Search

Hosts rely on the availability of nutrients for growth, and for defense against pathogens. At the same time, changes in host nutrition can alter the dynamics of pathogens that rely on their host for reproduction. For primary producer hosts, enhanced nutrient loads may increase host biomass or pathogen reproduction, promoting faster density‐dependent pathogen transmission. However, the effect of elevated nutrients may be reduced if hosts allocate a growth‐limiting nutrient to pathogen defense. In canonical disease models, transmission is not a function of nutrient availability. Yet, including nutrient availability is necessary to mechanistically understand the response of infection to changes in the environment. Here, we explore the implications of nutrient‐mediated pathogen infectivity and host immunity on infection outcomes. We developed a stoichiometric disease model that explicitly integrates the contrasting dependencies of pathogen infectivity and host immunity on nitrogen (N) and parameterized it for an algal‐host system. Our findings reveal dynamic shifts in host biomass build‐up, pathogen prevalence, and the force of infection along N supply gradients with N‐mediated host infectivity and immunity, compared with a model in which the transmission rate was fixed. We show contrasting responses in pathogen performance with increasing N supply between N‐mediated infectivity and N‐mediated immunity, revealing an optimum for pathogen transmission at intermediate N supply. This was caused by N limitation of the pathogen at a low N supply and by pathogen suppression via enhanced host immunity at a high N supply. By integrating both nutrient‐mediated pathogen infectivity and host immunity into a stoichiometric model, we provide a theoretical framework that is a first step in reconciling the contrasting role nutrients can have on host–pathogen dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the role of infectious disease forecasting in informing public policy. However, significant barriers remain for effectively linking infectious disease forecasts to public health decision making, including a lack of model validation. Forecasting model performance and accuracy should be evaluated retrospectively to understand under which conditions models were reliable and could be improved in the future. Methods: Using archived forecasts from the California Department of Public Health's California COVID Assessment Tool (https://calcat.covid19.ca.gov/cacovidmodels/), we compared how well different forecasting models predicted COVID-19 hospitalization census across California counties and regions during periods of Alpha, Delta, and Omicron variant predominance. Results: Based on mean absolute error estimates, forecasting models had variable performance across counties and through time. When accounting for model availability across counties and dates, some individual models performed consistently better than the ensemble model, but model rankings still differed across counties. Local transmission trends, variant prevalence, and county population size were informative predictors for determining which model performed best for a given county based on a random forest classification analysis. Overall, the ensemble model performed worse in less populous counties, in part because of fewer model contributors in these locations. Conclusions: Ensemble model predictions could be improved by incorporating geographic heterogeneity in model coverage and performance. Consistency in model reporting and improved model validation can strengthen the role of infectious disease forecasting in real-time public health decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Research participant feedback is rarely collected; therefore, investigators have limited understanding regarding stakeholders' (affected individuals/caregivers) motivation to participate. Members of the Genes to Mental Health Network (G2MH) surveyed stakeholders affected by copy number variants (CNVs) regarding perceived incentives for study participation, opinions concerning research priorities, and the necessity for future funding. Respondents were also asked about feelings of preparedness, research burden, and satisfaction with research study participation. Methods: Modified validated surveys were used to assess stakeholders´ views across three domains: (1) Research Study Enrollment, Retainment, Withdrawal, and Future Participation; (2) Overall Research Experience, Burden, and Preparedness; (3) Research Priorities and Obstacles. Top box score analyses were performed. Results: A total of 704 stakeholders´ responded from 29 countries representing 55 CNVs. The top reasons for initial participation in the research included reasons related to education and altruism. The top reasons for leaving a research study included treatment risks and side effects. The importance of sharing research findings and laboratory results with stakeholders was underscored by participants. Most stakeholders reported positive research experiences. Conclusions: This study provides important insight into how individuals and families affected with a rare CNV feel toward research participation and their overall experience in rare disease research. There are clear targets for areas of improvement for study teams, although many stakeholders reported positive research experiences. Key findings from this international survey may help advance collaborative research and improve the experience of participants, investigators, and other stakeholders moving forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examinations of corporate power have demonstrated the practices and activities Unhealthy Commodity Industries (UCIs) employ to exert their power and influence on the public and health policy. The High in Fat Sugar and Salt (HFSS) product industry have exploited the online environment to market their products to young people. Regulating UCIs' marketing can limit the power of those industries and is argued to be one of the most appropriate policy responses to such marketing. However, there is minimal consideration of how stakeholders view regulation of online advertising of HFSS products to young people. This UK-focused study addressed this through a secondary analysis of focus groups with young people (n = 15), the primary analysis of focus groups with parents (n = 8), and interviews with professional stakeholders (n = 11). The findings indicated that participants' views on the regulation of online advertising of HFSS products were informed by how professional stakeholders exerted instrumental, structural and discursive power. Participants cited regulation as a means to re-negotiate problematic power dynamics to increase young people's and parents' autonomy over young people's diets, yet concern remained as to the impact regulation may have on individual autonomy. To garner increased public support