Confronting the Global

Author(s):  
Ehud Halperin

As local residents report and scientific evidence shows, the Kullu Valley is warming up. This chapter analyzes practitioners’ interpretations of and engagement with the changing climate, as well as Haḍimbā’s centrality to their reasoning in this regard. It presents the holistic worldview held by Haḍimbā’s devotees, namely their notions about dharma and cosmic interconnectedness and the ways this worldview underlies their thoughts about and actions concerning the changing climate. It also traces how villagers associate the weather irregularities with the socioeconomic transformations that have taken place in their lives in recent years, following the introduction of modernity, capitalism, and tourism in the region, as well as their creeping doubts concerning the very validity of their holistic worldview. The chapter illustrates both the continuities and the shifts in how followers perceive Haḍimbā’s command over the weather and her agency more broadly.

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Dan-Dan Yu ◽  
Shan Li ◽  
Zhong-Yang Guo

The evaluation of climate comfort for tourism can provide information for tourists selecting destinations and tourism operators. Understanding how climate conditions for tourism evolve is increasingly important for strategic tourism planning, particularly in rapidly developing tourism markets like China in a changing climate. Multidimensional climate indices are needed to evaluate climate for tourism, and previous studies in China have used the much criticized “climate index” with low resolution climate data. This study uses the Holiday Climate Index (HCI) and daily data from 775 weather stations to examine interregional differences in the tourist climate comfortable period (TCCP) across China and summarizes the spatiotemporal evolution of TCCP from 1981 to 2010 in a changing climate. Overall, most areas in China have an “excellent” climate for tourism, such that tourists may visit anytime with many choices available. The TCCP in most regions shows an increasing trend, and China benefits more from positive effects of climate change in climatic conditions for tourism, especially in spring and autumn. These results can provide some scientific evidence for understanding human settlement environmental constructions and further contribute in improving local or regional resilience responding to global climate change.


2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Troelsen ◽  
Charlotte Skau Pawlowski

A circuitous way to more recreational physical activityBackground: The scientific evidence available supports the overall conclusion that sedentary behavior is a threat to public health. The population in the western societies is far from meeting the global guidelines for physical activity (PA). However, supportive built environment for PA has proven to be way to prevent the incidence of physical inactivity. The Danish intervention study “En God Omvej” was initiated to investigate how the construction of different types of activating facilities influences PA behavior in a local arena. The knowledge gained will help understand how to optimize development of physical interventions to promote recreational PA. Levels of recreational PA are primarily associated with motivation, timing, and physical, mental and social resources. The built environment has a vital part to play in encouraging and supporting healthy active living. The “En God Omvej” study has shown the importance of accessible locations, simple functionality and maintenance. These aspects must be prioritized in planning, especially with the ambition to attract and sustain a regular, everyday use. For more in-depth knowledge studies identifying facilitators and barriers related to recreational PA are important in the effort to develop activating facilities in interaction with the specific location and the local residents.


Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Kijowska-Oberc ◽  
Aleksandra M. Staszak ◽  
Jan Kamiński ◽  
Ewelina Ratajczak

Climate change leads to global drought-induced stress and increased plant mortality. Tree species living in rapidly changing climate conditions are exposed to danger and must adapt to new climate conditions to survive. Trees respond to changes in the environment in numerous ways. Physiological modulation at the seed stage, germination strategy and further development are influenced by many different factors. We review forest abiotic threats (such as drought and heat), including biochemical responses of plants to stress, and biotic threats (pathogens and insects) related to global warming. We then discus the varied adaptations of tree species to changing climate conditions such as seed resistance to environmental stress, improved by an increase in temperature, affinity to specific fungal symbionts, a wide range of tolerance to abiotic environmental conditions in the offspring of populations occurring in continental climate, and germination strategies closely linked to the ecological niche of the species. The existing studies do not clearly indicate whether tree adaptations are shaped by epigenetics or phenology and do not define the role of phenotypic plasticity in tree development. We have created a juxtaposition of literature that is useful in identifying the factors that play key roles in these processes. We compare scientific evidence that species distribution and survival are possible due to phenotypic plasticity and thermal memory with studies that testify that trees’ phenology depends on phylogenesis, but this issue is still open. It is possible that studies in the near future will bring us closer to understanding the mechanisms through which trees adapt to stressful conditions, especially in the context of epigenetic memory in long-lived organisms, and allow us to minimize the harmful effects of climatic events by predicting tree species’ responses or by developing solutions such as assisted migration to mitigate the consequences of these phenomena.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-96
Author(s):  
Mary R. T. Kennedy

Purpose The purpose of this clinical focus article is to provide speech-language pathologists with a brief update of the evidence that provides possible explanations for our experiences while coaching college students with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Method The narrative text provides readers with lessons we learned as speech-language pathologists functioning as cognitive coaches to college students with TBI. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather to consider the recent scientific evidence that will help our understanding of how best to coach these college students. Conclusion Four lessons are described. Lesson 1 focuses on the value of self-reported responses to surveys, questionnaires, and interviews. Lesson 2 addresses the use of immediate/proximal goals as leverage for students to update their sense of self and how their abilities and disabilities may alter their more distal goals. Lesson 3 reminds us that teamwork is necessary to address the complex issues facing these students, which include their developmental stage, the sudden onset of trauma to the brain, and having to navigate going to college with a TBI. Lesson 4 focuses on the need for college students with TBI to learn how to self-advocate with instructors, family, and peers.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 12-13
Author(s):  
LuAnn Haley ◽  
Marjorie Eskay-Auerbach

