Understanding the Political Economy of the Adaptation Fund

The Adaptation Fund has become a fully operational institution for international adaptation finance. We explore different aspects of political economy, addressing the international institutional competition which influenced the decision on operating modalities in the 2007 UN climate negotiations in Bali and which continues to be important for the future of the Fund in international climate finance. From the Adaptation Fund Board (AFB), the governing body of the Fund, this article examines the implications of interests represented by AFB members for key issues such as the prioritisation of countries and decisions on specific projects and programmes. Finally, power relationships around the concrete implementation of projects in developing countries are analysed. While the early stage of the Fund only allows for preliminary conclusions, the article points to some measures the AFB can undertake to address the challenges identified

A tool for helping operations research

This paper describes an integrated environment in which a student can acquire and test knowledge about Operations Research techniques. In this environment all the interactions with the users are performed by means of an appropriated graphical interface related to the problem and the algorithm chosen to solve it During a step-by-step problem solving session, the user makes the decisions and lets the system process the necessary computations. Moreover, this environment is able: (i) to check the correctness of the user's replies, (ii) to display warnings every time a wrong decision is taken, and (iii) to return to any previous step in order to give more flexibility to the teacher's exposition. The system is designed to include: Primal Simplex, Dual Simplex, Revised Simplex, Stepping-Stone Method for Transportation Problems, Hungarian Method for Assignment Problems, and Sensitivity Analysis

The Political Dimension of Vulnerability: Implications for the Green Climate Fund

As the availability of adaptation finance for developing countries increases, so does the need for a transparent way of prioritising countries for the allocation of money. It is intuitive that some countries are more vulnerable to climate change than others, and that countries that are particularly vulnerable should be given priority for adaptation finance. However, research has shown that science cannot be relied upon for a single objective ranking of vulnerability. This article analyses how the Global Climate Change Alliance (GCCA), the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) and the Adaptation Fund currently make decisions on adaptation finance allocations. It finds that each of the funds uses vulnerability to prioritise among countries, but the criteria applied vary and other criteria also play a role. Thus, vulnerability is politically, as well as scientifically, ambiguous. The Cancun Agreements have not resolved this, leaving a challenge for the Green Climate Fund

Nitric oxide and L-type calcium channel influences the changes in arterial blood pressure and heart rate induced by central angiotesin II

We study the voltage dependent calcium channels and nitric oxide involvement in angiotensin II-induced pressor effect. The antipressor action of L-Type calcium channel antagonist, nifedipine, has been studied when it was injected into the third ventricle prior to angiotensin II. The influence of nitric oxide on nifedipine antipressor action has also been studied by utilizing NW-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (LNAME) (40 μg/0.2 μl) a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor and L-arginine (20 μg/0.2 μl), a nitric oxide donor agent. Adult male Holtzman rats weighting 200–250 g, with cannulae implanted into the third ventricle were injected with angiotensin II. Angiotensin II produced an elevation in mean arterial pressure and a decreased in heart rate. Such effects were potentiated by the prior injection of LNAME. L-arginine and nifedipine blocked the effects of angiotensin II. These data showed the involvement of L-Type calcium channel and a free radical gas nitric oxide in the central control of angiotensin II-induced pressor effect. This suggested that L-Type calcium channel of the circunventricular structures of central nervous system participated in both short and long term neuronal actions of ANG II with the influence of nitrergic system

HRV analysis: Unpredictability of approximate entropy in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Introduction: Approximate entropy (ApEn) is a widely imposed metric to evaluate a chaotic response and irregularities of RR-intervals from an electrocardiogram. Yet, the technique is problematic due to the accurate choice of the tolerance (r) and embedding dimension (M). We prescribed the metric to evaluate these responses in subjects exhibiting symptoms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and we strived to overcome this disadvantage by applying different groupings to detect the optimal. Methods: We examined 38 subjects split equally: COPD and control. To evaluate autonomic modulation the heart rate was measured beat-by-beat for 30 min in a supine position without any physical, sensory, or pharmacological stimuli. In the time-series obtained the ApEn was then applied with set values for tolerance, r and embedding dimension, M. Then, the differences between the two groups and their effect size by two measures (Cohen’s ds and Hedges’s gs) were computed. Results: The highest value of statistical significance accomplished for any effect size statistical combinations undertaken was -1.13 for Cohen’s ds, and -1.10 for Hedges’s gs with embedding dimension, M = 2 and tolerance, r = 0.1. Conclusion: ApEn was capable of optimally identifying the decrease in chaotic response in COPD. The optimal combination of r and M for this were 0.1 and 2, respectively. Despite this, ApEn is a relatively unpredictable mathematical marker and the use of other techniques to evaluate a healthy or pathological condition is encouraged

Transformation towards risk-sensitive urban development : a systematic review of the issues and challenges

