Global Health

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Comparative transcriptomics from intestinal cells of permissive and non-permissive hosts during Ancylostoma ceylanicum infection reveals unique signatures of protection and host specificity

The latest Paper of the Month for Parasitology is Comparative transcriptomics from intestinal cells of permissive and non-permissive hosts during Ancylostoma ceylanicum infection reveals unique signatures of protection and host specificity and is freely available. …

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Cyclospora cayetanensis comprises at least 3 species that cause human cyclosporiasis

Despite its impact on United States (US) food safety since the 1990’s, efforts to understand Cyclospora cayetanensis genetics only really began within the last 7 years. However, we have learned a great deal over that time; genotyping technologies now exist for Cyclospora, and these are being used routinely to complement cyclosporiasis outbreak investigations performed by US public health agencies

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Cultivating new paradigms in mental health

On a global basis, mental health is an issue almost unimaginable in its scale. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently estimated that some 300 million people suffer from depression worldwide, and that every 40 seconds someone commits suicide with causes including mental health afflictions, such as depression. Indeed, the WHO says that, among those aged 15 to 29, suicide is a ‘leading cause of death’ – and that the majority of these are in low- or middle-income countries.

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What is the extent of a frequency-dependent social learning strategy space?

Traditional models of conformity posit that individuals respond to the frequency of a behaviour amongst a social group only. This gives the impression that conformity functions like a rule-of-thumb to ‘always copy the majority’. This view does not align with recent research which shows that our use of social learning strategies is likely to be flexible. To extend this research, we ask whether an individuals’ decision to conform to the majority of a group will be flexible based on certain social information about the group from whom they learn.

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Cambridge University Press celebrates World NTD Day

On 30th January, we celebrate World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day. This annual celebration highlights the hard work and achievements of the many researchers, medical workers, NGOs and other committed individuals in this field, and acts as a convenient forum to demand and sustain the necessary concerted actions to #BeatNTDs.…

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Invasions by parasites with complex life cycles

Biological invasions have significant impacts on biodiversity, community structure, and ecosystem processes, often leading to the emergence of diseases that could have significant economic, public health, and conservation implications. These invasions are usually driven by anthropogenic disturbances on ecosystems and the increased movement of goods and people on a global scale.

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Lockdown effect on cryptosporidiosis in New Zealand

Cryptosporidium species are intestinal parasites that infect a wide range of vertebrate host species, causing a considerable burden of gastrointestinal disease. Cryptosporidium infections in humans are mostly caused by two species: C. hominis, which is primarily transmitted from human-to-human, and C. parvum, which is mainly derived from animals, particularly livestock.

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Toxoplasma gondii: one species with several genotypes; but do these induce differences in the host’s immune response?

The latest Paper of the Month for Parasitology is “Early immune responses and parasite tissue distribution in mice experimentally infected with oocysts of either archetypal or non-archetypal genotypes of Toxoplasma gondii“ Toxoplasmosis is a well-known disease caused by the single celled parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, which is found worldwide.…

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Granulocyte vs. oncosphere – who’s calling the shots?

The latest Paper of the Month for Parasitology is Agranulocytosis leads to intestinal Echinococcus multilocularis oncosphere invasion and hepatic metacestode development in naturally resistant Wistar rats Let me introduce you to a tiny tapeworm that is widely distributed in the northern hemisphere: Echinococcus multilocularis.…

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What Lurked in the Intestines of Our Renaissance Ancestors?

The latest Paper of the Month for Parasitology is A comparative study of parasites in three latrines from Medieval and Renaissance Brussels, Belgium (14th–17th centuries) In modern times intestinal parasites such as protozoa that cause dysentery and multicellular helminths (worms) are largely a problem for people in low-income countries in the tropics where sanitation and food safety are poor.…

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How does the translation machinery of Plasmodium falciparum handle multiple upstream open reading frames?

The latest Paper of the Month for Parasitology is “Messenger RNAs with large numbers of upstream Open Reading Frames are translated via leaky scanning and reinitiation in the asexual stages of Plasmodium falciparum“ Malaria, an ancient disease, continues to infect millions of humans worldwide, with Plasmodium falciparum parasites being the causative agents of the majority of severe malaria cases and fatal outcomes.…

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COVID-19’s Impact on Youth Un/employment and Social Policy in Turkey

The COVID-19 crisis is an unprecedented one in terms of its reach and pervasiveness, and it exposed the vulnerabilities of the global social, political, and economic system. That said, its impact on countries has been uneven and this unevenness depended heavily on the position countries were in immediately prior to the crisis. In Turkey, the key issue of youth un/employment emerged as one of the long-lasting ones since it was a major challenge before the crisis. Policy-making emerged as another key issue as the ability to generate long-term planning escaped Turkey and countries alike for a while. Regardless of when we will get past the pandemic, the post-COVID-19 world will be an extremely difficult one.

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How to easily apply computational methods to the identification of drugs against trypanosomatid-caused diseases

The latest Paper of the Month for Parasitology is Computational approaches for drug discovery against trypanosomatid-caused diseases Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) caused by trypanosomatid parasites such as American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease), human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) and leishmaniasis affect millions of people worldwide, mainly in developing countries, and consequently produce a significant health, social and economic impact.…

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Being a nurse

In times of health adversity the nurse has always been there, and now more than ever nurses are stepping up and out of there comfort zone to provide nursing care.…

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Q&A with Marwan El Ghoch, Editorial Board Member for Experimental Results, Life Science & Biomedicine Section

This is the latest of an ongoing series of interviews with people involved with our new Open Access journal, Experimental Results – a forum for short research papers from experimental disciplines across Science, Technology and Medicine, providing authors with an outlet for rapid publication of small chunks of research findings with maximum visibility.…

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Q&A with Juan Varela, Reviewing Editor of Experimental Results, Life Science and Biomedicine section

This is the latest of an ongoing series of interviews with people involved with our new Open Access journal, Experimental Results – a forum for short research papers from experimental disciplines across Science, Technology and Medicine, providing authors with an outlet for rapid publication of small chunks of research findings with maximum visibility.…

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New journal to explore the “mysterious ecosystem” in our guts

A new open access journal from Cambridge University Press, published in partnership with The Nutrition Society, will explore the vital interaction between people and the complex community of microorganisms that live in our digestive systems The journal, Gut Microbiome, will look at the factors that influence this gut microbiota and how they in turn affect our health and development.…

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