Abstract Pennsylvania adopted the impairment rating provisions described in the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides) in 1996 as an exposure cap for employers seeking predictability and cost control in workers’ compensation claims. In 2017, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania handed down the Protz decision, which held that requiring physicians to apply the methodology set forth in the most recent edition of the AMA Guides reflected an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power to the American Medical Association. The decision eliminates the impairment-rating evaluation (IRE) mechanism under which claimants were assigned an impairment rating under the most recent edition of the AMA Guides. The AMA Guides periodically are revised to include the most recent scientific evidence regarding impairment ratings, and the AMA Guides, Sixth Edition, acknowledges that impairment is a complex concept that is not yet defined in a way that readily permits an evidence-based definition of assessment. The AMA Guides should not be considered standards frozen in time simply to withstand future scrutiny by the courts; instead, workers’ compensation acts could state that when a new edition of the AMA Guides is published, the legislature shall review and consider adopting the new edition. It appears unlikely that the Protz decision will be followed in other jurisdictions: Challenges to using the AMA Guides in assessing workers’ compensation claims have been attempted in three states, and all attempts failed.


2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Christopher R. Brigham ◽  
Kathryn Mueller ◽  
Douglas Van Zet ◽  
Debra J. Northrup ◽  
Edward B. Whitney ◽  
...  

Abstract [Continued from the January/February 2004 issue of The Guides Newsletter.] To understand discrepancies in reviewers’ ratings of impairments based on different editions of the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment (AMA Guides), users can usefully study the history of the revisions as successive editions attempted to provide a comprehensive, valid, reliable, unbiased, and evidence-based system. Some shortcomings of earlier editions have been addressed in the AMA Guides, Fifth Edition, but problems remain with each edition, largely because of the limited scientific evidence available. In the context of the history of the different editions of the AMA Guides and their development, the authors discuss and contextualize a number of key terms and principles including the following: definitions of impairment and normal; activities of daily living; maximum medical improvement; impairment percentages; conversion of regional impairments; combining impairments; pain and other subjective complaints; physician judgment; and causation analysis; finally, the authors note that impairment is not synonymous with disability or work interference. The AMA Guides, Fifth Edition, contrasts impairment evaluations and independent medical evaluations (this was not done in previous editions) and discusses impairment evaluations, rules for evaluations, and report standards. Upper extremity and lower extremity impairment evaluations are discussed in terms of clinical assessments and rating processes, analyzing important changes between editions and problematic areas (eg, complex regional pain syndrome).


2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 80-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Soares Severo ◽  
Jennifer Beatriz Silva Morais ◽  
Taynáh Emannuelle Coelho de Freitas ◽  
Ana Letícia Pereira Andrade ◽  
Mayara Monte Feitosa ◽  
...  

Abstract. Thyroid hormones play an important role in body homeostasis by facilitating metabolism of lipids and glucose, regulating metabolic adaptations, responding to changes in energy intake, and controlling thermogenesis. Proper metabolism and action of these hormones requires the participation of various nutrients. Among them is zinc, whose interaction with thyroid hormones is complex. It is known to regulate both the synthesis and mechanism of action of these hormones. In the present review, we aim to shed light on the regulatory effects of zinc on thyroid hormones. Scientific evidence shows that zinc plays a key role in the metabolism of thyroid hormones, specifically by regulating deiodinases enzymes activity, thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) synthesis, as well as by modulating the structures of essential transcription factors involved in the synthesis of thyroid hormones. Serum concentrations of zinc also appear to influence the levels of serum T3, T4 and TSH. In addition, studies have shown that Zinc transporters (ZnTs) are present in the hypothalamus, pituitary and thyroid, but their functions remain unknown. Therefore, it is important to further investigate the roles of zinc in regulation of thyroid hormones metabolism, and their importance in the treatment of several diseases associated with thyroid gland dysfunction.


VASA ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reich-Schupke ◽  
Weyer ◽  
Altmeyer ◽  
Stücker

Background: Although foam sclerotherapy of varicose tributaries is common in daily practice, scientific evidence for the optimal sclerosant-concentration and session-frequency is still low. This study aimed to increase the knowledge on foam sclerotherapy of varicose tributaries and to evaluate the efficacy and safety of foam sclerotherapy with 0.5 % polidocanol in tributaries with 3-6 mm in diameter. Patients and methods: Analysis of 110 legs in 76 patients. Injections were given every second or third day. A maximum of 1 injection / leg and a volume of 2ml / injection were administered per session. Controls were performed approximately 6 months and 12 months after the start of therapy. Results: 110 legs (CEAP C2-C4) were followed up for a period of 14.2 ± 4.2 months. Reflux was eliminated after 3.4 ± 2.7 injections per leg. Insufficient tributaries were detected in 23.2 % after 6.2 ± 0.9 months and in 48.2 % after 14.2 ± 4.2 months, respectively. Only 30.9 % (34 / 110) of the legs required additional therapy. In 6.4 % vein surgery was performed, in 24.5 % similar sclerotherapy was repeated. Significantly fewer sclerotherapy-sessions were required compared to the initial treatment (mean: 2.3 ± 1.4, p = 0.0054). During the whole study period thrombophlebitis (8.2 %), hyperpigmentation (14.5 %), induration in the treated region (9.1 %), pain in the treated leg (7.3 %) and migraine (0.9 %) occurred. One patient with a history of thrombosis developed thrombosis of a muscle vein (0.9 %). After one year there were just hyperpigmentation (8.2 %) and induration (1.8 %) left. No severe adverse effect occurred. Conclusions: Foam sclerotherapy with injections of 0.5 % polidocanol every 2nd or 3rd day, is a safe procedure for varicose tributaries. The evaluation of efficacy is difficult, as it can hardly be said whether the detected tributaries in the controls are recurrent veins or have recently developed in the follow-up period. The low number of retreated legs indicates a high efficacy and satisfaction of the patients.


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