Taxonomic and geographic bias in 50 years of research on the behaviour and ecology of galagids.

Identifying knowledge gaps and taxonomic and geographic bias in the literature is invaluable for guiding research towards a more representative understanding of animal groups. Galagids are nocturnal African primates and, for many species, detailed information on their behaviour and ecology is unavailable. To identify gaps and bias in the literature we reviewed published peer-reviewed research articles on galagid behaviour and ecology over a 50-year period from January 1971 to December 2020. Using the Web of Science and Google Scholar databases, we identified 758 articles, assessed 339 full texts for eligibility and included 211 in the review. Species of Otolemur have been extensively researched in comparison to other genera (78.2% of studies; Euoticus: 13.3% of studies; Galago: 66.4% of studies; Galagoides: 20.9% of studies; Paragalago: 22.3% of studies; Sciurocheirus: 15.2% of studies). The most common category of research was physiology (55.0% of studies), followed by behavioural ecology (47.4% of studies), and fewer studies were on genetics and taxonomy (16.1% of studies) and habitat and distribution (14.2% of studies). Text mining revealed that the word 'behaviour' was the most common word used in abstracts and keywords, and few words were related to ecology. Negative binomial regression revealed that mean body mass and geographic range size were significant positive predictors of the total number of scientific outputs on each species. Research on wild populations was carried out in only 24 (60%) of the 40 countries galagids are thought to inhabit. Studies were undertaken in locations with lower mean annual temperatures and higher human population densities over warmer and less populated areas. We encourage a more equal sampling effort both taxonomically and geographically that in particular addresses the paucity of research on smaller species and those with restricted ranges. Research on in situ populations, especially in warmer and remote areas, is urgently needed, particularly in West, Central and some Southern African countries.

Emerging dynamics from high-resolution spatial numerical epidemics.

Simulating nationwide realistic individual movements with a detailed geographical structure can help optimise public health policies. However, existing tools have limited resolution or can only account for a limited number of agents. We introduce Epidemap, a new framework that can capture the daily movement of more than 60 million people in a country at a building-level resolution in a realistic and computationally efficient way. By applying it to the case of an infectious disease spreading in France, we uncover hitherto neglected effects, such as the emergence of two distinct peaks in the daily number of cases or the importance of local density in the timing of arrival of the epidemic. Finally, we show that the importance of super-spreading events strongly varies over time.

Rapid geographical indication of peppercorn seeds using corona discharge mass spectrometry.

With increasing demands for more rapid and practical analyses, various techniques of ambient ionization mass spectrometry have gained significant interest due to the speed of analysis and abundance of information provided. Herein, an ambient ionization technique that utilizes corona discharge was applied, for the first time, to analyze and categorize whole seeds of black and white peppers from different origins. This setup requires no solvent application nor gas flow, thus resulting in a very simple and rapid analysis that can be applied directly to the sample without any prior workup or preparation. Combined with robust data pre-processing and subsequent chemometric analyses, this analytical method was capable of indicating the geographical origin of each pepper source with up to 98% accuracies in all sub-studies. The simplicity and speed of this approach open up the exciting opportunity for onsite analysis without the need for a highly trained operator. Furthermore, this methodology can be applied to a variety of spices and herbs, whose geographical indication or similar intellectual properties are economically important, hence it is capable of creating tremendous impact in the food and agricultural industries.

Genetic diversity, population structure and historical demography of the two-spined yellowtail stargazer (Uranoscopus cognatus).

