In an ongoing series of spotlight interviews, Challenges Advisory Board Member and Nova Institute for Health Fellow, Alan C. Logan, meets with thought leaders, scientists, scholars, healthcare professionals, artisans and visionaries concerned about health at scales of persons, places and the planet. Here in the inaugural interview, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Dr. Helene Langevin, responds to a set of questions posed by Challenges. Dr. Langevin discusses the emerging concept of whole person health, and in particular, how the concept intersects with the grand and interconnected challenges of our time.
{"title":"Spotlight: An Interview with NCCIH Director, Dr. Helene M. Langevin, on Whole Person Health","authors":"A. Logan, H. Langevin","doi":"10.3390/challe13020042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020042","url":null,"abstract":"In an ongoing series of spotlight interviews, Challenges Advisory Board Member and Nova Institute for Health Fellow, Alan C. Logan, meets with thought leaders, scientists, scholars, healthcare professionals, artisans and visionaries concerned about health at scales of persons, places and the planet. Here in the inaugural interview, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, Dr. Helene Langevin, responds to a set of questions posed by Challenges. Dr. Langevin discusses the emerging concept of whole person health, and in particular, how the concept intersects with the grand and interconnected challenges of our time.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"12 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85355934","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Y. Tajudeen, I. Oladunjoye, Ousman Bajinka, H. Oladipo
Rapid deforestation and unprecedented wildlife trafficking are important factors triggering the rate of zoonotic spillover from animals to humans. Consequently, this leads to the emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases among the human population. Deforestation is an important ecological disruption that leads to the loss of biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity results in the persistence of highest-quality hosts of zoonotic pathogens dominating the low-diversity communities, a process termed the dilution effect. Activities like intensive farming and logging that resulted in deforestation bring vulnerable people in close contact with these highest-quality reservoir hosts (wildlife). As a result of this vulnerability, there is an increased risk of spillover, leading to zoonotic infection in humans and eventually disease outbreaks during human–human transmission. One prominent example of a disease of wildlife origin is the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus 2), even though the original source has not been found. Another important factor facilitating the risk of spillover and emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases is wildlife trafficking. This involves illegal hunting and trading of wildlife and their products, which increases the risk of spillover as a result of exchange of bodily fluids and bloodmeals between humans and wildlife during the hunting and butchering of animals’ carcasses. Consequently, little or no hygiene protocol and poor handling practices during the wildlife-trade chain expose poachers, consumers, and local market sellers to the risk of zoonotic diseases. Despite the interventions on deforestation-induced spillover and wildlife trafficking-associated spillover, there are still knowledge and research gaps that need to be addressed towards preventing the outbreaks of future zoonotic infectious diseases. In response to this, there is a need for interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations among researchers from various fields as well as sectors in minimizing the risk of zoonotic spillover driven by deforestation and wildlife trafficking at the human–animal–environmental nexus. In addition, there is a need for integrated and unified evidence-based policy formulation that puts an end to deforestation and wildlife trafficking, especially in tropical areas such as Africa and Asia.
