Publisher Correction: The effect of large-scale anti-contagion policies on the COVID-19 pandemic.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

The effect of large-scale anti-contagion policies on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Governments around the world are responding to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic1, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), with unprecedented policies designed to slow the growth rate of infections. Many policies, such as closing schools and restricting populations to their homes, impose large and visible costs on society; however, their benefits cannot be directly observed and are currently understood only through process-based simulations2-4. Here we compile data on 1,700 local, regional and national non-pharmaceutical interventions that were deployed in the ongoing pandemic across localities in China, South Korea, Italy, Iran, France and the United States. We then apply reduced-form econometric methods, commonly used to measure the effect of policies on economic growth5,6, to empirically evaluate the effect that these anti-contagion policies have had on the growth rate of infections. In the absence of policy actions, we estimate that early infections of COVID-19 exhibit exponential growth rates of approximately 38% per day. We find that anti-contagion policies have significantly and substantially slowed this growth. Some policies have different effects on different populations, but we obtain consistent evidence that the policy packages that were deployed to reduce the rate of transmission achieved large, beneficial and measurable health outcomes. We estimate that across these 6 countries, interventions prevented or delayed on the order of 61 million confirmed cases, corresponding to averting approximately 495 million total infections. These findings may help to inform decisions regarding whether or when these policies should be deployed, intensified or lifted, and they can support policy-making in the more than 180 other countries in which COVID-19 has been reported7.

Global patterns of allochthony in stream-riparian meta-ecosystems.

Ecosystems that are coupled by reciprocal flows of energy and nutrient subsidies can be viewed as a single "meta-ecosystem." Despite these connections, the reciprocal flow of subsidies is greatly asymmetrical and seasonally pulsed. Here, we synthesize existing literature on stream-riparian meta-ecosystems to quantify global patterns of the amount of subsidy consumption by organisms, known as "allochthony." These resource flows are important since they can comprise a large portion of consumer diets, but can be disrupted by human modification of streams and riparian zones. Despite asymmetrical subsidy flows, we found stream and riparian consumer allochthony to be equivalent. Although both fish and stream invertebrates rely on seasonally pulsed allochthonous resources, we find allochthony varies seasonally only for fish, being nearly three times greater during the summer and fall than during the winter and spring. We also find that consumer allochthony varies with feeding traits for aquatic invertebrates, fish, and terrestrial arthropods, but not for terrestrial vertebrates. Finally, we find that allochthony varies by climate for aquatic invertebrates, being nearly twice as great in arid climates than in tropical climates, but not for fish. These findings are critical to understanding the consequences of global change, as ecosystem connections are being increasingly disrupted.

Two and five-factor models of negative symptoms in schizophrenia are differentially associated with trait affect, defeatist performance beliefs, and psychosocial functioning.

Recent factor analytic evidence supports both two-factor (motivation and pleasure, MAP; diminished expression, EXP) and five-factor (anhedonia, asociality, avolition, blunted affect, alogia) conceptualizations of negative symptoms. However, it is unclear whether these two conceptualizations of the latent structure of negative symptoms have differential associations with external correlates. The current study evaluated external correlates of the two- and five-factor structures by examining associations with variables known to have critical relations with negative symptoms: trait affect, defeatist performance beliefs, neurocognition, and community-based psychosocial functioning. Participants included a total of 245 outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia who were rated on the Brief Negative Symptom Scale and completed a battery of additional measures during periods of clinical stability. These additional measures included the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Defeatist Performance Beliefs scale, MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, and Level of Function Scale. Pearson correlations indicated differential patterns of associations between the BNSS scores and the external correlates. Support for the two-factor model was indicated by a stronger association of MAP with positive affect and psychosocial functioning, compared to EXP with neurocognition. Significance tests examining a differential magnitude of associations showed that the two-dimension negative symptom structure masked unique correlational relationships among the five negative symptom domains with neurocognition and social/vocational community functioning and captured unique patterns of correlation with trait affect. Support for the five-factor model was shown by a stronger association between Blunted Affect with Attention/Vigilance, and stronger associations between Avolition, Anhedonia, and Asociality with psychosocial functioning. Results offer support for both the two-dimension and five-domain model of negative symptoms as well as a hierarchical two-dimensions-five-domains model of negative symptoms. Findings may have implications for diagnostic criteria and descriptions of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5), as well as possible treatment targets of negative symptoms.

