Controlling the triggers of age-related inflammation could extend 'healthspan'

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

21-Oct-2013

[


| E-mail

]


Share

Contact: Karen Peart
karen.peart@yale.edu
203-432-1326
Yale University

Inflammation is the common denominator of many chronic age-related diseases such as arthritis, gout, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. But according to a Yale School of Medicine study, even in the absence of a disease, inflammation can lead to serious loss of function throughout the body, reducing healthspan that portion of our lives spent relatively free of serious illness and disability.

Published as the cover article in the October issue of Cell Metabolism, the study found that immune sensor Nlrp3 inflammasome is a common trigger of this inflammation-driven loss of function that manifests itself in insulin-resistance, bone loss, frailty, and cognitive decline in aging.

As the elderly population increases, clinicians are seeing a spike in age-related diseases, but scientists did not fully understand the role of inflammation. What is commonly known is that as we age, our cells change, leading the immune system to produce chronic, low-level inflammation throughout the body. Aging is also a major risk factor for multiple chronic diseases, but according to the researchers, biomedical enterprise spends billions of dollars to tackle each age-dependent disease separately.

"This is the first study to show that inflammation is causally linked to functional decline in aging," said lead author Vishwa Deep Dixit, professor of comparative medicine and immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine. "There are multiple cellular triggers of inflammation throughout the body, but we've pinpointed Nlrp3 as the specific sensor that activates inflammation with age."

"If aging is indeed a common factor for multiple diseases, the unanswered question is, can we identify the triggers of aging that cause low-level inflammation so that 'switching off' the trigger can slow the onset of multiple chronic diseases that are age-dependent at their onset," Dixit added. "Since aging affects us all, if this goal can be achieved, it is likely to significantly improve the healthspan and may also lower healthcare costs as the aging population increases in the U.S."

Dixit and his colleagues investigated the normal aging process of mice that were free of diseases, and fed a normal diet. The research team found that immune sensor Nlrp3 inflammasome is activated in response to aging. They then tested mice to determine if reducing the activity of Nlrp3 inflammasome lowers inflammation, and aging-associated decline in function. Results showed that animals with lower Nlrp3 activation were protected from many age-related disorders such as dementia, bone loss, glucose intolerance, cataracts, and thymus degeneration. Functionally, the mice also performed better, were less frail, and ran for longer durations. The researchers also tested another immune sensor called caspase11, which is activated in response to certain infections, and found that it was not linked to the age-related inflammation process.

"Now that we've identified this mechanism in the Nlrp3 sensor, we might be able to manipulate this immune sensor to delay, or reduce inflammation," Dixit said. "This could lead to the possibility of prolonging healthspan, potentially leading to an old age relatively free of disease or disability."

Dixit said additional studies are needed to explore whether the Nlrp3 mechanism can be safely manipulated without impairing the immune system. He points out that although there are several anti-inflammatory drugs available, none seem to be effective in expanding the healthspan. "One of our long-term goals is to develop therapies or specific diets that could dampen the excessive inflammation process as a means to prevent chronic diseases," he said.

###

Other authors on the study include Yun-Hee Youm, Ryan W. Grant, Laura R. McCabe, Diana C. Albarado, Kim Yen Nguyen, Anthony Ravussin, Paul Pistell, Susan Newman, Renee Carter, Amanda Lague, Heike Munzberg, Clifford J. Rosen, Donald K. Ingram, and J. Michael Salbaum.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (AG043608, AI105097, and DK090556, P20RR02195, HD055528); The Genomics and Core CBB Core facilities supported by Pennington Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (NIH 8P20 GM 103528) and Nutrition and Obesity Research Center (NIH P30DK072476).