{"title":"Zoonotic Spillover in an Era of Rapid Deforestation of Tropical Areas and Unprecedented Wildlife Trafficking: Into the Wild","authors":"Y. Tajudeen, I. Oladunjoye, Ousman Bajinka, H. Oladipo","doi":"10.3390/challe13020041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020041","url":null,"abstract":"Rapid deforestation and unprecedented wildlife trafficking are important factors triggering the rate of zoonotic spillover from animals to humans. Consequently, this leads to the emergence and re-emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases among the human population. Deforestation is an important ecological disruption that leads to the loss of biodiversity. The loss of biodiversity results in the persistence of highest-quality hosts of zoonotic pathogens dominating the low-diversity communities, a process termed the dilution effect. Activities like intensive farming and logging that resulted in deforestation bring vulnerable people in close contact with these highest-quality reservoir hosts (wildlife). As a result of this vulnerability, there is an increased risk of spillover, leading to zoonotic infection in humans and eventually disease outbreaks during human–human transmission. One prominent example of a disease of wildlife origin is the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus 2), even though the original source has not been found. Another important factor facilitating the risk of spillover and emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases is wildlife trafficking. This involves illegal hunting and trading of wildlife and their products, which increases the risk of spillover as a result of exchange of bodily fluids and bloodmeals between humans and wildlife during the hunting and butchering of animals’ carcasses. Consequently, little or no hygiene protocol and poor handling practices during the wildlife-trade chain expose poachers, consumers, and local market sellers to the risk of zoonotic diseases. Despite the interventions on deforestation-induced spillover and wildlife trafficking-associated spillover, there are still knowledge and research gaps that need to be addressed towards preventing the outbreaks of future zoonotic infectious diseases. In response to this, there is a need for interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations among researchers from various fields as well as sectors in minimizing the risk of zoonotic spillover driven by deforestation and wildlife trafficking at the human–animal–environmental nexus. In addition, there is a need for integrated and unified evidence-based policy formulation that puts an end to deforestation and wildlife trafficking, especially in tropical areas such as Africa and Asia.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"122 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87995918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ugochinyere J. Njoga, I. Jaja, Osita S. Onwuka, S. Ilo, I. Eke, K. O. Abah, C. Oguejiofor, I. Ochiogu
In some African and Asian countries, Azadirachta indica (AI) has been fed to livestock for decades and traditionally used to treat certain animal and human diseases. Recently, there are suspicions that the plant may possess anti-reproductive properties and concerns that the continued use of AI as forage or for folkloric medicine may detrimentally affect reproduction in the subjects. To address these challenges, this work determined the reproductive and fertility effects of a methanolic seed extract of AI (MSEAI) using adult female albino rats (AFARs) as an experimental model. Sixty-four AFARs were randomly assigned into four groups (A–D) of sixteen rats each. Group A was the control while groups B, C and D were treated daily with 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg of MSEAI respectively, for 28 consecutive days via oral gavage. Blood samples were collected for hormonal and biochemistry assays. Ovarian samples from the experimental rats were harvested for histopathological studies. Thereafter, the remaining experimental rats were bred, and certain fertility indices determined. The mean serum FSH and LH levels were significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.05) in the 100 and 200 mg/kg groups. The histopathological studies revealed massive follicular degeneration in the 100 and 200 mg/kg treatment groups. The fertility indices indicated that the post-implantation survival index was 100% in the control and 0% in the 200 mg/kg treatment group. No abortion occurred in the control and 50 mg/kg groups, but 25% and 100% of the pregnant does aborted in the 100 and 200 mg/kg treatment groups, respectively. Considering that high doses (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) of MSEAI had significant anti-reproductive and antifertility properties, the use of AI as forage or for ethnoveterinary medicine in breeding females may adversely affect their reproductive potentials. However, the anti-reproductive and antifertility effects could be utilized in rodent depopulation programs in animal agriculture and as a contraceptive to limit the proliferation of stray dogs, known to be reservoirs of the rabies virus in developing countries. Moreover, the MSEAI could be further refined for human use as an effective, cheap, eco-friendly and acceptable alternative to synthetic/modern contraceptives, the use of which is limited in developing nations due to superstitious beliefs and their multiple side effects.
