the source population is of small size, as will often be the case in conservation biology, and where high levels of kinship are expected, as is typical in social evolution studies.

Positive selection on sociobiological traits in invasive fire ants.

The fire ant Solenopsis invicta and its close relatives are highly invasive. Enhanced social cooperation may facilitate invasiveness in these and other invasive ant species. We investigated whether invasiveness in Solenopsis fire ants was accompanied by positive selection on sociobiological traits by applying a phylogenomics approach to infer ancient selection, and a population genomics approach to infer recent and ongoing selection in both native and introduced S. invicta populations. A combination of whole-genome sequencing of 40 haploid males and reduced-representation genomic sequencing of 112 diploid workers identified 1,758,116 and 169,682 polymorphic markers, respectively. The resulting high-resolution maps of genomic polymorphism provide high inference power to test for positive selection. Our analyses provide evidence of positive selection on putative ion channel genes, which are implicated in neurological functions, and on vitellogenin, which is a key regulator of development and caste determination. Furthermore, molecular functions implicated in pheromonal signalling have experienced recent positive selection. Genes with signatures of positive selection were significantly more often those overexpressed in workers compared with queens and males, suggesting that worker traits are under stronger selection than queen and male traits. These results provide insights into selection pressures and ongoing adaptation in an invasive social insect and support the hypothesis that sociobiological traits are under more positive selection than nonsocial traits in such invasive species.

The ART of brain expression.

When trying to find a mate, one might think about using a dating app. Imagine that someone else has installed the same app and tries to access the same potential mates that you have chosen, and that this someone uses false facts about himself/herself to increase the chance of dating someone before you or anyone else with honest status information does. Sounds familiar? It actually is, and in no way is such comportment restricted to human courtship behaviour. Alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs) are widespread in the animal kingdom. In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Cardoso, Gonçalves, Goesmann, Canário, and Oliveira () investigate plastic ARTs of the peacock blenny (Salaria pavo), in which males occur in three morphs: nestholders, sneakers and transitionals between the two former. They apply transcriptome sequencing to answer the question how brain gene expression contributes to sex role-specific behaviour and to intersex phenotypes.

To reproduce or work? Insect castes emerge from socially induced changes in nutrition-related genes.

In social species, there is a fundamental trade-off between 'me' and 'we'; that is, should I reproduce, or should I work to help others to reproduce? In this issue of Molecular Ecology, Okada et al. () delve into the evolution and genetic mechanisms of this core question, focusing on social caste formation in insects. The authors take advantage of a unique ant in the genus Diacamma, which has secondarily lost the classic, highly different queens and workers found in many other ants, bees and wasps. Instead, Diacamma ant castes are decided via aggressive dominance interactions among adult females, similar to dominance hierarchies seen in primitively social insects and many social vertebrates. But how does being dominated translate into reproductive shutdown and thus, the creation of a worker caste? The authors use transcriptomics to address this question, and discover that the key may lie in very rapid (within one day) changes in the regulation of nutrient signalling genes, and other genes related to nutrient storage and reproduction. In other words, being aggressed turns on or off genes that tell the ant's brain and physiology to go into 'sterile mode', whereas winning a fight stimulates other genes that ramp up reproductive traits. These results add weight to the idea that caste differences rely on a 'toolkit' of deeply conserved genes involved in core nutritional, reproductive and metabolic functions. In addition, these results emphasize the exquisite and rapid social environmental sensitivity of core toolkit genes during the production of distinct phenotypes.

Inbreeding avoidance and female mate choice shape reproductive skew in capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus imitator).

Reproductive skew in multimale groups may be determined by the need for alpha males to offer reproductive opportunities as staying incentives to subordinate males (concessions), by the relative fighting ability of the alpha male (tug-of-war) or by how easily females can be monopolized (priority-of-access). These models have rarely been investigated in species with exceptionally long male tenures, such as white-faced capuchins, where female mate choice for novel unrelated males may be important in shaping reproductive skew. We investigated reproductive skew in white-faced capuchins at Sector Santa Rosa, Costa Rica, using 20 years of demographic, behavioural and genetic data. Infant survival and alpha male reproductive success were highest in small multimale groups, which suggests that the presence of subordinate males can be beneficial to the alpha male, in line with the concession model's assumptions. None of the skew models predicted the observed degree of reproductive sharing, and the probability of an alpha male producing offspring was not affected by his relatedness to subordinate males, whether he resided with older subordinate males, whether he was prime aged, the number of males or females in the group or the number of infants conceived within the same month. Instead, the alpha male's probability of producing offspring decreased when he was the sire of the mother, was weak and lacked a well-established position and had a longer tenure. Because our data best supported the inbreeding avoidance hypothesis and female choice for strong novel mates, these hypotheses should be taken into account in future skew models.

Convergent evolution of social hybridogenesis in Messor harvester ants.

