Background. Infants with pertussis infection are at risk of severe clinical illness and death. Several countries, including the United Kingdom, have introduced maternal pertussis vaccination during ...pregnancy to protect infants from infection following national increases in pertussis notifications. The objective of this study was to estimate the effectiveness of maternal pertussis vaccination in protecting infants against laboratory-confirmed pertussis infection. Methods. A case-control study was undertaken in England and Wales between October 2012 and July 2013. Cases were infants aged <8 weeks at onset with pertussis infection tested by real-time polymerase chain reaction or culture. Family doctors of each case were asked to identify healthy infants born consecutively after the case in each practice, to act as controls. Fifty-eight cases and 55 controls were included in this study. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated for the association between maternal vaccination and infant pertussis infection. The vaccine effectiveness (VE) was calculated as 1 – OR. This was adjusted for sex, geographical region, and birth period. Results. Mothers of 10 cases (17%) and 39 controls (71%) received pertussis vaccine in pregnancy. This gave an unadjusted VE of 91% (95% confidence interval CI, 77%–97%). Adjusted VE was 93% (95% CI, 81%–97%). Conclusions. Maternal pertussis vaccination is effective in preventing pertussis infection in infants aged <8 weeks and may be considered in other countries experiencing high levels of pertussis notifications.
Hyalella azteca are epibenthic amphipods that have developed resistance to pyrethroid and organophosphate insecticides due to single amino acid substitutions in the voltage-gated sodium channel and ...the acetylcholinesterase-1 gene, respectively. Aquatic systems are often contaminated with several different types of insecticides, therefore there is a possibility that H. azteca have also developed resistance to other classes of insecticides. The aims of the current study were to verify that pyrethroid- and organophosphate-resistant H. azteca have retained their resistance after being cultured in the absence of selective pressure for 5 years (Escondido Creek population) and 9 years (Mosher Slough population), to determine if these populations have cross-resistance to carbaryl (carbamate) and 4,4′-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT; organochlorine), and determine whether previous field exposure to fipronil (phenylpyrazole) and imidacloprid (neonicotinoid) caused resistance in cultured pyrethroid- and organophosphate-resistant H. azteca populations. Escondido Creek and Mosher Slough H. azteca populations both maintained high tolerances for bifenthrin due to L925I and I936F amino acid substitutions. Resistance was also found for chlorpyrifos in the Escondido Creek and Mosher Slough populations with lower genotype frequencies of the G119S substitution, indicating that additional factors may be responsible for organophosphate resistance in this study. Mosher Slough H. azteca were moderately resistant to DDT, and Escondido Creek and Mosher Slough H. azteca were moderately resistant to carbaryl, suggesting cross-resistance. No differences were observed in acute toxicity values across the three populations of H. azteca for fipronil and imidacloprid, and this is possibly due to the lack of exposure to toxic concentrations of these insecticides in the field and lack of similar modes of action to pyrethroids and organophosphates. Resistance is known to be associated with fitness costs that can place insecticide-resistant populations at risk for decline through decreased survival and reduced fecundity.
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•The over usage of pesticides has resulted in the development of resistance in H. azteca.•Resistance to bifenthrin is due to the L925I and I936F amino acid substitutions.•Pesticide-resistant H. azteca are capable of developing cross-resistance to other pesticides.•No resistance was observed for pesticide-resistant H. azteca for fipronil and imidacloprid.•Development of insecticide resistance can have unwanted fitness costs.
Vertebrates have some of the most complex and diverse features in animals, from varied craniofacial morphologies to colorful pigmentation patterns and elaborate social behaviors. All of these traits ...have their developmental origins in a multipotent embryonic lineage of neural crest cells. This “fourth germ layer” is a vertebrate innovation and the source of a wide range of adult cell types. While others have discussed the role of neural crest cells in human disease and animal domestication, less is known about their role in contributing to adaptive changes in wild populations. Here, we review how variation in the development of neural crest cells and their derivatives generates considerable phenotypic diversity in nature. We focus on the broad span of traits under natural and sexual selection whose variation may originate in the neural crest, with emphasis on behavioral factors such as intraspecies communication that are often overlooked. In all, we encourage the integration of evolutionary ecology with developmental biology and molecular genetics to gain a more complete understanding of the role of this single cell type in trait covariation, evolutionary trajectories, and vertebrate diversity.