{"title":"Reproductive Effects of Medicinal Plant (Azadirachta indica) Used as Forage and for Ethnoveterinary Practices: New Insights from Animal Models","authors":"Ugochinyere J. Njoga, I. Jaja, Osita S. Onwuka, S. Ilo, I. Eke, K. O. Abah, C. Oguejiofor, I. Ochiogu","doi":"10.3390/challe13020040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020040","url":null,"abstract":"In some African and Asian countries, Azadirachta indica (AI) has been fed to livestock for decades and traditionally used to treat certain animal and human diseases. Recently, there are suspicions that the plant may possess anti-reproductive properties and concerns that the continued use of AI as forage or for folkloric medicine may detrimentally affect reproduction in the subjects. To address these challenges, this work determined the reproductive and fertility effects of a methanolic seed extract of AI (MSEAI) using adult female albino rats (AFARs) as an experimental model. Sixty-four AFARs were randomly assigned into four groups (A–D) of sixteen rats each. Group A was the control while groups B, C and D were treated daily with 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg of MSEAI respectively, for 28 consecutive days via oral gavage. Blood samples were collected for hormonal and biochemistry assays. Ovarian samples from the experimental rats were harvested for histopathological studies. Thereafter, the remaining experimental rats were bred, and certain fertility indices determined. The mean serum FSH and LH levels were significantly decreased (p ≤ 0.05) in the 100 and 200 mg/kg groups. The histopathological studies revealed massive follicular degeneration in the 100 and 200 mg/kg treatment groups. The fertility indices indicated that the post-implantation survival index was 100% in the control and 0% in the 200 mg/kg treatment group. No abortion occurred in the control and 50 mg/kg groups, but 25% and 100% of the pregnant does aborted in the 100 and 200 mg/kg treatment groups, respectively. Considering that high doses (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) of MSEAI had significant anti-reproductive and antifertility properties, the use of AI as forage or for ethnoveterinary medicine in breeding females may adversely affect their reproductive potentials. However, the anti-reproductive and antifertility effects could be utilized in rodent depopulation programs in animal agriculture and as a contraceptive to limit the proliferation of stray dogs, known to be reservoirs of the rabies virus in developing countries. Moreover, the MSEAI could be further refined for human use as an effective, cheap, eco-friendly and acceptable alternative to synthetic/modern contraceptives, the use of which is limited in developing nations due to superstitious beliefs and their multiple side effects.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78787637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As planetary health education enters medical and health professional training, transversal implementation across curricula is critical in developing its full potential and enabling future health professionals to meet the social, environmental, and health challenges of current and future generations in an integrated manner. To advance the transversal implementation of planetary health education, our study proceeded through: (1) a sequence analysis of documents framing physiotherapy education to identify relevant nexus points; (2) an explorative implementation of planetary health into foundational anatomy and physiology modules identified as critical nexus points; (3) practical implementation during the 2021 autumn semester. Implementation in the operative foundations of healthcare education—anatomy and physiology—enables the emphasis of the ecological nature of human bodies and interconnection with our planetary environment. Musculoskeletal joints accentuate the relational nature of bodies highlighted across current research and traditional knowledges, as dynamically pervaded and in interaction with culture, technology, objects, ideas, plants, planets, etc. Teaching relational anatomies thus highlights planetary health as the transversal foundation of medical and healthcare education. Making this foundation more explicit will be critical for the transversal implementation of planetary health education and subsequent practice, as well as the fundamental shifts in our understanding of human lives and health they require.
{"title":"Ecological Bodies and Relational Anatomies: Toward a Transversal Foundation for Planetary Health Education","authors":"R. Richter, Filip Maric","doi":"10.3390/challe13020039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020039","url":null,"abstract":"As planetary health education enters medical and health professional training, transversal implementation across curricula is critical in developing its full potential and enabling future health professionals to meet the social, environmental, and health challenges of current and future generations in an integrated manner. To advance the transversal implementation of planetary health education, our study proceeded through: (1) a sequence analysis of documents framing physiotherapy education to identify relevant nexus points; (2) an explorative implementation of planetary health into foundational anatomy and physiology modules identified as critical nexus points; (3) practical implementation during the 2021 autumn semester. Implementation in the operative foundations of healthcare education—anatomy and physiology—enables the emphasis of the ecological nature of human bodies and interconnection with our planetary environment. Musculoskeletal joints accentuate the relational nature of bodies highlighted across current research and traditional knowledges, as dynamically pervaded and in interaction with culture, technology, objects, ideas, plants, planets, etc. Teaching relational anatomies thus highlights planetary health as the transversal foundation of medical and healthcare education. Making this foundation more explicit will be critical for the transversal implementation of planetary health education and subsequent practice, as well as the fundamental shifts in our understanding of human lives and health they require.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"5 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78687316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As a global trend in mental health and welfare services, the community is increasingly considered to play a central role in the lives of people with mental illness. Group homes (GHs) are used globally as a means of promoting deinstitutionalization and establishing community life. The Japanese government issued a call to build Community-Based Integrated Care Systems for people with mental illness (CICSM). Therefore, we evaluated the location characteristics of GHs to determine the feasibility of daily life skills training, using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The target area was Ishikawa Prefecture. The size of everyday living areas (ELAs) for older adults was set at 1.8 km, and at 2.5 km for adults. We counted the number of service providers (SPs). Two GHs in the adult ELA and two GHs in the older adult ELA did not have SPs. Eight GHs had only one SP in their ELAs. Results showed that GHs with no or a few SPs in their ELAs are disadvantaged in shopping skills training. These findings may help people with mental illness in various countries develop support plans to effectively provide daily life training, considering the characteristics of the geographical environment and social resources around their living bases.
