Evaluation of Immune Nanoparticles for Rapid and Non-Specific Activation of Antiviral and Antibacterial Immune Responses in Cattle, Swine, and Poultry.

Given the rapid potential spread of agricultural pathogens, and the lack of vaccines for many, there is an important unmet need for strategies to induce rapid and non-specific immunity against these viral and bacterial threats. One approach to the problem is to generate non-specific immune responses at mucosal surfaces to rapidly protect from entry and replication of both viral and bacterial pathogens. Using complexes of charged nanoparticle liposomes with both antiviral and antibacterial toll-like receptor (TLR) nucleic acid ligands (termed liposome-TLR complexes or LTC), we have previously demonstrated considerable induction of innate immune responses in nasal and oropharyngeal tissues and protection from viral and bacterial pathogens in mixed challenge studies in rodents, cattle, and companion animals. Therefore, in the present study, we used in vitro assays to evaluate the ability of the LTC immune stimulant to activate key innate immune pathways, particularly interferon pathways, in cattle, swine, and poultry. We found that LTC complexes induced strong production of type I interferons (IFNα and IFNß) in both macrophages and leukocyte cultures from all three species. In addition, the LTC complexes induced the production of additional key protective cytokines (IL-6, IFNγ, and TNFα) in macrophages and leukocytes in cattle and poultry. These findings indicate that the LTC mucosal immunotherapeutic has the capability to activate key innate immune defenses in three major agricultural species and potentially induce broad protective immunity against both viral and bacterial pathogens. Additional animal challenge studies are warranted to evaluate the protective potential of LTC immunotherapy in cattle, swine, and poultry.

The launch of the EU Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA): Improving global pandemic preparedness?

The crowded global health landscape has been joined by the European Union Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA). HERA will assume four broad areas of responsibility: horizon scanning for major health threats; research and development; support for capacity to manufacture drugs, vaccines, and equipment; and procuring and stockpiling key medical countermeasures. In this Health Reform Monitor article, we outline the reform process and describe HERA's structure and responsibilities, explore issues that arise from the creation of this new organisation, and suggest options for collaboration with existing bodies in Europe and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic and other infectious disease outbreaks have shown the need to treat health as a cross-border issue, and there is now a broad consensus that greater direction and coordination at the European level is needed. This ambition has been matched with a considerable increase in EU funding to tackle cross-border health threats, and HERA can be used to deploy this funding in an effective manner. Yet this is contingent upon clearly defining its role and responsibilities vis-à-vis existing agencies to reduce redundancies.

Predicting the infection probability distribution due to airborne and droplet transmission

In this study, a method was proposed to predict the infection probability distribution rather than the room-averaged value. The infection probability by airborne transmission was predicted based on the CO2 concentration. The infection probability by droplet transmission was predicted based on occupant position information. Applying the proposed method to an actual office confirmed that it could be used for quantitatively predicting the infection probability by integrating the ventilation efficiency and distance between occupants. The infection probability by airborne transmission was relatively high in a zone where the amount of outdoor air supply was relatively small. The infection probability by droplet transmission varied with the position of the occupants. The ability of the proposed method to analyze the relative effectiveness of countermeasures for airborne transmission and droplet transmission was verified in this study. © 2022 17th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality and Climate, INDOOR AIR 2022. All rights reserved.

Lessons Learned From Limited Overlap of 15 In Vitro COVID-19 Drug Repurposing Screens.

Drug repurposing can quickly and cost-effectively identify medical countermeasures against pathogens with pandemic potential and could be used as a down-selection method for selecting US Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs to test in clinical trials. We compared results from 15 high-throughput in vitro screening efforts that tested approved and clinically evaluated drugs for activity against SARS-CoV-2 replication. From the 15 studies, 304 drugs were identified as displaying the highest level of confidence from the individual screens. Of those 304 drugs, 30 were identified in 2 or more screens, while only 3 drugs (apilimod, tetrandrine, and salinomycin) were identified in 4 screens. The lack of concordance in high-confidence hits and variations in protocols makes it challenging to use the collective data as down-selection criteria for identifying repurposing candidates to move into a clinical trial.

