High Priority Issue Research Articles

Assessment of Food Services Pre-requisite Program in a Tertiary Hospital in Egypt

Abstract Background Hospital food service systems are one of the most complicated processes where safety in this sector is considered high priority issue due to high susceptibility of hospital population. Objectives Our objectives were to identify the pre-requisite program components and the degree of compliance with these components in Ain Shams University Specialized Hospital. Methods A team was formed, identification of the prerequisite program components was carried out and a check list for determining the compliance with the identified components was used. Results From our study it was found that there is a severe lack in the prerequisite program items. Only 25% of the items were achieved, and the implementation of the prerequisite items ratio was 59.4% with severe lack of temperature control in the different stages of the food flow. Conclusions The present study showed that the necessary founding element of any food safety program, comprising the policies, operating procedures and similar organizing documents which was deficient in the studied hospital. Similarly, implementation of the basic required sanitation aspects in food handling was almost half applied. Reconsideration of basic underlying system for food services is mandated in our hospital.

Degradation of coastal ecosystem services in southern Black Sea: A case study of Trabzon city

Coasts are extremely important areas for human beings. Tshis importance stems from the excess of social and economic opportunities they offer. However, human pressure on the coasts has disturbed the ecological balance of these areas in the last century. People obtain benefits from the coasts by using various ecosystem services (ES). These are provisioning, regulating, supporting and cultural services. Sustainability is an issue of high priority for ES supply. Conservation, use and management should be given necessary importance in order to ensure sustainability of the coastal areas. The quality and health of ecosystems depend on ES supply and continuity. Therefore, long-term changes of ES supply in the Ortahisar District of Trabzon city is a focus of the current study. In this study, temporal variation of the benefits provided by ES on the coastal zone of the city was investigated. For this purpose, the old and new state of the city have been researched and compared in terms of ES supply by focusing on cultural ES using survey methods and expert judgments. Moreover, in order to support the research, temporal change of Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) classes between 1985 and 2014 was revealed by using Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. As a result of the study, a substantial decrease in ES supply and quality was observed in Trabzon City coastal zone in the last decades. In 30 years’ time span, the loss of vegetation is about 20 % of total cover and a sharp increase of impervious surface is witnessed. This figure reached roughly 10 % of total 175.70 km2. Based on survey results, degradation rate of ES supply can reach 58 % in edible products, 82 % in air quality and 80 % in habitat availability. In addition, cultural ES have found to be dominating and representing the landscape value of the city by offering many benefits for local people and visitors. Finally, recommendations have been made for the protection and usage balance of coastal ecosystems.

Forensic support of the activities of forensic science institutions and pre-trial investigation and inquiry bodies in counteraction to crime

Pressing issues of forensic support of activities of pre-trial investigation and inquiry bodies in countering criminal offenses are outlined.
 The concept and essence of crime counteraction are considered. The article analyzes the national criminal procedural legislation, departmental regulatory legal framework and their amendments concerning the direction under study, genesis of scientific findings on theoretical and applied issues of forensic support of the activities of pre-trial investigation and inquiry bodies in this direction, as well as the genesis of the concept and essence of forensic science as a science.
 The modern state of the development of forensic science, current high-priority issues and feasibility of changing the scientific paradigm of forensic science as well as the use of innovations are studied; ways for their improvement are proposed. Theoretical and applied problematic issues of criminalistics are subject to thorough study and resolution. Fundamental changes are required both in criminalistics in general and in particular in its individual areas. The current legislation, law enforcement agencies, forensic science institutions, prosecutors’ bodies and judicial bodies, as well as law enforcement, in which modern advances in science and technology (in particular, computer and telecommunication technologies) are being implemented should be reformed. The article highlights such problematic issues as the improvement of the forensic characteristics of cer-tain types of crimes, forensic techniques combining forensic techniques and tac-tics. The issue of further implementation in law enforcement and forensic expert activities of promising molecular genetic examinations for pre-trial investigation bodies, including the method of DNA analysis is outlined separately and fully.
 Relying on the results of research, specific author proposals and recommenda-tions are provided on the studied area of activity in general and in individual directions.

Do modified live virus vaccines against bovine viral diarrhea induce fetal cross-protection against HoBi-like Pestivirus?

