Birds and people in Europe

At a regional scale, species richness and human population size are frequently positively correlated across space. Such patterns may arise because both species richness and human density increase with energy availability. If the species-energy relationship is generated through the 'more individuals' hypothesis, then the prediction is that areas with high human densities will also support greater numbers of individuals from other taxa. We use the unique data available for the breeding birds in Europe to test this prediction. Overall regional densities of bird species are higher in areas with more people; species of conservation concern exhibit the same pattern. Avian density also increases faster with human density than does avian biomass, indicating that areas with a higher human density have a higher proportion of small-bodied individuals. The analyses also underline the low numbers of breeding birds in Europe relative to humans, with a median of just three individual birds per person, and 4 g of bird for every kilogram of human

Characteristics and efficacy of physical activity interventions to improve cardiometabolic and psychosocial outcomes in people living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa: a protocol for a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has led to an increased lifespan for people living with HIV (PWH). This increased lifespan, coupled with the effects of HIV and adverse effects of ART have resulted in an increasing burden of cardiometabolic disease (CMD) among PWH. Physical activity (PA) has been proposed as an effective strategy to reduce the risk of developing cardiometabolic disease and other health complications in PWH. The aim of this paper is to review the characteristics and efficacy of PA interventions to improve cardiometabolic and psychosocial outcomes among PWH in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: The review will follow the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P). Literature searches will be conducted in PubMed, Web of Science (WoS), African Index Medicus, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Embase. Peer-reviewed publications will be included if they include adults (age 18 or older), PWH in sub-Saharan Africa, and a PA intervention to improve cardiometabolic outcomes and/or psychosocial outcomes. We will include randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental study designs. Two independent reviewers will screen all abstracts and full-text articles. The study methodological quality (or bias) will be appraised using the Revised tool to assess risk of bias in randomized trials and the Downs and Black checklist. Certainty of evidence will be evaluated using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation guidelines. Meta-analyses will be conducted if our results are adequate for meta-analysis. Outcomes will be analyzed as continuous or dichotomous and meta-analyses will be conducted using random effects models with Stata computer software. DISCUSSION: This review will identify and synthesize the current evidence regarding the characteristics and efficacy of PA interventions to improve cardiometabolic and psychosocial outcomes among PWH in sub-Saharan Africa. We also plan to identify the strengths and weaknesses of evaluated interventions. Based on the evidence, recommendations will be made to promote the design and further evaluate the most promising strategies to maximize the efficacy of PA interventions in improving cardiometabolic and psychosocial outcomes in PWH in sub-Saharan Africa. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration ID: CRD42021271937

Humidity Effects on Atomic Force Microscopy of Gold-Labeled DNA on Mica

Recent work in atomic force microscopy (AFM) of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) has relied on immobilizing DNA molecules by drying a small volume of buffered DNA solution onto cleaved mica. When imaging in air, relative humidity has been known to affect both the resolution and measured height of the DNA strands. We present data of measured height versus humidity for DNA and attached gold labels, and we propose a model for this data based on swelling of coadsorbed buffer salts upon exposure to moisture. In this model, small particles (e.g., DNA) stay near the top of the swelling salt layer, whereas larger particles (e.g., gold spheres) tend to be anchored down to the substrate until a moderate humidity is reached. At high humidity (around 65%), the salt layer becomes fluid-like and susceptible to tip-induced motion; the salts are either removed from the scan area or aggregate into island structures, depending on initial salt concentration on the surface

Self-stabilizing algorithms for Connected Vertex Cover and Clique decomposition problems

In many wireless networks, there is no fixed physical backbone nor centralized network management. The nodes of such a network have to self-organize in order to maintain a virtual backbone used to route messages. Moreover, any node of the network can be a priori at the origin of a malicious attack. Thus, in one hand the backbone must be fault-tolerant and in other hand it can be useful to monitor all network communications to identify an attack as soon as possible. We are interested in the minimum \emph{Connected Vertex Cover} problem, a generalization of the classical minimum Vertex Cover problem, which allows to obtain a connected backbone. Recently, Delbot et al.~\cite{DelbotLP13} proposed a new centralized algorithm with a constant approximation ratio of $2$ for this problem. In this paper, we propose a distributed and self-stabilizing version of their algorithm with the same approximation guarantee. To the best knowledge of the authors, it is the first distributed and fault-tolerant algorithm for this problem. The approach followed to solve the considered problem is based on the construction of a connected minimal clique partition. Therefore, we also design the first distributed self-stabilizing algorithm for this problem, which is of independent interest

Physician Skin Cancer Screening among U.S. Military Veterans: Results from the National Health Interview Survey

Introduction Although military veterans are at increased risk for skin cancer, little is known about the extent to which they have been screened for skin cancer. The study objective was to examine the prevalence and correlates of physician skin cancer screening among U.S. military veterans. Methods Data were drawn from the National Health Interview Survey. The study sample consisted of 2,826 individuals who reported being military veterans. Receipt of a physician skin examination was measured using a single question that asked participants whether they had ever had all of their skin from head to toe checked for cancer by a dermatologist or some other kind of doctor. Results Less than a third (30.88%) of participants reported ever having a physician skin examination. Factors positively associated with receipt of a physician skin examination in a multivariable logistic regression analysis included: older age, greater educational level, non-Hispanic white race/ethnicity, having TRICARE (military) health insurance, greater skin sensitivity to the sun, and engagement in more sun protection behaviors. Conclusions The majority of military veterans have never been screened for skin cancer by a physician. Screening rates were higher among individuals with one or more skin cancer risk factors. Future research is warranted to test targeted skin cancer screening interventions for this at risk and understudied population

Differentiation and Protective Capacity of Virus-Specific CD8

Noroviruses can establish chronic infections with active viral shedding in healthy humans but whether persistence is associated with adaptive immune dysfunction is unknown. We used genetically engineered strains of mouse norovirus (MNV) to investigate CD8+ T cell differentiation during chronic infection. We found that chronic infection drove MNV-specific tissue-resident memory (Trm) CD8+ T cells to a differentiation state resembling inflationary effector responses against latent cytomegalovirus with only limited evidence of exhaustion. These MNV-specific Trm cells remained highly functional yet appeared ignorant of ongoing viral replication. Pre-existing MNV-specific Trm cells provided partial protection against chronic infection but largely ceased to detect virus within 72 hours of challenge, demonstrating rapid sequestration of viral replication away from T cells. Our studies revealed a strategy of immune evasion by MNV via the induction of a CD8+ T cell program normally reserved for latent pathogens and persistence in an immune-privileged enteric niche. Chronic infections often cause T cell dysfunction, but how noroviruses (NV) evade immunity is unknown. Tomov et al. show that gut-resident T cells against NV remain functional but ignorant of chronic viral replication, suggesting that NV persists in an immune-privileged enteric niche. © 2017 Elsevier Inc