One-fifth of pregnant people aren’t properly screened for syphilis

Canadian Medical Association Journal

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According to new research in CMAJ, 1 in 5 pregnant people in Ontario did not receive timely syphilis screening, which is critical for preventing syphilis infection in newborns (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.251757.

“In a publicly funded health care system, 1 in 5 pregnancies did not receive timely syphilis screening, indicating persistent gaps in coverage,” writes Dr. Sahar Saeed, assistant professor, Department of Public Health Sciences, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, with coauthors. “Sociodemographic and behavioural risk factors associated with being screened late may be related to an increased likelihood of inadequate prenatal care access.”

Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection that can be passed from mother to baby during pregnancy or delivery and can result in severe outcomes, including infant death, if untreated with antibiotics. Over the last 10 years, rates of infectious syphilis in females of reproductive age (15 to 39 years) have increased from 2.3 to 53.8 cases per 100 000 and, in parallel, rates of congenital syphilis have increased from 0.3 to 14.5 cases per 100 000 live births.

Global pregnancy care guidelines recommend universal screening for syphilis in the first trimester or at the initial prenatal care visit.

In this study of 551 706 pregnancies in 446 660 people in Ontario, Canada’s largest province, between 2018 and 2023, researchers found that 8% of pregnant people were not screened at all and 79% were screened in the first trimester. Among pregnancies screened for syphilis, approximately 3% were screened in the third trimester or at delivery. The authors’ findings suggest that late screening may occur in people with the most barriers to accessing prenatal care.

“Relying solely on traditional prenatal care models may not be sufficient to reach populations who face barriers to accessing care. Providing nonjudgmental, comprehensive care in tandem with complementary strategies, such as opportunistic screening and community-based outreach programs using point-of-care testing, is a critical next step,” the authors say. These approaches have shown promise in reaching underserved populations and closing access gaps.

This work was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Catalyst Grant (STBBI Research in Canada: Beyond HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C) (no. SR7-196517).

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Journal

Canadian Medical Association Journal

DOI

10.1503/cmaj.251757 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Uptake of prenatal syphilis screening and its determinants in Ontario, Canada: a population-based retrospective cohort study

Article Publication Date

19-May-2026

 

The city mouse really is bolder than the country mouse, and so are most animals, according to global study

Urban animals are bolder than their rural counterparts, finds new study

British Ecological Society

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A global analysis has found that urban animals are bolder and more aggressive, exploratory and active than their rural counterparts. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Animal Ecology.

Researchers at Lewis & Clark College (Portland), CEFE-CNRS in Montpellier, and North Dakota State University have conducted a first of its kind, global meta-analysis of how animal behaviour varies between urban and non-urban populations of birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles and insects.

They found that urban populations exhibited heightened boldness, aggression, exploration, and activity compared to rural counterparts. These findings were most pronounced in birds, but the researchers caution that there was much more limited data on the other animal groups.

Dr Tracy Burkhard, Assistant professor of biology at Lewis & Clark College, and first-author of the study, said: “We found that no matter where you are in the world, urbanisation is changing behaviour in consistent predictable ways. The strongest result was that animals seem to be more risk positive. They're more bold.”

The researchers warn that a shift towards these traits could increase the risk of human-wildlife conflict and zoonotic disease transmission.

“If animals are more risk-taking and they're less averse to human presence, we're going to be coming into contact with wildlife a lot more in certain areas, and that is potentially bad for both us and wildlife.” said Dr Burkhard.

The researchers also warn that it’s not just species that we’re used to seeing in cities - like rats, gulls and pigeons - that are becoming bolder. The same behavioural shifts are being seen in species that are more commonly associated with rural habitats, but which are now adapting to urban life, such as whitethroat, yellow hammer and redpoll.

The results highlight the need for urban planners to consider animal behaviour, especially as urbanisation increases. This could include creating connected greenspaces to maintain connectivity and gene flow among urban animal subpopulations.

