80 results match your criteria: " University of Stirling[Affiliation]"

Background: The salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) is a parasite of wild and farmed salmonid fish, causing huge economic damage to the commercial farming of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) in the northern hemisphere. The avermectin emamectin benzoate (EMB) is widely used for salmon delousing. While resistance to EMB is widespread in Atlantic populations of L.

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Article Synopsis
  • The paper identifies the need for understanding the underlying mechanisms of public health interventions in order to effectively predict their long-term outcomes and improve public health policy.
  • It introduces a new toolbox (PHEM-B) that incorporates methods from various disciplines like psychology, sociology, and health economics to better account for the factors influencing individual and population behaviors.
  • The toolbox consists of 12 methods designed for use in public health economic models, and offers guidance on when to apply each method and the resources needed, marking an important step in interdisciplinary research collaboration.
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Background: People who use drugs face entrenched stigma, which fosters shame, restricts service access, and exacerbates inequalities. The use of mass media in anti-stigma interventions offers an opportunity to challenge stigmatising attitudes at scale. There are, however, inconsistencies in messaging approaches used in mass media anti-stigma interventions, and how authors conceptualise and measure 'stigma'.

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Setting epidemiological cut-off values relevant to MIC and disc diffusion data for Aeromonas salmonicida generated by a standard method.

Dis Aquat Organ

August 2024

Anses, Ploufragan-Plouzané-Niort Laboratory, Mycoplasmology-Bacteriology-Antibioresistance Unit, 22440 Ploufragan, France.

The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute has published epidemiological cut-off values for susceptibility data generated at 22°°C and read after 44-48 h for florfenicol, oxolinic acid and oxytetracycline against Aeromonas salmonicida. The cut-off values for the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and disc diffusion were derived from data obtained by 1 laboratory and 2 laboratories respectively. The present work reports the generation of susceptibility data from additional laboratories and the calculation of provisional cut-off values from aggregations of these data with previously published data.

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Article Synopsis
  • Acute leukaemias (AL) are severe blood cancers that can be treated with intensive chemotherapy, but this also increases the risk of serious infections, particularly invasive fungal infections (IFIs), due to low white blood cell counts (neutropenia).
  • Current guidelines suggest using antifungal agents as a preventive measure in high-risk patients, but there's a significant issue of overprescribing these medications. Biomarkers like galactomannan and β-D-glucan could improve the diagnosis of IFIs when used together rather than separately.
  • The BioDriveAFS study is a large clinical trial involving 404 participants that will compare a biomarker-based antifungal management strategy to traditional antifungal prophyl
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Introduction: We assessed the prevalence of prescribing of certain medications for alcohol dependence and the extent of any inequalities in receiving prescriptions for individuals with such a diagnosis. Further, we compared the effectiveness of two of the most prescribed medications (acamprosate and disulfiram) for alcohol dependence and assessed whether there is inequality in prescribing either of them.

Methods: We used a nationwide dataset on prescriptions and hospitalisations in Scotland, UK (N = 19,748).

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Introduction: Screening can reduce deaths from colorectal cancer (CRC). Despite high levels of public enthusiasm, participation rates in population CRC screening programmes internationally remain persistently below target levels. Simple behavioural interventions such as completion goals and planning tools may support participation among those inclined to be screened but who fail to act on their intentions.

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In a time of rapid global change, the question of what determines patterns in species abundance distribution remains a priority for understanding the complex dynamics of ecosystems. The constrained maximization of information entropy provides a framework for the understanding of such complex systems dynamics by a quantitative analysis of important constraints via predictions using least biased probability distributions. We apply it to over two thousand hectares of Amazonian tree inventories across seven forest types and thirteen functional traits, representing major global axes of plant strategies.

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Circulating c-Met-Expressing Memory T Cells Define Cardiac Autoimmunity.

Circulation

December 2022

William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry (S.F., E. Stephenson, E.R.-V., S.K., E. Shahaj, M.P.L., V.S.V., C.D., E.P., M.B., D.C., G.W., D.H., E. Solito, K.S., S.A.M., F.M.M.-B.), Queen Mary University of London, UK.

Background: Autoimmunity is increasingly recognized as a key contributing factor in heart muscle diseases. The functional features of cardiac autoimmunity in humans remain undefined because of the challenge of studying immune responses in situ. We previously described a subset of c-mesenchymal epithelial transition factor (c-Met)-expressing (c-Met) memory T lymphocytes that preferentially migrate to cardiac tissue in mice and humans.

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Soil resistance and recovery during neotropical forest succession.

Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci

January 2023

Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.

Article Synopsis
  • Soil conditions are key for ecosystem restoration, influencing how well ecosystems recover after agricultural use and deforestation.
  • Soil resistance and recovery vary based on local factors like climate and soil type; for example, areas with high-activity clay show significant changes in soil properties when forested land is converted to cropland.
  • Findings suggest that while some soil properties improve during forest regrowth, others like phosphorus levels may decline, highlighting the complex dynamics of soil health in tropical ecosystems.
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Forests that regrow naturally on abandoned fields are important for restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services, but can they also preserve the distinct regional tree floras? Using the floristic composition of 1215 early successional forests (≤20 years) in 75 human-modified landscapes across the Neotropic realm, we identified 14 distinct floristic groups, with a between-group dissimilarity of 0.97. Floristic groups were associated with location, bioregions, soil pH, temperature seasonality, and water availability.

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Since the advent of direct-acting antiviral therapy, the elimination of hepatitis c virus (HCV) as a public health concern is now possible. However, identification of those who remain undiagnosed, and re-engagement of those who are diagnosed but remain untreated, will be essential to achieve this. We examined the extent of HCV infection among individuals undergoing liver function tests (LFT) in primary care.

