Publications by authors named "A Broadbent"
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the best-performing modelling groups were not always the best-resourced. This paper seeks to understand and learn from notable predictions in two reports by the UK's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). In July 2021, SAGE reported that, after the upcoming lifting of restrictions ("Freedom Day") cases would "almost certainly remain extremely high for the rest of the summer" and that hospitalisations per day would peak between 100 and 10,000.
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- Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a significant immunosuppressive pathogen affecting chickens, and a study analyzed samples from 16 British broiler farms to monitor its prevalence.
- Samples from 20 IBDV-positive bursae were sequenced, revealing no very virulent strains, but identifying various reassortant strains and classical virulent strains among the samples.
- The majority of the farms (81%) had genogroup A3B1 reassortant strains, with some showing mutations associated with a specific Western European clade, indicating diversity and co-existence of different viral strains within the same farms.
Science is humanity's best insurance against threats from nature, but it is a fragile enterprise that must be nourished and protected. The preponderance of scientific evidence indicates a natural origin for SARS-CoV-2. Yet, the theory that SARS-CoV-2 was engineered in and escaped from a lab dominates media attention, even in the absence of strong evidence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Emergency department (ED) clinicians are more frequently providing care, including end-of-life care, to older people.
Objectives: To estimate the need for ED end-of-life care for people aged ≥65 years, describe characteristics of those dying within 48 hours of ED presentation and compare those dying in ED with those dying elsewhere.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study analysing data from 177 hospitals in Australia and New Zealand.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how climate change factors, specifically reduced snow cover and shrub expansion, affect nutrient cycling in alpine grasslands, which are experiencing warming at twice the global average.
- The combination of these factors significantly disrupts the seasonal coupling of plant and soil microbial nitrogen cycling, leading to substantial decreases in plant nitrogen uptake and soil microbial biomass during critical seasonal periods.
- Overall, these disruptions hinder the ability of alpine ecosystems to retain nitrogen and maintain plant productivity, raising concerns for their resilience under ongoing climate change.