{"title":"Community-Based Integrated Care System for People with Mental Illness in Japan: Evaluating Location Characteristics of Group Homes to Determine the Feasibility of Daily Life Skill Training","authors":"Yutaka Nagayama, Hisao Nakai","doi":"10.3390/challe13020038","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020038","url":null,"abstract":"As a global trend in mental health and welfare services, the community is increasingly considered to play a central role in the lives of people with mental illness. Group homes (GHs) are used globally as a means of promoting deinstitutionalization and establishing community life. The Japanese government issued a call to build Community-Based Integrated Care Systems for people with mental illness (CICSM). Therefore, we evaluated the location characteristics of GHs to determine the feasibility of daily life skills training, using a Geographic Information System (GIS). The target area was Ishikawa Prefecture. The size of everyday living areas (ELAs) for older adults was set at 1.8 km, and at 2.5 km for adults. We counted the number of service providers (SPs). Two GHs in the adult ELA and two GHs in the older adult ELA did not have SPs. Eight GHs had only one SP in their ELAs. Results showed that GHs with no or a few SPs in their ELAs are disadvantaged in shopping skills training. These findings may help people with mental illness in various countries develop support plans to effectively provide daily life training, considering the characteristics of the geographical environment and social resources around their living bases.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"82 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82652287","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The unprecedented global rise in mental anguish is closely linked with the erosion of our social fabric, economic and political systems, and to our natural environments. We are facing multiple new large-scale threats to health, safety, and security, with a growing lack of trust in others and in authorities. Pervasive stress, anxiety, depression, and uncertainty are of a nature and scale we have never seen before—manifesting in surging violence, community breakdown, domestic abuse, opioid and other drug overdoses, social isolation, and suicides—with alarming new mental health trends in children and young people. This has been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and amplified by an exponential increase in the amount and immediacy of information propagated through electronic media—often negative with manipulative intent aimed at dividing opinions through anger and fear. At the same time, there has been progressive erosion of kindness, civility, compassion, and social supports. Here, in this report from a “campfire” meeting held by the Nova Institute for Health, we discuss the importance of understanding the complexity of these interrelated threats which impact individual and collective mental health. Our dialog highlighted the need for efforts that build both individual and community resilience with more empowering, positive, and inspiring shared narratives that increase purpose and belonging. This includes placing greater value on positive assets that promote awareness and resilience, including creativity, spirituality, mindfulness, and nature connection—recognizing that ‘inner’ transitions contribute to shifts in mindsets for ‘outward’ transformation in communities and the world at large. Ultimately, these strategies also encourage and normalize mutualistic values that are essential for collectively improving the health of people, places, and the planet, by overcoming the destructive, exploitative worldviews which created so many of our current challenges in the first place.
