High-fat diet-induced aggravation of cardiovascular impairment in permethrin-treated Wistar rats.

This study characterized the impact of post-weaning high-fat diet (HFD) and/or permethrin (PER) treatment on heart dysfunction and fibrosis, as well as atherogenic risk, in rats by investigating interactions between HFD and PER. Our results revealed that HFD and/or PER induced remarkable cardiotoxicity by promoting cardiac injury, biomarker leakage into the plasma and altering heart rate and electrocardiogram pattern, as well as plasma ion levels. HFD and/or PER increased plasma total cholesterol, triacylglycerols, and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels but significantly reduced high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Cardiac content of peroxidation malonaldehyde, protein carbonyls, and reactive oxygen species were remarkably elevated, while glutathione levels and superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathione peroxidase activities were inhibited in animals receiving a HFD and/or PER. Furthermore, cardiac DNA fragmentation and upregulation of Bax and caspase-3 gene expression supported the ability of HFD and/or PER to induce apoptosis and inflammation in rat hearts. High cardiac TGF-β1 expression explained the profibrotic effects of PER either with the standard diet or HFD. Masson's Trichrome staining clearly demonstrated that HFD and PER could cause cardiac fibrosis. Additionally, increased oxidized LDL and the presence of several lipid droplets in arterial tissues highlighted the atherogenic effects of HFD and/or PER in rats. Such PER-induced cardiac and vascular dysfunctions were aggravated by and associated with a HFD, implying that obese individuals may be more vulnerable to PER exposure. Collectively, post-weaning exposure to HFD and/or PER may promote heart failure and fibrosis, demonstrating the pleiotropic effects of exposure to environmental factors early in life

Lake drying and livelihood dynamics in Lake Chad: unravelling the mechanisms, contexts and responses

This article examines lake drying and livelihood dynamics in the context of multiple stressors through a case study of the ‘‘Small Lake Chad’’ in the Republic of Chad. Livelihoods research in regions experiencing persistent lake water fluctuations has largely focused on the wellbeing and security of lakeshore dwellers. Little is known about the mechanisms through which lake drying shapes livelihood drawbacks and opportunities, and whether locally evolved responses are enhancing livelihoods. Here we address these gaps using empirical, mixed-methods field research couched within the framework of livelihoods and human well-being contexts. The analysis demonstrates that limited opportunities outside agriculture, the influx of mixed ethnic migrants and the increasing spate of violence all enhance livelihood challenges. Livelihood opportunities centre on the renewal effects of seasonal flood pulses on lake waters and the learning opportunities triggered by past droughts. Although drying has spurred new adaptive behaviours predicated on seasonality, traditional predictive factors and the availability of assets, responses have remained largely reactive. The article points to where lake drying fits amongst changes in the wider socioeconomic landscape in which people live, and suggests that awareness of the particularities of the mechanisms that connect lake drying to livelihoods can offer insights into the ways local people might be assisted by governments and development actors

Arms Racing, Military Build-Ups and Dispute Intensity: Evidence from the Greek-Turkish Rivalry, 1985-2020

Arms races are linked in the public conscience to potential violence. Following gas discoveries in eastern Mediterranean, Greece and Turkey nearly came to blows in August 2020 and both states have enacted military expansion plans, further risking escalation. We present a novel approach to study the effect of military build-ups on dispute intensity, using monthly data on Turkish incursions into Greek-claimed airspace. Because airspace claims feature strongly in the dispute, these contestations represent an appropriate measure of the intensity with which Turkey pursues the conflict. Theoretically, we suggest that bilateral factors drive this intensity. We argue that increased Greek military capabilities deter incursions whereas increased Turkish military capabilities fuel them. Results from time-series models support the second expectation. Consequently, the study provides a novel methodological approach to studying interstate conflict intensity and shines new light on escalation dynamics in the Greek-Turkish dispute

Replication data for: Territorial Peace and Democratic Clustering. Journal of Politics. 2013

A consistent and robust finding in the democratic peace literature is that democracies tend to cluster together. The explanations for clustering rely on several factors, including democratic demonstration effects and aid from democracies to nascent opposition groups in non-democratic countries. This paper questions the logic of the clustering approach, both theoretically and empirically. Further, we develop an argument predicting democratic transitions based on the level of territorial threat targeting the state: high levels of threat cause political centralization and inhibit democratization; low levels of threat allow for decentralization and democratization. This approach explains how democratic transitions are linked to international borders and imply geographic clustering. Analyses of the post-World War II period are supportive of our arguments even when controlling for clustering-based predictors

Replication data for: Settled Borders and Regime Type: Democratic Transitions as Consequences of Peaceful Territorial Transfers. American Journal of Political Science. 54 (4): 951-968. 2010.

Research arguing that external threats determine regime type has generally failed to provide systematic evidence in favor of the peace-to-democracy hypothesis. We suspect that the lack of confirmatory findings is likely driven by conflating the concepts of negative (absence of conflict) and positive (mutual trust and cooperation) peace. By focusing on territorial issues and the phenomenon of peaceful state-to-state territorial transfers (i.e., peaceful alteration of borders), we are able to observe the effects of replacing territorial threat stemming from negative territorial peace (or territorial rivalry) with the positive territorial peace associated with legitimate, mutually accepted borders. Our findings support the expectations that peaceful territorial transfers remove active and latent territorial threat and lead to demilitarization and democratization. Importantly, peaceful territorial transfers are not endogenous to regime type. Our study therefore supports an alternative explanation for the democratic peace: both democracy and peace may be a function of settling territorial threats

The Institutional Design of Riparian Treaties: The Role of River Issues

International agreements governing rivers vary considerably in whether they contain institutional provisions for joint monitoring, conflict resolution, enforcement, and/or the delegation of authority to intergovernmental organizations. This article develops an explanation for why some river management treaties include more institutional provisions while others contain fewer, if any. The authors argue that certain types of issues related to river use—water quantity, water quality, and navigation—tend to be difficult to manage and prone to noncompliance. When forming treaties to address these specific issues, states will be more likely to include institutional provisions. The authors test the link between these river use issues and institutional design using a data set of 315 river treaties signed since 1950. The results show that highly contentious issues—and in particular water quantity and navigation—have a greater effect on the institutional design of river treaties than contextual and power politics factors.cooperation, conflict, water, international institutions, transboundary rivers