The global value of freshwater lakes

Lakes face threats from human activities like unsustainable development, population growth and industrial technologies. These challenges impact the ecosystem services of lakes. Research has assessed the monetary value of services from freshwater biomes annually. This article reviews these values, estimating lakes' global ecosystem services to be within the region of USD 1.3-5.1 trillion annually. Their natural asset value is estimated at USD 87-340 trillion, comparable to the monetary value of global real estate, assuming a relatively high social discount rate to account for future increased standards of living. Considering environmental degradation, future generations may experience a lower living standard. Using a 0.1% discount rate, recognizing potential harm and aligning with indigenous values raises the lakes' value to USD 1300-5100 trillion, which is at least equal to the global monetary value of wealth created. This valuation is shared by all as a collective asset, unlike the skewed distribution of created wealth.

What does ChatGPT advise about predatory publishing?

The debate surrounding "predatory publishing" continues to be unable to find entirely effective solutions to dealing with this problem, despite fervent efforts by many academics and policy makers around the world. Given this situation, we were interested in appreciating whether ChatGPT would be able to offer insight and solutions, to complement current human-based efforts.

Biosolids in Western Canada: A Case Study on Public Risk Perception and Factors Influencing Public Attitudes

The land application of biosolids can be subject to questions and concerns, suggesting a gap exists with public perception of biosolids. There is opposition amongst a segment of the population regarding the land application of biosolids in the Southern Interior of British Columbia in Canada. Kamloops and Merritt communities were assessed through a mailout survey to understand better public perceptions of biosolids risks and factors that influence attitudes towards biosolids management. Two thousand surveys were distributed proportionately between the communities. Response rates for Kamloops and Merritt were 22 and 24 percent, respectively. Kamloops and Merritt respondents generally identified differing risk perceptions around biosolids management. Kamloops respondents relative to Merritt were more accepting of the risks associated with biosolids. This acceptance is a likely result of Merritt residents' recent experience with application sites and proximity to biosolids projects, and the associated negative local media attention. Results from Kamloops highlighted that there is general support to find a productive use of biosolids. This research supports the notion that the 'beyond compliance' approach of conducting early engagement to obtain community support proactively may be valuable for any potentially controversial natural resource project, such as with biosolids land application projects.

Safety & effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines: A narrative review

There are currently eight vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 that have received Emergency Use Authorization by the WHO that can offer some protection to the world's population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though research is being published all over the world, public health officials, policymakers and governments are collecting evidence-based information to establish the public health policies. Unfortunately, continued international travel, violations of lockdowns and social distancing, the lack of mask use, the emergence of mutant strains of the virus and lower adherence by a sector of the global population that remains sceptical of the protection offered by vaccines, or about any risks associated with vaccines, hamper these efforts. Here we examine the literature on the efficacy, effectiveness and safety of COVID-19 vaccines, with an emphasis on select categories of individuals and against new SARS-CoV-2 strains. The literature shows that these eight vaccines are highly effective in protecting the population from severe disease and death, but there are some issues concerning safety and adverse effects. Further, booster shots and variant-specific vaccines would also be required.

Optimizing peer review to minimize the risk of retracting COVID-19-related literature

Retractions of COVID-19 literature in both preprints and the peer-reviewed literature serve as a reminder that there are still challenging issues underlying the integrity of the biomedical literature. The risks to academia become larger when such retractions take place in high-ranking biomedical journals. In some cases, retractions result from unreliable or nonexistent data, an issue that could easily be avoided by having open data policies, but there have also been retractions due to oversight in peer review and editorial verification. As COVID-19 continues to affect academics and societies around the world, failures in peer review might also constitute a public health risk. The effectiveness by which COVID-19 literature is corrected, including through retractions, depends on the stringency of measures in place to detect errors and to correct erroneous literature. It also relies on the stringent implementation of open data policies.

