29 results
16 - Buffalo Hunting: From a Commodity to a High-Value Game Species
- from Part IV - Management
- Edited by Alexandre Caron, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), France, Daniel Cornélis, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and Foundation François Sommer, France, Philippe Chardonnet, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) SSC Antelope Specialist Group, Herbert H. T. Prins, Wageningen Universiteit, The Netherlands
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- Ecology and Management of the African Buffalo
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- 09 November 2023
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- 23 November 2023, pp 431-484
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Summary
Whether practiced legally or illegally, formally or informally, hunting buffalo for meat occurs broadly across African cultures. Nearly all buffalo parts are prized in addition to the meat. Buffalo are also hunted for traditional medicine, social positioning, mystical reasons and in retaliation for causing damage to people and crops. The buffalo is a major game for the hunting industry in every country, but the reasons vary from place to place. In South Africa, buffalo is the first income-generating game despite being the least hunted of all important game. In Tanzania, despite a trophy fee that is lower than that of other species, buffalo is the top tax-earning game because it is the most hunted among the important game. As duly gazetted protected areas, hunting areas are contributing internationally to the global network of conservation areas. They more than double the land area that is used for wildlife conservation in sub-Saharan Africa. Acting as buffer zones of national parks and as corridors between national parks, hunting areas are the last frontier of the African buffalo outside national parks. In South Africa, where all buffalo are fenced and buffalo hunting occurs behind fences, the buffalo is subject to genetic manipulation to enlarge trophy horns and produce disease-free herds. While ‘clean buffalo’ widely contributed to expanding the land dedicated to wildlife conservation in a beef-exporting country, ‘augmented buffalo’ remain a matter of concern for the long-term conservation of the taxon. Several non-African countries imposed bans on importing hunting trophies of CITES-listed species from Africa, leading to a drop in the hunting market. The bans are having two impacts on buffalo: (i) although not CITES-listed, the buffalo is a collateral victim of the bans because many abandoned hunting areas are exposed to poaching and habitat conversion; and (ii) unintentionally, the bans are lifting the value of buffalo as a leading flagship game in an attempt to compensate for the loss of CITES-listed game. Hence, once a commodity game, the buffalo is turning into a high-value game.
4 - Conservation Status of the African Buffalo: A Continent-Wide Assessment
- from Part I - Conservation
- Edited by Alexandre Caron, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), France, Daniel Cornélis, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and Foundation François Sommer, France, Philippe Chardonnet, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) SSC Antelope Specialist Group, Herbert H. T. Prins, Wageningen Universiteit, The Netherlands
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- Ecology and Management of the African Buffalo
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- 09 November 2023
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- 23 November 2023, pp 66-128
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Summary
This chapter presents the distribution, abundance patterns and trends of African buffalo in the 38 countries of its distribution area based on recent aerial and ground census data and feedback from field experts. For the period 2001–2021, we collected abundance data from 163 protected areas or complexes of protected areas and presence data from 711 localities. The savanna buffalo population is estimated in 2022 at over 564,000 individuals, after deduction of the 75,000 buffalo under intensive private management in South Africa. Its abundance is roughly equivalent to that estimated 25 years ago (625,000). The subspecies conservation status is highly unbalanced. The Cape buffalo is by far the most abundant, representing 90 per cent of the total estimated population (510,000 individuals). The West and Central subspecies respectively represent 4 and 6 per cent (>20,000 individuals and >34,000 individuals). The conservation status of the Central African savanna buffalo, whose abundance has been nearly halved over the last 25 years, is worrisome, with exception of the steadily increasing populations of Zakouma NP (Chad) and Garamba NP (DRC). Estimating the abundance of forest buffalo is challenging, as is establishing a trend. Our investigations showed that the forest buffalo is still well represented in Central Africa in areas with low human density. The forest buffalo’s most important stronghold in Central Africa is probably the Greater TRIDOM/TNS (Tri-National Dja-Odzala-Minkébé / Trinational Sangha), a vast contiguous block of mainly pristine moist forest covering 250,000 km2 and straddling Cameroon, Congo, Gabon and Central African Republic (11 per cent of the Central African forest block). In West Africa, we obtained very little information on the presence of the forest buffalo in the residual forest block, suggesting that the conservation status of the forest buffalo in this region is very worrisome.
17 - Knowns and Unknowns in African Buffalo Ecology and Management
- from Part V - Concluding Chapters
- Edited by Alexandre Caron, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), France, Daniel Cornélis, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and Foundation François Sommer, France, Philippe Chardonnet, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) SSC Antelope Specialist Group, Herbert H. T. Prins, Wageningen Universiteit, The Netherlands
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- Ecology and Management of the African Buffalo
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- 09 November 2023
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- 23 November 2023, pp 487-516
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Summary
The African buffalo is one of the best-researched of all ungulate species even though it must give way to some North American deer species, an elephant-seal species and the red deer. The African buffalo had some monographs dedicated to it, but much new research has been carried out on the species since that time, which is brought up to date in the present volume. This allowed us to make an inventory of what we do not know yet about this important species. For that purpose, we made an inventory of research topics, or questions tabulated under three different knowledge domains, (i) ‘known unknowns’, (ii) ‘unknown unknowns’ and (iii) ‘unknown knowns’. The ‘known unknowns’ we categorized as those research questions sitting as it were in the backs of the minds of the current suite of African buffalo specialist; our inventory yielded 37 research issues. The ‘unknown knowns’, we portrayed as evidence-based scientific knowledge on buffalo that a current generation of scientists appear to have forgotten. This proved difficult, but three topics were identified. Here we also draw attention to the fact that modern scientists appear to ignore francophone literature, which is rather unfortunate as West and Central Africa are to a large extent francophone. Not using this repository of information may lead to knowledge decay. Finally, we share thoughts on the ‘unknown unknowns’, which we described as ‘knowledge once we have it will upset our present thinking, perhaps about African buffalo, perhaps on ecology evolution, or on aspects of the veterinary sciences’. Under this category, we touched on 15 issues, but perhaps our imagination was too limited. So, we share in total some 60-odd questions and ideas, and we hope that at least some of these questions or ideas will kindle someone’s imagination and drive to bring knowledge on this great species further.