for such regulatory policies, it may be beneficial for advocates to emphasise the empowering elements of those regulatory policies. Advocacy actors may wish to shift their framing of regulation from one that focuses on restricting industry practices, to one that centres on empowering individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents how a community mobilization program to prevent suicide was adapted to an online format to accommodate the impossibility of in-person delivery in Alaska Native communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The intervention, Promoting Community Conversations About Research to End Suicide (PC CARES), was created collaboratively by researchers and Alaska Native communities with the goal of bringing community members together to create research-informed and community-led suicide prevention activities in their communities. To continue our work during the COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions, we adapted the PC CARES model to a synchronous remote delivery format. This shift included moving from predominantly Alaska Native participants to one of a mainly non-Native school staff audience. This required a pivot from Alaska Native self-determination toward cultural humility and community collaboration for school-based staff, with multilevel youth suicide prevention remaining the primary aim. This reorientation can offer important insight into how to build more responsive programs for those who are not from the communities they serve. Here, we provide a narrative overview of our collaborative adaptation process, illustrated by data collected during synchronous remote facilitation of the program, and reflect on how the shift in format and audience impacted program delivery and content. The adaptation process strove to maintain the core animating features of self-determination for Alaska Native communities and people as well as the translation of scientific knowledge to practice for greater impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heterogeneity in social interactions can have important consequences for the spread of information and diseases and consequently conservation and invasive species management. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) are a highly social, ubiquitous, and invasive freshwater fish. Management strategies targeting foraging carp may be ideal because laboratory studies have suggested that carp can learn, have individual personalities, a unique diet, and often form large social groups. To examine social feeding behaviors of wild carp, we injected 344 carp with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and continuously monitored their feeding behaviors at multiple sites in a natural lake in Minnesota, USA. The high‐resolution, spatio‐temporal data were analyzed using a Gaussian mixture model (GMM). Based on these associations, we analyzed group size, feeding bout duration, and the heterogeneity and connectivity of carp social networks at foraging sites. Wild carp responded quickly to bait, forming aggregations most active from dusk to dawn. During the 2020 baiting period (20 days), 133 unique carp were detected 616,593 times. There was some evidence that feeding at multiple sites was constrained by basin geography, but not distance alone. GMM results suggested that feeding bouts were short, with frequent turnover of small groups. Individual foraging behavior was highly heterogeneous with Gini coefficients of 0.79 in 2020 and 0.66 in 2019. "Superfeeders"—those contributing to 80% of total cumulative detections (top 18% and top 29% of foragers in 2020 and 2019 respectively)—were more likely to be detected earlier at feeding stations, had larger body sizes, and had higher network measures of degree, weighted degree, and betweenness than non‐superfeeders. Overall, our results indicate that wild carp foraging is social, easily induced by bait, dominated by large‐bodied individuals, and potentially predictable, which suggests social behaviors could be leveraged in management of carp, one of the world's most recognizable and invasive fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An axisymmetric problem for a frictionless contact of a rigid stamp with a semi-space in the presence of surface energy in the Steigmann–Ogden form is studied. The method of Boussinesq potentials is used to obtain integral representations of the stresses and the displacements. Using the Hankel transform, the problem is reduced to a single integral equation of the first kind on a contact interval with an additional condition. The integral equation is studied for solvability. It is shown that for the classic problem in the absence of surface effects and for the problem with the Gurtin–Murdoch surface energy without surface tension, the obtained equation represents a Cauchy singular integral equation. At the same time, for the Gurtin–Murdoch model with a non-zero surface tension and for the general Steigmann–Ogden model, the problem results in the integral equation of the first kind with a weakly singular or a continuous kernel, correspondingly. Hence, the contact problem is ill-posed in these cases. The integral equation of the first kind with an additional condition is solved approximately by using Gauss–Chebyshev quadrature for evaluation of the integrals. Numerical results for various values of the parameters are reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human behavior (movement, social contacts) plays a central role in the spread of pathogens like SARS-CoV-2. The rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2 was driven by global human movement, and initial lockdown measures aimed to localize movement and contact in order to slow spread. Thus, movement and contact patterns need to be explicitly considered when making reopening decisions, especially regarding return to work. Here, as a case study, we consider the initial stages of resuming research at a large research university, using approaches from movement ecology and contact network epidemiology. First, we develop a dynamical pathogen model describing movement between home and work; we show that limiting social contact, via reduced people or reduced time in the workplace are fairly equivalent strategies to slow pathogen spread. Second, we develop a model based on spatial contact patterns within a specific office and lab building on campus; we show that restricting on-campus activities to labs (rather than labs and offices) could dramatically alter (modularize) contact network structure and thus, potentially reduce pathogen spread by providing a workplace mechanism to reduce contact. Here we argue that explicitly accounting for human movement and contact behavior in the workplace can provide additional strategies to slow pathogen spread that can be used in conjunction with ongoing public health efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Host