The continuing spread of African swine fever (ASF) outside Africa in Europe, the Russian Federation, China and most recently to Mongolia and Vietnam, has heightened awareness of the threat posed by ...this devastating disease to the global pig industry and food security. In this review we summarise what we know about the African swine fever virus (ASFV), the disease it causes, how it spreads and the current global situation. We discuss current control methods in domestic and wild pigs and prospects for development of vaccines and other tools for control.
•We describe the history of the spread of African swine fever virus in domestic and wild swine.•The mechanisms by which the virus spreads in different epidemiological scenarios.•The pathogenesis of different virus isolates.•Current methods used to control ASF and progress towards development of vaccines and other control strategies.•Future research priorities.
Phenolic compounds are well-known phytochemicals found in all plants. They consist of simple phenols, benzoic and cinnamic acid, coumarins, tannins, lignins, lignans and flavonoids. Substantial ...developments in research focused on the extraction, identification and quantification of phenolic compounds as medicinal and/or dietary molecules have occurred over the last 25 years. Organic solvent extraction is the main method used to extract phenolics. Chemical procedures are used to detect the presence of total phenolics, while spectrophotometric and chromatographic techniques are utilized to identify and quantify individual phenolic compounds. This review addresses the application of different methodologies utilized in the analysis of phenolic compounds in plant-based products, including recent technical developments in the quantification of phenolics.
The success of a government's COVID-19 control strategy relies on public trust and broad acceptance of response measures. We investigated public perceptions of the UK government's COVID-19 response, ...focusing on the relationship between trust and perceived transparency, during the first wave (April 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
Anonymous survey data were collected (2020-04-06 to 2020-04-22) from 9,322 respondents, aged 20+ using an online questionnaire shared primarily through Facebook. We took an embedded-mixed-methods approach to data analysis. Missing data were imputed via multiple imputation. Binomial & multinomial logistic regression were used to detect associations between demographic characteristics and perceptions or opinions of the UK government's response to COVID-19. Structural topic modelling (STM), qualitative thematic coding of sub-sets of responses were then used to perform a thematic analysis of topics that were of interest to key demographic groups.
Most respondents (95.1%) supported government enforcement of behaviour change. While 52.1% of respondents thought the government was making good decisions, differences were apparent across demographic groups, for example respondents from Scotland had lower odds of responding positively than respondents in London. Higher educational levels saw decreasing odds of having a positive opinion of the government response and decreasing household income associated with decreasing positive opinion. Of respondents who thought the government was not making good decisions 60% believed the economy was being prioritised over people and their health. Positive views on government decision-making were associated with positive views on government transparency about the COVID-19 response. Qualitative analysis about perceptions of government transparency highlighted five key themes: (1) the justification of opacity due to the condition of crisis, (2) generalised mistrust of politics, (3) concerns about the role of scientific evidence, (4) quality of government communication and (5) questions about political decision-making processes.
Our study suggests that trust is not homogenous across communities, and that generalised mistrust, concerns about the transparent use and communication of evidence and insights into decision-making processes can affect perceptions of the government's pandemic response. We recommend targeted community engagement, tailored to the experiences of different groups and a new focus on accountability and openness around how decisions are made in the response to the UK COVID-19 pandemic.
Abstract
Background
Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA) is now the accepted gold standard for caring for frail older people in hospital. However, there is uncertainty about identifying and ...targeting suitable recipients and which patients benefit the most.
Objectives
our objectives were to describe the key elements, principal measures of outcome and the characteristics of the main beneficiaries of inpatient CGA.
Methods
we used the Joanna Briggs Institute umbrella review method. We searched for systematic reviews and meta-analyses describing CGA services for hospital inpatients in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Database of Reviews of Effectiveness (DARE), MEDLINE and EMBASE and a range of other sources.
Results
we screened 1,010 titles and evaluated 419 abstracts for eligibility, 143 full articles for relevance and included 24 in a final quality and relevance check. Thirteen reviews, reported in 15 papers, were selected for review. The most widely used definition of CGA was: ‘a multidimensional, multidisciplinary process which identifies medical, social and functional needs, and the development of an integrated/co-ordinated care plan to meet those needs’. Key clinical outcomes included mortality, activities of daily living and dependency. The main beneficiaries were people ≥55 years in receipt of acute care. Frailty in CGA recipients and patient related outcomes were not usually reported.
