Educational Workshops May Bolster Women's Empowerment

Peer-Reviewed Publication

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY'S MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

 

IMAGE: COUPLES PARTICIPATE IN A WORKSHOP AS PART OF THE WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT STUDY IN IBADAN, NIGERIA. view more 

CREDIT: WOMEN WORKING WITH PARTNERS

Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, led a randomized control trial in Ibadan, Nigeria, to evaluate educational programs to empower women by working with couples in three critical areas: spousal relations and financial and reproductive decision-making.

The researchers report an increase in household decision-making by women. The evidence was mixed among those randomized to participate in only one or two of the areas. The findings appear in the journal Development in Practice.

The researchers randomized more than 1,000 male-female domestic partners and married couples to take part in one of four arms with one or more weekly two-hour group education sessions:  (1) sessions designed to impart a critical understanding of gender roles and norms, as well as relationship strengthening (2) sessions on gender socialization plus sessions on financial literacy and household budget management, (3) sessions on gender socialization and financial literacy plus couple counseling on family planning, and (4) a control group. All sessions were led by a facilitator and included individual and group activities, as well as role-play.

The researchers observed positive trends toward increases in women’s household decision-making and decisions regarding the use of husbands’ earnings in all three intervention arms, as compared to the control arm. However, the results were significant only in the arm that received all three interventions, and only marginally significant in the first and second arms. Financial decision-making scores significantly improved only in the second arm, were marginally significant in the first arm, and non-significant in the arm that received all three interventions. The researchers say additional qualitative research is needed to understand why the program worked in some decision-making domains versus others. Inconsistent findings might also be the result of the way results were measured in questionnaires

“The intervention appeared to be most successful in areas where women continue to be less active, such as general household and financial decisions, as well as decisions pertaining to the use of men’s earnings,” says senior author Neetu John, PhD, assistant professor of population and family health at Columbia Mailman School. “On the other hand, the intervention was less effective in areas where the trend may already be moving towards increased female or joint decision-making, such as reproductive decision-making and use of women’s earnings.”

Background

In Nigeria, despite increases in women’s education and participation in the formal economy, women continue to grapple with a patriarchal culture, which relegates their position within the household and limits their capacity to exercise choice and agency in their lives. Household division of labor continues to follow traditional gendered roles. The male partner is the decision-maker on important household and health matters like family spending and whether or when his partner can have children, and when she and her children can receive healthcare. 

“Women’s empowerment is recognized as an important strategy to foster gender equality, which is linked to health and wellbeing. Our goal is to help women recognize and use resources in their own interest by challenging discriminatory gender and social norms, as well as by creating an enabling environment to foster this process by engaging their male partners,” says John.

The study’s first author is Funmilola M. OlaOlorun at the University of Ibadan.

The research is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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JOURNAL

Development in Practice

DOI

10.1080/09614524.2021.1937564 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

A couple-based gender transformative intervention to enhance women’s participation in household decision-making: results from a cluster randomised control trial in Ibadan, Nigeria

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

17-Aug-2021

Disclaimer: AAAS an

 

Shoppers choose healthier groceries when supermarket layout promotes fruit and vegetables over candy

Peer-Reviewed Publication

PLOS

Removing confectionery and other unhealthy products from checkouts and the end of nearby aisles and placing fruit and vegetables near store entrances prompts customers to make healthier food purchases, suggests a new study led by Christina Vogel and Janis Baird from the University of Southampton publishing September 7 in the open access journal PLOS Medicine.

Conducted in partnership with the national supermarket chain Iceland Foods Ltd, the study took place in a selection of Iceland stores in England and monitored store sales as well as the purchasing and dietary patterns of a sample of regular customers.

The authors found store-wide confectionery sales decreased and fruit and vegetable sales increased when non-food items and water were placed at checkouts and at the end of the opposite aisles, and an expanded fruit and vegetable section was repositioned near the store entrance. Beneficial effects were also observed for household fruit and vegetable purchasing and individual dietary quality.

