Find (Y)our Place in the Universe: Humanizing Curriculum Through Unit (Re)Design

In this article, the authors share a revised unit from their district\u27s core language arts program that utilizes areas of multimodality, criticality, and layered texts. The authors’ goal is to make the content accessible for all students while also incorporating marginalized perspectives. The authors describe how they drew on Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s (2020) Culturally Responsive Framework to provide a diverse unit of study that leverages the multimodal possibilities within layered text sets. The authors then emphasize the importance of humanizing the content and modes in which it is presented in order to foster a critical stance towards text

Trade patterns facilitating highly pathogenic avian influenza virus dissemination in the free-grazing layer duck system in Vietnam

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses continue to threaten smallholder poultry producers in several South‐east Asian countries, including Vietnam. In particular, the free‐grazing duck system has been repeatedly highlighted as a major risk factor for HPAI outbreaks. Free‐grazing ducks, which scavenge on rice paddies after the harvest, account for a large proportion of the duck population in Vietnam and the wider South‐east Asian region. However, the structure and dynamics of the free‐grazing duck production from farm to consumption has not been described for Vietnam. In this study, we used a value chain approach to provide a complete picture of the actors involved in the production and marketing of free‐grazing duck eggs and spent layer ducks, as well as to investigate the governance structure of this food system. Group interviews and key informant interviews were conducted in two provinces located in the Mekong River Delta (MRD) and the Red River Delta (RRD). The results presented here highlight similarities and differences in farming and trade practices between the two provinces. The trade of spent layer ducks involved large volumes of live ducks being sent to China and Cambodia for consumption, generating a substantial risk of transboundary spread of pathogens, including HPAI viruses. We describe the major role of “duck yards”, which act as hubs in the northbound trade of spent layer ducks. These yards should be considered as essential links in the value chain of spent layer ducks when considering HPAI surveillance and control. The veterinary authorities are only marginally involved in the value chain activities, and their influence could be strengthened by increasing surveillance activities for instance in duck yards. Last, we discuss the dynamics of the duck value chain and further implications for future HPAI management policies

Analysis of Swine Movements in a Province in Northern Vietnam and Application in the Design of Surveillance Strategies for Infectious Diseases

While swine production is rapidly growing in South-East Asia, the structure of the swine industry and the dynamic of pig movements have not been well-studied. However, this knowledge is a prerequisite for understanding the dynamic of disease transmission in swine populations and designing cost-effective surveillance strategies for infectious diseases. In this study, we assessed the farming and trading practices in the Vietnamese swine familial farming sector, which accounts for most pigs in Vietnam, and for which disease surveillance is a major challenge. Farmers from two communes of a Red River Delta Province (northern Vietnam) were interviewed, along with traders involved in pig transactions. Major differences in the trade structure were observed between the two communes. One commune had mainly transversal trades, that is between farms of equivalent sizes, whereas the other had pyramidal trades, that is from larger to smaller farms. Companies and large familial farrow-to-finish farms were likely to act as major sources of disease spread through pig sales, demonstrating their importance for disease control. Familial fattening farms with high pig purchases were at greater risk of disease introduction and should be targeted for disease detection as part of a risk-based surveillance. In contrast, many other familial farms were isolated or weakly connected to the swine trade network limiting their relevance for surveillance activities. However, some of these farms used boar hiring for breeding, increasing the risk of disease spread. Most familial farms were slaughtering pigs at the farm or in small local slaughterhouses, making the surveillance at the slaughterhouse inefficient. In terms of spatial distribution of the trades, the results suggested that northern provinces were highly connected and showed some connection with central and southern provinces. These results are useful to develop risk-based surveillance protocols for disease detection in the swine familial sector and to make recommendations for disease control. (Résumé d'auteur

Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points Assessment as a Tool to Respond to Emerging Infectious Disease Outbreaks

Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) strain H5N1 has had direct and indirect economic impacts arising from direct mortality and control programmes in over 50 countries reporting poultry outbreaks. HPAI H5N1 is now reported as the most widespread and expensive zoonotic disease recorded and continues to pose a global health threat. The aim of this research was to assess the potential of utilising Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP) assessments in providing a framework for a rapid response to emerging infectious disease outbreaks. This novel approach applies a scientific process, widely used in food production systems, to assess risks related to a specific emerging health threat within a known zoonotic disease hotspot. We conducted a HACCP assessment for HPAI viruses within Vietnam’s domestic poultry trade and relate our findings to the existing literature. Our HACCP assessment identified poultry flock isolation, transportation, slaughter, preparation and consumption as critical control points for Vietnam’s domestic poultry trade. Introduction of the preventative measures highlighted through this HACCP evaluation would reduce the risks posed by HPAI viruses and pressure on the national economy. We conclude that this HACCP assessment provides compelling evidence for the future potential that HACCP analyses could play in initiating a rapid response to emerging infectious diseases

