Lethal Threat Research Articles

Depression, anxiety, stress, and PTSD symptoms during the first and second COVID-19 waves: a comparison of elderly, middle-aged, and young people in Iran

BackgroundA widespread outbreak of epidemics like Covid-19 is a lethal threat to physical and mental health. Recent studies reported a higher prevalence of mental problems in younger individuals, contrary to the general assumption expected in older people. Therefore, it is necessary to compare anxiety, stress, depression and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) symptoms in different age groups during the Covid-19 crisis.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey was performed (from Dec. 2020 to Feb. 2021) on three age groups of elderly, middle-aged and young people. Data were collected by DASS-21 (Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale) and IES-R (Impact of Event Revised Scale) and analyzed using ANOVA, χ2 test and logistic regression analysis.ResultsOverall, 601 participants completed the questionnaires, including 23.3% of the elderly (≥ 60 years), 29.5% of the young (18–29 years) and 47.3% of the middle-aged (30–59 years) with 71.4% of women. The logistic regression analysis revealed that the risk of PTSD in young people was higher than in the elderly (β = 2.242, CI: 1.03–4.87, P = 0.041), while the risk of depression, anxiety and stress did not differ significantly among the three age groups. Female gender, occupation, lower economic status, solitary life, and chronic disease were risk factors for psychological symptoms during the Covid-19 pandemic.ConclusionFindings on the higher odds ratio of PTSD symptoms in younger individuals have interestingly potential implications to meet the needs of mental health services during Covid-19.

Establishing an Approach for Designation of Evolving and Emerging Drug Threats.

Establishing an Approach for Designation of Evolving and Emerging Drug Threats.

Smallpox and monkeypox: Looking back and looking ahead.

The monkeypox (mpox) epidemic was declared a global health emergency in July 2022. The mpox virus belongs to the same virus family as the smallpox, or variola virus, but the infection is a less lethal threat than smallpox. Nevertheless, its relationship to smallpox is a worldwide concern, as is the discontinuation of universal smallpox vaccinations since the 1980s. Newer therapies and vaccines are available for both infections, including 2 antiviral drugs that can be used under certain conditions. Two vaccines have been developed for mpox prevention, but clarity is needed on when and how to use them. Preventive public health measures and prioritization of resources for managing infectious disease are concerns.

Murder in war as an ethical problem

The article is devoted to the issue of the principles of moral restraint of warfare according to the division of war participants into legitimate and illegitimate targets of military attacks, which is actively discussed in the ethics of war. The authors analyze two competing ways of differentiating this view, corresponding to two versions of the most popular contemporary ethics of war, the Just War Theory (JWT). One approach assumes symmetric rights for both combatants and non-combatants on both sides of the war, while the other approach allocates rights according to the moral significance of the war in which the actors are involved as well as their contribution to it. The authors show that in both cases an important principle of justice is violated. But the reason for this, they suggest, is that in both cases differentiation is proposed according to a certain distribution of rights. In such a case, the only moral justification for creating a lethal threat to the subject in war is that the subject does not have the right not to be so threatened independent of any of his qualities. However, the authors argue that the proposed justifications for the loss of such a right in war are not sufficient. And from this it must follow that both principles of differentiation are unjust. Nevertheless, they can be fair, according to the authors, if we refuse to consider the presence or absence of the relevant right as the only moral justification for creating a lethal or comparable threat to someone in war.

The sbiTRS Operon Contributes to Stenobactin-Mediated Iron Utilization in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.

