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This study aims to investigate the revitalization of blue-green capital in urban communities, to enhance local well-being and social-ecological resilience at the neighborhood scale. Fostering more-than-human well-being can play a central role in maintaining overall health in cities. The study first investigates what are the key priorities recognized to enhance blue-green capital. Second, what are key challenges and opportunities for community-led revitalization of blue-green capital? And how can local communities act to bridge identified gaps in revitalization processes centered on blue-green capital? We partnered with the St. Albans Resident Association (SARA), to orient a place-based, context-sensitive approach to the methodology to address the research questions in the Abberley Park, in Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand case study. This is one of eight city heritage parks in Christchurch and an example of a lush mix of native and introduced, exotic trees and vegetation. However, the health of the St. Albans Stream, as seen in the park, is a concern for the local community. Nature-based solutions to control pests and invasive species, and riparian planting can encourage local actors to align short-term goals and active efforts toward revitalizing the St. Albans Stream, starting with the identified areas at the park. The results highlight the perspectives of long-term residents, volunteers, and community leaders, which can inform local policies and actions focused on enhancing the health of the St. Albans Stream and its sensitive habitats starting at Abberley Park. Enabling the identification of key local actors in the St. Albans community, the research demonstrates the importance of context-sensitive approaches to identify potential organizational and social contributions when considering blue-green capital and urban well-being at neighborhood scales.

Public access to nature is critical for human health and well-being. Ensuring that all urban residents live within a five-minute walk of urban ecosystems is a priority in towns and cities worldwide. We quantified the walking travel time to urban ecosystems for all urban residents, totalling more than 4.7 billion people. More than half of this population lives within a five-minute walk of an urban ecosystem, but there are gross geographic disparities in access, with the Global South disadvantaged. A sensitivity analysis highlighted a substantial improvement over previous analyses, which likely over- or under-estimated access due to methodological choices. Improving access to urban nature in the future will require innovative planning and design that creates new ecosystem spaces and improves walkability.

Many cities are increasingly adopting blue-green infrastructure (BGI) to bolster their resilience against environmental challenges. Beyond its well-acknowledged environmental benefits, the role of BGI in enhancing social resilience is becoming an equally important area of focus. However, the integration of BGI in fostering social resilience presents complexities, stemming from the evolving and occasionally ambiguous definition of social resilience. Considering the broad application of BGI across various disciplines makes the evaluation of social resilience within a BGI framework complex. Consequently, a structured approach to develop a clear framework tailored to understanding and measuring social resilience in a BGI setting is needed. This study consolidates various existing frameworks of social resilience, especially utilizing the detailed 5S framework proposed by Saja et al. It integrates findings from an extensive review of literature on social resilience to develop a novel conceptual framework—the BGI Social Resilience Framework. This new framework specifically aims to capture the distinct social aspects and advantages associated with BGI. The BGI Social Resilience Framework is organized into a three-tier model, focusing on four critical aspects of social resilience—social values, social capital, social structure, and social equity—and explores how these aspects are interconnected. Characteristics and indicators are customized to accommodate the context of BGI in a way that integrates the physical and human dimensions within a comprehensive approach to measurement that uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Specifically, this research formulates a theoretical framework for BGI with the aim of investigating BGI strategies and viewpoints that bolster social resilience. The BGI Social Resilience Framework takes into account the varied demographics and the physical characteristics of urban areas to explore ways to create BGI spaces that are more inclusive and that contribute to the enhancement of social resilience.

This research focuses on the ability of spatial decision-support tools (SDST) to transform urban regeneration processes through collaborative planning between authorities and communities. This article presents what was learned from the implementation of two SDST within planning authorities in Aotearoa, New Zealand. The first tool, Envision, enables the identification of suitable areas for urban regeneration; the second, ESP, focuses on the environmental and socio-economic assessment of regeneration scenarios at the neighbourhood scale. We use empirical observations from the implementation of these SDST in diverse planning authorities, to analyse the influence of local specificities and appropriate collaboration models for the development and adoption of the tools for decision-making and community engagement. We provide recommendations for future development and implementation of SDST to reinforce collaborative planning and local governance within urban regeneration processes.

Gaining useful information about our built, social and natural environments is vital and possible. The value of data for cities is more informed, more effective management and development choices resulting in more benefits to a greater range of stakeholders. This article explores the state-of-play of data infrastructures in New Zealand to identify the challenges to gaining better value from geospatial information. Following engagement with built environment data custodians and information users, it analyses how digital information infrastructure can support the sharing and use of richer and more comprehensive information by weaving a supportive fabric across data. The analysis reveals that data infrastructures primarily need to facilitate agreement on data management, sharing and use; the sharing of costs and benefits across stakeholders; and emphasise place as a powerful driver to richer information. An overarching sociotechnical approach to digital information infrastructure weaves data platforms, policy and technology together.

