Background: Meningiomas are the most common intracranial tumor with surgery, dural margin treatment, and radiotherapy as cornerstones of therapy. Response to treatment continues to be highly heterogeneous even across tumors of the same grade. Methods: Using a cohort of 2490 meningiomas in addition to 100 cases from the prospective RTOG-0539 phase II clinical trial, we define molecular biomarkers of response across multiple different, recently defined molecular classifications and use propensity score matching to mimic a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the role of extent of resection, dural marginal resection, and adjuvant radiotherapy on clinical outcome. Results: Gross tumor resection led to improved progression-free-survival (PFS) across all molecular groups (MG) and improved overall survival in proliferative meningiomas (HR 0.52, 95%CI 0.30-0.93). Dural margin treatment (Simpson grade 1/2) improved PFS versus complete tumor removal alone (Simpson 3). MG reliably predicted response to radiotherapy, including in the RTOG-0539 cohort. A molecular model developed using clinical trial cases discriminated response to radiotherapy better than standard of care grading in multiple cohorts (ΔAUC 0.12, 95%CI 0.10-0.14). Conclusions: We elucidate biological and molecular classifications of meningioma that influence response to surgery and radiotherapy in addition to introducing a novel molecular-based prediction model of response to radiation to guide treatment decisions.

A total of 140 trout were examined from four lakes in north west Ireland, Loughs Craghy, Waskel, Meela and Owennamarve. Eleven species of metazoan parasite were recorded, ten of which were of freshwater origin and Anisakissp. was the only marine species. No acanthocephalan species were found. Diphyllobothrium ditremum, D. dendriticum and Anisakissp. were the only allogenic species. Lough Owennamarve had the largest component community with nine species recorded. Lough Meela, the only brackish water lake had the smallest component community with six species recorded. Lough Waskel and Craghy had intermediate component community values. Lough Meela showed the lowest levels of similarity to any of the other lakes. Values for the Shannon-Wiener diversity index were highest for Lough Owennamarve and lowest for Lough Meela and intermediate for the other two lakes. Lough Meela had the highest values for the Simpson's dominance index and the Berger-Parker index. Lough Owennamarve had the highest Brillouin's index and Lough Meela had the lowest. The use of multiple regression techniques to control for the potentially confounding effect of geographical distance as a predictor of community similarity was discussed. No parasite species found could be considered as regionally and locally abundant and therefore described as a core species. The helminth community appears to have some degree of predictability, but chance colonization events are also important.

The population biology of the fish acanthocephalan Acanthocephalus clavula was described from 161 wild brown trout, Salmo trutta sampled over a two-year period in Clogher Lake in the west of Ireland. Overall prevalence of the parasite was 86% and the mean abundance was 53 worms per fish. Despite the presence of large numbers of worms in the trout very few females (2%) attained full reproductive maturity. This suggests that trout is an accidental host. A sample of yellow eels, Anguilla anguilla was examined at a different time from the same lake. The prevalence of A. clavula was 97% and the average abundance was 8 worms per fish. In contrast to the situation in trout, the proportion of female worms attaining full reproductive maturity was 61% fulfilling the expected characteristic of a preferred definitive host. The possible explanations for the very high abundance of A. clavula in trout are discussed and include the influence of fluctuations in host populations, host diet and the absence of a potential competitor.

Recent outbreaks of various infectious diseases have highlighted the ever-present need to understand the drivers of the outbreak and spread of disease. Although much of the research investigating diseases focuses on single infections, natural systems are dominated by multiple infections. These infections may occur simultaneously, but are often acquired sequentially, which may alter the outcome of infection. Using waterfleas (Daphnia magna) as a model organism, we examined the outcome of sequential and simultaneous multiple infections with 2 microsporidian parasites (Ordospora colligata and Hamiltosporidium tvaerminnensis) in a fully factorial design with 9 treatments and 30 replicates. We found no differences between simultaneous and sequential infections. However, H. tvaerminnensis fitness was impeded by multiple infection due to increased host mortality, which gave H. tvaerminnensis less time to grow. Host fecundity was also reduced across all treatments, but animals infected with O. colligata at a younger age produced the fewest offspring. As H. tvaerminnensis is both horizontally and vertically transmitted, this reduction in offspring may have further reduced H. tvaerminnensis fitness in co-infected treatments. Our findings suggest that in natural populations where both species co-occur, H. tvaerminnensis may evolve to higher levels of virulence following frequent co-infection by O. colligata.

