scholarly journals A Risk-Based Strategy for Evaluating Mitigation Options for Process-Formed Compounds in Food

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 358-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Hanlon ◽  
Gregory P. Brorby ◽  
Mansi Krishan
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Decision Tree ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Technical Committee ◽  
Global Approach ◽  
Chemical Safety ◽  
The Public ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

Processing (eg, cooking, grinding, drying) has changed the composition of food throughout the course of human history; however, awareness of process-formed compounds, and the potential need to mitigate exposure to those compounds, is a relatively recent phenomenon. In May 2015, the North American Branch of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI North America) Technical Committee on Food and Chemical Safety held a workshop on the risk-based process for mitigation of process-formed compounds. This workshop aimed to gain alignment from academia, government, and industry on a risk-based process for proactively assessing the need for and benefit of mitigation of process-formed compounds, including criteria to objectively assess the impact of mitigation as well as research needed to support this process. Workshop participants provided real-time feedback on a draft framework in the form of a decision tree developed by the ILSI North America Technical Committee on Food and Chemical Safety to a panel of experts, and they discussed the importance of communicating the value of such a process to the larger scientific community and, ultimately, the public. The outcome of the workshop was a decision tree that can be used by the scientific community and could form the basis of a global approach to assessing the risks associated with mitigation of process-formed compounds.

scholarly journals Novel Highly Pathogenic Avian A(H5N2) and A(H5N8) Influenza Viruses of Clade 2.3.4.4 from North America Have Limited Capacity for Replication and Transmission in Mammals

mSphere ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryan S. Kaplan ◽  
Marion Russier ◽  
Trushar Jeevan ◽  
Bindumadhav Marathe ◽  
Elena A. Govorkova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Avian Influenza ◽  
North American ◽  
Influenza Viruses ◽  
Morbidity And Mortality ◽  
Avian Influenza Viruses ◽  
Highly Pathogenic ◽  
The North ◽  
Domestic Poultry ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACT Highly pathogenic H5 influenza viruses have been introduced into North America from Asia, causing extensive morbidity and mortality in domestic poultry. The introduced viruses have reassorted with North American avian influenza viruses, generating viral genotypes not seen on other continents. The experiments and analyses presented here were designed to assess the impact of this genetic diversification on viral phenotypes, particularly as regards mammalian hosts, by comparing the North American viruses with their Eurasian precursor viruses. Highly pathogenic influenza A(H5N8) viruses from clade 2.3.4.4 were introduced to North America by migratory birds in the fall of 2014. Reassortment of A(H5N8) viruses with avian viruses of North American lineage resulted in the generation of novel A(H5N2) viruses with novel genotypes. Through sequencing of recent avian influenza viruses, we identified PB1 and NP gene segments very similar to those in the viruses isolated from North American waterfowl prior to the introduction of A(H5N8) to North America, highlighting these bird species in the origin of reassortant A(H5N2) viruses. While they were highly virulent and transmissible in poultry, we found A(H5N2) viruses to be low pathogenic in mice and ferrets, and replication was limited in both hosts compared with those of recent highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 viruses. Molecular characterization of the hemagglutinin protein from A(H5N2) viruses showed that the receptor binding preference, cleavage, and pH of activation were highly adapted for replication in avian species and similar to those of other 2.3.4.4 viruses. In addition, North American and Eurasian clade 2.3.4.4 H5NX viruses replicated to significantly lower titers in differentiated normal human bronchial epithelial cells than did seasonal human A(H1N1) and highly pathogenic A(H5N1) viruses isolated from a human case. Thus, despite their having a high impact on poultry, our findings suggest that the recently emerging North American A(H5N2) viruses are not expected to pose a substantial threat to humans and other mammals without further reassortment and/or adaptation and that reassortment with North American viruses has not had a major impact on viral phenotype. IMPORTANCE Highly pathogenic H5 influenza viruses have been introduced into North America from Asia, causing extensive morbidity and mortality in domestic poultry. The introduced viruses have reassorted with North American avian influenza viruses, generating viral genotypes not seen on other continents. The experiments and analyses presented here were designed to assess the impact of this genetic diversification on viral phenotypes, particularly as regards mammalian hosts, by comparing the North American viruses with their Eurasian precursor viruses.

Unconventional gas: local supply, global implications

2011 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 679
Author(s):  
Craig McMahon
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Coal Bed ◽  
Unconventional Gas ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The North ◽  
Local Supply ◽  
Sharp Growth ◽  
Gas Market ◽  
The Impact

The sharp growth in unconventional gas production in North America has turned the gas market on its head. Unconventional gas (coal bed methane, tight gas and shale gas) is present in large volumes throughout the world—it offers the potential to continue to reshape global gas dynamics. Many expect the North America experience of sharp unconventional gas growth to be repeated elsewhere and are forecasting the perpetuation of a global gas surplus. Is this likely? We consider the impact of its development, identify some of the issues that will constrain its growth and address some of the implications for upstream suppliers, resource holders, buyers and policy makers. No post-Conference paper or slides are available for this presentation.

The Life Sciences and the Public: Is Science Too Important to Be Left to the Scientists?