A global synthesis of human impacts on the multifunctionality of streams and rivers.

Human impacts, particularly nutrient pollution and land-use change, have caused significant declines in the quality and quantity of freshwater resources. Most global assessments have concentrated on species diversity and composition, but effects on the multifunctionality of streams and rivers remain unclear. Here, we analyse the most comprehensive compilation of stream ecosystem functions to date to provide an overview of the responses of nutrient uptake, leaf litter decomposition, ecosystem productivity, and food web complexity to six globally pervasive human stressors. We show that human stressors inhibited ecosystem functioning for most stressor-function pairs. Nitrate uptake efficiency was most affected and was inhibited by 347% due to agriculture. However, concomitant negative and positive effects were common even within a given stressor-function pair. Some part of this variability in effect direction could be explained by the structural heterogeneity of the landscape and latitudinal position of the streams. Ranking human stressors by their absolute effects on ecosystem multifunctionality revealed significant effects for all studied stressors, with wastewater effluents (194%), agriculture (148%), and urban land use (137%) having the strongest effects. Our results demonstrate that we are at risk of losing the functional backbone of streams and rivers if human stressors persist in contemporary intensity, and that freshwaters are losing critical ecosystem services that humans rely on. We advocate for more studies on the effects of multiple stressors on ecosystem multifunctionality to improve the functional understanding of human impacts. Finally, freshwater management must shift its focus toward an ecological function-based approach and needs to develop strategies for maintaining or restoring ecosystem functioning of streams and rivers.

Structure and Piezoelectricity Due to B Site Cation Variation in ABn+Cln+2 Hybrid Histammonium Chlorometallate Materials.

To provide new insights for understanding the influence of B site cations on the structure in chlorometallate materials of the form ABn+Cln+2, we report novel organic-inorganic hybrid metallates (OIHMs) incorporating histammonium (HistNH3) dications and various transition-metal and main group B site cations. Single crystals of OIHMs with the basic formula (HistNH3Mn+Cln+2, M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, Sb, Sn, Pb, Bi) were grown and their structures characterized by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. HistNH3CoCl4, HistNH3ZnCl4, and HistNH3SbCl5 were crystallized in a non-centrosymmetric space group and were subsequently studied with piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM). While bulk measurements of crystals and poly(vinylidene difluoride) (PVDF)/metallate composite films exhibited low bulk response values, the surface-measured local response values using PFM were 5.17 pm/V for HistNH3CoCl4, 22.6 pm/V for HistNH3ZnCl4, and 2.9 pm/V for HistNH3SbCl5 compared with 2.50 pm/V for PVDF reference samples. The magnitudes of the d33 coefficient, net dipole, and cation-Cl bond dipole obtained from the density functional theory calculations confirm the higher response in HistNH3ZnCl4 compared to HistNH3CoCl4. Density of states and crystal orbital Hamilton population analysis indicate that the higher net dipole in HistNH3ZnCl4 compared to HistNH3CoCl4 is due to the lower hybridization of the M-Cl bond.

Adapting an evidence-supported optimization program for mental health and sport performance in collegiate athletes to fit youth from ethnic/racial minority and low-income neighborhoods: A National Institutes of Health stage model feasibility study.

The current study addresses the need to empirically develop effective mental health interventions for youth from ethnic/racial minority and low-income neighborhoods. Using Stage Model evaluation methods supported by the National Institutes of Health in the US to address underutilization of mental healthcare among racial/ethnic minority youth, this feasibility study demonstrates empirical adaptation of an innovative sport-specific psychological intervention for use in youth from ethnic/racial minority and low-income neighborhoods. An international group of professionals familiar with sport performance and mental health intervention serving the target population experientially examined the adapted intervention protocols in workshops and provided feedback. Survey results indicated the professionals found the intervention components were easy to administer and likely to be safe, enjoyable, engaging and efficacious for youth mental health and sport performance. The protocols were revised based on feedback from these professionals and the intervention was examined in a case trial involving an Asian American youth who evidenced Social Anxiety Disorder. Case study results indicated the intervention could be implemented with integrity, and severity of psychiatric symptoms and factors interfering with sport performance decreased after intervention implementation. The participant's relationships with family, coaches and teammates were also improved.