{"title":"No Health without Mental Health: Taking Action to Heal a World in Distress—With People, Places, and Planet ‘in Mind’","authors":"S. Prescott, Jeffrey M. Greeson, M. El-Sherbini","doi":"10.3390/challe13020037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020037","url":null,"abstract":"The unprecedented global rise in mental anguish is closely linked with the erosion of our social fabric, economic and political systems, and to our natural environments. We are facing multiple new large-scale threats to health, safety, and security, with a growing lack of trust in others and in authorities. Pervasive stress, anxiety, depression, and uncertainty are of a nature and scale we have never seen before—manifesting in surging violence, community breakdown, domestic abuse, opioid and other drug overdoses, social isolation, and suicides—with alarming new mental health trends in children and young people. This has been made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and amplified by an exponential increase in the amount and immediacy of information propagated through electronic media—often negative with manipulative intent aimed at dividing opinions through anger and fear. At the same time, there has been progressive erosion of kindness, civility, compassion, and social supports. Here, in this report from a “campfire” meeting held by the Nova Institute for Health, we discuss the importance of understanding the complexity of these interrelated threats which impact individual and collective mental health. Our dialog highlighted the need for efforts that build both individual and community resilience with more empowering, positive, and inspiring shared narratives that increase purpose and belonging. This includes placing greater value on positive assets that promote awareness and resilience, including creativity, spirituality, mindfulness, and nature connection—recognizing that ‘inner’ transitions contribute to shifts in mindsets for ‘outward’ transformation in communities and the world at large. Ultimately, these strategies also encourage and normalize mutualistic values that are essential for collectively improving the health of people, places, and the planet, by overcoming the destructive, exploitative worldviews which created so many of our current challenges in the first place.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86034255","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Adam Koletis, A. Markopoulos, Konstantinos I. Kotis
This paper aims to introduce the value of semantics for representing knowledge related to patients with brain neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and dementia) or behavioral disorders (i.e., schizophrenia) and artistic behavior. The ultimate goal is to facilitate an effective and efficient study of neurological and behavioral changes of patients, analyzing semantically interlinked data related to neurological/behavioral conditions and artistic behaviors. By mapping the neurologically affected areas of the brain in healthy and unhealthy individuals, and by modeling their particular characteristics at the level of both behavioral and neurological expressions, it may be possible to identify semantic similarities in high-level behavioral and brain characteristics that justify correlation and causation between diseases/disorders and artistic behaviors. In this concept paper, we present our view on two key points related to proposed research on a novel framework that will (a) verify if early biomarkers of the neurogenerative diseases can be identified via artistic behavior observations, and (b) correlate patients with delayed onset of the diseases/disorders with artists, at the molecular level, or at the level of brain regions. The proposed framework is evaluated with the development of a proof-of-concept expert system based on the representation of the relevant knowledge.
{"title":"Discovering Semantic Relations between Neurodegenerative Diseases and Artistic Behaviors","authors":"Adam Koletis, A. Markopoulos, Konstantinos I. Kotis","doi":"10.3390/challe13020036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020036","url":null,"abstract":"This paper aims to introduce the value of semantics for representing knowledge related to patients with brain neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and dementia) or behavioral disorders (i.e., schizophrenia) and artistic behavior. The ultimate goal is to facilitate an effective and efficient study of neurological and behavioral changes of patients, analyzing semantically interlinked data related to neurological/behavioral conditions and artistic behaviors. By mapping the neurologically affected areas of the brain in healthy and unhealthy individuals, and by modeling their particular characteristics at the level of both behavioral and neurological expressions, it may be possible to identify semantic similarities in high-level behavioral and brain characteristics that justify correlation and causation between diseases/disorders and artistic behaviors. In this concept paper, we present our view on two key points related to proposed research on a novel framework that will (a) verify if early biomarkers of the neurogenerative diseases can be identified via artistic behavior observations, and (b) correlate patients with delayed onset of the diseases/disorders with artists, at the molecular level, or at the level of brain regions. The proposed framework is evaluated with the development of a proof-of-concept expert system based on the representation of the relevant knowledge.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"91326056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Y. Tajudeen, H. Oladipo, Rashidat Onyinoyi Yusuf, I. Oladunjoye, A. Adebayo, Abdulhakeem Funsho Ahmed, M. El-Sherbini