This research is more comprehensive than previous studies testing whether placement strategies can promote healthier food purchasing which have been limited in scope (e.g., assessing only a single location (i.e., checkouts) or placing healthy and unhealthy products together). This study was able to measure effects of storewide layout shifts aiming to reduce shopper exposure to low-nutrition food on store sales, customer loyalty card purchasing patterns and the diets of more than one household member.

Dr Vogel concludes: “Altering the layouts of supermarkets could help people make healthier food choices and shift population diet towards the government’s dietary recommendations. The findings of our study suggest that a healthier store layout could lead to nearly 10,000 extra portions of fruit and vegetables and approximately 1,500 fewer portions of confectionery being sold on a weekly basis in each store.”  

Prof Baird added: “These results provide novel evidence to suggest that the intended UK government ban on prominent placement of unhealthy foods across retail outlets could be beneficial for population diet, and that effects may be further enhanced if requirements for a produce section near supermarket entrances were incorporated into the regulation.”

 

#####

 

Research Article

Citation: Vogel C, Crozier S, Penn-Newman D, Ball K, Moon G, Lord J, et al. (2021) Altering product placement to create a healthier layout in supermarkets: Outcomes on store sales, customer purchasing, and diet in a prospective matched controlled cluster study. PLoS Med 18(9): e1003729. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003729

Funding: This research and the authors of this paper are supported by the following funding sources: The Academy of Medical Sciences and Wellcome Trust (grant to CV: HOP001\1067, acmedsci.ac.uk); Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton (fellowship to CV: PCTA36/2015, grant to CV, JB: RMC1516-12, www.southampton.ac.uk/about/departments/faculties/medicine.page); National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Southampton Biomedical Research Centre, University of Southampton (grant to CV, JB: NBRC RS4h, www.uhs.nhs.uk/ClinicalResearchinSouthampton/Home.aspx); Medical Research Council (quinquennial grant to CC, JB, mrc.ukri.org); National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) (fellowship to KB, www.nihr.ac.uk). The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the research funders. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing Interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests:No funding was received from the supermarket involved in this study and all analyses were conducted independently, without involvement of supermarket staff. CV, SC, DPN, KB, GM and JL have no conflicts of interest to declare. JB has received grant research support from Danone Nutricia Early Life Nutrition. CC has has received consultancy, lecture fees and honoraria from AMGEN, GKS, Alliance for Better Bone Health, MSD, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Servier, Medtronic and Roche. The study described in this manuscript is not related to these conflicted relationships.

In your coverage please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003729

 

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JOURNAL

PLoS Medicine

DOI

10.1371/journal.pmed.1003729 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Altering product placement to create a healthier layout in supermarkets: Outcomes on store sales, customer purchasing, and diet in a prospective matched controlled cluster study

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Sep-2021

COI STATEMENT

I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests:No funding was received from the supermarket involved in this study and all analyses were conducted independently, without involvement of supermarket staff. CV, SC, DPN, KB, GM and JL have no conflicts of interest to declare. JB has received grant research support from Danone Nutricia Early Life Nutrition. CC has has received consultancy, lecture fees and honoraria from AMGEN, GKS, Alliance for Better Bone Health, MSD, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Novartis, Servier, Medtronic and Roche. The study described in this manuscript is not related to these conflicted relationships.

Healthier supermarket layout improves customers’ food choices, study shows

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

New research from the University of Southampton shows that removing confectionery and other unhealthy products from checkouts and the end of nearby aisles and placing fruit and vegetables near store entrances prompts customers to make healthier food purchases.

The study, led by Dr Christina Vogel, Principal Research Fellow in Public Health Nutrition and Janis Baird, Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology at the University’s MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre, was conducted in partnership with the national supermarket chain Iceland Foods Ltd. The trial took place in a selection of Iceland stores in England and monitored store sales as well as the purchasing and dietary patterns of a sample of regular customers.

The results showed store-wide confectionery sales decreased and fruit and vegetable sales increased when non-food items and water were placed at checkouts and at the end of the opposite aisles, and an expanded fruit and vegetable section was repositioned near the store entrance. Beneficial effects were also observed for household fruit and vegetable purchasing and individual dietary quality. Full details are presented in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine from 24th August 2021. 

