The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic highlighted the lack of agreement regarding the definition of aerosol-generating procedures and potential risk to healthcare personnel. We convened a group of Massachusetts healthcare epidemiologists to develop consensus through expert opinion in an area where broader guidance was lacking at the time.

Glyphosate-resistant (GR) biotypes of horseweed were first confirmed in southern Ontario in 2010 and have spread across southern Ontario. A total of four field experiments were conducted between 2021 and 2022 to determine GR horseweed control with one- and two-pass herbicide programs in glyphosate/glufosinate/2,4-D-resistant (GG2R) soybean. 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA, halauxifen-methyl, and saflufenacil applied preplant (PP) controlled GR horseweed by 59%, 72%, and 78% 8 wk after postemergence (POST) application (WAA-POST); there was no improvement of GR horseweed control when 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA was added to saflufenacil; in contrast, there was improved GR horseweed control when saflufenacil was added to 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA. Glufosinate and 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA applied POST controlled glyphosate-resistant horseweed by 71% and 86%, respectively, 8 WAA-POST. Two-pass herbicide programs of a PP followed by POST application provided greater GR horseweed control than a PP or POST herbicide applied alone. Glufosinate or 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA applied POST following 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA or halauxifen-methyl applied PP improved GR horseweed control by 29% to 38% and 24%, respectively at 8 WAA-POST. The application of 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA applied POST following saflufenacil applied PP improved control by 20% 8 WAA-POST; there was no improvement of GR horseweed control when glufosinate was applied POST following saflufenacil applied PP or when either POST herbicide was applied following saflufenacil + 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA applied PP. When used in a two-pass program, 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA POST provided 2% to 3% greater control of GR horseweed than glufosinate.

Waterhemp control in Ontario has increased in complexity due to the evolution of biotypes that are resistant to five herbicide modes of action (Groups 2, 5, 9, 14, and 27 as categorized by the Weed Science Society of America). Four field trials were carried out over a 2-yr period in 2021 and 2022 to assess the control of multiple-herbicide-resistant (MHR) waterhemp biotypes in glyphosate/glufosinate/2,4-D-resistant (GG2R) soybean using one- and two-pass herbicide programs. S-metolachlor/metribuzin, pyroxasulfone/sulfentrazone, pyroxasulfone/flumioxazin, and pyroxasulfone + metribuzin applied preemergence (PRE) controlled MHR waterhemp similarly by 46%, 63%, 60%, and 69%, respectively, at 8 wk after postemergence (POST) application (WAA-B). A one-pass application of 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA POST provided greater control of MHR waterhemp than glufosinate. Two-pass herbicide programs of a PRE herbicide followed by (fb) a POST-applied herbicide resulted in greater MHR waterhemp control compared to a single PRE or POST herbicide application. PRE herbicides fb glufosinate or 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA POST controlled MHR waterhemp by 74% to 91% and by 84% to 96%, respectively, at 8 WAA-B. Two-pass herbicide applications of an effective PRE residual herbicide fb 2,4-D choline/glyphosate DMA POST in GG2R soybean can effectively manage waterhemp that is resistant to herbicides in Groups 2, 5, 9, 14, and 27.

The decision to perform euthanasia in geriatric zoo mammals is usually a highly complex procedure involving ethical, medical, emotional and sometimes political factors. However, subsequent necropsies show that the pathological changes of organs and/or the musculoskeletal system are often already advanced. Therefore, we hypothesise that euthanasia is often delayed to the detriment of the animal's welfare. The purpose of this study was to facilitate and establish an initial, objective, decision-making framework for the euthanasia of geriatric zoo mammals. A scoring-system to assess the physical condition and quality of life in ageing zoo mammals is presented, based on retrospective and prospective investigation of 70 geriatric zoo mammals in five European zoos. Medical records and necropsy reports were studied in retrospective cases. Symptoms were monitored and recorded in prospective cases. Radiographic investigations under general anesthesia or at necropsy were performed additionally. A significant association between symptoms and pathological findings revealed that 36.9% (n = 24/65) of examined animals (n = 41/65) had pathological alterations to the musculoskeletal system and 26.2% (n = 17/65) suffered from neoplasia. Based on the individual reports, 28 veterinarians from different fields of veterinary medicine concluded that these animals had mild to severe pain, discomfort and a significantly reduced quality of life, thus strongly reducing welfare. The proposed scoring system includes all of these factors and offers a simple and reliable tool to support decision-making for euthanasia in geriatric zoo mammals.