1984 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm L. Goggin
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Community ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
Lay Public

The scientific community is divided over the question of who should govern science. Most scientists are comfortable with a governing scheme which leaves science in the hands of scientists. Dissident scientists, with support from active members of the lay public, believe that science is too important to be left to scientists (Policy Research Incorporated, 1977; Miller, Prewitt, and Pearson, 1980).

scholarly journals The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA)

Ocean Science ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 379-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burkard Baschek ◽  
Friedhelm Schroeder ◽  
Holger Brix ◽  
Rolf Riethmüller ◽  
Thomas H. Badewien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Seas ◽  
The Public ◽  
The North ◽  
Data Products ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Arctic Coast ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA) was established in order to better understand the complex interdisciplinary processes of northern seas and the Arctic coasts in a changing environment. Particular focus is given to the German Bight in the North Sea as a prime example of a heavily used coastal area, and Svalbard as an example of an Arctic coast that is under strong pressure due to global change.The COSYNA automated observing and modelling system is designed to monitor real-time conditions and provide short-term forecasts, data, and data products to help assess the impact of anthropogenically induced change. Observations are carried out by combining satellite and radar remote sensing with various in situ platforms. Novel sensors, instruments, and algorithms are developed to further improve the understanding of the interdisciplinary interactions between physics, biogeochemistry, and the ecology of coastal seas. New modelling and data assimilation techniques are used to integrate observations and models in a quasi-operational system providing descriptions and forecasts of key hydrographic variables. Data and data products are publicly available free of charge and in real time. They are used by multiple interest groups in science, agencies, politics, industry, and the public.

Ecogeography and the Great American Interchange

Paleobiology ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. David Webb
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
South America ◽  
North American ◽  
Mammalian Fauna ◽  
The South ◽  
Land Bridge ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
The North ◽  
Land Mammal ◽  
The Impact

When the isthmian land bridge triggered the Great American Interchange, a large majority of land-mammal families crossed reciprocally between North and South America at about 2.5 Ma (i.e., Late Pliocene). Initially land-mammal dynamics proceeded as predicted by equilibrium theory, with roughly equal reciprocal mingling on both continents. Also as predicted, the impact of the interchange faded in North America after about 1 m.y. In South America, contrary to such predictions, the interchange became decidedly unbalanced: during the Pleistocene, groups of North American origin continued to diversify at exponential rates. Whereas only about 10% of North American genera are derived from southern immigrants, more than half of the modern mammalian fauna of South America, measured at the generic level, stems from northern immigrants. In addition, extinctions more severely decimated interchange taxa in North America, where six families were lost, than in South America, where only two immigrant families became extinct.This paper presents a two-phase ecogeographic model to explain the asymmetrical results of the land-mammal interchange. During the humid interglacial phase, the tropics were dominated by rain forests, and the principal biotic movement was from Amazonia to Central America and southern Mexico. During the more arid glacial phase, savanna habitats extended broadly right through tropical latitudes. Because the source area in the temperate north was six times as large as that in the south, immigrants from the north outnumbered those from the south. One prediction of this hypothesis is that immigrants from the north generally should reach higher latitudes in South America than the opposing contingent of land-mammal taxa in North America. Another prediction is that successful interchange families from the north should experience much of their phylogenetic diversification in low latitudes of North America before the interchange. Insofar as these predictions can be tested, they appear to be upheld.

scholarly journals The Impact of Large-Scale Orography on Northern Hemisphere Winter Synoptic Temperature Variability

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (18) ◽  
pp. 5799-5814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. Lutsko ◽  
Jane Wilson Baldwin ◽  
Timothy W. Cronin
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
North American ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Temperature Gradients ◽  
Northwest Pacific ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
The North ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The impact of large-scale orography on wintertime near-surface (850 hPa) temperature variability on daily and synoptic time scales (from days to weeks) in the Northern Hemisphere is investigated. Using a combination of theory, idealized modeling work, and simulations with a comprehensive climate model, it is shown that large-scale orography reduces upstream temperature gradients, in turn reducing upstream temperature variability, and enhances downstream temperature gradients, enhancing downstream temperature variability. Hence, the presence of the Rockies on the western edge of the North American continent increases temperature gradients over North America and, consequently, increases North American temperature variability. By contrast, the presence of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas on the eastern edge of the Eurasian continent damps temperature variability over most of Eurasia. However, Tibet and the Himalayas also interfere with the downstream development of storms in the North Pacific storm track, and thus damp temperature variability over North America, by approximately as much as the Rockies enhance it. Large-scale orography is also shown to impact the skewness of downstream temperature distributions, as temperatures to the north of the enhanced temperature gradients are more positively skewed while temperatures to the south are more negatively skewed. This effect is most clearly seen in the northwest Pacific, off the east coast of Japan.

scholarly journals Correlations between climate network and relief data

2014 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1127-1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. K. D. Peron ◽  
C. H. Comin ◽  
D. R. Amancio ◽  
L. da F. Costa ◽  
F. A. Rodrigues ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Climate Dynamics ◽  
Large Network ◽  
Network Characteristics ◽  
Network Community ◽  
The North ◽  
Weather Changes ◽  
Western Side ◽  
Climate Networks