Past, present and future of infectious diseases

The history of humankind has been a battle against infectious diseases, and highly lethal viral infections have appeared many times. Even in Japan, one-fourth of the population was lost due to smallpox during the Nara period. In the modern era, effective vaccines and drugs were developed, and everyone was optimistic that infectious diseases could be eradicated from the earth by the end of the 20th century. However, infectious diseases such as AIDS, influenza, SARS, and MERS emerged. In particular, the novel coronavirus pandemic that occurred in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 exposed the vulnerability of modern society to infectious diseases. Furthermore, infectious diseases are undergoing significant changes due to human factors such as globalization and the destruction of nature. In this review, I would like to outline the infectious diseases that humans have experienced so far and introduce the fight against the new coronavirus and future infectious disease countermeasures.Alternate :抄録人類の歴史は感染症との戦いであり、致死性の高いウイルス感染症が幾度となく出現し、日本でも奈良時代に天然痘により当時の日本の人口の4分の1が失われた。近代に入ると有効なワクチンや薬剤が開発され、20世紀中には地球上から感染症を根絶できると誰もが楽観視していたが、エイズ、インフルエンザ、SARS、MERS等の感染症が出現し、特に、2019年の暮れに中国武漢で発生した新型コロナウイルスのパンデミックは猖獗を極め、現代社会がいかに感染症に対して無力であるかを思い知らされた。さらに、グローバリゼーションや自然破壊等の人的要因によって感染症は大きく変容している。本稿では、これまでに人類が経験した感染症を概説し、新型コロナウイルスとの戦い、そして今後の感染症対策について解説したい。

Bioprotection of Transportation and Facilities from SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has led to a nearly world-wide shelter-in-place strategy. This raises several natural concerns about the safe relaxing of current restrictions. This article focuses on the design and operation of heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems in the context of transportation. Do HVAC systems have a role in limiting viral spread? During shelter-in-place, can the HVAC system in a dwelling or a vehicle help limit spread of the virus? After the shelter-in-place strategy ends, can typical workplace and transportation HVAC systems limit spread of the virus? This article directly addresses these and other questions. In addition, it also summarizes simplifying assumptions needed to make meaningful predictions. This article derives new results using transform methods first given in Ginsberg and Bui. These new results describe viral spread through an HVAC system and estimate the aggregate dose of virus inhaled by an uninfected building or vehicle occupant when an infected occupant is present within the same building or vehicle. Central to these results is the derivation of a quantity called the "protection factor"-a term-of-art borrowed from the design of gas masks. Older results that rely on numerical approximations to these differential equations have long been lab validated. This article gives the exact solutions in fixed infrastructure for the first time. These solutions, therefore, retain the same lab validation of the older methods of approximation. Further, these exact solutions yield valuable insights into HVAC systems used in transportation.

Needs, Challenges and Countermeasures of SARS-CoV-2 Surveillance in Cold-Chain Foods and Packaging to Prevent Possible COVID-19 Resurgence: A Perspective from Advanced Detections.

The pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 has a huge impact on the global economy. SARS-CoV-2 could possibly and potentially be transmitted to humans through cold-chain foods and packaging (namely good-to-human), although it mainly depends on a human-to-human route. It is imperative to develop countermeasures to cope with the spread of viruses and fulfil effective surveillance of cold-chain foods and packaging. This review outlined SARS-CoV-2-related cold-chain food incidents and current methods for detecting SARS-CoV-2. Then the needs, challenges and practicable countermeasures for SARS-CoV-2 detection, specifically for cold-chain foods and packaging, were underlined. In fact, currently established detection methods for SARS-CoV-2 are mostly used for humans; thus, these may not be ideally applied to cold-chain foods directly. Therefore, it creates a need to develop novel methods and low-cost, automatic, mini-sized devices specifically for cold-chain foods and packaging. The review intended to draw people's attention to the possible spread of SARS-CoV-2 with cold-chain foods and proposed perspectives for futuristic cold-chain foods monitoring during the pandemic.

