Globalization and the Business Schools: Toward Business and World-Sustainable Leadership

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dieck-Assad, María de Lourdes

2013-01-01

Globalization is a force that produces deep changes in business and society. Business schools face great challenges and opportunities in educating future leaders who can work across countries and cultures. This article presents some strategic issues regarding the type of education that business schools should offer from a global perspective, aimed…

CGH Future Directions

Cancer.gov

Looking ahead, we have three major future directions that we believe will help us push forward in achieving NCI’s goal of advancing global cancer research, building expertise, and leveraging resources across nations to address the challenges of cancer and reduce cancer deaths worldwide.

Global surgery for pediatric hydrocephalus in the developing world: a review of the history, challenges, and future directions.

PubMed

Muir, Ryan T; Wang, Shelly; Warf, Benjamin C

2016-11-01

OBJECTIVE Pediatric hydrocephalus is one of the most common neurosurgical conditions and is a major contributor to the global burden of surgically treatable diseases. Significant health disparities exist for the treatment of hydrocephalus in developing nations due to a combination of medical, environmental, and socioeconomic factors. This review aims to provide the international neurosurgery community with an overview of the current challenges and future directions of neurosurgical care for children with hydrocephalus in low-income countries. METHODS The authors conducted a literature review around the topic of pediatric hydrocephalus in the context of global surgery, the unique challenges to creating access to care in low-income countries, and current international efforts to address the problem. RESULTS Developing countries face the greatest burden of pediatric hydrocephalus due to high birth rates and greater risk of neonatal infections. This burden is related to more general global health challenges, including malnutrition, infectious diseases, maternal and perinatal risk factors, and education gaps. Unique challenges pertaining to the treatment of hydrocephalus in the developing world include a preponderance of postinfectious hydrocephalus, limited resources, and restricted access to neurosurgical care. In the 21st century, several organizations have established programs that provide hydrocephalus treatment and neurosurgical training in Africa, Central and South America, Haiti, and Southeast Asia. These international efforts have employed various models to achieve the goals of providing safe, sustainable, and cost-effective treatment. CONCLUSIONS Broader commitment from the pediatric neurosurgery community, increased funding, public education, surgeon training, and ongoing surgical innovation will be needed to meaningfully address the global burden of untreated hydrocephalus.

Adaptive Management for a Turbulent Future

EPA Science Inventory

The challenges that face humanity today differ from the past because as the scale of human influence has increased, our biggest challenges have become global in nature, and formerly local problems that could be addressed by shifting populations or switching resources, now aggrega...

Selected global examples of cellulosic cropping system trends

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Plant biomass has been recognized globally as an important link to a sustainable energy future because it can be grown universally and converted into liquid transportation fuels or other material through biochemical, thermochemical, or catalytic conversion processes. A key challenge is that cellulos...

Seed production areas for the global restoration challenge

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Seed availability of wild species is fundamental to the conservation of biodiversity and the achievement of global ecosystem restoration or reforestation targets. The current and future demands for seeds for restoration and reforestation far exceed what can be practically, economically, and ethicall...

Data for global solutions: How new technologies can help people to re-imagine the future of cities and more

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tewksbury, J.; Gaffney, O.; Young, D.

2016-12-01

People are more willing to accept and act on the science surrounding global environmental change when they can see themselves in that change - or when they can understand how global processes like climate change impact their lives in concrete and intimate ways. The digital revolution presents unique opportunities to make those sorts of connections. We will explore how new technologies can help to immerse users in the challenges of global sustainability and deepen their sense of personal involvement. We will draw on case studies from the Future Earth Media Lab, a communications and research initiative that was formed by Future Earth, the International Council for Science (ICSU) and Globaïa in 2015. The Media Lab was set up to bring together partners from science, technology, art and design to co-create products and experiences that can change the way we communicate the challenges of the world's most intractable problems, with the potential to shift mindsets and behaviours. We are at the very beginning of this 10-year project to explore how advances in virtual reality, augmented reality, data visualization and artificial intelligence will reshape how non-scientific audiences engage with science. The session will focus on results of the most recent projects launched in 2016: a hackathon series with the Iris.AI artificial intelligence project to test the limits of AI for searches based on framed research questions; a global hackathon series around using virtual reality to communicate global change challenges and an immersive space co-created with data visualization experts at the UN's biggest conference on sustainable urbanization at Quito, Ecuador.

Learning Futures: Education, Technology and Social Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Facer, Keri

2011-01-01

In the twenty-first century educators around the world are being told that they need to transform education systems to adapt young people for the challenges of a global digital knowledge economy. Too rarely, however, do we ask whether this future vision is robust, achievable or even desirable, whether alternative futures might be in development,…

The Terawatt Challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haegel, Nancy

In response to concerns about accelerating climate change, the world is uniting to both envision and enable a global energy system that supports a sustainable environment and broad economic prosperity. Growth in the technology and the deployment of renewable energy has been dramatic. Evidence can be seen in the growth of photovoltaics (PV) and wind as contributors to worldwide electricity production over the last decade. PV and wind provided 1.2% and 3.7% of global electricity production in 2015, compared to 0.1% and 1.3% respectively in 2005. These numbers indicate both the rapid increase in the rate of deployment, as well as the remaining work to be done to extend this trend to transform a massive energy system and provide a significant fraction of the world's future energy demand with renewable energy. Based on recent trends, it is highly likely that global cumulative PV installation will reach terawatt scale in the next few decades. The challenges, as well as the resulting impact, vary greatly depending on whether we envision 1 TW ( 15% of 2015 global electricity capacity), 3 TW ( 50% of 2015 global electricity capacity) or 10 TW, a level that could drive electrification of transportation and industrial sectors and production of solar fuels. This presentation will draw upon the work of the 2016 GA-SERI (Global Alliance of Solar Energy Research Institutes) Terawatt Workshop to assess the feasibility and summarize the challenges for PV as a primary energy source. These challenges include the continuing demand for improved efficiency and reliability, the required magnitude of capital expenditure, the need for a sustainable industry (both financially and environmentally), as well as needs for grid modernization and consistent policies that support global climate goals. Physicists can play important roles in addressing this full range of challenges, from materials science to public policy, as well as in education of the public and its future leaders.

Challenges and needs in fire management: A landscape simulation modeling perspective [chapter 4

Treesearch

Robert E. Keane; Geoffrey J. Cary; Mike D. Flannigan

2011-01-01

Fire management will face many challenges in the future from global climate change to protecting people, communities, and values at risk. Simulation modeling will be a vital tool for addressing these challenges but the next generation of simulation models must be spatially explicit to address critical landscape ecology relationships and they must use mechanistic...

The Future Role of the United States in Global Health: Emphasis on Cardiovascular Disease.

PubMed

Fuster, Valentin; Frazer, Jendayi; Snair, Megan; Vedanthan, Rajesh; Dzau, Victor

2017-12-26

U.S. global health investment has focused on detection, treatment, and eradication of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, with significant results. Although efforts should be maintained and expanded to provide ongoing therapy for chronic infectious disease, there is a pressing need to meet the challenge of noncommunicable diseases, which constitute the highest burden of diseases globally. A Committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has made 14 recommendations that require ongoing commitments to eradication of infectious disease and increase the emphasis on chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. These include improving early detection and treatment, mitigating disease risk factors, shifting global health infrastructure to include management of cardiovascular disease, developing global partners and private-public ventures to meet infrastructure and funding challenges, streamlining medical product development and supply, increasing research and development capacity, and addressing gaps in global political and institutional leadership to meet the shifting challenge. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Globalisation, Universities and Professors.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Forest, James J. F.

Globalization has an increasingly profound impact on a broad range of human activities in political, economic, and cultural areas. From the perspective of higher education, globalization raises a number of challenges and concerns, particularly in preparing students the future leaders of commerce and politics to adequately address the demands of an…

Teacher Education in a Global Society: Facilitating Global Literacy for Preservice Candidates through International Field Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Armstrong, Neill F.

2008-01-01

In this article, I address the following question: How, in a time of shrinking budgets and reduced graduation timelines, are university teacher preparation programs to best address the issue of global literacy for future teachers? In an effort to begin addressing this challenge, the College of Education at Stephen F. Austin State University…

Future trends in society and technology: implications for wilderness research and management

Treesearch

George H. Stankey

2000-01-01

Judging the impact of social and technological trends on the future of wilderness is complex. Declining public trust, growing demands for scrutiny, a need to recognize the link between biophysical and socioeconomic systems, and the need for criteria to select among alternative futures challenge us. A burgeoning global population will increase resource impacts, but more...

The Democratic Take

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lehane, Christopher S.

2008-01-01

The 2008 presidential election stands as a "change" election. The public's anxiety over the challenges globalization poses to the future of the American Dream is driving a desire for the country to change direction. The American people understand that what will give the nation a competitive advantage in a global marketplace are the…

Earth Matters: Studies for Our Global Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wasserman, Pamela; Doyle, Andrea

Through 12 readings and 32 activities this curriculum material introduces high school students to issues of the global environment and society, while both challenging them to critically evaluate the issues and motivating them to develop solutions. The materials are cited as being applicable to social studies, science, math, language arts, and…

Global 3ν oscillation analysis: Status of unknown parameters and future systematic challenges for ORCA and PINGU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Capozzi, Francesco; Lisi, Eligio; Marrone, Antonio

2016-04-01

Within the standard 3ν oscillation framework, we illustrate the status of currently unknown oscillation parameters: the θ23 octant, the mass hierarchy (normal or inverted), and the possible CP-violating phase δ, as derived by a (preliminary) global analysis of oscillation data available in 2015. We then discuss some challenges that will be faced by future, high-statistics analyses of spectral data, starting with one-dimensional energy spectra in reactor experiments, and concluding with two-dimensional energy-angle spectra in large-volume atmospheric experiments. It is shown that systematic uncertainties in the spectral shapes can noticeably affect the prospective sensitivities to unknown oscillation parameters, in particular to the mass hierarchy.

Future Earth -- New Approaches to address Climate Change and Sustainability in the MENA Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lange, Manfred; Abu Alhaija, Rana

2016-04-01

Interactions and feedbacks between rapidly increasing multiple pressures on water, energy and food security drive social-ecological systems at multiple scales towards critical thresholds in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA Region). These pressures, including climate change, the growing demand on resources and resource degradation, urbanization and globalization, cause unprecedented challenges for countries and communities in the region. Responding to these challenges requires integrated science and a closer relationship with policy makers and stakeholders. Future Earth has been designed to respond to these urgent needs. In order to pursue such objectives, Future Earth is becoming the host organization for some 23 programs that were previously run under four global environmental change programmes, DIVERSITAS, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), the International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP). Some further projects arose out of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP). It thus brings together a wide spectrum of expertise and knowledge that will be instrumental in tackling urgent problems in the MENA region and the wider Mediterranean Basin. Future Earth is being administered by a globally distributed secretariat that also includes a series of Regional Centers, which will be the nuclei for the development of new regional networks. The Cyprus Institute in Nicosia, Cyprus (CyI; www.cyi.ac.cy) is hosting the Regional Center for the MENA Region. The CyI is a non-profit research and post-graduate education institution with a strong scientific and technological orientation and a distinctive regional, Eastern Mediterranean scope. Cyprus at the crossroads of three continents and open to all nations in the region provides excellent conditions for advancing the research agenda of Future Earth in the MENA Region. Given the recent and ongoing major political and societal transformation in the region, research and development that help prepare the MENA countries for anticipated global changes and advance the development of sustainable structures are not only meaningful, but also a quite challenging undertakings.

Beyond NextGen: AutoMax Overview and Update

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kopardekar, Parimal; Alexandrov, Natalia

2013-01-01

Main Message: National and Global Needs - Develop scalable airspace operations management system to accommodate increased mobility needs, emerging airspace uses, mix, future demand. Be affordable and economically viable. Sense of Urgency. Saturation (delays), emerging airspace uses, proactive development. Autonomy is Needed for Airspace Operations to Meet Future Needs. Costs, time critical decisions, mobility, scalability, limits of cognitive workload. AutoMax to Accommodate National and Global Needs. Auto: Automation, autonomy, autonomicity for airspace operations. Max: Maximizing performance of the National Airspace System. Interesting Challenges and Path Forward.

Research Suggestions in the Design of a Global Graduate Business Program Delivered by Online Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Puderbaugh, Amy

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper was to examine the unique areas of concern when establishing an eLearning program in the field of global business. A survey of eLearning and a global management subject matter appears. This paper identifies potential challenges in program design and raises practical concerns for future research. [For the full proceedings,…

Knowledge networks for global public health.

PubMed

Natividad, Maria Dulce F; Fiereck, Kirk J; Parker, Richard

2012-01-01

The challenges posed by a globalised world have made it imperative for society to search for solutions to emerging issues and to develop new ways of looking at old problems. Current discussions about global public health demand a shift in paradigms and the strategic positioning of public health within broader policy discussions that will enable it to influence political and action agendas. Critical to responding to these challenges is the generation, transmission and dissemination of new knowledge to create value. Recognising the cutting-edge role of knowledge, as a new form of capital that drives innovation and transforms society, the formation of knowledge networks is viewed as a strategy for developing a shared intellectual, conceptual and ethical infrastructure for the field of global public health. These knowledge networks are envisioned as a vehicle for sharing diverse perspectives, encouraging debate and sustaining alternative ways of thinking about and responding to the challenges that confront global public health today and in the future.

Achieving sustainable irrigation water withdrawals: global impacts on food security and land use

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jing; Hertel, Thomas W.; Lammers, Richard B.; Prusevich, Alexander; Baldos, Uris Lantz C.; Grogan, Danielle S.; Frolking, Steve

2017-10-01

Unsustainable water use challenges the capacity of water resources to ensure food security and continued growth of the economy. Adaptation policies targeting future water security can easily overlook its interaction with other sustainability metrics and unanticipated local responses to the larger-scale policy interventions. Using a global partial equilibrium grid-resolving model SIMPLE-G, and coupling it with the global Water Balance Model, we simulate the consequences of reducing unsustainable irrigation for food security, land use change, and terrestrial carbon. A variety of future (2050) scenarios are considered that interact irrigation productivity with two policy interventions— inter-basin water transfers and international commodity market integration. We find that pursuing sustainable irrigation may erode other development and environmental goals due to higher food prices and cropland expansion. This results in over 800 000 more undernourished people and 0.87 GtC additional emissions. Faster total factor productivity growth in irrigated sectors will encourage more aggressive irrigation water use in the basins where irrigation vulnerability is expected to be reduced by inter-basin water transfer. By allowing for a systematic comparison of these alternative adaptations to future irrigation vulnerability, the global gridded modeling approach offers unique insights into the multiscale nature of the water scarcity challenge.

Future landscapes: opportunities and challenges

Treesearch

John Stanturf

2015-01-01

The global magnitude of degraded and deforested areas is best approached by restoring landscapes. Heightened international perception of the importance of forests and trees outside forests (e.g., woodlands, on farms) demands new approaches to future landscapes. The current need for forest restoration is two billion ha; most opportunities are mosaic restoration in the...

State of Science: ergonomics and global issues.

PubMed

Thatcher, Andrew; Waterson, Patrick; Todd, Andrew; Moray, Neville

2018-02-01

In his 1993 IEA keynote address, Neville Moray urged the ergonomics discipline to face up to the global problems facing humanity and consider how ergonomics might help find some of the solutions. In this State of Science article we critically evaluate what the ergonomics discipline has achieved in the last two and a half decades to help create a secure future for humanity. Moray's challenges for ergonomics included deriving a value structure that moves us beyond a Westernised view of worker-organisation-technology fit, taking a multidisciplinary approach which engages with other social and biological sciences, considering the gross cross-cultural factors that determine how different societies function, paying more attention to mindful consumption, and embracing the complexity of our interconnected world. This article takes a socio-historical approach by considering the factors that influence what has been achieved since Moray's keynote address. We conclude with our own set of predictions for the future and priorities for addressing the challenges that we are likely to face. Practitioner Summary: We critically reflect on what has been achieved by the ergonomics profession in addressing the global challenges raised by Moray's 1993 keynote address to the International Ergonomics Association. Apart from healthcare, the response has largely been weak and disorganised. We make suggestions for priority research and practice that is required to facilitate a sustainable future for humanity.

Introducing undergraduate students to global health challenges through web-based learning.

PubMed

White, Jerry L

2005-01-01

Since many students cannot afford the expense of international travel, creative and active learning methods are needed to help students experience the increased awareness that results from exposure to global health concepts. The global health course described in this article uses a variety of web-based learning experiences and other interactive strategies to equip future nurses for leadership roles in global health. An emphasis on written communication is an important component of the course.

The future of influenza A virus vaccines for swine

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Economic losses due to influenza A virus (IAV) infections are substantial and a global problem, ranking among the top three major health challenges in the swine industry. Currently, H1 and H3 subtypes circulate in pigs globally associated with different combinations of N1 and N2 subtypes; however, t...

The status and challenge of global fire modelling

DOE PAGES

Hantson, Stijn; Arneth, Almut; Harrison, Sandy P.; ...

2016-06-09

Biomass burning impacts vegetation dynamics, biogeochemical cycling, atmospheric chemistry, and climate, with sometimes deleterious socio-economic impacts. Under future climate projections it is often expected that the risk of wildfires will increase. Our ability to predict the magnitude and geographic pattern of future fire impacts rests on our ability to model fire regimes, using either well-founded empirical relationships or process-based models with good predictive skill. While a large variety of models exist today, it is still unclear which type of model or degree of complexity is required to model fire adequately at regional to global scales. This is the central questionmore » underpinning the creation of the Fire Model Intercomparison Project (FireMIP), an international initiative to compare and evaluate existing global fire models against benchmark data sets for present-day and historical conditions. In this paper we review how fires have been represented in fire-enabled dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) and give an overview of the current state of the art in fire-regime modelling. In conclusion, we indicate which challenges still remain in global fire modelling and stress the need for a comprehensive model evaluation and outline what lessons may be learned from FireMIP.« less

The status and challenge of global fire modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hantson, Stijn; Arneth, Almut; Harrison, Sandy P.; Kelley, Douglas I.; Prentice, I. Colin; Rabin, Sam S.; Archibald, Sally; Mouillot, Florent; Arnold, Steve R.; Artaxo, Paulo; Bachelet, Dominique; Ciais, Philippe; Forrest, Matthew; Friedlingstein, Pierre; Hickler, Thomas; Kaplan, Jed O.; Kloster, Silvia; Knorr, Wolfgang; Lasslop, Gitta; Li, Fang; Mangeon, Stephane; Melton, Joe R.; Meyn, Andrea; Sitch, Stephen; Spessa, Allan; van der Werf, Guido R.; Voulgarakis, Apostolos; Yue, Chao

2016-06-01

Biomass burning impacts vegetation dynamics, biogeochemical cycling, atmospheric chemistry, and climate, with sometimes deleterious socio-economic impacts. Under future climate projections it is often expected that the risk of wildfires will increase. Our ability to predict the magnitude and geographic pattern of future fire impacts rests on our ability to model fire regimes, using either well-founded empirical relationships or process-based models with good predictive skill. While a large variety of models exist today, it is still unclear which type of model or degree of complexity is required to model fire adequately at regional to global scales. This is the central question underpinning the creation of the Fire Model Intercomparison Project (FireMIP), an international initiative to compare and evaluate existing global fire models against benchmark data sets for present-day and historical conditions. In this paper we review how fires have been represented in fire-enabled dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) and give an overview of the current state of the art in fire-regime modelling. We indicate which challenges still remain in global fire modelling and stress the need for a comprehensive model evaluation and outline what lessons may be learned from FireMIP.

The status and challenge of global fire modelling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hantson, Stijn; Arneth, Almut; Harrison, Sandy P.

Biomass burning impacts vegetation dynamics, biogeochemical cycling, atmospheric chemistry, and climate, with sometimes deleterious socio-economic impacts. Under future climate projections it is often expected that the risk of wildfires will increase. Our ability to predict the magnitude and geographic pattern of future fire impacts rests on our ability to model fire regimes, using either well-founded empirical relationships or process-based models with good predictive skill. While a large variety of models exist today, it is still unclear which type of model or degree of complexity is required to model fire adequately at regional to global scales. This is the central questionmore » underpinning the creation of the Fire Model Intercomparison Project (FireMIP), an international initiative to compare and evaluate existing global fire models against benchmark data sets for present-day and historical conditions. In this paper we review how fires have been represented in fire-enabled dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) and give an overview of the current state of the art in fire-regime modelling. In conclusion, we indicate which challenges still remain in global fire modelling and stress the need for a comprehensive model evaluation and outline what lessons may be learned from FireMIP.« less

Water management: Current and future challenges and research directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cosgrove, William J.; Loucks, Daniel P.

2015-06-01

Water distinguishes our planet compared to all the others we know about. While the global supply of available freshwater is more than adequate to meet all current and foreseeable water demands, its spatial and temporal distributions are not. There are many regions where our freshwater resources are inadequate to meet domestic, economic development and environmental needs. In such regions, the lack of adequate clean water to meet human drinking water and sanitation needs is indeed a constraint on human health and productivity and hence on economic development as well as on the maintenance of a clean environment and healthy ecosystems. All of us involved in research must find ways to remove these constraints. We face multiple challenges in doing that, especially given a changing and uncertain future climate, and a rapidly growing population that is driving increased social and economic development, globalization, and urbanization. How best to meet these challenges requires research in all aspects of water management. Since 1965, the journal Water Resources Research has played an important role in reporting and disseminating current research related to managing the quantity and quality and cost of this resource. This paper identifies the issues facing water managers today and future research needed to better inform those who strive to create a more sustainable and desirable future.

Challenges and perspectives for improved management of HIV/Mycobacterium tuberculosis co-infection.

PubMed

Sester, M; Giehl, C; McNerney, R; Kampmann, B; Walzl, G; Cuchí, P; Wingfield, C; Lange, C; Migliori, G B; Kritski, A L; Meyerhans, A

2010-12-01

HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) are two widespread and highly successful microbes whose synergy in pathogenesis has created a significant threat for human health globally. In acknowledgement of this fact, the European Union (EU) has funded a multinational support action, the European Network for global cooperation in the field of AIDS and TB (EUCO-Net), that brings together experts from Europe and those regions that bear the highest burden of HIV/MTB co-infection. Here, we summarise the main outcome of the EUCO-Net project derived from an expert group meeting that took place in Stellenbosch (South Africa) (AIDS/TB Workshop on Research Challenges and Opportunities for Future Collaboration) and the subsequent discussions, and propose priority areas for research and concerted actions that will have impact on future EU calls.

Patterns, Drivers and Challenges Pertaining to Postgraduate Taught Study: An International Comparative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morgan, Michelle

2014-01-01

The global growth in postgraduate (PG) study since the mid-1990s has been attributed to the expansion in Masters by Coursework participation (Bekhradnia, B. (2005). Postgraduate education in the UK: Trends and challenges higher education policy institute. Paper presented at a conference "The future of postgraduate education supporting the…

Untangling Consequential Futures: Discovering Self-Consistent Regional and Global Multi-Sector Change Scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamontagne, J. R.; Reed, P. M.

2017-12-01

Impacts and adaptations to global change largely occur at regional scales, yet they are shaped globally through the interdependent evolution of the climate, energy, agriculture, and industrial systems. It is important for regional actors to account for the impacts of global changes on their systems in a globally consistent but regionally relevant way. This can be challenging because emerging global reference scenarios may not reflect regional challenges. Likewise, regionally specific scenarios may miss important global feedbacks. In this work, we contribute a scenario discovery framework to identify regionally-specific decision relevant scenarios from an ensemble of scenarios of global change. To this end, we generated a large ensemble of time evolving regional, multi-sector global change scenarios by a full factorial sampling of the underlying assumptions in the emerging shared socio-economic pathways (SSPs), using the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM). Statistical and visual analytics were then used to discover which SSP assumptions are particularly consequential for various regions, considering a broad range of time-evolving metrics that encompass multiple spatial scales and sectors. In an illustrative examples, we identify the most important global change narratives to inform water resource scenarios for several geographic regions using the proposed scenario discovery framework. Our results highlight the importance of demographic and agricultural evolution compared to technical improvements in the energy sector. We show that narrowly sampling a few canonical reference scenarios provides a very narrow view of the consequence space, increasing the risk of tacitly ignoring major impacts. Even optimistic scenarios contain unintended, disproportionate regional impacts and intergenerational transfers of consequence. Formulating consequential scenarios of deeply and broadly uncertain futures requires a better exploration of which quantitative measures of consequences are important, for whom are they important, where, and when. To this end, we have contributed a large database of climate change futures that can support `backwards' scenario generation techniques, that capture a broader array of consequences than those that emerge from limited sampling of a few reference scenarios.

Teaching Climate Change to Future Teachers Using 'Real' Data: Challenges and Opportunities (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Petcovic, H. L.; Barone, S.; Fulford, J.

2013-12-01

A climate-literate public is essential to resolving pressing problems related to global change. Future elementary teachers are a critical audience in climate and climate change education, as they will introduce children in early grades (USA grades K-8, children ages 5-14) to fundamentals of the climate system, natural and anthropogenic drivers of climate change, and impacts of global change on human and natural systems. Here we describe challenges we have encountered in teaching topics of the carbon cycle, greenhouse gases, past climate, recent anthropogenic change, and carbon footprints to future elementary teachers. We also describe how we have met (to varying degrees of success) these challenges in an introductory earth science course that is specifically designed for this audience. Two prominent challenges we have encountered are: the complex nature of the scientific content of climate change, and robust misconceptions held by our students about these topics. To address the first challenge, we attempt to adjust the scientific content to a level appropriate for future K-8 teachers, without sacrificing too much accuracy or critical detail. To address the second challenge, we explicitly discuss alternate conceptions of each topic. The use of authentic data sets can also address both of these challenges. Yet incorporating 'real' climate and paleoclimate data into the classroom poses still an additional challenge of instructional design. We use a variety of teaching approaches in our laboratory-based course including student-designed experiments, computer simulations, physical models, and authentic data sets. We have found that students strongly prefer the physical models and experiments, because these are 'hands-on' and perceived as easily adaptable to the K-8 classroom. Students often express dislike for activities that use authentic data sets (for example, an activity using graphs of CO2 and methane concentrations in Vostok ice cores), in particular because they have difficulty interpreting graphs. To respond to this concern, we couple physical models/experiments with data sets in a guided inquiry teaching format in order to satisfy those students who prefer 'hands-on' learning yet tie the models to the real world. Pre/post testing of students shows that this method is effective in most topics, yet future teachers still struggle with identifying natural versus anthropogenic drivers of climate change. We continue to address these challenges in future course modifications.

75 FR 44998 - The Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) Aviation Safety Subcommittee; Notice of Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-30

... evolving transportation needs, challenges, and opportunities of the global economy. The Aviation Safety... activities associated with the list of priority safety issues developed during the first meeting. The subcommittee will also develop a work plan for future meetings. DATES: The meeting will be held on August 24...

PROJECTING FUTURE-YEAR POLLUTANT EMISSIONS: EMERGING APPROACHES FROM THE EPA ORD GLOBAL CHANGE AIR QUALITY ASSESSMENT

EPA Science Inventory

The U.S. EPA's Office of Research and Development is exploring approaches for assessing the relative impacts of climate and emissions changes on future-year air quality. A challenge related to this effort is the development of emissions inventories out to the year 2050. This pap...

Maintaining the All Volunteer Army to Meet Future Land Force Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-25

NIC ) Global Trends report5, or the source documents for the Army’s most recently published strategy forecast the future security environment and how the...Forces and others conducting combat operations against Al Qaeda.”32 Tom Ricks later quotes Stephen Biddle , an occasional advisor to General Petreaus – he

Gloom and doom? The future of marine capture fisheries

PubMed Central

Garcia, Serge M.; Grainger, Richard J. R.

2005-01-01

Predicting global fisheries is a high-order challenge but predictions have been made and updates are needed. Past forecasts, present trends and perspectives of key parameters of the fisheries—including potential harvest, state of stocks, supply and demand, trade, fishing technology and governance—are reviewed in detail, as the basis for new forecasts and forecasting performance assessment. The future of marine capture fisheries will be conditioned by the political, social and economic evolution of the world within which they operate. Consequently, recent global scenarios for the future world are reviewed, with the emphasis on fisheries. The main driving forces (e.g. global economic development, demography, environment, public awareness, information technology, energy, ethics) including aquaculture are described. Outlooks are provided for each aspect of the fishery sector. The conclusion puts these elements in perspective and offers the authors’ personal interpretation of the possible future pathway of fisheries, the uncertainty about it and the still unanswered questions of direct relevance in shaping that future. PMID:15713587

Global nurse leader perspectives on health systems and workforce challenges.

PubMed

Gantz, Nancy Rollins; Sherman, Rose; Jasper, Melanie; Choo, Chua Gek; Herrin-Griffith, Donna; Harris, Kathy

2012-05-01

As part of the 2011 annual American Organization of Nurse Executives conference held in San Diego, California, a session was presented that focused on nursing workforce and health systems challenges from a global perspective. This article includes content addressed during the session representing nurse leader perspectives from the UK, Singapore and the USA. Recent events in global economic markets have highlighted the interdependence of countries. There is now a global focus on health-care costs and quality as government leaders struggle to reduce budgets and remain solvent. Finding solutions to these complex problems requires that nurse leaders adopt more of a world view and network with one another as they look for best practices and creative strategies. Nursing leadership challenges such as staffing, competency development, ageing populations, reduced health-care funding and maintaining quality are now common global problems. There is a need for innovation in nursing practice to accommodate the enormous challenges facing nursing's future. Opportunities on an international scale for nurse leaders to have dialogue and network, such as the conference presentation discussed in this article, will become increasingly more important to facilitate the development of innovative leadership strategies. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Global impacts of U.S. bioenergy production and policy: A general equilibrium perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Samuel Garner

The conversion of biomass to energy represents a promising pathway forward in efforts to reduce fossil fuel use in the transportation and electricity sectors. In addition to potential benefits, such as greenhouse gas reductions and increased energy security, bioenergy production also presents a unique set of challenges. These challenges include tradeoffs between food and fuel production, distortions in energy markets, and terrestrial emissions associated with changing land-use patterns. Each of these challenges arises from market-mediated responses to bioenergy production, and are therefore largely economic in nature. This dissertation directly addresses these opportunities and challenges by evaluating the economic impacts of U.S. bioenergy production and policy, focusing on both existing and future biomass-to-energy pathways. The analysis approaches the issue from a global, economy-wide perspective, reflecting two important facts. First, that large-scale bioenergy production connects multiple sectors of the economy due to the use of agricultural land resources for biomass production, and competition with fossil fuels in energy markets. Second, markets for both agricultural and energy commodities are highly integrated globally, causing domestic policies to have international effects. The reader can think of this work as being comprised of three parts. Part I provides context through an extensive review of the literature on the market-mediated effects of conventional biofuel production (Chapter 2) and develops a general equilibrium modeling framework for assessing the extent to which these phenomenon present a challenge for future bioenergy pathways (Chapter 3). Part II (Chapter 4) explores the economic impacts of the lignocellulosic biofuel production targets set in the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard on global agricultural and energy commodity markets. Part III (Chapter 5) extends the analysis to consider potential inefficiencies associated with policy-induced competition for biomass between the electricity and transportation fuel sectors.

Global Antimicrobial Stewardship: A Closer Look at the Formidable Implementation Challenges

PubMed Central

Tiong, John J. L.; Loo, Jason S. E.; Mai, Chun-Wai

2016-01-01

Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) has been touted as one of the key strategies required in tackling worldwide escalation of antibiotic resistance. Although AMS has optimized antibiotic usage and reduced the incidence of resistance development in some regions, its full global potential has been curtailed by various AMS-impeding factors. This article seeks to highlight in a detailed perspective, the key challenges that hamper global AMS endeavors, some of which include the paucity of effective implementation strategies that cater for the challenging settings of developing nations, the slow response of governments, uncoordinated AMS activities as well as implementation fragmentation across different sectors and countries. The authors of this article call upon all stakeholders to pay attention to these seemingly obvious but often under-addressed problems. If left unresolved, this may render all current and future AMS initiatives pointless. PMID:27899924

Applying evolutionary biology to address global challenges

PubMed Central

Carroll, Scott P.; Jørgensen, Peter Søgaard; Kinnison, Michael T.; Bergstrom, Carl T.; Denison, R. Ford; Gluckman, Peter; Smith, Thomas B.; Strauss, Sharon Y.; Tabashnik, Bruce E.

2014-01-01

Two categories of evolutionary challenges result from escalating human impacts on the planet. The first arises from cancers, pathogens and pests that evolve too quickly, and the second from the inability of many valued species to adapt quickly enough. Applied evolutionary biology provides a suite of strategies to address these global challenges that threaten human health, food security, and biodiversity. This review highlights both progress and gaps in genetic, developmental and environmental manipulations across the life sciences that either target the rate and direction of evolution, or reduce the mismatch between organisms and human-altered environments. Increased development and application of these underused tools will be vital in meeting current and future targets for sustainable development. PMID:25213376

Education: Past, Present and Future Global Challenges. Policy Research Working Paper 5616

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patrinos, Harry Anthony; Psacharopoulos, George

2011-01-01

Progress in educational development in the world since 1900 has been slow and uneven between countries. Providing basic education for all children in developing countries has been and remains an unmet challenge of governments and international organizations alike. This is in sharp contrast to recent findings in the economics literature on the…

Food and Environmental Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Falvey, Lindsay

1997-01-01

Argues that intensive agriculture restricted to suitable lands will be required in the future due to global population growth, declining food prices, and extreme poverty. Discusses the challenge of balancing environmental care with food production. (DDR)

An uncertain future for lightning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murray, Lee T.

2018-03-01

The most commonly used method for representing lightning in global atmospheric models generally predicts lightning increases in a warmer world. A new scheme finds the opposite result, directly challenging the predictive skill of an old stalwart.

75 FR 57103 - The Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) Aviation Safety Subcommittee; Notice of Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-17

... evolving transportation needs, challenges, and opportunities of the global economy. The subcommittee will... develop a work plan for future meetings. DATES: The meeting will be held on September 28, 2010, from 2 to.... Review the status of issue items. 2. Discuss the drafting of recommendations and report. 3. Develop a...

75 FR 60163 - The Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) Aviation Safety Subcommittee; Notice of Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-29

... evolving transportation needs, challenges, and opportunities of the global economy. The subcommittee will... develop a work plan for future meetings. DATES: The meeting will be held on October 19, 2010, from 9 a.m.... Develop a work plan for the next meeting. Registration The conference room can accommodate up to 30...

75 FR 67805 - The Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) Subcommittee on Aviation Safety; Notice of Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-03

...-2010-0074] The Future of Aviation Advisory Committee (FAAC) Subcommittee on Aviation Safety; Notice of..., announces a meeting of the FAAC Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, which will be held at the offices [[Page... needs, challenges, and opportunities of the global economy. The Subcommittee on Aviation Safety will...

Education, Globalization and Sustainable Futures: Struggles Over Educational Aims and Purposes in a Period of Environmental and Ecological Challenge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farrell, R. V.; Papagiannis, George

This study examines the advocacy of education for sustainability in a contemporary world driven by the powerful forces of globalization and development. A brief overview of the current ecological crisis in the world is presented, and concerns about environmental degradation, social injustice, and social inequalities are discussed. The vision of…

Sustained Satellite Missions for Climate Data Records

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Halpern, David

2012-01-01

Satellite CDRs possess the accuracy, longevity, and stability for sustained moni toring of critical variables to enhance understanding of the global integrated Earth system and predict future conditions. center dot Satellite CDRs are a critical element of a global climate observing system. center dot Satellite CDRs are a difficult challenge and require high - level managerial commitment, extensive intellectual capital, and adequate funding.

Plant genetics, sustainable agriculture and global food security.

PubMed

Ronald, Pamela

2011-05-01

The United States and the world face serious societal challenges in the areas of food, environment, energy, and health. Historically, advances in plant genetics have provided new knowledge and technologies needed to address these challenges. Plant genetics remains a key component of global food security, peace, and prosperity for the foreseeable future. Millions of lives depend upon the extent to which crop genetic improvement can keep pace with the growing global population, changing climate, and shrinking environmental resources. While there is still much to be learned about the biology of plant-environment interactions, the fundamental technologies of plant genetic improvement, including crop genetic engineering, are in place, and are expected to play crucial roles in meeting the chronic demands of global food security. However, genetically improved seed is only part of the solution. Such seed must be integrated into ecologically based farming systems and evaluated in light of their environmental, economic, and social impacts-the three pillars of sustainable agriculture. In this review, I describe some lessons learned, over the last decade, of how genetically engineered crops have been integrated into agricultural practices around the world and discuss their current and future contribution to sustainable agricultural systems.

China’s Participation in Anti-Piracy Operations off the Horn of Africa: Drivers and Implications

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-07-01

stakeholder” in resolving global issues , China may be opening the door for other cooperative efforts in the future. China’s naval cooperation in anti...cooperate on global issues of mutual interest. This is particularly important, panelists noted, because the U.S. will increasingly need China’s...to continue to “challenge China to participate as a responsible stakeholder” on global issues , and to provide positive feedback when it does so

Structure and Controls of the Global Virtual Water Trade Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suweis, S. S.

2011-12-01

Recurrent or ephemeral water shortages are a crucial global challenge, in particular because of their impacts on food production. The global character of this challenge is reflected in the trade among nations of virtual water, i.e. the amount of water used to produce a given commodity. We build, analyze and model the network describing the transfer of virtual water between world nations for staple food products. We find that all the key features of the network are well described by a model, the fitness model, that reproduces both the topological and weighted properties of the global virtual water trade network, by assuming as sole controls each country's gross domestic product and yearly rainfall on agricultural areas. We capture and quantitatively describe the high degree of globalization of water trade and show that a small group of nations play a key role in the connectivity of the network and in the global redistribution of virtual water. Finally, we illustrate examples of prediction of the structure of the network under future political, economic and climatic scenarios, suggesting that the crucial importance of the countries that trade large volumes of water will be strengthened. Our results show the importance of incorporating a network framework in the study of virtual water trades and provide a model to study the structure and resilience of the GVWTN under future scenarios for social, economic and climate change.

Personalized Telehealth in the Future: A Global Research Agenda

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

As telehealth plays an even greater role in global health care delivery, it will be increasingly important to develop a strong evidence base of successful, innovative telehealth solutions that can lead to scalable and sustainable telehealth programs. This paper has two aims: (1) to describe the challenges of promoting telehealth implementation to advance adoption and (2) to present a global research agenda for personalized telehealth within chronic disease management. Using evidence from the United States and the European Union, this paper provides a global overview of the current state of telehealth services and benefits, presents fundamental principles that must be addressed to advance the status quo, and provides a framework for current and future research initiatives within telehealth for personalized care, treatment, and prevention. A broad, multinational research agenda can provide a uniform framework for identifying and rapidly replicating best practices, while concurrently fostering global collaboration in the development and rigorous testing of new and emerging telehealth technologies. In this paper, the members of the Transatlantic Telehealth Research Network offer a 12-point research agenda for future telehealth applications within chronic disease management. PMID:26932229

Personalized Telehealth in the Future: A Global Research Agenda.

PubMed

Dinesen, Birthe; Nonnecke, Brandie; Lindeman, David; Toft, Egon; Kidholm, Kristian; Jethwani, Kamal; Young, Heather M; Spindler, Helle; Oestergaard, Claus Ugilt; Southard, Jeffrey A; Gutierrez, Mario; Anderson, Nick; Albert, Nancy M; Han, Jay J; Nesbitt, Thomas

2016-03-01

As telehealth plays an even greater role in global health care delivery, it will be increasingly important to develop a strong evidence base of successful, innovative telehealth solutions that can lead to scalable and sustainable telehealth programs. This paper has two aims: (1) to describe the challenges of promoting telehealth implementation to advance adoption and (2) to present a global research agenda for personalized telehealth within chronic disease management. Using evidence from the United States and the European Union, this paper provides a global overview of the current state of telehealth services and benefits, presents fundamental principles that must be addressed to advance the status quo, and provides a framework for current and future research initiatives within telehealth for personalized care, treatment, and prevention. A broad, multinational research agenda can provide a uniform framework for identifying and rapidly replicating best practices, while concurrently fostering global collaboration in the development and rigorous testing of new and emerging telehealth technologies. In this paper, the members of the Transatlantic Telehealth Research Network offer a 12-point research agenda for future telehealth applications within chronic disease management.

Current and Future Parts Management at NASA

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sampson, Michael J.

2011-01-01

This presentation provides a high level view of current and future electronic parts management at NASA. It describes a current perspective of the new human space flight direction that NASA is beginning to take and how that could influence parts management in the future. It provides an overview of current NASA electronic parts policy and how that is implemented at the NASA flight Centers. It also describes some of the technical challenges that lie ahead and suggests approaches for their mitigation. These challenges include: advanced packaging, obsolescence and counterfeits, the global supply chain and Commercial Crew, a new direction by which NASA will utilize commercial launch vehicles to get astronauts to the International Space Station.

Institutional Research in the Future: Challenges within Higher Education and the Need for Excellence in Professional Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Calderon, Angel; Mathies, Charles

2013-01-01

The upcoming challenge for higher education institutions (HEIs) globally is how to respond to an increasing variety of societal needs but with fewer public resources and increased accountability demands. In this chapter we draw attention to the central role institutional research (IR) professionals play in positioning HEIs in a competitive and…

Rethinking Global Water Governance for the 21st Century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ajami, N. K.; Cooley, H.

2012-12-01

Growing pressure on the world's water resources is having major impacts on our social and economic well-being. According to the United Nations, today, at least 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water. Pressures on water resources are likely to continue to worsen in response to decaying and crumbling infrastructure, continued population growth, climate change, degradation of water quality, and other challenges. If these challenges are not addressed, they pose future risks for many countries around the world, making it urgent that efforts are made to understand both the nature of the problems and the possible solutions that can effectively reduce the associated risks. There is growing understanding of the need to rethink governance to meet the 21st century water challenges. More and more water problems extend over traditional national boundaries and to the global community and the types and numbers of organizations addressing water issues are large and growing. Economic globalization and transnational organizations and activities point to the need for improving coordination and integration on addressing water issues, which are increasingly tied to food and energy security, trade, global climate change, and other international policies. We will present some of the key limitations of global water governance institutions and provide recommendations for improving these institutions to address 21st century global water challenges more effectively.

Training pediatric clinical pharmacology and therapeutics specialists of the future: the needs, the reality, and opportunities for international networking.

PubMed

Gazarian, Madlen

2009-01-01

In recent years there has been a rapid and marked increase in global recognition of the need for better medicines for children, with various initiatives being implemented at global and regional levels. These exciting developments are matched by recognition of the need to build greater capacity in the field of pediatric clinical pharmacology and therapeutics to help deliver on the promise of better medicines for children. A range of pediatric medicines researchers, educators, clinical therapeutics practitioners, and experts in drug evaluation, regulation, and broader medicines policy are needed on a larger scale, in both developed and developing world settings. The current and likely future training needs to meet these diverse challenges, the current realities of trying to meet such needs, and the opportunities for international networking to help meet future training needs are discussed from a global perspective.

Four Cornerstones for Ensuring a Sustainable Workforce and Opportunity for the Next Generation of Geoscientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keane, C. M.; Houlton, H. R.

2012-04-01

The great demographic shift underway in many developed nations is impacting the geosciences extraordinarily hard. We examine the situation in the United States as an example of how there are four clear overarching issues to establishing a sustainable geosciences workforce: Carrying Capacity of the Educational Sector, the fundamentals of meeting future demand, the issue of graduate quality, and the emerging challenge of sustaining the capacity building of future geoscientist generations. The United States currently hosts about half of all geoscientists globally and is facing the imminent, and in the case of the Federal geosciences workforce, attrition of the Baby Boom generation geoscientists. This demographic shift is impacting all parts of the geosciences and when coupled by internal shifts in the geosciences on subdisciplinary thrusts, the match between the skill portfolio of new graduates is not necessarily well-aligned with the exiting skills of retirees. In particular, the US geosciences face the challenge of, based on current demand, attrition, and graduation rates of being short nearly 150,000 geoscientists by 2021. At the same time, the educational community is seeing the retirement of faculty that are leading into constrained ability to educate students in a number of topics, especially those in the resource industries. Given current funding trends and priorities, this phenomenon is likely to be in a feedback loop and will complicate the broad skill portfolio of the future geosciences. We also examine the issues of global migration and how it does not appear to be nearly as important to addressing the challenges as assumed by many. In addition, the prospective future geosciences majors appear to be of lesser quality than even 5 years ago based on test score, yet we will also present several broad strategies and cautionary tales that can help the US, and likely the global, geosciences community to ensure a stable and effective future and how this is actually opening new opportunities for the next generation of geoscientists.

Vaccinology in the third millennium: scientific and social challenges

PubMed Central

Poland, Gregory A.; Whitaker, Jennifer A.; Poland, Caroline M.; Ovsyannikova, Inna G.; Kennedy, Richard B.

2016-01-01

The epidemiology of deaths due to vaccine-preventable diseases has been significantly and positively altered through the use of vaccines. Despite this, significant challenges remain in vaccine development and use in the third millennium. Both new (Ebola, Chikungunya, West Nile) and re-emerging diseases (measles, mumps, influenza) require the development of new or next-generation vaccines. The global aging of the population, and accumulating numbers of immunocompromised persons, will require new vaccine and adjuvant development to protect large segments of the population. After vaccine development, significant challenges remain globally in the cost and efficient use and acceptance of vaccines by the public. This article raises issues in these two areas and suggests a way forward that will benefit current and future generations. PMID:27039875

Global Health Governance Challenges 2016 – Are We Ready?

PubMed Central

Kickbusch, Ilona

2016-01-01

The year 2016 could turn out to be a turning point for global health, new political realities and global insecurities will test governance and financing mechanisms in relation to both people and planet. But most importantly political factors such as the global power shift and "the rise of the rest" will define the future of global health. A new mix of health inequity and security challenges has emerged and the 2015 humanitarian and health crises have shown the limits of existing systems. The global health as well as the humanitarian system will have to prove their capacity to respond and reform. The challenge ahead is deeply political, especially for the rising political actors. They are confronted with the consequences of a model of development that has neglected sustainability and equity, and was built on their exploitation. Some direction has been given by the path breaking international conferences in 2015. Especially the agreement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris agreement on climate change will shape action. Conceptually, we will need a different understanding of global health and its ultimate goals - the health of people can no longer be seen separate from the health of the planet and wealth measured by parameters of growth will no longer ensure health PMID:27285512

Global Health Governance Challenges 2016 - Are We Ready?

PubMed

Kickbusch, Ilona

2016-02-29

The year 2016 could turn out to be a turning point for global health, new political realities and global insecurities will test governance and financing mechanisms in relation to both people and planet. But most importantly political factors such as the global power shift and "the rise of the rest" will define the future of global health. A new mix of health inequity and security challenges has emerged and the 2015 humanitarian and health crises have shown the limits of existing systems. The global health as well as the humanitarian system will have to prove their capacity to respond and reform. The challenge ahead is deeply political, especially for the rising political actors. They are confronted with the consequences of a model of development that has neglected sustainability and equity, and was built on their exploitation. Some direction has been given by the path breaking international conferences in 2015. Especially the agreement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris agreement on climate change will shape action. Conceptually, we will need a different understanding of global health and its ultimate goals - the health of people can no longer be seen separate from the health of the planet and wealth measured by parameters of growth will no longer ensure health. © 2016 by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Volcano Geodesy: Recent developments and future challenges

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fernandez, Jose F.; Pepe, Antonio; Poland, Michael; Sigmundsson, Freysteinn

2017-01-01

Ascent of magma through Earth's crust is normally associated with, among other effects, ground deformation and gravity changes. Geodesy is thus a valuable tool for monitoring and hazards assessment during volcanic unrest, and it provides valuable data for exploring the geometry and volume of magma plumbing systems. Recent decades have seen an explosion in the quality and quantity of volcano geodetic data. New datasets (some made possible by regional and global scientific initiatives), as well as new analysis methods and modeling practices, have resulted in important changes to our understanding of the geodetic characteristics of active volcanism and magmatic processes, from the scale of individual eruptive vents to global compilations of volcano deformation. Here, we describe some of the recent developments in volcano geodesy, both in terms of data and interpretive tools, and discuss the role of international initiatives in meeting future challenges for the field.

Gazing into the crystal ball: future considerations for ensuring sustained growth of the functional food and nutraceutical marketplace.

PubMed

Marinangeli, Christopher P F; Jones, Peter J H

2013-06-01

Over the last decade the concept of functional foods and nutraceuticals (FFN) has gained support from various stakeholders including the food industry, scientific and academic community, government institutions or regulators, producers and consumers. However, as one begins to evaluate the global FFN industry, several issues emerge including (i) a lack of consensus across jurisdictions for acknowledging safe and efficacious FFN, (ii) challenges regarding the classification of novel food-derived bioactives as FFN or drugs, and (iii) a disconnect between nutrient requirements and dosages of FFN required to facilitate health benefits. The objectives of the present review are to discuss the role of existing stakeholders within the FFN marketplace and identify performance indicators for growth within the FFN sector. In addition, the following report provides feasible resolutions to present and future challenges facing the global FFN industry to ensure sustained long-term growth.

8 strategies for hospital borrowers in 2011.

PubMed

Blake, James W; Jordahl, Eric A; Majka, Andrew J

2011-04-01

Given the likelihood that volatility and unexpected events will continue to challenge the capital markets, healthcare borrowers should implement the following strategic responses: Protect the organization's credit rating. Identify and address organizationwide risk. Establish a global capital strategy for the hospital. Diversify debt and investments. Anticipate challenges in the banking market. Anticipate challenges in the municipal bond market. Fully integrate leasing into the organization's capital structure strategy. Ensure the solidity of the organization's financial plan and future strategies.

Chapter 10: Research and Deployment of Renewable Bioenergy Production from Microalgae

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Laurens, Lieve M; Glasser, Melodie

Recent progress towards the implementation of renewable bioenergy production has included microalgae, which have potential to significantly contribute to a viable future bioeconomy. In a current challenging energy landscape, where an increased demand for renewable fuels is projected and accompanied by plummeting fossil fuels' prices, economical production of algae-based fuels becomes more challenging. However, in the context of mitigating carbon emissions with the potential of algae to assimilate large quantities of CO2, there is a route to drive carbon sequestration and utilization to support a sustainable and secure global energy future. This chapter places international energy policy in the contextmore » of the current and projected energy landscape. The contribution that algae can make, is summarized as both a conceptual contribution as well as an overview of the commercial infrastructure installed globally. Some of the major recent developments and crucial technology innovations are the results of global government support for the development of algae-based bioenergy, biofuels and bioproduct applications, which have been awarded as public private partnerships and are summarized in this chapter.« less

Zika virus vaccines: immune response, current status, and future challenges.

PubMed

Richner, Justin M; Diamond, Michael S

2018-05-09

Zika virus (ZIKV) is the most recent mosquito-transmitted virus to cause a global health crisis following its entrance into a naïve population in the Western Hemisphere. Once the ZIKV outbreak began investigators rapidly established small and large animal models of pathogenesis, developed a number candidate vaccines using different platforms, and defined mechanisms of protection. In this review, we characterize the adaptive immune response elicited by ZIKV infections and vaccines, the status of ongoing clinical trials in humans, and discuss future challenges within the field. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Study of Air Pollution from Space Using TOMS: Challenges and Promises for Future Missions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bhartia, Pawan K.

2002-01-01

A series of TOMS instruments built by NASA has flown on US, Russian, and Japanese satellites in the last 24 years. These instruments are well known for producing spectacular maps of the ozone hole that forms over Antarctica each spring. However, it is less well known that these instruments also provided first evidence that space-based measurements in UV of sufficiently high precision and accuracy can provide valuable information to study global air quality. We will use the TOMS experience to highlight the promises and challenges of future space-based missions designed specifically for air quality studies.

Method for Assessing Impacts of Global Sea Level Rise on Navigation Gate Operations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obrien, P. S.; White, K. D.; Friedman, D.

2015-12-01

Coastal navigation infrastructure may be highly vulnerable to changing climate, including increasing sea levels and altered frequency and intensity of coastal storms. Future gate operations impacted by global sea level rise will pose unique challenges, especially for structures 50 years and older. Our approach is to estimate future changes in gate operational frequency based on a bootstrapping method to forecast future water levels. A case study will be presented to determine future changes in frequency of operations over the next 100 years. A statistical model in the R programming language was developed to apply future sea level rise projections using the three sea level rise scenarios prescribed by USACE Engineer Regulation ER 1100-2-8162. Information derived from the case study will help forecast changes in operational costs caused by increased gate operations and inform timing of decisions on adaptation measures.

Renewable Electricity Futures (Presentation)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mai, T.

2012-08-01

This presentation library summarizes findings of NREL's Renewable Electricity Futures study, published in June 2012. RE Futures investigated the challenges and impacts of achieving very high renewable electricity generation levels in the contiguous United States by 2050. It was presented at the 2012 RE AMP Annual Meeting. RE-AMP is an active network of 144 nonprofits and foundations across eight Midwestern states working on climate change and energy policy with the goal of reducing global warming pollution economy-wide 80% by 2050.

Healthy and sustainable diets for future generations.

PubMed

Green, Hilary; Broun, Pierre; Cook, Douglas; Cooper, Karen; Drewnowski, Adam; Pollard, Duncan; Sweeney, Gary; Roulin, Anne

2018-07-01

Global food systems will face unprecedented challenges in the coming years. They will need to meet the nutritional needs of a growing population and feed an expanding demand for proteins. This is against a backdrop of increasing environmental challenges (water resources, climate change, soil health) and the need to improve farming livelihoods. Collaborative efforts by a variety of stakeholders are needed to ensure that future generations have access to healthy and sustainable diets. Food will play an increasingly important role in the global discourse on health. These topics were explored during Nestlé's second international conference on 'Planting Seeds for the Future of Food: The Agriculture, Nutrition and Sustainability Nexus', which took place in July 2017. This article discusses some of the key issues from the perspective of three major stakeholder groups, namely farming/agriculture, the food industry and consumers. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of The Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

Climate Change, Globalization and Geopolitics in the New Maritime Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brigham, L. W.

2011-12-01

Early in the 21st century a confluence of climate change, globalization and geopolitics is shaping the future of the maritime Arctic. This nexus is also fostering greater linkage of the Arctic to the rest of the planet. Arctic sea ice is undergoing a historic transformation of thinning, extent reduction in all seasons, and reduction in the area of multiyear ice in the central Arctic Ocean. Global Climate Model simulations of Arctic sea ice indicate multiyear ice could disappear by 2030 for a short period of time each summer. These physical changes invite greater marine access, longer seasons of navigation, and potential, summer trans-Arctic voyages. As a result, enhanced marine safety, environmental protection, and maritime security measures are under development. Coupled with climate change as a key driver of regional change is the current and future integration of the Arctic's natural wealth with global markets (oil, gas and hard minerals). Abundant freshwater in the Arctic could also be a future commodity of value. Recent events such as drilling for hydrocarbons off Greenland's west coast and the summer marine transport of natural resources from the Russian Arctic to China across the top of Eurasia are indicators of greater global economic ties to the Arctic. Plausible Arctic futures indicate continued integration with global issues and increased complexity of a range of regional economic, security and environmental challenges.

Defining the global health system and systematically mapping its network of actors.

PubMed

Hoffman, Steven J; Cole, Clarke B

2018-04-17

The global health system has faced significant expansion over the past few decades, including continued increase in both the number and diversity of actors operating within it. However, without a stronger understanding of what the global health system encompasses, coordination of actors and resources to address today's global health challenges will not be possible. This study presents a conceptually sound and operational definition of the global health system. Importantly, this definition can be applied in practice to facilitate analysis of the system. The study tested the analytical helpfulness of this definition through a network mapping exercise, whereby the interconnected nature of websites representing actors in the global health system was studied. Using a systematic methodology and related search functions, 203 global health actors were identified, representing the largest and most transparent list of its kind to date. Identified global health actors were characterized and the structure of their social network revealed intriguing patterns in relationships among actors. These findings provide a foundation for future inquiries into the global health system's structure and dynamics that are critical if we are to better coordinate system activities and ensure successful response to our most pressing global health challenges.

Human Capacity Development: The Road to Global Competitiveness and Leadership in Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (FANRRS)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, 2009

2009-01-01

Several years ago a senior APS colleague challenged the leaders of academic programs to critically think about a preferred future for ensuring that there is not only the capability, but also the willingness to recognize and reform and/or reframe higher education programs within FANRRS to meet the challenges of "preparing society ready…

Synthesis in land change science: methodological patterns, challenges, and guidelines.

PubMed

Magliocca, Nicholas R; Rudel, Thomas K; Verburg, Peter H; McConnell, William J; Mertz, Ole; Gerstner, Katharina; Heinimann, Andreas; Ellis, Erle C

Global and regional economic and environmental changes are increasingly influencing local land-use, livelihoods, and ecosystems. At the same time, cumulative local land changes are driving global and regional changes in biodiversity and the environment. To understand the causes and consequences of these changes, land change science (LCS) draws on a wide array synthetic and meta-study techniques to generate global and regional knowledge from local case studies of land change. Here, we review the characteristics and applications of synthesis methods in LCS and assess the current state of synthetic research based on a meta-analysis of synthesis studies from 1995 to 2012. Publication of synthesis research is accelerating, with a clear trend toward increasingly sophisticated and quantitative methods, including meta-analysis. Detailed trends in synthesis objectives, methods, and land change phenomena and world regions most commonly studied are presented. Significant challenges to successful synthesis research in LCS are also identified, including issues of interpretability and comparability across case-studies and the limits of and biases in the geographic coverage of case studies. Nevertheless, synthesis methods based on local case studies will remain essential for generating systematic global and regional understanding of local land change for the foreseeable future, and multiple opportunities exist to accelerate and enhance the reliability of synthetic LCS research in the future. Demand for global and regional knowledge generation will continue to grow to support adaptation and mitigation policies consistent with both the local realities and regional and global environmental and economic contexts of land change.

