Global Response Research Articles

Extracellular Vesicle (EV) Mechanisms of Toxicity for Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances: Comparing Transcriptomic Points of Departure Across Global Versus EV Regulatory Gene Sets.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are emitted from cells throughout the body and serve as signaling molecules that mediate disease development. Emerging evidence suggests that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) impact EV release and content, influencing liver toxicity. Still, the upstream regulators of EV changes affected by PFAS exposure remain unclear. This study evaluated the hypothesis that PFAS exposures, individually and in a mixture, alter the expression of genes involved in EV regulation at concentrations comparable to genes involved in global biological response mechanisms. HepG2 liver cells were treated at multiple concentrations with individual PFOS, PFOA, or PFHxA, in addition to an equimolar PFAS mixture. Gene expression data were analyzed using three pipelines for concentration-response modeling, with results compared against empirically derived datasets. Final benchmark concentration (BMC) modeling was conducted via Laplace model averaging in BMDExpress (v3). BMCs were derived at an individual gene level and across different gene sets, including Gene Ontology (GO) annotations as well as a custom EV regulation gene set. To determine relative PFAS contributions to the evaluated mixture, relative potency factors were calculated across resulting BMCs using PFOS as a standard reference chemical. Results demonstrated that PFAS exposures altered the expression of genes involved in EV regulation, particularly for genes overlapping with endoplasmic reticulum stress. EV regulatory gene changes occurred at similar BMCs as global gene set alterations, supporting concurrent regulation and the role of EVs in PFAS toxicology. This application of transcriptomics-based BMC modeling further validates its utility in capturing both established and novel pathways of toxicity.

Evaluation on the Global Response Characteristics of a Rotor/Stator Rubbing System: Experiment and Dynamic Simulation

The global response characteristics of rotor/stator rubbing systems are critical for the optimal design and safe operation of rotating machinery. Based on the mathematical model, numerical simulation and theoretical analysis have been widely carried out to study the regions of different responses, which have not been globally explored and evaluated by experiments with the unified parameters of a mathematical and physical model. Thus, the existence conditions of the global responses of a rubbing rotor are experimentally investigated and then quantitatively compared with theoretical solutions and dynamic simulation results. With the equivalent stiffness and the kinetic dry friction identified by the aid of a new voltage divider, the rubbing rotors are accurately tested by the new experimental technique and dynamically simulated by rigid-flexible coupling technique. From the comparison results of orbit and full spectrum, it is shown that the response characteristics of no rub motion, synchronous full annular rub, partial rub, and dry friction backward whirl obtained by experiment and dynamic simulation are in good agreement with theoretical solutions. Then, it is also concluded that all boundaries of the existence/co-existence regions of the whirling motions are proved to be valid. Moreover, stick-slip oscillation is detected in the rotor/stator testing system.

THE ROLE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE

The greatest problem of the 21st century is climate change, and due to its global repercussions, it calls for global efforts around the globe in the form of international institutions and law. This research responds to the role of international law in responding to climate change, and the evolution of the history of major treaties, protocols, and agreements such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement. It raises the question of the capacity of international legal regimes to enable adaptation to the effects of climate change, compliance issues, and international institutions' efforts in pushing for progress with climate justice. The article also responds to loopholes and lacunae in current global regimes of law and suggests how the global legal response to climate change might be strengthened, including through demanding accountability, technology transfer, and financing to affected states. The document concludes on policy recommendations and future litigation for a more sustainable, equitable and ethical world order of climate policy.

Experimental Investigation of In-Plane Stiffness of Timber Diaphragms in Traditional Chinese Residential Houses

ABSTRACT The in-plane stiffness of timber diaphragms significantly affects the distribution of seismic loads among lateral force-resisting systems and the global response of the whole structure. In this work, the in-plane response of traditional Chinese timber diaphragms and the influence of certain parameters were investigated through an extensive experimental program, which consisted of cyclic tests on two full-scale diaphragms, monotonic tests on six sub-components, and connection tests. The chosen configurations were typical of those found in historic dwelling houses in southern China. Test results confirmed the high ductility and orthotropic nature of traditional Chinese timber diaphragms. The initial stiffness and energy dissipation capacity in the parallel-to-joist direction were found to be only about 50% and 70% of that in the orthogonal direction, respectively. For both directions, configurations with butted floorboards exhibited stiffer behavior than those with continuous floorboards, while the interaction between tongue-and-groove floorboards was shown to make little difference to the initial stiffness. The comparison between experimental results and predictions indicates that the current standards do not apply satisfactorily to traditional Chinese timber diaphragms, and specific provisions considering configuration differences are suggested to be included in the future.