heterogeneity in pathogen transmission is widespread and presents a major hurdle to predicting and minimizing disease outbreaks. Using Drosophila melanogaster infected with Drosophila C virus as a model system, we integrated experimental measurements of social aggregation, virus shedding, and disease-induced mortality from different genetic lines and sexes into a disease modelling framework. The experimentally measured host heterogeneity produced substantial differences in simulated disease outbreaks, providing evidence for genetic and sex-specific effects on disease dynamics at a population level. While this was true for homogeneous populations of single sex/genetic line, the genetic background or sex of the index case did not alter outbreak dynamics in simulated, heterogeneous populations. Finally, to explore the relative effects of social aggregation, viral shedding and mortality, we compared simulations where we allowed these traits to vary, as measured experimentally, to simulations where we constrained variation in these traits to the population mean. In this context, variation in infectiousness, followed by social aggregation, was the most influential component of transmission. Overall, we show that host heterogeneity in three host traits dramatically affects population-level transmission, but the relative impact of this variation depends on both the susceptible population diversity and the distribution of population-level variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Host heterogeneity in pathogen transmission is widespread and presents a major hurdle to predicting and minimizing disease outbreaks. Using Drosophila melanogaster infected with Drosophila C virus as a model system, we integrated experimental measurements of social aggregation, virus shedding, and disease-induced mortality from different genetic lines and sexes into a disease modelling framework. The experimentally measured host heterogeneity produced substantial differences in simulated disease outbreaks, providing evidence for genetic and sex-specific effects on disease dynamics at a population level. While this was true for homogeneous populations of single sex/genetic line, the genetic background or sex of the index case did not alter outbreak dynamics in simulated, heterogeneous populations. Finally, to explore the relative effects of social aggregation, viral shedding and mortality, we compared simulations where we allowed these traits to vary, as measured experimentally, to simulations where we constrained variation in these traits to the population mean. In this context, variation in infectiousness, followed by social aggregation, was the most influential component of transmission. Overall, we show that host heterogeneity in three host traits dramatically affects population-level transmission, but the relative impact of this variation depends on both the susceptible population diversity and the distribution of population-level variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although movement ecology has leveraged models of home range formation to explore the effects of spatial heterogeneity and social cues on movement behavior, disease ecology has yet to integrate these potential drivers and mechanisms of contact behavior into a generalizable disease modeling framework. Here we ask how dynamic territory formation and maintenance might contribute to disease dynamics in a territorial, solitary predator for an indirectly transmitted pathogen. We developed a mechanistic individual-based model where stigmergy—the deposition of signals into the environment (e.g., scent marking, scraping)—dictates local movement choices and long-term territory formation, but also the risk of pathogen transmission. Based on a variable importance analysis, the length of the infectious period was the single most important variable in predicting outbreak success, maximum prevalence, and outbreak duration. Host density and rate of pathogen decay were also key predictors. We found that territoriality best reduced maximum prevalence in conditions where we would otherwise expect outbreaks to be most successful: slower recovery rates (i.e., longer infectious periods) and higher conspecific densities. However, for slower pathogen decay rates, stigmergy-driven movement increased outbreak durations relative to random movement simulations. Our findings therefore support a limited version of the "territoriality benefits" hypothesis—where reduced home range overlap leads to reduced opportunities for pathogen transmission, but with the caveat that reduction in outbreak severity may increase the likelihood of pathogen persistence. For longer infectious periods and higher host densities, key trade-offs emerged between the strength of pathogen load, the strength of the stigmergy cue, and the rate at which those two quantities decayed; this finding raises interesting questions about the evolutionary nature of these competing processes and the role of possible feedbacks between parasitism and territoriality. This work also highlights the importance of considering social cues as part of the movement landscape in order to better understand the consequences of individual behaviors on population level outcomes. Author summary: Making decisions about conservation and disease management relies on our understanding of what allows animal populations to be successful, which often depends on when and where animals encounter each other. However, disease ecology often focuses on the social behavior of animals without accounting for their individual movement patterns. We developed a simulation model that bridges the fields of disease and movement ecology by allowing hosts to inform their movement based on the past movements of other hosts. As hosts navigate their environment, they leave behind a scent trail while avoiding the scent trails of other individuals. We wanted to know if this means of territory formation could heighten or dampen disease spread when infectious hosts leave pathogens in their wake. We found that territoriality can inhibit disease spread under conditions that we would normally expect pathogens to be most successful: when there are many hosts on the landscape and hosts stay infectious for longer. This work points to how incorporating movement behavior into disease models can provide improved understanding of how diseases spread in wildlife populations; such understanding is particularly important in the face of combatting ongoing and emerging infectious diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Justinianic Plague, the first part of the earliest of the three plague pandemics, has minimal historical documentation. Based on the limited primary sources, historians have argued both for and against the "maximalist narrative" of plague, i.e. that the Justinianic Plague had universally devastating effects throughout