The welfare of wildlife: an interdisciplinary analysis of harm in the legal and illegal wildlife trades and possible ways forward.

Wildlife trade-both legal and illegal-is an activity that is currently the focus of global attention. Concerns over the loss of biodiversity, partly stemming from overexploitation, and the corona virus pandemic, likely originating from wildlife trade, are urgent matters. These concerns though centre on people. Only sometimes does the discussion focus on the wildlife traded and their welfare. In this article, we make the case as to why welfare is an important component of any discussion or policy about wildlife trade, not only for the interests of the wildlife, but also for the sake of humans. We detail the harm in the trade as well as the current welfare provisions, particularly in relation to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which guide global transport and trade. There are a number of ways that the current approach to wildlife welfare could be improved, and we propose ways forward in this regard.

Energy pathways modulate the resilience of stream invertebrate communities to drought.

While climate change is altering ecosystems on a global scale, not all ecosystems are responding in the same way. The resilience of ecological communities may depend on whether food webs are producer- or detritus-based (i.e. 'green' or 'brown' food webs, respectively), or both (i.e. 'multi-channel' food web). Food web theory suggests that the presence of multiple energy pathways can enhance community stability and resilience and may modulate the responses of ecological communities to disturbances such as climate change. Despite important advances in food web theory, few studies have empirically investigated the resilience of ecological communities to climate change stressors in ecosystems with different primary energy channels. We conducted a factorial experiment using outdoor stream mesocosms to investigate the independent and interactive effects of warming and drought on invertebrate communities in food webs with different energy channel configurations. Warming had little effect on invertebrates, but stream drying negatively impacted total invertebrate abundance, biomass, richness and diversity. Although resistance to drying did not differ among energy channel treatments, recovery and overall resilience were higher in green mesocosms than in mixed and brown mesocosms. Resilience to drying also varied widely among taxa, with larger predatory taxa exhibiting lower resilience. Our results suggest that the effects of drought on stream communities may vary regionally and depend on whether food webs are fuelled by autochthonous or allochthonous basal resources. Communities inhabiting streams with large amounts of organic matter and more complex substrates that provide refugia may be more resilient to the loss of surface water than communities inhabiting streams with simpler, more homogeneous substrates.

Influence of Special Education, ADHD, Autism, and Learning Disorders on ImPACT Validity Scores in High School Athletes.

OBJECTIVE: The Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing (ImPACT) is commonly used to assist with post-concussion return-to-play decisions for athletes. Additional investigation is needed to determine whether embedded indicators used to determine the validity of scores are influenced by the presence of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDs). METHOD: This study examined standard and novel ImPACT validity indicators in a large sample of high school athletes (n = 33,772) with or without self-reported ND. RESULTS: Overall, 7.1% of athletes' baselines were judged invalid based on standard ImPACT validity criteria. When analyzed by group (healthy, ND), there were significantly more invalid ImPACT baselines for athletes with an ND diagnosis or special education history (between 9.7% and 54.3% for standard and novel embedded validity criteria) when compared to athletes without NDs. ND history was a significant predictor of invalid baseline performance above and beyond other demographic characteristics (i.e., age, sex, and sport), although it accounted for only a small percentage of variance. Multivariate base rates are presented stratified for age, sex, and ND. CONCLUSIONS: These data provide evidence of higher than normal rates of invalid baselines in athletes who report ND (based on both the standard and novel embedded validity indicators). Although ND accounted for a small percentage of variance in the prediction of invalid performance, negative consequences (e.g., extended time out of sports) of incorrect decision-making should be considered for those with neurodevelopmental conditions. Also, reasons for the overall increase noted here, such as decreased motivation, "sandbagging", or disability-related cognitive deficit, require additional investigation.