A rapid-application emissions-to-impacts tool for scenario assessment: Probabilistic Regional Impacts from Model patterns and Emissions (PRIME)

Abstract. Climate policies evolve quickly, and new scenarios designed around these policies are used to illustrate how they impact global mean temperatures using simple climate models (or climate emulators). Simple climate models are extremely efficient, although some can only provide global estimates of climate metrics such as mean surface temperature, CO2 concentration and effective radiative forcing. Within the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) framework, understanding of the regional impacts of scenarios that include the most recent science is needed to allow targeted policy decisions to be made quickly. To address this, we present PRIME (Probabilistic Regional Impacts from Model patterns and Emissions), a new flexible probabilistic framework which aims to provide an efficient mechanism to run new scenarios without the significant overheads of larger, more complex Earth system models (ESMs). PRIME provides the capability to include features of the most recent ESM projections, science and scenarios to run ensemble simulations on multi-centennial timescales and include analyses of many key variables that are relevant and important for impact assessments. We use a simple climate model to provide the global temperature response to emissions scenarios. These estimated temperatures are used to scale monthly mean patterns from a large number of CMIP6 ESMs. These patterns provide the inputs to a “weather generator” algorithm and a land surface model. The PRIME system thus generates an end-to-end estimate of the land surface impacts from the emissions scenarios. We test PRIME using known scenarios in the form of the shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs), to demonstrate that our model reproduces the ESM climate responses to these scenarios. We show results for a range of scenarios: the SSP5–8.5 high-emissions scenario was used to define the patterns, and SSP1–2.6, a mitigation scenario with low emissions, and SSP5–3.4-OS, an overshoot scenario, were used as verification data. PRIME correctly represents the climate response (and spread) for these known scenarios, which gives us confidence our simulation framework will be useful for rapidly providing probabilistic spatially resolved information for novel climate scenarios, thereby substantially reducing the time between new scenarios being released and the availability of regional impact information.

Experiences of Public Health Professionals Regarding Crisis Communication During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review of Qualitative Studies.

The COVID-19 pandemic emerged in the digital age and has been called the first "data-driven pandemic" in human history. The global response demonstrated that many countries had failed to effectively prepare for such an event. Learning through experience in a crisis is one way to improve the crisis management process. As the world has returned to normal after the pandemic, questions about crisis management have been raised in several countries and require careful consideration. This review aimed to collect and organize public health professionals' experiences in crisis communication to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. We searched PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and Communication Abstracts in February 2024 to locate English-language articles that qualitatively investigated the difficulties and needs experienced by health professionals in their communication activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. This review included 17 studies. Our analysis identified 7 themes and 20 subthemes. The 7 themes were difficulties in pandemic communication, difficulties caused by the "infodemic," difficulties in partnerships within or outside of public health, difficulties in community engagement, difficulties in effective communication, burnout among communicators, and the need to train communication specialists and establish a permanent organization specializing in communication. This review identified the gaps between existing crisis communication guidelines and real-world crisis communication in the digital environment and clarified the difficulties and needs that arose from these gaps. Crisis communication strategies and guidelines should be updated with reference to the themes revealed in this review to effectively respond to subsequent public health crises. PROSPERO CRD42024528975; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=528975. RR2-10.2196/58040.

IHR amendments and the “pandemic agreement” an Israeli perspective

BackgroundThe 77th World Health Assembly in May 2024 agreed on several key amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), which are set to enhance global public health preparedness and response mechanisms. These amendments are part of a broader effort to integrate the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, seeking to create a more globally interconnected and rapid global response mechanism for future health crises, including a new Pandemic Agreement.Main bodyGlobally and in Israel, some voice their concern that the IHR amendments and the Pandemic Agreement could undermine a nation’s sovereign right to manage its public health response, infringe on national autonomy, or impose obligations such as sharing resources like diagnostics, medicines, technology, or vaccines, which could be seen as detrimental to national interests. This manuscript describes the IHR amendments and the ongoing work on the Pandemic Agreement. It explains how the documents do not undermine national sovereignty and highlights the moral and utilitarian justifications for Israeli support of these global legal documents. From a moral perspective, Israel should be committed to promoting the value of global public health and universal health coverage at both the international and regional levels. From a utilitarian perspective, provisions ensuring access to products and information will assist Israel in preparing for and protecting against health threats originating in neighboring countries and globally. Moreover, asking countries to be better ready may promote awareness and actions of public health services in Israel, which has long suffered from budgetary and health workforce constraints.ConclusionIsrael must work to promote the endorsement of the Pandemic Agreement and the IHR amendments, as they are essential documents for addressing public health threats without compromising national sovereignty.

