Websites represent a crucial avenue for organizations to reach customers, attract talent, and disseminate information to stakeholders. Despite their importance, strikingly little work in the domain of organization and management research has tapped into this source of longitudinal big data. In this paper, we highlight the unique nature and profound potential of longitudinal website data and present novel open-source code- and databases that make these data accessible. Specifically, our codebase offers a general-purpose setup, building on four central steps to scrape historical websites using the Wayback Machine. Our open-access CompuCrawl database was built using this four-step approach. It contains websites of North American firms in the Compustat database between 1996 and 2020—covering 11,277 firms with 86,303 firm/year observations and 1,617,675 webpages. We describe the coverage of our database and illustrate its use by applying word-embedding models to reveal the evolving meaning of the concept of “sustainability” over time. Finally, we outline several avenues for future research enabled by our step-by-step longitudinal web scraping approach and our CompuCrawl database.
Highly pathogenic H5Ny influenza A viruses are causing unprecedented, season-independent outbreaks across avian and mammalian species, including dairy cattle, a novel reservoir. The sialoside-binding properties of influenza A hemagglutinin (HA) are strongly related to its ability to infect and transmit between hosts. Mucin-like O-glycans, omnipresent in respiratory tracts, have been understudied as viral receptors due to their complexity. To address this, we synthesized 25 O-linked glycans with diverse sialosides, including modifications by fucosides and sulfates. Our findings reveal that H5Ny 2.3.4.4b viruses bind core 3 sialyl-Lewisx and Sia-Gal-β3GalNAc, O-linked glycans not recognized by classical H5 or other avian viruses. By determining crystal structures, we resolved the structural features of four glycans in an H5 hemagglutinin (HA) from a 2016 2.3.4.4b virus. While these viruses do not bind human-type receptors, their broad receptor specificity enhances binding to human tracheal tissues, suggesting that O-glycan recognition could contribute to the continues spillover of this clade.
High pathogenicity avian influenza virus H5N1 subtype (H5N1 HPAIV), clade 2.3.4.4b, is expanding its host and geographical range, and invaded Antarctica in 2023. Although mortality in Antarctic wildlife from H5N1 HPAIV has been suspected, mainly based on virological analysis of swabs collected from dead animals, it has not been unequivocally diagnosed. Here we show that H5N1 HPAIV caused high mortality in a breeding colony of skuas at one of ten sites in Antarctica we visited in March 2024. By combined virological, bacteriological and pathological analyses, we found that H5N1 HPAIV caused multi-organ necrosis and rapid death in skuas, but not in other species examined. Taken together with recent data, skuas in Antarctica are at risk of continued mortality from H5N1 HPAIV infection, threatening their already small populations. Conversely, because of their wide distribution and ecological relevance, skuas may play a substantial role in the spread of the virus across Antarctica. Transdisciplinary surveillance is needed in coming years to monitor the impact of this poultry-origin disease on Antarctica’s unique wildlife.
IntroductionRapid detection of infectious disease agents is crucial for timely public health responses. Wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES) offers a complementary approach by detecting pathogens shed by infected individuals, including asymptomatic cases. This scoping review provides an overview of reported public health actions in response to WES for human pathogens. It also summarizes sampling and analysis methods and offers insights for future implementation.MethodsThe protocol for this review was registered in the PROCEED open-access registry. A systematic search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science for peer-reviewed literature published up to 31 July 2024. Studies were included if they reported public health actions in response to WES related to infectious diseases in human populations. Two reviewers independently screened studies and extracted data on public health responses, sampling, and analytical methods.ResultsOf the 6,630 articles screened, 49 met the inclusion criteria. Most studies (92%) were published between 2021 and 2024, with SARS-CoV-2 as the primary focus (82%), followed by poliovirus (16%). Research was largely conducted in high-income regions: North America (51%), Asia (22%), and Europe (14%). Target populations included urban residents (57%) and on-campus students (31%) and local authorities were more often involved in WES efforts than national agencies (51% vs. 33%). In 75% of studies, at least two public health actions were implemented, and 20% reported five or more. The most common actions related to reactive disease control (n = 69), including testing, isolation, and contact tracing. Proactive disease control actions (n = 33) and public health communication (n = 22) were also described. Weekly sampling (57%) and composite methods (67%) were most used. Manhole sampling, despite equal frequency with treatment plant sampling (35%), led to significantly more public health actions (61 vs. 35). Long-term surveillance was often reported but rarely sustained. Quantitative and molecular analyses dominated; sequencing was rarely used (4%).ConclusionWhile reporting on public health actions following WES remains limited, this review illustrates its potential to inform timely, local interventions. Future studies should broaden pathogen targets, embed public health action planning in study design, and expand WES use in low-resource settings.
BACKGROUND:Vaccine immunogenicity is reduced in kidney transplant recipients (KTRs), especially in those using mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). Whether replacement of MMF by everolimus improves vaccine immunogenicity is unknown. METHODS:KTRs were randomized 1:1 to continue MMF or switch to everolimus. Participants received one coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) booster vaccination and two herpes zoster (HZ) vaccinations at 6, 10 and 14 weeks postrandomization. Primary outcome was the neutralizing antibody response 28 days after COVID-19 vaccination. Secondary outcomes included antibody and T-cell responses 28 days after COVID-19 and HZ vaccination, and safety. RESULTS:In 110 KTRs, COVID-19 vaccination resulted in comparable Omicron XBB.1.5 neutralizing antibody titers in the everolimus versus MMF group (308 [74.4-1314] vs 327 [115-897]; P = .83), whereas severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) Spike-specific T-cell responses were slightly lower with everolimus (118 [32.1-243] vs 228 [113-381] spot-forming cells [SFCs]/106 peripheral blood mononuclear cells [PBMCs]; P = .02). HZ vaccination led to higher varicella zoster virus (VZV) glycoprotein E (gE)-specific immunoglobulin G titers with everolimus (2192 [888-4523] vs 1101 [440-2078] 50% endpoint titer; P = .004), while VZV gE-specific T-cell responses were similar (85.0 [27.5-155] vs 115 [50.0-258] SFCs/106 PBMCs; P = .24). Besides known side effects, everolimus led to more bacterial infections (27.3% vs 11.1%; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS:Six weeks' replacement of MMF by everolimus in KTRs does not improve COVID-19 booster vaccine immunogenicity, whereas 10 weeks' replacement enhances humoral HZ vaccine immunogenicity. While replacing MMF by everolimus may improve vaccine responses, its timing and potential risks require careful consideration.
