Impediments of green finance adoption system: Linking economy and environment

Environmental deregulation has become a severe concern for public health around the world. Increased pollution and ecological degradation have diverted attention towards adopting green practices, which can be possible if the sustainable green finance system is implemented in its true spirit. But previous studies reported certain factors affecting its implementation process, particularly in developing countries. This study aims to identify and quantify the barriers to adopting a green finance system. First, it identified twenty barriers through an extensive literature review and semi-structured interviews with experts in the fields of financial management, economics, and environmental sciences. Later, eighteen factors were finalized by the consensus of panel experts, which was further used to analyze their interrelationship through Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM). Using MICMAC analysis, these barriers were categorized based on their diving-dependence powers. Finally, the conceptual ISM model is developed that provides a clear picture of the impediments to the green finance adoption system and their flow relationship among the identified barriers at different levels. The findings suggest that global level factors: lack of pressure from international organizations and unavailability of globally acceptable green criteria are critical to the prevalence of other factors that indicate its centrality to effectively implementing the green finance system. The developed model helps in designing, implementing, and promoting eco-friendly projects. It is also recommended that an appropriate framework is required to be developed at global, country, organizational, and individual levels to deal with the barriers of the green finance adoption system.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

1st International consensus guidelines for advanced breast cancer (ABC 1)

The 1st international Consensus Conference for Advanced Breast Cancer (ABC 1) took place on November 2011, in Lisbon. Consensus guidelines for the management of this disease were developed. This manuscript summarizes these international consensus guidelines

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19: A fiction, hope or hype? An updated review

In December 2019, the novel coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19) that began in China had infected so far more than 109,217,366 million individuals worldwide and accounted for more than 2,413,912 fatalities. With the dawn of this novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), there was a requirement to select potential therapies that might effectively kill the virus, accelerate the recovery, or decrease the case fatality rate. Besides the currently available antiviral medications for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV), the chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine (CQ/HCQ) regimen with or without azithromycin has been repurposed in China and was recommended by the National Health Commission, China in mid-February 2020. By this time, the selection of this regimen was based on its efficacy against the previous SARS-CoV-1 virus and its potential to inhibit viral replication of the SARS-CoV-2 in vitro. There was a shortage of robust clinical proof about the effectiveness of this regimen against the novel SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, extensive research effort has been made by several researchers worldwide to investigate whether this regimen is safe and effective for the management of COVID-19. In this review, we provided a comprehensive overview of the CQ/HCQ regimen, summarizing data from in vitro studies and clinical trials for the protection against or the treatment of SARS-CoV-2. Despite the initial promising results from the in vitro studies and the widespread use of CQ/HCQ in clinical settings during the 1st wave of COVID-19, current data from well-designed randomized controlled trials showed no evidence of benefit from CQ/HCQ supplementation for the treatment or prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Particularly, the two largest randomized controlled trials to date (RECOVERY and WHO SOLIDARITY trials), both confirmed that CQ/HCQ regimen does not provide any clinical benefit for COVID-19 patients. Therefore, we do not recommend the use of this regimen in COVID-19 patients outside the context of clinical trials

ESMO/ASCO recommendations for a Global Curriculum (GC) in medical oncology-edition 2016

Non peer reviewe

The Global COVID-19 Observatory and Resource Center for Childhood Cancer: A response for the pediatric oncology community by SIOP and St. Jude Global

The COVID-19 pandemic quickly led to an abundance of publications and recommendations, despite a paucity of information on how COVID-19 affects children with cancer. This created a dire need for a trusted resource with curated information and a space for the pediatric oncology community to share experiences. The Global COVID-19 Observatory and Resource Center for Childhood Cancer was developed, launched, and maintained by the International Society of Pediatric Oncology and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. The three components (Resource Library, Global Registry, and Collaboration Space) complement each other, establishing a mechanism to generate and transfer knowledge rapidly throughout the community

Recommendations for implementing lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography in Europe

Lung cancer screening (LCS) with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) was demonstrated in the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) to reduce mortality from the disease. European mortality data has recently become available from the Nelson randomised controlled trial, which confirmed lung cancer mortality reductions by 26% in men and 39–61% in women. Recent studies in Europe and the USA also showed positive results in screening workers exposed to asbestos. All European experts attending the “Initiative for European Lung Screening (IELS)”—a large international group of physicians and other experts concerned with lung cancer—agreed that LDCT-LCS should be implemented in Europe. However, the economic impact of LDCT-LCS and guidelines for its effective and safe implementation still need to be formulated. To this purpose, the IELS was asked to prepare recommendations to implement LCS and examine outstanding issues. A subgroup carried out a comprehensive literature review on LDCT-LCS and presented findings at a meeting held in Milan in November 2018. The present recommendations reflect that consensus was reached

Hepatoprotective effects of methanol extract of Carissa opaca leaves on CCl4-induced damage in rat

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Carissa opaca </it>(Apocynaceae) leaves possess antioxidant activity and hepatoprotective effects, and so may provide a possible therapeutic alternative in hepatic disorders. The effect produced by methanolic extract of <it>Carissa opaca </it>leaves (MCL) was investigated on CCl₄-induced liver damages in rat.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>30 rats were divided into five groups of six animals of each, having free access to food and water <it>ad libitum</it>. Group I (control) was given olive oil and DMSO, while group II, III and IV were injected intraperitoneally with CCl₄(0.5 ml/kg) as a 20% (v/v) solution in olive oil twice a week for 8 weeks. Animals of group II received only CCl₄. Rats of group III were given MCL intragastrically at a dose of 200 mg/kg bw while that of group IV received silymarin at a dose of 50 mg/kg bw twice a week for 8 weeks. However, animals of group V received MCL only at a dose of 200 mg/kg bw twice a week for 8 weeks. The activities of aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and γ-glutamyltransferase (γ-GT) were determined in serum. Catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione-S-transferase (GST), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), glutathione reductase (GSR) and quinone reductase (QR) activity was measured in liver homogenates. Lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances; TBARS), glutathione (GSH) and hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) concentration was also assessed in liver homogenates. Phytochemicals in MCL were determined through qualitative and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Hepatotoxicity induced with CCl₄was evidenced by significant increase in lipid peroxidation (TBARS) and H₂O₂level, serum activities of AST, ALT, ALP, LDH and γ-GT. Level of GSH determined in liver was significantly reduced, as were the activities of antioxidant enzymes; CAT, POD, SOD, GSH-Px, GSR, GST and QR. On cirrhotic animals treated with CCl₄, histological studies showed centrilobular necrosis and infiltration of lymphocytes. MCL (200 mg/kg bw) and silymarin (50 mg/kg bw) co-treatment prevented all the changes observed with CCl₄-treated rats. The phytochemical analysis of MCL indicated the presence of flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, phlobatannins, terpenoids, coumarins, anthraquinones, and cardiac glycosides. Isoquercetin, hyperoside, vitexin, myricetin and kaempherol was determined in MCL.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results indicate that MCL has a significant protective effect against CCl₄induced hepatotoxicity in rat, which may be due to its antioxidant and membrane stabilizing properties.</p

Need for Alloparental Care and Attitudes Toward Homosexuals in 58 Countries: Implications for the Kin Selection Hypothesis

Homosexuality is an evolutionary puzzle. Many theories attempt to explain how a trait undermining individual reproduction can be maintained, but experimental testing of their predictions remains scarce. The kin selection hypothesis (KSH) is an important theoretical framework to account for the evolution of human homosexuality, postulating that its direct cost to reproduction can be offset by inclusive fitness gains through alloparental assistance to kin. Consistent evidence in support of the KSH has only been garnered from research on Samoan fa’afafine (i.e. feminine, same-sex attracted males), whereas research in numerous industrialized societies has repeatedly failed to secure empirical support for the theory. Here, we propose an alternative test of the KSH by investigating how need for alloparental care influences women’s attitudes toward homosexuality (AtH). AtH would influence the likelihood of women receiving alloparental care from homosexual kin. We applied logistic regression analysis to a large dataset (17,295 women in 58 countries) derived from the World Values Survey. As predicted by the KSH, women who are potentially most in need of alloparental support exhibit significantly more positive attitudes toward homosexuals. For single mothers who expressed parental care concerns, each additional child mothered was associated with an increase of 1.24 in their odds of exhibiting positive attitudes toward homosexuals. Our study is the first to provide circumstantial evidence in support of the KSH on a global scale