Rapid response to emerging biomedical challenges and threats.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Grabowski M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8086160 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:ObjectiveThis study is intended to (1) identify emerging roles for biomedical librarians and determine how common these roles are in a variety of library settings, (2) identify barriers to taking on new roles, and (3) determine how librarians are developing the capacity to take on new roles.MethodsA survey was conducted of librarians in biomedical settings.ResultsMost biomedical librarians are taking on new roles. The most common roles selected by survey respondents include analysis and enhancement of user experiences, support for social media, support for systematic reviews, clinical informationist, help for faculty or staff with authorship issues, and implementation of researcher profiling and collaboration tools. Respondents in academic settings are more likely to report new roles than hospital librarians are, but some new roles are common in both settings. Respondents use a variety of methods to free up time for new roles, but predominant methods vary between directors and librarians and between academic and hospital respondents. Lack of time is the biggest barrier that librarians face when trying to adopt new roles. New roles are associated with increased collaboration with individuals and/or groups outside the library.Conclusion and implicationsThis survey documents the widespread incorporation of new roles in biomedical libraries in the United States, as well as the barriers to adopting these roles and the means by which librarians are making time for them. The results of the survey can be used to inform strategic planning, succession planning, library education, and career development for biomedical librarians.
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Project description:Oomycetes, or water moulds, are fungal-like organisms phylogenetically related to algae. They cause devastating diseases in both plants and animals. Here, we describe seven oomycete species that are emerging or re-emerging threats to agriculture, horticulture, aquaculture and natural ecosystems. They include the plant pathogens Phytophthora infestans, Phytophthora palmivora, Phytophthora ramorum, Plasmopara obducens, and the animal pathogens Aphanomyces invadans, Saprolegnia parasitica and Halioticida noduliformans For each species, we describe its pathology, importance and impact, discuss why it is an emerging threat and briefly review current research activities.This article is part of the themed issue 'Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience'.
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Project description:Mosquito-borne viruses are the cause of some of the greatest burdens to human health worldwide, particularly in tropical regions where both human populations and mosquito numbers are abundant. Due to a combination of anthropogenic change, including the effects on global climate and wildlife migration there is strong evidence that temperate regions are undergoing repeated introduction of mosquito-borne viruses and the re-emergence of viruses that previously were not detected by surveillance. In Europe, the repeated introductions of West Nile and Usutu viruses have been associated with bird migration from Africa, whereas the autochthonous transmission of chikungunya and dengue viruses has been driven by a combination of invasive mosquitoes and rapid transcontinental travel by infected humans. In addition to an increasing number of humans at risk, livestock and wildlife, are also at risk of infection and disease. This in turn can affect international trade and species diversity, respectively. Addressing these challenges requires a range of responses both at national and international level. Increasing the understanding of mosquito-borne transmission of viruses and the development of rapid detection methods and appropriate therapeutics (vaccines / antivirals) all form part of this response. The aim of this review is to consider the range of mosquito-borne viruses that threaten public health in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean, and the national response of a number of countries facing different levels of threat.
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Project description:Advances in biological sciences have outpaced regulatory and legal frameworks for biosecurity. Simultaneously, there has been a convergence of scientific disciplines such as synthetic biology, data science, advanced computing and many other technologies, which all have applications in health. For example, advances in cybercrime methods have created ransomware attacks on hospitals, which can cripple health systems and threaten human life. New kinds of biological weapons which fall outside of traditional Cold War era thinking can be created synthetically using genetic code. These convergent trajectories are dramatically expanding the repertoire of methods which can be used for benefit or harm. We describe a new risk landscape for which there are few precedents, and where regulation and mitigation are a challenge. Rapidly evolving patterns of technology convergence and proliferation of dual-use risks expose inadequate societal preparedness. We outline examples in the areas of biological weapons, antimicrobial resistance, laboratory security and cybersecurity in health care. New challenges in health security such as precision harm in medicine can no longer be addressed within the isolated vertical silo of health, but require cross-disciplinary solutions from other fields. Nor can they cannot be managed effectively by individual countries. We outline the case for new cross-disciplinary approaches in risk analysis to an altered risk landscape.
