Changes In Management Policies Research Articles

Novedad, decepción y nostalgia en la vivencia del cine en Saltillo, México durante la década de 1980

In the 1980s, in Saltillo, Mexico, amid the economic transformations experienced by the city, new cinema halls emerged. These new venues were more functional and commercial, unlike the luxurious palatial theaters of previous decades. Through in-depth interviews, we explored the public’s perception of these cinemas. Our findings revealed that this perception shifted from enthusiasm and nostalgia to disappointment due to the economic and cultural transformation of these venues. It can be concluded that changes in exhibition and management policies led to a reduction in audience agency and freedom in the cinematic experience.

Racial differences in serological markers across the first year of injury in spinal cord injury: a retrospective analysis of a multi-center interventional study.

Secondary analysis of a randomized, multi-center, placebo-controlled study(Sygen®). To evaluate racial differences in serological markers in individuals with spinal cord injury(SCI) across the first year of injury. Hospitals in North America. Serological markers (e.g.,cell count, liver, kidney, and pancreatic function, metabolism, and muscle damage) were assessed among 316 participants (247 White, 69 Black) at admission, weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, and 52 post-injury. Linear mixed models were employed to explore the main effects of time, race (Black vs. White), and their interaction, with adjustment of covariates such as study center, polytrauma, injury (level, completeness), treatment group, and sex. A main effect of race was observed where White individuals had higher alanine transaminase, blood urea nitrogen(BUN), BUN/Creatinine ratio, sodium, and chloride, while Black individuals had higher calcium, total serum protein, and platelets. For markers with interaction effects, post-hoc comparisons showed that at week 52, White individuals had higher mature neutrophils, hematocrit, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, albumin, and triglycerides, and Black individuals had higher amylase. Eosinophils, monocytes, red blood cells, aspartate aminotransferase, bilirubin, cholesterol, partial thromboplastin time, urine specific gravity, urine pH, CO2, and inorganic phosphorus did not differ between races. Our results revealed racial differences in serological markers and underscores the importance of considering race as a determinant of physiological responses. Future studies are warranted to explore the causes and implications of these racial disparities to facilitate tailored clinical management and social policy changes that can improve health equity.

Environmentally driven migration in EU discourse: norms, policies and realities.

For decades, the European Union (EU) has been addressing issues related to climate change and ecological degradation as a self-proclaimed pro-environmental and human rights-oriented actor. Correspondingly, the topic of the so-called environmentally driven migration entered the EU discourse at the dawn of the new millennium. Considering the EU's interest in the human rights and environmental/climate issue areas, I argue it is important to ask what the Union's approach to this matter has been. Thus, this article assesses the European Union discourse related to the topic of environmental migration over the past 20-year period. Through the theoretical lens of the Copenhagen School of Security Studies and the normative power EU conception, this paper critically analyses the EU's securitisation of climate change in relation to persons referred to as environmental migrants. Based on a qualitative discourse analysis, the preliminary results imply that the topic has been receding into the background of the EU agenda. In line, environmental migrants have been pushed aside by a multiplicity of other subjects threatened by climate change, thus receiving lesser attention in the EU climate change and migration management policies. Overall, the findings show a shift from an alarmist discourse to more pragmatism on the EU's behalf and a larger focus on adaptation and resilience in most affected areas. With this in mind, this article questions the normative standard the EU sets for itself when it comes to the case of environmental migrant protection.

Assessing the Connection between Land Use Planning, Water Resources, and Global Climate Change

The complex interplay between land use planning, water resource management, and the effects of global climate change continues to attract global attention. This study assessed the connection between land use planning, water resources, and global climate change. Data were collected using an online questionnaire that was emailed to 320 professionals in the land and environmental sectors in Greece and Europe. The results showed a significant relationship between land use planning, water resources, and their policies with global climate change. It was also revealed that proper land use planning can guide the establishment of waste management systems that minimize methane emissions, and that land use planning influences agricultural practices, which, in turn, impact greenhouse gas emissions. It was also revealed that changes in precipitation patterns can lead to an increased frequency and severity of droughts, and that changes in water temperature and flow can lead to habitat loss. This study also confirmed that strong policy support helps in the conservation of land and water resources, and stakeholder engagement promotes a shared planning process, leading to commonly agreed-upon spatial measures. This study recommends that governments and policymakers should integrate climate change, land use, and water management policies to ensure a coherent and effective approach towards sustainable development.