Iron is an essential micronutrient for various bacterial cellular processes. Fur is a global transcriptional regulator participating in iron homeostasis. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is a ubiquitous environmental bacterium that has emerged as an opportunistic pathogen. To elucidate the novel regulatory mechanism behind iron homeostasis in S. maltophilia, wild-type KJ and KJΔFur, a fur mutant, were subjected to transcriptome assay. A five-gene cluster, sbiBA-sbiTRS, was significantly upregulated in KJΔFur. SbiAB is an ATP type efflux pump, SbiT is an inner membrane protein, and SbiSR is a two-component regulatory system (TCS). The sbiTRS operon organization was verified by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR). Localization prediction and bacterial two-hybrid studies revealed that SbiT resided in the inner membrane and had an intramembrane interaction with SbiS. In iron-replete conditions, SbiT interacted with SbiS and maintained SbiSR TCS in a resting state. In response to iron depletion stress, SbiT no longer interacted with SbiS, leading to SbiSR TCS activation. The iron source utilization assay demonstrated the contribution of SbiSR TCS to stenobactin-mediated ferric iron utilization but notto the utilization of hemin and ferric citrate. Furthermore, SmeDEF and SbiAB pumps, known stenobactin secretion outlets, were members of the SbiSR regulon. Collectively, in an iron-depleted condition, SbiSR activation is regulated by Fur at the transcriptional level and by SbiT at the posttranslational level. Activated SbiSR contributes to stenobactin-mediated ferric iron utilization by upregulating the smeDEF and sbiAB operons. SbiSR is the first TCS found to be involved in iron homeostasis in S. maltophilia. IMPORTANCE Therapeutic options for Stenotrophomonas maltophilia infections are limited because S. maltophilia is intrinsically resistant to several antibiotics. Iron is an essential element for viability, but iron overload is a lethal threat to bacteria. Therefore, disruption of iron homeostasis can be an alternative strategy to cope with S. maltophilia infection. The intricate regulatory networks involved in iron hemostasis have been reported in various pathogens; however, little is known about S. maltophilia. Herein, a novel sbiTRS operon, a member of Fur regulon, was characterized. SbiT, an inner membrane protein, negatively modulated the SbiSR two-component regulatory system by intramembrane protein-protein interaction with SbiS. In response to iron-depleted stress, SbiSR was activated via the regulation of Fur and SbiT. Activated SbiSR upregulated smeDEF and sbiAB, which contributed to stenobactin-mediated ferric iron utilization. A novel fur-sbiT-sbiSR-smeDEF/sbiAB regulatory circuit in S. maltophilia was revealed.

CHARACTERIZATION OF TERRORISTIC EXPLOSIVE MATERIALS AND RELATED PROBLEMS

Improvised Explosives Devices (IEDs) are a lethal threat to soldiers in hostilities. Until now, their use has been characteristic of the military conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. Currently, IEDs are also used in the war in Ukraine. Their popularity is mainly due to easy access to explosives and pyrotechnics (e.g. from unexploded bombs), and chemical reagents, as well as specialistic knowledge that can be obtained online. These factors contribute to creation of effective means of combat, capable of destroying manpower and enemy's military equipment at a minimal cost and amount of work. Currently, problem of improvised explosives is particularly serious due to the fact that virtually everyone is able to make high-energy materials at home, using commercially available chemical reagents or obtaining them from unexploded explosives, and using simple tools. The matter is further complicated by the fact that, as a result of experiments, newer and newer explosives are created in "home laboratories". Those explosives are not yet widely known and tested, which increases the risk associated with IED. In this article, explosives used by terrorist groups and amateurs of pyrotechnics have been analyzed and characterized. The problem of universal access to knowledge and materials necessary to construct explosives was also discussed.

Minority Rule: A Lethal Threat to the People's Health, Democracy, and our Planet.

When it comes to climate change, gun control, and abortion rights, the U.S. Supreme Court is on a minority rule roll, with grave consequences for the health of people and life on Earth. Its June 2022 decisions to limit the ability of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate climate-heating emissions, to overturn gun control legislation, and to overturn Roe v. Wade not only will harm health and increase health inequities, but also flout public opinion. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, is not alone in being out of step with majority views: so too are state and federal elected officials. For effective action, it is imperative for health professionals not only to marshal evidence of harms posed by actions such as the Supreme Court decisions, but also to contribute to efforts to understand and address how changing the "rules of the game"-for example, through gerrymandering and voter suppression-is enabling branches of the U.S. government to undermine not only use of scientific evidence but also majority rule.

Lead induced disorders of lipid metabolism and glycometabolism in the liver of developmental Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica) via inhibiting PI3K/Akt signaling pathway

The lead (Pb) contamination is considered a lethal threat to birds. However, Pb-induced hepatotoxicology especially its impacts on metabolic processes in the liver of birds is not yet fully understood. Therefore, we tried to determine the toxicological effects of Pb exposure on hepatic carbohydrate and lipid metabolism via Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) pathway by using an animal model- Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica). One-week old female Japanese quails were randomly allocated into four groups and fed with 0, 50 ppm, 500 ppm and 1000 ppm Pb drinking water respectively for 49 days. The results showed that Pb accumulated in the liver as a dose-dependent manner. Exposure to high dose of Pb (500 and 1000 ppm Pb) led to severe histopathological damages characterized by irregularity and dilation of liver sinusoids, hepatic lipid vacuolization and hepatocellular cytoplasm hyalinization. Meanwhile, Pb exposure caused glycogen increase and lipid droplets decrease in the liver. Pb exposure was also attributable to a decreased triglyceride level in the plasma. In addition, the transcriptional levels of PI3K and Akt in the liver were downregulated by Pb exposure. Subsequently, the mRNA expressions of genes related with glycometabolism in the liver were remarkably altered and the mRNA levels of genes involved in fat synthesis and oxidation in the liver were also markedly changed. it seems that Pb could lead to liver metabolic disorder through structural damages and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway disruption.

Vaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS): Evaluation of 31 years of reports and pandemics’ impact

BackgroundVaccine adverse event reporting system (VAERS) was established in the United States (U.S.) as an early warning system with a main purpose of collecting post-marketing Adverse events following immunizations (AEFIs) reports to monitor the vaccine safety and to mitigate the risks from vaccines. During the coronavirus diseases 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, VAERS got more attention as its important role in monitoring the safety of the vaccines. The aim of this study was to investigate VAERS patterns, reported AEFI, vaccines, and impact of different pandemics since its inception. MethodsThis was an observational study using VARES data from 2/7/1990 to 12/11/2021. Patterns of reports over years were first described, followed by a comparison of reports statistics per year. Furthermore, a comparison of incidents (death, ER visits, etc.) statistics over years, in addition to statistics of each vaccine were calculated. Moreover, each incident's statistics for each vaccine were calculated and top vaccines were reported. All analyses were conducted using R (Version 1.4.1717) and Excel for Microsoft 365. ResultsThere were 1,396,280 domestic and 346,210 non-domestic reports during 1990–2021, including 228 vaccines. For both domestic and non-domestic reports, year of 2021 had the highest reporting rate (48.52 % and 70.33 %), in addition a notable change in AEFIs patterns were recorded during 1991, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2017. AEFIs were as follow: deaths (1.00 % and 4.08 %), ER or doctor visits (13.37 % and 2.27 %), hospitalizations (5.84 % and 27.78 %), lethal threat (1.42 % and 4.38 %), and disabilities (1.4 % and 7.96 %). Pyrexia was the top reported symptom during the past 31 years, except for 2021 where headache was the top one. COVID-19 vaccines namely Moderna, Pfizer-Biontech, and Janssen were the top 3 reported vaccines with headache, pyrexia, and fatigue as the top associated AEFIs. Followed by Zoster, Seasonal Influenza, Pneumococcal, and Human papillomavirus vaccines. ConclusionsThe large data available in VARES make it a useful tool for detecting and monitoring vaccine AEFIs. However, its usability relies on understating the limitations of this surveillance system, the impact of governmental regulations, availability of vaccines, and public health recommendations on the reporting rate.

Flood disaster evacuation route choice in Indonesian urban riverbank kampong: Exploring the role of individual characteristics, path risk elements, and path network configuration

Emergency evacuation is regarded as the most important disaster response action for protecting human life from potentially lethal threats. Despite growing research aimed at evaluating and modelling evacuation for strategic flood disaster preparedness, remarkably little is known about how informal settlement dwellers realized and negotiated surrounding environment for evacuation path route choice. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamic interaction between human characteristics, path risk elements, and path network configuration in constructing flood evacuation route choices based on two cases study of urban riverbank kampongs in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. To understand these interactions, we applied a mixed method based on a qualitative research approach, which included (1) walking evacuation simulation with video analysis to understand the informality practices and kampong's space setting, (2) an analysis of dweller's narrative experience collected from walking interviews, (3) computational path network configuration analysis using space syntax. Our findings suggest that kampong dwellers selected evacuation routes differently based on their individual capacity, the safety performance of path design, and path network characteristics in accommodating the safest travel. When juxtaposing space syntax results with walking evacuation simulation, the individual evacuation route choice is highly related to space syntax measures (normalized angular choice at local radii), implying that the majority of residents still prefer to walk on the straightest route (the route with the least angular deviation) to reach the assembly/exit points. Furthermore, this research demonstrates that not all residents have the same capabilities to walk on the straightest evacuation route due to physical capacity and limitation that relates to gender and ages differences in negotiating path risk elements. The use of mixed method approaches provided a practical insight into emphasizing the human-centered perspective in planning an effective flood emergency evacuation for informal riverbank settlements through spatial design, planning, that respect vulnerable groups.