the Mediterranean region during the sixth century CE. Using primary sources of one of the pandemic's best documented outbreaks that took place in Constantinople during 542 CE, as well as modern findings on plague etiology and epidemiology, we developed a series of dynamic, compartmental models of disease to explore which, if any, transmission routes of plague are feasible. Using expected parameter values, we find that the bubonic and bubonic-pneumonic transmission routes exceed maximalist mortality estimates and are of shorter detectable duration than described by the primary sources. When accounting for parameter uncertainty, several of the bubonic plague model configurations yielded interquartile estimates consistent with the upper end of maximalist estimates of mortality; however, these models had shorter detectable outbreaks than suggested by the primary sources. The pneumonic transmission routes suggest that by itself, pneumonic plague would not cause significant mortality in the city. However, our global sensitivity analysis shows that predicted disease dynamics vary widely for all hypothesized transmission routes, suggesting that regardless of its effects in Constantinople, the Justinianic Plague would have likely had differential effects across urban areas around the Mediterranean. Our work highlights the uncertainty surrounding the details in the primary sources on the Justinianic Plague and calls into question the likelihood that the Justinianic Plague affected all localities in the same way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disease models have provided conflicting evidence as to whether spatial heterogeneity promotes or impedes pathogen persistence. Moreover, there has been limited theoretical investigation into how animal movement behavior interacts with the spatial organization of resources (e.g., clustered, random, uniform) across a landscape to affect infectious disease dynamics. Importantly, spatial heterogeneity of resources can sometimes lead to nonlinear or counterintuitive outcomes depending on the host and pathogen system. There is a clear need to develop a general theoretical framework that could be used to create testable predictions for specific host--pathogen systems. Here, we develop an individual-based model integrated with movement ecology approaches to investigate how host movement behaviors interact with landscape heterogeneity (in the form of various levels of resource abundance and clustering) to affect pathogen dynamics. For most of the parameter space, our results support the counterintuitive idea that fragmentation promotes pathogen persistence, but this finding was largely dependent on perceptual range of the host, conspecific density, and recovery rate. For simulations with high conspecific density, slower recovery rates, and larger perceptual ranges, more complex disease dynamics emerged, and the most fragmented landscapes were not necessarily the most conducive to outbreaks or pathogen persistence. These results point to the importance of interactions between landscape structure, individual movement behavior, and pathogen transmission for predicting and understanding disease dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Access to hygiene facilities is essential for health and well-being, and in many countries, employers are legally obliged to ensure that hygiene facilities are readily available. This interview study considers how being on the move impacts the ability of mobile workers (such as community care workers, police, delivery drivers, gardeners, cleaners, utility workers) to access hygiene facilities, and the challenges they face. Methods: Using a qualitative exploratory research design, we investigate through semi-structured interviews with 22 United Kingdom (UK) mobile workers (1) what influences their access to hygiene facilities, (2) their hygiene needs, and (3) where mobile workers are accessing hygiene facilities. The interview data was analysed qualitatively using a coding framework developed from a literature review of hand hygiene in fixed workplaces. Results: Mobile workers' access to hygiene facilities is influenced by the wider cultural environment, the biological environment, the organisational environment, the physical environment, the facility owner, the worker's role, and the individual themselves, all underpinned by social norms. Our participants needed hygiene facilities so they could use the toilet, clean themselves, and do their work, and for First Aid. Access to facilities is challenging, and our participants needed to access facilities where they were working, travel to find them, or use hygiene kits. The quality of facilities is frequently poor, and mobile workers must often seek permission and may incur financial costs. Our participants often had to rely on the goodwill of people in private homes. In the absence of facilities, workers often resort to strategies that may affect their health (such as restricting drinking and eating, and ignoring urges) or their dignity (such as relieving themselves outdoors or even soiling their clothes). Conclusions: The lack of hygiene facilities available to mobile workers is a serious health and well-being concern. Given that there are many occupations where workers are mobile at least some of the time, the scale of the problem needs to be recognised. This study adds to our understanding of hygiene in workplaces and highlights the inadequacy of current legislation, which appears to serve primarily those working in fixed workplaces such as offices. Recommendations are made to policy makers and organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pathogen transmission depends on host density, mobility and contact. These components emerge from host and pathogen movements that themselves arise through interactions with the surrounding environment. The environment, the emergent host and pathogen movements, and the subsequent patterns of density, mobility and contact form an 'epidemiological landscape' connecting the environment to specific locations where transmissions occur. Conventionally, the epidemiological landscape has been described in terms of the geographical coordinates where hosts or pathogens are located. We advocate for an alternative approach that relates those locations to attributes of the local environment. Environmental descriptions can strengthen epidemiological forecasts by allowing for predictions even when local geographical data are not available. Environmental predictions are more accessible than ever thanks to new tools from movement ecology, and we introduce a 'movement‐pathogen pace of life' heuristic to help identify aspects of movement that have the most influence on spatial epidemiology. By linking pathogen transmission directly to the environment, the epidemiological landscape offers an efficient path for using environmental information to inform models describing when and where transmission will occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to critically analyse information concerning the relationship between alcohol and food consumption provided via alcohol industry (AI) funded and non-AI-funded health-oriented websites, to determine the role it plays within the alcohol information space, and how this serves the interests of the disseminating organisations. Methods: Information on food as a harm reduction measure while drinking alcohol was extracted from 15 AI websites and websites of AI-funded corporate social responsibility (CSR) organisations. As a comparison group, non-AI-funded health websites were also searched (n = 16 websites with food and alcohol-related content). Information was included from webpage content and associated downloadable documents. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) was adopted to allow the texts analysed to be situated within the broader political and social context. Analysis was carried out iteratively, involving continuous comparison within and between websites. Discursive themes were identified by three researchers. Identified discursive elements were discussed to reach a consensus, and a final coding framework was then developed. "Tone" analysis was used to assess whether the overall tone within individual websites was considered to be pro-alcohol consumption, neutral or discouraging of alcohol consumption. Results: There were some commonalities across AI and non-AI-funded websites, whereby both appeared to normalise alcohol consumption and to encourage use of food as a measure to enable sustained drinking, to avoid drinking in a way that results in short-term harms, and to prevent or "cure" a hangover. The fact that both AI-funded and non-AI-funded organisations shared many of these narratives is particularly concerning. However, a discourse of food and alcohol that served to promote "moderate" drinking as beneficial to health was used exclusively by AI-funded organisations, focusing on special occasions and individual-blaming. Conclusions: Alcohol consumption, including heavy and harmful consumption, is frequently normalised within the online information space. Emphasising food consumption with alcohol may have the effect of supporting consumers to drink for longer periods of time. Health professionals and independent health organisations should review the information they provide in light of our findings and challenge why AI-funded organisations, with a major conflict of interest, and a history of health misinformation, are often given the responsibility for disseminating health information to the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses the notion of sacramentality in relation to revelation, framing revelation as a divine-human discursive encounter facilitated through semantic media. In doing so, it suggests disciplines for theological reflection that would preserve the import of human submission to the Holy Spirit's guidance in interpreting God's Word while also envisioning a positive place for subjective construction along that Spirit-led way. The article locates the basic tenets of such a methodological paradigm in the works of Sarah Coakley, Louis-Marie Chauvet, and Rowan Williams. Coakley's work provides the groundwork for a vision of ecstatic encounter with God as integral to the Spirit-led process of revelation. Next, engagement with Chauvet establishes how mediated revelation may be conceived as a sacramental and dialogical reality, which fundamentally evokes and includes human self-expression. The article closes by drawing upon Williams' theological reflection on sexuality as a resource for embracing subjective construction, as integral to our Spirit-guided, "nuptial" incorporation into the life of Christ. The results afforded by this analysis warrant spiritual-hermeneutic commitments from communities who desire to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in acts of theological interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Top tier commercial physical activity apps rarely undergo peer-reviewed evaluation. Even fewer are assessed beyond six months, the theoretical threshold for behaviour maintenance. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a multi-component commercial app rewarding users with digital incentives for walking was associated with an increase in physical activity over one year. Methods: This 12-month quasi-experimental study was conducted in two Canadian provinces (n = 39,113 participants). Following a two-week baseline period, participants earned digital incentives ($0.04 CAD/day) every day they reached a personalized daily step goal. Mixed-effects models estimated changes in weekly mean daily step count between the baseline period and the last two recorded weeks. Models were fit for several engagement groups and separately by baseline physical activity status within engagement groups. Results: Nearly half of participants (43%) were categorized as physically inactive at baseline (fewer than 5000 daily steps), and 60% engaged with the app for at least six months ['Regular' (24–51 weeks of step data) or 'Committed' sub-groups (52 weeks)]. Weekly mean daily step count increased for physically inactive users regardless of engagement status (P <.0001). The increase was largest for 'Regular' and 'Committed' participants—1215 and 1821 steps/day, respectively. For physically active participants, step count increases were only observed in the 'Committed' sub-group (P <.0001). Effect sizes were modest-to-medium depending on the sub-group analyzed. Conclusions: A commercial app providing small but immediate digital incentives for individualized goals was associated with an increased weekly mean daily step count on a population-scale over one year. This effect was more evident for physically inactive and more engaged participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common 'functional' bowel disorder, characterised by symptoms of abdominal pain and changing bowel habits. Although IBS is common, there is little understanding of patients' experiences and coping strategies. This article investigates the impact of IBS on the everyday personal relationships of women. Drawing upon theoretical perspectives surrounding taboo, manners and stigma, this article explores how individuals manage and conceal the stigma of bowel disorders. It reports on eight semi-structured interviews of women who identify with IBS, to examine how women manage their IBS by toilet-mapping and discretion in their social interactions. The interviews findings suggest that the management of IBS symptoms is shaped by gendered notions of femininity, particularly how the control of bodily functions is shaped around gendered expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are major components of the carcinoma microenvironment that promote tumor