When talking about the results of the study Dr Vogel said “Altering the layouts of supermarkets could help people make healthier food choices and shift population diet towards the government’s dietary recommendations. The findings of our study suggest that a healthier store layout could lead to nearly 10,000 extra portions of fruit and vegetables and approximately 1,500 fewer portions of confectionery being sold on a weekly basis in each store.”  

This research is more comprehensive than previous studies testing whether placement strategies can promote healthier food purchasing which have been limited in scope, for example including only a single location (i.e. checkouts) or placing healthy and unhealthy products together. This study went further, aiming to reduce customers exposure to calorie opportunities by placing non-food items at checkout and aisle-ends opposite and measuring effects on store sales, customer loyalty card purchasing patterns and the diets of more than one household member. 

Matt Downes, Head of Format Development at Iceland said “We have been pleased to support this long-term study and the evaluation of how product placement in supermarkets can affect the diets of our customers. We know that childhood obesity is a growing issue and the retail industry has its part to play in tackling this. We hope that the outcomes of the study provide insights for the wider retail industry and policy makers about the impact of store merchandising on purchasing decisions.”

Prof Baird added “These results provide novel evidence to suggest that the intended UK government ban on prominent placement of unhealthy foods across retail outlets could be beneficial for population diet, and that effects may be further enhanced if requirements for a produce section near supermarket entrances were incorporated into the regulation.”

###

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JOURNAL

PLoS Medicine

DOI

10.1371/journal.pmed.1003729 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Altering product placement to create a healthier layout in supermarkets: outcomes on store sales, customer purchasing and diet in a prospective matched-controlled cluster study

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

23-Aug-2021

Disclaimer: AAAS an

 

Boom in social stress may contribute to population decline

UMass Amherst scientist has new hypothesis for changes in reproductive behavior and physiology

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST

 

IMAGE: ALEXANDER SUVOROV IS AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR IN THE UMASS AMHERST SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH SCIENCES. view more 

CREDIT: UMASS AMHERST

A University of Massachusetts Amherst environmental health scientist has developed an “overlooked hypothesis” to help explain the projected global population decline beginning in 2064: social stress.

Stress from social media and other largely empty or overwhelming social interactions may be leading or contributing to changes in reproductive behavior and reproductive physiology, suggests Alexander Suvorov, associate professor in the UMass Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences. 

In a review article, published in the journal Endocrinology, he examines various theories surrounding previous human population decline as models predict a “remarkable” decrease from 9.7 billion people in 2064 to 8.8 billion by 2100. Some countries’ populations already have peaked and are projected to decline by 50% by the end of the century.

“A unique feature of the upcoming population drop is that it is almost exclusively caused by decreased reproduction, rather than factors that increase rates of mortality (wars, epidemics, starvation, severe weather conditions, predators, and catastrophic events),” he writes.

Suvorov outlines a hypothesis that connects reproductive trends with population densities, proposing that density reflects the quality and frequency of social interactions. 

“Rising population numbers contribute to less meaningful social interactions, social withdrawal and chronic stress, which subsequently suppresses reproduction,” the manuscript states.

Over the past 50 years, a 50% decrease in sperm counts has occurred. Stress is known to suppress sperm count, ovulation and sexual activity, Suvorov notes. While changes in reproductive physiology are usually attributed to the effects of endocrine-disrupting pollutants, Suvorov believes it is not the only factor.

“Numerous wildlife and laboratory studies demonstrated that population peaks are always followed by increased stress and suppressed reproduction,” Suvorov says. “When a high population density is reached, something is happening in the neuroendocrine system that is suppressing reproduction. The same mechanisms happening in wildlife species may be at work in humans as well.”

Suvorov points to several changes in reproductive behavior that contribute to the population drop, including people having fewer children and waiting longer to start families or choosing to be child-free. But he says biological changes are likely happening as well. More research is needed, he says, such as studies to determine cortisol levels in human blood, an important measure of stress. 

