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Pathogen diversity of the non-native narrow-clawed crayfish (Pontastacus leptodactylus) in a UK water body
Get PDFBiological invasions are intrinsically linked to introducing associated symbiotic organisms, some of which can be parasitic or pathogenic. The pathogenic risk of an ‘invasive parasite’ (aka. exotic pathogen) stems from its potential to infect native hosts and induce behavioural change or mortality, with the pathogen potentially presenting a greater risk than the host. Conversely, parasites translocated by invasive hosts may also reduce the impact of their host, indirectly curbing the hosts impact on the invaded ecosystem. In this study, we develop a pathogen profile for the narrow-clawed crayfish, Pontastacus leptodactylus. This is a non-native species in the United Kingdom, and poses a possible risk as a sink for invasive parasites. We use histopathology, metagenomics and metratranscriptomics to outline the symbiotic diversity harboured by a P. leptodactylus population from West Yorkshire, England.
We discovered several protozoan and bacterial species that appear to be putatively commensal with this invader, as well as several RNA viruses (Hepelivirales; Picornavirales; Nodaviridae, and others) that may be more pathogenic in nature. Microsporidia and Nudiviridae were absent in our population sample set, as were all metazoan obligate parasites, such as trematodes and acanthocephalans. Using the novel genomic and pathological data available to us, we have explored the evolutionary history of each symbiotic species and provided an initial assessment on the putative risk to native species
The bystander typology scale: development and validation of a workplace bullying bystander response measure
Get PDFBystanders, organizational members who witness but are not directly involved in workplace bullying, are increasingly viewed as integral in addressing bullying. However, empirical evidence about how bystanders act and why is limited, having been hampered by the lack of a validated measure to capture bystander behavior. Drawing from previous typologies and extending a sensemaking model of bystanders, we theorize that there are four main classes of bystander behavior and that individual and organizational factors influence which of these is enacted when workplace bullying is witnessed. We develop the Bystander Typology Scale (BTS) to test our propositions, validating the new measure across three studies (NStudy 1a = 588; NStudy 1b = 361; NStudy 1c = 251), which show that the BTS captures four distinctive bystander behaviors: active constructive (e.g., confronting the perpetrator), passive constructive (e.g., offering emotional support), passive destructive (e.g., ignoring the situation), and active destructive (e.g., revictimization). Our main study (NStudy 2 = 374) shows that self-efficacy, dark triad traits, and organizational conflict cultures influence bystander behavior in distinctive ways. Our research contributes to a greater understanding of how bystanders behave when witnessing bullying and why, alongside a tool for researchers to examine bullying bystanders systemically and for practitioners to evaluate interventions
How has the cost-of-living crisis impacted the transition to healthy diets from sustainable food systems?
Get PDFThe need for a transition towards healthy diets from sustainable food systems links into a multitude of accelerating social and environmental grand challenges including climate emergency, biodiversity loss and obesity. Governance for sustainable food systems is dominated by market-based approaches focusing on incremental change and centred on the idea of nudges, i.e., behaviour change interventions to promote pro-environmental minority behaviours. Yet, product price is often the primary driver for consumers, especially considering a highly volatile market environment, with a succession of major disruptions that have put additional strains on global food systems and have triggered Cost-Of-Living (COL) crises in many economies. This raises the question whether relative price increases have incentivized sustainable food consumption, or whether they have effectively served as a barrier for the transition to sustainability. Hence, we track prices of food products included in the UK consumer price inflation basket over a nine-year period. We develop two indices: the Environmental Impact Price Index and the Nutrition Impact Price Index to monitor the affordability of a healthy and sustainable diet. The indices provide a means of assessing the impact of changing prices on the nutritional value and sustainability of different food products. We select the food products found in the standard UK Consumer Price Index basket used to calculate inflation. We find the COL crisis period (2021–23) to have nudged UK consumers towards healthy and sustainable diets, but this is embedded in a long-term trend that has disincentivized healthy and sustainable food consumption
Coupling X-ray absorption spectroscopy and chemical extractions to investigate phosphorus phase partitioning in Ningxiang iron deposits
No full textPhosphorus (P) is the ultimate limiting nutrient for primary productivity on geological timescales, but reconstructing ancient seawater phosphate concentrations in iron-rich sediments is complicated by post-depositional transformations that may obscure primary P signatures. Here, we investigate phosphorus phase partitioning in Late Devonian Ningxiang oolitic ironstones from South China, using a combined approach integrating sequential chemical extractions, solid-state 31P nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR), and P K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. The ironstones, composed mainly of hematite, exhibit systematically higher P contents than their siliciclastic host rocks. Our results reveal pronounced stratigraphic variability in P phases: Al/Fe-bound P dominates in the Huangjiadeng Formation, whereas authigenic Ca-phosphates (apatite and carbonate-fluorapatite) prevail in the overlying Xiejingsi Formation. This transition reflects diagenetic transformation of primary Fe-P phases under progressively reducing pore-water conditions, followed by re-precipitation as stable Ca-phosphate minerals. Spectroscopic analyses reveal that Al-bearing minerals constitute a significant, yet previously underappreciated, sink for phosphorus. This redistribution of P among Fe-, Al- and Ca-bound phases challenges the conventional use of bulk P/Fe ratios in Phanerozoic ironstones as direct proxies for paleo-seawater phosphate concentrations. Our study demonstrates that coupling XAFS and NMR spectroscopy with sequential extractions provides a powerful approach to resolve phosphorus phase partitioning and cycling in ancient marine settings
Visual orientation discrimination in adults with ADHD and ASD: the differential impact of clinical diagnosis and trait severity
No full textObjectives: This study aimed to clarify whether clinical diagnosis, as opposed to trait severity alone, differentiates sensory processing profiles in adults with ADHD and ASD. Specifically, we compared clinical and non-clinical cohorts matched on standardized self-report measures to test the impact of diagnosis on visual orientation discrimination.