Bovine Pestivirus heterogeneity is a major challenge for vaccines against bovine viral diarrhea (BVD). In breeding herds, fetal protection is a high priority issue. To some degree, fetal infections in vaccinated heifers have been attributed to the antigenic diversity of bovine Pestiviruses. The purpose of this study was to assess fetal protection against a divergent bovine Pestivirus (Hobi-like Pestivirus, HoBiPeV) with a commercially available modified live vaccine (MLV) claiming fetal protection against BVDV 1 and BVDV 2 up to one year after the first inoculation. Five vaccinated and four unvaccinated heifers were challenged by intranasal inoculation with the HoBiPeV Italy-1/10-1 strain between 82 and 89 days after insemination, i.e. between 4 and 6 months after vaccination. At challenge, neutralizing antibody titers to HoBiPeV in vaccinated heifers were low or even undetectable. Of the four unvaccinated heifers, one control animal aborted (fetus not available) and the remaining three gave birth to HoBiPeV positive calves. Among the heifers of the vaccinated group, one aborted the fetus in the sixth month of pregnancy, which tested Pestivirus negative, while three others gave birth to healthy, HoBiPeV negative calves; the remaining heifer delivered one HoBiPeV positive calf. The results suggest that the BVDV vaccine might be able to elicit a partial fetal protection against HobiPeV, even in absence of a strong specific antibody response.

Linkage Dependence of Interfacial Charge-Transfer Transitions in ZnO: Carboxylate versus Sulfur Linker.

Interfacial charge-transfer transitions (ICTTs) between organic compounds and inorganic semiconductors have recently attracted much attention due to the unique features of a wide range of visible light absorption with colorless organic molecules and direct interfacial charge separation for their potential applications in photoenergy conversions and chemical sensing. As the research on ICTT has almost been limited to titanium oxide semiconductors such as TiO2, the exploration of ICTT in other inorganic semiconductors is a high-priority issue. Recently, we demonstrated that ICTT is strongly induced by chemisorption of aromatic thiols on ZnO nanoparticles via the sulfur atom. Here, we report on ICTT in ZnO nanoparticles adsorbed with benzoic acid derivatives and the linkage dependence of ICTT in ZnO. We observed ICTT bands in the visible region upon adsorption of 4-(dimethylamino)benzoic acid (4-DMABA) and 3,4-dimethoxybenzoic acid (3,4-DMOBA) on ZnO nanoparticles via the carboxylate group. Notably, the ICTT absorption intensities are about 1 order of magnitude lower than those in the ZnO surface complexes with aromatic thiol compounds. Time-dependence density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations well reproduce the linkage dependence of ICTT. This characteristic linkage dependence of ICTT in ZnO is attributed to the difference in the valence orbital of bridging atoms. The sulfur bridging atom with the larger 3p valence orbitals gives rise to strong electronic couplings between ZnO and adsorbates for ICTT, in contrast to very weak electronic couplings via the smaller 2p valence orbitals of the oxygen bridging atoms in the carboxylate linkage. Our research reveals the important linkage dependence of ICTT in ZnO and elucidates the mechanism.

Digital health care in China and access for older people

Digital health care in China and access for older people

Maritime Robotics and Autonomous Systems Operations: Exploring Pathways for Overcoming International Techno-Regulatory Data Barriers

The current regulatory landscape that applies to maritime service robotics, aptly termed as robotics and autonomous systems (RAS), is quite complex. When it comes to patents, there are multifarious considerations in relation to vessel survey, inspection, and maintenance processes under national and international law. Adherence is challenging, given that the traditional delivery methods are viewed as unsafe, strenuous, and laborious. Service robotics, namely micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) or drones, magnetic-wheeled crawlers (crawlers), and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), function by relying on the architecture of the Internet of Robotic Things. The aforementioned are being introduced as time-saving apparatuses, accompanied by the promise to acquire concrete and sufficient data for the identification of vessel structural weaknesses with the highest level of accuracy to facilitate decision-making processes upon which temporary and permanent measures are contingent. Nonetheless, a noticeable critical issue associated with RAS effective deployment revolves around non-personal data governance, which comprises the main analytical focus of this research effort. The impetus behind this study stems from the need to enquire whether “data” provisions within the realm of international technological regulatory (techno-regulatory) framework is sufficient, well organized, and harmonized so that there are no current or future conflicts with promulgated theoretical dimensions of data that drive all subject matter-oriented actions. As is noted from the relevant expository research, the challenges are many. Engineering RAS to perfection is not the end-all and be-all. Collateral impediments must be avoided. A safety net needs to be devised to protect non-personal data. The results here indicate that established data decision dimensions call for data security and protection, as well as a consideration of ownership and liability details. An analysis of the state-of-the-art and the comparative results assert that the abovementioned remain neglected in the current international setting. The findings reveal specific data barriers within the existing international framework. The ways forward include strategic actions to remove data barriers towards overall efficacy of maritime RAS operations. The overall findings indicate that an effective transition to RAS operations requires optimizing the international regulatory framework for opening the pathways for effective RAS operations. Conclusions were drawn based on the premise that policy reform is inevitable in order to push the RAS agenda forward before the emanation of 6G and the era of the Internet of Everything, with harmonization and further standardization being very high priority issues.

