The Sustainable Development Goal on Water and Sanitation

Target 7c of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 7c) aimed to halve the population that had no sustainable access to water and basic sanitation before 2015. According to the data collected by the Joint Monitoring Programme in charge of measuring progress towards MDG 7c, 2.6 billion people gained access to safe water and 2.3 billion people to basic sanitation. Despite these optimistic figures, many academics have criticised MDG 7c. We provide an overview of this critique by performing a systematic literature review of 61 studies conducted over the MDG implementation period (2002-2015) and shortly after. Our objective is to contribute to the debate on the operationalisation of the Sustainable Development Goal on water and sanitation (SDG 6). The academic debate on MDG 7c mainly focused on the effectiveness of the indicators for safe water and sanitation and on the political dynamics underlying the selection of these indicators. SDG 6 addresses some of the concerns raised on the indicators for safe water and sanitation but fails to acknowledge the politics of indicator setting. We are proposing additional indicators and reflect on the limitations of using only quantitative indicators to measure progress towards SDG 6

Ionospheric quasi-static electric field anomalies during seismic activity in August–September 1981

The paper proposes new results, analyses and information for the plate tectonic situation in the processing of INTERCOSMOS-BULGARIA-1300 satellite data about anomalies of the quasi-static electric field in the upper ionosphere over activated earthquake source regions at different latitudes. The earthquake catalogue is made on the basis of information from the United State Geological Survey (USGS) website. The disturbances in ionospheric quasi-static electric fields are recorded by IESP-1 instrument aboard the INTERCOSMOS-BULGARIA-1300 satellite and they are compared with significant seismic events from the period 14 August–20 September 1981 in magnetically very quiet, quiet and medium quiet days. The main tectonic characteristics of the seismically activated territories are also taken in account. The main goal of the above research work is to enlarge the research of possible connections between anomalous vertical electric field penetrations into the ionosphere and the earthquake manifestations, also to propose tectonic arguments for the observed phenomena. The studies are represented in four main blocks: (i) previous studies of similar problems, (ii) selection of satellite, seismic and plate tectonic data, (iii) data processing with new specialized software and observations of the quasi-static electric field and (iiii) summary, comparison of new with previous results in our studies and conclusion. We establish the high informativity of the vertical component <i>Ez</i> of the quasi-static electric field in the upper ionosphere according observations by INTERCOSMOS-BULGARIA-1300 that are placed above considerably activated earthquake sources. This component shows an increase of about 2–10 mV/m above sources, situated on mobile structures of the plates. The paper discusses the observed effects. It is represented also a statistical study of ionospheric effects 5–15 days before and 5–15 days after the earthquakes with magnitude M 4.8–7.9

THE PREV A LENCE OF AN TI BOD IES AGAINST EQUINE IN FLU ENZA VI RUS, EQUINE HERPESVIRUS 1 AND 4, EQUINE ARTERITIS VI RUS AND EQUINE RHINOVIRUS 1 AND 2 IN DUTCH STAN DARD BRED HORSES

