Characterizing Food Policy Councils' Network Partnerships and COVID-19 Responses.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed millions of Americans into food insecurity. Food policy councils (FPCs) across the country played a vital role in organizing coordinated food responses across multiple sectors. We used a social network analysis (SNA) approach to investigate: (1) the network of partnering organizations and agencies within FPCs; (2) how the characteristics of FPCs' network partnerships (i.e., degree, coreness, and density) related to programmatic, policy, and advocacy actions in response to the pandemic; and (3) how FPCs' use of a racial or social equity framework shifted their network partnerships and responses. Local government agencies and food supply chain actors were core in FPCs' network partnerships, while public utilities, correctional facilities, social justice groups, and others were non-core partners. Network density was more likely to be associated with any action by FPCs, and it was especially pronounced for advocacy actions taken by FPCs; trends were similar among FPCs that reported using a racial or social equity framework. The findings begin to uncover core actors in FPCs' partnerships and opportunities to establish new partnerships, particularly with social justice groups. The results also suggest that network density (interconnectedness) may be more important than other network characteristics when responding to food-related needs.

Pentagon Found Daily, Metagenomic Detection of Novel Bioaerosol Threats to Be Cost-Prohibitive: Can Virtualization and AI Make It Cost-Effective?

In 2022, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency found threat agnostic detection of novel bioaerosol threats to be "not feasible for daily operations" due to the cost of reagents used for metagenomics, cost of sequencing instruments, and cost of labor for subject matter experts to analyze bioinformatics. Similar operational difficulties might extend to many of the 280,000 buildings (totaling 2.3 billion square feet) at 5,000 secure US Department of Defense military sites, 250 Navy ships, as well as many civilian buildings. These economic barriers can still be addressed in a threat agnostic manner by dynamically pooling samples from dry filter units, called spike-triggered virtualization, whereby pooling and sequencing depth are automatically modulated based on novel biothreats in the sequencing output. By running at a high average pooling factor, the daily and annual cost per dry filter unit can be reduced by 10 to 100 times depending on the chosen trigger thresholds. Artificial intelligence can further enhance the sensitivity of spike-triggered virtualization. The risk of infection during the 12- to 24-hour window between a bioaerosol incident and its detection remains, but in some cases it can be reduced by 80% or more with high-speed indoor air cleaning exceeding 12 air changes per hour, which is similar to the rate of air cleaning in passenger airplanes in flight. That level of air changes per hour or higher is likely to be cost-prohibitive using central heating ventilation and air conditioning systems, but it can be achieved economically by using portable air filtration in rooms with typical ceiling heights (less than 10 feet) for a cost of approximately $0.50 to $1 per square foot for do-it-yourself units and $2 to $5 per square foot for high-efficiency particulate air filters.

Don't bury Mexico's biodiversity capacity.

In a world where biodiversity is on the line on many fronts-from armed conflict to pandemics to climate change-defending institutions that have effectively managed it is paramount. In the global effort to protect biodiversity, Mexico has been at the forefront. In particular, for more than 30 years, Mexico's National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (CONABIO) has promoted research, compiled information on the biodiversity of Mexico and elsewhere, and connected academia, government, and society to guide decision-making. Unfortunately, the demise of CONABIO, which began in 2018 under the current administration, may be fully realized soon. Last month, the Mexican government announced its intent to reduce CONABIO from a multi-ministry federal government agency to a branch within the environment ministry. This will strip CONABIO of its independent voice, credibility, and influence on national and international policy. As this decision is open for public comment, it is important for the scientific community to speak out strongly against this change.

The Biden Cancer Moonshot: American Progress, Global Commitment.

SUMMARY: The Biden Cancer Moonshot is mobilizing efforts toward achieving two clear goals that President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden set: prevent more than 4 million cancer deaths by 2047 and improve the experience of people who are touched by cancer. To achieve these ambitious but achievable goals, the Biden Cancer Moonshot is driving progress across the cancer journey utilizing all facets of the oncology community - federal agencies, and departments, private companies, healthcare providers, patient groups, and philanthropies - to end cancer as we know it here in the United States and all around the world.

Surveillance for Emerging and Reemerging Pathogens Using Pathogen Agnostic Metagenomic Sequencing in the United States: A Critical Role for Federal Government Agencies.