Decolonizing HIV Nursing for Health Equity: Challenges, Strategies, and Paths Forward.

Decolonizing HIV Nursing for Health Equity: Challenges, Strategies, and Paths Forward.

World Health Organization priority pathogen list and its enlightenment for research and development of medical countermeasures in China

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) R&D Blueprint for Epidemics released the 2024 priority pathogen list. Over 200 scientists around the world evaluated the evidences of transmissions, virulences of 1 652 pathogens and the availability of medical countermeasures in two years. Finally, 33 pathogens that could potentially cause the next pandemic were included in the priority pathogen list. This list introduces the scientific framework of "family-priority pathogen-prototype pathogen", emphasizing the importance of studying entire pathogen family rather than specific pathogen. The list can be used to guide and coordinate the research and development of medical countermeasures, including vaccine, blood product, antibody, antimicrobial or antiviral drug, diagnostic test, and personal protective equipment, thereby improving the global rapid response to unknown infectious disease threats. This article summarizes the scientific background and main contents of the WHO priority pathogen list and the enlightenment for pandemic preparedness in the development of medical countermeasures in China to provide reference for the disease prevention and control in China.

Core domain set for chronic and/or recurrent manifestations of calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease: OMERACT delphi survey to establish consensus.

To agree on important domains for the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) core domain set for chronic and/or recurrent manifestations of calcium pyrophosphate deposition (CPPD) disease. Patient research partners (PRPs) and other participants (mainly clinicians and researchers) contributed to three rounds of a consensus survey using Delphi methodology. Consensus was defined if ≥70% of both patients and other participants scored the domain as 'critically important domain to include'. In a subsequent ranking exercise, all participants were asked to select and rank up to 10 of the domains reaching consensus. Fifteen domains reached consensus as critically important. Within the Pathophysiological Manifestations area, these were joint pain, joint tenderness, joint swelling, acute CPP crystal arthritis flare, joint damage on imaging tests, joint calcification on imaging tests, and crystals in joint fluid. Within the Life Impact area, these were overall function, ability to complete daily tasks, ability to work, health related quality of life, patient global assessment response to treatment, patient global assessment of disease activity, physician global assessment of disease activity, and patient satisfaction with treatment. No domains within the Societal/Resource Use area reached consensus as critically important. In the ranking exercise, joint pain, joint tenderness, joint swelling, acute CPP crystal arthritis flare and overall function were most highly ranked. This work has identified potential domains for the OMERACT core domain set for chronic and/or recurrent manifestations of CPPD disease. There was strong support for joint pain, joint tenderness, joint swelling, acute CPP crystal arthritis flare, overall function, and global assessments of disease activity as core domains.

Climate Justice through International Courts and Tribunals: Advisory Opinions in the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Climate change is the justice challenge of our century, and the increasingly serious impacts of climate change on human societies and ecosystems are raising important international legal challenges. States and stakeholders are appealing to international courts for clarity concerning their responsibilities in the global response to climate change, as well as their accountability for climaterelated loss and damage. Through advisory proceedings, these institutions are being asked to clarify the legal obligations of States in addressing climate change, including the prevention of ocean impacts, the protection of human rights, and in international law more broadly. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are at the forefront of such proceedings with the potential to reshape international climate law and governance. In this article, expert legal scholars highlight the significance of climate advisory proceedings in these tribunals, briefly underlining the legal reasoning of the ITLOS advisory opinion, its implications for international climate governance, and the questions and arguments before the IACtHR and the ICJ. The article explores, in the context of global efforts to implement the Paris Agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other climate litigation including in international courts and tribunals, the transformative potential of recent advisory opinions sought from the ITLOS, the IACtHR and the ICJ. In their responses to the pressing need for legal clarity in a world grappling with unprecedented climate challenges, the article suggests, courts are offered an historic opportunity to shape the contributions of international law to global sustainability, justice and the survival of life on Earth.

Multi-Axis Feature Diversity Enhancement for Remote Sensing Video Super-Resolution.

