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This commentary emphasizes two problem areas mentioned by Burt. First, that within-family designs do not eradicate stratification confounds. Second, that the linear/additive model of genetic causes of form and variation is not supported by recent progress in molecular biology. It concludes with an appeal for a (biologically and psychologically) more realistic model of such causes.
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Comportamento , Herança Multifatorial , Ciências Sociais , HumanosRESUMO
There have been few longitudinal studies investigating the immigrant health and changes in their health with longer residency in the host country. Additionally, the pathways and mechanisms by which transition of health over time occurs are poorly understood, limiting the ability to implement policies that will result in improved health for all, including immigrants. We assessed differences in health outcomes among foreign-born people from English speaking countries and non-English speaking countries relative to native-born Australians over a 10-year period using a large representative longitudinal dataset. We also explored English language proficiency, socio-economic factors and health behaviour factors as possible mechanisms through which health outcomes change over time post-migration. Conventional multilevel mixed and hybrid regression models were used to evaluate health outcomes in 9558 native-born and 3067 foreign-born people from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey. There were clear differences in physical health, mental health and self-assessed health between foreign-born subgroups in comparison with native-born Australians. Foreign-born people from English speaking countries typically had a health advantage relative to native-born people, and foreign-born people from non-English speaking countries had a health disadvantage with respect to native-born people for all health outcomes. There was no evidence that these differences changed by duration of residence except for self-assessed health amongst foreign-born people from non-English speaking countries when duration of residence exceeded 20 years. English language proficiency mediated the relationship between duration of residence and health for foreign-born people from non-English speaking countries.
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BACKGROUND: Increasing the complexity of in vitro systems to mimic three-dimensional tissues and the cellular interactions within them will increase the reliability of data that were previously collected with in vitro systems. In vivo vascularization is based on complex and clearly defined cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions, where the extracellular matrix (ECM) seems to play a very important role. The aim of this study was to monitor and visualize the subcellular and molecular interactions between endothelial cells (ECs), fibroblasts, and their surrounding microenvironment during vascular morphogenesis in a three-dimensional coculture model. METHODS: Quantitative and qualitative analyses during the generation of a coculture tissue construct consisting of endothelial cells and fibroblasts were done using transmission electron microscopy and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Dynamic interactions were found in cocultures between ECs, between fibroblasts (FBs), between ECs and FBs, and between the cells and the ECM. Microvesicles were involved in intercellular information transfer. FBs took an active and physical part in the angiogenesis process. The ECM deposited by the cells triggered endothelial angiogenic activity. Capillary-like tubular structures developed and matured. Moreover, some ECM assembled into a basement membrane (BM) having three different layers equivalent to those seen in vivo. Finally, the three-dimensional in vitro construct mirrored the topography of histological tissue sections. CONCLUSION: Our results visualize the importance of the physical contact between all cellular and acellular components of the cocultures.
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Membrana Basal/metabolismo , Células Endoteliais/citologia , Fibroblastos/citologia , Neovascularização Fisiológica , Comunicação Celular , Células Cultivadas , Técnicas de Cocultura , Células Endoteliais/metabolismo , Matriz Extracelular/metabolismo , Fibroblastos/metabolismo , Humanos , Imuno-Histoquímica , Microscopia Eletrônica de TransmissãoRESUMO
This study examined the effect of Asian nativity and duration of residence in Australia on the odds of reporting a chronic health condition (cancer, respiratory problems, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes mellitus). Data were from waves 3, 7 and 9 of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) longitudinal survey, and multi-level group-mean-centred logistic regression models were used for the analysis. After covariate adjustment, Asian immigrants were less likely to report cancer and respiratory problem compared with native-born Australians. While there was no significant difference in reporting CVD, they were more likely to report diabetes than native-born people. Asian immigrants maintained their health advantage with respect to cancer regardless of duration of residence. However, after 20 years of stay, Asian immigrants lost their earlier advantage and were not significantly different from native-born people in terms of reporting a respiratory problem. In contrast, Asian immigrants were not measurably different from native-born Australians in reporting diabetes if their length of stay in Australia was less than 20 years, but became disadvantaged after staying for 20 years or longer. There was no measurable difference in the odds of reporting CVD between Asian immigrants and native-born Australians for any duration of residence. On the whole this study found that health advantage, existence of healthy immigrant effect and subsequent erosion of it with increasing duration of residence among Asian immigrants depends upon the chronic health condition.
