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Purpose:One manifestation of systemic inequities in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) is the chronic underreporting and underrepresentation of sex, gender, race, and ethnicity in research. The present study characterized recent demographic reporting practices and representation of participants across CSD research.Method:We systematically reviewed and extracted key reporting and participant data from empirical studies conducted in the United States with human participants published in the year 2020 in journals by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA; 407 articles comprising a total of 80,058 research participants, search completed in November 2021). Sex, gender, race, and ethnicity were operationalized per National Institutes of Health guidelines.Results:Sex or gender was reported in 85.5% of included studies; race in 33.7%; and ethnicity in 13.8%. Sex and gender were clearly differentiated in 3.4% of relevant studies. Where reported, median proportions for race and ethnicity were significantly different from the U.S. population, with underrepresentation noted for all non-White racial groups and Hispanic participants. Moreover, 64.7% of studies that reported sex or gender and 67.2% of studies that reported race or ethnicity did not consider these respective variables in analyses or discussions.Conclusions:At present, research published in ASHA journals frequently fails to report key demographic data summarizing the characteristics of participants. Moreover, apparent gaps in the representation of minoritized racial and ethnic groups threaten the external validity of CSD research and broader health care equity endeavors in the United States. Although our study is limited to a single year and publisher, our results point to several steps for readers that may bring greater accountability, consistency, and diversity to the discipline.Supplemental Material:https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.25718412

This study evaluates the impact persistence model selection has on the prediction of persistence values of interest and the identification of influential water quality and environmental factors for microorganisms in natural surface waters. Five persistence models representing first-order decay and nonlinear decay profiles were fit to a comprehensive database of 629 data sets for fecal indicator bacteria (FIB), bacteriophages, bacteria, viruses, and protozoa mined from the literature. Initial periods of minimal decay and decay rates tapering off over time were often observed, and a two-parameter model, based on the logistic probability distribution, provided the best fit to the data most frequently. First-order decay kinetics provided the best fit to less than 20% of the analyzed data. Using the best fitting models in this analysis, T90 and T99 metrics were calculated for each data set and used as the dependent variable in a variety of exploratory factor analyses. Random forest methods identified temperature and predation as some of the most important water quality factors influencing persistence, and the protozoa target type differed the most from FIB. This analysis further confirmed the interactions between temperature and predation and suggests that pH and turbidity be more frequently documented in persistence studies to further elucidate their impact on target persistence. The findings from this analysis and the calculated persistence metrics can be used to better inform quantitative microbial risk assessments and may lead to improved predictions of human health risks and water management decisions.

When rainwater harvesting is utilized as an alternative water resource in buildings, a combination of municipal water and rainwater is typically required to meet water demands. Altering source water chemistry can disrupt pipe scale and biofilm and negatively impact water quality at the distribution level. Still, it is unknown if similar reactions occur within building plumbing following a transition in source water quality. The goal of this study was to investigate changes in water chemistry and microbiology at a green building following a transition between municipal water and rainwater. We monitored water chemistry (metals, alkalinity, and disinfectant byproducts) and microbiology (total cell counts, plate counts, and opportunistic pathogen gene markers) throughout two source water transitions. Several constituents including alkalinity and disinfectant byproducts served as indicators of municipal water remaining in the system since the rainwater source does not contain these constituents. In the treated rainwater, microbial proliferation and Legionellaspp. gene copy numbers were often three logs higher than those in municipal water. Because of differences in source water chemistry, rainwater and municipal water uniquely interacted with building plumbing and generated distinctively different drinking water chemical and microbial quality profiles.