Commentary: expectations for global health program prioritization from a selection of international students studying at a European university.

PubMed

Quinn, John; Lidinský, Vít; Rajaratnam, Venu; Kruszcynski, Marta; Zeleny, Tomas; Bencko, Vladimir

2016-09-22

Some university curricula struggle to present evidence-based promotion of global health principles and global health diplomacy within an undergraduate setting. The de facto global health paradigm has experienced significant stress and pressure from epidemics, war and violence, climate change and resource challenges. These stressors may lead to increased morbidity and mortality, in turn requiring medical professionals to play a larger role in global health action across borders. In the academic year 2014-2015, an English-speaking international medical school promoted a global health forum with pre-course readings and a pre-attendance quiz. All students from the university were invited to attend and the event was not mandatory. The one-day-event culminated in expert speakers, discussions and a post-event questionnaire to gauge students' reactions and expectations as future physicians regarding the most pressing global health topics. Emphasis was also placed on what future doctors foresee as pressing issues in forthcoming global health policy and programming. This paper is a brief commentary of the Global Health Forum in Prague 2014, and presents novel results from a post-event student questionnaire, with conclusions provided by students on innovative global health policy.

Mildew-Omics: How Global Analyses Aid the Understanding of Life and Evolution of Powdery Mildews.

PubMed

Bindschedler, Laurence V; Panstruga, Ralph; Spanu, Pietro D

2016-01-01

The common powdery mildew plant diseases are caused by ascomycete fungi of the order Erysiphales. Their characteristic life style as obligate biotrophs renders functional analyses in these species challenging, mainly because of experimental constraints to genetic manipulation. Global large-scale ("-omics") approaches are thus particularly valuable and insightful for the characterisation of the life and evolution of powdery mildews. Here we review the knowledge obtained so far from genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic studies in these fungi. We consider current limitations and challenges regarding these surveys and provide an outlook on desired future investigations on the basis of the various -omics technologies.

Delineating an Educational Policy Framework for the Developing Nations in Meeting the Emerging Global Challenges by Year 2050

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sedere, Upali M.

2008-01-01

School based general education aught to be a future oriented subject. However, over the years, due to parental and grand-parental generations setting policies of education for the younger generation, education is always more past oriented than future oriented. This trend did not cause much of a problem when the change over time was moderate. As…

The Young Psychiatrists’ Network: between past and future

PubMed Central

Los, T.

2016-01-01

The Young Psychiatrists’ Network is a movement of early-career psychiatrists that was established in 2009 with the principles of peer regulation, lack of hierarchy and transparency. From humble beginnings as a small group of professionals in Eastern Europe, the Network is expanding into a globally inclusive platform. Future challenges, such as retention of the Network’s core values, are now being debated. PMID:29093900

What did the Romans ever do for us? Putting humans in global land models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bierkens, M. F.; Wada, Y.; Dermody, B.; Van Beek, L. P.

2016-12-01

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, awareness of the shortage of global water resources lead to the first detailed global water resources assessments using regional statistics of water use and observations of meteorological and hydrological variables. Shortly thereafter, the first macroscale hydrological models (MHM) appeared. In these models, blue water (i.e., surface water and renewable groundwater) availability was calculated by accumulating runoff over a stream network and comparing it with population densities or with estimated water demand for agriculture, industry and households. In this talk we review the evolution of human impact modelling in global land models with a focus on global water resources, touching upon developments of the last 15 years: i.e. calculating human water scarcity; estimating groundwater depletion; adding dams and reservoirs; fully integrating water use (abstraction, application, consumption, return flow) in the hydrology; simulating the effects of land use change. We identify four major challenges that hamper the further development of integrated water resources modelling and thus prohibit realistic projections of the future terrestrial water cycle in the Anthropocene. These are: 1) including the ability to model infrastructural changes and measures; 2) projecting future water demand and water use and associated measures; 3) including virtual water trade; 4) including land use change and landscape change. While all these challenges will likely benefit from hydro-economics and the newly developing field of socio-hydrology, we also show that especially for challenges 3 and 4 lessons can be drawn from the (pre)historic past. To make this point we provide two case studies: one modelling the virtual water trade in the Roman Empire and one modelling human-landscape interaction in prehistoric Calabria (Italy).

Progress Toward Meeting the Challenges of our Coastal Urban Future

EPA Science Inventory

Coastal urban regions are a nexus for climate change effects, extreme weather impacts, chemical/biological threats, and air quality issues as the global population increasingly concentrates in cities and megacities at the land/water interface. Sophisticated observational and mode...

CIO in a Service Economy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sorenson, Paul G.

The role of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) has evolved considerably since its inception in the 1980s. This paper begins with a brief review of the evolution of this role and sets the stage for future change brought about by the rise of the service economy. The enterprise of the future is then characterized based on an important global study by IBM. Using this characterization, the future challenges for CIOs in areas such as strategic planning, governance and operations management of information technology services are assessed from the perspectives of the four major elements of a service system (technology, people, organization and shared information). The paper concludes with a summary of the important findings, pointing to the challenge that CIOs of the future must be the leaders in their organizations in the delivery of smarter, on-demand service systems to smarter customers.

Assessing and Responding to the Risks of Global and Societal Changes in the MENA Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lange, Manfred

2017-04-01

Interactions and feedbacks between rapidly increasing multiple pressures on water, energy and food security drive social-ecological systems at multiple scales towards critical thresholds in countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA Region). The MENA Region is expected to experience significantly above-global-mean changes in climatic conditions and has been designated as one of the global "climate change hot spots" (Giorgi, F., 2006). The MENA region is also characterized by one of the highest rates of population growth on Earth, having seen a 3.7-fold increase in population between 1950 to 2000. The region is expected to continue to see a roughly doubling of its population until 2050 (Population Reference Bureau, 2001). Significant gender inequalities and an extremely high rate of youth unemployment are repercussions of such developments that exacerbate the societal pressures and tensions in the region. In addition, the events of the "Arab Spring", have resulted in major political, economic and societal transitions and have frequently been accompanied by significant armed struggles within and between countries of the MENA Region. These developments and the still ongoing conflicts in parts of the region render this region to one of the global "political, societal and humanitarian hot-spots". Responding to these challenges requires integrated science and a close relationship between policy makers and stakeholders, a need that Future Earth (www.futureearth.org) has been designed to respond to. In order to address the requirements of nation states and local communities, Future Earth has adopted a regional governance structure. This has resulted in the establishment of the Future Earth MENA Regional Center at the Cyprus Institute (FEMRC) in Nicosia, Cyprus, as one of five Regional Centers worldwide. One of the major challenges in establishing a regional Future-Earth-related research agenda lies in a comprehensive assessments of the combined risks posed by the MENA region being considered a climatic and a societal "hot spot", as described above. These risks will have to be effectively communicated to stakeholders and the research community in order to outline, specify and implement research towards efficacious mitigation and adaption strategies aimed to minimize adverse effects of challenges posed by global and societal changes in the MENA region. The paper will describe the current state of advancing such a process and will introduce a first draft of a "Future Earth Research Strategy for the MENA Region", as formulated by the FEMRC and its Regional Advisory Committee.

Additional Insights Into Problem Definition and Positioning From Social Science Comment on "Four Challenges That Global Health Networks Face".

PubMed

Quissell, Kathryn

2017-09-10

Commenting on a recent editorial in this journal which presented four challenges global health networks will have to tackle to be effective, this essay discusses why this type of analysis is important for global health scholars and practitioners, and why it is worth understanding and critically engaging with the complexities behind these challenges. Focusing on the topics of problem definition and positioning, I outline additional insights from social science theory to demonstrate how networks and network researchers can evaluate these processes, and how these processes contribute to better organizing, advocacy, and public health outcomes. This essay also raises multiple questions regarding these processes for future research. © 2018 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Argonne OutLoud presents: The Solar Energy Challenge

ScienceCinema

Darling, Seth

2018-02-19

To better understand the current and future role of solar energy, Argonne's Seth Darling framed the global energy supply and demand outlook over the next 40 years while examining potential energy sources from a feasibility and sustainability perspective. He also discussed the promise and challenges of solar energy while providing a broad overview of related research taking place at Argonne as well as his group's work on organic solar cells.

Argonne OutLoud presents: The Solar Energy Challenge

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Darling, Seth

To better understand the current and future role of solar energy, Argonne's Seth Darling framed the global energy supply and demand outlook over the next 40 years while examining potential energy sources from a feasibility and sustainability perspective. He also discussed the promise and challenges of solar energy while providing a broad overview of related research taking place at Argonne as well as his group's work on organic solar cells.

Managing Earth's Future: Global Self-Restraint for the Common Good or Domination by Incentive and Power?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anbar, A. D.; Hartnett, H. E.; Rowan, L. R.; Caldeira, K.

2016-12-01

We are global in our impacts, yet local in our thoughts and feelings. The daunting challenge facing Homo sapiens is learning to cooperate at global scale for the common good. Since the invention of the steam engine, we have been developing ever more efficient ways of generating consumer products. Some of the wealth generated by these more efficient technologies was reinvested into additional capital infrastructure, such as factories and machines. We thus expanded capacity to offer goods and services to insatiable consumers, expanding the ability to extract and transform natural resources into both valuable goods and services and dangerous pollution. Improvements in medical technologies led to quasi-exponential population growth, mirroring and multiplying the quasi-exponential growth in per capita consumption. This quasi-exponential growth is starting to reach boundaries, but these boundaries are not sending signals to the market that would allow a laissez faire approach to work. The central question is: How can we continue improving well-being while diminishing material flows associated with environmental pollution? Globally, if we do not place constraints on ourselves, nature will impose constraints on us. We can impose constraints on ourselves to protect us from what nature would otherwise to do to us. To have a sustainable future, we would need to level off population at the lowest feasible levels. The difference between a future population of 6 billion and 16 billion is a half-child per family less-or-more than the central projection of demographers. Empowering women with education and technology has proven to be a most effective strategy at reducing population growth. To have a sustainable future, we would need strong disincentives on environmental damage, especially from long-lived wastes such as carbon dioxide. It is of course a huge political challenge to get such disincentives in place. If we fail to get these global self-protective guardrails established, planetary management will be largely reactive, driven by competition among those with incentive and power. With better policies in place, we can look forward to a future of continuous innovation and ever-improving well-being, with stable populations and diminishing environmental impact.

Stem cell science in India: emerging economies and the politics of globalization.

PubMed

Salter, Brian; Cooper, Melinda; Dickins, Amanda; Cardo, Valentina

2007-01-01

The globalization of stem cell science is increasingly being shaped by the emerging economies of the Asia/Pacific region. Undaunted and unhampered by the more established views of the commercialization of science, countries such as India are constructing models of innovation, policies and patterns of investment that challenge such orthodoxies. This report examines the position of India within the globalization of stem cell science, its adjustments to the developing knowledge market in this field and its particular contribution to the likely future of this promising bioeconomy.

Current and future federal applications of tagging and tracking technology : summary of proceedings

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1996-08-31

On October 26-27, 1995, over two hundred transportation leaders and decision-makers from around the nation convened in Cambridge, Massachusetts to participate in a two day symposium on "Challenges and Opportunities for Global Transportation in the 21...

Structure and controls of the global virtual water trade network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suweis, S.; Konar, M.; Dalin, C.; Hanasaki, N.; Rinaldo, A.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.

2011-05-01

Recurrent or ephemeral water shortages are a crucial global challenge, in particular because of their impacts on food production. The global character of this challenge is reflected in the trade among nations of virtual water, i.e., the amount of water used to produce a given commodity. We build, analyze and model the network describing the transfer of virtual water between world nations for staple food products. We find that all the key features of the network are well described by a model that reproduces both the topological and weighted properties of the global virtual water trade network, by assuming as sole controls each country's gross domestic product and yearly rainfall on agricultural areas. We capture and quantitatively describe the high degree of globalization of water trade and show that a small group of nations play a key role in the connectivity of the network and in the global redistribution of virtual water. Finally, we illustrate examples of prediction of the structure of the network under future political, economic and climatic scenarios, suggesting that the crucial importance of the countries that trade large volumes of water will be strengthened.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feather, F.

This volume was prepared in conjunction with the First Global Conference on the Future, held in Toronto, Canada, July 20-24, 1980. The conference combined the Third General Assembly of the World Future Society and the fifth annual conference of the Canadian Futures Society. The 59 papers presented here were selected from the very large number submitted to the conference committee; space limitations permitted only a small number of papers to be published in this volume. Included also are: the foreword, Mystery of the Future, by Edward R. Schreyer, Governor General of Canada; preface, A Time for Action, by Maurice F.more » Strong; introduction, Transition to Harmonic Globalism, by Frank Feather; conclusion, What We Must Do: An Agenda for Futurists; and postscript, The Challenge of the '80s, by Aurelio Peccei. The papers were presented under the following topics: The Trauma of Change (4); A Global Perspective (7); Inventorying Our Resources (7); The International Context (8); Economics: Getting Down to Business (9); Human Values: Personal, Social, Religious (6); Communications: Connecting Ourselves Together (4); Education: Learning to Meet Tomorrow (4); Health: New Approaches to Staying Fit (3); Futurism as a Way of Life (5); and Dreams into Action: Methods and Real-Life Experience (2).« less

Multi-model and multi-scenario assessments of Asian water futures: The Water Futures and Solutions (WFaS) initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Satoh, Yusuke; Kahil, Taher; Byers, Edward; Burek, Peter; Fischer, Günther; Tramberend, Sylvia; Greve, Peter; Flörke, Martina; Eisner, Stephanie; Hanasaki, Naota; Magnuszewski, Piotr; Nava, Luzma Fabiola; Cosgrove, William; Langan, Simon; Wada, Yoshihide

2017-07-01

This paper presents one of the first quantitative scenario assessments for future water supply and demand in Asia to 2050. The assessment, developed by the Water Futures and Solutions (WFaS) initiative, uses the latest set of global climate change and socioeconomic scenarios and state-of-the-art global hydrological models. In Asia, water demand for irrigation, industry, and households is projected to increase substantially in the coming decades (30-40% by 2050 compared to 2010). These changes are expected to exacerbate water stress, especially in the current hotspots such as north India and Pakistan, and north China. By 2050, 20% of the land area in the Asia-Pacific region, with a population of 1.6-2 billion, is projected to experience severe water stress. We find that socioeconomic changes are the main drivers of worsening water scarcity in Asia, with climate change impacts further increasing the challenge into the 21st century. Moreover, a detailed basin-level analysis of the hydro-economic conditions of 40 Asian basins shows that although the coping capacity of all basins is expected to improve due to gross domestic product (GDP) growth, some basins continuously face severe water challenges. These basins will potentially be home to up to 1.6 billion people by mid-21st century.

Iterative ecological forecasting: Needs, opportunities, and challenges

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dietze, Michael C.; Fox, Andrew; Betancourt, Julio L.; Hooten, Mevin B.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.; Keitt, Tim H.; Kenney, Melissa; Laney, Christine; Larsen, Laurel; Loescher, Henry W.; Lunch, Claire; Pijanowski, Bryan; Randerson, James T.; Read, Emily; Tredennick, Andrew T.; Weathers, Kathleen; White, Ethan P.

2016-01-01

A fundamental environmental challenge facing humanity in the 21st century and beyond is predicting the impacts of global environmental change. This challenge is complicated by the fact that we live on a non-stationary, unreplicated planet that is rapidly moving outside the envelope of natural variability into an historical non-analog world. In other words, while the past helps inform us about how the world has worked, it may no longer be the relevant frame of reference for management, conservation, and sustainability. In this future world the two questions at the foundation of sustainability are “How are ecosystems and the services they provide going to change in the future?” and “How do human decisions affect this trajectory?” These are, at their heart, questions about ecological forecasting.

Scaling up the global nursing health workforce: contributions of an international organization.

PubMed

Rukholm, Ellen E; Stamler, Lynnette Leeseberg; Talbot, Lise R; Bednash, Geraldine; Raines, Fay; Potempa, Kathleen; Nugent, Pauline; Clark, Dame Jill Macleod; Bernhauser, Sue; Parfitt, Barbara

2009-01-01

In this paper key highlights of the scholarly work presented at the Toronto 2008 Global Alliance for Nursing Education & Scholarship (GANES) conference are summarized, challenges opportunities and issues facing nursing education globally arising from the conference discourse are outlined and initial steps are suggested as a way forward to a shared global view of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education and scholarship. This shared view arises from beginning understandings of the issues and opportunities we face globally starting with and building upon the lessons learned from the literature and from the experiences of nursing educators and nursing education organization locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. The theme of the groundbreaking GANES Toronto conference was "Educating the future nursing and health workforce: A global challenge". One hundred seventy delegates from 17 countries attended the event, with over 80 papers presented. A primary focus of GANES is the contribution of a strategic alliance of national nursing education organizations to contribute to nursing education leading practices and policy that address the scaling up of global nursing and health workforce. The founding members of GANES see a clear link between a strong educational infrastructure and strong scholarship activities in nursing and the ability of a society to be healthy and prosperous. Evidence presented at the recent GANES conference supports that belief. Through the strength of partnerships and other capacity-building efforts, member countries can support each other to address the global nursing education and health challenges while respecting the local issues.

Opening our eyes to Global Health; a philosophy of universal values.

PubMed

Wass, Val

2015-12-01

Globalization is advancing at a pace. As we strive to introduce 'Global Health' into clinical curricula we risk fundamental misunderstandings unless we clearly define what we aim to achieve. Clinicians must be prepared for a life time of uncertainty, change and challenge. The fluctuating world arena will undoubtedly impact on their future work in ways we cannot predict. Population migration, climate change and shifts in cultural dominance are already at play. Global health risks being translated through the eyes of Western ideology as disease-based curricula focused paternalistically on 'helping' the developing world. We must not lack humility to open eyes to learning within the context of increasingly diverse environments and patient populations. Global health is as 'local' as it is 'international'. It should be viewed, I argue, as a philosophy based on the values and expectations found within ourselves and our communities. Responding to globalization lies not only in knowledge but embraces human rights, justice and, most importantly, self-awareness. Knowledge is more easily translated into curriculum objectives. We risk letting future clinicians and their patients down if we ignore the other universal values.

Global health issues and challenges.

PubMed

Dickenson-Hazard, Nancy

2004-01-01

To describe issues, challenges and potential strategies in achieving nursing's global preferred future, focused on promoting healthy communities worldwide. Three sets of Arista conferences, a total of 7 conferences, were sponsored by Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Arista2 and Arista3--the focus of this report--were held in different world regions. A total of 109 invited multi-disciplinary participants identified conditions that affect nursing and health care, strategic actions to address those conditions, and recommendations for the nursing profession. Reports from each conference are synthesized in this executive summary. Both common and unique themes were identified in various world regions. Key components of the preferred future were professional restructuring and the delivery of holistic, human, and culturally appropriate care. Participants in all regional conferences recommended strategic actions regarding: student-centered educational systems, environments in which nurses practice, the way nurses lead, the knowledge nurses need, the settings in which nurses work, the conditions under which the profession operates, the influence of nurses, and the ways nurses learn.

Mildew-Omics: How Global Analyses Aid the Understanding of Life and Evolution of Powdery Mildews

PubMed Central

Bindschedler, Laurence V.; Panstruga, Ralph; Spanu, Pietro D.

2016-01-01

The common powdery mildew plant diseases are caused by ascomycete fungi of the order Erysiphales. Their characteristic life style as obligate biotrophs renders functional analyses in these species challenging, mainly because of experimental constraints to genetic manipulation. Global large-scale (“-omics”) approaches are thus particularly valuable and insightful for the characterisation of the life and evolution of powdery mildews. Here we review the knowledge obtained so far from genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic studies in these fungi. We consider current limitations and challenges regarding these surveys and provide an outlook on desired future investigations on the basis of the various –omics technologies. PMID:26913042

Global megatrends and their implications for environmental assessment practice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Retief, Francois, E-mail: francois.retief@nwu.ac.za; Bond, Alan; Research Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, North-West University

This paper addresses the future of environmental assessment (EA) practice in light of a rapidly changing world. We apply a literature review-based methodology to firstly identify key global megatrends and then reflect upon the implications for EA practice based on some known challenges. The key megatrends identified are synthesised into six categories: i) demographics, ii) urbanization, iii) technological innovation, iv) power shifts, v) resource scarcity and vi) climate change. We then discuss the implications of these megatrends for EA practice against four known EA challenges namely: dealing with i) complexity and uncertainty, ii) efficiency, iii) significance and iv) communication andmore » participation. Our analysis suggests important implications for EA practice such as: increased difficulties with accuracy of prediction; the need for facilitative adaptation; an increase in the occurrence of unexpected events; higher expectations for procedural efficiency; challenges with information and communication management; dealing with significance judgements; and mitigation amidst resource scarcity and increasing pressures on earth systems. The megatrends underscore the need for continued evolution of EA thinking and practice, especially moving away from seeking a predictable single future or outcome towards the possibility of multiple scenarios with associated adaptability and enhanced system resilience capable of responding to rapid change.« less

The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network

PubMed Central

Mackenzie, John S.; Drury, Patrick; Arthur, Ray R.; Ryan, Michael J.; Grein, Thomas; Slattery, Raphael; Suri, Sameera; Domingo, Christine Tiffany; Bejtullahu, Armand

2014-01-01

The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) was established in 2000 as a network of technical institutions, research institutes, universities, international health organisations and technical networks willing to contribute and participate in internationally coordinated responses to infectious disease outbreaks. It reflected a recognition of the need to strengthen and coordinate rapid mobilisation of experts in responding to international outbreaks and to overcome the sometimes chaotic and fragmented operations characterising previous responses. The network partners agreed that the World Health Organization would coordinate the network and provide a secretariat, which would also function as the operational support team. The network has evolved to comprise 153 institutions/technical partners and 37 additional networks, the latter encompassing a further 355 members and has been directly involved in 137 missions to 79 countries, territories or areas. Future challenges will include supporting countries to achieve the capacity to detect and respond to outbreaks of international concern, as required by the International Health Regulations (2005). GOARN's increasing regional focus and expanding geographic composition will be central to meeting these challenges. The paper summarises some of network's achievements over the past 13 years and presents some of the future challenges. PMID:25186571

The global outbreak alert and response network.

PubMed

Mackenzie, John S; Drury, Patrick; Arthur, Ray R; Ryan, Michael J; Grein, Thomas; Slattery, Raphael; Suri, Sameera; Domingo, Christine Tiffany; Bejtullahu, Armand

2014-01-01

The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) was established in 2000 as a network of technical institutions, research institutes, universities, international health organisations and technical networks willing to contribute and participate in internationally coordinated responses to infectious disease outbreaks. It reflected a recognition of the need to strengthen and coordinate rapid mobilisation of experts in responding to international outbreaks and to overcome the sometimes chaotic and fragmented operations characterising previous responses. The network partners agreed that the World Health Organization would coordinate the network and provide a secretariat, which would also function as the operational support team. The network has evolved to comprise 153 institutions/technical partners and 37 additional networks, the latter encompassing a further 355 members and has been directly involved in 137 missions to 79 countries, territories or areas. Future challenges will include supporting countries to achieve the capacity to detect and respond to outbreaks of international concern, as required by the International Health Regulations (2005). GOARN's increasing regional focus and expanding geographic composition will be central to meeting these challenges. The paper summarises some of network's achievements over the past 13 years and presents some of the future challenges.

Toward global prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs): the need for STI vaccines.

PubMed

Gottlieb, Sami L; Low, Nicola; Newman, Lori M; Bolan, Gail; Kamb, Mary; Broutet, Nathalie

2014-03-20

An estimated 499 million curable sexually transmitted infections (STIs; gonorrhea, chlamydia, syphilis, and trichomoniasis) occurred globally in 2008. In addition, well over 500 million people are estimated to have a viral STI such as herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) or human papillomavirus (HPV) at any point in time. STIs result in a large global burden of sexual, reproductive, and maternal-child health consequences, including genital symptoms, pregnancy complications, cancer, infertility, and enhanced HIV transmission, as well as important psychosocial consequences and financial costs. STI control strategies based primarily on behavioral primary prevention and STI case management have had clear successes, but gains have not been universal. Current STI control is hampered or threatened by several behavioral, biological, and implementation challenges, including a large proportion of asymptomatic infections, lack of feasible diagnostic tests globally, antimicrobial resistance, repeat infections, and barriers to intervention access, availability, and scale-up. Vaccines against HPV and hepatitis B virus offer a new paradigm for STI control. Challenges to existing STI prevention efforts provide important reasons for working toward additional STI vaccines. We summarize the global epidemiology of STIs and STI-associated complications, examine challenges to existing STI prevention efforts, and discuss the need for new STI vaccines for future prevention efforts. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Modelling water use in global hydrological models: review, challenges and directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bierkens, M. F.; de Graaf, I.; Wada, Y.; Wanders, N.; Van Beek, L. P.

2017-12-01

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, awareness of the shortage of global water resources lead to the first detailed global water resources assessments using regional statistics of water use and observations of meteorological and hydrological variables. Shortly thereafter, the first macroscale hydrological models (MHM) appeared. In these models, blue water (i.e., surface water and renewable groundwater) availability was calculated by accumulating runoff over a stream network and comparing it with population densities or with estimated water demand for agriculture, industry and households. In this talk we review the evolution of human impact modelling in global land models with a focus on global water resources, touching upon developments of the last 15 years: i.e. calculating human water scarcity; estimating groundwater depletion; adding dams and reservoirs; fully integrating water use (demand, withdrawal, consumption, return flow) in the hydrology; simulating the effects of land use change. We show example studies for each of these steps. We identify We identify major challenges that hamper the further development of integrated water resources modelling. Examples of these are: 1) simulating reservoir operations; 2) including local infrastructure and redistribution; 3) using the correct allocations rules; 4) projecting future water demand and water use. For each of these challenges we signify promising directions for further research.

Vaccines and global health.

PubMed

Greenwood, Brian; Salisbury, David; Hill, Adrian V S

2011-10-12

Vaccines have made a major contribution to global health in recent decades but they could do much more. In November 2011, a Royal Society discussion meeting, 'New vaccines for global health', was held in London to discuss the past contribution of vaccines to global health and to consider what more could be expected in the future. Papers presented at the meeting reviewed recent successes in the deployment of vaccines against major infections of childhood and the challenges faced in developing vaccines against some of the world's remaining major infectious diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), malaria and tuberculosis. The important contribution that development of more effective veterinary vaccines could make to global health was also addressed. Some of the social and financial challenges to the development and deployment of new vaccines were reviewed. The latter issues were also discussed at a subsequent satellite meeting, 'Accelerating vaccine development', held at the Kavli Royal Society International Centre. Delegates at this meeting considered challenges to the more rapid development and deployment of both human and veterinary vaccines and how these might be addressed. Papers based on presentations at the discussion meeting and a summary of the main conclusions of the satellite meeting are included in this issue of Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

A common agenda of global challenges. Japan and U.S. pool resources to tackle global issues including population and HIV / AIDS.

PubMed

1998-05-01

The Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspective is a bilateral partnership established in 1993 between the US and Japan to address important global challenges of the 21st century such as global health and human development, including population and HIV/AIDS, global stability, protection of the global environment, and the advancement of science and technology. On the fifth anniversary of the agenda, representatives of the Japan and the US governments, international organizations, and private sectors discussed ways to further promote US-Japan cooperation under the agenda at a meeting held in Tokyo during March 12-13. Participants of the Common Agenda Open Forum also reviewed efforts made by Japan and the US under the agenda to address population and the environment. Forum participants focused upon developing new ideas for future cooperation between the governments, the private sector, and other nations, especially in the areas of health and the environment. The meeting was jointly organized by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Department of State. Attention was also given during talks to diminishing international assistance budgets worldwide.

Contributions and challenges for worldwide vaccine safety: The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety at 15 years.

PubMed

Asturias, Edwin J; Wharton, Melinda; Pless, Robert; MacDonald, Noni E; Chen, Robert T; Andrews, Nicholas; Salisbury, David; Dodoo, Alexander N; Hartigan-Go, Kenneth; Zuber, Patrick L F

2016-06-17

In 1999, the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety (GACVS) was established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide independent scientific advice on issues relating to the safety of vaccines and immunization. Fifteen years onward, we conducted a multi-faceted review to evaluate the impact, reach and challenges facing GACVS, including the role GACVS plays in informing global, regional and WHO member state vaccine policy. The methods included measures of organizational structure, citation impact, themes approached, and a discussion by previous and current members to evaluate past, present and future challenges. Given the increasing range of data sources and the deployment of many new vaccines, the Committee is facing the complex task of identifying the best available evidence for recommendations on vaccine safety. To help meet the increased demand for public transparency in decision making, GACVS-structured methodology for evidence-based decisions is evolving. GACVS also promotes best practices and capacity building for timely and accurate risk assessment; risk communications; outreach to help countries maintain and, if needed, rebuild public trust in vaccines; and advocacy for bridging the major gaps in vaccine safety capacity globally. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving Global Health Education: Development of a Global Health Competency Model

PubMed Central

Ablah, Elizabeth; Biberman, Dorothy A.; Weist, Elizabeth M.; Buekens, Pierre; Bentley, Margaret E.; Burke, Donald; Finnegan, John R.; Flahault, Antoine; Frenk, Julio; Gotsch, Audrey R.; Klag, Michael J.; Lopez, Mario Henry Rodriguez; Nasca, Philip; Shortell, Stephen; Spencer, Harrison C.

2014-01-01

Although global health is a recommended content area for the future of education in public health, no standardized global health competency model existed for master-level public health students. Without such a competency model, academic institutions are challenged to ensure that students are able to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) needed for successful performance in today's global health workforce. The Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) sought to address this need by facilitating the development of a global health competency model through a multistage modified-Delphi process. Practitioners and academic global health experts provided leadership and guidance throughout the competency development process. The resulting product, the Global Health Competency Model 1.1, includes seven domains and 36 competencies. The Global Health Competency Model 1.1 provides a platform for engaging educators, students, and global health employers in discussion of the KSAs needed to improve human health on a global scale. PMID:24445206

Supporting Greenhouse Gas Management Strategies with Observations and Analysis - Challenges and Opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butler, J. H.; Tarasova, O. A.

2014-12-01

Climate-change challenges facing society in the 21st century require an improved understanding of the global carbon-cycle and of the impacts and feedbacks of past, present, and future emissions of carbon-cycle gases. Global society faces a major challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to virtually zero, most notably those of CO2, while at the same time facing variable and potentially overwhelming Earth System feedbacks. How it goes about this will depend upon the nature of impending international agreements, national laws, regional strategies, and social and economic forces. The challenge to those making observations to support, inform, or verify these reduction efforts, or to address potential Earth System feedbacks, lies in harmonizing a diverse array of observations and observing systems. Doing so is not trivial. Providing coherent, regional-scale information from these observations also requires improved modelling and ensemble reanalysis, but in the end such information must be relevant and reasonably certain. The challenge to us is to ensure a globally coherent observing and analysis system to supply the information that society will need to succeed. Policy-makers, scientists, government agencies, and businesses will need the best information available for decision-making and any observing and analysis system ultimately must be able to provide a coherent story over decades.

Terawatt-scale photovoltaics: Trajectories and challenges

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Haegel, Nancy M.; Margolis, Robert; Buonassisi, Tonio

The annual potential of solar energy far exceeds the world's total energy consumption. However, the vision of photovoltaics (PVs) providing a substantial fraction of global electricity generation and total energy demand is far from being realized. What technical, infrastructure, economic, and policy barriers need to be overcome for PVs to grow to the multiple terawatt (TW) scale? Here, we assess realistic future scenarios and make suggestions for a global agenda to move toward PVs at a multi-TW scale.

Terawatt-scale photovoltaics: Trajectories and challenges

DOE PAGES

Haegel, Nancy M.; Margolis, Robert; Buonassisi, Tonio; ...

2017-04-13

The annual potential of solar energy far exceeds the world's total energy consumption. However, the vision of photovoltaics (PVs) providing a substantial fraction of global electricity generation and total energy demand is far from being realized. What technical, infrastructure, economic, and policy barriers need to be overcome for PVs to grow to the multiple terawatt (TW) scale? Here, we assess realistic future scenarios and make suggestions for a global agenda to move toward PVs at a multi-TW scale.

Is the available cropland and water enough for food demand? A global perspective of the Land-Water-Food nexus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibarrola-Rivas, M. J.; Granados-Ramírez, R.; Nonhebel, S.

2017-12-01

Land and water are essential local resources for food production but are limited. The main drivers of increasing food demand are population growth and dietary changes, which depend on the socioeconomic situation of the population. These two factors affect the availability of local resources: population growth reduces the land and water per person; and adoption of affluent diets increases the demand for land and water per person. This study shows potentials of global food supply by linking food demand drivers with national land and water availability. Whether the available land and water is enough to meet national food demand was calculated for 187 countries. The calculations were performed for the past situation (1960 and 2010) and to assess four future scenarios (2050) to discuss different paths of diets, population numbers and agricultural expansion. Inclusion of the demand perspective in the analysis has shown stronger challenges for future global food supply than have other studies. The results show that with the "business as usual" scenario, 40% of the global population in 2050 will live in countries with not enough land nor water to meet the demands of their population. Restriction to basic diets will be the most effective in lowering both land and water constraints. Our results identify both food production and food demand factors, and the regions that may experience the strongest challenges in 2050.

MODIS EVI as a Surrogate for Net Primary Production across Precipitation Regimes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

According to Global Climate Models (GCMs) the occurrence of extreme events of precipitation will be more frequent in the future. Therefore, important challenges arise regarding climate variability, which are mainly related to the understanding of ecosystem responses to changes in precipitation patte...

Data sharing in the ag community - what are current challenges, benefits, and opportunities

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The model for building agronomic science today and into the future to meet global food demands with limited resources will be through public-private data acquisition, sharing, and collaborative analysis. The public perspective focuses on preserving natural resources. The private perspective focuses ...

Technical Challenges and Solutions in Representing Lakes when using WRF in Downscaling Applications

EPA Science Inventory

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is commonly used to make high resolution future projections of regional climate by downscaling global climate model (GCM) outputs. Because the GCM fields are typically at a much coarser spatial resolution than the target regional ...

The Virtual University: Organizing To Survive in the 21st Century.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stallings, Dees

2001-01-01

Discusses the growth of electronic education and the need to educate in a new environment. Topics include ways to learn; knowledge workers; distance education and globalization; the online education market; government's role; foundations; accreditation commissions; future challenges; content provider versus context provider; profit versus…

Transportation futures : policy scenarios for achieving greenhouse gas reduction targets.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-03-01

It is well established that GHG emissions must be reduced by 50% to 80% by 2050 in order to limit global temperature increase : to 2C. Achieving reductions of this magnitude in the transportation sector is a challenge and requires a multitude of po...

Political economy challenges in nutrition.

PubMed

Balarajan, Yarlini; Reich, Michael R

2016-11-05

Historically, implementing nutrition policy has confronted persistent obstacles, with many of these obstacles arising from political economy sources. While there has been increased global policy attention to improving nutrition in recent years, the difficulty of translating this policy momentum into results remains. We present key political economy themes emanating from the political economy of nutrition literature. Together, these interrelated themes create a complex web of obstacles to moving nutrition policy forward. From these themes, we frame six political economy challenges facing the implementation of nutrition policy today. Building awareness of the broader political and economic issues that shape nutrition actions and adopting a more systematic approach to political economy analysis may help to mitigate these challenges. Improving nutrition will require managing the political economy challenges that persist in the nutrition field at global, national and subnational levels. We argue that a "mindshift" is required to build greater awareness of the broader political economy factors shaping the global nutrition landscape; and to embed systematic political economy analysis into the work of stakeholders navigating this field. This mindshift may help to improve the political feasibility of efforts to reform nutrition policy and implementation-and ensure that historical legacies do not continue to shape the future.

Carbon sequestration and its role in the global carbon cycle

USGS Publications Warehouse

McPherson, Brian J.; Sundquist, Eric T.

2009-01-01

For carbon sequestration the issues of monitoring, risk assessment, and verification of carbon content and storage efficacy are perhaps the most uncertain. Yet these issues are also the most critical challenges facing the broader context of carbon sequestration as a means for addressing climate change. In response to these challenges, Carbon Sequestration and Its Role in the Global Carbon Cycle presents current perspectives and research that combine five major areas: • The global carbon cycle and verification and assessment of global carbon sources and sinks • Potential capacity and temporal/spatial scales of terrestrial, oceanic, and geologic carbon storage • Assessing risks and benefits associated with terrestrial, oceanic, and geologic carbon storage • Predicting, monitoring, and verifying effectiveness of different forms of carbon storage • Suggested new CO2 sequestration research and management paradigms for the future. The volume is based on a Chapman Conference and will appeal to the rapidly growing group of scientists and engineers examining methods for deliberate carbon sequestration through storage in plants, soils, the oceans, and geological repositories.

GAR Global Risk Assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maskrey, Andrew; Safaie, Sahar

2015-04-01

Disaster risk management strategies, policies and actions need to be based on evidence of current disaster loss and risk patterns, past trends and future projections, and underlying risk factors. Faced with competing demands for resources, at any level it is only possible to priorities a range of disaster risk management strategies and investments with adequate understanding of realised losses, current and future risk levels and impacts on economic growth and social wellbeing as well as cost and impact of the strategy. The mapping and understanding of the global risk landscape has been greatly enhanced by the latest iteration of the GAR Global Risk Assessment and the objective of this submission is to present the GAR global risk assessment which contributed to Global Assessment Report (GAR) 2015. This initiative which has been led by UNISDR, was conducted by a consortium of technical institutions from around the world and has covered earthquake, cyclone, riverine flood, and tsunami probabilistic risk for all countries of the world. In addition, the risks associated with volcanic ash in the Asia-Pacific region, drought in various countries in sub-Saharan Africa and climate change in a number of countries have been calculated. The presentation will share thee results as well as the experience including the challenges faced in technical elements as well as the process and recommendations for the future of such endeavour.

Global issues and challenges beyond Ottawa: the way forward.

PubMed

Scriven, Angela; Speller, Viv

2007-01-01

This article links 10 regional field reports to the statement Shaping the future of health promotion: Priorities for action, which are both outcomes of the global IUHPE and CCHPR project, Renewing our Commitment to the Ottawa Charter: The Way Forward. The Shaping the future statement has emerged from the regional field reports and will act as the driving force behind the future articulation of health promotion policy at an international level. Connections are made between the key areas of the regional field reports, which include health promotion policy, health-promoting services, health promotion funding and availability of resources, community participation in health, research and information, and the recommendations made in the Shaping the future of health promotion: Priorities for action statement. The coverage includes putting healthy policies in to practice; strengthening structures and processes for health promotion; moving towards knowledge based practice; building a competent health promotion workforce and empowering communities. There are a number of significant issues arising across all the regional field reports that have been drawn on to make the recommendations in the statement. For example, the political environment has strongly influenced the evolution of health promotion. There is a clear message from the reports that political will is essential and that political advocacy needs to continue to ensure that policy goals represent the principles of Ottawa in an appropriate manner. Examples drawn from the reports demonstrate the many and varied challenges for health promotion in addressing 21st century global health determinants. There is also a clear indication that the principles established in Ottawa, and developed in subsequent WHO declarations and charters, have been embedded in the framework of health promotion practice. Shaping the future articulates the key message from the regional field reports, and therefore ensures that the lessons learnt from implementing Ottawa over the past two decades are harnessed and will shape health promotion in the future.

Modelling Groundwater Depletion at Regional and Global Scales: Present State and Future Prospects.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wada, Yoshihide

2015-01-01

Except for frozen water in ice and glaciers, groundwater is the world's largest distributed store of freshwater and has strategic importance to global food and water security. In this paper, the most recent advances quantifying groundwater depletion (GWD) are comprehensively reviewed. This paper critically evaluates the recently advanced modeling approaches estimating GWD at regional and global scales, and the evidence of feedbacks to the Earth system including sea-level rise associated with GWD. Finally, critical challenges and opportunities in the use of groundwater are identified for the adaption to growing food demand and uncertain climate.

Proceedings of the American Power Conference. Volume 58-II

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

McBride, A.E.

1996-11-01

This book is part 2 of the proceedings of the American Power Conference, Technology for Competition and Globalization, 1996. The topics of the papers include structural plant design; challenges of the global marketplace; thermal hydraulic methods for nuclear power plant safety and operation; decontamination and decommissioning; competitive operations and maintenance; fuel opportunities; cooling; competitive power pricing; operations; transformers; relays; plant controls; training to meet the competitive future; burning technologies; ash and byproducts utilization; advanced systems; computer tools for plant design; globalization of power; power system protection and power quality; life extension; grounding; and transmission line equipment.

Modeling Groundwater Depletion at Regional and Global Scales: Present State and Future Prospects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wada, Yoshihide

2016-03-01

Except for frozen water in ice and glaciers, groundwater is the world's largest distributed store of freshwater and has strategic importance to global food and water security. In this paper, the most recent advances quantifying groundwater depletion (GWD) are comprehensively reviewed. This paper critically evaluates the recently advanced modeling approaches estimating GWD at regional and global scales, and the evidence of feedbacks to the Earth system including sea-level rise associated with GWD. Finally, critical challenges and opportunities in the use of groundwater are identified for the adaption to growing food demand and uncertain climate.

Global Oil: Relax, the End Is Not Near

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, W. L.

2004-12-01

Global oil production will peak within the next 25 to 30 years, but peaking will be a function of demand, not supply, as the methane economy comes into full play. Analysts who predict near-term peaking of global oil production generally use some variant of Hubbert's symmetrical life cycle method. The amount of ultimately recoverable oil is assumed to be known and peaking will occur when half that amount is exhausted. In reality, ultimate recovery volumes are not known, but estimated, and estimates vary by a factor of two; production profiles are not necessarily symmetrical. Further assumptions are that the resource base is inelastic, not significantly expandable through technology and new concepts. The historical experience is quite to the contrary. Projections of near-term peaking ignore or discount field reserve growth, the most dynamic element in reserve additions of the past 25 years and one with the future potential equal to that of new field discovery. Future global demand for oil will likely amount to between 1.5 to 2.0 trillion barrels, well within the more realistic estimates of global recovery volumes. The real challenge is not oil, but natural gas where future global demand will likely exceed 25,000 trillion cubic feet. But it too will be met in sufficient volumes to bring us into the hydrogen economy some 50 to 60 years from now.

Hydrogen storage and fuel cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Di-Jia

2018-01-01

Global warming and future energy supply are two major challenges facing American public today. To overcome such challenges, it is imperative to maximize the existing fuel utilization with new conversion technologies while exploring alternative energy sources with minimal environmental impact. Hydrogen fuel cell represents a next-generation energy-efficient technology in transportation and stationary power productions. In this presentation, a brief overview of the current technology status of on-board hydrogen storage and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell in transportation will be provided. The directions of the future researches in these technological fields, including a recent "big idea" of "H2@Scale" currently developed at the U. S. Department of Energy, will also be discussed.

NASA International Environmental Partnerships

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, Pattie; Valek, Susan

2010-01-01

For nearly five decades, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been preeminent in space exploration. NASA has landed Americans on the moon, robotic rovers on Mars, and led cooperative scientific endeavors among nations aboard the International Space Station. But as Earth's population increases, the environment is subject to increasing challenges and requires more efficient use of resources. International partnerships give NASA the opportunity to share its scientific and engineering expertise. They also enable NASA to stay aware of continually changing international environmental regulations and global markets for materials that NASA uses to accomplish its mission. Through international partnerships, NASA and this nation have taken the opportunity to look globally for solutions to challenges we face here on Earth. Working with other nations provides NASA with collaborative opportunities with the global science/engineering community to explore ways in which to protect our natural resources, conserve energy, reduce the use of hazardous materials in space and earthly applications, and reduce greenhouse gases that potentially affect all of Earth's inhabitants. NASA is working with an ever-expanding list of international partners including the European Union, the European Space Agency and, especially, the nation of Portugal. Our common goal is to foster a sustainable future in which partners continue to explore the universe while protecting our home planet's resources for future generations. This brochure highlights past, current, and future initiatives in several important areas of international collaboration that can bring environmental, economic, and other benefits to NASA and the wider international space community.

Empirical estimates to reduce modeling uncertainties of soil organic carbon in permafrost regions: a review of recent progress and remaining challenges

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mishra, U.; Jastrow, J.D.; Matamala, R.; Hugelius, G.; Koven, C.D.; Harden, Jennifer W.; Ping, S.L.; Michaelson, G.J.; Fan, Z.; Miller, R.M.; McGuire, A.D.; Tarnocai, C.; Kuhry, P.; Riley, W.J.; Schaefer, K.; Schuur, E.A.G.; Jorgenson, M.T.; Hinzman, L.D.

2013-01-01

The vast amount of organic carbon (OC) stored in soils of the northern circumpolar permafrost region is a potentially vulnerable component of the global carbon cycle. However, estimates of the quantity, decomposability, and combustibility of OC contained in permafrost-region soils remain highly uncertain, thereby limiting our ability to predict the release of greenhouse gases due to permafrost thawing. Substantial differences exist between empirical and modeling estimates of the quantity and distribution of permafrost-region soil OC, which contribute to large uncertainties in predictions of carbon–climate feedbacks under future warming. Here, we identify research challenges that constrain current assessments of the distribution and potential decomposability of soil OC stocks in the northern permafrost region and suggest priorities for future empirical and modeling studies to address these challenges.

Growth of the Asian health-care market: global implications for the pharmaceutical industry.

PubMed

Epstein, Richard J

2007-10-01

The global economy is being transformed by an explosion of information unleashed by the internet, the digital revolution, communications and increased international mobility. This transformation is manifesting in many ways, including rapid development of countries such as China, commoditization of public services, mobilization of workforces, shifting of market control from suppliers to consumers, interlinked rises in product demand and customer expectations, and problems regulating international business competition. As Asia is home to half of the world's population, and offers both a large relatively low-cost workforce in some countries and a potentially huge retail market, this region could be central to the future of the global economy. Like other industries, the pharmaceutical industry faces a new array of Asia-specific opportunities and challenges. Success in meeting these challenges will go to those pharmaceutical companies that best understand the unique strengths and constraints of Asia's diverse cultures, talents and markets.

Focus Upon Implementing the GGOS Decadal Vision for Geohazards Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaBrecque, John; Stangl, Gunter

2017-04-01

The Global Geodetic Observing System of the IAG identified present and future roles for Geodesy in the development and well being of the global society. The GGOS is focused upon the development of infrastructure, information, analysis, and educational systems to advance the International Global Reference Frame, the International Celestial Reference System, the International Height Reference System, atmospheric dynamics, sea level change and geohazards monitoring. The geohazards initiative is guided by an eleven nation working group initially focused upon the development and integration of regional multi-GNSS networks and analysis systems for earthquake and tsunami early warning. The opportunities and challenges being addressed by the Geohazards working group include regional network design, algorithm development and implementation, communications, funding, and international agreements on data access. This presentation will discuss in further detail these opportunities and challenges for the GGOS focus upon earthquake and tsunami early warning.

Schistosomiasis elimination strategies and potential role of a vaccine in achieving global health goals.

PubMed

Mo, Annie X; Agosti, Jan M; Walson, Judd L; Hall, B Fenton; Gordon, Lance

2014-01-01

In March 2013, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-sponsored a meeting entitled "Schistosomiasis Elimination Strategy and Potential Role of a Vaccine in Achieving Global Health Goals" to discuss the potential role of schistosomiasis vaccines and other tools in the context of schistosomiasis control and elimination strategies. It was concluded that although schistosomiasis elimination in some focal areas may be achievable through current mass drug administration programs, global control and elimination will face several significant scientific and operational challenges, and will require an integrated approach with other, additional interventions. These challenges include vector (snail) control; environmental modification; water, sanitation, and hygiene; and other future innovative tools such as vaccines. Defining a clear product development plan that reflects a vaccine strategy as complementary to the existing control programs to combat different forms of schistosomiasis will be important to develop a vaccine effectively.

Progress and challenges to the global waste management system.

PubMed

Singh, Jagdeep; Laurenti, Rafael; Sinha, Rajib; Frostell, Björn

2014-09-01

Rapid economic growth, urbanization and increasing population have caused (materially intensive) resource consumption to increase, and consequently the release of large amounts of waste to the environment. From a global perspective, current waste and resource management lacks a holistic approach covering the whole chain of product design, raw material extraction, production, consumption, recycling and waste management. In this article, progress and different sustainability challenges facing the global waste management system are presented and discussed. The study leads to the conclusion that the current, rather isolated efforts, in different systems for waste management, waste reduction and resource management are indeed not sufficient in a long term sustainability perspective. In the future, to manage resources and wastes sustainably, waste management requires a more systems-oriented approach that addresses the root causes for the problems. A specific issue to address is the development of improved feedback information (statistics) on how waste generation is linked to consumption. © The Author(s) 2014.

Lessons learnt from 12 oral cholera vaccine campaigns in resource-poor settings.

PubMed

Hsiao, Amber; Desai, Sachin N; Mogasale, Vittal; Excler, Jean-Louis; Digilio, Laura

2017-04-01

Improving water and sanitation is the preferred choice for cholera control in the long-term. Nevertheless, vaccination is an available tool that has been shown to be a cost-effective option for cholera prevention in endemic countries or during outbreaks. In 2011 the first low-cost oral cholera vaccine for international use was given prequalification by the World Health Organization (WHO). To increase and prioritize use of the vaccine, WHO created a global stockpile in 2013 from which countries may request oral cholera vaccine for reactive campaigns. WHO has issued specific guidelines for applying for the vaccine, which was previously in short supply (despite prequalification for a second oral vaccine in 2015). The addition of a third WHO-prequalified oral cholera vaccine in 2016 is expected to increase the global stockpile considerably and alleviate supply issues. However, prioritization and best use of the vaccine (e.g. how, when and where to use) will remain challenges. We describe 12 past oral cholera vaccine campaigns, conducted in settings with varying burdens of cholera. These case studies illustrate three key challenges faced in the use of the oral cholera vaccines: regulatory hurdles, cold chain logistics and vaccine coverage and uptake. To pave the way for the introduction of current and future oral cholera vaccines, we discuss operational challenges and make recommendations for future research with respect to each of these challenges.

Current frontiers and future directions of telecoupling research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, J.

2016-12-01

The world has been increasingly interconnected over long distances though processes such as international trade, migration, telecommunication, and disease spread. However, previous studies often focused on socioeconomic or environmental issues of distant processes. While these studies have generated useful information for individual disciplines, integrating socioeconomic and environmental information is essential for holistic understanding of complex global challenges and unbiased decision making to address the challenges. To advance integrated research, the framework of telecoupling (socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances) has been developed to explicitly address both socioeconomic and environmental issues simultaneously. Although the framework is relatively new, it has already been applied to tackle a variety of globally important issues, such as food security, water resources, energy sustainability, land use, international trade (e.g., food, forest products, energy, wildlife, industrial products), species invasion, investment, ecosystem services, conservation, information dissemination, and tourism. These applications have identified many important research gaps (e.g. spillover systems) and hidden linkages (e.g. feedbacks) among distant areas of the world with profound implications for sustainable development, ecosystem health, and human well-being. While working with telecoupling presents more challenges than focusing only on disciplinary issues, support from funding agencies has helped accelerate research on telecoupling and more efforts are being aimed at framework quantification and operationalization. The presenter will provide an overview of the current frontiers, discuss future research directions, and highlight emerging opportunities and challenges in telecoupling research and governance.

Lessons learnt from 12 oral cholera vaccine campaigns in resource-poor settings

PubMed Central

Desai, Sachin N; Mogasale, Vittal; Excler, Jean-Louis; Digilio, Laura

2017-01-01

Abstract Improving water and sanitation is the preferred choice for cholera control in the long-term. Nevertheless, vaccination is an available tool that has been shown to be a cost-effective option for cholera prevention in endemic countries or during outbreaks. In 2011 the first low-cost oral cholera vaccine for international use was given prequalification by the World Health Organization (WHO). To increase and prioritize use of the vaccine, WHO created a global stockpile in 2013 from which countries may request oral cholera vaccine for reactive campaigns. WHO has issued specific guidelines for applying for the vaccine, which was previously in short supply (despite prequalification for a second oral vaccine in 2015). The addition of a third WHO-prequalified oral cholera vaccine in 2016 is expected to increase the global stockpile considerably and alleviate supply issues. However, prioritization and best use of the vaccine (e.g. how, when and where to use) will remain challenges. We describe 12 past oral cholera vaccine campaigns, conducted in settings with varying burdens of cholera. These case studies illustrate three key challenges faced in the use of the oral cholera vaccines: regulatory hurdles, cold chain logistics and vaccine coverage and uptake. To pave the way for the introduction of current and future oral cholera vaccines, we discuss operational challenges and make recommendations for future research with respect to each of these challenges. PMID:28479625

"Bildung" Reloaded--Educational Challenges for a Globalized World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campos, Julia

2015-01-01

Worldwide, education promises a better future for aspiring generations. However, our current educational landscape has been shaped by neoliberal thinking, and is thus often oriented toward economic objectives. In Germany "Bildung" is a notion coined by philosophers representing a broad liberal and critical education, and the cultural and…

What Determines Enterprises' Perceptions of Future Development in Higher Education--Strange Bedfellows?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deželan, Tomaž; Laker, Jason; Pavlin, Samo

2016-01-01

In the last few decades, global changes such as an ever more integrated world economy, new technologies or the emergence of an international knowledge network have increasingly determined developments in European higher education. Policymakers have addressed these challenges using processes that support the practical orientation of higher…

Convergence of Dynamic Vegetation Net Productivity Responses to Precipitation Variability from 10 Years of MODIS EVI

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

According to Global Climate Models (GCMs) the occurrence of extreme events of precipitation will be more frequent in the future. Therefore, important challenges arise regarding climate variability, which are mainly related to the understanding of ecosystem responses to changes in precipitation patte...

Historical foundations and future directions in macrosystems ecology

Treesearch

Kevin C. Rose; Rose A. Graves; Winslow D. Hansen; Brian J. Harvey; Jiangxiao Qiu; Stephen A. Wood; Carly Ziter; Monica G. Turner; Wilfried Thuiller

2017-01-01

Macrosystems ecology is an effort to understand ecological processes and interactions at the broadest spatial scales and has potential to help solve globally important social and ecological challenges. It is important to understand the intellectual legacies underpinning macrosystems ecology: How the subdiscipline fits within, builds upon, differs from and...

Adaptation Resources for Agriculture: Responding to climate variability and change in the midwest and northeast

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Changes in climate and extreme weather have already occurred and are increasing challenges for agriculture nationally and globally, and many of these impacts will continue into the future. This technical bulletin contains information and resources designed to help agricultural producers, service pro...

Strategic Opportunities for Cooperative Extension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, 2007

2007-01-01

In this new century, opportunities exist to help advance America's greatness in the midst of many challenges. Energy, water, food, environment, health, economic productivity, global competitiveness, and the quality of the living environments are all paramount to the future. Extension is, as a part of higher education, prepared to create new…

Strategic Opportunities for Cooperative Extension. Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, 2007

2007-01-01

In this new century, opportunities exist to help advance America's greatness in the midst of many challenges. Energy, water, food, environment, health, economic productivity, global competitiveness, and the quality of the living environments are all paramount to the future. Extension is, as a part of higher education, prepared to create new…

Face to Face with Distance Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dhanarajan, Gajaraj

1997-01-01

Begins with a tribute to Professor G. Ram Reddy (founder of Indira Gandhi National Open University), then focuses on the challenges for India of education in the coming decades. Highlights include global problems that future generations will inherit; educational investment needs; a new group of educational clients; skills needed in the 21st…

The Reality and Future of Latin America: An Educational Challenge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arias, Oscar

1993-01-01

Third World countries have lacked the resources to invest in economic and academic development. The source lies in gross inequities between industrialized and developing countries. Globalization of markets has not benefited Latin America. Militarism, corruption, poverty, and social injustice can only be eradicated by incorporating strong…

3-C Models Teaching Tools to Promote Social Justice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marbley, Aretha Faye; Rouson, Leon; Burley, Hansel; Ross, Wendy; Bonner, Fred A., II; Lértora, Ian; Huang, Shih-Han

2017-01-01

Equipping future professionals and educators with critical global multicultural competences and skills to work with people from diverse backgrounds is a challenge for both predominantly White institutions (PWIs) and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The major objective of this article is to introduce an adaptable model with an…

The Future of Higher Education in Nigeria: Global Challenges and Opportunities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oni, Adesoji A.; Alade, Ibiwumi A.

2008-01-01

Among the numerous components of development of higher education are; growth in quantity, quality, relevance and diversity of curriculum [programme and courses]; widening of access and broadening of equity, innovation in teaching methods and techniques; improvement in the quantity and quality of research activities; more and better community…

The Role of Nuclear Power in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions

EPA Science Inventory

For Frank Princiotta’s book, Global Climate Change—The Technology Challenge As this chapter will point out, nuclear energy is a low greenhouse gas emitter and is capable of providing large amounts of power using proven technology. In the immediate future, it can contribute to gr...

Global public health leadership for the twenty-first century: towards improved health of all populations.

PubMed

Fried, Linda P; Piot, Peter; Frenk, Julio J; Flahault, Antoine; Parker, Richard

2012-01-01

We are at an unprecedented moment in history in terms of the health of populations around the world. New and old problems all require both short- and long-term solutions, at the individual, community, national and global levels. Unique solutions for each challenge may not be feasible or adequately effective or cost-effective. We are confronted by health systems that are not well matched to current and future needs, both for sustained prevention and chronic care. Moving forward effectively as a field will benefit from a focus on the changing needs of global health, and on how changing conditions, globally, should define the next generation of public health leadership so as to best accomplish global health goals.

