Publications by authors named "Roberts P"

Here, we present the North American Repository for Archaeological Isotopes (NARIA), the largest open-access compilation of previously reported isotopic measurements (n = 28,374) from bioarchaeological samples in North America (i.e., Canada, Greenland, Mexico, and the United States of America) covering a time-frame of more than 12,000 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: While it remains impossible to predict the timing of the next influenza pandemic, novel avian influenza A viruses continue to be considered a significant threat.

Methods: A Phase II study was conducted in healthy adults aged 18-64 years to assess the safety and immunogenicity of two intramuscular doses of pre-pandemic 2017 influenza A(H7N9) inactivated vaccine administered 21 days apart. Participants were randomized (n = 105 in each of Arms 1-3) to receive 3.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Persons with blindness and low vision experience increased fall and injury risk beyond atypical biomechanics and balance impairments. Falling risk doubles with blindness, and more than triples with depth perception losses. Despite this, physical therapy focuses on musculoskeletal injuries postevent rather than taking a proactive and preventative approach for persons with blindness and low vision.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Pandemic influenza vaccine development emphasizes the importance of hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) antibodies for effective immune responses.
  • Clinical trials show that NA inhibition antibody responses increase with higher doses and extended intervals between vaccine doses, indicating a potential strategy for enhancing immunity.
  • The study indicates that while neuraminidase responses can be improved for better pandemic preparedness, the antibody responses to the HA stalk were minimal and not long-lasting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Successful plant growth requires plants to minimize harm from antagonists and maximize benefit from mutualists. However, these outcomes may be difficult to achieve simultaneously, since plant defenses activated in response to antagonists can compromise mutualism function, and plant resources allocated to defense may trade off with resources allocated to managing mutualists. Here, we investigate how antagonist attack affects plant ability to manage mutualists with sanctions, in which a plant rewards cooperative mutualists and/or punishes uncooperative mutualists.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Over the past decade, multidisciplinary research has seen the Amazon Basin go from a context perceived as unfavourable for food production and large-scale human societies to one of 'garden cities', domestication, and anthropogenically influenced forests and soils. Nevertheless, direct insights into human interactions with particular crops and especially animals remain scarce across this vast area. Here we present new stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data from 86 human and 68 animal remains dating between CE ~700 and 1400 from the Llanos de Mojos, Bolivia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: White stroke survivors often experience better outcome compared to their counterparts. Poststroke discharge location influences the subsequent rehabilitation that can support recovery and improve outcomes. However, few studies have looked at the association of race and discharge to home.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Human treponemal infections are caused by a family of closely related Treponema pallidum that give rise to the diseases yaws, bejel, pinta and, most famously, syphilis. Debates on both a common origin for these pathogens and the history of syphilis itself has weighed evidence for the "Columbian hypothesis", which argues for an American origin, against that for the "pre-Columbian hypothesis", which argues for presence of the disease in Eurasia in the Medieval period and possibly earlier. While molecular data has provided a genetic basis for distinction of the typed subspecies, deep evolution of the complex has remained unresolved due to limitations in the conclusions that can be drawn from the sparse paleogenomic data currently available.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

() is a global threat and has significant implications for individuals and health care systems. Little is known about host molecular mechanisms and transcriptional changes in peripheral immune cells. This is the first gene expression study in whole blood from patients with infection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The postoperative occurrence of corneal guttae (CG) in patients after Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) can lead to a significant reduction in visual acuity (VA) with the subsequent need for repeat DMEK. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze the prevalence and clinical significance of CG in transplanted corneas after DMEK.

Methods: The prevalence and progression of CG after DMEK of 1657 patients were examined using endothelial specular microscopy images.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Unidentified obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) can lead to unexpected perioperative complications, unplanned postoperative admissions and increased length of hospital stay. NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) recommends a rapid preoperative assessment for patients undergoing elective surgery.