The OMFIT STEP (Meneghini et al., Nucl. Fusion, vol. 10, 2020, p. 1088) workflow has been used to develop inductive and steady-state H-mode core plasma scenario use cases for a $B_0 = 8 \, {\rm T}$, $R_0 = 4 \, {\rm m}$ machine to help guide and inform future higher-fidelity studies of core transport and confinement in compact tokamak reactors. Both use cases are designed to produce 200 MW or more of net electric power in an up-down symmetric plasma with minor radius $a = 1.4 \, {\rm m}$, elongation $\kappa = 2.0$, triangularity $\delta = 0.5$ and effective charge $Z_{{\rm eff}} \simeq 2$. Additional considerations based on the need for compatibility of the core with reactor-relevant power exhaust solutions and external actuators were used to guide and constrain the use case development. An extensive characterization of core transport in both scenarios is presented, the most important feature of which is the extreme sensitivity of the results to the quantitative stiffness level of the transport model used as well as the predicted critical gradients. This sensitivity is shown to arise from different levels of transport stiffness exhibited by the models, combined with the gyroBohm-normalized fluxes of the predictions being an order of magnitude larger than other H-mode plasmas. Additionally, it is shown that although heating in both plasmas is predominantly to the electrons and collisionality is low, the plasmas remain sufficiently well coupled for the ions to carry a significant fraction of the thermal transport. As neoclassical transport is negligible in these conditions, this situation inherently requires long-wavelength ion gyroradius-scale turbulence to be the dominant transport mechanism in both plasmas. These results are combined with other basic considerations to propose a simple heuristic model of transport in reactor-relevant plasmas, along with simple metrics to quantify coupling and core transport properties across burning and non-burning plasmas.

In much of the world, public transportation infrastructure is sorely needed. Political economy models suggest that provision lags because uneven access and use of public transit fragments political coalitions. Yet, traditional survey techniques tell us little about who supports valence issues, such as mass transit. I instead adopt a novel survey approach from economics designed to elicit preference intensity. I then sample households at different distances from a subway project in Bogotá, Colombia. Contra conventional expectations, I find little evidence that local geography shapes preferences. Those who use public transit the least and pay the most for its construction—the upper class—are its strongest supporters. An experiment and focus groups suggest that middle- and upper-class groups want others to take public transportation to reduce congestion and shorten their commutes. One implication is that a growing middle class might help to strengthen urban public goods provision.

This study (1978-93) was concerned with calf site selection by red deer from three contrasting areas (two deer parks and one deer farm) of north-west England. It arose from initial (1960s-70s) concern over poor recruitment and the high incidence of ‘abandoned’ calves (at one site), and increasing levels of public disturbance in Lyme Park and Tatton Park. A better understanding of calving behaviour could lead to improved management procedures during calving. Habitat selection by adult females was examined indirectly, by recording where calves (0-2 days old) were born in relation to their weight. The deer farm provided a control site, where the effects of their social traditions could be minimized.

Calves were born over a wide area of moorland in Lyme Park but confined to a deer sanctuary in Tatton Park. Areas of obvious plant cover were selected in preference to open ground in Tatton Park and in the deer farm. No marked preferences were apparent in Lyme Park, although some areas were used more frequently than others, over all years. Most calves occurred within female home ranges. In Tatton Park, the heaviest calves were found in the preferred calving sites.

Calf weights varied widely within and between study sites. On average, the smallest (lightest) calves were recorded in Lyme Park and the heaviest in the deer farm. Sex differences in calf weights occurred in Tatton Park, but not at the other two sites. In general, late-born calves were smaller than those born early in the season. Variations in birthweight were linked to differences in female growth and site conditions. In the absence of more detailed statistics, calf weights can provide a useful measure of population performance.

Collectively, these results suggest that red deer can adopt a range of calving behaviours (‘tactics’) depending on the nature of the habitat (presence or absence of cover), perceived predation ‘risks’ (levels of disturbance), established social traditions and, possibly, parental investment. Cover appeared to be a primary requirement for calving. In the absence of cover, other behaviours were adopted. In some cases, these behaviours were not in the best interests of the calf, asparent females rarely returned tofeed their calves during the day and often engaged in energetically costly diversionary activities. In deer farms, conflicts between hinds may be exaggerated by limited access to ground cover, similar social status and low variance in calf weights.

In view of thesefindings, there is a need to devise new ways of attracting captive deer to cover, perhaps by modifications to the habitat mosaic. Observations from Tafton Park show that deer readily use refuges (the sanctuary), when available, although it may be difficult to initiate new behaviours where long-established traditions occur (eg Lyme Park). Mortality amongst calves is unacceptable in deer parks, but further work under more controlled conditions, is required to establish the mechanisms of calf site selection. Effective methods of locating calves are desirable for management purposes.

