Latest Articles

• 

  Section: Nutrition ; Topics: Health sciences

  Co-creation of nutrition interventions in higher education settings: proposals from a student citizens’ assembly

  el Karmouni, Hajar;   Dehove, Henri;   Allès, Benjamin;   Baudry, Julia; Kesse-Guyot, Emmanuelle;   Péneau, Sandrine;   Touvier, Mathilde;   Mofakhami, Malo;   Group, USPN Student Citizens’ Assembly; Bellicha, Alice  

  10.24072/pcjournal.752 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e61

  Get full text PDF

  Background: Improving student diet is a public health priority, yet interventions often fail to address the structural barriers students face, particularly in socioeconomically disadvantaged settings. This study aimed to assess how students involved in a co-creation process (i.e. a student citizens’ assembly) conceptualise and prioritise solutions to improve students’ access to healthier, more climate-friendly diets.  Methods: This participatory research took place at a French university (Sorbonne Paris Nord) located in socioeconomically disadvantaged suburbs of Paris. A student citizens’ assembly was conducted with the aim to co-create concrete proposals that would enhance students’ access to sustainable diets and physical activity. The assembly involved 27 students randomly selected among a pool of volunteers. Over three days in November 2024, students received awareness-raising and training, deliberated among themselves then with institutional and local stakeholders, and formulated proposals. For each proposal, students were asked to rate anonymously their approval on a 10-point scale. Proposals related to diet (i.e. not physical activity) were analysed a posteriori using two complementary frameworks: the DONE framework classifying determinants of diet (individual, interpersonal, environmental/policy) and the FAO dimensions of sustainable diets (health, ecological, socioeconomic, cultural). Results: Overall, 31 proposals were formulated, of which 77% targeted environmental and policy determinants of diet (e.g. institutional regulations, university policies, food assistance solutions, improved food affordability and availability, food labelling). Other proposals referred to individual (19%) and interpersonal determinants (3%). In addition, 39%, 29%, 23% and 10% proposals addressed the health, socio-economic, ecological and cultural dimensions, respectively. Mean approval ratings (SD) for each proposal ranged from 6.7 (4.0) to 9.7 (0.9), with a mean (SD) value for all proposals of 8.6 (0.7). Proposals addressing the socio-economic dimension received the highest approval ratings (mean [SD] 9.0 [0.6], vs 8.4 [0.6], 8.4 [0.8] and 7.9 [0.4] for the health, ecological and cultural dimensions, respectively). Conclusion: The predominance of environmental and policy measures targeting economic access to food highlights the importance of co-creation and its value to align interventions with participants’ needs and expectations. One major challenge that warrants further investigation is the capacity of stakeholders to implement such proposals, and to evaluate their effectiveness.  Trial registration: ClinicalTrial.gov (NCT06580795)

• 

  Section: Plants ; Topics: Plant biology, Genetics/genomics, Agricultural sciences

  eIFiso4G editing confers high and broad-spectrum resistance against rice yellow mottle virus

  Auguy, Florence;   Chéron, Sophie; Dossou, Laurence;   Pinel-Galzi, Agnès;   Thomas, Emilie; Aribi, Jamel; Celli, Marcos Giovani;   Cunnac, Sébastien;   Hébrard, Eugénie;   Albar, Laurence  

  10.24072/pcjournal.740 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e60

  Get full text PDF

  Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) is one of the most devastating viral pathogens affecting rice cultivation in Africa. The eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4G isoform eIFiso4G1 plays a pivotal role in rice susceptibility to the virus. Naturally occurring resistance alleles impair infection but are predominantly found in the African cultivated species Oryza glaberrima, whose use in breeding programs is limited by interspecific sterility barriers with the widely grown O. sativa. Here, we used CRISPR/Cas9 to generate knockout (KO) mutations in eIFiso4G1 as well as insertion-deletion (Indel) variants within the region involved in interaction with the viral protein VPg. KO mutations conferred high resistance to RYMV. No resistance-breaking events were observed, suggesting that this resistance may be more durable than that conferred by naturally occurring alleles. However, complete gene KO slightly affected plant growth. Lines carrying Indel mutations in the VPg-interacting region displayed variable resistance levels, with some variants conferring high resistance without compromising plant development. Structural modeling of the eIFiso4G1 variants and their complexes with VPg provided mechanistic insights into how specific Indels modulate the resistance phenotype.

