Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide(1). As poor diet quality is a major contributor to CVD burden; dietary intervention is recommended as a first-line approach to CVD prevention and management(2). Personalised nutrition (PN) refers to individualised nutrition care based on genetic, phenotypic, medical, and/or behavioural and lifestyle characteristics(3). Medical nutrition therapy by dietitians shares many of these principles and can be categorised as PN(4). PN may be beneficial in improving CVD risk factors and diet, however, this has not previously been systematically reviewed. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the effectiveness of PN interventions on CVD risk factors and diet in adults at elevated CVD risk. A comprehensive search was conducted in March 2023 across Embase, Medline, CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane databases, focusing on randomised controlled trials (RCTs) published after 2000 in English. Included studies tested the effect of PN interventions on adults with elevated CVD risk factors (determined by anthropometric measures, clinical indicators, or high overall CVD risk). Risk of bias was assessed using the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Quality Criteria checklist. Random-effects meta-analysis were conducted to explore weighted mean differences (WMD) in change or final mean values for studies with comparable data (studies with dietary counselling interventions), for outcomes including blood pressure (BP), blood lipids, and anthropometric measurements. Sixteen articles reporting on 15 unique studies (n = 7676) met inclusion criteria and were extracted. Outcomes of participants (n = 40–564) with CVD risk factors including hyperlipidaemia (n = 5), high blood pressure (n = 3), BMI > 25kg/m2 (n = 1) or multiple factors (n = 7) were reported. Results found potential benefits of PN on systolic blood pressure (SBP) (WMD −1.91 [95% CI −3.51, −0.31] mmHg), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (WMD −1.49 [95% CI −2.39, −0.58] mmHg), triglycerides (TG) (WMD −0.18 [95% CI −0.34, −0.03] mmol/L), and dietary intake in individuals at high CVD risk. Results were inconsistent for plasma lipid and anthropometric outcomes. Dietary counselling PN interventions showed promising results on CVD risk factors in individuals at-risk individuals. Further evidence for other personalisation methods and improvements to methodological quality and longer study durations are required in future PN interventions.

Unproven economic returns at the farm level are a major barrier to large-scale adoption of cover crops. The objective of this study was to evaluate the short-run private net returns to producers implementing a cereal rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop preceding the no-till corn (Zea mays L.) phase of a US Midwest corn–soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) rotation in an integrated crop and cow–calf operation. We used experimental agronomic data from six location-years in Iowa to estimate private net returns to cereal rye across alternative scenarios in a partial budget framework. Net returns in the absence of grazing averaged −$123.74 ha−1 and were negative for 82.2% of the treatments, while net returns under partial grazing averaged −$15.24 ha−1 and were negative for 54.8% of the treatments. Early-broadcast cereal rye produced higher biomass and larger net cost savings in the livestock enterprise than late-drilled cereal rye, but it also resulted in higher corn yield penalties. In the no-grazing scenario, net losses for early-broadcast cereal rye were $165.97 ha−1 larger, on average, than for late-drilled cereal rye. Our findings should raise awareness about the low probability of obtaining positive annual private net returns to cereal rye in Iowa in the absence of sizable targeted financial incentives, and inform the policy discussion on the cost-effectiveness of government-sponsored conservation programs.

System-level change is crucial for solving society's most pressing problems. However, individual-level interventions may be useful for creating behavioral change before system-level change is in place and for increasing necessary public support for system-level solutions. Participating in individual-level solutions may increase support for system-level solutions – especially if the individual-level solutions are internalized as part of one's social identity.

Human infection with antimicrobial-resistant Campylobacter species is an important public health concern due to the potentially increased severity of illness and risk of death. Our objective was to synthesise the knowledge of factors associated with human infections with antimicrobial-resistant strains of Campylobacter. This scoping review followed systematic methods, including a protocol developed a priori. Comprehensive literature searches were developed in consultation with a research librarian and performed in five primary and three grey literature databases. Criteria for inclusion were analytical and English-language publications investigating human infections with an antimicrobial-resistant (macrolides, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones, and/or quinolones) Campylobacter that reported factors potentially linked with the infection. The primary and secondary screening were completed by two independent reviewers using Distiller SR®. The search identified 8,527 unique articles and included 27 articles in the review. Factors were broadly categorised into animal contact, prior antimicrobial use, participant characteristics, food consumption and handling, travel, underlying health conditions, and water consumption/exposure. Important factors linked to an increased risk of infection with a fluoroquinolone-resistant strain included foreign travel and prior antimicrobial use. Identifying consistent risk factors was challenging due to the heterogeneity of results, inconsistent analysis, and the lack of data in low- and middle-income countries, highlighting the need for future research.

