STR-972: TOP-DOWN CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW LRT OVERHEAD BRIDGE, KITCHENER, ONTARIO

A new Light Rail Transit (LRT) system is being constructed in Waterloo Region. The first phase of construction is scheduled for completion in 2017 and will connect Conestoga Mall in the City of Waterloo and Fairview Park Mall in the City of Kitchener, a distance of 19 km. The LRT route crosses the existing Conestoga Parkway (Highway 7/8) in Kitchener-Waterloo, requiring the construction of a new structure under the busy freeway. In 2014-15, the Ministry of Transportation, Ontario (MTO) administered the construction of the new single span bridge using a unique top-down construction technique

Remote sensing of river habitat for salmon restoration

Losses of river complexity and viable habitat has led to negative effects on Atlantic salmon. With the rapid population decline of Atlantic salmon, there has been an increase in river restoration and salmon reintroduction projects, and an understanding of substrate is a vital component in the restoration of these habitats. However, the isolation and/or inaccessibility of many of these rivers make the collection of this information challenging and expensive based on conventional survey approaches. This study looks at the feasibility and accuracy of conducting substrate analysis using low-cost uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) at seven transects through macroscale river habitat (riffles, runs and pools) on the Upper Salmon River located in Fundy National Park near Alma, New Brunswick, Canada. Using ArcGIS, a supervised classification was conducted separating the dry and submerged substrate for higher accuracy. An object-based image analysis was conducted in PCI for delineation of substrate size. Small ideal spawning substrate was found to be concentrated in slower flowing pools while large substrate was concentrated in faster flowing riffles. The substrate analysis was conducted with an accuracy of 79% for dry substrate and 86% for submerged substrate, demonstrating the potential of UAV use in salmon habitat analysis

Creative learning conversations: producing living dialogic spaces

publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticleBackground ‘Creative learning conversations’, are methodological devices developed in two co-participative qualitative research projects exploring creativity and educational futures at the University of Exeter in England. Sources of evidence Framed by Critical Theory, the projects, one on dance education partnership, the other on student voice and transformation, sought to open space between creativity and performativity to initiate emancipatory educational change. This was undertaken over the course of five years in English primary and secondary schools, prioritising humanising, wise creativity (Chappell, 2008; Craft, 2008). Purpose This paper re-analyses data and methodological processes to characterise and theorise creative learning conversations in terms of social spatiality and dialogue. The characteristics are: partiality, emancipation, working from the ‘bottom up’, participation, debate and difference, openness to action, and embodied and verbalised idea exchange. Main argument This re-analysis theoretically adapts Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological model to situate layered engagement. Utilising Lefebvre’s (1991) conceptualisation of Lived space and Bakhtin’s (1984) work on open-ended dialogue, the paper theorises creative learning conversations as producing living dialogic spaces. Conclusions Creative learning conversations are a way of contributing to change which moves us towards an education future fit for the twenty-first century. From a living dialogic space perspective a creative learning conversation is the ongoing process without forced closure of those in the roles of University academic, teachers, artists, students co-participatively researching and developing knowledge of their ‘lived space’ together. Given traditional lethargy in the educational system as a whole commitment to changing education for better futures demands active involvement in living dialogic space, where our humanity both emerges from and guides our shared learning

Trends in knowledge of HIV status and efficiency of HIV testing services in sub-Saharan Africa, 2000-20: a modelling study using survey and HIV testing programme data.

