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The humanities are instrumental to human development and happiness and are an integral part of our lives. However, a lack of empirical research limits our current understanding of the role the humanities play in the well-being of individuals, communities, and societies. Through a systematic search of the literature, we identify and review empirical studies that investigate whether engagement with history, literature, and philosophy influences individual's well-being (i.e. psychological well-being, subjective well-being, and virtues). The results suggest that studies investigating such influences are limited and mainly conducted in pedagogical settings. At the same time, these studies provide initial evidence for the positive effects of engagement in the humanities on individual well-being. Through this review, we identify gaps in the literature and provide recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asthenozoospermia is an important cause of male infertility. The mutations in sperm mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) result in either functionless or malfunctioning some proteins, subsequently affecting sperm motility leading to asthenozoospermia. The purpose of this study was to investigate sperm mtDNA 4,977-bp deletion in infertile men with low sperm motility/immotile spermatozoa compared to healthy subjects with high sperm motility. Semen samples of 256 asthenozoospermic infertiles and 200 controls from northern Iran were collected. After extraction of spermatozoa total DNA, Gap-polymerase chain reaction (Gap-PCR) was performed. The deletion was observed in 85.93% of patients with asthenozoospermia compared with 14% in controls [OR = 37.5397, 95% confidence interval = 12.937-108.9276, p < .0001]. It is concluded that there is a strong association between sperm mtDNA 4,977-bp deletion and asthenozoospermia-induced infertility in the population examined. Large-scale mtDNA deletions in spermatozoa may induce bioenergetic disorders. Nevertheless, to validate our results broader research may be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rock failure is observed around boreholes often with certain types of failure zones, which are called breakouts. Laboratory-scale drilling tests in some high-porosity quartz-rich sandstone have shown breakouts in the form of narrow localized compacted zones in the minimum horizontal stress direction. They are called fracture-like breakouts. Such compaction bands may affect hydrocarbon extraction by forming barriers that inhibit fluid flow and may also be a source of sand production. This paper presents the results of numerical simulations of borehole breakouts using 3D discrete element method to investigate the mechanism of the fracture-like breakouts and to identify the role of far-field stresses on the breakout dimensions. The numerical tool was first verified against analytical solutions. It was then utilized to investigate the failure mechanism and breakout geometry for drilled cubic rock samples of Castlegate sandstone subjected to different pre-existing far-field stresses. Results show that failure occurs in the zones of the highest concentration of tangential stress around the borehole. It is concluded that fracture-like breakout develops as a result of a nondilatant failure mechanism consisting of localized grain debonding and repacking and grain crushing that lead to the formation of a compaction band in the minimum horizontal stress direction. In addition, it is found that the length of fracture-like breakouts depends on both the mean stress and stress anisotropy. However, the width of the breakout is not significantly changed by the far-field stresses. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]