In the analyses, the researchers combined data from 80 existing studies that looked at animal behavioural traits. These studies spanned 28 countries and 133 distinct species. Over 70% of the research was on birds, with insects, amphibians and reptiles making up just 10% of the data, indicating that most species remain understudied in terms of the effect of urbanisation on behaviour.

Dr Anne Charmantier, Research Director (DRCE) at CNRS, University of Montpellier, and a co-author of the research said: “Our study shows that the research effort is very imbalanced across taxa; in particular birds are much more commonly studied than amphibians, reptiles or insects. The lack of data in some animal classes limits some of our conclusion and should be seen as an encouragement to study all organisms living in cities.”

-ENDS-

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Journal

Journal of Animal Ecology

DOI

10.1111/1365-2656.70269 

Method of Research

Meta-analysis

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Global meta-analysis reveals urban-associated behavioral differences among wild populations

 

Non-native diet makes Fischer’s Blue butterflies less attractive

Invasive plant species affect native insect mating behavior

Osaka Metropolitan University

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Threatened Tongeia fischeri species on native Orostachys japonica (Japanese Dunce Cap) flower. 

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Credit: Osaka Metropolitan University

A colorful and diverse garden brings joy to any gardener, but the increased popularity of non-native plants in place of native species has brought about unprecedented changes in the local wildlife.

The Fischer’s Blue, Tongeia fischeri (T. fischeri), is a near-threatened butterfly species in Japan that has been reported to use both native and non-native plant species as hosts. Wing coloration is known to function as an important visual signal in butterfly mating behavior and has been theorized to vary depending on the host plant species they fed on during the larval stage. However, this hypothesis had not been tested previously in this species.

Therefore, a research team led by Professor Norio Hirai at Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School of Agriculture hypothesized that feeding on non-native plants during the larval stage may influence adult wing coloration and, consequently, affect reproductive behavior. The team reared larvae of T. fischeri on the native host plant, Orostachys japonica, and an invasive plant species, Sedum sarmentosum, then compared traits related to their life-history characteristics. However, no significant differences in life-history traits, such as oviposition preference, growth, or pupal weight, were shown.

The researchers then took visible-light and ultraviolet photographs of the underside of adult wings and measured their reflectance spectra for comparative analysis. The visible-light images revealed that individuals reared on the native plant appeared more yellowish, whereas those reared on the invasive plant appeared more grayish. Ultraviolet images further showed that individuals reared on the native plant showed lower ultraviolet reflectance. Measurements of wing reflectance spectra showed patterns consistent with these findings.

Furthermore, when they observed the mate choice behavior of wild T. fischeri males, it was found that they made significantly more contact with individuals reared on the native plant than with those reared on the invasive plant.

“This study provides a rare example in Japan demonstrating that even when invasive plants can be used as food, they may indirectly influence the reproductive process,” said Karen Hisai, the first author of this study. “As the number of invasive species continues to increase, similar effects may potentially occur in other butterfly species and insects.”

“These findings can serve as a model case that highlights the indirect threats posed by invasive plants to herbivorous insects,” Professor Hirai concluded. “We hope that this work will contribute to the conservation of other threatened species and to the efforts aimed at addressing the broader challenges associated with invasive species.”

The findings were published in Basic and Applied Ecology. 

 

Butterflies that fed on non-native plants experienced discoloration and less frequent selection for mating.

Credit

Osaka Metropolitan University

About OMU 

Established in Osaka as one of the largest public universities in Japan, Osaka Metropolitan University is committed to shaping the future of society through the “Convergence of Knowledge” and the promotion of world-class research. For more research news, visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ and follow us on social media: X, Instagram, LinkedIn.

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Journal

Basic and Applied Ecology

DOI

10.1016/j.baae.2026.02.003 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Effects of alien host plant on wing coloration and mating behavior of an endangered butterfly

ARACHNOLOGY

New “happy-face” spider species discovered in the Indian Himalayas

Pensoft Publishers

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Theridion himalayana sp. nov.

