Before the Pandemic Ends: Making Sure This Never Happens Again

Introduction On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Global Health Emergency of international concern attendant to the emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2, nearly two months after the first reported emergence of human cases in Wuhan, China. In the subsequent two months, global, national and local health personnel and infrastructures have been overwhelmed, leading to suffering and death for infected people, and the threat of socio-economic instability and potential collapse for humanity as a whole. This shows that our current and traditional mode of coping, anchored in responses after the fact, is not capable of dealing with the crisis of emerging infectious disease. Given all of our technological expertise, why is there an emerging disease crisis, and why are we losing the battle to contain and diminish emerging diseases? Part of the reason is that the prevailing paradigm explaining the biology of pathogen-host associations (coevolution, evolutionary arms races) has assumed that pathogens must evolve new capacities - special mutations – in order to colonize new hosts and produce emergent disease (e.g. Parrish and Kawaoka, 2005). In this erroneous but broadly prevalent view, the evolution of new capacities creates new opportunities for pathogens. Further, given that mutations are both rare and undirected, the highly specialized nature of pathogen-host relationships should produce an evolutionary firewall limiting dissemination; by those definitions, emergences should be rare (for a historical review see Brooks et al., 2019). Pathogens, however, have become far better at finding us than our traditional understanding predicts. We face considerable risk space for pathogens and disease that directly threaten us, our crops and livestock – through expanding interfaces bringing pathogens and hosts into increasing proximity, exacerbated by environmental disruption and urban density, fueled by globalized trade and travel. We need a new paradigm that explains what we are seeing. Additional section headers: The Stockholm Paradigm The DAMA Protocol A Sense of Urgency and Long-Term Commitment Reference

Building an integrated infrastructure for exploring biodiversity: field collections and archives of mammals and parasites.

Museum specimens play an increasingly important role in predicting the outcomes and revealing the consequences of anthropogenically driven disruption of the biosphere. As ecological communities respond to ongoing environmental change, host-parasite interactions are also altered. This shifting landscape of host-parasite associations creates opportunities for colonization of different hosts and emergence of new pathogens, with implications for wildlife conservation and management, public health, and other societal concerns. Integrated archives that document and preserve mammal specimens along with their communities of associated parasites and ancillary data provide a powerful resource for investigating, anticipating, and mitigating the epidemiological, ecological, and evolutionary impacts of environmental perturbation. Mammalogists who collect and archive mammal specimens have a unique opportunity to expand the scope and impact of their field work by collecting the parasites that are associated with their study organisms. We encourage mammalogists to embrace an integrated and holistic sampling paradigm and advocate for this to become standard practice for museum-based collecting. To this end, we provide a detailed, field-tested protocol to give mammalogists the tools to collect and preserve host and parasite materials that are of high quality and suitable for a range of potential downstream analyses (e.g., genetic, morphological). Finally, we also encourage increased global cooperation across taxonomic disciplines to build an integrated series of baselines and snapshots of the changing biosphere. Los especímenes de museo desempeñan un papel cada vez más importante tanto en la descripción de los resultados de la alteración antropogénica de la biosfera como en la predicción de sus consecuencias. Dado que las comunidades ecológicas responden al cambio ambiental, también se alteran las interacciones hospedador-parásito. Este panorama cambiante de asociaciones hospedador-parásito crea oportunidades para la colonización de diferentes hospedadores y para la aparición de nuevos patógenos, con implicancias en la conservación y manejo de la vida silvestre, la salud pública y otras preocupaciones de importancia para la sociedad. Archivos integrados que documentan y preservan especímenes de mamíferos junto con sus comunidades de parásitos y datos asociados, proporcionan un fuerte recurso para investigar, anticipar y mitigar los impactos epidemiológicos, ecológicos y evolutivos de las perturbaciones ambientales. Los mastozoólogos que recolectan y archivan muestras de mamíferos, tienen una oportunidad única de ampliar el alcance e impacto de su trabajo de campo mediante la recolección de los parásitos que están asociados con los organismos que estudian. Alentamos a los mastozoólogos a adoptar un paradigma de muestreo integrado y holístico y abogamos para que esto se convierta en una práctica estándarizada de la obtención de muestras para museos. Con este objetivo, proporcionamos un protocolo detallado y probado en el campo para brindar a los mastozoólogos las herramientas para recolectar y preservar materiales de parásitos y hospedadores de alta calidad y adecuados para una gran variedad de análisis subsecuentes (e.g., genéticos, morfológicos, etc.). Finalmente, también abogamos por una mayor cooperación global entre las diversas disciplinas taxonómicas para construir una serie integrada de líneas de base y registros actuales de nuestra cambiante biosfera

