Traditional knowledge for climate change adaptation in Mesoamerica : a systematic review

This research was carried out during the first author's postdoctoral research (CVU number 292956 ) funded by the Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACYT) Mexico.Indigenous and rural peoples have developed close connections with land and nature for millennia. Traditional and local knowledge resulting from such human-environment interactions is embedded in ethnic, linguistic, and cultural contexts, and may assist local communities in adapting to global issues such as climate change. However, the extent to which traditional knowledge supports adaptation to local manifestations of severe socio-environmental changes, the traditional knowledge techniques that play an effective role in adaptation, and the dynamic yet integral aspect of traditional knowledge for indigenous and mestizo cultures remain unclear. Despite an extensive literature on climate change, adaptation, and traditional knowledge in the Global South, Mesoamerican countries are underrepresented. The aims of this systematic review were to address the main manifestations of climate change in Mesoamerican countries, to critically analyze relationships between traditional knowledge and contemporary climate change adaptation and to make recommendations regarding knowledge conservation, production, and exchange for climate change adaptation in the region. We systematically identified, reviewed, and coded 77 relevant papers. Our results show that: 1) most papers do not distinguish between local, traditional, and indigenous knowledge; 2) rainfall variability, droughts, and weather unpredictability are the most frequently expressed experiences of climate change; 3) the main adaptations undertaken by smallholders are changes to the agricultural calendar and crops cultivated, a shift to more sustainable agriculture, and labour diversification to generate off-farm income; and 4) many more articles are published on Mexico than the other Mesoamerican countries, and predominantly by authors from outside Mesoamerica. Local traditional knowledge makes important contributions to climate change actions and policy by observing changing climates, adapting to impacts, and contributing to global mitigation efforts. As a response to increasing climate change challenges, smallholders create new hybrid knowledge by combining traditional and western perspectives. This knowledge evolution will support greater resilience to climate change but may hasten cultural erosion and exacerbate social inequalities in the region unless efforts are taken to maintain cultural integrity.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Wastewater treatment plant effluent inputs influence the temporal variability of nutrient uptake in an intermittent stream

Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents alter water chemistry and in-stream nutrient uptake rates of receiving freshwaters, thus changing the magnitude and fate of the nutrients exported. In Mediterranean regions, the dilution capacity of receiving streams can vary strongly over time due to the seasonal occurrence of floods and droughts, causing temporal variability of nutrient uptake. We assessed the temporal patterns and the controlling factors of net nutrient uptake in an intermittent Mediterranean stream receiving WWTP effluent inputs. We compiled the longitudinal concentration profiles of ambient dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) along a 800 m reach on 47 sampling dates between 2001 and 2017, encompassing a wide range of hydrological conditions. We estimated net nutrient uptake in the receiving stream. In 72% of the dates, high rates of net ammonium uptake co-occurred with net releases of either nitrate or nitrite. This pattern suggests that the receiving stream has a high nitrification capacity. Conversely, 75% of the dates did not show any longitudinal pattern in SRP concentration, suggesting that uptake and release processes for this element were either counterbalanced or both occurred at very low rates. Finally, net ammonium uptake was low when the stream had a low dilution capacity (< 40%) and ammonium concentration was high. Overall, we demonstrate that consideration of the receiving stream’s dilution capacity is imperative to the management of freshwaters to guarantee an adequate dilution of WWTP effluent inputs and avoid saturation of in-stream nutrient uptake capacity under low flow conditions in urban landscapes

Development and implementation of a vehicle-pedestrian conflict analysis method: Adaptation of a vehicle-vehicle technique

This paper examines the development, use, and evaluation of a new traffic conflict analysis technique that specifically addresses pedestrian-vehicle conflicts with the intention of being applicable to shared-space environments. The method is based on an existing, well-established, and widely used vehicle-vehicle conflict analysis technique, but is adapted to consider the movement of pedestrians, which differs significantly from that of vehicles. The new method is then implemented on the Exhibition Road site of West London with the use of video data collected from locations with a potentially high concentration of vehicle-pedestrian conflicts, and the results of the analysis are presented. Finally, the results are compared with those obtained by other conflict analysis techniques and also against accident data to assess not only the accuracy but also the functionality of the new technique

Wastewater treatment plant effluent inputs influence the temporal variability of nutrient uptake in an intermittent stream

Este artículo contiene 14 páginas, 5 figuras, 2 tablas.Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents alter water chemistry and in-stream nutrient uptake rates of receiving freshwaters, thus changing the magnitude and fate of the nutrients exported. In Mediterranean regions, the dilution capacity of receiving streams can vary strongly over time due to the seasonal occurrence of floods and droughts, causing temporal variability of nutrient uptake. We assessed the temporal patterns and the controlling factors of net nutrient uptake in an intermittent Mediterranean stream receiving WWTP effluent inputs. We compiled the longitudinal concentration profiles of ambient dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) along a 800 m reach on 47 sampling dates between 2001 and 2017, encompassing a wide range of hydrological conditions. We estimated net nutrient uptake in the receiving stream. In 72% of the dates, high rates of net ammonium uptake co-occurred with net releases of either nitrate or nitrite. This pattern suggests that the receiving stream has a high nitrification capacity. Conversely, 75% of the dates did not show any longitudinal pattern in SRP concentration, suggesting that uptake and release processes for this element were either counterbalanced or both occurred at very low rates. Finally, net ammonium uptake was low when the stream had a low dilution capacity (< 40%) and ammonium concentration was high. Overall, we demonstrate that consideration of the receiving stream’s dilution capacity is imperative to the management of freshwaters to guarantee an adequate dilution of WWTP effluent inputs and avoid saturation of in-stream nutrient uptake capacity under low flow conditions in urban landscapes.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This study was funded by the projects “EcoReactors” (PGC2018-101975-B C22), “CANTERA” (RTI2018- 094521-B-100) and “Fluvial P-removal” (PID2019-111803RB-I00) from I + D program of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities. AL was supported by the program Beatriu de Pinós (BP-2018–00082) from the Government of Catalonia and the European Commission. JLJL was supported by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship (H2020-MSCA-IF-2018, RIPARIONS ref: 834363). SB was supported by a Ramon y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017–22643) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities.Peer reviewe