Benthic species, though ecologically important, are vulnerable to genetic loss and population size reduction due to impacts from fishing trawls. An assessment of genetic diversity and population structure is therefore needed to assist in a resource management program. To address this issue, the two-spined yellowtail stargazer (Uranoscopus cognatus) was collected within selected locations in the Indo-West Pacific (IWP). The partial mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 and the nuclear DNA recombination activating gene 1 were sequenced. Genetic diversity analyses revealed that the populations were moderately to highly diversified (haplotype diversity, H = 0.490-0.900, nucleotide diversity, π = 0.0010-0.0034) except sampling station (ST) 1 and 14. The low diversity level, however was apparent only in the matrilineal marker (H = 0.118-0.216; π = 0.0004-0.0008), possibly due to stochastic factors or anthropogenic stressors. Population structure analyses revealed a retention of ancestral polymorphism that was likely due to incomplete lineage sorting in U. cognatus, and prolonged vicariance by the Indo-Pacific Barrier has partitioned them into separate stock units. Population segregation was also shown by the phenotypic divergence in allopatric populations, regarding the premaxillary protrusion, which is possibly associated with the mechanism for upper jaw movement in biomechanical feeding approaches. The moderate genetic diversity estimated for each region, in addition to past population expansion events, indicated that U. cognatus within the IWP was still healthy and abundant (except in ST1 and 14), and two stock units were identified to be subjected to a specific resource management program.

Trends and Opportunities in Tick-Borne Disease Geography.

Tick-borne diseases are a growing problem in many parts of the world, and their surveillance and control touch on challenging issues in medical entomology, agricultural health, veterinary medicine, and biosecurity. Spatial approaches can be used to synthesize the data generated by integrative One Health surveillance systems, and help stakeholders, managers, and medical geographers understand the current and future distribution of risk. Here, we performed a systematic review of over 8,000 studies and identified a total of 303 scientific publications that map tick-borne diseases using data on vectors, pathogens, and hosts (including wildlife, livestock, and human cases). We find that the field is growing rapidly, with the major Ixodes-borne diseases (Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis in particular) giving way to monitoring efforts that encompass a broader range of threats. We find a tremendous diversity of methods used to map tick-borne disease, but also find major gaps: data on the enzootic cycle of tick-borne pathogens is severely underutilized, and mapping efforts are mostly limited to Europe and North America. We suggest that future work can readily apply available methods to track the distributions of tick-borne diseases in Africa and Asia, following a One Health approach that combines medical and veterinary surveillance for maximum impact.

Geographic variation in the polygenic score of height in Japan.

A geographical gradient of height has existed in Japan for approximately 100 years. People in northern Japan tend to be taller than those in southern Japan. The differences in annual temperature and day length between the northern and southern prefectures of Japan have been suggested as possible causes of the height gradient. Although height is well known to be a polygenic trait with high heritability, the genetic contributions to the gradient have not yet been explored. Polygenic score (PS) is calculated by aggregating the effects of genetic variants identified by genome-wide association studies (GWASs) to predict the traits of individual subjects. Here, we calculated the PS of height for 10,840 Japanese individuals from all 47 prefectures in Japan. The median height PS for each prefecture was significantly correlated with the mean height of females and males obtained from another independent Japanese nation-wide height dataset, suggesting genetic contribution to the observed height gradient. We also found that individuals and prefectures genetically closer to continental East Asian ancestry tended to have a higher PS; modern Japanese people are considered to have originated as result of admixture between indigenous Jomon people and immigrants from continental East Asia. Another PS analysis based on the GWAS using only the mainland Japanese was conducted to evaluate the effect of population stratification on PS. The result also supported genetic contribution to height, and indicated that the PS might be affected by a bias due to population stratification even in a relatively homogenous population like Japanese.

Stable isotope (C, N, O, and H) study of a comprehensive set of feathers from two Setophaga citrina.

Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes were measured on a comprehensive sampling of feathers from two spring Hooded Warblers (Setophaga citrina) in Texas to evaluate isotopic variability between feathers and during molt. Isotopic homogeneity within each bird was found across all four isotopic systems, supporting the hypothesis that molt in these neotropical migrants is fully completed on the breeding grounds. This homogeneity suggests that the isotopic composition of a single feather is may be representative of the whole songbird. However, each bird was found to have one or two outlier feathers, which could signify regrowth of lost feathers after prebasic molt.

Geographic Differences in Cannabis Conversations on Twitter: Infodemiology Study.