ARPA-E: Celebrating the Energy Entrepreneur

ScienceCinema

Williams, Ellen; Henshall, Dave; Babinec, Sue; Wessells, Colin; Zakhor, Avideh; Mockler, Todd

2018-01-16

The world faces urgent energy challenges brought on by projected population increases, aging infrastructure and the global threat of climate change. ARPA-E is investing in some of the country’s brightest energy entrepreneurs that are developing innovative technological options to help meet future energy needs. Featuring remarks from ARPA-E Director Dr. Ellen D. Williams, as well as interviews with the Deputy Director of Commercialization Dave Henshall, Senior Technology-to-Market Advisor Sue Babinec, and a number of ARPA-E awardees, this video highlights the energy entrepreneur, and the critical role they play in creating solutions to address future energy challenges and ensure a secure energy future. The video also incorporates footage shot on site with several ARPA-E awardees who are spurring innovation, much of which will be highlighted in other videos shown throughout the Summit.

ARPA-E: Celebrating the Energy Entrepreneur

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Williams, Ellen; Henshall, Dave; Babinec, Sue

The world faces urgent energy challenges brought on by projected population increases, aging infrastructure and the global threat of climate change. ARPA-E is investing in some of the country’s brightest energy entrepreneurs that are developing innovative technological options to help meet future energy needs. Featuring remarks from ARPA-E Director Dr. Ellen D. Williams, as well as interviews with the Deputy Director of Commercialization Dave Henshall, Senior Technology-to-Market Advisor Sue Babinec, and a number of ARPA-E awardees, this video highlights the energy entrepreneur, and the critical role they play in creating solutions to address future energy challenges and ensure a securemore » energy future. The video also incorporates footage shot on site with several ARPA-E awardees who are spurring innovation, much of which will be highlighted in other videos shown throughout the Summit.« less

Several thoughts for using new satellite remote sensing and global modeling for aerosol and cloud climate studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakajima, Teruyuki; Hashimoto, Makiko; Takenaka, Hideaki; Goto, Daisuke; Oikawa, Eiji; Suzuki, Kentaroh; Uchida, Junya; Dai, Tie; Shi, Chong

2017-04-01

The rapid growth of satellite remote sensing technologies in the last two decades widened the utility of satellite data for understanding climate impacts of aerosols and clouds. The climate modeling community also has received the benefit of the earth observation and nowadays closed-collaboration of the two communities make us possible to challenge various applications for societal problems, such as for global warming and global-scale air pollution and others. I like to give several thoughts of new algorithm developments, model use of satellite data for climate impact studies and societal applications related with aerosols and clouds. Important issues are 1) Better aerosol detection and solar energy application using expanded observation ability of the third generation geostationary satellites, i.e. Himawari-8, GOES-R and future MTG, 2) Various observation functions by directional, polarimetric, and high resolution near-UV band by MISR, POLDER&PARASOL, GOSAT/CAI and future GOSAT2/CAI2, 3) Various applications of general purpose-imagers, MODIS, VIIRS and future GCOM-C/SGLI, and 4) Climate studies of aerosol and cloud stratification and convection with active and passive sensors, especially climate impact of BC aerosols using CLOUDSAT&CALIPSO and future Earth Explorer/EarthCARE.

Biologically Based Methods for Pest Management in Agriculture under Changing Climates: Challenges and Future Directions.

PubMed

Chidawanyika, Frank; Mudavanhu, Pride; Nyamukondiwa, Casper

2012-11-09

The current changes in global climatic regimes present a significant societal challenge, affecting in all likelihood insect physiology, biochemistry, biogeography and population dynamics. With the increasing resistance of many insect pest species to chemical insecticides and an increasing organic food market, pest control strategies are slowly shifting towards more sustainable, ecologically sound and economically viable options. Biologically based pest management strategies present such opportunities through predation or parasitism of pests and plant direct or indirect defense mechanisms that can all be important components of sustainable integrated pest management programs. Inevitably, the efficacy of biological control systems is highly dependent on natural enemy-prey interactions, which will likely be modified by changing climates. Therefore, knowledge of how insect pests and their natural enemies respond to climate variation is of fundamental importance in understanding biological insect pest management under global climate change. Here, we discuss biological control, its challenges under climate change scenarios and how increased global temperatures will require adaptive management strategies to cope with changing status of insects and their natural enemies.

Global Pyrogeography: the Current and Future Distribution of Wildfire

PubMed Central

Krawchuk, Meg A.; Moritz, Max A.; Parisien, Marc-André; Van Dorn, Jeff; Hayhoe, Katharine

2009-01-01

Climate change is expected to alter the geographic distribution of wildfire, a complex abiotic process that responds to a variety of spatial and environmental gradients. How future climate change may alter global wildfire activity, however, is still largely unknown. As a first step to quantifying potential change in global wildfire, we present a multivariate quantification of environmental drivers for the observed, current distribution of vegetation fires using statistical models of the relationship between fire activity and resources to burn, climate conditions, human influence, and lightning flash rates at a coarse spatiotemporal resolution (100 km, over one decade). We then demonstrate how these statistical models can be used to project future changes in global fire patterns, highlighting regional hotspots of change in fire probabilities under future climate conditions as simulated by a global climate model. Based on current conditions, our results illustrate how the availability of resources to burn and climate conditions conducive to combustion jointly determine why some parts of the world are fire-prone and others are fire-free. In contrast to any expectation that global warming should necessarily result in more fire, we find that regional increases in fire probabilities may be counter-balanced by decreases at other locations, due to the interplay of temperature and precipitation variables. Despite this net balance, our models predict substantial invasion and retreat of fire across large portions of the globe. These changes could have important effects on terrestrial ecosystems since alteration in fire activity may occur quite rapidly, generating ever more complex environmental challenges for species dispersing and adjusting to new climate conditions. Our findings highlight the potential for widespread impacts of climate change on wildfire, suggesting severely altered fire regimes and the need for more explicit inclusion of fire in research on global vegetation-climate change dynamics and conservation planning. PMID:19352494

The Sustainable Development of Space: Astro-environmental and dynamical considerations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boley, Aaron; Byers, Michael; Russell, Sara

2018-04-01

The sustainable development of space is a global (and exo-global) challenge that is not limited by borders or research disciplines. Sustainable development is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". While the development of space brings new economic and scientific possibilities, it also carries significant political, legal, and technical uncertainties. For example, the rapidly increasing accessibility of space is motivating states to unilaterally adopt legislation for the new era of space use, which may have significant unintended consequences, such as increased risks to space assets, disputes among state as well as non-state actors, and changes to unique astro-environments. Any policy or legal position must be informed by the dynamical and astrophysical realities of space use, creating complex and interwoven challenges. Here, we explore several of these potential challenges related to astro-environmentalism, space minining operations, and the associated dynamics.

Establishing Baseline Subsurface Light Fields for the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sancturay

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-04-12

Code 1226 Office of Counsel,Code 1008.3 ADOR/Director NCST E. R. Franchi , 7000 Public Affairs (Unclassified/ Unlimited Only). Code 7030 4...deRada et al., 2009), which receives boundary information from the operational Global NCOM system (Kara et al., 2006; http://www7320.nrlssc.navy.mil...Gulf of Mexico. OCEANS 2009, MTS/IEEE Biloxi - Marine Technology for Our Future: Global and Local Challenges, ISBN: 978-1-4244-4960-6, pp. 1-7, 26-29

Interdisciplinary science for future governance and management of forests.

PubMed

Nordin, Annika; Sandström, Camilla

2016-02-01

The sustainable use of forests constitutes one of the great challenges for the future due to forests' large spatial coverage, long-term planning horizons and inclusion of many ecosystem services. The mission of the Future Forests programme is to provide a scientifically robust knowledge base for sustainable governance and management of forests preparing for a future characterized by globalization and climate change. In this introduction to the Special Issue, we describe the interdisciplinary science approach developed in close collaboration with actors in the Future Forests programme, and discuss the potential impacts of this science on society. In addition, we introduce the 13 scientific articles and present results produced by the programme.

Challenges in Aeropropulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, Donald C.

1995-01-01

Aeropropulsion technologies must progress to satisfy increasingly stringent global environmental requirements with economically viable air transportation systems. In this paper, key propulsion technologies to meet future needs are identified and the associated challenges are briefly discussed. Also discussed are NASA's vision, NASA's changing role in meeting today's challenge of a shrinking research budget, and propulsion technology impacts on the environment and air transport economics. Critical aeropropulsion technology drivers are identified and their impact evaluated. The aviation industry is critical to the nation's economy, job creation, and national security. NASA's advanced aeropropulsion technology programs and their relation to the aviation industry are discussed.

Increase in observed net carbon dioxide uptake by land and oceans during the past 50 years.

PubMed

Ballantyne, A P; Alden, C B; Miller, J B; Tans, P P; White, J W C

2012-08-02

One of the greatest sources of uncertainty for future climate predictions is the response of the global carbon cycle to climate change. Although approximately one-half of total CO(2) emissions is at present taken up by combined land and ocean carbon reservoirs, models predict a decline in future carbon uptake by these reservoirs, resulting in a positive carbon-climate feedback. Several recent studies suggest that rates of carbon uptake by the land and ocean have remained constant or declined in recent decades. Other work, however, has called into question the reported decline. Here we use global-scale atmospheric CO(2) measurements, CO(2) emission inventories and their full range of uncertainties to calculate changes in global CO(2) sources and sinks during the past 50 years. Our mass balance analysis shows that net global carbon uptake has increased significantly by about 0.05 billion tonnes of carbon per year and that global carbon uptake doubled, from 2.4 ± 0.8 to 5.0 ± 0.9 billion tonnes per year, between 1960 and 2010. Therefore, it is very unlikely that both land and ocean carbon sinks have decreased on a global scale. Since 1959, approximately 350 billion tonnes of carbon have been emitted by humans to the atmosphere, of which about 55 per cent has moved into the land and oceans. Thus, identifying the mechanisms and locations responsible for increasing global carbon uptake remains a critical challenge in constraining the modern global carbon budget and predicting future carbon-climate interactions.

The future of the Amazon: new perspectives from climate, ecosystem and social sciences.

PubMed

Betts, Richard A; Malhi, Yadvinder; Roberts, J Timmons

2008-05-27

The potential loss or large-scale degradation of the tropical rainforests has become one of the iconic images of the impacts of twenty-first century environmental change and may be one of our century's most profound legacies. In the Amazon region, the direct threat of deforestation and degradation is now strongly intertwined with an indirect challenge we are just beginning to understand: the possibility of substantial regional drought driven by global climate change. The Amazon region hosts more than half of the world's remaining tropical forests, and some parts have among the greatest concentrations of biodiversity found anywhere on Earth. Overall, the region is estimated to host about a quarter of all global biodiversity. It acts as one of the major 'flywheels' of global climate, transpiring water and generating clouds, affecting atmospheric circulation across continents and hemispheres, and storing substantial reserves of biomass and soil carbon. Hence, the ongoing degradation of Amazonia is a threat to local climate stability and a contributor to the global atmospheric climate change crisis. Conversely, the stabilization of Amazonian deforestation and degradation would be an opportunity for local adaptation to climate change, as well as a potential global contributor towards mitigation of climate change. However, addressing deforestation in the Amazon raises substantial challenges in policy, governance, sustainability and economic science. This paper introduces a theme issue dedicated to a multidisciplinary analysis of these challenges.

The Future of Water Security in Metropolitan Region of Sao Paulo Through Different Climate Scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gesualdo, G. C.; Oliveira, P. T. S.; Rodrigues, D. B. B.

2017-12-01

Achieving a balance between water availability and demand is one of the most pressing environmental challenges in the twenty-first century. This challenge is exacerbated by, climate change, which has already affected the water balance of landscapes globally by intensifying runoff, reducing snowpacks, and shifting precipitation regimes. Understanding these changes is crucial to identifying future water availability and developing sustainable management plans, especially in developing countries. Here, we address the developing country water balance challenge by assessing the influence of climate change on the water availability in the Jaguari basin, Southeastern Brazil. The Jaguari basin is one of the main sources of freshwater for 9 million people in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. This region represents about 7% of the Brazil's Gross Domestic Product. The critical importance of the water balance challenge in this area has been highlighted recently when a major drought in southeastern Brazil revealed the vulnerability of current water management systems. Still today, the per capita water availability in the region remains severely limited. To help address this water balance challenge, we use a modeling approach to predict future water vulnerabilities of this region under different climate scenarios. Here, we calibrated and validated a lumped conceptual model using HYMOD to evaluate future scenarios using downscaled climate models resulting from HadGEM2-ES and MIROC5 GCMs forced by RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios. We also present future directions which include bias correction from long-term weather station data and an empirical uncertainty assessment. Our results provide an important overview of climate change impacts on streamflow and future water availability in the Jaguari basin, which can be used to guide the basin`s water security plans and strategies.

Technological challenges for boosting coal production with environmental sustainability.

PubMed

Ghose, Mrinal K

2009-07-01

The global energy requirement has grown at a phenomenon rate and the consumption of primary energy sources has been a very high positive growth. This paper focuses on the consumption of different primary energy sources and it identifies that coal will continue to remain as the prime energy source in foreseeable future. It examines the energy requirement perspective for India and demand of coal as the prime energy source. Economic development and poverty alleviation depend on securing affordable energy sources and Indian coal mining industry offers a bright future for the country's energy security, provided the industry is allowed to develop by supportive government policies and adopts latest technologies for mining. It is an irony that in-spite of having a plentiful reserves, India is not able to jack up coal production to meet its current and future demand. It discusses the strategies to be adopted for growth and meeting the coal demand. But such energy are very much concerned with environmental degradation and must be driven by contemporary managerial acumen addressing environmental and social challenges effectively The paper highlights the emissions of greenhouse gases due to burning of fossil fuels and environmental consequences of global warming and sea-level rise. Technological solutions for environment friendly coal mining and environmental laws for the abatement of environmental degradation are discussed in this paper.

Stable isotope views on ecosystem function: challenging or challenged?

PubMed

Resco, Víctor; Querejeta, José I; Ogle, Kiona; Voltas, Jordi; Sebastià, Maria-Teresa; Serrano-Ortiz, Penélope; Linares, Juan C; Moreno-Gutiérrez, Cristina; Herrero, Asier; Carreira, José A; Torres-Cañabate, Patricia; Valladares, Fernando

2010-06-23

Stable isotopes and their potential for detecting various and complex ecosystem processes are attracting an increasing number of scientists. Progress is challenging, particularly under global change scenarios, but some established views have been challenged. The IX meeting of the Spanish Association of Terrestrial Ecology (AAET, Ubeda, 18-22 October 2009) hosted a symposium on the ecology of stable isotopes where the linear mixing model approach of partitioning sinks and sources of carbon and water fluxes within an ecosystem was challenged, and new applications of stable isotopes for the study of plant interactions were evaluated. Discussion was also centred on the need for networks that monitor ecological processes using stable isotopes and key ideas for fostering future research with isotopes.

Stable isotope views on ecosystem function: challenging or challenged?

PubMed Central

Resco, Víctor; Querejeta, José I.; Ogle, Kiona; Voltas, Jordi; Sebastià, Maria-Teresa; Serrano-Ortiz, Penélope; Linares, Juan C.; Moreno-Gutiérrez, Cristina; Herrero, Asier; Carreira, José A.; Torres-Cañabate, Patricia; Valladares, Fernando

2010-01-01

Stable isotopes and their potential for detecting various and complex ecosystem processes are attracting an increasing number of scientists. Progress is challenging, particularly under global change scenarios, but some established views have been challenged. The IX meeting of the Spanish Association of Terrestrial Ecology (AAET, Úbeda, 18–22 October 2009) hosted a symposium on the ecology of stable isotopes where the linear mixing model approach of partitioning sinks and sources of carbon and water fluxes within an ecosystem was challenged, and new applications of stable isotopes for the study of plant interactions were evaluated. Discussion was also centred on the need for networks that monitor ecological processes using stable isotopes and key ideas for fostering future research with isotopes. PMID:20015858

Wilderness stewardship in an era of global changes

Treesearch

David J. Parsons

2006-01-01

It seems increasingly clear that the primary challenge to the future preservation of wild landscapes will be adapting to the rapidly changing social and biophysical environments within which such areas exist. Established in large part as islands of naturalness, where human influences are minimized, wilderness ecosystems are now threatened by myriad changes, many of...

Multilingualism as Utopia: Fashioning Non-Racial Selves

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stroud, Christopher; Williams, Quentin

2017-01-01

The challenge of contemporary South Africa is that of building a (post)nation of postracial equity in a fragmented world of a globalized ethical, economic and ecological meltdown. In this paper, we seek to explore the idea of multilingualism as a technology in the conceptualization of alternative, competing futures. We suggest that multilingualism…

Mapping the Journey: Visualising Collaborative Experiences for Sustainable Design Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMahon, Muireann; Bhamra, Tracy

2017-01-01

The paradigm of design is changing. Designers now need to be equipped with the skills and knowledge that will enable them to participate in the global move towards a sustainable future. The challenges arise as Design for Sustainability deals with very complex and often contradictory issues. Collaborative learning experiences recognise that these…

Novel Forms of Research Governance and Their Possible Impact on the Future of Educational Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pataki, Gyöngyvér

2015-01-01

This article sets out to contribute to the current debate on the transformation of educational research with regard to global transitions and challenges. Nation-centred hierarchical organizations in Europe have increasingly failed to address emergent processes. And in contrast novel forms of governance have gained prevalence in controlling…

Tech Prep II: Implementation Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Jane A.

This document contains the final progress report on a tech prep implementation project and the Work Force Challenge 2000 Report developed during the project. The final report lists these major accomplishments: approximately 1,500 educators in grades K-12 were provided information concerning future global issues in the work force and the effects in…

Ceramics Art Education and Contemporary Challenges in Nigeria

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kashim, Isah Bolaji; Adelabu, Oluwafemi Samuel

2013-01-01

Formal ceramics art education is becoming a fundamental requirement for professional practice in ceramics in Nigeria. Considering the ample resources available for ceramic practices in the country with a teeming population of over 140 million people, there is a promising future for the art, in spite of the effects of globalization and…

Using Real-time Quantitative PCR to Examine the Dynamics of Soil Fungi and Bacteria in Response to Ecosystem Warming

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

As atmospheric trace gas concentrations and global temperatures climb, scientists are challenged to determine how microbial communities may mediate plant response to future climate change. To this end, a Temperature Free-Air Controlled Enrichment (T-FACE) experiment was implemented in a spring wheat...

Reforming system of professional training of future specialists by taking into account production automation requirements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saigushev, N. Y.; Vedeneeva, O. A.; Melekhova, Yu B.

2018-05-01

The accelerating scientific development, equipment upgrade, emergence of new technologies and intensive growth and use of nano-, robotic, bio- and other perspective technologies require the formation of scientific and technological potential in Russia which is suitable for present-day challenges of the global technological growth.

A Study of Factors Affecting University Professors' Research Output: Perspectives of Taiwanese Professors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Jason Cheng-Cheng

2017-01-01

Higher education in Taiwan is facing competition and challenges from the macro environment of globalization. Taiwan's key policy direction is enhancing university quality in order to respond to these future trends. Universities' international competitiveness relies on not only faculty members' teaching quality, but also their research performance.…

The Community College of the Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terrey, John N.

An overview is provided of the challenges facing community colleges due to the shift from a global society shaped by political philosophies to a society shaped by economic powers. Introductory comments are followed by a description of recent changes in the world community, including the rise of Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and…

Connecting Higher Education Research in Japan with the International Academic Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yonezawa, Akiyoshi

2015-01-01

This study examines the historical, current, and future challenges of higher education research in Japan within a global context. Japanese higher education research has been strongly influenced by the international academic community. At the same time, higher education researchers in Japan have participated in international projects, and Japan has…

Financing Higher Education in a Global Economy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Richard E.; Meyerson, Joel W.

This book presents papers from a national symposium conducted by the Forum for College Financing, offering a perspective on how higher education institutions will finance their operations in the future and the challenges that lay ahead. A paper by Richard Anderson and Joe Meyerson, "A Changing National Environment," introduces the other papers in…

Representing climate, disturbance, and vegetation interactions in landscape models

Treesearch

Robert E. Keane; Donald McKenzie; Donald A. Falk; Erica A.H. Smithwick; Carol Miller; Lara-Karena B. Kellogg

2015-01-01

The prospect of rapidly changing climates over the next century calls for methods to predict their effects on myriad, interactive ecosystem processes. Spatially explicit models that simulate ecosystem dynamics at fine (plant, stand) to coarse (regional, global) scales are indispensable tools for meeting this challenge under a variety of possible futures. A special...

Changing International Constructs: How Metropolitan Universities Must Engage Globally

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leventhal, Mitch; Zimpher, Nancy L.

2007-01-01

The mission of American metropolitan universities has never before been so relevant, both to the future of institutions themselves and to the United States. The success of the mission requires that we develop a deep understanding of the impact of both urbanization and de-urbanization, as well as the challenges metropolitan universities face with…

The Baccalaureate in the California Community College: Current Challenges & Future Prospects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gándara, Patricia; Cuellar, Marcela

2016-01-01

Concerns over the United States' global standing have spurred a national focus on improving postsecondary attainment. At the same time, many sectors of the economy find they have difficulty recruiting highly trained individuals to fill the good jobs that exist; jobs like nursing, respiratory care, dental hygiene, and various mid-level management…

The Contribution of History to Engineering Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barboza, Christina Helena

This paper intends to bring out the experience of introducing a discipline of History of Science and Technology in an Undergraduate Course of Engineering and a proposal of transforming it so as to help future engineers deal with the challenges posed by the present moment of capitalism, usually called globalization. The discipline was lectured at…

Postbaccalaureate Futures: New Markets, Resources, Credentials. American Council on Education/Oryx Press Series on Higher Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kohl, Kay J., Ed.; LaPidus, Jules B., Ed.

The 15 papers in this book consider the issues, opportunities, and challenges facing higher education with regard to postbaccalaureate education, focusing particularly on how to ensure a productive, competitive workforce in today's global-based economy. Titles in Part 1, "Emerging Markets for Postbaccalaureate Education," are: (1)…

Remote sensing and disease control in China: past, present and future

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Satellite measurements have distinct advantages over conventional ground measurements because they can collect the information repeatedly and automatically. Since 1970 globally and 1985 in China, the availability of remote sensing (RS) techniques has steadily grown and they are becoming increasingly important to improve our understanding of human health. This paper gives the first detailed overview on the developments of RS applications for disease control in China. The problems, challenges and future directions are also discussed with an aim of guiding prospective studies. PMID:23311958

Citrus Genomics

PubMed Central

Talon, Manuel; Gmitter Jr., Fred G.

2008-01-01

Citrus is one of the most widespread fruit crops globally, with great economic and health value. It is among the most difficult plants to improve through traditional breeding approaches. Currently, there is risk of devastation by diseases threatening to limit production and future availability to the human population. As technologies rapidly advance in genomic science, they are quickly adapted to address the biological challenges of the citrus plant system and the world's industries. The historical developments of linkage mapping, markers and breeding, EST projects, physical mapping, an international citrus genome sequencing project, and critical functional analysis are described. Despite the challenges of working with citrus, there has been substantial progress. Citrus researchers engaged in international collaborations provide optimism about future productivity and contributions to the benefit of citrus industries worldwide and to the human population who can rely on future widespread availability of this health-promoting and aesthetically pleasing fruit crop. PMID:18509486

Crab cavities: Past, present, and future of a challenging device

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Q.

2015-05-03

In two-ring facilities operating with a crossing-angle collision scheme, luminosity can be limited due to an incomplete overlapping of the colliding bunches. Crab cavities then are introduced to restore head-on collisions by providing the destined opposite deflection to the head and tail of the bunch. An increase in luminosity was demonstrated at KEKB with global crab-crossing, while the Large Hardron Collider (LHC) at CERN currently is designing local crab crossing for the Hi-Lumi upgrade. Future colliders may investigate both approaches. In this paper, we review the challenges in the technology, and the implementation of crab cavities, while discussing experience inmore » earlier colliders, ongoing R&D, and proposed implementations for future facilities, such as HiLumi-LHC, CERN’s compact linear collider (CLIC), the international linear collider (ILC), and the electron-ion collider under design at BNL (eRHIC).« less

Global projections of drought hazard in a warming climate: a prime for disaster risk management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrão, Hugo; Naumann, Gustavo; Barbosa, Paulo

2018-03-01

Projections of drought hazard ( dH) changes have been mapped from five bias-corrected climate models and analyzed at the global level under three representative concentration pathways (RCPs). The motivation for this study is the observation that drought risk is increasing globally and the effective regulation of prevention and adaptation measures depends on dH magnitude and its distribution for the future. Based on the Weighted Anomaly of Standardized Precipitation index, dH changes have been assessed for mid-(2021-2050) and late-century (2071-2099). With a few exceptions, results show a likely increase in global dH between the historical years (1971-2000) and both future time periods under all RCPs. Notwithstanding this worsening trend, it was found that projections of dH changes for most regions are neither robust nor significant in the near-future. By the end of the century, greater increases are projected for RCPs describing stronger radiative forcing. Under RCP8.5, statistically significant dH changes emerge for global Mediterranean ecosystems and the Amazon region, which are identified as possible hotspots for future water security issues. Taken together, projections of dH changes point towards two dilemmas: (1) in the near-term, stake-holders are left worrying about projected increasing dH over large regions, but lack of actionable model agreement to take effective decisions related to local prevention and adaptation initiatives; (2) in the long-term, models demonstrate remarkable agreement, but stake-holders lack actionable knowledge to manage potential impacts far distant from actual human-dominated environments. We conclude that the major challenge for risk management is not to adapt human populations or their activities to dH changes, but to progress on global initiatives that mitigate their impacts in the whole carbon cycle by late-century.

Northern Eurasia Future Initiative: Facing the Challenges of Global Change in the 21st century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groisman, P. Y.; Gulev, S.; Maksyutov, S. S.; Qi, J.

2015-12-01

During the past 10 years, the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI) - an interdisciplinary program of internationally-supported Earth systems and science research - has addressed large-scale and long-term manifestations of climate and environmental changes over Northern Eurasia and their impact on the Global Earth system. With more than 1480 peer-reviewed journal publications and 40 books to its credit, NEESPI's activities resulted in significant scientific outreach. This created a new research realm through self-organization of NEESPI scientists in a broad research network, accumulation of knowledge while developing new tools (observations, models, and collaborative networks) and producing new, exciting results that can be applied to directly support decision-making for societal needs. This realm was summed up at the Synthesis NEESPI Workshop in Prague, Czech Republic (April 9-12, 2015) where it was decided to shift gradually the foci of regional studies in Northern Eurasia towards applications with the following major Science Question: " What dynamic and interactive change(s) will affect societal well-being, activities, and health, and what might be the mitigation and adaptation strategies that could support sustainable development and decision-making activities in Northern Eurasia?". To answer this question requires a stronger socio-economic component in the ongoing and future regional studies focused on sustainable societal development under changing climatic and environmental conditions, especially, under conditions when societal decision-making impacts and feeds back on the environment. This made the NEESPI studies closer to the ICSU research initiative "Future Earth". Accordingly, the NEESPI Research Team decided to reorganize in the nearest future NEESPI into "Northern Eurasia Future Initiative" (NEFI) and began development of its Programmatic White Paper (in preparation at the time of this abstract submission). The NEFI research foci emerged in discussions within the NEESPI community during the past 12 months. Presentation will provide justification of these foci and approach examples addressing them. The societal challenges, particularly the socio-economic challenges are the top priority in most of them. .

Ebola Virus Epidemic in West Africa: Global Health Economic Challenges, Lessons Learned, and Policy Recommendations.

PubMed

Elmahdawy, Mahmoud; Elsisi, Gihan H; Carapinha, Joao; Lamorde, Mohamed; Habib, Abdulrazaq; Agyie-Baffour, Peter; Soualmi, Redouane; Ragab, Samah; Udezi, Anthony W; Usifoh, Cyril; Usifoh, Stella

2017-09-01

The Ebola virus has spread across several Western Africa countries, adding a significant financial burden to their health systems and economies. In this article the experience with Ebola is reviewed, and economic challenges and policy recommendations are discussed to help curb the impact of other diseases in the future. The West African Ebola virus disease epidemic started in resource-constrained settings and caused thousands of fatalities during the last epidemic. Nevertheless, given population mobility, international travel, and an increasingly globalized economy, it has the potential to re-occur and evolve into a global pandemic. Struggling health systems in West African countries hinder the ability to reduce the causes and effects of the Ebola epidemic. The lessons learned include the need for strengthening health systems, mainly primary care systems, expedited access to treatments and vaccines to treat the Ebola virus disease, guidance on safety, efficacy, and regulatory standards for such treatments, and ensuring that research and development efforts are directed toward existing needs. Other lessons include adopting policies that allow for better flow of relief, averting the adverse impact of strong quarantine policy that includes exaggerating the aversion behavior by alarming trade and business partners providing financial support to strengthen growth in the affected fragile economies by the Ebola outbreak. Curbing the impact of future Ebola epidemics, or comparable diseases, requires increased long-term investments in health system strengthening, better collaboration between different international organizations, more funding for research and development efforts aimed at developing vaccines and treatments, and tools to detect, treat, and prevent future epidemics. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Materials for Sustainable Energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crabtree, George

2009-03-01

The global dependence on fossil fuels for energy is among the greatest challenges facing our economic, social and political future. The uncertainty in the cost and supply of oil threatens the global economy and energy security, the pollution of fossil combustion threatens human health, and the emission of greenhouse gases threatens global climate. Meeting the demand for double the current global energy use in the next 50 years without damaging our economy, security, environment or climate requires finding alternative sources of energy that are clean, abundant, accessible and sustainable. The transition to greater sustainability involves tapping unused energy flows such as sunlight and wind, producing electricity without carbon emissions from clean coal and high efficiency nuclear power plants, and using energy more efficiently in solid-state lighting, fuel cells and transportation based on plug-in hybrid and electric cars. Achieving these goals requires creating materials of increasing complexity and functionality to control the transformation of energy between light, electrons and chemical bonds. Challenges and opportunities for developing the complex materials and controlling the chemical changes that enable greater sustainability will be presented.

Climate Change and Sea Level Rise: A Challenge to Science and Society

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plag, H.

2009-12-01

Society is challenged by the risk of an anticipated rise of coastal Local Sea Level (LSL) as a consequence of future global warming. Many low-lying and often subsiding and densely populated coastal areas are under risk of increased inundation, with potentially devastating consequences for the global economy, society, and environment. Faced with a trade-off between imposing the very high costs of coastal protection and adaptation upon today's national economies and leaving the costs of potential major disasters to future generations, governments and decision makers are in need of scientific support for the development of mitigation and adaptation strategies for the coastal zone. Low-frequency to secular changes in LSL are the result of many interacting Earth system processes. The complexity of the Earth system makes it difficult to predict Global Sea Level (GSL) rise and, even more so, LSL changes over the next 100 to 200 years. Humans have re-engineered the planet and changed major features of the Earth surface and the atmosphere, thus ruling out extrapolation of past and current changes into the future as a reasonable approach. The risk of rapid changes in ocean circulation and ice sheet mass balance introduces the possibility of unexpected changes. Therefore, science is challenged with understanding and constraining the full range of plausible future LSL trajectories and with providing useful support for informed decisions. In the face of largely unpredictable future sea level changes, monitoring of the relevant processes and development of a forecasting service on realistic time scales is crucial as decision support. Forecasting and "early warning" for LSL rise would have to aim at decadal time scales, giving coastal managers sufficient time to react if the onset of rapid changes would require an immediate response. The social, environmental, and economic risks associated with potentially large and rapid LSL changes are enormous. Therefore, in the light of the current uncertainties and the unpredictable nature of some of the forcing processes for LSL changes, the focus of scientific decision support may have to shift from projections of LSL trajectories on century time scales to the development of models and monitoring systems for a forecasting service on decadal time scales. The requirements for such a LSL forecasting service and the current obstacles will be discussed.

Treading lightly on shifting ground: The direction and motivation of future geological research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Witt, A.C.

2011-01-01

The future of the geosciences and geological research will involve complex scientific challenges, primarily concerning global and regional environmental issues, in the next 20-30 years. It is quite reasonable to suspect, based on current political and socioeconomic events, that young geoscientists will be faced with and involved in helping to resolve some well defined problems: water and energy security, the effects of anthropogenic climate change, coastal sea level rise and development, and the mitigation of geohazards. It is how we choose to approach these challenges that will define our future. Interdisciplinary applied research, improved modeling and prediction augmented with faster and more sophisticated computing, and a greater role in creating and guiding public policy, will help us achieve our goals of a cleaner and safer Earth environment in the next 30 years. In the far future, even grander possibilities for eliminating the risk of certain geohazards and finding sustainable solutions to our energy needs can be envisioned. Looking deeper into the future, the possibilities for geoscience research push the limits of the imagination.

Seafood traceability: current needs, available tools, and biotechnological challenges for origin certification.

PubMed

Leal, Miguel Costa; Pimentel, Tânia; Ricardo, Fernando; Rosa, Rui; Calado, Ricardo

2015-06-01

Market globalization and recurring food safety alerts have resulted in a growing consumer awareness of the need for food traceability. This is particularly relevant for seafood due to its perishable nature and importance as a key protein source for the population of the world. Here, we provide an overview of the current needs for seafood origin traceability, along with the limitations and challenges for its implementation. We focus on geochemical, biochemical, and molecular tools and how they should be optimized to be implemented globally and to address our societal needs. We suggest that seafood traceability is key to enforcing food safety regulations and fisheries control, combat fraud, and fulfill present and future expectations of conscientious producers, consumers, and authorities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Miniaturization and globalization of clinical laboratory activities.

PubMed

Melo, Murilo R; Clark, Samantha; Barrio, Daniel

2011-04-01

Clinical laboratories provide an invaluable service to millions of people around the world in the form of quality diagnostic care. Within the clinical laboratory industry the impetus for change has come from technological development (miniaturization, nanotechnology, and their collective effect on point-of-care testing; POCT) and the increasingly global nature of laboratory services. Potential technological gains in POCT include: the development of bio-sensors, microarrays, genetics and proteomics testing, and enhanced web connectivity. In globalization, prospective opportunities lie in: medical tourism, the migration of healthcare workers, cross-border delivery of testing, and the establishment of accredited laboratories in previously unexplored markets. Accompanying these impressive opportunities are equally imposing challenges. Difficulty transitioning from research to clinical use, poor infrastructure in developing countries, cultural differences and national barriers to global trade are only a few examples. Dealing with the issues presented by globalization and the impact of developing technology on POCT, and on the clinical laboratory services industry in general, will be a daunting task. Despite such concerns, with appropriate countermeasures it will be possible to address the challenges posed. Future laboratory success will be largely dependent on one's ability to adapt in this perpetually shifting landscape.

Strengthening global vaccine access for adolescents and adults.

PubMed

Nanni, Angeline; Meredith, Stefanie; Gati, Stephanie; Holm, Karin; Harmon, Tom; Ginsberg, Ann

2017-12-14

Global immunization efforts to date have heavily focused on infants and children, with noted success on public health. Healthy adolescents and adults contribute to the economic growth and development of countries but efforts to ensure vaccine coverage for these groups receive inadequate global attention and resources. Emerging epidemics for a number of infectious diseases including Ebola, Zika, dengue, malaria and the continuing epidemics of tuberculosis and several sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, HPV and Hepatitis B, have high incidence and prevalence in adolescents and adults. New vaccines under development for these diseases and under-used vaccines such as for human papilloma virus will have the greatest health and economic impact in these populations. Global consensus, political will, policies, global and country infrastructure, and financing mechanisms are needed to accelerate access for the billions of adolescents and adults living under the threat of devastating infectious disease outbreaks and epidemics, especially in lower income countries. The global health community and countries cannot afford to delay planning for implementation of adolescent and adult vaccine programs that will potentially save millions of lives and strengthen global and national economies. The article examines this next challenge and suggests a research agenda and a framework for action to galvanize global and national policy decision-makers to begin preparations for future immunization challenges. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Double-Difference Global Adjoint Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orsvuran, R.; Bozdag, E.; Lei, W.; Tromp, J.

2017-12-01

The adjoint method allows us to incorporate full waveform simulations in inverse problems. Misfit functions play an important role in extracting the relevant information from seismic waveforms. In this study, our goal is to apply the Double-Difference (DD) methodology proposed by Yuan et al. (2016) to global adjoint tomography. Dense seismic networks, such as USArray, lead to higher-resolution seismic images underneath continents. However, the imbalanced distribution of stations and sources poses challenges in global ray coverage. We adapt double-difference multitaper measurements to global adjoint tomography. We normalize each DD measurement by its number of pairs, and if a measurement has no pair, as may frequently happen for data recorded at oceanic stations, classical multitaper measurements are used. As a result, the differential measurements and pair-wise weighting strategy help balance uneven global kernel coverage. Our initial experiments with minor- and major-arc surface waves show promising results, revealing more pronounced structure near dense networks while reducing the prominence of paths towards cluster of stations. We have started using this new measurement in global adjoint inversions, addressing azimuthal anisotropy in upper mantle. Meanwhile, we are working on combining the double-difference approach with instantaneous phase measurements to emphasize contributions of scattered waves in global inversions and extending it to body waves. We will present our results and discuss challenges and future directions in the context of global tomographic inversions.

Strategic foresight, leadership, and the future of rural healthcare staffing in the United States.

PubMed

Reimers-Hild, Connie

2018-05-01

This article uses a strategic foresight tool, megatrends, to examine forces influencing long-term healthcare staffing in the rural United States. Two megatrends-exponential advances in science and technology and the continued evolution of the decentralized global marketplace-will influence and ultimately help shape the future of rural healthcare. Successful health ecosystems of the future will need to be customer-driven, more affordable, and tech-savvy. Successful evolution in an era of continuous change will require a blend of intentional engagement with stakeholders, strategic foresight, and future-focused leadership. More research is needed to fully understand not only the challenges of rural healthcare but also the emerging opportunities.

Strategic foresight, leadership, and the future of rural healthcare staffing in the United States

PubMed Central

Reimers-Hild, Connie

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT This article uses a strategic foresight tool, megatrends, to examine forces influencing long-term healthcare staffing in the rural United States. Two megatrends—exponential advances in science and technology and the continued evolution of the decentralized global marketplace—will influence and ultimately help shape the future of rural healthcare. Successful health ecosystems of the future will need to be customer-driven, more affordable, and tech-savvy. Successful evolution in an era of continuous change will require a blend of intentional engagement with stakeholders, strategic foresight, and future-focused leadership. More research is needed to fully understand not only the challenges of rural healthcare but also the emerging opportunities. PMID:29642092

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brundtland, G.H.

In her keynote address at the opening plenary session of the Globe '90 Conference held in Vancouver in March, Mrs. Brundtland called for a new global partnership of government, industry, producers and consumers to meet present and future environmental challenges. This partnership would require help to developing countries to help free them from their handicaps of debt, overpopulation and poverty; that improvements made to the environment would not be offset by ecological damage in other areas. She was encouraged that the policy of sustainable development has been widely adapted as the only viable strategy for global change.

Climate Dynamics and Experimental Prediction (CDEP) and Regional Integrated Science Assessments (RISA) Programs at NOAA Office of Global Programs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bamzai, A.

2003-04-01

This talk will highlight science and application activities of the CDEP and RISA programs at NOAA OGP. CDEP, through a set of Applied Research Centers (ARCs), supports NOAA's program of quantitative assessments and predictions of global climate variability and its regional implications on time scales of seasons to centuries. The RISA program consolidates results from ongoing disciplinary process research under an integrative framework. Examples of joint CDEP-RISA activities will be presented. Future directions and programmatic challenges will also be discussed.

Linking regional stakeholder scenarios and shared socioeconomic pathways: Quantified West African food and climate futures in a global context.

PubMed

Palazzo, Amanda; Vervoort, Joost M; Mason-D'Croz, Daniel; Rutting, Lucas; Havlík, Petr; Islam, Shahnila; Bayala, Jules; Valin, Hugo; Kadi Kadi, Hamé Abdou; Thornton, Philip; Zougmore, Robert

2017-07-01

The climate change research community's shared socioeconomic pathways (SSPs) are a set of alternative global development scenarios focused on mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. To use these scenarios as a global context that is relevant for policy guidance at regional and national levels, they have to be connected to an exploration of drivers and challenges informed by regional expertise. In this paper, we present scenarios for West Africa developed by regional stakeholders and quantified using two global economic models, GLOBIOM and IMPACT, in interaction with stakeholder-generated narratives and scenario trends and SSP assumptions. We present this process as an example of linking comparable scenarios across levels to increase coherence with global contexts, while presenting insights about the future of agriculture and food security under a range of future drivers including climate change. In these scenarios, strong economic development increases food security and agricultural development. The latter increases crop and livestock productivity leading to an expansion of agricultural area within the region while reducing the land expansion burden elsewhere. In the context of a global economy, West Africa remains a large consumer and producer of a selection of commodities. However, the growth in population coupled with rising incomes leads to increases in the region's imports. For West Africa, climate change is projected to have negative effects on both crop yields and grassland productivity, and a lack of investment may exacerbate these effects. Linking multi-stakeholder regional scenarios to the global SSPs ensures scenarios that are regionally appropriate and useful for policy development as evidenced in the case study, while allowing for a critical link to global contexts.

The role of farming and rural development as central to our diets.

PubMed

Fanzo, Jessica

2018-05-21

Farming and rural development are central to the diversity of global food systems and diets, both significant factors in determining the nutrition and health outcomes of the world's population. Diets are not static and indeed are changing due to globalization, urbanization and demographic shifts. In addition, multiple burdens of malnutrition (both undernutrition and overweight and obesity) are not improving fast enough and in some cases, reversing for the worse. Unhealthy diets are major contributors to these burdens. Rural people and particularly smallholder farmers, are critical in delivering the key nutrients in the global food supply that make up our diets for human health. However, rural populations in some parts of the world are often poor, and suffer burdens of malnutrition on both ends of the spectrum - undernourished or overweight. They are also faced with significant challenges, often due to poor investment towards rural development. Challenges include natural resource declines, climate change risk, women disempowerment, conflict, and urbanization; which wreak havoc on these populations. If actions are not taken and their livelihoods are not prioritized, it will be a challenge to achieve sustainable development in these rural places that are so essential for future food systems. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Towards integrated solutions for water, energy, and land using an integrated nexus modeling framework

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wada, Y.

2017-12-01

Humanity has already reached or even exceeded the Earth's carrying capacity. Growing needs for food, energy and water will only exacerbate existing challenges over the next decades. Consequently, the acceptance of "business as usual" is eroding and we are being challenged to adopt new, more integrated, and more inclusive development pathways that avoid dangerous interference with the local environment and global planetary boundaries. This challenge is embodied in the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which endeavor to set a global agenda for moving towards more sustainable development strategies. To improve and sustain human welfare, it is critical that access to modern, reliable, and affordable water, energy, and food is expanded and maintained. The Integrated Solutions for Water, Energy, and Land (IS-WEL) project has been launched by IIASA, together with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). This project focuses on the water-energy-land nexus in the context of other major global challenges such as urbanization, environmental degradation, and equitable and sustainable futures. It develops a consistent framework for looking at the water-energy-land nexus and identify strategies for achieving the needed transformational outcomes through an advanced assessment framework. A multi-scalar approach are being developed that aims to combine global and regional integrated assessment tools with local stakeholder knowledge in order to identify robust solutions to energy, water, food, and ecosystem security in selected regions of the world. These are regions facing multiple energy, water and land use challenges and rapid demographic and economic changes, and are hardest hit by increasing climate variability and change. This project combines the global integrated assessment model (MESSAGE) with the global land (GLOBIOM) and water (Community Water Model) model respectively, and the integrated modeling framework are then combined with detailed regional decision support tools for water-energy-land nexus analysis in case study regions. A number of stakeholder meetings are used to engage local communities in the definition of important nexus drivers, scenario development and definition of performance metrics.

The Missing Middle: Aligning Education and the Knowledge Economy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Carnevale, Anthony P.; Desrochers, Donna M.

2002-01-01

While no one can predict the future, today's economic and demographic realities suggest the opportunities and challenges that will face America in the years to come. The U.S. economy has already undergone dramatic changes in the latter part of the twentieth century. The extension of product and labor markets has expanded global competition, and…

Challenging the Sports-Industrial Complex: Human Sciences, Advocacy and Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maguire, Joseph

2004-01-01

This article is an attempt to provide an alternative view of sports science and future sport worlds. For reasons to do with fundamental science, involved advocacy and committed service, and in a period of intensified globalization, it is necessary to reconfigure the nature and scope of teaching and research within the subdiscipline of sports…

Future Developments of Educational Research in the Asia-Pacific Region: Paradigm Shifts, Reforms, and Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheng, Yin Cheong

2007-01-01

In facing up to the challenges and impacts of globalization, high technology, economic transformation, international competitions and local developments in the new century, there have been numerous educational reforms and initiatives in many countries in the Asia-Pacific Region (Cheng, 2005a, A new paradigm for re-engineering education:…

Leading a Creative School: Initiating and Sustaining School Change. Creative Teaching/Creative Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanders, Ethel, Ed.

2011-01-01

Introducing creativity to the classroom is a concern for teachers, governments and future employers around the world, and there has been a drive to make experiences at school more exciting, relevant, challenging and dynamic for all young people, ensuring they leave education able to contribute to the global creative economy. "Leading a Creative…

Adaptation resources for agriculture: Responding to climate variability and change in the midwest and northeast

Treesearch

Maria K. Janowiak; Daniel D. Dostie; Michael A. Wilson; Michael J. Kucera; R. Howard Skinner; Jerry L. Hatfield; David Hollinger; Christopher W. Swanston

2016-01-01

Changes in climate and extreme weather are already increasing challenges for agriculture nationally and globally, and many of these impacts will continue into the future. This technical bulletin contains information and resources designed to help agricultural producers, service providers, and educators in the Midwest and Northeast regions of the United States integrate...

Incorporating Sustainability and 21st-Century Problem Solving into Physics Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rogers, Michael; Pfaff, Tom; Hamilton, Jason; Erkan, Ali

2013-01-01

As educators we are facing an unprecedented challenge to prepare our students not only for traditional careers but also for future careers that don't exist today. Many of these careers will require a firm grounding in disciplines such as physics, along with multidisciplinary, Global, and systems thinking skill sets. Our Multidisciplinary…

Strategies for reducing the impacts of surface transportation on global climate change : a synthesis of policy research and state and local mitigation strategies

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-03-01

Climate change is likely to have more impact on the future of surface transportation than any other issue. The challenges and implications for surface transportation and for state DOTs include: the need to support major GHG reductions, the need to me...

Engaging Secondary School Students in Food-Related Citizenship: Achievements and Challenges of a Multi-Component Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Mat; Dailami, Narges; Weitkamp, Emma; Kimberlee, Richard; Salmon, Debra; Orme, Judy

2012-01-01

Global food security and sustainability, animal welfare, dietary health, and socially just relations of food production have become prominent societal issues. They are of particular concern for young people as their lives progress towards becoming independent consumers and citizens with the capacity to shape food systems of the future. This paper…

Perspectives, trends, and forestry opportunities

Treesearch

Calvin F. Bey

1993-01-01

It is clear that our perspective, profession, society and approach to natural resource management has changed a lot over the last century and particularly over the last 30 years. We have adjusted to many changes and will be challenged to adjust to many more in the future. Understanding the global environmental perspective and expected trends should help us as we deal...

Learner to Teacher: EFL Student Teachers' Perceptions on Internet-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuo, Ming-Mu

2008-01-01

To meet the challenges of fast-paced globalization and a more demanding high-tech environment of the future, it is imperative to train students for equipping with relevant abilities and competencies, especially in online literacy and communication skills, and assist them to build correct technology attitude and belief. Student teachers'…

Think Piece: Cognitive Justice and Integration without Duress. The Future of Development Education--Perspectives from the South

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Odora Hoppers, Catherine A.

2015-01-01

"In a time of unacceptable global injustice, growing inequalities in the distribution of power, accelerating climate change, and unwavering racism and social exclusion, we are today facing the biggest challenges of human history" (European Conference on Intercultural Dialogue in Development Education, 2008: 1). A favourable wind is…

Banking on the future: progress, challenges and opportunities for the genetic conservation of forest trees

Treesearch

Kevin M. Potter; Robert M. Jetton; Andrew Bower; Douglass F. Jacobs; Gary Man; Valerie D. Hipkins; Murphy Westwood

2017-01-01

Genetic diversity provides the essential basis for the adaptation and resilience of tree species to environmental stress and change. The genetic conservation of tree species is an urgent global necessity as forest conversion and fragmentation continue apace, damaging insects and pathogens are transported between continents, and climate change alters local habitat...

Just in Time and Future-Proofing? Policy, Challenges and Opportunities in the Professional Development of Part-Time Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beaton, Fran

2017-01-01

Part-time teachers form a growing proportion of the global Higher Education (HE) workforce. Their backgrounds can vary from Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) teaching for the first time, to practitioners bringing workplace experience into HE and sessional teachers, all with differing professional development needs. This paper builds on previous…

Schistosomiasis Elimination Strategies and Potential Role of a Vaccine in Achieving Global Health Goals

PubMed Central

Mo, Annie X.; Agosti, Jan M.; Walson, Judd L.; Hall, B. Fenton; Gordon, Lance

2014-01-01

In March 2013, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation co-sponsored a meeting entitled “Schistosomiasis Elimination Strategy and Potential Role of a Vaccine in Achieving Global Health Goals” to discuss the potential role of schistosomiasis vaccines and other tools in the context of schistosomiasis control and elimination strategies. It was concluded that although schistosomiasis elimination in some focal areas may be achievable through current mass drug administration programs, global control and elimination will face several significant scientific and operational challenges, and will require an integrated approach with other, additional interventions. These challenges include vector (snail) control; environmental modification; water, sanitation, and hygiene; and other future innovative tools such as vaccines. Defining a clear product development plan that reflects a vaccine strategy as complementary to the existing control programs to combat different forms of schistosomiasis will be important to develop a vaccine effectively. PMID:24402703

A critical reflection of a decade of urbanization and global environmental change research and science coordination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Griffith, C.

2015-12-01

The Urbanization and Global Environmental Change (UGEC) Project was established in 2005 when attention to the bidirectional interactions of urbanization and GEC issues and the associated system responses was very new and the community of UGEC researchers very small. Much of the urban scholarship used specific disciplinary lenses through which to understand the city, e.g., in terms of demographics and population growth, ecology of cities or economics of cities. Over the last decade new analytical lenses have revealed much more about how cities function, the underlying socio-economic and ecological processes that drive urbanization, their dynamic and teleconnected nature, and other bio-physical interactions within the Earth system. Furthermore, it is within the cities that the impacts of current and projected urbanization and environmental changes are felt, but also where action is taken and where great potential for intervention of urbanization trajectories exists towards creating more livable urban futures. A former IHDP core project, now Future Earth project, UGEC is in its sunset/synthesis phase and exploring future directions. This presentation will: Give an brief overview of UGEC evolution over the course of the last decade not only in terms of the science, but also the institution Present preliminary results from a critical analysis of UGEC's ten year role as a GEC research coordination project including its impact, strengths and weaknesses Make the case for greater interdisciplinarity (particularly across the physical sciences and humanities) and involvement of other stakeholders (private sector and decisionmakers) in future urbanization and environmental research, as 'urban' is a crosscutting issue that has both global to local scale implications Present work that UGEC is leading, which is to advance an urban agenda within the new Future Earth initiative as part of the recently awarded Cluster Activity 'Livable Urban Futures', as an example of research coordination in a new era of GEC governance, the associated challenges and also successes Provide insight into the practical aspects of research coordination from an IPO management perspective including the day to day management, what's required, challenging and what can be improved upon for the betterment of coordinated and networked science.

Global health education: a pilot in trans-disciplinary, digital instruction

PubMed Central

Wipfli, Heather; Press, David J.; Kuhn, Virginia

2013-01-01

Background The development of new global health academic programs provides unique opportunities to create innovative educational approaches within and across universities. Recent evidence suggests that digital media technologies may provide feasible and cost-effective alternatives to traditional classroom instruction; yet, many emerging global health academic programs lag behind in the utilization of modern technologies. Objective We created an inter-departmental University of Southern California (USC) collaboration to develop and implement a course focused on digital media and global health. Design Course curriculum was based on core tenants of modern education: multi-disciplinary, technologically advanced, learner-centered, and professional application of knowledge. Student and university evaluations were reviewed to qualitatively assess course satisfaction and educational outcomes. Results ‘New Media for Global Health’ ran for 18 weeks in the Spring 2012 semester with N=41 students (56.1% global health and 43.9% digital studies students). The course resulted in a number of high quality global health-related digital media products available at http://iml420.wordpress.com/. Challenges confronted at USC included administrative challenges related to co-teaching and frustration from students conditioned to a rigid system of teacher-led learning within a specific discipline. Quantitative and qualitative course evaluations reflected positive feedback for the course instructors and mixed reviews for the organization of the course. Conclusion The development of innovative educational programs in global health requires on-going experimentation and information sharing across departments and universities. Digital media technologies may have implications for future efforts to improve global health education. PMID:23643297

Global health education: a pilot in trans-disciplinary, digital instruction.

PubMed

Wipfli, Heather; Press, David J; Kuhn, Virginia

2013-05-02

The development of new global health academic programs provides unique opportunities to create innovative educational approaches within and across universities. Recent evidence suggests that digital media technologies may provide feasible and cost-effective alternatives to traditional classroom instruction; yet, many emerging global health academic programs lag behind in the utilization of modern technologies. We created an inter-departmental University of Southern California (USC) collaboration to develop and implement a course focused on digital media and global health. Course curriculum was based on core tenants of modern education: multi-disciplinary, technologically advanced, learner-centered, and professional application of knowledge. Student and university evaluations were reviewed to qualitatively assess course satisfaction and educational outcomes. 'New Media for Global Health' ran for 18 weeks in the Spring 2012 semester with N=41 students (56.1% global health and 43.9% digital studies students). The course resulted in a number of high quality global health-related digital media products available at http://iml420.wordpress.com/. Challenges confronted at USC included administrative challenges related to co-teaching and frustration from students conditioned to a rigid system of teacher-led learning within a specific discipline. Quantitative and qualitative course evaluations reflected positive feedback for the course instructors and mixed reviews for the organization of the course. The development of innovative educational programs in global health requires on-going experimentation and information sharing across departments and universities. Digital media technologies may have implications for future efforts to improve global health education.

Global public health today: connecting the dots.

PubMed

Lomazzi, Marta; Jenkins, Christopher; Borisch, Bettina

2016-01-01

Global public health today faces new challenges and is impacted by a range of actors from within and outside state boundaries. The diversity of the actors involved has created challenges and a complex environment that requires a new context-tailored global approach. The World Federation of Public Health Associations has embarked on a collaborative consultation with the World Health Organization to encourage a debate on how to adapt public health to its future role in global health. A qualitative study was undertaken. High-level stakeholders from leading universities, multilateral organizations, and other institutions worldwide participated in the study. Inductive content analyses were performed. Stakeholders underscored that global public health today should tackle the political, commercial, economic, social, and environmental determinants of health and social inequalities. A multisectoral and holistic approach should be guaranteed, engaging public health in broad dialogues and a concerted decision-making process. The connection between neoliberal ideology and public health reforms should be taken into account. The WHO must show leadership and play a supervising and technical role. More and better data are required across many programmatic areas of public health. Resources should be allocated in a sustainable and accountable way. Public health professionals need new skills that should be provided by a collaborative global education system. A common framework context-tailored to influence governments has been evaluated as useful. The study highlighted some of the main public health challenges currently under debate in the global arena, providing interesting ideas. A more inclusive integrated vision of global health in its complexity, shared and advocated for by all stakeholders involved in decision-making processes, is crucial. This vision represents the first step in innovating public health at the global level and should lead to a serious rethinking of education curricula to allow the next generation to engage within political contexts for restructuring global public health.

Global public health today: connecting the dots

PubMed Central

Lomazzi, Marta; Jenkins, Christopher; Borisch, Bettina

2016-01-01

Background Global public health today faces new challenges and is impacted by a range of actors from within and outside state boundaries. The diversity of the actors involved has created challenges and a complex environment that requires a new context-tailored global approach. The World Federation of Public Health Associations has embarked on a collaborative consultation with the World Health Organization to encourage a debate on how to adapt public health to its future role in global health. Design A qualitative study was undertaken. High-level stakeholders from leading universities, multilateral organizations, and other institutions worldwide participated in the study. Inductive content analyses were performed. Results Stakeholders underscored that global public health today should tackle the political, commercial, economic, social, and environmental determinants of health and social inequalities. A multisectoral and holistic approach should be guaranteed, engaging public health in broad dialogues and a concerted decision-making process. The connection between neoliberal ideology and public health reforms should be taken into account. The WHO must show leadership and play a supervising and technical role. More and better data are required across many programmatic areas of public health. Resources should be allocated in a sustainable and accountable way. Public health professionals need new skills that should be provided by a collaborative global education system. A common framework context-tailored to influence governments has been evaluated as useful. Conclusions The study highlighted some of the main public health challenges currently under debate in the global arena, providing interesting ideas. A more inclusive integrated vision of global health in its complexity, shared and advocated for by all stakeholders involved in decision-making processes, is crucial. This vision represents the first step in innovating public health at the global level and should lead to a serious rethinking of education curricula to allow the next generation to engage within political contexts for restructuring global public health. PMID:26899773

The ISECG* Global Exploration Roadmap as Context for Robotic and Human Exploration Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lupisella, Mark

2015-01-01

The International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) Global Exploration Roadmap (GER) provides a broad international context for understanding how robotic missions and robotic assets can enable future human exploration of multiple destinations. This presentation will provide a brief high-level review of the GER with a focus on key robotic missions and robotic assets that can provide enabling technology advancements and that also raise interesting operational challenges in both the near-term and long-term. The GER presently features a variety of robotic missions and robotic assets that can provide important technology advancements as well as operational challenges and improvements, in areas ranging from: (a) leveraging the International Space Station, (b) planetary science robotic missions to potential human destinations, (c) micro-g body proximity operations (e.g. asteroids), (d) autonomous operations, (e) high and low-latency telerobotics, (f) human assisted sample return, and (g) contamination control. This presentation will highlight operational and technology challenges in these areas that have feed forward implications for human exploration.