The role of lockdowns and health policies for COVID-19 in Italy

In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Italy initially flattened the curve after a stringent lockdown spanning from February 23 to early May but not without casualties, with 240,760 cases and 34,788 deaths on June 30, 2020. However, increasingly lax policies saw rising cases starting in August. Italy currently sits with 423,578 cases and 36,616 deaths (October 20, 2020). This retrospective observational study aimed to assess stringency policies related to nation-wide containment and closure, as well as health system instruments, to determine their potency. The first nationally implemented policy was on January 31, followed by a battery of strong restrictions imposed on February 22-23. The Stringency Index peaked at 93.5 on April 12. However, policies were relaxed following a flattening of the curve on May 4 when the Stringency Index went from 93.5 to 63.0. Italy’s policies were essential to contain the spread of the virus initially, but the lax policies since the end of spring, especially related to school reopening, no stay-at-home and domestic travel restrictions, and reduced contact tracing, have now resurrected the COVID-19 pandemic.

Smoking Prevalence and COVID-19 in Europe

INTRODUCTION

This ecological study investigates the association between smoking prevalence and COVID-19 occurrence and mortality in 38 European nations as of May 30, 2020.

METHODS

Data were collected from Our World in Data. Regression analysis was conducted to adjust for potential confounding factors such as economic activity (gross domestic product), the rate of COVID-19 testing, and the stringency of COVID-19 control policies.

RESULTS

There was a statistically significant negative association between smoking prevalence and the prevalence of COVID-19 across the 38 European nations after controlling for confounding factors (p = 0.001). A strong association was found between the prevalence of COVID-19 per million people and economic activity (p = 0.002) and the rate of COVID-19 testing (p = 0.0006). Nations with stricter policy enactment showed fewer COVID-19 cases per million people, but the association was not significant (p = 0.122). Delaying policy enactment was associated with a greater prevalence of COVID-19 (p = 0.0535). Evidence of a direct association between smoking prevalence and COVID-19 mortality was not found (p = 0.626). There was a strong positive association between COVID-19 mortality rate and the prevalence of COVID-19 cases (p < 0.0001) as well as the proportion of the population over 65 years of age (p = 0.0034) and a negative association with the rate of COVID-19 testing (p = 0.0023).

CONCLUSIONS

We found a negative association between smoking prevalence and COVID-19 occurrence at the population level in 38 European countries. This association may not imply a true or causal relationship, and smoking is not advocated as a prevention or treatment of COVID-19.

IMPLICATIONS

Given the evidence of this ecological study, and of several other studies that found an underrepresentation of smoking prevalence in hospitalized cases, it may be worth examining, in laboratory experiments and controlled human trials, if nicotine offers any protection against COVID-19. Most importantly, to date, no study, including this one, supports the view that smoking acts as a treatment intervention or prophylaxis to reduce the impact or ameliorate the negative health impacts of COVID-19.

Policy determinants of COVID-19 pandemic-induced fatality rates across nations

Objectives

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the most devastating pandemic to affect humanity in a century. In this article, we assessed tests as a policy instrument and policy enactment to contain COVID-19 and potentially reduce mortalities.

Study design

A model was devised to estimate the factors that influenced the death rate across 121 nations and by income group.

Results

Nations with a higher proportion of people aged 65+ years had a higher fatality rate (P = 0.00014). Delaying policy enactment led to a higher case fatality rate (P = 0.0013). A 10% delay time to act resulted in a 3.7% higher case fatality rate. This study found that delaying policies for international travel restrictions, public information campaigns, and testing policies increased the fatality rate. Tests also impacted the case fatality rate, and nations with 10% more cumulative tests per million people showed a 2.8% lower mortality rate. Citizens of nations who can access more destinations without the need to have a prior visa have a significant higher mortality rate than those who need a visa to travel abroad (P = 0.0040).

Conclusion

Tests, as a surrogate of policy action and earlier policy enactment, matter for saving lives from pandemics as such policies reduce the transmission rate of the pandemic.

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A model estimated factors influencing the death rate from COVID-19.

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Nations with more people aged 65+ years have a higher fatality rate.

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More tests per million people leads to a lower death rate.

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A 10% delay time to act results in a 3.6% higher case fatality rate.

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Policies to contain the spread of COVID-19 have other public health effects.