Wellcome Open Research最新文献

We present a genome assembly from a male specimen of Euphydryas desfontainii (Spanish Fritillary; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Nymphalidae). The assembly contains two haplotypes with total lengths of 755.68 megabases and 751.57 megabases. Most of haplotype 1 (99.77%) is scaffolded into 30 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. Haplotype 2 was assembled to scaffold level. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled, with a length of 16.56 kilobases. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 14 303 protein-coding genes. This work is part of Project Psyche, a collaborative programme generating genomes for European butterflies and moths.

Background: Up-to-date real-time disease surveillance data can provide critical public health insights, however reporting delays can create downward bias in the latest data. Nowcasting methods designed to correct for this bias remain underused in public health practice due to their complexity, lack of tailored documentation, or technical barriers. Methodological advances in nowcasting are also hampered by the absence of standardised benchmarks for evaluating new methods.

Methods: To address these needs, we developed a family of nowcasting methods and an accompanying R package, baselinenowcast. We validated our method against the baseline method that was used in the German COVID-19 Nowcast Hub and on which our approach was based. Using this data, we conducted an analysis to compare different specifications of our method which were designed to address common issues in epidemiology such as weekday patterns in reporting and the ability to share estimates across different strata. We used our approach on norovirus surveillance data from the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and compared the performance of three of our method specifications against three methods evaluated in a previous study.

Results: Our baseline method improved estimates compared to unadjusted data across all case studies. We found that the optimal choice of baseline method specification depends on context but that our default method specification performed well in a range of settings. Applied to UKHSA norovirus data, our method helped us understand the performance of the model currently used in public health practice.

Conclusions: Our method and software can be used both as a straightforward nowcasting method and provides a benchmark for nowcasting model development.

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Ennomos fuscantarius (the Dusky Thorn; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Geometridae). The genome sequence is 444.9 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 31 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 15.49 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 12,173 protein coding genes.

This open letter from Durham University's Discovery Research Platform for Medical Humanities responds to the Wellcome Trust's 2025 report on archives, manuscripts, and material culture (AMCs) in health research. We applaud the report's recognition of AMCs as foundational infrastructures for discovery research and its emphasis on pluralistic values, and we use this letter to expand upon three critical dimensions. First, we reinforce the point that medical humanities work with AMCs generates transformational biomedical and cultural knowledge capable of effecting real-world reform, exemplified by recent challenges to race-based lung capacity evaluations citing Platform research. Second, we urge caution regarding digitisation initiatives, particularly concerning A.I. training using existing collections, emphasising the need for ethical consideration of environmental impact, intellectual property, and the perpetuation of structural inequities in digital infrastructure. Third, we advocate for expansive definitions of health-related material culture beyond biomedical paradigms, encompassing artistic collections and emphasising the irreplaceable value of sensory and affective experiences in hands-on collections work. We draw attention to the tensions inherent in the use of digital surrogates, which, though vital for accessibility, cannot fully replace original collections. We conclude by emphasising the Platform's commitment to further collaborative work to transform the report's recommendations into sustainable practice.

Young people with disabilities are rarely included in research, yet 75% of the East African population is under 30 years old and an estimated 15% have a disability. Without including young persons with disabilities in designing and implementing health research, we will not achieve global development goals. The aim of Disability Inclusive Youth (DIY) study is to explore barriers and facilitators to inclusion of children and youth with disabilities in health research, co-create solutions to make health research in East Africa disability inclusive, and create a disability knowledge and research centre to inform and support inclusive health research in the region. The DIY study will develop a novel participatory approach to enhance the inclusion of children and youth with disabilities in health research in East Africa. We will build capacity of 12 youth with disabilities from Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda through a research training programme. The youth researchers will conduct interviews with 75 leading health researchers, 30 key health stakeholders, and 60 children and youth with disabilities and their caregivers. Together with the youth we will design recommendations to make health research more inclusive of children and youth with disabilities through participatory workshops. At the end of the study we will have established a regional knowledge and research centre where children and youth with disabilities contribute to and health researchers consult about disability inclusive health research. Data collection methods include survey questionnaires, in-depth interviews, case studies, video and photovoice. Data will be analysed qualitatively using a thematic approach in NVIVO and quantitatively using STATA. This is a 5 year study funded by Wellcome, through the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in partnership with the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, the University of Nairobi and the University of Rwanda / Lifetime Research Group.

Background: Previous analytical work, defining the distribution of meningitis epidemics in Africa is over 20 years old, with climate change representing an ongoing issue. We aim to update this analysis and determine if the meningitis belt geography and associated environmental risk factors have changed in the last two decades.

