Bibliographic record
Abstract
Echinococcus multilocularis, a parasitic helminth of the northern hemisphere, normally cycles through definitive (coyotes, foxes, wolves, raccoon dogs) and intermediate hosts (rodents and some lagomorphs). In urban areas, domestic dogs can also become hosts for this parasite, maintaining the E. multilocularis population in areas with less wild canids. Occasionally, this zoonotic parasite infects humans, resulting in alveolar echinococcosis, which is often lethal. Echinococcus multilocularis has been well-studied in wild definitive hosts throughout its known global distribution, but further investigation into the prevalence of this parasite in dogs is needed. I conducted a literature review and meta-analysis estimating the true prevalence and risk factors associated with E. multilocularis infections in dogs globally. Then, I attempted to fill gaps in the literature by investigating E. multilocularis in dogs living near several parks in Calgary, Alberta. Using qPCR on fecal samples collected in 2012, I determined the true prevalence of E. multilocularis in Calgary dogs. Associated risk factors were assessed using dog behaviour questionnaires submitted by owners. While intestinal E. multilocularis has not previously been found in dog population studies in Canada, I found the prevalence in Calgary in 2012 to be similar to Europe and Asia. Some risk factors for infection were confirmed but more work is warranted. Therefore, I also conducted a pilot study directed at Calgary vet clinics to provide an updated estimate of intestinal E. multilocularis presence and also, for the first time, alveolar echinococcosis prevalence in dogs. This study design and dog behaviour questionnaire are suitable for assessing risk factors for both types of infections and is intended to be applied to a larger future study. Understanding the role of dogs in both the maintenance of the E. multilocularis lifecycle and the transmission of the infection to humans is paramount as urbanization drives humans and their pets closer to wildlife populations.
Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.
How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.003 | 0.010 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.001 | 0.004 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.002 | 0.002 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".