Climate-Induced Stressors to Peace: A Review Of Recent Literature

Climate change is increasingly recognized as a threat to global peace and security. This paper intends to provide a better understanding of the nature of interactions between climate change and events that undermine peace through a systematic review of recent literature. It highlights major methodological approaches adopted in the literature, elaborates on the geographic focus of the research at the nexus of climate change and peace, and provides further information on how various climatic stressors, such as extreme temperature, floods, sea-level rise, storms, and water stress may be linked to different events that undermine peace (e.g. civil conflict, crime, intercommunal violence, interstate conflict, political conflict, and social conflict) through direct and indirect pathways. Results confirm previous findings that statistical techniques and qualitative case studies are dominant methods in climate-conflict research but show that there has been an increase in the geographic information system based risk analyses and qualitative comparative analyses in the recent years. In line with previous reviews, results show that the literature is mainly focused on certain regions of the world and several major regions that have experienced numerous conflicts over the past few years and/or are vulnerable to adverse climatic events are understudied. However, a new finding is that, in the past few years, there has been an increasing focus on Asia, which contrasts with previous reviews that show an African focus in the literature. Also, there is an unbalanced attention to different climatic stressors and peace-related events. Interactions between water stress/extreme temperature and civil and interstate conflicts have received more attention. A major finding is that, only under certain conditions climatic stressors may act as driving forces or aggravating factors. In fact, there is a strong consensus that climate change is less likely to undermine peace in isolation from a wide range of contextual socio-economic and institutional factors such as political instability, poor governance, poverty, homogeneous livelihood structures, and ethnic fractionalization. However, such contextual factors can contribute to undermining peace via either direct or indirect pathways. The former may occur through direct psychological/physiological effects of climatic impacts or via competition over scarce resources. In contrast, in indirect pathways climate change may lead to conflict through diminishing livelihood capacities and/or inducing migration. In addition to synthesizing literature on contextual factors and direct/indirect pathways, the review identifies gaps that need further research

Electrocardiographic features of immune checkpoint inhibitor associated myocarditis.

BACKGROUND: Myocarditis is a highly morbid complication of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) use that remains inadequately characterized. The QRS duration and the QTc interval are standardized electrocardiographic measures that are prolonged in other cardiac conditions; however, there are no data on their utility in ICI myocarditis. METHODS: From an international registry, ECG parameters were compared between 140 myocarditis cases and 179 controls across multiple time points (pre-ICI, on ICI prior to myocarditis, and at the time of myocarditis). The association between ECG values and major adverse cardiac events (MACE) was also tested. RESULTS: Both the QRS duration and QTc interval were similar between cases and controls prior to myocarditis. When compared with controls on an ICI (93±19 ms) or to baseline prior to myocarditis (97±19 ms), the QRS duration prolonged with myocarditis (110±22 ms, p CONCLUSIONS: The QRS duration is increased in ICI myocarditis and is associated with increased MACE risk. Use of this widely available ECG parameter may aid in ICI myocarditis diagnosis and risk-stratification

Review of methods used for lowering groundwater levels at archeological sites, Egypt

Seven or eight thousand years ago, as the farthest the human memory can reach, the Egyptians established a great civilization that was considered as the origin of civilization on the Earth. There is no place in Egypt where man cannot find evidence that enlighten this civilization and tell about Egypt's role in most of the world's historic events from the beginning of mankind until the present. In the recent decades, it has been noticed that this 'indestructible' heritage that once stood in dry sand are bathed in water throughout the year and limestone and sandstone are gradually crumbling back into sand and this heritage could disappear in our lifetime. The number of decaying monuments is not exactly known, but it is estimated to be a considerable number from the deadly white salt crystallizations that could be seen on the monuments walls throughout the country. The problem is caused by rising groundwater which is eating away at the monuments. The story has begun after the construction of Aswan High Dam (AHD) which has been affecting Egypts water table over the last 30 years; AHD has minimized the fluctuation of surface and ground water levels. The groundwater, which contains water-soluble salts, is rising annually. When the groundwater is soaked up by the pores within the sandstone and limestone foundations, salts are absorbed by the structures. As the groundwater evaporates, these salts accumulate on the monuments surfaces. The main objective of this study is reviewing the methods used to protect archaeological sites in Egypt against groundwater threats. In this report, some reports of finished or on-going project that is implemented by governmental agencies or international consultants to face the adverse effects of groundwater against the monuments are reviewed. Egypt has addressed many calls to international organizations and specialists who are engaged in this subject to help in solving the problem which is considered as a threat to one of the World's Heritage. However, the government has the will, it cannot accomplish what is required alone; the need is so great and requires support and active engagement of people everywhere. Rising of groundwater table is a consequence of; 1) construction of the AHD which prevented the freshwater floods and provided water for agriculture almost year-around that led to over-irrigation to the lands by farmers in absence of any governmental control and 2) leakage from sewage systems (if they exist). The methods used were found to promote only short-term solutions that do not attack the problem at the source. However, the methods used are effective for the present time; still there are many limitations and unanswered questions about the sustainability of such methods on the long run. (examensarbetet är utfört vid avd Teknisk vattenresurslära, TVRL

Biodiversity Index value of benthic invertebrates' community in relation with variation of some environmental properties in Rivers Tigris and Diyala within Baghdad city.