Pollution exposure on marine protected areas: A global assessment.

PubMed

Partelow, Stefan; von Wehrden, Henrik; Horn, Olga

2015-11-15

Marine protected areas (MPAs) face many challenges in their aim to effectively conserve marine ecosystems. In this study we analyze the extent of pollution exposure on the global fleet of MPAs. This includes indicators for current and future pollution and the implications for regionally clustered groups of MPAs with similar biophysical characteristics. To cluster MPAs into characteristic signature groups, their bathymetry, baseline biodiversity, distance from shore, mean sea surface temperature and mean sea surface salinity were used. We assess the extent at which each signature group is facing exposure from multiple pollution types. MPA groups experience similar pollution exposure on a regional level. We highlight how the challenges that MPAs face can be addressed through governance at the appropriate scale and design considerations for integrated terrestrial and marine management approaches within regional level networks. Furthermore, we present diagnostic social-ecological indicators for addressing the challenges facing unsuccessful MPAs with practical applications. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Grand Challenges of WCRP and the Climate Observing System of the Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brasseur, G. P.

2017-12-01

The successful implementation the Paris agreement on climate change (COP21) calls for a well-designed global monitoring system of essential climate variables, climate processes and Earth system budgets. The Grand Challenges implemented by the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) provide an opportunity to investigate issues of high societal relevance, directly related to sea level rise, droughts, floods, extreme heat events, food security, and fresh water availability. These challenges would directly benefit from a well-designed suite of systematic climate observations. Quantification of the evolution of the global energy, water and carbon budgets as well as the development and the production of near-term and regional climate predictions require that a comprehensive, focused, multi-platform observing system (satellites, ground-based and in situ observations) be established in an international context. This system must be accompanied by the development of climate services that should translate and disseminate scientific outcomes as actionable information for users and stakeholders.

Non-governmental organizations in international health: past successes, future challenges.

PubMed

Gellert, G A

1996-01-01

Non-governmental organizations, or NGOs, are increasingly instrumental to the implementation of international health programs. Following an overview of current conditions in global health and the problems that could be targeted by NGOs, this article describes the activities and philosophies of several representative approaches in this sector. The attributes of NGOs that increase their potential effectiveness are discussed, including ability to reach areas of severe need, promotion of local involvement, low cost of operations, adaptiveness and innovation, independence, and sustainability. A summary is provided of major future challenges in international health that may be addressed by NGOs, with particular emphasis on tobacco-related disease, communicable diseases and the AIDS epidemic, maternal mortality and women's health, injury prevention and control, and the need to secure durable financial support.

Northern Eurasia Future Initiative (NEFI): facing the challenges and pathways of global change in the twenty-first century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groisman, Pavel; Shugart, Herman; Kicklighter, David; Henebry, Geoffrey; Tchebakova, Nadezhda; Maksyutov, Shamil; Monier, Erwan; Gutman, Garik; Gulev, Sergey; Qi, Jiaguo; Prishchepov, Alexander; Kukavskaya, Elena; Porfiriev, Boris; Shiklomanov, Alexander; Loboda, Tatiana; Shiklomanov, Nikolay; Nghiem, Son; Bergen, Kathleen; Albrechtová, Jana; Chen, Jiquan; Shahgedanova, Maria; Shvidenko, Anatoly; Speranskaya, Nina; Soja, Amber; de Beurs, Kirsten; Bulygina, Olga; McCarty, Jessica; Zhuang, Qianlai; Zolina, Olga

2017-12-01

During the past several decades, the Earth system has changed significantly, especially across Northern Eurasia. Changes in the socio-economic conditions of the larger countries in the region have also resulted in a variety of regional environmental changes that can have global consequences. The Northern Eurasia Future Initiative (NEFI) has been designed as an essential continuation of the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI), which was launched in 2004. NEESPI sought to elucidate all aspects of ongoing environmental change, to inform societies and, thus, to better prepare societies for future developments. A key principle of NEFI is that these developments must now be secured through science-based strategies co-designed with regional decision-makers to lead their societies to prosperity in the face of environmental and institutional challenges. NEESPI scientific research, data, and models have created a solid knowledge base to support the NEFI program. This paper presents the NEFI research vision consensus based on that knowledge. It provides the reader with samples of recent accomplishments in regional studies and formulates new NEFI science questions. To address these questions, nine research foci are identified and their selections are briefly justified. These foci include warming of the Arctic; changing frequency, pattern, and intensity of extreme and inclement environmental conditions; retreat of the cryosphere; changes in terrestrial water cycles; changes in the biosphere; pressures on land use; changes in infrastructure; societal actions in response to environmental change; and quantification of Northern Eurasia's role in the global Earth system. Powerful feedbacks between the Earth and human systems in Northern Eurasia (e.g., mega-fires, droughts, depletion of the cryosphere essential for water supply, retreat of sea ice) result from past and current human activities (e.g., large-scale water withdrawals, land use, and governance change) and potentially restrict or provide new opportunities for future human activities. Therefore, we propose that integrated assessment models are needed as the final stage of global change assessment. The overarching goal of this NEFI modeling effort will enable evaluation of economic decisions in response to changing environmental conditions and justification of mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Inland capture fishery contributions to global food security and threats to their future

USGS Publications Warehouse

Youn, So-Jung; Taylor, William W.; Lynch, Abigail J.; Cowx, Ian G.; Beard, T. Douglas; Bartley, Devin; Wu, Felicia

2014-01-01

Inland fish and fisheries play important roles in ensuring global food security. They provide a crucial source of animal protein and essential micronutrients for local communities, especially in the developing world. Data concerning fisheries production and consumption of freshwater fish are generally inadequately assessed, often leading decision makers to undervalue their importance. Modification of inland waterways for alternative uses of freshwater (particularly dams for hydropower and water diversions for human use) negatively impacts the productivity of inland fisheries for food security at local and regional levels. This paper highlights the importance of inland fisheries to global food security, the challenges they face due to competing demands for freshwater, and possible solutions.

Securing the Future of Water, Energy and Food: Can solutions for the currently stressed countries provide the direction for ensuring global water sustainability and food security in the 21st century?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devineni, N.; Lall, U.

2014-12-01

Where will the food for the 9 billion people we expect on Earth by 2050 come from? The answer to this question depends on where the water and the energy for agriculture will come from. This assumes of course, that our primary food source will continue to be based on production on land, and that irrigation and the use of fertilizers to improve production are needed to address climate shocks and deteriorating soil health. Given this, establishing an economically, environmentally and physically feasible pathway to achieve water, energy and food security in the face of a changing climate is crucial to planetary well-being. A central hypothesis of the proposed paper is that innovation towards agricultural sustainability in countries such as India and China, that have large populations relative to their water, energy and arable land endowment, and yet have opportunity for improvement in productivity metrics such as crop yield per unit water or energy use, can show us the way to achieve global water-food-energy sustainability. These countries experience a monsoonal climate, which has a high frequency of climate extremes (more floods and droughts, and a short rainy season) relative to the developed countries in temperate climates. Global climate change projections indicate that the frequency and severity of extremes may pose a challenge in the future. Thus, strategies that are resilient to such extremes in monsoonal climates may be of global value in a warmer, more variable world. Much of the future population growth is expected to occur in Africa, S. America and S. Asia. Targeting these regions for higher productivity and resilience is consequently important from a national security perspective as well. Through this paper, we propose to (a) layout in detail, the challenges faced by the water, energy and food sectors in emerging countries, with specific focus on India and China and (b) provide the scientific background for an integrated systems analytic approach to formulate solutions at varying scales that can be employed globally. Such coordinated analyses is important for an examination of the future water sustainability in the face of changing climate, agricultural trends, environmental impacts and new energy choices.

The Human Microbiota, Infectious Disease, and Global Health: Challenges and Opportunities.

PubMed

Waldman, Abraham J; Balskus, Emily P

2018-01-12

Despite significant advances in treating infectious diseases worldwide, morbidity and mortality associated with pathogen infection remains extraordinarily high and represents a critical scientific and global health challenge. Current strategies to combat these infectious agents include a combination of vaccines, small molecule drugs, increased hygiene standards, and disease-specific interventions. While these approaches have helped to drastically reduce the incidence and number of deaths associated with infection, continued investment in current strategies and the development of novel therapeutic approaches will be required to address these global health threats. Recently, human- and vector-associated microbiotas, the assemblages of microorganisms living on and within their hosts, have emerged as a potentially important factor mediating both infection risk and disease progression. These complex microbial communities are involved in intricate and dynamic interactions with both pathogens as well as the innate and adaptive immune systems of their hosts. Here, we discuss recent findings that have illuminated the importance of resident microbiotas in infectious disease, emphasizing opportunities for novel therapeutic intervention and future challenges for the field. Our discussion will focus on four major global health threats: tuberculosis, malaria, HIV, and enteric/diarrheal diseases. We hope this Perspective will highlight the many opportunities for chemists and chemical biologists in this field as well as inspire efforts to elucidate the mechanisms underlying established disease correlations, identify novel microbiota-based risk factors, and develop new therapeutic interventions.

ED51: Using International Networks to Develop the Future Global Geoscience Workforce

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Velasco, E. E.; Pangman, P.; Jacobs, R. L.

2011-12-01

Developed nations face the immediate need to replace the current wave of retiring geoscientists at the same time developing nations need to build an infrastructure to train future geoscientists. But what does a successful geoscientist look like? Recruiters seem to favor candidates from respected universities that pair applied book knowledge with excellent communication skills and the ability to take a multidisciplinary approach to challenges. Students should be global thinking, business minded, and socially aware. The Society of Exploration Geophysicists as a successful global society addresses the needs of a growing diverse membership through an international approach. Student membership has doubled over the past five years to almost 10,000. The Society is building momentum through targeted, yet diverse programs. Students are eager to participate in the unique SEG/Chevron Student Leadership Symposium, SEG/ExxonMobil Student Education Program, Challenge Bowls, Student Expositions, Honorary Lecturer presentations and related events. These are transformative educational opportunities that provide the impetus for expanded and very effective international networking and transfer of knowledge. As SEG's students build on these relationships and newly acquired leadership skills, they affect the scope and breadth of SEG Student Chapter activities. There has been a resulting increase in multi-country field camps. The Geoscientists Without Borders° humanitarian program provides cross-cultural field opportunities that demonstrate how applied geoscience can make a difference in the global society, while providing students with valuable workforce skills that employers seek. These collaborative efforts are facilitated by social media and on-line communities that cause boundaries to dissolve and time zones to become irrelevant.

The Future of the Protein Data Bank

PubMed Central

Berman, Helen M.; Kleywegt, Gerard J.; Nakamura, Haruki; Markley, John L.

2013-01-01

The Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB) is the international collaboration that manages the deposition, processing and distribution of the PDB archive. The wwPDB’s mission is to maintain a single archive of macromolecular structural data that are freely and publicly available to the global community. Its members [RCSB PDB (USA), PDBe (Europe), PDBj (Japan), and BMRB (USA)] host data-deposition sites and mirror the PDB ftp archive. To support future developments in structural biology, the wwPDB partners are addressing organizational, scientific, and technical challenges. PMID:23023942

Towards a sustainable energy future: realities and opportunities.

PubMed

Armstrong, Lynda

2011-05-13

My purpose in this paper is threefold. First, I would like to examine why the world needs us to produce more energy. Second, I will look at the range of energy sources available for a sustainable future. A number of myths have grown up around the various energy sources and their relative contribution to addressing the global energy challenge: I will seek to dispel some of those. Third, I want to highlight what I see as an urgent need: for more informed decision making and more action in this complex area. © 2011 Royal Society

The Benefits of Past and Current Regional Hydroclimate Projects to the Third Pole Environment (TPE) Water and Energy Exchanges Studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benedict, Sam; van Oevelen, Peter

2014-05-01

To improve understanding of the various processes at work on spatial and temporal scales from regional to global the Regional Hydroclimate Projects (RHP's) are established as part of the Global Energy and Water Exchanges (GEWEX)Project to link the regional observations and process understanding to the global scale. This is done through exchange of observations, data, modeling, transferability studies etc. In this presentation the series of RHP's that were underway over North and South America, Europe and Asia continuously from the early 1990's up to the present will be examined, the reasons they were established, how they evolved and how they are evolving or are likely to evolve in the future, with an emphasis on where they can and should benefit similar work proposed for the TPE. The results will be presented in the context of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) Grand Challenge related to the development of a water strategy that addresses the issue of past and future changes in Water, in general, and the GEWEX science question on global water resource systems, in particular. This material will address issues associated with how changes in land surface and hydrology influence past and future changes in water availability and security, how new observations lead to improvements in water management and how models become better in global and regional climate predictions and projections of precipitation and how these outcomes relate to the TPE Water and Energy Exchanges Studies.

Global and regional trends in particulate air pollution and attributable health burden over the past 50 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butt, E. W.; Turnock, S. T.; Rigby, R.; Reddington, C. L.; Yoshioka, M.; Johnson, J. S.; Regayre, L. A.; Pringle, K. J.; Mann, G. W.; Spracklen, D. V.

2017-10-01

Long-term exposure to ambient particulate matter (PM2.5, mass of particles with an aerodynamic dry diameter of < 2.5 μm) is a major risk factor to the global burden of disease. Previous studies have focussed on present day or future health burdens attributed to ambient PM2.5. Few studies have estimated changes in PM2.5 and attributable health burdens over the last few decades, a period where air quality has changed rapidly. Here we used the HadGEM3-UKCA coupled chemistry-climate model, integrated exposure-response relationships, demographic and background disease data to provide the first estimate of the changes in global and regional ambient PM2.5 concentrations and attributable health burdens over the period 1960 to 2009. Over this period, global mean population-weighted PM2.5 concentrations increased by 38%, dominated by increases in China and India. Global attributable deaths increased by 89% to 124% over the period 1960 to 2009, dominated by large increases in China and India. Population growth and ageing contributed mostly to the increases in attributable deaths in China and India, highlighting the importance of demographic trends. In contrast, decreasing PM2.5 concentrations and background disease dominated the reduction in attributable health burden in Europe and the United States. Our results shed light on how future projected trends in demographics and uncertainty in the exposure-response relationship may provide challenges for future air quality policy in Asia.

5.3 Global challenges in research and strategic planning.

PubMed

Baum, Bruce J; Scott, John; Bickel, Matthias; Gombos, Giorgio; Greenspan, John S; Guo, Wei; Park, No-Hee; Purdell-Lewis, David; Ranney, Richard; Schwarz, Eli; Seymour, Greg; Uoshima, Katsumi

2002-01-01

Health sciences research is experiencing dramatic progress. How can dental schools throughout the world best make these research advances relevant for dental students, as well as providing them with the means to assess and utilize the research advances that will occur in the future? This complex question presents a critical challenge to the dental educational community. Research is clearly integral to the mission of dental education. By providing dental students with active learning strategies, dental educators can inculcate the ability for independent scientific thinking and thereby develop reflective as well as technically competent practitioners. However, there is a shortage of well-trained individuals to fill faculty and research positions in certain parts of the world. Global networks for mutual information exchange are imperative to overcome resource limitations in individual institutions, as is dedicated funding for research in the dental educational setting.

International institutions, global health initiatives and the challenge of sustainability: lessons from the Brazilian AIDS programme.

PubMed

Le Loup, G; Fleury, S; Camargo, K; Larouzé, B

2010-01-01

The sustainability of successful public health programmes remains a challenge in low and middle income settings. These programmes are often subjected to mobilization-demobilization cycle. Indeed, political and organizational factors are of major importance to ensure this sustainability. The cooperation between the World Bank and the Brazilian AIDS programme highlights the role of international institutions and global health initiatives (GHI), not only to scale up programmes but also to guarantee their stability and sustainability, at a time when advocacy is diminishing and vertical programmes are integrated within health systems. This role is critical at the local level, particularly when economic crisis may hamper the future of public health programmes. Political and organizational evolution should be monitored and warnings should trigger interventions of GHI before the decline of these programmes.

The Role of a Multidimensional Concept of Trust in the Performance of Global Virtual Teams

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bodensteiner, Nan Muir; Stecklein, Jonette M.

2002-01-01

This paper focuses on the concept of trust as an important ingredient of effective global virtual team performance. Definitions of trust and virtual teams are presented. The concept of trust is developed from its unilateral application (trust, absence of trust) to a multidimensional concept including cognitive and affective components. The special challenges of a virtual team are then discussed with particular emphasis on how a multidimensional concept of trust impacts these challenges. Propositions suggesting the multidimensional concept of trust moderates the negative impacts of distance, cross cultural and organizational differences, the effects of electronically mediated communication, reluctance to share information and a lack of hi story/future on the performance of virtual teams are stated. The paper concludes with recommendations and a set of techniques to build both cognitive and affective trust in virtual teams.

Critical Issues in the Development of Health Information Systems in Supporting Environmental Health: A Case Study of Ciguatera

PubMed Central

Goater, Sarah; Derne, Bonnie; Weinstein, Philip

2011-01-01

Background Emerging environmental pressures resulting from climate change and globalization challenge the capacity of health information systems (HIS) in the Pacific to inform future policy and public health interventions. Ciguatera, a globally common marine food-borne illness, is used here to illustrate specific HIS challenges in the Pacific and how these might be overcome proactively to meet the changing surveillance needs resulting from environmental change. Objectives We review and highlight inefficiencies in the reactive nature of existing HIS in the Pacific to collect, collate, and communicate ciguatera fish poisoning data currently used to inform public health intervention. Further, we review the capacity of existing HIS to respond to new data needs associated with shifts in ciguatera disease burden likely to result from coral reef habitat disruption. Discussion Improved knowledge on the ecological drivers of ciguatera prevalence at local and regional levels is needed, combined with enhanced surveillance techniques and data management systems, to capture environmental drivers as well as health outcomes data. Conclusions The capacity of public HIS to detect and prevent future outbreaks is largely dependent on the future development of governance strategies that promote proactive surveillance and health action. Accordingly, we present an innovative framework from which to stimulate scientific debate on how this might be achieved by using existing larger scale data sets and multidisciplinary collaborations. PMID:21163721

Critical issues in the development of health information systems in supporting environmental health: a case study of ciguatera.

PubMed

Goater, Sarah; Derne, Bonnie; Weinstein, Philip

2011-05-01

Emerging environmental pressures resulting from climate change and globalization challenge the capacity of health information systems (HIS) in the Pacific to inform future policy and public health interventions. Ciguatera, a globally common marine food-borne illness, is used here to illustrate specific HIS challenges in the Pacific and how these might be overcome proactively to meet the changing surveillance needs resulting from environmental change. We review and highlight inefficiencies in the reactive nature of existing HIS in the Pacific to collect, collate, and communicate ciguatera fish poisoning data currently used to inform public health intervention. Further, we review the capacity of existing HIS to respond to new data needs associated with shifts in ciguatera disease burden likely to result from coral reef habitat disruption. Improved knowledge on the ecological drivers of ciguatera prevalence at local and regional levels is needed, combined with enhanced surveillance techniques and data management systems, to capture environmental drivers as well as health outcomes data. The capacity of public HIS to detect and prevent future outbreaks is largely dependent on the future development of governance strategies that promote proactive surveillance and health action. Accordingly, we present an innovative framework from which to stimulate scientific debate on how this might be achieved by using existing larger scale data sets and multidisciplinary collaborations.

Visualizing Alternative Phosphorus Scenarios for Future Food Security

PubMed Central

Neset, Tina-Simone; Cordell, Dana; Mohr, Steve; VanRiper, Froggi; White, Stuart

2016-01-01

The impact of global phosphorus scarcity on food security has increasingly been the focus of scientific studies over the past decade. However, systematic analyses of alternative futures for phosphorus supply and demand throughout the food system are still rare and provide limited inclusion of key stakeholders. Addressing global phosphorus scarcity requires an integrated approach exploring potential demand reduction as well as recycling opportunities. This implies recovering phosphorus from multiple sources, such as food waste, manure, and excreta, as well as exploring novel opportunities to reduce the long-term demand for phosphorus in food production such as changing diets. Presently, there is a lack of stakeholder and scientific consensus around priority measures. To therefore enable exploration of multiple pathways and facilitate a stakeholder dialog on the technical, behavioral, and institutional changes required to meet long-term future phosphorus demand, this paper introduces an interactive web-based tool, designed for visualizing global phosphorus scenarios in real time. The interactive global phosphorus scenario tool builds on several demand and supply side measures that can be selected and manipulated interactively by the user. It provides a platform to facilitate stakeholder dialog to plan for a soft landing and identify a suite of concrete priority options, such as investing in agricultural phosphorus use efficiency, or renewable fertilizers derived from phosphorus recovered from wastewater and food waste, to determine how phosphorus demand to meet future food security could be attained on a global scale in 2040 and 2070. This paper presents four example scenarios, including (1) the potential of full recovery of human excreta, (2) the challenge of a potential increase in non-food phosphorus demand, (3) the potential of decreased animal product consumption, and (4) the potential decrease in phosphorus demand from increased efficiency and yield gains in crop and livestock systems. PMID:27840814

Visualizing Alternative Phosphorus Scenarios for Future Food Security.

PubMed

Neset, Tina-Simone; Cordell, Dana; Mohr, Steve; VanRiper, Froggi; White, Stuart

2016-01-01

The impact of global phosphorus scarcity on food security has increasingly been the focus of scientific studies over the past decade. However, systematic analyses of alternative futures for phosphorus supply and demand throughout the food system are still rare and provide limited inclusion of key stakeholders. Addressing global phosphorus scarcity requires an integrated approach exploring potential demand reduction as well as recycling opportunities. This implies recovering phosphorus from multiple sources, such as food waste, manure, and excreta, as well as exploring novel opportunities to reduce the long-term demand for phosphorus in food production such as changing diets. Presently, there is a lack of stakeholder and scientific consensus around priority measures. To therefore enable exploration of multiple pathways and facilitate a stakeholder dialog on the technical, behavioral, and institutional changes required to meet long-term future phosphorus demand, this paper introduces an interactive web-based tool, designed for visualizing global phosphorus scenarios in real time. The interactive global phosphorus scenario tool builds on several demand and supply side measures that can be selected and manipulated interactively by the user. It provides a platform to facilitate stakeholder dialog to plan for a soft landing and identify a suite of concrete priority options, such as investing in agricultural phosphorus use efficiency, or renewable fertilizers derived from phosphorus recovered from wastewater and food waste, to determine how phosphorus demand to meet future food security could be attained on a global scale in 2040 and 2070. This paper presents four example scenarios, including (1) the potential of full recovery of human excreta, (2) the challenge of a potential increase in non-food phosphorus demand, (3) the potential of decreased animal product consumption, and (4) the potential decrease in phosphorus demand from increased efficiency and yield gains in crop and livestock systems.

Estimating current and future global urban domestic material consumption

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baynes, Timothy Malcolm; Kaviti Musango, Josephine

2018-06-01

Urban material resource requirements are significant at the global level and these are expected to expand with future urban population growth. However, there are no global scale studies on the future material consumption of urban areas. This paper provides estimates of global urban domestic material consumption (DMC) in 2050 using three approaches based on: current gross statistics; a regression model; and a transition theoretic logistic model. All methods use UN urban population projections and assume a simple ‘business-as-usual’ scenario wherein historical aggregate trends in income and material flow continue into the future. A collation of data for 152 cities provided a year 2000 world average DMC/capita estimate, 12 tons/person/year (±22%), which we combined with UN population projections to produce a first-order estimation of urban DMC at 2050 of ~73 billion tons/year (±22%). Urban DMC/capita was found to be significantly correlated (R 2 > 0.9) to urban GDP/capita and area per person through a power law relation used to obtain a second estimate of 106 billion tons (±33%) in 2050. The inelastic exponent of the power law indicates a global tendency for relative decoupling of direct urban material consumption with increasing income. These estimates are global and influenced by the current proportion of developed-world cities in the global population of cities (and in our sample data). A third method employed a logistic model of transitions in urban DMC/capita with regional resolution. This method estimated global urban DMC to rise from approximately 40 billion tons/year in 2010 to ~90 billion tons/year in 2050 (modelled range: 66–111 billion tons/year). DMC/capita across different regions was estimated to converge from a range of 5–27 tons/person/year in the year 2000 to around 8–17 tons/person/year in 2050. The urban population does not increase proportionally during this period and thus the global average DMC/capita increases from ~12 to ~14 tons/person/year, challenging resource decoupling targets.

Intentions of Young Farmers Club (YFC) Members to Pursue Career Preparation in Agriculture: The Case of Uganda

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mukembo, Stephen C.; Edwards, M. Craig; Ramsey, Jon W.; Henneberry, Shida R.

2015-01-01

The decline of youth engagement in agriculture worldwide amidst an increasing global population remains a big challenge to ensuring food security for future generations. This phenomenon is worsened by the shortage of professional female agriculturists, though they comprise about 60% to 80% of the traditional workforce in the agriculture sector of…

Overcoming the Challenges of Globalization: Community Colleges and the South's Economic Future.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Allen, Ed.

2000-01-01

This newsletter offers the text of an address by David L. Dodson, President of MDC, Inc., to the presidents and officers of the Southern Association of Community, Junior, and Technical Colleges (SACTJC) on December 6, 1999 in Atlanta, Georgia. The talk focuses on MDC's fall 2000 report, the "State of the South." Research for the report…

A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Academies Press, 2012

2012-01-01

Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S.…

Dialogic Action in Climate Change Discussions: An International Study of High School Students in China, New Zealand, Norway and the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arya, Diana J.; Parker, Jessica K.

2015-01-01

Global efforts to prepare young developing minds for solving current and future challenges of climate change have advocated interdisciplinary, issues-based instructional approaches in order to transform traditional models of science education as delivering conceptual facts (UNESCO, 2014). This study is an exploration of the online interactions in…

The Evolution of Art and Design Pedagogies in England: Influences of the Past, Challenges for the Future

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Souleles, Nicos

2013-01-01

This article traces the historical evolution of instructional methods in art and design education in Britain to identify the influences that inform current practices and compare the latter against recent debates on what are design education and designer in the context of the global economy and the widespread use of information and communication…

Clinical ethics revisited

PubMed Central

Singer, Peter A; Pellegrino, Edmund D; Siegler, Mark

2001-01-01

A decade ago, we reviewed the field of clinical ethics; assessed its progress in research, education, and ethics committees and consultation; and made predictions about the future of the field. In this article, we revisit clinical ethics to examine our earlier observations, highlight key developments, and discuss remaining challenges for clinical ethics, including the need to develop a global perspective on clinical ethics problems. PMID:11346456

Exploring the Role of Future Perspective in Predicting Turkish University Students' Beliefs about Global Climate Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ates, Deniz; Teksöz, Gaye; Ertepinar, Hamide

2017-01-01

Recent studies indicate that limited understanding about causes and its potential impacts of climate change and fault beliefs by people across different countries of the world including Turkey is a real challenge. Acceptance of climate change as a real threat, believing its existence, and knowing causes and consequences are very significant for…

Soviet Military Power

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-09-01

land-based KIROV, the USSR’s first nucler - powered surface warship, symbolizes the increasing strength of the Soviet Armed Forces and the Increasing...53 VI QUEST FOR TECHNOLOGICAL SUPERIORITY ............ 7 VII SOVIET GLOBAL POWER PROJECTION...................83 VIII THE CHALLENGE...military power at a pace that shows no signs of slackening in the future. All elements of the Soviet Armed Forces -the Strategic Rocket Forces, the

Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development. 2010/11-2012/13 Service Plan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development, 2010

2010-01-01

British Columbia is facing challenging economic times. Indeed, the province is managing the effects of an economic recession that has been truly global in nature. In times like these, it becomes even more important to draw on the core strengths of the province and clearly recognize that the opportunities for everyone's future lie in the innovative…

Workforce Development: Building Statewide Systems. Issue Paper No. 2. Investing in People Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarthy, Karin; Lashman, Rebekah

This report is the product of a project called Investing in People, in which the National Conference of Legislatures and Jobs for the Future helped five states as they tried to develop and implement work force preparation and training strategies to meet the challenge of a competitive global economy. The report is organized in six sections. The…

A transdisciplinary approach to the initial validation of a single cell protein as an alternative protein source for use in aquafeeds

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The human population is growing and, globally, we must meet the challenge of increased protein needs required to feed this population. Single cell proteins (SCP), when coupled to aquaculture production, offers a means to ensure future protein needs can be met without direct competition with food for...

India's biophysical economy, 1961–2008. Sustainability in a national and global context

PubMed Central

Singh, Simron Jit; Krausmann, Fridolin; Gingrich, Simone; Haberl, Helmut; Erb, Karl-Heinz; Lanz, Peter; Martinez-Alier, Joan; Temper, Leah

2012-01-01

India's economic growth in the last decade has raised several concerns in terms of its present and future resource demands for materials and energy. While per capita resource consumption is still extremely modest but on the rise, its sheer population qualifies India as a fast growing giant with material and energy throughput that is growing rapidly . If such national and local trends continue, the challenges for regional, national as well as global sustainability are immense in terms of future resource availability, social conflicts, pressure on land and ecosystems and atmospheric emissions. Using the concepts of social metabolism and material flow analysis, this paper presents an original study quantifying resource use trajectories for India from 1961 up to 2008. We argue for India's need to grow in order to be able to provide a reasonable material standard of living for its vast population. To this end, the challenge is in avoiding the precarious path so far followed by industrialised countries in Europe and Asia, but to opt for a regime shift towards sustainability in terms of resource use by building on a host of promising examples and taking opportunities of existing niches to make India a trendsetter. PMID:23565033

Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity.

PubMed

Bellard, Céline; Bertelsmeier, Cleo; Leadley, Paul; Thuiller, Wilfried; Courchamp, Franck

2012-04-01

Many studies in recent years have investigated the effects of climate change on the future of biodiversity. In this review, we first examine the different possible effects of climate change that can operate at individual, population, species, community, ecosystem and biome scales, notably showing that species can respond to climate change challenges by shifting their climatic niche along three non-exclusive axes: time (e.g. phenology), space (e.g. range) and self (e.g. physiology). Then, we present the principal specificities and caveats of the most common approaches used to estimate future biodiversity at global and sub-continental scales and we synthesise their results. Finally, we highlight several challenges for future research both in theoretical and applied realms. Overall, our review shows that current estimates are very variable, depending on the method, taxonomic group, biodiversity loss metrics, spatial scales and time periods considered. Yet, the majority of models indicate alarming consequences for biodiversity, with the worst-case scenarios leading to extinction rates that would qualify as the sixth mass extinction in the history of the earth. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.

Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity

PubMed Central

Leadley, Paul; Thuiller, Wilfried; Courchamp, Franck

2013-01-01

Many studies in recent years have investigated the effects of climate change on the future of biodiversity. In this review, we first examine the different possible effects of climate change that can operate at individual, population, species, community, ecosystem and biome scales, notably showing that species can respond to climate change challenges by shifting their climatic niche along three non-exclusive axes: time (e.g., phenology), space (e.g., range) and self (e.g., physiology). Then, we present the principal specificities and caveats of the most common approaches used to estimate future biodiversity at global and sub-continental scales and we synthesize their results. Finally, we highlight several challenges for future research both in theoretical and applied realms. Overall, our review shows that current estimates are very variable, depending on the method, taxonomic group, biodiversity loss metrics, spatial scales and time periods considered. Yet, the majority of models indicate alarming consequences for biodiversity, with the worst-case scenarios leading to extinction rates that would qualify as the sixth mass extinction in the history of the earth. PMID:22257223

Learning from catchments to understand hydrological drought (HS Division Outstanding ECS Award Lecture)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Van Loon, Anne

2017-04-01

Drought is a global challenge. To be able to manage drought effectively on global or national scales without losing smaller scale variability and local context, we need to understand what the important hydrological drought processes are at different scales. Global scale models and satellite data are providing a global overview and catchment scale studies provide detailed site-specific information. I am interested in bridging these two scale levels by learning from catchments from around the world. Much information from local case studies is currently underused on larger scales because there is too much complexity. However, some of this complexity might be crucial on the level where people are facing the consequences of drought. In this talk, I will take you on a journey around the world to unlock catchment scale information and see if the comparison of many catchments gives us additional understanding of hydrological drought processes on the global scale. I will focus on the role of storage in different compartments of the terrestrial hydrological cycle, and how we as humans interact with that storage. I will discuss aspects of spatial and temporal variability in storage that are crucial for hydrological drought development and persistence, drawing from examples of catchments with storage in groundwater, lakes and wetlands, and snow and ice. The added complexity of human activities shifts the focus from natural to catchments with anthropogenic increases in storage (reservoirs), decreases in storage (groundwater abstraction), and changes in hydrological processes (urbanisation). We learn how local information is providing valuable insights, in some cases challenging theoretical understanding or model outcomes. Despite the challenges of working across countries, with a high number of collaborators, in a multitude of languages, under data-scarce conditions, the scientific advantages of bridging scales are substantial. The comparison of catchments around the world can inform global scale models, give the needed spatial variability to satellite data, and help us make steps in understanding and managing the complex challenge of drought, now and in the future.

2010 Panel on the Biomaterials Grand Challenges

PubMed Central

Reichert, William “Monty”; Ratner, Buddy D.; Anderson, James; Coury, Art; Hoffman, Allan S.; Laurencin, Cato T.; Tirrell, David

2014-01-01

In 2009, the National Academy for Engineering issued the Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century comprised of 14 technical challenges that must be addressed to build a healthy, profitable, sustainable, and secure global community (http://www.engineeringchallenges.org). Although crucial, none of the NEA Grand Challenges adequately addressed the challenges that face the biomaterials community. In response to the NAE Grand Challenges, Monty Reichert of Duke University organized a panel entitled Grand Challenges in Biomaterials at the at the 2010 Society for Biomaterials Annual Meeting in Seattle. Six members of the National Academies—Buddy Ratner, James Anderson, Allan Hoffman, Art Coury, Cato Laurencin, and David Tirrell—were asked to propose a grand challenge to the audience that, if met, would significantly impact the future of biomaterials and medical devices. Successfully meeting these challenges will speed the 60-plus year transition from commodity, off-the-shelf biomaterials to bioengineered chemistries, and biomaterial devices that will significantly advance our ability to address patient needs and also to create new market opportunities. PMID:21171147

The evolution of global disaster risk assessments: from hazard to global change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peduzzi, Pascal

2013-04-01

The perception of disaster risk as a dynamic process interlinked with global change is a fairly recent concept. It gradually emerged as an evolution from new scientific theories, currents of thinking and lessons learned from large disasters since the 1970s. The interest was further heighten, in the mid-1980s, by the Chernobyl nuclear accident and the discovery of the ozone layer hole, both bringing awareness that dangerous hazards can generate global impacts. The creation of the UN International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) and the publication of the first IPCC report in 1990 reinforced the interest for global risk assessment. First global risk models including hazard, exposure and vulnerability components were available since mid-2000s. Since then increased computation power and more refined datasets resolution, led to more numerous and sophisticated global risk models. This article presents a recent history of global disaster risk models, the current status of researches for the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR 2013) and future challenges and limitations for the development of next generation global disaster risk models.

Lake Winnipeg Basin: Advocacy, challenges and progress for sustainable phosphorus and eutrophication control.

PubMed

Ulrich, Andrea E; Malley, Diane F; Watts, Paul D

2016-01-15

Intensification of agricultural production worldwide has altered cycles of phosphorus (P) and water. In particular, loading of P on land in fertilizer applications is a global water quality concern. The Lake Winnipeg Basin (LWB) is a major agricultural area displaying extreme eutrophication. We examined the eutrophication problem in the context of the reemerging global concern about future accessibility of phosphate rock for fertilizer production and sustainable phosphorus management. An exploratory action research participatory design was applied to study options for proactivity within the LWB. The multiple methods, including stakeholder interviews and surveys, demonstrate emerging synergies between the goals of reversing eutrophication and promoting food security. Furthermore, shifting the prevalent pollutant-driven eutrophication management paradigm in the basin toward a systemic, holistic and ecocentric approach, integrating global resource challenges, requires a mutual learning process among stakeholders in the basin to act on and adapt to ecosystem vulnerabilities. It is suggested to continue aspects of this research in a transdisciplinary format, i.e., science with society, in response to globally-expanding needs and concerns, with a possible focus on enhanced engagement of indigenous peoples and elders. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Honing the Priorities and Making the Investment Case for Global Health.

PubMed

Mundel, Trevor

2016-03-01

In the aftermath of the Ebola crisis, the global health community has a unique opportunity to reflect on the lessons learned and apply them to prepare the world for the next crisis. Part of that preparation will entail knowing, with greater precision, what the scale and scope of our specific global health challenges are and what resources are needed to address them. However, how can we know the magnitude of the challenge, and what resources are needed without knowing the current status of the world through accurate primary data? Once we know the current status, how can we decide on an intervention today with a predicted impact decades out if we cannot project into that future? Making a case for more investments will require not just better data generation and sharing but a whole new level of sophistication in our analytical capability--a fundamental shift in our thinking to set expectations to match the reality. In this current status of a distributed world, being transparent with our assumptions and specific with the case for investing in global health is a powerful approach to finding solutions to the problems that have plagued us for centuries.

Global Mental Health: From Science to Action

PubMed Central

Patel, Vikram

2012-01-01

This article charts the historical development of the discipline of global mental health, whose goal is to improve access to mental health care and reduce inequalities in mental health outcomes between and within nations. The article begins with an overview of the contribution of four scientific foundations toward the discipline's core agenda: to scale up services for people with mental disorders and to promote their human rights. Next, the article highlights four recent, key events that are indicative of the actions shaping the discipline: the Mental Health Gap Action Programme to synthesize evidence on what treatments are effective for a range of mental disorders; the evidence on task shifting to nonspecialist health workers to deliver these treatments; the Movement for Global Mental Health's efforts to build a common platform for professionals and civil society to advocate for their shared goal; and the Grand Challenges in Global Mental Health, which has identified the research priorities that, within the next decade, can lead to substantial improvements in the lives of people living with mental disorders. The article ends by examining the major challenges for the field, and the opportunities for addressing them in the future. (harv rev psychiatry 2012;20:6–12.) PMID:22335178

Shared Socio-Economic Pathways of the Energy Sector – Quantifying the Narratives

DOE PAGES

Bauer, Nico; Calvin, Katherine; Emmerling, Johannes; ...

2016-08-23

Energy is crucial for supporting basic human needs, development and well-being. The future evolution of the scale and character of the energy system will be fundamentally shaped by socioeconomic conditions and drivers, available energy resources, technologies of energy supply and transformation, and end-use energy demand. However, because energy-related activities are significant sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and other environmental and social externalities, energy system development will also be influenced by social acceptance and strategic policy choices. All of these uncertainties have important implications for many aspects of economic and environmental sustainability, and climate change in particular. In the Shared-Socioeconomicmore » Pathway (SSP) framework these uncertainties are structured into five narratives, arranged according to the challenges to climate change mitigation and adaptation. In this study we explore future energy sector developments across the five SSPs using Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs), and we also provide summary output and analysis for selected scenarios of global emissions mitigation policies. The mitigation challenge strongly corresponds with global baseline energy sector growth over the 21st century, which varies between 40% and 230% depending on final energy consumer behavior, technological improvements, resource availability and policies. The future baseline CO 2-emission range is even larger, as the most energy-intensive SSP also incorporates a comparatively high share of carbon-intensive fossil fuels, and vice versa. Inter-regional disparities in the SSPs are consistent with the underlying socioeconomic assumptions; these differences are particularly strong in the SSPs with large adaptation challenges, which have little inter-regional convergence in long-term income and final energy demand levels. The scenarios presented do not include feedbacks of climate change on energy sector development. The energy sector SSPs with and without emissions mitigation policies are introduced and analyzed here in order to contribute to future research in climate sciences, mitigation analysis, and studies on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability.« less

Necessary conditions for the globalization of traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Yu, Bei-Bei; Gong, Xiu-Lin

2011-03-01

With the current trend of globalization, unprecedented opportunities and enormous changes have emerged for the global development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, many old and new challenges and problems still remain, including partial or limited comprehension of acupuncture, oriental medicine and TCM, the existence of non-standardized institutes of TCM and acupuncture training schools, unqualified TCM practitioners, and problems concerning Chinese herbal medicine and inexperience in conducting TCM business. These problems will doubtlessly impede the further development of TCM worldwide in the foreseeable future. It is also clear that the globalization of TCM will require a large scale systematic project and constitute an arduous historical task. This paper aims to consolidate 6 strategic development modes to reinforce and facilitate the process of TCM globalization through a detailed analysis of both the present status and existing problems concerning the development of TCM in the United States.

Forecasted coral reef decline in marine biodiversity hotspots under climate change.

PubMed

Descombes, Patrice; Wisz, Mary S; Leprieur, Fabien; Parravicini, Valerianio; Heine, Christian; Olsen, Steffen M; Swingedouw, Didier; Kulbicki, Michel; Mouillot, David; Pellissier, Loïc

2015-01-21

Coral bleaching events threaten coral reef habitats globally and cause severe declines of local biodiversity and productivity. Related to high sea surface temperatures (SST), bleaching events are expected to increase as a consequence of future global warming. However, response to climate change is still uncertain as future low-latitude climatic conditions have no present-day analogue. Sea surface temperatures during the Eocene epoch were warmer than forecasted changes for the coming century, and distributions of corals during the Eocene may help to inform models forecasting the future of coral reefs. We coupled contemporary and Eocene coral occurrences with information on their respective climatic conditions to model the thermal niche of coral reefs and its potential response to projected climate change. We found that under the RCP8.5 climate change scenario, the global suitability for coral reefs may increase up to 16% by 2100, mostly due to improved suitability of higher latitudes. In contrast, in its current range, coral reef suitability may decrease up to 46% by 2100. Reduction in thermal suitability will be most severe in biodiversity hotspots, especially in the Indo-Australian Archipelago. Our results suggest that many contemporary hotspots for coral reefs, including those that have been refugia in the past, spatially mismatch with future suitable areas for coral reefs posing challenges to conservation actions under climate change. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Model-data integration to improve the LPJmL dynamic global vegetation model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forkel, Matthias; Thonicke, Kirsten; Schaphoff, Sibyll; Thurner, Martin; von Bloh, Werner; Dorigo, Wouter; Carvalhais, Nuno

2017-04-01

Dynamic global vegetation models show large uncertainties regarding the development of the land carbon balance under future climate change conditions. This uncertainty is partly caused by differences in how vegetation carbon turnover is represented in global vegetation models. Model-data integration approaches might help to systematically assess and improve model performances and thus to potentially reduce the uncertainty in terrestrial vegetation responses under future climate change. Here we present several applications of model-data integration with the LPJmL (Lund-Potsdam-Jena managed Lands) dynamic global vegetation model to systematically improve the representation of processes or to estimate model parameters. In a first application, we used global satellite-derived datasets of FAPAR (fraction of absorbed photosynthetic activity), albedo and gross primary production to estimate phenology- and productivity-related model parameters using a genetic optimization algorithm. Thereby we identified major limitations of the phenology module and implemented an alternative empirical phenology model. The new phenology module and optimized model parameters resulted in a better performance of LPJmL in representing global spatial patterns of biomass, tree cover, and the temporal dynamic of atmospheric CO2. Therefore, we used in a second application additionally global datasets of biomass and land cover to estimate model parameters that control vegetation establishment and mortality. The results demonstrate the ability to improve simulations of vegetation dynamics but also highlight the need to improve the representation of mortality processes in dynamic global vegetation models. In a third application, we used multiple site-level observations of ecosystem carbon and water exchange, biomass and soil organic carbon to jointly estimate various model parameters that control ecosystem dynamics. This exercise demonstrates the strong role of individual data streams on the simulated ecosystem dynamics which consequently changed the development of ecosystem carbon stocks and fluxes under future climate and CO2 change. In summary, our results demonstrate challenges and the potential of using model-data integration approaches to improve a dynamic global vegetation model.

Climate Change and Tropical Total Lightning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Albrecht, R.; Petersen, W.; Buechler, D.; Goodman, S.; Blakeslee, R.; Christian, H.

2009-01-01

While global warming is regarded as a fact by many in the scientific community, its future impact remains a challenge to be determined and measured. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report (IPCC, 2007) shows inconclusive answers on global rainfall trends and general agreement on a future drier climate with increased global warming. The relationship between temperature, humidity and convection is not linear and is strongly dependent on regional scale features, such as topography and land cover. Furthermore, the relationship between convective lightning production (thunderstorms) and temperature is even more complicated, being subjected to the cloud dynamics and microphysics. Total lightning (intracloud and cloud-to-ground) monitoring is a relatively new field of observation. Global and tropical total lightning began to be more extensively measured by satellites in the mid 90s. In this scope, the Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) onboard of the Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) has been operational for over 11 years. Here we address total lightning trends observed by LIS from 1998 to 2008 in different temporal (annual and seasonal) and spatial (large and regional) scales. The observed 11-year trends are then associate to different predicted/hypothesized climate change scenarios.

Global health and justice: re-examining our values.

PubMed

Benatar, Solomon R

2013-07-01

Widening disparities in health within and between nations reflect a trajectory of 'progress' that has 'run its course' and needs to be significantly modified if progress is to be sustainable. Values and a value system that have enabled progress are now being distorted to the point where they undermine the future of global health by generating multiple crises that perpetuate injustice. Reliance on philanthropy for rectification, while necessary in the short and medium terms, is insufficient to address the challenge of economic and other systems spinning out of control. Innovative approaches are required and it is suggested that these could best emerge from in-depth multidisciplinary research supported by endeavours to promote a 'global mind-set.' © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A Flexible Socioeconomic Scenarios Framework for the Study of Plausible Arctic Futures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reissell, A. K.; Peters, G. P.; Riahi, K.; Kroglund, M.; Lovecraft, A. L.; Nilsson, A. E.; Preston, B. L.; van Ruijven, B. J.

2016-12-01

Future developments of the Arctic region are associated with different drivers of change - climate, environmental, and socio-economic - and their interactions, and are highly uncertain. The uncertainty poses challenges for decision-making, calling for development of new analytical frameworks. Scenarios - coherent narratives describing potential futures, pathways to futures, and drivers of change along the way - can be used to explore the consequences of the key uncertainties, particularly in the long-term. In a participatory scenarios workshop, we used both top-down and bottom-up approaches for the development of a flexible socioeconomic scenarios framework. The top-down approach was linked to the global Integrated Assessment Modeling framework and its Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSPs), developing an Arctic extension of the set of five storylines on the main socioeconomic uncertainties in global climate change research. The bottom-up approach included participatory development of narratives originating from within the Arctic region. For extension of global SSPs to the regional level, we compared the key elements in the global SSPs (Population, Human Development, Economy & Lifestyle, Policies & Institutions, Technology, and Environment & Natural Resources) and key elements in the Arctic. Additional key elements for the Arctic scenarios include, for example, seasonal migration, the large role of traditional knowledge and culture, mixed economy, nested governance structure, human and environmental security, quality of infrastructure. The bottom-up derived results suggested that the scenarios developed independent of the SSPs could be mapped back to the SSPs to demonstrate consistency with respect to representing similar boundary conditions. The two approaches are complimentary, as the top-down approach can be used to set the global socio-economic and climate boundary conditions, and the bottom-up approach providing the regional context. One key uncertainty and driving force is the demand for resources (global or regional) that was mapped against the role of governance as well as adaptive and transformative capacity among actors within the Arctic. Resources demand has significant influence on the society, culture, economy and environment of the Arctic.

A Bibliometric Assessment of Global Ice Bucket Challenge (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) Research.

PubMed

Ram, Shri

2016-10-01

This study is a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the global research trends on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (popularly known as Ice Bucket Challenge), through related literatures retrieved from SCOPUS multidisciplinary database for the period 1974-2013. This study is aimed at analyzing the literature on ALS in terms of document type, language, annual growth, productive country, journal, authors, subject, and most cited articles. The bibliographic data for this study was retrieved from the SCOPUS database using keywords 'amyotrophic lateral sclerosis', 'motor neurone disease', 'Charcot disease', 'Lou Gehrig's disease', 'Ice Bucket Challenge' available in title, abstract, and keyword fields of Scopus database from 1974 to 2013. The literature analysis included 21,750 articles during the period from 1974 to 2013 in different areas of ALS. USA was the most productive country in terms of literature produced, while Neurology was the most productive journal. An intensive awareness created by 'Ice Bucket Challenge' has attracted masses, and an intensive growth of literature is pertinent on ALS. The results of this study are expressed in terms of growth of literature, output of individual countries, and authors, and will be helpful in collaborative research in future.

Exploring Local Approaches to Communicating Global Climate Change Information

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stevermer, A. J.

2002-12-01

Expected future climate changes are often presented as a global problem, requiring a global solution. Although this statement is accurate, communicating climate change science and prospective solutions must begin at local levels, each with its own subset of complexities to be addressed. Scientific evaluation of local changes can be complicated by large variability occurring over small spatial scales; this variability hinders efforts both to analyze past local changes and to project future ones. The situation is further encumbered by challenges associated with scientific literacy in the U.S., as well as by pressing economic difficulties. For people facing real-life financial and other uncertainties, a projected ``1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius'' rise in global temperature is likely to remain only an abstract concept. Despite this lack of concreteness, recent surveys have found that most U.S. residents believe current global warming science, and an even greater number view the prospect of increased warming as at least a ``somewhat serious'' problem. People will often be able to speak of long-term climate changes in their area, whether observed changes in the amount of snow cover in winter, or in the duration of extreme heat periods in summer. This work will explore the benefits and difficulties of communicating climate change from a local, rather than global, perspective, and seek out possible strategies for making less abstract, more concrete, and most importantly, more understandable information available to the public.

Review: New Vaccine Against Tuberculosis: Current Developments and Future Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jun

2009-04-01

Tuberculosis (TB) continues to be a global health threat. BCG was developed as an attenuated live vaccine for tuberculosis control nearly a century ago. Despite being the most widely used vaccine in human history, BCG is not an ideal vaccine and has two major limitations: its poor efficacy against adult pulmonary TB and its disconcerting safety in immunocompromised individuals. A safer and more effective TB vaccine is urgently needed. This review article discusses current strategies to develop the next generation of TB vaccines to replace BCG. While some progresses have been made in the past decade, significant challenges lie ahead.

Global Change Data Center: Mission, Organization, Major Activities, and 2003 Highlights

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2004-01-01

Rapid, efficient access to Earth sciences data from satellites and ground validation stations is fundamental to the nation's efforts to understand the effects of global environmental changes and their implications for public policy. It becomes a bigger challenge in the future when data volumes increase from current levels to terabytes per day. Demands on data storage, data access, network throughput, processing power, and database and information management are increased by orders of magnitude, while budgets remain constant and even shrink.The Global Change Data Center's (GCDC) mission is to develop and operate data systems, generate science products, and provide archival and distribution services for Earth science data in support of the U.S. Global Change Program and NASA's Earth Sciences Enterprise. The ultimate product of the GCDC activities is access to data to support research, education, and public policy.

Global value chains and agrifood standards: Challenges and possibilities for smallholders in developing countries

PubMed Central

Lee, Joonkoo; Gereffi, Gary; Beauvais, Janet

2012-01-01

The rise of private food standards has brought forth an ongoing debate about whether they work as a barrier for smallholders and hinder poverty reduction in developing countries. This paper uses a global value chain approach to explain the relationship between value chain structure and agrifood safety and quality standards and to discuss the challenges and possibilities this entails for the upgrading of smallholders. It maps four potential value chain scenarios depending on the degree of concentration in the markets for agrifood supply (farmers and manufacturers) and demand (supermarkets and other food retailers) and discusses the impact of lead firms and key intermediaries on smallholders in different chain situations. Each scenario is illustrated with case examples. Theoretical and policy issues are discussed, along with proposals for future research in terms of industry structure, private governance, and sustainable value chains. PMID:21149723

Evaluation of historical land cover, land use, and land-use change emissions in the GCAM integrated assessment model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Calvin, K. V.; Wise, M.; Kyle, P.; Janetos, A. C.; Zhou, Y.

2012-12-01

Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) are often used as science-based decision-support tools for evaluating the consequences of climate and energy policies, and their use in this framework is likely to increase in the future. However, quantitative evaluation of these models has been somewhat limited for a variety of reasons, including data availability, data quality, and the inherent challenges in projections of societal values and decision-making. In this analysis, we identify and confront methodological challenges involved in evaluating the agriculture and land use component of the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM). GCAM is a global integrated assessment model, linking submodules of the regionally disaggregated global economy, energy system, agriculture and land-use, terrestrial carbon cycle, oceans and climate. GCAM simulates supply, demand, and prices for energy and agricultural goods from 2005 to 2100 in 5-year increments. In each time period, the model computes the allocation of land across a variety of land cover types in 151 different regions, assuming that farmers maximize profits and that food demand is relatively inelastic. GCAM then calculates both emissions from land-use practices, and long-term changes in carbon stocks in different land uses, thus providing simulation information that can be compared to observed historical data. In this work, we compare GCAM results, both in recent historic and future time periods, to historical data sets. We focus on land use, land cover, land-use change emissions, and albedo.

Wilderness science in a time of change conference-Volume 1: Changing perspectives and future directions; 1999 May 23-27; Missoula, MT

Treesearch

David N. Cole; Stephen F. McCool; Wayne A. Freimund; Jennifer O' Loughlin

2000-01-01

Ten papers presented as plenary talks at the conference, "Wilderness Science in a Time of Change," are included. Topics include: the influence of global change on wilderness and its management; contemporary criticisms and celebrations of the wilderness idea; the capacity of science to meet the challenges and opportunities wilderness presents; wilderness in...

The Global Possible: Resources, Development, and the New Century. The Statement and Action Agenda of an International Conference (Washington, D.C., May 2-5, 1984).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

World Resources Inst., Washington, DC.

The relationships between earth's resources and the human future and the challenges of maintaining a sustainable environment were probed at an international conference sponsored by the World Resources Institute. A synthesis of the conference's reports, perspectives, and plans for action are presented in this document. The position supported by the…

Network Requirements in Support of Army’s LandWarNet Transformation

DTIC Science & Technology

2011-02-15

To overcome the challenges of future requirements for information dominance , the Army must develop a strategy that ensures its organizations have access to global networks and required services throughout any area of operation. This research project analyzes the Army’s transformation of the LandWarNet in support of an expeditionary Army engaged in persistent conflict. The paper identifies how well

A review of operations research models in invasive species management: state of the art, challenges, and future directions

Treesearch

İ. Esra Büyüktahtakın; Robert G. Haight

2017-01-01

Invasive species are a major threat to the economy, the environment, health, and thus human well-being. The international community, including the United Nations' Global Invasive Species Program (GISP), National Invasive Species Council (NISC), and Center for Invasive Species Management (CISM), has called for a rapid control of invaders in order to minimize their...

From Early Child Development to Human Development: Investing in Our Children's Future. Proceedings of a World Bank Conference (Washington, D.C., April 10-11, 2000).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Mary Eming, Ed.

In April 2000, the World Bank hosted a global conference that addressed the benefits and challenges of investing in early child development (ECD). The landmark conference brought together the world's leading experts, academicians, practitioners, and policymakers to focus on various aspects of ECD. This volume contains the proceedings of the…

Teaching Sustainability through System Dynamics: Exploring Stocks and Flows Embedded in Dynamic Computer Models of an Agricultural Land Management System

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pallant, Amy; Lee, Hee-Sun

2017-01-01

During the past several decades, there has been a growing awareness of the ways humans affect Earth systems. As global problems emerge, educating the next generation of citizens to be able to make informed choices related to future outcomes is increasingly important. The challenge for educators is figuring out how to prepare students to think…

Applying the global RCP-SSP-SPA scenario framework at sub-national scale: A multi-scale and participatory scenario approach.

PubMed

Kebede, Abiy S; Nicholls, Robert J; Allan, Andrew; Arto, Iñaki; Cazcarro, Ignacio; Fernandes, Jose A; Hill, Chris T; Hutton, Craig W; Kay, Susan; Lázár, Attila N; Macadam, Ian; Palmer, Matthew; Suckall, Natalie; Tompkins, Emma L; Vincent, Katharine; Whitehead, Paul W

2018-09-01

To better anticipate potential impacts of climate change, diverse information about the future is required, including climate, society and economy, and adaptation and mitigation. To address this need, a global RCP (Representative Concentration Pathways), SSP (Shared Socio-economic Pathways), and SPA (Shared climate Policy Assumptions) (RCP-SSP-SPA) scenario framework has been developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC-AR5). Application of this full global framework at sub-national scales introduces two key challenges: added complexity in capturing the multiple dimensions of change, and issues of scale. Perhaps for this reason, there are few such applications of this new framework. Here, we present an integrated multi-scale hybrid scenario approach that combines both expert-based and participatory methods. The framework has been developed and applied within the DECCMA 1 project with the purpose of exploring migration and adaptation in three deltas across West Africa and South Asia: (i) the Volta delta (Ghana), (ii) the Mahanadi delta (India), and (iii) the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) delta (Bangladesh/India). Using a climate scenario that encompasses a wide range of impacts (RCP8.5) combined with three SSP-based socio-economic scenarios (SSP2, SSP3, SSP5), we generate highly divergent and challenging scenario contexts across multiple scales against which robustness of the human and natural systems within the deltas are tested. In addition, we consider four distinct adaptation policy trajectories: Minimum intervention, Economic capacity expansion, System efficiency enhancement, and System restructuring, which describe alternative future bundles of adaptation actions/measures under different socio-economic trajectories. The paper highlights the importance of multi-scale (combined top-down and bottom-up) and participatory (joint expert-stakeholder) scenario methods for addressing uncertainty in adaptation decision-making. The framework facilitates improved integrated assessments of the potential impacts and plausible adaptation policy choices (including migration) under uncertain future changing conditions. The concept, methods, and processes presented are transferable to other sub-national socio-ecological settings with multi-scale challenges. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Relating Climate and Enviornmental Stress to Conflict... or Cooperation?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kelley, C. P.

