scholarly journals The Pantanal under Siege—On the Origin, Dynamics and Forecast of the Megadrought Severely Affecting the Largest Wetland in the World

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 3034
Author(s):  
Dirk Thielen ◽  
Paolo Ramoni-Perazzi ◽  
Mary L. Puche ◽  
Marco Márquez ◽  
José Isrrael Quintero ◽  
...  

The Pantanal is the largest wetland of the world and one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in South America. An unprecedented ongoing megadrought is severely affecting its ecological functioning, flood pulse dynamics, and fire regime. Regarding this problematic, the present study generates reliable information about the following key issues: 1—Evolution and dynamics, 2—Origin and determinants, and 3—Forecast based on identified determinants and current trends. Results show that the evolution of the megadrought has been differentiable in both, space and time. As for its origin and determinants, Climate Change was ratified as one of the most important threats to the Pantanal, and to vast areas of South America, since a strong correlation was identified between megadrought’s dynamics and the occurrence of intense marine heatwaves at Northern Hemisphere oceanic waters, and more specifically, at the Northeast Pacific. Results also show that the megadrought is expected to continue at both the Pantanal and the surrounding Highlands, at least until December 2023. Thus, an intensification of fires risk, extending now to areas historically flooded or perhumid should be expected, concomitantly to a very negative impact on non-fire-resistant vegetation cover, as well as ecosystem functioning and biodiversity, perhaps even worse than those from 2020, widely covered by the international media.

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A.O. Dos Santos

Current trends in the macro-environment, such as increased obesity within human populations, the damaging impact of human activity on the natural environment, the worldwide recession and the resultant changes in consumer behaviour, are all receiving increased attention by relevant stakeholders around the world. As the negative impact of these macro-environmental trends continue to be felt, increased pressure will be placed on the business community to help mitigate their consequences. This study demonstrates how innovation and collaboration within a retailer’s supply chain enable it to profitably use some of these macro-environmental trends to create differential and competitive advantage in a saturated business sector.


2020 ◽  
pp. 276-289
Author(s):  
Mobina Fathi ◽  
Kimia Vakili ◽  
Niloofar Deravi

Around the end of December 2019, a new beta-coronavirus from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China began to spread rapidly. The new virus, called SARS-CoV-2, which could be transmitted through respiratory droplets, had a range of mild to severe symptoms, from simple cold in some cases to death in others. The disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 was named COVID-19 by WHO and has so far killed more people than SARS and MERS. Following the widespread global outbreak of COVID-19, with more than 132758 confirmed cases and 4955 deaths worldwide, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic disease in January 2020. Earlier studies on viral pneumonia epidemics has shown that pregnant women are at greater risk than others. During pregnancy, the pregnant woman is more prone to infectious diseases. Research on both SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, which are pathologically similar to SARS-CoV-2, has shown that being infected with these viruses during pregnancy increases the risk of maternal death, stillbirth, intrauterine growth retardation and, preterm delivery. With the exponential increase in cases of COVID-19 throughout the world, there is a need to understand the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on the health of pregnant women, through extrapolation of earlier studies that have been conducted on pregnant women infected with SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV. There is an urgent need to understand the chance of vertical transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from mother to fetus and the possibility of the virus crossing the placental barrier. Additionally, since some viral diseases and antiviral drugs may have a negative impact on the mother and fetus, in which case, pregnant women need special attention for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of COVID-19.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 151
Author(s):  
Bashir Hadi Abdul Razak

The Arab-Israeli conflict is among the longest and most complex conflicts in the world today, a conflict that transcends borders or a difference of influence. It is a struggle for existence in every sense. Since the establishment of Israel in 1948, one of the regional forces whose political movement is determined by the Arab world has become the result of the internal and external factors and changes that affect it. This entity is hostile to the Arabs, Which would have a negative impact on the regional strategic situation.