Pre va len tie van an ti stof fen te gen equi e ne in flu en za vi rus, equi e ne her pes vi rus 1 en -4, equi ABSTRACT A ran dom cross-sec ti o nal se ropre va len ce stu dy was con duc ted in 1996 by ta king blood sam ples from 330 dif fe rent Stand ard bred hor ses on all ra cet racks in the Ne ther lands. This blood sam pling took pla ce on four con se cu ti ve days, with each hor se being sam pled only once. Sam ples were in ves ti ga ted for an ti bo dies against se ver al strains of equi ne in flu en za vi rus, equi ne her pes vi rus ty pes 1 and 4, equi ne ar te ri tis vi rus, and equi ne rhi no vi rus ty pes 1 and 2. A type spe ci fic gG ELISA was used to de ter mi ne spe ci fic se ropre va lences of equi ne her pes vi ru ses 1 and 4. Influ en za se ro lo gy, using in flu en za A/equi/1/Pra gue/56 as an in di ca tor vi rus for vac ci na ti on, de mon stra ted that 38% of the hor ses were eit her un vac ci na ted or in ade qua te ly vac cina ted. Many of the se hor ses ap pe a red to have ex pe rien ced an in flu en za A/equi-2 field in fec ti on. Neut ra lizing and com ple ment fixing an ti bo dies against both EHV1 and EHV4 were found in a high per cen ta ge of the sam ples. Ho we ver, for EHV1 this high se ropre va len ce was pu ta ti ve ly cau sed by cross-re ac ting EHV4 an ti bo dies sin ce, in a type-spe ci fic gG ELISA, the EHV1 se ropre va len ce was only 28%, as com pa red with a 99% se ropre va len ce for EHV4. High se ropre va len ces were also found for equi ne rhi no vi rus type 1 and for the equi ne ar te ri tis vi rus, thus in di ca ting the en de mic na tu re of the se vi ru ses. Many of the se in fec ti ons may be sub cli ni cal. The se ropre va len ce of equi ne rhi no vi rus type 2 was sur pri sing ly low. The pos si ble re la ti onship be tween vi ral in fec ti ons and up per res pi ra to ry tract dis e a se and/or in flam ma to ry air way dis e a se is discus sed. SAMENVATTING Een ge ran do mi seerd 'cross-sectional' se ropre va len tie on der zoek werd uit ge voerd bij warm bloed paar den (n=330) op alle draf-en ren ba nen in Ne der land door het een ma lig ne men van een bloed staal op vier op een vol gen de da gen. De se rum sta len wer den on der zocht op an ti stof fen te gen ver schei de ne equi e ne in flu en zas tam men, equi e ne her pes vi rus type 1 en 4, equi e ne ar te ri tis vi rus en rhi no vi rus type 1 en 2. Voor het be pa len van de af zon der lij ke seropre va len tie van EHV1 en EHV4 werd een ty pes pe ci fie ke gG ELISA ge bruikt. De in flu en zas ero lo gie op ba sis van in flu en za A/equi-1/Praag/56 als in di ca tor vi rus toon de aan dat 38 % van de paar den niet of on vol doen de gevac ci neerd was. Veel van deze paar den ble ken wel een in flu en za A/equi-2 veld in fec tie te heb ben door ge maakt. In een hoog per cen ta ge van de sta len wer den neu tra li se ren de en com ple ment bin den de an ti stof fen te gen EHV1/4 aang etoond. Voor EHV1 werd deze hoge se ropre va len tie waar schijn lijk ver oor zaakt door kruis re a ge ren de an tiVlaams Dier ge nees kun dig Tijd schrift, 2005, 74, 140-145 Ori gi nal Arti cle 140 stof fen te gen EHV4, de se ropre va len tie van 28 % te gen EHV1 en 99 % te gen EHV4 in een ty pes pe ci fie ke gG ELISA in acht ge no men. Ge zien de re la tief hoge se ropre va len ties die bij de Ne der land se warm bloed po pu la tie gevon den wer den, moe ten hier ook equi e ne rhi no vi rus type 1 en equi e ne ar te ri tis vi rus als en zo ötisch wor den beschouwd . Veel van deze in fec ties lij ken sub kli nisch te ver lo pen. De se ropre va len tie van equi e ne rhi no vi rus type 2 was ver ras send laag. In de dis cus sie wordt aan dacht be steed aan het mo ge lij ke ver band tus sen vi ra le in fec ties en ziek te ver schijn se len van de bo ven ste lucht we gen

Research Protocol

Target 7c of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 7c) aimed to halve the population that had no sustainable access to water and basic sanitation before 2015. According to the data collected by the Joint Monitoring Programme in charge of measuring progress towards MDG 7c, 2.6 billion people gained access to safe water and 2.3 billion people to basic sanitation. Despite these optimistic figures, many academics have criticised MDG 7c. We provide an overview of this critique by performing a systematic literature review of 62 studies conducted over the MDG implementation period (2002-2015) and shortly after. Our objective is to contribute to the debate on the operationalisation of the Sustainable Development Goal on water and sanitation (SDG 6). The academic debate on MDG 7c mainly focused on the effectiveness of the indicators for safe water and sanitation and on the political dynamics underlying the selection of these indicators. SDG 6 addresses some of the concerns raised on the indicators for safe water and sanitation but fails to acknowledge the politics of indicator setting. We are proposing additional indicators and reflect on the limitations of using only quantitative indicators to measure progress towards SDG 6

The Sustainable Development Goal on Water and Sanitation

Target 7c of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 7c) aimed to halve the population that had no sustainable access to water and basic sanitation before 2015. According to the data collected by the Joint Monitoring Programme in charge of measuring progress towards MDG 7c, 2.6 billion people gained access to safe water and 2.3 billion people to basic sanitation. Despite these optimistic figures, many academics have criticised MDG 7c. We provide an overview of this critique by performing a systematic literature review of 62 studies conducted over the MDG implementation period (2002–2015) and shortly after. Our objective is to contribute to the debate on the operationalisation of the Sustainable Development Goal on water and sanitation (SDG 6). The academic debate on MDG 7c mainly focused on the effectiveness of the indicators for safe water and sanitation and on the political dynamics underlying the selection of these indicators. SDG 6 addresses some of the concerns raised on the indicators for safe water and sanitation but fails to acknowledge the politics of indicator setting. We are proposing additional indicators and reflect on the limitations of using only quantitative indicators to measure progress towards SDG 6

