When It Strikes, Are We Ready? Lessons Identified at the 7th Planetary Defense Conference in Preparing for a Near-Earth Object Impact Scenario

Abstract Near-Earth object (NEO) impact is one of the examples of high impact and low probability (HILP) event, same as the Covid-19 pandemic the world faces since the beginning of 2020. The 7th Planetary Defense Conference held by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) in April 2021 included an exercise on a hypothetical NEO impact event, allowing the planetary defense community to discuss potential responses. Over the span of the 4-day conference this exercise connected disaster response and management professionals to participate in a series of panels, providing feedback and perspective on the unfolding crisis scenario. The hypothetical but realistic asteroid threat scenario illustrated how such a short-warning threat might evolve. The scenario utilized during the conference indicates a need to prepare now for what might come in the future, because even with advance notice, preparation time might be minimal. This scenario chose Europe for the impact, which may likely cope with such a disaster, through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) and other solidarity and support mechanisms within the European Union (EU), as well as with potential support from international partners. This short article raises concern about other areas in the world on how they may access NEO impact information and cope with such disasters. It also provides an idea on vast scale of such disaster vis-à-vis the current capacity of response systems to cope with a larger event in Europe or elsewhere. This scenario showed that planetary defense is a global endeavor. Constant engagement of the planetary defense and disaster response communities is essential in order to keep the world safe from potential disasters caused by NEO impacts.</jats:p

Dissemination and implementation of an educational tool for veterans on complementary and alternative medicine: a case study

Background Predicting when and where pathogens will emerge is difficult, yet, as shown by the recent Ebola and Zika epidemics, effective and timely responses are key. It is therefore crucial to transition from reactive to proactive responses for these pathogens. To better identify priorities for outbreak mitigation and prevention, we developed a cohesive framework combining disparate methods and data sources, and assessed subnational pandemic potential for four viral haemorrhagic fevers in Africa, Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease, Lassa fever, and Marburg virus disease. Methods In this multistage analysis, we quantified three stages underlying the potential of widespread viral haemorrhagic fever epidemics. Environmental suitability maps were used to define stage 1, index-case potential, which assesses populations at risk of infection due to spillover from zoonotic hosts or vectors, identifying where index cases could present. Stage 2, outbreak potential, iterates upon an existing framework, the Index for Risk Management, to measure potential for secondary spread in people within specific communities. For stage 3, epidemic potential, we combined local and international scale connectivity assessments with stage 2 to evaluate possible spread of local outbreaks nationally, regionally, and internationally. Findings We found epidemic potential to vary within Africa, with regions where viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks have previously occurred (eg, western Africa) and areas currently considered non-endemic (eg, Cameroon and Ethiopia) both ranking highly. Tracking transitions between stages showed how an index case can escalate into a widespread epidemic in the absence of intervention (eg, Nigeria and Guinea). Our analysis showed Chad, Somalia, and South Sudan to be highly susceptible to any outbreak at subnational levels. Interpretation Our analysis provides a unified assessment of potential epidemic trajectories, with the aim of allowing national and international agencies to pre-emptively evaluate needs and target resources. Within each country, our framework identifies at-risk subnational locations in which to improve surveillance, diagnostic capabilities, and health systems in parallel with the design of policies for optimal responses at each stage. In conjunction with pandemic preparedness activities, assessments such as ours can identify regions where needs and provisions do not align, and thus should be targeted for future strengthening and support

Wherever I may roam-Human activity alters movements of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and elk (Cervus canadensis) across two continents

