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The global risks report of 2020 stated, climate-related issues dominate all of the top-five long-term critical global risks burning the planet and according to the report, “as existing health risks resurge and new ones emerge, humanity’s past successes in overcoming health challenges are no guarantee of future results.” Over the last few decades, the world has experienced several pandemic outbreaks of various pathogens and the frequency of the emergence of novel strains of infectious organisms has increased in recent decades. As per expert opinion, rapidly mutating viruses, emergence and re-emergence of epidemics with increasing frequencies, climate-sensitive vector-borne diseases are likely to be increasing over the years and the trends will continue and intensify. Susceptible disease hosts, anthropogenic activities and environmental changes contribute and trigger the ‘adaptive evolution’ of infectious agents to thrive and spread into different ecological niches and to adapt to new hosts. The overarching objective of this paper is to provide insight into the human actions which should be strictly regulated to help to sustain life on earth. To identify and categorize the triggering factors that contribute to disease ecology, especially repeated emergence of disease pandemics, a theory building approach, ‘Total Interpretive Structural Modeling’ (TISM) was used; also the tool, ‘Impact Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification’ analysis (MICMAC) was applied to rank the risk factors based on their impacts on other factors and on the interdependence among them. This mathematical modeling tool clearly explains the strength, position and interconnectedness of each anthropogenic factor that contributes to the evolution of pathogens and to the frequent emergence of pandemics which needs to be addressed with immediate priority. As we are least prepared for another pandemic outbreak, significant policy attention must be focused on the causative factors to limit emerging outbreaks like COVID 19 in the future.

The huge amount of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) generated in the world, as well as the adverse impacts on resources depletion, environmental contamination and human health are problems that need to be promptly, effectively and equitably addressed. Among the areas affected by management misconduct and illicit interests, the Campania region represents a paradigmatic case. A lack of detailed information about MSW flows, from collection and through treatment phases, prevents policy-makers and planners from finding appropriate and environmentally and economically sound solutions. As a partial approach to the solution, the authors of this paper outline the structure and functions of a Product Services System (PSS) based MSW management platform. In particular, data collection and elaboration, documentation of MSW flows and detection of environmental and human health impacts and waste prevention/reduction are essential elements of MSW of the system, within which the PSSs can be applied. Real-time sensors, big data analysis tools and online platforms are integrated, as basic tools, to implement the transition to equitable, sustainable circular economies. The solutions will be based upon multi-stakeholder inputs in decision-making to effectively address local needs to implement a re-designed, adaptive, dynamic, MSW management system. The new system must ensure safe and ecologically sound management of the resources in MSWs. As the new management system provides improvements in the environmental and human health and results in an expansion of jobs, it is anticipated that the system could also be useful in other parts of the world.

Egypt has been undergoing intense dynamics since the 25 January 2011 revolution, with people aspiring for positive democratic and social changes. As Egypt attempts to further industrialise and modernise its economy, energy and water security are some of the most pressing challenges. The time to address these problems is now, but through a different economic paradigm of low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive national development, known as ‘green economy’ or ‘circular economy’ (CE) in China. The experience of China was selected because its challenges were similar to Egypt: accelerating economic growth and industrial expansion. After China’s rapid industrialisation in the 1980s, serious environmental pollution stimulated Chinese leaders to develop an alternative economic model based on sustainable development. Focusing on the CE of the manufacturing sector in China, this paper reflects on and draws lessons from China’s experiences in implementing cleaner production (CP). The research reviews the systems implemented to promote CP in China as well as gaps in their efforts to reach CE at the firm-level. It reflects on the adequacy of Egypt’s current policies to attain a green economy in its manufacturing industries.

Eleven strains of the crown gall organism, Agrobacterium tumefaciens, tested by intraperitoneal injection into mice, were lethal within 48 hr. Five other species had some lethal strains. The lethal effect of A. tumefaciensappeared to be the result of a toxic rather than an infectious process, since histopathological anomalies were not found in mice injected with live cultures and since heat-killed cultures were lethal. The murine toxin disappeared when A. tumefacienswas grown at 36 C and reappeared when the organism was subsequently incubated below 30 C. The murine toxin itself was not inactivated by exposure to 100 C for 30 min. The toxin was associated with the cells and was not excreted into the medium. Centrifugal fractionation revealed that the toxin was associated with the smaller cells in 3-day stationary-phase cultures. These data suggested a possible relationship between toxin production and the production of the agents responsible for the initiation of plant tumors.

A rapid, semiquantitative method for immunoelectrophoretic research is described. It combines the great resolving capacity of polyacrylamide gel disc electrophoresis with rapid immunoprecipitation in a thin agar film surrounding the acrylamide gel.