Citation: Cell Metabolism, Vol. 18, Issue 4 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2013.09.010

---

[


| E-mail


Share

]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

21-Oct-2013

[


| E-mail

]


Share

Contact: Karen Peart
karen.peart@yale.edu
203-432-1326
Yale University

Inflammation is the common denominator of many chronic age-related diseases such as arthritis, gout, Alzheimer's, and diabetes. But according to a Yale School of Medicine study, even in the absence of a disease, inflammation can lead to serious loss of function throughout the body, reducing healthspan that portion of our lives spent relatively free of serious illness and disability.

Published as the cover article in the October issue of Cell Metabolism, the study found that immune sensor Nlrp3 inflammasome is a common trigger of this inflammation-driven loss of function that manifests itself in insulin-resistance, bone loss, frailty, and cognitive decline in aging.

As the elderly population increases, clinicians are seeing a spike in age-related diseases, but scientists did not fully understand the role of inflammation. What is commonly known is that as we age, our cells change, leading the immune system to produce chronic, low-level inflammation throughout the body. Aging is also a major risk factor for multiple chronic diseases, but according to the researchers, biomedical enterprise spends billions of dollars to tackle each age-dependent disease separately.

"This is the first study to show that inflammation is causally linked to functional decline in aging," said lead author Vishwa Deep Dixit, professor of comparative medicine and immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine. "There are multiple cellular triggers of inflammation throughout the body, but we've pinpointed Nlrp3 as the specific sensor that activates inflammation with age."

"If aging is indeed a common factor for multiple diseases, the unanswered question is, can we identify the triggers of aging that cause low-level inflammation so that 'switching off' the trigger can slow the onset of multiple chronic diseases that are age-dependent at their onset," Dixit added. "Since aging affects us all, if this goal can be achieved, it is likely to significantly improve the healthspan and may also lower healthcare costs as the aging population increases in the U.S."

Dixit and his colleagues investigated the normal aging process of mice that were free of diseases, and fed a normal diet. The research team found that immune sensor Nlrp3 inflammasome is activated in response to aging. They then tested mice to determine if reducing the activity of Nlrp3 inflammasome lowers inflammation, and aging-associated decline in function. Results showed that animals with lower Nlrp3 activation were protected from many age-related disorders such as dementia, bone loss, glucose intolerance, cataracts, and thymus degeneration. Functionally, the mice also performed better, were less frail, and ran for longer durations. The researchers also tested another immune sensor called caspase11, which is activated in response to certain infections, and found that it was not linked to the age-related inflammation process.

"Now that we've identified this mechanism in the Nlrp3 sensor, we might be able to manipulate this immune sensor to delay, or reduce inflammation," Dixit said. "This could lead to the possibility of prolonging healthspan, potentially leading to an old age relatively free of disease or disability."

Dixit said additional studies are needed to explore whether the Nlrp3 mechanism can be safely manipulated without impairing the immune system. He points out that although there are several anti-inflammatory drugs available, none seem to be effective in expanding the healthspan. "One of our long-term goals is to develop therapies or specific diets that could dampen the excessive inflammation process as a means to prevent chronic diseases," he said.

###

Other authors on the study include Yun-Hee Youm, Ryan W. Grant, Laura R. McCabe, Diana C. Albarado, Kim Yen Nguyen, Anthony Ravussin, Paul Pistell, Susan Newman, Renee Carter, Amanda Lague, Heike Munzberg, Clifford J. Rosen, Donald K. Ingram, and J. Michael Salbaum.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (AG043608, AI105097, and DK090556, P20RR02195, HD055528); The Genomics and Core CBB Core facilities supported by Pennington Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (NIH 8P20 GM 103528) and Nutrition and Obesity Research Center (NIH P30DK072476).

Citation: Cell Metabolism, Vol. 18, Issue 4 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2013.09.010

---

[


| E-mail


Share

]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/yu-ctt102113.php
Similar Articles: parenthood   Jeff Daniels   9/11   Ichiro Suzuki   chris brown  

Where are all the women at finance conferences? - The Term Sheet ...

