It’s Time to Include Harm to Humans in Harm–Benefit Analysis — But How to Do It, That is the Question

The Three Rs ( reduction, refinement, replacement) concept put forward by Russell and Burch now appears to be widely accepted. However, their warnings concerning reliance on animals as models for humans, the insurmountable problem of species differences and the impact of human variation, have been downplayed or even ignored. Schemes for harm–benefit analysis have been introduced, but the focus has largely been on harm to the animals, rather than on the direct and indirect benefit to humans, which is much more difficult to evaluate. Greater recognition should be given to the direct or indirect harm to humans resulting from the current over-reliance of biomedical research and testing on data obtained from animal experiments. That will be hard to achieve in the current climate, given the vigorous defence of animal experimentation by those with vested interests, confusion over responsibilities for regulating animal experimentation, hierarchies of regulatory authorities which require or limit experiments on animals, and exaggerated claims about the current availability of new approach methodologies (NAMs) and relevant and reliable strategies for their use. Those who defend animal experimentation at almost any cost must bear part of the responsibility for the human harms which result. Meanwhile, much greater effort should be put into the development, validation and application of new approaches not involving animals.

Asymmetric pathogen spillover favors exotic plants over natives

Exotic plants can escape from specialist pathogenic microorganisms in their new range, but may simultaneously accumulate generalist pathogens. This creates the potential for pathogen spillover, which could alter plant-competitive hierarchies via apparent competition. To assess the potential for and consequences of pathogen spillover in invaded communities, we conducted a community-level plant-soil feedback experiment in experimental communities that ranged in the extent of exotic dominance, using next-generation sequencing to characterize sharing of putatively-pathogenic, root-associated fungi (hereafter, ‘pathogens’). Exotic plants outperformed natives in communities, despite being subject to stronger negative plant-soil feedbacks in monoculture and harboring higher relative abundance of pathogens. Exotic plants made more general associations with pathogens, making them more prone to sharing pathogens with natives and exerting apparent competition. These data suggest that exotic plants accumulate generalist pathogens that are shared with native plants, conferring an indirect benefit to exotic, over native plants.

Tinjauan Nilai Manfaat pada Pengelolaan Sampah Plastik Oleh Sektor Informal (Studi Kasus: Kecamatan Purwodadi, Kabupaten Grobogan)

Penggunaan kembali material limbah dengan cara mendaur ulang merupakan salah satu cara efektif untuk menghindari pencemaran lingkungan dan mengurangi volume timbulannya di Tempat Pembuangan Akhir. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui potensi ekonomi kegiatan daur ulang sampah plastik oleh sektor informal di Kecamatan Purwodadi. Penelitian dilakukan melalui survei menggunakan kuesioner terhadap 29 pelaku daur ulang. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa potensi ekonomi yang terdapat dalam usaha daur ulang sampah plastik pada tiap tingkatan pelaku daur ulang berbeda-beda. Berdasarkan analisis kelayakan ekonomi menggunakan nilai Net Present Value (NPV), Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR), dan Internal Rate of Return (IRR) dapat disimpulkan bahwa usaha daur ulang tingkat penggiling layak secara ekonomi dengan nilai NPV Rp 923.395.260 (NPV > 1), nilai BCR 1,58 (BCR > 1), dan nilai IRR 56,82. Benefit (manfaat) dari implementasi program 3R sampah plastik pada sektor informal secara umum dapat digolongkan menjadi dua manfaat, yaitu manfaat langsung (direct benefit) dan manfaat tidak langsung (indirect benefit). Manfaat langsung (direct benefit) berupa keuntungan penjualan sampah plastik. Keuntungan bersih tiap jenis sampah plastik pada tingkat pemulung antara Rp 500-Rp 2.600, tingkat bank sampah berkisar antara Rp 100-Rp 400, tingkat pengepul I berkisar antara Rp 91,67-Rp 391,67, tingkat pengepul II berkisar antara Rp 173,46-Rp 473,46, tingkat bandar berkisar antara Rp 186,94-Rp 686,94, dan tingkat penggiling berkisar antara Rp 136,23-Rp 1.136,32. Manfaat tidak langsung (indirect benefit) adanya pengelolaan sampah plastik oleh sektor informal yaitu tereduksinya sampah plastik di Kecamatan Purwodadi sebesar 10,08%.

Socio-Economic Benefits Stemming from Bush Clearing and Restoration Projects Conducted in the D’Nyala Nature Reserve and Shongoane Village, Lephalale, South Africa

This study aimed to investigate the socio-economic benefits stemming from bush clearing and restoration projects conducted in the Lephalale municipality, within the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The study was conducted at two sites: the D’Nyala Nature Reserve and a nearby local village, Shongoane. A qualitative thematic content analysis approach and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from 14 purposively selected participants between the ages of 22 and 55 (male = 9 and female = 5). The results indicated that the nature reserve benefited from the project via the improved visibility of the landscape features and game viewing, which made the reserve more attractive for tourists and resulted in increased revenue. The costs of buying feed for game could also be curbed since the grazing capacity increased. Since the nature reserve sourced temporary labour from the local village to execute the project, the community benefited in terms of members being able to earn a wage, which led to an improvement in their livelihoods. Another indirect benefit was the morale and behavioural changes observed amongst community members. It was obvious that the socio-economic benefits derived from projects such as these far outweigh the negatives and that there is every reason to institute projects of a similar nature elsewhere.