Part I - Conservation
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- By D. Cornelis
- Edited by Alexandre Caron, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), France, Daniel Cornélis, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and Foundation François Sommer, France, Philippe Chardonnet, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) SSC Antelope Specialist Group, Herbert H. T. Prins, Wageningen Universiteit, The Netherlands
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- Ecology and Management of the African Buffalo
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- 09 November 2023
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- 23 November 2023, pp 21-128
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18 - Futures of the African Buffalo
- from Part V - Concluding Chapters
- Edited by Alexandre Caron, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), France, Daniel Cornélis, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and Foundation François Sommer, France, Philippe Chardonnet, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) SSC Antelope Specialist Group, Herbert H. T. Prins, Wageningen Universiteit, The Netherlands
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- Ecology and Management of the African Buffalo
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- 09 November 2023
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- 23 November 2023, pp 517-548
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Summary
In this chapter we envision the possible futures of the African buffalo populations in Africa by reflecting on the regional and international factors and their relationships that could positively or negatively impact the healthiness of the buffalo species in the next 30 years. Using the expertise of the authors of this book, we drafted and validated a list of factors of change that could impact the futures of African buffalo populations on the continent and use a set of prospective methods, i.e. structural analysis, critical uncertainty matrix and morphological analysis to develop seven synopses which provided caricatural African contexts within which the consequences for African buffalo populations could be imagined. In 2050, the futures of the African buffalo will vary according to each country specific social, technical, economic, environmental, political and value contexts. In a context of climate change that will impact increasingly the environmental contexts in Africa, good futures for buffalo were often associated with political stability and good governance. The proportion of African living in cities will also be important. The ratio of urban versus rural African will not only determine the intensity of the agricultural pressure on land but also the African worldviews towards nature and its conservation. The influence of non-African states will also be determinant, especially in extractive industries and their request for land. A pivotal factor is the conservation models that will prevail in 2050: to what extent they are still influenced and constrained by part of the Western opinion; to what extent they are funded by them; and to what extent African worldviews push for the design of new conservation models based on different relationship between people and nature. Probably, landscapes associating land-sparing (e.g. national parks) and land-sharing management options, based on the sustainable use of natural resources will provide the best futures for buffalo to thrive on the continent.
5 - Habitat, Space Use and Feeding Ecology of the African Buffalo
- from Part II - Ecology
- Edited by Alexandre Caron, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), France, Daniel Cornélis, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and Foundation François Sommer, France, Philippe Chardonnet, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) SSC Antelope Specialist Group, Herbert H. T. Prins, Wageningen Universiteit, The Netherlands
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- Ecology and Management of the African Buffalo
- Published online:
- 09 November 2023
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- 23 November 2023, pp 133-152
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Summary
African buffalo herd size varies across their distribution range from as few as 5–10 in the rainforests of West and Central Africa to as many as 2000 individuals in the floodplains of eastern and southern Africa. The home range size of African buffalo also varies greatly, with those of savanna buffalo herds generally ranging between 50 and 350 km2. The larger home ranges are generally observed in areas where resources are spatially segregated, and where herds are forced to undertake seasonal movements. In contrast, forest buffalo exhibit smaller home ranges (<10 km2) due to a less pronounced seasonality of the environment, and a more homogeneous spatial arrangement of resources. African buffalo are ruminants, essentially feeding on grass and roughage. This species is capable of subsisting on pastures too coarse and too tall for most other herbivores. The African buffalo occupies an important niche, opening up habitats that are preferred by short-grass grazers. Although the African buffalo primarily is a grazer, savanna buffalo can partially switch their diet to browse when grasses become tall and lignified. The ability of the African buffalo to cope with contrasting environmental conditions throughout most sub-Saharan ecosystems, by modulating a large array of biological traits, highlights a high degree of behavioural plasticity.
6 - African Buffalo Social Dynamics: What Is a Buffalo Herd?
- from Part II - Ecology
- Edited by Alexandre Caron, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), France, Daniel Cornélis, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD) and Foundation François Sommer, France, Philippe Chardonnet, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) SSC Antelope Specialist Group, Herbert H. T. Prins, Wageningen Universiteit, The Netherlands
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- Ecology and Management of the African Buffalo
- Published online:
- 09 November 2023
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- 23 November 2023, pp 153-179
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Summary
Some aspects of the well-described planet- and satellite-like framework of, respectively, mixed herds and bachelor groups of buffalo recently were challenged. Associations of female buffalo are now considered more fluid than the initial idea of a stable mixed herd defined by a home range. Within mixed herds, adult female associations are unstable and transient despite using largely overlapping home ranges. Mixed herds in most instances do not seem to overlap much in space. Between mixed herds exchanges exist, apparently dominated by juvenile females (but almost no information exists on juvenile males). The dynamics of fusion–fission events within mixed herds are largely driven by habitat heterogeneity, the quality and quantity of grazing and surface water, and the influence of predation, parasitism and fires. The influence of the human/buffalo interface on these dynamics is not yet well understood. Future studies will benefit from more advances in telemetry and new technologies, new information sources (e.g. sound recorders) and non-invasive genetic studies to enhance our knowledge of buffalo social dynamics. Knowledge of buffalo social dynamics would also benefit from studies more representative of the African distribution of the species and across its subspecies.
