How the War in Ukraine Affects Food Security

The war in Ukraine has caused severe disruption to national and worldwide food supplies. Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat, maize, and oilseeds, staples that are now suffering a war-triggered supply risk. This paper describes the background of the problem and illustrates current trends by outlining some of the measures that may be deployed to mitigate the conflict’s impacts on achieving SDG 2 (Zero hunger), especially focusing on ending hunger, achieving food security, improving nutrition, and promoting sustainable agriculture. In order to understand the main research strands in the literature that are related to food security in the context of wars, the authors adopted a bibliometric literature review based on the co-occurrence of terms technique, conducted with 631 peer-reviewed documents extracted from the Scopus database. To complement the bibliometric assessment, ten case studies were selected to narrow down the food insecurity aspects caused by the war in Ukraine. The co-occurrence analysis indicated four different thematic clusters. In the next stage, an assessment of the current situation on how war affects food security was carried out for each one of the clusters, and the reasons and possible solutions to food security were identified. Policy recommendations and theoretical implications for food security in the conflict context in Ukraine were also addressed

Sustainable development education in the context of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development

© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is a concept that evolves in line with emerging sustainability issues. In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, ESD is embraced in Goal 4, Target 4.7, and reflected in other Goals and Targets. The approach towards the 2030 Agenda is important, not only because of the crucial role that education will play in the implementation of the Goals, but also in increasing its impact by orienting towards the emerging sustainability challenges. Therefore, there is a high demand for research to better understand ESD interactions with the 2030 Agenda framework in specific contexts. This study addresses the implications of Target 4.7 on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, in the context of the Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development as global multi-stakeholder networks. It analyses the interaction of Target 4.7 with other Goals and Targets, in order to identify the strongest connections amongst thematic sustainability issues. The findings revealed through statistical analyses and a comprehensive literature review, that the prevailing components of ESD are strongly interconnected with Goals 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, 12, 13, 15. Thus reinforcing that the multidimensional aspects of ESD in relation to the SDGs are stronger regarding the current complex issues such as, education, climate, energy, sustainable cities, natural habitat, consumption and production. Although the nature of multi-stakeholder networks allows for diverse approaches of ESD towards the 2030 Agenda, the study indicates the importance of partnership and informal learning for reflection of global sustainability issues in regional platforms

The contribution of Regional Centers of Expertise for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

© 2019 Elsevier Ltd The implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals requires a fully integrated approach between sectors, disciplines, countries, and actors. On the fourth year of its implementation, the uptake of SDGs from non-state actors is increasing around the world, by developing engaging mechanisms for involvement at horizontal and vertical level. Considering that activation of existing partnerships is important for SDGs, in conjunction with creating new ones, this research has analysed the approach of global network of Regional Centers of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development. An overview of involvement is done based on a survey data, by exploring collaboration in local, national and international scale. Through Hierarchical Classification Analysis, the networks are grouped into clusters with similar characteristics and discussions include challenges and potentialities for intensifying the contribution towards the 2030 Agenda

Use of Composite End Points in Early and Intermediate Age-Related Macular Degeneration Clinical Trials: State-of-the-Art and Future Directions

The slow progression of early AMD stages to advanced AMD requires the use of surrogate endpoints in clinical trials. The use of combined endpoints may allow for shorter and smaller trials due to increased precision. We performed a literature search for the use of composite endpoints as primary outcome measures in clinical studies of early AMD stages. PubMed was searched for composite endpoints used in early/intermediate AMD studies published during the last 10 years. A total of 673 articles of interest were identified. After reviewing abstracts and applicable full-text articles, 33 articles were eligible and thus included in the qualitative synthesis. The main composite endpoint categories were: Combined structural and functional endpoints, combined structural endpoints, combined functional endpoints and combined multi-categorical endpoints. The majority of the studies included binary composite endpoints. There was a lack of sensitivity analyses of different endpoints against accepted outcomes (i.e. progression) in the literature. Various composite outcome measures have been used but there is a lack of standardization. To date no agreement on the optimal approach to implement combined endpoints in clinical studies of early stages of AMD exists and no surrogate endpoints have been accepted for AMD progression

Fuzzy modelling of acid mine drainage environments using geochemical, ecological and mineralogical indicators

Fuzzy logic was applied to model acid mine drainage (AMD) and to obtain a classification index of the environmental impact in a contaminated riverine system. The data set used to develop this fuzzy model (a fuzzy classifier) concerns an abandoned mine in Northern Portugal— Valdarcas mining site. Here, distinctive drainage environments (spatial patterns) can be observed based on the AMD formed in the sulphide-rich waste-dumps. Such environments were established, as the effluent flows through the mining area, using several kinds of indicators. These are physical–chemical, ecological and mineralogical parameters, being expressed in a quantitative or qualitative basis. The fuzzy classifier proposed in this paper is a min– max fuzzy inference system, representing the spatial behaviour of those indicators, using the AMD environments as patterns. As they represent different levels (classes) of contamination, the fuzzy classifier can be used as a tool, allowing a more reasonable approach, compared with classical models, to characterize the environmental impact caused by AMD. In a general way it can be applied to other sites where sulphide-rich waste-dumps are promoting the pollution of superficial water through the generation of AMD

