Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Like human, like dog

Dogs and humans process body postures similarly in their brains

UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA

Pet dog Maeva is ready for data collection in the magnetic resonance imaging scanner. The bandage serves as an additional noise protection in combination with earplugs. — IMAGE: PET DOG MAEVA IS READY FOR DATA COLLECTION IN THE MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING SCANNER. THE BANDAGE SERVES AS AN ADDITIONAL NOISE PROTECTION IN COMBINATION WITH EARPLUGS. view more
CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA CCNU (CCNU.UNIVIE.AC.AT)

A study by researchers at the University of Vienna and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna shows that information from body postures plays a similarly important role for dogs as it does for humans. The results offer new insights into how dogs and humans perceive each other and their environment. They confirm that the temporal lobe plays a central role in social communication and perception. The study is currently published in the journal Communications Biology.

Humans and primates have brain regions in the temporal lobe that are specialised in perceiving faces and bodies. Dogs also possess a temporal lobe that evolved independently of the primate brain. In recent years, behavioural research has shown that dogs, like humans, are experts in perceiving facial expressions and bodily gestures such as hand signals. "Whether this behavioural expertise is also reflected in the dog brain was the content of our study. Only a few research groups can conduct comparative magnetic resonance imaging studies with dogs," explains first author Magdalena Boch.

The research group led by Magdalena Boch, Claus Lamm and Ludwig Huber is one of currently only four in the world conducting magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies with pet dogs. They developed training protocols to accustom the dogs to the MRI environment gradually. The dogs are not sedated and can leave the MRI at any time.

The study with 40 human participants and 15 pet dogs now provided the first evidence that dogs, like humans, have a brain region in the temporal lobe that is specialised in the visual perception of body postures. In addition, further regions in the dog brain are equally involved in perceiving faces and bodies. In contrast to humans, however, this did not only affect visual brain regions. When dogs look at faces and bodies, there are also differences in activation in areas responsible for processing smells.

In humans, the authors additionally identified already known regions specialised exclusively in face perception. "We humans often focus on the face when communicating with others. Our results suggest that faces are also an important source of information for dogs. However, body postures and holistic perception seem to play a superior role," Magdalena Boch explains.

The specialised brain regions were equally active in dogs when they looked at pictures of conspecifics or humans. This underlines the close bond between dogs and humans, says Ludwig Huber. "Dogs and humans may not be closely related, but they have been close companions for thousands of years. Therefore, comparing dogs and humans also gives us new insights into the so-called convergent evolution of social perception and information processing processes," Claus Lamm concludes.

Four-legged study participant Balian takes a short break on the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner bed. He can stop the training and data collection anytime and leave the MRI via a specially built ramp. The bandage serves as an additional noise protection in combination with earplugs.

CREDIT

University of Vienna CCNU (ccnu.univie.ac.at)

JOURNAL

Communications Biology

DOI

10.1038/s42003-023-05014-7

ARTICLE TITLE

Functionally analogous body- and animacy-responsive areas are present in the dog (Canis familiaris) and human occipito-temporal lobe.

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

27-Jun-2023

Can humor help treat depression and anxiety?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILEY

An analysis of published studies suggests that humor therapy may lessen symptoms of depression and anxiety.

For the analysis, which is published in Brain and Behavior, investigators identified 29 relevant studies that included a total of 2,964 participants and were conducted in nine different countries. Participants had depression or anxiety and included children undergoing surgery or anesthesia; older people in nursing homes; patients with Parkinson's disease, cancer, mental illness, or receiving dialysis; retired women; and college students. Examples of humor therapy included medical clowns and laughter therapy/yoga.

Most participants thought humor therapy lessened their depression and anxiety, but some considered the effect to be insignificant.

“As a simple and feasible complementary alternative therapy, humor therapy may provide a favorable alternative for clinicians, nurses, and patients in the future,” the authors wrote.

URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/brb3.3108

Additional Information
NOTE: The information contained in this release is protected by copyright. Please include journal attribution in all coverage. For more information or to obtain a PDF of any study, please contact: Sara Henning-Stout, newsroom@wiley.com.

About the Journal
Brain and Behavior is a peer-reviewed, open access, interdisciplinary journal, providing rapid publication of scientifically sound research across neurology, neuroscience, psychology and psychiatry. The journal publishes quality research reports that enhance understanding of the brain and behavior.

About Wiley
Wiley is one of the world’s largest publishers and a global leader in scientific research and career-connected education. Founded in 1807, Wiley enables discovery, powers education, and shapes workforces. Through its industry-leading content, digital platforms, and knowledge networks, the company delivers on its timeless mission to unlock human potential. Visit us at Wiley.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.

JOURNAL

Brain and Behavior

DOI

10.1002/brb3.3108

ARTICLE TITLE

The impact of humor therapy on people suffering from depression or anxiety: An integrative literature review

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jun-2023

Could bamboo be the next source of renewable energy?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILEY

An article in GCB Bioenergy describes why bamboo may be an attractive resource in efforts to develop environmentally friendly renewable energy to replace fossil fuels.

The authors note that bamboo grows rapidly, absorbs carbon dioxide, and releases large amounts of oxygen into the atmosphere. They describe various processes—such as fermentation and pyrolysis—that can be performed to convert its raw material into bioethanol, biogas, and other bioenergy products. A tool with limitations is currently available for selecting the most appropriate bamboo species for different bioenergy production processes.

“We conducted a review of energy conversion methods for bamboo biomass and found that bioethanol and biochar are the primary products obtained,” said first author Zhiwei Liang, of the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Science. “Since the chemical composition of bamboo varies across different species, future research efforts should focus on gathering a more extensive collection of quantitative data for selecting species advantageous for minimizing biomass pre-treatment time and cost.”

URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcbb.13072

About the Journal
GCB Bioenergy: Bioproducts for a Sustainable Bioeconomy is an international journal publishing original research papers, review articles and commentaries that promote understanding of the interface between biological and environmental sciences and the production of fuels and bioproducts directly from plants, algae and waste.

JOURNAL

GCB Bioenergy

DOI

10.1111/gcbb.13072

ARTICLE TITLE

Potential use of bamboo resources in energy value-added conversion technology and energy systems

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jun-2023

How does household water insecurity affect children’s health and well-being?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILEY

The global burden of disease associated with water insecurity has traditionally focused on diarrheal disease as the most significant driver of infant and child mortality. However, a review in WIREs Water notes that there are many other ways that water insecurity can have adverse health and social consequences for children.

Inadequate or unsafe household water can have a range of health effects in children from infancy to late adolescence. Household water insecurity can spread disease, cause interruptions to growth and development, lead to school absenteeism and interpersonal violence, and contribute to other aspects of children’s mental and physical health.

“Because children's voices are not always included in anti-poverty dialogues, we risk under-appreciating the wide-ranging effects of water poverty on children and missing opportunities to improve their health and well-being,” said corresponding Justin Stoler, PhD, of the University of Miami.

URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wat2.1666

About the Journal
The scope of WIREs Water is the interfaces between five very different intellectual themes: the basic science of water, its physics and chemistry, flux, and things that it transfers and transforms; life in water, and the dependence of ecosystems and organisms on water to survive and to thrive; the engineering of water to furnish services and to protect society; the people who live with, experience and manage the water environment; and those interpretations that we, as a society, have brought to water through art, religion, history and which in turn shapes how we come to understand it. These interfaces are not simply designed to be ways of looking at water through what necessarily must be interdisciplinary perspectives. They are also designed to be outward facing in terms of how water can help to understand wider questions concerning our environment and human-environment interactions.