BACKGROUND: Infodemiology is an emerging field of research that utilizes user-generated health-related content, such as that found in social media, to help improve public health. Twitter has become an important venue for studying emerging patterns in health issues such as substance use because it can reflect trends in real-time and display messages generated directly by users, giving a uniquely personal voice to analyses. Over the past year, several states in the United States have passed legislation to legalize adult recreational use of cannabis and the federal government in Canada has done the same. There are few studies that examine the sentiment and content of tweets about cannabis since the recent legislative changes regarding cannabis have occurred in North America. OBJECTIVE: To examine differences in the sentiment and content of cannabis-related tweets by state cannabis laws, and to examine differences in sentiment between the United States and Canada between 2017 and 2019. METHODS: In total, 1,200,127 cannabis-related tweets were collected from January 1, 2017, to June 17, 2019, using the Twitter application programming interface. Tweets then were grouped geographically based on cannabis legal status (legal for adult recreational use, legal for medical use, and no legal use) in the locations from which the tweets came. Sentiment scoring for the tweets was done with VADER (Valence Aware Dictionary and sEntiment Reasoner), and differences in sentiment for states with different cannabis laws were tested using Tukey adjusted two-sided pairwise comparisons. Topic analysis to determine the content of tweets was done using latent Dirichlet allocation in Python, using a Java implementation, LdaMallet, with Gensim wrapper. RESULTS: Significant differences were seen in tweet sentiment between US states with different cannabis laws (P=.001 for negative sentiment tweets in fully illegal compared to legal for adult recreational use states), as well as between the United States and Canada (P=.003 for positive sentiment and P=.001 for negative sentiment). In both cases, restrictive state policy environments (eg, those where cannabis use is fully illegal, or legal for medical use only) were associated with more negative tweet sentiment than less restrictive policy environments (eg, where cannabis is legal for adult recreational use). Six key topics were found in recent US tweet contents: fun and recreation (keywords, eg, love, life, high); daily life (today, start, live); transactions (buy, sell, money); places of use (room, car, house); medical use and cannabis industry (business, industry, company); and legalization (legalize, police, tax). The keywords representing content of tweets also differed between the United States and Canada. CONCLUSIONS: Knowledge about how cannabis is being discussed online, and geographic differences that exist in these conversations may help to inform public health planning and prevention efforts. Public health education about how to use cannabis in ways that promote safety and minimize harms may be especially important in places where cannabis is legal for adult recreational and medical use.

Investigating epidemiologic trends and the geographic distribution of patients with anal squamous cell carcinoma throughout Canada.

Background: Anal cancer is a rare disease, constituting 0.5% of new cancer cases in the United States. The most common subtype is squamous cell carcinoma (scc). Studies in several developed nations have reported on an increasing incidence of anal cancer in recent decades, and various risk factors pertaining to the pathogenesis of the disease have been identified, including infection with the human papillomavirus, tobacco use, and immunosuppression. The epidemiology and distribution of anal scc throughout Canada remain poorly understood, however. Methods: Using 3 population-based cancer registries, a retrospective analysis of demographic data across Canada for 1992-2010 was performed. The incidence and mortality for anal scc was examined at the levels of provinces, cities, and the forward sortation area (FSA) component (first 3 characters) of postal codes. Results: During 1992-2010, 3720 individuals were diagnosed with anal scc in Canada; 64% were women. The overall national incidence rate was 6.3 cases per million population per year, with an average age at diagnosis of 60.4 years. The incidence increased over time, with significantly higher incidence rates documented in British Columbia and Nova Scotia (9.3 cases per million population each). Closer examination revealed clustering of cases in various urban centres and self-identified lgbtq communities in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Discussion: This study provides, for the first time, a comprehensive analysis of the burden of anal scc in Canada, identifying susceptible populations and shedding light onto novel avenues of research to lower the incidence of anal cancer throughout the country.

