Mechanism-based approaches of 1,3,4 thiadiazole scaffolds as potent enzyme inhibitors for cytotoxicity and antiviral activity

Significant progress in understanding cancer pathogenesis, it remains one of the leading causes of death after cardiovascular diseases. Similarly viral infections have emerged from wildlife or re-emerged, generating serious threats to the global health. As a result, there is an urgent need for the development of novel, more effective anticancer and antiviral therapeutics. Scientists, medicinal chemists and researchers are continuously finding novel targets, mechanisms and molecules against theses severe and dangerous infections. Therefore, ongoing extensively study and research emphasizes 1,3,4 thiadiazole pharmacophore have versatile pharmacological actions. Due to mesoionic behaviour of 1,3,4 thiadiazole pharmacophore allows to enter and easily cross biological membrane which allow to interact various biological proteins. In this review study an attempt has been made of various mechanisms involved in cancer and viral prevalence with updated studies done so far. This review study also findings the role of 1,3,4 thiadiazole motif in the management of various cancers and viral infection. This study also highlighting research statics on clinical trials and various patents containing 1,3,4 thiadiazole derivatives. © 2022 The Author(s)

Quantitative Investigation of Wildlife Trafficking Supply Chains: A Review

The illicit wildlife trade is a pervasive and global problem that has far-reaching impacts on both society and the environment. Aside from threatening numerous species around the world and acting as a potential disease transmission vector for several zoonotic diseases, including the COVID-19 pandemic, this complex system is often linked with other illicit networks such as drugs, weapons, and human trafficking. The annual monetary value of wildlife trafficking is estimated to be over twenty billion USD, and, unfortunately, wildlife trafficking has several unique characteristics that make it difficult to disrupt in an effective and efficient manner. There has been much research and media awareness around wildlife conservation and moral issues surrounding the illicit wildlife trade, but little is known about the supply chain structures and operations of these illicit networks, especially from a quantitative, analytical perspective. This research reviews wildlife trafficking through an operations and supply chain lens. By understanding the unique challenges faced in impeding wildlife trafficking, we present opportunities to resolve them using analytical techniques. We provide the groundwork for future developments in detection, interdiction, reduction, and possibly, elimination of illicit wildlife trade. © 2022

Starting anew: ecotourism and resilience principles as a framework for building wildlife destination sustainability in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world

The wildlife tourism industry faces increasing threats of climate change and human demand, both of which have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The decrease in human activity resulting from the pandemic has created disruptions for wildlife tourism destinations that are being felt by the local communities, the wildlife, and the surrounding environment. This paper examines the impacts of these disruptions and highlights the opportunity for wildlife destinations to start building back towards the goal of sustainability with increased resilience. The principles of resilience and ecotourism are examined, with the intersecting and applicable fundamentals further explained. A framework for wildlife destination sustainability is then presented alongside a conceptual model for policymakers, tourism operators, and community leaders to consider. This study argues that wildlife tourism destinations should apply and promote sound ecotourism principles to better prepare for and recover from disruptions, promote biodiversity conservation, and support socio-economic stability. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

A social media-based framework for quantifying temporal changes to wildlife viewing intensity: Quantifying changes to wildlife viewing intensity

Documenting how human pressure on wildlife changes over time is important to minimise potential adverse effects through implementing appropriate management and policy actions;however, obtaining objective measures of these changes and their potential impacts is often logistically challenging, particularly in the natural environment. Here, we developed a modular stochastic model that infers the ratio of actual viewing pressure on wildlife in consecutive time periods (years) using social media, as this medium is widespread and easily accessible. Pressure was calculated from the number of times individual animals appeared in social media in pre-defined time windows, accounting for time-dependent variables that influence them (e.g. number of people with access to social media). Formulas for the confidence intervals of viewing pressure ratios were rigorously developed and validated, and corresponding uncertainty was quantified. We applied the developed framework to calculate changes to wildlife viewing pressure on loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) at Zakynthos island (Greece) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (2019–2021) based on 2646 social media entries. Our model ensured temporal comparability across years of social media data grouped in time window sizes, by correcting for the interannual increase of social media use. Optimal sizes for these windows were delineated, reducing uncertainty while maintaining high time-scale resolution. The optimal time window was around 7-days during the peak tourist season when more data were available in all three years, and >15 days during the low season. In contrast, raw social media data exhibited clear bias when quantifying changes to viewing pressure, with unknown uncertainty. The framework developed here allows widely-available social media data to be used objectively when quantifying temporal changes to wildlife viewing pressure. Its modularity allowed viewing pressure to be quantified for all data combined, or subsets of data (different groups, situations or locations), and could be applied to any site supporting wildlife exposed to tourism. © 2022 The Author(s)

