scholarly journals Assessing the contributions of intraspecific and environmental sources of infection in urban wildlife: Salmonella enterica and white ibis as a case study

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (149) ◽  
pp. 20180654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel J. Becker ◽  
Claire S. Teitelbaum ◽  
Maureen H. Murray ◽  
Shannon E. Curry ◽  
Catharine N. Welch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Salmonella Enterica ◽  
Enteric Bacteria ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
South Florida ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
White Ibis ◽  
Sources Of Infection ◽  
Wildlife Pathogens ◽  
Transmission Pathways

Conversion of natural habitats into urban landscapes can expose wildlife to novel pathogens and alter pathogen transmission pathways. Because transmission is difficult to quantify for many wildlife pathogens, mathematical models paired with field observations can help select among competing transmission pathways that might operate in urban landscapes. Here we develop a mathematical model for the enteric bacteria Salmonella enterica in urban-foraging white ibis ( Eudocimus albus ) in south Florida as a case study to determine (i) the relative importance of contact-based versus environmental transmission among ibis and (ii) whether transmission can be supported by ibis alone or requires external sources of infection. We use biannual field prevalence data to restrict model outputs generated from a Latin hypercube sample of parameter space and select among competing transmission scenarios. We find the most support for transmission from environmental uptake rather than between-host contact and that ibis–ibis transmission alone could maintain low infection prevalence. Our analysis provides the first parameter estimates for Salmonella shedding and uptake in a wild bird and provides a key starting point for predicting how ibis response to urbanization alters their exposure to a multi-host zoonotic enteric pathogen. More broadly, our study provides an analytical roadmap to assess transmission pathways of multi-host wildlife pathogens in the face of scarce infection data.

scholarly journals Landscape design approaches to enhance human–wildlife interactions in a compact tropical city

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Hye Hwang ◽  
Anuj Jain
Keyword(s):  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Compact City ◽  
Public Preference ◽  
Conservation Principles ◽  
Design Projects ◽  
Collaborative Efforts

Abstract Urban landscapes have the potential to conserve wildlife. Despite increasing recognition of this potential, there are few collaborative efforts to integrate ecology and conservation principles into context-dependent, spatial and actionable design strategies. To address this issue and to encourage multi-disciplinary research on urban human–wildlife interactions, we ask the following questions. To what extent should design and planning actions be aligned with urban ecology in the context of a compact city? How can wildlife conservation meet the seemingly conflictual demands of urban development and public preference? To answer these questions, we refer to the relevant literature and a number of design projects. Using the compact tropical city of Singapore as a case study, we propose 12 design strategies. We encourage designers and planners to strengthen the links between wildlife and urban dwellers and promote wildlife conservation within cities.

The Potential for Transmission of Coronaviruses via Sports Equipment; A Cricket Case Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rory England ◽  
Nicholas Peirce ◽  
Joseph Torresi ◽  
Sean Mitchell ◽  
Andy Harland
Keyword(s):  
Viral Load ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Infected Person ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Airborne Transmission ◽  
Social Distancing ◽  
Transmission Pathways ◽  
Respiratory Droplets

AbstractA review of literature on the role of fomites in transmission of coronaviruses informed the development of a framework which was used to qualitatively analyse a cricket case study, where equipment is shared and passed around, and identify potential mitigation strategies. A range of pathways were identified that might in theory allow coronavirus transmission from an infected person to a non-infected person via communal or personal equipment fomites or both. Eighteen percent of potential fomite based interactions were found to be non-essential to play including all contact with another persons equipment. Six opportunities to interrupt the transmission pathway were identified, including the recommendation to screen participants for symptoms prior to play. Social distancing between participants and avoiding unnecessary surface contact provides two opportunities; firstly to avoid equipment exposure to infected respiratory droplets and secondly to avoid uninfected participants touching potential fomites. Hand sanitisation and equipment sanitisation provide two further opportunities by directly inactivating coronavirus. Preventing players from touching their mucosal membranes with their hands represents the sixth potential interruption. Whilst potential fomite transmission pathways were identified, evidence suggests that viral load will be substantially reduced during surface transfer. Mitigation strategies could further reduce potential fomites, suggesting that by comparison, direct airborne transmission presents the greater risk in cricket.

