The paper traces the evolution the concept of socioeconomic vulnerability to climate change has followed in the academic and scientific debate and examines its effects on wellbeing. The recent ...recognition of vulnerability as a social construction has shifted the focus of the analysis to the dimension of adaptive capacity, restoring a political economy significance to the study of vulnerability. The social origin of vulnerability is related to the presence of structural inequalities, rooted in structural economic and political relationships and reinforced by historical cultural values and praxes. Structural inequalities and power relations in place within a society shape access to resources and capabilities that can enable individuals or population groups to prevent and cope with impacts from extreme weather events, ultimately defining vulnerabilities. Widespread vulnerabilities to climate change can compromise wellbeing in several ways, including an increase in food insecurity, health issues, outbreak of armed conflicts and mass migrations. In addition, the same individual or population group can be vulnerable in more than one wellbeing dimension and, once a dimension is affected, their own vulnerability to other threats is likely to increase.
The paper focuses on the nexus between climate change and armed conflicts with an empirical analysis based on a panel of 2653 georeferenced cells for the African continent between 1990 and 2016. Our ...econometric approach addresses unobservable heterogeneity in predicting the probability of violent events and the persistency of conflicting behaviour over time. The proposed strategy also accounts for both changes in climatic conditions and spatial dynamics. The two main findings carry policy-relevant implications. First, changes in climatic conditions influence the probability of conflicts over large spatial ranges, thus suggesting that the design of adaptation policies to reduce climate vulnerability should account for multiple spatial interrelations. Second, the persistency of violence calls for planning adaptation strategies for climate resilience jointly designed with measures in support of peacekeeping.
El artículo examina el conflicto entre poder y rebeldía en una comedia de finales del siglo XVI, de autoría incierta, que se ambienta en las fases finales del largo conflicto hispano-turco ...(1526-1606). El objetivo es demostrar la presencia en la pieza de una dicotomía entre rebelión ‘justa’, contra los turcos, e ‘injusta’, por parte de los nobles transilvanos protestantes, contra el príncipe Segismundo Báthory, presentado como baluarte del cristianismo. Para ello se comentarán todos los lugares del texto relacionados con la representación de formas de desobediencia, protesta o rebelión, cotejando, cuando es posible, los varios fragmentos en prosa o en verso con las fuentes documentales del tiempo que relatan tales noticias. Esto permitirá también demostrar la manera en que el autor de la comedia ha explotado tales fuentes, manipulándolas y amplificándolas a favor de su visión procatólica y filoimperial; una visión cuyo propósito final es la constitución de la imagen de un príncipe cristiano absoluto.
•The paper explores the connection between climate change-induced disasters, inequality and vulnerability.•We study a panel of 149 countries from 1992 to 2018.•Natural disasters affect more countries ...with higher income inequality.•Inequality increases future disaster vulnerability.•A vicious cycle keeps some countries stuck in a disasters-inequality trap.
The purpose of the present paper is to disentangle the mechanisms that connect climate change-induced disasters, inequality and vulnerability by accounting for both directions of causality. We do so by means of a simultaneous equations approach on a panel of 149 countries from 1992 to 2018. The empirical analysis reveals that countries with higher levels of income inequality suffer greater damages when hit by a natural disaster. At the same time, inequality is found to increase the number of people affected by disasters. Our analysis discloses the existence of a vicious cycle that keeps some countries stuck in a disasters-inequality trap.
Intestinal epithelial barrier (IEB) impairment and enteric inflammation are involved in the onset of obesity and gut-related dysmotility. Dietary supplementation with natural plant extracts ...represents a useful strategy for the management of body weight gain and systemic inflammation associated with obesity. Here, we evaluate the efficacy of a food supplement containing the dry extract of
,
and
in counteracting enteric inflammation and motor abnormalities in a mouse model of obesity, induced by a high-fat diet (HFD). Male C57BL/6 mice, fed with standard diet (SD) or HFD, were treated with a natural mixture (
,
and
). After 8 weeks, body weight, BMI, liver and spleen weight, along with metabolic parameters and colonic motor activity were evaluated. Additionally, plasma LBP, fecal calprotectin, colonic levels of MPO and IL-1β, as well as the expression of occludin, TLR-4, MYD88 and NF-κB were investigated. Plant-based food supplement administration (1) counteracted the increase in body weight, BMI and metabolic parameters, along with a reduction in spleen and liver weight; (2) showed strengthening effects on the IEB integrity; and (3) reduced enteric inflammation and oxidative stress, as well as ameliorated the colonic contractile dysfunctions. Natural mixture administration reduced intestinal inflammation and counteracted the intestinal motor dysfunction associated with obesity.