Human activity and associated landscape modifications alter the movements of animals with consequences for populations and ecosystems worldwide. Species performing long-distance movements are thought to be particularly sensitive to human impact. Despite the increasing anthropogenic pressure, it remains challenging to understand and predict animals' responses to human activity. Here we address this knowledge gap using 1206 Global Positioning System movement trajectories of 815 individuals from 14 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and 14 elk (Cervus canadensis) populations spanning wide environmental gradients, namely the latitudinal range from the Alps to Scandinavia in Europe, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in North America. We measured individual-level movements relative to the environmental context, or movement expression, using the standardized metric Intensity of Use, reflecting both the directionality and extent of movements. We expected movement expression to be affected by resource (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) predictability and topography, but those factors to be superseded by human impact. Red deer and elk movement expression varied along a continuum, from highly segmented trajectories over relatively small areas (high intensity of use), to directed transitions through restricted corridors (low intensity of use). Human activity (Human Footprint Index, HFI) was the strongest driver of movement expression, with a steep increase in Intensity of Use as HFI increased, but only until a threshold was reached. After exceeding this level of impact, the Intensity of Use remained unchanged. These results indicate the overall sensitivity of Cervus movement expression to human activity and suggest a limitation of plastic responses under high human pressure, despite the species also occurring in human-dominated landscapes. Our work represents the first comparison of metric-based movement expression across widely distributed populations of a deer genus, contributing to the understanding and prediction of animals' responses to human activit

Wherever I may roam—Human activity alters movements of red deer (Cervus elaphus) and elk (Cervus canadensis) across two continents

Human activity and associated landscape modifications alter the movements of ani-mals with consequences for populations and ecosystems worldwide. Species perform-ing long-distance movements are thought to be particularly sensitive to human impact. Despite the increasing anthropogenic pressure, it remains challenging to understand and predict animals' responses to human activity. Here we address this knowledge gap using 1206 Global Positioning System movement trajectories of 815 individuals from 14 red deer (Cervus elaphus) and 14 elk (Cervus canadensis) populations spanning wide environmental gradients, namely the latitudinal range from the Alps to Scandinavia in Europe, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in North America. We measured individual-level movements relative to the environmental context, or movement ex-pression, using the standardized metric Intensity of Use, reflecting both the directional-ity and extent of movements. We expected movement expression to be affected by resource (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) predictability and topogra-phy, but those factors to be superseded by human impact. Red deer and elk movement expression varied along a continuum, from highly segmented trajectories over relatively small areas (high intensity of use), to directed transitions through restricted corridors (low intensity of use). Human activity (Human Footprint Index, HFI) was the strong-est driver of movement expression, with a steep increase in Intensity of Use as HFI increased, but only until a threshold was reached. After exceeding this level of impact, the Intensity of Use remained unchanged. These results indicate the overall sensitivity of Cervus movement expression to human activity and suggest a limitation of plastic responses under high human pressure, despite the species also occurring in human-dominated landscapes. Our work represents the first comparison of metric- based movement expression across widely distributed populations of a deer genus, contribut-ing to the understanding and prediction of animals' responses to human activity.publishedVersio

T. brucei Infection Reduces B Lymphopoiesis in Bone Marrow and Truncates Compensatory Splenic Lymphopoiesis through Transitional B-Cell Apoptosis

African trypanosomes of the Trypanosoma brucei species are extracellular protozoan parasites that cause the deadly disease African trypanosomiasis in humans and contribute to the animal counterpart, Nagana. Trypanosome clearance from the bloodstream is mediated by antibodies specific for their Variant Surface Glycoprotein (VSG) coat antigens. However, T. brucei infection induces polyclonal B cell activation, B cell clonal exhaustion, sustained depletion of mature splenic Marginal Zone B (MZB) and Follicular B (FoB) cells, and destruction of the B-cell memory compartment. To determine how trypanosome infection compromises the humoral immune defense system we used a C57BL/6 T. brucei AnTat 1.1 mouse model and multicolor flow cytometry to document B cell development and maturation during infection. Our results show a more than 95% reduction in B cell precursor numbers from the CLP, pre-pro-B, pro-B, pre-B and immature B cell stages in the bone marrow. In the spleen, T. brucei induces extramedullary B lymphopoiesis as evidenced by significant increases in HSC-LMPP, CLP, pre-pro-B, pro-B and pre-B cell populations. However, final B cell maturation is abrogated by infection-induced apoptosis of transitional B cells of both the T1 and T2 populations which is not uniquely dependent on TNF-, Fas-, or prostaglandin-dependent death pathways. Results obtained from ex vivo co-cultures of living bloodstream form trypanosomes and splenocytes demonstrate that trypanosome surface coat-dependent contact with T1/2 B cells triggers their deletion. We conclude that infection-induced and possibly parasite-contact dependent deletion of transitional B cells prevents replenishment of mature B cell compartments during infection thus contributing to a loss of the host's capacity to sustain antibody responses against recurring parasitemic waves