Facebook Recruitment Using Zip Codes to Improve Diversity in Health Research: Longitudinal Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Facebook's advertising platform reaches most US households and has been used for health-related research recruitment. The platform allows for advertising segmentation by age, gender, and location; however, it does not explicitly allow for targeting by race or ethnicity to facilitate a diverse participant pool. OBJECTIVE: This study looked at the efficacy of zip code targeting in Facebook advertising to reach blacks/African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos who smoke daily for a quit-smoking web-based social media study. METHODS: We ran a general market campaign for 61 weeks using all continental US zip codes as a baseline. Concurrently, we ran 2 campaigns to reach black/African American and Hispanic-/Latino-identified adults, targeting zip codes ranked first by the percentage of households of the racial or ethnic group of interest and then by cigarette expenditure per household. We also ran a Spanish language campaign for 13 weeks, targeting all continental US zip codes but utilizing Facebook's Spanish language targeting. The advertising images and language were common across campaigns. Costs were compared for advertisement clicks, queries, applications, and participants, and yields were compared for the final three outcomes. We examined outcomes before and after the Cambridge Analytica scandal that broke in March 2018. Finally, we examined 2 promoted Facebook features: lookalike audiences and audience network placement. RESULTS: Zip code targeting campaigns were effective for yielding the racial or ethnic groups of interest. The black-/African American-focused versus general market campaign increased black/African American weekly queries (mean 9.48, SD 5.69 vs general market mean 2.83, SD 2.05; P<.001) and applicants (mean 1.11, SD 1.21 vs general market mean 0.54, SD 0.58; P<.001). The Hispanic-/Latino-focused versus general market campaign increased Hispanic/Latino weekly queries (mean 3.10, SD 2.16 vs general market mean 0.71, SD 0.48; P<.001) and applicants (mean 0.36, SD 0.55 vs general market mean 0.10, SD 0.14; P=.001). Cost metrics did not differ between campaigns at generating participants (overall P=.54). Costs increased post- versus prescandal for the black-/African American-focused campaign for queries (mean US $8.51, SD 3.08 vs US $5.87, SD 1.89; P=.001) and applicants (mean US $59.64, SD 35.63 vs US $38.96, SD 28.31; P=.004) and for the Hispanic-/Latino-focused campaign for queries (mean US $9.24, SD 4.74 vs US $7.04, SD 3.39; P=.005) and applicants (mean US $61.19, SD 40.08 vs US $38.19, SD 21.20; P=.001). CONCLUSIONS: Zip code targeting in Facebook advertising is an effective way to recruit diverse populations for health-based interventions. Audience network placement should be avoided. The Facebook lookalike audience may not be necessary for recruitment, with drawbacks including an unknown algorithm and unclear use of Facebook user data, and so public concerns around data privacy should be considered. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrial.gov NCT02823028; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02823028.

The 3D hype: Evaluating the potential of real 3D visualization in geo-related applications.

The use of 3D visualization technologies has increased rapidly in many applied fields, including geovisualization, and has been researched from many different perspectives. However, the findings for the benefits of 3D visualization, especially in stereoscopic 3D forms, remain inconclusive and disputed. Stereoscopic "real" 3D visualization was proposed as encouraging the visual perception of shapes and volume of displayed content yet criticised as problematic and limited in a number of ways, particularly in visual discomfort and increased response time in tasks. In order to assess the potential of real 3D visualization for geo-applications, 91 participants were engaged in this study to work with digital terrain models in different 3D settings. The researchers examined the effectivity of stereoscopic real 3D visualization compared to monoscopic 3D (or pseudo 3D) visualization under static and interactive conditions and applied three tasks with experimental stimuli representing different geo-related phenomena, i.e. objects in the terrain, flat areas marked in the terrain and terrain elevation profiles. The authors explored the significant effects of real 3D visualization and interactivity factors in terms of response time and correctness. Researchers observed that the option to interact (t = -10.849, p < 0.001) with a virtual terrain and its depiction with real 3D visualization (t = 4.64, p < 0.001) extended the participants' response times. Counterintuitively, the data demonstrated that the static condition increased response correctness (z = 5.38, p < 0.001). Regarding detailed analysis of data, an interactivity factor was proposed as a potential substitute for real 3D visualization in 3D geographical tasks.

The Social Geography of Partner Selection in Toronto, Canada: A Qualitative Description of "Convection Mixing".