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Povo Asiático/etnologia , Povo Asiático/estatística & dados numéricos , Doença Crônica/etnologia , Doença Crônica/epidemiologia , Emigrantes e Imigrantes/estatística & dados numéricos , Aculturação , Adulto , Ásia/etnologia , Austrália , Feminino , Humanos , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Análise Multivariada , Razão de ChancesRESUMO
Health behavior takes place within social contexts. In this study, we investigated whether changes in exposure to neighborhood deprivation and smoking prevalence and to household smoking were associated with change in personal smoking behavior. Three waves of biannual data collection (2004-2009) in a New Zealand longitudinal study, the Survey of Family, Income and Employment (SoFIE)-Health, were used, with 13,815 adults (persons aged ≥15 years) contributing to the analyses. Smoking status was dichotomized as current smoking versus never/ex-smoking. Fixed-effects regression analyses removed time-invariant confounding and adjusted for time-varying covariates (neighborhood smoking prevalence and deprivation, household smoking, labor force status, income, household tenure, and family status). A between-wave decile increase in neighborhood deprivation was significantly associated with increased odds of smoking (odds ratio (OR) = 1.08, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02, 1.14), but a between-wave increase in neighborhood smoking prevalence was not (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.10). Changing household exposures between waves to live with another smoker (compared with a nonsmoker (referent)) increased the odds of smoking (OR = 2.48, 95% CI: 1.84, 3.34), as did changing to living in a sole-adult household (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.07, 2.14). Tobacco control policies and programs should address the broader household and neighborhood circumstances within which individual smoking takes place.
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Família , Características de Residência/estatística & dados numéricos , Fumar/epidemiologia , Adolescente , Adulto , Meio Ambiente , Feminino , Inquéritos Epidemiológicos , Humanos , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Nova Zelândia/epidemiologia , Razão de Chances , Prevalência , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Adulto JovemRESUMO
AIMS: To investigate the association of self-rated health and affiliation with a primary care provider (PCP) in New Zealand. METHODS: We used data from a New Zealand panel study of 22,000 adults. The main exposure was self-rated health, and the main outcome measure was affiliation with a PCP. Fixed effects conditional logistic models were used to control for observed time-varying and unobserved time-invariant confounding. RESULTS: In any given wave, the odds of being affiliated with a PCP were higher for those in good and fair/poor health relative to those in excellent health. While affiliation for Europeans increased as reported health declined, the odds of being affiliated were lower for Maori respondents reporting very good or good health relative to those in excellent health. No significant differences in the association by age or gender were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Our data support the hypothesis that those in poorer health are more likely to be affiliated with a PCP. Variations in affiliation for Maori could arise for several reasons, including differences in care-seeking behaviour and perceived need of care. It may also mean that the message about the benefits of primary health care is not getting through equally to all population groups.
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Etnicidade/estatística & dados numéricos , Nível de Saúde , Havaiano Nativo ou Outro Ilhéu do Pacífico/estatística & dados numéricos , Atenção Primária à Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , População Branca/estatística & dados numéricos , Adolescente , Adulto , Distribuição por Idade , Idoso , Povo Asiático/estatística & dados numéricos , Características da Família , Feminino , Inquéritos Epidemiológicos , Humanos , Modelos Logísticos , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Nova Zelândia , Atenção Primária à Saúde/tendências , Autorrelato , Distribuição por Sexo , Fatores Socioeconômicos , Adulto JovemRESUMO
This response aims to expand on some of the issues raised by Keith Baverstock's The Gene: An Appraisal, especially on the evolution and nature of knowledge in living things. In contrast to the simple associationism envisaged in "genetic information", it emphasises the dynamic complexity and changeability of most natural environments, and, therefore, predictability based on underlying statistical structures. That seems to be the basis of the "cognitive" functions increasingly being reported about cellular, as well as more evolved, functions, and of the autonomous agency of organisms thriving creatively in complex environments.
