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Background Health impact assessment (HIA) involves assessing in advance how projects affect the health of particular populations. In many countries, HIA has become central to attempts to better integrate health and public participation into policy and decision making. In 2017, HIA gained statutory status in Wales. This study considers how the public and their evidence are presented within HIA reports and what insights this offers into how public participation is constructed within public health. Methods Critical discourse analysis, as described by Fairclough (2003), to analyse seven HIA reports produced in Wales. Results Discourses were grouped under four headings. “Consensus and polyphony” relates to the tendency to produce consensus. “Authors and authority” is concerned with how participants and their evidence are shaped by different authorial stances. “Discussions, decisions and planes of action” brings together material on how decision makers are (or are not) brought into contact with evidence in the reports. “Evidence: fragmentation and compression” analyses strategies of ing. Conclusions This analysis suggests that participants and their evidence are presented in specific ways within HIA reports and that these are particularly shaped by genre, authorial stances and approaches to ing and re‐ordering texts. Acknowledging these issues may create opportunities to develop HIA in new directions. Further research to test these conclusions and contribute to a wider “sociology of public health documents” would be of value.

The polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR) ensures the transport of dimeric immunoglobulin A (dIgA) and pentameric immunoglobulin M (pIgM) across epithelia to the mucosal layer of for example the intestines and the lungs via transcytosis. Per day the human pIgR mediates the excretion of 2 to 5 grams of dIgA into the mucosa of luminal organs. This system could prove useful for therapies aiming at excretion of compounds into the mucosa. Here we investigated the use of the variable domain of camelid derived heavy chain only antibodies, also known as VHHs or Nanobodies®, targeting the human pIgR, as a transport system across epithelial cells. We show that VHHs directed against the human pIgR are able to bind the receptor with high affinity (∼1 nM) and that they compete with the natural ligand, dIgA. In a transcytosis assay both native and phage-bound VHH were only able to get across polarized MDCK cells that express the human pIgR gene in a basolateral to apical fashion. Indicating that the VHHs are able to translocate across epithelia and to take along large particles of cargo. Furthermore, by making multivalent VHHs we were able to enhance the transport of the compounds both in a MDCK-hpIgR and Caco-2 cell system, probably by inducing receptor clustering. These results show that VHHs can be used as a carrier system to exploit the human pIgR transcytotic system and that multivalent compounds are able to significantly enhance the transport across epithelial monolayers.

There are rapidly growing concerns around the use of vaping among young people. Whist there is evidence to support a sharp increase in prevalence, relatively little is known about the influences, motivations and experiences associated with vape use from a young person perspective. This qualitative study aimed to better understand the current context for vaping among young people in Wales. Semi-structured focus groups (N=10) were conducted with 86 children and young people aged 11–22 years, recruited from secondary schools, further education colleges, and youth activity groups. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify shared discussions relating to their existing awareness and observations of vaping, experiences of use among their age group, and perspectives of possible biopsychosocial effects of regular use on health and wellbeing. Across focus groups, three main themes were identified relating to 1) ‘vaping culture among young people’, 2) ‘vaping impacts on health and wellbeing’, and 3) ‘vaping intervention in the young person environment’. Vaping was identified as a familiar and normalised behaviour among young people across all focus groups. This resulted in perceived pressures to engage with vaping as a social activity, however, only participants aged ≥13 years reported vape use. Despite having an awareness of potential effects on health and wellbeing, disposable devices—described as being discreet, colourful, and tasty—were strongly appealing to a younger demographic. However, less was known about current legislation for vaping among under 18s, and continued use was associated with potential markers of nicotine dependency. These findings highlight some of the leading issues linked to problematic vape use among young people. As additional interventions are sought, further attention should be given to differences between age groups, the perceived level of support among young people, and the systems in place to address nicotine dependency among young users. This study formed part of an incident response group for vaping among young people at Public Health Wales. No additional funding was sought.

