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Given the long-term human habitation and prolific land use change trajectories in the eastern United States, few remnants of the pre-European settlement Mid-Atlantic forest remain on the Atlantic Coastal Plain. This study utilized metes and bounds witness tree locations and descriptions produced during colonial land subdivision to understand the relationships between tree types and biogeographic environments for an area on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Using correspondence analysis, we reveal habitat partitioning among witness tree species based on soil drainage characteristics, that enable the visualization of a pre-European settlement reconstructed forest. Our research finds that oak (Quercus), most often white oak (Quercus alba), was the dominant genus for most of the study area underlain by well-drained soils. To a much smaller extent, gums were also associated with these well-drained soils. Areas of poor drainage most often contained pine (Finns) and an assemblage of different oaks (Quercus spp.). Hickory (Carya), also noted in the witness tree record in small numbers, was found across all soil drainages. Key words: witness trees, precolonial forest, soil drainage, Wicomico Co., Maryland, Introduction The eastern forests of the United States have been greatly affected by anthropogenic activity, first by Native Americans and later by European colonists. The impact of Native Americans on [...]

Abstract In areas of moderate to intense Plasmodium falciparum transmission, malaria in pregnancy remains a significant cause of low birth weight, stillbirth, and severe anaemia. Previously, fetal sex has been identified to modify the risks of maternal asthma, pre-eclampsia, and gestational diabetes. One study demonstrated increased risk of placental malaria in women carrying a female fetus. We investigated the association between fetal sex and malaria in pregnancy in 11 pregnancy studies conducted in sub-Saharan African countries and Papua New Guinea through meta-analysis using log binomial regression fitted to a random-effects model. Malaria infection during pregnancy and delivery was assessed using light microscopy, polymerase chain reaction, and histology. Five studies were observational studies and six were randomised controlled trials. Studies varied in terms of gravidity, gestational age at antenatal enrolment and bed net use. Presence of a female fetus was associated with malaria infection at enrolment by light microscopy (risk ratio 1.14 [95% confidence interval 1.04, 1.24]; P = 0.003; n = 11,729). Fetal sex did not associate with malaria infection when other time points or diagnostic methods were used. There is limited evidence that fetal sex influences the risk of malaria infection in pregnancy.

Abstract Background During a public health emergency, accurate and useful information can be drowned out by questions, concerns, information voids, conflicting information, and misinformation. Very few studies connect information exposure and trust to health behaviours, which limits available evidence to inform when and where to act to mitigate the burden of infodemics, especially in low resource settings. This research describes the features of a toolkit that can support studies linking information exposure to health behaviours at the individual level. Methods To meet the needs of the research community, we determined the functional and non-functional requirements of a research toolkit that can be used in studies measuring topic-specific information exposure and health behaviours. Most data-driven infodemiology research is designed to characterise content rather than measure associations between information exposure and health behaviours. Studies also tend to be limited to specific social media platforms, are unable to capture the breadth of individual information exposure that occur online and offline, and cannot measure differences in trust by information source or content. Studies are also designed very differently, limiting synthesis of results. Results We demonstrate a way to address these requirements via a web-based study platform that includes an app that participants use to record topic-specific information exposure, a browser plugin for tracking access to relevant webpages, questionnaires that can be delivered at any time during a study, and app-based incentives for participation such as visual analytics to compare trust levels with other participants. Other features of the platform include the ability to tailor studies to local contexts, ease of use for participants, and frictionless sharing of de-identified data for aggregating individual participant data in international meta-analyses. Conclusions Our proposed solution will be able to capture detailed data about information exposure and health behaviour data, standardise study design while simultaneously supporting localisation, and make it easy to synthesise individual participant data across studies. Future research will need to evaluate the toolkit in realistic scenarios to understand the usability of the toolkit for both participants and investigators.

Abstract Background Intermittent Preventive Treatment of malaria in infants (IPTi) is a malaria control strategy consisting of the administration of an anti-malarial drug alongside routine immunizations. So far, this is being implemented nationwide in Sierra Leone only. IPTi has been renamed as Perennial Malaria Chemoprevention -PMC-, accounting for its recently recommended expansion into the second year of life. Before starting a pilot implementation on PMC, the currently implemented strategy and malaria prevalence were assessed in young children in selected areas of Sierra Leone. Methods A cross-sectional, community-based, multi-stage cluster household survey was conducted from November to December 2021 in selected districts of the Northern and northwestern provinces of Sierra Leone among 10–23 months old children, whose caretakers gave written informed consent to participate in the survey. Coverage of IPTi and malaria prevalence—assessed with rapid diagnostic tests—were calculated using percentages and 95% confidence intervals weighted for the sampling design and adjusted for non-response within clusters. Factors associated with RDT + and iPTi coverage were also assessed. Results A total of 720 children were recruited. Coverage of three IPTi doses was 50.57% (368/707; 95% CI 45.38–55.75), while prevalence of malaria infection was 28.19% (95% CI 24.81–31.84). Most children had received IPTi1 (80.26%, 574/707; 95% CI 75.30–84.44), and IPTi2 (80.09%, 577/707; 95% CI 76.30–83.40) and over half of the children also received IPTi3 (57.72%, 420/707; 95% CI 53.20–62.11). The uptake of each IPTi dose was lower than that of the vaccines administered at the same timepoint at all contacts. Conclusion In Sierra Leone, half of the children received the three recommended doses of IPTi indicating an increase in its uptake compared to previous data of just a third of children receiving the intervention. However, efforts need to be made in improving IPTi coverage, especially in the planned expansion of the strategy into the second year of life following recent WHO guidelines.

ProAKAP4, a precursor of AKAP4 (A-kinase anchor protein) found in the flagellum of mammalian and non-mammalian spermatozoa, serves as a structural protein with established correlations to motility parameters across diverse species. This study aimed to determine the proAKAP4 level evolution in thawed stallion semen over a 3 h period, examining its correlation with motility descriptors and mitochondrial membrane potential. Utilizing sixteen ejaculates from four French warmblood stallions, this study involved maintaining thawed samples at 37 °C for 3 h, conducting proAKAP4 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA), and mitochondrial membrane potential by JC-1 probe and flow cytometry at 0, 1, and 3 h post-thawing. The findings indicate significant positive correlations (p ≤ 0.05) between proAKAP4 levels and sperm total or progressive motility at all time points analyzed. Spermatozoa velocity descriptors (VAP, VCL, VSL) and spermatozoa lateral head displacement (ALH) display positive correlations (p ≤ 0.05) with ProAKAP4 at the 0 h post-thawing. ProAKAP4 concentration exhibits no discernible difference between batches with or without a cryoprotectant. Notably, proAKAP4 consumption remains insignificant within the initial hour after thawing but becomes significant (p ≤ 0.05) between 1 and 3 h post-thawing. In summary, proAKAP4 demonstrates positive correlations with total and progressive motility in stallion semen for up to 3 h after thawing, albeit showing a noticeable decrease starting from the first hour post-thawing, indicating a progressive consumption as a result of spermatozoa motile activity.

We detected highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b virus in a domestic cat that lived near a duck farm infected by a closely related virus in France during December 2022. Enhanced surveillance of symptomatic domestic carnivores in contact with infected birds is recommended to prevent further spread to mammals and humans.