Abstract. In the last few years, the scientific community has witnessed an ongoing trend of using ideas developed in the study of complex networks to analyze climate dynamics. This powerful combination, usually called climate networks, can be used to uncover non-trivial patterns of weather changes throughout the years. Here we investigate the temperature network of the North American region and show that two network characteristics, namely degree and clustering, have marked differences between the eastern and western regions. We show that such differences are a reflection of the presence of a large network community on the western side of the continent. Moreover, we provide evidence that this large community is a consequence of the peculiar characteristics of the western relief of North America.

scholarly journals Maintaining confidence in the reporting of scientific outputs

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarvenaz Sarabipour ◽  
Erin M Wissink ◽  
Steven J Burgess ◽  
Zach Hensel ◽  
Humberto Debat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Life Sciences ◽  
Ethical Principle ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
The Public ◽  
Scientific Outputs ◽  
New Research ◽  
The Impact

The timely and accurate dissemination of scientific discoveries is of utmost importance so that scientific knowledge can be advanced and applied to benefit the public. Scientists communicate amongst themselves at conferences, via journal articles, and, increasingly in the life sciences, in preprint manuscripts which have not been subject to peer review. Journalists translate new research into a language the public can understand, relying on both work presented in scientific forums and interviews with experts. Critically, scientists and journalists both share the ethical principle that publications should be rigorously sourced and fact-checked, with errors subject to publicized corrections. Here we respond to concerns raised about the impact of reporting on results that have not passed through peer review, calling for improved dialogue between scientists and journalists to maintain public trust in research and arguing that imposing limits is against the public interest.

scholarly journals The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA)

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Baschek ◽  
F. Schroeder ◽  
H. Brix ◽  
R. Riethmüller ◽  
T. H. Badewien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Seas ◽  
The Public ◽  
The North ◽  
Data Products ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Arctic Coast ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA) was established in order to better understand the complex interdisciplinary processes of northern seas and the arctic coasts in a changing environment. Particular focus is given to the German Bight in the North Sea as a prime example for a heavily used coastal area, and Svalbard as an example of an arctic coast that is under strong pressure due to global change. The automated observing and modelling system COSYNA is designed to monitor real time conditions, provide short-term forecasts and data products, and to assess the impact of anthropogenically induced change. Observations are carried out combining satellite and radar remote sensing with various in situ platforms. Novel sensors, instruments, and algorithms are developed to further improve the understanding of the interdisciplinary interactions between physics, biogeochemistry, and the ecology of coastal seas. New modelling and data assimilation techniques are used to integrate observations and models in a quasi-operational system providing descriptions and forecasts of key hydrographic variables. Data and data products are publically available free of charge and in real time. They are used by multiple interest groups in science, agencies, politics, industry, and the public.

scholarly journals Direct from the COVID-19 crisis: research and innovation sparks in Brazil

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mário Fabrício Fleury Rosa ◽  
Everton Nunes da Silva ◽  
Christina Pacheco ◽  
Marcos Vinícius Pereira Diógenes ◽  
Christopher Millett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health System ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Innovation System ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Research Development ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Universal Health

Abstract Background The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread throughout more than 160 countries, infecting millions of people worldwide. To address this health emergency, countries have organized the flow of production and innovation to reduce the impact on health. This article shows the response of the Brazilian scientific community to meet the urgent needs of the public unified health system [SUS], aiming to guarantee universal access to an estimated population of 211 million. By December 2020, Brazil had recorded more than six million cases and approximately 175,000 deaths. Methods We collected data on research, development and innovation projects carried out by 114 public universities (plus Oswaldo Cruz Foundation [Fiocruz] and Butantan Institute), as reported on their websites. Additionally, we examined the studies on COVID-19 approved by the National Comission for Research Ethics, as well as those reported on the Ministry of Education website as of May 15, 2020. Results The 789 identified projects were classified according to research categories as follows: development and innovation (n = 280), other types of projects (n = 226), epidemiologic research (n = 211), and basic research on disease mechanisms (n = 72). Most proposals focused on the development and innovation of personal protective equipment, medical devices, diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines, which were rapidly identified as research priorities by the scientific community. Some promising results have been observed from phase III vaccine trials, one of which is conducted in partnership with Oxford University and another of which is performed with Sinovac Biotech. Both trials involve thousands of volunteers in their Brazilian arms and include technology transfer agreements with Fiocruz and the Butantan Institute, respectively. These vaccines proved to be safe and effective and were immediately licensed for emergency use. The provision of doses for the public health system, and vaccination, started on January 17, 2021. Conclusions The mobilized Brazilian scientific community has generated comprehensive research, development and innovation proposals to meet the most urgent needs. It is important to emphasize that this response was only possible due to decades of investment in research, development and innovation in Brazil. We need to reinforce and protect the Brazilian science, technology and innovation system from austerity policies that disregard health and knowledge as crucial investments for Brazilian society, in line with the constitutional right of universal health access and universal health coverage.

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