Practising co-production and interdisciplinarity: Challenges and implications for one health research

We review the nature of interdisciplinary research in relation to One Health, a perspective on human-animal health which would appear to merit close interdisciplinary cooperation to inform public health policy. We discuss the relationship between biological sciences, epidemiology and the social sciences and note that interdisciplinary work demands attention be given to a range of often neglected epistemological and methodological issues. Epidemiologists may sometimes adopt social science techniques as “bolt-ons”1 to their research without having a complete understanding of how the social sciences work. The paper introduces a range of social science concepts and applies them to the challenges of understanding and practicing participatory and local epidemiology. We consider the problem of co-production of knowledge about One Health and zoonotic diseases in relation to funding structures, working in large international teams and explore some of the often-neglected realities of working across disciplines and cultures. We do this in part by applying the concept of value-chain to the research process

Intentstreams: Smart parallel search streams for branching exploratory search

The user's understanding of information needs and the information available in the data collection can evolve during an exploratory search session. Search systems tailored for well-defined narrow search tasks may be suboptimal for exploratory search where the user can sequentially refine the expressions of her information needs and explore alternative search directions. A major challenge for exploratory search systems design is how to support such behavior and expose the user to relevant yet novel information that can be difficult to discover by using conventional query formulation techniques. We introduce IntentStreams, a system for exploratory search that provides interactive query refinement mechanisms and parallel visualization of search streams. The system models each search stream via an intent model allowing rapid user feedback. The user interface allows swift initiation of alternative and parallel search streams by direct manipulation that does not require typing. A study with 13 participants shows that IntentStreams provides better support for branching behavior compared to a conventional search system

Solid behavior of anisotropic rigid frictionless bead assemblies

We investigate the structure and mechanical behavior of assemblies of frictionless, nearly rigid equal-sized beads, in the quasistatic limit, by numerical simulation. Three different loading paths are explored: triaxial compression, triaxial extension and simple shear. Generalizing recent results [1], we show that the material, despite rather strong finite sample size effects, is able to sustain a finite deviator stress in the macroscopic limit, along all three paths, without dilatancy. The shape of the yield surface is adequately described by a Lade-Duncan (rather than Mohr-Coulomb) criterion. While scalar state variables keep the same values as in isotropic systems, fabric and force anisotropies are each characterized by one parameter and are in one-to-one correspondence with principal stress ratio along all three loading paths.The anisotropy of the pair correlation function extends to a distance between bead surfaces on the order of 10% of the diameter. The tensor of elastic moduli is shown to possess a nearly singular, uniaxial structure related to stress anisotropy. Possible stress-strain relations in monotonic loading paths are also discussed

Adaptation to an amoeba host drives selection of virulence-associated traits in Vibrio cholerae.

Predation by heterotrophic protists drives the emergence of adaptive traits in bacteria, and often these traits lead to altered interactions with hosts and persistence in the environment. Here we studied adaptation of the cholera pathogen, Vibrio cholerae during long-term co-incubation with the protist host, Acanthamoeba castellanii. We determined phenotypic and genotypic changes associated with long-term intra-amoebal host adaptation and how this impacts pathogen survival and fitness. We showed that adaptation to the amoeba host leads to temporal changes in multiple phenotypic traits in V. cholerae that facilitate increased survival and competitive fitness in amoeba. Genome sequencing and mutational analysis revealed that these altered lifestyles were linked to non-synonymous mutations in conserved regions of the flagellar transcriptional regulator, flrA. Additionally, the mutations resulted in enhanced colonisation in zebrafish, establishing a link between adaptation of V. cholerae to amoeba predation and enhanced environmental persistence. Our results show that pressure imposed by amoeba on V. cholerae selects for flrA mutations that serves as a key driver for adaptation. Importantly, this study provides evidence that adaptive traits that evolve in pathogens in response to environmental predatory pressure impact the colonisation of eukaryotic organisms by these pathogens

Patterns of Avian Influenza A (H5) and A (H9) virus infection in backyard, commercial broiler and layer chicken farms in Bangladesh

In order to control Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N1 and Low Pathogenic Avian Influenza (LPAI) H9N2 virus spread in endemically infected countries, a detailed understanding of infection patterns is required. We conducted cross‐sectional studies in Bangladesh in 2016 and 2017, on 144 backyard, 106 broiler and 113 layer chicken farms. Although all sampled birds were negative for H5 virus by RT‐PCR, H5 antibodies were detected in unvaccinated birds on all three farming systems. Higher H5 antibody prevalence was observed in ducks raised on backyard farms, 14.2% (95% CI: 10.0%–19.8%), compared to in‐contact backyard chickens, 4.2% (95% CI: 2.8%–6.1%). The H5 antibody prevalence was lower in broiler chickens, 1.5% (95% CI: 0.9%–2.5%), compared to layer chickens, 7.8% (95% CI: 6.1%–9.8%). H9 viruses were detected by RT‐PCR in 0.5% (95% CI: 0.2%–1.3%) and 0.6% (95% CI: 0.3%–1.5%) of broilers and layers, respectively, and in 0.2% (95% CI: 0.0%–1.2%) of backyard chickens. Backyard chickens and ducks showed similar H9 antibody prevalence, 16.0% (95% CI: 13.2%–19.2%) and 15.7% (95% CI: 11.3%–21.4%), which was higher compared to layers, 5.8% (95% CI: 4.3%–7.6%), and broilers, 1.5% (95% CI: 0.9%–2.5%). Over the course of a production cycle, H5 and H9 antibody prevalence increased with the age of backyard and layer chickens. Usually, multiple ducks within a flock were H5 antibody positive, in contrast to backyard chickens, broilers and layers where only individual birds within flocks developed H5 antibodies. Our findings highlight low virus circulation in healthy chickens of all production systems in Bangladesh, which is in contrast to high virus circulation reported from live bird markets. Data generated in this project can be used to adopt risk‐based surveillance approaches in different chicken production systems in Bangladesh and to inform mathematical models exploring HPAI infection dynamics in poultry from the source of production