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Project description:The use of antifungal drugs in the therapy of fungal diseases can lead to the development of antifungal resistance. Resistance has been described for virtually all antifungal agents in diverse pathogens, including Candida and Aspergillus species. The majority of resistance mechanisms have also been elucidated at the molecular level in these pathogens. Drug resistance genes and genome mutations have been identified. Therapeutic choices are limited for the control of fungal diseases, and it is tempting to combine several drugs to achieve better therapeutic efficacy. In the recent years, several novel resistance patterns have been observed, including antifungal resistance originating from environmental sources in Aspergillus fumigatus and the emergence of simultaneous resistance to different antifungal classes (multidrug resistance) in different Candida species. This review will summarize these current trends.
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Project description:Subunit vaccines are more advantageous than live attenuated vaccines in terms of safety and scale-up manufacture. However, this often comes as a trade-off to their efficacy. Over the years, polymeric nanoparticles have been developed to improve vaccine potency, by engineering their physicochemical properties to incorporate multiple immunological cues to mimic pathogenic microbes and viruses. This review covers recent advances in polymeric nanostructures developed toward particulate vaccines. It focuses on the impact of microbe mimicry (e.g. size, charge, hydrophobicity, and surface chemistry) on modulation of the nanoparticles' delivery, trafficking, and targeting antigen-presenting cells to elicit potent humoral and cellular immune responses. This review also provides up-to-date progresses on rational designs of a wide variety of polymeric nanostructures that are loaded with antigens and immunostimulatory molecules, ranging from particles, micelles, nanogels, and polymersomes to advanced core-shell structures where polymeric particles are coated with lipids, cell membranes, or proteins.
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Project description:The past two decades have seen an increasing number of virulent infectious diseases in natural populations and managed landscapes. In both animals and plants, an unprecedented number of fungal and fungal-like diseases have recently caused some of the most severe die-offs and extinctions ever witnessed in wild species, and are jeopardizing food security. Human activity is intensifying fungal disease dispersal by modifying natural environments and thus creating new opportunities for evolution. We argue that nascent fungal infections will cause increasing attrition of biodiversity, with wider implications for human and ecosystem health, unless steps are taken to tighten biosecurity worldwide.
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Project description:Growing evidence suggests that chemicals in disparate structural classes activate specific subsets of PPARγ’s transcriptional programs to generate adipocytes with distinct phenotypes. Our objectives were to 1) establish a novel classification method to predict PPARγ-interacting and modifying chemicals and 2) create taxonomy labels to group chemicals based on their effects on PPARγ’s transcriptome and downstream metabolic functions. We tested the hypothesis that an environmental ligand highly ranked by the taxonomy, but that segregated from the therapeutic ligands, would induce white but not brite adipogensis. 3T3-L1 cells were differentiated in the presence of 76 chemicals (negative controls, synthetic nuclear receptor ligands known to influence adipocyte biology, suspected environmental PPARγ ligands). Differentiation was assessed by measuring lipid accumulation. mRNA expression was determined by highly multiplexed RNA-Seq and validated by RT-qPCR. A novel classification model was developed using an amended random forest procedure. A subset of environmental contaminants identified as strong PPARγ agonists were characterized further for lipid handling, mitochondrial biogenesis and cellular respiration in 3T3-L1 cells and primary human preadipocytes. The 76 chemicals generated a spectrum of adipogenic differentiation. We used lipid accumulation and RNA sequencing data to develop a classification system that 1) identified PPARγ agonists and 2) sorted agonists into likely white or brite adipocyte inducers. Expression of Cidec, was the most efficacious indicator for strong PPARγ activation. Two known environmental PPARγ ligands, tetrabromobisphenol A, and triphenyl phosphate, which sorted distinctly from therapeutic ligands, induced white but not brite adipocyte genes and induced fatty acid uptake but not mitochondrial biogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells. The highly ranked agonists, tonalid and quinoxyfen, also induced white adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells and primary human preadipocytes. A novel classification procedure accurately identified environmental chemicals as PPARγ-modifying chemicals distinct from known PPARγ-modifying therapeutics.
2021-08-01 | GSE124564 | GEO
Project description:SignificanceThe introduction of trees outside their native ranges has greatly expanded the potential ranges of their pathogens and insect pests, which risk spilling over and impacting native flora. However, we often lack a strong understanding of the host, climatic, and geographic factors that allow pests to establish outside their hosts' native ranges. Using global datasets of pest occurrences and the native and nonnative ranges of tree hosts, we show there are strong generalizable trends controlling pest occurrences and can predict the occurrence of pests outside their hosts' native ranges with >75% accuracy. Our modeling framework offers a powerful tool to identify future invasive pest species and the ecological mechanisms controlling the accumulation of pests outside their hosts' native ranges.
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