Tracking global development assistance for trauma care: A call for advocacy and action.

BackgroundThis study aimed to track development assistance for trauma care (DAH-TC), uncover funding trends and gaps, and compare DAH-TC to development assistance for other health conditions.MethodsA systematic search of the OECD Creditor Reporting System (CRS) and Development Assistance Committee (DAC) databases was performed to capture projects related to trauma care. Reports from large foundations and public-private partnerships were also searched. DAH-TC was described, and comparisons were made between DAH-TC and other health conditions.ResultsThe search yielded 1754 records; after applying exclusion criteria, 301 records were included for analysis. During the 25-year period, US$93.7M of DAH-TC was disbursed to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (0.02% of total DAH). Contributions were dominated by a few donors and fluctuated dramatically over time. A sizable portion of DAH-TC came in the form of investments to build infrastructure (38% of DAH-TC); information and research activities (17%); and training (16%). Nearly US$58M (62% of DAH-TC) was funneled to projects that targeted victims of war. Trauma care received US$0.04 per DALY incurred, while malaria, TB, HIV and MCH received US$9.62 per DALY, US$25.09 per DALY, US$4.05 per DALY and US$45.75 per DALY, respectively.ConclusionsDAH-TC is critically underfunded, particularly compared to other health foci. To improve the DAH-TC landscape, stakeholders can better mobilize domestic resources; use advocacy more effectively by catalyzing network convergence, grafting trauma care onto related high-priority issues, and seeking broader coalitions; and develop partners within the donor and channel communities to promote strategic DAH-TC disbursements.

Prescription characteristics of phosphate binders in a high pill burden for hemodialysis patients

BackgroundDialysis patients have to take many oral drugs, causing a high pill burden. Phosphate binders (PBs) account for a large proportion of daily pill burden; however, the relationship between patient background and prescription status of PBs is not clear.MethodsWe clarified the characteristics of PBs in the total daily pill burden by analyzing the drugs prescribed for 533 chronic hemodialysis patients in our facility.ResultsAn average of nine different types of oral drugs was prescribed for each patient. The mean and median values of total pill burden were 15.1 and 14.1 pills/day/patient, respectively. The total pill burden showed a significant negative correlation with age and a significant positive correlation with dialysis vintage. In addition, the total pill burden was significantly higher in males than in females. However, there was no difference in the pill burden between patients with and without diabetes mellitus (DM). PBs were prescribed to 409 patients (76.7%), and the mean pill burden derived from PBs was 6.44 pills/day/patient. This was by far the highest of all 35 different drug categories and accounted for 32.84% of all pills. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that independent predictors of total pill burden were age, dialysis vintage, DM, and serum phosphorus (P) levels, and all these variables, except DM, were also independent predictors of pill burden from PBs. These variables were also selected when considering the use of calcimimetics.ConclusionsA high pill burden is more likely to occur in younger patients with longer dialysis vintage, DM, higher serum P levels, and prescription of calcimimetics. In addition, PB was the single largest contributor to the total pill burden that positively and linearly linked to serum P levels. Therefore, P management is a high-priority issue in the mitigation of high pill burdens in dialysis patients.

Lead Toxicity in Cereals: Mechanistic Insight Into Toxicity, Mode of Action, and Management.

Cereals are the major contributors to global food supply, accounting for more than half of the total human calorie requirements. Sustainable availability of quality cereal grains is an important step to address the high-priority issue of food security. High concentrations of heavy metals specifically lead (Pb) in the soil negatively affect biochemical and physiological processes regulating grain quality in cereals. The dietary intake of Pb more than desirable quantity via food chain is a major concern for humans, as it can predispose individuals to chronic health issues. In plant systems, high Pb concentrations can disrupt several key metabolic processes such as electron transport chain, cellular organelles integrity, membrane stability index, PSII connectivity, mineral metabolism, oxygen-evolving complex, and enzymatic activity. Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) has been recommended as an inexpensive strategy for remediating Pb-contaminated soils. A diverse group of Ascomycetes fungi, i.e., dark septate endophytes is successfully used for this purpose. A symbiotic relationship between endophytes and host cereal induces Pb tolerance by immobilizing Pb ions. Molecular and cellular modifications in plants under Pb-stressed environments are explained by transcription factor families such as bZIP, ERF, and GARP as a regulator. The role of metal tolerance protein (MTP), natural resistance-associated macrophage protein (NRAMP), and heavy metal ATPase in decreasing Pb toxicity is well known. In the present review, we provided the contemporary synthesis of existing data regarding the effects of Pb toxicity on morpho-physiological and biochemical responses of major cereal crops. We also highlighted the mechanism/s of Pb uptake and translocation in plants, critically discussed the possible management strategies and way forward to overcome the menace of Pb toxicity in cereals.

Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group offers evidence-informed guidance to conduct rapid reviews

ObjectivesTo develop methods guidance to support the conduct of rapid reviews (RRs) produced within Cochrane and beyond, in response to requests for timely evidence syntheses for decision-making purposes including urgent health issues of high priority. Study Design and SettingInterim recommendations were informed by a scoping review of the underlying evidence, primary methods studies conducted, and a survey sent to 119 representatives from 20 Cochrane entities, who were asked to rate and rank RR methods across stages of review conduct. Discussions among those with expertise in RR methods further informed the list of recommendations with accompanying rationales provided. ResultsBased on survey results from 63 respondents (53% response rate), 26 RR methods recommendations are presented for which there was a high or moderate level of agreement or scored highest in the absence of such agreement. Where possible, how recommendations align with Cochrane methods guidance for systematic reviews is highlighted. ConclusionThe Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group offers new, interim guidance to support the conduct of RRs. Because best practice is limited by the lack of currently available evidence for some RR methods shortcuts taken, this guidance will need to be updated as additional abbreviated methods are evaluated.

Peculiarities of reproduction of human capital in rural areas

The article summarizes the factors that have the most significant negative impact on the development of social and economic spheres of rural areas. Research on the response of human capital to destructive manifestations in the economy is highlighted, as well as a number of factors of manifestation of these destructive phenomena in the development of rural areas. Analyzed the most priority problems of development of rural areas in relation to each stage of social progress. Isolated and characterized the key steps in the development of the agricultural sector and its spatial framework of rural territories, namely with the settlements in which they lived rural, and has concentrated material and technical means of production. The highest priority issues of rural development in relation to each stage of social progress are analyzed. The key stages of development of the agricultural sector and its spatial basis – rural areas, namely with the settlements in which the villagers lived and the material and technical means of production were concentrated, are highlighted and characterized. Special attention is paid to the causes of migration of the rural population, which in turn has led to the search and analysis of certain measures to inhibit the negative effects of this process. It was found out that the implementation of agrarian and land reforms, as well as the transition to a socially oriented model of market economy had a negative impact, resulting in an increase in the number of degrading villages and the formation of new organizational and legal forms. A number of negative trends affecting the development of the agricultural sector have been identified, among which the social resources of rural areas are a priority. It was found that the main element of social resources of the village is the rural population, the lion's share of which belongs to labor resources, which act as a link, which determines the interdependence of its economic and social development. It is substantiated that the constant presence of the socio-economic system, which is a rural area, in a state of counteraction to "external shocks" causes changes in the specific content of the characteristics of the environment and its resources, which requires consideration of its state in developing strategic rural development programs. The basic principles of formation of human capital reproduction potential of rural territories are allocated, functions of rural territories as a habitat and vital activity and directions of purposeful policy of rural development are generalized. Key words: reproduction of human capital, rural areas, sustainable development, rural development.

Deep Learning Based Automatic Multiclass Wild Pest Monitoring Approach Using Hybrid Global and Local Activated Features

Specialized control of pests and diseases have been a high-priority issue for the agriculture industry in many countries. On account of automation and cost effectiveness, image analytic pest recognition systems are widely utilized in practical crops prevention applications. But due to powerless hand-crafted features, current image analytic approaches achieve low accuracy and poor robustness in practical large-scale multiclass pest detection and recognition. To tackle this problem, this article proposes a novel deep learning based automatic approach using hybrid and local activated features for pest monitoring. In the presented method, we exploit the global information from feature maps to build our global activated feature pyramid network to extract pests' highly discriminative features across various scales over both depth and position levels. It makes changes of depth or spatial sensitive features in pest images more visible during downsampling. Next, an improved pest localization module named local activated region proposal network is proposed to find the precise pest objects positions by augmenting contextualized and attentional information for feature completion and enhancement in local level. The approach is evaluated on our seven-year large-scale pest data-set containing 88.6 K images (16 types of pests) with 582.1 K manually labeled pest objects. The experimental results show that our solution performs over 75.03% mean average precision (mAP) in industrial circumstances, which outweighs two other state-of-the-art methods: Faster R-CNN with mAP up to 70% and feature pyramid network mAP up to 72%.