IntroductionThe emergence of the novel respiratory SARS-CoV-2 and subsequent COVID-19 pandemic have required rapid assimilation of population-level data to understand and control the spread of infection in the general and vulnerable populations. Rapid analyses are needed to inform policy development and target interventions to at-risk groups to prevent serious health outcomes. We aim to provide an accessible research platform to determine demographic, socioeconomic and clinical risk factors for infection, morbidity and mortality of COVID-19, to measure the impact of COVID-19 on healthcare utilisation and long-term health, and to enable the evaluation of natural experiments of policy interventions.Methods and analysisTwo privacy-protecting population-level cohorts have been created and derived from multisourced demographic and healthcare data. The C20 cohort consists of 3.2 million people in Wales on the 1 January 2020 with follow-up until 31 May 2020. The complete cohort dataset will be updated monthly with some individual datasets available daily. The C16 cohort consists of 3 million people in Wales on the 1 January 2016 with follow-up to 31 December 2019. C16 is designed as a counterfactual cohort to provide contextual comparative population data on disease, health service utilisation and mortality. Study outcomes will: (a) characterise the epidemiology of COVID-19, (b) assess socioeconomic and demographic influences on infection and outcomes, (c) measure the impact of COVID-19 on short -term and longer-term population outcomes and (d) undertake studies on the transmission and spatial spread of infection.Ethics and disseminationThe Secure Anonymised Information Linkage-independent Information Governance Review Panel has approved this study. The study findings will be presented to policy groups, public meetings, national and international conferences, and published in peer-reviewed journals.

Background The population of adult residential care homes has been shown to have high morbidity and mortality in relation to COVID‐19. Methods We examined 3115 hospital discharges to a national cohort of 1068 adult care homes and subsequent outbreaks of COVID‐19 occurring between 22 February and 27 June 2020. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to assess the impact of time‐dependent exposure to hospital discharge on incidence of the first known outbreak, over a window of 7‐21 days after discharge, and adjusted for care home characteristics, including size and type of provision. Results A total of 330 homes experienced an outbreak, and 544 homes received a discharge over the study period. Exposure to hospital discharge was not associated with a significant increase in the risk of a new outbreak (hazard ratio 1.15, 95% CI 0.89, 1.47, P = .29) after adjusting for care home characteristics. Care home size was the most significant predictor. Hazard ratios (95% CI) in comparison with homes of <10 residents were as follows: 3.40 (1.99, 5.80) for 10‐24 residents; 8.25 (4.93, 13.81) for 25‐49 residents; and 17.35 (9.65, 31.19) for 50+ residents. When stratified for care home size, the outbreak rates were similar for periods when homes were exposed to a hospital discharge, in comparison with periods when homes were unexposed. Conclusion Our analyses showed that large homes were at considerably greater risk of outbreaks throughout the epidemic, and after adjusting for care home size, a discharge from hospital was not associated with a significant increase in risk.

Here we show that central administration of pyroglutamylated arginine-phenylamine-amide peptide (QRFP/26RFa) increases both food intake and locomotor activity, without any significant effect on energy expenditure, thermogenesis or reward. Germline knock out of either of the mouse QRFP receptor orthologs, Gpr103a and Gpr103b , did not produce a metabolic phenotype. However, both receptors are required for the effect of centrally administered QRFP to increase feeding and locomotor activity. As central injection of QRFP activated orexin/hypocretin neurons in the lateral hypothalamus, we compared the action of QRFP and orexin on behaviour. Both peptides increased arousal and locomotor activity. However, while orexin increased consummatory behaviour, QRFP also affected other appetitive behaviours. Furthermore, the feeding but not the locomotor response to QRFP, was blocked by co-administration of an orexin receptor 1 antagonist. These results suggest that QRFP agonism induces both appetitive and consummatory behaviour, but only the latter is dependent on orexin/hypocretin receptor signalling.