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ConhecimentoRESUMO
To promote the development of an optimally functional total hip prosthesis for medium and large dog breeds, accurate measurements of the normal anatomy of the proximal femur and acetabular retroversion are essential. The aim of the current study was to obtain precise normal values of the femoral anteversion angle using computed tomography on cadavers of mature dogs with normal hip joints of both medium and large breeds. Based on the length of their femora 58 dogs were allocated either to group I: ≤195 mm or group II: >195 mm. In the study the femoral anteversion angle (FAA) was measured on each femur using multi-slice spiral computed tomography (CT). The data were processed as multi-planar and three-dimensional reconstructions using Advantage Workstation software. The CT measurements showed that the mean ± standard deviation (SD) FAA of group I was 31.34 ± 5.47° and in group II it was 31.02 ± 4.95°. There were no significant mean difference associations between the length of the femur and the femoral neck angle in either group (P > 0.05). The data suggest that a prosthesis FAA of 31 degrees would be suitable for a wide range of dog sizes.
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It is hypothesized that in the "more highly evolved" mammals, including the domesticated mammals, that the brainstem and the cerebellum receive arterial blood through the vertebrobasilar system whilst the internal carotid arteries primarily supply the forebrain. In camels, the arterial blood supply to the brain differs from that of ruminants since the internal carotid artery and the rostral epidural rete mirabile (RERM) are both present and the basilar artery contributes a significant proportion of cerebral afferent blood. In this study, we described the anatomical distribution of the vertebrobasilar system arterial supply in the dromedary. Secondly, we determined the direction of blood flow within the vertebral and basilar arteries using transcranial color doppler ultrasonography. Thirdly, we quantified the percentage arterial contributions of the carotid and vertebrobasilar systems to the dromedary brain. Fifty-five heads of freshly slaughtered male Omani dromedaries aged 2-6 years were dissected to determine the distribution and topography of the arterial distribution to the brain. Their anatomical orientation was assessed by casting techniques using epoxy resin, polyurethane resin and latex neoprene. The epoxy resin and polyurethane resin casts of the head and neck arteries were used to measure the diameter of vertebrobasilar arterial system and carotid arterial system at pre-determined locations. These arterial diameters were used to calculate the percentage of blood supplied by each arterial system. The vertebrobasilar system in dromedary camels consists of paired vertebral arteries that contribute to the ventral spinal artery and basilar artery at multiple locations. In most specimens the vertebral artery was the primary contributor to the basilar artery compared to that of the ventral spinal artery. In four specimens the ventral spinal arteries appear to be the dominant contributor to the basilar artery. Transcranial color doppler ultrasonography confirmed that the direction of blood flow within the vertebral and basilar arteries was toward the brain in animals examined in ventral recumbency and when standing. The vertebrobasilar system contributes 34% of the blood supply to the brain. The vertebrobasilar system is the exclusive supply to the medulla oblongata, pons and cerebellum.
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According to the European Directive 63/2010/EU, education and training involving living rats and mice are classified as an animal experiment and demands the implementation of the 3Rs. Therefore, as a method of refinement, rat and mouse simulators were developed to serve as an initial training device for various techniques, prior to working on living animals. Nevertheless, little is known about the implementation, anatomical correctness, learning efficiency and practical suitability of these simulators. With this in mind, a collaborative research project called "SimulRATor" was initiated to systematically evaluate the existing rat and mouse simulators in a multi-perspective approach. The objective of the study presented here was to identify the anatomical strengths and weaknesses of the available rat and mouse simulators and to determine anatomical requirements for a new anatomically correct rat simulator, specifically adapted to the needs of Laboratory Animal Science (LAS) training courses. Consequently, experts of Veterinary Anatomy and LAS evaluated the anatomy of all currently available rat and mouse simulators. The evaluation showed that compared to the anatomy of living rats and mice, the tails were perceived as the most anatomically realistic body part, followed by the general exterior and the limbs. The heads were rated as the least favored body part.