Methods: We have evaluated the impact on implementing the NICE guidelines on clinical outcomes, surgical interventions, anaesthetic decisions and complication rates in surgical patients referred from the pre-assessment clinic prior to an elective intervention.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sarcoidosis is a complex disease characterized by inflammatory granulomas that can affect various organs, including the heart. The diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis poses challenges, and current criteria involve the use of advanced imaging techniques and histological confirmation. Clinical manifestations of cardiac sarcoidosis vary widely, ranging from heart block to ventricular tachycardia and heart failure.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • This study analyzes changes in pastoral practices in the Jerusalem region from Iron Age II to Late Hellenistic times using a multi-isotope approach on 135 animal samples.
  • It reveals that most animals were locally sourced, but some came from distant regions, indicating established regional exchange networks.
  • Findings suggest that during the Persian period, pastoral communities adapted to environmental changes with greater flexibility, while in the Late Hellenistic period, they faced restrictions that shifted grazing patterns and increased imports.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The island of Sri Lanka was part of the South Asian mainland for the majority of the past 115,000 years, and connected most recently during the Last Glacial Maximum via the now submerged Palk Strait. The degree to which rising sea levels shaped past human adaptations from the Pleistocene and into the mid to late Holocene in Sri Lanka has remained unclear, in part because the earliest reliable records of human occupation come from the island's interior, where cave sites have revealed occupation of tropical forest ecosystems extending back to 48 thousand years (ka). The island's earliest known open-air sites are all much younger in date, with ages beginning at 15 ka and extending across the Holocene.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

On November 13-14, 2023, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in partnership with the Task Force for Global Health, Flu Lab, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention convened a meeting on controlled human influenza virus infection model (CHIVIM) studies to review the current research landscape of CHIVIM studies and to generate actionable next steps. Presentations and panel discussions highlighted CHIVIM use cases, regulatory and ethical considerations, innovations, networks and standardization, and the utility of using CHIVIM in vaccine development. This report summarizes the presentations, discussions, key takeaways, and future directions for innovations in CHIVIMs.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: To present a case of high-impact perforating eye injury by knife throwing witnessed during a public performance and initially classified as penetrating eye injury.

Observations: During the second reconstructive procedure an exit wound was identified, which had been missed during primary wound repair due to extensive swelling of adjacent soft tissue. The occult exit wound could be sealed and the retina attached under silicone oil.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Most patients who have an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) implant do not receive life-prolonging therapy from it. Little research has been undertaken to determine which patients benefit the least from ICD therapy. As patients age and accumulate comorbidities, the risk of death increases and the benefit of ICDs diminishes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: This report summarizes the discussions and conclusions from the "Correlates of Protection for Next Generation Influenza Vaccines: Lessons Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic" meeting, which took place in Seattle, USA, from March 1, 2023, to March 3, 2023.

Conclusions: Discussions around influenza virus correlates of protection and their use continued from where the discussion had been left off in 2019. While there was not much progress in the influenza field itself, many lessons learned during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, especially the importance of mucosal immunity, were discussed and can directly be applied to influenza correlates of protection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The earliest evidence of hominins in northern Africa dates back to around 2.44 million years ago, yet the environmental context during this time is still not well understood compared to other regions of Africa.
  • The Guefaït-4 fossil site in eastern Morocco offers new insights, revealing the presence of C plants and indicating a diverse landscape that included grasslands, forests, wetlands, and periods of dryness.
  • This variety in habitats likely supported both mammals and early hominins, emphasizing the need to consider local microhabitats in studies of species movement and environmental adaptation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study assessed the effectiveness of a COVID-19 Sanofi booster vaccine by measuring neutralizing antibody levels in COVAIL recipients as a predictor of COVID-19 risk.
  • - Higher levels of antibody titers were found to be associated with a lower risk of COVID-19, indicated by adjusted hazard ratios of 0.30 and 0.25 for different titer measurements.
  • - An increase of 10-fold in the weighted average titer substantially reduced the risk, suggesting that higher antibody levels can offer better protection against the virus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Simulation training can develop surgical procedural skills in a safe environment. Able to offer high-intensity exposure, simulation is increasingly important as working time for surgeons becomes more protected. Materials used in simulated tendon repair play a critical role in the fidelity and face validity of the model.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the use of music in Tai Chi to enhance health benefits, noting that there is limited scientific evidence on this topic.* -
  • A review of seven experimental studies found that practicing Tai Chi with music may improve motivation, enjoyment, and instructional quality, especially for beginners.* -
  • While integrating music could enhance the Tai Chi experience and adherence, the impact on health outcomes remains unclear and requires more research.*
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Bacterial leaf spot of pepper (BSP), primarily caused by ), poses a significant challenge to pepper production worldwide. Despite its impact, the genetic diversity of this pathogen remains underexplored, which limits our understanding of its population structure. To bridge this knowledge gap, we conducted a comprehensive analysis using 103 strains isolated from pepper in southwest Florida to characterize genomic and type III effector (T3E) variation in this population.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF