Building a politics of connectivity: intercultural in-commonness in Fairtrade

Fairtrade operates its global system through a homogenising but marketable set of standards. Combined with issues around how to include producers in governance, this has led to feelings of disconnection and disenfranchisement for the latter, which are impacting on Fairtrade’s effectiveness and legitimacy. Through a focus on the South African wine industry, this paper argues that the Fairtrade community needs to be reinvigorated through dialogical communication, impactful participation and cultural synthesis to better enact responsibility across its systemic geographical and cultural distances. “Being‐with” its multiple stakeholders makes space for a more responsive, contextual and connected system. Drawing on the ideas of Paulo Freire, the paper concludes that a Fairtrade built on solidarity through a participatory and decentralised system would allow for discussions of the ideals and practices that are essential to negotiating, and not swallowing up, the shifting “we” of Fairtrade and more effectively balancing its local and global responsibilities

Impact of a Pharmacy Benefit Change on New Use of Mail Order Pharmacy among Diabetes Patients: The Diabetes Study of Northern California (DISTANCE)

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110855/1/hesr12223-sup-0001-AuthorMatrix.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110855/2/hesr12223.pd

Climate-Induced Boreal Forest Change: Predictions versus Current Observations

For about three decades, there have been many predictions of the potential ecological response in boreal regions to the currently warmer conditions. In essence, a widespread, naturally occurring experiment has been conducted over time. In this paper, we describe previously modeled predictions of ecological change in boreal Alaska, Canada and Russia, and then we investigate potential evidence of current climate-induced change. For instance, ecological models have suggested that warming will induce the northern and upslope migration of the treeline and an alteration in the current mosaic structure of boreal forests. We present evidence of the migration of keystone ecosystems in the upland and lowland treeline of mountainous regions across southern Siberia. Ecological models have also predicted a moisture-stress-related dieback in white spruce trees in Alaska, and current investigations show that as temperatures increase, white spruce tree growth is declining. Additionally, it was suggested that increases in infestation and wildfire disturbance would be catalysts that precipitate the alteration of the current mosaic forest composition. In Siberia, five of the last seven years have resulted in extreme fire seasons, and extreme fire years have also been more frequent in both Alaska and Canada. In addition, Alaska has experienced extreme and geographically expansive multi-year outbreaks of the spruce beetle, which had been previously limited by the cold, moist environment. We suggest that there is substantial evidence throughout the circumboreal region to conclude that the biosphere within the boreal terrestrial environment has already responded to the transient effects of climate change. Additionally, temperature increases and warming-induced change are progressing faster than had been predicted in some regions, suggesting a potential non-linear rapid response to changes in climate, as opposed to the predicted slow linear response to climate change

Bodyweight Perceptions among Texas Women: The Effects of Religion, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship Status

Despite previous work exploring linkages between religious participation and health, little research has looked at the role of religion in affecting bodyweight perceptions. Using the theoretical model developed by Levin et al. (Sociol Q 36(1):157–173, 1995) on the multidimensionality of religious participation, we develop several hypotheses and test them by using data from the 2004 Survey of Texas Adults. We estimate multinomial logistic regression models to determine the relative risk of women perceiving themselves as overweight. Results indicate that religious attendance lowers risk of women perceiving themselves as very overweight. Citizenship status was an important factor for Latinas, with noncitizens being less likely to see themselves as overweight. We also test interaction effects between religion and race. Religious attendance and prayer have a moderating effect among Latina non-citizens so that among these women, attendance and prayer intensify perceptions of feeling less overweight when compared to their white counterparts. Among African American women, the effect of increased church attendance leads to perceptions of being overweight. Prayer is also a correlate of overweight perceptions but only among African American women. We close with a discussion that highlights key implications from our findings, note study limitations, and several promising avenues for future research

Inter- and Intra-Observer Variability and the Effect of Experience in Cine-MRI for Adhesion Detection

Cine-MRI for adhesion detection is a promising novel modality that can help the large group of patients developing pain after abdominal surgery. Few studies into its diagnostic accuracy are available, and none address observer variability. This retrospective study explores the inter- and intra-observer variability, diagnostic accuracy, and the effect of experience. A total of 15 observers with a variety of experience reviewed 61 sagittal cine-MRI slices, placing box annotations with a confidence score at locations suspect for adhesions. Five observers reviewed the slices again one year later. Inter- and intra-observer variability are quantified using Fleiss’ (inter) and Cohen’s (intra) κ and percentage agreement. Diagnostic accuracy is quantified with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis based on a consensus standard. Inter-observer Fleiss’ κ values range from 0.04 to 0.34, showing poor to fair agreement. High general and cine-MRI experience led to significantly (p < 0.001) better agreement among observers. The intra-observer results show Cohen’s κ values between 0.37 and 0.53 for all observers, except one with a low κ of −0.11. Group AUC scores lie between 0.66 and 0.72, with individual observers reaching 0.78. This study confirms that cine-MRI can diagnose adhesions, with respect to a radiologist consensus panel and shows that experience improves reading cine-MRI. Observers without specific experience adapt to this modality quickly after a short online tutorial. Observer agreement is fair at best and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) scores leave room for improvement. Consistently interpreting this novel modality needs further research, for instance, by developing reporting guidelines or artificial intelligence-based methods

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision: Translating Research into the Rapid Expansion of Services in Kenya, 2008–2011

Zebedee Mwandi and colleagues discuss Kenya's scale-up of voluntary medical male circumcision services, highlighting government leadership, a clear implementation strategy, and program flexibility and innovation as keys to Kenya's success

Serological Survey of Retrovirus and Coronavirus Infections, including SARS-CoV-2, in Rural Stray Cats in The Netherlands, 2020–2022

Stray cats can host (zoonotic) viral pathogens and act as a source of infection for domestic cats or humans. In this cross-sectional (sero)prevalence study, sera from 580 stray cats living in 56 different cat groups in rural areas in The Netherlands were collected from October 2020 to July 2022. These were used to investigate the prevalence of the cat-specific feline leukemia virus (FeLV, n = 580), the seroprevalence of the cat-specific feline viruses feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV, n = 580) and feline coronavirus (FCoV, n = 407), and the zoonotic virus severe acute respiratory coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2, n = 407) using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). ELISA-positive results were confirmed using Western blot (FIV) or pseudovirus neutralization test (SARS-CoV-2). The FIV seroprevalence was 5.0% (95% CI (Confidence Interval) 3.4–7.1) and ranged from 0–19.0% among groups. FIV-specific antibodies were more often detected in male cats, cats ≥ 3 years and cats with reported health problems. No FeLV-positive cats were found (95% CI 0.0–0.6). The FCoV seroprevalence was 33.7% (95% CI 29.1–38.5) and ranged from 4.7–85.7% among groups. FCoV-specific antibodies were more often detected in cats ≥ 3 years, cats with reported health problems and cats living in industrial areas or countryside residences compared to cats living at holiday parks or campsites. SARS-CoV-2 antibodies against the subunit 1 (S1) and receptor binding domain (RBD) protein were detected in 2.7% (95% CI 1.4–4.8) of stray cats, but sera were negative in the pseudovirus neutralization test and therefore were considered SARS-CoV-2 suspected. Our findings suggest that rural stray cats in The Netherlands can be a source of FIV and FCoV, indicating a potential risk for transmission to other cats, while the risk for FeLV is low. However, suspected SARS-CoV-2 infections in these cats were uncommon. We found no evidence of SARS-CoV-2 cat-to-cat spread in the studied stray cat groups and consider the likelihood of spillover to humans as low

Histone Deacetylase Complexes Promote Trinucleotide Repeat Expansions

Genetic analysis in budding yeast and in cultured human astrocytes reveals that specific histone deacetylase complexes accelerate expansion mutations in DNA triplet repeats

Genome-Wide Analyses of Exonic Copy Number Variants in a Family-Based Study Point to Novel Autism Susceptibility Genes

The genetics underlying the autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is complex and remains poorly understood. Previous work has demonstrated an important role for structural variation in a subset of cases, but has lacked the resolution necessary to move beyond detection of large regions of potential interest to identification of individual genes. To pinpoint genes likely to contribute to ASD etiology, we performed high density genotyping in 912 multiplex families from the Autism Genetics Resource Exchange (AGRE) collection and contrasted results to those obtained for 1,488 healthy controls. Through prioritization of exonic deletions (eDels), exonic duplications (eDups), and whole gene duplication events (gDups), we identified more than 150 loci harboring rare variants in multiple unrelated probands, but no controls. Importantly, 27 of these were confirmed on examination of an independent replication cohort comprised of 859 cases and an additional 1,051 controls. Rare variants at known loci, including exonic deletions at NRXN1 and whole gene duplications encompassing UBE3A and several other genes in the 15q11–q13 region, were observed in the course of these analyses. Strong support was likewise observed for previously unreported genes such as BZRAP1, an adaptor molecule known to regulate synaptic transmission, with eDels or eDups observed in twelve unrelated cases but no controls (p = 2.3×10−5). Less is known about MDGA2, likewise observed to be case-specific (p = 1.3×10−4). But, it is notable that the encoded protein shows an unexpectedly high similarity to Contactin 4 (BLAST E-value = 3×10−39), which has also been linked to disease. That hundreds of distinct rare variants were each seen only once further highlights complexity in the ASDs and points to the continued need for larger cohorts

SARS-CoV-2 infection in dogs and cats is associated with contact to COVID-19 positive household members

Several domestic and wild animal species are susceptible to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Reported (sero)prevalence in dogs and cats vary largely depending on the target population, test characteristics, geographical location and time period. This research assessed the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2-positive cats and dogs (PCR- and/or antibody positive) in two different populations. Dogs and cats living in a household with at least one confirmed COVID-19-positive person (household (HH) study; 156 dogs and 152 cats) and dogs and cats visiting a veterinary clinic (VC) (VC study; 183 dogs and 140 cats) were sampled and tested for presence of virus (PCR) and antibodies. Potential risk factors were evaluated and follow-up of PCR-positive animals was performed to determine the duration of virus shedding and to detect potential transmission between pets in the same HH. In the HH study, 18.8% (27 dogs, 31 cats) tested SARS-CoV-2 positive (PCR- and/or antibody positive), whereas in the VC study, SARS-CoV-2 prevalence was much lower (4.6%; six dogs, nine cats). SARS-CoV-2 prevalence amongst dogs and cats was significantly higher in the multi-person HHs with two or more COVID-19-positive persons compared with multi-person HHs with only one COVID-19-positive person. In both study populations, no associations could be identified between SARS-CoV-2 status of the animal and health status, age or sex. During follow-up of PCR-positive animals, no transmission to other pets in the HH was observed despite long-lasting virus shedding in cats (up to 35 days). SARS-CoV-2 infection in dogs and cats appeared to be clearly associated with reported COVID-19-positive status of the HH. Our study supports previous findings and suggests a very low risk of pet-to-human transmission within HHs, no severe clinical signs in pets and a negligible pet-to-pet transmission between HHs