SARS-CoV-2 is evolving with mutations in the receptor binding domain (RBD) being of particular concern. It is important to know how much cross-protection is offered between strains following vaccination or infection. Here, we obtain serum and saliva samples from groups of vaccinated (Pfizer BNT-162b2), infected and uninfected individuals and characterize the antibody response to RBD mutant strains. Vaccinated individuals have a robust humoral response after the second dose and have high IgG antibody titers in the saliva. Antibody responses however show considerable differences in binding to RBD mutants of emerging variants of concern and substantial reduction in RBD binding and neutralization is observed against a patient-isolated South African variant. Taken together our data reinforce the importance of the second dose of Pfizer BNT-162b2 to acquire high levels of neutralizing antibodies and high antibody titers in saliva suggest that vaccinated individuals may have reduced transmission potential. Substantially reduced neutralization for the South African variant further highlights the importance of surveillance strategies to detect new variants and targeting these in future vaccines. Here, the authors characterize the antibody response from vaccinated (Pfizer BNT-162b2), infected and uninfected individuals against emerging variants of concern of SARS-CoV-2, finding reduced neutralization of a South African isolate. High IgG titers in the saliva of vaccinees suggest that transmission may be reduced.

While vaccination campaigns are ongoing worldwide, there is still a tremendous medical need for efficient antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Among several drug candidates, chloroquine (CQN) and hydroxychloroquine (H-CQN) were tested intensively, and any contentious therapeutic effect of both has been discussed controversially in the light of severe side effects and missing efficacy. Originally, H-CQN descended from the natural substance quinine, a medicinal product used since the Middle Ages, which actually is regulatory approved for various indications. We hypothesized that quinine also exerts anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity. In Vero cells, quinine inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection more effectively than CQN, and H-CQN and was less toxic. In human Caco-2 colon epithelial cells as well as the lung cell line A549 stably expressing ACE2 and TMPRSS2, quinine also showed antiviral activity. In consistence with Vero cells, quinine was less toxic in A549 as compared to CQN and H-CQN. Finally, we confirmed our findings in Calu-3 lung cells, expressing ACE2 and TMPRSS2 endogenously. In Calu-3, infections with high titers of SARS-CoV-2 were completely blocked by quinine, CQN, and H-CQN in concentrations above 50 µM. The estimated IC50s were ~25 µM in Calu-3, while overall, the inhibitors exhibit IC50 values between ~3.7 to ~50 µM, dependent on the cell line and multiplicity of infection (MOI). Conclusively, our data indicate that quinine could have the potential of a treatment option for SARS-CoV-2, as the toxicological and pharmacological profile seems more favorable when compared to its progeny drugs H-CQN or CQN.

Coronavirus infection induces interferon-stimulated genes, one of which encodes Tetherin, a transmembrane protein inhibiting the release of various enveloped viruses from infected cells. Previous studies revealed that SARS-CoV encodes two Tetherin antagonists: the Spike protein (S), inducing lysosomal degradation of Tetherin, and ORF7a, altering its glycosylation. Similarly, SARS-CoV-2 has also been shown to use ORF7a and Spike to enhance virion release in the presence of Tetherin. Here, we directly compare the abilities and mechanisms of these two viral proteins to counteract Tetherin. Therefore, cell surface and total Tetherin levels upon ORF7a or S expression were investigated using flow cytometry and Western blot analysis. SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 S only marginally reduced Tetherin cell surface levels in a cell type-dependent manner. In HEK293T cells, under conditions of high exogenous Tetherin expression, SARS-CoV-2 S and ORF7a reduced total cellular Tetherin levels much more efficiently than the respective counterparts derived from SARS-CoV. Nevertheless, ORF7a from both species was able to alter Tetherin glycosylation. The ability to decrease total protein levels of Tetherin was conserved among S proteins from different SARS-CoV-2 variants (α, γ, δ, ο). While SARS-CoV-2 S and ORF7a both colocalized with Tetherin, only ORF7a directly interacted with the restriction factor in a two-hybrid assay. Despite the presence of multiple Tetherin antagonists, SARS-CoV-2 replication in Caco-2 cells was further enhanced upon Tetherin knockout. Altogether, our data show that endogenous Tetherin restricts SARS-CoV-2 replication and that the antiviral activity of Tetherin is only partially counteracted by viral antagonists with differential and complementary modes of action.