Confounding fuels misinterpretation in human genetics

L'etude menee aupres des enfants d'un village rural sur la cote orientale de Dominique montre la relation entre le stress et la composition du groupe domestique (âge, sexe, relation intergenerationnelle, nombre de personnes). Les enfants vivant dans des foyers ou prendre soin d'eux est une attitude frequente et stable ont un niveau de cortisol modere contrairement aux enfants connaissant des evenements familiaux traumatiques

This chapter analyzes the existence and magnitude of gender disparities across several important socioeconomic outcomes, namely income, employment, health status, life satisfaction, financial satisfaction, and job satisfaction. We utilize detailed, individual-level data from the Maltese Islands using the European Union’s Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), which enables us to control for several observable variables as well as unobservable, individual-level factors to isolate the relationship between gender and the various socioeconomic outcomes assessed in this chapter. The results show a statistically significant link between gender and income, employment, health status, and job satisfaction, with female respondents on average being worse off in each instance relative to their male counterparts. By contrast, we find no evidence of a gender gap in relation to life and financial satisfaction in our sample. We discuss these findings in light of the growing interdisciplinary literature on the implications of such gender disparities on individual and societal outcomes, together with relevant policy initiatives that should seek to address these gaps.

A Blueprint for Genetic Determinism

In attempting to explain the familial predisposition to panic disorder, most studies have focused on the heritability of physiologic characteristics (e.g., CO2 sensitivity). A heretofore unexplored possibility is that a psychological characteristic that predisposes to panic-anxiety sensitivity-might be inherited. In this study, the authors examined the heritability of anxiety sensitivity through use of a twin group. Scores on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index were examined in a group of 179 monozygotic and 158 dizygotic twin pairs. Biometrical model fitting was conducted through use of standard statistical methods. Broad heritability estimate of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index as a unifactorial construct was 45%. Additive genetic effects and unique environmental effects emerged as the primary influences on anxiety sensitivity. There was no evidence of genetic discontinuity between normal and extreme scores on the Anxiety Sensitivity Index. This study suggests that one psychological risk factor for the development of panic disorder-anxiety sensitivity-may have a heritable component. As such, anxiety sensitivity should be considered in future research on the heritability of panic disorder.

Social on status and anthropobiological characteristics. A sociobiological investigation on 19 and 20 year old Flemish males - The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between the social status - the social aspiration level and the social origin - and the variability of a number of anthropobiological characteristics within the Flemish population. The investigation has been performed on 6.162 19 and 20 year old Flemish males, born in 1940, 1941 and 1942. For the composition of the sample we took care that all important social categories be represented by a sufficient number of subjects to enable a proper statistical analysis of the sample and its subdivisions. Sociological as well as somatometric, somatoscopic, psychometric, medical, serological and demographic data have been collected. The material has been handled statistically. The significance level of all the observed biological differences between the various social categories has been computed. Our hypothesis concerning the relationship between the social status and the variability of a number of anthropobiological characteristics has been answered quite unexpectedly: only for the ABO blood groups and a very small number of somatometric characteristics no relation at all could be found with the social aspiration level or the social origin of the subjects. Two distinct series of phenomena have been observed : 1. associations between biological characteristics and particular occupational or educational groups; 2. associations between biological characteristics and the social status. A positive relation has been found between the social status and the general body size. No relation could be discovered with the relative body weight, the relative fat component and the relative head measurements. A negative relation has been established for the relative length of the upper and lower limbs and the relative measurements of the hand and the feet. The distribution of the ABO blood group frequencies over the various social categories did not deviate from the theoretical expectations. For the general physical and psychological fitness (medical category) the middle social categories obtained a better appreciation than the lower categories. The results of the intelligence tests confirm the wellknown general tendency of a positive association with the aspiration level. For the parental family composition it appears that there are quite important socio-professional differences in fertility. The significant differences which have been found for the typical environmentally determined and the mixed genetically-environmentally influenced characters such as the fat component, the general body size, the form of the hand and the foot confirm the presumption that environmental factors played a prominent part in the realization of these differences. But genetic influences should also be taken into consideration. It appears namely that characteristics such as the relative muscle factor and the relative bone factor, the variability of which is mainly of genetic origin, are related to the social status. Moreover, for many somatometric as well as for the psychometric characteristics it has been found that the between-groups variance of the social aspiration level is much larger than the between-groups variance of the social origin.