This paper documents the tropospheric chemical mechanism scheme used in the TOMCAT 3-D chemical transport model. The current scheme includes a more detailed representation of hydrocarbon chemistry than previously included in the model, with the inclusion of the emission and oxidation of ethene, propene, butane, toluene and monoterpenes. The model is evaluated against a range of surface, balloon, aircraft and satellite measurements. The model is generally able to capture the main spatial and seasonal features of high and low concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and reactive nitrogen. However, model biases are found in some species, some of which are common to chemistry models and some that are specific to TOMCAT and warrant further investigation. The most notable of these biases are (1) a negative bias in Northern Hemisphere (NH) winter and spring CO and a positive bias in Southern Hemisphere (SH) CO throughout the year, (2) a positive bias in NH O3 in summer and a negative bias at high latitudes during SH winter and (3) a negative bias in NH winter C2 and C3 alkanes and alkenes. TOMCAT global mean tropospheric hydroxyl radical (OH) concentrations are higher than estimates inferred from observations of methyl chloroform but similar to, or lower than, multi-model mean concentrations reported in recent model intercomparison studies. TOMCAT shows peak OH concentrations in the tropical lower troposphere, unlike other models which show peak concentrations in the tropical upper troposphere. This is likely to affect the lifetime and transport of important trace gases and warrants further investigation.

The introduction of a non‐native species frequently has adverse direct effects on native species. The underlying mechanisms, however, often remain unclear, in particular where native and invasive species are taxonomically similar. We found evidence of direct competitive interactions between a globally distributed invasive species (the Pacific oyster, Magallana gigas) and its native counterpart (the European oyster, Ostrea edulis). We also discovered that the competitive outcome differed between different habitat types and orientation by identifying context‐dependent responses driven by environmental conditions and stress (i.e. intertidal compared to subtidal habitats; and vertical versus horizontal substratum). This is particularly important because the European oyster is threatened, or in decline, throughout most of its range, and restoration efforts are underway in many regions. We combined experimental manipulations and stable isotope analysis (SIA) to identify the direct effects of competition and the mechanisms by which the invasive and native species compete. We identified negative effects of the invasive species on the native oyster, but these were limited to the subtidal habitat (lower stress environment) and determined by substratum orientation (habitat structure). Crucially, we found that effects of the invasive species on the native species were not always negative and under certain conditions (e.g. on vertical substrata) were positive. Shifts in isotopic niches of both species when co‐occurring, alongside mixing models, indicate that exploitative competition for food is most likely to underpin niche partitioning between both species. We have identified different foraging strategies under different contexts, and our findings highlight the importance of exploitative competition as a driving mechanism behind the co‐occurrence of two seemingly functionally similar consumers. The combination of experimental manipulations with SIA is a powerful tool, and we illustrate how this approach should be incorporated, into multiple environmental contexts at appropriate scales, to more accurately predict impacts of the spread of invasive species on native communities. Zusammenfassung Das Einführen fremder Arten verschlechtert oft die Lebensbedingungen heimischer Arten. Häufig bleibt jedoch ungeklärt wie es dazu kommt, insbesondere wenn die fremde und die heimische Art taxonomisch ähnlich sind. Wir konnten nachweisen, dass eine global weitverbreitete und invasive Art (die Pazifische Auster, Magallana gigas) direkt mit ihrem heimischen Äquivalent (der Europäischen Auster, Ostrea edulis) konkurriert. Die Folgen dieses Wettbewerbs sind abhängig von der Art des Habitats und der vorherrschenden Oberflächentopographie die abiotischen Bedingungen und Stresslevel regulieren (z. B. Littoral verglichen mit Sublittoral bzw. vertikales Substrat im Vergleich zu horizontalem Substrat). Das ist insbesondere deswegen von Bedeutung als Versuche unternommen werden die gefährdeten und abnehmenden Populationen der Europäischen Austern wieder aufzubauen. Um herauszufinden welcher Mechanismus ursächlich für den Wettbewerb der beiden Arten ist, haben wir experimentelle Manipulation im Feld mit Stabiler Isotopen Analyse (SIA) kombiniert. Wir haben festgestellt, dass sich die Anwesenheit der invasiven Art nur im Sublittoral (geringerer abiotischer Stress) und auf horizontalem Substrat negativ auf die heimische Auster auswirkt. Insbesondere konnten wir beobachten, dass unter bestimmten Bedingungen (vertikales Substrat) die Interaktion beider Arten die heimische Auster positiv fördert. Verschiebungen Isotopischer Nischen wenn beide Arten präsent waren in Kombination mit Mixing Modeln lassen vermuten, dass Nahrungswettbewerb zu einer Aufteilung der Nischen führt. Wir konnten verschiedene Ernährungsstrategien unter differierenden Umweltbedingungen erkennen und unsere Ergebnisse bekräftigen die Vermutung, dass Konkurrenz um Nahrung die Interaktionen zweier gleichzeitig auftretender, funktionell ähnlicher Konsumenten strukturiert. Die Kombination experimenteller Manipulationen mit SIA ist ein wichtiges Werkzeug um die Auswirkung und Verbreitung invasiver Arten unter verschiedenen Umweltbedingungen genauer vorherzusagen. A plain language summary is available for this article. Plain Language Summary