Risk-sensitive urban development is an innovative planning approach that can transform the way cities are built to face uncertainties that arise from climate-induced disaster risks. However, the potential to initiate such a transformative approach has not materialised due to many underlying issues that need to be understood properly. Therefore, this study conducted a systematic review to gather empirical evidence on the issues and challenges in implementing risk-sensitive urban development. The study identified forty-six issues and challenges under seven key themes that need addressing to facilitate the desirable transition: trade-offs, governance, fragmentation and silos, capacity, design and development, data, and funding. The issues and challenges that exist under trade-offs for negotiating solutions for risk-sensitive urban development and governance of multiple stakeholders were identified as the top two areas that need attention in facilitating the desirable transition. This study also revealed that important information such as scientific information, hazard and risk information, temporal and spatial information, and critical local details are not being produced and shared between stakeholders in decision-making. A profound participatory process that involves all the stakeholders in the decision-making process was identified as the pathway to ensure equitable outcomes in risk-sensitive urban development

Effect of upper airway fat on tongue dilation during inspiration in awake people with obstructive sleep apnea

Study Objectives: To investigate the effect of upper airway fat composition on tongue inspiratory movement and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Methods: Participants without or with untreated OSA underwent a 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. Anatomical measurements were obtained from T2-weighted images. Mid-sagittal inspiratory tongue movements were imaged using tagged MRI during wakefulness. Tissue volumes and percentages of fat were quantified using an mDIXON scan. Results: Forty predominantly overweight participants with OSA were compared to 10 predominantly normal weight controls. After adjusting for age, BMI, and gender, the percentage of fat in the tongue was not different between groups (analysis of covariance [ANCOVA], p = 0.45), but apnoeic patients had a greater tongue volume (ANCOVA, p = 0.025). After adjusting for age, BMI, and gender, higher OSA severity was associated with larger whole tongue volume (r = 0.51, p < 0.001), and greater dilatory motion of the anterior horizontal tongue compartment (r = -0.33, p = 0.023), but not with upper airway fat percentage. Higher tongue fat percentage was associated with higher BMI and older age (Spearman r = 0.43, p = 0.002, and r =0.44, p = 0.001, respectively), but not with inspiratory tongue movements. Greater inspiratory tongue movement was associated with larger tongue volume (e.g. horizontal posterior compartment, r = -0.44, p = 0.002) and smaller nasopharyngeal airway (e.g. oblique compartment, r = 0.29, p = 0.040). Conclusions: Larger tongue volume and a smaller nasopharynx are associated with increased inspiratory tongue dilation during wakefulness in people with and without OSA. This compensatory response was not influenced by higher tongue fat content. Whether this is also true in more obese patient populations requires further investigation

The strain-rate sensitivity of high-strength high-toughness steels.

The present study examines the strain-rate sensitivity of four high strength, high-toughness alloys at strain rates ranging from 0.0002 s-1 to 200 s-1: Aermet 100, a modified 4340, modified HP9-4-20, and a recently developed Eglin AFB steel alloy, ES-1c. A refined dynamic servohydraulic method was used to perform tensile tests over this entire range. Each of these alloys exhibit only modest strain-rate sensitivity. Specifically, the strain-rate sensitivity exponent m, is found to be in the range of 0.004-0.007 depending on the alloy. This corresponds to a {approx}10% increase in the yield strength over the 7-orders of magnitude change in strain-rate. Interestingly, while three of the alloys showed a concominant {approx}3-10% drop in their ductility with increasing strain-rate, the ES1-c alloy actually exhibited a 25% increase in ductility with increasing strain-rate. Fractography suggests the possibility that at higher strain-rates ES-1c evolves towards a more ductile dimple fracture mode associated with microvoid coalescence

Hypervelocity impact technology and applications: 2007.

The Hypervelocity Impact Society is devoted to the advancement of the science and technology of hypervelocity impact and related technical areas required to facilitate and understand hypervelocity impact phenomena. Topics of interest include experimental methods, theoretical techniques, analytical studies, phenomenological studies, dynamic material response as related to material properties (e.g., equation of state), penetration mechanics, and dynamic failure of materials, planetary physics and other related phenomena. The objectives of the Society are to foster the development and exchange of technical information in the discipline of hypervelocity impact phenomena, promote technical excellence, encourage peer review publications, and hold technical symposia on a regular basis. It was sometime in 1985, partly in response to the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), that a small group of visionaries decided that a conference or symposium on hypervelocity science would be useful and began the necessary planning. A major objective of the first Symposium was to bring the scientists and researchers up to date by reviewing the essential developments of hypervelocity science and technology between 1955 and 1985. This Symposia--HVIS 2007 is the tenth Symposium since that beginning. The papers presented at all the HVIS are peer reviewed and published as a special volume of the archival journal International Journal of Impact Engineering. HVIS 2007 followed the same high standards and its proceedings will add to this body of work