2016-12-01

There are many factors which contribute to social unrest, including governance, economy, access to resources and others. As global climate change progresses, many regions and nations, particularly those that are most vulnerable and least resilient, will face increasing challenges with respect to water and food scarcity. Increasing population and demand for water, combined with declining access to groundwater, will greatly increase exisiting vulnerability. Syria, Yemen and other countries serve as examples of nations that have experienced increasing both environmental stress and conflict. The Syria case in particular has had clear global repercussions, most notably contributing to a global refugee crisis. However, there are also examples of nations that have experienced increasing environmental stress that instead demonstrated transboundary water cooperation rather than conflict. An important and emerging body of work is that which seeks to better understand and characterize real-time resilience and vulnerability in order to better mitigate the consequences of future regional climate change. Prediction of potential conflict is a formidable challenge, one that is highly complex and multivariate, operating on many different temporal and spatial scales.

Cloud Feedbacks on Climate: A Challenging Scientific Problem

ScienceCinema

Norris, Joe

2017-12-22

One reason it has been difficult to develop suitable social and economic policies to address global climate change is that projected global warming during the coming century has a large uncertainty range. The primary physical cause of this large uncertainty range is lack of understanding of the magnitude and even sign of cloud feedbacks on the climate system. If Earth's cloudiness responded to global warming by reflecting more solar radiation back to space or allowing more terrestrial radiation to be emitted to space, this would mitigate the warming produced by increased anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Contrastingly, a cloud response that reduced solar reflection or terrestrial emission would exacerbate anthropogenic greenhouse warming. It is likely that a mixture of responses will occur depending on cloud type and meteorological regime, and at present, we do not know what the net effect will be. This presentation will explain why cloud feedbacks have been a challenging scientific problem from the perspective of theory, modeling, and observations. Recent research results on observed multidecadal cloud-atmosphere-ocean variability over the Pacific Ocean will also be shown, along with suggestions for future research.

Global Warming and Food Insecurity in Rural Latin America

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byrne, T. R.; Byrne, J. M.; McDaniel, S.

2012-12-01

Food insecurity is one of the most important challenges facing humanity in the 21st century - a challenge that will be further exacerbated by the changing climate. The effects of human induced climate change will be most disproportionate and severe in the developing world, where a stable food supply, decreased purchasing power, and adequate nutrition are often already a daily struggle. This study will build on work done by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), and will assess how vulnerability to household food insecurity will be affected by global warming in various rural parts of Latin America. Temperature data from downscaled Global Circulation Models (GCM) will be used in conjunction with the results of national household surveys to generate information on each rural farming household's probability of falling below a food poverty threshold in the near future. The results of the study will allow us to distinguish between households that are likely to experience chronic food insecurity and those that are likely to experience transitory food insecurity, permitting for improved targeting of policy responses.

World Health Organization perspectives on the contribution of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization on reducing child mortality.

PubMed

Bustreo, F; Okwo-Bele, J-M; Kamara, L

2015-02-01

Child mortality has decreased substantially globally-from 12.6 million in 1990 to 6.3 million in 2013-due, in large part to of governments' and organisations' work, to prevent pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria, the main causes of death in the postneonatal period. In 2012, the World Health Assembly adopted the Decade of Vaccines Global Vaccine Action Plan 2011-2020 as the current framework aimed at preventing millions of deaths through more equitable access to existing vaccines for people in all communities. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) plays a critical role in this effort by financing and facilitating delivery platforms for vaccines, with focused support for the achievements of improved vaccination coverage and acceleration of the uptake of WHO-recommended lifesaving new vaccines in 73 low-income countries. The GAVI Alliance has contributed substantially towards the progress of Millennium Development Goal 4 and to improving women's lives. By 2013, the GAVI Alliance had immunised 440 million additional children and averted six million future deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases in the world's poorest countries. The GAVI Alliance is on track to reducing child mortality to 68 per 1000 live births by 2015 in supported countries. This paper discusses the GAVI Alliance achievements related to Millennium Development Goal 4 and its broader contribution to improving women's lives and health systems, as well as challenges and obstacles it has faced. Additionally, it looks at challenges for the future and how it will continue its work related to reducing child mortality and improving women's health. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Some thoughts about future perspectives of water and wastewater management.

PubMed

Wilderer, P A

2004-01-01

The ideals of sustainability have a longer history than is sometimes realised, as they can be traced back to the insights of Von Carlowitz in 1713. However in the intervening centuries early successes in sanitation based on the "flushing sewer" led engineers to focus too much on sewerage-based solutions that are increasingly uneconomic and unequal to the challenges arising from population growth and urbanisation. The future strategy for globally sustainable sanitation will surely involve source separation and recycling and reuse: these are the technologies that environmental scientists and engineers should now be addressing.

The globalization of the nursing workforce: Pulling the pieces together.

PubMed

Jones, Cheryl B; Sherwood, Gwen D

2014-01-01

The "globalization" of health care creates an increasingly interconnected workforce spanning international boundaries, systems, structures, and processes to provide care to and improve the health of peoples around the world. Because nurses comprise a large sector of the global health workforce, they are called upon to provide a significant portion of nursing and health care and thus play an integral role in the global health care economy. To meet global health care needs, nurses often move within and among countries, creating challenges and opportunities for the profession, health care organizations, communities, and nations. Researchers, policy makers, and industry and academic leaders must, in turn, grapple with the impacts of globalization on the nursing and health care workforce. Through this special issue, several key areas for discussion are raised. Although far from exhaustive, our intent is to expand and stimulate intra- and interprofessional conversations raising awareness of the issues, uncover unanticipated consequences, and offer solutions for shaping the nursing and health care workforce of the future. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ethics for pandemics beyond influenza: Ebola, drug-resistant tuberculosis, and anticipating future ethical challenges in pandemic preparedness and response.

PubMed

Smith, Maxwell J; Silva, Diego S

2015-01-01

The unprecedented outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa has raised several novel ethical issues for global outbreak preparedness. It has also illustrated that familiar ethical issues in infectious disease management endure despite considerable efforts to understand and mitigate such issues in the wake of past outbreaks. To improve future global outbreak preparedness and response, we must examine these shortcomings and reflect upon the current state of ethical preparedness. To this end, we focus our efforts in this article on the examination of one substantial area: ethical guidance in pandemic plans. We argue that, due in part to their focus on considerations arising specifically in relation to pandemics of influenza origin, pandemic plans and their existing ethical guidance are ill-equipped to anticipate and facilitate the navigation of unique ethical challenges that may arise in other infectious disease pandemics. We proceed by outlining three reasons why this is so, and situate our analysis in the context of the EVD outbreak and the threat posed by drug-resistant tuberculosis: (1) different infectious diseases have distinct characteristics that challenge anticipated or existing modes of pandemic prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery, (2) clear, transparent, context-specific ethical reasoning and justification within current influenza pandemic plans are lacking, and (3) current plans neglect the context of how other significant pandemics may manifest. We conclude the article with several options for reflecting upon and ultimately addressing ethical issues that may emerge with different infectious disease pandemics.

Sub-5 nm, globally aligned graphene nanoribbons on Ge(001)

DOE PAGES

Kiraly, Brian; Mannix, Andrew J.; Jacobberger, Robert M.; ...

2016-05-23

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) hold great promise for future electronics because of their edge and width dependent electronic bandgaps and exceptional transport properties. While significant progress toward such devices has been made, the field has been limited by difficulties achieving narrow widths, global alignment, and atomically pristine GNR edges on technologically relevant substrates. A recent advance has challenged these limits by using Ge(001) substrates to direct the bottom-up growth of GNRs with nearly pristine armchair edges and widths near ~10 nm via atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition. In this work, we extend the growth of GNRs on Ge(001) to ultra-high vacuummore » conditions and realize GNRs narrower than 5 nm. Armchair graphene nanoribbons directed along the Ge <110> surface directions are achieved with excellent width control and relatively large bandgaps. As a result, the bandgap magnitude and electronic uniformity make these new materials excellent candidates for future developments in nanoelectronics.« less

Bedrock Erosion Surfaces Record Former East Antarctic Ice Sheet Extent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paxman, Guy J. G.; Jamieson, Stewart S. R.; Ferraccioli, Fausto; Bentley, Michael J.; Ross, Neil; Armadillo, Egidio; Gasson, Edward G. W.; Leitchenkov, German; DeConto, Robert M.

2018-05-01

East Antarctica hosts large subglacial basins into which the East Antarctic Ice Sheet (EAIS) likely retreated during past warmer climates. However, the extent of retreat remains poorly constrained, making quantifying past and predicted future contributions to global sea level rise from these marine basins challenging. Geomorphological analysis and flexural modeling within the Wilkes Subglacial Basin are used to reconstruct the ice margin during warm intervals of the Oligocene-Miocene. Flat-lying bedrock plateaus are indicative of an ice sheet margin positioned >400-500 km inland of the modern grounding zone for extended periods of the Oligocene-Miocene, equivalent to a 2-m rise in global sea level. Our findings imply that if major EAIS retreat occurs in the future, isostatic rebound will enable the plateau surfaces to act as seeding points for extensive ice rises, thus limiting extensive ice margin retreat of the scale seen during the early EAIS.

ARCO Chairman forecasts end of oil dominance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Showstack, Randy

The head of one of the world's biggest oil companies said in February that the era of oil dominating the global energy market is creaking to a close. Future energy needs will be met by a mix of fuels that are less harmful to the environment, he said, and he called for the energy and automobile industries to collaborate on solutions to reduce emissions.“We've embarked on the beginning of the last days of the age of oil,” ARCO Chairman Mike Bowlin said at a Cambridge Energy Research Associates conference in Houston, Texas, where he also described how ARCO is moving toward a new energy model. “Our challenge is not merely to survive today's low prices, but to plan for a future in which hydrocarbons are just one of a wide variety of clean fuels that will build the global economy of the 21st century”.

Some Thoughts on the Future of Libraries, Journals, Impact Factors, and Replicability.

PubMed

Elwood, Thomas W

2016-01-01

A report on the "The Future of Libraries" is the outcome of a year's worth of discussions among faculty members, staff, and students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While its findings and recommendations still are preliminary, the report presents a vision of the library as an "open global platform" that provides access to information to help solve global challenges. Digital access already has changed the face of research, making it more efficient for individual library users. Instead of going to a library building today to find and read books and journal articles, students and faculty access, organize, and read scholarly content on their own electronic devices. This transformation-from libraries where knowledge is accessed individually through analog and digital means into ones where creation and access to knowledge are dynamically networked-will affect all aspects of the research library.

Versioned distributed arrays for resilience in scientific applications: Global view resilience

DOE PAGES

Chien, A.; Balaji, P.; Beckman, P.; ...

2015-06-01

Exascale studies project reliability challenges for future high-performance computing (HPC) systems. We propose the Global View Resilience (GVR) system, a library that enables applications to add resilience in a portable, application-controlled fashion using versioned distributed arrays. We describe GVR’s interfaces to distributed arrays, versioning, and cross-layer error recovery. Using several large applications (OpenMC, the preconditioned conjugate gradient solver PCG, ddcMD, and Chombo), we evaluate the programmer effort to add resilience. The required changes are small (<2% LOC), localized, and machine-independent, requiring no software architecture changes. We also measure the overhead of adding GVR versioning and show that generally overheads <2%more » are achieved. We conclude that GVR’s interfaces and implementation are flexible and portable and create a gentle-slope path to tolerate growing error rates in future systems.« less

Science and technology for the 21. century: Meeting the needs of the global community

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

1994-12-31

This report summarizes the organization, activities and outcomes of Student Pugwash USA`s 1994 International Conference, Science and Technology for the 21st Century: Meeting the Needs of the Global Community. The Conference was held June 12--18, 1994 at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and brought together 91 students from 25 countries and over 65 experts from industry, academy, and government. Student Pugwash USA`s International Conference provided a valuable forum for talented students and professionals to engage in critical dialogue on many interdisciplinary issues at the junction of science, technology and society. The 1994 International Conference challenged students--the world`s future scientists,more » engineers, and political leaders--to think broadly about global problems and to devise policy options that are viable and innovative. In addition to afternoon and evening plenary sessions, six working groups met each morning of the Conference week. The working group themes featured: preventive diplomacy and conflict resolution for a secure future; resource stewardship for environmental sustainability; the social costs and medical benefits of human genetic information; overcoming barriers to health care education and delivery; meeting societal needs through communication and information technologies; and designing the future--from corporations to communities.« less

One Health contributions towards more effective and equitable approaches to health in low- and middle-income countries

PubMed Central

Sharp, J.; Abela-Ridder, B.; Allan, K. J.; Buza, J.; Crump, J. A.; Davis, A.; Del Rio Vilas, V. J.; de Glanville, W. A.; Kazwala, R. R.; Kibona, T.; Lankester, F. J.; Lugelo, A.; Mmbaga, B. T.; Rubach, M. P.; Swai, E. S.; Waldman, L.; Haydon, D. T.; Hampson, K.

2017-01-01

Emerging zoonoses with pandemic potential are a stated priority for the global health security agenda, but endemic zoonoses also have a major societal impact in low-resource settings. Although many endemic zoonoses can be treated, timely diagnosis and appropriate clinical management of human cases is often challenging. Preventive ‘One Health’ interventions, e.g. interventions in animal populations that generate human health benefits, may provide a useful approach to overcoming some of these challenges. Effective strategies, such as animal vaccination, already exist for the prevention, control and elimination of many endemic zoonoses, including rabies, and several livestock zoonoses (e.g. brucellosis, leptospirosis, Q fever) that are important causes of human febrile illness and livestock productivity losses in low- and middle-income countries. We make the case that, for these diseases, One Health interventions have the potential to be more effective and generate more equitable benefits for human health and livelihoods, particularly in rural areas, than approaches that rely exclusively on treatment of human cases. We hypothesize that applying One Health interventions to tackle these health challenges will help to build trust, community engagement and cross-sectoral collaboration, which will in turn strengthen the capacity of fragile health systems to respond to the threat of emerging zoonoses and other future health challenges. One Health interventions thus have the potential to align the ongoing needs of disadvantaged communities with the concerns of the broader global community, providing a pragmatic and equitable approach to meeting the global goals for sustainable development and supporting the global health security agenda. This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’. PMID:28584176

Hesitance towards voluntary medical male circumcision in Lesotho: reconfiguring global health governance.

PubMed

Bulled, Nicola L

2015-01-01

Drawing on work examining HIV prevention initiatives in Lesotho, this paper considers the hesitation of national state actors towards the new strategy for HIV prevention - voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC). Lesotho offers a representative case study on global health governance, given the country's high HIV burden and heavy dependence on foreign donor nations to implement local HIV prevention initiatives. In this paper, I use the case of VMMC opposition in Lesotho to examine how the new era of 'partnerships' has shifted the architecture of contemporary global health, specifically considering how global agreements are translated or negotiated into local practice. I argue that Lesotho's domestic policy-makers, in employing national statistics to assess if VMMC is an effective approach to addressing the local epidemic, are asserting a claim of expertise. In doing so, they challenge the traditional structures of global health politics, which have largely been managed by experts and funders from and in the global North. I explore the development of global VMMC policy, what drives Lesotho's resistance to comply, and consider the impact renegotiation efforts may have on future global health architecture.

Extending the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways for sub-national impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability studies

DOE PAGES

Absar, Syeda Mariya; Preston, Benjamin L.

2015-05-25

The exploration of alternative socioeconomic futures is an important aspect of understanding the potential consequences of climate change. While socioeconomic scenarios are common and, at times essential, tools for the impact, adaptation and vulnerability and integrated assessment modeling research communities, their approaches to scenario development have historically been quite distinct. However, increasing convergence of impact, adaptation and vulnerability and integrated assessment modeling research in terms of scales of analysis suggests there may be value in the development of a common framework for socioeconomic scenarios. The Shared Socioeconomic Pathways represents an opportunity for the development of such a common framework. However,more » the scales at which these global storylines have been developed are largely incommensurate with the sub-national scales at which impact, adaptation and vulnerability, and increasingly integrated assessment modeling, studies are conducted. Our objective for this study was to develop sub-national and sectoral extensions of the global SSP storylines in order to identify future socioeconomic challenges for adaptation for the U.S. Southeast. A set of nested qualitative socioeconomic storyline elements, integrated storylines, and accompanying quantitative indicators were developed through an application of the Factor-Actor-Sector framework. Finally, in addition to revealing challenges and opportunities associated with the use of the SSPs as a basis for more refined scenario development, this study generated sub-national storyline elements and storylines that can subsequently be used to explore the implications of alternative subnational socioeconomic futures for the assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation.« less

Large-scale Modeling of Nitrous Oxide Production: Issues of Representing Spatial Heterogeneity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morris, C. K.; Knighton, J.

2017-12-01

Nitrous oxide is produced from the biological processes of nitrification and denitrification in terrestrial environments and contributes to the greenhouse effect that warms Earth's climate. Large scale modeling can be used to determine how global rate of nitrous oxide production and consumption will shift under future climates. However, accurate modeling of nitrification and denitrification is made difficult by highly parameterized, nonlinear equations. Here we show that the representation of spatial heterogeneity in inputs, specifically soil moisture, causes inaccuracies in estimating the average nitrous oxide production in soils. We demonstrate that when soil moisture is averaged from a spatially heterogeneous surface, net nitrous oxide production is under predicted. We apply this general result in a test of a widely-used global land surface model, the Community Land Model v4.5. The challenges presented by nonlinear controls on nitrous oxide are highlighted here to provide a wider context to the problem of extraordinary denitrification losses in CLM. We hope that these findings will inform future researchers on the possibilities for model improvement of the global nitrogen cycle.

Environmental protection, inequality, and institutional change.

PubMed

Magnani, Elisabetta

2011-02-01

The contemporary world faces an unprecedented environmental challenge. Past international research has amply shown that we cannot afford to wait for a "development path" that automatically takes us on a sustainable future. Whether we look at global or local problems, the international debate increasingly points to the importance of popular support for environmental protection by a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Because environmental sustainability questions the way we produce, consume, and distribute the product of our work, an economic analysis that is limited to one market is insufficient. In addressing Bromley's question, "How do we wish the future to unfold for us?" this paper argues for the need to devote resources to understanding the spillovers between institutional settings and preferences toward the provision of global public goods. Here, this review focuses on labor-market institutions, as labor markets are traditionally the context in which inequality is created at the local and global levels. Labor-market institutional design, via its impact on risk and uncertainty and inequality, may have sizable implications on the provision of environmental care. © 2011 New York Academy of Sciences.

Past, present and future challenges in health care priority setting.

PubMed

Hall, William; Williams, Iestyn; Smith, Neale; Gold, Marthe; Coast, Joanna; Kapiriri, Lydia; Danis, M; Mitton, Craig

2018-05-21

Purpose Current conditions have intensified the need for health systems to engage in the difficult task of priority setting. As the search for a "magic bullet" is replaced by an appreciation for the interplay between evidence, interests, culture, and outcomes, progress in relation to these dimensions requires assessment of achievements to date and identification of areas where knowledge and practice require attention most urgently. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach An international survey was administered to experts in the area of priority setting. The survey consisted of open-ended questions focusing on notable achievements, policy and practice challenges, and areas for future research in the discipline of priority setting. It was administered online between February and March of 2015. Findings "Decision-making frameworks" and "Engagement" were the two most frequently mentioned notable achievements. "Priority setting in practice" and "Awareness and education" were the two most frequently mentioned policy and practical challenges. "Priority setting in practice" and "Engagement" were the two most frequently mentioned areas in need of future research. Research limitations/implications Sampling bias toward more developed countries. Future study could use findings to create a more concise version to distribute more broadly. Practical implications Globally, these findings could be used as a platform for discussion and decision making related to policy, practice, and research in this area. Originality/value Whilst this study reaffirmed the continued importance of many longstanding themes in the priority setting literature, it is possible to also discern clear shifts in emphasis as the discipline progresses in response to new challenges.

Ocean OSSEs: recent developments and future challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kourafalou, V. H.

2012-12-01

Atmospheric OSSEs have had a much longer history of applications than OSSEs (and OSEs) in oceanography. Long standing challenges include the presence of coastlines and steep bathymetric changes, which require the superposition of a wide variety of space and time scales, leading to difficulties on ocean observation and prediction. For instance, remote sensing is critical for providing a quasi-synoptic oceanographic view, but the coverage is limited at the ocean surface. Conversely, in situ measurements are capable to monitor the entire water column, but at a single location and usually for a specific, short time. Despite these challenges, substantial progress has been made in recent years and international initiatives have provided successful OSSE/OSE examples and formed appropriate forums that helped define the future roadmap. These will be discussed, together with various challenges that require a community effort. Examples include: integrated (remote and in situ) observing system requirements for monitoring large scale and climatic changes, vs. short term variability that is particularly important on the regional and coastal spatial scales; satisfying the needs of both global and regional/coastal nature runs, from development to rigorous evaluation and under a clear definition of metrics; data assimilation in the presence of tides; estimation of real-time river discharges for Earth system modeling. An overview of oceanographic efforts that complement the standard OSSE methodology will also be given. These include ocean array design methods, such as representer-based analysis and adaptive sampling. Exciting new opportunities for both global and regional ocean OSSE/OSE studies have recently become possible with targeted periods of comprehensive data sets, such as the existing Gulf of Mexico observations from multiple sources in the aftermath of the DeepWater Horizon incident and the upcoming airborne AirSWOT, in preparation for the SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) mission.

Extreme Events and Disaster Risk Reduction - a Future Earth KAN initiative

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frank, Dorothea; Reichstein, Markus

2017-04-01

The topic of Extreme Events in the context of global environmental change is both a scientifically challenging and exciting topic, and of very high societal relevance. The Future Earth Cluster initiative E3S organized in 2016 a cross-community/co-design workshop on Extreme Events and Environments from Climate to Society (http://www.e3s-future-earth.eu/index.php/ConferencesEvents/ConferencesAmpEvents). Based on the results, co-design research strategies and established network of the workshop, and previous activities, E3S is thriving to establish the basis for a longer-term research effort under the umbrella of Future Earth. These led to an initiative for a Future Earth Knowledge Action Network on Extreme Events and Disaster Risk Reduction. Example initial key question in this context include: What are meaningful indices to describe and quantify impact-relevant (e.g. climate) extremes? Which system properties yield resistance and resilience to extreme conditions? What are the key interactions between global urbanization processes, extreme events, and social and infrastructure vulnerability and resilience? The long-term goal of this KAN is to contribute to enhancing the resistance, resilience, and adaptive capacity of socio-ecological systems across spatial, temporal and institutional scales, in particular in the light of hazards affected by ongoing environmental change (e.g. climate change, global urbanization and land use/land cover change). This can be achieved by enhanced understanding, prediction, improved and open data and knowledge bases for detection and early warning decision making, and by new insights on natural and societal conditions and governance for resilience and adaptive capacity.

Diagnosis of viral hepatitis

PubMed Central

Easterbrook, Philippa J.; Roberts, Teri; Sands, Anita; Peeling, Rosanna

2017-01-01

Purpose of review Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections and HIV–HBV and HCV coinfection are major causes of chronic liver disease worldwide. Testing and diagnosis is the gateway for access to both treatment and prevention services, but there remains a large burden of undiagnosed infection globally. We review the global epidemiology, key challenges in the current hepatitis testing response, new tools to support the hepatitis global response (2016–2020 Global Hepatitis Health Sector strategy, and 2017 WHO guidelines on hepatitis testing) and future directions and innovations in hepatitis diagnostics. Recent findings Key challenges in the current hepatitis testing response include lack of quality-assured serological and low-cost virological in-vitro diagnostics, limited facilities for testing, inadequate data to guide country-specific hepatitis testing approaches, stigmatization of those with or at risk of viral hepatitis and lack of guidelines on hepatitis testing for resource-limited settings. The new Global Hepatitis Health Sector strategy sets out goals for elimination of viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030 and gives outcome targets for reductions in new infections and mortality, as well as service delivery targets that include testing, diagnosis and treatment. The 2017 WHO hepatitis testing guidelines for adults, adolescents and children in low-income and middle-income countries outline the public health approach to strengthen and expand current testing practices for viral hepatitis and addresses who to test (testing approaches), which serological and virological assays to use (testing strategies) as well as interventions to promote linkage to prevention and care. Summary Future directions and innovations in hepatitis testing include strategies to improve access such as through use of existing facility and community-based testing opportunities for hepatitis testing, near-patient or point-of-care assays for virological markers (nucleic acid testing and HCV core antigen), dried blood spot specimens used with different serological and nucleic acid test assays, multiplex and multi-disease platforms to enable testing for multiple analytes/pathogens and potential self-testing for viral hepatitis. PMID:28306597

The world's nuclear future - built on material success

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ion, Sue

2010-07-01

In our energy hungry world of the twenty-first century, the future of electricity generation must meet the twin challenges of security of supply and reduced carbon emissions. The expectations for nuclear power programmes to play a part in delivering success on both counts, grows ever higher. The nuclear industry is poised on a renaissance likely to dwarf the heady days of the 1960s and early 1970s. Global supply chain and project management challenges abound, now just as then. The science and engineering of materials will be key to the successful deployment and operation of a new generation of reactor systems and their associated fuel cycles. Understanding and predicting materials performance will be key to achieving life extension of existing assets and underpinning waste disposal options, as well as giving confidence to the designers, their financial backers and governments across the globe, that the next generation of reactors will deliver their full potential.

Dissemination, analysis, and implementation of the World Report on Disability: the roadmap of the International Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine.

PubMed

Gutenbrunner, Christoph; Bethge, Matthias; Stucki, Gerold; Li, Jianan; Lains, Jorge; Olver, John; Frontera, Walter; von Groote, Per; Giustini, Alessandro; Imamura, Marta

2014-01-01

The International Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine has recognized the World Report on Disability as a guide for its future activities and endorsed its responsibility to disseminate, to analyze, and to implement the report's recommendations. The activities of the International Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine on the global stage are embedded in a strategy that includes national and regional associations. This article reports on recent and forthcoming activities of the International Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine regarding the World Report on Disability and identifies five major challenges that will impact future International Society for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine activities. These challenges relate to (1) education and training, (2) the support of strong role models, (3) disaster management, (4) the development of innovative rehabilitation services, and (5) rehabilitation research.

Challenges for Future UV Imaging of the Earth's Ionosphere and High Latitude Regions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spann, James

2006-01-01

Large scale imaging of Geospace has played a significant role in the recent advances in the comprehension of the coupled Solar-Terrestrial System. The Earth's ionospheric far ultraviolet emissions provide a rich tapestry of observations that play a key role in sorting out the dominant mechanisms and phenomena associated with the coupling of the ionosphere and magnetosphere (MI). The MI coupling is an integral part of the Solar-Terrestrial and as such, future observations in this region should focus on understanding the coupling and the impact of solar variability. This talk will focus on the outstanding problems associated with the coupled Solar-Terrestrial system that can be best addressed using far ultraviolet imaging of the Earthls ionosphere. Challenges of global scale imaging and high-resolution imaging will be discussed and how these are driven by unresolved compelling science questions of magnetospheric configuration, and auroral dynamics.

Establishing a national resource: a health informatics collection to maintain the legacy of health informatics development.

PubMed

Ellis, Beverley; Roberts, Jean; Cooper, Helen

2007-01-01

This case study report of the establishment of a national repository of multi-media materials describes the creation process, the challenges faced in putting it into operation and the opportunities for the future. The initial resource has been incorporated under standard library and knowledge management practices. A collaborative action research method was used with active experts in the domain to determine the requirements and priorities for further development. The National Health Informatics Collection (NatHIC) is now accessible and the further issues are being addressed by inclusion in future University and NHS strategic plans. Ultimately the Collection will link with other facilities that contribute to the description and maintenance of effective informatics in support of health globally. The issues raised about the National Health Informatics Collection as established in the UK have resonance with the challenges of capturing the overall historic development of an emerging discipline in any country.

Food security and marine capture fisheries: characteristics, trends, drivers and future perspectives

PubMed Central

Garcia, Serge M.; Rosenberg, Andrew A.

2010-01-01

World population is expected to grow from the present 6.8 billion people to about 9 billion by 2050. The growing need for nutritious and healthy food will increase the demand for fisheries products from marine sources, whose productivity is already highly stressed by excessive fishing pressure, growing organic pollution, toxic contamination, coastal degradation and climate change. Looking towards 2050, the question is how fisheries governance, and the national and international policy and legal frameworks within which it is nested, will ensure a sustainable harvest, maintain biodiversity and ecosystem functions, and adapt to climate change. This paper looks at global fisheries production, the state of resources, contribution to food security and governance. It describes the main changes affecting the sector, including geographical expansion, fishing capacity-building, natural variability, environmental degradation and climate change. It identifies drivers and future challenges, while suggesting how new science, policies and interventions could best address those challenges. PMID:20713390

Influenza-Omics and the Host Response: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

PubMed Central

Powell, Joshua D.; Waters, Katrina M.

2017-01-01

Influenza A viruses (IAV) continually evolve and have the capacity to cause global pandemics. Because IAV represents an ongoing threat, identifying novel therapies and host innate immune factors that contribute to IAV pathogenesis is of considerable interest. This review summarizes the relevant literature as it relates to global host responses to influenza infection at both the proteome and transcriptome level. The various-omics infection systems that include but are not limited to ferrets, mice, pigs, and even the controlled infection of humans are reviewed. Discussion focuses on recent advances, remaining challenges, and knowledge gaps as it relates to influenza-omics infection outcomes. PMID:28604586

Rarity in mass extinctions and the future of ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hull, Pincelli M.; Darroch, Simon A. F.; Erwin, Douglas H.

2015-12-01

The fossil record provides striking case studies of biodiversity loss and global ecosystem upheaval. Because of this, many studies have sought to assess the magnitude of the current biodiversity crisis relative to past crises—a task greatly complicated by the need to extrapolate extinction rates. Here we challenge this approach by showing that the rarity of previously abundant taxa may be more important than extinction in the cascade of events leading to global changes in the biosphere. Mass rarity may provide the most robust measure of our current biodiversity crisis relative to those past, and new insights into the dynamics of mass extinction.

Influenza-Omics and the Host Response: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Powell, Joshua D.; Waters, Katrina M.

Influenza A viruses (IAV) continually evolve and have the capacity to cause global pandemics. Because IAV represents an ongoing threat, identifying novel therapies and host innate immune factors that contribute to IAV pathogenesis is of considerable interest. This review summarizes the relevant literature as it relates to global host responses to influenza infection at both the proteome and transcriptome level. Here, the various –omics infection systems that include but are not limited to ferrets, mice, pigs and even controlled infection of humans are reviewed. Discussion focuses on recent advances, remaining challenges, and knowledge gaps as it relates to influenza-omics infectionmore » outcomes.« less

Perspectives and advances of biological H2 production in microorganisms.

PubMed

Rupprecht, Jens; Hankamer, Ben; Mussgnug, Jan H; Ananyev, Gennady; Dismukes, Charles; Kruse, Olaf

2006-09-01

The rapid development of clean fuels for the future is a critically important global challenge for two main reasons. First, new fuels are needed to supplement and ultimately replace depleting oil reserves. Second, fuels capable of zero CO2 emissions are needed to slow the impact of global warming. This review summarizes the development of solar powered bio-H2 production processes based on the conversion of photosynthetic products by fermentative bacteria, as well as using photoheterotrophic and photoautrophic organisms. The use of advanced bioreactor systems and their potential and limitations in terms of process design, efficiency, and cost are also briefly reviewed.

Influenza-Omics and the Host Response: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

DOE PAGES

Powell, Joshua D.; Waters, Katrina M.

2017-06-10

Influenza A viruses (IAV) continually evolve and have the capacity to cause global pandemics. Because IAV represents an ongoing threat, identifying novel therapies and host innate immune factors that contribute to IAV pathogenesis is of considerable interest. This review summarizes the relevant literature as it relates to global host responses to influenza infection at both the proteome and transcriptome level. Here, the various –omics infection systems that include but are not limited to ferrets, mice, pigs and even controlled infection of humans are reviewed. Discussion focuses on recent advances, remaining challenges, and knowledge gaps as it relates to influenza-omics infectionmore » outcomes.« less

Eduction and outreach for the global energy challenge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snieder, R.

2008-12-01

Energy is the life-blood of the modern world. According to the Energy Information Administration, global energy consumption is expected to grow by about 70% in the coming 25 years. Much of this growth is driven by developing countries, whose inhabitants seek a standard of living that more closely resembles that of the western world. Petroleum provides about 40% of the world-wide energy demand, and, although estimates vary, oil production is expected to peak in the relatively near-future. The combination of increased energy demand and declining petroleum supply can be a threat to political stability and is likely to lead to a shift towards coal and non-conventional oil. This will further increase CO2 emissions and thus accelerate global warming and life-altering regional climate changes. Many actions can be taken now to begin to reduce energy demand, diversify our energy portfolio, and reduce costs of energy supplies, with lower greenhouse gas emissions. This will not happen, however, without a plan and the willingness to implement such a plan. Public engagement and education in dealing with the pressing challenges and opportunities are the key to getting started now. In order to foster such engagement I have prepared the presentation "The Global Energy Challenge." This Powerpoint presentation is freely available and aims to be appealing and understandable for a broad audience. The comment-boxes in the Powerpoint presentation give ideas for a narrative. The presentation sketches the tension between increased energy demand, peak oil, the associated challenge in curbing climate change, and actions that we can take towards a sustainable energy system. The presentation gives ideas for positive action that teachers, students, businessmen, consumers, and citizens can take, and it conveys that the challenges related to our energy supply come with career opportunities, a point that is especially appealing to a young audience. I invite to help making a difference by education the public about energy by giving this lecture. More information can be found at:

An Overview on Additive Manufacturing of Polymers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jasiuk, Iwona; Abueidda, Diab W.; Kozuch, Christopher; Pang, Siyuan; Su, Frances Y.; McKittrick, Joanna

2018-03-01

We present an overview on additive manufacturing (AM), also called three-dimensional printing, with a focus on polymers. First, we introduce the AM concept. Next, we outline several AM processes, including their advantages and limitations, and list common polymers that are used in commercial printers. Then, we state various AM applications and present two examples. We conclude with a global view of the AM field, its challenges, and future directions.

Managing the Global Environment

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-01-01

Development Projects in Brazilian Amazonia .’ Conservation L2.LgA . 1.3 (Oct. 1987): 214-21. Fearnside, Philip M. ’Land-Use Trends in the Brazilian Amazon...78, Xohlhepp, Gerd. ’A Challenge to Science and Regional Development Policy: Reflections on the Future Development of Amazonia .’ Alied Geography j...Internationl Energy Agency Coal Research, 1988. (Report Lit IEACR/88/16) Smith, William H. "Critical Analysis of Previous Investigative Approaches in

Remote-sensing based approach to forecast habitat quality under climate change scenarios.

PubMed

Requena-Mullor, Juan M; López, Enrique; Castro, Antonio J; Alcaraz-Segura, Domingo; Castro, Hermelindo; Reyes, Andrés; Cabello, Javier

2017-01-01

As climate change is expected to have a significant impact on species distributions, there is an urgent challenge to provide reliable information to guide conservation biodiversity policies. In addressing this challenge, we propose a remote sensing-based approach to forecast the future habitat quality for European badger, a species not abundant and at risk of local extinction in the arid environments of southeastern Spain, by incorporating environmental variables related with the ecosystem functioning and correlated with climate and land use. Using ensemble prediction methods, we designed global spatial distribution models for the distribution range of badger using presence-only data and climate variables. Then, we constructed regional models for an arid region in the southeast Spain using EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index) derived variables and weighting the pseudo-absences with the global model projections applied to this region. Finally, we forecast the badger potential spatial distribution in the time period 2071-2099 based on IPCC scenarios incorporating the uncertainty derived from the predicted values of EVI-derived variables. By including remotely sensed descriptors of the temporal dynamics and spatial patterns of ecosystem functioning into spatial distribution models, results suggest that future forecast is less favorable for European badgers than not including them. In addition, change in spatial pattern of habitat suitability may become higher than when forecasts are based just on climate variables. Since the validity of future forecast only based on climate variables is currently questioned, conservation policies supported by such information could have a biased vision and overestimate or underestimate the potential changes in species distribution derived from climate change. The incorporation of ecosystem functional attributes derived from remote sensing in the modeling of future forecast may contribute to the improvement of the detection of ecological responses under climate change scenarios.

Remote-sensing based approach to forecast habitat quality under climate change scenarios

PubMed Central

Requena-Mullor, Juan M.; López, Enrique; Castro, Antonio J.; Alcaraz-Segura, Domingo; Castro, Hermelindo; Reyes, Andrés; Cabello, Javier

2017-01-01

As climate change is expected to have a significant impact on species distributions, there is an urgent challenge to provide reliable information to guide conservation biodiversity policies. In addressing this challenge, we propose a remote sensing-based approach to forecast the future habitat quality for European badger, a species not abundant and at risk of local extinction in the arid environments of southeastern Spain, by incorporating environmental variables related with the ecosystem functioning and correlated with climate and land use. Using ensemble prediction methods, we designed global spatial distribution models for the distribution range of badger using presence-only data and climate variables. Then, we constructed regional models for an arid region in the southeast Spain using EVI (Enhanced Vegetation Index) derived variables and weighting the pseudo-absences with the global model projections applied to this region. Finally, we forecast the badger potential spatial distribution in the time period 2071–2099 based on IPCC scenarios incorporating the uncertainty derived from the predicted values of EVI-derived variables. By including remotely sensed descriptors of the temporal dynamics and spatial patterns of ecosystem functioning into spatial distribution models, results suggest that future forecast is less favorable for European badgers than not including them. In addition, change in spatial pattern of habitat suitability may become higher than when forecasts are based just on climate variables. Since the validity of future forecast only based on climate variables is currently questioned, conservation policies supported by such information could have a biased vision and overestimate or underestimate the potential changes in species distribution derived from climate change. The incorporation of ecosystem functional attributes derived from remote sensing in the modeling of future forecast may contribute to the improvement of the detection of ecological responses under climate change scenarios. PMID:28257501

The relevance of globalization to nursing: a concept analysis.

PubMed

Grootjans, J; Newman, S

2013-03-01

This paper emerged alongside the development of learning materials for a new unit of study on global health and nursing. The proposed unit was for inclusion in a graduate entry master of nursing course leading to registration. It became evident that there has been growing attention within the nursing literature to the demands of an increasingly globalized world and the subsequent challenges confronting nursing as a profession. At the same time, the literature is inconsistent and contains mixed messages with regard to how nurses and nursing might respond to these challenges. This paper aims to (i) present the findings of a narrative analysis of the current nursing discourse on globalization, and (ii) to identify directional cohesiveness for the nursing profession in the seemingly disparate literature. Concept analysis following extensive literature review. Several nursing authors argue that nurses globally are increasingly sharing concerns expressed by nurses at a local level. Concerns such as the future sustainability of the profession and more specifically practice concerns such as the continuing failure of nurses to adequately deal with social justice issues requires careful consideration by every nurse. While strategies recommended for dealing with these concerns lack a cohesive thread, some interesting themes and innovative recommendations have emerged. For example, the need for nurses to consider replacing environmental considerations with ecological considerations and that nurses consider preventative nursing practice beyond the immediate needs of clients and from a more global perspective. © 2012 The Authors. International Nursing Review © 2012 International Council of Nurses.

Negative global phosphorus budgets challenge sustainable intensification of grasslands

PubMed Central

Sattari, S. Z.; Bouwman, A. F.; Martinez Rodríguez, R.; Beusen, A. H. W.; van Ittersum, M. K.

2016-01-01

Grasslands provide grass and fodder to sustain the growing need for ruminant meat and milk. Soil nutrients in grasslands are removed through withdrawal in these livestock products and through animal manure that originates from grasslands and is spread in croplands. This leads to loss of soil fertility, because globally most grasslands receive no mineral fertilizer. Here we show that phosphorus (P) inputs (mineral and organic) in global grasslands will have to increase more than fourfold in 2050 relative to 2005 to achieve an anticipated 80% increase in grass production (for milk and meat), while maintaining the soil P status. Combined with requirements for cropland, we estimate that mineral P fertilizer use must double by 2050 to sustain future crop and grassland production. Our findings point to the need to better understand the role of grasslands and their soil P status and their importance for global food security. PMID:26882144

Consistency of climate change projections from multiple global and regional model intercomparison projects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernández, J.; Frías, M. D.; Cabos, W. D.; Cofiño, A. S.; Domínguez, M.; Fita, L.; Gaertner, M. A.; García-Díez, M.; Gutiérrez, J. M.; Jiménez-Guerrero, P.; Liguori, G.; Montávez, J. P.; Romera, R.; Sánchez, E.

2018-03-01

We present an unprecedented ensemble of 196 future climate projections arising from different global and regional model intercomparison projects (MIPs): CMIP3, CMIP5, ENSEMBLES, ESCENA, EURO- and Med-CORDEX. This multi-MIP ensemble includes all regional climate model (RCM) projections publicly available to date, along with their driving global climate models (GCMs). We illustrate consistent and conflicting messages using continental Spain and the Balearic Islands as target region. The study considers near future (2021-2050) changes and their dependence on several uncertainty sources sampled in the multi-MIP ensemble: GCM, future scenario, internal variability, RCM, and spatial resolution. This initial work focuses on mean seasonal precipitation and temperature changes. The results show that the potential GCM-RCM combinations have been explored very unevenly, with favoured GCMs and large ensembles of a few RCMs that do not respond to any ensemble design. Therefore, the grand-ensemble is weighted towards a few models. The selection of a balanced, credible sub-ensemble is challenged in this study by illustrating several conflicting responses between the RCM and its driving GCM and among different RCMs. Sub-ensembles from different initiatives are dominated by different uncertainty sources, being the driving GCM the main contributor to uncertainty in the grand-ensemble. For this analysis of the near future changes, the emission scenario does not lead to a strong uncertainty. Despite the extra computational effort, for mean seasonal changes, the increase in resolution does not lead to important changes.

Transforming insect biomass into consumer wellness foods: A review.

PubMed

Sun-Waterhouse, Dongxiao; Waterhouse, Geoffrey I N; You, Lijun; Zhang, Jianan; Liu, Yang; Ma, Lukai; Gao, Jie; Dong, Yi

2016-11-01

Potential food shortages, human health challenges and environmental concerns, all thematically linked to growing and aging global populations, drive the search for alternative and sustainable food sources. Insects, which have been part of the human diet since antiquity though not currently widely consumed in Western societies, are rich in high quality proteins and nutrients and bioactives. Accordingly, insects could make a significant contribution to the global food supply chain in the future. This review explores the potential of entomophagy in an integrated global food network and focuses on practical approaches for transforming insect biomass into consumer food products. Carefully regulated breeding, rearing, harvesting and processing of insect bioresources are critical for realising the concept of "edible insects for human well-being". Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

IMPLEMENTATION OF GASTRIC CANCER SCREENING – THE GLOBAL EXPERIENCE

PubMed Central

Leja, Mārcis; You, Weicheng; Camargo, M. Constanza; Saito, Hiroshi

2018-01-01

Gastric cancer (GC) is still an important global healthcare problem, and in absolute figures it is going to remain at the present level in foreseeable future. In general, survival of patients with GC is poor mainly due to advanced-stage diagnosis. Early-stage GC can be cured by endoscopic resection or less invasive surgical treatment. Unfortunately, there is no appropriate screening strategy available for global application. This article provides a description of established national and regional GC screening programs and the screening modalities used. This review also summarizes current approaches to develop cancer-screening biomarkers. Although candidates with initial promising results have been suggested, moving discovery into clinical practice is still a major challenge. Well-designed biomarker studies, with systematic validation steps, are needed to decrease the burden of this fatal disease. PMID:25439074

Global Electromagnetic Imaging of Lithosphere and Upper Mantle from Space and Ground. Recent Results and Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuvshinov, A. V.

2016-12-01

Electrical conductivity is one of the characteristic physical parameters of materials making up Earth's interior which is sensitive to variations of temperature, chemical composition, water content, and partial melt. As a consequence, estimating lithosphere and upper mantle (LUM) electrical conductivity structure is a potentially strong tool for mapping their chemistry, mineralogy and physical structure thus presenting a complementary method to seismic studies that focus on LUM elastic properties. Global electromagnetic (EM) studies, which provide information on LUM electrical conductivity, have attracted increasing interest during the last decade, mainly for three reasons. A primary reason is the recent growth in the amount of EM data available, especially from low-Earth orbiting magnetic satellite missions (Oersted, CHAMP, SAC-C, and Swarm). A second reason is the great interest in the characterization of the three-dimensional properties of Earth's interior on a global scale. Finally, the interest has also resulted from the significant methodological progress made during the last years in EM data analysis, forward modelling and inversion. In this talk I will summarize advances and challenges in EM data interpretation, and present recent global and regional models of LUM conductivity derived from satellite and ground-based data. I will also discuss possible topics for future research.

Globalization and Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bencze, J. Lawrence; Carter, Lyn; Chiu, Mei-Hung; Duit, Reinders; Martin, Sonya; Siry, Christina; Krajcik, Joseph; Shin, Namsoo; Choi, Kyunghee; Lee, Hyunju; Kim, Sung-Won

2013-06-01

Processes of globalization have played a major role in economic and cultural change worldwide. More recently, there is a growing literature on rethinking science education research and development from the perspective of globalization. This paper provides a critical overview of the state and future development of science education research from the perspective of globalization. Two facets are given major attention. First, the further development of science education as an international research domain is critically analyzed. It seems that there is a predominance of researchers stemming from countries in which English is the native language or at least a major working language. Second, the significance of rethinking the currently dominant variants of science instruction from the perspectives of economic and cultural globalization is given major attention. On the one hand, it is argued that processes concerning globalization of science education as a research domain need to take into account the richness of the different cultures of science education around the world. At the same time, it is essential to develop ways of science instruction that make students aware of the various advantages, challenges and problems of international economic and cultural globalization.

Globalization and Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bencze, J. Lawrence; Carter, Lyn; Chiu, Mei-Hung; Duit, Reinders; Martin, Sonya; Siry, Christina; Krajcik, Joseph; Shin, Namsoo; Choi, Kyunghee; Lee, Hyunju; Kim, Sung-Won

2012-12-01

Processes of globalization have played a major role in economic and cultural change worldwide. More recently, there is a growing literature on rethinking science education research and development from the perspective of globalization. This paper provides a critical overview of the state and future development of science education research from the perspective of globalization. Two facets are given major attention. First, the further development of science education as an international research domain is critically analyzed. It seems that there is a predominance of researchers stemming from countries in which English is the native language or at least a major working language. Second, the significance of rethinking the currently dominant variants of science instruction from the perspectives of economic and cultural globalization is given major attention. On the one hand, it is argued that processes concerning globalization of science education as a research domain need to take into account the richness of the different cultures of science education around the world. At the same time, it is essential to develop ways of science instruction that make students aware of the various advantages, challenges and problems of international economic and cultural globalization.

Used planet: a global history.

PubMed

Ellis, Erle C; Kaplan, Jed O; Fuller, Dorian Q; Vavrus, Steve; Klein Goldewijk, Kees; Verburg, Peter H

2013-05-14

Human use of land has transformed ecosystem pattern and process across most of the terrestrial biosphere, a global change often described as historically recent and potentially catastrophic for both humanity and the biosphere. Interdisciplinary paleoecological, archaeological, and historical studies challenge this view, indicating that land use has been extensive and sustained for millennia in some regions and that recent trends may represent as much a recovery as an acceleration. Here we synthesize recent scientific evidence and theory on the emergence, history, and future of land use as a process transforming the Earth System and use this to explain why relatively small human populations likely caused widespread and profound ecological changes more than 3,000 y ago, whereas the largest and wealthiest human populations in history are using less arable land per person every decade. Contrasting two spatially explicit global reconstructions of land-use history shows that reconstructions incorporating adaptive changes in land-use systems over time, including land-use intensification, offer a more spatially detailed and plausible assessment of our planet's history, with a biosphere and perhaps even climate long ago affected by humans. Although land-use processes are now shifting rapidly from historical patterns in both type and scale, integrative global land-use models that incorporate dynamic adaptations in human-environment relationships help to advance our understanding of both past and future land-use changes, including their sustainability and potential global effects.

Used planet: A global history

PubMed Central

Ellis, Erle C.; Kaplan, Jed O.; Fuller, Dorian Q.; Vavrus, Steve; Klein Goldewijk, Kees; Verburg, Peter H.

2013-01-01

Human use of land has transformed ecosystem pattern and process across most of the terrestrial biosphere, a global change often described as historically recent and potentially catastrophic for both humanity and the biosphere. Interdisciplinary paleoecological, archaeological, and historical studies challenge this view, indicating that land use has been extensive and sustained for millennia in some regions and that recent trends may represent as much a recovery as an acceleration. Here we synthesize recent scientific evidence and theory on the emergence, history, and future of land use as a process transforming the Earth System and use this to explain why relatively small human populations likely caused widespread and profound ecological changes more than 3,000 y ago, whereas the largest and wealthiest human populations in history are using less arable land per person every decade. Contrasting two spatially explicit global reconstructions of land-use history shows that reconstructions incorporating adaptive changes in land-use systems over time, including land-use intensification, offer a more spatially detailed and plausible assessment of our planet's history, with a biosphere and perhaps even climate long ago affected by humans. Although land-use processes are now shifting rapidly from historical patterns in both type and scale, integrative global land-use models that incorporate dynamic adaptations in human–environment relationships help to advance our understanding of both past and future land-use changes, including their sustainability and potential global effects. PMID:23630271

The role of manufacturing in affecting the social dimension of sustainability

DOE PAGES

Sutherland, John W.; Richter, Justin S.; Hutchins, Margot J.; ...

2016-08-03

Manufacturing affects all three dimensions of sustainability: economy, environment, and society. This paper addresses the last of these dimensions. It explores social impacts identified by national level social indicators, frameworks, and principles. The effects of manufacturing on social performance are framed for different stakeholder groups with associated social needs. Methodology development as well as various challenges for social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) are further examined. Efforts to integrate social and another dimension of sustainability are considered, with attention to globalization challenges, including offshoring and reshoring. The study concludes with a summary of key takeaways and promising directions for future work.

The role of manufacturing in affecting the social dimension of sustainability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sutherland, John W.; Richter, Justin S.; Hutchins, Margot J.

Manufacturing affects all three dimensions of sustainability: economy, environment, and society. This paper addresses the last of these dimensions. It explores social impacts identified by national level social indicators, frameworks, and principles. The effects of manufacturing on social performance are framed for different stakeholder groups with associated social needs. Methodology development as well as various challenges for social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) are further examined. Efforts to integrate social and another dimension of sustainability are considered, with attention to globalization challenges, including offshoring and reshoring. The study concludes with a summary of key takeaways and promising directions for future work.

Adapting nurse competence to future patient needs using Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology.

PubMed

Železnik, Danica; Kokol, Peter; Blažun Vošner, Helena

2017-01-01

New emerging technologies, health globalization, demographic change, new healthcare paradigms, advances in healthcare delivery and social networking will change the needs of patients in the future and consequently will require that new knowledge, competence and skill sets be acquired by nurses. Checkland's Soft Systems Methodology, focusing on the enriched CATWOE and PQR elements of the root definitions, combined with our own developed "Too much - Too little constraint" approach was used to devise impending knowledge, competence and skill sets. The analysis revealed ten needs among patients of the future, 63 constraints and 18 knowledge, competence and skill sets for the future nurse. The completed study showed that SSM is an appropriate tool for high level structuring of a "messy" real-world problem situation to meet prospective nursing challenges. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global climate change: the quantifiable sustainability challenge.

PubMed

Princiotta, Frank T; Loughlin, Daniel H

2014-09-01

Population growth and the pressures spawned by increasing demands for energy and resource-intensive goods, foods, and services are driving unsustainable growth in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Recent GHG emission trends are consistent with worst-case scenarios of the previous decade. Dramatic and near-term emission reductions likely will be needed to ameliorate the potential deleterious impacts of climate change. To achieve such reductions, fundamental changes are required in the way that energy is generated and used. New technologies must be developed and deployed at a rapid rate. Advances in carbon capture and storage, renewable, nuclear and transportation technologies are particularly important; however, global research and development efforts related to these technologies currently appear to fall short relative to needs. Even with a proactive and international mitigation effort, humanity will need to adapt to climate change, but the adaptation needs and damages will be far greater if mitigation activities are not pursued in earnest. In this review, research is highlighted that indicates increasing global and regional temperatures and ties climate changes to increasing GHG emissions. GHG mitigation targets necessary for limiting future global temperature increases are discussed, including how factors such as population growth and the growing energy intensity of the developing world will make these reduction targets more challenging. Potential technological pathways for meeting emission reduction targets are examined, barriers are discussed, and global and US. modeling results are presented that suggest that the necessary pathways will require radically transformed electric and mobile sectors. While geoengineering options have been proposed to allow more time for serious emission reductions, these measures are at the conceptual stage with many unanswered cost, environmental, and political issues. Implications: This paper lays out the case that mitigating the potential for catastrophic climate change will be a monumental challenge, requiring the global community to transform its energy system in an aggressive, coordinated, and timely manner. If this challenge is to be met, new technologies will have to be developed and deployed at a rapid rate. Advances in carbon capture and storage, renewable, nuclear, and transportation technologies are particularly important. Even with an aggressive international mitigation effort, humanity will still need to adapt to significant climate change.

Plastid biotechnology for crop production: present status and future perspectives

PubMed Central

Daniell, Henry

2012-01-01

The world population is expected to reach an estimated 9.2 billion by 2050. Therefore, food production globally has to increase by 70% in order to feed the world, while total arable land, which has reached its maximal utilization, may even decrease. Moreover, climate change adds yet another challenge to global food security. In order to feed the world in 2050, biotechnological advances in modern agriculture are essential. Plant genetic engineering, which has created a new wave of global crop production after the first green revolution, will continue to play an important role in modern agriculture to meet these challenges. Plastid genetic engineering, with several unique advantages including transgene containment, has made significant progress in the last two decades in various biotechnology applications including development of crops with high levels of resistance to insects, bacterial, fungal and viral diseases, different types of herbicides, drought, salt and cold tolerance, cytoplasmic male sterility, metabolic engineering, phytoremediation of toxic metals and production of many vaccine antigens, biopharmaceuticals and biofuels. However, useful traits should be engineered via chloroplast genomes of several major crops. This review provides insight into the current state of the art of plastid engineering in relation to agricultural production, especially for engineering agronomic traits. Understanding the bottleneck of this technology and challenges for improvement of major crops in a changing climate are discussed. PMID:21437683

Lessons learned from national food fortification projects: experiences from Morocco, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

PubMed

Wirth, James P; Laillou, Arnaud; Rohner, Fabian; Northrop-Clewes, Christine A; Macdonald, Barbara; Moench-Pfanner, Regina

2012-12-01

Fortification of staple foods has been repeatedly recommended as an effective approach to reduce micronutrient deficiencies. With the increased number of fortification projects globally, there is a need to share practical lessons learned relating to their implementation and responses to project-related and external challenges. To document the achievements, challenges, lessons learned, and management responses associated with national fortification projects in Morocco, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Independent end-of-project evaluations conducted for each project served as the primary data source and contain the history of and project activities undertaken for, each fortification project. Other sources, including national policy documents, project reports from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and other stakeholders, industry assessments, and peer-reviewed articles, were used to document the current responses to challenges and future project plans. All projects had key achievements related to the development of fortification standards and the procurement of equipment for participating industry partners. Mandatory fortification of wheat flour was a key success in Morocco and Uzbekistan. Ensuring the quality of fortified foods was a common challenge experienced across the projects, as were shifts in consumption patterns and market structures. Adjustments were made to the projects' design to address the challenges faced. National fortification projects are dynamic and must be continually modified in response to specific performance issues and broader shifts in market structure and consumption patterns.

The contribution of vaccination to global health: past, present and future.

PubMed

Greenwood, Brian

2014-01-01

Vaccination has made an enormous contribution to global health. Two major infections, smallpox and rinderpest, have been eradicated. Global coverage of vaccination against many important infectious diseases of childhood has been enhanced dramatically since the creation of WHO's Expanded Programme of Immunization in 1974 and of the Global Alliance for Vaccination and Immunization in 2000. Polio has almost been eradicated and success in controlling measles makes this infection another potential target for eradication. Despite these successes, approximately 6.6 million children still die each year and about a half of these deaths are caused by infections, including pneumonia and diarrhoea, which could be prevented by vaccination. Enhanced deployment of recently developed pneumococcal conjugate and rotavirus vaccines should, therefore, result in a further decline in childhood mortality. Development of vaccines against more complex infections, such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV, has been challenging and achievements so far have been modest. Final success against these infections may require combination vaccinations, each component stimulating a different arm of the immune system. In the longer term, vaccines are likely to be used to prevent or modulate the course of some non-infectious diseases. Progress has already been made with therapeutic cancer vaccines and future potential targets include addiction, diabetes, hypertension and Alzheimer's disease.