Empower: Design of a digital intervention for workplace stress and mental health. A European study
- C. M. Van Der Feltz-Cornelis, J. Shepherd, B. Olaya, C. Vanroelen, J. Gevaert, O. Borrega Cepa, R. M. Bernard, D. Merecz-Kot, M. Sinokki, L. Hakkaart-van Roijen, J. M. Haro, C. EMPOWER
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- Journal:
- European Psychiatry / Volume 66 / Issue S1 / March 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 19 July 2023, pp. S160-S161
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Introduction
Work stress, anxiety and depression have an enormous impact on the well-being of employees, their employers, and society. Due to the loss of productivity, common mental disorders have a substantial economic impact. Major depression alone has been attributed to 50% of long-term absences from work, and depressive symptoms are related to lowered productivity while at work. Anxiety also contributes to loss of productivity and sickness absence. Treatment of common mental disorders in a work setting may improve symptoms, however, that does not automatically lead to improved work productivity. Addressing mental well-being at the workplace might improve work functioning, and digital interventions have been introduced with that objective. However, their evaluation in research has been limited.
The European Intervention to Promote Wellbeing and Health in the Workplace (EMPOWER) digital intervention is designed to provide and evaluate an integrative user programme that meets the needs of employees and employers in addressing work stress.
This work was supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme Health (grant number APP1195937, 848180). The EMPOWER project started 1.1.2020 and is currently ongoing.
ObjectivesWe aim to
1) describe the design and development of the digital intervention.
2) culturally validate the intervention in three countries
3) test the prototype and beta version for its usability in the RCT to evaluate its effect in four countries that is currently ongoing.
MethodsA user-centred design process was followed from January 2020 until November 2021 to create a beta version for usability testing. A tailored algorithm was developed to provide support at the individual employee level and the company level. Each element of the digital intervention was translated and culturally validated in four languages in Spain, the United Kingdom, Poland, and Finland. Usability testing was conducted in each country (n=31) to explore validity, usability, and user experience.
ResultsThe digital intervention consists of a website and a mobile application (app). The website has a public section and an employer portal that provides recommendations to reduce psychosocial risks in their company based upon clustered input from employees. The app provides algorithm-based personalised content after assessing a user’s physical and psychological symptoms, work functioning, and psychosocial risk factors for work stress. The usability testing improved the flow through the app and high ease of use and completion of tasks by participants.
ConclusionsThe EMPOWER digital intervention is a tailored multimodal intervention addressing wellbeing, work stress, mental and physical health problems, and work productivity. Usability testing provided validation of the app as version to be evaluated in the EMPOWER RCT.
Disclosure of InterestNone Declared
Effectiveness of tailored digital health interventions for mental health at the workplace: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials
- C. M. van der Feltz-Cornelis, T. M. Byrne, J. Shepherd, D. Merecz-Kot, M. Sinokki, P. Naumanen, L. Hakkaart-van Roijen, C. Empower
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- Journal:
- European Psychiatry / Volume 66 / Issue S1 / March 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 19 July 2023, pp. S854-S855
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Introduction
Mental health problems in the workplace are common and have a considerable impact on employee wellbeing and productivity. Mental ill-health costs employers between £33 billion and £42 billion a year. According to a 2020 HSE report, roughly 2,440 per 100,000 workers in the UK were affected by work-related stress, depression, or anxiety, resulting in an estimated 17.9 million working days lost.
This study is part of the EMPOWER study. The European Intervention to Promote Wellbeing and Health in the Workplace (EMPOWER) consortium’s aim is to create an individualised digital tool that promotes employee wellbeing, mental health, and work productivity. It has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/home) and innovation program under grant agreement No 848180.
ObjectivesWe performed a systematic review of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the effect of tailored digital health interventions provided in the workplace aiming to improve mental health, presenteeism and absenteeism of employees.
MethodsWe searched several databases for RCTs published from 2000 onwards. Data were extracted into a standardised data extraction form. The quality of the included studies was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Due to the heterogeneity of outcome measures, narrative synthesis was used to summarise the findings.
ResultsSeven RCTs (eight publications) were included that evaluated tailored digital interventions versus waiting list control or usual care to improve physical and mental health outcomes and work productivity.
The results are promising to the advantage of tailored digital interventions regarding presenteeism, sleep, stress levels, and physical symptoms related to somatisation.
There is less evidence for addressing depression, anxiety, and absenteeism in the general working population, but they significantly reduced depression and anxiety in employees with higher levels of psychological distress.
ConclusionsTailored digital interventions seem more effective in employees with higher levels of distress, presenteeism or absenteeism than in the general working population. However, so far, there are not many studies in this domain. Given the promising results, tailoring of digital interventions based upon employee input should be a focus in future research.
Disclosure of InterestNone Declared
Sea-level change in the Dutch Wadden Sea
- Part of
- Bert L.A. Vermeersen, Aimée B.A. Slangen, Theo Gerkema, Fedor Baart, Kim M. Cohen, Sönke Dangendorf, Matthias Duran-Matute, Thomas Frederikse, Aslak Grinsted, Marc P. Hijma, Svetlana Jevrejeva, Patrick Kiden, Marcel Kleinherenbrink, Erik W. Meijles, Matthew D. Palmer, Roelof Rietbroek, Riccardo E.M. Riva, Elisabeth Schulz, D. Cornelis Slobbe, Matthew J.R. Simpson, Paul Sterlini, Paolo Stocchi, Roderik S.W. van de Wal, Mick van der Wegen
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- Journal:
- Netherlands Journal of Geosciences / Volume 97 / Issue 3 / September 2018
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 11 October 2018, pp. 79-127
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Rising sea levels due to climate change can have severe consequences for coastal populations and ecosystems all around the world. Understanding and projecting sea-level rise is especially important for low-lying countries such as the Netherlands. It is of specific interest for vulnerable ecological and morphodynamic regions, such as the Wadden Sea UNESCO World Heritage region.
