8 results
Characterisation of age and polarity at onset in bipolar disorder
- Janos L. Kalman, Loes M. Olde Loohuis, Annabel Vreeker, Andrew McQuillin, Eli A. Stahl, Douglas Ruderfer, Maria Grigoroiu-Serbanescu, Georgia Panagiotaropoulou, Stephan Ripke, Tim B. Bigdeli, Frederike Stein, Tina Meller, Susanne Meinert, Helena Pelin, Fabian Streit, Sergi Papiol, Mark J. Adams, Rolf Adolfsson, Kristina Adorjan, Ingrid Agartz, Sofie R. Aminoff, Heike Anderson-Schmidt, Ole A. Andreassen, Raffaella Ardau, Jean-Michel Aubry, Ceylan Balaban, Nicholas Bass, Bernhard T. Baune, Frank Bellivier, Antoni Benabarre, Susanne Bengesser, Wade H Berrettini, Marco P. Boks, Evelyn J. Bromet, Katharina Brosch, Monika Budde, William Byerley, Pablo Cervantes, Catina Chillotti, Sven Cichon, Scott R. Clark, Ashley L. Comes, Aiden Corvin, William Coryell, Nick Craddock, David W. Craig, Paul E. Croarkin, Cristiana Cruceanu, Piotr M. Czerski, Nina Dalkner, Udo Dannlowski, Franziska Degenhardt, Maria Del Zompo, J. Raymond DePaulo, Srdjan Djurovic, Howard J. Edenberg, Mariam Al Eissa, Torbjørn Elvsåshagen, Bruno Etain, Ayman H. Fanous, Frederike Fellendorf, Alessia Fiorentino, Andreas J. Forstner, Mark A. Frye, Janice M. Fullerton, Katrin Gade, Julie Garnham, Elliot Gershon, Michael Gill, Fernando S. Goes, Katherine Gordon-Smith, Paul Grof, Jose Guzman-Parra, Tim Hahn, Roland Hasler, Maria Heilbronner, Urs Heilbronner, Stephane Jamain, Esther Jimenez, Ian Jones, Lisa Jones, Lina Jonsson, Rene S. Kahn, John R. Kelsoe, James L. Kennedy, Tilo Kircher, George Kirov, Sarah Kittel-Schneider, Farah Klöhn-Saghatolislam, James A. Knowles, Thorsten M. Kranz, Trine Vik Lagerberg, Mikael Landen, William B. Lawson, Marion Leboyer, Qingqin S. Li, Mario Maj, Dolores Malaspina, Mirko Manchia, Fermin Mayoral, Susan L. McElroy, Melvin G. McInnis, Andrew M. McIntosh, Helena Medeiros, Ingrid Melle, Vihra Milanova, Philip B. Mitchell, Palmiero Monteleone, Alessio Maria Monteleone, Markus M. Nöthen, Tomas Novak, John I. Nurnberger, Niamh O'Brien, Kevin S. O'Connell, Claire O'Donovan, Michael C. O'Donovan, Nils Opel, Abigail Ortiz, Michael J. Owen, Erik Pålsson, Carlos Pato, Michele T. Pato, Joanna Pawlak, Julia-Katharina Pfarr, Claudia Pisanu, James B. Potash, Mark H Rapaport, Daniela Reich-Erkelenz, Andreas Reif, Eva Reininghaus, Jonathan Repple, Hélène Richard-Lepouriel, Marcella Rietschel, Kai Ringwald, Gloria Roberts, Guy Rouleau, Sabrina Schaupp, William A Scheftner, Simon Schmitt, Peter R. Schofield, K. Oliver Schubert, Eva C. Schulte, Barbara Schweizer, Fanny Senner, Giovanni Severino, Sally Sharp, Claire Slaney, Olav B. Smeland, Janet L. Sobell, Alessio Squassina, Pavla Stopkova, John Strauss, Alfonso Tortorella, Gustavo Turecki, Joanna Twarowska-Hauser, Marin Veldic, Eduard Vieta, John B. Vincent, Wei Xu, Clement C. Zai, Peter P. Zandi, Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) Bipolar Disorder Working Group, International Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen), Colombia-US Cross Disorder Collaboration in Psychiatric Genetics, Arianna Di Florio, Jordan W. Smoller, Joanna M. Biernacka, Francis J. McMahon, Martin Alda, Bertram Müller-Myhsok, Nikolaos Koutsouleris, Peter Falkai, Nelson B. Freimer, Till F.M. Andlauer, Thomas G. Schulze, Roel A. Ophoff
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- Journal:
- The British Journal of Psychiatry / Volume 219 / Issue 6 / December 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 25 August 2021, pp. 659-669
- Print publication:
- December 2021
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Background
Studying phenotypic and genetic characteristics of age at onset (AAO) and polarity at onset (PAO) in bipolar disorder can provide new insights into disease pathology and facilitate the development of screening tools.
AimsTo examine the genetic architecture of AAO and PAO and their association with bipolar disorder disease characteristics.
MethodGenome-wide association studies (GWASs) and polygenic score (PGS) analyses of AAO (n = 12 977) and PAO (n = 6773) were conducted in patients with bipolar disorder from 34 cohorts and a replication sample (n = 2237). The association of onset with disease characteristics was investigated in two of these cohorts.
ResultsEarlier AAO was associated with a higher probability of psychotic symptoms, suicidality, lower educational attainment, not living together and fewer episodes. Depressive onset correlated with suicidality and manic onset correlated with delusions and manic episodes. Systematic differences in AAO between cohorts and continents of origin were observed. This was also reflected in single-nucleotide variant-based heritability estimates, with higher heritabilities for stricter onset definitions. Increased PGS for autism spectrum disorder (β = −0.34 years, s.e. = 0.08), major depression (β = −0.34 years, s.e. = 0.08), schizophrenia (β = −0.39 years, s.e. = 0.08), and educational attainment (β = −0.31 years, s.e. = 0.08) were associated with an earlier AAO. The AAO GWAS identified one significant locus, but this finding did not replicate. Neither GWAS nor PGS analyses yielded significant associations with PAO.
ConclusionsAAO and PAO are associated with indicators of bipolar disorder severity. Individuals with an earlier onset show an increased polygenic liability for a broad spectrum of psychiatric traits. Systematic differences in AAO across cohorts, continents and phenotype definitions introduce significant heterogeneity, affecting analyses.
What role should randomized control trials play in providing the evidence base for conservation?
- Edwin L. Pynegar, James M. Gibbons, Nigel M. Asquith, Julia P. G. Jones
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The effectiveness of many widely used conservation interventions is poorly understood because of a lack of high-quality impact evaluations. Randomized control trials (RCTs), in which experimental units are randomly allocated to treatment or control groups, offer an intuitive way to calculate the impact of an intervention by establishing a reliable counterfactual scenario. As many conservation interventions depend on changing people's behaviour, conservation impact evaluation can learn a great deal from RCTs in fields such as development economics, where RCTs have become widely used but are controversial. We build on relevant literature from other fields to discuss how RCTs, despite their potential, are just one of a number of ways to evaluate impact, are not feasible in all circumstances, and how factors such as spillover between units and behavioural effects must be considered in their design. We offer guidance and a set of criteria for deciding when RCTs may be an appropriate approach for evaluating conservation interventions, and factors to consider to ensure an RCT is of high quality. We illustrate this with examples from one of the few concluded RCTs of a large-scale conservation intervention: an incentive-based conservation programme in the Bolivian Andes. We argue that conservation should aim to avoid a rerun of the polarized debate surrounding the use of RCTs in other fields. Randomized control trials will not be feasible or appropriate in many circumstances, but if used carefully they can be useful and could become a more widely used tool for the evaluation of conservation impact.