JOURNAL

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Water

DOI

10.1002/wat2.1666

ARTICLE TITLE

The Effects of Household Water Insecurity on Child Health and Well-being

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jun-2023

Are health professionals in India adequately supporting breastfeeding?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILEY

A review in Clinical & Experimental Allergy highlights a problematic relationship between the infant formula industry and allergy health professionals. The authors express concern that this could undermine breastfeeding in countries such as India, whose allergy management practices are often extrapolated from guidance developed in high-income countries with low breastfeeding rates.

The article by international experts in infant nutrition and allergy health documents the high rate of breastfeeding in India, where one-quarter of the world's children are born. It also points to growing evidence that excessive concern about infant allergies in high-income countries is undermining mother-infant bonding, breastfeeding, and child nutrition.

Because data specific to allergic disease prevalence in India are incomplete and allergy specialists represent a new category of health professionals in the country, it will be important for clinicians to avoid conflicts of interest with the infant formula industry. “As the allergy specialty develops in India, local guidance and practice will need to recognize the threat that current allergy practice poses to India's normative infant feeding culture and ensure that breastfeeding continues to be supported at all levels,” the authors wrote.

URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cea.14355

About the Journal
Clinical & Experimental Allergy is the Official Journal of the British Society for Allergy & Clinical Immunology, publishing clinical and experimental observations in disease in all fields of medicine in which allergic hypersensitivity plays a part.Clinical & Experimental Allergy strikes an excellent balance between clinical and scientific articles and carries regular reviews and editorials written by leading authorities in their field.

JOURNAL

Clinical & Experimental Allergy

DOI

10.1111/cea.14355

ARTICLE TITLE

Formula milk companies and allergy health professionals in India

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jun-2023

How do testosterone’s effects on the brain change from adolescence into adulthood?

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WILEY

Higher testosterone levels during adolescence are associated with increased involvement of the brain’s anterior prefrontal cortex (aPFC) in emotion control, but the opposite effect occurs during adulthood. In a study published in Developmental Science, researchers investigated this switch by conducting brain imaging scans in the same individuals during middle adolescence, late adolescence, and young adulthood.

The study, which included 71 participants, demonstrated that the positive effect of testosterone on aPFC engagement decreases from age 14 to age 17 and then shifts by age 20, when higher testosterone levels are linked with less aPFC activity. In contrast to adolescence, during young adulthood, testosterone—no longer related to pubertal development— may impede emotion control, as implemented by the aPFC.

The findings suggest that the function of testosterone changes within individuals across adolescence and adulthood. The study’s investigators note that many mood disorders tend to arise during adolescence, and additional research may reveal whether alterations in the interactions between testosterone and the brain may be related to this.

“Testosterone typically tends to be associated with aggression or dominance behavior, whereas in fact it has multifaceted roles across different developmental periods,” said corresponding author Anna Tyborowska, PhD, of Radboud University, in The Netherlands. “The findings of the current study are important for understanding both typical and atypical maturational trajectories of the brain, as well as considering the impact of external factors (such as stress) on brain function and development.”

URL upon publication: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/desc.13415

About the Journal
Developmental Science aims to represent the very best of contemporary scientific developmental psychology and developmental cognitive neuroscience, both in the presentation of theory and in reporting new data. Developmental Science includes: comparative and biological perspectives, connectionist and computational perspectives, and developmental disorders.

JOURNAL

Developmental Science

DOI

10.1111/desc.13415

ARTICLE TITLE

Developmental shift in testosterone influence on prefrontal emotion control

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jun-2023

Stark racial and ethnic disparities in alcohol-related US deaths during Covid, study reveals

Alcohol-related deaths more than doubled among American Indian and Alaska Native populations

Peer-Reviewed Publication

TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP

Alcohol-related deaths rose disproportionately quickly in the US among Black, Hispanic, Asian and American-Indian/Alaska Native populations at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, new research shows.

Detailed in The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, the peer-reviewed analysis of official data revealed that while the rate of deaths that can be directly attributed to alcohol increased sharply overall, there were stark ethnic and racial disparities.

“Racial and ethnic minority groups experienced disproportionately higher rates of unemployment, fear of Covid and financial strain during the pandemic,” says lead author Dr Hyunjung Lee, who carried out the research whilst at the John McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston.

