Public Housing Relocations and Relationships of Changes in Neighborhood Disadvantage and Transportation Access to Unmet Need for Medical Care

Cross-sectional research suggests that neighborhood characteristics and transportation access shape unmet need for medical care. This longitudinal analysis explores relationships of changes in neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage and transportation access to unmet need for medical care

Public Housing Relocations and Partnership Dynamics in Areas With High Prevalences of Sexually Transmitted Infections

We investigated the implications of one structural intervention—public housing relocations—for partnership dynamics among individuals living areas with high sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence. High-prevalence areas fuel STI endemicity and are perpetuated by spatially assortative partnerships

Sympatric woodland Myotis bats form tight-knit social groups with exclusive roost home ranges

Background: The structuring of wild animal populations can influence population dynamics, disease spread, and information transfer. Social network analysis potentially offers insights into these processes but is rarely, if ever, used to investigate more than one species in a community. We therefore compared the social, temporal and spatial networks of sympatric Myotis bats (M. nattereri (Natterer's bats) and M. daubentonii (Daubenton's bats)), and asked: (1) are there long-lasting social associations within species? (2) do the ranges occupied by roosting social groups overlap within or between species? (3) are M. daubentonii bachelor colonies excluded from roosting in areas used by maternity groups? Results: Using data on 490 ringed M. nattereri and 978 M. daubentonii from 379 colonies, we found that both species formed stable social groups encompassing multiple colonies. M. nattereri formed 11 mixed-sex social groups with few (4.3%) inter-group associations. Approximately half of all M. nattereri were associated with the same individuals when recaptured, with many associations being long-term (>100 days). In contrast, M. daubentonii were sexually segregated; only a quarter of pairs were associated at recapture after a few days, and inter-sex associations were not long-lasting. Social groups of M. nattereri and female M. daubentonii had small roost home ranges (mean 0.2 km2 in each case). Intra-specific overlap was low, but inter-specific overlap was high, suggesting territoriality within but not between species. M. daubentonii bachelor colonies did not appear to be excluded from roosting areas used by females. Conclusions: Our data suggest marked species- and sex-specific patterns of disease and information transmission are likely between bats of the same genus despite sharing a common habitat. The clear partitioning of the woodland amongst social groups, and their apparent reliance on small patches of habitat for roosting, means that localised woodland management may be more important to bat conservation than previously recognised

Impact of Public Housing Relocations: Are Changes in Neighborhood Conditions Related to STIs Among Relocaters?

Cross-sectional and ecologic studies suggest that place characteristics influence sexual behaviors and sexually-transmitted infections (STIs). Using data from a predominately substance-misusing cohort of African-American adults relocating from US public housing complexes, this multilevel longitudinal study tested the hypothesis that participants who experienced greater post-relocation improvements in neighborhood conditions (i.e., socioeconomic disadvantage, social disorder, STI prevalence, male:female sex ratios) would have reduced odds of testing positive for an STI over time

The clinical course of low back pain: a meta-analysis comparing outcomes in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) and observational studies.

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that the course of low back pain (LBP) symptoms in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) follows a pattern of large improvement regardless of the type of treatment. A similar pattern was independently observed in observational studies. However, there is an assumption that the clinical course of symptoms is particularly influenced in RCTs by mere participation in the trials. To test this assumption, the aim of our study was to compare the course of LBP in RCTs and observational studies. METHODS: Source of studies CENTRAL database for RCTs and MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE and hand search of systematic reviews for cohort studies. Studies include individuals aged 18 or over, and concern non-specific LBP. Trials had to concern primary care treatments. Data were extracted on pain intensity. Meta-regression analysis was used to compare the pooled within-group change in pain in RCTs with that in cohort studies calculated as the standardised mean change (SMC). RESULTS: 70 RCTs and 19 cohort studies were included, out of 1134 and 653 identified respectively. LBP symptoms followed a similar course in RCTs and cohort studies: a rapid improvement in the first 6 weeks followed by a smaller further improvement until 52 weeks. There was no statistically significant difference in pooled SMC between RCTs and cohort studies at any time point:- 6 weeks: RCTs: SMC 1.0 (95% CI 0.9 to 1.0) and cohorts 1.2 (0.7to 1.7); 13 weeks: RCTs 1.2 (1.1 to 1.3) and cohorts 1.0 (0.8 to 1.3); 27 weeks: RCTs 1.1 (1.0 to 1.2) and cohorts 1.2 (0.8 to 1.7); 52 weeks: RCTs 0.9 (0.8 to 1.0) and cohorts 1.1 (0.8 to 1.6). CONCLUSIONS: The clinical course of LBP symptoms followed a pattern that was similar in RCTs and cohort observational studies. In addition to a shared 'natural history', enrolment of LBP patients in clinical studies is likely to provoke responses that reflect the nonspecific effects of seeking and receiving care, independent of the study design

Data from: Spring weather conditions influence breeding phenology and reproductive success in sympatric bat populations.