Avian endoparasites play important roles in conservation, biodiversity and host evolution. Currently, little is known about the epidemiology of intestinal helminths and protozoans infecting wild birds of Britain and Ireland. This study aimed to determine the rates of parasite prevalence, abundance and infection intensity in wild passerines. Fecal samples (n = 755) from 18 bird families were collected from 13 sites across England, Wales and Ireland from March 2020 to June 2021. A conventional sodium nitrate flotation method allowed morphological identification and abundance estimation of eggs/oocysts. Associations with host family and age were examined alongside spatiotemporal and ecological factors using Bayesian phylogenetically controlled models. Parasites were detected in 20.0% of samples, with corvids and finches having the highest prevalences and intensities, respectively. Syngamus (33%) and Isospora (32%) were the most prevalent genera observed. Parasite prevalence and abundance differed amongst avian families and seasons, while infection intensity varied between families and regions. Prevalence was affected by diet diversity, while abundance differed by host age and habitat diversity. Infection intensity was higher in birds using a wider range of habitats, and doubled in areas with feeders present. The elucidation of these patterns will increase the understanding of parasite fauna in British and Irish birds.

Pododermatitis is a worldwide health and animal welfare problem in captive flamingos (Phoenicopteridae). Since sub-optimal substrate or flooring has been described as a factor in the development of pododermatitis in poultry and raptors, it is also suspected to play a role in flamingo foot health. Small groups of flamingos were separated from the main group in an indoor enclosure with artificial grass carpet and, in earlier years, concrete flooring, with additional fine granular sand in the water basin for the study year. Feet were evaluated before and after the separation. Judged subjectively, foot lesions had shown a general increase in the indoor enclosure in earlier years. In contrast, lesion severity and prevalence, scored in accordance with a standardised protocol, decreased when fine granular sand was provided. Since flamingos were observed mostly standing on sand and as this represented the major differentiating factor between years, it is concluded that fine granular sand is a favourable substrate to maintain, and one that may even lead to an improvement in flamingo foot health.

Brier score decompositions, including those attributed to Murphy and to Yates, provide popular metrics for estimating forecast performance attributes like calibration and discrimination. However, the decompositions are generally limited to situations where forecasters make successive forecast judgments against the same class of substantive event (e.g., rain vs. no rain). They do not readily translate to common situations where: forecasts are weighted unequally; forecasts can be made against a range of heterogeneous topics and events over varying time horizons; forecasts can be updated over time until an event occurs or an event deadline is reached; or outcome alternatives can vary in number and nature (e.g., ordered vs. unordered outcomes) across forecast questions. In this paper, we propose extensions of the Murphy and Yates decompositions to address these features. The extensions involve new analytic expressions for the decompositions of weighted Brier scores, along with proposed resampling methods. We use data from a recent forecasting tournament to illustrate the methods.

Individuals often assess themselves as being less susceptible to common biases compared to others. This bias blind spot (BBS) is thought to represent a metacognitive error. In this research, we tested three explanations for the effect: The cognitive sophistication hypothesis posits that individuals who display the BBS more strongly are actually less biased than others. The introspection bias hypothesis posits that the BBS occurs because people rely on introspection more when assessing themselves compared to others. The conversational processes hypothesis posits that the effect is largely a consequence of the pragmatic aspects of the experimental situation rather than true metacognitive error. In two experiments (N = 1057) examining 18 social/motivational and cognitive biases, there was strong evidence of the BBS. Among the three hypotheses examined, the conversational processes hypothesis attracted the greatest support, thus raising questions about the extent to which the BBS is a metacognitive effect.

Many decisions in everyday life involve a choice between exploring options that are currently unknown and exploiting options that are already known to be rewarding. Previous work has suggested that humans solve such “explore-exploit” dilemmas using a mixture of two strategies: directed exploration, in which information seeking drives exploration by choice, and random exploration, in which behavioral variability drives exploration by chance. One limitation of this previous work was that, like most studies on explore-exploit decision making, it focused exclusively on the domain of gains, where the goal was to maximize reward. In many real-world decisions, however, the goal is to minimize losses and it is well known from Prospect Theory that behavior can be quite different in this domain. In this study, we compared explore-exploit behavior of human subjects under conditions of gain and loss. We found that people use both directed and random exploration regardless of whether they are exploring to maximize gains or minimize losses and that there is quantitative agreement between the exploration parameters across domains. Our results also revealed an overall bias towards the more uncertain option in the domain of losses. While this bias towards uncertainty was qualitatively consistent with the predictions of Prospect Theory, quantitatively we found that the bias was better described by a Bayesian account, in which subjects had a prior that was optimistic for losses and pessimistic for gains. Taken together, our results suggest that explore-exploit decisions are driven by three independent processes: directed and random exploration, and a baseline uncertainty seeking that is driven by a prior.