Assessment of respiratory disease infection risk and natural ventilation intervention countermeasures in teaching spaces: A campus case study

The risk of indoor respiratory disease transmission can be significantly reduced through interventions that target the built environment. Several studies have successfully developed theoretical models to calculate the effects of built environment parameters on infection rates. However, current studies have mainly focused on calculating infection rate values and comparing pre- and post-optimization values, lacking a discussion of safe baseline values for infection rates with risk class classification. The purpose of this paper is to explore the design of interventions in the built environment to improve the ability of buildings to prevent virus transmission, with a university campus as an example. The study integrates the Wells-Riley model and basic reproduction number to identify teaching spaces with high infection risk on campus and proposes targeted intervention countermeasures based on the analysis of critical parameters. The results showed that teaching buildings with a grid layout pattern had a higher potential risk of infection under natural ventilation. By a diversity of building environment interventions designed, the internal airflow field of classrooms can be effectively organized, and the indoor virus concentration can be reduced. We can find that after optimizing the building mentioned above and environment intervention countermeasures, the maximum indoor virus infection probability can be reduced by 22.88%, and the basic reproduction number can be reduced by 25.98%, finally reaching a safe level of less than 1.0. In this paper, we support university campuses' respiratory disease prevention and control programs by constructing theoretical models and developing parametric platforms. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd

Past, present and future of infectious diseases.

The history of humankind has been a battle against infectious diseases, and highly lethal viral infections have appeared many times. Even in Japan, one-fourth of the population was lost due to smallpox during the Nara period. In the modern era, effective vaccines and drugs were developed, and everyone was optimistic that infectious diseases could be eradicated from the earth by the end of the 20 th century. However, infectious diseases such as AIDS, influenza, SARS, and MERS emerged. In particular, the novel coronavirus pandemic that occurred in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 exposed the vulnerability of modern society to infectious diseases. Furthermore, infectious diseases are undergoing significant changes due to human factors such as globalization and the destruction of nature. In this review, I would like to outline the infectious diseases that humans have experienced so far and introduce the fight against the new coronavirus and future infectious disease countermeasures.Copyright © 2022, Japan Society of Drug Delivery System. All rights reserved.

Past, present and future of infectious diseases.

The history of humankind has been a battle against infectious diseases, and highly lethal viral infections have appeared many times. Even in Japan, one-fourth of the population was lost due to smallpox during the Nara period. In the modern era, effective vaccines and drugs were developed, and everyone was optimistic that infectious diseases could be eradicated from the earth by the end of the 20 th century. However, infectious diseases such as AIDS, influenza, SARS, and MERS emerged. In particular, the novel coronavirus pandemic that occurred in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 exposed the vulnerability of modern society to infectious diseases. Furthermore, infectious diseases are undergoing significant changes due to human factors such as globalization and the destruction of nature. In this review, I would like to outline the infectious diseases that humans have experienced so far and introduce the fight against the new coronavirus and future infectious disease countermeasures.Copyright © 2022, Japan Society of Drug Delivery System. All rights reserved.

Past, present and future of infectious diseases.

The history of humankind has been a battle against infectious diseases, and highly lethal viral infections have appeared many times. Even in Japan, one-fourth of the population was lost due to smallpox during the Nara period. In the modern era, effective vaccines and drugs were developed, and everyone was optimistic that infectious diseases could be eradicated from the earth by the end of the 20 th century. However, infectious diseases such as AIDS, influenza, SARS, and MERS emerged. In particular, the novel coronavirus pandemic that occurred in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 exposed the vulnerability of modern society to infectious diseases. Furthermore, infectious diseases are undergoing significant changes due to human factors such as globalization and the destruction of nature. In this review, I would like to outline the infectious diseases that humans have experienced so far and introduce the fight against the new coronavirus and future infectious disease countermeasures.Copyright © 2022, Japan Society of Drug Delivery System. All rights reserved.