The surveillance and identification of emerging, reemerging, and unknown infectious disease pathogens is essential to national public health preparedness and relies on fluidity, coordination, and interconnectivity between public and private pathogen surveillance systems and networks. Developing a national sentinel surveillance network with existing resources and infrastructure could increase efficiency, accelerate the identification of emerging public health threats, and support coordinated intervention strategies that reduce morbidity and mortality. However, implementing and sustaining programs to detect emerging and reemerging pathogens in humans using advanced molecular methods, such as metagenomic sequencing, requires making large investments in testing equipment and developing networks of clinicians, laboratory scientists, and bioinformaticians. In this study, we sought to gain an understanding of how federal government agencies currently support such pathogen agnostic testing of human specimens in the United States. We conducted a landscape analysis of federal agency websites for publicly accessible information on the availability and type of pathogen agnostic testing and details on flow of clinical specimens and data. The website analysis was supplemented by an expert review of results with representatives from the federal agencies. Operating divisions within the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Veterans Affairs have developed and sustained extensive clinical and research networks to obtain patient specimens and perform metagenomic sequencing. Metagenomic facilities supported by US agencies were not equally geographically distributed across the United States. Although many entities have work dedicated to metagenomics and/or support emerging infectious disease surveillance specimen collection, there was minimal formal collaboration across agencies.

Fast-tracking action on the Sustainable Development Goals by enhancing national institutional arrangements.

Six years remain to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite some progress, institutional effectiveness for SDG achievement has not been delivered at a national level. Identification and establishment of an institutional framework to operationalise the 2030 Agenda within national plans, giving science-based coordination of SDG implementation a central role, is urgently required to accelerate progress. This paper tackles this challenge. Drawing on literature analysis, it asks: 1) What are the deficiencies in institutional national arrangements that hinder SDG implementation? 2) How can existing institutional deficiencies in SDG implementation be addressed? and 3) How can institutional changes support fast-tracking of SDG implementation processes at national level? Findings show that country-specific horizontal institutional arrangements are usually advanced. However, national visions to improve mainstreaming across decision-making at different levels to enable whole-of-government and whole-of-society approaches to SDG implementation are commonly under-developed. Deficiencies are due to poor systematic engagement of scientific and technical expertise in operational day-to-day communication, as well as in the design, validation, implementation, monitoring and reporting of domestic SDG-related multi-stakeholder actions. Vertical institutional arrangements are complex, and risk resource-consuming, uncoordinated implementation. Our analyses suggest countries may benefit from establishing a national, centralised independent scientific and technical coordinating body for SDG implementation at national level, within existing science-based institutional arrangements. Such a body would not be led by governmental processes but would provide technical support to government agencies. We argue that scientific and technical skills in data and information management and quality control are central to coordinated and evidence-informed support, and could help to accelerate national SDG implementation. Such a supporting body would also enable a more joined-up approach between stakeholders working in the areas of science and technology, government and practice, improving orchestrated science-based actions and their auditing across sectors and stakeholder communities at national and sub-national levels. It would further guide actions to reduce trade-offs within national sustainable development aspirations, and would facilitate consideration of diverse values in advancing towards a durable and just transformative future. Such efforts are vital given the rapidly closing window of time for SDG achievement.

Democratizing social scientists' impact on federal policy: Using the evidence act to help government and ourselves.

It is common for social scientists to discuss the implications of our research for policy. However, what actions can we take to inform policy in more immediate and impactful ways, regardless of our existing institutional affiliations or personal connections? Focusing on federal policy, I suggest that the answer requires understanding a basic coordination problem. On the government side, the Foundations of Evidence-based Policymaking Act (2018) requires that large federal agencies pose, communicate, and answer research questions related to their effects on people and communities. This advancement has opened the black box of federal agency policy priorities, but it has not addressed capacity challenges: These agencies often do not have the financial resources or staff to answer the research questions they pose. On the higher education side, we have more than 150,000 academic social scientists who are knowledge producers and educators by training and vocation. However, especially among those in disciplinary departments, or those without existing institutional or personal connections to federal agencies, we often feel locked out of federal policymaking processes. In this article, I define the coordination problem and offer concrete actions that the academic and federal government communities can take to address it. I also offer leading examples of how academics and universities are making public policy impact possible in multiple governmental spheres. I conclude by arguing that both higher education institutions and all levels of government can do more to help academic social scientists put our knowledge to work in service of the public good.

A comparison of licensed driver counts from the Federal Highway Administration and driver licensing agencies in 11 states.