How to aggregate spatial-temporal information plays an essential role in video super-resolution (VSR) tasks. Despite the remarkable success, existing methods adopt static convolution to encode spatial-temporal information, which lacks flexibility in aggregating information in large-scale remote sensing scenes, as they often contain heterogeneous features (e.g., diverse textures). In this paper, we propose a spatial feature diversity enhancement module (SDE) and channel diversity exploration module (CDE), which explore the diverse representation of different local patterns while aggregating the global response with compactly channel-wise embedding representation. Specifically, SDE introduces multiple learnable filters to extract representative spatial variants and encodes them to generate a dynamic kernel for enriched spatial representation. To explore the diversity in the channel dimension, CDE exploits the discrete cosine transform to transform the feature into the frequency domain. This enriches the channel representation while mitigating massive frequency loss caused by pooling operation. Based on SDE and CDE, we further devise a multi-axis feature diversity enhancement (MADE) module to harmonize the spatial, channel, and pixel-wise features for diverse feature fusion. These elaborate strategies form a novel network for satellite VSR, termed MADNet, which achieves favorable performance against state-of-the-art method BasicVSR++ in terms of average PSNR by 0.14 dB on various video satellites, including JiLin-1, Carbonite-2, SkySat-1, and UrtheCast. Code will be available at https://github.com/XY-boy/MADNet.

A Multi-Objective Sensor Placement Method Considering Modal Identification Uncertainty and Damage Detection Sensitivity

Structural Health Monitoring relies on accurate modal identification and effective damage detection to assess structural performance and safety. However, traditional sensor placement methods struggle to balance modal identification uncertainty, which arises from limited sensor coverage and measurement noise and damage detection sensitivity, which requires sensors to be optimally positioned to capture structural stiffness variations. To address this challenge, this study proposes a multi-objective sensor placement optimization method based on the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm. The method introduces two key objective functions: minimizing modal identification uncertainty by leveraging Bayesian modal identification theory and information entropy and maximizing damage detection sensitivity by incorporating an entropy-based measure to quantify the uncertainty in stiffness variation estimation. By formulating the problem as Pareto-based multi-objective optimization, the method efficiently explores a trade-off between the two competing objectives and provides a diverse set of optimal sensor placement solutions. The proposed approach is validated through numerical experiments on a simply supported beam and a benchmark bridge structure, demonstrating that different optimization objectives lead to distinct sensor placement patterns. The results show that solutions prioritizing modal identification distribute sensors across the structure to improve global response estimation, while solutions favoring damage detection concentrate sensors in critical areas to enhance sensitivity. The proposed method significantly improves sensor placement strategies by offering a systematic and flexible framework for SHM applications, enabling engineers to tailor monitoring strategies based on specific structural assessment needs.

The Multifaceted Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Sexual Health, Function, and Behaviors: Implications for Public Health: A Scoping Review

Background. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic had a significant impact on sexual health and human behavior, revealing a widespread decline in sexual function and behaviors. Objective. To summarize these findings and highlight their importance for public health, this article discusses the changes observed in sexual function and behavior during the pandemic, as well as potential explanations for these trends. Methods. This study followed the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, using the keyword search commands: “sexual function” AND (“SARS-CoV-2” OR “COVID-19” OR coronavirus) and “sexual behavior*” AND (“SARS-CoV-2” OR “COVID-19” OR coronavirus) in the Scopus and PubMed databases. The search was conducted on 10 March 2024, including articles published from January 2019 to March 2024. Inclusion criteria required studies focusing on sexual health/function during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, excluding non-English articles and non-adult populations. Studies were screened based on relevance, methodological rigor, and sample size, with data extraction focusing on sexual behavior/function metrics. Results were synthesized to identify trends and propose explanatory models. Results. While some individuals experienced reductions in sexual desire and activities, others reported increases, indicating varied individual responses to stressors such as a pandemic. Two hypotheses are presented to explain these changes: terror management theory and the dual control model of sexual response. The critical role of public health in addressing sexual health and well-being needs during a health crisis is discussed, emphasizing the importance of providing clear information, ensuring access to remote sexual health services, and reducing stigma. The need to integrate sexual health into the global response to future health crises is highlighted to ensure a comprehensive approach to human well-being. Conclusions. This review shows the multifaceted impact of the pandemic and social distancing in people’s sexual function and behaviors, underscoring the importance of considering sexual health as an integral part of the emergency health planning and response, to promote the physical and mental well-being of the population during crises such as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Significant Plasma Density Depletion From High‐ to Mid‐Latitude Ionosphere During the Super Storm in May 2024

AbstractWe demonstrate the global response of the ionosphere to the geomagnetic super storm on 10–11 May 2024. The in situ observations from the Swarm spacecraft show a rapid depletion of plasma density in the dawn and dusk sectors following the storm. The in situ data are further complemented by the ground‐based total electron content maps. Both the in situ and the ground‐based observations show significant depletion of electron density during the super storm in regions above 50° magnetic latitude. The density depletion originates from a polar hole in the morning high latitude sector. It is suggested that the strong convection speed under substantial solar wind forcing leads to chemical composition changes and rapid recombination in the ionosphere. The region of depleted plasma density is not confined to the polar cap but expands to auroral and mid‐latitude regions. The depleted plasma density lasts for about 3 days before it recovers to the pre‐storm levels.