Analysis of operations of breast surgery during the COVID-19 epidemic

Background and Aims: Despite that the epidemic of novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) has been under effective control in China, the number of cases outside our country is continuously growing. So, the prevention and control situation is still grim. This study, taking the Department of Breast Surgery in the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University as an example, was designed to analyze and summarize the operations of breast surgery in a comprehensive tertiary hospital during the epidemic, so as to provide effective reference and experiential practice for conducting safe and efficient breast surgery work during epidemic and post-epidemic periods. Methods: Thirty-seven patients with breast cancer admitted in the Department of Breast Thyroid Surgery of the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University during the COVID-19 epidemic period of January 31, 2020 to February 20, 2020 were selected. The data of the patients including the clinical characteristics, protective measures and treatment effects were retrospectively analyzed. The main points of methods for patients' admission to hospital, preoperative preparation, intraoperative protection and postoperative recovery, as well as the self-protection and psychological counseling of the medical staff were summarized. The effects of specialized treatment and epidemic prevention and control were identified by follow up. The details for how to improve the cognition of potential risk for infectious diseases, and how to strengthen the prevention and control of epidemic disease and occupational protection during the post-epidemic period were analyzed from the aspects of surgical indications, aerosol management and clinic protection in combination with the diagnosis and treatment characteristics of breast surgery. Results: Thirty-seven patients received surgical treatment after the exclusion of the risk of COVID-19. The mean operative time was (152.23±46.19) min, the average intraoperative blood loss was (85.23±23.47) mL, and no intraoperative blood transfusion was required in any of the patients. Among the 37 breast cancer patients, 19 cases underwent 6 to 8 cycles of preoperative neoadjuvant therapy, of whom, complete pathological remission was obtained in 7 cases after surgery. Prolonged fever occurred in 2 patients after operation, which returned to normal after isolation, body temperature monitoring and symptomatic treatment, and COVID-19 was excluded by nucleic acid testing for SARS-CoV-2. After follow-up, no suspected COVID-19 symptoms such as fever, cough and fatigue were noted in any of the patients or their accompanying relatives, and also no suspected cases were observed among the relevant medical staff. Conclusion: During the epidemic period, on the premise of scientific prevention and control, and full avoidance of COVID-19 infection in both doctors and patients, aggressive treatment can be provided to breast cancer patients according to the local epidemic situation. The principles of "scientific decision-making, and humanistic service" should be continuously followed, and the various prevention and control guidelines and management norms issued by superiors should be strictly obeyed, and the necessary elements such as prehospital screening, preoperative preparation, intraoperative protection and postoperative recovery of the breast cancer patients should be completed according to the actual situation. Rigorous compliance with the protection measures against epidemic in all aspects of the pre-admission and perioperative period of the patients, and coordinated relations of the epidemic prevention and control with the specialized treatment, may maximally ensure the safe completion of breast surgery and protect the health of the patients and medical personnel. © 2020 by the Author(s).

The loopholes of algorithmic public services: an "intelligent” accountability research agenda

Purpose Governments are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) algorithmic systems to increase efficiency and effectiveness of public service delivery. While the diffusion of AI offers several desirable benefits, caution and attention should be posed to the accountability of AI algorithm decision-making systems in the public sector. The purpose of this paper is to establish the main challenges that an AI algorithm might bring about to public service accountability. In doing so, the paper also delineates future avenues of investigation for scholars.Design/methodology/approach This paper builds on previous literature and anecdotal cases of AI applications in public services, drawing on streams of literature from accounting, public administration and information technology ethics.Findings Based on previous literature, the paper highlights the accountability gaps that AI can bring about and the possible countermeasures. The introduction of AI algorithms in public services modifies the chain of responsibility. This distributed responsibility requires an accountability governance, together with technical solutions, to meet multiple accountabilities and close the accountability gaps. The paper also delineates a research agenda for accounting scholars to make accountability more "intelligent”.Originality/value The findings of the paper shed new light and perspective on how public service accountability in AI should be considered and addressed. The results developed in this paper will stimulate scholars to explore, also from an interdisciplinary perspective, the issues public service organizations are facing to make AI algorithms accountable.