Automated time-lapse cameras can facilitate reliable and consistent monitoring of wild animal populations. In this report, data from 73,802 images taken by 15 different Penguin Watch cameras are presented, capturing the dynamics of penguin (Spheniscidae; Pygoscelis spp.) breeding colonies across the Antarctic Peninsula, South Shetland Islands and South Georgia (03/2012 to 01/2014). Citizen science provides a means by which large and otherwise intractable photographic data sets can be processed, and here we describe the methodology associated with the Zooniverse project Penguin Watch, and provide validation of the method. We present anonymised volunteer classifications for the 73,802 images, alongside the associated metadata (including date/time and temperature information). In addition to the benefits for ecological monitoring, such as easy detection of animal attendance patterns, this type of annotated time-lapse imagery can be employed as a training tool for machine learning algorithms to automate data extraction, and we encourage the use of this data set for computer vision development.

Background Whole-school interventions represent promising approaches to promoting adolescent sexual health, but they have not been rigorously trialled in the UK and it is unclear if such interventions are feasible for delivery in English secondary schools. The importance of involving intended beneficiaries, implementers and other key stakeholders in the co-production of such complex interventions prior to costly implementation and evaluation studies is widely recognised. However, practical accounts of such processes remain scarce. We report on co-production with specialist providers, students, school staff, and other practice and policy professionals of two new whole-school sexual heath interventions for implementation in English secondary schools. Methods Formative qualitative inquiry involving 75 students aged 13–15 and 23 school staff. A group of young people trained to advise on public health research were consulted on three occasions. Twenty-three practitioners and policy-makers shared their views at a stakeholder event. Detailed written summaries of workshops and events were prepared and key themes identified to inform the design of each intervention. Results Data confirmed acceptability of addressing unintended teenage pregnancy, sexual health and dating and relationships violence via multi-component whole-school interventions and of curriculum delivery by teachers (providing appropriate teacher selection). The need to enable flexibility for the timetabling of lessons and mode of parent communication; ensure content reflected the reality of young people’s lives; and develop prescriptive teaching materials and robust school engagement strategies to reflect shrinking capacity for schools to implement public-health interventions were also highlighted and informed intervention refinements . Our research further points to some of the challenges and tensions involved in co-production where stakeholder capacity may be limited or their input may conflict with the logic of interventions or what is practicable within the constraints of a trial. Conclusions Multi-component, whole-school approaches to addressing sexual health that involve teacher delivered curriculum may be feasible for implementation in English secondary schools. They must be adaptable to individual school settings; involve careful teacher selection; limit additional burden on staff; and accurately reflect the realities of young people’s lives. Co-production can reduce research waste and may be particularly useful for developing complex interventions, like whole-school sexual health interventions, that must be adaptable to varying institutional contexts and address needs that change rapidly. When co-producing, potential limitations in relation to the representativeness of participants, the ‘depth’ of engagement necessary as well as the burden on participants and how they will be recompensed must be carefully considered. Having well-defined, transparent procedures for incorporating stakeholder input from the outset are also essential. Formal feasibility testing of both co-produced interventions in English secondary schools via cluster RCT is warranted. Trial registration Project Respect: ISRCTN12524938 . Positive Choices: ISRCTN65324176