Disaster management policy changes in Bangladesh: Drivers and factors of a shift from reactive to proactive approach

AbstractIn this paper, we argue that, while it is necessary to modify existing policy using the lessons learned from disaster events (i.e., reactive learning), this approach is insufficient on its own for dealing with ongoing and emerging climate‐induced disaster risks. Rather, we assert that policymakers must also adopt a proactive and anticipatory learning approach that would enable policy learning and policy evolution in the absence of a major disaster event. We examine drivers, actors, and processes of change in disaster‐management policy paradigms in Bangladesh. A longitudinal learning perspective is applied. We categorize disaster management (DM) policy regimes into three learning episodes: (i) reactive, (ii) transitional, and (iii) proactive. The roles of reactive and proactive learning in shifting DM policy paradigms within these learning episodes are particularly determined. Finally, five interrelated factors that triggered proactive policymaking are identified, which are: risk‐oriented policymaking; cross‐scale (i.e., lesson drawing and policy transfer) and cross‐level (i.e., from local, regional, and national experience) learning; participation of multiple stakeholders; research‐informed and knowledge‐based policymaking; and the presence of a strong advocacy group and a participatory policy process.

Integrating national integrated assessment model and land-use intensity for estimating China's terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage

Carbon emission reduction in China matters to global climate change mitigation. China has been experiencing extensive land changes, which profoundly influence terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage (TECS) and carbon emissions. Scholars have predicted influences of land changes on TECS in China with scenarios obtained from global integrated assessment models (IAMs), which lack national details. Moreover, universally existing variations in land-use intensity have not been considered when estimating influences on TECS. This study simulated changes of land-use intensity of China from 2000 to 2050 using CLUMondo under China-specified policies for sustainable development modeled by a national IAM named Threshold21-China. We proposed a more precise TECS estimation method by distinguishing land-vegetation and land-soil types. Results demonstrated that under scenario with preceding policies, the total TECS can increase by 865.5 Tg C from 2000 to 2050. Through implementing preceding policies, TECS loss by conversions from cultivated land to artificial surfaces can decline by 82 Tg C, and new TECS accumulated by increased and densified forests can increase by 73 Tg C. Mountainous and rapidly urbanizing regions are sensitively influenced and need more restrict land change management policies. This study demonstrates the significance of sustainable development policies for TECS conservation and indicates specific critical regions.

Effects of land use/cover changes on soil organic carbon stocks in Qinghai-Tibet plateau: A comparative analysis of different ecological functional areas based on machine learning methods and soil carbon pool data

Understanding the process of land use/cover changes (LUCC) can provide experience on the enhancement of soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and carbon sequestration potential for different areas. This study is uniquely to divide different ecological functional areas, and originally combine the machine learning method and soil carbon pool dataset for regional comparative analysis, to compare and quantitatively analyze the drivers of LUCC and the changes in SOC stocks effected by LUCC over 30 years. The results show that topography and climate changes are the main drivers affecting LUCC in four natural areas, while soil factors and population changes do not cause significant effects. The total SOC stocks in Qinghai was increased by 71.18 Tg C and 107.19 Tg C in 0–30 cm and 0–300 cm layers, respectively, and the highest SOC stocks within 0–300 cm were in Pastoral area. Desert and Gobi area had the lowest SOC stocks in both 0–30 cm and 0–300 cm layers. SOC stocks increased in both 0–30 cm and 0–300 cm layers only in Sanjiangyuan Natural Reserve, while the Desert and Gobi area showed a decrease in both over 30 years. This study emphasizes the significant impact of grassland changes on SOC stocks, indicating the importance of considering these changes in land management and ecological protection policies. The initial and original SOC stocks of pre-LUCC may influence the SOC stocks in post-LUCC. The response of SOC stocks changes to LUCC was varies in different areas. The heterogeneity of different ecological functional areas is affected by multiple factors and SOC stocks will become more complex among these areas in the future. These findings contribute to the development of ecological protection policies and the enhancement of regional land management strategies.