Increased anthropogenic activities including changes in land use and unrelenting ecosystem services related to animal husbandry, wildlife trade, and deforestation are driving the emergence of viral zoonosis. This is primarily due to human–animal interaction which is facilitating the spillover of viral zoonotic pathogens from animals (domestic and wildlife) to humans that could result in epidemics or pandemics. Scientific reports so far have revealed that viral epidemics and pandemics in recent years such as H1N1 Swine Influenza, H5N1 Avian Influenza, Ebola, Zika, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 were all zoonotic, and their emergence has been linked with spillover events arising from human–animal interaction. This increased interaction and the increased spillover event could facilitate future pandemic risk, and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, “IPBES”, has declared this “the era of pandemics”. Furthermore, since future pandemics would be triggered by anthropogenic activities, we have called this “anthropopandemicene”, i.e., an era of pandemics driven by anthropogenic activities. To minimize the risk of future pandemics, it is important to prioritize the prevention of viral spillover events. Here, we outline five priority areas for global health researchers and policymakers. These areas include improvement of biosecurity at livestock farms, imposing a moratorium or strictly banning wildlife trade that poses a public health risk, conservation of biodiversity by halting deforestation, investing in community-based research for infectious disease control, and strengthening community healthcare systems in precarious ecosystems and infectious diseases hotspots. Finally, we acknowledge the efforts of other renowned global and legally binding frameworks such as IHR, the Paris Agreement, and CITES with regard to addressing the public health risk of infectious diseases, and we provide recommendations for their improvement.
{"title":"The Need to Prioritize Prevention of Viral Spillover in the Anthropopandemicene: A Message to Global Health Researchers and Policymakers","authors":"Y. Tajudeen, H. Oladipo, Rashidat Onyinoyi Yusuf, I. Oladunjoye, A. Adebayo, Abdulhakeem Funsho Ahmed, M. El-Sherbini","doi":"10.3390/challe13020035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020035","url":null,"abstract":"Increased anthropogenic activities including changes in land use and unrelenting ecosystem services related to animal husbandry, wildlife trade, and deforestation are driving the emergence of viral zoonosis. This is primarily due to human–animal interaction which is facilitating the spillover of viral zoonotic pathogens from animals (domestic and wildlife) to humans that could result in epidemics or pandemics. Scientific reports so far have revealed that viral epidemics and pandemics in recent years such as H1N1 Swine Influenza, H5N1 Avian Influenza, Ebola, Zika, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and the ongoing SARS-CoV-2 were all zoonotic, and their emergence has been linked with spillover events arising from human–animal interaction. This increased interaction and the increased spillover event could facilitate future pandemic risk, and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, “IPBES”, has declared this “the era of pandemics”. Furthermore, since future pandemics would be triggered by anthropogenic activities, we have called this “anthropopandemicene”, i.e., an era of pandemics driven by anthropogenic activities. To minimize the risk of future pandemics, it is important to prioritize the prevention of viral spillover events. Here, we outline five priority areas for global health researchers and policymakers. These areas include improvement of biosecurity at livestock farms, imposing a moratorium or strictly banning wildlife trade that poses a public health risk, conservation of biodiversity by halting deforestation, investing in community-based research for infectious disease control, and strengthening community healthcare systems in precarious ecosystems and infectious diseases hotspots. Finally, we acknowledge the efforts of other renowned global and legally binding frameworks such as IHR, the Paris Agreement, and CITES with regard to addressing the public health risk of infectious diseases, and we provide recommendations for their improvement.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"50 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84855906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Many universities implemented pandemic-related tenure timeline extensions in response to productivity disruptions. However, little is known about the availability, nature, or uptake of these extensions, including which faculty were most likely to extend their timeline. Tenure-track faculty in the United States (n = 385, 64.4% women, 35.3% identifying with a National Institutes of Health-designated racial/ethnic minority group, 73.0% with children, 33.8% with non-child caregiving) completed a survey about their personal/career/institution characteristics, their institution’s pandemic extension policy (if any), and whether they extended their timeline. Overall, 94.0% reported that their institutions provided either an extension, unless faculty opted out, or an extension that could be requested. Most respondents (60.0%) elected to extend their tenure timeline due to the pandemic. Significantly greater proportions of respondents taking an extension were men (77.2%), identified with a NIH-designated racial/ethnic minority group (75.7%), reported non-child caregiving (86.3%), and had previously taken at least one timeline extension (82.4%). Pandemic-related extensions in tenure and promotion dossiers will be common, though they may not fully account for more than a year of disruption and may exacerbate disparities. Consequently, effective preparation for evaluating dossiers and other mitigation strategies are needed, to prevent the loss of faculty members who offer great value to their institutions.