Conclusions
we confirm a widely used definition of CGA. Key outcomes are death, disability and institutionalisation. The main beneficiaries in hospital are older people with acute illness. The presence of frailty has not been widely examined as a determinant of CGA outcome.
A coupled system of wind, wind wave, and coastal circulation models has been implemented for southern Louisiana and Mississippi to simulate riverine flows, tides, wind waves, and hurricane storm ...surge in the region. The system combines the NOAA Hurricane Research Division Wind Analysis System (H*WIND) and the Interactive Objective Kinematic Analysis (IOKA) kinematic wind analyses, the Wave Model (WAM) offshore and Steady-State Irregular Wave (STWAVE) nearshore wind wave models, and the Advanced Circulation (ADCIRC) basin to channel-scale unstructured grid circulation model. The system emphasizes a high-resolution (down to 50 m) representation of the geometry, bathymetry, and topography; nonlinear coupling of all processes including wind wave radiation stress-induced set up; and objective specification of frictional parameters based on land-cover databases and commonly used parameters. Riverine flows and tides are validated for no storm conditions, while winds, wind waves, hydrographs, and high water marks are validated for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Scarce data are available on what variables affect the risk of transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the development of symptomatic COVID-19, and, ...particularly, the relationship with viral load. We aimed to analyse data from linked index cases of COVID-19 and their contacts to explore factors associated with transmission of SARS-CoV-2.
In this cohort study, patients were recruited as part of a randomised controlled trial done between March 17 and April 28, 2020, that aimed to assess if hydroxychloroquine reduced transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Patients with COVID-19 and their contacts were identified by use of the electronic registry of the Epidemiological Surveillance Emergency Service of Catalonia (Spain). Patients with COVID-19 included in our analysis were aged 18 years or older, not hospitalised, had quantitative PCR results available at baseline, had mild symptom onset within 5 days before enrolment, and had no reported symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infections in their accommodation or workplace within the 14 days before enrolment. Contacts included were adults with a recent history of exposure and absence of COVID-19-like symptoms within the 7 days preceding enrolment. Viral load of contacts, measured by quantitative PCR from a nasopharyngeal swab, was assessed at enrolment, at day 14, and whenever the participant reported COVID-19-like symptoms. We assessed risk of transmission and developing symptomatic disease and incubation dynamics using regression analysis. We assessed the relationship of viral load and characteristics of cases (age, sex, number of days from reported symptom onset, and presence or absence of fever, cough, dyspnoea, rhinitis, and anosmia) and associations between risk of transmission and characteristics of the index case and contacts.
We identified 314 patients with COVID-19, with 282 (90%) having at least one contact (753 contacts in total), resulting in 282 clusters. 90 (32%) of 282 clusters had at least one transmission event. The secondary attack rate was 17% (125 of 753 contacts), with a variation from 12% when the index case had a viral load lower than 1 × 106 copies per mL to 24% when the index case had a viral load of 1 × 1010 copies per mL or higher (adjusted odds ratio per log10 increase in viral load 1·3, 95% CI 1·1–1·5). Increased risk of transmission was also associated with household contact (3·0, 1·59–5·65) and age of the contact (per year: 1·02, 1·01–1·04). 449 contacts had a positive PCR result at baseline. 28 (6%) of 449 contacts had symptoms at the first visit. Of 421 contacts who were asymptomatic at the first visit, 181 (43%) developed symptomatic COVID-19, with a variation from approximately 38% in contacts with an initial viral load lower than 1 × 107 copies per mL to greater than 66% for those with an initial viral load of 1 × 1010 copies per mL or higher (hazard ratio per log10 increase in viral load 1·12, 95% CI 1·05–1·20; p=0·0006). Time to onset of symptomatic disease decreased from a median of 7 days (IQR 5–10) for individuals with an initial viral load lower than 1 × 107 copies per mL to 6 days (4–8) for those with an initial viral load between 1 × 107 and 1 × 109 copies per mL, and 5 days (3–8) for those with an initial viral load higher than 1 × 109 copies per mL.
In our study, the viral load of index cases was a leading driver of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. The risk of symptomatic COVID-19 was strongly associated with the viral load of contacts at baseline and shortened the incubation time of COVID-19 in a dose-dependent manner.