By Susan Askew

FORTUNE -- I am one of the 32% -- the 32% of the Wall Street Journal readers that are women. For many years, I have faithfully read the financial news and, not so faithfully, looked at the ads. But sometimes an oversized or provocative ad will catch my eye ... as in the case of one recent full-page splash for a private equity conference sponsored by Dow Jones. The ad prominently displayed the photos of 10 featured speakers. All men. Huh, I thought. What happened there?

Shortly after, another full-page ad in the Journal for its own Heard on the Street Live conference on "Investing in an Age of Easy Money" hosted by three male editors and featuring nine male speakers. Within days, a half-page ad appeared for Barron's "The Art of Successful Investing" conference. Ten speakers. One woman.

By this point, my incredulity was a bit strained. As the saying goes: Once is an anomaly. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is a pattern.

Twenty years ago, as a novice entrepreneur looking for financial backing for a "women's website," an investor asked me "Is this a social cause, are you asking me for a donation?" I learned very fast that it wasn't about mission. It was about money. So, let's talk numbers.

• In 2007, the most recent year for which IRS data are available, there were an estimated 1.3 million men and 1 million women with assets of $2 million or more.


• The Boston Consulting Group reports that in 2009 women controlled 27% of the world's wealth, 33% of financial assets in North America, "meaning that they decide where the assets are invested." Within the next decade, private wealth in the United States is expected to reach $22 trillion with half of it controlled by women.


• In a BCG survey of women with bankable assets of more than $250,000, 42% reported their wealth was self-earned, coming from salaries and bonuses.


• Looking to the future, due to longer lifespans, women are expected to control a large portion of what Boston College researchers say will be an estimated $42 trillion wealth transfer by 2052.

According to the IRS data, women are more likely to hold publicly traded stocks and other assets such as bonds vs. the "closely held stock and business assets" that make up a greater portion of men's portfolios. That means women should be in the sweet spot for the organizers of conferences, like Barron's, that target individual investors.

MORE: The 50 Most Powerful Women in business

The Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst conference targets "investors in private equity and venture capital transactions." The WSJ conference is for fund managers and financial advisors. While, admittedly, this audience is dominated by men, the Center for Venture Research reports a significant increase in the number of women angel investors, growing from 12.2% of the market in 2011 to 21.8% in 2012.

At the same time, there are women in private equity with something to add to the dialog. A report earlier this year from Rothstein Kass indicated hedge funds owned by women outperformed the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index in the third quarter of 2012, netting an 8.95% return vs. 2.69%. I would think these women fund managers would have something of interest to say to the audiences at the Dow Jones and Wall Street Journal conferences.

While women control a significant amount of wealth, surveys indicate they don't have a gender preference when it comes to financial managers, but they do want to be respected. Invisibility of half the population on the dais at financial conferences is the height of disrespect.

Including female voices in financial conferences isn't just good policy, it's good business.

Susan Askew is a former staffer to Delaware Governor Mike Castle, is a recent graduate of the George Mason University BIS program with a concentration in Latin American Finance, and a new Gender Avenger (genderavenger.com).

Source: http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2013/10/18/women-finance/
Tags: vikings   Malala Yousafzai   Brant Daugherty   al jazeera   usain bolt  

Cold Crime: Jell-O Stolen From Work Fridge Sparks Police Call

The limits of workplace theft are being tested in Pennsylvania, where a man called police this month to complain that his Jell-O had been stolen. The flavor was strawberry, he said. And it wasn't the first instance of fridge-theft.

The story comes from Philadelphia's CBS KYW-TV:

"The 'victim,' a 39-year-old man, was irate because this wasn't the first time his food had been stolen from the refrigerator. Unfortunately, police were unable to catch the thief, as 'the incident remains under investigation.' "

We'll admit here that we followed up on the case in part to confirm the story wasn't a mistaken reposting of an item from The Onion, drawing on an all-too-common annoyance for today's workers.

