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

Independent Commission on UK Public Health Emergency Powers:Final Report

The Independent Commission on UK Public Health Emergency Powers reviewed emergency public health laws and parliamentary procedures in the four UK nations. We considered how far these laws and procedures could be enhanced so as to better protect the rule of law and promote accountability, transparency and parliamentary control of executive action. We also undertook comparative research; reviewing public health emergency powers in ten foreign jurisdictions chosen because of their similarities to the UK’s parliamentary system and the efficacy of their legal responses to Covid-19. Throughout our inquiry we kept foremost in our minds the need for governments to act quickly in an emergency to secure timely and effective public health outcomes

Pathogenic Intestinal Bacteria Enhance Prostate Cancer Development via Systemic Activation of Immune Cells in Mice

A role for microbes has been suspected in prostate cancer but difficult to confirm in human patients. We show here that a gastrointestinal (GI) tract bacterial infection is sufficient to enhance prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and microinvasive carcinoma in a mouse model. We found that animals with a genetic predilection for dysregulation of wnt signaling, Apc[superscript Min/+] mutant mice, were significantly susceptible to prostate cancer in an inflammation-dependent manner following infection with Helicobacter hepaticus. Further, early neoplasia observed in infected Apc[superscript Min/+] mice was transmissible to uninfected mice by intraperitoneal injection of mesenteric lymph node (MLN) cells alone from H. hepaticus-infected mutant mice. Transmissibility of neoplasia was preventable by prior neutralization of inflammation using anti-TNF-α antibody in infected MLN donor mice. Taken together, these data confirm that systemic inflammation triggered by GI tract bacteria plays a pivotal role in tumorigenesis of the prostate gland.RO1CA108854National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Environmental Health Sciences Pilot Project Award P30-ES002109

Widespread active detachment faulting and core complex formation near 13°N on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Author Posting. © Nature Publishing Group, 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Nature 442 (2006): 440-443, doi:10.1038/nature04950.Oceanic core complexes are massifs in which lower crustal and upper mantle rocks are exposed at the sea floor. They form at mid-ocean ridges through slip on detachment faults rooted below the spreading axis. To date, most studies of core complexes have been based on isolated inactive massifs that have spread away from ridge axes. A new survey of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) near 13°N reveals a segment in which a number of linked detachment faults extend for 75 km along one flank of the spreading axis. The detachment faults are apparently all currently active and at various stages of development. A field of extinct core complexes extends away from the axis for at least 100 km. The new data document the topographic characteristics of actively-forming core complexes and their evolution from initiation within the axial valley floor to maturity and eventual inactivity. Within the surrounding region there is a strong correlation between detachment fault morphology at the ridge axis and high rates of hydroacoustically-recorded earthquake seismicity. Preliminary examination of seismicity and seafloor morphology farther north along the MAR suggests that active detachment faulting is occurring in many segments and that detachment faulting is more important in the generation of ocean crust at this slow-spreading ridge than previously suspected.This work was supported by the National Science Foundation

Liquid-gas phase transition in nuclear multifragmentation

The equation of state of nuclear matter suggests that at suitable beam energies the disassembling hot system formed in heavy ion collisions will pass through a liquid-gas coexistence region. Searching for the signatures of the phase transition has been a very important focal point of experimental endeavours in heavy ion collisions, in the last fifteen years. Simultaneously theoretical models have been developed to provide information about the equation of state and reaction mechanisms consistent with the experimental observables. This article is a review of this endeavour.Comment: 63 pages, 27 figures, submitted to Adv. Nucl. Phys. Some typos corrected, minor text change

Proteomic analysis of the Plasmodium male gamete reveals the key role for glycolysis in flagellar motility.

BACKGROUND: Gametogenesis and fertilization play crucial roles in malaria transmission. While male gametes are thought to be amongst the simplest eukaryotic cells and are proven targets of transmission blocking immunity, little is known about their molecular organization. For example, the pathway of energy metabolism that power motility, a feature that facilitates gamete encounter and fertilization, is unknown. METHODS: Plasmodium berghei microgametes were purified and analysed by whole-cell proteomic analysis for the first time. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD001163. RESULTS: 615 proteins were recovered, they included all male gamete proteins described thus far. Amongst them were the 11 enzymes of the glycolytic pathway. The hexose transporter was localized to the gamete plasma membrane and it was shown that microgamete motility can be suppressed effectively by inhibitors of this transporter and of the glycolytic pathway. CONCLUSIONS: This study describes the first whole-cell proteomic analysis of the malaria male gamete. It identifies glycolysis as the likely exclusive source of energy for flagellar beat, and provides new insights in original features of Plasmodium flagellar organization

A meta-analytic review of stand-alone interventions to improve body image

Objective Numerous stand-alone interventions to improve body image have been developed. The present review used meta-analysis to estimate the effectiveness of such interventions, and to identify the specific change techniques that lead to improvement in body image. Methods The inclusion criteria were that (a) the intervention was stand-alone (i.e., solely focused on improving body image), (b) a control group was used, (c) participants were randomly assigned to conditions, and (d) at least one pretest and one posttest measure of body image was taken. Effect sizes were meta-analysed and moderator analyses were conducted. A taxonomy of 48 change techniques used in interventions targeted at body image was developed; all interventions were coded using this taxonomy. Results The literature search identified 62 tests of interventions (N = 3,846). Interventions produced a small-to-medium improvement in body image (d+ = 0.38), a small-to-medium reduction in beauty ideal internalisation (d+ = -0.37), and a large reduction in social comparison tendencies (d+ = -0.72). However, the effect size for body image was inflated by bias both within and across studies, and was reliable but of small magnitude once corrections for bias were applied. Effect sizes for the other outcomes were no longer reliable once corrections for bias were applied. Several features of the sample, intervention, and methodology moderated intervention effects. Twelve change techniques were associated with improvements in body image, and three techniques were contra-indicated. Conclusions The findings show that interventions engender only small improvements in body image, and underline the need for large-scale, high-quality trials in this area. The review identifies effective techniques that could be deployed in future interventions

Crowdfunding Education : Objectives, Content, Pedagogy, and Assessment

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