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Evolução Biológica , Interação Gene-Ambiente , Inteligência/genética , Adaptação Biológica , Animais , HumanosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Human and equine patients are known to frequently develop vascular complications, particularly thrombosis both in veins and arteries as well as in the microvasculature. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate and compare the angiogenic response of human and equine endothelial cells to lesions in an in vitro scratch assay. METHODS: Endothelial cells from human umbilical vein (HUVEC), abdominal aorta (HAAEC) and dermal microvasculature (HDMEC) as well as equine carotid artery (EACEC) and jugular vein (EVJEC) were cultured and an elongated defect was created (scratch or "wound"). Cultures were monitored over a period of 90 hours in a live cell imaging microscope. RESULTS: In the human endothelial cell cultures, there was a uniform and continuous migration of the cells from the scratch fringe into the denuded area, which was closed after 17 (HUVEC), 15 (HAAEC) and 26 (HDMEC) hours. In the equine endothelial cell cultures, a complete closure of the induced defect occurred after 17 (EVJEC) and 35 (EACEC) hours. CONCLUSIONS: In the equine arterial cells, the delay in closure of the denuded area seems to be the results of a disoriented and uncoordinated migration of endothelial tip cells resulting in slow re-endothelialization.
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Bioensaio/métodos , Células Cultivadas/metabolismo , Células Endoteliais/metabolismo , Animais , Células Cultivadas/citologia , Células Endoteliais/citologia , Cavalos , HumanosRESUMO
Maori and Pacific students generally do not attain the same levels of tertiary success as New Zealanders of European descent, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Te Ropu Awhina (Awhina), an equity initiative at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand between 1999 and 2015, aimed to produce Maori and Pacific professionals in STEM disciplines who contribute to Maori and Pacific community development and leadership. A hierarchical Bayesian approach was used to estimate posterior standardized completion rates for 3-year undergraduate and 2-year postgraduate degrees undertaken by non-Maori-Pacific and Maori-Pacific students. Results were consistent with an Awhina effect, that is, Awhina's positive influence on (combined) Maori and Pacific success.
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Sucesso Acadêmico , Educação de Pós-Graduação , Engenharia/educação , Etnicidade/educação , Matemática/educação , Ciência/educação , Tecnologia/educação , Adulto , Teorema de Bayes , Feminino , Humanos , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Nova Zelândia , Padrões de Referência , Estudantes , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
The classical twin method - comprising comparisons of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins - in the domain of cognitive abilities and attainments has led to wide acceptance of results suggesting a large amount of additive genetic variance, with far-reaching implications both for the nature of future studies on the causes of cognitive variance and for intervention policies, as in education. However, this interpretation is only valid if the method observes a number of conditions, which have to hold. Here, we show that the most crucial of these, namely, the equal environments assumption (EEA), may not hold. Consequently, differences in twin correlations might be at least partly explained by treatment effects from parents, teachers, peers, and so on. In addition, well-known interactions at various levels confound the model of simple additive effects on which the classical twin method is predicated and results are interpreted. For example, at a socio-cognitive level, DZ twins may respond to treatments differently from MZ twins. This interaction may further explain MZ-DZ correlation differences. There is abundant evidence for such interactive effects in published twin data. We suggest that there is a need for a more thorough examination of these problems.
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Meio Ambiente , Estudos em Gêmeos como Assunto/métodos , Gêmeos Dizigóticos , Gêmeos Monozigóticos , Cognição , Humanos , Psiquiatria , Projetos de Pesquisa , Gêmeos Dizigóticos/genética , Gêmeos Monozigóticos/genética , Reino UnidoRESUMO
IQ has played a prominent part in developmental and adult psychology for decades. In the absence of a clear theoretical model of internal cognitive functions, however, construct validity for IQ tests has always been difficult to establish. Test validity, therefore, has always been indirect, by correlating individual differences in test scores with what are assumed to be other criteria of intelligence. Job performance has, for several reasons, been one such criterion. Correlations of around 0.5 have been regularly cited as evidence of test validity, and as justification for the use of the tests in developmental studies, in educational and occupational selection and in research programs on sources of individual differences. Here, those correlations are examined together with the quality of the original data and the many corrections needed to arrive at them. It is concluded that considerable caution needs to be exercised in citing such correlations for test validation purposes.