“We also know that American Indian and Alaska Native populations, Black Americans and Hispanics have historically experienced higher alcohol-induced mortality rates and so we thought it was important to examine how the pandemic might have affected these rates.”

The biggest increase witnessed by Dr Lee and co-author Dr Gopal Singh, from The Center for Global Health and Health Policy, Global Health and Education Projects, Inc., Riverdale, Maryland, was in American Indian and Alaska Native populations, where the proportion of deaths that could be directly attributed to alcohol more than doubled between February 2020 and January 2021.

This was followed by 58% increase in the rate of alcohol-related deaths in Black Americans, a rise of 56% in Hispanic Americans and a 44% increase in Asian Americans. The non-Hispanic White population experienced a 39% rise. This is surprising because another study found that alcohol consumption rates similarly increased among racial/ethnic groups during the pandemic– yet the death rates differed.

In the first study of its kind, Dr Lee, who is now with the Cancer Disparity Research Team, Surveillance & Health Equity Science Department, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, Georgia, and Dr Singh used death records and census data to calculate alcohol-induced death rates in adults aged 25-plus in each month from January 2018 to December 2021.

They looked at how the rate changed overall, as well as by age, sex, race and ethnicity.

There were 178,201 deaths with alcohol as the underlying cause during this 4-year time period. Liver cirrhosis accounted for almost half of these deaths; alcohol-related mental health problems and accidental poisoning by alcohol were the second and third most common causes of death.

Among those aged 25 and over, alcohol-related deaths overall rose by 25.7% between 2019, when there were 38,868 deaths and 2020, the first year of the pandemic, when there were 48,872 deaths.

Data from 2020 shows that the increase in alcohol-related deaths was far from uniform, with marked disparities by sex and age, as well as race by and ethnicity.

The death rate rose more quickly in females, although males still accounted for the bulk of deaths.

Similarly, alcohol-related deaths climbed more sharply among younger people, with a 78% rise among 35 to 44-year-olds and 68% rise in the alcohol-induced death rate in 25 to 34-year-olds.

It is possible that these age groups felt the effects of school closures and job losses more keenly than older people who were more financially secure and had fewer childcare responsibilities.

The study’s authors describe the disproportionate increase in deaths among Black, Hispanic, Asian and American-Indian/Alaska Native (AIANs) populations as being particularly concerning.

The authors speculate: “The psychological and financial strains of the pandemic, combined with the deprioritizing of alcohol use disorder treatment during Covid-19, might have exacerbated existing disparities in sociodemographic characteristics and access to care. This could have accelerated alcohol-related deaths, creating the stark disparities in increases in death rates revealed by our analysis.”

Existing disparities from other research include higher rates of severe anxiety, stress or depression in AIANs. They also have the highest disability, unemployment and poverty rates in the US. Hispanic Americans, meanwhile, are less likely to use specialist alcohol treatment than other groups.

Dr Lee and Dr Singh conclude by calling for policies to improve access to treatment for alcohol disorders. They would also like to see educational programs on the health harms of alcohol to be designed for, and targeted at, groups with sociocultural and linguistic barriers.

The study’s limitations include using provisional death data for 2021. Although the latest information available at the time, it may have been lower than the final figures. In addition, misclassification of AIANs, Asian Americans and Hispanic Americans on death certificates could have led to the disparities in alcohol-related deaths being underestimated.

JOURNAL

The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

DOI

10.1080/00952990.2023.2208728

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Racial and ethnic disparities in monthly trends in alcohol-induced mortality among US adults from January 2018 through December 2021

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jun-2023

Climate change could lead to "widespread chaos" for insect communities

Research explores how a warming world could impact ecosystems and derail the development of new species

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY

Apple maggot fly — IMAGE: APPLE MAGGOT FLY view more
CREDIT: THOMAS H.Q. POWELL

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- New species continue to evolve the world over, as different groups of organisms separate and take divergent paths. What happens when you add climate change to the mix?