Stock dynamics and emission pathways of the global aluminum cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Müller, Daniel B.; Liu, Gang; Bangs, Colton

Climate change mitigation in the materials sector faces a twin challenge: satisfying rapidly rising global demand for materials while significantly curbing greenhouse-gas emissions. Process efficiency improvement and recycling can contribute to reducing emissions per material output; however, long-term material demand and scrap availability for recycling depend fundamentally on the dynamics of societies' stocks of products in use, an issue that has been largely neglected in climate science. Here, we show that aluminium in-use stock patterns set essential boundary conditions for future emission pathways, which has significant implications for mitigation priority setting. If developing countries follow industrialized countries in their aluminium stock patterns, a 50% emission reduction by 2050 below 2000 levels cannot be reached even under very optimistic recycling and technology assumptions. The target can be reached only if future global per-capita aluminium stocks saturate at a level much lower than that in present major industrialized countries. As long as global in-use stocks are growing rapidly, radical new technologies in primary production (for example, inert anode and carbon capture and storage) have the greatest impact in emission reduction; however, their window of opportunity is closing once the stocks begin to saturate and the largest reduction potential shifts to post-consumer scrap recycling.

Participatory Sensing Marine Debris: Current Trends and Future Opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jambeck, J.; Johnsen, K.

2016-02-01

The monitoring of litter and debris is challenging at the global scale because of spatial and temporal variability, disconnected local organizations and the use of paper and pen for documentation. The Marine Debris Tracker mobile app and citizen science program allows for the collection of global standardized data at a scale, speed and efficiency that was not previously possible. The app itself also serves as an outreach and education tool, creating an engaged participatory sensing instrument. This instrument is characterized by several aspects including range and frequency, accuracy and precision, accessibility, measurement dimensions, participant performance, and statistical analysis. Also, important to Marine Debris Tracker is open data and transparency. A web portal provides data that users have logged allowing immediate feedback to users and additional education opportunities. The engagement of users through a top tracker competition and social media keeps participants interested in the Marine Debris Tracker community. Over half a million items have been tracked globally, and maps provide both global and local distribution of data. The Marine Debris Tracker community and dataset continues to grow daily. We will present current usage and engagement, participatory sensing data distributions, choropleth maps of areas of active tracking, and discuss future technologies and platforms to expand data collection and conduct statistical analysis.

Fun Teaching: The Key to the Future Climatology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mulvey, G.

2016-12-01

In general meteorology is a science of immediate impact. What will the weather be tomorrow or next week? Climatology and climate change is the science of our long range past and future. Decisions made in the past, now, and in the future on climate change issues did and will continue to impact the global climate. It is essential that current and future generations understand the causes of climate change to make informed decisions regarding individual and government actions needed to mitigate human impacts on the future climate. The university challenge is make climatology an exciting and dynamic adventure into the past, present and future. Instructor and supporting organizations have stepped outside the "old yellow notes" approach to enable students to progress beyond remember, understand, and apply; to analyze, evaluate and create. Responding to this instructional challenge by shifting instructional techniques and tools to a new paradigm does not happen overnight. The instructional strategies to make this jump are known in general, but not in specific. This paper deals with examples of how to translate the instructional strategies into practice in ways that are fun for students and instructors. Techniques to be described include interactive discussions, debates and team challenges, such as: - Describing continental climates during past geological periods - In-class teams debates on legislature to control/modify human CO2 releases Low or no cost teaching aids such as video clips, demonstrations, specimens, and experiments will be described with outcomes and resources interest. Some examples to be discussed are - Tree cookies, cross sections - Ocean core smear slide samples of diatoms, foraminifera, etc. - Ice pack/glacial melt experiments - Glacial flow and interpreting glacial ice cores experiment - Field trips to observe geological strata and geological samples - Storytelling - the shared experiences of each instructor

Predicting ionospheric scintillation: Recent advancements and future challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, B. A.; Currie, J. L.; Terkildsen, M.; Bouya, Z.; Parkinson, M. L.

2017-12-01

Society greatly benefits from space-based infrastructure and technology. For example, signals from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are used across a wide range of industrial sectors; including aviation, mining, agriculture and finance. Current trends indicate that the use of these space-based technologies is likely to increase over the coming decades as the global economy becomes more technology-dependent. Space weather represents a key vulnerability to space-based technology, both in terms of the space environment effects on satellite infrastructure and the influence of the ionosphere on the radio signals used for satellite communications. In recent decades, the impact of the ionosphere on GNSS signals has re-ignited research interest into the equatorial ionosphere, particularly towards understanding Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs). EPBs are a dominant source of nighttime plasma irregularities in the low-latitude ionosphere, which can cause severe scintillation on GNSS signals and subsequent degradation on GNSS product quality. Currently, ionospheric scintillation event forecasts are not being routinely released by any space weather prediction agency around the world, but this is likely to change in the near future. In this contribution, an overview of recent efforts to develop a global ionospheric scintillation prediction capability within Australia will be given. The challenges in understanding user requirements for ionospheric scintillation predictions will be discussed. Next, the use of ground- and space-based datasets for the purpose of near-real time ionospheric scintillation monitoring will be explored. Finally, some modeling that has shown significant promise in transitioning towards an operational ionospheric scintillation forecasting system will be discussed.

Preface

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rosenzweig, Cynthia (Editor); Hillel, Daniel (Editor)

2015-01-01

The potential effects of climate change on the food production system are raising concern both globally and regionally. The system is already challenged to deliver sufficient and healthy sustenance to all people, and is certain to be even further challenged as world population grows and price shocks loom. The prospect of climate change intensifies these challenges, raising the risk that more frequent and intense extreme weather events threaten the stability of agricultural production in regions around the globe. This two-part set is an important contribution to the ongoing Imperial College Press (ICP) Series on Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation, and Mitigation. This series aims to provide the know ledge base necessary for understanding and responding to climate change, in both its current form and future manifestations. In these volumes, ·leading agricultural researchers have come together to contribute their expertise on actual and potential climate change impacts, adaptation strategies, and mitigation efforts. This ongoing series is jointly published by The American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA), together with ICP. We hope that this fruitful cooperation will continue for many years to come, as it spurs the global effort to define and meet the great food security and climate change challenges of our time.

Cars on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Landis, Geoffrey A.

2002-01-01

Mars is one of the most fascinating planets in the solar system, featuring an atmosphere, water, and enormous volcanoes and canyons. The Mars Pathfinder, Global Surveyor, and Odyssey missions mark the first wave of the Planet Earth's coming invasion of the red planet, changing our views of the past and future of the planet and the possibilities of life. Scientist and science-fiction writer Geoffrey A. Landis will present experiences on the Pathfinder mission, the challenges of using solar power on the surface of Mars, and present future missions to Mars such as the upcoming Mars Twin Rovers, which will launch two highly-capable vehicles in 2003 to explore the surface of Mars.

Archiving strategy for USGS EROS center and our future direction

USGS Publications Warehouse

Faundeen, John L.

2010-01-01

The U. S. Geological Survey's Earth Resources Observation and Science Center has the responsibility to acquire, manage, and preserve our Nation's land observations. These records are obtained primarily from airplanes and satellites dating back to the 1930s. The ability to compare landscapes from the past with current information enables change analysis at local and global scales. With new observations added daily, the records management challenges are daunting, involving petabytes of electronic data and tens of thousands of rolls of analog film. This paper focuses upon the appraisal and preservation functions employed to ensure that these records are available for current and future generations.

Facing Our Energy Challenges in a New Era of Science (2011 EFRC Forum)

ScienceCinema

Dehmer, Patricia M.

2018-04-26

Patricia Dehmer, Deputy Director for Science Programs at DOE, opened the May 26, 2011 EFRC Forum session, 'Global Perspectives on Frontiers in Energy Research,' with the talk, 'Facing Our Energy Challenges in a New Era of Science.' In her presentation, Dr. Dehmer gave a tutorial on the energy challenges facing our Nation and showed how the DOE research portfolio addresses those issues. The 2011 EFRC Summit and Forum brought together the EFRC community and science and policy leaders from universities, national laboratories, industry and government to discuss 'Science for our Nation's Energy Future.' In August 2009, the Office of Science established 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers. The EFRCs are collaborative research efforts intended to accelerate high-risk, high-reward fundamental research, the scientific basis for transformative energy technologies of the future. These Centers involve universities, national laboratories, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit firms, singly or in partnerships, selected by scientific peer review. They are funded at $2 to $5 million per year for a total planned DOE commitment of $777 million over the initial five-year award period, pending Congressional appropriations. These integrated, multi-investigator Centers are conducting fundamental research focusing on one or more of several 'grand challenges' and use-inspired 'basic research needs' recently identified in major strategic planning efforts by the scientific community. The purpose of the EFRCs is to integrate the talents and expertise of leading scientists in a setting designed to accelerate research that transforms the future of energy and the environment.

Heat supply from municipal solid waste incineration plants in Japan: Current situation and future challenges.

PubMed

Tabata, Tomohiro; Tsai, Peii

2016-02-01

The use of waste-to-energy technology as part of a municipal solid waste management strategy could reduce the use of fossil fuels and contribute to prevention of global warming. In this study, we examined current heat and electricity production by incineration plants in Japan for external use. Herein, we discuss specific challenges to the promotion of heat utilisation and future municipal solid waste management strategies. We conducted a questionnaire survey to determine the actual conditions of heat production by incineration plants. From the survey results, information of about 498 incineration plants was extracted. When we investigated the relationship between heat production for external use and population density where incineration plants were located, we found that regions with a population density <1000 persons (km(2))(-1) produce <500 MJ t(-1) of heat. We also found that external use of such energy for factories, markets, and related use, was noted in cities with a population density of 2000 to 4000 persons (km(2))(-1). Several incineration plants have poor performance for heat production because there are few facilities near them to provide demand for the energy. This is the result of redundant capacity, and is reflected in the heat production performance. Given these results, we discussed future challenges to creating energy demand around incineration plants where there is presently none. We also examined the challenges involved in increasing heat supply beyond the present situation. © The Author(s) 2015.

FuturICT: Participatory computing to understand and manage our complex world in a more sustainable and resilient way

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Helbing, D.; Bishop, S.; Conte, R.; Lukowicz, P.; McCarthy, J. B.

2012-11-01

We have built particle accelerators to understand the forces that make up our physical world. Yet, we do not understand the principles underlying our strongly connected, techno-socio-economic systems. We have enabled ubiquitous Internet connectivity and instant, global information access. Yet we do not understand how it impacts our behavior and the evolution of society. To fill the knowledge gaps and keep up with the fast pace at which our world is changing, a Knowledge Accelerator must urgently be created. The financial crisis, international wars, global terror, the spreading of diseases and cyber-crime as well as demographic, technological and environmental change demonstrate that humanity is facing serious challenges. These problems cannot be solved within the traditional paradigms. Moving our attention from a component-oriented view of the world to an interaction-oriented view will allow us to understand the complex systems we have created and the emergent collective phenomena characterising them. This paradigm shift will enable new solutions to long-standing problems, very much as the shift from a geocentric to a heliocentric worldview has facilitated modern physics and the ability to launch satellites. The FuturICT flagship project will develop new science and technology to manage our future in a complex, strongly connected world. For this, it will combine the power of information and communication technology (ICT) with knowledge from the social and complexity sciences. ICT will provide the data to boost the social sciences into a new era. Complexity science will shed new light on the emergent phenomena in socially interactive systems, and the social sciences will provide a better understanding of the opportunities and risks of strongly networked systems, in particular future ICT systems. Hence, the envisaged FuturICT flagship will create new methods and instruments to tackle the challenges of the 21st century. FuturICT could indeed become one of the most important scientific endeavours ever, by revealing the principles that make socially interactive systems work well, by inspiring the creation of new platforms to explore our possible futures, and by initiating an era of social and socio-inspired innovations.

World pharmaceuticals--Financial Times tenth annual conference. 22-23 April 1999, London, UK.

PubMed

Muhsin, M

1999-07-01

This two-day conference was organized by The Financial Times, in association with PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP. The general theme of the event was the state of the healthcare industry, past, present and future. The main areas covered included addressing the challenges of the 1990s, anticipating the challenges of the next decade, the changing shape of global marketing, IT in healthcare, consolidation challenges, shareholder expectations, and new strategies and technologies for growth sustenance within the industry. Key speakers within the industry addressed these issues to an audience of approximately 200 healthcare business executives. The first day was chaired by Mr Robert Cawthorn (Chairman Emeritus, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer Inc) and the second by Professor Trevor Jones (Director General, Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry).

Re-thinking Innovation in Organizations in the Industry 4.0 Scenario: New Challenges in a Primary Prevention Perspective.

PubMed

Palazzeschi, Letizia; Bucci, Ornella; Di Fabio, Annamaria

2018-01-01

In organizations, innovation is considered a relevant aspect of success and long-term survival. Organizations recognize that innovation contributes to creating competitive advantages in a more competitive, challenging and changing labor market. The present contribution addresses innovation in organizations in the scenario of Industry 4.0, including technological innovation and psychological innovation. Innovation is a core concept in this framework to face the challenge of globalized and fluid labor market in the 21st century. Reviewing the definition of innovation, the article focuses on innovative work behaviors and the relative measures. This perspective article also suggests new directions in a primary prevention perspective for future research and intervention relative to innovation and innovative work behaviors in the organizational context.

Re-thinking Innovation in Organizations in the Industry 4.0 Scenario: New Challenges in a Primary Prevention Perspective

PubMed Central

Palazzeschi, Letizia; Bucci, Ornella; Di Fabio, Annamaria

2018-01-01

In organizations, innovation is considered a relevant aspect of success and long-term survival. Organizations recognize that innovation contributes to creating competitive advantages in a more competitive, challenging and changing labor market. The present contribution addresses innovation in organizations in the scenario of Industry 4.0, including technological innovation and psychological innovation. Innovation is a core concept in this framework to face the challenge of globalized and fluid labor market in the 21st century. Reviewing the definition of innovation, the article focuses on innovative work behaviors and the relative measures. This perspective article also suggests new directions in a primary prevention perspective for future research and intervention relative to innovation and innovative work behaviors in the organizational context. PMID:29445349

Global Interconnectivity Between Mobile Satellite and Terrestrial Users: Call Signalling Issues and Challenges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Estabrook, Polly; Moon, Todd; Spade, Rob

1996-01-01

This paper will discuss some of the challenges in connecting mobile satellite users and mobile terrestrial users in a cost efficient manner and with a grade of service comparable to that of satellite to fixed user calls. Issues arising from the translation between the mobility management protocols resident at the satellite Earth station and those resident at cellular switches - either GSM (Group Special Mobile) or IS-41 (used by U.S. digital cellular systems) type - will be discussed. The impact of GSM call routing procedures on the call setup of a satellite to roaming GSM user will be described. Challenges facing provision of seamless call handoff between satellite and cellular systems will be given. A summary of the issues explored in the paper are listed and future work outlined.

The Children's Hepatic tumors International Collaboration (CHIC): Novel global rare tumor database yields new prognostic factors in hepatoblastoma and becomes a research model

PubMed Central

Czauderna, Piotr; Haeberle, Beate; Hiyama, Eiso; Rangaswami, Arun; Krailo, Mark; Maibach, Rudolf; Rinaldi, Eugenia; Feng, Yurong; Aronson, Daniel; Malogolowkin, Marcio; Yoshimura, Kenichi; Leuschner, Ivo; Lopez-Terrada, Dolores; Hishiki, Tomoro; Perilongo, Giorgio; von Schweinitz, Dietrich; Schmid, Irene; Watanabe, Kenichiro; Derosa, Marisa; Meyers, Rebecka

2016-01-01

Introduction Contemporary state-of-the-art management of cancer is increasingly defined by individualized treatment strategies. For very rare tumors, like hepatoblastoma, the development of biologic markers, and the identification of reliable prognostic risk factors for tailoring treatment, remains very challenging. The Children's Hepatic tumors International Collaboration (CHIC) is a novel international response to this challenge. Methods Four multicenter trial groups in the world, who have performed prospective controlled studies of hepatoblastoma over the past two decades (COG; SIOPEL; GPOH; and JPLT), joined forces to form the CHIC consortium. With the support of the data management group CINECA, CHIC developed a centralized online platform where data from eight completed hepatoblastoma trials were merged to form a database of 1605 hepatoblastoma cases treated between 1988 and 2008. The resulting dataset is described and the relationships between selected patient and tumor characteristics, and risk for adverse disease outcome (event-free survival; EFS) are examined. Results Significantly increased risk for EFS-event was noted for advanced PRETEXT group, macrovascular venous or portal involvement, contiguous extrahepatic disease, primary tumor multifocality and tumor rupture at enrollment. Higher age (≥8 years), low AFP (<100 ng/ml) and metastatic disease were associated with the worst outcome. Conclusion We have identified novel prognostic factors for hepatoblastoma, as well as confirmed established factors, that will be used to develop a future common global risk stratification system. The mechanics of developing the globally accessible web-based portal, building and refining the database, and performing this first statistical analysis has laid the foundation for future collaborative efforts. This is an important step for refining of the risk based grouping and approach to future treatment stratification, thus we think our collaboration offers a template for others to follow in the study of rare tumors and diseases. PMID:26655560

The Children's Hepatic tumors International Collaboration (CHIC): Novel global rare tumor database yields new prognostic factors in hepatoblastoma and becomes a research model.

PubMed

Czauderna, Piotr; Haeberle, Beate; Hiyama, Eiso; Rangaswami, Arun; Krailo, Mark; Maibach, Rudolf; Rinaldi, Eugenia; Feng, Yurong; Aronson, Daniel; Malogolowkin, Marcio; Yoshimura, Kenichi; Leuschner, Ivo; Lopez-Terrada, Dolores; Hishiki, Tomoro; Perilongo, Giorgio; von Schweinitz, Dietrich; Schmid, Irene; Watanabe, Kenichiro; Derosa, Marisa; Meyers, Rebecka

2016-01-01

Contemporary state-of-the-art management of cancer is increasingly defined by individualized treatment strategies. For very rare tumors, like hepatoblastoma, the development of biologic markers, and the identification of reliable prognostic risk factors for tailoring treatment, remains very challenging. The Children's Hepatic tumors International Collaboration (CHIC) is a novel international response to this challenge. Four multicenter trial groups in the world, who have performed prospective controlled studies of hepatoblastoma over the past two decades (COG; SIOPEL; GPOH; and JPLT), joined forces to form the CHIC consortium. With the support of the data management group CINECA, CHIC developed a centralized online platform where data from eight completed hepatoblastoma trials were merged to form a database of 1605 hepatoblastoma cases treated between 1988 and 2008. The resulting dataset is described and the relationships between selected patient and tumor characteristics, and risk for adverse disease outcome (event-free survival; EFS) are examined. Significantly increased risk for EFS-event was noted for advanced PRETEXT group, macrovascular venous or portal involvement, contiguous extrahepatic disease, primary tumor multifocality and tumor rupture at enrollment. Higher age (≥ 8 years), low AFP (<100 ng/ml) and metastatic disease were associated with the worst outcome. We have identified novel prognostic factors for hepatoblastoma, as well as confirmed established factors, that will be used to develop a future common global risk stratification system. The mechanics of developing the globally accessible web-based portal, building and refining the database, and performing this first statistical analysis has laid the foundation for future collaborative efforts. This is an important step for refining of the risk based grouping and approach to future treatment stratification, thus we think our collaboration offers a template for others to follow in the study of rare tumors and diseases. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Applications of satellite 'hyper-sensing' in Chinese agriculture: Challenges and opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Onojeghuo, Alex Okiemute; Blackburn, George Alan; Huang, Jingfeng; Kindred, Daniel; Huang, Wenjiang

2018-02-01

Ensuring adequate food supplies to a large and increasing population continues to be the key challenge for China. Given the increasing integration of China within global markets for agricultural products, this issue is of considerable significance for global food security. Over the last 50 years, China has increased the production of its staple crops mainly by increasing yield per unit land area. However, this has largely been achieved through inappropriate agricultural practices, which have caused environmental degradation, with deleterious consequences for future agricultural productivity. Hence, there is now a pressing need to intensify agriculture in China using practices that are environmentally and economically sustainable. Given the dynamic nature of crops over space and time, the use of remote sensing technology has proven to be a valuable asset providing end-users in many countries with information to guide sustainable agricultural practices. Recently, the field has experienced considerable technological advancements reflected in the availability of 'hyper-sensing' (high spectral, spatial and temporal) satellite imagery useful for monitoring, modelling and mapping of agricultural crops. However, there still remains a significant challenge in fully exploiting such technologies for addressing agricultural problems in China. This review paper evaluates the potential contributions of satellite 'hyper-sensing' to agriculture in China and identifies the opportunities and challenges for future work. We perform a critical evaluation of current capabilities in satellite 'hyper-sensing' in agriculture with an emphasis on Chinese sensors. Our analysis draws on a series of in-depth examples based on recent and on-going projects in China that are developing 'hyper-sensing' approaches for (i) measuring crop phenology parameters and predicting yields; (ii) specifying crop fertiliser requirements; (iii) optimising management responses to abiotic and biotic stress in crops; (iv) maximising yields while minimising water use in arid regions; (v) large-scale crop/cropland mapping; and (vi) management zone delineation. The paper concludes with a synthesis of these application areas in order to define the requirements for future research, technological innovation and knowledge exchange in order to deliver yield sustainability in China.

Software and the future of programming languages.

PubMed

Aho, Alfred V

2004-02-27

Although software is the key enabler of the global information infrastructure, the amount and extent of software in use in the world today are not widely understood, nor are the programming languages and paradigms that have been used to create the software. The vast size of the embedded base of existing software and the increasing costs of software maintenance, poor security, and limited functionality are posing significant challenges for the software R&D community.

Human nutrition, the gut microbiome, and immune system: envisioning the future

PubMed Central

Kau, Andrew L.; Ahern, Philip P.; Griffin, Nicholas W.; Goodman, Andrew L.; Gordon, Jeffrey I.

2012-01-01

Summary Paragraph Dramatic changes in socioeconomic status, cultural traditions, population growth, and agriculture are affecting diets worldwide. Understanding how our diet and nutritional status influence the composition and dynamic operations of our gut microbial communities, and the innate and adaptive arms of our immune system, represents an area of scientific need, opportunity and challenge. The insights gleaned should help address a number of pressing global health problems. PMID:21677749

Climate Change and Cities in Africa: Current Dilemmas and Future Challenges

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-10-01

naturally emanates from Earth’s atmosphere .8 One piece of scientific evidence of climate change has been an increase in the average global temperature...is just one element of climate change . Atmospheric temperature interacts with other natural systems, such as the oceanic system, in complex ways with...SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: How will climate change affect people living in African cities? The answer to this complex question has two interrelated

Managing consequences of climate-driven species redistribution requires integration of ecology, conservation and social science.

PubMed

Bonebrake, Timothy C; Brown, Christopher J; Bell, Johann D; Blanchard, Julia L; Chauvenet, Alienor; Champion, Curtis; Chen, I-Ching; Clark, Timothy D; Colwell, Robert K; Danielsen, Finn; Dell, Anthony I; Donelson, Jennifer M; Evengård, Birgitta; Ferrier, Simon; Frusher, Stewart; Garcia, Raquel A; Griffis, Roger B; Hobday, Alistair J; Jarzyna, Marta A; Lee, Emma; Lenoir, Jonathan; Linnetved, Hlif; Martin, Victoria Y; McCormack, Phillipa C; McDonald, Jan; McDonald-Madden, Eve; Mitchell, Nicola; Mustonen, Tero; Pandolfi, John M; Pettorelli, Nathalie; Possingham, Hugh; Pulsifer, Peter; Reynolds, Mark; Scheffers, Brett R; Sorte, Cascade J B; Strugnell, Jan M; Tuanmu, Mao-Ning; Twiname, Samantha; Vergés, Adriana; Villanueva, Cecilia; Wapstra, Erik; Wernberg, Thomas; Pecl, Gretta T

2018-02-01

Climate change is driving a pervasive global redistribution of the planet's species. Species redistribution poses new questions for the study of ecosystems, conservation science and human societies that require a coordinated and integrated approach. Here we review recent progress, key gaps and strategic directions in this nascent research area, emphasising emerging themes in species redistribution biology, the importance of understanding underlying drivers and the need to anticipate novel outcomes of changes in species ranges. We highlight that species redistribution has manifest implications across multiple temporal and spatial scales and from genes to ecosystems. Understanding range shifts from ecological, physiological, genetic and biogeographical perspectives is essential for informing changing paradigms in conservation science and for designing conservation strategies that incorporate changing population connectivity and advance adaptation to climate change. Species redistributions present challenges for human well-being, environmental management and sustainable development. By synthesising recent approaches, theories and tools, our review establishes an interdisciplinary foundation for the development of future research on species redistribution. Specifically, we demonstrate how ecological, conservation and social research on species redistribution can best be achieved by working across disciplinary boundaries to develop and implement solutions to climate change challenges. Future studies should therefore integrate existing and complementary scientific frameworks while incorporating social science and human-centred approaches. Finally, we emphasise that the best science will not be useful unless more scientists engage with managers, policy makers and the public to develop responsible and socially acceptable options for the global challenges arising from species redistributions. © 2017 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

A Direct Assessment of “Obesogenic” Built Environments: Challenges and Recommendations

PubMed Central

Gasevic, Danijela; Vukmirovich, Ina; Yusuf, Salim; Teo, Koon; Chow, Clara; Dagenais, Gilles; Lear, Scott A.

2011-01-01

This paper outlines the challenges faced during direct built environment (BE) assessments of 42 Canadian communities of various income and urbanization levels. In addition, we recommend options for overcoming such challenges during BE community assessments. Direct BE assessments were performed utilizing two distinct audit methods: (1) modified version of Irvine-Minnesota Inventory in which a paper version of an audit tool was used to assess BE features and (2) a Physical Activity and Nutrition Features audit tool, where the presence and positions of all environmental features of interest were recorded using a Global-Positioning-System (GPS) unit. This paper responds to the call for the need of creators and users of environmental audit tools to share experiences regarding the usability of tools for BE assessments. The outlined BE assessment challenges plus recommendations for overcoming them can help improve and refine the existing audit tools and aid researchers in future assessments of the BE. PMID:22174727

The global burden of neonatal hypothermia: systematic review of a major challenge for newborn survival

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background To provide evidence on the global epidemiological situation of neonatal hypothermia and to provide recommendations for future policy and research directions. Methods Using PubMed as our principal electronic reference library, we searched studies for prevalence and risk factor data on neonatal hypothermia in resource-limited environments globally. Studies specifying study location, setting (hospital or community based), sample size, case definition of body temperature for hypothermia, temperature measurement method, and point estimates for hypothermia prevalence were eligible for inclusion. Results Hypothermia is common in infants born at hospitals (prevalence range, 32% to 85%) and homes (prevalence range, 11% to 92%), even in tropical environments. The lack of thermal protection is still an underappreciated major challenge for newborn survival in developing countries. Although hypothermia is rarely a direct cause of death, it contributes to a substantial proportion of neonatal mortality globally, mostly as a comorbidity of severe neonatal infections, preterm birth, and asphyxia. Thresholds for the definition of hypothermia vary, and data on its prevalence in neonates is scarce, particularly on a community level in Africa. Conclusions A standardized approach to the collection and analysis of hypothermia data in existing newborn programs and studies is needed to inform policy and program planners on optimal thermal protection interventions. Thermoprotective behavior changes such as skin-to-skin care or the use of appropriate devices have not yet been scaled up globally. The introduction of simple hypothermia prevention messages and interventions into evidence-based, cost-effective packages for maternal and newborn care has promising potential to decrease the heavy global burden of newborn deaths attributable to severe infections, prematurity, and asphyxia. Because preventing and treating newborn hypothermia in health institutions and communities is relatively easy, addressing this widespread challenge might play a substantial role in reaching Millennium Development Goal 4, a reduction of child mortality. PMID:23369256

Water Resources and Sustainable Agriculture in 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asrar, G.

2008-05-01

Global agriculture faces some unique challenges and opportunities for the rest of this century. The need for food, feed and fiber will continues to grow as the world population continue to increase in the future. Agricultural ecosystems are also expected to be the source of a significant portion of renewable energy and fuels around the world, without further compromising the integrity of the natural resources base. How can agriculture continue to provide these services to meet the growing needs of world population while sustaining the integrity of agricultural ecosystems and natural resources, the very foundation it depends on? In the last century, scientific discoveries and technological innovations in agriculture resulted in significant increase in food, feed and fiber production globally, while the total amount of water, energy, fertilizers and other input used to achieve this growth remained the same or even decreased significantly in some parts of the world. Scientific and technical advances in understanding global and regional water and energy cycles, water resources management, soil and water conservation practices, weather prediction, plant breeding and biotechnology, and information and communication technologies contributed to this tremendous achievement. The projected increase in global population, urbanization, and changing lifestyles will continue the pressure on both agriculture and other managed and natural ecosystems to provide necessary goods and services for the rest of this century. To meet these challenges, we must obtain the requisite scientific and technical advances in the functioning of Earth's water, energy, carbon and biogeochemical cycles. We also need to apply the knowledge we gain and technologies we develop in assessing Earth's ecosystems' conditions, and their management and stewardship. In agricultural ecosystems, management of soil and water quality and quantity together with development of new varieties of plants based on advances in genomic, genetics, breeding and applied biotechnologies are a key to our ability to address these challenges. We must also continue to develop agronomic practices that sustain the integrity of natural resources and conserve energy on one-hand while maximizing agricultural production per unit area of land on the other hand. This will require managing agricultural ecosystems for their multiple functions and services together, instead of looking at each function/service in isolation. In this presentation, we will provide an overview of the scientific and technical knowledge required for sustainable management of agricultural ecosystems and associated natural resources. We will describe the soil, water and energy research needs/priorities in agriculture. We will also provide some examples of recent accomplishments and future directions in developing decision support tools for assessing the impacts of weather and climate variations and change, and their risk to agricultural ecosystems. We will then focus on opportunities and challenges associated with measurement, monitoring and modeling of soil moisture and its use in management and operation of agricultural ecosystems. The overall intent of this presentation is to stimulate some discussion on future directions and priorities for soil, water and energy research in agricultural ecosystems, and how the knowledge we gain from this research can be conveyed to the users for risk assessment, decision making, and multi-service ecosystem management purposes.

Pseudo Phase Plane and Fractional Calculus modeling of western global economic downturn

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tenreiro Machado, J. A.; Mata, Maria Eugénia

2015-05-01

This paper applies Pseudo Phase Plane (PPP) and Fractional Calculus (FC) mathematical tools for modeling world economies. A challenging global rivalry among the largest international economies began in the early 1970s, when the post-war prosperity declined. It went on, up to now. If some worrying threatens may exist actually in terms of possible ambitious military aggression, invasion, or hegemony, countries' PPP relative positions can tell something on the current global peaceful equilibrium. A global political downturn of the USA on global hegemony in favor of Asian partners is possible, but can still be not accomplished in the next decades. If the 1973 oil chock has represented the beginning of a long-run recession, the PPP analysis of the last four decades (1972-2012) does not conclude for other partners' global dominance (Russian, Brazil, Japan, and Germany) in reaching high degrees of similarity with the most developed world countries. The synergies of the proposed mathematical tools lead to a better understanding of the dynamics underlying world economies and point towards the estimation of future states based on the memory of each time series.

From local to global--an overview of the Croatian National Theatre in the era of globalization.

PubMed

Penjak, Ana

2012-09-01

The article offers an overview of the Croatian National Theatre research. It comes in two parts. The first examines the position theatre in the era of globalization, while the second focuses on the Croatian National Theatre, in the era of globalization, in the context of specific social and national interests, as well as within the limits of the national possibilities. What emerges in this overview is a feel for how complex the field of theatre research is in Croatia, given its specific position since there are four National Theatres in a country of approximately 4 million people. Also, local budgets and the lack of strategical plan and programme for culture in general represent a sort of limitation. The article ends with two conclusions: a) the Croatian National Theatres in the effort to go global experience primarily different economic status; b) the article draws attention to the present and future challenges that the Croatian National Theatres are faced with, posed by issues such as correlation between globalization and theatre.

New insights into the role of motion and form vision in neurodevelopmental disorders.

PubMed

Johnston, Richard; Pitchford, Nicola J; Roach, Neil W; Ledgeway, Timothy

2017-12-01

A selective deficit in processing the global (overall) motion, but not form, of spatially extensive objects in the visual scene is frequently associated with several neurodevelopmental disorders, including preterm birth. Existing theories that proposed to explain the origin of this visual impairment are, however, challenged by recent research. In this review, we explore alternative hypotheses for why deficits in the processing of global motion, relative to global form, might arise. We describe recent evidence that has utilised novel tasks of global motion and global form to elucidate the underlying nature of the visual deficit reported in different neurodevelopmental disorders. We also examine the role of IQ and how the sex of an individual can influence performance on these tasks, as these are factors that are associated with performance on global motion tasks, but have not been systematically controlled for in previous studies exploring visual processing in clinical populations. Finally, we suggest that a new theoretical framework is needed for visual processing in neurodevelopmental disorders and present recommendations for future research. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Breeding blueberries for a changing global environment: a review

PubMed Central

Lobos, Gustavo A.; Hancock, James F.

2015-01-01

Today, blueberries are recognized worldwide as one of the foremost health foods, becoming one of the crops with the highest productive and commercial projections. Over the last 100 years, the geographical area where highbush blueberries are grown has extended dramatically into hotter and drier environments. The expansion of highbush blueberry growing into warmer regions will be challenged in the future by increases in average global temperature and extreme fluctuations in temperature and rainfall patterns. Considerable genetic variability exists within the blueberry gene pool that breeders can use to meet these challenges, but traditional selection techniques can be slow and inefficient and the precise adaptations of genotypes often remain hidden. Marker assisted breeding (MAB) and phenomics could aid greatly in identifying those individuals carrying adventitious traits, increasing selection efficiency and shortening the rate of cultivar release. While phenomics have begun to be used in the breeding of grain crops in the last 10 years, their use in fruit breeding programs it is almost non-existent. PMID:26483803

Toward a bioethical framework for antibiotic use, antimicrobial resistance and for empirically designing ethically robust strategies to protect human health: a research protocol

PubMed Central

Martins Pereira, Sandra; de Sá Brandão, Patrícia Joana; Araújo, Joana; Carvalho, Ana Sofia

2017-01-01

Introduction Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a challenging global and public health issue, raising bioethical challenges, considerations and strategies. Objectives This research protocol presents a conceptual model leading to formulating an empirically based bioethics framework for antibiotic use, AMR and designing ethically robust strategies to protect human health. Methods Mixed methods research will be used and operationalized into five substudies. The bioethical framework will encompass and integrate two theoretical models: global bioethics and ethical decision-making. Results Being a study protocol, this article reports on planned and ongoing research. Conclusions Based on data collection, future findings and using a comprehensive, integrative, evidence-based approach, a step-by-step bioethical framework will be developed for (i) responsible use of antibiotics in healthcare and (ii) design of strategies to decrease AMR. This will entail the analysis and interpretation of approaches from several bioethical theories, including deontological and consequentialist approaches, and the implications of uncertainty to these approaches. PMID:28459355

Millennium development goals and eye health.

PubMed

Faal, Hannah B

2012-01-01

In September 2000, world leaders made a commitment to build a more equitable, prosperous and safer world by 2015 and launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In the previous year, the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness in partnership launched the global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020-VISION 2020 the Right to Sight. It has focused on the prevention of a disability-blindness and recognized a health issue-sight as a human right. Both global initiatives have made considerable progress with synergy especially on MDG 1-the reduction of poverty and the reduction in numbers of the blind. A review of the MDGs has identified the need to address disparities within and between countries, quality, and disability. Noncommunicable diseases are emerging as a challenge to the MDGs and Vision 2020:0 the Right to Sight. For the future, up to and beyond 2015, there will be need for both initiatives to continue to work in synergy to address present and emerging challenges.

Millennium development goals and eye health

PubMed Central

Faal, Hannah B

2012-01-01

In September 2000, world leaders made a commitment to build a more equitable, prosperous and safer world by 2015 and launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In the previous year, the World Health Organization and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness in partnership launched the global initiative to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020–VISION 2020 the Right to Sight. It has focused on the prevention of a disability-blindness and recognized a health issue–sight as a human right. Both global initiatives have made considerable progress with synergy especially on MDG 1–the reduction of poverty and the reduction in numbers of the blind. A review of the MDGs has identified the need to address disparities within and between countries, quality, and disability. Noncommunicable diseases are emerging as a challenge to the MDGs and Vision 2020:0 the Right to Sight. For the future, up to and beyond 2015, there will be need for both initiatives to continue to work in synergy to address present and emerging challenges. PMID:22944751

Task toward a Realization of Commercial Tokamak Fusion Plants in 2050 -The Role of ITER and the Succeeding Developments- 5.Challenge to Innovative Technologies and the Expected Market Appeal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tobita, Kenji; Konishi, Satoshi; Tokimatsu, Koji; Nishio, Satoshi; Hiwatari, Ryoji

This section describes the future of fusion energy in terms of its impact on the global energy supply and global warming mitigation, the possible entry scenarios of fusion into future energy market, and innovative technologies for deploying and expanding fusion's share in the market. Section 5.1 shows that fusion energy can contribute to the stabilization of atmospheric CO2 concentration if fusion is introduced into the future energy market at a competitive price. Considerations regarding fusion's entry scenarios into the energy market are presented in Sec. 5.2, suggesting that fusion should replace fossil energy sources and thus contribute to global warming mitigation. In this sense, first generation fusion power plants should be a viable energy source with global appeal and be so attractive as to be employed in developing countries rather than in developed countries. Favorable factors lending to this purpose are fusion's stability as a power source, and its security, safety, and environmental frendliness as well as its cost-of-electricity. The requirements for core plasma to expand the share of fusion in the market in the latter half of this century are given in Sec.5.3, pointing out the importance of high beta access with low aspect ratio and plasma profile control. From this same point of view, innovative fusion technologies worthy of further development are commented on in Sec. 5.4, addressing the high temperature blanket, hydrogen production, high temperature superconductors, and hot cell maintenance.

Cross-continental comparison of the functional composition and carbon allocation of two altitudinal forest transects in Ecuador and Rwanda.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bauters, Marijn; Bruneel, Stijn; Demol, Miro; Taveirne, Cys; Van Der Heyden, Dries; Boeckx, Pascal; Kearsley, Elizabeth; Cizungu, Landry; Verbeeck, Hans

2016-04-01

Tropical forests are key actors in the global carbon cycle. Predicting future responses of these forests to global change is challenging, but important for global climate models. However, our current understanding of such responses is limited, due to the complexity of forest ecosystems and the slow dynamics that inherently form these systems. Our understanding of ecosystem ecology and functioning could greatly benefit from experimental setups including strong environmental gradients in the tropics, as found on altitudinal transects. We setup two such transects in both South-America and Africa, focussing on shifts in carbon allocation, forest structure and functional composition. By a cross-continental comparison of both transects, we will gain insight in how different or alike both tropical forests biomes are in their responses, and how universal the observed adaption mechanisms are.

Tackling the threat of antimicrobial resistance: from policy to sustainable action

PubMed Central

Shallcross, Laura J.; Howard, Simon J.; Fowler, Tom; Davies, Sally C.

2015-01-01

Antibiotics underpin all of modern medicine, from routine major surgery through to caesarean sections and modern cancer therapies. These drugs have revolutionized how we practice medicine, but we are in a constant evolutionary battle to evade microbial resistance and this has become a major global public health problem. We have overused and misused these essential medicines both in the human and animal health sectors and this threatens the effectiveness of antimicrobials for future generations. We can only address the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through international collaboration across human and animal health sectors integrating social, economic and behavioural factors. Our global organizations are rising to the challenge with the recent World Health Assembly resolution on AMR and development of the Global Action plan but we must act now to avoid a return to a pre-antibiotic era. PMID:25918440

International Perspectives on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Contextual Considerations for Advancing Global Discourse.

PubMed

Dolbin-MacNab, Megan L; Yancura, Loriena A

2018-01-01

Globally, it is common for grandparents to serve as surrogate parents to their grandchildren, often in response to family crises and other challenges such as poverty, disease epidemics, and migration. Despite the global nature of this intergenerational caregiving arrangement, there have been few contextually focused examinations of how grandparents' surrogate parenting roles are enacted across countries and cultures. This analytic review addresses this issue by exploring demographic and cultural contexts, needs and experiences, and formal and informal supports for grandparents raising grandchildren in four diverse countries: China, New Zealand, Romania, and South Africa. We conclude our analysis by discussing key contextual factors, and their associated interrelationships, from which future research may elucidate how cultural, historical, and sociopolitical factors uniquely shape grandparents' experiences. We also make recommendations for contextually informed policies and practice.

Current trends in biodegradable polyhydroxyalkanoates.

PubMed

Chanprateep, Suchada

2010-12-01

The microbial polyesters known as polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) positively impact global climate change scenarios by reducing the amount of non-degradable plastic used. A wide variety of different monomer compositions of PHAs has been described, as well as their future prospects for applications where high biodegradability or biocompatibility is required. PHAs can be produced from renewable raw materials and are degraded naturally by microorganisms that enable carbon dioxide and organic compound recycling in the ecosystem, providing a buffer to climate change. This review summarizes recent research on PHAs and addresses the opportunities as well as challenges for their place in the global market. Copyright © 2010 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Perspectives on orchid conservation in botanic gardens.

PubMed

Swarts, Nigel D; Dixon, Kingsley W

2009-11-01

Orchids, one of the largest families of flowering plants, face an uncertain future through overexploitation, habitat loss and impacts of climate change. With their intricate abiotic and biotic dependencies, orchids typify the plight of global plant resources and, thus, provide ideal model species for ecological tracking and focussing conservation programs. Botanic gardens worldwide have traditionally been major centres of excellence in orchid horticulture, research and conservation as orchids generate wide public and educational appeal. Here, we highlight the role of botanic gardens in areas key to orchid conservation. With pristine habitats under threat globally, the challenge for orchid conservation programs will ultimately depend upon developing ecological restoration technologies, whereby orchids are reinstated into sustainably restored habitats.

Developmental origins of health and disease--global public health implications.

PubMed

Hanson, M A; Gluckman, P D

2015-01-01

The rapidly rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) represents a major challenge to public health and clinical medicine globally. NCDs are increasing rapidly in high-income countries, but even more rapidly in some low-middle-income countries with insufficient resources to meet the challenge. Whilst not identified in the Millennium Development Goals, there is much attention paid to NCDs in the discussions at many levels on the Sustainable Development Goals, as they underpin economic, social and environmental development in the post-2015 era. In this article, we discuss how a life-course approach to health, commencing of necessity in early development, can provide new opportunities for addressing this challenge. The approach can leverage human health capital throughout life and across generations. New insights into mechanisms, especially those processes by which the developmental environment affects epigenetic processes in the developing offspring, offer the prospect of identifying biomarkers of future risks. New interventions to promote health literacy, lifestyle and physical fitness in adolescents, young adults and their children hold great promise. In this respect, health-care professionals concerned with preconceptional, pregnancy and newborn care will have a vital role to play. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Challenges to professionalism: Social accountability and global environmental change.

PubMed

Pearson, David; Walpole, Sarah; Barna, Stefi

2015-01-01

This article explores the concept of professionalism as it relates to social change and social accountability, and expands on them in the light of global environmental changes. Professionalism in medicine includes concepts of altruism, service, professional knowledge, self-regulation and autonomy. Current dialogues around social accountability suggest that medical schools should re-orientate their strategy and desired education, research and service outcomes to the health needs of the communities they serve.This article addresses the following questions: • How do we reconcile ideas of medical professionalism with the demands of creating a more equal, just, sustainable and socially inclusive society? • What new challenges do or will we face in relation to environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, ecosystem health and climate change? • How can medical schools best teach social and environmental responsiveness within a framework of professionalism? • How do medical schools ensure that tomorrow's doctors possess the knowledge, skills and attitude to adapt to the challenges they will face in future roles?We offer ideas about why and how medical educators can change, recommendations to strengthen the teaching of professionalism and social accountability and suggestions about the contribution of an emerging concept, that of "environmental accountability".

Integrating Research to Reduce Risk and Gain the Benefits for Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mcbean, G. A.

2015-12-01

Across all countries there are challenges due to the increasing numbers of hazards creating disasters and impacting on people and property and limiting development. These impacts, in a relative sense relative to population and economy, are larger in developing countries and small island states. The issues of disaster risk reduction, sustainable development goals and climate change mitigation and adaptation are key global issues being addressed through international processes in 2015. Internationally coordinated research, through programs such as Integrated Research on Disaster Risk, Future Earth: Research for Global Sustainability and Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment, needs to be supported and their research coordinated so the outputs are effective in policy development and can be used by all countries. A particular challenge is with regard to those extreme and relatively rare events that have huge impacts but societies are not yet effective in "making timely decisions and implementation of the hazard-associated preparedness measures to mitigate humanitarian and economic losses". The challenge for the scientific community is to work with stakeholder communities through a co-design, co-produce and co-deliver approach to enhance the relevance and effectiveness of our science.

Managing uncertainty: a review of food system scenario analysis and modelling

PubMed Central

Reilly, Michael; Willenbockel, Dirk

2010-01-01

Complex socio-ecological systems like the food system are unpredictable, especially to long-term horizons such as 2050. In order to manage this uncertainty, scenario analysis has been used in conjunction with food system models to explore plausible future outcomes. Food system scenarios use a diversity of scenario types and modelling approaches determined by the purpose of the exercise and by technical, methodological and epistemological constraints. Our case studies do not suggest Malthusian futures for a projected global population of 9 billion in 2050; but international trade will be a crucial determinant of outcomes; and the concept of sustainability across the dimensions of the food system has been inadequately explored so far. The impact of scenario analysis at a global scale could be strengthened with participatory processes involving key actors at other geographical scales. Food system models are valuable in managing existing knowledge on system behaviour and ensuring the credibility of qualitative stories but they are limited by current datasets for global crop production and trade, land use and hydrology. Climate change is likely to challenge the adaptive capacity of agricultural production and there are important knowledge gaps for modelling research to address. PMID:20713402

Global Monitoring of Water Supply and Sanitation: History, Methods and Future Challenges

PubMed Central

Bartram, Jamie; Brocklehurst, Clarissa; Fisher, Michael B.; Luyendijk, Rolf; Hossain, Rifat; Wardlaw, Tessa; Gordon, Bruce

2014-01-01

International monitoring of drinking water and sanitation shapes awareness of countries’ needs and informs policy, implementation and research efforts to extend and improve services. The Millennium Development Goals established global targets for drinking water and sanitation access; progress towards these targets, facilitated by international monitoring, has contributed to reducing the global disease burden and increasing quality of life. The experiences of the MDG period generated important lessons about the strengths and limitations of current approaches to defining and monitoring access to drinking water and sanitation. The methods by which the Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) of WHO and UNICEF tracks access and progress are based on analysis of data from household surveys and linear regression modelling of these results over time. These methods provide nationally-representative and internationally-comparable insights into the drinking water and sanitation facilities used by populations worldwide, but also have substantial limitations: current methods do not address water quality, equity of access, or extra-household services. Improved statistical methods are needed to better model temporal trends. This article describes and critically reviews JMP methods in detail for the first time. It also explores the impact of, and future directions for, international monitoring of drinking water and sanitation. PMID:25116635

Advocacy, support and survivorship in prostate cancer.

PubMed

Dunn, J; Casey, C; Sandoe, D; Hyde, M K; Cheron-Sauer, M-C; Lowe, A; Oliffe, J L; Chambers, S K

2018-03-01

Across Australia, prostate cancer support groups (PCSG) have emerged to fill a gap in psychosocial care for men and their families. However, an understanding of the triggers and influencers of the PCSG movement is absent. We interviewed 21 SG leaders (19 PC survivors, two partners), of whom six also attended a focus group, about motivations, experiences, past and future challenges in founding and leading PCSGs. Thematic analysis identified four global themes: illness experience; enacting a supportive response; forming a national collective and challenges. Leaders described men's feelings of isolation and neglect by the health system as the impetus for PCSGs to form and give/receive mutual help. Negotiating health care systems was an early challenge. National affiliation enabled leaders to build a united voice in the health system and establish a group identity and collective voice. Affiliation was supported by a symbiotic relationship with tensions between independence, affiliation and governance. Future challenges were group sustainability and inclusiveness. Study findings describe how a grassroots PCSG movement arose consistent with an embodied health movement perspective. Health care organisations who seek to leverage these community resources need to be cognisant of SG values and purpose if they are to negotiate effective partnerships that maximise mutual benefit. © 2017 The Authors. European Journal of Cancer Care Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The future of global health education: training for equity in global health.

PubMed

Adams, Lisa V; Wagner, Claire M; Nutt, Cameron T; Binagwaho, Agnes

2016-11-21

Among academic institutions in the United States, interest in global health has grown substantially: by the number of students seeking global health opportunities at all stages of training, and by the increase in institutional partnerships and newly established centers, institutes, and initiatives to house global health programs at undergraduate, public health and medical schools. Witnessing this remarkable growth should compel health educators to question whether the training and guidance that we provide to students today is appropriate, and whether it will be applicable in the next decade and beyond. Given that "global health" did not exist as an academic discipline in the United States 20 years ago, what can we expect it will look like 20 years from now and how can we prepare for that future? Most clinicians and trainees today recognize the importance of true partnership and capacity building in both directions for successful international collaborations. The challenge is in the execution of these practices. There are projects around the world where this is occurring and equitable partnerships have been established. Based on our experience and observations of the current landscape of academic global health, we share a perspective on principles of engagement, highlighting instances where partnerships have thrived, and examples of where we, as a global community, have fallen short. As the world moves beyond the charity model of global health (and its colonial roots), it is evident that the issue underlying ethical global health practice is partnership and the pursuit of health equity. Thus, achieving equity in global health education and practice ought to be central to our mission as educators and advisors when preparing trainees for careers in this field. Seeking to eliminate health inequities wherever they are ingrained will reveal the injustices around the globe and in our own cities and towns.

Shaping the future of dental education: Caries as a case-study.

PubMed

Pitts, N B; Mazevet, M E; Mayne, C

2018-03-01

This study reports on the full-day workshop "The Shape of The Future of Dental Education for Dental Caries-and how we get there" held immediately prior to the May 2017 ADEE/ADEA/King's College London meeting "Shaping the Future of Dental Education." A standardised, evidence-led Core Curriculum in Cariology (CCC) was developed jointly and systematically by ORCA and ADEE, starting in 2010. At the same time, the ICDAS Foundation was developing a comprehensive caries management system, ICCMS™. The workshop reported on what has been achieved on a global basis by many building on these initiatives. The CCC has been, or is currently being, localised in a number of places around the world and has, in some countries, been successfully implemented. There are also other areas which are struggling more with the logistics of introducing it. The workshop presented geographical perspectives and experiences on implementing the CCC from Colombia, the United States and Europe, as well as professional perspectives from hygienists, students and policymakers. The workshop then considered the future of the CCC and the roles of Interprofessional Education, Technology, Global Networking and Assessment in a Global Context in 4 breakout groups. Having had reports back and plenary discussion, it was concluded that the caries world has made good progress towards a "futuristic" curriculum with parallel development of a comprehensive, preventive and tooth-preserving caries management system-ICCMS™. The implementation challenge is now to share even more effectively in order to have these developments more widely accepted and adopted worldwide. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Global governance, international health law and WHO: looking towards the future.

PubMed Central

Taylor, Allyn L.

2002-01-01

The evolving domain of international health law encompasses increasingly diverse and complex concerns. Commentators agree that health development in the twenty-first century is likely to expand the use of conventional international law to create a framework for coordination and cooperation among states in an increasingly interdependent world. This article examines the forces and factors behind the emerging expansion of conventional international health law as an important tool for present and future multilateral cooperation. It considers challenges to effective international health cooperation posed for intergovernmental organizations and other actors involved in lawmaking. Although full consolidation of all aspects of future international health lawmaking under the auspices of a single international organization is unworkable and undesirable, the World Health Organization (WHO) should endeavour to serve as a coordinator, catalyst and, where appropriate, platform for future health law codification. Such leadership by WHO could enhance coordination, coherence and implementation of international health law policy. PMID:12571727

The Future of Low-Carbon Electricity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greenblatt, Jeffery B.; Brown, Nicholas R.; Slaybaugh, Rachel

Here, we review future global demand for electricity and major technologies positioned to supply itwith minimal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: renewables (wind, solar, water, geothermal and biomass), nuclear fission, and fossil power with CO 2 capture and sequestration. Two breakthrough technologies (space solar power and nuclear fusion) are discussed as exciting but uncertain additional options for low net GHG emissions (“low-carbon”) electricity generation. Grid integration technologies (monitoring and forecasting of transmission and distribution systems, demand-side load management, energy storage, and load balancing with low-carbon fuel substitutes) are also discussed. For each topic, recent historical trends and future prospects are reviewed,more » along with technical challenges, costs and other issues as appropriate. While no technology represents an ideal solution, their strengths can be enhanced by deployment in combination, along with grid integration that forms a critical set of enabling technologies to assure a reliable and robust future low-carbon electricity system.« less

The Future of Low-Carbon Electricity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Greenblatt, Jeffery B.; Brown, Nicholas R.; Slaybaugh, Rachel

We review future global demand for electricity and major technologies positioned to supply it with minimal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: renewables (wind, solar, water, geothermal, and biomass), nuclear fission, and fossil power with CO2 capture and sequestration. We discuss two breakthrough technologies (space solar power and nuclear fusion) as exciting but uncertain additional options for low-net GHG emissions (i.e., low-carbon) electricity generation. In addition, we discuss grid integration technologies (monitoring and forecasting of transmission and distribution systems, demand-side load management, energy storage, and load balancing with low-carbon fuel substitutes). For each topic, recent historical trends and future prospects are reviewed,more » along with technical challenges, costs, and other issues as appropriate. Although no technology represents an ideal solution, their strengths can be enhanced by deployment in combination, along with grid integration that forms a critical set of enabling technologies to assure a reliable and robust future low-carbon electricity system.« less

The Future of Low-Carbon Electricity

DOE PAGES

Greenblatt, Jeffery B.; Brown, Nicholas R.; Slaybaugh, Rachel; ...

2017-07-10

Here, we review future global demand for electricity and major technologies positioned to supply itwith minimal greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: renewables (wind, solar, water, geothermal and biomass), nuclear fission, and fossil power with CO 2 capture and sequestration. Two breakthrough technologies (space solar power and nuclear fusion) are discussed as exciting but uncertain additional options for low net GHG emissions (“low-carbon”) electricity generation. Grid integration technologies (monitoring and forecasting of transmission and distribution systems, demand-side load management, energy storage, and load balancing with low-carbon fuel substitutes) are also discussed. For each topic, recent historical trends and future prospects are reviewed,more » along with technical challenges, costs and other issues as appropriate. While no technology represents an ideal solution, their strengths can be enhanced by deployment in combination, along with grid integration that forms a critical set of enabling technologies to assure a reliable and robust future low-carbon electricity system.« less

Opportunities in solar energy research over the next decade

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kennett, E.

1989-06-01

A sustainable energy path that relies on renewable energy sources can provide policymakers with the flexibility to cope with an uncertain national and global future. Improving market pricing signals, opening up the energy supply and energy savings business, educating society to see the true present value of future savings, and reinvigorating research and development programs will be difficult. However, those nations that accept the challenge will be rewarded with increased energy security, more stable economies, and a healthier global environment. The following report is an overview of eight trends in our society that are expected to shape the nature of architecture at the turn of the century. These trends will have pronounced effects on the use of renewable energy in our building stock. In turn, solar energy research can provide the answers to certain questions which will arise during these changes. Changes, if understood, can also serve to accelerate the inclusion of certain technologies, as in this particular case, solar energy.

Future hotspots of increasing temperature variability in tropical countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bathiany, S.; Dakos, V.; Scheffer, M.; Lenton, T. M.

2017-12-01

Resolving how climate variability will change in future is crucial to determining how challenging it will be for societies and ecosystems to adapt to climate change. We show that the largest increases in temperature variability - that are robust between state-of-the art climate models - are concentrated in tropical countries. On average, temperature variability increases by 15% per degree of global warming in Amazonia and Southern Africa during austral summer, and by up to 10% °C-1 in the Sahel, India and South East Asia. Southern hemisphere changes can be explained by drying soils, whereas shifts in atmospheric structure play a more important role in the Northern hemisphere. These robust regional changes in variability are associated with monthly timescale events, whereas uncertain changes in inter-annual modes of variability make the response of global temperature variability uncertain. Our results suggest that regional changes in temperature variability will create new inequalities in climate change impacts between rich and poor nations.

Rice Research to Break Yield Barriers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, Vivek; Ramamoorthy, Rengasamy; Kohli, Ajay; Kumar, Prakash P.

2015-10-01

The world’s population continues to expand and it is expected to cross 9 billion by 2050. This would significantly amplify the demand for food, which will pose serious threats to global food security. Additional challenges are being imposed due to a gradual decrease in the total arable land and global environmental changes. Hence, it is of utmost importance to review and revise the existing food production strategies by incorporating novel biotechnological approaches that can help to break the crop yield barriers in the near future. In this review, we highlight some of the concerns hampering crop yield enhancements. The review also focuses on modern breeding techniques based on genomics as well as proven biotechnological approaches that enable identification and utilization of candidate genes. Another aspect of discussion is the important area of research, namely hormonal regulation of plant development, which is likely to yield valuable regulatory genes for such crop improvement efforts in the future. These strategies can serve as potential tools for developing elite crop varieties for feeding the growing billions.

Global Seismic Imaging Based on Adjoint Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bozdag, E.; Lefebvre, M.; Lei, W.; Peter, D. B.; Smith, J. A.; Zhu, H.; Komatitsch, D.; Tromp, J.

