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Unwanted sexual attention (UWSA) and sexual harassment (SH) are prevalent experiences for women in working life and often accompanied by poor health. Despite increasing numbers especially of young people working in insecure and irregular employment settings, there is little empirical evidence if such precarious arrangements are associated with UWSA or SH. To investigate this, we used a representative sample of the European working population consisting of 63,966 employees in 33 countries who participated in the European Working Conditions Survey in 2010 or 2015. Precarious employment (PE) was assessed on the basis of seven indicators and a formative index derived from them: temporary employment, contractual duration < 1 year, schedule unpredictability, involuntary part-time, low information on occupational health and safety risks (OSH), low pay (wage < 60%), and multiple job-holding. We measured self-reported experiences of workplace UWSA during the last month and SH during the last 12 months each using a single-item questionnaire. Multi-level Poisson regressions were used to estimate prevalence ratios for UWSA and SH according to PE adjusted for survey year, age, education, type of household, migration background, job tenure, weekly working hours, occupational position, working sector, company size, workplace gender ratio, and visiting customers or clients. 0.8% of men reported UWSA in the last month and 2.6% of the women. SH in the last year was reported by 0.4% of the men and 1.3% of the women. For both men and women, PE was significantly associated with elevated prevalence of UWSA and SH, in particular when reporting schedule unpredictability, multiple job-holding and low information on OSH. Our results suggest that precariously employed individuals may be more prone to experience unwanted sexual behaviour at the workplace compared with workers in non-precarious settings.

Individuals with depression have an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) is an important risk factor for CVD. We aimed to clarify the prevalence and correlates of MetS in persons with robustly defined major depressive disorder (MDD). We searched Medline, PsycINFO, EMBASE and CINAHL up until June 2013 for studies reporting MetS prevalences in individuals with MDD. Medical subject headings 'metabolic' OR 'diabetes' or 'cardiovascular' or 'blood pressure' or 'glucose' or 'lipid' AND 'depression' OR 'depressive' were used in the title, abstract or index term fields. Manual searches were conducted using reference lists from identified articles. The initial electronic database search resulted in 91 valid hits. From candidate publications following exclusions, our search generated 18 studies with interview-defined depression (n = 5531, 38.9% male, mean age = 45.5 years). The overall proportion with MetS was 30.5% [95% confidence interval (CI) 26.3-35.1] using any standardized MetS criteria. Compared with age- and gender-matched control groups, individuals with MDD had a higher MetS prevalence [odds ratio (OR) 1.54, 95% CI 1.21-1.97, p = 0.001]. They also had a higher risk for hyperglycemia (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.03-1.73, p = 0.03) and hypertriglyceridemia (OR 1.17, 95% CI 1.04-1.30, p = 0.008). Antipsychotic use (p < 0.05) significantly explained higher MetS prevalence estimates in MDD. Differences in MetS prevalences were not moderated by age, gender, geographical area, smoking, antidepressant use, presence of psychiatric co-morbidity, and median year of data collection. The present findings strongly indicate that persons with MDD are a high-risk group for MetS and related cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. MetS risk may be highest in those prescribed antipsychotics.

While technological advancements have proliferated in our daily lives, they also pose threats to the job security of employees. Despite these growing concerns about technology-related job insecurity, little research has been carried out on the antecedents and outcomes of tech-related job insecurity. Using a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey sample of 28,989 Korean workers drawn from the Korean Working Conditions Survey, we examined the impacts of technology advancements on employee perceptions of technology-related qualitative job insecurity (i.e., perceived technology-related threat to the continued existence of valued job features) and subsequent effects on employees’ work (i.e., work engagement, job satisfaction), health (i.e., sleep), and life (i.e., work-to-family conflict) outcomes. Furthermore, we investigated the extent to which employer-provided (versus self-funded) training buffers the adverse impacts of technology advancements and associated job insecurity. The path analysis results showed more technology changes were associated with higher job insecurity, which subsequently related to adverse outcomes. While employer-provided training helped workers to reduce the negative impacts of tech changes on job insecurity, workers who paid for their training reported more adverse outcomes in face of job insecurity. We discuss these results in light of the job demands–resources theory and practical implications to buffer the adverse impacts of technology advancements.

Bird bills possess an important thermoregulatory function as they are a site for environmental heat exchange. Previous studies have demonstrated that birds in warmer climates have larger bills than those living in colder climates, as larger bills can dissipate more heat. Because this dry heat transfer does not incur water loss, it may be additionally advantageous in water‐restricted habitats. Here, we examine the influence of climate on bill morphology in Toxostoma thrashers, a group of 10 North American species that varied in bill morphology and occupied climate niche, with several species inhabiting arid climates. Past examinations of thrasher bill morphology have only considered foraging, leaving unanswered the role of climate in morphological divergence within this group. We photographed 476 Toxostoma museum specimens encompassing all 10 species and calculated bill measurements from the photos using a MATLAB‐based program. For each species, we calculated occupied climate niche using data from WorldClim describing temperature and precipitation. We found no reliable significant relationships between climate variables and bill morphology across species, suggesting that other factors such as foraging behavior may be more important in shaping bill morphology in this genus. Within species, we found three Toxostoma species have significant relationships between bill morphology and climate that follow Allen's rule. However, we also found the relationships between climate and bill morphology varied in strength and direction across species. Notably, we found a negative relationship between maximum temperature of the hottest month and bill surface area in LeConte's thrasher, which occupies the hottest and most arid climates of the thrashers. This adds to the evidence that Allen's rule may reverse in extremely hot climates when the bill may become a heat sink instead of a heat radiator. These results demonstrate the importance of considering the generality of ecogeographical rules across lineages that occupy extreme climates.

Notes how the root rot causing oomycete, Phytophthora agathidicida, threatens the long-term survival of the iconic New Zealand kauri tree. Describes a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for the detection of P. agathidicida that targets a portion of the mitochondrial apocytochrome b coding sequence. Discusses the various ways such an assay can be used in the communities affected. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.

Short-term exposure to air pollution has adverse effects among patients with asthma, but whether long-term exposure to air pollution is a cause of adult-onset asthma is unclear. We aimed to investigate the association between air pollution and adult onset asthma. Asthma incidence was prospectively assessed in six European cohorts. Exposures studied were annual average concentrations at home addresses for nitrogen oxides assessed for 23,704 participants (including 1,257 incident cases) and particulate matter (PM) assessed for 17,909 participants through ESCAPE land-use regression models and traffic exposure indicators. Meta-analyses of cohort-specific logistic regression on asthma incidence were performed. Models were adjusted for age, sex, overweight, education, and smoking and included city/area within each cohort as a random effect. In this longitudinal analysis, asthma incidence was positively, but not significantly, associated with all exposure metrics, except for PMcoarse. Positive associations of borderline significance were observed for nitrogen dioxide [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.10; 95% CI: 0.99, 1.21 per 10 μg/m3; p = 0.10] and nitrogen oxides (adjusted OR = 1.04; 95% CI: 0.99, 1.08 per 20 μg/m3; p = 0.08). Nonsignificant positive associations were estimated for PM10 (adjusted OR = 1.04; 95% CI: 0.88, 1.23 per 10 μg/m3), PM2.5 (adjusted OR = 1.04; 95% CI: 0.88, 1.23 per 5 μg/m3), PM2.5absorbance (adjusted OR = 1.06; 95% CI: 0.95, 1.19 per 10-5/m), traffic load (adjusted OR = 1.10; 95% CI: 0.93, 1.30 per 4 million vehicles × meters/day on major roads in a 100-m buffer), and traffic intensity (adjusted OR = 1.10; 95% CI: 0.93, 1.30 per 5,000 vehicles/day on the nearest road). A nonsignificant negative association was estimated for PMcoarse (adjusted OR = 0.98; 95% CI: 0.87, 1.14 per 5 μg/m3). Results suggest a deleterious effect of ambient air pollution on asthma incidence in adults. Further research with improved personal-level exposure assessment (vs. residential exposure assessment only) and phenotypic characterization is needed.

