CoQ10 and vitamin A supplementation support voice rehabilitation. A double-blind, randomized, controlled, three-period cross-over pilot study

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of an adjuvant therapy (CoQ10 in its watersoluble form and vitamin A) in supporting voice rehabilitation in a large group of patients with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD). Study Design: Twelve-week, double-blind, randomized, controlled, three-period crossover pilot study. The primary endpoint was the change in the Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI) over the 12-week study period. Secondary endpoints were the changes in the subcomponents of DSI, including MPT, F0-high, I-low, and jitter. Exploratory endpoints were the changes in the Shimmer and in Voice Handicap Index (VHI). Methods: Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to two counter-balanced arms. Group A (ADJ-PLA) patients were administered QTer 300 mg and Vit A acetate 500.000 Ul/g 1 mg twice daily for a 4-week intervention period, followed by a 4-week period of wash-out, and then were submitted to a last 4-week period of placebo. Patients in Group B (PLB-ADJ) were given the treatment period in reverse order. Both groups received a 45-min voice therapy in a group format once a day for 4 weeks during the first and the second active periods. The therapy was held during the wash-out period. Results: The analysis of main time effect indicated a trend toward recovery of vocal function regardless of group assignment. A significant time by group effect was found on DSI [F = 3.4 (2.5, 80.5), p = 0.03], F0-high [F = 4.5 (2.6, 82.9), p = 0.008] and Shimmer [F = 3.6 (1.5, 46.9), p = 0.048], under CoQ10 and Vit A treatment, with a small effect size. There was no significant time by group effect on the other study measures, namely MPT, I-low, VHI. Conclusions: A trend toward recovery of vocal function was observed in all the patients, likely due to voice rehabilitation. The improvement of DSI was greater under CoQ10 and Vitamin treatment, indicating a more pronounced improvement of vocal quality under adjuvant therapy. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Policlinico Umberto I Hospital, Rome, Italy Rif. 3069/13.02.2014

Circular Economy Impact Analysis on Stock Performances: An Empirical Comparison with the Euro Stoxx 50® ESG Index

Environmental issues have a considerable impact in all economic sectors, also influencing financial markets. As a result, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) awareness is rising in the financial sector. In this perspective, the concept of circular economy (CE) assumes central relevance. The aim of our study is to investigate the relationship between CE strategies and market performance; to this end, we use ESG scores as a proxy for CE. Our initial assumption is that since CE is a component of the “E” factor—in that it can generate positive and measurable environmental impacts—then it can be associated with the ESG score. Therefore, we can methodologically overcome the lack of a specific score related to CE. We use a preselection model based on historical performance by verifying the percentages of the presence of stocks in the two selected indices, namely ESG Euro Stoxx 50® and Euro Stoxx 50-ESG. Overall, we find that ESG profiles have a positive impact on stock performance, although ESG scores do not express higher performance per se. Furthermore, our analysis shows that, to date, there is no evidence that CE initiatives can influence stock returns

A Modeling Approach to Determine the Impacts of Land Use and Climate Change Scenarios on the Water Flux of the Upper Mara River

With the flow of the Mara River becoming increasingly erratic especially in the upper reaches, attention has been directed to land use change as the major cause of this problem. The semi-distributed hydrological model Soil and Water Assessment Tool 5 (SWAT) and Landsat imagery were utilized in the upper Mara River Basin in order to 1) map existing field scale land use practices in order to determine their impact 2) determine the impacts of land use change on water flux; and 3) determine the impacts of rainfall (0%, ±10% and ±20%) and air temperature variations (0% and +5%) based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projections on the water flux of the 10 upper Mara River. This study found that the different scenarios impacted on the water balance components differently. Land use changes resulted in a slightly more erratic discharge while rainfall and air temperature changes had a more predictable impact on the discharge and water balance components. These findings demonstrate that the model results 15 show the flow was more sensitive to the rainfall changes than land use changes. It was also shown that land use changes can reduce dry season flow which is the most important problem in the basin. The model shows also deforestation in the Mau Forest increased the peak flows which can also lead to high sediment loading in the Mara River. The effect of the land use and climate change scenarios on the sediment and 20 water quality of the river needs a thorough understanding of the sediment transport processes in addition to observed sediment and water quality data for validation of modeling results

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Makueni – Wote, Kenya (KE0202)

The village baseline study of Kithoni village in the CCAFS benchmark site of Makueni, Kenya took place from June 11th – 14th, 2012. Focus group discussions were conducted separately for men and women. The village is in a marginal landscape and is food insecure. Frequent droughts and crop failures plague the area. The biggest constraint to agricultural production is the shortage of water. Land holdings have become increasingly smaller due to the increase in human population. The government has to frequently provide relief food during times of crisis. There are many organisations operating in the village, but there is a lack of concerted efforts between them, particularly those working in food security and natural resource management. Very few organisations are working on the food crisis situation in the area, although this is a frequently recurring issue. Networks of information for agricultural advice are based mainly on the radio and friends/neighbours. All the organisations mentioned as providing information are those that operate beyond the locality. There is potential to link these organisations with community groups and individuals especially to develop a feedback mechanism so that the flow of information is two-way. The FM stations can also be supplied with a wider range of information to disseminate. However, this must be in line with the community needs which should be established beforehand