• 

  Section: Animal Science ; Topics: Agricultural sciences, Health sciences

  Comparative risk-assessment of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 viruses spread in French broiler and layer sectors

  Hautefeuille, Claire;   Muñoz, Facundo;   Dauphin, Gwenaëlle;   Paul, Mathilde;   Peyre, Marisa;   Goutard, Flavie  

  10.24072/pcjournal.734 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e59

  Get full text PDF

  Since 2015, French poultry production is threatened almost every year by a reintroduction of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 viruses. The duck sector was the most concerned by this crisis but other sectors such as broiler, layer and turkey were also affected by outbreaks. The objective of this work was to assess the risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 virus transmission from one farm to another within the French broiler and layer production network. This study used the WOAH risk assessment framework. After drawing up a scenario tree of virus transmission from one farm to another, data were collected through a literature review or through experts’ elicitation. Three questionnaires were developed according to the experts’ field of expertise: avian influenza, broiler and layer sectors. The experts’ estimates were combined using a beta distribution weighted by their confidence level. A Monte Carlo iteration process was used to combine the different probabilities of the scenario tree and to assess the transmission risk. In the broiler sector, the highest transmission probabilities were observed if the exposed farm was an indoor broiler farm and the source a broiler farm (indoor or free-range). The high transmission probability between broiler farms integrated within the same association suggests that integration is an important risk factor. Person movement, transport of feed and manure management were the pathways with the highest transmission probabilities between two integrated indoor broiler farms with good biosecurity levels. In the layer sector, the highest transmission probabilities were observed if the source farm was a free-range farm and the exposed farm a production farm (indoor or free-range). The pathways with the highest transmission probabilities were egg transport and person movement. The sensitivity analysis showed that the exposed farm's biosecurity had a significant impact on the transmission probability. Our results provide an insight on the role of each type of farms in the virus spread within the French broiler and layer production sectors and will be useful for the implementation of control measures such as movement restriction or vaccination.

• 

  Section: Mathematical & Computational Biology ; Topics: Biophysics and computational biology, Population biology, Health sciences

  Optimizing telework in an epidemic context: contrasting the infectious and non-communicable diseases perspectives

  Moutet, Léo;   Leclerc, Quentin J.;   Layan, Maylis;   Aït Bouziad, Karim;   Dab, William; Henriot, Paul;   Hodbert, Elise;   Louati, Narimène; Maurin, Aurélie;   Thonon, Frédérique;   Znaty, Sylvie; Ben Halima, Mohamed Ali;   Jean, Kévin;   Temime, Laura  

  10.24072/pcjournal.741 - Peer Community Journal, Volume 6 (2026), article no. e58

  Get full text PDF

  Objectives: In a global context of increasing telework, this study explores its health effects, to determine if there is an optimal teleworking frequency during an epidemic. We aim to quantify the relationship between teleworking frequency and both infectious disease (ID) transmission and non-communicable disease (NCD) risk. Methods: We developed a mathematical model simulating ID transmission and NCD acquisition in a medium-sized company, analysing how different teleworking levels impact workers health. We conducted a rapid literature review to identify potential exposure-response relationships between teleworking and NCD risk and inform this model. We then simulated infection dynamics over a three-month epidemic wave to contrast ID and NCD risks in relation to the extent of telework engagement. Results: Evidence from the literature showed varying patterns of NCD risk across different teleworking frequencies. Depending on these relationships, we observed that risk may peak at low, intermediate, or high teleworking levels. We demonstrated the existence of a benefit-risk balance between reducing ID transmission and potentially increasing NCD burden. Conclusions:. Based on current scientific knowledge, no single optimal teleworking frequency can be identified, as the optimum varies depending on the NCD outcome considered. Our study highlights the need for stronger evidence to estimate robust exposure-response functions linking teleworking frequency and NCDs, and ultimately to inform prevention strategies for both infectious and NCD risks in an epidemic context.