Here we provide an overview of sea-level projections for the 21st century for the Wadden Sea region and a condensed review of the scientific data, understanding and uncertainties underpinning the projections. The sea-level projections are formulated in the framework of the geological history of the Wadden Sea region and are based on the regional sea-level projections published in the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5). These IPCC AR5 projections are compared against updates derived from more recent literature and evaluated for the Wadden Sea region. The projections are further put into perspective by including interannual variability based on long-term tide-gauge records from observing stations at Den Helder and Delfzijl.
We consider three climate scenarios, following the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), as defined in IPCC AR5: the RCP2.6 scenario assumes that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions decline after 2020; the RCP4.5 scenario assumes that GHG emissions peak at 2040 and decline thereafter; and the RCP8.5 scenario represents a continued rise of GHG emissions throughout the 21st century. For RCP8.5, we also evaluate several scenarios from recent literature where the mass loss in Antarctica accelerates at rates exceeding those presented in IPCC AR5.
For the Dutch Wadden Sea, the IPCC AR5-based projected sea-level rise is 0.07±0.06m for the RCP4.5 scenario for the period 2018–30 (uncertainties representing 5–95%), with the RCP2.6 and RCP8.5 scenarios projecting 0.01m less and more, respectively. The projected rates of sea-level change in 2030 range between 2.6mma−1 for the 5th percentile of the RCP2.6 scenario to 9.1mma−1 for the 95th percentile of the RCP8.5 scenario. For the period 2018–50, the differences between the scenarios increase, with projected changes of 0.16±0.12m for RCP2.6, 0.19±0.11m for RCP4.5 and 0.23±0.12m for RCP8.5. The accompanying rates of change range between 2.3 and 12.4mma−1 in 2050. The differences between the scenarios amplify for the 2018–2100 period, with projected total changes of 0.41±0.25m for RCP2.6, 0.52±0.27m for RCP4.5 and 0.76±0.36m for RCP8.5. The projections for the RCP8.5 scenario are larger than the high-end projections presented in the 2008 Delta Commission Report (0.74m for 1990–2100) when the differences in time period are considered. The sea-level change rates range from 2.2 to 18.3mma−1 for the year 2100.
We also assess the effect of accelerated ice mass loss on the sea-level projections under the RCP8.5 scenario, as recent literature suggests that there may be a larger contribution from Antarctica than presented in IPCC AR5 (potentially exceeding 1m in 2100). Changes in episodic extreme events, such as storm surges, and periodic (tidal) contributions on (sub-)daily timescales, have not been included in these sea-level projections. However, the potential impacts of these processes on sea-level change rates have been assessed in the report.
Aqueous and solid-phase speciation of arsenic in Cornish soils
- C. Hutton, D. W. Bryce, W. Russeau, H. J. Glass, L. E. T. Jenkin, W. T. Corns, P. B. Stockwell
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- Mineralogical Magazine / Volume 69 / Issue 5 / October 2005
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 05 July 2018, pp. 577-589
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Cornwall (UK) has suffered extensive arsenic contamination due to the historic mining and processing of mineral ores. Standard procedures for contaminated land risk assessment (DEFRA and Environment Agency, 2002a) are probably unworkable in Cornwall, with a very large number of sites classified as contaminated by arsenic. Methods of measuring the speciation and mobility of arsenic are essential for effective and rapid risk assessments of arsenic contamination.
Three clusters of lysimeters were installed in three different areas of an arsenic-contaminated Cornish site. A novel phosphoric acid microwave extraction technique was applied to the soils removed from the lysimeter holes; HPLC-HG-AFS analysis showed the majority of solid-phase arsenic to be arsenate (AsV). Pore waters obtained from the lysimeters showed variable, relatively low levels of arsenite (AsIII) and arsenate (AsV) to be present (<1–129 μg l–1). Less toxic arsenate predominated in most pore waters, with the presence of minor amounts of arsenite suggesting heterogeneous redox conditions. Pore-water arsenic concentrations were strongly positively related to solid-phase arsenate concentrations.
The use of techniques that assess the speciation of arsenic both in the solid and aqueous phases of a soil provides important information about the mobility of arsenic. The methodology presented in this paper may offer a novel basis for risk assessments of other contaminated sites.
