Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): A prospective cohort study.

Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): A prospective cohort study. Mahshid Dehghan et al. Lancet,  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32252-3

Abstract
Methods: The Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) study is a large, epidemiological cohort study of individuals aged 35–70 years (enrolled between Jan 1, 2003, and March 31, 2013) in 18 countries with a median follow-up of 7•4 years (IQR 5•3–9•3). Dietary intake of 135 335 individuals was recorded using validated food frequency questionnaires. The primary outcomes were total mortality and major cardiovascular events (fatal cardiovascular disease, non-fatal myocardial infarction, stroke, and heart failure). Secondary outcomes were all myocardial infarctions, stroke, cardiovascular disease mortality, and non-cardiovascular disease mortality. Participants were categorised into quintiles of nutrient intake (carbohydrate, fats, and protein) based on percentage of energy provided by nutrients. We assessed the associations between consumption of carbohydrate, total fat, and each type of fat with cardiovascular disease and total mortality. We calculated hazard ratios (HRs) using a multivariable Cox frailty model with random intercepts to account for centre clustering.

Findings: During follow-up, we documented 5796 deaths and 4784 major cardiovascular disease events. Higher carbohydrate intake was associated with an increased risk of total mortality (highest [quintile 5] vs lowest quintile [quintile 1] category, HR 1•28 [95% CI 1•12–1•46], ptrend=0•0001) but not with the risk of cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular disease mortality. Intake of total fat and each type of fat was associated with lower risk of total mortality (quintile 5 vs quintile 1, total fat: HR 0•77 [95% CI 0•67–0•87], ptrend<0 0="" 1="" 5="" and="" associated="" br="" cardiovascular="" ci="" disease="" fat:="" fat="" fats="" higher="" hr="" infarction="" intake="" lower="" monounsaturated="" mortality.="" myocardial="" not="" of="" or="" polyunsaturated="" ptrend="0•0498)." quintile="" risk="" saturated="" significantly="" stroke="" total="" unsaturated="" vs="" was="" were="" with="">
Interpretation: High carbohydrate intake was associated with higher risk of total mortality, whereas total fat and individual types of fat were related to lower total mortality. Total fat and types of fat were not associated with cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, or cardiovascular disease mortality, whereas saturated fat had an inverse association with stroke. Global dietary guidelines should be reconsidered in light of these findings.

Examining the “Veggie” personality: Results from a representative German sample

Examining the “Veggie” personality: Results from a representative German sample. Tamara M. Pfeiler and Boris Egloff. Appetite, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2017.09.005

Abstract: An increasing proportion of people choose to follow a vegetarian diet. To date, however, little is known about if and how individual differences in personality relate to following a vegetarian diet. In the two studies presented here, we aimed to (1) estimate the prevalence of self-defined vegetarians in two waves of a German representative sample (N = 4496 and 5,125, respectively), (2) analyze the effect of socio-demographic variables on dietary behavior, and (3) examine individual differences between vegetarians and meat eaters in personality traits, political attitudes, and health-related variables. In Study 1, a strict definition of vegetarians was used, while in Study 2 the definition was laxer, to include also individuals who only predominantly followed a vegetarian diet. The prevalence of self-defined vegetarians was 2.74% in Study 1, and 5.97% in Study 2. Participants who were female, younger, and more educated were more likely to report following a vegetarian diet in both studies, and vegetarians had higher income as compared to meat eaters in Study 2. We also found differences between vegetarians and meat eaters with regard to personality traits, political attitudes, and health-related variables. Stepwise logistic regression analyses showed a unique effect beyond socio-demographic variables for openness (Studies 1 and 2), conscientiousness (Study 1), trust (Study 2), conservatism (Studies 1 and 2), and level of interest in politics (Study 1) on diet: Individuals with higher scores in openness and political interest had a higher probability of being vegetarian, whereas people with higher scores in conscientiousness and conservatism had a smaller likelihood of being vegetarian. We conclude that there are individual differences between vegetarians and meat eaters in socio-demographics, personality traits, and political attitudes.