BACKGROUND: Monitoring knowledge of HIV status among people living with HIV is essential for an effective national HIV response. This study estimates progress and gaps in reaching the UNAIDS 2020 target of 90% knowledge of status, and the efficiency of HIV testing services in sub-Saharan Africa, where two thirds of all people living with HIV reside. METHODS: For this modelling study, we used data from 183 population-based surveys (including more than 2·7 million participants) and national HIV testing programme reports (315 country-years) from 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa as inputs into a mathematical model to examine trends in knowledge of status among people living with HIV, median time from HIV infection to diagnosis, HIV testing positivity, and proportion of new diagnoses among all positive tests, adjusting for retesting. We included data from 2000 to 2019, and projected results to 2020. FINDINGS: Across sub-Saharan Africa, knowledge of status steadily increased from 5·7% (95% credible interval [CrI] 4·6-7·0) in 2000 to 84% (82-86) in 2020. 12 countries and one region, southern Africa, reached the 90% target. In 2020, knowledge of status was lower among men (79%, 95% CrI 76-81) than women (87%, 85-89) across sub-Saharan Africa. People living with HIV aged 15-24 years were the least likely to know their status (65%, 62-69), but the largest gap in terms of absolute numbers was among men aged 35-49 years, with 701 000 (95% CrI 611 000-788 000) remaining undiagnosed. As knowledge of status increased from 2000 to 2020, the median time to diagnosis decreased from 9·6 years (9·1-10) to 2·6 years (1·8-3·5), HIV testing positivity declined from 9·0% (7·7-10) to 2·8% (2·1-3·9), and the proportion of first-time diagnoses among all positive tests dropped from 89% (77-96) to 42% (30-55). INTERPRETATION: On the path towards the next UNAIDS target of 95% diagnostic coverage by 2025, and in a context of declining positivity and yield of first-time diagnoses, disparities in knowledge of status must be addressed. Increasing knowledge of status and treatment coverage among older men could be crucial to reducing HIV incidence among women in sub-Saharan Africa, and by extension, reducing mother-to-child transmission. FUNDING: Steinberg Fund for Interdisciplinary Global Health Research (McGill University); Canadian Institutes of Health Research; Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Fonds the recherche du Québec-Santé; UNAIDS; UK Medical Research Council; MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis; UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office

Comparison of empirically derived and model-based estimates of key population HIV incidence and the distribution of new infections by population group in sub-Saharan Africa

Background: The distribution of new HIV infections among key populations, including female sex workers (FSWs), gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), and people who inject drugs (PWID) are essential information to guide an HIV response, but data are limited in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We analyzed empirically derived and mathematical model-based estimates of HIV incidence among key populations and compared with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates.Methods: We estimated HIV incidence among FSW and MSM in SSA by combining meta-analyses of empirical key population HIV incidence relative to the total population incidence with key population size estimates (KPSE) and HIV prevalence. Dynamic HIV transmission model estimates of HIV incidence and percentage of new infections among key populations were extracted from 94 country applications of 9 mathematical models. We compared these with UNAIDS-reported distribution of new infections, implied key population HIV incidence and incidence-to-prevalence ratios.Results: Across SSA, empirical FSW HIV incidence was 8.6-fold (95% confidence interval: 5.7 to 12.9) higher than total population female 15–39 year incidence, and MSM HIV incidence was 41.8-fold (95% confidence interval: 21.9 to 79.6) male 15–29 year incidence. Combined with KPSE, these implied 12% of new HIV infections in 2021 were among FSW and MSM (5% and 7% respectively). In sensitivity analysis varying KPSE proportions within 95% uncertainty range, the proportion of new infections among FSW and MSM was between 9% and 19%. Insufficient data were available to estimate PWID incidence rate ratios. Across 94 models, median proportion of new infections among FSW, MSM, and PWID was 6.4% (interquartile range 3.2%–11.7%), both much lower than the 25% reported by UNAIDS.Conclusion: Empirically derived and model-based estimates of HIV incidence confirm dramatically higher HIV risk among key populations in SSA. Estimated proportions of new infections among key populations in 2021 were sensitive to population size assumptions and were substantially lower than estimates reported by UNAIDS.</div

Measuring HIV acquisitions among partners of key populations: estimates from HIV transmission dynamic models