Probability of major depression diagnostic classification using semi-structured versus fully structured diagnostic interviews
- Brooke Levis, Andrea Benedetti, Kira E. Riehm, Nazanin Saadat, Alexander W. Levis, Marleine Azar, Danielle B. Rice, Matthew J. Chiovitti, Tatiana A. Sanchez, Pim Cuijpers, Simon Gilbody, John P. A. Ioannidis, Lorie A. Kloda, Dean McMillan, Scott B. Patten, Ian Shrier, Russell J. Steele, Roy C. Ziegelstein, Dickens H. Akena, Bruce Arroll, Liat Ayalon, Hamid R. Baradaran, Murray Baron, Anna Beraldi, Charles H. Bombardier, Peter Butterworth, Gregory Carter, Marcos H. Chagas, Juliana C. N. Chan, Rushina Cholera, Neerja Chowdhary, Kerrie Clover, Yeates Conwell, Janneke M. de Man-van Ginkel, Jaime Delgadillo, Jesse R. Fann, Felix H. Fischer, Benjamin Fischler, Daniel Fung, Bizu Gelaye, Felicity Goodyear-Smith, Catherine G. Greeno, Brian J. Hall, John Hambridge, Patricia A. Harrison, Ulrich Hegerl, Leanne Hides, Stevan E. Hobfoll, Marie Hudson, Thomas Hyphantis, Masatoshi Inagaki, Khalida Ismail, Nathalie Jetté, Mohammad E. Khamseh, Kim M. Kiely, Femke Lamers, Shen-Ing Liu, Manote Lotrakul, Sonia R. Loureiro, Bernd Löwe, Laura Marsh, Anthony McGuire, Sherina Mohd Sidik, Tiago N. Munhoz, Kumiko Muramatsu, Flávia L. Osório, Vikram Patel, Brian W. Pence, Philippe Persoons, Angelo Picardi, Alasdair G. Rooney, Iná S. Santos, Juwita Shaaban, Abbey Sidebottom, Adam Simning, Lesley Stafford, Sharon Sung, Pei Lin Lynnette Tan, Alyna Turner, Christina M. van der Feltz-Cornelis, Henk C. van Weert, Paul A. Vöhringer, Jennifer White, Mary A. Whooley, Kirsty Winkley, Mitsuhiko Yamada, Yuying Zhang, Brett D. Thombs
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- Journal:
- The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 212 / Issue 6 / June 2018
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 02 May 2018, pp. 377-385
- Print publication:
- June 2018
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Background
Different diagnostic interviews are used as reference standards for major depression classification in research. Semi-structured interviews involve clinical judgement, whereas fully structured interviews are completely scripted. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), a brief fully structured interview, is also sometimes used. It is not known whether interview method is associated with probability of major depression classification.
AimsTo evaluate the association between interview method and odds of major depression classification, controlling for depressive symptom scores and participant characteristics.
MethodData collected for an individual participant data meta-analysis of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) diagnostic accuracy were analysed and binomial generalised linear mixed models were fit.
ResultsA total of 17 158 participants (2287 with major depression) from 57 primary studies were analysed. Among fully structured interviews, odds of major depression were higher for the MINI compared with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) (odds ratio (OR) = 2.10; 95% CI = 1.15–3.87). Compared with semi-structured interviews, fully structured interviews (MINI excluded) were non-significantly more likely to classify participants with low-level depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 scores ≤6) as having major depression (OR = 3.13; 95% CI = 0.98–10.00), similarly likely for moderate-level symptoms (PHQ-9 scores 7–15) (OR = 0.96; 95% CI = 0.56–1.66) and significantly less likely for high-level symptoms (PHQ-9 scores ≥16) (OR = 0.50; 95% CI = 0.26–0.97).
ConclusionsThe MINI may identify more people as depressed than the CIDI, and semi-structured and fully structured interviews may not be interchangeable methods, but these results should be replicated.
Declaration of interestDrs Jetté and Patten declare that they received a grant, outside the submitted work, from the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, which was jointly funded by the Institute and Pfizer. Pfizer was the original sponsor of the development of the PHQ-9, which is now in the public domain. Dr Chan is a steering committee member or consultant of Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Lilly, MSD and Pfizer. She has received sponsorships and honorarium for giving lectures and providing consultancy and her affiliated institution has received research grants from these companies. Dr Hegerl declares that within the past 3 years, he was an advisory board member for Lundbeck, Servier and Otsuka Pharma; a consultant for Bayer Pharma; and a speaker for Medice Arzneimittel, Novartis, and Roche Pharma, all outside the submitted work. Dr Inagaki declares that he has received grants from Novartis Pharma, lecture fees from Pfizer, Mochida, Shionogi, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Daiichi-Sankyo, Meiji Seika and Takeda, and royalties from Nippon Hyoron Sha, Nanzando, Seiwa Shoten, Igaku-shoin and Technomics, all outside of the submitted work. Dr Yamada reports personal fees from Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd., MSD K.K., Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation, Seishin Shobo, Seiwa Shoten Co., Ltd., Igaku-shoin Ltd., Chugai Igakusha and Sentan Igakusha, all outside the submitted work. All other authors declare no competing interests. No funder had any role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; preparation, review or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Somatic, positive and negative domains of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale: a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies
- A. Demirkan, J. Lahti, N. Direk, A. Viktorin, K. L. Lunetta, A. Terracciano, M. A. Nalls, T. Tanaka, K. Hek, M. Fornage, J. Wellmann, M. C. Cornelis, H. M. Ollila, L. Yu, J. A. Smith, L. C. Pilling, A. Isaacs, A. Palotie, W. V. Zhuang, A. Zonderman, J. D. Faul, A. Sutin, O. Meirelles, A. Mulas, A. Hofman, A. Uitterlinden, F. Rivadeneira, M. Perola, W. Zhao, V. Salomaa, K. Yaffe, A. I. Luik, NABEC, UKBEC, Y. Liu, J. Ding, P. Lichtenstein, M. Landén, E. Widen, D. R. Weir, D. J. Llewellyn, A. Murray, S. L. R. Kardia, J. G. Eriksson, K. Koenen, P. K. E. Magnusson, L. Ferrucci, T. H. Mosley, F. Cucca, B. A. Oostra, D. A. Bennett, T. Paunio, K. Berger, T. B. Harris, N. L. Pedersen, J. M. Murabito, H. Tiemeier, C. M. van Duijn, K. Räikkönen
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- Psychological Medicine / Volume 46 / Issue 8 / June 2016
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 March 2016, pp. 1613-1623
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Background
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is moderately heritable, however genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for MDD, as well as for related continuous outcomes, have not shown consistent results. Attempts to elucidate the genetic basis of MDD may be hindered by heterogeneity in diagnosis. The Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale provides a widely used tool for measuring depressive symptoms clustered in four different domains which can be combined together into a total score but also can be analysed as separate symptom domains.
MethodWe performed a meta-analysis of GWAS of the CES-D symptom clusters. We recruited 12 cohorts with the 20- or 10-item CES-D scale (32 528 persons).
ResultsOne single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs713224, located near the brain-expressed melatonin receptor (MTNR1A) gene, was associated with the somatic complaints domain of depression symptoms, with borderline genome-wide significance (pdiscovery = 3.82 × 10−8). The SNP was analysed in an additional five cohorts comprising the replication sample (6813 persons). However, the association was not consistent among the replication sample (pdiscovery+replication = 1.10 × 10−6) with evidence of heterogeneity.
ConclusionsDespite the effort to harmonize the phenotypes across cohorts and participants, our study is still underpowered to detect consistent association for depression, even by means of symptom classification. On the contrary, the SNP-based heritability and co-heritability estimation results suggest that a very minor part of the variation could be captured by GWAS, explaining the reason of sparse findings.
Do genetic risk scores for body mass index predict risk of phobic anxiety? Evidence for a shared genetic risk factor
- S. Walter, M. M. Glymour, K. Koenen, L. Liang, E. J. Tchetgen Tchetgen, M. Cornelis, S.-C. Chang, M. Rewak, E. Rimm, I. Kawachi, L. D. Kubzansky
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- Journal:
- Psychological Medicine / Volume 45 / Issue 1 / January 2015
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 28 May 2014, pp. 181-191
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Background
Obesity and anxiety are often linked but the direction of effects is not clear.
MethodUsing genetic instrumental variable (IV) analyses in 5911 female participants from the Nurses' Health Study (NHS, initiated 1976) and 3697 male participants from the Health Professional Follow-up Study (HPFS, initiated 1986), we aimed to determine whether obesity increases symptoms of phobic anxiety. As instrumental variables we used the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene, the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) gene and a genetic risk score (GRS) based on 32 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that significantly predict body mass index (BMI). ‘Functional’ GRSs corresponding with specific biological pathways that shape BMI (adipogenesis, appetite and cardiopulmonary) were considered. The main outcome was phobic anxiety measured by the Crown Crisp Index (CCI) in 2004 in the NHS and in 2000 in the HPFS.
ResultsIn observational analysis, a 1-unit higher BMI was associated with higher phobic anxiety symptoms [women: β = 0.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.030–0.068; men: β = 0.04, 95% CI 0.016–0.071). IV analyses showed that BMI was associated with higher phobic anxiety symptoms in the FTO-instrumented analysis (p = 0.005) but not in the GRS-instrumented analysis (p = 0.256). Functional GRSs showed heterogeneous, non-significant effects of BMI on phobic anxiety symptoms.
ConclusionsOur findings do not provide conclusive evidence in favor of the hypothesis that higher BMI leads to higher levels of phobic anxiety, but rather suggest that genes that influence obesity, in particular FTO, may have direct effects on phobic anxiety, and hence that obesity and phobic anxiety may share common genetic determinants.
The Adult Netherlands Twin Register: Twenty-Five Years of Survey and Biological Data Collection
- Gonneke Willemsen, Jacqueline M. Vink, Abdel Abdellaoui, Anouk den Braber, Jenny H. D. A. van Beek, Harmen H. M. Draisma, Jenny van Dongen, Dennis van ‘t Ent, Lot M. Geels, Rene van Lien, Lannie Ligthart, Mathijs Kattenberg, Hamdi Mbarek, Marleen H. M. de Moor, Melanie Neijts, Rene Pool, Natascha Stroo, Cornelis Kluft, H. Eka D. Suchiman, P. Eline Slagboom, Eco J. C. de Geus, Dorret I. Boomsma
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- Journal:
- Twin Research and Human Genetics / Volume 16 / Issue 1 / February 2013
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 08 January 2013, pp. 271-281
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Over the past 25 years, the Adult Netherlands Twin Register (ANTR) has collected a wealth of information on physical and mental health, lifestyle, and personality in adolescents and adults. This article provides an overview of the sources of information available, the main research findings, and an outlook for the future. Between 1991 and 2012, longitudinal surveys were completed by twins, their parents, siblings, spouses, and offspring. Data are available for 33,957 participants, with most individuals having completed two or more surveys. Smaller projects provided in-depth phenotyping, including measurements of the autonomic nervous system, neurocognitive function, and brain imaging. For 46% of the ANTR participants, DNA samples are available and whole genome scans have been obtained in more than 11,000 individuals. These data have resulted in numerous studies on heritability, gene x environment interactions, and causality, as well as gene finding studies. In the future, these studies will continue with collection of additional phenotypes, such as metabolomic and telomere length data, and detailed genetic information provided by DNA and RNA sequencing. Record linkage to national registers will allow the study of morbidity and mortality, thus providing insight into the development of health, lifestyle, and behavior across the lifespan.
Variance Components Models for Physical Activity With Age as Modifier: A Comparative Twin Study in Seven Countries
- Jacqueline M. Vink, Dorret I. Boomsma, Sarah E. Medland, Marleen H. M. de Moor, Janine H. Stubbe, Belinda K. Cornes, Nicholas G. Martin, Axel Skytthea, Kirsten O. Kyvik, Richard J. Rose, Urho M. Kujala, Jaakko Kaprio, Jennifer R. Harris, Nancy L. Pedersen, Lynn Cherkas, Tim D. Spector, Eco J. C. de Geus
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- Twin Research and Human Genetics / Volume 14 / Issue 1 / 01 February 2011
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 February 2012, pp. 25-34
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Physical activity is influenced by genetic factors whose expression may change with age. We employed an extension to the classical twin model that allows a modifier variable, age, to interact with the effects of the latent genetic and environmental factors. The model was applied to self-reported data from twins aged 19 to 50 from seven countries that collaborated in the GenomEUtwin project: Australia, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom. Results confirmed the importance of genetic influences on physical activity in all countries and showed an age-related decrease in heritability for 4 countries. In the other three countries age did not interact with heritability but those samples were smaller or had a more restricted age range. Effects of shared environment were absent, except in older Swedish participants. The study confirms the importance of taking age effects into account when exploring the genetic and environmental contribution to physical activity. It also suggests that the power of genome-wide association studies to identify the genetic variants contributing to physical activity may be larger in young adult cohorts.