Despite a growing literature on the left in Latin America, few studies have considered the fate of the right. This article examines a highly successful conservative party, the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), which held power for close to two decades in El Salvador. The ARENA party used mano dura policies—defined by the introduction of discretionary crimes, diluted due process guarantees, and military participation in policing—to boost its support among constituencies plagued by crime. Two key factors prompted ARENA party strategists to emphasize security. First, a credible electoral threat existed from a leftist party hesitant to resort to harsh security measures. Second, factional divisions drove party strategy. Business elites who formed the core of the ARENA party refused to abandon unpopular economic reforms. Mano dura policies allowed the party to maintain support from traditional elites and their rural bases without reversals to its economic program. Party centralization facilitated the programmatic shift.

Comparative political economists often divide Latin American labor markets into those with secure employment (insiders) and those without it (outsiders). Yet this division misses an increasingly important class of contract workers, who hold formal labor contracts but often lack labor stability, welfare benefits, and organizing rights. When do unionized and contract workers share preferences and engage in joint organizing? And when do their efforts result in policy change? Drawing on case studies of Chile and Peru, I argue that unionized workers mobilize contract workers when they see their own membership under threat and when they share physical workplaces with contractors. Labor coalitions succeed in policy reform when they leverage divisions within the business community and upcoming elections to build support. This article thus pushes scholars to move beyond dichotomies of formal versus informal workers and study how contract workers matter for collective action and labor policy outcomes.

Ascaris lumbricoides, the roundworm, and Trichuris trichiura, the whipworm, are human intestinal nematode parasites; both are soil-transmitted helminths, are often placed together in an epidemiological context and both remain neglected despite high prevalence. Our understanding of parasitic disease continues to be enhanced through animal models. Despite the similarities between whipworm and roundworm, there are key differences between the two species and these have influenced the application of their respective animal models. In the case of T. trichiura, the fact that a murine equivalent, T. muris completes its life cycle in a mouse model has greatly enhanced our knowledge of whipworm biology, pathogenicity and immunology. In contrast, A. lumbricoides and its porcine equivalent, Ascaris suum, lack a rodent model in which the life cycle is completed. However, evidence continues to accumulate demonstrating that mice represent useful models of early Ascaris infection, a key stage of the life cycle. The use of mouse models for both Ascaris and Trichuris has a long history with early pioneers discovering fundamental aspects of each parasite's biology. Novel technologies and perspectives, as outlined in this special issue, demonstrate how through the prism of mouse models, we can continue to explore the similarities and differences between roundworms and whipworms.

Based on interview files and archival materials, this paper reconstructs the experiences of Kalmyk displaced persons (DPs) against the backdrop of the shifting international refugee regime in post-World War II Europe. Kalmyks came to western Europe in two waves: at the conclusion of the Russian Civil War in 1920 and during the German retreat from the Soviet Union in 1943–44. After the war, the majority of Kalmyks were repatriated; those who remained in Europe primarily ended up in DP camps in the American zone of western Germany. This paper details the strategies used by Kalmyk DPs to avoid repatriation to the Soviet Union and eventually secure resettlement in the United States in 1951. Individual histories offer insight into how the Kalmyks as a group made themselves legible to the international community in light of a changing geopolitical environment and evolving racial regimes.

Ascaris lumbricoides and Ascaris suum are helminth parasites of humans and pigs, respectively. The life cycle of Ascaris sets it apart from the other soil-transmitted helminths because of its hepato-tracheal migration. Larval migration contributes to underestimated morbidity in humans and pigs. This migration, coupled with a lack of a murine model in which the Ascaris parasite might complete its life cycle, has undoubtedly contributed to the neglected status of the ascarid. Our knowledge of the epidemiology of adult worm infections had led us to an enhanced understanding of patterns of infection such as aggregation and predisposition; however, the mechanisms underlying these complex phenomena remain elusive. Carefully controlled experiments in defined inbred strains of mice – with enhanced recovery of larvae in tandem with measurements of cellular, histopathological and molecular processes – have greatly enhanced our knowledge of the early phase of infection, a phase crucial to the success or failure of adult worm establishment. Furthermore, the recent development of a mouse model of susceptibility and resistance, with highly consistent and diverging Ascaris larval burdens in the murine lungs, represents the extremes of the host phenotype displayed in the aggregated distribution of worms and provides an opportunity to explore the mechanistic basis that confers predisposition to light and heavy Ascaris infection. Certainly, detailed knowledge of the cellular hepatic and pulmonary responses at the molecular level can be accrued from murine models of infection and, once available, may enhance our ability to develop immunomodulatory therapies to elicit resistance to infection.