Officials at the Upper Macungie Township Police Department assure us that it's a genuine theft complaint.

"You're talking about someone stealing someone else's food," police Sgt. Pete Nickischer tells us. He says the victim was frustrated by repeated incidents.

"I think he was fed up," Nickischer says.

In a news release, police say that "an employee at Wakefern reported that an unknown person stole his Jell-O brand strawberry Jell-O snack from the break room refrigerator."

Wakefern, we'll note, is a large grocery wholesaler — in other words, the facility in question is a food warehouse.

A reader who commented on the KYW story suggests what could be a fitting end for the case:

"When they find the perp, they'll put him in custardy."

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/10/21/239291101/cold-crime-jell-o-stolen-from-work-fridge-sparks-police-call?ft=1&f=1003
Similar Articles: tim tebow   elizabeth olsen   Kelly LeBrock  

Jimmy Fallon Proudly Displays his "Jumping Bear"

Proudly sharing his bundle of joy with the world, Jimmy Fallon posted a new photo of daughter Winnie Rose on Instagram Monday (October 21).

In the snapshot, the little one's eyes twinkle as she sticks out her tongue at the camera in a soft outfit with ears on top.

As she appears to be in a bouncy seat, the "Late Night" host captioned the pic, appropriately, "Jumping bear."

Back in July, Jimmy and wife Nancy Juvonen welcomed their long-awaited daughter via surrogate. "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" airs weeknights on NBC.

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/jimmy-fallon/jimmy-fallon-proudly-displays-his-jumping-bear-946902
Tags: TSLA   cnn news   adam levine   Talk Like a Pirate Day   Never Forget 9/11  

UCSB anthropologist studies the evolutionary benefit of human personality traits

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

21-Oct-2013

[


| E-mail

]


Share

Contact: Andrea Estrada
andrea.estrada@ia.ucsb.edu
805-893-4620
University of California - Santa Barbara

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) Bold and outgoing or shy and retiring while many people can shift from one to the other as circumstances warrant, in general they lean toward one disposition or the other. And that inclination changes little over the course of their lives.

Why this is the case and why it matters in a more traditional context are questions being addressed by anthropologists at UC Santa Barbara. Using fertility and child survivorship as their main measures of reproductive fitness, the researchers studied over 600 adult members of the Tsimane, an isolated indigenous population in central Bolivia, and discovered that more open, outgoing and less anxious personalities were associated with having more children but only among men.

Their findings appear online in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.

"The idea that we're funneled into a relatively fixed way of interacting with the world is something we take for granted," said Michael Gurven, UCSB professor of anthropology and the paper's lead author. Gurven is also co-director of the University of New Mexico-based Tsimane Health and Life History Project. "Some people are outgoing and open, others are more quiet and introverted. But from an evolutionary standpoint, it doesn't really make sense that our dispositions differ so much, and are not more flexible.

"Wouldn't it be great to be more extroverted at an important party, more conscientious when you're on the clock at work, less anxious when talking to a potential date?" Gurven continued. "Differences in personality and their relative stability are not unique to humans, and have now been studied in many species, from ants to primates. How could dispositional consistency be favored by selection?"

Given the variability in personality, a question then is how that variability is maintained over time. "If personality traits, like extroversion, help you interact easily with bosses, find potential mates and make lots of friends, then why, over time, aren't we extroverted?" Gurven asked. Successful behavioral strategies with genetic underpinnings and behavioral genetics has demonstrated relatively high heritability for personality variation often increase in frequency over time, and therefore reduce variation over many generations.

One reason might be that selection pressures vary whatever is adaptive today might not be so tomorrow, and what is adaptive in one place might not be so in another. Selection pressures can vary between sexes as well. The most advantageous personality traits for men may not always be so for women. A second reason could be the idea that too much of a good thing is bad. "Being more extroverted might also make you more prone to taking unnecessary risks, which can be dangerous," Gurven said.