The direction of research into visual disability and quality of life in glaucoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Glaucoma will undoubtedly impact on a person's ability to function as they go about their day-to-day life. The purpose of this study is to investigate the amount of published knowledge in quality of life (QoL) and visual disability studies for glaucoma, and make comparisons with similar research in other chronic conditions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic literature search of the Global Health, EMBASE Psychiatry and MEDLINE databases. Title searches for glaucoma and six other example chronic diseases were entered alongside a selection of keywords chosen to capture studies focusing on QoL and everyday task ability. These results were further filtered during a manual search of resulting abstracts. Outcomes were the number of publications per year for each disease, number relating to QoL and type of glaucoma QoL research.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifteen years ago there were no published studies relating to the impact of glaucoma on QoL but by 2009 this had risen to 1.2% of all glaucoma articles. The number of papers relating to QoL as a proportion of all papers in glaucoma in the past 10 years (0.6%) is smaller than for AMD and some other disabling chronic diseases. Most QoL studies in glaucoma (82%) involve questionnaires.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>QoL studies in glaucoma are increasing in number but represent a tiny minority of the total publications in glaucoma research. There are fewer QoL articles in glaucoma compared to some other disabling chronic conditions. The majority of QoL articles in glaucoma research use questionnaires; performance-based measures of visual disability may offer an additional method of determining how the disease impacts on QoL.</p

Measurement of the beam-helicity asymmetry in photoproduction of π0η pairs on carbon, aluminum, and lead

The beam-helicity asymmetry was measured, for the first time, in photoproduction of π0η pairs on carbon, aluminum, and lead, with the A2 experimental setup at MAMI. The results are compared to an earlier measurement on a free proton and to the corresponding theoretical calculations. The Mainz model is used to predict the beam-helicity asymmetry for the nuclear targets. The present results indicate that the photoproduction mechanism for π0η pairs on nuclei is similar to photoproduction on a free nucleon. This process is dominated by the D33 partial wave with the ηΔ(1232) intermediate state

The endocranial anatomy of Therizinosauria and its implications for sensory and cognitive function

BACKGROUND: Therizinosauria is one of the most enigmatic and peculiar clades among theropod dinosaurs, exhibiting an unusual suite of characters, such as lanceolate teeth, a rostral rhamphotheca, long manual claws, and a wide, opisthopubic pelvis. This specialized anatomy has been associated with a shift in dietary preferences and an adaptation to herbivory. Despite a large number of discoveries in recent years, the fossil record for Therizinosauria is still relatively poor, and cranial remains are particularly rare. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Based on computed tomographic (CT) scanning of the nearly complete and articulated skull of Erlikosaurus andrewsi, as well as partial braincases of two other therizinosaurian taxa, the endocranial anatomy is reconstructed and described. The wider phylogenetic range of the described specimens permits the evaluation of sensory and cognitive capabilities of Therizinosauria in an evolutionary context. The endocranial anatomy reveals a mosaic of plesiomorphic and derived characters in therizinosaurians. The anatomy of the olfactory apparatus and the endosseous labyrinth suggests that olfaction, hearing, and equilibrium were well-developed in therizinosaurians and might have affected or benefited from an enlarged telencephalon. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This study presents the first appraisal of the evolution of endocranial anatomy and sensory adaptations in Therizinosauria. Despite their phylogenetically basal position among maniraptoran dinosaurs, therizinosaurians had developed the neural pathways for a well developed sensory repertoire. In particular olfaction and hearing may have played an important role in foraging, predator evasion, and/or social complexity