Employing Participatory Citizen Science Methods to Promote Age-Friendly Environments Worldwide.

The trajectory of aging is profoundly impacted by the physical and social environmental contexts in which we live. While “top–down” policy activities can have potentially wide impacts on such contexts, they often take time, resources, and political will, and therefore can be less accessible to underserved communities. This article describes a “bottom–up”, resident-engaged method to advance local environmental and policy change, called Our Voice, that can complement policy-level strategies for improving the health, function, and well-being of older adults. Using the World Health Organization’s age-friendly cities global strategy, we describe the Our Voice citizen science program of research that has specifically targeted older adults as environmental change agents to improve their own health and well-being as well as that of their communities. Results from 14 Our Voice studies that have occurred across five continents demonstrate that older adults can learn to use mobile technology to systematically capture and collectively analyze their own data. They can then successfully build consensus around high-priority issues that can be realistically changed and work effectively with local stakeholders to enact meaningful environmental and policy changes that can help to promote healthy aging. The article ends with recommended next steps for growing the resident-engaged citizen science field to advance the health and welfare of all older adults.

Texas Ruling Brings More ACA Uncertainty.

Texas ruling and other legal challenges raise questions about the ACA's future even as enrollment holds steady.

Methods of Legal Regulation for Surrogacy in Ukraine and Abroad

Almost at the onset of surrogacy as a method of ART, it has been attracting the attention of society as the way to fulfill the issue of high priority – procreation and family. Surrogacy has become one of the main research objects of bioethics that studies the ethical and moral aspects of the use of new biological and medical technologies. The main issue of this article is the identification and comparative analysis of the features of the legal regulation of the method of surrogacy in Ukraine and other countries. The particular importance lies in specifying those prohibitions and restrictions, who they are applied to, and how they relate to the human right to procreation. The comparison to the laws of other countries that have a better legal surrogacy regulation will take place. The theoretical and practical significance of the work is reflected in the fact that the results can be used in the further theoretical development of the legal issues related to surrogacy as one of the methods of human assisted reproduction. The research made it possible to find out the basic terms that are used in the legal regulation of surrogacy. In the course of the research, it was found out that legal regulation of the use of the ART methods in the word, including surrogacy, varies depending on the jurisdiction. Each country has their laws. Nowadays it is possible to divide legal regulation of the use of the surrogacy method into four basic legal regimes: – regime of permission; – regime of restriction; – regime of complete prohibition (in any form); – regime of uncertainty. Ukrainian legislation is considered to be very liberal in relation to surrogacy. Major types of surrogacy, including commercial surrogacy, are permitted and widely used. Moreover, in Ukraine, legislation does not allow traditional surrogacy, and also does not allow couples who do not have a registered marriage, single people, and same-sex couples, to use this method. It should also be borne in mind that the method of surrogacy can only be used for medical reasons. In Ukraine, taking into account the peculiarities of notarization, agreements (contracts) on commercial surrogacy should be preferably signed by a notary. However, in the legislative norms there is no direct reference to the notarized form of such an agreement.The obtained research results indicate that Ukrainian surrogacy legal regulation is lacking a special law and thus remains fragmented. According to the author, only through the adoption of a special law in Ukraine, it will be possible to make proper legal regulation of basic reproductive human rights, including the application of the method of surrogacy, the peculiarities of concluding surrogacy agreements, post-mortem human reproduction and delayed parenthood.

Effect of Educational Intervention on Implementation of Neonatal Safety Standards

Abstract Background and Aim Patient safety in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is one of the highest priority issues on the health care quality agenda worldwide. Efforts are needed to improve neonatal safety in NICU. The present study evaluated the effect of educational intervention on neonatal safety. Materials and Methods Quasi-experimental study was conducted in three major hospitals, including the health care workers in their NICU during the period of study from May 2016 to May 2018. Neonatal safety standards were evaluated using an observational checklist after its validation by a pilot study. An intervention educational program was conducted in the three hospitals, followed by a reevaluation of the standards. All staff members (58 physicians and 69 nurses) participated in the three stages of the study. Results The interventional program resulted in significant improvement of the health care workers implementation of the general (90.6 ± 15.1 vs. 127.6 ± 7.02, p = 0.016) and specific (50.6 ± 17.1 vs. 96.1 ± 13.2, p = 0.04) Egyptian Neonatal Safety Standards. Conclusion Training and increasing the awareness of health care workers of the neonatal safety standards can significantly increase the fulfilment of these standards in both secondary and tertiary care neonatal units.