Gurven and his team wanted to examine the personality measures they had on the Tsimane adults and determine what consequences might result from one personality over another. "Considering the evolutionary adaptiveness of a trait like personality can be problematic in modern developed societies because of the widespread use of contraception," Gurven explained. "In all animals including humans the better condition you're in, the more kids you have. And for humans in more traditional environments, like the Tsimane, the higher your status, the better physical condition you're in, the earlier you might marry, and the higher reproductive success you're likely to have."

The Tsimane present a favorable test group because their subsistence ecology is similar to the way people in developed countries lived for millennia. "It's a high fertility population the average woman has nine births over her lifetime and a ripe kind of population for trying to look at personality," said Gurven.

Based on their measurement of different aspects of personality, the researchers looked at how personality impacted the number of children men and women had. "And what we found was that almost every personality dimension mattered for men, and it mattered a lot," Gurven said. "Being more extroverted, open, agreeable and conscientious and less neurotic was associated with having more kids."

Interestingly, though, Gurven added, the same was not true for women. "But that wasn't the whole story. Because we had a large number of test subjects, we could look at whether the relationship between personality and reproduction varied across different regions of the Tsimane territory," he said. Some Tsimane choose to live close to town, near roads, schools and the various opportunities that accompany the more urban life, while others live in the remote headwaters, and still others live in remote forest villages where they're often isolated during much of the rainy season.

Only among women living in villages near town did personality associate with higher fertility, Gurven noted. In more remote regions, the same personality profile had

the opposite effect or, in some cases, no effect on fertility. For men, however, location made no difference. Wherever they lived, manifesting traits related to extroversion, openness and industriousness was associated with higher fertility.

So, if higher fertility was the upside of extroversion and other traits, the researchers wondered what the downside might be. Looking for potential costs related to these personality traits that associate with higher fertility, they focused on health and conflicts. Neither, they discovered, really seemed to be an issue.

"You might think that folks putting themselves out there all the time would be getting sick more often because of greater pathogen exposure or from taking risks," Gurven said. "But we didn't find much evidence that they were sicker. If anything, they were consistently healthier. Which actually makes sense when you consider that of people who are in good condition in general are both healthier and more likely to be outgoing."

Health was assessed two years after the personality measurements so there was no possibility that feeling under the weather meant subjects were more likely to be shy, anxious or dispirited.

Regarding conflicts, the researchers did find that the more extroverted and open men got in trouble more often. "They did have more conflicts," Gurven noted. "But most were verbal." And while conflicts can sometimes escalate into physical confrontation, he added, for the most part, they don't result in death.

The researchers found no evidence that intermediary levels of extroversion or other personality traits lead to highest fertility. Instead, greater levels of these traits associate with higher reproductive fitness, consistent with the evolutionary model referred to as directional selection. But personality varied widely between the sexes men scored higher on extroversion, agreableness, conscientiousness, openness, prosociality and industriousness.

"That the relationship between personality and fitness varies by sex and geographical region supports the view that fluctuating selection pressures may help maintain variation in personality," said Gurven. "Selection pressures may vary over time as well. Indeed, the environment Tsimane face today may be somewhat novel. The annual growth rate of the Tsimane population over the last several decades is almost four percent meaning the population doubles every 17 years which suggests pioneer-like conditions. Greater market access, schooling and other opportunities are producing further changes in Tsimane society."

###

The paper's other co-authors include Christopher von Rueden of the Univeristy of Richmond; Hillard Kaplan of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque and co-director of the Tsimane Health and Life History Project; Jonathan Stieglitz of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; and Daniel Eid Rodriguez of the Universidad Mayor de San Simn, Cochabamba.

---

[


| E-mail


Share

]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

21-Oct-2013

[


| E-mail

]


Share

Contact: Andrea Estrada
andrea.estrada@ia.ucsb.edu
805-893-4620
University of California - Santa Barbara

(Santa Barbara, Calif.) Bold and outgoing or shy and retiring while many people can shift from one to the other as circumstances warrant, in general they lean toward one disposition or the other. And that inclination changes little over the course of their lives.