Gap functions for quasi-variational inequalities via duality

Abstract This paper deals with an application of duality theory in optimization to the construction of gap functions for quasi-variational inequalities. The same approach was investigated for variational inequalities and equilibrium problems in (Pac. J. Optim. 2(3): 667-678, 2006; Asia-Pac. J. Oper. Res. 24(3): 353-371, 2007), and the study shows that we can obtain some previous results for variational inequalities as special cases. Moreover, some applications dealing with the generalized Nash equilibrium problems and mixed variational inequalities are presented

Hobergia irazuensis Gardner & Dursahinhan & Campbell & Rácz 2020, n. gen., n. sp.

&lt;i&gt;Hobergia irazuensis&lt;/i&gt; n. gen., n. sp. &lt;p&gt;(Figures 1&ndash;6)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;LSIDurn:lsid:zoobank.org:act: 84C2C2D1-5ACC-4177-9EC4-BE630DC7FB8&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Type Host:&lt;/b&gt; &lt;i&gt;Heterogeomys heterodus&lt;/i&gt; (Peters, 1865).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Type locality:&lt;/b&gt; Agricultural field, approximately 12 km from Iraz&uacute; volcano, on the northeastern edge of Potrero Cerrado, Cartago, Costa Rica, altitude 2,140 m; lat. 9&deg;55&acute;18&rdquo; N, long. 83&deg;52&acute;41&rdquo; W.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Symbiotype host:&lt;/b&gt; (See Frey &lt;i&gt;et al&lt;/i&gt;., 1992) Variable pocket gopher, &lt;i&gt;Heterogeomys heterodus&lt;/i&gt; (Peters 1865) (Rodentia: Geomyidae).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Symbiotype catalog number:&lt;/b&gt; Not available.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Type locality/collection date:&lt;/b&gt; Potrero Cerrado, Cartago, Costa Rica, Elevation: 2,140 m; lat. 9&deg;55&acute;18&rdquo; N, long. 83&deg;52&acute;41&rdquo; W; 28 March 1990.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Collector:&lt;/b&gt; Dr. Never Bonino and students.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Site of infection:&lt;/b&gt; Small intestine.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Prevalence:&lt;/b&gt; (5.3%) 2 of 38 specimens of &lt;i&gt;Heterogeomys heterodus&lt;/i&gt; infected, one male and one female.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Specimens deposited:&lt;/b&gt; Holotype, HWML139040&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Specimens examined:&lt;/b&gt; Paratypes: HWML 39041, HWML 139042, HWML 139043, HWML 139044, HWML 139045, HWML 13946, HWML 13947, HWML 13948, HWML 13949, HWML 13950, HWML 13951, HWML 13952, HWML 13953, HWML 139054.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Description:&lt;/b&gt; Fourteen specimens were studied for the following description, not all specimens had all characters visible. Scolex unarmed (Fig. 1), N = 5, 334&ndash;426 (393 &plusmn; 30) in maximum width. Apical organ (AO) present, N = 13, 20&ndash;32 (24 &plusmn; 3) in length. Each osmoregulatory duct terminates in the scolex near posterior end of AO but none penetrate the AO sac (posterior part of the AO) [Figure 1]. Apical organ sac, N = 12, 96&ndash;128 (114 &plusmn; 9) long by N= 9, 61&ndash;75 (68 &plusmn; 5) wide. Apical organ sac not reaching beyond the posterior margins of suckers. Suckers, N = 48, 102&ndash;146 (128 &plusmn; 11) long by N = 53, 110-161 (134 &plusmn; 11) wide. Well-defined foveolae present (Figure 2). Neck, N = 8, 708&ndash;899 (801 &plusmn; 66) long by N= 12, 261-307 (284 &plusmn; 17) in maximum width. Strobila, N = 4, 52.85 mm&ndash; 64.64 mm (60.00 &plusmn; 5.13 mm) long, with N = 8, 531&ndash;640 (587 &plusmn; 34) proglottids; maximum width N = 7, 1.69&ndash;2.18 mm (1.91 &plusmn; 0.19 mm) occurs in gravid proglottids immediately anterior to terminal proglottids. Strobilar margins craspedote with intersegmental divisions clearly evident in mature and gravid proglottids; length-width ratio of mature and gravid proglottids 0.09&ndash;0.12 (N = 17) and 0.15&ndash;0.19 (N = 13). Proglottids wider than long. Genital pores unilateral, dextral, non-alternating. Genital atrium depth, N = 7, 14&ndash;18 (16 &plusmn; 2). Vaginal opening posterior and slightly ventral to cirrus opening. Genital ducts pass dorsally to longitudinal excretory canals. Dorsal canals, N = 15, 5&ndash;7 (6 &plusmn; 1) wide. Ventral canals, N = 20, 42&ndash;57 (51 &plusmn; 5) wide. Anlagen of genitalia first appearing N = 2,828&ndash;852 (840 &plusmn; 17) from anterior end. Cirrus sac piriform, N = 22, 145&ndash;197 (165 &plusmn; 16) in maximum length by N = 21, 41&ndash;56 (47 &plusmn; 5) in maximum width, antiporal end not overlapping excretory canals. Cirrus claviform, armed with minute spines, N = 11, 1.1-1.5 (1.2 &plusmn; 0.1) in length. Cirrus armature patterned in well-defined gridded rows (Fig. 3). Internal seminal vesicle piriform, N = 12, 85&ndash;111 (98 &plusmn; 9) long by N = 14, 34&ndash;44 (38 &plusmn; 4) wide. External seminal vesicle (ESV), N =24, 220&ndash;289 (251 &plusmn; 23) long by N = 15, 70&ndash;90 (80 &plusmn; 5) in maximum width. ESV, elongate, fusiform, situated anterior to poral testis. Testes N = 58, 132&ndash;179 (155 &plusmn; 15) long by N = 36, 78&ndash;107 (91 &plusmn; 9) wide, one poral and two antiporal. Testes arrangement usually triangular, sometimes more linear, arrangement depends on level of contrac- tion (or relaxation) of strobila (relaxed strobila always with testes arranged in triangular pattern (Fig. 4). Seminal receptacle, N = 12, 369&ndash;482 (419 &plusmn; 41) long by N = 18, 55&ndash;74 (64 &plusmn; 6) in maximum width, extending anterior to ovary. Ovary N = 19, 125&ndash;166 (148 &plusmn; 15) in maximum length by N = 45, 288&ndash;405 (341 &plusmn; 32) in maximum width. Ovary markedly bilobed, each lobe subdivided into globular fan-shaped lobules extending laterad. Lateral lobes connected centrally in segment via thin isthmus (Fig. 4). Vitelline gland, N = 42, 132&ndash;199 (172 &plusmn; 17) wide by N = 31, 57&ndash;79 (67 &plusmn; 6) in maximum length, margins with small lobules, situated medially and posterior to ovary and anterior to transverse ducts of ventral osmoregulatory canals. Uterus first appearing as undefined tube extending bilaterad from area of o ӧtype, appearing quickly in developing mature proglottids with uterus extending transversely through segment before eggs are evident within. Gravid proglottids filled entirely by saccular uterus. Internal organs, displaced by gravid uterus, persist in gravid proglottids (Fig. 5). Strobila with anapolytic proglottids. Eggs N = 51, 34&ndash;45 (39 &plusmn; 3) long by N = 51, 25&ndash;42 (34 &plusmn; 3) wide, sub-spherical. Embryo, N = 51, 20&ndash;28 (24 &plusmn; 2) long by N = 51, 18&ndash;27 (21 &plusmn;2) wide (Fig. 6), with sub-spherical shape. Embryo hooks as