Anna A. Heintzman

Wastewater surveillance is increasingly used for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) monitoring in urban environments, but low-resource settings often lack a piped sewerage system. Instead, coprophagous flies—flies that ingest feces—may serve as composite samplers for monitoring fecal wastes present in terrestrial environments. We evaluated whether the class 1 integron-integrase gene intI1 was associated with genetic markers of AMR and fecal source tracking markers (FST) in coprophagous flies collected from latrine entrances and food preparation areas in low-income urban Maputo, Mozambique. We quantified intI1 , an enteric 16S rRNA target (for normalization), three FST markers, and 30 ARG targets using qPCR. We normalized concentrations of intI1 and each target to enteric 16S rRNA. We fit linear mixed models with a random intercept for housing compound to estimate within-fly associations between log ₁₀ relative abundance of intI1 and log ₁₀ relative abundance of each target with and without adjustment for fly taxonomic group, capture location, and standardized fly mass. We also modeled per-fly unique ARG count (i.e., number of ARG targets detected) using Poisson regression. Of 188 flies assayed, 176 passed internal controls; intI1 and enteric 16S rRNA were detected in 95% and 96% of flies, respectively. Higher relative abundance of intI1 was positively associated with ARG and FST targets, with the strongest associations observed for sulfonamide-( sul1 : β = 0.87; 95% CI: 0.81, 0.94; sul2 : β = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.73, 0.89), tetracycline- ( tetA : β = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.85; tetB : β = 0.69; 95% CI: 0.60, 0.79), and trimethoprim-related ( dfrA17 : β = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.86) genes. Associations with FST markers were weaker (i.e., human mtDNA: β = 0.46; 95% CI: 0.37, 0.55; human-associated Bacteroides : β = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.25, 0.43). Higher relative abundance of intI1 was also associated with a greater number of ARGs detected: each 10-fold increase in intI1 was associated with an 8% higher expected unique ARG count (aRR=1.08, 95% CI: 1.04–1.12). These findings support the need for further research across different settings exploring intI1 carried by coprophagous flies as a potential standardized screening target for AMR surveillance in unsewered terrestrial environments.

Southern Indiana has intensive livestock production, yet species-resolved fecal pathogen and pathogen associated gene profiles are limited. At 10 sites in southern Indiana (April–June 2024), we collected 128 fecal specimens from 10 hosts: pigs (n = 12), horses (12), cats (12), chickens (12), dogs (22), white-tailed deer (12), sheep (12), goats (12), cows (12), and humans (10). We extracted and assayed total nucleic acids using a custom 43-target TaqMan Array Card (RT-qPCR). Flotation microscopy was performed on pig and dog stools for helminth ova. In-silico specificity checks were conducted for selected targets due to potential for cross reactivity between pathogen species. Most samples (60%, 75/126) were positive for ≥1 target, including enteropathogenic Escherichia coli ( eae ) 16% and shiga toxin genes ( stx1 10%, stx2 6.3%). Higher prevalence of genes associated with specific pathogens and gut microbes in specific animals was common, including E. coli O157:H7 in pigs (42%) and sheep (8.3%); Campylobacter coli in chickens (36%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae in humans (60%) and dogs (9.1%). We found the protozoa Giardia in 15% of samples (notably dogs 32%, cows 33%) and Cryptosporidium in 14% (cats 55%, cows 25%, chickens 27%). Most (55%) chicken samples were positive for Plasmodium , which aligned with evidence of locally circulating avian haemosporidians. The Ascaris lumbricoides assay was positive only in pigs (17%), and we identified Ascaris type eggs in 92% of pig samples via microscopy, suggesting our Ascaris lumbricoides assay cross reacted with Ascaris suum supporting detection of the swine lineage ( A. suum ). We detected the class 1 integron-integrase gene ( intI1 ) in 43% of stools, concentrated in chickens, pigs, and horses. These findings suggest animal feces poses a public health hazard in Southern Indiana and indicate the need for targeted One Health studies to better understand the public health risks of specific exposures and animal feces management practices (e.g., farm storage capacity, land application timing, soil incorporation/injection, tile-drain proximity).

Southern Indiana has intensive livestock production, yet species-resolved fecal pathogen profiles are limited. At 10 sites in southern Indiana (April–June 2024), we collected 128 fecal specimens from 10 hosts: pigs (n=12), horses (12), cats (12), chickens (12), dogs (22), white-tailed deer (12), sheep (12), goats (12), cows (12), and humans (10). We extracted and assayed total nucleic acids using a custom 43-target TaqMan Array Card (RT-qPCR). Flotation microscopy was performed on pig and dog stools for helminth ova. In-silico specificity checks were conducted for selected targets due to potential for cross reactivity between pathogen species. Most samples (59.5%, 75/126) were positive for ≥1 target, including enteropathogenic Escherichia coli ( eae ) 15.9% and shiga toxin genes ( stx1 10.3%, stx2 6.3%). Higher prevalence of specific pathogens in specific animals was common, including E. coli O157:H7 in pigs (41.7%) and sheep (8.3%); Campylobacter coli in chickens (36.4%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae in humans (60%) and dogs (9.1%). We found the protozoa Giardia in 15.1% of samples (notably dogs 31.8%, cows 33.3%) and Cryptosporidium in 13.5% (cats 54.5%, cattle 25.0%, chickens 27.3%). Most (54.5%) chicken samples were positive for Plasmodium , which aligned with evidence of locally circulating avian haemosporidians. The Ascaris lumbricoides assay was positive only in pigs (16.7%), and we identified Ascaris eggs in 91.7% of pig samples via microscopy, suggesting our Ascaris lumbricoides assay cross reacted with Ascaris suum supporting detection of the swine lineage ( A. suum ). We detected integrase gene class 1 ( intI1 ) in 42.9% of stools, concentrated in chickens, pigs, and horses. These findings suggest animal feces poses a public health hazard in Southern Indiana and indicate the need for targeted One Health studies to better understand the public health risks of specific exposures and animal feces management practices (e.g., farm storage capacity, land application timing, soil incorporation/injection, tile-drain proximity).

Research on smart home monitoring for older adults has predominantly focused on systems whose data and alerts are directed towards family members, caregivers, or healthcare providers. Older adults have expressed interest in engaging with these systems by seeing and using their data, but they are often limited to a passive role as subjects of monitoring. This paper presents qualitative results of a longitudinal smart home project with older adults living independently in the community. Based on interviews conducted throughout the 2.5-year study with 12 participants, we report on their lived experiences of having the monitoring system in their homes and on how they reflected on the data collected by the system. The results show how participants were able to extract meaningful information from the monitoring data without finding the system invasive or intrusive. Specifically, older adults exhibited interest in data that they found indicative of living an active lifestyle, such as time spent outside the home. Drawing from critical literature on active aging, we discuss implications for incorporating peer comparisons to support reflection on personal health data without reinforcing a deficit narrative of aging.