An outbreak of norovirus GI-6 infection following a wedding in North West England.

In August 2015 a gastroenteritis outbreak occurred following a wedding. An outbreak investigation was undertaken and a cohort study was conducted using an online survey. Of 140 guests, 134 received the survey and 113 responded (84·3% response rate). Seventy respondents met the case definition of vomiting and/or diarrhoea within 72 h of the wedding (61·9% attack rate). Fifteen exposures were associated with illness; on stratification, all were confounded by the ham hock starter. Multivariable analysis showed a significant association with exposure to ham hock (risk ratio 6·62, 95% confidence interval 2·19-20·03). Eight guests and two catering staff submitted stool samples. All tested positive for norovirus GI-6 infection, including a food handler who had vomiting less than 48 h before the wedding. A single genotype was detected among all samples, suggesting a single source of contamination. The transmission pattern suggested point-source exposure. The most plausible cause of the outbreak was transmission from an infected food handler via contaminated food. This highlights the importance of appropriate exclusions for symptomatic food handlers. Additionally, the food handler's stool sample was submitted 7 days after symptom resolution. The potential for extended viral excretion, and the extremely low infective dose of norovirus, may mean that current exclusion guidelines are not of sufficient duration

Healthier diets for all? A systematic review and meta-analysis examining socioeconomic equity of the effect of increasing availability of healthier foods on food choice and energy intake

Widespread availability of unhealthy food and drink products may contribute to socioeconomic patterning in obesity. Therefore, increasing the availability of healthier foods may be one approach to reducing obesity without widening existing inequalities. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the impact of increasing the availability of healthier food and drink on consumer behavior among individuals with higher and lower socioeconomic position (SEP). Eligible studies were required to use experimental designs to compare conditions of higher vs lower availability of healthier vs less healthy options on food choice-related outcomes and measure SEP. Thirteen eligible studies were included. Odds of choosing a healthy item were higher when availability was increased for higher (OR = 5.0, 95% CI: 3.3, 7.7) and lower (OR = 4.9, CI: 3.0, 8.0) SEP. Increased availability of healthier foods was also associated with a decrease in energy content of selections for higher (−131 kcal; CI: −76, −187) and lower (−109 kcal; CI: −73, −147) SEP. There was no SEP moderation. Increasing the relative availability of healthier foods may be an equitable and effective approach to improve population-level diet and address obesity, though more research is required testing this in real-world environments

Organization theory and military metaphor: time for a reappraisal?

A ‘conventional’ use of military metaphor would use it to convey attributes such as hierarchical organization, vertical communication and limited autonomy. This is often used in contrast to a looser form of organization based on the metaphor of the network. However, this article argues that military practice is more complex, with examples of considerable autonomy within the constraints of central direction. It is suggested that not only might this be a more useful metaphor for many contemporary organizations, but also that simplistic uses of military metaphor divert our attention away from the functions that management hierarchies play. The discussion is embedded within a critical realist account of metaphor, arguing for both its value and the need for its further development

Evaluating the activity and stability of perovskite LaMO3-based Pt catalysts in the aqueous phase reforming of glycerol

The aqueous phase reforming of glycerol, to hydrogen, alkanes and liquid phase dehydration/dehydrogenation products, was studied over a series of 1 wt% Pt/LaMO3 (where M = Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) catalysts and compared to a standard 1 wt% Pt/γ-Al2O3 catalyst. The sol–gel combustion synthesis of lanthanum-based perovskites LaMO3 produced pure phase perovskites with surface areas of 8–18 m2g−1. Glycerol conversions were higher than the Pt/γ-Al2O3 (10%) for several perovskite supported catalysts, with the highest being for Pt/LaNiO3 (19%). Perovskite-based catalysts showed reduced alkane formation and significantly increased lactic acid formation compared to the standard catalyst. However, most of the perovskite materials undergo phase separation to LaCO3OH and respective M site oxides with Pt particle migration. The exception being the LaCrO3 support which was found to remain structurally stable. Catalytic performance remained stable over several cycles, for catalysts M = Al, Cr and Ni, despite phase separation of some of these materials. Materials where M site leaching into solution was observed (M = Mn and Co), were found to be catalytically unstable, which was hypothesised to be due to significant loss in support surface area and uncontrolled migration of Pt to the remaining support surface. In the case of Pt/LaNiO3 alloying between the exsoluted Ni and Pt was observed post reaction

Atrophy resistant vs. atrophy susceptible skeletal muscles: "aRaS" as a novel experimental paradigm to study the mechanisms of human disuse atrophy