Heritability of Adult Body Height: A Comparative Study of Twin Cohorts in Eight Countries
- Karri Silventoinen, Sampo Sammalisto, Markus Perola, Dorret I. Boomsma, Belinda K. Cornes, Chayna Davis, Leo Dunkel, Marlies de Lange, Jennifer R. Harris, Jacob V.B. Hjelmborg, Michelle Luciano, Nicholas G. Martin, Jakob Mortensen, Lorenza Nisticò, Nancy L. Pedersen, Axel Skytthe, Tim D. Spector, Maria Antonietta Stazi, Gonneke Willemsen, Jaakko Kaprio
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- Twin Research / Volume 6 / Issue 5 / 01 October 2003
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 21 February 2012, pp. 399-408
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Amajor component of variation in body height is due to genetic differences, but environmental factors have a substantial contributory effect. In this study we aimed to analyse whether the genetic architecture of body height varies between affluent western societies. We analysed twin data from eight countries comprising 30,111 complete twin pairs by using the univariate genetic model of the Mx statistical package. Body height and zygosity were self-reported in seven populations and measured directly in one population. We found that there was substantial variation in mean body height between countries; body height was least in Italy (177 cm in men and 163 cm in women) and greatest in the Netherlands (184 cm and 171 cm, respectively). In men there was no corresponding variation in heritability of body height, heritability estimates ranging from 0.87 to 0.93 in populations under an additive genes/unique environment (AE) model. Among women the heritability estimates were generally lower than among men with greater variation between countries, ranging from 0.68 to 0.84 when an additive genes/shared environment/unique environment (ACE) model was used. In four populations where an AE model fit equally well or better, heritability ranged from 0.89 to 0.93. This difference between the sexes was mainly due to the effect of the shared environmental component of variance, which appears to be more important among women than among men in our study populations. Our results indicate that, in general, there are only minor differences in the genetic architecture of height between affluent Caucasian populations, especially among men.
Contributors
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- By Aakash Agarwala, Linda S. Aglio, Rae M. Allain, Paul D. Allen, Houman Amirfarzan, Yasodananda Kumar Areti, Amit Asopa, Edwin G. Avery, Patricia R. Bachiller, Angela M. Bader, Rana Badr, Sibinka Bajic, David J. Baker, Sheila R. Barnett, Rena Beckerly, Lorenzo Berra, Walter Bethune, Sascha S. Beutler, Tarun Bhalla, Edward A. Bittner, Jonathan D. Bloom, Alina V. Bodas, Lina M. Bolanos-Diaz, Ruma R. Bose, Jan Boublik, John P. Broadnax, Jason C. Brookman, Meredith R. Brooks, Roland Brusseau, Ethan O. Bryson, Linda A. Bulich, Kenji Butterfield, William R. Camann, Denise M. Chan, Theresa S. Chang, Jonathan E. Charnin, Mark Chrostowski, Fred Cobey, Adam B. Collins, Mercedes A. Concepcion, Christopher W. Connor, Bronwyn Cooper, Jeffrey B. Cooper, Martha Cordoba-Amorocho, Stephen B. Corn, Darin J. Correll, Gregory J. Crosby, Lisa J. Crossley, Deborah J. Culley, Tomas Cvrk, Michael N. D'Ambra, Michael Decker, Daniel F. Dedrick, Mark Dershwitz, Francis X. Dillon, Pradeep Dinakar, Alimorad G. Djalali, D. John Doyle, Lambertus Drop, Ian F. Dunn, Theodore E. Dushane, Sunil Eappen, Thomas Edrich, Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, Jason M. Erlich, Lucinda L. Everett, Elliott S. Farber, Khaldoun Faris, Eddy M. Feliz, Massimo Ferrigno, Richard S. Field, Michael G. Fitzsimons, Hugh L. Flanagan Jr., Vladimir Formanek, Amanda A. Fox, John A. Fox, Gyorgy Frendl, Tanja S. Frey, Samuel M. Galvagno Jr., Edward R. Garcia, Jonathan D. Gates, Cosmin Gauran, Brian J. Gelfand, Simon Gelman, Alexander C. Gerhart, Peter Gerner, Omid Ghalambor, Christopher J. Gilligan, Christian D. Gonzalez, Noah E. Gordon, William B. Gormley, Thomas J. Graetz, Wendy L. Gross, Amit Gupta, James P. Hardy, Seetharaman Hariharan, Miriam Harnett, Philip M. Hartigan, Joaquim M. Havens, Bishr Haydar, Stephen O. Heard, James L. Helstrom, David L. Hepner, McCallum R. Hoyt, Robert N. Jamison, Karinne Jervis, Stephanie B. Jones, Swaminathan Karthik, Richard M. Kaufman, Shubjeet Kaur, Lee A. Kearse Jr., John C. Keel, Scott D. Kelley, Albert H. Kim, Amy L. Kim, Grace Y. Kim, Robert J. Klickovich, Robert M. Knapp, Bhavani S. Kodali, Rahul Koka, Alina Lazar, Laura H. Leduc, Stanley Leeson, Lisa R. Leffert, Scott A. LeGrand, Patricio Leyton, J. Lance Lichtor, John Lin, Alvaro A. Macias, Karan Madan, Sohail