Search

Biological resistance to pesticides, vaccines, antibiotics, and chemotherapies creates huge costs to society, including extensive morbidity and mortality. We simultaneously face costly resistance to social changes, such as those required to resolve human–wildlife conflicts and conserve biodiversity and the biosphere. Viewing resistance as a force that impedes change from one state to another, we suggest that an analysis of biological resistance can provide unique and potentially testable insights into understanding resistance to social changes. We review key insights from managing biological resistance and develop a framework that identifies seven strategies to overcome resistance. We apply this framework to consider how it might be used to understand social resistance and generate potentially novel hypotheses that may be useful to both enhance the development of strategies to manage resistance and modulate change in socio‐ecological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the distribution of species is essential for the conservation and management of biodiversity. But the availability of this kind of information is still scarce for the most diverse regions. The higher‐taxon approach (i.e. use of coarser taxonomic levels to represent species) as an easier and efficient method in representing species patterns can be one way to overcome these constraints. However, there is a general lack of information about the taxonomic stability of surrogate taxa across space and time. We investigated the predictive power and stability of taxonomic identification at the genus level as a predictor of ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) distribution throughout ~1000 km along the Amazon Basin, using taxonomy over the past 120 years. Using intervals of 10 years, from 1900 to 2020 we generated a genus and species matrix based on actual data from our sampling sites for each decade over a total of 120 years. We tested the predictive power of genera as a surrogate of species for approximating species‐level richness, composition and distribution‐based measures along topographic gradients at local (within site) and regional (between sites) scales. We detected a strong correlation between genera and ant species richness in the current database. There was also high congruence between genera and ant species composition over the time period studied. Genera were also efficient at detecting patterns of species distribution along topographic gradients. Despite changes in ant taxonomy over the past 120 years, our data indicate that such revisions did not affect the ability of ant genera to predict general patterns of ant species in our study area within the Amazon Basin. This reinforces the potential of genera to serve as surrogates for ant species elsewhere, which may significantly decrease the cost of surveying ants in environmental monitoring programs because of the time saved from identifying collected specimens to genus rather than species level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superfamily Platygastroidea (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupomorpha) is a diverse group of parasitoid wasps that are parasitoids of nine orders of insects as well as spiders. They appear to show a clear pattern of host group specificity among genera. A robust phylogeny is essential for devising a stable and informative classification and understanding the pattern of the shifts to parasitize new host groups. We conducted phylogenetic analyses of Platygastroidea based on four molecular markers (18S, 28S, COI and wingless) and 119 morphological characters, and a phylogenomic analysis of a subset of taxa based on 4371 single‐copy, protein‐coding genes. The four‐gene analyses, both with and without morphological data, robustly recovered some well‐established groups, e.g., Platygastridae (in its traditional sense), Scelionini, Teleasinae and Telenominae, as well as some novel patterns of relationship. The ground‐plan host for the superfamily are the eggs of Orthoptera, with multiple shifts to attack new host groups. The phylogenomic analysis of a subset of taxa recovered a clear pattern of relationships for the backbone of the superfamily with maximal bootstrap support. Based on the combination of these two approaches, we present a revised classification for Platygastroidea and recognize the following eight families: Geoscelionidae stat.rev., Janzenellidae fam.nov., Neuroscelionidae fam.nov., Nixoniidae stat.rev., Platygastridae stat.rev., Proterosceliopsidae†, Scelionidae stat.rev. and Sparasionidae stat.rev. This published work has been registered on ZooBank, http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:480936B5‐3C2C‐4B6A‐B273‐10DCBF9005E9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Research indicates that females' economic negotiated outcomes are generally worse than those of males. However, this research has also noted several circumstances when females' economic outcomes are at least as good as those of males. In the present study, we explore this equivocal pattern of outcomes with a focus on concessions that females make as they negotiate with males over two media, audio and instant messaging (IM). We proposed and tested a model to explain these concessions and how they are influenced by elements of the negotiation context, including the medium, resource power, and the degree that positive affect is communicated by males to females. Our predictions are based on role congruity theory. We predicted and found that females tend to have poorer economic negotiated outcomes due to greater concession making when they use an audio rather than IM media and when they have more resource power. In addition, we found that females tend to fare poorer economically with the combination of having more resource power and negotiating using audio, than would be expected based on the simple sum of the effects of resource power and using audio. Finally, we found that when females have resource power and positive affect is communicated by their male partners, females tend to fare better economically. These findings suggest choices that both females and males can make so as to enhance their economic outcomes. For example, when they can choose the negotiation medium, females should choose to negotiate over IM rather than audio, while males should choose audio rather than IM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies in the United States have examined longitudinally the mortality risks associated with use of smokeless tobacco (SLT). The sample of our study was composed of participants from the National Longitudinal Mortality Study who completed a single Tobacco Use Supplement to the Current Population Survey between the years 1985 and 2011. Using survival methods, SLT use at the baseline survey was examined as a predictor of all-cause mortality and cause-specific mortalities in models that excluded individuals who had ever smoked cigarettes, cigars or used pipes (final n = 349,282). The participants had median and maximum follow-up times of 8.8 and 26.3 years, respectively. Regression analyses indicated that compared to the never tobacco users, the current SLT users did not have elevated mortality risks from all cancers combined, the digestive system cancers and cerebrovascular disease. However, current SLT users had a higher mortality risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) [hazard ratio (HR) (95% CI) = 1.24 (1.05, 1.46)] relative to never tobacco users. In a separate model, the elevated risk for CHD mortality corresponded to the use of moist snuff [HR (95% CI) = 1.30 (1.03, 1.63)]. The associations with CHD mortality could be attributed to long-term nicotine exposure, other SLT constituents ( e.g., metals) or the confounding effects of CHD risk factors not accounted for in our study. The study's findings contribute to the ongoing dialogue on tobacco harm reduction and the US FDA's evaluation of Modified Risk Tobacco Product applications submitted by American SLT manufacturers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parasitoid wasps of the subfamily Telenominae ( Hymenoptera: Platygastroidea, Platygastridae) develop as immatures within the eggs of other insects ( Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Diptera and Neuroptera). Rearing records indicate that individual species are restricted to attack hosts within only one of these four main groups. We conducted a phylogenetic analysis of the group using sequence data from multiple genes ( 18S, 28S, COI, EF-1α) to assess the pattern of shifts among host groups and to test the monophyly of and relationships among genera and species-groups. Telenominae sensu Masner-that is, including only the nominate tribe Telenomini-is not monophyletic. Representatives of the Psix group of genera ( Psix Kozlov & Lê and Paratelenomus Dodd) form a monophyletic group that is sister to Gryon Haliday ( Scelioninae: Gryonini) and are excluded from the subfamily. The remaining telenomines are monophyletic. The genus Phanuromyia Dodd and the crassiclava group of Telenomus Haliday, both recorded as parasitoids of planthopper eggs ( Hemiptera: Auchenorrhyncha, Fulgoroidea), form a monophyletic group that is sister to all other telenomines exclusive of the Psix group. Twenty-nine species of the crassiclava and aradi groups of Telenomus are transferred to Phanuromyia as new combinations. Basal elements of the remaining species are all in groups reared from the eggs of true bugs ( Heteroptera), primarily the stink bugs ( Pentatomoidea) and seed bugs ( Lygaeoidea). A shift to parasitism of lepidopteran eggs evolved within a single clade, occurring either one or two times. From this clade a small group of species, the Telenomus tabanivorus group, subsequently shifted to parasitism of egg masses of true flies ( Tabanidae and Stratiomyiidae). Aholcus Kieffer and Platytelenomus Dodd both belong to the clade of lepidopteran parasitoids and are considered as junior synonyms of Telenomus (new synonymy for Aholcus). The monophyletic status of the two core genera, Telenomus and Trissolcus could not be resolved using these data. The phylogenetic pattern of host shifts suggests comparisons among taxa that may be fruitful in elucidating mechanisms by which parasitoids locate their hosts, the proximate factors that determine the host range, and the changes in these factors that influence host changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Breast cancer survival has improved significantly in the US in the past 10-15 years. However, disparities exist in breast cancer survival between black and white women. Purpose. To investigate the effect of county healthcare resources and SES as well as individual SES status on breast cancer survival disparities between black and white women. Methods. Data from1,796 breast cancer cases were obtained from the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results and the