Deconstructing Cognitive Heterogeneity in Puerto Rican Spanish-Speaking Children With ADHD.

OBJECTIVE: There is limited understanding of the cognitive profiles of Spanish-speaking children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The current study investigated the cognitive cluster profiles of Puerto Rican Spanish-speaking children with ADHD using the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children-Fourth Edition Spanish (WISC-IV Spanish) Index scores and examined the association between cognitive cluster profiles with other potentially relevant factors. METHOD: Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to identify WISC-IV clusters in a sample of 165 Puerto Rican children who had a primary diagnosis of ADHD. To examine the validity of the ADHD clusters, analysis of variances and chi-square analyses were conducted to compare the clusters across sociodemographics (e.g., age and education), type of ADHD diagnosis (ADHD subtype, Learning Disorder comorbidity), and academic achievement. RESULTS: Clusters were differentiated by level and pattern of performance. A five-cluster solution was identified as optimal that included (C1) multiple cognitive deficits, (C2) processing speed deficits, (C3) generally average performance, (C4) perceptual reasoning strengths, and (C5) working memory deficits. Among the five clusters, the profile with multiple cognitive deficits was characterized by poorer performance on the four WISC-IV Spanish Indexes and was associated with adverse sociodemographic characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Results illustrate that there is substantial heterogeneity in cognitive abilities of Puerto Rican Spanish-speaking children with ADHD, and this heterogeneity is associated with a number of relevant outcomes.

The Hyalella (Crustacea: Amphipoda) species cloud of the ancient Lake Titicaca originated from multiple colonizations.

Ancient lakes are renowned for their exceptional diversity of endemic species. As model systems for the study of sympatric speciation, it is necessary to understand whether a given hypothesized species flock is of monophyletic or polyphyletic origin. Here, we present the first molecular characterization of the Hyalella (Crustacea: Amphipoda) species complex of Lake Titicaca, using COI and 28S DNA sequences, including samples from the connected Small and Large Lakes that comprise Lake Titicaca as well as from a broader survey of southern South American sites. At least five evolutionarily distant lineages are present within Lake Titicaca, which were estimated to have diverged from one another 12-20 MYA. These major lineages are dispersed throughout the broader South American Hyalella phylogeny, with each lineage representing at least one independent colonization of the lake. Moreover, complex genetic relationships are revealed between Lake Titicaca individuals and those from surrounding water bodies, which may be explained by repeated dispersal into and out of the lake, combined with parallel intralacustrine diversification within two separate clades. Although further work in deeper waters will be required to determine the number of species present and modes of diversification, our results strongly indicate that this amphipod species cloud is polyphyletic with a complex geographic history.

Towards optimised drug delivery: structure and composition of testosterone enanthate in sodium dodecyl sulfate monolayers.

Surface tension and specular neutron reflectivity measurements have been used, for the first time to systematically study both the interfacial structure and composition of monolayers of the soluble surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate containing a low-dose, poorly water soluble drug, testosterone enanthate. Modelling of the specular neutron reflectivity data suggests that the hydrophobic testosterone enanthate was adsorbed in the C12 hydrophobic tail region of the surfactant monolayer, regardless of the concentration of surfactant at the interface and whether or not additional drug was added to the interface. The location of the hydrophobic drug in the tail region of the surfactant monolayer is supported by the results of classical, large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. The thickness of the surfactant monolayer obtained, in the presence and absence of drug, using molecular dynamics simulations was in good agreement with the corresponding values obtained from the specular neutron reflectivity measurements. The stoichiometry of surfactant:drug at the air-water interface at sodium dodecyl sulfate concentrations above the critical micelle concentration was determined from specular neutron reflectivity measurements to be approximately 3 : 1, and remained constant after the spreading of further testosterone enanthate at the interface. Significantly, this stoichiometry was the same as that obtained in the micelles from bulk solubilisation studies. Important insights into the preferred location of drug in surfactant monolayers at the air-water interface as well as its effect on the structure of the monolayer have been obtained from our combined use of experimental and simulation techniques.