2013-12-01

Our aim is to perform adjoint tomography at the scale of globe to image the entire planet. We have started elastic inversions with a global data set of 253 CMT earthquakes with moment magnitudes in the range 5.8 ≤ Mw ≤ 7 and used GSN stations as well as some local networks such as USArray, European stations, etc. Using an iterative pre-conditioned conjugate gradient scheme, we initially set the aim to obtain a global crustal and mantle model with confined transverse isotropy in the upper mantle. Global adjoint tomography has so far remained a challenge mainly due to computational limitations. Recent improvements in our 3D solvers (e.g., a GPU version) and access to high-performance computational centers (e.g., ORNL's Cray XK7 "Titan" system) now enable us to perform iterations with higher-resolution (T > 9 s) and longer-duration (200 min) simulations to accommodate high-frequency body waves and major-arc surface waves, respectively, which help improve data coverage. The remaining challenge is the heavy I/O traffic caused by the numerous files generated during the forward/adjoint simulations and the pre- and post-processing stages of our workflow. We improve the global adjoint tomography workflow by adopting the ADIOS file format for our seismic data as well as models, kernels, etc., to improve efficiency on high-performance clusters. Our ultimate aim is to use data from all available networks and earthquakes within the magnitude range of our interest (5.5 ≤ Mw ≤ 7) which requires a solid framework to manage big data in our global adjoint tomography workflow. We discuss the current status and future of global adjoint tomography based on our initial results as well as practical issues such as handling big data in inversions and on high-performance computing systems.

Supporting sustainability initiatives through biometeorology education and training.

PubMed

Allen, Michael J; Vanos, Jennifer; Hondula, David M; Vecellio, Daniel J; Knight, David; Mehdipoor, Hamed; Lucas, Rebekah; Fuhrmann, Chris; Lokys, Hanna; Lees, Angela; Nascimento, Sheila Tavares; Leung, Andrew C W; Perkins, David R

2017-09-01

The International Society of Biometeorology (ISB) has covered significant breadth and depth addressing fundamental and applied societal and environmental challenges in the last 60 years. Biometeorology is an interdisciplinary science connecting living organisms to their environment, but there is very little understanding of the existence and placement of this discipline within formal educational systems and institutions. It is thus difficult to project the ability of members of the biometeorological community-especially the biometeorologists of the future-to help solve global challenges. In this paper, we ask: At present, how we are training people to understand and think about biometeorology? We also ask: What are the current tools and opportunities in which biometeorologists might address future challenges? Finally, we connect these two questions by asking: What type of new training and skill development is needed to better educate "biometeorologists of the future" to more effectively address the future challenges? To answer these questions, we provide quantitative and qualitative evidence from an educationally focused workshop attended by new professionals in biometeorology. We identify four common themes (thermal comfort and exposures, agricultural productivity, air quality, and urbanization) that biometeorologists are currently studying and that we expect to be important in the future based on their alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Review of recent literature within each of these thematic areas highlights a wide array of skill sets and perspectives that biometeorologists are already using. Current and new professionals within the ISB have noted highly varying and largely improvised educational pathways into the field. While variability and improvisation may be assets in promoting flexibility, adaptation, and interdisciplinarity, the lack of formal training in biometeorology raises concerns about the extent to which continuing generations of scholars will identify and engage with the community of scholarship that the ISB has developed over its 60-year history.

Healthcare and healthcare systems: inspiring progress and future prospects

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Background Healthcare systems globally have experienced intensive changes, reforms, developments, and improvement over the past 30 years. Multiple actors (governmental and non-governmental) and countries have played their part in the reformation of the global healthcare system. New opportunities are presenting themselves while multiple challenges still remain especially in developing countries. Better way to proceed would be to learn from historical patterns while we plan for the future in a technology-driven society with dynamic demographic, epidemiological and economic uncertainties. Methods A structured review of both peer-reviewed and gray literature on the topic was carried out. Results On the whole, people are healthier, doing better financially and live longer today than 30 years ago. The number of under-5 mortality worldwide has declined from 12.7 million in 1990 to 6.3 million in 2013. Infant and maternal mortality rates have also been reduced. However, both rates are still considered high in Africa and some Asian countries. The world’s population nearly doubled in these 30 years, from 4.8 billion in 1985 to 7.2 billion in 2015. The majority of the increasing population was coming from the least developed countries, i.e., 3.66 to 5.33 billion. The world will be short of 12.9 million health-care workers by 2035; today, that figure stands at 7.2 million. Health care expenditures among countries also show sharp differences. In high income countries, per person health expenditure is over USD 3,000 on average, while in poor countries, it is as low as USD 12, WHO estimate of minimum spending per person per year needed to provide basic, life-saving services is USD 44. The challenges faced by the global health system over the past 30 years have been increased in population and urbanization, behavioral changes, rise in chronic diseases, traumatic injuries, infectious diseases, specific regional conflicts and healthcare delivery security. Over the next 30 years, most of the world population growth will occur in the urban areas of poor countries. The rapid, unplanned and unsustainable style of urban development will make developing countries cities the key focal points for emerging environmental and health hazards. Changes will be seen in design, culture and practices of hospitals to better meet the needs of patients, families and providers. Top driving factors of global healthcare system for next 30 years will be leading causes of mortalities, non-health factors (impact of nutrition, sanitation and women’s empowerment), investment in health workforce and growth of medical tourism in future healthcare scenario. Conclusions Evaluating the patterns of previous 30 years and predicting the progress and challenges of future health system are no rocket science. Medical care will be more self-directed in a more tech-savvy population as information will be more accessible and user friendly with higher quality. Health driving factors such as clean water, sanitation and food will take the center stage in humanities struggle and even increase population size. PMID:28293581

Healthcare and healthcare systems: inspiring progress and future prospects.

PubMed

Durrani, Hammad

2016-01-01

Healthcare systems globally have experienced intensive changes, reforms, developments, and improvement over the past 30 years. Multiple actors (governmental and non-governmental) and countries have played their part in the reformation of the global healthcare system. New opportunities are presenting themselves while multiple challenges still remain especially in developing countries. Better way to proceed would be to learn from historical patterns while we plan for the future in a technology-driven society with dynamic demographic, epidemiological and economic uncertainties. A structured review of both peer-reviewed and gray literature on the topic was carried out. On the whole, people are healthier, doing better financially and live longer today than 30 years ago. The number of under-5 mortality worldwide has declined from 12.7 million in 1990 to 6.3 million in 2013. Infant and maternal mortality rates have also been reduced. However, both rates are still considered high in Africa and some Asian countries. The world's population nearly doubled in these 30 years, from 4.8 billion in 1985 to 7.2 billion in 2015. The majority of the increasing population was coming from the least developed countries, i.e., 3.66 to 5.33 billion. The world will be short of 12.9 million health-care workers by 2035; today, that figure stands at 7.2 million. Health care expenditures among countries also show sharp differences. In high income countries, per person health expenditure is over USD 3,000 on average, while in poor countries, it is as low as USD 12, WHO estimate of minimum spending per person per year needed to provide basic, life-saving services is USD 44. The challenges faced by the global health system over the past 30 years have been increased in population and urbanization, behavioral changes, rise in chronic diseases, traumatic injuries, infectious diseases, specific regional conflicts and healthcare delivery security. Over the next 30 years, most of the world population growth will occur in the urban areas of poor countries. The rapid, unplanned and unsustainable style of urban development will make developing countries cities the key focal points for emerging environmental and health hazards. Changes will be seen in design, culture and practices of hospitals to better meet the needs of patients, families and providers. Top driving factors of global healthcare system for next 30 years will be leading causes of mortalities, non-health factors (impact of nutrition, sanitation and women's empowerment), investment in health workforce and growth of medical tourism in future healthcare scenario. Evaluating the patterns of previous 30 years and predicting the progress and challenges of future health system are no rocket science. Medical care will be more self-directed in a more tech-savvy population as information will be more accessible and user friendly with higher quality. Health driving factors such as clean water, sanitation and food will take the center stage in humanities struggle and even increase population size.

Harmonisation of Global Land-Use Scenarios for the Period 1500-2100 for IPCC-AR5

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hurtt, George; Chini, Louise Parsons; Frolking, Steve

2009-06-01

In preparation for the fifth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change climate change assessment (IPCC-AR5), the international community is developing new advanced computer models (CMs) to address the combined effects of human activities (e.g. land-use and fossil fuel emissions) on the carbon-climate system. In addition, four Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios of the future (2005-2100) are being developed by four Integrated Assessment Modeling teams (IAMs) to be used as input to the CMs for future climate projections. The diversity of requirements and approaches among CMs and IAMs for tracking land-use changes (past, present, and future), presents major challenges for treating land-usemore » comprehensively and consistently between these communities. As part of an international working group, we have been working to meet these challenges by developing a "harmonized" set of land-use change scenarios that smoothly connects gridded historical reconstructions of land-use with future projections, in a format required by CMs. This approach to harmonizing the treatment of land-use between two key modeling communities, CMs and IAMs, represents a major advance that will facilitate more consistent and fuller treatments of land-use/land-use change effects including both CO2 emissions and corresponding land-surface changes.« less

Climate change and forests of the future: Managing in the face of uncertainty

USGS Publications Warehouse

Millar, C.I.; Stephenson, N.L.; Stephens, S.L.

2007-01-01

We offer a conceptual framework for managing forested ecosystems under an assumption that future environments will be different from present but that we cannot be certain about the specifics of change. We encourage flexible approaches that promote reversible and incremental steps, and that favor ongoing learning and capacity to modify direction as situations change. We suggest that no single solution fits all future challenges, especially in the context of changing climates, and that the best strategy is to mix different approaches for different situations. Resources managers will be challenged to integrate adaptation strategies (actions that help ecosystems accommodate changes adaptively) and mitigation strategies (actions that enable ecosystems to reduce anthropogenic influences on global climate) into overall plans. Adaptive strategies include resistance options (forestall impacts and protect highly valued resources), resilience options (improve the capacity of ecosystems to return to desired conditions after disturbance), and response options (facilitate transition of ecosystems from current to new conditions). Mitigation strategies include options to sequester carbon and reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions. Priority-setting approaches (e.g., triage), appropriate for rapidly changing conditions and for situations where needs are greater than available capacity to respond, will become increasingly important in the future. ?? 2007 by the Ecological Society of America.

Competencies for government veterinary services of the future: Summary of ISVEE 14 Yucatan 2015 roundtable discussion.

PubMed

Stärk, Katharina D C; Goncalves, Vitor S P; McCluskey, Brian J; Pinto, Julio; Tsutsui, Toshiyuki; Gibbens, Jane

2017-02-01

This short communication summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of current organisational structures in government veterinary services, as well as future technical, financial and societal challenges and related necessary competencies for government veterinary services of the future as discussed by an expert panel at ISVEE2015. First, participating representatives of veterinary services of diverse geographical backgrounds and statements from the audience confirmed that non-technical skills such as ability to work in teams, adaptability to new environments and situations, social and communication skills are increasingly seen as important. The second challenge faced by veterinary services is related to capacity issues, i.e. to have enough manpower to plan and deliver according to legislation in a period of shrinking budgets. New and emerging diseases can result in sudden, massive increases in the workload of veterinary services. Technical complexity has also increased for some hazards. Staff skills in veterinary services therefore need to be continuously updated, and it is essential to establish cross technical collaboration with other sectors including food safety, public health and environment. ISVEE conferences were seen as an opportunity to provide a global platform to develop skills needed by veterinary services, now and in the future. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Understanding the Role and Impact of Effective Country and Community Leadership in Progress Toward the Global Plan.

PubMed

Lyons, Charles; Pillay, Yogan

2017-05-01

Individual leadership and leaders have played pivotal roles in the history of efforts to end the AIDS epidemic. The goal of this article is to reflect on and understand how leadership and leaders have impacted and enabled the success of the Global Plan Towards the Elimination of New HIV Infections among Children by 2015 and Keeping their Mothers Alive (Global Plan). To accomplish this goal, multiple interviews were conducted with individuals in positions of leadership who had been identified as people whose actions drove progress. Interviewees were selected from all levels of traditional hierarchies and sectors to provide a more complete account and representation of leadership, with a particular emphasis on the community, district, and country levels. The leaders interviewed provide insight into their work, motivations, and approaches to effective leadership. Through their experiences, they shed light on the strategies they used to drive changes in policy, programs, practice, and communities that allowed for progress toward the goals of the Global Plan. Leaders also identify future challenges and areas of improvement in the effort to end the AIDS epidemic that they feel require leadership and urgent action. In conclusion, this article identifies common characteristics of effective leadership and reflects on the experiences of individuals who are leaders in the effort to end the AIDS epidemic, and how their lessons learned can be applied to help realize future global public health goals.

The importance of workforce surveillance, research evidence and political advocacy in the context of international migration of dentists.

PubMed

Balasubramanian, M; Brennan, D S; Spencer, A J; Watkins, K; Short, S D

2015-03-01

The international migration of dentists is an issue of pressing significance that poses several complex policy challenges. Policy-making is mainly constrained by the lack of workforce surveillance, research evidence and political advocacy - all three are required to work together, yet with different purposes. We first discuss the inconsistencies in migrant dentist surveillance in major country-level governmental systems (immigration departments, dentist registration authorities and workforce agencies). We argue that the limitations in surveillance collections affect independent research and in turn scholarly contributions to dental workforce policy. Differences in country-level surveillance collections also hinder valid cross-country comparisons on migrant dentist data, impeding global policy efforts. Due to these limitations, advocacy, or the political process to influence health policy, suffers, but is integral to future challenges on dentist migration. Country-level advocacy is best targeted at improving migrant dentist surveillance systems. Research interest can be invigorated through targeted funding allocations for migration research and by improving the availability of dentist surveillance data for research purposes. At the global level, the WHOs global code of practice for international recruitment of health personnel (a crucial advocacy tool) needs to be strengthened. Global organisations such as the FDI World Dental Federation have an important role to play in advocating for improved migrant dentist workforce surveillance and research evidence, especially in low- and middle-income countries.

Challenges and Opportunities in Global Mental Health: a Research-to-Practice Perspective.

PubMed

Wainberg, Milton L; Scorza, Pamela; Shultz, James M; Helpman, Liat; Mootz, Jennifer J; Johnson, Karen A; Neria, Yuval; Bradford, Jean-Marie E; Oquendo, Maria A; Arbuckle, Melissa R

2017-05-01

Globally, the majority of those who need mental health care worldwide lack access to high-quality mental health services. Stigma, human resource shortages, fragmented service delivery models, and lack of research capacity for implementation and policy change contribute to the current mental health treatment gap. In this review, we describe how health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are addressing the mental health gap and further identify challenges and priority areas for future research. Common mental disorders are responsible for the largest proportion of the global burden of disease; yet, there is sound evidence that these disorders, as well as severe mental disorders, can be successfully treated using evidence-based interventions delivered by trained lay health workers in low-resource community or primary care settings. Stigma is a barrier to service uptake. Prevention, though necessary to address the mental health gap, has not solidified as a research or programmatic focus. Research-to-practice implementation studies are required to inform policies and scale-up services. Four priority areas are identified for focused attention to diminish the mental health treatment gap and to improve access to high-quality mental health services globally: diminishing pervasive stigma, building mental health system treatment and research capacity, implementing prevention programs to decrease the incidence of mental disorders, and establishing sustainable scale up of public health systems to improve access to mental health treatment using evidence-based interventions.

Dependence of future mortality changes on global CO2 concentrations: A review.

PubMed

Lee, Jae Young; Choi, Hayoung; Kim, Ho

2018-05-01

The heterogeneity among previous studies of future mortality projections due to climate change has often hindered comparisons and syntheses of resulting impacts. To address this challenge, the present study introduced a novel method to normalize the results from projection studies according to different baseline and projection periods and climate scenarios, thereby facilitating comparison and synthesis. This study reviewed the 15 previous studies involving projected climate change-related mortality under Representative Concentration Pathways. To synthesize their results, we first reviewed the important study design elements that affected the reported results in previous studies. Then, we normalized the reported results by CO 2 concentration in order to eliminate the effects of the baseline period, projection period, and climate scenario choices. For twenty-five locations worldwide, the normalized percentage changes in temperature-attributable mortality per 100 ppm increase in global CO 2 concentrations ranged between 41.9% and 330%, whereas those of total mortality ranged between 0.3% and 4.8%. The normalization methods presented in this work will guide future studies to provide their results in a normalized format and facilitate research synthesis to reinforce our understanding on the risk of climate change. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global Assessment of Exploitable Surface Reservoir Storage under Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, L.; Parkinson, S.; Gidden, M.; Byers, E.; Satoh, Y.; Riahi, K.

2016-12-01

Surface water reservoirs provide us with reliable water supply systems, hydropower generation, flood control, and recreation services. Reliable reservoirs can be robust measures for water security and can help smooth out challenging seasonal variability of river flows. Yet, reservoirs also cause flow fragmentation in rivers and can lead to flooding of upstream areas, thereby displacing existing land-uses and ecosystems. The anticipated population growth, land use and climate change in many regions globally suggest a critical need to assess the potential for appropriate reservoir capacity that can balance rising demands with long-term water security. In this research, we assessed exploitable reservoir potential under climate change and human development constraints by deriving storage-yield relationships for 235 river basins globally. The storage-yield relationships map the amount of storage capacity required to meet a given water demand based on a 30-year inflow sequence. Runoff data is simulated with an ensemble of Global Hydrological Models (GHMs) for each of five bias-corrected general circulation models (GCMs) under four climate change pathways. These data are used to define future 30-year inflows in each river basin for time period between 2010 and 2080. The calculated capacity is then combined with geographical information of environmental and human development exclusion zones to further limit the storage capacity expansion potential in each basin. We investigated the reliability of reservoir potentials across different climate change scenarios and Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) to identify river basins where reservoir expansion will be particularly challenging. Preliminary results suggest large disparities in reservoir potential across basins: some basins have already approached exploitable reserves, while some others display abundant potential. Exclusions zones pose significant impact on the amount of actual exploitable storage and firm yields worldwide: 30% of reservoir potential would be unavailable because of land occupation by environmental and human development. Results from this study will help decision makers to understand the reliability of infrastructure systems particularly sensitive to future water availability.

Genomics, transcriptomics and proteomics: enabling insights into social evolution and disease challenges for managed and wild bees.

PubMed

Trapp, Judith; McAfee, Alison; Foster, Leonard J

2017-02-01

Globally, there are over 20 000 bee species (Hymenoptera: Apoidea: Anthophila) with a host of biologically fascinating characteristics. Although they have long been studied as models for social evolution, recent challenges to bee health (mainly diseases and pesticides) have gathered the attention of both public and research communities. Genome sequences of twelve bee species are now complete or under progress, facilitating the application of additional 'omic technologies. Here, we review recent developments in honey bee and native bee research in the genomic era. We discuss the progress in genome sequencing and functional annotation, followed by the enabled comparative genomics, proteomics and transcriptomics applications regarding social evolution and health. Finally, we end with comments on future challenges in the postgenomic era. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Planetary Cartography - Activities and Current Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nass, Andrea; Di, Kaichang; Elgner, Stephan; van Gasselt, Stephan; Hare, Trent; Hargitai, Henrik; Karachevtseva, Irina; Kereszturi, Akos; Kersten, Elke; Kokhanov, Alexander; Manaud, Nicolas; Roatsch, Thomas; Rossi, Angelo Pio; Skinner, James, Jr.; Wählisch, Marita

2018-05-01

Maps are one of the most important tools for communicating geospatial information between producers and receivers. Geospatial data, tools, contributions in geospatial sciences, and the communication of information and transmission of knowledge are matter of ongoing cartographic research. This applies to all topics and objects located on Earth or on any other body in our Solar System. In planetary science, cartography and mapping have a history dating back to the roots of telescopic space exploration and are now facing new technological and organizational challenges with the rise of new missions, new global initiatives, organizations and opening research markets. The focus of this contribution is to introduce the community to the field of planetary cartography and its historic foundation, to highlight some of the organizations involved and to emphasize challenges that Planetary Cartography has to face today and in the near future.

Current and Future Challenges in Point-of-Care Technologies: A Paradigm-Shift in Affordable Global Healthcare With Personalized and Preventive Medicine

PubMed Central

Heetderks, William J.; Pavel, Misha; Acharya, Soumyadipta; Akay, Metin; Mairal, Anurag; Wheeler, Bruce; Dacso, Clifford C.; Sunder, T.; Lovell, Nigel; Gerber, Martin; Shah, Milind; Senthilvel, S. G.; Wang, May D.; Bhargava, Balram

2015-01-01

This paper summarizes the panel discussion at the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Point-of-Care Healthcare Technology Conference (POCHT 2013) held in Bangalore India from Jan 16–18, 2013. Modern medicine has witnessed interdisciplinary technology innovations in healthcare with a continuous growth in life expectancy across the globe. However, there is also a growing global concern on the affordability of rapidly rising healthcare costs. To provide quality healthcare at reasonable costs, there has to be a convergence of preventive, personalized, and precision medicine with the help of technology innovations across the entire spectrum of point-of-care (POC) to critical care at hospitals. The first IEEE EMBS Special Topic POCHT conference held in Bangalore, India provided an international forum with clinicians, healthcare providers, industry experts, innovators, researchers, and students to define clinical needs and technology solutions toward commercialization and translation to clinical applications across different environments and infrastructures. This paper presents a summary of discussions that took place during the keynote presentations, panel discussions, and breakout sessions on needs, challenges, and technology innovations in POC technologies toward improving global healthcare. Also presented is an overview of challenges and trends in developing and developed economies with respect to priority clinical needs, technology innovations in medical devices, translational engineering, information and communication technologies, infrastructure support, and patient and clinician acceptance of POC healthcare technologies. PMID:27170902

Reconfigurable manufacturing systems: Principles, design, and future trends

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koren, Yoram; Gu, Xi; Guo, Weihong

2018-06-01

Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMSs), which possess the advantages of both dedicated serial lines and flexible manufacturing systems, were introduced in the mid-1990s to address the challenges initiated by globalization. The principal goal of an RMS is to enhance the responsiveness of manufacturing systems to unforeseen changes in product demand. RMSs are costeffective because they boost productivity, and increase the lifetime of the manufacturing system. Because of the many streams in which a product may be produced on an RMS, maintaining product precision in an RMS is a challenge. But the experience with RMS in the last 20 years indicates that product quality can be definitely maintained by inserting in-line inspection stations. In this paper, we formulate the design and operational principles for RMSs, and provide a state-of-the-art review of the design and operations methodologies of RMSs according to these principles. Finally, we propose future research directions, and deliberate on how recent intelligent manufacturing technologies may advance the design and operations of RMSs.

Challenges and future in vaccines, drug development, and immunomodulatory therapy.

PubMed

Kling, Heather M; Nau, Gerard J; Ross, Ted M; Evans, Thomas G; Chakraborty, Krishnendu; Empey, Kerry M; Flynn, JoAnne L

2014-08-01

Pulmonary diseases and infections are among the top contributors to human morbidity and mortality worldwide, and despite the successful history of vaccines and antimicrobial therapeutics, infectious disease still presents a significant threat to human health. Effective vaccines are frequently unavailable in developing countries, and successful vaccines have yet to be developed for major global maladies, such as tuberculosis. Furthermore, antibiotic resistance poses a growing threat to human health. The "Challenges and Future in Vaccines, Drug Development, and Immunomodulatory Therapy" session of the 2013 Pittsburgh International Lung Conference highlighted several recent and current studies related to treatment and prevention of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections, highly pathogenic influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, and tuberculosis. Research presented here focused on novel antimicrobial therapies, new vaccines that are either in development or currently in clinical trials, and the potential for immunomodulatory therapies. These studies are making important contributions to the areas of microbiology, virology, and immunology related to pulmonary diseases and infections and are paving the way for improvements in the efficacy of vaccines and antimicrobials.

Trends in meat science and technology: the future looks bright, but the journey will be long.

PubMed

Kristensen, L; Støier, S; Würtz, J; Hinrichsen, L

2014-11-01

With an increasing world population, an increase in affluence and a substantial growth in the demand for high quality protein, the meat sector faces a fantastic but challenging century. New scientific knowledge, technology and creative minds are the main ingredients in order to reach out for this great opportunity. Efficiency all the way from breeding and farming to processing and dispatch is crucial for success. Technology has brought us far, and there is still a huge potential for increased efficiency by implementing best practices on a global scale. New challenges include: hyper flexible automation, more accurate and faster measurement systems and meeting special consumer demands already at the production line. Systems for optimal animal welfare will be even more important and sustainability is no longer a consumer trend but a license to operate. The scientific meat society must provide knowledge and technology so we together can reach out for a seemingly bright future. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The GEOGLAM Rangelands and Pasture Productivity Activity: Recent Progress and Future Directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guerschman, J. P.; Held, A. A.; Donohue, R. J.; Renzullo, L. J.; Sims, N.; Kerblat, F.; Grundy, M.

2015-12-01

Rangelands and pastures cover about a third of the world's land area and support livestock production which represents ~40% of global agricultural gross domestic product. The global consumption of animal protein shows a clear increasing trend, driven by both total population and per capita income increases, putting a growing pressure on the sustainability of grazing lands worldwide. Despite their relevance, rangelands have received less attention than croplands regarding global monitoring of the resource productivity and condition. The Rangelands and Pasture Productivity (RaPP) activity is a component within the Global Agricultural Monitoring initiative established under the Group on Earth Observations (GEOGLAM) in 2013. GEOGLAM RaPP is aimed at providing the global community with the means to monitor the world's rangelands and pastures on a routine basis, and the capacity to produce animal protein in real-time, at global, regional and national levels. Since its launch two years ago GEOGLAM RAPP has made progress in the four implementation elements. These include: 1- the establishment of community of practice; 2- the development of a global monitoring system for rangeland condition; 3- the establishment of pilot sites in main rangeland systems for satellite data products validation and model testing; and 4- integration with livestock production models. Three international workshops have been held building the community of practice. A prototype monitoring system that provides global visualisations and querying capability of vegetation cover data and anomalies has been established. Pilot sites, mostly in areas with long records of field measurements of rangeland condition and productivity have been proposed for nine countries. The link to global livestock models, including physical and economic components, have been established. Future challenges for GEOGLAM RaPP have also been identified and include: better representation of the areas occupied by rangelands, pastures and mixed systems globally; intercomparison and validation of satellite data products and models depicting rangeland condition and forage availability; and better understanding of the environmental and social impacts of the potential use of pastures for biofuel production.

Nuclear materials safeguards for the future

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tape, J.W.

Basic concepts of domestic and international safeguards are described, with an emphasis on safeguards systems for the fuel cycles of commercial power reactors. Future trends in institutional and technical measures for nuclear materials safeguards are outlined. The conclusion is that continued developments in safeguards approaches and technology, coupled with institutional measures that facilitate the global management and protection of nuclear materials, are up to the challenge of safeguarding the growing inventories of nuclear materials in commercial fuel cycles in technologically advanced States with stable governments that have signed the nonproliferation treaty. These same approaches also show promise for facilitating internationalmore » inspection of excess weapons materials and verifying a fissile materials cutoff convention.« less

21st century climate change in the European Alps--a review.

PubMed

Gobiet, Andreas; Kotlarski, Sven; Beniston, Martin; Heinrich, Georg; Rajczak, Jan; Stoffel, Markus

2014-09-15

Reliable estimates of future climate change in the Alps are relevant for large parts of the European society. At the same time, the complex Alpine region poses considerable challenges to climate models, which translate to uncertainties in the climate projections. Against this background, the present study reviews the state-of-knowledge about 21st century climate change in the Alps based on existing literature and additional analyses. In particular, it explicitly considers the reliability and uncertainty of climate projections. Results show that besides Alpine temperatures, also precipitation, global radiation, relative humidity, and closely related impacts like floods, droughts, snow cover, and natural hazards will be affected by global warming. Under the A1B emission scenario, about 0.25 °C warming per decade until the mid of the 21st century and accelerated 0.36 °C warming per decade in the second half of the century is expected. Warming will probably be associated with changes in the seasonality of precipitation, global radiation, and relative humidity, and more intense precipitation extremes and flooding potential in the colder part of the year. The conditions of currently record breaking warm or hot winter or summer seasons, respectively, may become normal at the end of the 21st century, and there is indication for droughts to become more severe in the future. Snow cover is expected to drastically decrease below 1500-2000 m and natural hazards related to glacier and permafrost retreat are expected to become more frequent. Such changes in climatic parameters and related quantities will have considerable impact on ecosystems and society and will challenge their adaptive capabilities. © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Role of Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) in Accelerating Inactivated Polio Vaccine Introduction.

PubMed

Thacker, Naveen; Thacker, Deep; Pathak, Ashish

2016-08-07

Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance) is an international organization built through public-private partnership. GAVI has supported more than 200 vaccine introductions in the last 5 years by financing major proportion of costs of vaccine to 73 low-income countries using a co-financing model. GAVI has worked in close co-ordination with Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) since 2013, to strengthen health systems in countries so as to accelerate introduction of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV). GAVI is involved in many IPV related issues like demand generation, supply, market shaping, communications, country readiness etc. Most of the 73 GAVI eligible countries are also high priority countries for GPEI. GAVI support has helped India to accelerate introduction of IPV in all its states. However, GAVI faces challenges in IPV supply-related issues in the near future. It also needs to play a key role in global polio legacy planning and implementation.

Expression profiling of the mouse early embryo: Reflections and Perspectives

PubMed Central

Ko, Minoru S. H.

2008-01-01

Laboratory mouse plays important role in our understanding of early mammalian development and provides invaluable model for human early embryos, which are difficult to study for ethical and technical reasons. Comprehensive collection of cDNA clones, their sequences, and complete genome sequence information, which have been accumulated over last two decades, have provided even more advantages to mouse models. Here the progress in global gene expression profiling in early mouse embryos and, to some extent, stem cells are reviewed and the future directions and challenges are discussed. The discussions include the restatement of global gene expression profiles as snapshot of cellular status, and subsequent distinction between the differentiation state and physiological state of the cells. The discussions then extend to the biological problems that can be addressed only through global expression profiling, which include: bird’s-eye view of global gene expression changes, molecular index for developmental potency, cell lineage trajectory, microarray-guided cell manipulation, and the possibility of delineating gene regulatory cascades and networks. PMID:16739220

A review of existing and emerging digital technologies to combat the global trade in fake medicines.

PubMed

Mackey, Tim K; Nayyar, Gaurvika

2017-05-01

The globalization of the pharmaceutical supply chain has introduced new challenges, chief among them, fighting the international criminal trade in fake medicines. As the manufacture, supply, and distribution of drugs becomes more complex, so does the need for innovative technology-based solutions to protect patients globally. Areas covered: We conducted a multidisciplinary review of the science/health, information technology, computer science, and general academic literature with the aim of identifying cutting-edge existing and emerging 'digital' solutions to combat fake medicines. Our review identified five distinct categories of technology including mobile, radio frequency identification, advanced computational methods, online verification, and blockchain technology. Expert opinion: Digital fake medicine solutions are unifying platforms that integrate different types of anti-counterfeiting technologies as complementary solutions, improve information sharing and data collection, and are designed to overcome existing barriers of adoption and implementation. Investment in this next generation technology is essential to ensure the future security and integrity of the global drug supply chain.

A heuristic evaluation of long-term global sea level acceleration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spada, Giorgio; Olivieri, Marco; Galassi, Gaia

2015-05-01

In view of the scientific and social implications, the global mean sea level rise (GMSLR) and its possible causes and future trend have been a challenge for so long. For the twentieth century, reconstructions generally indicate a rate of GMSLR in the range of 1.5 to 2.0 mm yr-1. However, the existence of nonlinear trends is still debated, and current estimates of the secular acceleration are subject to ample uncertainties. Here we use various GMSLR estimates published on scholarly journals since the 1940s for a heuristic assessment of global sea level acceleration. The approach, alternative to sea level reconstructions, is based on simple statistical methods and exploits the principles of meta-analysis. Our results point to a global sea level acceleration of 0.54 ± 0.27 mm/yr/century (1σ) between 1898 and 1975. This supports independent estimates and suggests that a sea level acceleration since the early 1900s is more likely than currently believed.

Projected impacts of climate change on regional capacities for global plant species richness.

PubMed

Sommer, Jan Henning; Kreft, Holger; Kier, Gerold; Jetz, Walter; Mutke, Jens; Barthlott, Wilhelm

2010-08-07

Climate change represents a major challenge to the maintenance of global biodiversity. To date, the direction and magnitude of net changes in the global distribution of plant diversity remain elusive. We use the empirical multi-variate relationships between contemporary water-energy dynamics and other non-climatic predictor variables to model the regional capacity for plant species richness (CSR) and its projected future changes. We find that across all analysed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenarios, relative changes in CSR increase with increased projected temperature rise. Between now and 2100, global average CSR is projected to remain similar to today (+0.3%) under the optimistic B1/+1.8 degrees C scenario, but to decrease significantly (-9.4%) under the 'business as usual' A1FI/+4.0 degrees C scenario. Across all modelled scenarios, the magnitude and direction of CSR change are geographically highly non-uniform. While in most temperate and arctic regions, a CSR increase is expected, the projections indicate a strong decline in most tropical and subtropical regions. Countries least responsible for past and present greenhouse gas emissions are likely to incur disproportionately large future losses in CSR, whereas industrialized countries have projected moderate increases. Independent of direction, we infer that all changes in regional CSR will probably induce on-site species turnover and thereby be a threat to native floras.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring (TRMM) - What Have We Learned and What Does the Future Hold?

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kummerow, C.; Hong, Y.; Olsen, W. S.

2000-01-01

Rainfall is important in the hydrological cycle and to the lives and welfare of humans. In addition to being a life-giving resource, rainfall processes also plays a crucial role in the dynamics of the global atmospheric circulation. Three-fourths of the energy that drives the atmospheric wind circulation comes from the latent heat released by tropical precipitation. It varies greatly in space and time. The rain-producing cloud systems may last several hours or days. Their dimensions range from 10 km to several hundred km. This makes it difficult to incorporate rainfall directly large-scale weather and climate models. Until the end of 1997, precipitation in the global tropics was not known to within a factor of two. Regarding "global warming", the various large-scale models differed among themselves in the predicted magnitude of the warming and in the expected regional effects of these temperature and moisture changes. The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite has yielded important interim results related to rainfall observations, data assimilation and model forecast skills when rainfall data is assimilated. This talk will summarize where the TRMM science team is with regards to answering some of these important scientific challenges, as well as discuss the future Global Precipitation Mission which will provide 3 hourly rainfall coverage and offers some unique collaborative potential for NOAA and NASA.

The global land rush and climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Kyle Frankel; Rulli, Maria Cristina; D'Odorico, Paolo

2015-08-01

Climate change poses a serious global challenge in the face of rapidly increasing human demand for energy and food. A recent phenomenon in which climate change may play an important role is the acquisition of large tracts of land in the developing world by governments and corporations. In the target countries, where land is relatively inexpensive, the potential to increase crop yields is generally high and property rights are often poorly defined. By acquiring land, investors can realize large profits and countries can substantially alter the land and water resources under their control, thereby changing their outlook for meeting future demand. While the drivers, actors, and impacts involved with land deals have received substantial attention in the literature, we propose that climate change plays an important yet underappreciated role, both through its direct effects on agricultural production and through its influence on mitigative or adaptive policy decisions. Drawing from various literature sources as well as a new global database on reported land deals, we trace the evolution of the global land rush and highlight prominent examples in which the role of climate change is evident. We find that climate change—both historical and anticipated—interacts substantially with drivers of land acquisitions, having important implications for the resilience of communities in targeted areas. As a result of this synthesis, we ultimately contend that considerations of climate change should be integrated into future policy decisions relating to the large-scale land acquisitions.

Dementia in Latin America

PubMed Central

Parra, Mario A.; Baez, Sandra; Allegri, Ricardo; Nitrini, Ricardo; Lopera, Francisco; Slachevsky, Andrea; Custodio, Nilton; Lira, David; Piguet, Olivier; Kumfor, Fiona; Huepe, David; Cogram, Patricia; Bak, Thomas; Manes, Facundo

2018-01-01

The demographic structure of Latin American countries (LAC) is fast approaching that of developing countries, and the predicted prevalence of dementia in the former already exceeds the latter. Dementia has been declared a global challenge, yet regions around the world show differences in both the nature and magnitude of such a challenge. This article provides evidence and insights on barriers which, if overcome, would enable the harmonization of strategies to tackle the dementia challenge in LAC. First, we analyze the lack of available epidemiologic data, the need for standardizing clinical practice and improving physician training, and the existing barriers regarding resources, culture, and stigmas. We discuss how these are preventing timely care and research. Regarding specific health actions, most LAC have minimal mental health facilities and do not have specific mental health policies or budgets specific to dementia. In addition, local regulations may need to consider the regional context when developing treatment and prevention strategies. The support needed nationally and internationally to enable a smooth and timely transition of LAC to a position that integrates global strategies is highlighted. We focus on shared issues of poverty, cultural barriers, and socioeconomic vulnerability. We identify avenues for collaboration aimed to study unique populations, improve valid assessment methods, and generate opportunities for translational research, thus establishing a regional network. The issues identified here point to future specific actions aimed at tackling the dementia challenge in LAC. PMID:29305437

Synthesizing late Holocene paleoclimate reconstructions: Lessons learned, common challenges, and implications for future research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodysill, J. R.

2017-12-01

Proxy-based reconstructions provide vital information for developing histories of environmental and climate changes. Networks of spatiotemporal paleoclimate information are powerful tools for understanding dynamical processes within the global climate system and improving model-based predictions of the patterns and magnitudes of climate changes at local- to global-scales. Compiling individual paleoclimate records and integrating reconstructed climate information in the context of an ensemble of multi-proxy records, which are fundamental for developing a spatiotemporal climate data network, are hindered by challenges related to data and information accessibility, chronological uncertainty, sampling resolution, climate proxy type, and differences between depositional environments. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) North American Holocene Climate Synthesis Working Group has been compiling and integrating multi-proxy paleoclimate data as part of an ongoing effort to synthesize Holocene climate records from North America. The USGS North American Holocene Climate Synthesis Working Group recently completed a late Holocene hydroclimate synthesis for the North American continent using several proxy types from a range of depositional environments, including lakes, wetlands, coastal marine, and cave speleothems. Using new age-depth relationships derived from the Bacon software package, we identified century-scale patterns of wetness and dryness for the past 2000 years with an age uncertainty-based confidence rating for each proxy record. Additionally, for highly-resolved North American lake sediment records, we computed average late Holocene sediment deposition rates and identified temporal trends in age uncertainty that are common to multiple lakes. This presentation addresses strengths and challenges of compiling and integrating data from different paleoclimate archives, with a particular focus on lake sediments, which may inform and guide future paleolimnological studies.

Overview of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Deaths in South Africa: Challenges, Opportunities, Progress and Future Prospects

PubMed Central

Mabaso, Musawenkosi H L; Ndaba, Thoko; Mkhize-Kwitshana, Zilungile L

2014-01-01

Background: The fact that most sub-Saharan Africa countries including South Africa (SA) are not on track to meet the 2015 target of improving maternal, neonate and child health (MNCH) is a major public health concern. The aim of this paper to give an overview of the current state of MNC deaths in SA, their relative causes, highlight challenges, existing opportunities, progress made and future prospects. Methods: The overview involved a synthesis and review of recent data and information from key national representative peer reviewed articles and grey literature from the National Department of Health and related stakeholder reports. Results: Since 1990 the situation in SA aroused a lot of research interest in tracing the historical context of the problem, evaluating progress made and actions for improving MNCH. In 2009 the SA government established three national committees for confidential enquiry on MNC deaths. Multifactorial systems’ related challenges were identified. Subsequently, the new National Strategic Plan for MNC and Women’s Health and Nutrition has, in addition to provision of comprehensive interventions, been linked and aligned with efforts to strengthen the health systems particularly through the re-engineering of the Primary Health Care (PHC) services and district health systems. Conclusion and Global Health Implications: The overview gives an insight of the process that has influenced MNCH policy and programs in the country. The SA experience and current MNCH situation may be different compared to other African countries, however, the political commitment and government stewardship coupled with critical and yet complimentary research is exemplary, especially, given several global and regional plans and commitments to improve MNCH in the continent. PMID:27621971

Reimagining Energy in the North: Developing Solutions for Improving Renewable Energy Security in Northern Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Creed, I. F.; Poelzer, G.; Noble, B.; Beatty, B.; Belcher, K.; Chung, T.; Loring, P. A.

2017-12-01

The global energy sector is at a crossroads. Efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, volatile fossil fuel prices, the emergence of sustainability markets, and advances in renewable energy technologies are setting the foundation for what could be one of the most significant societal transitions since the industrial revolution. There is a growing movement to "re-energize" Canada, through embracing pathways to facilitate a societal transition a low-carbon future. For example, circumpolar jurisdictions are poised for a transition to renewable energy. There are more than 250 remote, off-grid communities across Canada's North, of which approximately 170 are Indigenous, that rely largely on diesel-fueled generators. Diesel-fueled generation is generally reliable when properly maintained; however, supply is limited, infrastructure is at capacity or in need of major upgrading, and the volatile price of fuel can mean significant social, community and economic opportunity loss. Renewable energy projects offer one possible opportunity to address these challenges. But, given the challenges of human capacity, limited fiscal resources, and regulatory barriers, how can Northern communities participate in the global energy transition and not be left behind? To answer this question, the University of Saskatchewan, together with partners from the circumpolar North, are leading an initiative to develop a cross-sectoral and multi-national consortium of communities, utilities, industries, governments, and academics engaged in renewable energy in the North. This consortium will reimagine energy security in the North by co-creating and brokering the knowledge and understanding to design renewable energy systems that enhance social and economic value. Northern communities and utilities will learn directly from other northern communities and utilities across Canada and internationally about what can be achieved in renewable energy development and the solutions to current and future energy challenges.

[Globalization, inequity and Chagas disease].

PubMed

Dias, João Carlos Pinto

2007-01-01

Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis) bears a close relationship to multiple social and political aspects involving issues of globalization and inequity. Such relations concern the process of disease production and control in parallel with medical management. Despite the poverty in Latin America and various problems related to inequities and globalization, Chagas disease has been controlled in several areas, a fact that reinforces the countries' self-reliance. Several problems and challenges related to the disease can be expected in the future, mainly concerning medical care for already infected individuals and the sustainability of effective epidemiological surveillance. Both points depend heavily on improved performance by the national health systems, principally in terms of their efficiency and their capacity to overcome inequity. A particularly important role has been attributed to the Latin American scientific and academic community in the implementation and sustainability of efficient control policies. Control activities have now evolved towards internationally shared initiatives, a major new stride forward in the region's political context.

Chemical ecology of animal and human pathogen vectors in a changing global climate.

PubMed

Pickett, John A; Birkett, Michael A; Dewhirst, Sarah Y; Logan, James G; Omolo, Maurice O; Torto, Baldwyn; Pelletier, Julien; Syed, Zainulabeuddin; Leal, Walter S

2010-01-01

Infectious diseases affecting livestock and human health that involve vector-borne pathogens are a global problem, unrestricted by borders or boundaries, which may be exacerbated by changing global climate. Thus, the availability of effective tools for control of pathogen vectors is of the utmost importance. The aim of this article is to review, selectively, current knowledge of the chemical ecology of pathogen vectors that affect livestock and human health in the developed and developing world, based on key note lectures presented in a symposium on "The Chemical Ecology of Disease Vectors" at the 25th Annual ISCE meeting in Neuchatel, Switzerland. The focus is on the deployment of semiochemicals for monitoring and control strategies, and discusses briefly future directions that such research should proceed along, bearing in mind the environmental challenges associated with climate change that we will face during the 21st century.

Global water fluoridation: what is holding us back?

PubMed

Botchey, Sally-Ann; Ouyang, Jing; Vivekanantham, Sayinthen

2015-01-01

Artificial water fluoridation was introduced more than 60 y ago as a public health intervention to control dental caries. Despite wide recommendations for its use from the World Health Organization (WHO) and studies showing the benefits of water fluoridation, many countries have opted out. Currently, only 25 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia have schemes for artificial water fluoridation. The issues faced in efforts to promote the global uptake of water fluoridation and the factors that affect the decision to implement it are unique in both developed and developing countries and must be explored. This article addresses the benefits and challenges of artificial water fluoridation. Further, it tackles the complexities faced with uptake of water fluoridation globally, such as ethical and political controversies and the use of alternative fluoride therapies. Potential future strategies to encourage the uptake of artificial water fluoridation are also discussed.

Long-run evolution of the global economy: 2. Hindcasts of innovation and growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garrett, T. J.

2015-03-01

Long-range climate forecasts rely upon integrated assessment models that link the global economy to greenhouse gas emissions. This paper evaluates an alternative economic framework, outlined in Part 1, that is based on physical principles rather than explicitly resolved societal dynamics. Relative to a reference model of persistence in trends, model hindcasts that are initialized with data from 1950 to 1960 reproduce trends in global economic production and energy consumption between 2000 and 2010 with a skill score greater than 90%. In part, such high skill appears to be because civilization has responded to an impulse of fossil fuel discovery in the mid-twentieth century. Forecasting the coming century will be more of a challenge because the effect of the impulse appears to have nearly run its course. Nonetheless, the model offers physically constrained futures for the coupled evolution of civilization and climate during the Anthropocene.

Recent patterns of crop yield growth and stagnation.

PubMed

Ray, Deepak K; Ramankutty, Navin; Mueller, Nathaniel D; West, Paul C; Foley, Jonathan A

2012-01-01

In the coming decades, continued population growth, rising meat and dairy consumption and expanding biofuel use will dramatically increase the pressure on global agriculture. Even as we face these future burdens, there have been scattered reports of yield stagnation in the world's major cereal crops, including maize, rice and wheat. Here we study data from ∼2.5 million census observations across the globe extending over the period 1961-2008. We examined the trends in crop yields for four key global crops: maize, rice, wheat and soybeans. Although yields continue to increase in many areas, we find that across 24-39% of maize-, rice-, wheat- and soybean-growing areas, yields either never improve, stagnate or collapse. This result underscores the challenge of meeting increasing global agricultural demands. New investments in underperforming regions, as well as strategies to continue increasing yields in the high-performing areas, are required.

MemoryShape: impact of clinical trials, global medical economics, and the future.

PubMed

Cunningham, Bruce L; Suszynski, Thomas; Sieber, David A

2014-09-01

The global breast implant business was invented and configured by American plastic surgeons. In 2012, the first shaped silicone implants were approved in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration. It is the peculiar historical course of implant usage in America that has deprived US plastic surgeons of the opportunity to become experts in the use of this device. Most studies indicate significant safety benefits to using shaped devices, despite the technical challenges involved in their use. Upon approval, adoption of the devices has been slow in the United States, running the risk that American plastic surgery may lose the intellectual and clinical practice hegemony it has enjoyed for over 50 years in this area of the specialty. To continue to maintain leadership in the field of breast surgery, US surgeons should evaluate this new modality and either join the global trend or present data to contradict it.

A scenario framework to explore the future migration and adaptation in deltas: A multi-scale and participatory approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kebede, Abiy S.; Nicholls, Robert J.; Allan, Andrew; Arto, Inaki; Cazcarro, Ignacio; Fernandes, Jose A.; Hill, Chris T.; Hutton, Craig W.; Kay, Susan; Lawn, Jon; Lazar, Attila N.; Whitehead, Paul W.

2017-04-01

Coastal deltas are home for over 500 million people globally, and they have been identified as one of the most vulnerable coastal environments during the 21st century. They are susceptible to multiple climatic (e.g., sea-level rise, storm surges, change in temperature and precipitation) and socio-economic (e.g., human-induced subsidence, population and urbanisation changes, GDP growth) drivers of change. These drivers also operate at multiple scales, ranging from local to global and short- to long-term. This highlights the complex challenges deltas face in terms of both their long-term sustainability as well as the well-being of their residents and the health of ecosystems that support the livelihood of large (often very poor) population under uncertain changing conditions. A holistic understanding of these challenges and the potential impacts of future climate and socio-economic changes is central for devising robust adaptation policies. Scenario analysis has long been identified as a strategic management tool to explore future climate change and its impacts for supporting robust decision-making under uncertainty. This work presents the overall scenario framework, methodology, and processes adopted for the development of scenarios in the DECCMA* project. DECCMA is analysing the future of three deltas in South Asia and West Africa: (i) the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) delta (Bangladesh/India), (ii) the Mahanadi delta (India), and (iii) the Volta delta (Ghana). This includes comparisons between these three deltas. Hence, the scenario framework comprises a multi-scale hybrid approach, with six levels of scenario considerations: (i) global (climate change, e.g., sea-level rise, temperature change; and socio-economic assumptions, e.g., population and urbanisation changes, GDP growth); (ii) regional catchments (e.g., river flow modelling), (iii) regional seas (e.g., fisheries modelling), (iv) regional politics (e.g., transboundary disputes), (v) national (e.g., socio-economic factors), and (vi) delta-scale (e.g., future adaptation and migration policies) scenarios. The framework includes and combines expert-based and participatory approaches and provides improved specification of the role of scenarios to analyse the future state of adaptation and migration across the three deltas. It facilitates the development of appropriate and consistent endogenous and exogenous scenario futures: (i) at the delta-scale, (ii) across all deltas, and (iii) with wider climate change, environmental change, and adaptation & migration research. Key words: Coastal deltas, sea-level rise, migration and adaptation, multi-scale scenarios, participatory approach *DECCMA (Deltas, Vulnerability & Climate Change: Migration & Adaptation) project is part of the Collaborative ADAPTATION Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA), with financial support from the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada.

Unbounded boundaries and shifting baselines: Estuaries and coastal seas in a rapidly changing world

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Little, S.; Spencer, K. L.; Schuttelaars, H. M.; Millward, G. E.; Elliott, M.

2017-11-01

This Special Issue of Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science presents contributions from ECSA 55; an international symposium organised by the Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association (ECSA) and Elsevier on the broad theme of estuaries and coastal seas in times of intense change. The objectives of the SI are to synthesise, hypothesise and illustrate the impacts of global change on estuaries and coastal seas through learning lessons from the past, discussing the current and forecasting for the future. It is highlighted here that establishing impacts and assigning cause to the many pressures of global change is and will continue to be a formidable challenge in estuaries and coastal seas, due in part to: (1) their complexity and unbounded nature; (2) difficulties distinguishing between human-induced changes and natural variations and; (3) multiple pressures and effects. The contributing authors have explored a number of these issues over a range of disciplines. The complexity and connectivity of estuaries and coastal seas have been investigated through studies of physicochemical and ecological components, whilst the human imprint on the environment has been identified through a series of predictive, contemporary, historical and palaeo approaches. The impact of human activities has been shown to occur over a range of spatial and temporal scales, requiring the development of integrated management approaches. These 30 articles provide an important contribution to our understanding and assessment of the impacts of global change. The authors highlight methods for essential management/mitigation of the consequences of global change and provide a set of directions, ideas and observations for future work. These include the need to consider: (1) the cumulative, synergistic and antagonistic effects of multiple pressures; (2) the importance of unbounded boundaries and connectivity across the aquatic continuum; (3) the value of combining cross-disciplinary palaeo, contemporary and future modelling studies and; (4) the importance of shifting baselines on ecosystem functioning and the future provision of ecosystem services.

Not a flat world: the future of cross-border reproductive care.

PubMed

Franklin, Sarah

2011-12-01

Cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) raises new issues for both medicine and social science, as well as analytical and methodological challenges. On the one hand, this phenomenon extends well-established practices, such as family formation, in new ways, for example through new technologies. Similarly, CBRC could be described as a form of globalization. Yet this sector also departs from established patterns of reproductivity, for example by combining reproductive services and substances transnationally. In this way, CBRC also changes the understanding of globalization, revealing that it is not necessarily producing a newly 'flat' world, but instead reproducing a traditionally stratified one. These aspects of CBRC must be kept in mind in the struggle to define best practice. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Human resources for health (and rehabilitation): Six Rehab-Workforce Challenges for the century.

PubMed

Jesus, Tiago S; Landry, Michel D; Dussault, Gilles; Fronteira, Inês

2017-01-23

People with disabilities face challenges accessing basic rehabilitation health care. In 2006, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) outlined the global necessity to meet the rehabilitation needs of people with disabilities, but this goal is often challenged by the undersupply and inequitable distribution of rehabilitation workers. While the aggregate study and monitoring of the physical rehabilitation workforce has been mostly ignored by researchers or policy-makers, this paper aims to present the 'challenges and opportunities' for guiding further long-term research and policies on developing the relatively neglected, highly heterogeneous physical rehabilitation workforce. The challenges were identified through a two-phased investigation. Phase 1: critical review of the rehabilitation workforce literature, organized by the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality (AAAQ) framework. Phase 2: integrate reviewed data into a SWOT framework to identify the strengths and opportunities to be maximized and the weaknesses and threats to be overcome. The critical review and SWOT analysis have identified the following global situation: (i) needs-based shortages and lack of access to rehabilitation workers, particularly in lower income countries and in rural/remote areas; (ii) deficiencies in the data sources and monitoring structures; and (iii) few exemplary innovations, of both national and international scope, that may help reduce supply-side shortages in underserved areas. Based on the results, we have prioritized the following 'Six Rehab-Workforce Challenges': (1) monitoring supply requirements: accounting for rehabilitation needs and demand; (2) supply data sources: the need for structural improvements; (3) ensuring the study of a whole rehabilitation workforce (i.e. not focused on single professions), including across service levels; (4) staffing underserved locations: the rising of education, attractiveness and tele-service; (5) adapt policy options to different contexts (e.g. rural vs urban), even within a country; and (6) develop international solutions, within an interdependent world. Concrete examples of feasible local, global and research action toward meeting the Six Rehab-Workforce Challenges are provided. Altogether, these may help advance a policy and research agenda for ensuring that an adequate rehabilitation workforce can meet the current and future rehabilitation health needs.

Developing a Resource for Implementing ArcSWAT Using Global Datasets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taggart, M.; Caraballo Álvarez, I. O.; Mueller, C.; Palacios, S. L.; Schmidt, C.; Milesi, C.; Palmer-Moloney, L. J.

2015-12-01

This project developed a comprehensive user manual outlining methods for adapting and implementing global datasets for use within ArcSWAT for international and worldwide applications. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) is a hydrologic model that looks at a number of hydrologic variables including runoff and the chemical makeup of water at a given location on the Earth's surface using Digital Elevation Models (DEM), land cover, soil, and weather data. However, the application of ArcSWAT for projects outside of the United States is challenging as there is no standard framework for inputting global datasets into ArcSWAT. This project aims to remove this obstacle by outlining methods for adapting and implementing these global datasets via the user manual. The manual takes the user through the processes of data conditioning while providing solutions and suggestions for common errors. The efficacy of the manual was explored using examples from watersheds located in Puerto Rico, Mexico and Western Africa. Each run explored the various options for setting up a ArcSWAT project as well as a range of satellite data products and soil databases. Future work will incorporate in-situ data for validation and calibration of the model and outline additional resources to assist future users in efficiently implementing the model for worldwide applications. The capacity to manage and monitor freshwater availability is of critical importance in both developed and developing countries. As populations grow and climate changes, both the quality and quantity of freshwater are affected resulting in negative impacts on the health of the surrounding population. The use of hydrologic models such as ArcSWAT can help stakeholders and decision makers understand the future impacts of these changes enabling informed and substantiated decisions.

Social Software: A Powerful Paradigm for Building Technology for Global Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wooding, Amy; Wooding, Kjell

2018-01-01

It is not difficult to imagine a world where internet-connected mobile devices are accessible to everyone. Can these technologies be used to help solve the challenges of global education? This was the challenge posed by the Global Learning XPRIZE--a $15 million grand challenge competition aimed at addressing this global teaching shortfall. In…

Visions for a sustainable world: A conference on science, technology and social responsibility. Conference report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

This report summarizes the organization, activities, and outcomes of Student Pugwash USA`s 1992 International Conference, Visions for a Sustainable World: A Conference on Science, Technology and Social Responsibility. The conference was held June 14--20, 1992 at Emory University, and brought together 94 students and over 65 experts from industry, academe, and government. The conference addressed issues ranging from global environmental cooperation to the social impacts of the Human Genome Project to minority concerns in the sciences. It provided a valuable forum for talented students and professionals to engage in critical dialogue on many interdisciplinary issues at the juncture of science,more » technology and society. The conference challenged students -- the world`s future scientists, engineers, and political leaders -- to think broadly about global problems and to devise policy options that are viable and innovative. The success of the conference in stimulating interest, understanding, and enthusiasm about interdisciplinary global issues is clearly evident from both the participants` feedback and their continued involvement in Student Pugwash USA programs. Six working groups met each morning. The working group themes included: environmental challenges for developing countries; energy options: their social and environmental impact; health care in developing countries; changing dynamics of peace and global security; educating for the socially responsible use of technology; ethics and the use of genetic information. The conference was specifically designed to include mechanisms for ensuring its long-term impact. Participants were encouraged to focus on their individual role in helping resolve global issues. This was achieved through each participant`s development of a Personal Plan of Action, a plan which mapped out activities the student could undertake after the conference to continue the dialogue and work towards the resolution of global and local problems.« less

Development of medical writing in India: Past, present and future.

PubMed

Sharma, Suhasini

2017-01-01

Pharmaceutical medical writing has grown significantly in India in the last couple of decades. It includes preparing regulatory, safety, and publication documents as well as educational and communication material related to health and health-care products. Medical writing requires medical understanding, knowledge of drug development and the regulatory and safety domains, understanding of research methodologies, and awareness of relevant regulations and guidelines. It also requires the ability to analyze, interpret, and present biomedical scientific data in the required format and good writing skills. Medical writing is the fourth most commonly outsourced clinical development activity, and its global demand has steadily increased due to rising cost pressures on the pharmaceutical industry. India has the unique advantages of a large workforce of science graduates and medical professionals trained in English and lower costs, which make it a suitable destination for outsourcing medical writing services. However, the current share of India in global medical writing business is very small. This industry in India faces some real challenges, such as the lack of depth and breadth in domain expertise, inadequate technical writing skills, high attrition rates, and paucity of standardized training programs as well as quality assessment tools. Focusing our time, attention, and resources to address these challenges will help the Indian medical writing industry gain its rightful share in the global medical writing business.

Engineering, global health, and inclusive innovation: focus on partnership, system strengthening, and local impact for SDGs.