National Longitudinal Mortality Study dataset. Cox Proportional Hazards models were constructed accounting for clustering within counties. Three sequential Cox models were fit for each outcome including demographic variables; demographic and clinical variables; and finally demographic, clinical, and county-level variables. Results. In unadjusted analysis, black women had a 53% higher likelihood of dying of breast cancer and 32% higher likelihood of dying of any cause (P < 0.05) compared with white women. Adjusting for demographic variables explained away the effect of race on breast cancer survival (HR, 1.40; 95% CI, 0.99-1.97), but not on all-cause mortality. The racial difference in all-cause survival disappeared only after adjusting for county-level variables (HR, 1.27; CI, 0.95-1.71). Conclusions. Improving equitable access to healthcare for all women in the US may help eliminate survival disparities between racial and socioeconomic groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Virtual worlds or three-dimensional computer-based simulated environments have received considerable attention as platforms for entertainment, education and commerce. In contrast to a web site, for example, where a user interacts with a two-dimensional site, virtual worlds provide a platform in which users can interact with other individuals, sometimes including strangers, within three-dimensional environments. Virtual worlds afford a form of 'socialness' unlike many other technologies, often motivating a user - by virtue of these social experiences - to return. Drawing on the Spatial Model of Interaction and Awareness-Attention Theory, we demonstrate that besides social aspects, which include social awareness and social perception, flow experience, which is the mental state of being fully absorbed and somewhat lost in time, is an essential ingredient in an individual's decision to return to a virtual world. We also demonstrate how characteristics of the technology are linked to the social aspects experienced in virtual worlds. A laboratory study conducted in a virtual world, Second Life, supports our assertions and identifies state predictors of flow that influence individuals' intentions to return to the virtual world environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heteromorphic sex chromosomes, where one sex has two different types of sex chromosomes, face very different evolutionary consequences than do autosomes. Two important features of sex chromosomes arise from being present in only one copy in one of the sexes: dosage compensation and the meiotic silencing of sex chromosomes. Other differences arise because sex chromosomes spend unequal amounts of time in each sex. Thus, the impact of evolutionary processes (mutation, selection, genetic drift, and meiotic drive) differs substantially between each sex chromosome, and between the sex chromosomes and the autosomes. Sex chromosomes also play a disproportionate role in Haldane's rule and other important patterns related to hybrid incompatibility, and thus speciation. We review the consequences of sex chromosomes on hybrid incompatibility. A theme running through this review is that epigenetic processes, notably those related to chromatin, may be more important to the evolution of sex chromosomes and the evolution of hybrid incompatibility than previously recognized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This is the first study to use the linked National Longitudinal Mortality Study and Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data to determine the effects of individual-level socioeconomic factors (health insurance, education, income, and poverty status) on racial disparities in receiving treatment and in survival.Methods: This study included 13,234 cases diagnosed with the 8 most common types of cancer (female breast, colorectal, prostate, lung and bronchus, uterine cervix, ovarian, melanoma, and urinary bladder) at age ≥ 25 years, identified from the National Longitudinal Mortality Study-SEER data during 1973 to 2003. Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox regression models were used for survival analysis.Results: Three-year all-cause observed survival for cases diagnosed with local-stage cancers of the 8 leading tumors combined was ≥ 82% regardless of race/ethnicity. More favorable survival was associated with higher socioeconomic status. Compared with whites, blacks were less likely to receive first-course cancer-directed surgery, perhaps reflecting a less favorable stage distribution at diagnosis. Hazard ratio (HR) for cancer-specific mortality was significantly higher among blacks compared with whites (HR, 1.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1-1.3) after adjusting for age, sex, and tumor stage, but not after further controlling for socioeconomic factors and treatment (HR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.9-1.1). HRs for all-cause mortality among patients with breast cancer and for cancer-specific mortality in patients with prostate cancer were significantly higher for blacks compared with whites after adjusting for socioeconomic factors, treatment, and patient and tumor characteristics.Conclusions: Favorable survival was associated with higher socioeconomic status. Racial disparities in survival persisted after adjusting for individual-level socioeconomic factors and treatment for patients with breast and prostate cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]