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Credit: Devi Priyadarshini and Ashirwad Tripathy

Vibrant, tiny, and sporting a bright red grin on its back, the Happy-Face spider is one of the most famous and recognisable arachnids in the world. For over a century, this cheerful-looking creature was thought to be a unique resident of the Hawaiian Islands, a biological curiosity found nowhere else on Earth. 

When researchers from the Forest Research Institute and the Regional Museum of Natural History discovered a new species of spider with the same unmistakable smile in the montane mountains of Uttarakhand, India, they knew exactly what to call it: Theridion himalayana, the Himalayan Happy-Face Spider. 

“The discovery was accidental because our survey was [originally] on ants”, said Devi Priyadarshini, a scientist at the Regional Museum of Natural History who co-authored the study. “But my co-author [Ashirwad Tripathy] kept sending me spiders from high altitude regions for identification. So, one fine day, when he shared this image from the underside of a Daphniphyllum leaf, I froze in shock because I had seen the Hawaiian spider during my master's programme itself, and I knew instantly we had a jackpot because of its striking resemblance. I asked him to send all morphs that he found, and that led to the discovery in the next few months, from October 2023 onwards.”

Priyadarshini added that she was always interested in exploring high-altitude spiders because the landscape and vegetation are so different there than in the plains. “This almost came across as a gateway to look at other polymorphic species from this region.” Ashirwad also said that we could find more variations in the species if the surveys could be done extensively.

The species name, himalayana, serves as a tribute to the mountain range where the spider was found at elevations of over 2,000 meters above sea level. “The name Himalayana was decided as the species name because we both wanted to pay our respects to the mighty Himalaya mountain ranges, which have been standing tall not just guarding our country but also holding a plethora of biodiversity within them”, Ashirwad said. “Since this spider was the first polymorphic from this region, we decided to make it an ode to the amazing mountain ranges.”

The research, published in the open-access journal Evolutionary Systematics, identified 32 different colour variations, or “morphs”, of the species collected from three locations in Uttarakhand: Makku, Tala, and Mandal. DNA analysis revealed a genetic variation of approximately 8.5% from the Hawaiian happy-face spider, confirming it as a separate lineage that evolved independently in Asia. 

While the smiling patterns are striking, their exact purpose remains a mystery. “The reason behind the expression of polymorphism is also very complex and unique”, Priyadarshini explained. “These patterns definitely help them survive better in the wild, which is understood prima facie, but why do they resort to such patterns on their back, and what functional role in their life cycle does it exactly serve is yet to be deciphered. This is definitely indicative of a deeper genetic mystery.” Ashirwad also mentioned that the spider species was surrounded by critters which had similar colour patterns on their body.

The study also noted that these spiders are frequently found on ginger plants (Hedychium species), mirroring the behaviour of their Hawaiian cousins. Since ginger is not native to Hawaii, the researchers are intrigued by the evolutionary connection. “How did the spiders choose an invasive species and ginger exactly?” Priyadarshini noted. “If T. himalayana is an elder cousin of T. grallator, although discovered 125 years later! Although this sounds like a tall claim now, it will be our further scope of work to establish any missing links, if at all, through Hedychium sps.”

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Journal

Evolutionary Systematics

DOI

10.3897/evolsyst.10.174338 

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

On the discovery of a new polymorphic Happy-Face Spider (Araneae, Theridiidae) from the Western Himalayas, India, with notes on its natural history

Mature male (left) and female (right) of Theridion himalayana sp. nov. (IMAGE)

Pensoft Publishers

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Mature male (left) and female (right) of Theridion himalayana sp. nov.

Different "morphs" of Theridion himalayana sp. nov.

 

Collage showing morphs of some of the males and females of Theridion himalayana in the population with different polymorphic patterns on abdomen.

 

Cephalothorax of female holotype of T. himalayana sp. nov.

Map showing the Theridion spp. from India with the locality record of the newly described Theridion himalayana sp. nov.

 

Theridion himalayana sp. nov. 

Credit

Devi Priyadarshini and Ashirwad Tripathy