Publications by authors named "MacKintosh A"

Article Synopsis
  • Elizabeth Bruno-McClung and her colleagues from the APHA contributed to a focus article on small animals.
  • The article highlights insights and findings from the APHA Small Animal Expert Group and the Bacteriology Department.
  • Authors aim to provide valuable information relevant to small animal health and bacteriology.
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The development of computational models for studying mental disorders is on the rise. However, their psychometric properties remain understudied, posing a risk of undermining their use in empirical research and clinical translation. Here we investigated test-retest reliability (with a 2-week interval) of a computational assay probing advice-taking under volatility with a Hierarchical Gaussian Filter (HGF) model.

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We present a genome assembly from an individual male (the Pearl-bordered Fritillary; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Nymphalidae). The genome sequence is 400.4 megabases in span.

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Methods for detecting gene flow between populations often rely on asymmetry in the average length of particular genealogical branches, with the ABBA-BABA test being a well known example. Currently, asymmetry-based methods cannot be applied to a pair of populations and such analyses are instead performed using model-based methods. Here we investigate genealogical asymmetry under a two-population Isolation with Migration model.

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Medical practitioners, inevitably scattered across the country, need frequent periodicals to communicate the latest medical information. Journals are an essential component of the infrastructure of modern medicine, yet they were slow to achieve firm roots in Britain during the eighteenth century, with few sustained quarterly periodicals and the only attempt at a monthly lasting a year. Then in 1799, Richard Phillips, owner of , published the , the first sustained monthly medical journal, which lasted for thirty-four years.

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Outbreaks of suspected tick-borne disease (redwater fever) have been reported in captive deer of the Scottish Highlands. In this pilot study, polymerase chain reaction and amplicon sequencing were used to detect tick-borne pathogens in opportunistically collected blood and spleen samples from 63 (healthy, n = 44; diseased, n = 19) cervids, and 45 questing and feeding ticks () from the outbreak sites in 2021-2022. Potentially pathogenic species were detected in deer but not identified in ticks, was detected in both deer and ticks, and was detected in ticks but not in deer.

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We present a genome assembly from an individual male (the Arctic Skipper; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Hesperiidae). The genome sequence is 394.5 megabases in span.

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Introduction: The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations (TRPR) 2016 require consumers in the United Kingdom to be informed about the presence of nicotine in vaping products. However, there is misunderstanding among some young people and adults around the strength of products. We examined how nicotine content is displayed on the front of vape packaging in the United Kingdom.

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Natural selection is less efficient in the absence of recombination. As a result, nonrecombining sequences, such as sex chromosomes, tend to degenerate over time. Although the outcomes of recombination arrest are typically observed after many millions of generations, recent neo-sex chromosomes can give insight into the early stages of this process.

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Paranoid delusions or unfounded beliefs that others intend to deliberately cause harm are a frequent and burdensome symptom in early psychosis, but their emergence and consolidation still remains opaque. Recent theories suggest that overly precise prediction errors lead to an unstable model of the world providing a breeding ground for delusions. Here, we employ a Bayesian approach to test for such an unstable model of the world and investigate the computational mechanisms underlying emerging paranoia.

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Following an outbreak of in Wales in July 2021 associated with sheep meat and offal, further genetically related cases were detected across the UK. Cases were UK residents with laboratory-confirmed in the same 5-single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) single-linkage cluster with specimen date between 01/08/2021-2031/12/2022. We described cases using routine (UK) and enhanced (Wales only) surveillance data.

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Purpose: The current approach for molecular subtyping of colon cancer relies on gene expression profiling, which is invasive and has limited ability to reveal dynamics and spatial heterogeneity. Molecular imaging techniques, such as PET, present a noninvasive alternative for visualizing biological information from tumors. However, the factors influencing PET imaging phenotype, the suitable PET radiotracers for differentiating tumor subtypes, and the relationship between PET phenotypes and tumor genotype or gene expression-based subtyping remain unknown.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chromosomes are key components of genome structure, and butterflies and moths, which belong to the Lepidoptera group, typically have around 31 chromosomes, though some species show significant variation.
  • A study of 210 Lepidopteran genomes identified that their chromosomes originated from 32 ancestral linkage groups known as Merian elements, which have remained stable for about 250 million years.
  • While most lineages exhibit limited chromosome changes, eight lineages have experienced significant rearrangements through processes like fission and fusion, highlighting the nature of genome organization in Lepidoptera and its implications for broader eukaryotic evolution.
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Large-scale chromosome rearrangements, such as fissions and fusions, are a common feature of eukaryote evolution. They can have considerable influence on the evolution of populations, yet it remains unclear exactly how rearrangements become established and eventually fix. Rearrangements could fix by genetic drift if they are weakly deleterious or neutral, or they may instead be favoured by positive natural selection.

