Klein G, Dabney A (2013) The Cartoon Introduction to Statistics. New York: Hill and Wang. 240 pp. ISBN 978-0809033591 (paperback).

<p>Klein G, Dabney A (2013) The Cartoon Introduction to Statistics. New York: Hill and Wang. 240 pp. ISBN 978-0809033591 (paperback).</p

Going viral: A science communication collaboration in the era of COVID-19 and social media

On 9 March 2020, 2 days before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, two of the authors (microbiologist and infectious diseases expert Associate Professor Siouxsie Wiles and cartoonist Toby Morris) released their first output together: an animated GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) known as “Flatten the Curve”. The graphic went viral on Twitter with over 10 million impressions in 3 days. Flatten the Curve was the first of more than 70 graphics produced by our collaboration, all designed as accessible visual communication about COVID-19. The graphics, all released under a Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-4.0 license, have been translated into multiple languages, used by communities, politicians, and public health officials around the world, and the collaborators have won multiple awards for their work

Relationship of bioluminescent signal to <i>S. pyogenes</i> colony counts.

<div><p>Dorsal and ventral luminescence measurements obtained <i>in </i><i>vivo</i> during a three day intranasal infection were compared to bacterial numbers obtained on dissection at one, two and three days post infection. (A, Linear Regression, r²&gt; 0.95, n=54 from three separate experiments performed on different weeks). The nasopharynx was imaged, following dissection, to demonstrate anatomical localisation of the BPI <a href="http://signal.to" target="_blank">signal.to</a> the posterior turbinates (B). </p> <p>Bioluminescence of dissected nasal tissue (C) and NALT (D) was plotted against actual <i>S. pyogenes</i> burden obtained from these tissues following dissection and culture. Bioluminescent signal from dissected NALT was plotted against the numbers of <i>S. pyogenes</i> within nasal tissue and NALT (n=18 each group. Linear Regression, r² &gt;0.95 for nasal tissues and, r² &lt;0.95 for NALT). Data points shown for individual mice.</p></div

Bioluminescence confers <i>in</i><i>vivo</i> competitive growth defects.

<p>Mice were infected intranasally using mixed inoculation paired combinations of H347::lux, H347, and H347::0 as shown. Mice were culled either at day 1 or day 3 post inoculation and the relative abundance of each strain was assessed through replica plating onto selective media (A, n=4 per group). These results were used to calculate competitive indices between each mutant strain and the isogenic parent strain H347 (B, Repeated measures Two way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction * <i>p</i>&lt; 0.05). Error bars indicate median and interquartile range. </p

Characterization of bioluminescent strains <i>in</i><i>vitro</i>.

<div><p>Serial dilutions of bioluminescent strains transformed with either plasmid (H347pTHLK) or integrated construct (H347::lux) were imaged in a 96 well plate (n= 3 separate cultures, Linear regression, r²&gt;0.95, * <i>p</i> &lt;0.05) using an IVIS 100 system (Perkin Elmer) to relate luminescence to bacterial abundance. Bacteria were quantified after plating onto agar (A). </p> <p>H347pTHLK (B) and H347::lux (C) were serially passaged <i>in </i><i>vitro</i> without antibiotic over 7 days; Samples of each culture were plated onto kanamycin solid medium or onto non-antibiotic media and demonstrated a failure of H347pTHLK to grow when cultured on antibiotic containing agar after 72h, consistent with loss of the plasmid. n=3 separate cultures, Repeated measures Two way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction, * <i>p</i> &lt;0.05). Error Bars indicate median and range.</p></div

Imaging of <i>S. pyogenes</i> with a stably integrated lux operon over a time course.

<p>Mice (n=6) intranasally inoculated with <i>S. pyogenes</i> (H347::lux) were imaged over five days (A, three representative mice shown for each time point) to demonstrate anatomical localisation. Total flux from the nasopharynx was measured daily alongside longitudinal measurement of <i>S. pyogenes</i> nasal shedding (B, n=6). </p

Transmission of <i>S.</i><i>pyogenes</i> is hampered by loss of <i>covR/S</i> regulation.

<p>Naïve five week old female FVB/n recipients co-mingled at a D:R ratio of 3∶5 with female FVB/n mice infected with either the <i>emm</i>75 wild type strain or it’s isogenic Δ<i>covR/S</i> strain (5 ×10⁸cfu per dose) and sampled after the introduction of the donor mice. Donor mice had &gt;5000 cfu recovered from direct nasal sampling throughout the experiment. The Δ<i>covR/S</i> strain transmitted significantly less well to recipients compared to the wild type strain (A, n = 15 recipients per group, AUC analysis, followed by Mann-Whitney U test). Line indicates median, error bars indicate interquartile range. Settle plates exposed to the air in the cages revealed no significant differences in the bacteria deposited on the surface of the plates by mice infected with the strain, or the Δ<i>covR/S</i> strain (B, n = 4 plates per cage, AUC analysis followed by Mann-Whitney U test <i>p</i>&gt;0.05) Data is shown for individual animals with medians indicated by black line.</p

Duration of shedding of different strains of <i>S. pyogenes</i> (7×10⁸ cfu per 5 µl dose) in 8 week old male BALB/c mice after intranasal infection.

<p>Duration of shedding of different strains of <i>S. pyogenes</i> (7×10⁸ cfu per 5 µl dose) in 8 week old male BALB/c mice after intranasal infection.</p

Sex differences in <i>S</i>.

<p><b><i>pyogenes</i></b><b> nasopharyngeal carriage and shedding intensity in 10 week old mice.</b><b> </b> Male and female FVB/n 10 weeks (A, <i>p</i>&lt;0.05 Mantel–Cox Logrank test, n = 10) of age were infected intranasally with <i>emm75 S. pyogenes</i> (1.1×10⁸cfu) and sampled non-invasively through direct nasal sampling over 21 days. Male mice carried <i>S. pyogenes</i> for significantly longer than the female mice in this age group. Shedding intensity maps display the data from direct nasal samples throughout the time course from the male mice (B) and the female mice (C). Rows indicate individual mice throughout the time course, colours indicate the numbers of <i>S. pyogenes</i> recovered from direct nasal samples with red indicating the highest recorded levels of carriage (≥5000 cfu) and green indicates the lowest levels of carriage (1 cfu) and blank blocks indicate no recovery of <i>S. pyogenes</i>. Black line indicates survival based on the first loss of carriage.</p

Correlation between <i>S.</i> pyogenes recovered from nasal shedding and from nasopharyngeal dissection.

<p>Data are pooled from direct nasal samples taken on days 3, 7, and 14 from five week old female FVB/n mice during intranasal infection with <i>emm75 S. pyogenes</i> (1.3×10⁸ cfu) were compared to bacterial numbers obtained on dissection on the same days. (r²&gt;0.95, n = 36). Data shown from individual mice.</p