Evolution of behavioural resistance in host–pathogen systems

Behavioural resistance to parasites is widespread in animals, yet little is known about the evolutionary dynamics that have shaped these strategies. We show that theory developed for the evolution of physiological parasite resistance can only be applied to behavioural resistance under limited circumstances. We find that accounting explicitly for the behavioural processes, including the detectability of infected individuals, leads to novel dynamics that are strongly dependent on the nature of the costs and benefits of social interactions. As with physiological resistance, evolutionary dynamics of behavioural resistance can also lead to mixed strategies that balance these costs and benefits.

PREDICTING BEHAVIOURAL RESISTANCE TO BIM IMPLEMENTATION IN CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY INTEGRATING TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE MODEL AND EQUITY THEORY

Despite its great potential to streamline design and construction processes, the implementation of building information modelling (BIM) in many projects has failed to achieve expected benefits due to user resistance. Grounded in the technology acceptance model and equity theory, this study proposes a model of factors predicting resistance behaviours to BIM implementation during the post-adoption stage in construction projects. The model is tested with partial least squares modelling on survey data collected from design engineers in BIM-based construction projects in China. The empirical results provide evidence that after controlling for related individual, organizational and project characteristics, efficiency and equity perceptions play prominent but independent roles in determining behavioural resistance to BIM implementation, and that these perceptions are differently associated with contextual factors at individual, team and project levels. Apart from the independent contextual factors conceptualized in the model, control factors such as individual age and organization nature are also found to be significantly associated with resistance behaviours. As an exploratory effort to examine resistance behaviours to BIM implementation in construction projects, this study contributes to deepened understandings of the complexity of innovation resistance behaviours in the context of construction projects and offer suggestions for how to manage such behaviours.

The influence of feeding behaviour and temperature on the capacity of mosquitoes to transmit malaria

Insecticide-treated bed nets reduce malaria transmission by limiting contact between mosquito vectors and human hosts when mosquitoes feed during the night. However, malaria vectors can also feed in the early evening and in the morning when people are not protected. Here, we explored how timing of blood feeding interacts with environmental temperature to influence the capacity of Anopheles mosquitoes to transmit the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. We found no effect of biting time itself on the proportion of mosquitoes that became infectious (vector competence) at constant temperature. However, when mosquitoes were maintained under more realistic fluctuating temperatures there was a significant increase in competence for mosquitoes feeding in the evening, and a significant reduction in competence for those feeding in the morning, relative to those feeding at midnight. These effects appear to be due to thermal sensitivity of malaria parasites during the initial stages of parasite development within the mosquito, and the fact that mosquitoes feeding in the evening experience cooling temperatures during the night, whereas mosquitoes feeding in the morning quickly experience warming temperatures that are inhibitory to parasite establishment. A transmission dynamics model illustrates that such differences in competence could have important implications for disease endemicity, the extent of transmission that persists in the presence of bed nets, and the epidemiological impact of behavioural resistance. These results indicate the interaction of temperature and feeding behaviour to be a major ecological determinant of the vectorial capacity of malaria mosquitoes.

“Babies come when they are ready”: Women’s experiences of resisting the medicalisation of prolonged pregnancy

Being pregnant beyond one’s estimated due date is a relatively common experience and requires complex decisions about whether to induce labour or wait for spontaneous onset. We report a qualitative study undertaken in the UK in 2016. We interviewed fifteen women and eleven more took part in an online focus group. Using thematic analysis, resistance to the medicalisation of prolonged pregnancy was identified as a strong theme. Drawing on the work of Armstrong and Murphy, we identify both conceptual and behavioural resistance in the accounts of women who accepted, delayed or declined induction of labour. Experiential knowledge played a key role in resistance, but women found this was devalued. Some healthcare staff used risk discourse to pressure women to comply with induction protocols but were unwilling to engage in discussion. The social context provided further pressure to produce a baby ‘on time’, with induction normalised as the way to manage prolonged pregnancy. Online spaces provided additional information and support for women to question the medicalisation of prolonged pregnancy. We end by considering the implications for policies of choice and agency in maternity care as well as the need for additional social support for women who are ‘overdue’.

Rapid evolution meets invasive species control: the potential for pesticide resistance in sea lamprey

Rapid evolution of pest, pathogen, and wildlife populations can have undesirable effects, for example, when insects evolve resistance to pesticides or fishes evolve smaller body size in response to harvest. A destructive invasive species in the Laurentian Great Lakes, the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) has been controlled with the pesticide 3-trifluoromethyl-4-nitrophenol (TFM) since the 1950s. We evaluated the likelihood of sea lamprey evolving resistance to TFM by (i) reviewing sea lamprey life history and control; (ii) identifying physiological and behavioural resistance strategies; (iii) estimating the strength of selection from TFM; (iv) assessing the timeline for evolution; and (v) analyzing historical toxicity data for evidence of resistance. The number of sea lamprey generations exposed to TFM was within the range observed for fish populations where rapid evolution has occurred. Mortality from TFM was estimated as 82%–90%, suggesting significant selective pressure. However, 57 years of toxicity data revealed no increase in lethal concentrations of TFM. Vigilance and the development of alternative controls are required to prevent this aquatic invasive species from evolving strategies to evade control.