The geographic distribution of sexually transmitted infections reflects the underlying social process of sexual partner selection. This qualitative study explored the social geography of partner selection among sexual minority men and used the results to develop a mid-range theory of STI transmission. In-depth interviews with 31 sexual minority men who lived, worked, or socialized in Toronto, Canada, occurred in June and July 2016. Participants were asked how they found sexual partners and reconstructed their egocentric sexual networks for the previous 3 months. Participants described an iterative process of partner selection involving intention (sex versus dating), connecting with community, and selecting a partner based on intersecting partner characteristics (external, internal, and emergent feelings when interacting with potential partners) and personal preferences. Geography influenced partner selection three ways: (1) participant search patterns maximized the number of potential partners in the shortest distance possible; (2) the density of sexual minority men in a participant's community directly impacted participant's social and sexual isolations; and (3) geosexual isolation influenced sexual mixing patterns. Participants described "convection mixing," where assortative urban mixing nested within disassortative suburban mixing resulted in movement from the suburbs to downtown and back to the suburbs. We theorize that convection mixing may be contributing to the persistence of STI epidemics in core and outbreak areas by creating STI reservoirs outside of, and connected to, core and outbreak areas.

The pitfalls of biodiversity proxies: Differences in richness patterns of birds, trees and understudied diversity across Amazonia.

Most knowledge on biodiversity derives from the study of charismatic macro-organisms, such as birds and trees. However, the diversity of micro-organisms constitutes the majority of all life forms on Earth. Here, we ask if the patterns of richness inferred for macro-organisms are similar for micro-organisms. For this, we barcoded samples of soil, litter and insects from four localities on a west-to-east transect across Amazonia. We quantified richness as Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) in those samples using three molecular markers. We then compared OTU richness with species richness of two relatively well-studied organism groups in Amazonia: trees and birds. We find that OTU richness shows a declining west-to-east diversity gradient that is in agreement with the species richness patterns documented here and previously for birds and trees. These results suggest that most taxonomic groups respond to the same overall diversity gradients at large spatial scales. However, our results show a different pattern of richness in relation to habitat types, suggesting that the idiosyncrasies of each taxonomic group and peculiarities of the local environment frequently override large-scale diversity gradients. Our findings caution against using the diversity distribution of one taxonomic group as an indication of patterns of richness across all groups.

Mapping Knowledge Gaps of Mozambique's Terrestrial Mammals.

A valuable strategy to support conservation planning is to assess knowledge gaps regarding primary species occurrence data to identify and select areas for future biodiversity surveys. Currently, increasing accessibility to these data allows a cost-effective method for boosting knowledge about a country's biodiversity. For understudied countries where the lack of resources for conservation is more pronounced to resort to primary biodiversity data can be especially beneficial. Here, using a primary species occurrence dataset, we assessed and mapped Mozambique's knowledge gaps regarding terrestrial mammal species by identifying areas that are geographically distant and environmentally different from well-known sites. By comparing gaps from old and recent primary species occurrence data, we identified: (i) gaps of knowledge over time, (ii) the lesser-known taxa, and (iii) areas with potential for spatiotemporal studies. Our results show that the inventory of Mozambique's mammal fauna is near-complete in less than 5% of the territory, with broad areas of the country poorly sampled or not sampled at all. The knowledge gap areas are mostly associated with two ecoregions. The provinces lacking documentation coincide with areas over-explored for natural resources, and many such sites may never be documented. It is our understanding that by prioritising the survey of the knowledge-gap areas will likely produce new records for the country and, continuing the study of the well-known regions will guarantee their potential use for spatiotemporal studies. The implemented approach to assess the knowledge gaps from primary species occurrence data proved to be a powerful strategy to generate information that is essential to species conservation and management plan. However, we are aware that the impact of digital and openly available data depends mostly on its completeness and accuracy, and thus we encourage action from the scientific community and government authorities to support and promote data mobilisation.

The impact of multiple climatic and geographic factors on the chemical defences of Asian toads (Bufo gargarizans Cantor).