Research on proactive and reactive aggression has identified covariates unique to each function of aggression, but hypothesized correlates have often not been tested with consideration of developmental changes in or the overlap between the types of aggression. The present study examines the unique developmental trajectories of proactive and reactive aggression over adolescence and young adulthood and tests these trajectories’ associations with key covariates: callous–unemotional (CU) traits, impulsivity, and internalizing emotions. In a sample of 1,211 justice-involved males (ages 15–22), quadratic growth models (i.e., intercepts, linear slopes, and quadratic slopes) of each type of aggression were regressed onto quadratic growth models of the covariates while controlling for the other type of aggression. After accounting for the level of reactive aggression, the level of proactive aggression was predicted by the level of CU traits. However, change in proactive aggression over time was not related to the change in any covariates. After accounting for proactive aggression, reactive aggression was predicted by impulsivity, both at the initial level and in change over time. Results support that proactive and reactive aggression are unique constructs with separate developmental trajectories and distinct covariates.

Background: Mutations in the slow skeletal muscle troponin T (TNNT1) gene cause a congenital nemaline myopathy resulting in death from respiratory insufficiency in early infancy. We report on four French Canadians with a novel congenital TNNT1 myopathy. Methods: Patients underwent lower extremity and paraspinal MRI, quadriceps biopsy and genetic testing. TNNT1 expression in muscle was assessed by quantitative PCR and immunoblotting. Wild type or mutated TNNT1 mRNAs were co-injected with morpholinos in a zebrafish knockdown model to assess for rescue of the morphant phenotype. Results: Four patients shared a novel missense homozygous mutation in TNNT1. They developed from childhood slowly progressive limb-girdle weakness with spinal rigidity and contractures. They suffered from restrictive lung disease and recurrent episodes of rhabdomyolysis. Older patients remained ambulatory into their sixties. Lower extremity MRI showed symmetrical myopathic changes. Paraspinal MRI showed diffuse fibro-fatty involution. Biopsies showed multi-minicores. Nemaline rods were seen in half the patients. TNNT1 mRNA expression was similar in controls and patients, while levels of TNNT1 protein were reduced in patients. Wild type TNNT1 mRNA rescued the zebrafish morphants but mutant transcripts failed to do so. Conclusions: This study expands the spectrum of TNNT1-related myopathy to include a milder clinical phenotype caused by a functionally-confirmed novel mutation.

Background: Mutations in the slow skeletal muscle troponin T (TNNT1) gene cause a congenital nemaline myopathy resulting in death from respiratory insufficiency in early infancy. We report on four French Canadians with a novel congenital TNNT1 myopathy. Methods: Patients underwent lower extremity and paraspinal MRI, quadriceps biopsy and genetic testing. TNNT1 expression in muscle was assessed by quantitative PCR and immunoblotting. Wild type or mutated TNNT1 mRNAs were co-injected with morpholinos in a zebrafish knockdown model to assess for rescue of the morphant phenotype. Results: Four patients shared a novel missense homozygous mutation in TNNT1. They developed from childhood slowly progressive limb-girdle weakness with spinal rigidity and contractures. They suffered from restrictive lung disease and recurrent episodes of rhabdomyolysis. Older patients remained ambulatory into their sixties. Lower extremity MRI showed symmetrical myopathic changes. Paraspinal MRI showed diffuse fibro-fatty involution. Biopsies showed multi-minicores. Nemaline rods were seen in half the patients. TNNT1 mRNA expression was similar in controls and patients, while levels of TNNT1 protein were reduced in patients. Wild type TNNT1 mRNA rescued the zebrafish morphants but mutant transcripts failed to do so. Conclusions: This study expands the spectrum of TNNT1-related myopathy to include a milder clinical phenotype caused by a functionally-confirmed novel mutation.

Correct diagnosis of cause of death is necessary to suggest the most effective management interventions to reduce perinatal lamb mortality. Haemorrhage on the surface of the brain has been used as a field diagnostic tool to allocate lambs to a cause of death category, but the usefulness of this method was unclear. This study aimed to evaluate whether gross pathology was related to neuronal death and whether haemorrhage of the central nervous system (CNS) was distinct between differing causes of death, enabling indicators to be used in field diagnoses. Lambs dying from natural causes (n = 64) and from euthanasia (n = 7) underwent postmortem examination, then the brain and spinal cord were extracted and examined histologically. Histological changes consistent with neuronal death were not detected in any lamb. Haemorrhage of the meninges and/or parenchyma of the CNS occurred in all lambs. The age of the haemorrhage indicated that it occurred near the time of death in most lambs. Dilation of blood vessels varied in severity but appeared to be unrelated to causal diagnosis, severity of subcutaneous oedema, breathing or milk status. Moderate or severe dilation of blood vessels and haemorrhage of the CNS did not occur in all lambs with alternative clear indicators of dystocia and occurred in all death classifications, so it could not be used as diagnostic indicators for classification of cause of death. Dilation and haemorrhage were unrelated to neuronal damage and may have been artefactual. In conclusion, haemorrhage of the CNS was not indicative of neuronal damage and could not be used to distinguish between lambs with clear indicators of differing causes of death, so it is not recommended as a field diagnostic tool.