Why this is the case and why it matters in a more traditional context are questions being addressed by anthropologists at UC Santa Barbara. Using fertility and child survivorship as their main measures of reproductive fitness, the researchers studied over 600 adult members of the Tsimane, an isolated indigenous population in central Bolivia, and discovered that more open, outgoing and less anxious personalities were associated with having more children but only among men.

Their findings appear online in the journal Evolution and Human Behavior.

"The idea that we're funneled into a relatively fixed way of interacting with the world is something we take for granted," said Michael Gurven, UCSB professor of anthropology and the paper's lead author. Gurven is also co-director of the University of New Mexico-based Tsimane Health and Life History Project. "Some people are outgoing and open, others are more quiet and introverted. But from an evolutionary standpoint, it doesn't really make sense that our dispositions differ so much, and are not more flexible.

"Wouldn't it be great to be more extroverted at an important party, more conscientious when you're on the clock at work, less anxious when talking to a potential date?" Gurven continued. "Differences in personality and their relative stability are not unique to humans, and have now been studied in many species, from ants to primates. How could dispositional consistency be favored by selection?"

Given the variability in personality, a question then is how that variability is maintained over time. "If personality traits, like extroversion, help you interact easily with bosses, find potential mates and make lots of friends, then why, over time, aren't we extroverted?" Gurven asked. Successful behavioral strategies with genetic underpinnings and behavioral genetics has demonstrated relatively high heritability for personality variation often increase in frequency over time, and therefore reduce variation over many generations.

One reason might be that selection pressures vary whatever is adaptive today might not be so tomorrow, and what is adaptive in one place might not be so in another. Selection pressures can vary between sexes as well. The most advantageous personality traits for men may not always be so for women. A second reason could be the idea that too much of a good thing is bad. "Being more extroverted might also make you more prone to taking unnecessary risks, which can be dangerous," Gurven said.

Gurven and his team wanted to examine the personality measures they had on the Tsimane adults and determine what consequences might result from one personality over another. "Considering the evolutionary adaptiveness of a trait like personality can be problematic in modern developed societies because of the widespread use of contraception," Gurven explained. "In all animals including humans the better condition you're in, the more kids you have. And for humans in more traditional environments, like the Tsimane, the higher your status, the better physical condition you're in, the earlier you might marry, and the higher reproductive success you're likely to have."

The Tsimane present a favorable test group because their subsistence ecology is similar to the way people in developed countries lived for millennia. "It's a high fertility population the average woman has nine births over her lifetime and a ripe kind of population for trying to look at personality," said Gurven.

Based on their measurement of different aspects of personality, the researchers looked at how personality impacted the number of children men and women had. "And what we found was that almost every personality dimension mattered for men, and it mattered a lot," Gurven said. "Being more extroverted, open, agreeable and conscientious and less neurotic was associated with having more kids."

Interestingly, though, Gurven added, the same was not true for women. "But that wasn't the whole story. Because we had a large number of test subjects, we could look at whether the relationship between personality and reproduction varied across different regions of the Tsimane territory," he said. Some Tsimane choose to live close to town, near roads, schools and the various opportunities that accompany the more urban life, while others live in the remote headwaters, and still others live in remote forest villages where they're often isolated during much of the rainy season.

Only among women living in villages near town did personality associate with higher fertility, Gurven noted. In more remote regions, the same personality profile had

the opposite effect or, in some cases, no effect on fertility. For men, however, location made no difference. Wherever they lived, manifesting traits related to extroversion, openness and industriousness was associated with higher fertility.

So, if higher fertility was the upside of extroversion and other traits, the researchers wondered what the downside might be. Looking for potential costs related to these personality traits that associate with higher fertility, they focused on health and conflicts. Neither, they discovered, really seemed to be an issue.