That’s the question Thomas H.Q. Powell, assistant professor of biological sciences at Binghamton University, State University of New York, and his lab seek to answer in “Contrasting effects of warming in diverging insects,” recently published in Ecology Letters.

In the 1850s, the apple maggot fly — a major agricultural pest — began to diverge into two populations in the Hudson Valley. One continued to live on the fruit of the region’s native hawthorn trees. The other shifted to a new food source: apple trees, originally introduced to North America by English colonists.

“The entomologist who discovered this actually corresponded with Darwin about it potentially being an example of the origin of species in real time. It wasn’t until the system was picked back up by researchers in the late 20th century that we found out he was right,” Powell said.

Hawthorns fruit three or four weeks later than apples, resulting in a shift in the two populations’ reproductive schedules. That, in turn, has an impact on several species of parasitic wasp that feed on the maggot fly, demonstrating the delicate balance that undergirds ecosystems.

For their experiment, the researchers reared populations of apple- and hawthorn-based flies and parasitic wasps under conditions matching the seasonal average from the last 10 years of climate data, and then warmer conditions projected 50 to 100 years into the future. The results have important ramifications for insect biodiversity, Powell points out.

Although in the same location, the two fly populations responded to that temperature shift in starkly different ways. The hawthorn-dwellers appeared to have more resilience, possibly owing to more genetic diversity. The lifecycle of the apple flies was thrown out-of-phase with their host plant, making their survival tenuous — potentially halting the speciation process.

However, the life cycles of parasitic wasps weren’t affected by the heat — which could spell dire consequences if they fall out of step with their prey’s lifecycle.

Natural adaptation might be able to restore some balance in disrupted systems long-term, but there are major constraints on rapid evolution. Habitats tend to be smaller and fragmented, for example, limiting the amount of genetic variability that organisms need to respond to evolving pressures.

“It’s not just that climate change is disrupting evolution through the potential breakdown of this classic speciation story, but that the rapid evolution of the flies has a strong bearing on how susceptible they are to climate change,” Powell said. “So, if we’re finding that the effects of these future conditions may be completely different, even for identical flies from the same habitat that have been evolving since just the 1800s, we may see widespread chaos in the ecological timing of insect communities in the coming decades.”

JOURNAL

Ecology Letters

ARTICLE TITLE

Simulated climate warming causes asymmetric responses in insect life-history timing potentially disrupting a classic ecological speciation system

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jun-2023

PFAS found in blood of dogs, horses living near Fayetteville, NC

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

In a new study, researchers from North Carolina State University detected elevated PFAS levels in the blood of pet dogs and horses from Gray’s Creek, N.C. – including dogs that only drank bottled water. The work establishes horses as an important sentinel species and is a step toward investigating connections between PFAS exposure and liver and kidney function in dogs and horses.

The study included 31 dogs and 32 horses from the community, and was conducted at the behest of community members concerned about their pets’ well-being. All of the households in the study were on well water, and all of the wells had been tested and deemed PFAS contaminated by state inspectors.

The animals received a general veterinary health check and had their blood serum screened for 33 different PFAS chemicals. These PFAS were chosen based on compounds that were present in the Cape Fear River basin and the availability of analytical standards.

From the targeted list of 33 PFAS of interest, researchers found 20 different PFAS in the animals. All of the animals in the study had at least one chemical detected in their blood serum, and over 50% of the dogs and horses had at least 12 of the 20 detected PFAS.

PFOS, a long-chain PFAS used for years in industrial and commercial products, had the highest concentrations in dog serum. The perfluorosulfonic acid PFHxS, a surfactant used in consumer products and firefighting foams, was detected in dogs, but not horses. Consistent with wells being the known contamination source, some ether-containing PFAS including HFPO-DA (colloquially known as GenX), were detected only in dogs and horses that drank well water.