scholarly journals Challenges and Opportunities Developing Mathematical Models of Shared Pathogens of Domestic and Wild Animals

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Huyvaert ◽  
Robin Russell ◽  
Kelly Patyk ◽  
Meggan Craft ◽  
Paul Cross ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Models ◽  
Domestic Animals ◽  
Domestic Animal ◽  
Pathogen Transmission ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Conservation Concern ◽  
Transmission Pathways ◽  
And Control

Diseases that affect both wild and domestic animals can be particularly difficult to prevent, predict, mitigate, and control. Such multi-host diseases can have devastating economic impacts on domestic animal producers and can present significant challenges to wildlife populations, particularly for populations of conservation concern. Few mathematical models exist that capture the complexities of these multi-host pathogens, yet the development of such models would allow us to estimate and compare the potential effectiveness of management actions for mitigating or suppressing disease in wildlife and/or livestock host populations. We conducted a workshop in March 2014 to identify the challenges associated with developing models of pathogen transmission across the wildlife-livestock interface. The development of mathematical models of pathogen transmission at this interface is hampered by the difficulties associated with describing the host-pathogen systems, including: (1) the identity of wildlife hosts, their distributions, and movement patterns; (2) the pathogen transmission pathways between wildlife and domestic animals; (3) the effects of the disease and concomitant mitigation efforts on wild and domestic animal populations; and (4) barriers to communication between sectors. To promote the development of mathematical models of transmission at this interface, we recommend further integration of modern quantitative techniques and improvement of communication among wildlife biologists, mathematical modelers, veterinary medicine professionals, producers, and other stakeholders concerned with the consequences of pathogen transmission at this important, yet poorly understood, interface.

scholarly journals Regulation of igaA and the Rcs System by the MviA Response Regulator in Salmonella enterica

2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (8) ◽  
pp. 2743-2752 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara B. García-Calderón ◽  
Josep Casadesús ◽  
Francisco Ramos-Morales
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Protein ◽  
Salmonella Enterica ◽  
Response Regulator ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Enteric Bacteria ◽  
Lon Protease ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Independent Manner ◽  
Serovar Typhimurium

ABSTRACT IgaA is a membrane protein that prevents overactivation of the Rcs regulatory system in enteric bacteria. Here we provide evidence that igaA is the first gene in a σ70-dependent operon of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium that also includes yrfG, yrfH, and yrfI. We also show that the Lon protease and the MviA response regulator participate in regulation of the igaA operon. Our results indicate that MviA regulates igaA transcription in an RpoS-dependent manner, but the results also suggest that MviA may regulate RcsB activation in an RpoS- and IgaA-independent manner.

scholarly journals PAISAJES URBANOS, DIFERENCIA Y DESIGUALDAD. EL CASO DE LA BOCA EN BUENOS AIRES / Urban Landscapes, difference and inequality. A case study in La Boca, Buenos Aires

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 69
Author(s):  
Ana Clara Fabaron
Keyword(s):  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Cultural Landscapes ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Spatial Transformations ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Ethnographic Approach ◽  
Visual Consumption ◽  
City Model ◽  
The City