Exploring the influence of COVID-19 on the spread of hand, foot, and mouth disease with an automatic machine learning prediction model.

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is an important public health problem and has received concern worldwide. Moreover, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic also increases the difficulty of understanding and predicting the prevalence of HFMD. The purpose is to prove the usability and applicability of the automatic machine learning (Auto-ML) algorithm in predicting the epidemic trend of HFMD and to explore the influence of COVID-19 on the spread of HFMD. The AutoML algorithm and the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model were applied to construct and validate models, based on the monthly incidence numbers of HFMD and meteorological factors from May 2008 to December 2019 in Henan province, China. A total of four models were established, among which the Auto-ML model with meteorological factors had minimum RMSE and MAE in both the model constructing phase and forecasting phase (training set: RMSE = 1424.40 and MAE = 812.55; test set: RMSE = 2107.83, MAE = 1494.41), so this model has the best performance. The optimal model was used to further predict the incidence numbers of HFMD in 2020 and then compared with the reported cases. And, for analysis, 2020 was divided into two periods. The predicted incidence numbers followed the same trend as the reported cases of HFMD before the COVID-19 outbreak; while after the COVID-19 outbreak, the reported cases have been greatly reduced than expected, with an average of only about 103 cases per month, and the incidence peak has also been delayed, which has led to significant changes in the seasonality of HFMD. Overall, the AutoML algorithm is an applicable and ideal method to predict the epidemic trend of the HFMD. Furthermore, it was found that the countermeasures of COVID-19 have a certain influence on suppressing the spread of HFMD during the period of COVID-19. The findings are helpful to health administrative departments.

Results of the Cologne Corona Surveillance (CoCoS) study - a cross-sectional study: survey data on risk factors of SARS-CoV-2 infection in adults.

BACKGROUND: The personal, environmental, and behavioral risk factors that play an important role in the spread of SARS-CoV-2 are still largely unclear. At the same time, there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of specific countermeasures for SARS-CoV-2. As a first approach to these questions, we use data from the Cologne Corona Surveillance (CoCoS) study, a large cross-sectional study conducted in Cologne, Germany, in June 2021. METHODS: This study was conducted in Cologne, Germany. Six thousand randomly selected Cologne residents who were 18 years of age or older were invited to participate in this study. Participant information was obtained via an online survey. Previous SARS-CoV-2 infections were recorded using self-reports. Sociodemographic and environmental information such as age, sex, living situation were collected. Potential SARS-CoV-2 risk behaviors were captured (workplace situation, adherence to hygiene regulations, and regular use of public transportation). Adherence to hygiene regulations was surveyed by determining the compliance with the 'AHA'-rules (German acronym that stands for keeping a distance of 1.5 m from fellow citizens, hand disinfection, and wearing a face mask). Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection. RESULTS: A sample of 2,433 study participants provided information. Comparison of the sample with the general population showed representativeness for most sociodemographic characteristics with a preference for higher level of education in the study sample. Younger age, as well as living with minor children (under 18 years) in the same household were associated with a higher number of self-reported SARS-CoV-2 infections. Adherence to hygiene regulations was associated with fewer self-reported SARS-CoV-2 infections in adults. Gender, size of living space per person, workplace situation (work from home versus working with contact to colleagues/customers), and regular use of public transportation showed no significant association with self-reported SARS-CoV-2 infections in multivariable analysis. CONCLUSION: The presented results provide initial indications of which sociodemographic and behavioral factors may be associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, the fact that these factors were recorded without exact dates and could have changed accordingly during the pandemic or after infection limits the strength of the results. TRIAL REGISTRATION: DRKS.de, German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS), Identifier: DRKS00024046, Registered on 25 February 2021.

Individual Genetic Heterogeneity.