The Importance of Advancing Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Vaccines in Children

While the role of children in the transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains to be defined, children likely play an important role based on our knowledge of other respiratory viruses. Children are more likely to be asymptomatic or have milder symptoms and less likely to present for healthcare and be tested for SARS-CoV-2. Thus, our current estimates are likely under-representative of the true burden of SARS-CoV-2 in children. Given the potential direct benefit of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in children and the substantial indirect benefit through community protection, or “herd immunity,” we argue that planning and implementation of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines should include children. Furthermore, community protection occurred after widespread implementation of prior childhood vaccines against Streptococcus pneumoniae, rubella, and rotavirus. We detail considerations for vaccine clinical trials, potential barriers to the implementation of widespread vaccination and argue why children would be an ideal target population for vaccination.

Apparel employees’ creative, analytical and emotional intelligences and their job and career satisfaction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how apparel employees’ analytic, creative and emotional intelligence (EI) influence their job (JS) and career satisfaction (CS) from the theory of EI perspective. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was administered to apparel employees with a response of 135 participants. Regression-based conditional process analysis using bootstrapped confidence intervals was employed to analyze the study’s hypotheses. Findings Findings indicated that, using EI, overall participants had higher JS and, therefore, CS. However, the degree of such relationships was different for the analytic and creative groups. Specifically, when the analytic group has high EI, the direct effect of EI on JS and CS was higher than the creative group had on high EI. That is, EI seems to help the analytic group to achieve their JS and CS more directly and, respectively, while the creative group gets more indirect benefit of JS between EI and CS. Originality/value This study is one of the first to empirically investigate the apparel work environment by assessing employees’ analytic, creative and EIs and their relationships with JS and CS. Implications for the apparel industry and academia show that apparel companies and educators may need to enhance EI for their current and future employees to help create a more positive and long-lasting career in the apparel industry.

Sexual selection favours good or bad genes for pathogen resistance depending on males' pathogen exposure

Resistance to pathogens is often invoked as an indirect benefit of female choice, but experimental evidence for links between father's sexual success and offspring resistance is scarce and equivocal. Two proposed mechanisms might generate such links. Under the first, heritable resistance to diverse pathogens depends on general immunocompetence; owing to shared condition dependence, male sexual traits indicate immunocompetence independently of the male's pathogen exposure. By contrast, other hypotheses (e.g. Hamilton–Zuk) assume that sexual traits only reveal heritable resistance if the males have been exposed to the pathogen. The distinction between the two mechanisms has been neglected by experimental studies. We show that Drosophila melanogaster males that are successful in mating contests (one female with two males) sire sons that are substantially more resistant to the intestinal pathogen Pseudomonas entomophila —but only if the males have themselves been exposed to the pathogen before the mating contest. By contrast, sons of males sexually successful in the absence of pathogen exposure are less resistant than sons of unsuccessful males. We detected no differences in daughters’ resistance. Thus, while sexual selection may have considerable consequences for offspring resistance, these consequences may be sex-specific. Furthermore, contrary to the ‘general immunocompetence’ hypothesis, these consequences can be positive or negative depending on the epidemiological context under which sexual selection operates.

Immunization and Ethics: Beneficence, Coercion, Public Health, and the State

As medical products given to healthy people (mostly children) at least partly for the benefit of others, vaccines raise challenging ethical questions. A vaccine provides a dual benefit: a direct benefit to the person receiving it, and an indirect benefit to other members of the community through the creation of herd immunity. As with any medical intervention, immunization also carries risks of adverse events. The collective implications of immunization have led governments to enact policies designed to achieve high rates of coverage among their populations. This article provides a historical overview of vaccine use and considers ethical questions related to compulsory vaccination, coercion, vaccine rationing, and compensation for vaccine-related adverse events.

Study on Ecological Economic Benefits of Mangrove in Sauk Village, Lolak Sub-district, Bolaang Mongondow District

This study was carried out in Sauk village, Lolak district, Bolaang Mongondow regency on June 10th – August 11th, 2016, around mangrove ecosystem at the geographic position of 00 50’ 10’’ N and 1230 56’ 40’’E. It was aimed to a) assess the ecological condition of the mangrove ecosystem of Sauk village based upon the community structure and (b) estimate the economic value of the mangrove ecosystem from direct and indirect benefit. Results found that the ecological value of the mangrove ecosystem was categorized as “rare” (<1000 trees/Ha), with low diversity index (< 2), and Sonneratia alba had very important role with the highest IVI. Total economic value was IDR. 1,116,830,000 per year based upon the benefit value.Keywords : economic benefit, ecology, mangrove ecosystem, Sauk village. ABSTRAKPenelitian ini dilakukan di Desa Sauk Kec, Lolak Kab. Bolaang Mongondow pada tanggal 10 juni–11 Agustus 2016, di sekitaran kawasan ekosistem mangrove Desa Sauk yang terletak pada posisi geografis N 00 50’ 10’’ dan E 1230 56’ 40’’. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah : (a) Menilai kondisi ekologi ekosistem mangrove di Desa Sauk berdasarkan struktur komunitas. (b) Menghitung nilai ekonomi ekosistem mangrove berdasarkan nilai guna langsung dan tidak langsung. Nilai ekologi ekosistem mangrove di Desa Sauk dikategorikan “jarang” (<1000 pohon per Ha), dengan indeks keanekaragaman rendah (< 2) dan jenis yang yang sangat berperan adalah Sonneratia alba yang memliki INP tertinggi. Sedangkan nilai ekonomi total berdasarkan nilai manfaat sebesar Rp.1.116.830.000 per tahun.Kata Kunci : Manfaat ekonomi, ekologi ekosistem mangrove Desa Sauk