Safety assessments and severe accidents, impact of external events on nuclear power plants and on mitigation strategies

The Fukushima-Daiichi accidents in 2011 underlined the importance of severe accident management (SAM), including external events, in nuclear power plants (NPP) and the need of implementing efficient mitigation strategies. To this end, the Euratom work programmes for 2012 and 2013 was focused on nuclear safety, in particular on the management of a possible severe accident at the European level. Relying upon the outcomes of the successful Euratom SARNET and SARNET2 projects, new projects were launched addressing the highest priority issues, aimed at reducing the uncertainties still affecting the main phenomena. Among them, PASSAM and IVMR project led by IRSN, ALISA and SAFEST projects led by KIT, CESAM led by GRS and sCO2-HeRO lead by the University of Duisburg-Essen. The aim of the present paper is to give an overview on the main outcomes of these projects.

Experimental analysis and evaluation of wide residual networks based agricultural disease identification in smart agriculture system

Specialised pest and disease control in the agricultural crops industry have been a high-priority issue. Due to great cost-effectiveness and efficient automation, computer vision (CV)–based automatic pest or disease identification techniques are widely utilised in the smart agricultural systems. As rapid development of artificial intelligence, in the field of computer vision–based agricultural pest identification, an increasing number of scholars have begun to move their attentions from traditional machine learning models to deep learning techniques. However, so far, deep learning techniques still have been suffering from many problems such as limited data samples, cost-effectiveness of network structure, and high image quality requirements. These issues greatly limit the potential utilisation of deep-learning techniques into smart agricultural systems. This paper aims at investigating utilization of one new deep-learning model WRN (wide residual networks) into CV-based automatic disease identification problem. We first built up a large-scale agricultural disease images dataset containing over 36,000 pieces of diseases, which includes typical types of disease in tomato, potato, grape, corn and apple. Then, we analysed and evaluated wide residual networks algorithm using the Tesla K80 graphics processor (GPU) in the TensorFlow deep-learning framework. A set of comprehensive experimental protocols have been designed in comparing with GoogLeNet Inception V4 regarding several benchmarks. The experimental results indicate that (1) under WRN architecture, Softmax loss function gives a faster convergence and improved accuracy than GoogLeNet inception V4 network. (2) While WRN shows a good effect for identification of agricultural diseases, its effectiveness has a strong need on the number of training samples of dataset like at least 36 k images in our experiment. (3) The overall performance is better than 800 sheets. The disease identification results show that the WRN model can be applied to the identification of agricultural diseases.

Biosafety and Biosecurity Challenges Facing Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratories in Lower-Middle Income Countries in Southeast Asia: A Case Study of Thailand.

Introduction:Global concerns over emerging and transboundary infectious zoonotic diseases have increased disease diagnostic demands, especially in the veterinary sector. In developing or newly developed countries where the sector often works under limited capacity, biosafety and biosecurity are unlikely to be high-priority issues. A recent development program supported by the Biological Threat Reduction Program of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency funded by the US government aimed to increase biosafety and biosecurity measures of government veterinary diagnostic and research laboratories in Thailand.Objective:The purpose of this article is to identify biosafety and biosecurity challenges, opportunities, and recommendations.Methods:Eleven government laboratory centers were assessed against the Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) requirements checklist. The BMBL assessment outcomes were then combined with the outcomes of discussion sessions, and the results of pre- and post-test questionnaires conducted during biosafety assessment workshops and self-evaluation reports using the Food and Agriculture Organization Biosafety Laboratory Mapping Tool of each laboratory center were reviewed and summarized.Results:Despite established national policies on laboratory biosafety and biosecurity, major challenges included (1) harmonization and enforcement of these policies, especially at the regional level, and (2) engagement of personnel in implementations of biosafety and biosecurity measures.Conclusion:Consistent biosafety policy and allocated resources together with regular training are required to develop sustainable biosafety and biosecurity at the national level. Collaboration between regional countries, international organizations, and donors is essential for improving biosafety and biosecurity on a global scale through setting regional priorities, enacting regulatory standards, and providing technical and financial support.