The evolution of transmission mode.

This article reviews research on the evolutionary mechanisms leading to different transmission modes. Such modes are often under genetic control of the host or the pathogen, and often in conflict with each other via trade-offs. Transmission modes may vary among pathogen strains and among host populations.

Lesser snow goose helminths show recurring and positive parasite infection-diversity relations.

The patterns and mechanisms by which biological diversity is associated with parasite infection risk are important to study because of their potential implications for wildlife population's conservation and management. Almost all research in this area has focused on host species diversity and has neglected parasite diversity, despite evidence that parasites are important drivers of community structure and ecosystem processes. Here, we assessed whether presence or abundance of each of nine helminth species parasitizing lesser snow geese () was associated with indices of parasite diversity (i.

A network approach to modeling comorbid internalizing and alcohol use disorders.

Internalizing disorders co-occur with alcohol use disorder (AUD) at a rate that exceeds chance and compromise conventional AUD treatment. The "vicious cycle" model of comorbidity specifies drinking to cope (DTC) as a link between these disorders that, when not directly addressed, undermines the effectiveness of conventional treatments. Interventions based on this model have proven successful but there is no direct evidence for how and to what extent DTC contributes to the maintenance of comorbidity.

Antidepressant prescribing in the precision medicine era: a prescriber's primer on pharmacogenetic tools.

About half of people who take antidepressants do not respond and many experience adverse effects. These detrimental outcomes are in part a result of the impact of an individual's genetic profile on pharmacokinetics and pharmcodynamics. If known and made available to clinicians, this could improve decision-making and antidepressant therapy outcomes.

Impact of patient-held record on knowledge at 1-year follow-up for glaucoma patients: single-center randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: To assess whether provision of a personalized patient-held eye health summary (glaucoma personal record) improves patients' knowledge of glaucoma at 1-year follow-up. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has recommended such an approach to ascertain if this may ultimately help slow disease progression.

Methods: Recruited patients, newly diagnosed with glaucoma conditions, were randomly allocated to receive standard clinical care or an additional glaucoma personal record, detailing the current state of each individual's eye condition.

Explaining parasite aggregation: more than one parasite species at a time.

Studies generally have neglected parasite-centric views in explorations of whether the oft-seen patterns of parasite aggregation are adaptive. Using simulation models, we explored the effects of aggregation on coinfection with hetero- or conspecific parasite species characterised by different mean abundances. Increasing aggregation increased the probability of conspecific co-occurrence for parasites with low mean abundances, and increased median numbers of conspecifics for all species.

Developing junior doctors' prescribing practices through collaborative practice: Sustaining and transforming the practice of communities.

Prescribing in acute healthcare settings is a complex interprofessional process with a high incidence of medication errors. Opportunities exist to improve prescribing learning through collaborative practice. This qualitative interview-based study aimed to investigate the development of junior doctors' prescribing capacity and how pharmacists contribute interprofessionally to this development and the prescribing practices of a medical community.

A Place for Sexual Dysfunctions in an Empirical Taxonomy of Psychopathology.

Sexual dysfunctions commonly co-occur with various depressive and anxiety disorders. An emerging framework for understanding the classification of mental disorders suggests that such comorbidity is a manifestation of underlying dimensions of psychopathology (or "spectra"). In this review, we synthesize the evidence that sexual dysfunctions should be included in the empirical taxonomy of psychopathology as part of the internalizing spectrum, which accounts for comorbidity among the depressive and anxiety disorders.

Conduct Disorder and Alcohol Use Disorder Trajectories, Predictors, and Outcomes for Indigenous Youth.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify separate and joint trajectories of conduct disorder (CD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) DSM-IV diagnostic symptoms among American Indian and First Nation (Indigenous) youth aged 10 to 18 years, and to characterize baseline profiles and later outcomes associated with joint trajectory group membership.

Method: Data were collected between 2002 and 2010 on three indigenous reservations in the northern Midwest and four Canadian reserves (N = 673). CD and substance use disorder (SUD) were measured using the DSM-IV Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Revised (DISC-R), administered at four time points.

Vortex Pinning and Dynamics in the Neutron Star Crust.

The nature of the interaction between superfluid vortices and the neutron star crust, conjectured by Anderson and Itoh in 1975 to be at the heart vortex creep and the cause of glitches, has been a long-standing question in astrophysics. Using a qualitatively new approach, we follow the dynamics as superfluid vortices move in response to the presence of "nuclei" (nuclear defects in the crust). The resulting motion is perpendicular to the force, similar to the motion of a spinning top when pushed.

Unique Associations between Childhood Temperament Characteristics and Subsequent Psychopathology Symptom Trajectories from Childhood to Early Adolescence.

Existing research suggests that temperamental traits that emerge early in childhood may have utility for early detection and intervention for common mental disorders. The present study examined the unique relationships between the temperament characteristics of reactivity, approach-sociability, and persistence in early childhood and subsequent symptom trajectories of psychopathology (depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; ADHD) from childhood to early adolescence. Data were from the first five waves of the older cohort from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (n = 4983; 51.

Mothers in immigration detention: the most vulnerable and the hardest to reach.