Yellow Fever in Africa: Estimating the Burden of Disease and Impact of Mass Vaccination from Outbreak and Serological Data

Background:Yellow fever is a vector-borne disease affecting humans and non-human primates in tropical areas of Africa and South America. While eradication is not feasible due to the wildlife reservoir, large scale vaccination activities in Africa during the 1940s to 1960s reduced yellow fever incidence for several decades. However, after a period of low vaccination coverage, yellow fever has resurged in the continent. Since 2006 there has been substantial funding for large preventive mass vaccination campaigns in the most affected countries in Africa to curb the rising burden of disease and control future outbreaks. Contemporary estimates of the yellow fever disease burden are lacking, and the present study aimed to update the previous estimates on the basis of more recent yellow fever occurrence data and improved estimation methods.Methods and Findings:Generalised linear regression models were fitted to a dataset of the locations of yellow fever outbreaks within the last 25 years to estimate the probability of outbreak reports across the endemic zone. Environmental variables and indicators for the surveillance quality in the affected countries were used as covariates. By comparing probabilities of outbreak reports estimated in the regression with the force of infection estimated for a limited set of locations for which serological surveys were available, the detection probability per case and the force of infection were estimated across the endemic zone.The yellow fever burden in Africa was estimated for the year 2013 as 130,000 (95% CI 51,000-380,000) cases with fever and jaundice or haemorrhage including 78,000 (95% CI 19,000-180,000) deaths, taking into account the current level of vaccination coverage. The impact of the recent mass vaccination campaigns was assessed by evaluating the difference between the estimates obtained for the current vaccination coverage and for a hypothetical scenario excluding these vaccination campaigns. Vaccination campaigns were estimated to have reduced the number of cases and deaths by 27% (95% CI 22%-31%) across the region, achieving up to an 82% reduction in countries targeted by these campaigns. A limitation of our study is the high level of uncertainty in our estimates arising from the sparseness of data available from both surveillance and serological surveys.Conclusions:With the estimation method presented here, spatial estimates of transmission intensity can be combined with vaccination coverage levels to evaluate the impact of past or proposed vaccination campaigns, thereby helping to allocate resources efficiently for yellow fever control. This method has been used by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI Alliance) to estimate the potential impact of future vaccination campaigns.Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary

How to think about informal proofs

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Brendan Larvor, ‘How to think about informal proofs’, Synthese, Vol. 187(2): 715-730, first published online 9 September 2011. The final publication is available at Springer via doi:10.1007/s11229-011-0007-5It is argued in this study that (i) progress in the philosophy of mathematical practice requires a general positive account of informal proof; (ii) the best candidate is to think of informal proofs as arguments that depend on their matter as well as their logical form; (iii) articulating the dependency of informal inferences on their content requires a redefinition of logic as the general study of inferential actions; (iv) it is a decisive advantage of this conception of logic that it accommodates the many mathematical proofs that include actions on objects other than propositions; (v) this conception of logic permits the articulation of project-sized tasks for the philosophy of mathematical practice, thereby supplying a partial characterisation of normal research in the fieldPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Charting two centuries of transformation in a coastal social-ecological system: a mixed methods approach

