Incidence, healthcare-seeking behaviours, antibiotic use and natural history of common infection syndromes in England: results from the Bug Watch community cohort study

Background: Better information on the typical course and management of acute common infections in the community could inform antibiotic stewardship campaigns. We aimed to investigate the incidence, management, and natural history of a range of infection syndromes (respiratory, gastrointestinal, mouth/dental, skin/soft tissue, urinary tract, and eye). Methods: Bug Watch was an online prospective community cohort study of the general population in England (2018–2019) with weekly symptom reporting for 6 months. We combined symptom reports into infection syndromes, calculated incidence rates, described the proportion leading to healthcare-seeking behaviours and antibiotic use, and estimated duration and severity. Results: The cohort comprised 873 individuals with 23,111 person-weeks follow-up. The mean age was 54 years and 528 (60%) were female. We identified 1422 infection syndromes, comprising 40,590 symptom reports. The incidence of respiratory tract infection syndromes was two per person year; for all other categories it was less than one. 194/1422 (14%) syndromes led to GP (or dentist) consultation and 136/1422 (10%) to antibiotic use. Symptoms usually resolved within a week and the third day was the most severe. Conclusions: Most people reported managing their symptoms without medical consultation. Interventions encouraging safe self-management across a range of acute infection syndromes could decrease pressure on primary healthcare services and support targets for reducing antibiotic prescribing

Marine Biodiversity in the Caribbean: Regional Estimates and Distribution Patterns

This paper provides an analysis of the distribution patterns of marine biodiversity and summarizes the major activities of the Census of Marine Life program in the Caribbean region. The coastal Caribbean region is a large marine ecosystem (LME) characterized by coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrasses, but including other environments, such as sandy beaches and rocky shores. These tropical ecosystems incorporate a high diversity of associated flora and fauna, and the nations that border the Caribbean collectively encompass a major global marine biodiversity hot spot. We analyze the state of knowledge of marine biodiversity based on the geographic distribution of georeferenced species records and regional taxonomic lists. A total of 12,046 marine species are reported in this paper for the Caribbean region. These include representatives from 31 animal phyla, two plant phyla, one group of Chromista, and three groups of Protoctista. Sampling effort has been greatest in shallow, nearshore waters, where there is relatively good coverage of species records; offshore and deep environments have been less studied. Additionally, we found that the currently accepted classification of marine ecoregions of the Caribbean did not apply for the benthic distributions of five relatively well known taxonomic groups. Coastal species richness tends to concentrate along the Antillean arc (Cuba to the southernmost Antilles) and the northern coast of South America (Venezuela – Colombia), while no pattern can be observed in the deep sea with the available data. Several factors make it impossible to determine the extent to which these distribution patterns accurately reflect the true situation for marine biodiversity in general: (1) highly localized concentrations of collecting effort and a lack of collecting in many areas and ecosystems, (2) high variability among collecting methods, (3) limited taxonomic expertise for many groups, and (4) differing levels of activity in the study of different taxa

Citrus aurantium L. essential oil exhibits anxiolytic-like activity mediated by 5-HT1A-receptors and reduces cholesterol after repeated oral treatment

BACKGROUND: The current treatments for anxiety disorders and depression have multiple adverse effects in addition to a delayed onset of action, which has prompted efforts to find new substances with potential activity in these disorders. Citrus aurantium was chosen based on ethnopharmacological data because traditional medicine refers to the Citrus genus as useful in diminishing the symptoms of anxiety or insomnia, and C. aurantium has more recently been proposed as an adjuvant for antidepressants. In the present work, we investigated the biological activity underlying the anxiolytic and antidepressant effects of C. aurantium essential oil (EO), the putative mechanism of the anxiolytic-like effect, and the neurochemical changes in specific brain structures of mice after acute treatment. We also monitored the mice for possible signs of toxicity after a 14-day treatment. METHODS: The anxiolytic-like activity of the EO was investigated in a light/dark box, and the antidepressant activity was investigated in a forced swim test. Flumazenil, a competitive antagonist of benzodiazepine binding, and the selective 5-HT(1A) receptor antagonist WAY100635 were used in the experimental procedures to determine the mechanism of action of the EO. To exclude false positive results due to motor impairment, the mice were submitted to the rotarod test. RESULTS: The data suggest that the anxiolytic-like activity observed in the light/dark box procedure after acute (5 mg/kg) or 14-day repeated (1 mg/kg/day) dosing was mediated by the serotonergic system (5-HT(1A) receptors). Acute treatment with the EO showed no activity in the forced swim test, which is sensitive to antidepressants. A neurochemical evaluation showed no alterations in neurotransmitter levels in the cortex, the striatum, the pons, and the hypothalamus. Furthermore, no locomotor impairment or signs of toxicity or biochemical changes, except a reduction in cholesterol levels, were observed after treatment with the EO. CONCLUSION: This work contributes to a better understanding of the biological activity of C. aurantium EO by characterizing the mechanism of action underlying its anxiolytic-like activity

Computational Modeling of Signaling Pathways Mediating Cell Cycle Checkpoint Control and Apoptotic Responses to Ionizing Radiation-Induced DNA Damage

The shape of dose response of ionizing radiation (IR) induced cancer at low dose region, either linear non-threshold or J-shaped, has been a debate for a long time. This dose response relationship can be influenced by built-in capabilities of cells that minimize the fixation of IR-mediated DNA damage as pro-carcinogenic mutations. Key capabilities include sensing of damage, activation of cell cycle checkpoint arrests that provide time needed for repair of the damage as well as apoptosis. Here we describe computational modeling of the signaling pathways that link sensing of DNA damage and checkpoint arrest activation/apoptosis to investigate how these molecular-level interactions influence the dose response relationship for IR induced cancer. The model provides qualitatively accurate descriptions of the IR-mediated activation of cell cycle checkpoints and the apoptotic pathway, and of time-course activities and dose response of relevant regulatory proteins (e.g. p53 and p21). Linking to a two-stage clonal growth cancer model, the model described here successfully captured a monotonically increasing to a J-shaped dose response curve and identified one potential mechanism leading to the J-shape: the cell cycle checkpoint arrest time saturates with the increase of the dose