State management of disaster prevention of Soc Trang province in the period 2010-2020

Saltwater intrusion has caused difficulties to people’s lives and water resources management at all levels in Soc Trang province. The management of water resources against the impact of saline intrusion is important and necessary in today's context. The study conducted an assessment of changes in state management policies in the context of salinity intrusion in Soc Trang province in the period 2010-2020 based on principle 7, section a general assessment framework. Secondary data were collected through the government communication portal of Soc Trang province portal, while primary data was obtained through the Key Informant Panel (KIP) on state management of natural disaster prevention and control. The findings show that Soc Trang province has issued state management policies for the prevention and control of saline intrusion during periods of severe salinity, which has solved the problem of negative impact on agricultural production of the province. In addition, local people affected by saltwater intrusion receive support from the state budget to help reduce difficulties caused by saltwater intrusion. However, the promulgation of the policy still has some shortcomings such as people benefiting from the policy not timely and fully at a certain time.

State of the field of domestic solid waste management in Ukraine

It was determined that the current state of the field of solid household waste management in Ukraine is: focused on the landfilling of solid household waste, its placement in landfills and spontaneous landfills, most of which do not meet the requirements of environmental safety; is characterized by the lack of opportunities for separate collection and processing of solid household waste; has a low technological level and a low level of implementation of innovative technologies; is characterized by the lack of a proper recycling system (including a separate collection system); limited by approaches to making complex management decisions and financial resources. It has been established that the outdated methods of managing this area, as well as the lack of a comprehensive solid waste management system, is the main problem for Ukraine, which negatively affects the environment and the health of the population. Solving this problem largely depends on state policy, legislative innovations and specific financial and economic mechanisms approved at the national level. The main priorities for changes in solid waste management policy are outlined. It has been established that the development of national legislation in the field of waste management, including solid household waste, is taking place in Ukraine. In particular, the National Waste Management Strategy until 2030, the National Waste Management Plan until 2030, the Law of Ukraine “On Waste Management” was adopted, which indicates the implementation of the basic principles and provisions of European legislation in the field of waste management, including solid household waste.

Design and implementation of I/O performance prediction scheme on HPC systems through large-scale log analysis

Large-scale high performance computing (HPC) systems typically consist of many thousands of CPUs and storage units used by hundreds to thousands of users simultaneously. Applications from large numbers of users have diverse characteristics, such as varying computation, communication, memory, and I/O intensity. A good understanding of the performance characteristics of each user application is important for job scheduling and resource provisioning. Among these performance characteristics, I/O performance is becoming increasingly important as data sizes rapidly increase and large-scale applications, such as simulation and model training, are widely adopted. However, predicting I/O performance is difficult because I/O systems are shared among all users and involve many layers of software and hardware stack, including the application, network interconnect, operating system, file system, and storage devices. Furthermore, updates to these layers and changes in system management policy can significantly alter the I/O behavior of applications and the entire system. To improve the prediction of the I/O performance on HPC systems, we propose integrating information from several different system logs and developing a regression-based approach to predict the I/O performance. Our proposed scheme can dynamically select the most relevant features from the log entries using various feature selection algorithms and scoring functions, and can automatically select the regression algorithm with the best accuracy for the prediction task. The evaluation results show that our proposed scheme can predict the write performance with up to 90% prediction accuracy and the read performance with up to 99% prediction accuracy using the real logs from the Cori supercomputer system at NERSC.