Perceptions of the COVID‐19 pandemic's impact on communities and wildlife trade: Preliminary qualitative analysis from hunters in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos

The COVID‐19 pandemic has accelerated efforts to engage critically with forest‐adjacent, rural, communities who rely on wildlife. We interviewed 109 hunters of wildlife across Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos regarding the effect the COVID‐19 pandemic has had on them, as well as within their communities. We found that "negative economic impacts” was a prevalent theme due to loss of employment, rising prices, and restrictions on trade resulting from city‐wide lockdowns, factory closures, and border closures. In Vietnam, hunting was stated to have increased as young men returned to their villages;however, in Vietnam and Cambodia trade in wildlife was believed to have decreased due to the inability of middlemen traders to travel easily. Our results from Laos illustrated general economic cost, but otherwise no impact of COVID‐19 on hunting and trade in wildlife. Here, we show the complex impacts of a pandemic, with contextually specific conservation positives (such as decreased trade), and conservation negatives (such as increased hunting to supplement loss of employment). We illustrate the importance of establishing sustainable, non‐wildlife‐dependent livelihoods within rural communities, to mitigate hunting and the potential for disease transmission, and the value in engaging with hunters to understand locally and spatially specific trends in global conservation challenges. [ FROM AUTHOR]

Discovery of a coronavirus in the Eurasian badger (Meles meles) belonging to a putative new genus.

In the aftermath of COVID-19, coronaviruses gained renewed attention by the scientific community. The study reports the identification and genetic characterization of a novel coronavirus in the European badger (Meles meles) obtained in the framework of passive surveillance implemented in Italian wildlife in response to the pandemic. Positive samples were characterized using next generation sequencing as well as genetic and phylogenetic analyses, aiming for taxonomic placement under ICTV guidelines of the viruses contained in each sample. Results obtained for six conserved domains within the polyprotein showed that the virus clustered as outgroup and shared <46% amino acid identity with other coronaviruses, supporting the assumption that it belongs to a new putative genus Epsiloncoronavirus. This finding highlights that mammals still hide diverse coronaviruses whose zoonotic and epizootic potential remains unknown.

White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) may serve as a wildlife reservoir for nearly extinct SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

The spillover of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) from humans to white-tailed deer (WTD) and its ability to transmit from deer to deer raised concerns about the role of WTD in the epidemiology and ecology of the virus. Here, we present a comprehensive cross-sectional study assessing the prevalence, genetic diversity, and evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in WTD in the State of New York (NY). A total of 5,462 retropharyngeal lymph node samples collected from free-ranging hunter-harvested WTD during the hunting seasons of 2020 (Season 1, September to December 2020, n = 2,700) and 2021 (Season 2, September to December 2021, n = 2,762) were tested by SARS-CoV-2 real-time RT-PCR (rRT-PCR). SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 17 samples (0.6%) from Season 1 and in 583 samples (21.1%) from Season 2. Hotspots of infection were identified in multiple confined geographic areas of NY. Sequence analysis of SARS-CoV-2 genomes from 164 samples demonstrated the presence of multiple SARS-CoV-2 lineages and the cocirculation of three major variants of concern (VOCs) (Alpha, Gamma, and Delta) in WTD. Our analysis suggests the occurrence of multiple spillover events (human to deer) of the Alpha and Delta lineages with subsequent deer-to-deer transmission and adaptation of the viruses. Detection of Alpha and Gamma variants in WTD long after their broad circulation in humans in NY suggests that WTD may serve as a wildlife reservoir for VOCs no longer circulating in humans. Thus, implementation of continuous surveillance programs to monitor SARS-CoV-2 dynamics in WTD is warranted, and measures to minimize virus transmission between humans and animals are urgently needed.