PubMed

Clifford, Katie L; Zaman, Muhammad H

2016-01-01

The recent drafting of the Sustainable Development Goals challenges the research community to rethink the traditional approach to global health and provides the opportunity for science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) disciplines, particularly engineering, to demonstrate their benefit to the field. Higher education offers a platform for engineering to intersect with global health research through interdisciplinary partnerships among international universities that provide excellence in education, attract nontraditional STEM students, and foster a sense of innovation. However, a traditional lack of engineering-global health collaborations, as well as limited faculty and inadequate STEM research funding in low-income countries, has stifled progress. Still, the impact of higher education on development efforts holds great potential. This value will be realized in low-income countries through strengthening local capacity, supporting innovation through educational initiatives, and encouraging the inclusion of women and minorities in STEM programs. Current international university-level partnerships are working towards integrating engineering into global health research and strengthening STEM innovation among universities in low-income countries, but more can be done. Global health research informs sustainable development, and through integrating engineering into research efforts through university partnerships, we can accelerate progress and work towards a healthier future for all.

Into the deep end: incorporating a global health governance and diplomacy experience in graduate public health training.

PubMed

Wipfli, Heather; Kotlewski, Jennifer A

2014-01-01

Global health governance benefits from participants well-versed in the realities of international policy-making. Consequently, educational programmes must establish more opportunities for students to engage in global health policy development. This paper examines a unique global health governance and diplomacy practicum programme at the University of Southern California, designed for Master of Public Health candidates. Through the programme, students act as official non-governmental delegates to the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland through organisational partnerships. Students and collaborating organisations were asked to complete an online post-participation survey examining the perceived quality of the experience. Through the survey, students indicated reinforcement of classroom learning, continued or heightened interest in global health policy and enthusiasm in recommending the programme to other students. Organisations perceived students to be adequately prepared and indicated their continued desire to work with students in the programme. The data collected suggest that the programme was successful in providing students with a worthwhile experience that developed skills in global health diplomacy and promoted interest and critical thinking concerning international policy-making processes. A discussion of strengths and challenges serves as a blueprint for the creation of future practicum programmes.

Hospital response to a global budget program under universal health insurance in Taiwan.

PubMed

Cheng, Shou-Hsia; Chen, Chi-Chen; Chang, Wei-Ling

2009-10-01

Global budget programs are utilized in many countries to control soaring healthcare expenditures. The present study was designed to evaluate the responses of Taiwanese hospitals to a new global budget program implemented in 2002. Using data obtained from the Bureau of National Health Insurance (NHI) and two nationwide surveys conducted before and after the global budget program, changes in the length of stay, treatment intensity, insurance claims, and out-of-pocket fees were compared in 2002 and 2004. The analysis was conducted using the Generalized Estimating Equations (GEEs) method. Regression models revealed that implementation of the global budget was followed by a 7% increase in length of stay and a 15% increase in the number of prescribed procedures and medications per admission. The claim expenses increased by 14%, and out-of-pocket fees per admission increased by 6%. Among the hospitals, no coalition action was found during the study period. In the present study, it appears that hospitals attempted to increase per-case expense claims to protect their reimbursement from possible discounts under a global budget cap. How Taiwanese hospitals respond to this challenge in the future deserves continued, long-term observation.

Ethics in global surgery.

PubMed

Wall, Anji E

2014-07-01

Global surgery, while historically a small niche, is becoming a larger part of the global health enterprise. This article discusses the burden of global surgery, emphasizing the importance of addressing surgical needs in low- and middle-income countries. It describes the barriers to surgical care in the developing world, the ethical challenges that these barriers create, and strategies to overcome these barriers. It emphasizes the crucial role of preparation for global surgical interventions as a way to maximize benefits as well as minimize harms and ethical challenges. It ends with the cautionary statement that preparation does not eliminate ethical problems, so surgical volunteers must be prepared not only for the technical challenges of global surgery but also for the ethical challenges.

Financial challenges of immunization: a look at GAVI.

PubMed Central

Kaddar, Miloud; Lydon, Patrick; Levine, Ruth

2004-01-01

Securing reliable and adequate public funding for prevention services, even those that are considered highly cost effective, often presents a challenge. This has certainly been the case with childhood immunizations in developing countries. Although the traditional childhood vaccines cost relatively little, funding in poor countries is often at risk and subject to the political whims of donors and national governments. With the introduction of newer and more costly vaccines made possible under the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), the future financial challenges have become even greater. Experience so far suggests that choosing to introduce new combination vaccines can significantly increase the costs of national immunization programmes. With this experience comes a growing concern about their affordability in the medium term and long term and a realization that, for many countries, shared financial responsibility between national governments and international donors may initially be required. This article focuses on how GAVI is addressing the challenge of sustaining adequate and reliable funding for immunizations in the poorest countries. PMID:15628208

Understanding spatial organizations of chromosomes via statistical analysis of Hi-C data

PubMed Central

Hu, Ming; Deng, Ke; Qin, Zhaohui; Liu, Jun S.

2015-01-01

Understanding how chromosomes fold provides insights into the transcription regulation, hence, the functional state of the cell. Using the next generation sequencing technology, the recently developed Hi-C approach enables a global view of spatial chromatin organization in the nucleus, which substantially expands our knowledge about genome organization and function. However, due to multiple layers of biases, noises and uncertainties buried in the protocol of Hi-C experiments, analyzing and interpreting Hi-C data poses great challenges, and requires novel statistical methods to be developed. This article provides an overview of recent Hi-C studies and their impacts on biomedical research, describes major challenges in statistical analysis of Hi-C data, and discusses some perspectives for future research. PMID:26124977

Operationalizing Network Theory for Ecosystem Service Assessments.

PubMed

Dee, Laura E; Allesina, Stefano; Bonn, Aletta; Eklöf, Anna; Gaines, Steven D; Hines, Jes; Jacob, Ute; McDonald-Madden, Eve; Possingham, Hugh; Schröter, Matthias; Thompson, Ross M

2017-02-01

Managing ecosystems to provide ecosystem services in the face of global change is a pressing challenge for policy and science. Predicting how alternative management actions and changing future conditions will alter services is complicated by interactions among components in ecological and socioeconomic systems. Failure to understand those interactions can lead to detrimental outcomes from management decisions. Network theory that integrates ecological and socioeconomic systems may provide a path to meeting this challenge. While network theory offers promising approaches to examine ecosystem services, few studies have identified how to operationalize networks for managing and assessing diverse ecosystem services. We propose a framework for how to use networks to assess how drivers and management actions will directly and indirectly alter ecosystem services. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning the Rhythm of the Seasons in the Face of Global Change: Phenological Research in the 21st Century

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morisette, Jeffrey T.; Richardson, Andrew D.; Knapp, Alan K.; Fisher, Jeremy I.; Graham, Eric A.; Abatzoglou, John; Wilson, Bruce E.; Breshears, David D.; Hanebry, Geoffrey M.; Hanes, Jonathan M.;

Towards An Oceanographic Component Of A Global Earth Observation System Of Systems: Progress And Challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ackleson, S. G.

2012-12-01

Ocean observatories (systems of coordinated sensors and platforms providing real-time in situ observations across multiple temporal and spatial scales) have advanced rapidly during the past several decades with the integration of novel hardware, development of advanced cyber-infrastructures and data management software, and the formation of researcher networks employing fixed, drifting, and mobile assets. These advances have provided persistent, real-time, multi-disciplinary observations representing even the most extreme environmental conditions, enabled unique and informative views of complicated ocean processes, and aided in the development of more accurate and higher fidelity ocean models. Combined with traditional ship-based and remotely sensed observations, ocean observatories have yielded new knowledge across a broad spectrum of earth-ocean scales that would likely not exist otherwise. These developments come at a critical time in human history when the demands of global population growth are creating unprecedented societal challenges associated with rapid climatic change and unsustainable consumption of key ocean resources. Successfully meeting and overcoming these challenges and avoiding the ultimate tragedy of the commons will require greater knowledge of environmental processes than currently exists, including interactions between the ocean, the overlying atmosphere, and the adjacent land and synthesizing new knowledge into effective policy and management structures. To achieve this, researchers must have free and ready access to comprehensive data streams (oceanic, atmospheric, and terrestrial), regardless of location and collection system. While the precedent for the concept of free and open access to environmental data is not new (it traces back to the International Geophysical Year, 1957), implementing procedures and standards on a global scale is proving to be difficult, both logistically and politically. Observatories have been implemented in many parts of the global ocean, inspiring researchers to begin planning and developing connected regional observing systems that are networked into a Global Ocean Observing System as part of a comprehensive Global Earth Observation System of Systems. However, much remains to be accomplished, especially in the areas of standardizing observation methods and metadata, implementing procedures to assure an acceptable level of data quality, and defining and producing key derived products. This paper will briefly discuss the evolution of ocean observatories, summarize current efforts to develop local, regional and global observing networks, and suggest future steps towards a global ocean observing system.

Sustainable Development and Energy Geotechnology Potential Roles for Geotechnical Engineering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

FragaszyProgram Dire, Dr. R. J.; Santamarina, Carlos; Espinoza, N.

2011-01-01

The world is facing unprecedented challenges related to energy resources, global climate change, material use, and waste generation. Failure to address these challenges will inhibit the growth of the developing world and will negatively impact the standard of living and security of future generations in all nations. The solutions to these challenges will require multidisciplinary research across the social and physical sciences and engineering. Although perhaps not always recognized, geotechnical engineering expertise is critical to the solution of many energy and sustainability-related problems. Hence, geotechnical engineers and academicians have opportunity and responsibility to contribute to the solution of these worldwidemore » problems. Research will need to be extended to non-standard issues such as thermal properties of soils; sediment and rock response to extreme conditions and at very long time scales; coupled hydro-chemo-thermo-bio-mechanical processes; positive feedback systems; the development of discontinuities; biological modification of soil properties; spatial variability; and emergent phenomena. Clearly, the challenges facing geotechnical engineering in the future will require a much broader knowledge base than our traditional educational programs provide. The geotechnical engineering curricula, from undergraduate education through continuing professional education, must address the changing needs of a profession that will increasingly be engaged in alternative/renewable energy production; energy efficiency; sustainable design, enhanced and more efficient use of natural resources, waste management, and underground utilization.« less

The Borderlands and climate change: Chapter 10 in United States-Mexican Borderlands: Facing tomorrow's challenges through USGS science

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fitzpatrick, Joan; Gray, Floyd; Dubiel, Russell; Langman, Jeff; Moring, J. Bruce; Norman, Laura M.; Page, William R.; Parcher, Jean W.

2013-01-01

The prediction of global climate change in response to both natural forces and human activity is one of the defining issues of our times. The unprecedented observational capacity of modern earth-orbiting satellites coupled with the development of robust computational representations (models) of the Earth’s weather and climate systems afford us the opportunity to observe and investigate how these systems work now, how they have worked in the past, and how they will work in the future when forced in specific ways. In the most recent report on global climate change by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC; Solomon and others, 2007), analyses using multiple climate models support recent observations that the Earth’s climate is changing in response to a combination of natural and human-induced causes. These changes will be significant in the United States–Mexican border region, where the process of climate change affects all of the Borderlands challenge themes discussed in the preceding chapters. The dual possibilities of both significantly-changed climate and increasing variability in climate make it challenging to take full measure of the potential effects because the Borderlands already experience a high degree of interannual variability and climatological extremes.

Global Software Development with Cloud Platforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yara, Pavan; Ramachandran, Ramaseshan; Balasubramanian, Gayathri; Muthuswamy, Karthik; Chandrasekar, Divya

Offshore and outsourced distributed software development models and processes are facing challenges, previously unknown, with respect to computing capacity, bandwidth, storage, security, complexity, reliability, and business uncertainty. Clouds promise to address these challenges by adopting recent advances in virtualization, parallel and distributed systems, utility computing, and software services. In this paper, we envision a cloud-based platform that addresses some of these core problems. We outline a generic cloud architecture, its design and our first implementation results for three cloud forms - a compute cloud, a storage cloud and a cloud-based software service- in the context of global distributed software development (GSD). Our ”compute cloud” provides computational services such as continuous code integration and a compile server farm, ”storage cloud” offers storage (block or file-based) services with an on-line virtual storage service, whereas the on-line virtual labs represent a useful cloud service. We note some of the use cases for clouds in GSD, the lessons learned with our prototypes and identify challenges that must be conquered before realizing the full business benefits. We believe that in the future, software practitioners will focus more on these cloud computing platforms and see clouds as a means to supporting a ecosystem of clients, developers and other key stakeholders.

Assessing global fossil fuel availability in a scenario framework

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bauer, Nico; Hilaire, Jérôme; Brecha, Robert J.

This study assesses global, long-term economic availability of coal, oil and gas within the Shared Socio-economic Pathway (SSP) scenario framework considering alternative assumptions as to highly uncertain future developments of technology, policy and the economy. Diverse sets of trajectories are formulated varying the challenges to mitigation and adaptation of climate change. The potential CO2 emissions from fossil fuels make it a crucial element subject to deep uncertainties. The analysis is based on a well-established data set of cost-quantity combinations that assumes favorable techno-economic developments, but ignores additional constraints on the extraction sector. This study significantly extends that analysis to includemore » alternative assumptions for the fossil fuel sector consistent with the SSP scenario families and applies these filters to the original data set, thus resulting in alternative cumulative fossil fuel availability curves. In a Middle-of-the-Road scenario, low cost fossil fuels embody carbon consistent with a RCP6.0 emission profile, if all the CO2 were emitted freely during the 21st century. In scenarios with high challenges to mitigation, the assumed embodied carbon in low-cost fossil fuels can trigger a RCP8.5 scenario; low mitigation challenges scenarios are still consistent with a RCP4.5 scenario.« less

Addressing China's grand challenge of achieving food security while ensuring environmental sustainability.

PubMed

Lu, Yonglong; Jenkins, Alan; Ferrier, Robert C; Bailey, Mark; Gordon, Iain J; Song, Shuai; Huang, Jikun; Jia, Shaofeng; Zhang, Fusuo; Liu, Xuejun; Feng, Zhaozhong; Zhang, Zhibin

2015-02-01

China's increasingly urbanized and wealthy population is driving a growing and changing demand for food, which might not be met without significant increase in agricultural productivity and sustainable use of natural resources. Given the past relationship between lack of access to affordable food and political instability, food security has to be given a high priority on national political agendas in the context of globalization. The drive for increased food production has had a significant impact on the environment, and the deterioration in ecosystem quality due to historic and current levels of pollution will potentially compromise the food production system in China. We discuss the grand challenges of not only producing more food but also producing it sustainably and without environmental degradation. In addressing these challenges, food production should be considered as part of an environmental system (soil, air, water, and biodiversity) and not independent from it. It is imperative that new ways of meeting the demand for food are developed while safeguarding the natural resources upon which food production is based. We present a holistic approach to both science and policy to ensure future food security while embracing the ambition of achieving environmental sustainability in China. It is a unique opportunity for China to be a role model as a new global player, especially for other emerging economies.

Integrated landscape approaches to managing social and environmental issues in the tropics: learning from the past to guide the future.

PubMed

Reed, James; Van Vianen, Josh; Deakin, Elizabeth L; Barlow, Jos; Sunderland, Terry

2016-07-01

Poverty, food insecurity, climate change and biodiversity loss continue to persist as the primary environmental and social challenges faced by the global community. As such, there is a growing acknowledgement that conventional sectorial approaches to addressing often inter-connected social, environmental, economic and political challenges are proving insufficient. An alternative is to focus on integrated solutions at landscape scales or 'landscape approaches'. The appeal of landscape approaches has resulted in the production of a significant body of literature in recent decades, yet confusion over terminology, application and utility persists. Focusing on the tropics, we systematically reviewed the literature to: (i) disentangle the historical development and theory behind the framework of the landscape approach and how it has progressed into its current iteration, (ii) establish lessons learned from previous land management strategies, (iii) determine the barriers that currently restrict implementation of the landscape approach and (iv) provide recommendations for how the landscape approach can contribute towards the fulfilment of the goals of international policy processes. This review suggests that, despite some barriers to implementation, a landscape approach has considerable potential to meet social and environmental objectives at local scales while aiding national commitments to addressing ongoing global challenges. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Monitoring and Predicting the Export and Fate of Global Ocean Net Primary Production: The EXPORTS Field Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Exports Science Definition Team

2016-04-01

Ocean ecosystems play a critical role in the Earth's carbon cycle and its quantification on global scales remains one of the greatest challenges in global ocean biogeochemistry. The goal of the EXport Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing (EXPORTS) science plan is to develop a predictive understanding of the export and fate of global ocean primary production and its implications for the Earth's carbon cycle in present and future climates. NASA's satellite ocean-color data record has revolutionized our understanding of global marine systems. EXPORTS is designed to advance the utility of NASA ocean color assets to predict how changes in ocean primary production will impact the global carbon cycle. EXPORTS will create a predictive understanding of both the export of organic carbon from the euphotic zone and its fate in the underlying "twilight zone" (depths of 500 m or more) where variable fractions of exported organic carbon are respired back to CO2. Ultimately, it is the sequestration of deep organic carbon transport that defines the impact of ocean biota on atmospheric CO2 levels and hence climate. EXPORTS will generate a new, detailed understanding of ocean carbon transport processes and pathways linking upper ocean phytoplankton processes to the export and fate of organic matter in the underlying twilight zone using a combination of field campaigns, remote sensing and numerical modeling. The overarching objective for EXPORTS is to ensure the success of future satellite missions by establishing mechanistic relationships between remotely sensed signals and carbon cycle processes. Through a process-oriented approach, EXPORTS will foster new insights on ocean carbon cycling that will maximize its societal relevance and be a key component in the U.S. investment to understand Earth as an integrated system.

Challenges And Concepts for Design of An Interaction Region With Push-Pull Arrangement of Detectors - An Interface Document

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Parker, B.; /Brookhaven; Herve, Alain

2011-10-14

Two experimental detectors working in a push-pull mode has been considered for the Interaction Region of the International Linear Collider. The push-pull mode of operation sets specific requirements and challenges for many systems of detector and machine, in particular for the IR magnets, for the cryogenics and alignment system, for beamline shielding, for detector design and overall integration, and so on. These challenges and the identified conceptual solutions discussed in the paper intend to form a draft of the Interface Document which will be developed further in the nearest future. The authors of the present paper include the organizers andmore » conveners of working groups of the workshop on engineering design of interaction region IRENG07, the leaders of the IR Integration within Global Design Effort Beam Delivery System, and the representatives from each detector concept submitting the Letters Of Intent.« less

Separating direct and indirect effects of global change: a population dynamic modeling approach using readily available field data.

PubMed

Farrer, Emily C; Ashton, Isabel W; Knape, Jonas; Suding, Katharine N

2014-04-01

Two sources of complexity make predicting plant community response to global change particularly challenging. First, realistic global change scenarios involve multiple drivers of environmental change that can interact with one another to produce non-additive effects. Second, in addition to these direct effects, global change drivers can indirectly affect plants by modifying species interactions. In order to tackle both of these challenges, we propose a novel population modeling approach, requiring only measurements of abundance and climate over time. To demonstrate the applicability of this approach, we model population dynamics of eight abundant plant species in a multifactorial global change experiment in alpine tundra where we manipulated nitrogen, precipitation, and temperature over 7 years. We test whether indirect and interactive effects are important to population dynamics and whether explicitly incorporating species interactions can change predictions when models are forecast under future climate change scenarios. For three of the eight species, population dynamics were best explained by direct effect models, for one species neither direct nor indirect effects were important, and for the other four species indirect effects mattered. Overall, global change had negative effects on species population growth, although species responded to different global change drivers, and single-factor effects were slightly more common than interactive direct effects. When the fitted population dynamic models were extrapolated under changing climatic conditions to the end of the century, forecasts of community dynamics and diversity loss were largely similar using direct effect models that do not explicitly incorporate species interactions or best-fit models; however, inclusion of species interactions was important in refining the predictions for two of the species. The modeling approach proposed here is a powerful way of analyzing readily available datasets which should be added to our toolbox to tease apart complex drivers of global change. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Experimental strategies to assess the biological ramifications of multiple drivers of global ocean change-A review.

PubMed

Boyd, Philip W; Collins, Sinead; Dupont, Sam; Fabricius, Katharina; Gattuso, Jean-Pierre; Havenhand, Jonathan; Hutchins, David A; Riebesell, Ulf; Rintoul, Max S; Vichi, Marcello; Biswas, Haimanti; Ciotti, Aurea; Gao, Kunshan; Gehlen, Marion; Hurd, Catriona L; Kurihara, Haruko; McGraw, Christina M; Navarro, Jorge M; Nilsson, Göran E; Passow, Uta; Pörtner, Hans-Otto

2018-06-01

Marine life is controlled by multiple physical and chemical drivers and by diverse ecological processes. Many of these oceanic properties are being altered by climate change and other anthropogenic pressures. Hence, identifying the influences of multifaceted ocean change, from local to global scales, is a complex task. To guide policy-making and make projections of the future of the marine biosphere, it is essential to understand biological responses at physiological, evolutionary and ecological levels. Here, we contrast and compare different approaches to multiple driver experiments that aim to elucidate biological responses to a complex matrix of ocean global change. We present the benefits and the challenges of each approach with a focus on marine research, and guidelines to navigate through these different categories to help identify strategies that might best address research questions in fundamental physiology, experimental evolutionary biology and community ecology. Our review reveals that the field of multiple driver research is being pulled in complementary directions: the need for reductionist approaches to obtain process-oriented, mechanistic understanding and a requirement to quantify responses to projected future scenarios of ocean change. We conclude the review with recommendations on how best to align different experimental approaches to contribute fundamental information needed for science-based policy formulation. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effect of specific pathways to 1.5°C global warming on the contribution of Greenland to sea level rise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Humbert, A.; Rückamp, M.; Falk, U.; Frieler, K.

2017-12-01

Sea level rise associated with changing climate is expected to pose a major challenge for societies. Here, we estimate the future contribution of the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) to sea level change in terms of different emission scenarios. We investigate the effect of different pathways of global warming on the dynamics and mass balance of the GrIS with a focus on scenarios in line with limiting global warming to 2.0° or even 1.5° by the end of 2100 (Paris Agreement). We particularly address the issue of peak and decline scenarios temporarily exceeding a given temperature limit. This kind of overshooting might have strong effects on the evolution of the GrIS. Furthermore, we investigate the long-term effects of different levels of climate change to estimate the threshold for stabilizing the GrIS. For modeling the flow dynamics and future evolution of the GrIS, we apply the thermo-mechanical coupled Ice Sheet System Model (ISSM). The model is forced with anomalies for temperature and surface mass balance derived from different GCM data from the CMIP5 RCP2.6 scenario provided from the ISIMIP2b project. In order to obtain these anomalies from the GCM data, a surface energy balance model is applied.

Aquatic Ecosystems, Water Quality, and Global Change: Challenges of Conducting Multi-Stressor Vulnerability Assessments (Final Report)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA announced the availability of the final report, Aquatic Ecosystems and Global Change: The Challenges of conducting Multi-Stressor Global Change Vulnerability Assessments. This report investigates the issues and challenges associated with identifying, calculating, and ...

High resolution global climate modelling; the UPSCALE project, a large simulation campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mizielinski, M. S.; Roberts, M. J.; Vidale, P. L.; Schiemann, R.; Demory, M.-E.; Strachan, J.; Edwards, T.; Stephens, A.; Lawrence, B. N.; Pritchard, M.; Chiu, P.; Iwi, A.; Churchill, J.; del Cano Novales, C.; Kettleborough, J.; Roseblade, W.; Selwood, P.; Foster, M.; Glover, M.; Malcolm, A.

2014-01-01

The UPSCALE (UK on PRACE: weather-resolving Simulations of Climate for globAL Environmental risk) project constructed and ran an ensemble of HadGEM3 (Hadley centre Global Environment Model 3) atmosphere-only global climate simulations over the period 1985-2011, at resolutions of N512 (25 km), N216 (60 km) and N96 (130 km) as used in current global weather forecasting, seasonal prediction and climate modelling respectively. Alongside these present climate simulations a parallel ensemble looking at extremes of future climate was run, using a time-slice methodology to consider conditions at the end of this century. These simulations were primarily performed using a 144 million core hour, single year grant of computing time from PRACE (the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) in 2012, with additional resources supplied by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the Met Office. Almost 400 terabytes of simulation data were generated on the HERMIT supercomputer at the high performance computing center Stuttgart (HLRS), and transferred to the JASMIN super-data cluster provided by the Science and Technology Facilities Council Centre for Data Archival (STFC CEDA) for analysis and storage. In this paper we describe the implementation of the project, present the technical challenges in terms of optimisation, data output, transfer and storage that such a project involves and include details of the model configuration and the composition of the UPSCALE dataset. This dataset is available for scientific analysis to allow assessment of the value of model resolution in both present and potential future climate conditions.

High-resolution global climate modelling: the UPSCALE project, a large-simulation campaign

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mizielinski, M. S.; Roberts, M. J.; Vidale, P. L.; Schiemann, R.; Demory, M.-E.; Strachan, J.; Edwards, T.; Stephens, A.; Lawrence, B. N.; Pritchard, M.; Chiu, P.; Iwi, A.; Churchill, J.; del Cano Novales, C.; Kettleborough, J.; Roseblade, W.; Selwood, P.; Foster, M.; Glover, M.; Malcolm, A.

2014-08-01

The UPSCALE (UK on PRACE: weather-resolving Simulations of Climate for globAL Environmental risk) project constructed and ran an ensemble of HadGEM3 (Hadley Centre Global Environment Model 3) atmosphere-only global climate simulations over the period 1985-2011, at resolutions of N512 (25 km), N216 (60 km) and N96 (130 km) as used in current global weather forecasting, seasonal prediction and climate modelling respectively. Alongside these present climate simulations a parallel ensemble looking at extremes of future climate was run, using a time-slice methodology to consider conditions at the end of this century. These simulations were primarily performed using a 144 million core hour, single year grant of computing time from PRACE (the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe) in 2012, with additional resources supplied by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Met Office. Almost 400 terabytes of simulation data were generated on the HERMIT supercomputer at the High Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS), and transferred to the JASMIN super-data cluster provided by the Science and Technology Facilities Council Centre for Data Archival (STFC CEDA) for analysis and storage. In this paper we describe the implementation of the project, present the technical challenges in terms of optimisation, data output, transfer and storage that such a project involves and include details of the model configuration and the composition of the UPSCALE data set. This data set is available for scientific analysis to allow assessment of the value of model resolution in both present and potential future climate conditions.

Rebooting Bioresilience: A Multi-OMICS Approach to Tackle Global Catastrophic Biological Risks and Next-Generation Biothreats.

PubMed

Kambouris, Manousos E; Manoussopoulos, Yiannis; Kantzanou, Maria; Velegraki, Aristea; Gaitanis, Georgios; Arabatzis, Michalis; Patrinos, George P

2018-01-01

Global Catastrophic Biological Risks (GCBRs) refer to biological events-natural, deliberate, and accidental-of a global and lasting impact. This challenges the life scientists to raise their game on two hitherto neglected innovation frontiers: a veritable "futures" thinking to "think the unthinkable," and "systems thinking" so as to see both the trees and the forest when it comes to GCBRs. This innovation analysis article outlines the promise of Omics systems science biotechnologies, for example, to deploy rapid fire diagnostics for health security crises at GCBR level, possibly involving neopathogens and/or incurring epidemics (e.g., severe acute respiratory syndrome [SARS] and Ebola) that collectively threaten the lives of global society and interdependent biological ecosystems. Moreover, Omics encourages thinking beyond immediacy and in long-term strategies for biopreparedness and response innovation when the timelines are aggressive and compressed in response to crises such as GCBRs, but also to non-global but surging, multiple threats occurring as successive, overlapping, or distinct events, rather than as distinct entities-a prospect enforcing a reboot in Bioresilience. We define Next-Generation Bioresilience as "a systems approach against natural, accidental and perpetrated GCBRs using Omics technologies, and a shift in mentality, whereby the systems approach is expanded to include multiple plausible futures and expose unchecked assumptions attendant to risks, beyond technological determinism." In sum, it is time to think about the realistic potential of Omics biotechnologies beyond clinical practice and precision medicine so as to harness the opportunities and address the uncertainties associated not only with GCBRs but also with other emerging Omics applications in health and society.

Headlines: Planet Earth: Improving Climate Literacy with Short Format News Videos

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tenenbaum, L. F.; Kulikov, A.; Jackson, R.

2012-12-01

One of the challenges of communicating climate science is the sense that climate change is remote and unconnected to daily life--something that's happening to someone else or in the future. To help face this challenge, NASA's Global Climate Change website http://climate.nasa.gov has launched a new video series, "Headlines: Planet Earth," which focuses on current climate news events. This rapid-response video series uses 3D video visualization technology combined with real-time satellite data and images, to throw a spotlight on real-world events.. The "Headlines: Planet Earth" news video products will be deployed frequently, ensuring timeliness. NASA's Global Climate Change Website makes extensive use of interactive media, immersive visualizations, ground-based and remote images, narrated and time-lapse videos, time-series animations, and real-time scientific data, plus maps and user-friendly graphics that make the scientific content both accessible and engaging to the public. The site has also won two consecutive Webby Awards for Best Science Website. Connecting climate science to current real-world events will contribute to improving climate literacy by making climate science relevant to everyday life.

Danger ahead: the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 1990-2015.

PubMed

2018-05-01

The Eastern Mediterranean Region faces several health challenges at a difficult time with wars, unrest, and economic change. We used the Global Burden of Disease 2015 study to present the burden of diseases, injuries, and risk factors in the Eastern Mediterranean Region from 1990 to 2015. Ischemic heart disease was the leading cause of death in the region in 2015, followed by cerebrovascular disease. Changes in total deaths ranged from a reduction of 25% for diarrheal diseases to an increase of about 42% for diabetes and tracheal, bronchus, and lung cancer. Collective violence and legal intervention increased by 850% during the time period. Diet was the leading risk factor for disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for men compared to maternal malnutrition for females. Childhood undernutrition was the leading risk factor for DALYs in 1990 and 2005, but the second in 2015 after high blood pressure. Our study shows that the region is facing several health challenges and calls for global efforts to stabilise the region and to address the current and future burden of disease.

Global quality imaging: improvement actions.

PubMed

Lau, Lawrence S; Pérez, Maria R; Applegate, Kimberly E; Rehani, Madan M; Ringertz, Hans G; George, Robert

2011-05-01

Workforce shortage, workload increase, workplace changes, and budget challenges are emerging issues around the world, which could place quality imaging at risk. It is important for imaging stakeholders to collaborate, ensure patient safety, improve the quality of care, and address these issues. There is no single panacea. A range of improvement measures, strategies, and actions are required. Examples of improvement actions supporting the 3 quality measures are described under 5 strategies: conducting research, promoting awareness, providing education and training, strengthening infrastructure, and implementing policies. The challenge is to develop long-term, cost-effective, system-based improvement actions that will bring better outcomes and underpin a sustainable future for quality imaging. In an imaging practice, these actions will result in selecting the right procedure (justification), using the right dose (optimization), and preventing errors along the patient journey. To realize this vision and implement these improvement actions, a range of expertise and adequate resources are required. Stakeholders should collaborate and work together. In today's globalized environment, collaboration is strength and provides synergy to achieve better outcomes and greater success. Copyright © 2011 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Status of Early-Career Academic Cardiology: A Global Perspective.

PubMed

Tong, Carl W; Madhur, Meena S; Rzeszut, Anne K; Abdalla, Marwah; Abudayyeh, Islam; Alexanderson, Erick; Buber, Jonathan; Feldman, Dmitriy N; Gopinathannair, Rakesh; Hira, Ravi S; Kates, Andrew M; Kessler, Thorsten; Leung, Steve; Raj, Satish R; Spatz, Erica S; Turner, Melanie B; Valente, Anne Marie; West, Kristin; Sivaram, Chittur A; Hill, Joseph A; Mann, Douglas L; Freeman, Andrew M

2017-10-31

Early-career academic cardiologists, who many believe are an important component of the future of cardiovascular care, face myriad challenges. The Early Career Section Academic Working Group of the American College of Cardiology, with senior leadership support, assessed the progress of this cohort from 2013 to 2016 with a global perspective. Data consisted of accessing National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute public information, data from the American Heart Association and international organizations, and a membership-wide survey. Although the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute increased funding of career development grants, only a small number of early-career American College of Cardiology members have benefited as funding of the entire cohort has decreased. Personal motivation, institutional support, and collaborators continued to be positive influential factors. Surprisingly, mentoring ceased to correlate positively with obtaining external grants. The totality of findings suggests that the status of early-career academic cardiologists remains challenging; therefore, the authors recommend a set of attainable solutions. Copyright © 2017 American College of Cardiology Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The challenge of health & environment: profiling risks & strategic priorities for now & the future.

PubMed

Narain, Jai P

2012-08-01

A substantial burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases in the developing countries is attributable to environmental risk factors. WHO estimates that the environmental factors are responsible for an estimated 24 per cent of the global burden of disease in terms of healthy life years lost and 23 per cent of all deaths; children being the worst sufferers. Given that the environment is linked with most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), without proper attention to the environmental risk factors and their management, it will be difficult to achieve many MDGs by 2015. The impact of environmental degradation on health may continue well into the future and the situation in fact, is likely to get worse. In order to address this challenge, two facts are worth noting. First, that much of the environmental disease burden is attributable to a few critical risk factors which include unsafe water and sanitation, exposure to indoor smoke from cooking fuel, outdoor air pollution, exposure to chemicals such as arsenic, and climate change. Second, that environment and health aspects must become, as a matter of urgency, a national priority, both in terms of policy and resources allocation. To meet the challenge of health and environment now and in the future, the following strategic approaches must be considered which include conducting environmental and health impact assessments; strengthening national environmental health policy and infrastructure; fostering inter-sectoral co-ordination and partnerships; mobilizing public participation; and enhancing the leadership role of health in advocacy, stewardship and capacity building.

Power Watch - A global, open database of power plants that supports research on climate, water and air pollution impact of the global power sector.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedrich, J.; Kressig, A.; Van Groenou, S.; McCormick, C.

2017-12-01

Challenge The lack of transparent, accessible, and centralized power sector data inhibits the ability to research the impact of the global power sector. information gaps for citizens, analysts, and decision makers worldwide create barriers to sustainable development efforts. The need for transparent, accessible, and centralized information is especially important to enhance the commitments outlined in the recently adopted Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. Offer Power Watch will address this challenge by creating a comprehensive, open-source platform on the world's power systems. The platform hosts data on 85% of global installed electrical capacity and for each power plant will include data points on installed capacity, fuel type, annual generation, commissioning year, with more characteristics like emissions, particulate matter, annual water demand and more added over time. Most of the data is reported from national level sources, but annual generation and other operational characteristiscs are estimated via Machine Learning modeling and remotely sensed data when not officially reported. In addition, Power Watch plans to provide a suite of tools that address specific decision maker needs, such as water risk assessments and air pollution modeling. Impact Through open data, the platform and its tools will allow reserachers to do more analysis of power sector impacts and perform energy modeling. It will help catalyze accountability for policy makers, businesses, and investors and will inform and drive the transition to a clean energy future while reaching development targets.

Challenges and Opportunities in Global Mental Health: a Research-to-Practice Perspective

PubMed Central

Wainberg, Milton L.; Scorza, Pamela; Shultz, James M.; Helpman, Liat; Mootz, Jennifer J.; Johnson, Karen A.; Neria, Yuval; Bradford, Jean-Marie E.; Oquendo, Maria A.; Arbuckle, Melissa R.

2017-01-01

Purpose of Review Globally, the majority of those who need mental health care worldwide lack access to high-quality mental health services. Stigma, human resource shortages, fragmented service delivery models, and lack of research capacity for implementation and policy change contribute to the current mental health treatment gap. In this review, we describe how health systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are addressing the mental health gap and further identify challenges and priority areas for future research. Recent Findings Common mental disorders are responsible for the largest proportion of the global burden of disease; yet, there is sound evidence that these disorders, as well as severe mental disorders, can be successfully treated using evidence-based interventions delivered by trained lay health workers in low-resource community or primary care settings. Stigma is a barrier to service uptake. Prevention, though necessary to address the mental health gap, has not solidified as a research or programmatic focus. Research-to-practice implementation studies are required to inform policies and scale-up services. Summary Four priority areas are identified for focused attention to diminish the mental health treatment gap and to improve access to high-quality mental health services globally: diminishing pervasive stigma, building mental health system treatment and research capacity, implementing prevention programs to decrease the incidence of mental disorders, and establishing sustainable scale up of public health systems to improve access to mental health treatment using evidence-based interventions. PMID:28425023

Drivers and implications of change in global ocean health over the past five years

PubMed Central

Frazier, Melanie; Afflerbach, Jamie; O’Hara, Casey; Katona, Steven; Stewart Lowndes, Julia S.; Jiang, Ning; Pacheco, Erich; Scarborough, Courtney; Polsenberg, Johanna

2017-01-01

Growing international and national focus on quantitatively measuring and improving ocean health has increased the need for comprehensive, scientific, and repeated indicators to track progress towards achieving policy and societal goals. The Ocean Health Index (OHI) is one of the few indicators available for this purpose. Here we present results from five years of annual global assessment for 220 countries and territories, evaluating potential drivers and consequences of changes and presenting lessons learned about the challenges of using composite indicators to measure sustainability goals. Globally scores have shown little change, as would be expected. However, individual countries have seen notable increases or declines due in particular to improvements in the harvest and management of wild-caught fisheries, the creation of marine protected areas (MPAs), and decreases in natural product harvest. Rapid loss of sea ice and the consequent reduction of coastal protection from that sea ice was also responsible for declines in overall ocean health in many Arctic and sub-Arctic countries. The OHI performed reasonably well at predicting near-term future scores for many of the ten goals measured, but data gaps and limitations hindered these predictions for many other goals. Ultimately, all indicators face the substantial challenge of informing policy for progress toward broad goals and objectives with insufficient monitoring and assessment data. If countries and the global community hope to achieve and maintain healthy oceans, we will need to dedicate significant resources to measuring what we are trying to manage. PMID:28678881

The rationale for accelerating regionally focused climate intervention research

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacCracken, Michael C.

2016-12-01

Ten years ago, Paul Crutzen asked whether the time had come to consider undertaking research into intentionally intervening in the climate system so that it might be considered a policy option comparable to reducing emissions for limiting human-induced climate change. Crutzen's article pointed out how little progress had been made in reducing emissions and suggested that resurrecting decades-old ideas for imitating volcanic eruptions as a possible intervention might be needed. Today, model-based simulations, optimistically assuming that nations fulfill their commitments for future emissions reductions, project global average temperature to increase to 3-4°C above its preindustrial level by 2100, a level that Crutzen envisioned as likely to meriting active intervention. While research has begun to explore the means for intervening globally, such interventions raise challenging issues of governance, unintended consequences, intergenerational equity, and more. Initially, focusing research on potential tropospheric and surface-based approaches to altering energy flows as a means for moderating adverse regional impacts might well pose less difficult governance challenges and more regionally constrained evaluations of intended outcomes and unintended consequences. Because natural processes would tend to dissipate most types of tropospheric interventions, adjustments, and even termination, would be possible over periods of weeks to months. In addition to serving their particular purpose, regional interventions would also provide an opportunity for learning more about Earth system behavior and the potential effectiveness and risks of global-scale interventions, if such interventions might eventually be needed to counter-balance especially severe global warming.

Future of the world's automobile industry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kagawa, T.

1989-03-01

The author feels that the Japanese automobile industry is approaching a turning point. But it is not enough to refer only to the changing structure of the Japanese automobile industry when similar structural changes are taking place on a worldwide scale. Therefore he first comments on the current state of the automobile industry of the world, and then reviews the reasons for the gap between automobile production and demand and the historical background of this phenomenon. Then, finally, he discusses the current progress of and future challenges in the structural adjustment of the global automobile industry. He notes the verymore » close relation of the battery industry to the automobile industry, and hopes the former will prosper hand in hand with the latter. 6 tables.« less

The invasive mosquito species Aedes albopictus: current knowledge and future perspectives

PubMed Central

Bonizzoni, Mariangela; Gasperi, Giuliano; Chen, Xioaguang; James, Anthony A.

2013-01-01

One of the most dynamic events in public health is being mediated by the global spread of the invasive mosquito Aedes albopictus. Its rapid expansion and vectorial capacity for various arboviruses affect an increasingly larger proportion of the world population. Responses to the challenges of controlling this vector are expected to be enhanced by an increased knowledge of its biology, ecology, and vector competence. Details of population genetics and structure will allow following, and possibly predicting, the geographical and temporal dynamics of its expansion, and will inform the practical operations of control programs. Experts are coming together now to describe the history, characterize the present circumstances, and collaborate on future efforts to understand and mitigate this emerging public health threat. PMID:23916878

Knowledge Exchange between Poland and Vietnam in Mining and Geology - the Status Quo and Future Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, Nga; Pham, Nguyet

2018-03-01

From the beginning of the 21st century, knowledge exchange between Poland and Vietnam in mining and geology has been focusing in technology, education and training. Since years, Polish academic and commercial partners have been developing a close collaboration with Vietnam National Coal - Mineral Industries Holding Corporation Limited. Major outcomes of the collaboration are installations and operation of mining equipments and machines in Vietnamese mining companies, and excellent training programs for graduate and post graduate students and mining staff for both countries, etc. From aspects of knowledge management in globalization, the article highlights the outstanding outcomes of knowledge exchanges between the two countries, outlines cultural and economic challenges for the exchange and proposes some improvement in the future.

Food supply and bioenergy production within the global cropland planetary boundary.

PubMed

Henry, R C; Engström, K; Olin, S; Alexander, P; Arneth, A; Rounsevell, M D A

2018-01-01

Supplying food for the anticipated global population of over 9 billion in 2050 under changing climate conditions is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Agricultural expansion and intensification contributes to global environmental change and risks the long-term sustainability of the planet. It has been proposed that no more than 15% of the global ice-free land surface should be converted to cropland. Bioenergy production for land-based climate mitigation places additional pressure on limited land resources. Here we test normative targets of food supply and bioenergy production within the cropland planetary boundary using a global land-use model. The results suggest supplying the global population with adequate food is possible without cropland expansion exceeding the planetary boundary. Yet this requires an increase in food production, especially in developing countries, as well as a decrease in global crop yield gaps. However, under current assumptions of future food requirements, it was not possible to also produce significant amounts of first generation bioenergy without cropland expansion. These results suggest that meeting food and bioenergy demands within the planetary boundaries would need a shift away from current trends, for example, requiring major change in the demand-side of the food system or advancing biotechnologies.

Food supply and bioenergy production within the global cropland planetary boundary

PubMed Central

Olin, S.; Alexander, P.; Arneth, A.; Rounsevell, M. D. A.

2018-01-01

Supplying food for the anticipated global population of over 9 billion in 2050 under changing climate conditions is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Agricultural expansion and intensification contributes to global environmental change and risks the long-term sustainability of the planet. It has been proposed that no more than 15% of the global ice-free land surface should be converted to cropland. Bioenergy production for land-based climate mitigation places additional pressure on limited land resources. Here we test normative targets of food supply and bioenergy production within the cropland planetary boundary using a global land-use model. The results suggest supplying the global population with adequate food is possible without cropland expansion exceeding the planetary boundary. Yet this requires an increase in food production, especially in developing countries, as well as a decrease in global crop yield gaps. However, under current assumptions of future food requirements, it was not possible to also produce significant amounts of first generation bioenergy without cropland expansion. These results suggest that meeting food and bioenergy demands within the planetary boundaries would need a shift away from current trends, for example, requiring major change in the demand-side of the food system or advancing biotechnologies. PMID:29566091

Understanding Global Change: Tools for exploring Earth processes and biotic change through time

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bean, J. R.; White, L. D.; Berbeco, M.

2014-12-01

Teaching global change is one of the great pedagogical challenges of our day because real understanding entails integrating a variety of concepts from different scientific subject areas, including chemistry, physics, and biology, with a variety of causes and impacts in the past, present, and future. With the adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards, which emphasize climate change and other human impacts on natural systems, there has never been a better time to provide instructional support to educators on these topics. In response to this clear need, the University of California Museum of Paleontology, in collaboration with the National Center for Science Education, developed a new web resource for teachers and students titled "Understanding Global Change" (UGC) that introduces the drivers and impacts of global change. This website clarifies the connections among deep time, modern Earth system processes, and anthropogenic influences, and provides K-16 instructors with a wide range of easy-to-use tools, strategies, and lesson plans for communicating these important concepts regarding global change and the basic Earth systems processes. In summer 2014, the UGC website was field-tested during a workshop with 25 K-12 teachers and science educators. Feedback from participants helped the UGC team develop and identify pedagogically sound lesson plans and instructional tools on global change. These resources are accessible through UGC's searchable database, are aligned with NGSS and Common Core, and are categorized by grade level, subject, and level of inquiry-based instruction (confirmation, structured, guided, open). Providing a range of content and tools at levels appropriate for teachers is essential because our initial needs assessment found that educators often feel that they lack the content knowledge and expertise to address complex, but relevant global change issues, such as ocean acidification and deforestation. Ongoing needs assessments and surveys of teacher confidence when teaching global change content will continue to drive UGC resource development as the site expands in the future.

Northern Eurasia Future Initiative: Facing the Challenges of Global Change in the 21st century

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groisman, Pavel; Gutman, Garik; Gulev, Sergey; Maksyutov, Shamil; Qi, Jiaguo

2016-04-01

During the past 12 years, the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI) - an interdisciplinary program of internationally-supported Earth systems and science research - has addressed large-scale and long-term manifestations of climate and environmental changes over Northern Eurasia and their impact on the Global Earth system. With more than 1500 peer-reviewed journal publications and 40 books to its credit, NEESPI's activities resulted in significant scientific outreach. This created a new research realm through self-organization of NEESPI scientists in a broad research network, accumulation of knowledge while developing new tools (observations, models, and collaborative networks) and producing new, exciting results that can be applied to directly support decision-making for societal needs. This realm was summed up at the Synthesis NEESPI Workshop in Prague, Czech Republic (April 9-12, 2015) where it was decided to shift gradually the foci of regional studies in Northern Eurasia towards applications with the following major Science Question: " What dynamic and interactive change(s) will affect societal well-being, activities, and health, and what might be the mitigation and adaptation strategies that could support sustainable development and decision-making activities in Northern Eurasia?". To answer this question requires a stronger socio-economic component in the ongoing and future regional studies focused on sustainable societal development under changing climatic and environmental conditions, especially, under conditions when societal decision-making impacts and feeds back on the environment. This made the NEESPI studies closer to the ICSU research initiative "Future Earth". Accordingly, the NEESPI Research Team decided to reorganize in the nearest future NEESPI into "Northern Eurasia Future Initiative" (NEFI) and began development of its Programmatic White Paper (in preparation at the time of this abstract submission). The NEFI research foci emerged in discussions within the NEESPI community during the past 20 months. Presentation will provide justification of these foci and approach examples addressing them. The societal challenges, particularly the socio-economic challenges are the top priority in most of them. Throughout the NEESP Initiative duration, support for it studies has been provided by different national and international Agencies of the United States (in particular, the NASA Land Cover and Land Use Change Program), the Russian Federation (in particular, the Ministry of Education and Science, e.g., mega-grant 14.B25.31.0026), European Union, Japan, and China. After the NEFI White Paper release, we anticipate a similar kind of support for this new Initiative.

EPA Leadership on Science, Innovation, and Decision Support Tools for Addressing Current and Future Challenges.

PubMed

Hecht, Alan D; Ferster, Aaron; Summers, Kevin

2017-10-16

When the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established nearly 50 years ago, the nation faced serious threats to its air, land, and water, which in turn impacted human health. These threats were effectively addressed by the creation of EPA (in 1970) and many subsequent landmark environmental legislations which in turn significantly reduced threats to the Nation's environment and public health. A key element of historic legislation is research aimed at dealing with current and future problems. Today we face national and global challenges that go beyond classic media-specific (air, land, water) environmental legislation and require an integrated paradigm of action and engagement based on (1) innovation based on science and technology, (2) stakeholder engagement and collaboration, and (3) public education and support. This three-pronged approach recognizes that current environmental problems, include social as well as physical and environmental factors, are best addressed through collaborative problem solving, the application of innovation in science and technology, and multiple stakeholder engagement. To achieve that goal, EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) is working directly with states and local communities to develop and apply a suite of accessible decision support tools (DST) that aim to improve environmental conditions, protect human health, enhance economic opportunity, and advance a resilient and sustainability society. This paper showcases joint EPA and state actions to develop tools and approaches that not only meet current environmental and public health challenges, but do so in a way that advances sustainable, healthy, and resilient communities well into the future. EPA's future plans should build on current work but aim to effectively respond to growing external pressures. Growing pressures from megatrends are a major challenge for the new Administration and for cities and states across the country. The recent hurricanes hitting Texas and the Gulf Coast, part of the increase in extreme weather events, make it clear that building resilient infrastructure is a crucial step to sustainability.

System-of-Systems Considerations in the Notional Development of a Metropolitan Aerial Transportation System. [Implications as to the Identification of Enabling Technologies and Reference Designs for Extreme Short Haul VTOL Vehicles With Electric Propulsion

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Alonso, Juan J.; Arneson, Heather M.; Melton, John E.; Vegh, Michael; Walker, Cedric; Young, Larry A.

2017-01-01

There are substantial future challenges related to sustaining and improving efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly transportation options for urban regions. Over the past several decades there has been a worldwide trend towards increasing urbanization of society. Accompanying this urbanization are increasing surface transportation infrastructure costs and, despite public infrastructure investments, increasing surface transportation "gridlock." In addition to this global urbanization trend, there has been a substantial increase in concern regarding energy sustainability, fossil fuel emissions, and the potential implications of global climate change. A recently completed study investigated the feasibility of an aviation solution for future urban transportation (refs. 1, 2). Such an aerial transportation system could ideally address some of the above noted concerns related to urbanization, transportation gridlock, and fossil fuel emissions (ref. 3). A metro/regional aerial transportation system could also provide enhanced transportation flexibility to accommodate extraordinary events such as surface (rail/road) transportation network disruptions and emergency/disaster relief responses.

Thinking globally and acting locally in Mindanao: Supporting the delicate balance of future sustainability in South-East Asian wilderness as well as rural areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richards, C.

2014-02-01

Although models of future sustainability often talk about effectively balancing economic, social and environmental imperatives or factors, in practice this typically remains an elusive ideal. This paper explores the exemplary possibilities but also dilemmas of a proposed initiative in the resource-rich but under-developed Filippino island province of Mindanao to achieve such a delicate balance in practice. This initiative by Raintrust Sustainable Ventures' proposes to link foreign investment in agricultural development to both the social advancement of local tribal peoples and the protection of large amounts of remaining wilderness areas. Such a case study provides an exemplary basis for discussing the challenge of achieving social and environmental as well as economic domains of 'future sustainability'. The crucial supporting role of information and geospatial technologies in the Raintrust plan will also be discussed.

Educating Globally Competent Citizens: A Toolkit. Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Elliott-Gower, Steven; Falk, Dennis R.; Shapiro, Martin

2012-01-01

Educating Globally Competent Citizens, a product of AASCU's American Democracy Project and its Global Engagement Initiative, introduces readers to a set of global challenges facing society based on the Center for Strategic and International Studies' 7 Revolutions. The toolkit is designed to aid faculty in incorporating global challenges into new…

Sensitivity of climate mitigation strategies to natural disturbances

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Le Page, Yannick LB; Hurtt, George; Thomson, Allison M.

2013-02-19

The present and future concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide depends on both anthropogenic and natural sources and sinks of carbon. Most proposed climate mitigation strategies rely on a progressive transition to carbon12 efficient technologies to reduce industrial emissions, substantially supported by policies to maintain or enhance the terrestrial carbon stock in forests and other ecosystems. This strategy may be challenged if terrestrial sequestration capacity is affected by future climate feedbacks, but how and to what extent is little understood. Here, we show that climate mitigation strategies are highly sensitive to future natural disturbance rates (e.g. fires, hurricanes, droughts), because ofmore » potential effect of disturbances on the terrestrial carbon balance. Generally, altered disturbance rates affect the pace of societal and technological transitions required to achieve the mitigation target, with substantial consequences on the energy sector and on the global economy. Understanding the future dynamics and consequences of natural disturbances on terrestrial carbon balance is thus essential for developing robust climate mitigation strategies and policies« less

Way Forward for High Performance Payload Processing Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Notebaert, Olivier; Franklin, John; Lefftz, Vincent; Moreno, Jose; Patte, Mathieu; Syed, Mohsin; Wagner, Arnaud

2012-08-01

Payload processing is facing technological challenges due to the large increase of performance requirements of future scientific, observation and telecom missions as well as the future instruments technologies capturing much larger amount of data. For several years, with the perspective of higher performance together with the planned obsolescence of solutions covering the current needs, ESA and the European space industry has been developing several technology solutions. Silicon technologies, radiation mitigation techniques and innovative functional architectures are developed with the goal of designing future space qualified processing devices with a much higher level of performance than today. The fast growing commercial market application have developed very attractive technologies but which are not fully suitable with respect to their tolerance to space environment. Without the financial capacity to explore and develop all possible technology paths, a specific and global approach is required to cover the future mission needs and their necessary performance targets with effectiveness.The next sections describe main issues and priorities and provides further detailed relevant for this approach covering the high performance processing technology.

Sustainable development goals for health promotion: a critical frame analysis.

PubMed

Spencer, Grace; Corbin, J Hope; Miedema, Esther

2018-05-25

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) lay the foundations for supporting global health and international development work for the next 15 years. Thirty years ago, the Ottawa Charter defined health promotion and outlined key principles for global action on health, including the importance of advocating, enabling and mediating for health equity. Advocacy underscores a human right to health and suggests political action to support its attainment. Enabling speaks to health promotion's focus on the empowerment of people and communities to take control over their health and aspirations. Mediation draws attention to the critical intersectoral partnerships required to address health and social inequities. Underpinned by this approach, the aim of this paper is to consider how key health promotion principles, namely, rights, empowerment and partnership feature (and are framed) within the SDGs and to consider how these framings may shape future directions for health promotion. To that end, a critical frame analysis of the Transforming Our World document was conducted. The analysis interrogated varying uses and meanings of partnerships, empowerment and rights (and their connections) within the SDGs. The analysis here presents three framings from the SDGs: (1) a moral code for global action on (in)equity; (2) a future orientation to address global issues yet devoid of history; and (3) a reductionist framing of health as the absence of disease. These framings raise important questions about the underpinning values of the SDGs and pathways to health equity - offering both challenges and opportunities for defining the nature and scope of health promotion.

Cross-continental comparison of the functional composition and carbon allocation of two altitudinal forest transects in Ecuador and Rwanda.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verbeeck, Hans; Bauters, Marijn; Bruneel, Stijn; Demol, Miro; Taveirne, Cys; Van Der Heyden, Dries; Kearsley, Elizabeth; Cizungu, Landry; Boeckx, Pascal

2017-04-01

Tropical forests are key actors in the global carbon cycle. Predicting future responses of these forests to global change is challenging, but important for global climate models. However, our current understanding of such responses is limited, due to the complexity of forest ecosystems and the slow dynamics that inherently form these systems. Our understanding of ecosystem ecology and functioning could greatly benefit from experimental setups including strong environmental gradients in the tropics, as found on altitudinal transects. We setup two such transects in both South-America and Central Africa, focussing on shifts in carbon allocation, forest structure, nutrient cycling and functional composition. The Ecuadorian transect has 16 plots (40 by 40 m) and ranges from 400 to 3000 m.a.s.l., and the Rwandan transect has 20 plots (40 by 40 m) from 1500 to 3000 m.a.s.l. All plots were inventoried and canopy, litter and soil were extensively sampled. By a cross-continental comparison of both transects, we will gain insight in how different or alike both tropical forests biomes are in their responses, and how universal the observed altitudinal adaption mechanisms are. This could provide us with vital information of the ecological responses of both biomes to future global change scenarios. Additionally, comparison of nutrient shifts and trait-based functional composition allows us to compare the biogeochemical cycles of African and South-American tropical forests.

Polar ice-sheet contributions to sea level during past warm periods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutton, A.

2015-12-01

Recent sea-level rise has been dominated by thermal expansion and glacier loss, but the contribution from mass loss from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets is expected to exceed other contributions under future sustained warming. Due to limitations of existing ice sheet models and the lack of relevant analogues in the historical record, projecting the timing and magnitude of polar ice sheet mass loss in the future remains challenging. One approach to improving our understanding of how polar ice-sheet retreat will unfold is to integrate observations and models of sea level, ice sheets, and climate during past intervals of warmth when the polar ice sheets contributed to higher sea levels. A recent review evaluated the evidence of polar ice sheet mass loss during several warm periods, including interglacials during the mid-Pliocene warm period, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11, 5e (Last Interglacial), and 1 (Holocene). Sea-level benchmarks of ice-sheet retreat during the first of these three periods, when global mean climate was ~1 to 3 deg. C warmer than preindustrial, are useful for understanding the long-term potential for future sea-level rise. Despite existing uncertainties in these reconstructions, it is clear that our present climate is warming to a level associated with significant polar ice-sheet loss in the past, resulting in a conservative estimate for a global mean sea-level rise of 6 meters above present (or more). This presentation will focus on identifying the approaches that have yielded significant advances in terms of past sea level and ice sheet reconstruction as well as outstanding challenges. A key element of recent advances in sea-level reconstructions is the ability to recognize and quantify the imprint of geophysical processes, such as glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) and dynamic topography, that lead to significant spatial variability in sea level reconstructions. Identifying specific ice-sheet sources that contributed to higher sea levels is a challenge that is currently hindered by limited field evidence at high latitudes. Finally, I will explore the concept of how increasing the quantity and quality of paleo sea level and ice sheet reconstructions can lead to improved quantification of contemporary changes in ice sheets and sea level.