Incorporating fire-smartness into agricultural policies reduces suppression costs and ecosystem services damages from wildfires

In southern Europe, land abandonment and an unbalanced investment toward fire suppression instead of prevention has gradually increased wildfire risk, which calls for a paradigm change in fire management policies. Here we combined scenario analysis, fire landscape modelling, and economic tools to identify which land-use policies would reduce the expected wildfire-related losses in the Transboundary Biosphere Reserve ‘Gerês-Xurés’ (Spain-Portugal). To do so, we applied the least-cost-plus-net-value-change approach and estimated net changes in wildfire damages based on their implications for the 2010–2050 period and five ecosystem services: agriculture, pasture, timber, recreation and climate regulation. Four land-use scenarios were considered: (1) Business as Usual (BAU); (2) fire-smart, fostering more fire-resistant (less flammable) and/or fire-resilient landscapes (fire-smart); (3) High Nature Value farmlands (HNVf), wherein the abandonment of extensive agriculture is reversed; and (4) a combination of HNVf and fire-smart. HNVf is the best scenario for suppression cost savings, but it generates the lowest net present value of societal benefits from climate regulation. In fact, the most efficient scenario with the lowest societal discounted net suppression costs and change on ecosystem services damages is the HNVf + fire-smart scenario, as it also generates suppression cost savings from agricultural expansion, and lead to a significant reduction in damages on timber and recreational benefits. Therefore, reverting land abandonment through recultivation and promoting fire-resistant tree species is the most efficient way to reduce wildfire hazard. In this sense, payments for ecosystem services should reward farmers and landowners for their role in wildfire prevention. This study improves the understanding of the financial and societal benefits derived from reducing fire suppression spending and ecosystem services damage by undertaking fire-smart land-use strategies, which can be essential to enhance local stakeholders' support for Payments of Ecosystem Services policies for wildfire prevention.

The Smart Community: Strategy Layers for a New Sustainable Continental Framework

The topic investigated in this article is a comparison, contrast, and integration effort of European strategies for sustainable development with the evolving market initiatives that are beginning to fuel the fourth industrial revolution. Several regulatory initiatives from continental bodies come into effect to radically change access to finances for business development, based on sustainability goals, and an analysis of the legislation and trends becomes essential for an effective pivot tactic in the face of adversity, as well as change management policies to pre-emptively adapt and perform. The general research question is “what the strategic tools are best employed to overcome the hurdles laid forth by the drastic changes legally required for a sustainable future?” The research methods include a quantitative analysis of norms, regulations, and legislation, including strategic initiatives circulated in the European Union governmental bodies, integrated with qualitative research of the literature. The study finds and draws synergies between national strategies that have recently been drafted or are currently evolving with sustainability-centric initiatives such as the hydrogen initiative, the nuclear initiative, the natural gas initiative, the renewables initiative, the synthetics, and biomass initiative, the ESG initiative, the digital initiative. The findings are to contribute to the business administration field by providing an appropriate image of the organizational design model in the sustainability era, and a strategy framework to build the optimum long-term vision founded on continental regulatory initiatives that have come into effect.

A South African institution perspective of a framework for enterprise resource planning systems

Background: Public sector organisations encounter many challenges because of their complex legislative requirements, social responsibilities and higher public expectations. In the early 1980s, governments worldwide started experimenting with improving functions and processes through enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Objective: This study investigated the feasibility of South African government institutions in adopting a guideline that will assist in implementing a sustainable ERP system to improve their information systems strategy. Method: This study followed the qualitative dominating mixed research methodology. A survey was distributed to 20 participants with closed-ended questions to collect quantitative data and open-ended questions to collect qualitative data. Results: Thirteen factors that allow ERP systems to be successfully implemented were identified. Some of the factors included effective change management policies, end-user specialised knowledge, organisation culture fit, top management support, ERP training before and post-implementation, visibility of activities throughout the workflow, and willingness to change. Sixteen issues that restrict ERP implementation were also identified. Some of the restricting factors include ERP system complexity, high levels of customisation, inadequate flexibility, budget, maintenance costs, lack of vendor support, implementation delays and cost overruns. The current state of ERP implementation in the investigated organisation is of acceptance with growth being achieved gradually and steadily. Conclusion: The proposed framework provides core competencies such as top management support, ERP training before and post-implementation, and effective change management policies among others, that can be used to establish corrective measures before and during the installation of ERP systems. Contribution: This study contributed to the body of knowledge by identifying the success and hindering factors of ERP system implementation. The proposed framework outlines guidelines for organisations to successfully adopt and implement ERP systems.

