Measuring Ethiopian farmers' vulnerability to climate change across regional states:

"This study analyzes the vulnerability of Ethiopian farmers to climate change based on the integrated vulnerability assessment approach using vulnerability indicators. The vulnerability indicators consist of the different socioeconomic and biophysical attributes of Ethiopia's seven agriculture-based regional states. The different socioeconomic and biophysical indicators of each region collected have been classified into three classes, based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC 2001) definition of vulnerability, which consists of adaptive capacity, sensitivity, and exposure. The results indicate that the relatively least-developed, semiarid, and arid regions—namely, Afar and Somali—are highly vulnerable to climate change. The Oromia region—a wide region characterized both by areas of good agricultural production in the highlands and midlands and by recurrent droughts, especially in the lowlands—is also vulnerable. The Tigray region, which is characterized by recurrent drought, is also vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change in comparison with the other regions. Thus, investing in the development of the relatively underdeveloped regions of Somali and Afar, irrigation for regions with high potential, early warning systems to help farmers better cope in times of drought, and production of drought-tolerant varieties of crops and species of livestock can all reduce the vulnerability of Ethiopian farmers to climate change." from authors' abstractClimate change, Vulnerability, adaptive capacity, regional states of Ethiopia,

Assessing household vulnerability to climate change: The case of farmers in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia

Vulnerability to climate extremes, Nile Basin of Ethiopia, Minimum daily income, Climate change,

Factors affecting the choices of coping strategies for climate extremes: The case of farmers in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia

This study adopted the multinomial logit model to analyze factors affecting the choice of coping strategies in response to climate extreme events for the Ethiopian Nile River Basin. Results from the multinomial logit model show that different socioeconomic and environmental factors affect coping with climate extreme events. Factors that positively influence coping include education of the head of household, gender of household head being male, farm income, livestock ownership, access to extension for crop and livestock production, farmer-to-farmer extension, temperature, ownership of radio, and better-quality house. Thus, to increase coping with covariate shocks, such as climate extreme events, policies should encourage income generation and asset holding (especially livestock), both of which will support consumption smoothing during and immediately after harsh climatic events. Moreover, government policies should focus on developing institutions that enhance access to education and extension services.climate extremes, coping, Nile Basin, multinomial logit model,

Analyzing the determinants of farmers' choice of adaptation methods and perceptions of climate change in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia:

"This study identifies the major methods used by farmers to adapt to climate change in the Nile Basin of Ethiopia, the factors that affect their choice of method, and the barriers to adaptation. The methods identified include use of different crop varieties, tree planting, soil conservation, early and late planting, and irrigation. Results from the discrete choice model employed indicate that the level of education, gender, age, and wealth of the head of household; access to extension and credit; information on climate, social capital, agroecological settings, and temperature all influence farmers' choices. The main barriers include lack of information on adaptation methods and financial constraints. Moreover, the analysis reveals that age of the household head, wealth, information on climate change, social capital, and agroecological settings have significant effects on farmers' perceptions of climate change." from authors' abstractAdaptation, Perception on climate change, Agriculture, Climate change, Nile Basin of Ethiopia,

Multi-terminal VSC-HVDC system for integration of offshore wind farms and green electrification of platforms in the North Sea

This paper discusses a multi-terminal VSC-HVDC system proposed for integration of deep sea wind farms and offshore oil and gas platforms in to the Norwegian national grid onshore. An equivalent circuit of the VSC in synchronous d-q reference frame has been established and decoupled control of active and reactive power was developed. A three terminal VSC-HVDC was modeled and simulated in EMTDC/PSCAD software. Voltage margin method has been used for reliable operation of the HVDC system without the need of communication. Simulation results show that the proposed multi-terminal VSC-HVDC was able to maintain constant DC voltage operation during load switchings, step changes in power demand and was able to secure power to passive loads during loss of a DC voltage regulating VSC-HVDC terminal with out the use of communication between terminals.reviewe

Precision medicine and public health interventions: tuberculosis as a model?

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Исследование информационных процессов в некоторых повторяющихся играх

Рассматривается неантагонистическая повторяющаяся игра с непрерывным временем. Один раз за всю игру может подействовать возмущающий фактор. Он изменяет существующую ситуацию равновесия на другую. При этом выигрыш второго игрока уменьшается. Найдены равновесные стратегии и оптимальный дискретный режим получения информации. Показано, что наблюдатель оценивает режим получения информации как оптимальный или избыточный в зависимости от модели реальности, которой он пользуется.The non-antagonistic repeated game are considered. The disturbance is able to act once the game. It changes the existing situation of equilibrium for another one. For this the second player gain decreases. The equilibrium strategies and the optimum discrete regime of the information receipt are found. It is shown that observer estimates the regime of the information receipt as the optimum or surplus regime depending on the model of reality which is used by him

Assessment of Rangeland Degradation in New Mexico Using Time Series Segmentation and Residual Trend Analysis (TSS-RESTREND)

Rangelands provide significant socioeconomic and environmental benefits to humans. However, climate variability and anthropogenic drivers can negatively impact rangeland productivity. The main goal of this study was to investigate structural and productivity changes in rangeland ecosystems in New Mexico (NM), in the southwestern United States of America during the 1984-2015 period. This goal was achieved by applying the time series segmented residual trend analysis (TSS-RESTREND) method, using datasets of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies and precipitation from Parameter elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), and developing an assessment framework. The results indicated that about 17.6% and 12.8% of NM experienced a decrease and an increase in productivity, respectively. More than half of the state (55.6%) had insignificant change productivity, 10.8% was classified as indeterminant, and 3.2% was considered as agriculture. A decrease in productivity was observed in 2.2%, 4.5%, and 1.7% of NM's grassland, shrubland, and ever green forest land cover classes, respectively. Significant decrease in productivity was observed in the northeastern and southeastern quadrants of NM while significant increase was observed in northwestern, southwestern, and a small portion of the southeastern quadrants. The timing of detected breakpoints coincided with some of NM's drought events as indicated by the self-calibrated Palmar Drought Severity Index as their number increased since 2000s following a similar increase in drought severity. Some breakpoints were concurrent with some fire events. The combination of these two types of disturbances can partly explain the emergence of breakpoints with degradation in productivity. Using the breakpoint assessment framework developed in this study, the observed degradation based on the TSS-RESTREND showed only 55% agreement with the Rangeland Productivity Monitoring Service (RPMS) data. There was an agreement between the TSS-RESTREND and RPMS on the occurrence of significant degradation in productivity over the grasslands and shrublands within the Arizona/NM Tablelands and in the Chihuahua Desert ecoregions, respectively. This assessment of NM's vegetation productivity is critical to support the decision-making process for rangeland management; address challenges related to the sustainability of forage supply and livestock production; conserve the biodiversity of rangelands ecosystems; and increase their resilience. Future analysis should consider the effects of rising temperatures and drought on rangeland degradation and productivity.Peer reviewe