This is the final version. Available on open access from Elsevier via the DOI in this recordOyster reef ecosystems used to form significant components of many temperate and subtropical inshore coastal systems but have suffered declines globally, with a concurrent loss of services. The early timing of many of these changes makes it difficult to determine restoration targets which consider interdecadal timeframes, community values and shifted baselines. On the Australian continent, however, the transition from Indigenous (Aboriginal) to Westernized resource use and management occurred relatively recently, allowing us to map social-ecological changes in detail. In this study, we reconstruct the transformations in the Sydney rock oyster (Saccostrea glomerata) wild commercial industry of southeast Queensland, and by extension its reef ecosystems, as well as the changing societal and cultural values related to the presence and use of the rock oyster through time. By integrating data from the archaeological, anthropological and fisheries literature, government and media accounts, we explore these transformations over the last two centuries. Before the 1870s, there was a relative equilibrium. Aboriginal peoples featured as sole traders to Europeans, supplying oysters and becoming a substantial component of the industry’s labour pool. Effectively, Australia’s commercial oyster industry arose from Aboriginal-European trade. During this initial phase, there was still a relative abundance of wild oyster, with subtidal oyster reef structures present in regions where oysters are today absent or scarce. By contrast, these reefs declined by the late 19th 23 century, despite production of oysters increasing due to continued large-scale oyster recruitment and the expansion of oyster cultivation in intertidal areas. Production peaked in 1891, with successive peaks observed in regions further north. During the 1890s, flood events coupled with land-use changes introduced large quantities of silt into the system, which likely facilitated an increase in oyster pests and diseases, ultimately decreasing the carrying capacity of the system. Today oyster production in this region is less than one-tenth of historical peak production. Many cultural heritage components have also been lost. Indigenous management is now very minor due to the massive decimation of Aboriginal populations and their respective practices. Yet, we found strong cultural attachment to midden remains and oyster production continues within Indigenous communities, with considerable broader community support. This study highlights the value of conducting thorough analysis of early media accounts as a means for reconstructing historical resource decline and management. It further demonstrates the application of historical information and context for contemporary management, protection and restoration of much-altered coastal social-ecological systems

A large-scale study of a poultry trading network in Bangladesh: implications for control and surveillance of avian influenza viruses

Since its first report in 2007, avian influenza (AI) has been endemic in Bangladesh. While live poultry marketing is widespread throughout the country and known to influence AI dissemination and persistence, trading patterns have not been described. The aim of this study is to assess poultry trading practices and features of the poultry trading networks which could promote AI spread, and their potential implications for disease control and surveillance. Data on poultry trading practices was collected from 849 poultry traders during a cross-sectional survey in 138 live bird markets (LBMs) across 17 different districts of Bangladesh. The quantity and origins of traded poultry were assessed for each poultry type in surveyed LBMs. The network of contacts between farms and LBMs resulting from commercial movements of live poultry was constructed to assess its connectivity and to identify the key premises influencing it

Clinical Manifestations and Case Management of Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever caused by a newly identified virus strain, Bundibugyo, Uganda, 2007-2008

A confirmed Ebola haemorrhagic fever (EHF) outbreak in Bundibugyo, Uganda, November 2007-February 2008, was caused by a putative new species (Bundibugyo ebolavirus). It included 93 putative cases, 56 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 37 deaths (CFR = 25%). Study objectives are to describe clinical manifestations and case management for 26 hospitalised laboratory-confirmed EHF patients. Clinical findings are congruous with previously reported EHF infections. The most frequently experienced symptoms were non-bloody diarrhoea (81%), severe headache (81%), and asthenia (77%). Seven patients reported or were observed with haemorrhagic symptoms, six of whom died. Ebola care remains difficult due to the resource-poor setting of outbreaks and the infection-control procedures required. However, quality data collection is essential to evaluate case definitions and therapeutic interventions, and needs improvement in future epidemics. Organizations usually involved in EHF case management have a particular responsibility in this respect

Transmission Characteristics of the 2009 H1N1 Influenza Pandemic: Comparison of 8 Southern Hemisphere Countries

While in Northern hemisphere countries, the pandemic H1N1 virus (H1N1pdm) was introduced outside of the typical influenza season, Southern hemisphere countries experienced a single wave of transmission during their 2009 winter season. This provides a unique opportunity to compare the spread of a single virus in different countries and study the factors influencing its transmission. Here, we estimate and compare transmission characteristics of H1N1pdm for eight Southern hemisphere countries/states: Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa and Victoria (Australia). Weekly incidence of cases and age-distribution of cumulative cases were extracted from public reports of countries' surveillance systems. Estimates of the reproduction numbers, R0, empirically derived from the country-epidemics' early exponential phase, were positively associated with the proportion of children in the populations (p = 0.004). To explore the role of demography in explaining differences in transmission intensity, we then fitted a dynamic age-structured model of influenza transmission to available incidence data for each country independently, and for all the countries simultaneously. Posterior median estimates of R0 ranged 1.2–1.8 for the country-specific fits, and 1.29–1.47 for the global fits. Corresponding estimates for overall attack-rate were in the range 20–50%. All model fits indicated a significant decrease in susceptibility to infection with age. These results confirm the transmissibility of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic virus was relatively low compared with past pandemics. The pattern of age-dependent susceptibility found confirms that older populations had substantial – though partial - pre-existing immunity, presumably due to exposure to heterologous influenza strains. Our analysis indicates that between-country-differences in transmission were at least partly due to differences in population demography