Inter-comparison between AIRS and IASI through Retrieved Parameters

A State-of-the-art retrieval algorithm dealing with all-weather conditions has been applied to satellite/aircraft instruments retrieving cloud/surface and atmospheric conditions. High quality retrievals have been achieved from IASI data. Surface, cloud, and atmospheric structure and variation are well captured by IASI measurements and/or retrievals. The same retrieval algorithm is also applied to AIRS for retrieval inter-comparison. Both AIRS and IASI have a similar FOV size but AIRS has a higher horizontal resolution. AIRS data can be interpolated to IASI horizontal resolution for inter-comparison at the same geophysical locations, however a temporal variation between AIRS and IASI observations need to be considered. JAIVEx has employed aircraft to obtain the atmospheric variation filling the temporal gap between two satellites. First results show that both AIRS and IASI have a very similar vertical resolving power, atmospheric conditions are well captured by both instruments, and radiances are well calibrated. AIRS data shown in retrievals (e.g., surface emissivity and moisture) have a relatively higher noise level. Since the this type of retrieval is very sensitive to its radiance quality, retrieval products inter-comparison is an effective way to identify/compare their radiance quality, in terms of a combination of spectral resolution and noise level, and to assess instrument performance. Additional validation analyses are needed to provide more-definitive conclusions

Retrieval Lesson Learned from NAST-I Hyperspectral Data

The retrieval lesson learned is important to many current and future hyperspectral remote sensors. Validated retrieval algorithms demonstrate the advancement of hyperspectral remote sensing capabilities to be achieved with current and future satellite instruments

Cloud and Thermodynamic Parameters Retrieved from Satellite Ultraspectral Infrared Measurements

Atmospheric-thermodynamic parameters and surface properties are basic meteorological parameters for weather forecasting. A physical geophysical parameter retrieval scheme dealing with cloudy and cloud-free radiance observed with satellite ultraspectral infrared sounders has been developed and applied to the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) and the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS). The retrieved parameters presented herein are from radiance data gathered during the Joint Airborne IASI Validation Experiment (JAIVEx). JAIVEx provided intensive aircraft observations obtained from airborne Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) systems, in-situ measurements, and dedicated dropsonde and radiosonde measurements for the validation of the IASI products. Here, IASI atmospheric profile retrievals are compared with those obtained from dedicated dropsondes, radiosondes, and the airborne FTS system. The IASI examples presented here demonstrate the ability to retrieve fine-scale horizontal features with high vertical resolution from satellite ultraspectral sounder radiance spectra

Physically-Retrieving Cloud and Thermodynamic Parameters from Ultraspectral IR Measurements

A physical inversion scheme has been developed, dealing with cloudy as well as cloud-free radiance observed with ultraspectral infrared sounders, to simultaneously retrieve surface, atmospheric thermodynamic, and cloud microphysical parameters. A fast radiative transfer model, which applies to the clouded atmosphere, is used for atmospheric profile and cloud parameter retrieval. A one-dimensional (1-d) variational multi-variable inversion solution is used to improve an iterative background state defined by an eigenvector-regression-retrieval. The solution is iterated in order to account for non-linearity in the 1-d variational solution. It is shown that relatively accurate temperature and moisture retrievals can be achieved below optically thin clouds. For optically thick clouds, accurate temperature and moisture profiles down to cloud top level are obtained. For both optically thin and thick cloud situations, the cloud top height can be retrieved with relatively high accuracy (i.e., error < 1 km). NPOESS Airborne Sounder Testbed Interferometer (NAST-I) retrievals from the Atlantic-THORPEX Regional Campaign are compared with coincident observations obtained from dropsondes and the nadir-pointing Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL). This work was motivated by the need to obtain solutions for atmospheric soundings from infrared radiances observed for every individual field of view, regardless of cloud cover, from future ultraspectral geostationary satellite sounding instruments, such as the Geosynchronous Imaging Fourier Transform Spectrometer (GIFTS) and the Hyperspectral Environmental Suite (HES). However, this retrieval approach can also be applied to the ultraspectral sounding instruments to fly on Polar satellites, such as the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the European MetOp satellite, the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on the NPOESS Preparatory Project and the following NPOESS series of satellites

Thermodynamic and cloud parameter retrieval using infrared spectral data

High-resolution infrared radiance spectra obtained from near nadir observations provide atmospheric, surface, and cloud property information. A fast radiative transfer model, including cloud effects, is used for atmospheric profile and cloud parameter retrieval. The retrieval algorithm is presented along with its application to recent field experiment data from the NPOESS Airborne Sounding Testbed - Interferometer (NAST-I). The retrieval accuracy dependence on cloud properties is discussed. It is shown that relatively accurate temperature and moisture retrievals can be achieved below optically thin clouds. For optically thick clouds, accurate temperature and moisture profiles down to cloud top level are obtained. For both optically thin and thick cloud situations, the cloud top height can be retrieved with an accuracy of approximately 1.0 km. Preliminary NAST-I retrieval results from the recent Atlantic-THORPEX Regional Campaign (ATReC) are presented and compared with coincident observations obtained from dropsondes and the nadir-pointing Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL)

Adaptation Actions in Africa: Evidence that Gender Matters

This paper presents the initial data analyses of the CCAFS gender survey implemented in four sites in Africa. Using descriptive statistics we show gender differences in terms of perceptions of climate change, awareness and adoption of climate smart agricultural (CSA) practices, and types and sources of agro-climatic information in the four sites.We find that both men and women are experiencing changes in long-run weather patterns and that they are changing their behaviours in response; albeit relatively minor shifts in existing agricultural practices. For example, the most prevalent changes reported include switching crop varieties, switching types of crops and changing planting dates. As expected, women are less aware of many CSA practices. Encouragingly, this same pattern does not hold when it comes to adoption; in many cases, in East Africa in particular, women, when aware, are more likely than or just as likely as men to adopt CSA practices. In West Africa, overall, the adoption of these practices was much lower. In addition, we see that access to information from different sources varies greatly between men and women and among the sites; however, promisingly, those with access to information report using it to make changes to their agricultural practices. Our findings suggest that targeting women with climate and agricultural information is likely to result in uptake of new agricultural practices for adaptation