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The classical twin method (CTM) is central to the view that schizophrenia is ~80% heritable. The CTM rests on the equal-environment assumption (EEA) that identical and fraternal twin pairs experience equivalent trait-relevant environmental exposures. The EEA has not been directly tested for schizophrenia with measures of child social adversity, which is particularly etiologically relevant to the disorder. However, if child social adversity is more similar in identical than fraternal pairs in the general twin population, the EEA is unlikely to be valid for schizophrenia, a question which we tested in this study. Using results from prior twin studies, we tested if intraclass correlations for the following five categories of child social adversity are larger in identical than fraternal twins: bullying, sexual abuse, physical maltreatment, emotional neglect and abuse, and general trauma. Eleven relevant studies that encompassed 9119 twin pairs provided 24 comparisons of intraclass correlations, which we grouped into the five social exposure categories. Fisher's z-test revealed significantly higher correlations in identical than fraternal pairs for each exposure category (z ≥ 3.53, p < 0.001). The difference remained consistent across gender, study site (country), sample size, whether psychometric instruments were used, whether interviewing was proximate or distant to the exposures, and whether informants were twins or third persons. Combined with other evidence that the differential intraclass correlation for child social adversity cannot be explained by evocative gene-environment covariation, our results indicate that the CTM does not provide any valid indication of genomic effects in schizophrenia.
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OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether cost-related non-collection of prescription medication is associated with a decline in health. SETTINGS: New Zealand Survey of Family, Income and Employment (SoFIE)-Health. PARTICIPANTS: Data from 17â 363 participants with at least two observations in three waves (2004-2005, 2006-2007, 2008-2009) of a panel study were analysed using fixed effects regression modelling. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Self-rated health (SRH), physical health (PCS) and mental health scores (MCS) were the health measures used in this study. RESULTS: After adjusting for time-varying confounders, non-collection of prescription items was associated with a 0.11 (95% CI 0.07 to 0.15) unit worsening in SRH, a 1.00 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.40) unit decline in PCS and a 1.69 (95% CI 1.19 to 2.18) unit decline in MCS. The interaction of the main exposure with gender was significant for SRH and MCS. Non-collection of prescription items was associated with a decline in SRH of 0.18 (95% CI 0.11 to 0.25) units for males and 0.08 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.13) units for females, and a decrease in MCS of 2.55 (95% CI 1.67 to 3.42) and 1.29 (95% CI 0.70 to 1.89) units for males and females, respectively. The interaction of the main exposure with age was significant for SRH. For respondents aged 15-24 and 25-64â years, non-collection of prescription items was associated with a decline in SRH of 0.12 (95% CI 0.03 to 0.21) and 0.12 (95% CI 0.07 to 0.17) units, respectively, but for respondents aged 65â years and over, non-collection of prescription items had no significant effect on SRH. CONCLUSION: Our results show that those who do not collect prescription medications because of cost have an increased risk of a subsequent decline in health.
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Nível de Saúde , Adesão à Medicação , Medicamentos sob Prescrição/economia , Honorários por Prescrição de Medicamentos , Adolescente , Adulto , Fatores Etários , Idoso , Feminino , Humanos , Estudos Longitudinais , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Nova Zelândia , Fatores Sexuais , Inquéritos e Questionários , Adulto JovemRESUMO
The aim of this paper was to see whether all-cause and cause-specific mortality rates vary between Asian ethnic subgroups, and whether overseas born Asian subgroup mortality rate ratios varied by nativity and duration of residence. We used hierarchical Bayesian methods to allow for sparse data in the analysis of linked census-mortality data for 25-75 year old New Zealanders. We found directly standardised posterior all-cause and cardiovascular mortality rates were highest for the Indian ethnic group, significantly so when compared with those of Chinese ethnicity. In contrast, cancer mortality rates were lowest for ethnic Indians. Asian overseas born subgroups have about 70% of the mortality rate of their New Zealand born Asian counterparts, a result that showed little variation by Asian subgroup or cause of death. Within the overseas born population, all-cause mortality rates for migrants living 0-9 years in New Zealand were about 60% of the mortality rate of those living more than 25 years in New Zealand regardless of ethnicity. The corresponding figure for cardiovascular mortality rates was 50%. However, while Chinese cancer mortality rates increased with duration of residence, Indian and Other Asian cancer mortality rates did not. Future research on the mechanisms of worsening of health with increased time spent in the host country is required to improve the understanding of the process, and would assist the policy-makers and health planners.