YoMeCorono, Generalitat de Catalunya.
For the Catalan translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.
Susceptibility of plants to abiotic stresses, including extreme temperatures, salinity and drought, poses an increasing threat to crop productivity worldwide. Here the drought-induced response of ...maize was modulated by applications of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) and salicylic acid (SA) to seeds prior to sowing and to leaves prior to stress treatment. Pot experiments were conducted to ascertain the effects of exogenous applications of these hormones on maize growth, physiology and biochemistry under drought stress and well-watered (control) conditions. Maize plants were subjected to single as well as combined pre-treatments of MeJA and SA. Drought stress severely affected maize morphology and reduced relative water content, above and below-ground biomass, rates of photosynthesis, and protein content. The prolonged water deficit also led to increased relative membrane permeability and oxidative stress induced by the production of malondialdehyde (from lipid peroxidation), lipoxygenase activity (LOX) and the production of H2O2. The single applications of MeJA and SA were not found to be effective in maize for drought tolerance while the combined pre-treatments with exogenous MeJA+SA mitigated the adverse effects of drought-induced oxidative stress, as reflected in lower levels of lipid peroxidation, LOX activity and H2O2. The same pre-treatment also maintained adequate water status of the plants under drought stress by increasing osmolytes including proline, total carbohydrate content and total soluble sugars. Furthermore, exogenous applications of MeJA+SA approximately doubled the activities of the antioxidant enzymes catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase. Pre-treatment with MeJA alone gave the highest increase in drought-induced production of endogenous abscisic acid (ABA). Pre-treatment with MeJA+SA partially prevented drought-induced oxidative stress by modulating levels of osmolytes and endogenous ABA, as well as the activities of antioxidant enzymes. Taken together, the results show that seed and foliar pre-treatments with exogenous MeJA and/or SA can have positive effects on the responses of maize seedlings to drought.
Frail older adults are heavy users of health and social care. In order to reduce the costs associated with frailty in older age groups, safe and cost-effective strategies are required that will ...reduce the incidence and severity of frailty.
We investigated whether self-reported intensity of physical activity (sedentary, mild, moderate or vigorous) performed at least once a week can significantly reduce trajectories of frailty in older adults who are classified as non-frail at baseline (Rockwood's Frailty Index FI ≤ 0.25).
Multi-level growth curve modelling was used to assess trajectories of frailty in 8649 non-frail adults aged 50 and over and according to baseline self-reported intensity of physical activity. Frailty was measured in five-year age cohorts based on age at baseline (50-54; 55-59; 60-64; 65-69; 70-74; 75-79; 80+) on up to 6 occasions, providing an average of 10 years of follow-up. All models were adjusted for baseline sex, education, wealth, cohabitation, smoking, and alcohol consumption.
Compared with the sedentary reference group, mild physical activity was insufficient to significantly slow the progression of frailty, moderate physical activity reduced the progression of frailty in some age groups (particularly ages 65 and above) and vigorous activity significantly reduced the trajectory of frailty progression in all older adults.
Healthy non-frail older adults require higher intensities of physical activity for continued improvement in frailty trajectories.
ABSTRACT
The BRITICE‐CHRONO Project has generated a suite of recently published radiocarbon ages from deglacial sequences offshore in the Celtic and Irish seas and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide and ...optically stimulated luminescence ages from adjacent onshore sites. All published data are integrated here with new geochronological data from Wales in a revised Bayesian analysis that enables reconstruction of ice retreat dynamics across the basin. Patterns and changes in the pace of deglaciation are conditioned more by topographic constraints and internal ice dynamics than by external controls. The data indicate a major but rapid and very short‐lived extensive thin ice advance of the Irish Sea Ice Stream (ISIS) more than 300 km south of St George's Channel to a marine calving margin at the shelf break at 25.5 ka; this may have been preceded by extensive ice accumulation plugging the constriction of St George's Channel. The release event between 25 and 26 ka is interpreted to have stimulated fast ice streaming and diverted ice to the west in the northern Irish Sea into the main axis of the marine ISIS away from terrestrial ice terminating in the English Midlands, a process initiating ice stagnation and the formation of an extensive dead ice landscape in the Midlands.
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