Norovirus transmission dynamics: a modelling review.

Norovirus is one of the leading causes of viral gastroenteritis worldwide and responsible for substantial morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. To further understanding of the epidemiology and control of norovirus, there has been much recent interest in describing the transmission dynamics of norovirus through mathematical models. In this study, we review the current modelling approaches for norovirus transmission. We examine the data and methods used to estimate these models that vary structurally and parametrically between different epidemiological contexts. Many of the existing studies at population level have focused on the same case notification dataset, whereas models from outbreak settings are highly specific and difficult to generalise. In this review, we explore the consistency in the description of norovirus transmission dynamics and the robustness of parameter estimates between studies. In particular, we find that there is considerable variability in estimates of key parameters such as the basic reproduction number, which may mean that the effort required to control norovirus at the population level may currently be underestimated.Takeda Pharmaceutical

L2 Vocabulary Acquisition: Investigating the Key to Lexical Comprehension

L2 researchers have debated the significance of the lexicon in addition to the relevance of acquiring syntax, in the learning of an L2. (Huckin et.al, 1993; Haastrup, 1991) and other researchers in the field of SLA recognize the fact that learners' knowledge of words from context assists them in the comprehension of unfamiliar words that they encounter in their reading materials. Academic reading materials tend to be cognitively demanding and often require language in which contextual cues for meaning are reduced. Research in lexical acquisition has gained significant grounds lately, comparable to that of studies in the acquisition of syntax, which have played a prominent role in SLA.This study investigates the strategies employed by L2 learners towards their lexical development. It specifically addresses questions such as:Do learners acquire vocabulary through guessing from meaning?Do they retain the new words learnt in phrases?Do they employ the use of dictionaries?How significant do they consider the acquiring of vocabulary in their L2 learning?What are the strategies employed by the learners to gain a broader vocabulary?Tests that attempt to measure the learners' vocabulary competence were administered to 70 students from the Foundation Program at Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Campus. In addition, questionnaires elicited numerous responses in their approach to lexical acquisition. This study provides a framework for a discussion of the various aspects of vocabulary acquisition among L2 learners. The findings from the analyses of the tests designate that vocabulary learning occurs through extensive reading and that learners with prior vocabulary knowledge often used topic knowledge and clues to understand unknown words from context, among other facts

Effect of Training/Competition Load and Scheduling on Sleep Characteristics in Professional Rugby League Athletes.

AbstractConlan, G, McLean, B, Kemp, J, and Duffield, R. Effect of training/competition load and scheduling on sleep characteristics in professional rugby league athletes. J Strength Cond Res XX(X): 000-000, 2021-This study examined the effect of training/competition load, scheduling, and associated factors on sleep behavior in professional rugby league athletes. Sleep characteristics were assessed in 26 professional rugby league athletes using wrist-mounted actigraphy and nightly sleep diaries. Sleep actigraphy assessed the time into and out of bed, the duration in bed, sleep duration, efficiency, latency, wake after sleep onset, number of awakenings, and the awakening length. Sleep was measured during 3 different weeks: (a) preseason low training load (TL) (2,356 ± 322 AU), (b) preseason high TL (3,542 ± 445 AU), and (c) in-season match week (1,526 ± 409 AU). The influences of internal TL (session rating of perceived exertion load), training schedule, age, and training location on sleep behavior were analyzed. Repeated-measures 2-way analysis of variance and effect size analyses (d) compared sleep variables between training weeks. The mean weekly sleep duration was significantly lower during high TL week (5 hours 53minutes ± 14 min/night; p = 0.015, d = 0.59) compared with the low TL (6 hours 25minutes ± 8 min·night-1) or match weeks (6 hours 26minutes ± 10 min·night-1; p = 0.02, d = 2.04). Reduced sleep duration in the high TL week occurred alongside earlier out-of-bed times compared with the low TL (p = 0.003, d = 1.46) and match weeks (p = 0.001, d = 5.99). Regardless, the lowest sleep duration was on match night (p = 0.0001, d = 1.22). Earlier training start times resulted in earlier wake times (p = 0.003, d = 4.84), shorter in-bed durations (p = 0.0001, d = 0.62), and shorter sleep durations (p = 0.002, d = 0.32). Younger athletes slept for longer durations (p = 0.029, d = 1.70) and perceived their sleep quality to be superior (p = 0.006, d = 14.94) compared with older athletes. Sleep attained by rugby league athletes is influenced by training and competition schedules, with early training start times and late-night matches being primary drivers of sleep behavior. Coaching staff should have awareness surrounding the implications of training and playing schedules on athlete sleeping patterns

Potential of Van de Ven’s (2007) concept of engaged scholarship to enhance the sustainability and appropriateness of management consultancy and university knowledge exchange projects recommendations to challenge the widespread hype of newness (Smil, 2022)

This paper will outline some emerging thoughts on the potential applicability of Van de Ven’s Engaged Scholarship concept in consultancy and knowledge exchange projects. To structure this paper the questions posed at an event titled “Putting Engaged Scholarship to Work: Projects, Partners and Progress” hosted by Ram (2019 cited by Kapasi) at Aston University will be summarised. The original definition of Engaged Scholarship offered by Van de Ven (2007) is that it is “a participative form of research for obtaining the advice and perspectives of key stakeholders (researchers, users, clients, sponsors, and practitioners) to understand a complex social problem” The commentary will be illustrated by some wider evidence drawn from industry analysis, professional bodies and academic research on Organisational Transformation and Digital Transformation Projects. These sources are frequently conducted independently where concentration on individual technical, and often siloed, aspects of consultancy and knowledge exchange project recommendations do not address the necessary breadth of understanding to improve the sustainability of such projects and therefore challenge the hype (Smil, 2022) that is associated with complex and expensive societal challenge of the typically high failure rates of Organisational Transformation and Digital Transformation investments. It is proposed by Neal et al (2023) that role frequently referred to as “Brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners (BIBS)” can offer a “… bridge (to) research and policy or practice and can elevate the role of evidence in decision making” (op cit)