Methods: A total of 152 adults were assigned to four matched groups: clinical ADHD, non-clinical ADHD, clinical ASD, and non-clinical ASD (n = 38/group). ADHD and ASD traits were assessed using the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) and Broad Autism Phenotype Questionnaire (BAPQ). Sensory performance was measured using a visual orientation discrimination task (with vertical and oblique conditions). Propensity score matching and ANCOVAs (controlling for age/gender) were used to ensure comparability between the clinical and non-clinical groups.
Results: Clinically diagnosed ADHD participants displayed significantly poorer oblique orientation sensitivity than non-clinical controls, while clinical ASD participants exhibited superior vertical orientation discrimination compared to their matched non-clinical group. No significant differences were found for vertical thresholds in ADHD and oblique thresholds in ASD. These patterns remained after controlling for age and gender, indicating disorder-specific sensory trajectories, with bidirectional effects of severity and/or clinical diagnosis on sensory performance.
Conclusions: Findings suggest that clinical diagnosis captures qualitative as well as quantitative differences not reflected by trait severity alone. Within visual orientation discrimination, ADHD and ASD showed different patterns of diagnostic modulation that are consistent with dimensional and dimensional-categorical (hybrid) interpretative frameworks, respectively
Catholic and Protestant religious leaders as peacebuilders in postconflict Northern Ireland: three peacebuilding roles
Get PDFIn postconflict Northern Ireland, religious leaders play a key role engaging with those on the political, economic, and social margins of civil society with whom state actors either cannot or will not engage with themselves. Using data from 26 interviews with senior religious leaders, diplomats, and politicians, this paper argues that through this engagement, religious leaders contribute to the peace process by (1) representing views of the marginalized, (2) holding power accountable, and (3) exemplifying five civil skills; namely, (a) principled leadership, (b) partnership, (c) pity, (d) maintaining privacy, and (e) engaging in persuasion. Knowledge of this new typology and of how religious leaders connect with the margins can enable more effective collaboration between secular and religious peacebuilders. It can also improve our understanding of how religious leaders conceive of their own role and how they navigate a postconflict environment, where disputes are mislabeled as primarily religious as opposed to political
The geographical variation of colour change in the Arabian killifish (Aphaniops dispar sensu lato) from freshwater and marine ecosystems
Get PDFWidely distributed animals may exhibit substantial plastic physiological, morphological and behavioural responses to environmental changes. One such extraordinary form of plasticity is colour change, which varies substantially among most taxonomic groups. Most studies on colour change have focused on a single population, which has left a gap in our knowledge of colour change variation between populations. Examining colour change variation across populations of a taxon can shed light on how it evolves. Colour plasticity is influenced by spatial and temporal contextual variables, including visual habitat heterogeneity, predator diversity and their interaction. Using the Arabian killifish (Aphaniops dispar sensu lato) as a model, we examined the geographical variation of colour change in two freshwater and two marine populations from the west of Saudi Arabia, separated by vicariant and distance barriers and that differed in habitat visual characteristics and potentially in predator diversity. We used digital photography and visual modelling to investigate the ability of individuals in each of the populations to change colour when presented with achromatic (black and white) and chromatic (beige, brown and green) backgrounds. When presented with a black background, we found that individuals in all populations were capable of becoming darker at varying rates, but in a similar manner. Becoming lighter was more challenging, with individuals from all populations changing less on white than on black backgrounds and with one freshwater population exhibiting almost no response. However, there were complex interpopulation differences in chromatic responses, with marine populations exhibiting generally greater responses to the given backgrounds than freshwater populations. Here, we discuss the evolutionary and ecological factors possibly underlying these variations and their repercussions
Promoting empathy in adolescence:creating engaged global citizens and enabling more peaceful, inclusive societies
Get PDFMotivating factors for participating in the Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines 2.0
Get PDFBackground
One in five emergency department (ED) visits is by older adults aged 65+ years. Clinical practice guidelines are needed to optimize patient care by translating the best available evidence into actionable recommendations to guide person-centered management for this medically complex and growing patient population. Our objective was to understand contributors' experiences and share best practices to inform other guideline working groups.
Methods
We conducted a qualitative study based on thematic analysis with an interpretivist paradigm in June–July 2025, using semi-structured interviews of Geriatric Emergency Department (GED) Guidelines 2.0 contributors to understand their experiences. Interviews were transcribed, independently reviewed by team members, and reflexively coded to identify themes.
Results
We interviewed 18 participants. Four main themes emerged: (1) motivations for participation, (2) varying opportunities to be involved, (3) personal benefits, and (4) challenges for improvement. Participants contrasted the strengths of shared learning and development with the burdens of organization and coordination.
Conclusion
Contributors to the GED Guidelines 2.0 reported a positive experience. They joined because they wanted to contribute to better care of older patients and to achieve personal and professional goals. Many cited that their roles aligned with their strengths and expertise. They also gained skills and knowledge on systematic reviews and benefited from networking. Future groups planning a similar process should consider having multiple levels of leadership, experts in systematic reviews, regular reminders, and creative incentives to improve the process and foster improved networking opportunities within their disciplines
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