BACKGROUND: Key populations (KPs), including female sex workers (FSWs), gay men and other men who have sex with men (MSM), people who inject drugs (PWID), and transgender women (TGW) experience disproportionate risks of HIV acquisition. The UNAIDS Global AIDS 2022 Update reported that one-quarter of all new HIV infections occurred among their non-KP sexual partners. However, this fraction relied on heuristics regarding the ratio of new infections that KPs transmitted to their non-KP partners to the new infections acquired among KPs (herein referred to as "infection ratios"). We recalculated these ratios using dynamic transmission models.SETTING: One hundred seventy-eight settings (106 countries).METHODS: Infection ratios for FSW, MSM, PWID, TGW, and clients of FSW were estimated from 12 models for 2020.RESULTS: Median model estimates of infection ratios were 0.7 (interquartile range: 0.5-1.0; n = 172 estimates) and 1.2 (0.8-1.8; n = 127) for acquisitions from FSW clients and transmissions from FSW to all their non-KP partners, respectively, which were comparable with the previous UNAIDS assumptions (0.2-1.5 across regions). Model estimates for female partners of MSM were 0.5 (0.2-0.8; n = 20) and 0.3 (0.2-0.4; n = 10) for partners of PWID across settings in Eastern and Southern Africa, lower than the corresponding UNAIDS assumptions (0.9 and 0.8, respectively). The few available model estimates for TGW were higher [5.1 (1.2-7.0; n = 8)] than the UNAIDS assumptions (0.1-0.3). Model estimates for non-FSW partners of FSW clients in Western and Central Africa were high (1.7; 1.0-2.3; n = 29).CONCLUSIONS: Ratios of new infections among non-KP partners relative to KP were high, confirming the importance of better addressing prevention and treatment needs among KP as central to reducing overall HIV incidence.</p

Assessment of gene-by-sex interaction effect on bone mineral density

To access publisher's full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field.Sexual dimorphism in various bone phenotypes, including bone mineral density (BMD), is widely observed; however, the extent to which genes explain these sex differences is unclear. To identify variants with different effects by sex, we examined gene-by-sex autosomal interactions genome-wide, and performed expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis and bioinformatics network analysis. We conducted an autosomal genome-wide meta-analysis of gene-by-sex interaction on lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) BMD in 25,353 individuals from 8 cohorts. In a second stage, we followed up the 12 top single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; p < 1 × 10(-5) ) in an additional set of 24,763 individuals. Gene-by-sex interaction and sex-specific effects were examined in these 12 SNPs. We detected one novel genome-wide significant interaction associated with LS-BMD at the Chr3p26.1-p25.1 locus, near the GRM7 gene (male effect = 0.02 and p = 3.0 × 10(-5) ; female effect = -0.007 and p = 3.3 × 10(-2) ), and 11 suggestive loci associated with either FN- or LS-BMD in discovery cohorts. However, there was no evidence for genome-wide significant (p < 5 × 10(-8) ) gene-by-sex interaction in the joint analysis of discovery and replication cohorts. Despite the large collaborative effort, no genome-wide significant evidence for gene-by-sex interaction was found to influence BMD variation in this screen of autosomal markers. If they exist, gene-by-sex interactions for BMD probably have weak effects, accounting for less than 0.08% of the variation in these traits per implicated SNP. © 2012 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research.Medtronic NIH R01 AG18728 R01HL088119 R01AR046838 U01 HL084756 R01 AR43351 P01-HL45522 R01-MH-078111 R01-MH-083824 Nutrition and Obesity Research Center of Maryland P30DK072488 NIAMS/NIH F32AR059469 Instituto de Salud Carlos III-FIS (Spanish Health Ministry) PI 06/0034 PI08/0183 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) NHLBI HHSN268201200036C N01-HC-85239 N01-HC-85079 N01-HC-85086 N01-HC-35129 N01 HC15103 N01 HC-55222 N01-HC-75150 N01-HC-45133 HL080295 HL087652 HL105756 NIA AG-023629 AG-15928 AG-20098 AG-027058 N01AG62101 N01AG62103 N01AG62106 1R01AG032098-01A1 National Center of Advancing Translational Technologies CTSI UL1TR000124 National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases DK063491 EUROSPAN (European Special Populations Research Network) European Commission FP6 STRP grant 018947 LSHG-CT-2006-01947 Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research Erasmus MC Centre for Medical Systems Biology (CMSB) Netherlands Brain Foundation (HersenStichting Nederland) US National Institute for Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases National Institute on Aging R01 AR/AG41398 R01 AR050066 R21 AR056405 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study N01-HC-25195 Affymetrix, Inc. N02-HL-6-4278 Canadian Institutes of Health Research from Institute of Aging 165446 Institute of Genetics 179433 Institute of Musculoskeletal health 221765 Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute on Aging National Institutes of Health HHSN268200782096C Hong Kong Research Grant Council HKU 768610M Bone Health Fund of HKU Foundation KC Wong Education Foundation Small Project Funding 201007176237 Matching Grant CRCG Grant Osteoporosis and Endocrine Research Fund Genomics Strategic Research Theme of The University of Hong Kong Netherlands Organisation of Scientific Research NWO Investments 175.010.2005.011 911-03-012 Research Institute for Diseases in the Elderly 014-93-015 Netherlands Genomics Initiative (NGI)/Netherlands Consortium for Healthy Aging (NCHA) 050-060-810 Erasmus Medical Center and Erasmus University, Rotterdam Netherlands Organization for the Health Research and Development (ZonMw) Research Institute for Diseases in the Elderly (RIDE) Ministry of Education, Culture and Science Ministry for Health, Welfare and Sports European Commission (DG XII) Municipality of Rotterdam German Bundesministerium fur Forschung und Technology 01 AK 803 A-H 01 IG 07015