The Taipan Galaxy Survey: Scientific Goals and Observing Strategy
- Elisabete da Cunha, Andrew M. Hopkins, Matthew Colless, Edward N. Taylor, Chris Blake, Cullan Howlett, Christina Magoulas, John R. Lucey, Claudia Lagos, Kyler Kuehn, Yjan Gordon, Dilyar Barat, Fuyan Bian, Christian Wolf, Michael J. Cowley, Marc White, Ixandra Achitouv, Maciej Bilicki, Joss Bland-Hawthorn, Krzysztof Bolejko, Michael J. I. Brown, Rebecca Brown, Julia Bryant, Scott Croom, Tamara M. Davis, Simon P. Driver, Miroslav D. Filipovic, Samuel R. Hinton, Melanie Johnston-Hollitt, D. Heath Jones, Bärbel Koribalski, Dane Kleiner, Jon Lawrence, Nuria Lorente, Jeremy Mould, Matt S. Owers, Kevin Pimbblet, C. G. Tinney, Nicholas F. H. Tothill, Fred Watson
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- Journal:
- Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia / Volume 34 / 2017
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 24 October 2017, e047
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The Taipan galaxy survey (hereafter simply ‘Taipan’) is a multi-object spectroscopic survey starting in 2017 that will cover 2π steradians over the southern sky (δ ≲ 10°, |b| ≳ 10°), and obtain optical spectra for about two million galaxies out to z < 0.4. Taipan will use the newly refurbished 1.2-m UK Schmidt Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory with the new TAIPAN instrument, which includes an innovative ‘Starbugs’ positioning system capable of rapidly and simultaneously deploying up to 150 spectroscopic fibres (and up to 300 with a proposed upgrade) over the 6° diameter focal plane, and a purpose-built spectrograph operating in the range from 370 to 870 nm with resolving power R ≳ 2000. The main scientific goals of Taipan are (i) to measure the distance scale of the Universe (primarily governed by the local expansion rate, H0) to 1% precision, and the growth rate of structure to 5%; (ii) to make the most extensive map yet constructed of the total mass distribution and motions in the local Universe, using peculiar velocities based on improved Fundamental Plane distances, which will enable sensitive tests of gravitational physics; and (iii) to deliver a legacy sample of low-redshift galaxies as a unique laboratory for studying galaxy evolution as a function of dark matter halo and stellar mass and environment. The final survey, which will be completed within 5 yrs, will consist of a complete magnitude-limited sample (i ⩽ 17) of about 1.2 × 106 galaxies supplemented by an extension to higher redshifts and fainter magnitudes (i ⩽ 18.1) of a luminous red galaxy sample of about 0.8 × 106 galaxies. Observations and data processing will be carried out remotely and in a fully automated way, using a purpose-built automated ‘virtual observer’ software and an automated data reduction pipeline. The Taipan survey is deliberately designed to maximise its legacy value by complementing and enhancing current and planned surveys of the southern sky at wavelengths from the optical to the radio; it will become the primary redshift and optical spectroscopic reference catalogue for the local extragalactic Universe in the southern sky for the coming decade.
Contributors
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- By Ioannis P. Androulakis, Djillali Annane, Gérard Audibert, Lisa L. Barnes, Paolo Bartolomeo, Walter S. Bartynski, David A. Bennett, Nicolas Bruder, Nathan E. Brummel, Steve E. Calvano, Alain Cariou, F. Chretien, Jan Claassen, Colm Cunningham, Souhayl Dahmani, Robert Dantzer, Dimitry S. Davydow, Sanjay V. Desai, E. Wesley Ely, Frédéric Faugeras, Karen J. Ferguson, Brandon Foreman, Sadanand M. Gaikwad, Rebecca F. Gottesman, Maura A. Grega, Richard D. Griffiths, Marion Griton, Stefan D. Gurney, Hebah M. Hefzy, Michael T. Heneka, Dustin M. Hipp, Ramona O. Hopkins, Christopher G. Hughes, James C. Jackson, Christina Jones, Peter W. Kaplan, Keith W. Kelley, Raymond C. Koehler, Matthew A. Koenig, Jan Pieter Konsman, Felix Kork, John P. Kress, Stephen F. Lowry, Alawi Luetz, David Luis, Alasdair M. J. MacLullich, Guy M. McKhann, Jean Mantz, Panteleimon D. Mavroudis, Mervyn Maze, Bruno Mégarbane, Lionel Naccache, Dale M. Needham, Pratik P. Pandharipande, Jean-Francois Payen, V. Hugh Perry, Margaret Pisani, C. Rauturier, Benjamin Rohaut, Jennifer Ryan, Robert D. Sanders, Jeremy D. Scheff, Frederic Sedel, Ola A. Selnes, Tarek Sharshar, Martin Siegemund, Yoanna Skrobik, Jamie W. Sleigh, Romain Sonneville, Claudia D. Spies, Luzius A. Steiner, Robert D. Stevens, Raoul Sutter, Fabio Silvio Taccone, Richard E. Temes, Willem A. van Gool, Christel C. Vanbesien, F. Verdonk, Odile Viltart, Julia Wendon, Catherine N. Widmann, Robert S. Wilson
- Edited by Robert D. Stevens, Tarek Sharshar, E. Wesley Ely, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
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- Brain Disorders in Critical Illness
- Published online:
- 05 October 2013
- Print publication:
- 19 September 2013, pp viii-xii
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Novel approach for quantifying illegal bushmeat consumption reveals high consumption of protected species in Madagascar
- Julie H. Razafimanahaka, Richard K. B. Jenkins, Daudet Andriafidison, Félicien Randrianandrianina, Victor Rakotomboavonjy, Aidan Keane, Julia P. G. Jones
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Information on the extent of bushmeat hunting is needed to assess the likely impact on hunted species, to provide information on the opportunity cost to local people of conservation, and to judge the efficacy of interventions at reducing pressure. However, where hunting is illegal, or socially unacceptable, respondents may not answer honestly to direct questions about hunting or consumption of bushmeat. We adapted a specialized method for investigating sensitive behaviours (the randomized response technique, RRT) and questioned 1,851 people in Madagascar about their consumption of six species, using either RRT or direct questions. For most species at most sites RRT and direct questions returned similar estimates of the proportion of the population who had consumed bushmeat in the previous year. However, RRT resulted in significantly higher estimates of bushmeat consumption in communities surrounding a protected area, where conservation activities made such questions sensitive. RRT has been predominately used in Europe and the USA; we demonstrate that it can provide a valuable approach for studying rule-breaking among people with poor literacy in low income countries. Between 12 and 33% of people across our sites had eaten brown lemur (Eulemur spp.), and 12–29% had eaten sifaka (Propithecus spp.) in the previous year. These results add to the growing body of evidence that hunting of protected species in Madagascar is a serious problem requiring urgent action. Conservation interventions to tackle bushmeat hunting will make questions about hunting or consumption more sensitive, increasing the need for researchers to use appropriate approaches for asking sensitive questions.
14 - The role of taboos and traditional beliefs in aquatic conservation in Madagascar
- from Part IV - Sacred Species
- Edited by Gloria Pungetti, University of Cambridge, Gonzalo Oviedo, World Conservation Union (IUCN), Della Hooke, University of Birmingham
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- Book:
- Sacred Species and Sites
- Published online:
- 05 August 2012
- Print publication:
- 19 July 2012, pp 207-218
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Summary
Moa raha fantatra va zalahy tsiaña fa dia fomban-drazana ka dia arahina
These are the ancestors' customs and so we follow them
(traditional saying quoted in Rahatoka, 1984)Tsy dinin-draha ny ela
Nothing is immune to change over time
(elder from Ambalavero, Commune Tolongoina)Introduction
Traditional Malagasy culture and religion are focused around respect and reverence for the ancestors (Sharp, 1994; Lambek, 2002). Objects or places strongly associated with the ancestors may be viewed as sacred (masina) and a complex system of prohibitions known as fady influences people’s day-to-day behaviour. Although the word fady may be used to describe acts which are simply breaches of good manners (Lambek, 1992; Jones et al., 2008), many fady are strict taboos which would offend the ancestors and bring supernatural punishment if broken (Ruud, 1960; Profita, 1967).