Objective: Disuse atrophy (DA) describes inactivity-induced skeletal muscle loss, through incompletely defined mechanisms. An intriguing observation is that individual muscles exhibit differing degrees of atrophy, despite exhibiting similar anatomical function/locations. We aimed to develop an innovative experimental paradigm to investigate Atrophy Resistant tibialis anterior (TA) and Atrophy Susceptible medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscles (aRaS) with a future view of uncovering central mechanisms. Method: Seven healthy young men (22 ± 1 year) underwent 15 days unilateral leg immobilisation (ULI). Participants had a single leg immobilised using a knee brace and air-boot to fix the leg (75° knee flexion) and ankle in place. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), MRI and ultrasound scans of the lower leg were taken before and after the immobilisation period to determine changes in muscle mass. Techniques were developed for conchotome and microneedle TA/MG muscle biopsies following immobilisation (both limbs), and preliminary fibre typing analyses was conducted. Results: TA/MG muscles displayed comparable fibre type distribution of predominantly type I fibres (TA 67 ± 7%, MG 63 ± 5%). Following 15 days immobilisation, MG muscle volume (–2.8 ± 1.4%, p < 0.05) and muscle thickness decreased (−12.9 ± 1.6%, p < 0.01), with a positive correlation between changes in muscle volume and thickness (R2 = 0.31, p = 0.038). Importantly, both TA muscle volume and thickness remained unchanged. Conclusion: The use of this unique "aRaS" paradigm provides an effective and convenient means by which to study the mechanistic basis of divergent DA susceptibility in humans, which may facilitate new mechanistic insights, and by extension, mitigation of skeletal muscle atrophy during human DA

Training-induced improvements in knee extensor force accuracy are associated with reduced vastus lateralis motor unit firing variability

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? Can bilateral knee extensor force accuracy be improved following 4 weeks of unilateral force accuracy training and are there any subsequent alterations to central and/or peripheral motor unit features? What is the main finding and its importance? In the trained limb only, knee extensor force tracking accuracy improved with reduced motor unit firing rate variability in the vastus lateralis, and there was no change to neuromuscular junction transmission instability. Interventional strategies to improve force accuracy may be directed to older/clinical populations where such improvements may aid performance of daily living activities. Abstract: Muscle force output during sustained submaximal isometric contractions fluctuates around an average value and is partly influenced by variation in motor unit (MU) firing rates. MU firing rate (FR) variability seemingly reduces following exercise training interventions; however, much less is known with respect to peripheral MU properties. We therefore investigated whether targeted force accuracy training could lead to improved muscle functional capacity and control, in addition to determining any alterations of individual MU features. Ten healthy participants (seven females, three males, 27±6 years, 170±8cm, 69±16kg) underwent a 4-week supervised, unilateral knee extensor force accuracy training intervention. The coefficient of variation for force (FORCECoV) and sinusoidal wave force tracking accuracy (FORCESinu) were determined at 25% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) pre- and post-training. Intramuscular electromyography was utilised to record individual MU potentials from the vastus lateralis (VL) muscles at 25% MVC during sustained contractions, pre- and post-training. Knee extensor muscle strength remained unchanged following training, with no improvements in unilateral leg-balance. FORCECoV and FORCESinu significantly improved in only the trained knee extensors by ∼13% (P =0.01) and ∼30% (P <0.0001), respectively. MU FR variability significantly reduced in the trained VL by ∼16% (n =8; P= 0.001), with no further alterations to MU FR or neuromuscular junction transmission instability. Our results suggest muscle force control and tracking accuracy is a trainable characteristic in the knee extensors, which is likely explained by the reduction in MU FR variability which was apparent in the trained limb only

Enhanced production and control of liquid alkanes in the hydrogenolysis of polypropylene over shaped Ru/CeO2 catalysts

The hydrogenolysis of polypropylene waste to liquid hydrocarbons offers a promising pathway for the chemical recycling of waste polymers. This work describes the importance of reaction conditions and support morphology to produce high liquid yields with enhanced control of chain length over highly active shaped and non-shaped Ru/CeO2 catalysts. The shaped 2 wt% Ru/CeO2 exhibit high liquid alkane yields (58–81%) when compared to the non-shaped 2 wt% Ru/CeO2 (liquid yield: 34–58%) under optimized reaction conditions (220 °C, 16 h, 30 bar H2). In particular, the 2 wt% Ru/CeO2 nanocube catalyst exhibits the highest activity yielding lighter hydrocarbons. This was rationalized to be a combination of small Ru cluster formation and enhanced metal-support interactions. The influence of larger Ru particles (≥1.5 nm) was confirmed mechanistically using a computational density functional theory study on the hydrogenolysis of pentane (C5) to determine the favorable formation of methane in the non-shaped Ru/CeO2 catalyst

Distinct Salmonella Enteritidis lineages associated with enterocolitis in high-income settings and invasive disease in low-income settings.

An epidemiological paradox surrounds Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis. In high-income settings, it has been responsible for an epidemic of poultry-associated, self-limiting enterocolitis, whereas in sub-Saharan Africa it is a major cause of invasive nontyphoidal Salmonella disease, associated with high case fatality. By whole-genome sequence analysis of 675 isolates of S. Enteritidis from 45 countries, we show the existence of a global epidemic clade and two new clades of S. Enteritidis that are geographically restricted to distinct regions of Africa. The African isolates display genomic degradation, a novel prophage repertoire, and an expanded multidrug resistance plasmid. S. Enteritidis is a further example of a Salmonella serotype that displays niche plasticity, with distinct clades that enable it to become a prominent cause of gastroenteritis in association with the industrial production of eggs and of multidrug-resistant, bloodstream-invasive infection in Africa.This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust. We would like to thank the members of the Pathogen Informatics Team and the core sequencing teams at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (Cambridge, UK). We are grateful to D. Harris for work in managing the sequence data