No abstract

Late-life development may imply terminal processes related with time-to-death rather than with chronological age. In this study, we applied the time-to-death perspective to affective well-being. Using a 15-year observational interval including five measurement occasions with a large sample of deceased participants (N = 1,671; mean age = 75.60; mean time-to-death = 6.83 years, at first occasion) from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA), we examined (1) whether intraindividual trajectories in positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) can be better described in terms of time-to-death as compared to chronological age; (2) whether time-to-death-related change in PA and NA follows a terminal decline (linear change) versus terminal drop (accelerating change) pattern, and (3) whether transition points in PA and NA, marking the beginning of the terminal change period, can be identified. For both PA and NA, multilevel mixed models of linear and quadratic time-to-death and age-related trajectories confirmed that time-to-death accounts for more intraindividual variance and reveals a better fit to the data than chronological age. Quadratic time-to-death-related trends fitted better than linear trajectories, thus indicating terminal drop of affective well-being, in terms of decreases of PA and increases of NA accelerating as death comes close. Also, change of NA was linked to time-to-death more strongly than PA change. Transition points to the terminal phase were found at 5.6 and 3.7 years for PA and NA, respectively. In conclusion, affective development toward the end of the human life span may be better understood as a death-related-rather than age-graded-process.

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Microorganisms form symbiotic partnerships with a diverse range of marine organisms and can be critical to the health and survival of their hosts. Despite the importance of these relationships, the sensitivity of symbiotic microbes to ocean acidification (OA) is largely unknown and this needs to be redressed to adequately predict marine ecosystem resilience in a changing climate. We adopted a profiling approach to explore the sensitivity of microbes associated with coral reef biofilms and representatives of three ecologically important calcifying invertebrate phyla [corals, foraminifera and crustose coralline algae (CCA)] to OA. The experimental design for this study comprised four pHs consistent with current IPCC predictions for the next few centuries (pHNIST 8.1, 7.9, 7.7, 7.5); these pH/pCO₂ conditions were produced in flow-through aquaria using CO₂ bubbling. All reduced pH/increased pCO₂ treatments caused clear differences in the microbial communities associated with coral, foraminifera, CCA and reef biofilms over 6 weeks, while no visible signs of host stress were detected over this period. The microbial communities of coral, foraminifera, CCA and biofilms were significantly different between pH 8.1 (pCO₂ = 464 μatm) and pH 7.9 (pCO₂ = 822 μatm), a concentration likely to be exceeded by the end of the present century. This trend continued at lower pHs/higher pCO₂. 16S rRNA gene sequencing revealed variable and species-specific changes in the microbial communities with no microbial taxa consistently present or absent from specific pH treatments. The high sensitivity of coral, foraminifera, CCA and biofilm microbes to OA conditions projected to occur by 2100 is a concern for reef ecosystems and highlights the need for urgent research to assess the implications of microbial shifts for host health and coral reef processes.

Elevated sea surface temperatures caused by global climate change and increased nutrient concentrations resulting from land runoff both are stressors for calcifying coral reef organisms. Here, we test the hypothesis that increased temperature leads to bleaching in dinoflagellate-bearing foraminifera similar to corals and that increased nutrients through runoff can exaggerate stress on the holobiont. In an experiment manipulating temperatures alone, we have shown that mortality of Marginopora vertebralis increased with temperatures. Most individuals died after 7 days at 34°C, *5°C above current summer maxima. Survival at 37 days was [98% at 28°C. After 7 days of exposure to 31 or 32°C, photosynthesis of the endosymbionts was compromised, as indicated by several photophysiological parameters (effective quantum yield and apparent photosynthetic rate). In a flow-though experiment manipulating both temperature (three levels, 26, 29 and 31°C) and nitrate concentrations (3 levels, *0.5, 1.0 and 1.4 lmol l -1 NO 3 -), elevated temperature had a significant negative effect on most parameters measured. At 31°C, most photopigments (measured by UPLC) in the foraminifera were significantly reduced. The only pigment that increased was the photoprotective diatoxanthin. Several other parameters measured (maximum and effective quantum yield, O 2 production in light, organic carbon contents) also significantly decreased with temperature. Optode-based respirometry demonstrated that the presence of symbionts at elevated temperatures represents a net carbon loss for the host. Growth rates of M. vertebralis and mortality at the end of the experiment were significantly affected by both temperature increase and nitrate addition. We conclude that these foraminifera bleach in a similar fashion to corals and that global sea surface temperature change and nitrate increases are stressors for these protists. Furthermore, this provides support for the hypothesis that management of local stressors elevates resilience of coral reefs to global stressors.

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As part of the Human Biomonitoring for Europe (HBM4EU) initiative a human biomonitoring (HBM) survey is conducted in 21 countries. This survey builds on existing HBM capacity in Europe by aligning national or regional HBM studies. The survey targets 3 age groups (i) children aged 6–11 years, (ii) teenagers aged 12–19 years and (iii) young adults aged 20–39 years and includes a total of 9493 participants (3151 children, 2953 teenagers and 3389 young adults). Depending on the age group, internal exposure to phthalates and substitute Hexamoll® DINCH, brominated and organophosphorus flame retardants, per-/poly-fluorinated compounds, cadmium, bisphenols and/or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are assessed. The main goal of the programme is to obtain quality controlled and comparable HBM data of exposure to chemicals, prioritized under HBM4EU, with European wide coverage to inform the development of environment and health policies. This paper describes the framework of the HBM4EU survey and the approach that has been applied to align European HBM initiatives across Europe.

Many theories highlight the role social contexts play in shaping affective experience. However, little is known about how individuals' social environments influence core affect on short time-scales (e.g., hours). Using experience sampling data from the iSAHIB, wherein 150 adults aged 18 to 89 years reported on 64,213 social interactions (average 6.92 per day, SD = 2.85) across 9 weeks of daily life, we examined how 4 features of individuals' social ecology (between-person differences) and immediate social situations (within-person changes) were associated with core affect-valence and arousal-and how those associations differ with age. Results from multilevel models revealed that familiarity, importance, type of social partner, and gender composition of the social context were associated with affect valence and/or affect arousal. Higher familiarity, higher importance, and same-gender composition were associated with more positive affect valence and higher arousal. Interactions with family and friends were linked to more positive valence whereas nonfamily social partners were linked to higher arousal. Age moderated the associations between importance and affect arousal, and between type of social partner and both dimensions of core affect. Findings align with theoretical propositions, contributing to but also suggesting need for further precision regarding how development shapes the interplay between social context and moment-to-moment affective experience. (PsycINFO Database Record