Author(s):  
Артур Анатолійович Василенко

UDC 336.74   Vasylenko Artur, post-graduate student. Mariupol State University. Cryptocurrency Phenomenon in the International Monetary System. The main prerequisites of cryptocurrency emergence in the international monetary system in terms of regionalization of the world economy are defined in the article. Determination of «cryptocurrency» category was analysed from the point of two main approaches to its treatment: on the one hand cryptocurrency is admitted to be the currency equally to the sovereign currency, and on the other hand it is considered as an unrecognized virtual asset. The main consequences which arise in case of widespread use of crypto currency for the country and for the parties that agreed to use cryptocurrency were analysed and systematized. On the basis of the research, given the current trends in the world economy, the author put forward and substantiated the hypothesis to classify the phenomenon of cryptocurrency as the effects of a famous philosophical «Negation of negation law» formulated by G. Hegel at the beginning of the XIX century.   Keywords: cryptocurrency, material money, electronic money, digital currency, regional currency integration, blockchain, mining, capitalization, «Negation of negation law».


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Boakye

The acceptance of electronic laboratory information system (LIS) is gradually increasing in developing countries. However, the issue of time effectiveness due to computerization is less clear as there is fewer accessible information. One of the key issues for laboratorians is their indecision with LISs’ would-be effect of time on their work. A polyclinic in Ghana was in the process of implementing electronic LIS. Several of the laboratorians did not have knowledge and skill in computing and there were disagreeing views on the time effectiveness of the LIS after implementation. The management of the polyclinic laboratory was concerned to assess time advantageousness of recording data when using the electronic LIS compared with paper-based LIS. <div><br></div><div>Five randomly selected laboratorians were provided two sheets of paper with tables to document the time they spent for both paper-based and electronic LIS. Data were collected for a total of 230 records,115 electronic LIS and 115 paper-based LIS. The t-test (mean-comparison test) was computed to compare the means of both electronic and paperbased LIS times. </div><div><br></div><div>There was a statistical significant difference in the time spent between electronic and paper-based LIS. The time spent between paper-based and electronic LIS was 0.41 minutes (95% CI 0.15 to 0.66) longer than in electronic LIS. </div><div><br></div><div>LIS can be adopted in polyclinics without having significant negative impact on time spent between electronic and paper-based LIS. More time–motion studies that include laboratorians are however necessary in order to get a more complete picture of time spent between electronic and paper-based LIS. </div>


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (7) ◽  
pp. 19-23
Author(s):  
V. V. VELIKOROSSOV ◽  
◽  
Yu. M. BRYUKHANOV ◽  
A. O. TITOVA ◽  
◽  
...  

The article is dedicated to eSports as a new and promising sector of the world economy that provides businesses with effective integration scenarios. This contributes to the development of cooperation of private and public investors with eSports holdings, as well as to the involvement of the generation Z audience in promising consumption of interested companies’ products. The article examines the current trends in the development of the eSports market using analytical studies of international consulting companies. The official data characterizing the state of the eSports market in Russia are also represented. The article provides information about the model of monetization of eSports and its perspective directions. In conclusion, the article makes the necessary inferences to assess the prospects of such areas of the economy as eSports, both for the industry of interactive entertainment and for representatives of other market sectors.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Grace Hui Chin Lin ◽  
Patricia J. Larke ◽  
Douglas S. Jarvie ◽  
Paul Shih Chieh Chien

Anxiety (e.g., Dallos, 1976, 2006; Krashen, 2003, 2016) sometimes might be unavoidable in the learning process, because the cognitive and intellectual systems are usually connected with emotional factors. This empirical study was conducted in an English majors’ advanced-level writing course to explore relevant explanations about why Taiwanese university students experienced “anxiety” (Tomlinson, 1981, 2016). Seventeen participants of junior grade at a southern Taiwan university had cooperated with their teacher to examine their anxiety occurring during writing in English. The findings discovered five key issues explaining their apprehension including mentioned (1) time restriction, (2) teacher evaluation, (3) peer competition, (4) uninteresting writing topics. The fifth factor repeated by most of the student is displayed by this study. The study implies the anxiety should be a negative impact upon language learning.


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