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•Neural crest cells are unique to vertebrates and give rise to diverse cell types.•Neural crest changes produce variation in facial bones, pigmentation, and behavior.•Natural and sexual selection drive microevolution in neural crest derived traits.•A trait-based approach highlights how many adaptations originate in neural crest.•The role of neural crest in behavioral microevolution requires further exploration.
Much of Northern Ireland remains divided as it continues to transition from a prolonged ethno-national struggle during a period of violence known as "the Troubles" (1969-1998). This conflict resulted ...in the loss of thousands of lives, residential segregation and the construction of "peace walls" that separate the two ethno-national communities (i.e. "Catholic"/republican and "Protestant"/loyalist) in parts of many of its cities and towns. Residential segregation and violent national projects in cities such as Belfast not only reflect wider regional national tensions; they often are the foundation from which the ethno-national conflicts first emerged and continue to persist and reinforce the non-inclusionary fissures between two communities. Exclusionary national ideologies, narratives and practices, manifested through parading, sectarian political murals and residential segregation demonstrate how many embody a restrictive vision of national identity. However, there are a few notable exceptions to these discriminatory practices - one of which is the subject of this paper. 174 Trust is a community centre in the divided northwest side of Belfast that is designed and dedicated to providing an inclusive, safe and "shared" place to foster a new form of civic nationalism. Through an analysis of their contemporary efforts to transform exclusionary historical expressions of nationalism by fostering a shared civic nationalism, this paper interrogates nationalism by focusing on a significant grassroots effort that may be overlooked in general investigations. As I suggest, the lessons offered by this community centre exemplify the potential of a micro-political approach and serve as a powerful model for future development within this and other divided communities.
Abstract The chemokine receptor CCR7 and its ligands CCL19 and CCL21 control a diverse array of migratory events in adaptive immune function. Most prominently, CCR7 promotes homing of T cells and DCs ...to T cell areas of lymphoid tissues where T cell priming occurs. However, CCR7 and its ligands also contribute to a multitude of adaptive immune functions including thymocyte development, secondary lymphoid organogenesis, high affinity antibody responses, regulatory and memory T cell function, and lymphocyte egress from tissues. In this survey, we summarise the role of CCR7 in adaptive immunity and describe recent progress in understanding how this axis is regulated. In particular we highlight CCX-CKR, which scavenges both CCR7 ligands, and discuss its emerging significance in the immune system.
B cells undergo rapid cell division and affinity maturation in anatomically distinct sites in lymphoid organs called germinal centers (GCs). Homeostasis is maintained in part by B cell apoptosis. ...However, the precise contribution of apoptosis to GC biology and selection is not well defined. We developed apoptosis-indicator mice and used them to visualize, purify, and characterize dying GC B cells. Apoptosis is prevalent in the GC, with up to half of all GC B cells dying every 6 hours. Moreover, programmed cell death is differentially regulated in the light zone and the dark zone: Light-zone B cells die by default if they are not positively selected, whereas dark-zone cells die when their antigen receptors are damaged by activation-induced cytidine deaminase.
Interventions can have harmful effects among subgroups they intend to help. The Moving To Opportunity experiment, in which families were randomized to receive a Section 8 housing voucher, was one ...example. Voucher receipt generally resulted in better long-term mental health and lower substance use and risk behavior outcomes among adolescent girls, but resulted in worse outcomes among adolescent boys. Reasons for this discrepancy and the unintended harmful health effects for boys are unclear. We used mediation analysis to estimate processes through which voucher receipt was hypothesized to affect adolescent mental health and substance use.
We used longitudinal data (10-15 years) on boys enrolled in Moving To Opportunity. We estimated interventional (also known as stochastic) indirect effects of voucher receipt on mental health and substance use outcomes through mediators capturing aspects of the school environment, neighborhood poverty, and instability of the social environment. We also estimated interventional direct effects not operating through these mediators. We used a robust, efficient, nonparametric substitution estimator in the targeted minimum loss-based framework.