The rising trend in water conservation awareness has given rise to the use of water-efficient appliances and fixtures for residential potable water systems. This study characterized the microbial dynamics at a water-efficient residential building over the course of one year (58 sampling events) and examined the effects of water stagnation, season, and changes in physicochemical properties on the occurrence of opportunistic pathogen markers. Mean heterotrophic plate counts (HPC) were typically lowest upon entering the building at the service line, but increased by several orders of magnitude at the furthest location in the building plumbing. Legionellaspp. and Mycobacteriumspp. were detected in the plumbing, with the highest detection occurring in the summer months. Log-transformed HPC were significantly correlated with total cell counts (TCC) (rs= 0.714, p< 0.01), Legionellaspp. (rs= 0.534, p< 0.01), and Mycobacteriumspp. occurrence (rs= 0.458, p< 0.01). Reduced water usage induced longer stagnation times and longer stagnation times were weakly correlated with an increase in Legionellaspp. (rs= 0.356, p< 0.001), Mycobacteriumspp. (rs= 0.287, p< 0.001), TCC (rs= 0.216, p< 0.001) and HPC (rs= 0.395, p< 0.001). Interrelationships between seasonal shifts in water chemistry and genus-level genetic markers for opportunistic pathogens were revealed. This study highlights how drinking water microbiology varies seasonally and spatially throughout a low-flow plumbing building and highlights the possible unintended consequences associated with reduced water usage and increases in stagnation.

The use of aquaculture is increasing to meet the growing global demand for seafood. However, the use of aquaculture for seafood production incurs potential human health risks, especially from enteric bacteria such as Salmonellaspp. Salmonellaspp. was the most frequently reported cause of outbreaks associated with crustaceans from 1998 to 2004. Among crustacean species, shrimp are the most economically important, internationally traded seafood commodity, and the most commonly aquaculture-raised seafood imported to the United States. To inform safe aquaculture practices, a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) was performed, incorporating stochastic variability in pathogen growth, industrial shrimp processing, and consumer shrimp preparation. Several scenarios including gamma irradiation and cooking time were considered in order to examine the relative importance of these practices in terms of their impact on risk. Median annual infection risks for all scenarios considered were below 10−4and median disability adjusted life year (DALY) metrics were below 10−6DALY per person per year, however, 95th percentile risks were above 10−4annual probability of infection and 10−6DALY per person per year for scenarios with improper cooking and lack of gamma irradiation. The greatest difference between microbiological risks for the scenarios tested was observed when comparing proper vs. improper cooking (5–6 orders of magnitude) and gamma irradiation (4–5 orders of magnitude) compared to (up to less than 1 order of magnitude) for peeling and “deveining” (removing the shrimp digestive tract) vs. peeling only. The findings from this research suggest that restriction of Salmonellaspp. to low levels (median 5–30 per L aquaculture pond water) may be necessary for scenarios in which proper downstream food handling and processing cannot be guaranteed.

The foodborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenesgenerally infects immunocompromised individuals, such as cancer patients, more frequently and with higher morbidity and mortality than the general population. Because of the anticipated risk associated with L. monocytogenesand other pathogens in produce, immunocompromised individuals are often placed on neutropenic diets that exclude fresh produce, though these risks have not been quantified. Therefore, this study developed a data-driven risk model for listeriosis in cancer patients who consume ready-to-eat (RTE) salads, consisting of leafy greens, cucumbers, and tomatoes, as influenced by kitchen-scale treatments and storage practices. Monte Carlo simulations were used to model the risk of invasive listeriosis during one chemotherapy cycle. Refrigerating all salad components decreased median risk by approximately one-half log. For refrigerated salads with no treatment, the predicted median risk was ≤ 4.3 × 10-08. When salad ingredients were surface blanched with greens rinsed, the predicted risk decreased to 5.4 × 10-10. Predicted risk was lowest (1.4 × 10-13) for a blanched “salad” consisting of solely cucumbers and tomatoes. Interestingly, rinsing, as recommended by FDA only decreased median risk by 1 log. A sensitivity analysis revealed that the highly variable dose-response parameter kstrongly influenced risk, indicating that reducing uncertainty in this variable may improve model accuracy. Overall, this study demonstrates that kitchen-scale pathogen reduction approaches have high risk-reduction efficacy and could be considered as an alternative to diets that exclude produce when making risk management decisions.

•P. aeruginosaposes a potential human health risk via the inhalation exposure route.•The multi-hit dose response model significantly fit available data.•Single-hit theory may not capture P. aeruginosabehavior in immunocompetent hosts.