Genetic variation has been widely covered in literature, however, not from the perspective of an individual in any species. Here, a synthesis of genetic concepts and variations relevant for individual genetic constitution is provided. All the different levels of genetic information and variation are covered, ranging from whether an organism is unmixed or hybrid, has variations in genome, chromosomes, and more locally in DNA regions, to epigenetic variants or alterations in selfish genetic elements. Genetic constitution and heterogeneity of microbiota are highly relevant for health and wellbeing of an individual. Mutation rates vary widely for variation types, e.g., due to the sequence context. Genetic information guides numerous aspects in organisms. Types of inheritance, whether Mendelian or non-Mendelian, zygosity, sexual reproduction, and sex determination are covered. Functions of DNA and functional effects of variations are introduced, along with mechanism that reduce and modulate functional effects, including TARAR countermeasures and intraindividual genetic conflict. TARAR countermeasures for tolerance, avoidance, repair, attenuation, and resistance are essential for life, integrity of genetic information, and gene expression. The genetic composition, effects of variations, and their expression are considered also in diseases and personalized medicine. The text synthesizes knowledge and insight on individual genetic heterogeneity and organizes and systematizes the central concepts.

Hazard exposure of bicyclists at urban intersections

Traditionally, mobility problems and automobile traffic congestion have increased in cities around the world due to the urban development process, especially in the city of Metropolitan Lima. For this reason, the government of the Peruvian capital has established temporary detours in certain sections of the arterial roads of the network, to invite new cyclists, due to the effects of Covid-19. Today, Lima has a network of 294 km of bicycle lanes, which have been implemented without adequate planning. In view of this, we evaluated the risk of poor planning on the vulnerable user (the cyclist) at an intersection of this road network, with a high rate of motorized congestion. The main objective of this study has been to propose corrective actions to avoid the exposure to danger on the users of the bicycle lane (countermeasures);due to lack of safety at the intersection of La Marina Ave. and Universitaria Ave. In this sense, a risk matrix was developed with the most concurrent factors that occur at this intersection;to then obtain a risk level and take actions in each of them, to mitigate the impact. The result obtained in the analysis of this study for the intersection is classified as a level 2 risk: Important risk, which means that it presents several important danger factors. Finally, in addition to the analyses developed, a treatment scheme was proposed for the intersection to provide greater safety to the users of the bicycle lane, avoiding fatal and non-fatal accidents. © 2022 IEEE.

Analyzing Social Media Messaging on Masks and Vaccines: A Case Study on Misinformation During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Misinformation and disinformation during infectious disease outbreaks can hinder public health responses. This analysis examines comments about masks and COVID-19 vaccines on Twitter during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a content analysis of 6,600 randomly selected English-language tweets, examining tweets for health, political, of societal frames; inclusion of true information, false information, partially true/misleading information, and/or opinion; political components; risk frames; and use of specific types of rumor. We found false and partially false information in 22% of tweets in which we were able to assess veracity. Tweets with misinformation were more likely to mention vaccines, be political in nature, and promote risk elevating messages (p<0.5). We also found false information about vaccines as early as January 2020, nearly a year before COVID-19 vaccines became widely available. These findings highlight a need for new policies and strategies aimed to counter harmful and misleading messaging.

A case study for evaluating learners' behaviors from online cybersecurity training platform on digital forensics subject

Virtual cybersecurity training platforms play an important role in developing the knowledge and practice skills of students in educational institutions and universities. It helps learners can access virtual laboratories through web interfaces without any geolocation restriction, especially in the Covid-19 pandemic. Furthermore, instructors can monitor and understand learners' behaviors in practice sessions by analyzing actions and logs from the virtual platform. But, to realize this feature, such a platform must gather data during cybersecurity training for data mining tasks. In this paper, we introduce a virtual laboratory platform to facilitate cybersecurity training courses, namely vLab. In addition, we apply clustering analysis to the actions of learners to better understand the capabilities of trainees in resolving given challenges in digital forensics subject. With the built-in behavior analyzer in vLab, instructors can find out the common mistakes, and the reasons for learners' failure results, or identify whether they actually conduct experiments to get answers for digital forensics challenges or not. © 2022 IEEE.