The population of students who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing (d/Dhh) with a disability have unique educational needs. Various terms have been used to describe this population, including “deaf plus”, “deaf with additional disabilities”, and most recently, “deaf with disabilities (DWD)”. Currently, there is no agreement on the percentage of DWD students in PreK-21 settings but is considered to comprise at least 40–50%. An individual who is DWD has a hearing loss and one or more disabilities, including (but not limited to) visual impairment or blindness, autism spectrum disorder, intellectual or developmental disabilities, specific learning disabilities, health impairments, etc. The critical consideration is that the interaction between hearing loss and the disability(ies) is not simply additive but rather multiplicative, impacting communication, cognition, social development, and behavior. Furthermore, the presence of hearing loss may decrease accurate identification of other disabilities and vice versa. Although the incidence of students who are DWD is quite high, there is inadequate research as these students are often excluded from studies focused on children who are d/Dhh. This article explores what we currently know about DWD students, and the knowledge and skills needed by teachers in the 21st century to meet the needs of these students and their families.

Poly(A) Binding Proteins (PABPs) are major eukaryotic RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) with multiple roles associated with mRNA stability and translation and characterized mainly from multicellular organisms and yeasts. A variable number of PABP homologues are seen in different organisms however the biological reasons for multiple PABPs are generally not well understood. In the unicellular Leishmania , dependent on post-transcriptional mechanisms for the control of its gene expression, three distinct PABPs are found, with yet undefined functional distinctions. Here, using RNA-immunoprecipitation sequencing analysis we show that the Leishmania PABP1 preferentially associates with mRNAs encoding ribosomal proteins, while PABP2 and PABP3 bind to an overlapping set of mRNAs distinct to those enriched in PABP1. Immunoprecipitation studies combined to mass-spectrometry analysis identified RBPs differentially associated with PABP1 or PABP2, including RBP23 and DRBD2, respectively, that were investigated further. Both RBP23 and DRBD2 bind directly to the three PABPs in vitro , but reciprocal experiments confirmed preferential co-immunoprecipitation of PABP1, as well as the EIF4E4/EIF4G3 based translation initiation complex, with RBP23. Other RBP23 binding partners also imply a direct role in translation. DRBD2, in contrast, co-immunoprecipitated with PABP2, PABP3 and with RBPs unrelated to translation. Over 90% of the RBP23-bound mRNAs code for ribosomal proteins, mainly absent from the transcripts co-precipitated with DRBD2. These experiments suggest a novel and specific route for translation of the ribosomal protein mRNAs, mediated by RBP23, PABP1 and the associated EIF4E4/EIF4G3 complex. They also highlight the unique roles that different PABP homologues may have in eukaryotic cells associated with mRNA translation.

Leprosy, caused by Mycobacterium leprae , rarely affects children younger than 5 years. Here, we studied a multiplex leprosy family that included monozygotic twins aged 22 months suffering from paucibacillary leprosy. Whole genome sequencing identified three amino acid mutations previously associated with Crohn’s disease and Parkinson’s disease as candidate variants for early onset leprosy: LRRK2 N551K, R1398H and NOD2 R702W. In genome-edited macrophages, we demonstrated that cells expressing the LRRK2 mutations displayed reduced apoptosis activity following mycobacterial challenge independently of NOD2. However, employing co-immunoprecipitation and confocal microscopy we showed that LRRK2 and NOD2 proteins interacted in RAW cells and monocyte-derived macrophages, and that this interaction was substantially reduced for the NOD2 R702W mutation. Moreover, we observed a joint effect of LRRK2 and NOD2 variants on Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-induced respiratory burst, NF-κB activation and cytokine/chemokine secretion with a strong impact for the genotypes found in the twins consistent with a role of the identified mutations in the development of early onset leprosy.

This study describes the development and validation of two scales measuring job security: the Job Security Index (JSI), measuring an individual's cognitive appraisal of the future of his or her job with respect to the perceived level of stability and continuance of that job, and the Job Security Satisfaction (JSS) scale, measuring employee satisfaction with a perceived level of job security. Item response theory and classical test theory analyses indicate that the scales are highly reliable and exhibit good discriminant and criterion‐related validity. Future researchers are advised to apply confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to the scales to confirm their factor structures.