Keywords: Vegetarian diet; Personality traits; Big Five; Prevalence; Meat eating; Political attitudes

Stylized and photographic eye images do not increase charitable donations in a field experiment

Stylized and photographic eye images do not increase charitable donations in a field experiment. Paul Lennon, Rachel Grant, and V. Tamara Montrose. Letters on Evolutionary Behavioral Science, Vol 8, No 2 (2017). http://lebs.hbesj.org/index.php/lebs/article/view/lebs.2017.60

Abstract: The effects of watching eyes upon prosocial behavior have been explored in various contexts, for example, in relation to charitable donations, honor-system payments and littering. Whilst studies have explored the effects of both photographic and stylized eyes upon prosocial behavior, no study, to our knowledge, has compared stylized eyes to photographic eyes. Here we explored the effects of stylized and photographic eye images upon prosocial behavior assessed via charitable donations in a ‘free cakes’ field experiment. Charitable giving was assessed under six eye image conditions, three stylized eye images (evil eye, eye of Horus, all-seeing eye), one photographic eye image (human eye image) and two control images (geometric shape control and blank control). No difference in the amount of money donated was found between any of the eye image conditions. These results suggest that watching eyes, whether stylized or photographic, are not effective at eliciting prosocial behavior via charitable giving. However, further study contrasting single and paired eye imagery, and exploration of the effects of stylized eye imagery in deterring littering and crime, would be beneficial.

If mice could read, they would read the scandals in the tabloid press

Social inequality aversion in mice: Analysis with stress-induced hyperthermia and behavioral preference. Shigeru Watanabe. Learning and Motivation, Volume 59, August 2017, Pages 38-46, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2017.08.002

Highlights
•    Social inequality aversion is examined in food delivery situation.
•    Mice display social inequality aversion detected by hyperthermia.
•    Mice stay longer in the inequality situation in behavioral test.
•    Thus, the mice approach to the inequality situation that caused aversion.
•    This approaching behavior indicates informative value for the subjects.

Abstract: Humans have a sense of fairness and consequently are averse to inequality conditions. Recently, animal researchers suggested that some non-human animals also have inequality aversion. The author used stress-induced hyperthermia (SIH) to examine inequality aversion in mice. Experiment 1 measured the change in body surface temperature of mice under the condition of equality or inequality of food delivery. The results demonstrated that mice exhibited a large increment in body surface temperature when given a small piece of cheese and a cage mate was given a large piece. There was no increment in body temperature in equality conditions in which both the subject and the cage mate were given the same amount of cheese. The increase in body temperature was considered stress-induced hyperthermia caused by social inequality aversion. This is the first demonstration of inequality aversion of food delivery in mice. Simultaneous presentation of a large piece of cheese and a cage mate resulted in SIH in observer mice that were given a small piece of cheese, even though the cage mate was separated from the cheese by a partition to prevent it from eating the cheese. In Experiment 2, behavioral effects of inequality were examined in a chamber with two compartments. Mice could observe a cage mate in an adjacent compartment. They preferred a compartment with a cheese-eating cage mate to a compartment with cheese alone or cage mate alone. This result suggests inequality preference rather than inequality aversion. Thus, the results of Experiments 1 and 2 were contradictory. In a subsequent Experiment 3, both behavioral preference and body surface temperature were measured simultaneously. Mice stayed longer in the inequality condition compartment (cheese-eating cage mate), although inequality caused SIH. Supporting the results of both Experiments 1 and 2. Thus, social inequality induced stress (aversive property) but it also induced approaching behavior that might be maintained by the informative value of a food-eating cage mate.

My comment: It is as if the frustrated mouse, the one that "preferred a compartment with a cheese-eating cage mate to a compartment with cheese alone or cage mate alone," valued so much to be informed of the high-powered life that the other mouse lives that it compensates him for the inequality... Suffering envy but losing no details of the life of the rich and powerful mice is like reading the tabloid press, with all kind of minutiae about the jet set life.

Check also: Evolutionary Origin of Empathy and Inequality Aversion. Shigeru Watanabe and Yutaka Kosaki. Evolution of the Brain, Cognition, and Emotion in Vertebrates pp 273-299, http://www.bipartisanalliance.com/2017/09/evolutionary-origin-of-empathy-and.html

Higher long-term lithium levels in drinking water may be associated with less dementia

Association of Lithium in Drinking Water With the Incidence of Dementia. Lars Vedel Kessing et al. JAMA Psychiatry, http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/article-abstract/2649277

* Key Points

Question: Is a higher lithium level in drinking water associated with a decreased incidence of dementia?