Population size, HIV prevalence, and antiretroviral therapy coverage among key populations in sub-Saharan Africa: collation and synthesis of survey data, 2010-23.

Background Key population HIV programmes in sub-Saharan Africa require epidemiological information to ensure equitable and universal access to effective services. We aimed to consolidate and harmonise survey data among female sex workers, men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs, and transgender people to estimate key population size, HIV prevalence, and antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage for countries in mainland sub-Saharan Africa. Methods Key population size estimates, HIV prevalence, and ART coverage data from 39 sub-Saharan Africa countries between 2010 and 2023 were collated from existing databases and verified against source documents. We used Bayesian mixed-effects spatial regression to model urban key population size estimates as a proportion of the gender-matched, year-matched, and area-matched population aged 15–49 years. We modelled subnational key population HIV prevalence and ART coverage with age-matched, gender-matched, year-matched, and province-matched total population estimates as predictors. Findings We extracted 2065 key population size data points, 1183 HIV prevalence data points, and 259 ART coverage data points. Across national urban populations, a median of 1·65% (IQR 1·35–1·91) of adult cisgender women were female sex workers, 0·89% (0·77–0·95) were men who have sex with men, 0·32% (0·31–0·34) were men who injected drugs, and 0·10% (0·06–0·12) were women who were transgender. HIV prevalence among key populations was, on average, four to six times higher than matched total population prevalence, and ART coverage was correlated with, but lower than, the total population ART coverage with wide heterogeneity in relative ART coverage across studies. Across sub-Saharan Africa, key populations were estimated as comprising 1·2% (95% credible interval 0·9–1·6) of the total population aged 15–49 years but 6·1% (4·5–8·2) of people living with HIV. Interpretation Key populations in sub-Saharan Africa experience higher HIV prevalence and lower ART coverage, underscoring the need for focused prevention and treatment services. In 2024, limited data availability and heterogeneity constrain precise estimates for programming and monitoring trends. Strengthening key population surveys and routine data within national HIV strategic information systems would support more precise estimates

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms