Voronoi Particle Merging Algorithm for PIC Codes

We present a new particle-merging algorithm for the particle-in-cell method. Based on the concept of the Voronoi diagram, the algorithm partitions the phase space into smaller subsets, which consist of only particles that are in close proximity in the phase space to each other. We show the performance of our algorithm in the case of the two-stream instability and the magnetic shower.Comment: 11 figure

Socializing One Health: an innovative strategy to investigate social and behavioral risks of emerging viral threats

In an effort to strengthen global capacity to prevent, detect, and control infectious diseases in animals and people, the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) PREDICT project funded development of regional, national, and local One Health capacities for early disease detection, rapid response, disease control, and risk reduction. From the outset, the EPT approach was inclusive of social science research methods designed to understand the contexts and behaviors of communities living and working at human-animal-environment interfaces considered high-risk for virus emergence. Using qualitative and quantitative approaches, PREDICT behavioral research aimed to identify and assess a range of socio-cultural behaviors that could be influential in zoonotic disease emergence, amplification, and transmission. This broad approach to behavioral risk characterization enabled us to identify and characterize human activities that could be linked to the transmission dynamics of new and emerging viruses. This paper provides a discussion of implementation of a social science approach within a zoonotic surveillance framework. We conducted in-depth ethnographic interviews and focus groups to better understand the individual- and community-level knowledge, attitudes, and practices that potentially put participants at risk for zoonotic disease transmission from the animals they live and work with, across 6 interface domains. When we asked highly-exposed individuals (ie. bushmeat hunters, wildlife or guano farmers) about the risk they perceived in their occupational activities, most did not perceive it to be risky, whether because it was normalized by years (or generations) of doing such an activity, or due to lack of information about potential risks. Integrating the social sciences allows investigations of the specific human activities that are hypothesized to drive disease emergence, amplification, and transmission, in order to better substantiate behavioral disease drivers, along with the social dimensions of infection and transmission dynamics. Understanding these dynamics is critical to achieving health security--the protection from threats to health-- which requires investments in both collective and individual health security. Involving behavioral sciences into zoonotic disease surveillance allowed us to push toward fuller community integration and engagement and toward dialogue and implementation of recommendations for disease prevention and improved health security

Application and policy implication of quantitative microbial risk assessment in developing countries

The development of QMRA and its application are seen mainly in developed countries whereas they are still at an early stage in developing countries. However there is a good potential that QMRA can be used more extensively in training and research and to set the standard of water quality and food safety in developing countries. This presentation highlights how training and research on QMRA have been done in Vietnam. As little trainings on risk assessment in general and no training on QMRA were available in Vietnam, we developed a training course of QMRA by gathering existing QMRA trainings, contextualizing and adapting them to the local context. The resulting course teaches participants about the concept of risk analysis, the steps of a QMRA, and how to implement these steps as well as risk communication and management. A first one-week training course was successfully organized. Risk related to wastewater reuse in agriculture and food safety was assessed using QMRA in Vietnam, Thailand and Ivory Coast. Diverse scenarios of exposure to wastewater when working with wastewater for agriculture and consumption of pork meat have been studied to quantify health risk. The results showed that water and vegetables were heavily contaminated with pathogens and risk was high in tested scenarios and largely exceeded the acceptable level set by WHO. Results identified the most critical points where risk is important and intervention can be focused. Findings can serve to improve policy and practices on waste reuse. QMRA training course has been recognised by health staff, lecturers, researchers, and policymakers at the MOH as a useful tool that provides scientific evidence for decision-making and risk management. Thus a book on QMRA was published in Vietnamese with support of MOH and WHO. University has adapted the health risk assessment course for undergraduate and graduate public health students. Other initiatives are going on to increase QMRA research activities

Towards Open Resources Using Services (TORUS)

L'obiettivo del progetto TORUS è quello di creare sinergie tra le scienze ambientali e il cloud computing per il processing di big-Data, per la preparazione di futuri programmi di formazione, e di progetti di ricerca in collaborazione con aziende private. In particolare l'attività è rivolta al trasferimento delle competenze tecnologiche nel campo del cloud computing e del processing di Big-Data acquisiti nell'ambito della fisica sperimentale alle scienze ambientali