“A better understanding of the causal chain involved in reproduction suppression by population density-related factors may help develop interventions to treat infertility and other reproductive conditions,” Suvorov writes. 

He hopes his hypothesis offers up an enticing area of research that scientists from different fields will be interested in exploring.

“The goal of this paper is to attract attention to a completely overlooked hypothesis – and this hypothesis is raising more questions than it is giving answers,” Suvorov says. “I hope it will trigger interest of people from very different domains and that after additional studies we will have a much better picture of to what extent population density is connected with social stress and how social stress is connected to reproduction, and what we can do about it.”

A common-sense place to start, he suggests: “Back off social media.”

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JOURNAL

Endocrinology

DOI

10.1210/endocr/bqab154 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Literature review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Population Numbers and Reproductive Health

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

1-Nov-2021

COI STATEMENT

No conflic

 

Think climate change is bad for corn? Add weeds to the equation

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL, CONSUMER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

URBANA, Ill. – By the end of the century, scientists expect climate change to reduce corn yield significantly, with some estimating losses up to 28%. But those calculations are missing a key factor that could drag corn yields down even further: weeds.

Wetter springs and hotter, drier summers, already becoming the norm in the Corn Belt, put stress on corn during key reproductive stages, including silking and grain fill. But those same weather conditions can benefit the scrappy weeds that thrive in tough environments.

“Adverse weather and weeds are two stressors to crop production, but there's been very little research into how the combination of those two factors influence crop yield. Computer models projecting corn yields into the future are assuming weed-free conditions,” says Marty Williams, USDA-Agricultural Research Service ecologist, affiliate professor in the Department of Crop Sciences at Illinois, and co-author on a new study in Global Change Biology. “That's unlikely to be the case without a major transformation in the way we manage weeds.”

Complete weed control is rarely achieved in practice, especially considering herbicides – the single most common tool used to destroy weeds – are losing ground to resistant weeds. Several important weed species, including waterhemp and Palmer amaranth, can shrug off multiple herbicide modes of action. And with no new classes of herbicides nearing commercialization in corn, the prospects for chemical control continue to dim for resistant weeds.

Yet, late-season control of weeds such as waterhemp was the most important factor impacting corn yield; bigger than any management practice or weather-related factor.

To arrive at that conclusion, the research team, which includes U of I crop scientists Christopher Landau and Aaron Hager, analyzed 27 years of herbicide evaluation trials representing more than 200 unique weather environments throughout Illinois.

“When ag researchers want to look at weather variation and crop yield in a controlled manner, generally that’s one experiment in two or three environments. If it's a big study, that might amount to six or eight environments,” Williams says. “Our analysis enabled us to look at a historic data set where there were hundreds of environments. That's the real beauty of it.”

Machine-learning algorithms helped the researchers make sense of the large, complex dataset. They looked at crop management considerations, including planting date, hybrid choice, and planting density; percent weed control for multiple weed species; weather data at key growth stages throughout the corn life cycle; and yield.

The analysis showed an average of 50% loss when late-season weeds were minimally controlled. Even with relatively robust late-season weed control (up to 93%), weeds exacerbated crop losses in hot or dry conditions.

“The combination of less-than-complete weed control and these weather events is where we see crop losses much larger than from poor weather alone. Achieving 94% weed control late into the season is a high bar. I'd be surprised if many fields hit that mark for weed control on a regular basis,” Williams says.

The researchers know excessive mid-summer heat and/or drought puts stress on corn and makes it less competitive against weeds. But that’s not the only way climate change interacts with weeds to impact corn yield. Adverse weather impacts field working conditions and herbicide efficacy. For example, if a period of drought sets in just after pre-emergence herbicides are applied, the chemical won’t work as well and emerging corn could be engulfed by early weeds.

Farmers forced to plant later due to wet conditions in the spring could be in luck, however. The analysis showed 18% less yield loss when corn was planted after April 29.