1. Climate is known to influence breeding phenology and reproductive success in temperate zone bats, but long-term population level studies and interspecific comparisons are rare. 2. Investigating the extent to which intrinsic (i.e. age), and extrinsic (i.e. spring weather conditions), factors influence such key demographic parameters as the proportion of females becoming pregnant, or completing lactation, each breeding season, is vital to understanding of bat population ecology and life-history traits. 3. Using data from twelve breeding seasons (2006 - 2017), encompassing the reproductive histories of 623 Myotis daubentonii and 436 M. nattereri adult females, we compare rates of recruitment to the breeding population, and show that these species differ in their relative sensitivity to environmental conditions and climatic variation, affecting annual reproductive success at the population level. 4. We demonstrate that i) Spring weather conditions influence breeding phenology, with warm, dry and calm conditions leading to earlier parturition dates and advanced juvenile development, whilst cold, wet and windy weather delays birth timing and juvenile growth, ii) Reproductive rates in first-year females are influenced by spring weather conditions in that breeding season and in the preceding breeding season when each cohort was born. Pregnancy and lactation rates were both higher when favourable spring foraging conditions were more prevalent, iii) Reproductive success increases with age in both species, but at different rates, iv) Reproductive rates were consistently higher, and showed less inter-annual variation, in second-year and older M. daubentonii (mean 91.55% ± 0.05 SD) than M. nattereri (mean 72.74% ± 0.15 SD), v) Estimates of reproductive success at the population level were highly correlated with the size of the juvenile cohort recorded each breeding season. 5. Improving understanding of the influence of environmental conditions, especially extreme climatic fluctuations, and the identification of critical periods (i.e. spring for reproductive female bats in temperate zones), which have disproportionate and lasting impacts on breeding phenology and reproductive success at a population level, is critical for improving predictions of the likely impact of climate change on bat populations

Social network visualisation a) male and female <i>M. nattereri</i>, b) male and female <i>M. daubentonii</i>, c) female <i>M. daubentonii</i>, and d) male <i>M. daubentonii.</i>

<p>a) <i>M. nattereri</i> male (n = 85) and female (n = 214), modularity  = 0.74, b) <i>M. daubentonii</i> (n = 344), modularity  = 0.66, c) female <i>M. daubentonii</i> (n = 145), modularity  = 0.67, d) male <i>M. daubentonii</i> (n = 199), modularity  = 0.64. Nodes represent individual bats (males, circles; females, triangles) and associations are represented by the lines that join them. Colours indicate the assignment of individuals to social groups using the Girvan-Newman algorithm. Colours do not correspond between panels. Colours in a) and c) are comparable to <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0112225#pone-0112225-g003" target="_blank">Figure 3</a>. The position of individuals within these networks indicates their position in social space and is not an indication of an individual's geographical location.</p

Lagged association rates within and between sexes of <i>M. daubentonii</i> (left) and <i>M. nattereri</i> (right).

<p>Standard error is calculated by jackknifing over a 30-day period.</p

Distribution of a) <i>M. nattereri</i> both sexes and b) female <i>M. daubentonii</i> social groups in Wytham Woods.

<p>Roosts used by bats, and home range estimates are coloured according to social group - colours are comparable to Figure 2, panels a) and c) – symbols indicate colony size and roosts identified by radio-tracking. Roost home ranges are estimated using 100% minimum convex polygons (MCPs). MCPs exclude roosts occupied by a single individual (<i>M. nattereri</i>, n = 42; <i>M. daubentonii</i>, n = 44) or separated by over 1 km from a roost of the same social group (n = 1 for each species). Four adult female <i>M. daubentonii</i> were radio-tracked; two from each of two social groups. The daytime roosts (including trees) used by these individuals are indicated by asterisks and are coloured according to the social group to which they belonged.</p

Influence of Protein Glycosylation on Campylobacter fetus Physiology

Campylobacter fetus is commonly associated with venereal disease and abortions in cattle and sheep, and can also cause intestinal or systemic infections in humans that are immunocompromised, elderly, or exposed to infected livestock. It is also believed that C. fetus infection can result from the consumption or handling of contaminated food products, but C. fetus is rarely detected in food since isolation methods are not suited for its detection and the physiology of the organism makes culturing difficult. In the related species, Campylobacter jejuni, the ability to colonize the host has been linked to N-linked protein glycosylation with quantitative proteomics demonstrating that glycosylation is interconnected with cell physiology. Using label-free quantitative (LFQ) proteomics, we found more than 100 proteins significantly altered in expression in two C. fetus subsp. fetus protein glycosylation (pgl) mutants (pglX and pglJ) compared to the wild-type. Significant increases in the expression of the (NiFe)-hydrogenase HynABC, catalyzing H2-oxidation for energy harvesting, correlated with significantly increased levels of cellular nickel, improved growth in H2 and increased hydrogenase activity, suggesting that N-glycosylation in C. fetus is involved in regulating the HynABC hydrogenase and nickel homeostasis. To further elucidate the function of the C. fetus pgl pathway and its enzymes, heterologous expression in Escherichia coli followed by mutational and functional analyses revealed that PglX and PglY are novel glycosyltransferases involved in extending the C. fetus hexasaccharide beyond the conserved core, while PglJ and PglA have similar activities to their homologs in C. jejuni. In addition, the pgl mutants displayed decreased motility and ethidium bromide efflux and showed an increased sensitivity to antibiotics. This work not only provides insight into the unique protein N-glycosylation pathway of C. fetus, but also expands our knowledge on the influence of protein N-glycosylation on Campylobacter cell physiology