Methods: Epidemic bacterial meningitis data from 2003-2022 were provided by WHO-AFRO. Districts across Africa were coded 1 if they experienced a meningitis outbreak and 0 if not. Monthly means of windspeed, rainfall, dust, and humidity were processed into climatic profiles using k-means clustering. We undertook logistic regression with meningitis epidemic history as the dependent variable and k-means clusters of rainfall, dust, humidity, and windspeed, alongside land-cover type as independent variables. A sensitivity analysis was conducted, excluding the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), due to limited laboratory confirmation of cases.

Results: Rainfall, dust, windspeed and humidity demonstrated the strongest statistical association with outbreaks and were included in our final model. With a probability cut-off >0.4, our model had specificity and sensitivity of 82.07% and 82.22%, respectively, in identifying districts having experienced a meningitis epidemic. The Sahelian region had the highest risk of meningitis outbreaks (probability >0.8), consistent with previous findings. The inclusion/exclusion of the DRC had a significant impact on our model. In the full model the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Angola had a moderate risk of meningitis (probability >0.4), suggesting a possible expansion of the belt. However, when the DRC was excluded, no countries surrounding the meningitis belt were at risk for outbreaks, highlighting the importance of laboratory testing and case confirmation.

Conclusions: The apparent extension of risk beyond the belt possibly reflects surveillance limitations rather than alterations in disease ecology. Where possible, laboratory confirmation should be used to support surveillance of suspected meningitis outbreaks and cases.

We present a genome assembly from an individual Watersipora subatra (the red ripple bryozoan; Bryozoa; Gymnolaemata; Cheilostomatida; Watersiporidae). The genome sequence spans 783.70 megabases. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 11 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 14.14 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 16,835 protein-coding genes. This assembly was generated as part of the Darwin Tree of Life project, which produces reference genomes for eukaryotic species found in Britain and Ireland.

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Triaenodes bicolor (Bicolour Sedge; Arthropoda; Insecta; Trichoptera; Leptoceridae). The assembly contains two haplotypes with total lengths of 615.75 megabases and 613.86 megabases. Most of haplotype 1 (99.48%) is scaffolded into 21 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. Haplotype 2 was assembled to scaffold level. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled, with a length of 16.2 kilobases. This assembly was generated as part of the Darwin Tree of Life project, which produces reference genomes for eukaryotic species found in Britain and Ireland.

Background: The relocation of Indonesia's capital to Ibu Kota Nusantara (IKN) in East Kalimantan, a malaria and dengue hotspot, presents new risks of infectious disease transmission due to land-use changes and population movements. Current knowledge on the impact of these changes on vector-borne diseases, especially Plasmodium knowlesi malaria and other arboviruses, is limited. Serological surveillance offers a robust method for assessing population exposure.

Method: A community-based cross-sectional study will be conducted in IKN and its surrounding area, in East Kalimantan. Approximately 2,000 individuals aged >1 year will be enrolled. Finger-prick blood samples will be collected for serological analysis (multiplex bead-based assays for malaria species, and dengue virus serotypes) and malaria RDTs. Demographic, clinical, environmental, and geolocation data will also be collected. Statistical and geostatistical models will be used to assess seroprevalence, spatial patterns, and risk factors of exposure to malaria and dengue.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic condition caused by the immune destruction of the pancreatic beta cells. T1D has recognised asymptomatic pre-clinical stages, providing an opportunity for early diagnosis, education and treatment which may delay the onset of symptoms. The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) is the gold standard method to stage and monitor early-stage T1D, which can be poorly tolerated and may contribute to marked loss to follow-up. Our study aims to test the accuracy, feasibility, and acceptability of a capillary alternative ('GTT@home' test kit) to the gold standard OGTT. We will invite 45 children and young people (CYP) across the spectrum of glycaemia with or without diabetes, from established research platforms or clinical care, to have a standard 2-hour OGTT, with capillary samples collected alongside their venous samples, at 0 and 120 minutes. A subgroup (n=20) will also have 60-minute capillary and venous samples collected. We will also invite 45 CYP from established research platforms, who are known to have two or more islet autoantibodies and are not on insulin, to undergo a capillary OGTT at home, using the GTT@home kit. We will assess the agreement of capillary and venous glucose and measure diagnostic accuracy by calculating the sensitivity and specificity of capillary measures at established diagnostic thresholds (fasting [5.6 mmol/L, 7.0 mmol/L], 60 minutes post glucose load [11.1 mmol/L] and 120 minutes post glucose load [7.8 mmol/L and 11.1 mmol/L]), using venous glucose as the gold standard. These studies will inform our understanding of whether the GTT@home device can be used in CYP in routine clinical care.