Sexual reproduction generally requires no more than two partners. Here, we show convergent evolution of social hybridogenesis, a reproductive system requiring three reproductive partners in harvester ants. In this unorthodox reproductive system, two distinct genetic lineages live in sympatry and queens have to mate with males of their own lineage to produce queens along with males of the alternative lineage to produce workers. Using a large transcriptomic data set of nine species, we show that social hybridogenesis evolved at least three times independently in the genus Messor. Moreover, a study of 13 populations of Messor barbarus revealed that this mode of reproduction is fixed in the whole range of this ecologically dominant species. Finally, we show that workers can produce males carrying genes of the two genetic lineages, raising the possibility of rare gene flow between lineages contributing to the long-term maintenance of pairs of interdependent lineages. These results emphasize the evolutionary importance of social hybridogenesis, a major transition possibly linked to the peculiar ecology of harvester ants.

Personalidad e infracciones frecuentes de normas de tránsito / Personality and frequent violations of traffic rules

La Organización Mundial de la Salud (2013), alerta a los gobiernos a tomar medidas urgentes para prevenir accidentes de tránsito. Si no se intervienen, en el 2030 serán la quinta causa de muerte. Este estudio establece el perfil psicológico de conductores de vehículo infractores frecuentes de normas de tránsito, en una muestra de 295 adultos de ambos sexos. Utilizando el cuestionario factorial de personalidad 16PF-5 y una escala de creencias, conocimientos, y comportamientos sobre seguridad vial, se identificaron relaciones significativas entre conducta infractora y creencias, además de los factores de personalidad y variables específicas que predicen la propensión a las infracciones frecuentes de normas de tránsito.

The World Health Organization (2013) has alerted governments to take urgent measures to prevent traffic accidents. If no intervention is made, they will be the fifth leading cause of death in 2030. This study established the psychological profile of frequent offenders of traffic rules in a sample of 295 drivers of both sexes. Using the 16PF-5 Personality Questionnaire and a scale of beliefs, knowledge, and road safety behaviors, significant relationships between offending behavior and beliefs were identified, in addition to the specific personality factors and variables that predict susceptibility to frequent violations of traffic rules.

Resource base influences genome-wide DNA methylation levels in wild baboons (Papio cynocephalus).

Variation in resource availability commonly exerts strong effects on fitness-related traits in wild animals. However, we know little about the molecular mechanisms that mediate these effects, or about their persistence over time. To address these questions, we profiled genome-wide whole-blood DNA methylation levels in two sets of wild baboons: (i) 'wild-feeding' baboons that foraged naturally in a savanna environment and (ii) 'Lodge' baboons that had ready access to spatially concentrated human food scraps, resulting in high feeding efficiency and low daily travel distances. We identified 1014 sites (0.20% of sites tested) that were differentially methylated between wild-feeding and Lodge baboons, providing the first evidence that resource availability shapes the epigenome in a wild mammal. Differentially methylated sites tended to occur in contiguous stretches (i.e., in differentially methylated regions or DMRs), in promoters and enhancers, and near metabolism-related genes, supporting their functional importance in gene regulation. In agreement, reporter assay experiments confirmed that methylation at the largest identified DMR, located in the promoter of a key glycolysis-related gene, was sufficient to causally drive changes in gene expression. Intriguingly, all dispersing males carried a consistent epigenetic signature of their membership in a wild-feeding group, regardless of whether males dispersed into or out of this group as adults. Together, our findings support a role for DNA methylation in mediating ecological effects on phenotypic traits in the wild and emphasize the dynamic environmental sensitivity of DNA methylation levels across the life course.

Natural science-social science multidisciplinary research in medical research and its research organization / 中华医学科研管理杂志

Medical research has entered the era of mega-science.The multidisciplinary collaboration has attracted great attention.besides studies on genes and the environment interaction,multidisciplinary research between natural sciences has received widespread recognition.However muhidisciplinary researches on the interaction between the gene and social factors or behavioral factors on health science deserve more emphasis.This article described development of multidisciplinary research and its features;analyzed importants of conducting multidisciplinary research between natural and social disciplines,and finally provided suggestions on research organization reform in order to promote the multidisciplinary research.

Molecular tools and bumble bees: revealing hidden details of ecology and evolution in a model system.

Bumble bees are a longstanding model system for studies on behaviour, ecology and evolution, due to their well-studied social lifestyle, invaluable role as wild and managed pollinators, and ubiquity and diversity across temperate ecosystems. Yet despite their importance, many aspects of bumble bee biology have remained enigmatic until the rise of the genetic and, more recently, genomic eras. Here, we review and synthesize new insights into the ecology, evolution and behaviour of bumble bees that have been gained using modern genetic and genomic techniques. Special emphasis is placed on four areas of bumble bee biology: the evolution of eusociality in this group, population-level processes, large-scale evolutionary relationships and patterns, and immunity and resistance to pesticides. We close with a prospective on the future of bumble bee genomics research, as this rapidly advancing field has the potential to further revolutionize our understanding of bumble bees, particularly in regard to adaptation and resilience. Worldwide, many bumble bee populations are in decline. As such, throughout the review, connections are drawn between new molecular insights into bumble bees and our understanding of the causal factors involved in their decline. Ongoing and potential applications to bumble bee management and conservation are also included to demonstrate how genetics- and genomics-enabled research aids in the preservation of this threatened group.