Obstacles on the way to the clinical visualisation of beta cells: looking for the Aeneas of molecular imaging to navigate between Scylla and Charybdis

For more than a decade, researchers have been trying to develop non-invasive imaging techniques for the in vivo measurement of viable pancreatic beta cells. However, in spite of intense research efforts, only one tracer for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is currently under clinical evaluation. To many diabetologists it may remain unclear why the imaging world struggles to develop an effective method for non-invasive beta cell imaging (BCI), which could be useful for both research and clinical purposes. Here, we provide a concise overview of the obstacles and challenges encountered on the way to such BCI, in both native and transplanted islets. We discuss the major difficulties posed by the anatomical and cell biological features of pancreatic islets, as well as the chemical and physical limits of the main imaging modalities, with special focus on PET, SPECT and MRI. We conclude by indicating new avenues for future research in the field, based on several remarkable recent results

A EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK FOR RECORDING AND SHARING DISASTER DAMAGE AND LOSS DATA

The recently adopted ‘Sendai Framework for Action on Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030’ sets the goals to reduce loss of life, livelihood and critical infrastructure through enhanced national planning and international cooperation. The new Framework is expected to enhance global, regional and national efforts for building resilience to disasters, across the entire disaster management cycle (prevention, preparedness, response and early recovery). Improved monitoring and accountability frameworks, relying on harmonized disaster loss data will be required for meeting the targets and for capturing the levels of progress across different scales of governance. To overcome the problems of heterogeneous disaster data and terminologies, guidelines for reporting disaster damage and losses in a structured manner will be necessary to help national and regional bodies compile this information. In the European Union, the Member States and the European Commission worked together on the establishment of guidelines for recording and sharing disaster damage and loss data as a first step towards the development of operational indicators to translate the Sendai Framework into action. This paper describes the progress to date in setting a common framework for recording disaster damage and loss data in the European Union and identifies the challenges ahead

The most recent view of vulnerability

publishedVersio

DNA metabarcoding of air samples for the taxonomic identification of airborne pollen

Metabarcoding is a promising DNA-based method for identifying airborne pollen from environmental samples, with potential advantages over microscopic methods. This method includes several steps and its successful outcome depends on a good DNA quality and quantity, which will be used as a starting material. Currently, there is no clear protocol for the sample preparation and the DNA extraction, especially for gravitational pollen samplers. Here, we present a methodology to analyze environmental samples collected by both volumetric (Burkard spore trap) and gravitational samplers (Tauber trap). For this, we compared different protocols (e.g. DNA extraction kits) on pure pollen (single species) and the best combination, in terms of DNA yield, was applied to environmental samples (pollen mixtures of different taxa). For the environmental samples, a short fragment (about 150 base pairs) of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) was amplified by universal primers for plants (trnL), 30 amplicons were Sanger-sequenced and the taxonomic assignment was accomplished through a comparison to a reference custom-made database, including important widespread anemophilous taxa from the study area (Eastern Italian Alps). Having as reference the microscope results, we proved that metabarcoding is efficient in identifying taxa even at the species level, having established improved protocols and a good reference database. We plan to apply a semi-quantitative analysis by Next Generation Sequencing to assess the pollen spectra of different Natura 2000 habitats in the Alps