Background: Adolescents' decisions to engage in physical activities are influenced by the social aspects of the activity, including opportunity for affiliation, being part of a team, and the social status it offers. A curriculum and instructional model that has been shown to embed the student social system within a positive program of action is Sport Education. Preliminary evidence has suggested that Sport Education challenges social hierarchical groups and promotes more inclusive social goal involvement. Research is required to extend this work and provide a larger-scale empirical analysis of the influence of a Sport Education program on students' social goal involvement in compulsory high-school physical education and examine how these social goals impact important student affective and behavioral outcomes. Purpose: The purpose of this study was two-fold: (a) to explore the social goals of high-school physical education students after experiencing a year of Sport Education and (b) to explore the relationships these social goals had with perceptions of enjoyment and relatedness in physical education as well as participation in leisure-time exercise. Participants and setting: A total of 363 10th-grade students from the American Mid-West who had completed a year-long compulsory high-school physical education program taught using Sport Education participated in this study. Data Collection: All students participated in four 25-lesson seasons of team sports-based activity taught using the Sport Education model. Seasons taught included floor hockey, volleyball, team handball, and basketball. All seasons were taught by the same teacher. On completion of the year-long compulsory program, participants completed a questionnaire that included items pertaining to their social goals, relatedness, enjoyment of physical education, and self-reported participation in extra-curricular physical activities. Findings: Data were initially screened for outliers and distribution assumptions were examined. Internal consistency estimates were calculated for all variables except physical activity because it was a single item indicator. Descriptive statistics showed that students who had completed two full semesters of Sport Education had higher than average scores on all three social goals of affiliation, recognition, and status. Findings from the multiple regression analyses revealed the robust contribution that social recognition and social affiliation goals made to students perceived relatedness and enjoyment of physical education. Social recognition and status goals also significantly positively predicted extra-curricular exercise participation. Conclusions: This study provides evidence to suggest that prolonged exposure to the pedagogical features of Sport Education develops students' social bonds by configuring the physical education environment to promote peer social approval for participatory behaviors within the model. These social bonds strongly predicted students' perceived relatedness to peers and their enjoyment of the Sport Education experience. Importantly, these social connections to peers and social standing developed in Sport Education influenced their decision to participate in extra-curricular exercise behaviors.