Nano drug delivery systems as promising tools for cancer therapy

Despite the remarkable medical advances, cancer is still a lethal threat to humans, causing tremendous social and economic problems. The emerging and following developments of nanomedicine for cancer therapy during past recent years brought outstanding achievements to the healthcare industry. Nanoparticle-based carriers to deliver various anti-cancer drugs opened new doors to boost the efficiencies of conventional chemotherapeutic approaches and decrease serious side effects. Although some challenges like drug resistance, instability, inappropriate accumulation, and drug leakage have remained, some delivery systems have achieved hopeful results in clinical trials, and consequently, some of them were approved by U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In this review, the most essential and promising anticancer drug delivery systems for cancer treatment, particularly non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), are described. The primary emphasis was on evaluating different FDA-Approved ones in order to get a comprehensive grasp of their benefits and drawbacks for future research and industrial uses.

Boon or bane? Open society and polarisation

Is polarisation a fundamental threat to the open society? Are the divisions that run through societies and separate them into two (or more) more or less hostile groups problems to be solved? Or are they the corollaries of a vibrant democratic system that might legitimately be called an ‘open society’? These are the questions I seek to explore in this contribution to the special issue. My argument unfolds through a reinterpretation of Karl Popper’s conception of open society as a democratic idea, characterised by an appreciation of genuine human plurality and diversity that make ‘critical encounters with the other side’ possible (and desirable); this conception of open society also recognises the progressive potential of social and political conflicts. For that reason, political polarisation cannot be regarded as a lethal threat to open societies. By contrast, ‘belief polarisation’, with its Manichean orientation and anti-political tendencies, is a much more serious threat. It follows that advocates of open society should avoid the temptation to solve the ‘problem’ of political polarisation – they should accept it as the price to be paid for the ‘imperfect ideal’ of open society. However, they should take steps to reduce belief polarisation through the active creation of spaces of critical encounters with the other side. The overarching aim of the article, then, is to make a contribution to both the literature on open society and polarisation. To that end, I will bring the concept of open society and the phenomenon of polarisation into a relationship of reciprocal elucidation: through the engagement with open society, I will shine some light on polarisation, and through the analysis of polarisation, I will put flesh on the concept of open society.

Trade in vulture parts in West Africa: Burkina Faso may be one of the main sources of vulture carcasses

Summary The current catastrophic decline in African vultures is caused mainly by poisoning, and killing for consumption and belief-based use (traditional medicine). To find out more about the key threats to vultures in West Africa, we assessed the main anthropogenic causes of vulture mortality in Burkina Faso. We analysed incidents of mass vulture mortality, based on interviews conducted in 2016 with local butchers, veterinarians, foresters, and abattoir watchmen at 44 sites across the country. A total of 730 interviews revealed that poisoning was the main cause of mortality of vultures in Burkina Faso (20 of the 23 mass mortality incidents described by respondents were caused by poisoning). Poisoning was also the most lethal threat to vultures (779 out of 879 known vulture deaths were due to poisoning). According to the survey, intentional poisoning of vultures with poisoned baits (which comprised 15 out of 23 mass mortality incidents) produced the highest number of victims (577 out of 879 dead vultures). The number of vultures killed by poisoned baits was higher closer to the borders than elsewhere in Burkina Faso and we believe these recent intentional vulture poisoning events in Burkina Faso were intended to meet the growing demand for vulture body parts in West Africa. The survey showed that unintentional poisoning was the second main cause of vulture mass mortality (5 out of 23 mass mortality incidents comprising 202 of 879 dead vultures). Other important anthropogenic causes of vulture mortality included electrocution at electricity poles and motor vehicle collisions. Our results highlight the need for awareness campaigns, improved policy and legislation, and stronger commitment from governments in West Africa, to halt the trade in vultures and prevent their extirpation.

An Improved Monkey Model of Myocardial Ischemic Infarction for Cardiovascular Drug Development.