progression. However, the mechanisms by which CAFs regulate cancer cell migration are poorly understood. In this study, we show that fibronectin (Fn) assembled by CAFs mediates CAF-cancer cell association and directional migration. Compared with normal fibroblasts, CAFs produce an Fn-rich extracellular matrix with anisotropic fiber orientation, which guides the cancer cells to migrate directionally. CAFs align the Fn matrix by increasing nonmuscle myosin II-and platelet-derived growth factor receptor α-mediated contractility and traction forces, which are transduced to Fn through α5β1 integrin. We further show that prostate cancer cells use αv integrin to migrate efficiently and directionally on CAF-derived matrices. We demonstrate that aligned Fn is a prominent feature of invasion sites in human prostatic and pancreatic carcinoma samples. Collectively, we present a new mechanism by which CAFs organize the Fn matrix and promote directional cancer cell migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method is devised for calculating the Igusa local zeta function Z f of a polynomial f ( x 1 , … , x n ) over a p -adic field. This involves a new kind of generating function G f that is the projective limit of a family of generating functions, and contains more data than Z f . This G f resides in an algebra whose structure is naturally compatible with operations on the underlying polynomials, facilitating calculation of local zeta functions. This new technique is used to expand significantly the set of quadratic polynomials whose local zeta functions have been calculated explicitly. Local zeta functions for arbitrary quadratic polynomials over p -adic fields with p odd are presented, as well as for polynomials over unramified 2-adic fields of the form Q + L where Q is a quadratic form and L is a linear form such that Q and L have disjoint variables. For a quadratic form over an arbitrary p -adic field with odd p , this new technique makes clear precisely which of the three candidate poles are actual poles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Meaningful ageing research across the UK is dependent on a network of engaged geriatricians. The research in geriatric specialty training (RGST) survey aimed to establish current research opportunities available to geriatric medicine specialty trainees in the UK. Methods The RGST survey was disseminated to UK higher specialist trainees in geriatric medicine in 2019 via the Geriatric Medicine Research Collaborative network. Results Among the 36.9% (192/521) of respondents, 44% (83/188) reported previous research involvement and 7% (n=8) held a PhD or MD. Of the respondents with no research experience to date, 59.0% (n=49) reported a desire to undertake a period of research. One-third (31%) of geriatric registrars surveyed felt that they had gained sufficient research experience during their training. Perceived encouragement and support to undertake research was low (30.7%). Enablers and barriers to research engagement were identified. Conclusion Research opportunity and engagement in geriatric medicine training is lacking. This could jeopardise the future workforce of research-active geriatricians in the UK and limit patient access to emerging research and innovation. Interventions to promote research engagement among geriatric medicine trainees are needed to facilitate integration of research into routine clinical practice to improve the health and care of older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autotrophs play an essential role in the cycling of carbon and nutrients, yet disease‐ecosystem relationships are often overlooked in these dynamics. Importantly, the availability of elemental nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus impacts infectious disease in autotrophs, and disease can induce reciprocal effects on ecosystem nutrient dynamics. Relationships linking infectious disease with ecosystem nutrient dynamics are bidirectional, though the interdependence of these processes has received little attention. We introduce disease‐mediated nutrient dynamics (DND) as a framework to describe the multiple, concurrent pathways linking elemental cycles with infectious disease. We illustrate the impact of disease–ecosystem feedback loops on both disease and ecosystem nutrient dynamics using a simple mathematical model, combining approaches from classical ecological (logistic and Droop growth) and epidemiological (susceptible and infected compartments) theory. Our model incorporates the effects of nutrient availability on the growth rates of susceptible and infected autotroph hosts and tracks the return of nutrients to the environment following host death. While focused on autotroph hosts here, the DND framework is generalizable to higher trophic levels. Our results illustrate the surprisingly complex dynamics of host populations, infection patterns, and ecosystem nutrient cycling that can arise from even a relatively simple feedback between disease and nutrients. Feedback loops in disease‐mediated nutrient dynamics arise via effects of infection and nutrient supply on host stoichiometry and population size. Our model illustrates how host growth rate, defense, and tissue chemistry can impact the dynamics of disease–ecosystem relationships. We use the model to motivate a review of empirical examples from autotroph–pathogen systems in aquatic and terrestrial environments, demonstrating the key role of nutrient–disease and disease–nutrient relationships in real systems. By assessing existing evidence and uncovering data gaps and apparent mismatches between model predictions and the dynamics of empirical systems, we highlight priorities for future research intended to narrow the persistent disciplinary gap between disease and ecosystem ecology. Future empirical and theoretical work explicitly examining the dynamic linkages between disease and ecosystem ecology will inform fundamental understanding for each discipline and will better position the field of ecology to predict the dynamics of disease and elemental cycles in the context of global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Intestinal ultrasound (IUS) is a valuable tool for assessment of Crohn's disease (CD). However, there is no widely accepted luminal disease activity index. Aims: To identify appropriate IUS protocols, indices, items, and scoring methods for measurement of luminal CD activity and integration of IUS in CD clinical trials. Methods: An expert international panel of adult and paediatric gastroenterologists (n = 15) and radiologists (n = 3) rated the appropriateness of 120 statements derived from literature review and expert opinion (scale of 1‐9) using modified RAND/UCLA methodology. Median panel scores of 1 to ≤3.5, >3.5 to <6.5 and ≥6.5 to 9 were considered inappropriate, uncertain and appropriate ratings respectively. The statement list and survey