{"title":"Pandemic-Related Tenure Timeline Extensions in Higher Education in the United States: Prevalence and Associated Characteristics","authors":"R. Krukowski, Loneke T. Blackman Carr, D. Arigo","doi":"10.3390/challe13020034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020034","url":null,"abstract":"Many universities implemented pandemic-related tenure timeline extensions in response to productivity disruptions. However, little is known about the availability, nature, or uptake of these extensions, including which faculty were most likely to extend their timeline. Tenure-track faculty in the United States (n = 385, 64.4% women, 35.3% identifying with a National Institutes of Health-designated racial/ethnic minority group, 73.0% with children, 33.8% with non-child caregiving) completed a survey about their personal/career/institution characteristics, their institution’s pandemic extension policy (if any), and whether they extended their timeline. Overall, 94.0% reported that their institutions provided either an extension, unless faculty opted out, or an extension that could be requested. Most respondents (60.0%) elected to extend their tenure timeline due to the pandemic. Significantly greater proportions of respondents taking an extension were men (77.2%), identified with a NIH-designated racial/ethnic minority group (75.7%), reported non-child caregiving (86.3%), and had previously taken at least one timeline extension (82.4%). Pandemic-related extensions in tenure and promotion dossiers will be common, though they may not fully account for more than a year of disruption and may exacerbate disparities. Consequently, effective preparation for evaluating dossiers and other mitigation strategies are needed, to prevent the loss of faculty members who offer great value to their institutions.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84534447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Drawing a parallel between the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, the article explores what can be learned from these crises using two axes of analysis. First, such events show some noteworthy structural analogies, being both typified by nonlinear dynamics. They exhibit latency periods and tipping points: at the beginning, things go slowly, but once a critical threshold is exceeded, suddenly escalate quickly; as a result, when we respond to them will make the difference. Second, it is crucial how complex crises are framed. It would be deceptive to concentrate only on their contingent aspects. Both cases should instead be seen as the symptom of a broader imbalance, i.e., a ‘crisis of modernity’. Consequently, the article investigates their possible common roots: not only their socioeconomic determinants, but also worldview assumptions, particularly a long-lasting dualism that contributed to generate an overall sense of separateness. It argues that this situation cannot be addressed through some superficial changes. Rather, it urges us to move toward some deeper shifts, regarding both our way of thinking and behaving.
{"title":"The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Climate Crisis: A Call to Question the Mindset of Modernity","authors":"F. Mazzocchi","doi":"10.3390/challe13020033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/challe13020033","url":null,"abstract":"Drawing a parallel between the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, the article explores what can be learned from these crises using two axes of analysis. First, such events show some noteworthy structural analogies, being both typified by nonlinear dynamics. They exhibit latency periods and tipping points: at the beginning, things go slowly, but once a critical threshold is exceeded, suddenly escalate quickly; as a result, when we respond to them will make the difference. Second, it is crucial how complex crises are framed. It would be deceptive to concentrate only on their contingent aspects. Both cases should instead be seen as the symptom of a broader imbalance, i.e., a ‘crisis of modernity’. Consequently, the article investigates their possible common roots: not only their socioeconomic determinants, but also worldview assumptions, particularly a long-lasting dualism that contributed to generate an overall sense of separateness. It argues that this situation cannot be addressed through some superficial changes. Rather, it urges us to move toward some deeper shifts, regarding both our way of thinking and behaving.","PeriodicalId":91008,"journal":{"name":"Challenges","volume":"39 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72451391","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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