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Weight management interventions designed specifically for men have become more common, but the extent to which socioeconomic factors are considered in trials of these interventions is unclear. We synthesized study characteristics, methods, and reporting of interventions with a behavioral component for men that report weight as an outcome, to establish the extent to which socioeconomic factors are considered during intervention design, conduct, and reporting. A comprehensive search was conducted on Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, and CENTRAL for studies published from January 2000 to July 2021.

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The number of tree species on Earth.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

February 2022

Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907;

One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global ground-sourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels.

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In silico analysis of AhyI protein and AI-1 inhibition using N-cis-octadec-9z-enoyl-l-homoserine lactone inhibitor in Aeromonas hydrophila.

Microb Pathog

January 2022

College of Fisheries, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524025, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Biology and Epidemiology for Aquatic Economic Animal, Key Laboratory of Control for Disease of Aquatic Animals of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Zhanjiang, 524025, China. Electronic address:

AhyI is homologous to the protein LuxI and is conserved throughout bacterial species including Aeromonas hydrophila. A. hydrophila causes opportunistic infections in fish and other aquatic organisms.

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Functional recovery of secondary tropical forests.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

December 2021

Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.

One-third of all Neotropical forests are secondary forests that regrow naturally after agricultural use through secondary succession. We need to understand better how and why succession varies across environmental gradients and broad geographic scales. Here, we analyze functional recovery using community data on seven plant characteristics (traits) of 1,016 forest plots from 30 chronosequence sites across the Neotropics.

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Cigarette smoking remains the leading behavioral risk factor for chronic disease and premature mortality. This RCT tested the efficacy of moderate intensity aerobic exercise as an adjunctive smoking cessation treatment among women. Participants (N = 105; age = 42.

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Genomic analysis of the carboxylesterase family in the salmon louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis).

Comp Biochem Physiol C Toxicol Pharmacol

October 2021

Institute of Aquaculture, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, United Kingdom.

The pyrethroid deltamethrin and the macrocyclic lactone emamectin benzoate (EMB) are used to treat infestations of farmed salmon by parasitic salmon lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis. While the efficacy of both compounds against Atlantic populations of the parasite has decreased as a result of the evolution of resistance, the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance in L. salmonis are currently not fully understood.

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Atypical Aeromonas salmonicida causes furunculosis infections of non-salmonid fish, which requires antibiotic therapy. However, antibiotics may induce biofilm in some bacteria, which protects them against hostile conditions while allowing them to persist on surfaces, thus forming a reservoir for infection. The aim of this study was to determine whether atypical isolates of A.

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Objectives: To understand the barriers and facilitators to uptake and retention of postnatal women randomised to a commercial group weight management intervention using the COM-B (capability, opportunity, motivation and behaviour) behaviour change model.

Design: Concurrent mixed-methods (qualitative dominant) process evaluation nested within a feasibility randomised controlled trial, comprising questionnaires and interviews at 6 and 12 months postbirth.

Setting: One National Health Service maternity unit in an inner city area in the south of England.

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Competition among trees is an important driver of community structure and dynamics in tropical forests. Neighboring trees may impact an individual tree's growth rate and probability of mortality, but large-scale geographic and environmental variation in these competitive effects has yet to be evaluated across the tropical forest biome. We quantified effects of competition on tree-level basal area growth and mortality for trees ≥10-cm diameter across 151 ~1-ha plots in mature tropical forests in Amazonia and tropical Africa by developing nonlinear models that accounted for wood density, tree size, and neighborhood crowding.

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Global plant trait relationships extend to the climatic extremes of the tundra biome.

Nat Commun

March 2020

Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Postbus 94240, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

The majority of variation in six traits critical to the growth, survival and reproduction of plant species is thought to be organised along just two dimensions, corresponding to strategies of plant size and resource acquisition. However, it is unknown whether global plant trait relationships extend to climatic extremes, and if these interspecific relationships are confounded by trait variation within species. We test whether trait relationships extend to the cold extremes of life on Earth using the largest database of tundra plant traits yet compiled.

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Lipid sources as alternatives to fish oil could alter the nutritional value and flavor quality of crab meat affecting consumer preferences. Herein, an 8-week nutritional trial was designed to investigate the effects of dietary lipid sources including fish oil (FO), krill oil (KO), palm oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil and linseed oil on profiles of amino acids, fatty acids and volatiles in muscle of swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus). Volatiles of crab muscle were characterized by headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

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Temperature-induced testicular germ cell loss and recovery in Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus.

Gen Comp Endocrinol

November 2019

Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK. Electronic address:

Water temperature is a critical external factor influencing gonadal development in fish. This research aimed to study the impact of elevated temperature on testicular germ cell survival and reproductive capacity of Nile tilapia. Male Nile tilapia were exposed to high temperatures of either 36 (HT1) or 37 °C (HT2) for 3000 degree-days (DD) and thereafter returned to the control temperature of 27 °C (CT) for 2200 DD.

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Biodiversity recovery of Neotropical secondary forests.

Sci Adv

March 2019

Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, Netherlands.

Old-growth tropical forests harbor an immense diversity of tree species but are rapidly being cleared, while secondary forests that regrow on abandoned agricultural lands increase in extent. We assess how tree species richness and composition recover during secondary succession across gradients in environmental conditions and anthropogenic disturbance in an unprecedented multisite analysis for the Neotropics. Secondary forests recover remarkably fast in species richness but slowly in species composition.

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