Emotional or behavioral disabilities and peer rejection independently pose significant risks for social, emotional, and behavioral problems. These risk factors are often co-occurring, which increases the likelihood of experiencing negative outcomes. Research has shown that peer rejection is one of the strongest predictors of delinquency (Williams & Gilmour, 1994), aggressive behavior (Rabiner, Coie, Miller-Johnson, Boykin, & Lochman, 2005), adult psychopathology (Bagwell, Newcomb, & Bukowski, 1998), and other negative life course outcomes (Parker & Asher, 1987). Studies examining the prevalence of peer rejection in the school-aged population suggest that 15 to 25% of children and youth are rejected by their peers (Bierman & Montminy, 1993). For youth with disabilities, these estimates are substantially higher, reaching as high as 40% (Mishna, 2003; Nabuzoka & Smith, 1993; Unnever, & Cornell, 2003). Given the large number of youth who experience peer rejection, there is a high premium on interventions that can improve the social status and functioning of these youth. Social skills training (SST) has been the most frequently endorsed and used intervention strategy to improve the social functioning and status of peer-rejected youth. SST assumes that peerrejected youth have social skill deficits (i.e., they do not possess the skill) and these deficits prevent them from being successful in social situations. Consequently, teaching youth specific social skills to remediate their deficits will likely produce social dividends in terms of enhanced social competence and standing among their peers. SST has been shown to be an effective intervention for youth with emotional and behavioral disabilities (Cook et al., 2008; Gresham, Cook, Crews, & Kern, 2004). Unfortunately, there are several limitations associated with SST that prevent it from fully addressing the needs of peer-rejected youth with disabilities. First, the youth may not have a skill deficit at all, but rather a performance deficit. That is, he or she may know how to perform the skill, but, for some reason, does not utilize the skill when the situation calls for it. Simply retraining an already learned skill does not appear to be helpful in reducing peer rejection. Second, once the youth learns the skill, because of reputational bias, behavior momentum or lack of motivation, the skill does not often generalize to the natural environment (Gresham, 1998; Maag, 2005). In an attempt to overcome some of the limitations of SST, Ervin, Miller, and Friman (1996) developed Positive Peer Reporting (PPR). PPR is a behavior analytic intervention that uses the peer ecology to influence behavior and promote social acceptance of peer-rejected youth. PPR works by actively soliciting peers to provide positive reports or statements to a target youth identified as the Recipient. The peers, called Tellers, are provided positive reinforcement using a token economy system for making positive statements about the Recipient. The Recipient receives continual positive social attention; thereby, altering the peer ecology from one that included aggressive rejection or isolation to one that is supportive and reinforcing. There is a growing body of literature demonstrating the efficacy of PPR in several different settings, including a residential treatment center (Bowers, McGinnis, Ervin & Friman, 1999), a school within a residential treatment center (Ervin, Miller, & Friman, 1996), a public school (Moroz & Jones, 2001), and foster care placement (Van Horn, 2004). Other studies have been conducted that support the efficacy of PPR (Hofstadler, 2007; Morrison & Jones, 2007). Together, these studies have targeted a wide range of youth who were either peer rejected or ignored. Researchers have also assessed the social validity of PPR and found that it is rated by implementers as highly acceptable and likely to lead to socially important outcomes. …

Digital platforms such as Android, Uber or Airbnb have become hotspots of economic interactions between complementors (i.e., producers) and end-users (i.e., consumers). As the number of complementors and offered complements on digital platforms grow, platform providers need to exercise control to align their interests and strategies with those of the complementors. To manage complementors and their complements, platform providers draw on control modes. In this thesis, control mode refers to set of mechanisms employed by platform provider to control (e.g., approve, guide and monitor) complementors and their complements on digital platforms. To advance the emergent research in the field of control modes on digital platforms, this thesis focuses on a control mode that is widespread in practice but has been largely overlooked in IS research so far, namely input control. Input control can be described as the set of mechanisms used by the platform provider to screen and sort out complementors and their complements before entering the digital platform. Within five articles, this thesis addresses the role and importance of input control on digital platforms by investigating the effects of input control in four different platform contexts (i.e., mobile applications, web-browsers, crowdfunding and e-marketplaces). The first article describes the development of an enhanced conceptual definition for input control and a corresponding measurement scale for questionnaire-based survey research that helps us measure input control more accurately and gauge its impact on platform complementors. The developed measurement scale was rigorously validated in the context of mobile application platforms (i.e., Android and iOS) based on the guidelines and recommendations in extant scale development literature. The second article deals with the distinction between complementor-related and complement-related input control mechanisms that address complementors and complements, respectively. Using a combination of quantitative (i.e., survey) and qualitative (i.e., interviews) methods applied in the context of web-browser platforms (i.e., Chrome and Firefox), the results revealed that both mechanisms affect complementors’ overall perception of input control on digital platforms. Moreover, the results showed that complementors’ perceived usefulness of and satisfaction with a digital platform served as an important driving force through which perceived input control affects complementors’ continuance intentions. Drawing on IS control literature and goal attainment theory, the third article addresses the effects of input control and self control on complementors’ intentions to stay on their respective digital platform. Results of an online survey with complementors from two major reward-based crowdfunding platforms (i.e., Kickstarter and Indiegogo) revealed that input control reduces and self control increases complementors’ willingness to stay. Interestingly, these effects can be explained through the comparison of associated usefulness and effort of using the digital platform. The fourth article investigates the impact of input control and clan control in the context of e-marketplace platforms (i.e., Amazon and Etsy). The results revealed opposing effects of input control and clan control on complementors’ beliefs, attitudes and behavioral outcomes. In particular, whereas input control had a negative effect on complementors’ perceived usefulness, satisfaction and continuance intention, clan control exerted a positive effect on the observed variables. The fifth and last article examines the influence of input control on complementors’ performance. Results of a field survey with sellers on Amazon indicated that input control reduces complementors’ intrinsic motivation, resulting in a lower performance on a digital platform. Surprisingly, the findings revealed that input control has no direct effect on complementors’ performance when accounting for intrinsic motivation. Taken together, this thesis showcases the role and importance of input control and provides a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of how complementors perceive and react to input control mechanisms on digital platforms. Furthermore, the findings shed light on the underlying explanatory mechanisms of why the effects of input control on digital platforms unfold. As such, this thesis answers several calls for research in platform governance and control literature, and lays the foundation for future studies on digital platforms. The overarching contributions of this thesis for research consists of (1) investigating the effects of input control on complementors’ behavior and performance outcomes on digital platforms, and (2) exploring input control in various platform contexts with unique circumstances and influences as well as in combination with other control modes. Additionally, this thesis provides crucial insights for platform providers on how and why input control mechanisms affect complementors behavior and performance outcomes. The findings therefore provide valuable impetus for platform providers to maintain platforms’ long-term success und sustainability.

A large sample of adult twins (1117 pairs), who were concordant for having had children were asked to report on their child-rearing practices. A 14-item version of the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) was used to assess rearing practices of parent twins. The two factors of Care and Overprotection, commonly found in other studies, were recovered from this analysis of the PBI's parent form. Model-fitting analyses indicate that human parental behavior is under significant genetic influence. Findings further suggest that this influence is sex limited, with a higher heritability in mothers than in fathers, and that it may result partly from the expression of dominant genes. For both PBI factors and both parents, the best-fitting models invariably assumed sex-limited genetic effects and unique environmental influences only. Broad heritability ranged from 19% (father overprotection) to 39% (mother care). These results are interpreted in the broader perspective of gene-culture theory.

The calls for knowledge-based policy and policy-relevant research invoke a need to evaluate and manage environment and health assessments and models according to their societal outcomes. This review explores how well the existing approaches to assessment and model performance serve this need. The perspectives to assessment and model performance in the scientific literature can be called: (1) quality assurance/control, (2) uncertainty analysis, (3) technical assessment of models, (4) effectiveness and (5) other perspectives, according to what is primarily seen to constitute the goodness of assessments and models. The categorization is not strict and methods, tools and frameworks in different perspectives may overlap. However, altogether it seems that most approaches to assessment and model performance are relatively narrow in their scope. The focus in most approaches is on the outputs and making of assessments and models. Practical application of the outputs and the consequential outcomes are often left unaddressed. It appears that more comprehensive approaches that combine the essential characteristics of different perspectives are needed. This necessitates a better account of the mechanisms of collective knowledge creation and the relations between knowledge and practical action. Some new approaches to assessment, modeling and their evaluation and management span the chain from knowledge creation to societal outcomes, but the complexity of evaluating societal outcomes remains a challenge.

Nowadays, the ever increasing digitization of our societies is producing an unprecedented amount of data about human behavior. At the same time, advances in machine learning and complex systems enable us to build explanatory and/or predictive computational models of human behavior. Interestingly, these data and models can also be used to better understand the factors associated with specific neighborhoods’ outcomes such as vitality, safety perception, crime levels, innovation, segregation, traffic congestion, etc., and to design more efficient policymakers’ interventions. In particular, leveraging census data, mobile phone traces, information from OpenStreetMap, and street view images, we describe a set of studies where we (i) infer how vital and livable a city is; (ii) find urban appearance conditions that magnify and influence urban life; (iii) study the relationship of urban conditions with societal outcomes such as urban crime levels; and (iv) model the impact of pandemic shocks such as COVID-19 and related non-pharmaceutical interventions on human behavior.

Abass Alavi: A giant in Nuclear Medicine turns 80 and is still going strong!

There is a growing literature on the impact of genetic variation on outcome in traumatic brain injury (TBI). Whereas a substantial proportion of these publications have focused on the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, several have explored the influence of other polymorphisms. We undertook a systematic review of the impact of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in non–apolipoprotein E (non-APOE) genes associated with patient outcomes in adult TBI). We searched EMBASE, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and gray literature from inception to the beginning of August 2017 for studies of genetic variance in relation to patient outcomes in adult TBI. Sixty-eight articles were deemed eligible for inclusion into the systematic review. The SNPs described were in the following categories: neurotransmitter (NT) in 23, cytokine in nine, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in 12, mitochondrial genes in three, and miscellaneous SNPs in 21. All studies were based on small patient cohorts and suffered from potential bias. A range of SNPs associated with genes coding for monoamine NTs, BDNF, cytokines, and mitochondrial proteins have been reported to be associated with variation in global, neuropsychiatric, and behavioral outcomes. An analysis of the tissue, cellular, and subcellular location of the genes that harbored the SNPs studied showed that they could be clustered into blood–brain barrier associated, neuroprotective/regulatory, and neuropsychiatric/degenerative groups. Several small studies report that various NT, cytokine, and BDNF-related SNPs are associated with variations in global outcome at 6–12 months post-TBI. The association of these SNPs with neuropsychiatric and behavioral outcomes is less clear. A definitive assessment of role and effect size of genetic variation in these genes on outcome remains uncertain, but could be clarified by an adequately powered genome-wide association study with appropriate recording of outcomes.

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Major depressive disorder (MDD) is an important risk factor of suicidal behavior, but the added burden of suicidal behavior and MDD on the patient and societal level, including all-cause mortality, is not well studied. Also, the contribution of various prognostic factors for suicidal behavior has not been quantified in larger samples. To describe the clinical and societal outcomes, including all-cause mortality, of suicidal behavior in patients with MDD and to explore associated risk factors and clinical management to inform future research and guidelines. This population-based cohort study used health care data from the Stockholm MDD Cohort. Patients aged 18 years or older with episodes of MDD diagnosed between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2017, in any health care setting were included. The dates of the data analysis were February 1 to November 1, 2022. Patients with MDD with and without records of suicidal behavior. The main outcome was all-cause mortality. Secondary outcomes were comorbid conditions, medications, health care resource utilization (HCRU), and work loss. Using Region Stockholm registry variables, a risk score for factors associated with suicidal behavior within 1 year after the start of an MDD episode was calculated. A total of 158 169 unipolar MDD episodes were identified in 145 577 patients; 2240 (1.4%) of these episodes, in 2219 patients, included records of suicidal behavior (mean [SD] patient age, 40.9 [18.6] years; 1415 episodes [63.2%] in women and 825 [36.8%] in men). A total of 11 109 MDD episodes in 9574 matched patients with MDD without records of suicidal behavior were included as controls (mean [SD] patient age, 40.8 [18.5] years; 7046 episodes [63.4%] in women and 4063 [36.6%] in men). The all-cause mortality rate was 2.5 per 100 person-years at risk for the MDD-SB group and 1.0 per 100 person-years at risk for the MDD-non-SB group, based on 466 deaths. Suicidal behavior was associated with higher all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 2.62 [95% CI, 2.15-3.20]), as well as with HCRU and work loss, compared with the matched controls. Patients with MDD and suicidal behavior were younger and more prone to have psychiatric comorbid conditions, such as personality disorders, substance use, and anxiety, at the start of their episode. The most important factors associated with suicidal behavior within 1 year after the start of an MDD episode were history of suicidal behavior and age, history of substance use and sleep disorders, and care setting in which MDD was diagnosed. This cohort study's findings suggest that high mortality, morbidity, HCRU, and work loss associated with MDD may be substantially accentuated in patients with MDD and suicidal behavior. Use of medication aimed at decreasing the risk of all-cause mortality during MDD episodes should be systematically evaluated to improve long-term outcomes.