Interaction of testosterone-based compounds with dodecyl sulphate monolayers at the air-water interface.

A series of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations were performed for investigating the interactions between three different testosterone-based compounds (testosterone (T), testosterone propionate (TP) and testosterone enanthate (TE)) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) and ammonium dodecyl sulphate (ADS) monolayers, which vary only in the sodium or ammonium counterions used to neutralise the sulphate headgroup. These simulations were used to investigate how the structural and interfacial properties of the monolayer were affected by changing the number of drug molecules present per monolayer, and the chemical nature of the surfactant counterions and the testosterone-based compounds. Our results show that the structure of the interfacial water layer is affected by the change of the counterion but not the chemistry of the drug molecules. As a result of the difference in their chemical structure, the T, TP and TE drug molecules prefer different locations and orientations within the monolayers. Finally, we observed that the hydration of the drug molecules encapsulated within the ADS monolayers is significantly less than when they are encapsulated within the SDS monolayers. Understanding the role that the counterion and the chemistry of the drug molecules play in these systems provides us with a detailed description of the interactions that cause ADS micelles to encapsulate significantly less drug molecules than SDS micelles, which we have recently observed experimentally.

Isomotive dielectrophoresis for parallel analysis of individual particles.

Two dielectrophoresis systems are introduced where the induced dielectrophoretic force is constant throughout the experimental region, resulting in uniform (isomotive) microparticle translation. Isomotive dielectrophoresis (isoDEP) is accomplished through a unique geometry where the gradient of the field-squared (∇Erms2) is constant, a characteristic that is otherwise highly nonuniform in traditional DEP platforms. The governing isoDEP equations were derived herein and applied to two different isoDEP prototypes: (i) one fabricated from deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) of a conductive silicon wafer (1-10 Ω-cm) whose patterned features served as electrodes and microchannel sidewalls simultaneously; (ii) a second where the electric field is applied lengthwise through a PDMS microchannel whose geometry follows a specific curvature. Both positive and negative dielectrophoresis was demonstrated with the isoDEP devices using silver-coated hollow glass spheres and polystyrene particles, respectively. Particle tracking was used to compare particle trajectory with the expected dielectrophoretic response; further, particle velocity was used to measure the Clausius-Mossotti factor of individual polystyrene particles (18-24.9 µm) in both devices with a value of -0.40 ± 0.063 (n = 110) and -0.48 ± 0.055 (n = 18) for the DRIE and PDMS isoDEP platforms, respectively. The isoDEP platform is capable of analyzing multiple particles simultaneously, providing greater throughput than traditional electrorotation platforms.

Queen leads tributes to nurses in wake of terrorist attacks.

The Queen and the prime minister led tributes to nurses and other NHS staff caring for people injured in the recent terrorist attacks in Manchester and London. Emergency services worked through the night to assist in the immediate aftermath of the explosion at the Manchester arena, which killed 22 people and left many more injured, who were treated at hospitals across the city.

Examination of the relationship between social support and treatment outcomes in mothers referred by Child Protective Services utilizing the Significant Other Support Scale.

Supportive social networks may play an important role in recovery for mothers within the umbrella of Child Protective Services (CPS). However, investigators have yet to assess how the quality of significant other support assists family-based treatment. In this study the influence of significant others was examined in the family-based treatment of 38 mothers who were referred for behavioral treatment by CPS. The Significant Other Support Scale (SOSS) was empirically developed, and subsequently utilized to assess the extent to which participants' significant others were perceived by treatment providers to support the participants' goals during treatment sessions. Results indicated that SOSS scores (but not participant and significant other session attendance) were associated with lower participant child abuse potential and drug use frequency at the conclusion of treatment. There was no relationship found between SOSS scores and participant session attendance. However, there was a positive correlation between SOSS scores and significant other session attendance (r = .489, p < .01). The results of this study suggest the quality of significant other support during treatment sessions in this population of mothers may be more important to improving treatment outcomes than session attendance per se. Future directions are discussed in light of the results.

Synthesis: comparing effects of resource and consumer fluxes into recipient food webs using meta-analysis.