Findings: In this Danish nationwide, population-based, nested case-control study of 73 731 patients with dementia and 733 653 control individuals, the level of lithium exposure was lower for patients with a diagnosis of dementia than for controls. Similar patterns were found with Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia as outcomes.

Meaning: Exposure to higher long-term lithium levels in drinking water may be associated with a lower incidence of dementia.


* Abstract

Importance: Results from animal and human studies suggest that lithium in therapeutic doses may improve learning and memory and modify the risk of developing dementia. Additional preliminary studies suggest that subtherapeutic levels, including microlevels of lithium, may influence human cognition.

Objective: To investigate whether the incidence of dementia in the general population covaries with long-term exposure to microlevels of lithium in drinking water.

Design, Setting, and Participants: This Danish nationwide, population-based, nested case-control study examined longitudinal, individual geographic data on municipality of residence and data from drinking water measurements combined with time-specific data from all patients aged 50 to 90 years with a hospital contact with a diagnosis of dementia from January 1, 1970, through December 31, 2013, and 10 age- and sex-matched control individuals from the Danish population. The mean lithium exposure in drinking water since 1986 was estimated for all study individuals. Data analysis was performed from January 1, 1995, through December 31, 2013.

Results: A total of 73 731 patients with dementia and 733 653 controls (median age, 80.3 years; interquartile range, 74.9-84.6 years; 44 760 female [60.7%] and 28 971 male [39.3%]) were included in the study. Lithium exposure was statistically significantly different between patients with a diagnosis of dementia (median, 11.5 µg/L; interquartile range, 6.5-14.9 µg/L) and controls (median, 12.2 µg/L; interquartile range, 7.3-16.0 µg/L; P < .001). A nonlinear association was observed. Compared with individuals exposed to 2.0 to 5.0 µg/L, the incidence rate ratio (IRR) of dementia was decreased in those exposed to more than 15.0 µg/L (IRR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.81-0.85; P < .001) and 10.1 to 15.0 µg/L (IRR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-1.01; P = .17) and increased with 5.1 to 10.0 µg/L (IRR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.19-1.25; P < .001). Similar patterns were found with Alzheimer disease and vascular dementia as outcomes.

A 10% increase in minimum wage is associated with a 1%–4% reduction to employment rates for teens

Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage: Panel Data Evidence from Canadian Provinces. Kate Rybczynski and Anindya Sen. Contemporary Economic Policy, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/coep.12241/full

Abstract: Recent U.S. studies offer conflicting evidence on minimum wage impacts. This paper studies the effects of 185 amendments to minimum wage on employment rates using panel data across Canadian provinces from 1981 to 2011. Ordinary least squares and instrumental variables (IV) estimates imply a 10% increase in minimum wage is associated with a 1%–4% reduction to employment rates for both male and female teens. We also find that an increase in the minimum wage is associated with lower employment of prime-aged immigrants. Our results are robust to a wide array of IV and the use of controls for spatial heterogeneity.

Deep Neural Networks Are More Accurate Than Humans at Detecting Sexual Orientation from Facial Images

Kosinski, Michal, and Yilun Wang. 2017. “Deep Neural Networks Are More Accurate Than Humans at Detecting Sexual Orientation from Facial Images.”. PsyArXiv. September 7. https://psyarxiv.com/hv28a

Abstract: We show that faces contain much more information about sexual orientation than can be perceived and interpreted by the human brain. We used deep neural networks to extract features from 35,326 facial images. These features were entered into a logistic regression aimed at classifying sexual orientation. Given a single facial image, a classifier could correctly distinguish between gay and heterosexual men in 81% of cases, and in 74% of cases for women. Human judges achieved much lower accuracy: 61% for men and 54% for women. The accuracy of the algorithm increased to 91% and 83%, respectively, given five facial images per person. Facial features employed by the classifier included both fixed (e.g., nose shape) and transient facial features (e.g., grooming style). Consistent with the prenatal hormone theory of sexual orientation, gay men and women tended to have gender-atypical facial morphology, expression, and grooming styles. Prediction models aimed at gender alone allowed for detecting gay males with 57% accuracy and gay females with 58% accuracy. Those findings advance our understanding of the origins of sexual orientation and the limits of human perception. Additionally, given that companies and governments are increasingly using computer vision algorithms to detect people’s intimate traits, our findings expose a threat to the privacy and safety of gay men and women.