Delivering high quality genomics-informed care to patients requires accurate test results whose clinical implications are understood. While other actors, including state agencies, professional organizations, and clinicians, are involved, this article focuses on the extent to which the federal agencies that play the most prominent roles — the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services enforcing CLIA and the FDA — effectively ensure that these elements are met and concludes by suggesting possible ways to improve their oversight of genomic testing.

Despite the global significance of the Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous colony on Baccalieu Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, the estimate of 3.36 million breeding pairs reported for 1984 by Sklepkovych and Montevecchi stands as the single published population estimate for the world’s largest colony. This study increases knowledge of this population by analysing data from additional independent surveys conducted in 1984 and 1985, and by updating the population status with a survey conducted in 2013. Population estimates were derived by extrapolating occupied burrow densities to the estimated occupied area of four main habitat types (heath, forest, grass and fern), which in turn were based on proportions of habitats observed in plots (1984 and 1985) or by using a Geographic Information System approach (2013). Based on these surveys, the Leach’s Storm-petrel breeding population size on Baccalieu Island was estimated at 5.12 ± 0.73 (SE) and 4.60 ± 0.42 (SE) million pairs in 1984 and 1985 respectively, representing estimates 37–51% greater than the original 1984 survey. While discrepancies among these estimates were largely driven by the way occupied areas were estimated, our study confirms that Baccalieu Island hosts the largest Leach’s Storm-petrel colony in the world. Results from the 2013 survey estimate the current breeding Leach’s Storm-petrel population at 1.95 ± 0.14 (SE) million pairs, representing a 42% decline over 29 years (-1.4% per year), relative to the original published estimate of 3.36 ± 0.12 (SE) million pairs. The most prominent change has occurred in the density of storm-petrel burrows found in forest habitat which dropped by 70% despite forest remaining the second most abundant habitat available to nesting storm-petrels on Baccalieu Island. The cause of this decline remains unknown and is likely multi-faceted. Future research focusing on demographic studies is required to understand what is driving the population decline of this internationally important colony.

Negative interactions between people and large carnivores are common and will probably increase as the human population and livestock production continue to expand. Livestock predation by wild carnivores can significantly affect the livelihoods of farmers, resulting in retaliatory killings and subsequent conflicts between local communities and conservationists. A better understanding of livestock predation patterns could help guide measures to improve both human relationships and coexistence with carnivores. Environmental variables can influence the intensity of livestock predation, are relatively easy to monitor, and could potentially provide a useful predictive framework for targeting mitigation. We chose lion predation of livestock as a model to test whether variations in environmental conditions trigger changes in predation. Analysing 6 years of incident reports for Pandamatenga village in Botswana, an area of high human–lion conflict, we used generalized linear models to show that significantly more attacks coincided with lower moonlight levels and temperatures, and attack severity increased significantly with extreme minimum temperatures. Furthermore, we found a delayed effect of rainfall: lower rainfall was followed by a significantly increased severity of attacks in the following month. Our results suggest that preventative measures, such as introducing deterrents or changing livestock management, could be implemented adaptively based on environmental conditions. This could be a starting point for investigating similar effects in other large carnivores, to reduce livestock attacks and work towards wider human–wildlife coexistence.

Although the impact of diarrhoeal disease on paediatric health in Nigeria has decreased in recent years, it remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in children under 5 years. Rotavirus is recognised as an important aetiological agent, but information on the contribution of intestinal protozoa to watery diarrhoea in this age group in Nigeria is scarce. In this cross-sectional study, faecal samples from children admitted to healthcare centres in Abakaliki, Nigeria with acute watery diarrhoea (N = 199) and faecal samples from age-matched controls (N = 37) were examined for Cryptosporidium and Giardia using immunofluorescent antibody testing and molecular methods. Cryptosporidium was identified in 13 case samples (6.5%) and no control samples. For three samples, molecular characterisation indicated C. hominis, GP60 subtypes IaA30R3, IaA14R3 and IdA11. Giardia was not detected in any samples. This contrast in prevalence between the two intestinal protozoa may reflect their variable epidemiologies and probably differing routes of infection. Given that these two parasitic infections are often bracketed together, it is key to realise that they not only have differing clinical spectra but also that the importance of each parasite is not the same in different age groups and/or settings.