Dynamics of sediment transport in the Yangtze River and their key drivers

Understanding the dynamics of sediment transport and their underlying driving mechanisms is critical to developing strategic plans for sustainable river basin management. However, the quantification of various drivers (e.g., dam construction, soil and water conservation measures) of sediment load change remains scarce, and the projections of sediment transport under the 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C global warming scenarios are not well understood. Here we quantify the sediment load dynamics in the Yangtze River and also estimate the relative contributions of climate change and human activities to these changes using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) hydrologic model and statistical methods. Results show that the sediment load exhibited a significant decreasing trend at most stations in the Yangtze River, with breakpoints occurring around 1993 and 2003. The study period of 1972–2016 can be split into three sub-periods: 1972–1992 (P1), 1993–2003 (P2), and 2004–2016 (P3). From P1 to P3, 95.6 % of the decline can be attributed to climate change, the remainder resulting from the construction of dams and reservoirs (3.6 %) and improved soil and water conservation (0.8 %). Specifically, human activities contributed ∼67.96 % to sediment changes during the period P1–P2, whereas climatic change contributed ∼81.76 % during the period P2–P3. The sediment load significantly increased in the RCP 2.6 (slope = 0.87 Mt·yr−1, P < 0.01) and RCP 4.5 (slope = 0.84 Mt·yr−1, P < 0.05) under the global warming of 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C towards the entire Yangtze River. Compared with the 2.0 °C (2040–2059) global warming scenario, the mean annual sediment load in the 1.5 °C (2020–2039) global warming scenario is smaller by 17.88 Mt. Our investigation found that climate variations will provide a more remarkable contribution to sediment load dynamics in the Yangtze River in the future than the historical average due to the effectiveness of reservoirs decreases and the saturation of the capacity of the soil and water conservation measures to capture sediment. Although these findings indicate the importance of climate change's impact on sediment load changes, it is necessary to apply them to appropriate management to adapt to climate changes in future river basin management policies.

Impact of historical climate variability on rice production in Mainland Southeast Asia across multiple scales

Climate change poses significant pressure on global food production. Although previous work has explored impacts of climate, management, and genetics on food production, additional research is needed to examine the effects of large-scale climate modes at local and regional scales. This study explores the impact of climate variability on rice yield in Mainland Southeast Asia from 1961-2017 at three different spatial scales: the whole Mainland Southeast Asia region, country-level (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam), and province-level for Vietnam. Annual rice yields over this period have nearly tripled with Vietnam experiencing the largest increases. Correlations between annual rice yield anomalies at the regional and country levels and climate data reveal clear influences of tropical climate variability associated with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the Pacific Meridional Mode. At the provincial level in Vietnam, many provinces show similar correlation patterns for the spring-summer season of rice (e.g., a co-occurring La Niña and positive phase of the Pacific Meridional Mode in the preceding boreal winter and spring are associated with increased yields in spring-summer rice). However, the late summer-fall season rice yield anomalies show much weaker correlations with tropical climate patterns. Variations across provinces were also noted, particularly between the Red River and Mekong River Deltas. The history of this 56-year period, which included the Vietnam-American War and changes in land management policies, makes it challenging to disentangle the effects of climate variability and social factors on rice yields in these areas. However, these results highlight the importance of using a multidisciplinary and multiscale approach to help inform local and regional decision-making. • We examined climate and rice yields in Mainland Southeast Asia at 3 scales. • Correlations revealed clear influences of tropical climate variability. • Provinces in Vietnam showed varying results by rice season and location. • Future climate change may shift planting timing and threaten national exports. • A multidisciplinary and multiscale approach can help disentangle effects on rice.

Climate change and risk management policies in viticulture

In recent years, the adverse effects of climate change on agricultural productivity have been increasing dramatically. As a function of this situation, in many territorial contexts, productivity and profitability decrease due to uncontrollable events. In light of this situation, the entrepreneur should adopt strategies to decrease the risks of climate change and sustain agricultural productivity and farm profitability. The research used case studies of several wine-growing facilities of companies located in the Mediterranean area. The study estimated the losses of productivity and thus income due to climate change, which is occurring with increasing intensity. Subsequently, through the insurance model offered by the public operator with the European Agricultural Policy (CAP), it was analyzed that the adoption of climate change adaptation strategies, such as access to the insurance market, can reduce the risk of climate change and thus favor constancy of farm profitability. The empirical results revealed that the production of quality wines, the age of the entrepreneur, and the level of education are variables that favor access to the insurance market by wine-growing enterprises. On the other hand business income, especially of small enterprises, can be boosted by the adoption of these risk mitigation strategies. However, despite the positive benefits of adopting insurance policies, there is currently low adherence by enterprises. To improve farmers' ability to adapt to increasing climate change, insurance contracts should be promoted and competition between insurance companies should be fostered, which would guarantee a decrease in the cost of policies. This seems important for the overall sustainability of the wine sector and agriculture in general. • Climate change leads to productivity and profitability problems. • Insurance mitigates risk. • Climate change in viticulture can be mitigated by insurance.

Role of information management in implementing the Green Deal in the EU and the US

The global climate crisis poses an existential threat to the natural ecosystem and the entire humanity, while new effects (Covid-19, war in Ukraine, etc.) and factors increase the risk to national security and public stability in the EU countries and beyond. The most important global challenge of our time has prompted the formation of climate change management policies around the world; international agreements have been concluded for this purpose. In 2015 the Paris Agreement was signed and the United Nations General Assembly approved the United Nations Agenda for Sustainable Development until 2030. The goal 13 "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects" and tasks for the implementation of this goal were established and approved by the EU legal acts. The European Green Deal was initiated to define the EU's vision of creating a climate-neutral economy by 2050. Those interested in climate change and the green course often raise the question of whether everything possible has been done to prevent (stop) or eliminate climate "erosion" processes. To climate change sceptics, these documents or efforts may seem excessive (and expensive), but it is important to determine whether the full-fledged, comprehensive or targeted communication is available in the EU, whether the dissemination of public information about the processes of the green deal is sufficient and what the management of this information entails. This is because information management is one of the most important components of the successful implementation of the Green Deal. The supreme audit institutions of the EU countries conducted assessment of EU countries in preparation for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The assessment of the public's knowledge and understanding of the EU green deal was performed using a uniform, approved and generally accepted control model. The article aims to analyse the role of information management in implementation of the Green Deal in the EU and the US by distinguishing the 2020-2022 period of global COVID-19 pandemic based on a Lithuanian case study.

A South African institution perspective of a framework for enterprise resource planning systems

