Publications by authors named "R A Cheke"

Across the globe, mobile species are key components of ecosystems. Migratory birds and nomadic antelope can have considerable conservation, economic or societal value, while irruptive insects can be major pests and threaten food security. Extreme weather events, which are increasing in frequency and intensity under ongoing climate change, are driving rapid and unforeseen shifts in mobile species distributions.

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Accurate prediction of epidemics is pivotal for making well-informed decisions for the control of infectious diseases, but addressing heterogeneity in the system poses a challenge. In this study, we propose a novel modelling framework integrating the spatio-temporal heterogeneity of susceptible individuals into homogeneous models, by introducing a continuous recruitment process for the susceptibles. A neural network approximates the recruitment rate to develop a Universal Differential Equations (UDE) model.

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Article Synopsis
  • Blackfly species are significant carriers of the parasite causing onchocerciasis in Africa and Yemen, with some other species also involved in specific regions.
  • These flies thrive near fast-flowing rivers but can travel considerable distances, raising questions about how we define areas at risk for transmission.
  • Current research on blackfly movement is insufficient, indicating a need for further studies to better understand their dispersal patterns, which will help in planning control measures for onchocerciasis elimination.
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The design of optimized non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) is critical to the effective control of emergent outbreaks of infectious diseases such as SARS, A/H1N1 and COVID-19 and to ensure that numbers of hospitalized cases do not exceed the carrying capacity of medical resources. To address this issue, we formulated a classic SIR model to include a close contact tracing strategy and structured prevention and control interruptions (SPCIs). The impact of the timing of SPCIs on the maximum number of non-isolated infected individuals and on the duration of an infectious disease outside quarantined areas (i.

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Covalent inhibitors have been used to treat several diseases for over a century. However, strategic approaches for the rational design of covalent drugs have taken a definitive shape in recent times. Since the first appearance of covalent inhibitors in the late 18th century, the field has grown tremendously and around 30% of marketed drugs are covalent inhibitors especially, for oncology indications.

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