Processing of Spontaneous Emotional Responses in Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders Effect of Stimulus Type

YesRecent research has shown that adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulty interpreting others' emotional responses, in order to work out what actually happened to them. It is unclear what underlies this difficulty; important cues may be missed from fast paced dynamic stimuli, or spontaneous emotional responses may be too complex for those with ASD to successfully recognise. To explore these possibilities, 17 adolescents and adults with ASD and 17 neurotypical controls viewed 21 videos and pictures of peoples' emotional responses to gifts (chocolate, a handmade novelty or Monopoly money), then inferred what gift the person received and the emotion expressed by the person while eye movements were measured. Participants with ASD were significantly more accurate at distinguishing who received a chocolate or homemade gift from static (compared to dynamic) stimuli, but significantly less accurate when inferring who received Monopoly money from static (compared to dynamic) stimuli. Both groups made similar emotion attributions to each gift in both conditions (positive for chocolate, feigned positive for homemade and confused for Monopoly money). Participants with ASD only made marginally significantly fewer fixations to the eyes of the face, and face of the person than typical controls in both conditions. Results suggest adolescents and adults with ASD can distinguish subtle emotion cues for certain emotions (genuine from feigned positive) when given sufficient processing time, however, dynamic cues are informative for recognising emotion blends (e.g. smiling in confusion). This indicates difficulties processing complex emotion responses in ASD

Physicochemical studies on effect of additives on clouding behavior and thermodynamics of polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate

Cloud point (CP) of nonionic surfactant, namely polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate (Tween-80) in aqueous environment and in the presence of different additives such as salts (sodium chloride, NaCl; sodium sulfate, Na2SO4; sodium nitrate, NaNO3) and polymers (polyvinylpyrrolidone, PVP; polyvinyl alcohol, PVA; polyethylene glycol, PEG) have been studied. The CP values of Tween-80 in aqueous medium are found to decrease with increase of surfactant concentration. The CP values of Tween-80 are lower in magnitude in the presence of sodium salts as compared to those in aqueous medium; the effect of sodium salts (between 0.1 and 10 mmol L-1) in reducing CP values were found to be in the order: Na2SO4 ˃ NaCl ˃ NaNO3. The CP values of Tween-80 solutions also decrease with increasing concentrations of polymers used. The values of ∆G0c are positive in all the cases, indicating the non-spontaneous nature of clouding. ∆H0c and ∆S0c values were found to be almost negative in the presence of salts and polymers, except in the case of the PEG-water system. The negative values of ∆H0c and ∆S0c decrease with increasing concentrations of salts and polymers

Environmental contaminants as etiologic factors for diabetes.

For both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus, the rates have been increasing in the United States and elsewhere; rates vary widely by country, and genetic factors account for less than half of new cases. These observations suggest environmental factors cause both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Occupational exposures have been associated with increased risk of diabetes. In addition, recent data suggest that toxic substances in the environment, other than infectious agents or exposures that stimulate an immune response, are associated with the occurrence of these diseases. We reviewed the epidemiologic data that addressed whether environmental contaminants might cause type 1 or type 2 diabetes. For type 1 diabetes, higher intake of nitrates, nitrites, and N-nitroso compounds, as well as higher serum levels of polychlorinated biphenyls have been associated with increased risk. Overall, however, the data were limited or inconsistent. With respect to type 2 diabetes, data on arsenic and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin relative to risk were suggestive of a direct association but were inconclusive. The occupational data suggested that more data on exposure to N-nitroso compounds, arsenic, dioxins, talc, and straight oil machining fluids in relation to diabetes would be useful. Although environmental factors other than contaminants may account for the majority of type 1 and type 2 diabetes, the etiologic role of several contaminants and occupational exposures deserves further study

A framework for evaluating qualitative changes in learners’ experience and engagement: Developing communicative English teaching and learning in Bangladesh

This article presents the context and framework for evaluation studies of educational transformations associated with the English in Action Project, Bangladesh (EIA) as it progresses over a 9-year period. EIA was launched in May 2008 with the intention of developing communicative English language learning and teaching in Bangladesh. Through a range of interventions involving school students, teachers and young adults, EIA aims to achieve measurable changes in the way that English in taught and learned in Bangladesh, such that useful communicative competence results. Before the interventions were launched, baseline research was undertaken to examine the environment and contexts within which the project would operate. The baseline studies not only provide information and data that will enable subsequent comparisons to be made to assess the impact and effects of the project, they also make evidence available to inform the development of project activities. Innovative approaches to language and teacher development are being employed in order to address the challenges and legacy issues identified. Evaluation of the anticipated qualitative changes over the life of EIA requires a broad programme of studies focusing on the various target beneficiaries