In many traditional societies, taboos have an important influence on the use of natural resources, providing protection to species or sites (McDonald, 1977; Ross, 1978; Anoliefo et al., 2003; McIvor and Pungetti, Chapter 13). Colding and Folke (2001) suggest that resource and habitat taboos in many cultures play a similar role to formal institutions for conservation in contemporary society, but that the importance of this role has not been suitably recognised. In the past there has been debate between those who consider that many taboos have developed with the purpose of conserving important natural resources (McDonald, 1977; Ross, 1978) and those who consider this attitude as a return to the much-discredited ‘noble savage’ paradigm (Buege, 1996). It is now generally recognised that people from all societies respond similarly to incentives (Winterhalder and Smith, 2000). However, taboos and other informal institutions can play an important role in natural resource management, regardless of their origin (Colding and Folke, 2001).
Modelling the effect of individual strategic behaviour on community-level outcomes of conservation interventions
- AIDAN KEANE, JULIA P. G. JONES, E. J. MILNER-GULLAND
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- Journal:
- Environmental Conservation / Volume 39 / Issue 4 / December 2012
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 18 May 2012, pp. 305-315
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Many conservation interventions seek to change resource users' behaviour through the creation and enforcement of rules. Their success depends on changing the incentives of potential rule-breakers and those who monitor and enforce compliance. Project implementers may use payments to encourage monitoring and sanctions to deter rule breaking but there has been little research to examine the effectiveness of such approaches in promoting compliance with conservation rules. The effects of payments and sanctions on poaching in a hypothetical community-based conservation project were investigated using an individual-based model incorporating individual heterogeneity and a realistic range of behaviours. Individuals could choose to poach, monitor others' behaviour, or ‘cheat’ (claim a fee without actually monitoring behaviour). They could also invest in avoidance to reduce their probability of being detected breaking rules. Community-level outcomes emerged from individuals’ choices and strategic interactions. The model demonstrates that payments and sanctions can interact strongly with one another and that their effects depend on the economic context in which they are applied. Sanctions were more reliable than payments in reducing poaching and, in some circumstances, payments produced perverse effects. It is thus important to consider individual-level heterogeneity and strategic decision-making when designing interventions aimed at changing human behaviour.
Opinions of the public, conservationists and magistrates on sentencing wildlife trade crimes in the UK
- FREYA A. V. ST JOHN, GARETH EDWARDS-JONES, JULIA P. G. JONES
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- Journal:
- Environmental Conservation / Volume 39 / Issue 2 / June 2012
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 07 February 2012, pp. 154-161
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The illegal trade in wild harvested plants and animals is a significant threat to populations and species worldwide. There is concern that in many countries sanctions for wildlife trade crimes are insufficient to act as a deterrent, and do not reflect the seriousness of offences. For these reasons it is important to understand professional and public opinions as to which aspects of such crimes make them more or less serious, and so deserving of a greater or lesser sentence. Conjoint analysis, a method used in marketing to understand which characteristics of a product are valued by consumers, was used to investigate which attributes of hypothetical wildlife trade offences (threat status and taxon of species involved, illegal profit, previous convictions and plea) UK-based conservation professionals, magistrates and the general public considered most important when sentencing wildlife criminals in the UK. Eighty-seven per cent of 682 respondents completed enough of the survey to be included in the analysis. Magistrates and the public considered illegal profit to be the single most important attribute, while conservationists considered the threat status of the species involved to be most important (considered second most important by magistrates and the public). Magistrates, when presented with adequate information, considered the threat status and corresponding legal protection afforded to wildlife when considering how serious a wildlife trade crime was, and doing so is in line with public opinion on sentencing such offences. This study highlights the importance of ensuring that judiciaries are presented with information concerning both the potential profit and conservation impact of wildlife trade crimes. Sentencing councils must develop appropriate guidelines to support judiciaries in their sentencing of wildlife crimes.