Chemical defences are widespread in nature, yet we know little about whether and how climatic and geographic factors affect their evolution. In this study, we investigated the natural variation in the concentration and composition of the main bufogenin toxin in adult Asian toads (Bufo gargarizans Cantor) captured in twenty-two regions. Moreover, we explored the relative importance of eight climatic factors (average temperature, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, average relative humidity, 20-20 time precipitation, maximum continuous precipitation, maximum ground temperature, and minimum ground temperature) in regulating toxin production. We found that compared to toads captured from central and southwestern China, toads from eastern China secreted higher concentrations of cinobufagin (CBG) and resibufogenin (RBG) but lower concentrations of telocinobufagin (TBG) and cinobufotalin (CFL). All 8 climatic variables had significant effects on bufogenin production (ri>0.5), while the plastic response of bufogenin toxin to various climate factors was highly variable. The most important climatic driver of total bufogenin production was precipitation: the bufogenin concentration increased with increasing precipitation. This study indicated that the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in chemical defences may depend at least partly on the geographic variation of defensive toxins and their climatic context.

[The use of the geographic scale in health: the scales of visceral leishmaniasis]. / O uso da escala geográfica na saúde pública: as escalas da leishmaniose visceral.

The geographical scale has been broadly discussed in an attempt to formulate a concept that succeeds in explaining different space-related realities. In the various sectors of health planning, geographic categories and concepts have been adopted without understanding the problems inherent to the geographical scale, which directly affects public policies implemented and, consequently, people's lives. The scope of this paper was to discuss the concept of scale based on the different scale levels and the difficulty of their implementation by means of the activities of the organs that operate in public health surveillance that deal with visceral leishmaniasis. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to show how the debate about geographical scale and health is still incipient. Geographical concepts were used, integrating municipal, state and national policies from the perspective of the geographic scale. Thus, the contention is that cooperation between health agencies and society is possible by the transposition of scales, creating an environment of solidarity and a more effective health system. The discussion does not end here, but it will make it viable to reflect on the theoretical and methodological options in research and in public health.

A escala geográfica tem sido amplamente discutida na tentativa de formar um conceito que dê conta de explicar as diferentes realidades do espaço. Nos diversos seguimentos de planejamento em saúde, faz-se uma adoção das categorias e conceitos geográficos sem entender os problemas inerentes à escala geográfica, o que afeta diretamente nas políticas públicas implantadas e, consequentemente, na vida das pessoas. O objetivo deste artigo foi discutir o conceito de escala a partir dos seus diferentes níveis, e debater a dificuldade de articulá-los por meio da atuação dos órgãos de vigilância em saúde pública brasileira que lidam com a leishmaniose visceral. Realizamos uma revisão de literatura para demonstrar como o debate do conceito de escala geográfica com a saúde é ainda incipiente. Utilizamos conceitos geográficos, integrando as políticas municipais, estaduais e nacional sob a ótica da escala geográfica. Dessa forma, acreditamos que seja possível uma articulação dos órgãos dos sistemas de saúde com a sociedade na transposição de escalas, num acontecer solidário, produzindo um sistema de saúde mais eficaz. A discussão não será aqui esgotada, mas permitirá uma reflexão nas opções teórico-metodológicas em pesquisas e em saúde pública.

O uso da escala geográfica na saúde pública: as escalas da leishmaniose visceral / The use of the geographic scale in health: the scales of visceral leishmaniasis

Resumo A escala geográfica tem sido amplamente discutida na tentativa de formar um conceito que dê conta de explicar as diferentes realidades do espaço. Nos diversos seguimentos de planejamento em saúde, faz-se uma adoção das categorias e conceitos geográficos sem entender os problemas inerentes à escala geográfica, o que afeta diretamente nas políticas públicas implantadas e, consequentemente, na vida das pessoas. O objetivo deste artigo foi discutir o conceito de escala a partir dos seus diferentes níveis, e debater a dificuldade de articulá-los por meio da atuação dos órgãos de vigilância em saúde pública brasileira que lidam com a leishmaniose visceral. Realizamos uma revisão de literatura para demonstrar como o debate do conceito de escala geográfica com a saúde é ainda incipiente. Utilizamos conceitos geográficos, integrando as políticas municipais, estaduais e nacional sob a ótica da escala geográfica. Dessa forma, acreditamos que seja possível uma articulação dos órgãos dos sistemas de saúde com a sociedade na transposição de escalas, num acontecer solidário, produzindo um sistema de saúde mais eficaz. A discussão não será aqui esgotada, mas permitirá uma reflexão nas opções teórico-metodológicas em pesquisas e em saúde pública.