Maternal Serum Meteorin Levels and the Risk of Preeclampsia

BACKGROUND: Meteorin (METRN) is a recently described neutrophic factor with angiogenic properties. This is a nested case-control study in a longitudinal cohort study that describes the serum profile of METRN during different periods of gestation in healthy and preeclamptic pregnant women. Moreover, we explore the possible application of METRN as a biomarker. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Serum METRN was measured by ELISA in a longitudinal prospective cohort study in 37 healthy pregnant women, 16 mild preeclamptic women, and 20 healthy non-pregnant women during the menstrual cycle with the aim of assessing serum METRN levels and its correlations with other metabolic parameters. Immunostaining for METRN protein was performed in placenta. A multivariate logistic regression model was proposed and a classifier model was formulated for predicting preeclampsia in early and middle pregnancy. The performance in classification was evaluated using measures such as sensitivity, specificity, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. In healthy pregnant women, serum METRN levels were significantly elevated in early pregnancy compared to middle and late pregnancy. METRN levels are significantly lower only in early pregnancy in preeclamptic women when compared to healthy pregnant women. Decision trees that did not include METRN levels in the first trimester had a reduced sensitivity of 56% in the detection of preeclamptic women, compared to a sensitivity of 69% when METRN was included. CONCLUSIONS: The joint measurements of circulating METRN levels in the first trimester and systolic blood pressure and weight in the second trimester significantly increase the probabilities of predicting preeclampsia

Mapping Exoplanets

The varied surfaces and atmospheres of planets make them interesting places to live, explore, and study from afar. Unfortunately, the great distance to exoplanets makes it impossible to resolve their disk with current or near-term technology. It is still possible, however, to deduce spatial inhomogeneities in exoplanets provided that different regions are visible at different times---this can be due to rotation, orbital motion, and occultations by a star, planet, or moon. Astronomers have so far constructed maps of thermal emission and albedo for short period giant planets. These maps constrain atmospheric dynamics and cloud patterns in exotic atmospheres. In the future, exo-cartography could yield surface maps of terrestrial planets, hinting at the geophysical and geochemical processes that shape them.Comment: Updated chapter for Handbook of Exoplanets, eds. Deeg & Belmonte. 17 pages, including 6 figures and 4 pages of reference

Wirelessly controlled, bioresorbable drug delivery device with active valves that exploit electrochemically triggered crevice corrosion.

Implantable drug release platforms that offer wirelessly programmable control over pharmacokinetics have potential in advanced treatment protocols for hormone imbalances, malignant cancers, diabetic conditions, and others. We present a system with this type of functionality in which the constituent materials undergo complete bioresorption to eliminate device load from the patient after completing the final stage of the release process. Here, bioresorbable polyanhydride reservoirs store drugs in defined reservoirs without leakage until wirelessly triggered valve structures open to allow release. These valves operate through an electrochemical mechanism of geometrically accelerated corrosion induced by passage of electrical current from a wireless, bioresorbable power-harvesting unit. Evaluations in cell cultures demonstrate the efficacy of this technology for the treatment of cancerous tissues by release of the drug doxorubicin. Complete in vivo studies of platforms with multiple, independently controlled release events in live-animal models illustrate capabilities for control of blood glucose levels by timed delivery of insulin

Distinct Expression Profiles and Different Functions of Odorant Binding Proteins in Nilaparvata lugens Stål

Background: Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) play important roles in insect olfaction. The brown planthopper (BPH), Nilaparvata lugens Sta˚l (Delphacidae, Auchenorrhyncha, Hemiptera) is one of the most important rice pests. Its monophagy (only feeding on rice), wing form (long and short wing) variation, and annual long distance migration (seeking for rice plants of high nutrition) imply that the olfaction would play a central role in BPH behavior. However, the olfaction related proteins have not been characterized in this insect. Methodology/Principal Findings: Full length cDNA of three OBPs were obtained and distinct expression profiles were revealed regarding to tissue, developmental stage, wing form and gender for the first time for the species. The results provide important clues in functional differentiation of these genes. Binding assays with 41 compounds demonstrated that NlugOBP3 had markedly higher binding ability and wider binding spectrum than the other two OBPs. Terpenes and Ketones displayed higher binding while Alkanes showed no binding to the three OBPs. Focused on NlugOBP3, RNA interference experiments showed that NlugOBP3 not only involved in nymph olfaction on rice seedlings, but also had non-olfactory functions, as it was closely related to nymph survival. Conclusions: NlugOBP3 plays important roles in both olfaction and survival of BPH. It may serve as a potential target fo