K. Mahboobi, Devi Mahendran, Christine Mai, Sayeed Malek, S. Rao Mallampati, Thomas J. Mancuso, Ramon Martin, Matthew C. Martinez, J. A. Jeevendra Martyn, Kai Matthes, Tommaso Mauri, Mary Ellen McCann, Shannon S. McKenna, Dennis J. McNicholl, Abdel-Kader Mehio, Thor C. Milland, Tonya L. K. Miller, John D. Mitchell, K. Annette Mizuguchi, Naila Moghul, David R. Moss, Ross J. Musumeci, Naveen Nathan, Ju-Mei Ng, Liem C. Nguyen, Ervant Nishanian, Martina Nowak, Ala Nozari, Michael Nurok, Arti Ori, Rafael A. Ortega, Amy J. Ortman, David Oxman, Arvind Palanisamy, Carlo Pancaro, Lisbeth Lopez Pappas, Benjamin Parish, Samuel Park, Deborah S. Pederson, Beverly K. Philip, James H. Philip, Silvia Pivi, Stephen D. Pratt, Douglas E. Raines, Stephen L. Ratcliff, James P. Rathmell, J. Taylor Reed, Elizabeth M. Rickerson, Selwyn O. Rogers Jr., Thomas M. Romanelli, William H. Rosenblatt, Carl E. Rosow, Edgar L. Ross, J. Victor Ryckman, Mônica M. Sá Rêgo, Nicholas Sadovnikoff, Warren S. Sandberg, Annette Y. Schure, B. Scott Segal, Navil F. Sethna, Swapneel K. Shah, Shaheen F. Shaikh, Fred E. Shapiro, Torin D. Shear, Prem S. Shekar, Stanton K. Shernan, Naomi Shimizu, Douglas C. Shook, Kamal K. Sikka, Pankaj K. Sikka, David A. Silver, Jeffrey H. Silverstein, Emily A. Singer, Ken Solt, Spiro G. Spanakis, Wolfgang Steudel, Matthias Stopfkuchen-Evans, Michael P. Storey, Gary R. Strichartz, Balachundhar Subramaniam, Wariya Sukhupragarn, John Summers, Shine Sun, Eswar Sundar, Sugantha Sundar, Neelakantan Sunder, Faraz Syed, Usha B. Tedrow, Nelson L. Thaemert, George P. Topulos, Lawrence C. Tsen, Richard D. Urman, Charles A. Vacanti, Francis X. Vacanti, Joshua C. Vacanti, Assia Valovska, Ivan T. Valovski, Mary Ann Vann, Susan Vassallo, Anasuya Vasudevan, Kamen V. Vlassakov, Gian Paolo Volpato, Essi M. Vulli, J. Matthias Walz, Jingping Wang, James F. Watkins, Maxwell Weinmann, Sharon L. Wetherall, Mallory Williams, Sarah H. Wiser, Zhiling Xiong, Warren M. Zapol, Jie Zhou
- Edited by Charles Vacanti, Scott Segal, Pankaj Sikka, Richard Urman
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- Essential Clinical Anesthesia
- Published online:
- 05 January 2012
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- 11 July 2011, pp xv-xxviii
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- By Leonard A. Adler, Henrik Anckarsäter, L. Eugene Arnold, Philip J. Asherson, Russell Barkley, Joseph Biederman, Andrew D. Blackwell, Jessica Bramham, Thomas E. Brown, Richard Bruggeman, Jan K. Buitelaar, C. Keith Conners, Jonathan H. Dowson, Steve V. Faraone, Christopher Gibbins, Christopher Gillberg, I. Carina Gillberg, Ylva Ginsberg, Laurence L. Greenhill, Julia D. Hunter, Cornelis C. Kan, Ronald C. Kessler, Scott H. Kollins, J. J. Sandra Kooij, Johanna Krause, Jonna Kuntsi, Florence Levy, Stephen P. McDermott, Gráinne McLoughlin, Mitul A. Mehta, Asko Niemela, Eleni Paliokosta, Yannis Paloyelis, Vangelis Pappas, Patricia Quinn, Maria Råstam, Doris Ryffel, David Shaw, Seija Sirviö, Thomas Spencer, Lacramioara Spetie, Siegfried Tuinier, Fiona E. van Dijk, Anne M. D. N. van Lammeren, Wim J. C. Verbeeck, Margaret Weiss, Timothy E. Wilens, Kiriakos Xenitidis
- Edited by Jan K. Buitelaar, Cornelis C. Kan, Philip Asherson, Institute of Psychiatry, London
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- ADHD in Adults
- Published online:
- 04 April 2011
- Print publication:
- 03 March 2011, pp vii-ix
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Aberrant interhemispheric alpha coherence on electroencephalography in schizophrenic patients during activation tasks
- S. L. Morrison-Stewart, D. Velikonja, W. C. Corning, P. Williamson
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- Psychological Medicine / Volume 26 / Issue 3 / May 1996
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- 09 July 2009, pp. 605-612
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Thirty schizophrenic patients (20 medicated, 10 off medication) were compared with 30 normal controls subjects matched for age, sex, handedness and intelligence. During the performance of a frontal activation task, normal subjects showed increased interhemispheric coherence between anterior brain regions. Schizophrenic patients did not show the same amount of bilateral anterior activation. During the performance of right hemisphere cognitive activation tasks, normal subjects and medicated schizophrenic patients showed significantly reduced bilateral interhemispheric coherence patterns, while the drug-free schizophrenic patients showed a trend towards this same pattern. It is suggested that these findings provide additional evidence for an aberrant functional organization of the brain in schizophrenia.