In this study, we applied generalized additive model to investigate the influence of spatial temporal variables and vessel length on catch per unit-effort (CPUE) of Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABFT) purse seine fishery using catch and effort data from commercial logbooks and field surveys from 1992 to 2006. The vessel lengths of sampled purse seines ranged from 20 to 64 m. The number of ABFT caught within each operation varied between 1 and 2000. A total of 386 CPUE values for ABFT were calculated 0.05 and 60 t ⋅ (haul day)–1 with mean CPUE of 5.51 ± 0.54 t ⋅ (haul day)–1. Although the sea surface temperature had little influence on the CPUE, the effect of time and spatial variables, vessel length and salinity was found as significant. In conclusion, the spatial dynamics of ABFT should be considered if the impact of fisheries on the ecosystem is to be reduced.

SARS-CoV-2 rapidly spreads among humans via social networks, with social mixing and network characteristics potentially facilitating transmission. However, limited data on topological structural features has hindered in-depth studies. Existing research is based on snapshot analyses, preventing temporal investigations of network changes. Comparing network characteristics over time offers additional insights into transmission dynamics. We examined confirmed COVID-19 patients from an eastern Chinese province, analyzing social mixing and network characteristics using transmission network topology before and after widespread interventions. Between the two time periods, the percentage of singleton networks increased from 38.9$ \% $ to 62.8$ \% $$ (p<0.001) $; the average shortest path length decreased from 1.53 to 1.14 $ (p<0.001) $; the average betweenness reduced from 0.65 to 0.11$ (p<0.001) $; the average cluster size dropped from 4.05 to 2.72 $ (p=0.004) $; and the out-degree had a slight but nonsignificant decline from 0.75 to 0.63 $ (p=0.099). $ Results show that nonpharmaceutical interventions effectively disrupted transmission networks, preventing further disease spread. Additionally, we found that the networks’ dynamic structure provided more information than solely examining infection curves after applying descriptive and agent-based modeling approaches. In summary, we investigated social mixing and network characteristics of COVID-19 patients during different pandemic stages, revealing transmission network heterogeneities.

Infection with STEC O157 is relatively rare but has potentially serious sequelae, particularly for children. Large outbreaks have prompted considerable efforts designed to reduce transmission primarily from food and direct animal contact. Despite these interventions, numbers of infections have remained constant for many years and the mechanisms leading to many sporadic infections remain unclear.

Here, we show that two-thirds of all cases reported in England between 2009 and 2015 were sporadic. Crude rates of infection differed geographically and were highest in rural areas during the summer months. Living in rural areas with high densities of cattle, sheep or pigs and those served by private water supplies were associated with increased risk. Living in an area of lower deprivation contributed to increased risk but this appeared to be associated with reported travel abroad. Fresh water coverage and residential proximity to the coast were not risk factors.

To reduce the overall burden of infection in England, interventions designed to reduce the number of sporadic infections with STEC should focus on the residents of rural areas with high densities of livestock and the effective management of non-municipal water supplies. The role of sheep as a reservoir and potential source of infection in humans should not be overlooked.

Since I agree with Schulting’s conclusions, my comments consist mostly of suggestions for further work that he could do, for example further issues that he might want to look into and passages that might give him trouble. One such issue is what is now sometimes called the Localization Problem: if the mind supplies temporal and (where present) spatial organization and most (at least most) conceptual structure to the manifold of intuition, what could be used to place bits of the manifold at one place rather than another, to determine that this concept rather than that applies, and the like? I urge that this in fact a very serious problem for Kant. Among passages that might create a problem for Schulting’s reading, I focus on the Refutation of Idealism, which Kant added to the second (B-)edition.

The communication of temporal information about autobiographical events was investigated by asking 39 pairs of adults to describe to each other a remote autobiographical event. Each member of the participant pairs was then asked to date the event which they had described and also to date the event which was described to them. The date when the event narrator stated their event happened was compared with the date when the listener stated the event happened. Four different temporal communication strategies were identified. It was rare for individuals to communicate temporal information by giving a calendar date. Rather, the narrator gave either a life theme or chronological age, as a cue to when the event happened. The listener appears to use these cues in combination with their autobiographical knowledge, and an estimate of the narrator's age to produce a temporal information communication outcome.

Detecting signals of selection in the genome of malaria parasites is a key to identify targets for drug and vaccine development. Malaria parasites have a unique life cycle alternating between vector and host organism with a population bottleneck at each transition. These recurrent bottlenecks could influence the patterns of genetic diversity and the power of existing population genetic tools to identify sites under positive selection. We therefore simulated the site-frequency spectrum of a beneficial mutant allele through time under the malaria life cycle. We investigated the power of current population genetic methods to detect positive selection based on the site-frequency spectrum as well as temporal changes in allele frequency. We found that a within-host selective advantage is difficult to detect using these methods. Although a between-host transmission advantage could be detected, the power is decreased when compared with the classical Wright–Fisher (WF) population model. Using an adjusted null site-frequency spectrum that takes the malaria life cycle into account, the power of tests based on the site-frequency spectrum to detect positive selection is greatly improved. Our study demonstrates the importance of considering the life cycle in genetic analysis, especially in parasites with complex life cycles.

Red palm weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Olivier is a key pest of date palm in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Since 1994, the Ministry of Agriculture has implemented a pheromone-based integrated pest management (IPM) strategy to control R. ferrugineus in the Kingdom. Geographic information system (GIS) technology can serve as a valuable tool to assess insect activity and in addition the impact of the control strategy. We used GIS-based techniques to ascertain the spatial and temporal spread of R. ferrugineus in 234 ha of date plantation in Al-Sohemia-1 in the Al-Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia. One hundred and fifty six pheromone (Ferrolure™) traps in Al-Sohemia-1 were logged using the Trimble global positioning system to determine the east longitude and north latitude of each pheromone trap and transformed to the GIS as a shape file. The spatial and temporal variations for R. ferrugineus activity based on captures in pheromone traps were studied for each of the four seasons of the year and also year-wise during 2009 and 2010. Results revealed that during both 2009 and 2010, maximum weevil activity was recorded during late spring and early summer, with captures declining during autumn and winter. Spatial variations in the activity of R. ferrugineus indicated that in general 2009 registered lower weevil activity compared with 2010. Furthermore, most of the area exhibited medium to very high weevil activity in spring and summer during both 2009 and 2010, while most of the area recorded very low to low weevil activity during the autumn and winter seasons of both the years. The ongoing R. ferrugineus-IPM programme in Al-Ahsa needs to be strengthened in areas showing high to very high weevil activity.

Neuropsychiatric sequelae in patients with epilepsy have been vastly studied and documented. These may be affective, cognitive or psychotic. Certain risk factors may predispose some epileptics more to these sequelae. In general, good epileptic control may minimize these outcomes. We present in this report, a case of postictal psychosis (PIP), superimposed on delirium, in a 68-year-old woman, with history of a single previous psychotic illness following a cluster of seizures. This report shows a collaborative management of the neuropsychiatric complications of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), by the neurology, geriatric medicine and psychiatry teams.