Founder populations in reintroduction programmes can experience a genetic bottleneck simply because of their small size. The influence of reproductive skew brought on by polygynous or polyandrous mating systems in these populations can exacerbate already difficult conservation genetic problems, such as inbreeding depression and loss of adaptive potential. Without an understanding of reproductiv...

OBJECTIVES Survivors of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake have an increased risk of depressive symptoms. We sought to examine whether participation in group exercise and regular walking could mitigate the worsening of depressive symptoms among older survivors. DESIGN Prospective observational study. SETTING Our baseline survey was conducted in August 2010, ∼7 months prior to the Great Ea...

Objective: To explore the influence of painless childbirth technique on psychology primipara. Methods: From July 2020 to June 2022, 108 parturients who received analgesic during delivery in Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital were selected as research subjects (painless group), and 92 gave birth naturally same period controls (natural group). Psychological tests performed patients. Results: Th...

It has been widely appreciated that natural selection opposes the progress of inbreeding in small populations, thus limiting the actual inbreeding depression for fitness traits. However, no method to account for the consequences of this process has been given so far. I give a simple and intuitive method to predict inbreeding depression, taking into account the increase in selection efficiency a...

A N I M A L breeders often select the extreme individuals in a population. This may conflict with natural selection for reproductive fitness. For example, chickens with intermediate body weights and egg weights usually have the highest hatchability. LATTER and ROBERTSON ( 1962) hypothesized that the decline in fitness with selection for a metric trait is a consequence of gene frequency changes ...

BACKGROUND Depression after stroke is a distressing problem that may be associated with other negative health outcomes. AIMS To estimate the natural history, predictors and outcomes of depression after stroke. METHOD Studies published up to 31 August 2011 were searched and reviewed according to accepted criteria. RESULTS Out of 13 558 references initially found, 50 studies were included. ...

OBJECTIVE To overview limitations to the concept and construct of major depression. METHOD The objectives in initially conceptualizing major depression are examined against its subsequent utility and relevance to clinicians and researchers. RESULTS It is argued that, as defined, major depression does not differentiate clinical depression well from expressions of non-clinical depression or s...

Neurons in the primary visual cortex are known for responding vigorously but with high variability to classical stimuli such as drifting bars or gratings. By contrast, natural scenes are encoded more efficiently by sparse and temporal precise spiking responses. We used a conductance-based model of the visual system in higher mammals to investigate how two specific features of the thalamo-cortic...

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to investigate the relationship between individual natural light exposure, sleep need, and depression at two latitudes, one extreme with a few hours of light per day during winter, and the other with equal hours of light and darkness throughout the year. METHODS This cross-sectional study included a sample of Brazilian workers (Equatorial, n = 488 workers) and a Sw...

background: major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by a pervasive and persistent low mood that is accompanied by low self-esteem and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. depression is associated with multiple immunological disorders. aim of the present study was to determine correlation between percentage of circulating nk cells and major depressi...