Objective: Those who study motor vehicle crashes may rely on counts of licensed drivers to estimate crash, injury, or fatality rates. These counts may be obtained from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration's (FHWA) annual Highway Statistics Series or directly from state driver licensing agencies. However, previous studies have questioned the accuracy of these counts provided by the FHWA.Methods: To investigate this issue, we compared counts of licensed drivers from the FHWA and state licensing agencies in 11 states, categorized by sex and age group, from 2013 through 2017. We then assessed the impact of any potential differences by fitting two sets of Poisson regression models to estimate age- and sex-based driver fatality rate ratios. One set of models used counts from the FHWA as the offset and the other used counts from state licensing agencies.Results: Our analysis found that the differences between FHWA and state counts varied markedly. Seven states had substantial differences for at least one age group that spanned the entire study period. In several cases, these differences in license counts were large enough to produce directly contradictory driver fatality rate ratio estimates when comparing age groups.Conclusions: These findings highlight the continued concern regarding the accuracy of licensed driver counts from the FHWA and extend previous studies by illustrating the impact of using FHWA counts on statistical inference. We recommend against using these data for traffic safety research or policy evaluation. Nevertheless, we acknowledge the need for a centralized, easily accessible database for licensed driver data.

Summary Report of a Public Workshop: Case Studies of Multi-Regional Clinical Trial Incorporating Concept of the ICH E17 Guideline.

To further our understanding of the International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) E17 guideline and promote effective implementation, a public workshop was held in Japan by regulatory agency and industry representatives. In this workshop, important concepts explained in the ICH E17 guideline, such as intrinsic/extrinsic ethnic factors that influence treatment effects ("effect modifiers") and the holistic evaluation of consistency of treatment effect were actively discussed through case studies. The importance of holistic evaluation of consistency was recognized, and it was concluded that the evaluation and relevant discussion should be shared with regulatory authorities, sponsors, and broader stakeholders.

Sponsorship of Clinical Trials Related to the Shoulder and Elbow: Trends Over Time and Comparative Analysis of Trial Characteristics by Sponsorship Type.

INTRODUCTION: Sponsorship trends have not been specifically evaluated for shoulder and elbow clinical trials, nor have trial characteristics been compared among shoulder and elbow trials sponsored by institutions, industries, and federal agencies. METHODS: ClinicalTrials.gov was queried for clinical trials using the terms 'shoulder' and 'elbow.' Trial characteristics were abstracted, including start year, intervention type, phase, randomization, and blinding. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine associations between sponsorship type and other trial characteristics. RESULTS: In total, 4,945 shoulder clinical trials and 1,517 elbow clinical trials were identified, of which 26 shoulder clinical trials and seven elbow clinical trials were excluded due to incomplete data. From 2000 to 2022, the number of shoulder and elbow trials initiated annually markedly increased driven by an increase in the number of institutional trials. Relative to trials with institutional sponsorship, industry sponsorship was independently associated with different intervention types, phase of study, lack of randomization, and blinding. DISCUSSION: From 2000 to 2022, the number of shoulder and elbow clinical trials initiated annually markedly increased, driven by an increase in institutionally sponsored trials. For clinical trials related to the shoulder, design characteristics were found to differ based on study sponsorship type. This suggests that the design characteristics of shoulder-related clinical trials are shifting over time.

A benefactor to mankind? Captain Warner's secrets and the politics of invention in early Victorian Britain.

This article delves into Captain Samuel Alfred Warner's dogged campaign to sell two inventions - his submersible mine and "long range" missile - to the British government in the 1840s and 1850s. Departing from a historiography that dismisses Warner as a fraudster, it clarifies how he managed to generate widespread interest in his weapons technologies for nearly twenty years. I therefore analyze three key elements of his self-promotion: his personal branding, his pitch, and his simultaneous embrace and rejection of publicity. Neither elite nor highly educated, Warner ran up against a culture of "polite science" that distinguished disinterested practitioners from profit-minded schemers. To establish his credentials, he emphasized his practical maritime experience and represented himself as a martyr willing to bear the scorn of a disbelieving establishment. In pitching his devices, Warner capitalized on alarmism over border security and the integrity of the empire; he declared that they could hobble France's modernizing navy and quickly end colonial conflicts. When skeptics began to fret over the proliferation of his destructive weapons, Warner flipped the script and lauded the threat of mutual annihilation as a deterrent to needless warfare. The issue of publicity, however, would ultimately be Warner's professional undoing. Despite successful demonstrations, his clashes with official investigators and his refusal to disclose his chemical secrets led critics to dispute the originality of his discoveries. An examination of Warner's self-promotional strategies, his fraught interactions with the British state, and the ambivalent public reaction to his contraptions provides insight into how scientific authority was acquired and lost in this period.

An Evaluation of the Swissmedic Regulatory Framework for New Active Substances.