Non-human primate monkey model of myocardial ischemic infarction is precious for translational medicine research. Ligation of the left anterior descending (LAD) artery is a common procedure to induce myocardial ischemic infarction. However, the consistency of the myocardial infarction thus generated remains problematic. The present study was undertaken to critically evaluate the monkey model of myocardial ischemic infarction to develop a procedure for a consistent cross-study comparison. Forty male Rhesus monkeys were divided into 4 groups and subjected to LAD artery ligation at different levels along the artery. In addition, the major diagonal branch was selectively ligated parallel to the ligation site of the LAD artery according to the diagonal branch distribution. Analyses of MRI, echocardiography, cardiac hemodynamics, electrocardiography, histopathology, and cardiac injury biomarkers were undertaken to characterize the monkeys with myocardial infarction. Ligation at 40% of the total length of the artery, measured from the apex end, produced variable infarct areas with inconsistent functional alterations. Ligation at 60% or above coupled with selective ligation of diagonal branches produced a consistent myocardial infarction with uniform dysfunction. However, ligation at 70% caused a lethal threat. After a thorough analysis, it is concluded that ligation at 60% of the total length coupled with selective ligation of diagonal branches, enables standardization of the location of occlusion and the subsequent ischemic area, as well as avoids the influence of the diagonal branches, are ideal to produce a consistent monkey model of myocardial ischemic infarction.

Dual drive acute lethal toxicity of methylene blue to Daphnia magna by polystyrene microplastics and light

Microplastics (MPs) can adsorb and influence the toxicity of traditional pollutants significantly. Although the complex toxicity of MPs and molecular pollutants were frequently reported, rare work has been done on the influence of MPs on the phototoxicity of photosensitive pollutants under light illumination condition. Herein, polystyrene microplastics (PS) (~1 μm in diameter, 5.0 mg/L) was used as a model MP to investigate its influence on the phototoxicity of a soluble blue dye, methylene blue (MB) using Daphnia magna as a model organism. The results indicate that PS could adsorb MB effectively and quickly, thus led to concentrated MB on PS/water interface. D. magna ingested MB-adsorbed PS very quickly within tens of minutes. Although MB or PS alone led to negligible lethal phototoxicity to D. magna, PS significantly enhanced the lethal phototoxicity of MB (0.25 mg/L) to D. magna after light illumination (10 h) with the survival rate decreased by 63.3 % compared with the control in the dark. Further, the phototoxicity of MB was found positively consistent with PS concentration from 0.50 mg/L to 7.50 mg/L. The singlet oxygen fluorescence assay indicates that the presence of PS did not increase the total amount of singlet oxygen in the aquatic environment but increased the local concentration in the gut area via non-selective ingestion of D. magna. High level singlet oxygen generated in the gut might possibly be the main reason that led to the massive death of D. magna. Surface adsorption of photosensitive pollutants may transform inert MPs into persistent solid sources of singlet oxygen production and become a new potential lethal threat to aquatic small organisms and ecological equilibrium. This kind of MPs and light dual drive phototoxicity of photosensitive pollutants needs to paid more attention in understanding the uncertain ecological risk of MPs.

PM2.5 Air Pollution Prediction through Deep Learning Using Multisource Meteorological, Wildfire, and Heat Data

Air pollution is a lethal global threat. To mitigate the effects of air pollution, we must first understand it, find its patterns and correlations, and predict it in advance. Air pollution is highly dependent on spatial and temporal correlations of prior meteorological, wildfire, and pollution structures. We use the advanced deep predictive Convolutional LSTM (ConvLSTM) model paired with the cutting-edge Graph Convolutional Network (GCN) architecture to predict spatiotemporal hourly PM2.5 across the Los Angeles area over time. Our deep-learning model does not use atmospheric physics or chemical mechanism data, but rather multisource imagery and sensor data. We use high-resolution remote-sensing satellite imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument onboard the NASA Terra+Aqua satellites and remote-sensing data from the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), a multispectral imaging spectrometer onboard the Sentinel-5P satellite. We use the highly correlated Fire Radiative Power data product from the MODIS instrument which provides valuable information about the radiant heat output and effects of wildfires on atmospheric air pollutants. The input data we use in our deep-learning model is representative of the major sources of ground-level PM2.5 and thus we can predict hourly PM2.5 at unparalleled accuracies. Our RMSE and NRMSE scores over various site locations and predictive time frames show significant improvement over existing research in predicting PM2.5 using spatiotemporal deep predictive algorithms.

An Antiracist Index for State Level Assessment

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security identified white supremacists as the most lethal threat in America. White supremacy is a system rooted in racist policies and ideas that produce and normalize racial inequities. Combatting white supremacism thus requires identification and promotion of antiracist policies, actions, and systemic changes. This study constructs an Antiracist Index comprised of 15 indicators to assess the degree to which American states exhibit antiracist conditions across political, economic, and cultural dimensions. Indices are rank-ordered for all 50 states, from Very High to Very Low scores. Results demonstrate that three indicators—self-defense laws, gun ownership, and support for Black Lives Matter—primarily impact both high and low ranking states. The Antiracism Index thus serves as an exploratory assessment tool which enables state-by-state comparisons, identification of antiracist indicators, and the ability to monitor changes in racism and antiracism moving forward.