“The advantage of later planting was related to improved weed control, with early weeds having time to emerge and be killed prior to planting,” Landau says. “But that doesn't necessarily mean it's best for the crop. The later corn is planted, the more likely you're going to catch a window of time when it's excessively hot or dry during flowering. Late-planting may benefit weed management, but it may expose the crop to greater risk of heat or drought stress during reproduction.”

The analysis highlights the need to move away from reliance on simplistic weed control systems under climate change. Williams says weeds are adapting to existing herbicides, and a new product won’t be a silver bullet. Nor would any other single tool, regardless of how novel the technology is.

“History has shown us that it won't do any good to innovate some brand new tool if we rely too heavily on it. We do need new tools. Whether that's harvest weed seed control, genetic engineering approaches, robotic weeders, or another advancement. There's progress being made in many areas, but as new tools become available, we need to diversify how weeds are managed. Not just with registered herbicides, but all available tactics,” Williams says.

The article, “Diminishing weed control exacerbates maize yield loss to adverse weather,” is published in Global Change Biology [DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15857].

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JOURNAL

Global Change Biology

DOI

10.1111/gcb.15857 

ARTICLE TITLE

Diminishing weed control exacerbates maize yield loss to adverse weather

 

How do pathogens evolve novel virulence activities and why does it matter?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AMERICAN PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL SOCIETY

 

IMAGE: NOVEL VIRULENCE ACTIVITIES CAN INCLUDE ADAPTATIONS THAT ALTER HOW PATHOGENS INTERACT WITH THE HOST IMMUNE SYSTEM (DARK PURPLE) OR WITH HOST PHYSIOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT (ORANGE), THE ABILITY TO MULTIPLY AND SPREAD WITHIN THE HOST (LIGHT PURPLE), HOW THEY DISPERSE AND ARE TRANSMITTED TO OTHER HOSTS (TURQUOISE), THEIR HOST RANGE (INCLUDING HOST EXPANSIONS AND HOST JUMPS, GREEN), HOW THEY INTERACT WITH THE ENVIRONMENT (BLUE), AND HOW THEY INTERACT WITH OTHER PATHOGENIC AND NONPATHOGENIC MICROORGANISMS (RED). view more 

CREDIT: SOLEDAD SACRISTÁN, ERICA M. GOSS, AND SEBASTIAN EVES-VAN DEN AKKER

Understanding how pathogens evolve is a fundamental component of learning how to protect ourselves and our world from pests and diseases. Yet we are constantly underestimating pathogen evolution such as in the case of the Covid-19 pandemic, which some believed had been conquered until the arrival of the Delta variant. Similarly, we are often a step or two behind plant pathogens, which is why the question “How do pathogens evolve novel virulence activities?” was voted by scientists in the molecular plant-microbe interactions field as one of their Top 10 Unanswered Questions and explored in a review article recently published in the MPMI journal.

“Some people think that this is an old question and that we already have the answers,” said Soledad Sacristán, one of the authors of review article. “However, the more we know, the more we see how many different paths or strategies that pathogens use overcome our efforts to control them. In our combat against pathogens, we are still far from winning.”

A major consideration in considering pathogenic evolution is the larger world: climate change and global trade result in dramatic alterations in the geographic distribution and spread of pathogens. These global changes can favor the emergence and reemergence of diseases and lead to the spread of aggressive epidemics. These changes make it even more important for scientists to understand how pathogens adapt to changing conditions.

“We know a fair amount about the mechanisms of pathogen adaptation to particular host immune responses, such as pathogens overcoming plant resistance that relies on a single gene,” said Erica Goss, another author. “However, other aspects of pathogen adaptation with more complex genetics are less studied.”

For example, we still don’t fully understand the genetic changes required for a pathogen to switch from one host to another, in a move scientists call “a host jump” nor do we understand how, once a pathogen overcomes the first defenses of a plant, it becomes more or less deadly to the plant and more or less able to spread from one plant to another.

The good news is scientists have better tools than ever, thanks to the development of “big data” technologies and computer programs that can handle and process such data. These tools allowed scientists to discover that dramatic events such as hybridization between pathogen species can result in genome rearrangements that lead to rapid evolution of virulence on new host plants. Genome sequencing has also made it possible for scientists to discover that gene content in bacterial pathogen chromosomes is highly dynamic and likely responsible for host range.