results were discussed prior to voting. Results: A total of 91 statements were rated appropriate with agreement after two rounds of voting. Items considered appropriate measures of disease activity were bowel wall thickness (BWT), vascularity, stratification and mesenteric inflammatory fat. There was uncertainty if any of the existing IUS disease activity indices were appropriate for use in CD clinical trials. Appropriate trial applications for IUS included patient recruitment qualification when diseased segments cannot be adequately assessed by ileocolonoscopy and screening for exclusionary complications. At outcome assessment, remission endpoints including BWT and vascularity, with or without mesenteric inflammatory fat, were considered appropriate. Components of an ideal IUS disease activity index were identified based upon panel discussions. Conclusions: The panel identified appropriate component items and applications of IUS for CD clinical trials. Empiric evidence, and development and validation of an IUS disease activity index are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental noise is a major source of selection on animal sensory and communication systems. The acoustic signals of other animals represent particularly potent sources of noise for chorusing insects, frogs, and birds, which contend with a multi-species analog of the human "cocktail party problem" (i.e., our difficulty following speech in crowds). However, current knowledge of the diverse adaptations that function to solve noise problems in nonhuman animals remains limited. Here, we show that a lung-to-ear sound transmission pathway in frogs serves a heretofore unknown noise-control function in vertebrate hearing and sound communication. Inflated lungs improve the signal-to-noise ratio for communication by enhancing the spectral contrast in received vocalizations in ways analogous to signal processing algorithms used in hearing aids and cochlear implants. Laser vibrometry revealed that the resonance of inflated lungs selectively reduces the tympanum's sensitivity to frequencies between the two spectral peaks present in conspecific mating calls. Social network analysis of continent-scale citizen science data on frog calling behavior revealed that the calls of other frog species in multi-species choruses can be a prominent source of environmental noise attenuated by the lungs. Physiological modeling of peripheral frequency tuning indicated that inflated lungs could reduce both auditory masking and suppression of neural responses to mating calls by environmental noise. Together, these data suggest an ancient adaptation for detecting sound via the lungs has been evolutionarily co-opted to create auditory contrast enhancement that contributes to solving a multi-species cocktail party problem. [Display omitted] • Lung resonance in frogs helps them solve a multi-species cocktail party problem • Inflated lungs selectively attenuate eardrum vibrations at key sound frequencies • Eardrums respond less to frequencies in other frog species' calls • Sound transmission via the lungs enhances spectral contrast for noise control The noise characteristic of large social gatherings impairs effective vocal communication in humans and other animals. Lee et al. show that a lung-to-ear sound transmission pathway unique to amphibians helps frogs filter out noise to improve the signal-to-noise ratio for communication in noisy breeding choruses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An overlooked effect of ecosystem eutrophication is the potential to alter disease dynamics in primary producers, inducing disease‐mediated feedbacks that alter net primary productivity and elemental recycling. Models in disease ecology rarely track organisms past death, yet death from infection can alter important ecosystem processes including elemental recycling rates and nutrient supply to living hosts. In contrast, models in ecosystem ecology rarely track disease dynamics, yet elemental nutrient pools (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorus) can regulate important disease processes including pathogen reproduction and transmission. Thus, both disease and ecosystem ecology stand to grow as fields by exploring questions that arise at their intersection. However, we currently lack a framework explicitly linking these disciplines. We developed a stoichiometric model using elemental currencies to track primary producer biomass (carbon) in vegetation and soil pools, and to track prevalence and the basic reproduction number (R0) of a directly transmitted pathogen. This model, parameterised for a deciduous forest, demonstrates that anthropogenic nutrient supply can interact with disease to qualitatively alter both ecosystem and disease dynamics. Using this element‐focused approach, we identify knowledge gaps and generate predictions about the impact of anthropogenic nutrient supply rates on infectious disease and feedbacks to ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife are important reservoirs for many pathogens, yet the role that different species play in pathogen maintenance frequently remains unknown. This is the case for rabies, a viral disease of mammals. While Carnivora (carnivores) and Chiroptera (bats) are the canonical mammalian orders known to be responsible for the maintenance and onward transmission of Rabies lyssavirus (RABV), the role of most species within these orders remains unknown and is continually changing as a result of contemporary host shifting. We combined a trait-based analytical approach with gradient boosting machine learning models (GBM models) to identify physiological and ecological host features associated with being a reservoir for RABV. We then used a cooperative game theory approach to determine species-specific traits associated with known RABV reservoirs. Being a carnivore reservoir for RABV was associated with phylogenetic similarity to known RABV reservoirs, along with other traits such as having larger litters and earlier sexual maturity. For bats, location in the Americas and geographic range were the most important predictors of RABV reservoir status, along with having a large litter. Our models identified 44 carnivore and 34 bat species that are currently not recognized as RABV reservoirs, but have trait profiles suggesting their capacity to be or become reservoirs. Further, our findings suggest that potential reservoir species among bats and carnivores occur both within and outside of areas with current rabies circulation. These results show the ability of a trait-based approach to detect potential reservoirs of infection and could inform rabies control programs and surveillance efforts by identifying the types of species and traits that facilitate RABV maintenance and transmission. Author summary: Rabies, a fatal viral disease transmitted via the bite of an infected animal, causes over 