Phoebe Pallotti and Morag Forbes are two experienced midwives who volunteered for a charity that works for the health rights of people in immigration detentions. They both have other experience of this client group and they both hold diplomas in Tropical Midwifery. Over more than three years, Phoebe and Morag have been visiting and calling on pregnant women in immigration detention, most often in the infamous detention centre, Yarl's Wood, in Bedfordshire, where a recent Channel Four documentary was secretly filmed.

Application of 3-Dimensional Computed Tomographic Image Guidance to WATCHMAN Implantation and Impact on Early Operator Learning Curve: Single-Center Experience.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of 3-dimensional (3D) computed tomographic (CT) guided procedural planning for left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusion on the early operator WATCHMAN learning curve.

Background: Traditional WATCHMAN implantation is dependent on 2-dimensional transesophageal echocardiographic (TEE) sizing and intraprocedural guidance.

Methods: LAA occlusion with the WATCHMAN device was performed in 53 patients.

Kinetics and Products from Heterogeneous Oxidation of Squalene with Ozone.

Motivated by the importance of the heterogeneous chemistry of squalene contained within skin oil to indoor air chemistry, the surface reaction of squalene with gas-phase ozone has been investigated. Using direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) to monitor squalene, the reactive uptake coefficients were determined to be (4.3 ± 2.

Sexual Quality of Life and Aging: A Prospective Study of a Nationally Representative Sample.

Unlike other life domains, sexual quality of life (SQoL) has a negative relationship with age. This study disentangled the effect of age in this relationship from confounding sociocultural influences (e.g.

Automated Proposition Density Analysis for Discourse in Aphasia.

Purpose: This study evaluates how proposition density can differentiate between persons with aphasia (PWA) and individuals in a control group, as well as among subtypes of aphasia, on the basis of procedural discourse and personal narratives collected from large samples of participants.

Method: Participants were 195 PWA and 168 individuals in a control group from the AphasiaBank database. PWA represented 6 aphasia types on the basis of the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (Kertesz, 2006).

Injecting epidemiology into population viability analysis: avian cholera transmission dynamics at an arctic seabird colony.

Infectious diseases have the potential to spread rapidly and cause high mortality within populations of immunologically naïve hosts. The recent appearance of avian cholera, a highly virulent disease of birds caused by the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, at remote Arctic seabird colonies is an emerging conservation concern. Determining disease risk to population viability requires a quantitative understanding of transmission potential and the factors that regulate epidemic persistence.

Beyond comorbidity: Toward a dimensional and hierarchical approach to understanding psychopathology across the life span.

We propose a novel developmentally informed framework to push research beyond a focus on comorbidity between discrete diagnostic categories and to move toward research based on the well-validated dimensional and hierarchical structure of psychopathology. For example, a large body of research speaks to the validity and utility of the internalizing and externalizing spectra as organizing constructs for research on common forms of psychopathology. The internalizing and externalizing spectra act as powerful explanatory variables that channel the psychopathological effects of genetic and environmental risk factors, predict adaptive functioning, and account for the likelihood of disorder-level manifestations of psychopathology.

Anti-parasite treatment, but not mercury burdens, influence nesting propensity dependent on arrival time or body condition in a marine bird.

Arctic wildlife can be exposed to high mercury (Hg) levels, and are also naturally exposed to gastrointestinal parasites that can reduce condition and negatively affect reproductive output and/or survival in similar ways. Importantly, both Hg and parasites are increasing in wildlife in some Arctic regions. We studied the northern common eider duck (Somateria mollissima) to explore how Hg in association with both natural levels and experimentally reduced parasitic infections, affect reproduction and survival.

Scoping review of medical assessment units and older people with complex health needs.

Objectives: To explore current knowledge of medical assessment units (MAUs) with specific reference to older people with complex needs and to stimulate new topics and questions for future policy, research and practice.

Methods: A scoping review was conducted using an integrated-latent thematic approach.

Results: This review provides a unique perspective on MAUs and older people which is framed using four themes: efficiency, effectiveness, equity and time.

Implications of mercury and lead concentrations on breeding physiology and phenology in an Arctic bird.

Although physiological traits and phenology are thought to be evolved traits, they often show marked variation within populations, which may be related to extrinsic factors. For example, trace elements such as mercury (Hg) and lead (Pb) alter biochemical processes within wildlife that may affect migration and breeding. While there is a growing understanding of how contaminants may influence wildlife physiology, studies addressing these interactions in free-living species are still limited.

New insight into the photophysics and reactivity of trigonal and tetrahedral arylboron compounds.

The photophysics and reactivity of two tetraphenylborate salts and triphenylborane have been studied using ultrafast transient absorption, steady-state fluorescence, electron paramagnetic resonance with spin trapping, and DFT calculations. The singlet excited state of tetraarylborates exhibit extended π-orbital coupling between two adjacent aryl groups. The maximum fluorescence band, as well as the transient absorption bands centered at 560 nm (τ = 1.

Addressing cost of unwarranted medical care in the medical curriculum.

Within the past decade, there has been a significant increase in Australia's health expenditure, with a concurrent rise in overdiagnosis. Australia has introduced the Choosing Wisely campaign in a bid to identify and reduce commonly used investigations, treatments and procedures that add little benefit to patient care. By catalysing a discussion regarding evidence-based use of medications and medical testing, the Choosing Wisely campaign can minimise risk of harm to patients, as well as reduce expenditure.