“How do pathogens evolve novel virulence activities” is a large question comprised of many smaller questions—and the answers discovered often bring even more questions. However, scientists continue their quest to find the answers as they can help in the design of more efficient strategies to control plant diseases.

“Combining sources of resistance that require very different mechanisms of evolution to overcome or that cause a loss of the efficiency of other functions are likely to be more robust in the field. As we learn more about how pathogens evolve virulence, we can better understand which pathogens are greater risks for overcoming host resistance,” explained Sebastian Eves-van den Akker, the third author involved in this review.

“How Do Pathogens Evolve Novel Virulence Activities?” is part of the Top 10 Unanswered Questions in MPMI invited review series, which explores the big, unanswered questions in the field today.

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JOURNAL

Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions

DOI

10.1094/MPMI-09-20-0258-IA 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Literature review

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Not applicable

ARTICLE TITLE

How Do Pathogens Evolve Novel Virulence Activities?

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

23-Jul-2021

 

Bird malaria spreading via global ‘hotspots’

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

 

IMAGE: ONE OF THE WILD BIRD VECTORS ANALYSED FOR THIS STUDY, THE LEWIN'S HONEYEATER. view more 

CREDIT: NICHOLAS CLARK

Bird species across the globe are suffering and dying from a type of malaria and, while these strains are not infectious to humans, they’re spreading quickly through global transmission hotspots.

An international team, including The University of Queensland’s Dr Nicholas Clark, has been conducting research to understand where and why the disease has been spreading so rapidly.

“Avian malaria now affects somewhere between 13 and 14 per cent – on average – of all wild birds worldwide,” Dr Clark said.

“It’s caused by a group of blood parasites – known as haemosporidian parasites – and, much like human malaria, is transmitted via blood-feeding insects like mosquitos.

“It can’t harm humans but is known to have significant impacts on bird populations.

“For example, when avian malaria was introduced into Hawaii in the late 1800s to early 1900s, it was one of the major causes of extinction of about one-third of the 55 known species of Hawaiian honeycreepers.

“We’ve found that there are hotspots transmitting these parasites across the world.

“The most significant hotspot was in the Sahara-Arabian region, with local hotspots in North America, Europe and Australia, depending on different parasite variants.

“In fact, here in Australia, some of these blood parasites are causing high infection rates in our songbirds, including silvereyes (Zosterops lateralis) and many species of honeyeaters (the Meliphagidae family).”

The research team compiled and analysed what is likely the largest data set of wild bird infections with avian malaria parasites to date, with more than 53,000 wild birds examined.

They combined infection data with remotely sensed environmental data, such as climate or forest conditions, and bird life history information, such as body size and migration patterns, into computer models to identify which factors best described the infection risk with avian malaria parasites.

Dr Konstans Wells, who leads the Biodiversity and Health Ecology research group at Swansea University, said predicting which conditions facilitate the infection of wild birds with avian malaria is crucial for understanding infectious disease hazards.

“Since each bird species is unique in its ecological niche and is differently exposed to disease-transmitting insects during breeding and migration, infection risks are not the same for different bird species,” he said.

“Conditions that enable infection in different areas across the world are completely context-dependent.

“For example, long distance migrating birds were more likely to be infected in some continents but less likely in others.

“There’s no easy answer with so many factors at play, but we’re going to continue to research to find out how to best protect the world’s bird species from this deadly disease.”

Satin bowerbird (IMAGE)

UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND

CAPTION

One of the wild bird vectors analysed for this study, the satin bowerbird.

CREDIT

Nicholas Clark

CAPTION

One of the wild bird vectors analysed for this study, the pied butcherbird.

CREDIT

Nicholas Clark

The research has been published in Global Ecology and Biogeography (DOI: 0.1111/GEB.13390).