59,000 human deaths each year. While domestic dogs are responsible for most human cases, wild animals, particularly carnivores and bats, play an essential role in rabies persistence. Several carnivore and bat species have been identified in the field and laboratory as important rabies reservoirs that can maintain different rabies variants. However, the role of many other carnivore and bat species remains unknown and additional insights are hampered by logistical and funding limitations of field and laboratory research. Using machine learning, we used information on known rabies reservoirs to forecast previously unidentified rabies reservoirs. Our models predicted 44 carnivore and 34 bat species that could already be serving as unrecognized rabies reservoirs or that have trait profiles suggesting their capacity to become reservoirs via future host shifting. In many cases, the distribution of these predicted reservoirs overlaps geographically with known reservoir ranges. Our findings can help understand rabies circulation in wildlife and is a first step to guide future epidemiological surveillance in neglected species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Animal behaviour and the ecology and evolution of parasites are inextricably linked. For this reason, animal behaviourists and disease ecologists have been interested in the intersection of their respective fields for decades. Despite this interest, most research at the behaviour-disease interface focuses either on how host behaviour affects parasites or how parasites affect behaviour, with little overlap between the two. Yet, the majority of interactions between hosts and parasites are probably reciprocal, such that host behaviour feeds back on parasites and vice versa. Explicitly considering these feedbacks is essential for understanding the complex connections between animal behaviour and parasite ecology and evolution. To illustrate this point, we discuss how host behaviour-parasite feedbacks might operate and explore the consequences of feedback for studies of animal behaviour and parasites. For example, ignoring the feedback of host social structure on parasite dynamics can limit the accuracy of predictions about parasite spread. Likewise, considering feedback in studies of parasites and animal personalities may provide unique insight about the maintenance of variation in personality types. Finally, applying the feedback concept to links between host behaviour and beneficial, rather than pathogenic, microbes may shed new light on transitions between mutualism and parasitism. More generally, accounting for host behaviour-parasite feedbacks can help identify critical gaps in our understanding of how key host behaviours and parasite traits evolve and are maintained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study addressed the role for aldose reductase (AR) in 1) retinal oxidative stress and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) overexpression in early diabetes, and 2) high glucose-induced oxidative stress in retinal endothelial cells. In vivo experiments were performed on control rats and diabetic rats treated with or without low or high dose of the AR inhibitor (ARI) fidarestat (2 or 16 mg. kg(-1). day(-1)). In vitro studies were performed on bovine retinal endothelial cells (BREC) cultured in either 5 or 30 mmol/l glucose with or without 1 micro mol/l fidarestat. Intracellular reactive oxygen species were assessed using the 5-(and-6)-chloromethyl-2',7'-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate (H(2)DCFDA) probe and flow cytometry. Both low and high doses of fidarestat (i.e., the doses that partially and completely inhibited sorbitol pathway hyperactivity) arrested diabetes-induced retinal lipid peroxidation. This was achieved due to upregulation of the key antioxidative defense enzyme activities rather than changes in reduced glutathione, oxidized glutathione, ascorbate and dehydroascorbate concentrations, and the glutathione and ascorbate redox states. Diabetes-associated 2.1-fold VEGF protein overexpression (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; ELISA) was dose-dependently prevented by fidarestat, whereas total VEGF mRNA and VEGF-164 mRNA (RT-PCR) abundance were not affected by either diabetes or the ARI. In BREC, fidarestat corrected hyperglycemia-induced increase in H(2)DCFDA fluorescence but not oxidative stress caused by three different pro-oxidants in normoglycemic conditions. In conclusion, increased AR activity contributes to retinal oxidative stress and VEGF protein overexpression in early diabetes. The findings justify the rationale for evaluation of fidarestat on diabetic retinopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mobile health applications (mHealth apps) targeting physical inactivity have increased in popularity yet are usually limited by low engagement. This study examined the impact of adding team-based incentives (Step Together Challenges, STCs) to an existing mHealth app (Carrot Rewards) that rewarded individual physical activity achievements. Methods: A 24-week quasi-experimental study (retrospective matched pairs design) was conducted in three Canadian provinces (pre-intervention: weeks 1–12; intervention: weeks 13–24). Participants who used Carrot Rewards and STCs (experimental group) were matched with those who used Carrot Rewards only (controls) on age, gender, province and baseline mean daily step count (±500 steps/d). Carrot Rewards users earned individual-level incentives (worth $0.04 CAD) each day they reached a personalized daily step goal. With a single partner, STC users could earn team incentives ($0.40 CAD) for collaboratively reaching individual daily step goals 10 times in seven days (e.g., Partner A completes four goals and Partner B completes six goals in a week). Results: The main analysis included 61,170 users (mean age = 32 yrs.; % female = 64). Controlling for pre-intervention mean daily step count, a significant difference in intervention mean daily step count favoured the experimental group (p < 0.0001; ηp2 = 0.024). The estimated marginal mean group difference was 537 steps per day, or 3759 steps per week (about 40 walking min/wk). Linear regression suggested a dose-response relationship between the number of STCs completed (app engagement) and intervention mean daily step count (adjusted R2 = 0.699) with each new STC corresponding to approximately 200 more steps per day. Conclusion: Despite an explosion of physical activity app interest, low engagement leading to small or no effects remains an industry hallmark. In this paper, we found that adding modest team-based incentives to the Carrot Rewards app increased mean daily step count, and importantly, app engagement moderated this effect. Others should consider novel small-teams based approaches to boost engagement and effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]