Potential of Van de Ven’s (2007) concept of engaged scholarship to enhance the sustainability and appropriateness of management consultancy and university knowledge exchange projects recommendations to challenge the widespread hype of newness (Smil, 2022)

This paper will outline some emerging thoughts on the potential applicability of Van de Ven’s Engaged Scholarship concept in consultancy and knowledge exchange projects. To structure this paper the questions posed at an event titled “Putting Engaged Scholarship to Work: Projects, Partners and Progress” hosted by Ram (2019 cited by Kapasi) at Aston University will be summarised. The original definition of Engaged Scholarship offered by Van de Ven (2007) is that it is “a participative form of research for obtaining the advice and perspectives of key stakeholders (researchers, users, clients, sponsors, and practitioners) to understand a complex social problem” The commentary will be illustrated by some wider evidence drawn from industry analysis, professional bodies and academic research on Organisational Transformation and Digital Transformation Projects. These sources are frequently conducted independently where concentration on individual technical, and often siloed, aspects of consultancy and knowledge exchange project recommendations do not address the necessary breadth of understanding to improve the sustainability of such projects and therefore challenge the hype (Smil, 2022) that is associated with complex and expensive societal challenge of the typically high failure rates of Organisational Transformation and Digital Transformation investments. It is proposed by Neal et al (2023) that role frequently referred to as “Brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners (BIBS)” can offer a “… bridge (to) research and policy or practice and can elevate the role of evidence in decision making” (op cit)

Panmicrobial oligonucleotide array for diagnosis of infectious diseases

To facilitate rapid, unbiased, differential diagnosis of infectious diseases, we designed GreeneChipPm, a panmicrobial microarray comprising 29,455 sixty-mer oligonucleotide probes for vertebrate viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. Methods for nucleic acid preparation, random primed PCR amplification, and labeling were optimized to allow the sensitivity required for application with nucleic acid extracted from clinical materials and cultured isolates. Analysis of nasopharyngeal aspirates, blood, urine, and tissue from persons with various infectious diseases confirmed the presence of viruses and bacteria identified by other methods, and implicated Plasmodium falciparum in an unexplained fatal case of hemorrhagic feverlike disease during the Marburg hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Angola in 2004-2005

School's Out: Seasonal Variation in the Movement Patterns of School Children.

School children are core groups in the transmission of many common infectious diseases, and are likely to play a key role in the spatial dispersal of disease across multiple scales. However, there is currently little detailed information about the spatial movements of this epidemiologically important age group. To address this knowledge gap, we collaborated with eight secondary schools to conduct a survey of movement patterns of school pupils in primary and secondary schools in the United Kingdom. We found evidence of a significant change in behaviour between term time and holidays, with term time weekdays characterised by predominately local movements, and holidays seeing much broader variation in travel patterns. Studies that use mathematical models to examine epidemic transmission and control often use adult commuting data as a proxy for population movements. We show that while these data share some features with the movement patterns reported by school children, there are some crucial differences between the movements of children and adult commuters during both term-time and holidays.AJK was supported by the Medical Research Council (fellowship MR/K021524/1, http://www.mrc.ac.uk/) and the RAPIDD program of the Science & Technology Directorate, Department of Homeland Security, and the Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health (http://www.fic.nih.gov/about/staff/pages​/epidemiology-population.aspx#rapidd). AJKC was supported by the Alborada Trust (http://www.alboradatrust.com/). KTDE was supported by the NIHR (CDF-2011-04- 019, http://www.nihr.ac.uk/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.This is the final version. It was first published by PLOS at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0128070#

Prospecting environmental mycobacteria: combined molecular approaches reveal unprecedented diversity

Background: Environmental mycobacteria (EM) include species commonly found in various terrestrial and aquatic environments, encompassing animal and human pathogens in addition to saprophytes. Approximately 150 EM species can be separated into fast and slow growers based on sequence and copy number differences of their 16S rRNA genes. Cultivation methods are not appropriate for diversity studies; few studies have investigated EM diversity in soil despite their importance as potential reservoirs of pathogens and their hypothesized role in masking or blocking M. bovis BCG vaccine. Methods: We report here the development, optimization and validation of molecular assays targeting the 16S rRNA gene to assess diversity and prevalence of fast and slow growing EM in representative soils from semi tropical and temperate areas. New primer sets were designed also to target uniquely slow growing mycobacteria and used with PCR-DGGE, tag-encoded Titanium amplicon pyrosequencing and quantitative PCR. Results: PCR-DGGE and pyrosequencing provided a consensus of EM diversity; for example, a high abundance of pyrosequencing reads and DGGE bands corresponded to M. moriokaense, M. colombiense and M. riyadhense. As expected pyrosequencing provided more comprehensive information; additional prevalent species included M. chlorophenolicum, M. neglectum, M. gordonae, M. aemonae. Prevalence of the total Mycobacterium genus in the soil samples ranged from 2.3×107 to 2.7×108 gene targets g−1; slow growers prevalence from 2.9×105 to 1.2×107 cells g−1. Conclusions: This combined molecular approach enabled an unprecedented qualitative and quantitative assessment of EM across soil samples. Good concordance was found between methods and the bioinformatics analysis was validated by random resampling. Sequences from most pathogenic groups associated with slow growth were identified in extenso in all soils tested with a specific assay, allowing to unmask them from the Mycobacterium whole genus, in which, as minority members, they would have remained undetected