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JOURNAL

Global Ecology and Biogeography

DOI

0.1111/GEB.13390 

 

Scientists discover chemical signals in starfish that stop them eating

Peer-Reviewed Publication

QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

Like humans, starfish produce chemicals that tell them they’re full and to stop eating, according to a new study published today in the journal eLife.

Starfish feed in a bizarre way - turning their stomachs out of their mouth when they come across a tasty meal like a mussel or oyster - and then digesting their chosen prey outside of their body.

Previous studies have shown that molecules similar to the human ‘love hormone’ oxytocin cause starfish to extend their stomach out of their mouths and initiate feeding. However, it was not known which chemicals have the power to do the opposite and terminate feeding behaviour in these animals.

Using the common starfish Asterias rubens for experiments, the research team investigated the effects of SK/CCK-type neuropeptides - a type of hormone known to inhibit feeding in humans and insects. They found that when they injected the hormones into the starfish, the animals retracted their stomachs. Even when the scientists presented the starfish with their favourite meal, a mussel, they found that the starfish were less inclined to feed after being injected with the SK/CCK-type neuropeptides.   

Starfish belong to a group of animals known as echinoderms. Echinoderms occupy a unique evolutionary position, acting as a ‘missing link’ between well-studied vertebrates and insects such as the fruit fly, Drosophila. This feature makes starfish and other echinoderms like sea urchins, useful animal models to help fill in gaps in our understanding of how different proteins evolved.

Dr Ana Tinoco, Postdoctoral Research Assistant at Queen Mary and one of the lead authors of the study, said: “The unusual way that starfish feed where they evert their stomachs out of their mouths, makes them a good model to study chemicals that regulate feeding processes. Whilst we already knew that this type of hormone was important for feeding, what’s fascinating is that the important role of these chemicals in feeding in other animals has been preserved in starfish despite their dramatically different feeding behaviour, lack of a brain and unique body plan.”

Professor Maurice Elphick, Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience at Queen Mary, said: “Our findings provide new evidence that SK/CCK-type neuropeptides have an evolutionarily conserved role as inhibitory regulators of feeding. The discovery of SK/CCK-type neuropeptides in starfish could also be useful for development of novel drugs to treat eating disorders. To accomplish this, more research needs to be done to determine the 3D structure of the receptor proteins that mediate effects of SK/CCK-type neuropeptides in humans and other animals.

“With recent breakthroughs in the use of AI to determine protein structures the potential of using basic science research like this to develop new treatment options becomes much more achievable.”

ENDS

Notes to editor

• Research paper: ‘Ancient role of sulfakinin/cholecystokinin-type signalling in inhibitory regulation of feeding processes revealed in an echinoderm’ Ana B Tinoco et al. eLife 2021.
• Supporting images and videos are available here.
• For more information or a copy of the paper please contact:

Sophie McLachlan

Faculty Communications Manager 

Queen Mary University of London

sophie.mclachlan@qmul.ac.uk

Tel: 020 7882 3787

About Queen Mary

Queen Mary University of London is a research-intensive university that connects minds worldwide. A member of the prestigious Russell Group, we work across the humanities and social sciences, medicine and dentistry, and science and engineering, with inspirational teaching directly informed by our world-leading research. In the most recent Research Excellence Framework we were ranked 5th in the country for the proportion of research outputs that were world-leading or internationally excellent. We have over 25,000 students and offer more than 240 degree programmes. Our reputation for excellent teaching was rewarded with silver in the most recent Teaching Excellence Framework. Queen Mary has a proud and distinctive history built on four historic institutions stretching back to 1785 and beyond. Common to each of these institutions – the London Hospital Medical College, St Bartholomew’s Medical College, Westfield College and Queen Mary College – was the vision to provide hope and opportunity for the less privileged or otherwise under-represented. Today, Queen Mary University of London remains true to that belief in opening the doors of opportunity for anyone with the potential to succeed and helping to build a future we can all be proud of.

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JOURNAL

eLife

DOI

10.7554/eLife.65667 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Ancient role of sulfakinin/cholecystokinin-type signalling in inhibitory regulation of feeding processes revealed in an echinoderm

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

7-Sep-2021