"You might think that folks putting themselves out there all the time would be getting sick more often because of greater pathogen exposure or from taking risks," Gurven said. "But we didn't find much evidence that they were sicker. If anything, they were consistently healthier. Which actually makes sense when you consider that of people who are in good condition in general are both healthier and more likely to be outgoing."

Health was assessed two years after the personality measurements so there was no possibility that feeling under the weather meant subjects were more likely to be shy, anxious or dispirited.

Regarding conflicts, the researchers did find that the more extroverted and open men got in trouble more often. "They did have more conflicts," Gurven noted. "But most were verbal." And while conflicts can sometimes escalate into physical confrontation, he added, for the most part, they don't result in death.

The researchers found no evidence that intermediary levels of extroversion or other personality traits lead to highest fertility. Instead, greater levels of these traits associate with higher reproductive fitness, consistent with the evolutionary model referred to as directional selection. But personality varied widely between the sexes men scored higher on extroversion, agreableness, conscientiousness, openness, prosociality and industriousness.

"That the relationship between personality and fitness varies by sex and geographical region supports the view that fluctuating selection pressures may help maintain variation in personality," said Gurven. "Selection pressures may vary over time as well. Indeed, the environment Tsimane face today may be somewhat novel. The annual growth rate of the Tsimane population over the last several decades is almost four percent meaning the population doubles every 17 years which suggests pioneer-like conditions. Greater market access, schooling and other opportunities are producing further changes in Tsimane society."

###

The paper's other co-authors include Christopher von Rueden of the Univeristy of Richmond; Hillard Kaplan of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque and co-director of the Tsimane Health and Life History Project; Jonathan Stieglitz of the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; and Daniel Eid Rodriguez of the Universidad Mayor de San Simn, Cochabamba.

---

[


| E-mail


Share

]

 

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/uoc--ua102113.php
Tags: gravity   fox news   survivor   Yom Kippur 2013   Becky G  

Lea Michele Spotted With Healing Crystal And THE Diamond Ring Believed To Be From Cory Monteith

She's staying strong because Cory Monteith is never far from her mind.

Even though Lea Michele has been busy working hard ever since tragically losing Cory far too soon, we're sure she's been trying to mend her broken heart any way she can.

And now it seems the Glee starlet turned to crystals for some strength as she was spotted at LAX wearing what appears to be a healing crystal necklace. But that wasn't all that she was keeping close to her.

Lea was also spotted wearing that same diamond ring on her ring finger that has been popping up from time to time ever since Cory passed away.

We've heard they might have been engaged before his death or that maybe he was planning a proposal, so if that ring is from Cory, we hope it helps heal her heartache.

[Image via AKM-GSI.]

Tags: celebs at airports, cory monteith, death, diamond, diamond ring, glee, lax, lea michele, necklace, ring, spotted

Source: http://perezhilton.com/2013-10-21-lea-michele-wearing-healing-crystal-diamond-ring-engagement-finger-lax
Category: amber alert   What Does Government Shutdown Mean   wes welker   Jason Heyward   Jose Iglesias  

SF transit strike has commuters facing gridlock

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco Bay Area commuters are waking up to another day without the region's main commuter train line because of a strike.

Traffic at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge toll plaza was already heavy around 5:30 a.m. Monday. Ferries, charter buses from several BART stations and Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District buses are serving as alternatives for regular BART riders.

BART's unions went on strike on Friday after contract talks broke down. The two sides have not scheduled any new talks. BART's board, however, is holding a special meeting on Monday afternoon.

BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said the agency is open to restarting negotiations if that's what a federal mediator wants. The San Francisco Chronicle, meanwhile, reports the unions have made another offer to BART.

• Public Transportation
• Transportation

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sf-transit-strike-commuters-facing-gridlock-130906533--finance.html
Related Topics: BART strike   EBT   Jordan Linn Graham   pharrell   kobe bryant