Abstract The geographical scale has been broadly discussed in an attempt to formulate a concept that succeeds in explaining different space-related realities. In the various sectors of health planning, geographic categories and concepts have been adopted without understanding the problems inherent to the geographical scale, which directly affects public policies implemented and, consequently, people's lives. The scope of this paper was to discuss the concept of scale based on the different scale levels and the difficulty of their implementation by means of the activities of the organs that operate in public health surveillance that deal with visceral leishmaniasis. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to show how the debate about geographical scale and health is still incipient. Geographical concepts were used, integrating municipal, state and national policies from the perspective of the geographic scale. Thus, the contention is that cooperation between health agencies and society is possible by the transposition of scales, creating an environment of solidarity and a more effective health system. The discussion does not end here, but it will make it viable to reflect on the theoretical and methodological options in research and in public health.

Geographical origin of Vitis vinifera cv. Cannonau established by the index of bioaccumulation and translocation coefficients.

Geochemical fingerprints in grape require an identification of major and trace elements that show correlations between concentrations in soil and in plant tissues: these correlations are relevant to discriminate grapes according to geographical origin. The Vitis vinifera cultivar Cannonau is used to produce the renowned Italian controlled designation of origin (DOC) wine "Cannonau" from Sardinia. Two Cannonau vineyards located in Sardinia Region were studied to establish the relationship between geochemical features of vineyard soil and chemical composition of leaves and grape berries. Major and trace elements were determined by X-ray fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry in soil, leaf, and grape berry samples. The index of bioaccumulation and the translocation coefficients were also calculated for all elements. Data from the two study areas were compared by a non-parametric test and multivariate statistics (principal component analysis). The results showed a specific assimilation of these elements in leaf and grape berry from vine in two different soils. Moreover, geochemical characterization and statistical analysis enabled to discriminate the cultivar "Cannonau" according to geographical origin. The results showed that the elements that could establish a reliable correlation between the soil vineyard and leaves and grape berries from the two study areas were B, Sr, and Zr. These elements may therefore be used as geochemical fingerprints to identify the geographic origin of V. vinifera cv. Cannonau in the two study areas.

Geographic inequity in transplant access.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Scarcity is a defining feature of the modern transplant landscape, and in light of chronic shortages in donor organs, there is cause for concern about geographic inequities in patients' access to lifesaving resources. Recent policy changes designed to ameliorate unequal donor supply and demand have brought new interest to measuring and addressing disparities at all stages of transplant care. The purpose of this review is to describe an overview of recent literature on geographic inequities in transplant access, focusing on kidney, liver, and lung transplantation and the impact of policy changes on organ allocation. RECENT FINDINGS: Despite a major change to the kidney allocation policy in 2014, geographic inequity in kidney transplant access remains. In liver transplantation, the debate has centered on the median acuity score at transplantation; however, a more thorough examination of disparities in access and survival has emerged. SUMMARY: Geographic differences in access and quality of transplant care are undeniable, but existing disparity metrics reflect disparities only among candidates who are waitlisted. Future research should address major gaps in our understanding of geographic inequity in transplant access, including patients who may be transplant-eligible but experience a wide variety of barriers in accessing the transplant waiting list.

Are populations like a circuit? Comparing isolation by resistance to a new coalescent-based method.

A number of methods commonly used in landscape genetics use an analogy to electrical resistance on a network to describe and fit barriers to movement across the landscape using genetic distance data. These are motivated by a mathematical equivalence between electrical resistance between two nodes of a network and the 'commute time', which is the mean time for a random walk on that network to leave one node, visit the other, and return. However, genetic data are more accurately modelled by a different quantity, the coalescence time. Here, we describe the differences between resistance distance and coalescence time, and explore the consequences for inference. We implemented a Bayesian method to infer effective movement rates and population sizes under both these models, and found that inference using commute times could produce misleading results in the presence of biased gene flow. We then used forwards-time simulation with continuous geography to demonstrate that coalescence-based inference remains more accurate than resistance-based methods on realistic data, but difficulties highlight the need for methods that explicitly model continuous, heterogeneous geography.