CO Adsorption on Supported Gold Nanoparticle Catalysts: Application of the Temkin Model

The adsorption of CO on the supported gold nanoparticle catalysts Au/TiO2, Au/Fe2O3, and Au/ZrO2 was examined using infrared transmission spectroscopy to quantify the isobaric CO coverage as a function of temperature. The Temkin adsorbate interaction model was then applied to account for the adsorption behavior. To test the general applicability of the Temkin model, this treatment was also applied to three data sets from the literature. This included another real-world catalyst and two model catalysts. All data sets were accurately represented by the Temkin adsorbate interaction model. The resulting thermodynamic metrics are consistent with previous determinations and reflect a particle size-dependence. In particular, the intrinsic adsorption enthalpy at zero CO coverage varies almost linearly with Au particle size, and this trend appears to be correlated with the abundance of low-coordinate Au sites (cf., CN = 6 and 7 for corners and edges, respectively). For very small particles with mostly CN = 6 corner sites, the enthalpy reflects strong binding (cf., −ΔH0 ≈ 78 kJ/mol), while for large particles with mostly CN = 7 edge sites, the enthalpy reflects weaker binding (cf., −ΔH0 ≈ 63 kJ/mol). The results also suggest that these sites are coupled. This study demonstrates that the Temkin adsorbate interaction model accurately represents adsorption data, yields meaningful metrics that are useful for characterizing nanoparticle catalysts, and should be applicable to other adsorption data sets

Financial crises and the attainment of the SDGs: an adjusted multidimensional poverty approach

This paper analyses the impact of financial crises on the Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating poverty. To do so, we develop an adjusted Multidimensional Poverty Framework (MPF) that includes 15 indicators that span across key poverty aspects related to income, basic needs, health, education and the environment. We then use an econometric model that allows us to examine the impact of financial crises on these indicators in 150 countries over the period 1980–2015. Our analysis produces new estimates on the impact of financial crises on poverty’s multiple social, economic and environmental aspects and equally important captures dynamic linkages between these aspects. Thus, we offer a better understanding of the potential impact of current debt dynamics on Multidimensional Poverty and demonstrate the need to move beyond the boundaries of SDG1, if we are to meet the target of eradicating poverty. Our results indicate that the current financial distress experienced by many low-income countries may reverse the progress that has been made hitherto in reducing poverty. We find that financial crises are associated with an approximately 10% increase of extreme poor in low-income countries. The impact is even stronger in some other poverty aspects. For instance, crises are associated with an average decrease of government spending in education by 17.72% in low-income countries. The dynamic linkages between most of the Multidimensional Poverty indicators, warn of a negative domino effect on a number of SDGs related to poverty, if there is a financial crisis shock. To pre-empt such a domino effect, the specific SDG target 17.4 on attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies plays a key role and requires urgent attention by the international community

Brown adipose tissue activity after a high-calorie meal in humans.

BACKGROUND: Studies in rodents have shown that brown adipose tissue (BAT) is activated on food intake, thereby reducing metabolic efficiency. OBJECTIVE: The current study investigated whether a single high-calorie, carbohydrate-rich meal activates BAT in lean human adults. DESIGN: BAT activity was studied in 11 lean adult men [age: 23.6 +/- 2.1 y; body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2): 22.4 +/- 2.1] after consumption of a high-calorie, carbohydrate-rich meal (1622 +/- 222 kcal; 78% carbohydrate, 12% P, 10% F). BAT activity during 2 h of mild cold exposure served as a positive control experiment. BAT activity was assessed by [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography-computed tomography. Energy expenditure was measured by indirect calorimetry. RESULTS: Postprandial [18F]FDG uptake was significantly higher in BAT [1.65 +/- 0.99 mean standard uptake value (SUVmean)] than in subcutaneous (0.35 +/- 0.15 SUVmean; P < 0.05) and visceral (0.49 +/- 0.24 SUVmean; P < 0.05) white adipose tissue and liver (0.95 +/- 0.28 SUVmean; P < 0.05). Postprandial BAT activity was lower than cold-induced BAT activity (7.19 +/- 2.09 SUVmean). However, postprandial BAT activity may have been underestimated because of high postprandial [18F]FDG uptake in skeletal muscle compared with cold (1.36 +/- 0.31 compared with 0.59 +/- 0.07 SUVmean, P < 0.05), which reduces [18F]FDG bioavailability for BAT and other tissues. No direct relation was found between BAT and diet-induced thermogenesis (DIT). CONCLUSIONS: Glucose uptake in BAT increases after a meal in humans, which indicates a role for BAT in reducing metabolic efficiency. However, the quantitative contribution of BAT to DIT relative to other tissues, such as skeletal muscle, remains to be investigated. This trial was registered at www.controlled-trials.com as ISRCTN21413505