Fishing top predators indirectly affects condition and reproduction in a reef-fish community.

To examine the indirect effects of fishing on energy allocation in non-target prey species, condition and reproductive potential were measured for five representative species (two-spot red snapper Lutjanus bohar, arc-eye hawkfish Paracirrhites arcatus, blackbar devil Plectroglyphidodon dickii, bicolour chromis Chromis margaritifer and whitecheek surgeonfish Acanthurus nigricans) from three reef-fish communities with different levels of fishing and predator abundance in the northern Line Islands, central Pacific Ocean. Predator abundance differed by five to seven-fold among islands, and despite no clear differences in prey abundance, differences in prey condition and reproductive potential among islands were found. Body condition (mean body mass adjusted for length) was consistently lower at sites with higher predator abundance for three of the four prey species.

Spatial dynamics of benthic competition on coral reefs.

The community structure of sedentary organisms is largely controlled by the outcome of direct competition for space. Understanding factors defining competitive outcomes among neighbors is thus critical for predicting large-scale changes, such as transitions to alternate states within coral reefs. Using a spatially explicit model, we explored the importance of variation in two spatial properties in benthic dynamics on coral reefs: (1) patterns of herbivory are spatially distinct between fishes and sea urchins and (2) there is wide variation in the areal extent into which different coral species can expand.

Advanced paternal and grandpaternal age and schizophrenia: a three-generation perspective.

Background: Advanced paternal age has been linked with an increased risk of schizophrenia in the offspring. If age-related de novo mutations in the male germ line underlie this association, grandpaternal and paternal age would both be expected to influence the risk of schizophrenia. The aim of the current study was to explore the links between both paternal and grandpaternal age with respect to the risk of schizophrenia in a large, national register-based cohort.

Estimation of physical activity levels using cell phone questionnaires: a comparison with accelerometry for evaluation of between-subject and within-subject variations.

Background: Physical activity promotes health and longevity. Further elaboration of the role of physical activity for human health in epidemiological studies on large samples requires accurate methods that are easy to use, cheap, and possible to repeat. The use of telecommunication technologies such as cell phones is highly interesting in this respect.

Familial aggregation of schizophrenia: the moderating effect of age at onset, parental immigration, paternal age and season of birth.

Aims: An abundance of evidence has firmly established the familial aggregation of schizophrenia. The aim of this study was to examine how age at onset, parental characteristics and season of birth modify the familiality in schizophrenia.

Methods: A population-based cohort was created by linking the Swedish Multi-Generation and Hospital Discharge Registers.

Risk factors for epithelial ovarian cancer in Japan - results from the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study cohort.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors for invasive primary epithelial ovarian cancer among Japanese women. In 1990-1994, 45,748 women aged 40-69 years were enrolled in the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study cohort. Only 86 epithelial ovarian cancer cases were diagnosed during follow-up through 2008, reflecting the low ovarian cancer incidence rates in Japan.

Black reefs: iron-induced phase shifts on coral reefs.

The Line Islands are calcium carbonate coral reef platforms located in iron-poor regions of the central Pacific. Natural terrestrial run-off of iron is non-existent and aerial deposition is extremely low. However, a number of ship groundings have occurred on these atolls.

Trophic downgrading of planet Earth.

Until recently, large apex consumers were ubiquitous across the globe and had been for millions of years. The loss of these animals may be humankind's most pervasive influence on nature. Although such losses are widely viewed as an ethical and aesthetic problem, recent research reveals extensive cascading effects of their disappearance in marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems worldwide.

HPV types, HIV and invasive cervical carcinoma risk in Kampala, Uganda: a case-control study.

Background: While the association of human papillomavirus (HPV) with cervical cancer is well established, the influence of HIV on the risk of this disease in sub-Saharan Africa remains unclear. To assess the risk of invasive cervical carcinoma (ICC) associated with HIV and HPV types, a hospital-based case-control study was performed between September 2004 and December 2006 in Kampala, Uganda. Incident cases of histologically-confirmed ICC (N=316) and control women (N=314), who were visitors or care-takers of ICC cases in the hospital, were recruited.

Predator-induced demographic shifts in coral reef fish assemblages.

In recent years, it has become apparent that human impacts have altered community structure in coastal and marine ecosystems worldwide. Of these, fishing is one of the most pervasive, and a growing body of work suggests that fishing can have strong effects on the ecology of target species, especially top predators. However, the effects of removing top predators on lower trophic groups of prey fishes are less clear, particularly in highly diverse and trophically complex coral reef ecosystems.

Birth weight predicts risk of cardiovascular disease within dizygotic but not monozygotic twin pairs: a large population-based co-twin-control study.

Background: The widely reported inverse association between birth weight and risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has sparked theories about early life determinants of adult disease. Within-twin-pair analysis provides a unique opportunity to investigate whether factors shared within twin pairs influence the association.

Methods And Results: In a population-based cohort of like-sexed twins with known zygosity born in Sweden from 1926 to 1958, disease-discordant twin pairs were identified through linkage to the National Inpatient and Cause of Death registers between 1973 and 2006.

Prospective study of UV exposure and cancer incidence among Swedish women.

Background: Except for skin melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer, little evidence from prospective studies is available on the association between UV exposure and cancer risk.

Methods: We followed prospectively 49,261 women aged 30 to 49 years at enrollment in 1991 to 1992 for 15 years. Cancer incidence was analyzed by fitting Cox models, and estimating hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Global human footprint on the linkage between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in reef fishes.

Difficulties in scaling up theoretical and experimental results have raised controversy over the consequences of biodiversity loss for the functioning of natural ecosystems. Using a global survey of reef fish assemblages, we show that in contrast to previous theoretical and experimental studies, ecosystem functioning (as measured by standing biomass) scales in a non-saturating manner with biodiversity (as measured by species and functional richness) in this ecosystem. Our field study also shows a significant and negative interaction between human population density and biodiversity on ecosystem functioning (i.