In dogs who drank well water, median concentrations of two of the PFAS – PFOS and PFHxS –were similar to those of children in the Wilmington GenX exposure study, suggesting that pet dogs may serve as an important indicator of household PFAS. Dogs who drank bottled water, on the other hand, had different types of PFAS in their blood serum. However, 16 out of the 20 PFAS detected in this study were found in the dogs who drank bottled water.

Overall, horses had lower concentrations of PFAS than dogs, though the horses did show higher concentrations of Nafion byproduct 2 (NBP2), a byproduct of fluorochemical manufacturing. The finding suggests that contamination of the outdoor environment, potentially from deposition of the PFAS onto forage, contributed to their exposure.

“Horses have not previously been used to monitor PFAS exposure,” says Kylie Rock, postdoctoral researcher at NC State and first author of the work. “But they may provide critical information about routes of exposure from the outdoor environment when they reside in close proximity to known contamination sources.”

Finally, the veterinary blood chemistry panels for the animals showed changes in diagnostic biomarkers used to assess liver and kidney dysfunction, two organ systems that are primary targets of PFAS toxicity in humans.

“While the exposures that we found were generally low, we did see differences in concentration and composition for animals that live indoors versus outside,” says Scott Belcher, associate professor of biology at NC State and corresponding author of the work.

“The fact that some of the concentrations in dogs are similar to those in children reinforces the fact that dogs are important in-home sentinels for these contaminants,” Belcher says. “And the fact that PFAS is still present in animals that don’t drink well water points to other sources of contamination within homes, such as household dust or food.”

The work appears in Environmental Science and Technology and was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the North Carolina Policy Collaboratory.

-peake-

Note to editors: An abstract follows.

“Domestic Dogs and Horses as Sentinels of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Exposure and Associated Health Biomarkers in Gray’s Creek North Carolina”

DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.3c01146

Authors: Kylie D. Rock, Madison E. Polera, Hannah M. Starnes, Scott M Belcher, North Carolina State University; Theresa C. Guillette, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Research Participation Program; Kentley Dean, Southern Oaks Animal Hospital; Mike Watters, Debra Stevens-Stewart, Gray’s Creek Residents United Against PFAS in Our Wells and Rivers
Published: June 21 in Environmental Science and Technology

Abstract:
Central North Carolina (NC) is highly contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in part due to local fluorochemical production. Little is known about the exposure profiles and long-term health impacts for humans and animals that live in nearby communities. In this study, serum PFAS concentrations were determined using liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry and diagnostic clinical chemistry endpoints were assessed for 31 dogs and 32 horses that reside in Gray’s Creek NC at households with documented PFAS contamination in their drinking water. PFAS were detected in every sample, with 12 of the 20 PFAS detected in ≥50% of samples from each species. Average total PFAS concentrations in horses were lower compared to dogs who had higher concentrations of PFOS (dogs 2.9 ng/ml; horses 1.8 ng/ml), PFHxS (dogs 1.43 ng/ml, horses <LOD), and PFOA (dogs 0.37 ng/ml; horses 0.10 ng/ml). Regression analysis highlighted alkaline phosphatase, glucose, and globulin proteins in dogs and gamma glutamyl transferase in horses as potential biomarkers associated with PFAS exposure. Overall, the results of this study support the utility of companion animal and livestock species as sentinels of PFAS exposure differences inside and outside of the home. As in humans, renal and hepatic health in domestic animals may be sensitive to long-term PFAS exposures.

JOURNAL

Environmental Science & Technology

DOI

10.1021/acs.est.3c01146

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Observational study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Domestic Dogs and Horses as Sentinels of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Exposure and Associated Health Biomarkers in Gray’s Creek North Carolina

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

21-Jun-2023

COI STATEMENT

The following authors disclose their associations that could be perceived as potential competing interests with the subject matter discussed in this manuscript: Dr. Kentley Dean is an employee of Southern Oaks Animal Hospital a full-service veterinary medical facility, located in Hope Mills, NC. Mike Watters and Debra Stevens-Stewart are residents of the study area and served as community representatives for this community engage participatory research study. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.