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1. Strategic testing approaches for targeted disease monitoring can be used to inform pandemic decision-making

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001307  

   Nichols, James D. ; Bogich, Tiffany L. ; Howerton, Emily ; Bjørnstad, Ottar N. ; Borchering, Rebecca K. ; Ferrari, Matthew ; Haran, Murali ; Jewell, Christopher ; Pepin, Kim M. ; Probert, William J. ; et al ( June 2021 , PLOS Biology)

   null (Ed.)

   More than 1.6 million Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) tests were administered daily in the United States at the peak of the epidemic, with a significant focus on individual treatment. Here, we show that objective-driven, strategic sampling designs and analyses can maximize information gain at the population level, which is necessary to increase situational awareness and predict, prepare for, and respond to a pandemic, while also continuing to inform individual treatment. By focusing on specific objectives such as individual treatment or disease prediction and control (e.g., via the collection of population-level statistics to inform lockdown measures or vaccine rollout) and drawing from the literature on capture–recapture methods to deal with nonrandom sampling and testing errors, we illustrate how public health objectives can be achieved even with limited test availability when testing programs are designed a priori to meet those objectives. 

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2. Land use change and forest patch analysis as a decision‐making tool to sustainably develop plantation agriculture and optimize biodiversity conservation

   https://doi.org/10.1111/aje.13160  

   Yevide, Sedami Igor Armand ; Cobbina, Nana Darko ; Loescher, Henry W. ; Khan, Ahmed S. ; Baffoe, Abraham ( April 2023 , African Journal of Ecology)

   Established for biodiversity conservation, protected areas (PAs) have been downsized, downgraded, and/or degazetted for socioeconomic development including plantation agriculture. Although studies have highlighted causes, implications for biodiversity conservation, and the need for policies governing Protected Area Downsizing, Downgrading, and Degazettement (PADDD), no study has proposed a methodology to inform PADDD events to help decision making that balance economic growth pursuit with ecological and environmental commitments. A methodology based on land use change and forest patch analysis has been applied to Buvuma Island to guide the choice of PAs that can undergo PADDD as well as identification of new areas that can be declared as PAs. Our results revealed that, over the last decade, natural vegetation of Buvuma Island has been highly degraded with forest depletion from 45.0% in 2007 to 15.8% in 2016. About 65% of the initial forest cover were lost. The average yearly forest loss rate was 3.2% or 712.8 ha. A total number of 19 PAs covering 3103 ha including 2816 ha of existing PAs and 287 ha of identified forest patches were selected for biodiversity conservation. This flexible methodology can be applied at various spatial and temporal scale to ensure sustainable plantation agriculture development.

    

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3. Human decision making during eco-feedback intervention in smart and connected energy-aware communities

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112627  

   Kim, Huijeong ; Bilionis, Ilias ; Karava, Panagiota ; Braun, James E. ( January 2023 , Energy and Buildings)
4. The Drosophila Gr28bD product is a non-specific cation channel that can be used as a novel thermogenetic tool

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-19065-4  

   Mishra, Aditi ; Salari, Autoosa ; Berigan, Benton R. ; Miguel, Kayla C. ; Amirshenava, Marzie ; Robinson, Abbey ; Zars, Benjamin C. ; Lin, Jenna L. ; Milescu, Lorin S. ; Milescu, Mirela ; et al ( December 2018 , Scientific Reports)
5. Advance Planning for Technology Use in Dementia Care: Development, Design, and Feasibility of a Novel Self-administered Decision-Making Tool

   https://doi.org/10.2196/39335  

   Berridge, Clara ; Turner, Natalie R ; Liu, Liu ; Karras, Sierramatice W ; Chen, Amy ; Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen ; Demiris, George ( January 2022 , JMIR Aging)

   Monitoring technologies are used to collect a range of information, such as one’s location out of the home or movement within the home, and transmit that information to caregivers to support aging in place. Their surveilling nature, however, poses ethical dilemmas and can be experienced as intrusive to people living with Alzheimer disease (AD) and AD-related dementias. These challenges are compounded when older adults are not engaged in decision-making about how they are monitored. Dissemination of these technologies is outpacing our understanding of how to communicate their functions, risks, and benefits to families and older adults. To date, there are no tools to help families understand the functions of monitoring technologies or guide them in balancing their perceived need for ongoing surveillance and the older adult’s dignity and wishes.

   We designed, developed, and piloted a communication and education tool in the form of a web application called Let’s Talk Tech to support family decision-making about diverse technologies used in dementia home care. The knowledge base about how to design online interventions for people living with mild dementia is still in development, and dyadic interventions used in dementia care remain rare. We describe the intervention’s motivation and development process, and the feasibility of using this self-administered web application intervention in a pilot sample of people living with mild AD and their family care partners.

   We surveyed 29 mild AD dementia care dyads living together before and after they completed the web application intervention and interviewed each dyad about their experiences with it. We report postintervention measures of feasibility (recruitment, enrollment, and retention) and acceptability (satisfaction, quality, and usability). Descriptive statistics were calculated for survey items, and thematic analysis was used with interview transcripts to illuminate participants’ experiences and recommendations to improve the intervention.

   The study enrolled 33 people living with AD and their care partners, and 29 (88%) dyads completed the study (all but one were spousal dyads). Participants were asked to complete 4 technology modules, and all completed them. The majority of participants rated the tool as having the right length (>90%), having the right amount of information (>84%), being very clearly worded (>74%), and presenting information in a balanced way (>90%). Most felt the tool was easy to use and helpful, and would likely recommend it to others.

   This study demonstrated that our intervention to educate and facilitate conversation and documentation of preferences is preliminarily feasible and acceptable to mild AD care dyads. Effectively involving older adults in these decisions and informing care partners of their preferences could enable families to avoid conflicts or risks associated with uninformed or disempowered use and to personalize use so both members of the dyad can experience benefits.

    

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