Cervical screening participation and risk among Swedish-born and immigrant women in Sweden.

Cervical cancer is one of the most common cancers among women worldwide, although cervical screening has reduced the incidence in many high-income countries. Low screening uptake among immigrant women may reflect differences in risk of cervical cancer. We investigated the degree of participation in cervical screening among immigrant and Swedish-born women and their concurrent risk of cervical cancer based on individual information on Pap smears taken both from organized and opportunistic screening.

Ultraviolet exposure and mortality among women in Sweden.

Background: Ecological studies have reported possible effects of sunlight on the risk of several diseases. Little evidence is available on the association between mortality and solar and artificial UV exposure by individual level from prospective studies.

Methods: The Swedish Women's Lifestyle and Health cohort study included women aged 30 to 49 years in 1991-1992.

The association between alcohol consumption and mortality: the Swedish women's lifestyle and health study.

Although light to moderate alcohol intake may reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality, the effect on total mortality requires further study, particularly among young and middle-aged women. We studied the association between alcohol consumption and mortality from all causes, from cancer, and from CVD in the Swedish Women's Lifestyle and Health Study, a cohort of 47,921 female residents of Sweden aged 30-49 years at baseline in 1991/1992 and followed up to 2006. We estimated the relative risk (RR) of mortality associated with alcohol intake using Cox regression adjusted for age, smoking, BMI, saturated fat intake, physical activity, and education.

Fruit and vegetable intake and risk of cancer in the Swedish women's lifestyle and health cohort.

Objective: To investigate whether intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with overall cancer incidence in a large prospective cohort of women in Sweden characterised by young age at enrolment (30-49 years) and relatively low intake of fruits and vegetables.

Methods: We followed prospectively 49,261 women, who completed a food frequency questionnaire in 1991-1992. A total of 2,347 incident invasive cancer cases were identified until December 2006.

Advancing paternal age and risk of autism: new evidence from a population-based study and a meta-analysis of epidemiological studies.

Advanced paternal age has been suggested as a risk factor for autism, but empirical evidence is mixed. This study examines whether the association between paternal age and autism in the offspring (1) persists controlling for documented autism risk factors, including family psychiatric history, perinatal conditions, infant characteristics and demographic variables; (2) may be explained by familial traits associated with the autism phenotype, or confounding by parity; and (3) is consistent across epidemiological studies. Multiple study methods were adopted.

Increased risk of autoimmune disease in families with Wegener's granulomatosis.

Objective: The etiology of Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is unknown. Susceptibility genes for WG that also affect the risks of other autoimmune/inflammatory diseases have been identified, indicating the existence of shared interdisease genetic susceptibilities. To determine the effect, on a population level, of shared susceptibility on disease risk, we assessed the occurrence of autoimmune/inflammatory disease in first-degree relatives of patients with WG.

Comparison of human papillomavirus detection between freshly frozen tissue and paraffin embedded tissue of invasive cervical cancer.

Background: Human Papillomavirus (HPV) detection results comparing paraffin embedded cervical tissue and other cervical specimens have been done with varying degrees of agreement. However, studies comparing freshly frozen specimens and paraffin embedded specimens of invasive cervical carcinomas are lacking. The aim of the study was to compare HPV detection using SPF10 broad-spectrum primers PCR followed by DEIA and genotyping by LiPA25 (version 1) between freshly frozen cervical tissue samples and paraffin embedded blocks of cervical tissue from the same patient.

Synthesizing mechanisms of density dependence in reef fishes: behavior, habitat configuration, and observational scale.

Coral and rocky reef fish populations are widely used as model systems for the experimental exploration of density-dependent vital rates, but patterns of density-dependent mortality in these systems are not yet fully understood. In particular, the paradigm for strong, directly density-dependent (DDD) postsettlement mortality stands in contrast to recent evidence for inversely density-dependent (IDD) mortality. We review the processes responsible for DDD and IDD per capita mortality in reef fishes, noting that the pattern observed depends on predator and prey behavior, the spatial configuration of the reef habitat, and the spatial and temporal scales of observation.

Interactive voice response and web-based questionnaires for population-based infectious disease reporting.

The authors aimed to evaluate the web and an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) phone service as vehicles in population-based infectious disease surveillance. Fourteen thousand subjects were randomly selected from the Swedish population register and asked to prospectively report all respiratory tract infections, including Influenza-like Illness (ILI-clinical symptoms indicative of influenza but no laboratory confirmation), immediately as they occurred during a 36-week period starting October 2007. Participants were classified as belonging to the web or IVR group based on their choice of technology for initial registration.

The lagoon at Caroline/Millennium atoll, Republic of Kiribati: natural history of a nearly pristine ecosystem.

A series of surveys were carried out to characterize the physical and biological parameters of the Millennium Atoll lagoon during a research expedition in April of 2009. Millennium is a remote coral atoll in the Central Pacific belonging to the Republic of Kiribati, and a member of the Southern Line Islands chain. The atoll is among the few remaining coral reef ecosystems that are relatively pristine.

Evaluation of 'see-see and treat' strategy and role of HIV on cervical cancer prevention in Uganda.

Background: There is scant information on whether Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) seropositivity has an influence on the outcome of treatment of precancerous cervical lesions using cryotherapy. We studied the prevalence of cervical abnormalities detectable by visual inspection and cervical lesions diagnosed by colposcopy according to HIV serostatus and described the outcomes of cryotherapy treatment.

Methods: Trained nurses examined women not previously screened for cervical cancer using visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) and Lugol's iodine (VILI) in two family planning/post natal clinics in Kampala, Uganda, from February 2007 to August 2008.