Linking anthropogenic resources to wildlife-pathogen dynamics: a review and meta-analysis

Urbanisation and agriculture cause declines for many wildlife, but some species benefit from novelresources, especially food, provided in human-dominated habitats. Resulting shifts in wildlife ecol-ogy can alter infectious disease dynamics and create opportunities for cross-species transmission,yet predicting host–pathogen responses to resource provisioning is challenging. Factors enhancingtransmission, such as increased aggregation, could be offset by better host immunity due toimproved nutrition. Here, we conduct a review and meta-analysis to show that food provisioningresults in highly heterogeneous infection outcomes that depend on pathogen type and anthropo-genic food source. We also find empirical support for behavioural and immune mechanismsthrough which human-provided resources alter host exposure and tolerance to pathogens. Areview of recent theoretical models of resource provisioning and infection dynamics shows thatchanges in host contact rates and immunity produce strong non-linear responses in pathogen inva-sion and prevalence. By integrating results of our meta-analysis back into a theoretical frame-work, we find provisioning amplifies pathogen invasion under increased host aggregation andtolerance, but reduces transmission if provisioned food decreases dietary exposure to parasites.These results carry implications for wildlife disease management and highlight areas for futurework, such as how resource shifts might affect virulence evolution

The road to hormonal male contraception: end in sight?

The concept of a hormonal approach that sufficiently and reversibly suppresses spermatogenesis to the level required for effective contraception has been developed and tested over several decades. The reality of achieving this has been confirmed using both testosterone alone and combination methods using a progestogen with a physiological dose of testosterone, necessary to replace the lack of endogenous testosterone production by the suppressed testes. A range of both long-acting and self-administered combination methods are effective, including injection, implant and gel methods of administration, with up to 95% of men achieving sufficient spermatogenic suppression. New steroids are also being trialled. Surveys show the widespread willingness of men and their female partners to use novel male methods, suggesting the potential of this approach to contribute to global family planning and sustainable development goals. This approach to contraception can clearly be effective, and needs to move from relatively small scale testing to large scale pre-marketing trials: only then can information about long-term safety and real-world acceptability be obtained

Improved Predictions of Neutron Detection Efficiency for Hydrocarbon Scintillators from 1 MeV to About 300 MeV

This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grants PHY 76-84033A01, PHY 78-22774, and Indiana Universit

Applicability of the Fisher Equation to Bacterial Population Dynamics

The applicability of the Fisher equation, which combines diffusion with logistic nonlinearity, to population dynamics of bacterial colonies is studied with the help of explicit analytic solutions for the spatial distribution of a stationary bacterial population under a static mask. The mask protects the bacteria from ultraviolet light. The solution, which is in terms of Jacobian elliptic functions, is used to provide a practical prescription to extract Fisher equation parameters from observations and to decide on the validity of the Fisher equation.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figs. include

Ripple and kink dynamics

We propose a relevant modification of the Nishimori-Ouchi model [{\em Phys. Rev. Lett.} {\bf 71}, 197 (1993)] for granular landscape erosion. We explicitly introduce a new parameter: the angle of repose $\theta_r$, and a new process: avalanches. We show that the $\theta_r$ parameter leads to an asymmetry of the ripples, as observed in natural patterns. The temporal evolution of the maximum ripple height $h_{max}$ is limited and not linear, according to recent observations. The ripple symmetry and the kink dynamics are studied and discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure, RevTe

The (p,t) Reaction at Higher Energy

This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant PHY 76-84033 and Indiana Universit

The spectrum of the random environment and localization of noise

We consider random walk on a mildly random environment on finite transitive d- regular graphs of increasing girth. After scaling and centering, the analytic spectrum of the transition matrix converges in distribution to a Gaussian noise. An interesting phenomenon occurs at d = 2: as the limit graph changes from a regular tree to the integers, the noise becomes localized.Comment: 18 pages, 1 figur

Metal-insulator transition in one-dimensional lattices with chaotic energy sequences

We study electronic transport through a one-dimensional array of sites by using a tight binding Hamiltonian, whose site-energies are drawn from a chaotic sequence. The correlation degree between these energies is controlled by a parameter regulating the dynamic Lyapunov exponent measuring the degree of chaos. We observe the effect of chaotic sequences on the localization length, conductance, conductance distribution and wave function, finding evidence of a Metal-Insulator Transition (MIT) at a critical degree of chaos. The one-dimensional metallic phase is characterized by a Gaussian conductance distribution and exhibits a peculiar non-selfaveraging.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures (one figure replaced). Includes new results and a few additional references. Improved style for publication. Accepted in Physics Letters

Order of Two-Dimensional Isotropic Dipolar Antiferromagnets

The question of the existence of order in two-dimensional isotropic dipolar Heisenberg antiferromagnets is studied. It is shown that the dipolar interaction leads to a gap in the spin-wave energy and a nonvanishing order parameter. The resulting finite N\'eel-temperature is calculated for a square lattice by means of linear spin-wave theory.Comment: 10 pages, REVTEX, 1 figure available upon request, TUM-CP-93-0

Goserelin, as an ovarian protector during (neo)adjuvant breast cancer chemotherapy, prevents long term altered bone turnover

Background: The Ovarian Protection Trial In Premenopausal Breast Cancer Patients “OPTION” trial (NCT00427245) was a prospective, multicenter, randomised, open label study evaluating the frequency of primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) at 12 months in women randomised to 6–8 cycles of (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) þ/ goserelin (G). Here we report the results of a secondary endpoint analysis of the effects of CTþ/-G on markers of bone turnover. Methods: Serum for bone alkaline phosphatase (BALP) and urine for N-terminal telopeptide (NTX) were collected at baseline, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months. Changes in median levels of bone turnover markers were evaluated for the overall population, according to age stratification at randomisation (r40 vs 440 years) and with exploratory analysis according to POI rates at 12 months. Results: In the overall population, there was a significant increase in NTX at 6 months compared to baseline in patients treated with CTþG (40.81 vs 57.82 p¼0.0074) with normalisation of levels thereafter. BALP was significantly increased compared to baseline at 6 months and 12 months in those receiving CTþG, but normalised thereafter. BALP remained significantly higher compared to baseline at 12, 24 and 36 months in patients receiving CT, resulting in a significant difference between treatment groups at 36 months (CTþG 5.845 vs CT 8.5 p¼0.0006). These changes were predominantly seen in women 440 years. Women with POI at 12 months showed altered bone formation compared to baseline levels for a longer duration than women who maintained menses. Conclusion: Addition of G to CT increases bone turnover during treatment with normalisation after cessation of treatment suggesting G may offer sufficient ovarian protection against CT induced POI to negate longstanding altered bone turnover associated with POI