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Background: Tissue environment is critical in determining tumour metabolic vulnerability. However, in vivo drug testing is slow and waiting for tumour growth delay may not be the most appropriate endpoint for metabolic treatments. An in vivo method for measuring energy stress would rapidly determine tumour targeting in a physiologically relevant environment.

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Background: E-cigarettes are a popular smoking-cessation tool. Although less harmful than tobacco, use of e-cigarettes by non-smokers should be prevented. There is concern about the use of e-cigarettes by young people and that e-cigarettes may renormalise smoking.

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Background: Alcohol policies stand out among other noncommunicable disease-relevant policies for the lack of uptake. Composite indicators have been developed to measure the effects of alcohol control policy. We investigated whether drinking patterns among demographic groups from general population samples of drinkers from diverse countries are associated with alcohol control policy as measured by the International Alcohol Control (IAC) Policy Index.

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Objective: Since November 2019, Ireland has restricted alcohol advertising at the cinema and outdoors (e.g., near schools) and banned alcohol advertising on public transport.

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This study developed a measurement tool to assess stringency and 'on-the-ground' impact of four key alcohol policy domains to create an alcohol policy index suitable for benchmarking alcohol policy and assessing change over time in middle- and high-income countries. It involved a collaboration between researchers in 12 diverse countries: New Zealand; Australia; England; Scotland; Netherlands; Vietnam; Thailand; South Africa; Turkey; Chile; Saint Kitts and Nevis and Mongolia. Data on the four most effective alcohol policy domains (availability, pricing policy, alcohol marketing, drink driving) were used to create an alcohol policy index based on their association with alcohol per capita consumption (APC) of commercial (recorded) alcohol.

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Objectives: Evidence suggests that use of flavoured disposable electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is increasing. Considering the growing popularity and rapid evolution of e-cigarettes, we explored youth's perceptions and engagement with disposable e-cigarettes.

Design: Twenty focus groups were conducted between March and May 2022, with 82 youths aged 11-16 living in the Central belt of Scotland.

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The origin of terrestrial biota in Antarctica has been debated since the discovery of springtails on the first historic voyages to the southern continent more than 120 years ago. A plausible explanation for the long-term persistence of life requiring ice-free land on continental Antarctica has, however, remained elusive. The default scenario has dominated because hypotheses to date have failed to provide a mechanism for their widespread survival on the continent, particularly through the Last Glacial Maximum when geological evidence demonstrates that the ice sheet was more extensive than present.

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Chromosome rearrangements are thought to promote reproductive isolation between incipient species. However, it is unclear how often, and under what conditions, fission and fusion rearrangements act as barriers to gene flow. Here we investigate speciation between two largely sympatric fritillary butterflies, Brenthis daphne and Brenthis ino.

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Structural rearrangements have been shown to be important in local adaptation and speciation, but have been difficult to reliably identify and characterize in non-model species. Here we combine long reads, linked reads and optical mapping to characterize three divergent chromosome regions in the willow warbler Phylloscopus trochilus, of which two are associated with differences in migration and one with an environmental gradient. We show that there are inversions (0.

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Background: Sodium iodide symporter (NIS) imaging by positron emission tomography (PET) is gaining traction in nuclear medicine, with an increasing number of human studies being published using fluorine-18 radiolabelled tetrafluoroborate ([F]TFB). Clinical success of any radiotracer relies heavily on its accessibility, which in turn depends on the availability of robust radiolabelling procedures providing a radiotracer in large quantities and of high radiopharmaceutical quality.

Results: Here we publish an improved radiolabelling method and quality control procedures for high molar activity [F]TFB.

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