Disparities in rheumatoid arthritis disease activity according to gross domestic product in 25 countries in the QUEST–RA database

OBJECTIVE: To analyse associations between the clinical status of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the gross domestic product (GDP) of their resident country. METHODS: The Quantitative Standard Monitoring of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (QUEST-RA) cohort includes clinical and questionnaire data from 6004 patients who were seen in usual care at 70 rheumatology clinics in 25 countries as of April 2008, including 18 European countries. Demographic variables, clinical characteristics, RA disease activity measures, including the disease activity score in 28 joints (DAS28), and treatment-related variables were analysed according to GDP per capita, including 14 "high GDP" countries with GDP per capita greater than US$24,000 and 11 "low GDP" countries with GDP per capita less than US$11,000. RESULTS: Disease activity DAS28 ranged between 3.1 and 6.0 among the 25 countries and was significantly associated with GDP (r = -0.78, 95% CI -0.56 to -0.90, r(2) = 61%). Disease activity levels differed substantially between "high GDP" and "low GDP" countries at much greater levels than according to whether patients were currently taking or not taking methotrexate, prednisone and/or biological agents. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical status of patients with RA was correlated significantly with GDP among 25 mostly European countries according to all disease measures, associated only modestly with the current use of antirheumatic medications. The burden of arthritis appears substantially greater in "low GDP" than in "high GDP" countries. These findings may alert healthcare professionals and designers of health policy towards improving the clinical status of patients with RA in all countries

Multicenter study of the natural history and therapeutic responses of patients with chikungunya, focusing on acute and chronic musculoskeletal manifestations - a study protocol from the clinical and applied research in Chikungunya (REPLICK network)

BACKGROUND: Chikungunya is associated with high morbidity and the natural history of symptomatic infection has been divided into three phases (acute, post-acute, and chronic) according to the duration of musculoskeletal symptoms. Although this classification has been designed to help guide therapeutic decisions, it does not encompass the complexity of the clinical expression of the disease and does not assist in the evaluation of the prognosis of severity nor chronic disease. Thus, the current challenge is to identify and diagnose musculoskeletal disorders and to provide the optimal treatment in order to prevent perpetuation or progression to a potentially destructive disease course. METHODS: The study is the first product of the Clinical and Applied Research Network in Chikungunya (REPLICK). This is a prospective, outpatient department-based, multicenter cohort study in Brazil. Four work packages were defined: i. Clinical research; ii) Translational Science - comprising immunology and virology streams; iii) Epidemiology and Economics; iv) Therapeutic Response and clinical trials design. Scheduled appointments on days 21 (D21) ± 7 after enrollment, D90 ± 15, D120 ± 30, D180 ± 30; D360 ± 30; D720 ± 60, and D1080 ± 60 days. On these visits a panel of blood tests are collected in addition to the clinical report forms to obtain data on socio-demographic, medical history, physical examination and questionnaires devoted to the evaluation of musculoskeletal manifestations and overall health are performed. Participants are asked to consent for their specimens to be maintained in a biobank. Aliquots of blood, serum, saliva, PAXgene, and when clinically indicated to be examined, synovial fluid, are stored at -80° C. The study protocol was submitted and approved to the National IRB and local IRB at each study site. DISCUSSION: Standardized and harmonized patient cohorts are needed to provide better estimates of chronic arthralgia development, the clinical spectra of acute and chronic disease and investigation of associated risk factors. This study is the largest evaluation of the long-term sequelae of individuals infected with CHIKV in the Brazilian population focusing on musculoskeletal manifestations, mental health, quality of life, and chronic pain. This information will both define disease burden and costs associated with CHIKV infection, and better inform therapeutic guidelines

Addressing the disparities in dementia risk, early detection and care in Latino populations: Highlights from the Second Latinos and Alzheimer's Symposium

The Alzheimer's Association hosted the second Latinos & Alzheimer's Symposium in May 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held online over 2 days, with virtual presentations, discussions, mentoring sessions, and posters. The Latino population in the United States is projected to have the steepest increase in Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the next 40 years, compared to other ethnic groups. Latinos have increased risk for AD and other dementias, limited access to quality care, and are severely underrepresented in AD and dementia research and clinical trials. The symposium highlighted developments in AD research with Latino populations, including advances in AD biomarkers, and novel cognitive assessments for Spanish-speaking populations, as well as the need to effectively recruit and retain Latinos in clinical research, and how best to deliver health-care services and to aid caregivers of Latinos living with AD