<p>El propósito de este artículo es reflexionar críticamente en torno a la noción de paisaje y sus vinculaciones con modos -diferenciados y desiguales- de imaginar y habitar la ciudad. El análisis se sustenta en un estudio de caso en La Boca, un barrio de la zona sur de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, donde confluyen procesos de reconversión urbana y déficit habitacional. Desde un abordaje etnográfico junto al uso de fuentes secundarias, el trabajo explora las principales características y transformaciones socioespaciales del barrio en relación con el resto de la ciudad. El artículo focaliza en prácticas de habitantes y usuarios, en diálogo con distintas aproximaciones al concepto de paisaje, y con estudios que destacan la relación entre una estetización de las ciudades contemporáneas y un modelo exclusivo de ciudad. Desde una perspectiva del habitar -centrada en las prácticas urbanas- el enfoque propuesto procura tomar en cuenta las tensiones e imbricaciones entre los paisajes urbanos cotidianos de sus habitantes y los paisajes culturales orientados a un consumo visual, incorporando en el análisis las relaciones desiguales de poder.</p><p><br /><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p><br />This article aims to critically reflect upon the notion of landscape and its links with -differentiated and unequal- ways of imagining and inhabiting the city. The analysis is based on a case study in La Boca, a neighborhood in the southern area of the city of Buenos Aires, where urban reconversion processes coexists with housing insufficiency. Through an ethnographic approach supplemented with secondary sources, the paper explores the main characteristics and socio-spatial transformations of the neighborhood in relation with the rest of the city. The article focuses in dwellers and passersby practices, in dialogue with different approaches to the concept of landscape, and with studies that emphasize the relation between the aestheticisation of the contemporary cities and an exclusive city model. From a dwelling perspective -centered in urban practices- the proposed approach seeks take into account the tensions and interweaving between the daily urban landscapes of La Boca’ s dwellers and the cultural landscapes oriented toward visual consumption, incorporating in the analysis the unequal power relations.</p>

scholarly journals Glocal Participatory System for the Recording, Documentation and Promotion of Cultural Heritage: A Greek Case-Study

Heritage ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dimitris Psychogyios ◽  
Nick Poulakis
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Collective Memories ◽  
Sustainable Living ◽  
Significant Research ◽  
Catalytic Role ◽  
The Subject ◽  
And Diffusion

The recording, documentation and promotion of local cultural heritage has been the subject of significant research from scientists from various fields such as architecture, anthropology, history, folklore, ethnomusicology, and museology. This paper argues that digital technologies could have a catalytic role concerning the operational part of a holistic–interdisciplinary approach to the maintenance of cultural heritage. Simultaneous and bidirectional recording, documentation and promotion of human histories, material elements of space, personal and collective memories, music, dance, singing and other performances, customs, traditions etc. has the effect of improving the understanding of each place and, therefore, contributing to the establishment of sustainable living conditions and environmental balance. At the same time, it facilitates the process of presenting the place’s local identity as well as its tangible and intangible cultural heritage. The paper proposes the design, the creation and the pilot operation of a glocal hybrid (physical and digital) participatory system for monitoring cultural heritage, which consists of (a) spatial recording and projection constructions (open micro-labs); (b) research and documentation centers; and (c) digital databases and mobile applications for interconnection and diffusion of digital content. The system’s implementation domain is considered to be “historic urban landscapes”, i.e., geographical areas with particular cultural features such as traditional settlements, monuments and historical centers, regarded as exceptional universal heritage. In particular, the project’s prime exemplary pilot setup is considered to be operated in specific Greek areas of cultural importance.

scholarly journals A Geolocation Analytics-Driven Ontology for Short-Term Leases: Inferring Current Sharing Economy Trends

Algorithms ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Georgios Alexandridis ◽  
Yorghos Voutos ◽  
Phivos Mylonas ◽  
George Caridakis
Keyword(s):  
Building Blocks ◽  
Sharing Economy ◽  
Urban Landscapes ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Multimodal Data ◽  
Labeled Graph ◽  
Current Sharing ◽  
High Level

Short-term property rentals are perhaps one of the most common traits of present day shared economy. Moreover, they are acknowledged as a major driving force behind changes in urban landscapes, ranging from established metropolises to developing townships, as well as a facilitator of geographical mobility. A geolocation ontology is a high level inference tool, typically represented as a labeled graph, for discovering latent patterns from a plethora of unstructured and multimodal data. In this work, a two-step methodological framework is proposed, where the results of various geolocation analyses, important in their own respect, such as ghost hotel discovery, form intermediate building blocks towards an enriched knowledge graph. The outlined methodology is validated upon data crawled from the Airbnb website and more specifically, on keywords extracted from comments made by users of the said platform. A rather solid case-study, based on the aforementioned type of data regarding Athens, Greece, is addressed in detail, studying the different degrees of expansion & prevalence of the phenomenon among the city’s various neighborhoods.

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