Housing voucher receipt increased long-term risk of any diagnostic statistical manual disorder, any mood disorder, any externalizing disorder, and cigarette smoking among boys. The majority (between 69% and 90%) of the total negative long-term effects could be explained by indirect effects through the mediators considered.
This evidence suggests that, even though the intervention had the desired effects on neighborhood poverty and the school environment, these "positives" ultimately negatively impacted the long-term mental health and behaviors of boys.
Dating violence (DV) and sexual violence (SV) are widespread problems among adolescents and emerging adults. A growing body of literature demonstrates that exposure to sexually explicit media (SEM) ...and sexually violent media (SVM) may be risk factors for DV and SV. The purpose of this article is to provide a systematic and comprehensive literature review on the impact of exposure to SEM and SVM on DV and SV attitudes and behaviors. A total of 43 studies utilizing adolescent and emerging adult samples were reviewed, and collectively the findings suggest that (1) exposure to SEM and SVM is positively related to DV and SV myths and more accepting attitudes toward DV and SV; (2) exposure to SEM and SVM is positively related to actual and anticipated DV and SV victimization, perpetration, and bystander nonintervention; (3) SEM and SVM more strongly impact men’s DV and SV attitudes and behaviors than women’s DV and SV attitudes and behaviors; and (4) preexisting attitudes related to DV and SV and media preferences moderate the relationship between SEM and SVM exposure and DV and SV attitudes and behaviors. Future studies should strive to employ longitudinal and experimental designs, more closely examine the mediators and moderators of SEM and SVM exposure on DV and SV outcomes, focus on the impacts of SEM and SVM that extend beyond men’s use of violence against women, and examine the extent to which media literacy programs could be used independently or in conjunction with existing DV and SV prevention programs to enhance effectiveness of these programming efforts.
Abstract
Firearm violence may indirectly affect health among pregnant women living in neighborhoods where it is endemic. We used birth, death, emergency department, and hospitalization data from ...California from 2007–2011 to estimate the association between living in a neighborhood with high firearm violence and preterm delivery, and assessed whether there was mediation by diagnoses of pregnancy complications and health behaviors during pregnancy. We used an ensemble machine learning algorithm to predict the propensity for neighborhoods to be classified as having a high level of firearm violence. Risk differences for the total effect and stochastic direct and indirect effects were estimated using targeted maximum likelihood. Residence in high-violence neighborhoods was associated with higher prevalence of preterm birth (risk difference (RD) = 0.46, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.13, 0.80), infections (RD = 1.34, 95% CI: −0.17, 2.86), asthma (RD = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.03, 1.48), and substance use (RD = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.00, 1.47). The largest indirect effects for the association between violence and preterm birth were observed for infection (stochastic indirect effect = 0.04, 95% CI: 0.00, 0.08) and substance use (stochastic indirect effect = 0.04, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.06). Firearm violence was associated with risk of preterm delivery, and this association was partially mediated by infection and substance use.
We present 3–50 keV NuSTAR observations of the active galactic nuclei Mrk 335 in a very low flux state. The spectrum is dominated by very strong features at the energies of the iron line at 5–7 keV ...and Compton hump from 10–30 keV. The source is variable during the observation, with the variability concentrated at low energies, which suggesting either a relativistic reflection or a variable absorption scenario. In this work, we focus on the reflection interpretation, making use of new relativistic reflection models that self consistently calculate the reflection fraction, relativistic blurring and angle-dependent reflection spectrum for different coronal heights to model the spectra. We find that the spectra can be well fitted with relativistic reflection, and that the lowest flux state spectrum is described by reflection alone, suggesting the effects of extreme light-bending occurring within ∼2 gravitational radii (R
G) of the event horizon. The reflection fraction decreases sharply with increasing flux, consistent with a point source moving up to above 10 R
G as the source brightens. We constrain the spin parameter to greater than 0.9 at the 3σ confidence level. By adding a spin-dependent upper limit on the reflection fraction to our models, we demonstrate that this can be a powerful way of constraining the spin parameter, particularly in reflection dominated states. We also calculate a detailed emissivity profile for the iron line, and find that it closely matches theoretical predictions for a compact source within a few R
G of the black hole.
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