Despite longstanding epidemiologic data on the association between increased serum triglycerides and cardiovascular events, the exact level at which risk begins to rise is unclear. The Working Group ...on Uric Acid and Cardiovascular Risk of the Italian Society of Hypertension has conceived a protocol aimed at searching for the prognostic cutoff value of triglycerides in predicting cardiovascular events in a large regional-based Italian cohort.
Among 14 189 subjects aged 18 to 95 years followed-up for 11.2 (5.3-13.2) years, the prognostic cutoff value of triglycerides, able to discriminate combined cardiovascular events, was identified by means of receiver operating characteristic curve. The conventional (150 mg/dL) and the prognostic cutoff values of triglycerides were used as independent predictors in separate multivariable Cox regression models adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, total and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, serum uric acid, arterial hypertension, diabetes, chronic renal disease, smoking habit, and use of antihypertensive and lipid-lowering drugs. During 139 375 person-years of follow-up, 1601 participants experienced cardiovascular events. Receiver operating characteristic curve showed that 89 mg/dL (95% CI, 75.8-103.3, sensitivity 76.6, specificity 34.1,
<0.0001) was the prognostic cutoff value for cardiovascular events. Both cutoff values of triglycerides, the conventional and the newly identified, were accepted as multivariate predictors in separate Cox analyses, the hazard ratios being 1.211 (95% CI, 1.063-1.378,
=0.004) and 1.150 (95% CI, 1.021-1.295,
=0.02), respectively.
Lower (89 mg/dL) than conventional (150 mg/dL) prognostic cutoff value of triglycerides for cardiovascular events does exist and is associated with increased cardiovascular risk in an Italian cohort.
Cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) are interrelated and multifactorial conditions, including arterial hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart failure, coronary artery disease, and stroke. Due to the burden ...of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality associated with CMDs' increasing prevalence, there is a critical need for novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in their management. In clinical practice, innovative methods such as epicardial adipose tissue evaluation, ventricular-arterial coupling, and exercise tolerance studies could help to elucidate the multifaceted mechanisms associated with CMDs. Similarly, epigenetic changes involving noncoding RNAs, chromatin modulation, and cellular senescence could represent both novel biomarkers and targets for CMDs. Despite the promising data available, significant challenges remain in translating basic research findings into clinical practice, highlighting the need for further investigation into the complex pathophysiology underlying CMDs.
Oil constitutes more than one third of total energy available in the European Union (EU), which continues to depend heavily on fossil fuels. Russian exports have known a remarkable growth in the last ...two decades, making this country crucial – as the war in Ukraine has recently shown – in deciding the energy future of the EU. In this regard, we provide a comprehensive and dynamic measure of oil dependency, constructing the Multi-dimensional Oil Dependency Index (MODI) for EU-28 countries (including the United Kingdom) during the period 1999–2019. This composite index considers four different key dimensions of oil dependency, i.e. energetic, economic, international and geopolitical dependencies, exploiting the multivariate technique of the Principal Component Analysis. The subsequent determination of rankings and their variation over time can be useful for policymakers to identify key areas where to intervene and reduce dependency, as well as to set benchmarks for policy actions. Our analysis reveals some interesting findings: first, the EU has still much to do to decouple oil consumption from GDP growth and achieve the environmental targets set by the European Green Deal; second, EU countries present very different degrees of oil dependency and, in several aspects, trends are not aligned; third, international and geopolitical dependency on oil constitute a worrisome problem for EU's energy security.
•A comprehensive index of oil dependency for EU countries (1999–2019) is provided.•Relative positions of EU states in terms of oil dependency are assessed over time.•Decoupling of oil from GDP growth is not the result of a decline in oil consumption.•EU countries present very different degrees of oil dependency.•Oil dependency constitutes a worrisome problem for EU's energy security.
El artículo se propone investigar la aportación de Luis de Góngora y Francisco de Quevedo a la tradición literaria satírica contra las monjas. A partir del cotejo de un corpus mínimo de poemas o ...fragmentos poéticos que ambos autores dedicaron a ridiculizar a las monjas, aludiendo a su conducta reprochable, se pretende demostrar el distinto enfoque, tono y propósito que caracterizan sus respectivos acercamientos al tema.
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