Deep learning approaches for detecting DDoS attacks: a systematic review.

In today’s world, technology has become an inevitable part of human life. In fact, during the Covid-19 pandemic, everything from the corporate world to educational institutes has shifted from offline to online. It leads to exponential increase in intrusions and attacks over the Internet-based technologies. One of the lethal threat surfacing is the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that can cripple down Internet-based services and applications in no time. The attackers are updating their skill strategies continuously and hence elude the existing detection mechanisms. Since the volume of data generated and stored has increased manifolds, the traditional detection mechanisms are not appropriate for detecting novel DDoS attacks. This paper systematically reviews the prominent literature specifically in deep learning to detect DDoS. The authors have explored four extensively used digital libraries (IEEE, ACM, ScienceDirect, Springer) and one scholarly search engine (Google scholar) for searching the recent literature. We have analyzed the relevant studies and the results of the SLR are categorized into five main research areas: (i) the different types of DDoS attack detection deep learning approaches, (ii) the methodologies, strengths, and weaknesses of existing deep learning approaches for DDoS attacks detection (iii) benchmarked datasets and classes of attacks in datasets used in the existing literature, and (iv) the preprocessing strategies, hyperparameter values, experimental setups, and performance metrics used in the existing literature (v) the research gaps, and future directions.

Paving the way for human vaccination against Rift Valley fever virus: A systematic literature review of RVFV epidemiology from 1999 to 2021.

BackgroundRift Valley fever virus (RVFV) is a lethal threat to humans and livestock in many parts of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Indian Ocean. This systematic review’s objective was to consolidate understanding of RVFV epidemiology during 1999–2021 and highlight knowledge gaps relevant to plans for human vaccine trials.Methodology/Principal findingsThe review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020221622). Reports of RVFV infection or exposure among humans, animals, and/or vectors in Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Indian Ocean during the period January 1999 to June 2021 were eligible for inclusion. Online databases were searched for publications, and supplemental materials were recovered from official reports and research colleagues. Exposures were classified into five groups: 1) acute human RVF cases, 2) acute animal cases, 3) human RVFV sero-surveys, 4) animal sero-surveys, and 5) arthropod infections. Human risk factors, circulating RVFV lineages, and surveillance methods were also tabulated. In meta-analysis of risks, summary odds ratios were computed using random-effects modeling. 1104 unique human or animal RVFV transmission events were reported in 39 countries during 1999–2021. Outbreaks among humans or animals occurred at rates of 5.8/year and 12.4/year, respectively, with Mauritania, Madagascar, Kenya, South Africa, and Sudan having the most human outbreak years. Men had greater odds of RVFV infection than women, and animal contact, butchering, milking, and handling aborted material were significantly associated with greater odds of exposure. Animal infection risk was linked to location, proximity to water, and exposure to other herds or wildlife. RVFV was detected in a variety of mosquito vectors during interepidemic periods, confirming ongoing transmission.Conclusions/SignificanceWith broad variability in surveillance, case finding, survey design, and RVFV case confirmation, combined with uncertainty about populations-at-risk, there were inconsistent results from location to location. However, it was evident that RVFV transmission is expanding its range and frequency. Gaps assessment indicated the need to harmonize human and animal surveillance and improve diagnostics and genotyping. Given the frequency of RVFV outbreaks, human vaccination has strong potential to mitigate the impact of this now widely endemic disease.

Do We Need a Hippocratic Oath for Artificial Intelligence Scientists?

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been beneficial for humanity, improving many human activities. However, there are now significant dangers that may increase when AI reaches a human level of intelligence or superintelligence. It is paramount to focus on ensuring that AI is designed in a manner that is robustly beneficial for humans. The ethics and personal responsibilities of AI scientists could play an important role in continuing the constructive use of AI in the future. Lessons can be learnt from the long and successful history of medical ethics. Therefore, a Hippocratic Oath for AI scientists may increase awareness of the potential lethal threats of AI, enhance efforts to develop safe and beneficial AI to prevent corrupt practices and manipulations and invigorate ethical codes. The Hippocratic Oath in medicine, using simple universal principles, is a basis of human ethics, and in an analogous way, the proposed oath for AI scientists could enhance morality beyond biological consciousness and spread ethics across the universe.