Here we synthesize empirical research using meta-analysis to compare how consumer and resource fluxes affect recipient food webs. We tested the following hypotheses: (H1) The direct effects of resource fluxes (bottom-up) should be stronger than the direct effects of consumer fluxes (top-down), because resource fluxes are permanent (do not return to the food web in which they were produced) but consumer fluxes may not be (consumers can leave). (H2) Following H1, the indirect effects should attenuate (weaken) more quickly for consumer fluxes than for resource fluxes due to their direct effects being weaker, (H3) The effects of resource fluxes should be stronger when recipient food webs are in different ecosystems than donor food webs due to differences in elevation that accompany cross-ecosystem food web interfaces, often increasing flux quantity due to gravity, while the effects of consumer fluxes should be stronger when donor and recipient food webs are in the same ecosystem as they should more easily assimilate into the recipient food web. We found no differences in the magnitude of bottom-up and top-down direct effects for resource and consumer fluxes, but top-down direct effects were 122% stronger than top-down indirect effects. Indirect effects of prey and predator fluxes quickly attenuated while indirect effects of non-prey resource and herbivore fluxes did not, as the overall direct effects of prey and predator fluxes were 123% and 163% stronger than their indirect effects, respectively. This result suggests that the magnitude of indirect effects decrease as the trophic level of resource and consumer fluxes increases, and also contrasts with results from studies showing in situ top-down indirect effects are stronger than in situ bottom-up indirect effects. We found that resource and consumer flux effect sizes were similar when they occurred between ecosystems, but when they occurred within ecosystems predator flux effects were 107% stronger than nutrient flux effects. Finally, we found that observational studies had higher effect sizes than manipulative studies. Future research should focus on how resource and consumer fluxes might interact and generate feedbacks in empirical studies of natural food webs, and what ecological factors might affect their relative strength.

Plant biodiversity effects in reducing fluvial erosion are limited to low species richness.

It has been proposed that plant biodiversity may increase the erosion resistance of soils, yet direct evidence for any such relationship is lacking. We conducted a mesocosm experiment with eight species of riparian herbaceous plants, and found evidence that plant biodiversity significantly reduced fluvial erosion rates, with the eight-species polyculture decreasing erosion by 23% relative to monocultures. Species richness effects were largest at low levels of species richness, with little increase between four and eight species. Our results suggest that plant biodiversity reduced erosion rates indirectly through positive effects on root length and number of root tips, and that interactions between legumes and non-legumes were particularly important in producing biodiversity effects. Presumably, legumes increased root production of non-legumes by increasing soil nitrogen availability due to their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Our data suggest that a restoration project using species from different functional groups might provide the best insurance to maintain long-term erosion resistance.

Specific effects of monovalent counterions on the structural and interfacial properties of dodecyl sulfate monolayers.

A series of molecular dynamics simulations have been conducted in order to study the specific ion effects of Li+, Na+, Cs+ and NH4+ cations on dodecyl sulfate (DS-) monolayers. Varying the counterion had no appreciable effect on the structure of the surfactant molecules within the different monolayers. However, the different counterions have a significant effect on the interfacial properties of the monolayer. In particular, we have investigated to what extent each of the counterions is dehydrated when interacting with the DS- headgroup, the specific interactions between the counterions and the headgroup and the salt bridging of the headgroups caused by each counterion. The NH4+ ions are found to directly compete with water molecules to form hydrogen bonds with the DS- headgroup and as a result the ammonium dodecyl sulfate monolayer is the least hydrated of any of those studied. The Cs+ ions are strongly bound to the headgroup and weakly hydrated, such that they would prefer to displace water in the DS- hydration shell to interact with the headgroups. In the case of the Li+ ions, they interact almost as strongly with the DS- headgroups as the Na+ ions, but are generally less hydrated than the Na+ ions and consequently the lithium dodecyl sulfate monolayers are less hydrated than the sodium dodecyl sulfate monolayers. Therefore, by changing the counterion, one can modify the interfacial properties of the surfactant monolayer, and thus affect their ability to encapsulate poorly water soluble drug molecules, which we discuss further in the manuscript.