follows: larger hooks of first and third pairs, total length, N = 51, 9&ndash;12 (11 &plusmn; 1) long by N = 51, 2&ndash;3 (2 &plusmn; 0.2) wide at guard. Handle, N = 51, 4&ndash;7 (6 &plusmn; 1) long, blade, N = 51, 3&ndash;5 (4 &plusmn; 0.3) long. Larger hooks of first and third pairs have robust, wide guards. Smaller hooks of first and third pairs, total length, N = 45, 9&ndash;13 (11 &plusmn; 1) long by N = 46, 1&ndash;2 (1.8 &plusmn; 0.2) wide at guard. Handle, N = 46, 4&ndash;7 (6 &plusmn; 1) long, blade, N = 46, 3&ndash;5 (4 &plusmn; 0.4) long. Smaller hooks of first and third pairs have narrow, more delicate guards. Middle pair of hooks, total length, N = 24, 11&ndash;14 (12 &plusmn; 1) long by N = 24, 1&ndash;2 (1.7 &plusmn; 0.2) wide at guard, handle, N = 24, 6&ndash;8 (7 &plusmn; 1) long, blade, N = 24, 4&ndash;6 (5 &plusmn; 1) long. Middle pair of hooks usually longer than hooks of 1st and 3rd pairs with a less tapered guard and deeply rounded blade.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Etymology:&lt;/b&gt; &lt;i&gt;Hobergia irazuensis&lt;/i&gt; &lt;b&gt;n. sp.&lt;/b&gt; was named for the Volc&aacute;n Iraz&uacute; near the type locality, Costa Rica, northern Neotropical region.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Remarks:&lt;/b&gt; &lt;i&gt;Hobergia irazuensis&lt;/i&gt; &lt;b&gt;n. gen., n. sp.&lt;/b&gt; exhibits the characteristics of &lt;i&gt;Hymenolepis&lt;/i&gt; as defined by Schmidt (1986) but refined and complemented by Makarikov &amp; Tkach (2013). The following comparisons are restricted to members of the genus &lt;i&gt;Hymenolepis&lt;/i&gt; known to occur in mammals of the Nearctic region, see Gardner (1985) and Gardner &amp; Schmidt (1988).&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt; Comparison of &lt;i&gt;H. irazuensis&lt;/i&gt; n. gen., n. sp. with other hymenolepidids found in the Nearctic&lt;/b&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Hobergia irazuensis&lt;/i&gt; &lt;b&gt;n. gen.&lt;/b&gt;, &lt;b&gt;n. sp.&lt;/b&gt; is readily distinguishable from all other known species of Hymenolepididae in the Nearctic by the presence of sucker foveolae on the scolex. Each of the four suckers on the scolex has a pocketlike foveola in which the sucker can retract. The tissue of the foveola covers each sucker with a thin membrane (Fig. 2) which appears striated and likely involved in foveola structure or function in retraction of the suckers into the foveolae. Additionally, &lt;i&gt;H. irazuensis&lt;/i&gt; can be differentiated from species of &lt;i&gt;Hymenolepis s. str.&lt;/i&gt; in the Nearctic by the following characters: Ovary extremely bilobed with a central thin isthmus only a few cells in diameter; no other described species of &lt;i&gt;Hymenolepis s. str.&lt;/i&gt; has this structure. In addition, the new species has a much longer and wider scolex and wider neck relative to all described species.&lt;/p&gt;Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Gardner, Scott L., Dursahinhan, Altangerel T., Campbell, Mariel L. &amp; Rácz, S. Elizabeth, 2020, A new genus and two new species of unarmed hymenolepidid cestodes (Cestoda Hymenolepididae) from geomyid rodents in Mexico and Costa Rica, pp. 358-376 in Zootaxa 4766 (2)&lt;/i&gt; on pages 364-367, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4766.2.5, &lt;a href="http://zenodo.org/record/3763479"&gt;http://zenodo.org/record/3763479&lt;/a&gt