Risk of Viral Infectious Diseases from Live Bats, Primates, Rodents and Carnivores for Sale in Indonesian Wildlife Markets.

Southeast Asia is considered a global hotspot of emerging zoonotic diseases. There, wildlife is commonly traded under poor sanitary conditions in open markets; these markets have been considered 'the perfect storm' for zoonotic disease transmission. We assessed the potential of wildlife trade in spreading viral diseases by quantifying the number of wild animals of four mammalian orders (Rodentia, Chiroptera, Carnivora and Primates) on sale in 14 Indonesian wildlife markets and identifying zoonotic viruses potentially hosted by these animals. We constructed a network analysis to visualize the animals that are traded alongside each other that may carry similar viruses. We recorded 6725 wild animals of at least 15 species on sale. Cities and markets with larger human population and number of stalls, respectively, offered more individuals for sale. Eight out of 15 animal taxa recorded are hosts of 17 zoonotic virus species, nine of which can infect more than one species as a host. The network analysis showed that long-tailed macaque has the greatest potential for spreading viral diseases, since it is simultaneously the most traded species, sold in 13/14 markets, and a potential host for nine viruses. It is traded alongside pig-tailed macaques in three markets, with which it shares six viruses in common (Cowpox, Dengue, Hepatitis E, Herpes B, Simian foamy, and Simian retrovirus type D). Short-nosed fruit bats and large flying foxes are potential hosts of Nipah virus and are also sold in large quantities in 10/14 markets. This study highlights the need for better surveillance and sanitary conditions to avoid the negative health impacts of unregulated wildlife markets.

SARS-CoV-2 and animals, a long story that doesn't have to end now: What we need to learn from the emergence of the Omicron variant.

OIE, the world organization for animal health, recently released an update on the state of the art of knowledge regarding SARS-CoV-2 in animals. For farmed animals, ferrets and minks were found to be highly susceptible to the virus and develop symptomatic disease both in natural conditions and in experimental infections. Lagomorphs of the species Oryctolagus cuniculus are indicated as highly susceptible to the virus under experimental conditions, but show no symptoms of the disease and do not transmit the virus between conspecifics, unlike raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), which in addition to being highly susceptible to the virus under experimental conditions, can also transmit the virus between conspecifics. Among felines, the circulation of the virus has reached a level of cases such as sometimes suggests the experimental use of vaccines for human use or treatments with monoclonal antibodies. But even among wild animals, several species (White-tailed deer, Egyptian rousettes, and minks) have now been described as potential natural reservoirs of the virus. This proven circulation of SARS-CoV-2 among animals has not been accompanied by the development of an adequate surveillance system that allows following the evolution of the virus among its natural hosts. This will be all the more relevant as the surveillance system in humans inevitably drops and we move to surveillance by sentinels similar to the human flu virus. The lesson that we can draw from the emergence of Omicron and, more than likely, its animal origin must not be lost, and in this mini-review, we explain why.

The impacts of a global pandemic on the efficacy and stability of contemporary wildlife conservation: South Africa as a case study.

Conservationists speculated on potential benefits to wildlife of lockdown restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic but voiced concern that restrictions impeded nature conservation. We assessed the effects of lockdown restrictions on biodiversity conservation in South Africa, a biodiverse country with economic inequality and reliance on wildlife resources. We solicited expert opinion using the IUCN's Threats Classification Scheme to structure a questionnaire and illustrated responses with individual case studies from government parastatal and non-governmental conservation organisations. The most highly reported threats were biological resource use, residential/commercial developments, invasive species, and human intrusions. The trends reported by 90 survey respondents were supported by case studies using environmental compliance data from parastatal conservation organisations. Lack of tourism revenue and funding were cited as hindrances to conservation. Mechanisms to prevent environmental degradation in the face of global emergencies must be implemented and 'ring-fenced' to ensure conservation is not a casualty during future global crises.