BACKGROUND: Swissmedic is a major regulatory agency that has been benchmarking its timelines for 20 years. To better understand the Swissmedic review times and to examine whether measures introduced to accelerate the process were effective, a retrospective analysis was undertaken. The objective was to provide a breakdown of where time is spent in the phases of Swissmedic's approval process (validation, scientific assessment, authorisation) and how this compared to other major authorities. METHODS: Data on Swissmedic, EMA and FDA product approvals were collected from websites or through direct communication, using a standardised CIRS method and milestones previously identified, focusing on new active substances approved 2019-2021. RESULTS: In 2019, 2020, and 2021, Swissmedic median approval times were 520, 470, and 392 days, respectively. The decrease over this time was mainly observed in the Authorisation Phase and can be attributed to lower proportions of applications with multiple "labelling loops", in addition to shorter times for final label negotiation. While Swissmedic had the longest overall approval time (447 days) compared to EMA (428) and FDA (244), the timelines were more comparable when considering only the agency's time spent on the scientific assessment, with Swissmedic at 194 days, EMA at 218 days, and FDA at 184 days. CONCLUSIONS: These observations represent an important analysis of Swissmedic regulatory activity timelines, demonstrate the impact of process improvements, and emphasise the importance of measuring timelines. Swissmedic will continue to expedite its processes also by promoting international collaborations with like-minded authorities.

The influencing factor model and empirical research of TikTok charity live streaming impact users' online charitable donation.

The "live streaming + charity" model is a new model for China's philanthropy, accelerating the new development of China's philanthropy, but there is still a relative paucity of research in the academic community on how charity live streaming affects online charitable donations. In this sense, this study aims to identify the construction of a model of the factors influencing charity live streaming on online charitable donations. This study selected TikTok Live, based on the UTAUT model, combining perceived risk and perceived interactivity, recovered 607 valid questionnaires, and concluded and structural equation modeling to construct an influence factor model to analyze their correlation. The results show that users' performance expectancy, effort expectancy, perceived interactivity, facilitating conditions, and social influence are significantly positively correlated with online charitable donations, and perceived risk does not negatively affect users' intentions to make online charitable donations. Our findings can provide a basis for live-streaming platforms and relevant social organizations and government departments to develop charity communication strategies.

Political Ideology and Trust in Government Health Agencies for Cancer Information.

This cross-sectional study assesses the association between political ideology and trust in government health agencies for cancer information.

Do political parties always prefer loyalists? Evidence from South Korea.

This paper examines the relationship between ideological polarization and party disloyalty, focusing on the moderating role of the status of a political party in the legislature, i.e., the ruling party or the opposition party. It hypothesizes that the ruling party is willing to endorse disloyal candidates whose issue positions are not close to their own party's platform, whereas the opposition party is likely to punish disloyal candidates to demonstrate party unity in the nomination process. The present study tests this hypothesis, using data from South Korea, where the nomination process for the parliamentary election is dominated by party leaders. The results are by and large consistent with the hypotheses. In line with previous studies, our results suggest that party loyalty is one of the driving forces of polarization in politics. In order to fully understand party polarization at the level of political elites, it is necessary to consider heterogeneous effects of party members' behavior on candidate selection, varying across the party's status, either the ruling party or the opposition party.

Improving Middle-Income Countries Access to Vaccines. A Blueprint to Overcome Current Challenges.

The Global Health Consortium at Florida International University developed an end-to-end solution framework based on the input of a diverse panel of experts from middle-income country (MIC) government agencies, public health think tanks, academia, and nonprofit organizations to identify mechanisms to help MIC governments and stakeholders increase access to novel vaccines for infectious diseases. The resultant layout can be deployed to improve vaccine discovery and development, strengthen regulatory processes, and boost vaccine production, access, and implementation. Mechanisms include policies and incentives MIC governments can use to stimulate vaccine investment and activity, as well as actions government agencies can take together with other stakeholders to coordinate efforts or build capabilities. Through a series of individual virtual interviews, we engaged diverse experts from MIC government agencies, public health think tanks, academia, and nonprofit organizations who understand the vaccine ecosystem, immunization policies, and population health financing at global, regional, and country levels. Responses were mapped, and in-depth questions were prepared for a group virtual discussion. This paper is the result of such a group discussion. The panel identified clear opportunities for MICs to improve locally-driven innovations and future access to novel vaccines. It proposes a solution framework for countries considering investing in vaccine research and development and innovation to use as a guide to evaluate the steps they could take to improve such an environment and incentivize innovation in vaccine development. It is hoped that this end-to-end solution framework will become a key resource to help MICs strengthen policies and take more actions to make such improvements.