This study was carried out to determine the effects of some environmental variables on biodiversity index value of benthic invertebrates' community in samples that collected monthly from two adjacent sites nearby the confluence of Tigris and Diyala rivers within Baghdad city that’s from November 2007 - October 2008. Results showed differences in chemical and physical characteristics for each river. Where the annual averages of these characteristics in Rivers Tigris and Diyala respectively for: water temperature (20, 19) Cº, pH (8, 8), Dissolved oxygen DO(8,4 ) mg/l , EC(1152,2979)µc/cm , Turbidity (28,74) NTU, Total Hardness of CaCO3 (485,823)mg/l, and finally NO3 (4,6)mg/l. Concerning the biological groups, included types of Insects, Mollusks, Oligochaeta and finally Crustacea. The results revealed that the highest population density of insects in Rive Tigris was (31493.28) individual / m2, mollusks were (23177.64) individual / m2, Oligochaeta (10774.95) individual / m2, Crustacea (176.92) individual / m2. In River Diyala, the highest population density (18046.71),(382649.733) and (9908.00) individual / m2 respectively for mollusks, insects and Oligochaeta. The results also showed that the highest biodiversity values according to Shannon-weaver Index, where appeared in Diyala river was higher from this that recorded in Tigris river , where H value (18.6) and J value(8.29), Tiger river distinguished The lower values (3.31,1.56) each of H,J respectively . Positive and Negative relationships shows between almost invertebrates groups with physical and chemical characteristic of water. Positive significant relationship distinguished with almost all groups with Nitrate NO3 except Crustacea, whereas Negative relations with DO with each of Insects and Mollusks, where pH values Negative relationships with each of Insects and Oligochaeta. Also the relations were Negative to turbidity NTU values with each of Mollusks, Oligochaeta and Crustacea. These Connections may explain the effects of these characteristics on the survival and adaptation of these organisms to the study area

(ENT300) Fundamental of entrepreneurship: Hello baby childcare / Nurain Hosain... [et.al]

The name of our company is Hello Baby Childcare. Our business is based on childcare for children ages 2-4. We provide food for each of the children. We prepare food three times a day that is Breakfast start from 8.00 am-6.00pm. We also provide a playground for a kids. For the Industry profile, our business is owned actively by partnership, incoperated as an Hello Baby Childcare. We recognize the limitation of attempting to manufacture our business in small premise. So that, our companies can more concentrate on childcare at some place only. We give good services based on our customer demand

Contamination of the marine environment in Egypt and Saudi Arabia with personal protective equipment during COVID-19 pandemic: A short focus

Plastic pollution and its impact on marine ecosystems are major concerns globally, and the situation was exacerbated after the outbreak of COVID-19. Clean-up campaigns took place during the summer season (June–August 2020) in two coastal cities in Egypt (Alexandria and Hurghada) and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to document the abundance of beach debris through public involvement, and then remove it. A total of 3673, 255, and 848 items were collected from Alexandria, Hurghada, and Jeddah daily, respectively. Gloves and face masks (personal protective equipment “PPE”) represent represented 40–60% of the total plastic items collected from each of the three cities, while plastic bags represented 7–20% of the total plastics litter collected from the same cities. The results indicated the presence of 2.79, 0.29, and 0.86 PPE item m−2 in Alexandria, Hurghada and Jeddah, respectively. This short focus provides an assessment of the environmental impacts of single-use gloves and masks used for COVID-19 protection from June to August 2020. To the best of our knowledge, this study presents the first such information from the Middle East, specifically Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It highlights the need for further knowledge and action, such as safe, sustainable, and transparent waste management processes related to COVID-19 to reduce the negative impacts now, as well as in future events. Furthermore, this study helps in achieving key components of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This short focus can serve as a multipurpose document, not only for scientists of different disciplines but for social media and citizens in general

Additional file 1: of Diabetes Intervention Accentuating Diet and Enhancing Metabolism (DIADEM-I): a randomised controlled trial to examine the impact of an intensive lifestyle intervention consisting of a low-energy diet and physical activity on body weight and metabolism in early type 2 diabetes mellitus: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

SPIRIT 2013 Checklist: Recommended items to address in a clinical trial protocol and related documents*. (DOC 124 kb

Diabetes Intervention Accentuating Diet and Enhancing Metabolism (DIADEM-I):a randomised controlled trial to examine the impact of an intensive lifestyle intervention consisting of a low-energy diet and physical activity on body weight and metabolism in early type 2 diabetes mellitus: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity are syndemic and will have a significant impact on affected individuals and healthcare services worldwide. Evidence shows that T2DM remission can be achieved with significant weight loss in those who are younger with early diabetes and requiring fewer medications for glycaemic control. DIADEM-I aims to examine the impact of an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) using a low-energy diet (LED) meal replacement approach combined with physical activity in younger individuals with early T2DM. Methods The planned study is an ongoing, non-blinded, pragmatic, randomised controlled, parallel-group trial examining the impact of an LED-based ILI on body weight and diabetes remission in younger (18–50 years) T2DM individuals with early diabetes (≤ 3-year duration). The ILI will be compared to usual medical care (UMC). The primary outcome will be weight loss at 12 months. Other key outcomes of interest include diabetes remission, glycaemic control, diabetes complications, cardiovascular health, physical activity, mental health, and quality of life. It is planned for the study to include 138 subjects for assessment of the primary outcome. Safety will be assessed throughout. Discussion If DIADEM-I demonstrates a clinically significant effect for younger individuals with early T2DM, it will inform clinical guidelines and services of the future for management of T2DM. Trial registration ISRCTN: ISRCTN20754766 (date assigned: 7 June 2017); ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT03225339 Registered on 26 June 2017