Spatial analysis of COVID-19 incidence and mortality rates in northwest iran for future epidemic preparedness

The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical need for effective public health strategies to combat infectious diseases. This study examines the epidemiological characteristics and spatial distribution of COVID-19 incidence and mortality in Zanjan Province, northwest Iran, to inform future epidemic preparedness. Using data from 39,739 hospitalized COVID-19 cases recorded between February 2020 and September 2021, sourced from the Medical Care Monitoring Center, we conducted descriptive and geospatial analyses. Demographic, clinical, and spatial variables were analyzed using logistic regression and advanced spatial techniques, including Kernel Density Estimation and Local Moran’s I, to identify risk factors and disease hotspots. Results revealed that women accounted for 52% of cases, with higher incidence rates, while men exhibited higher mortality rates (7.86% vs. 7.80%). Urban areas, particularly the provincial capital, were identified as hotspots, with the highest patient density (20,384 cases per 10 km²). Comorbidities such as HIV/AIDS (OR: 4.85), chronic liver disease (OR: 3.6), chronic blood diseases (OR: 2.8), and cancer (OR: 2.5) significantly increased mortality risk, with ventilator use showing the highest odds ratio for death (OR = 91). Vaccination significantly reduced mortality, with fully vaccinated individuals experiencing a 6.3% mortality rate compared to 8.1% in unvaccinated individuals. Spatial analysis highlighted population density and mobility as key drivers of disease spread. These findings emphasize the importance of integrating spatial and epidemiological data to enhance pandemic preparedness. Targeted interventions in urban hotspots, early detection systems, and prioritizing vaccination for high-risk populations are critical for mitigating future outbreaks. This study provides a foundation for evidence-based public health strategies to strengthen global epidemic response and improve preparedness for future health crises.

The global stress response regulator oxyS in an adherent-invasive Escherichia coli strain attenuates experimental colitis

ABSTRACT Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in humans and experimental immune-mediated colitis in mice are likely due in part to overactive immune responses to resident intestinal bacteria, including certain strains of adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (E. coli) such as E. coli NC101. We have previously shown that specific E. coli NC101 stress responses are upregulated during experimental colitis and attenuate inflammation. However, the roles of broader stress response pathways in E. coli NC101 during experimental colitis are unknown. We hypothesize that the global stress response regulator in E. coli, oxyS, also reduces experimental colitis. We show that intestinal E. coli NC101 upregulate oxyS expression during colitis in monocolonized interleukin-10 deficient mice. Furthermore, we demonstrate that oxyS-sufficient E. coli NC101 have decreased motility and biofilm formation in vitro and attenuated intestinal translocation and colitogenic potential in vivo compared with oxyS-deficient E. coli. These data suggest that activation of a generalized E. coli stress response, oxyS, reduces experimental colitis and may be a potential therapeutic target.

Effects of exogenous calcium pretreatment on the cold resistance of Phoebe zhennan seedlings.

Effects of exogenous calcium pretreatment on the cold resistance of Phoebe zhennan seedlings.

Mechanical characterization of nonlinear elasticity of growing intestinal organoids with a microinjection method.

Mechanical characterization of nonlinear elasticity of growing intestinal organoids with a microinjection method.

The Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network: A Multicountry Public Health Collaboration.

Respiratory viruses represent a significant public health threat. There is the need for robust and coordinated surveillance to guide global health responses. Established in 2012, the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) addresses this need by collecting clinical and virological data on persons with acute respiratory illnesses across a network of hospitals worldwide. GIHSN utilizes a standardized patient enrolment and data collection protocol across its study sites. It leverages pre-existing national infrastructures and expert collaborations to facilitate comprehensive data collection. This includes demographic, clinical, epidemiological, and virologic data, and whole genome sequencing (WGS) for a subset of viruses. Sequencing data are shared in the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). GIHSN uses financing and governance approaches centered around public-private partnerships. Over time, GIHSN has included more than 100 hospitals across 27 countries and enrolled more than 168,000 hospitalized patients, identifying 27,562 cases of influenza and 44,629 of other respiratory viruses. GIHSN has expanded beyond influenza to include other respiratory viruses, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2023, GIHSN strengthened its global impact through a memorandum of understanding with the World Health Organization, aimed at enhancing collaborative efforts and data sharing for improved health responses. GIHSN exemplifies the value of integrating scientific research with public health initiatives through global collaboration and public-private partnerships governance. Future efforts should enhance the scalability of such models and ensure their sustainability through continued public and private support.