Background: Public sector organisations encounter many challenges because of their complex legislative requirements, social responsibilities and higher public expectations. In the early 1980s, governments worldwide started experimenting with improving functions and processes through enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Objective: This study investigated the feasibility of South African government institutions in adopting a guideline that will assist in implementing a sustainable ERP system to improve their information systems strategy. Method: This study followed the qualitative dominating mixed research methodology. A survey was distributed to 20 participants with closed-ended questions to collect quantitative data and open-ended questions to collect qualitative data. Results: Thirteen factors that allow ERP systems to be successfully implemented were identified. Some of the factors included effective change management policies, end-user specialised knowledge, organisation culture fit, top management support, ERP training before and post-implementation, visibility of activities throughout the workflow, and willingness to change. Sixteen issues that restrict ERP implementation were also identified. Some of the restricting factors include ERP system complexity, high levels of customisation, inadequate flexibility, budget, maintenance costs, lack of vendor support, implementation delays and cost overruns. The current state of ERP implementation in the investigated organisation is of acceptance with growth being achieved gradually and steadily. Conclusion: The proposed framework provides core competencies such as top management support, ERP training before and post-implementation, and effective change management policies among others, that can be used to establish corrective measures before and during the installation of ERP systems. Contribution: This study contributed to the body of knowledge by identifying the success and hindering factors of ERP system implementation. The proposed framework outlines guidelines for organisations to successfully adopt and implement ERP systems.

Levamisole-Induced Leukoencephalopathy in Russia: Analysis of 30 Cases.

The study aims to raise medical specialists' awareness regarding the severity of possible complications of levamisole administration, and demonstrate the role of accurate medical history collection in a differential diagnosis. Levamisole, an anthelmintic drug with immunomodulatory effects, has long been used worldwide till the early 2000s, when its association with demyelinating leukoencephalopathy was established. However, in the developing countries, it is still widely used for the prevention and treatment of helminthic invasion in humans. The actual prevalence of levamisole-induced multiple inflammatory leukoencephalopathy (LEV-induced MIL) in Russia remains unknown, and therefore, the study of its frequency and characteristics is indisputably important. The objective of this study is to determine the clinical features and MRI findings of levamisole- induced MIL in the Russian population, and to analyse the frequency of diagnostic errors at the initial assessment. A single-center retrospective analysis of total 30 patients who were diagnosed with LEV- induced MIL and attended the Research Center of Neurology was conducted. Inclusion criteria were 1) clinically: acute or subacute polysymptomatic onset of neurological disturbances, 2) MRI: multifocal demyelinating lesion with no evidence of dissemination in time, 3) anamnestic data: levamisole exposure from 2 to 8 weeks before symptoms onset as well as monophasic disease course (absence of relapses according to follow up assessments up to 3 years). Clinically, presentation with constitutional symptoms including headache, fever, fatigue and myalgia, focal motor disturbances and dysarthria prevailed in our cohort. On the brain MRI, multiple foci of demyelination with simultaneous gadolinium enhancement were observed. The link between neurological symptoms and levamisole intake has often been detected only during follow- up assessments. Patients were most often misdiagnosed with acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, stroke and multiple sclerosis. In most cases, LEV-induced MIL was successfully treated with intravenous corticosteroids and/or plasma exchange (PLEX), however, residual neurologic symptoms were preserved in some patients. Additionally, two detailed clinical cases of patients being initially misdiagnosed are presented in the article. The differential diagnosis remains difficult for suspected cases of LEV-induced MIL that could lead to delayed therapy initiation, and consequently incomplete recovery. Growing evidence suggests that a single administration of levamisole even in low doses might potentially lead to severe neurological deficit or death. Therefore, changes in medication management policies are required in order to prevent the uncontrolled use of levamisole.

Policy interventions for disaster-related internal displacement in Australia

It is projected that internal displacement of populations in the aftermath of natural hazards will occur more frequently due to climate change [1]. However, to date, 35 nations have implemented policy or legal protections at a national level to plan for displacement or to protect the rights of internally displaced people (IDPs) [2]. While no cohesive national strategy for internal displacement has been developed in Australia, a thematic analysis of climate change, disasters, and emergency management policies was conducted to determine if Australian policy acknowledges the issue of internal displacement or plans for its effects. The study found that Australian policy fails to recognise the needs of IDPs and the threat of displacement risk. The failure of national governments to implement policy and legislation on internal displacement has the potential to undermine the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and stifle the progression of international initiatives such as the Sendai Framework and the Paris Climate Agreement. Furthermore, the lack of recognition for the issue at the governmental level contributes to disaster displacement risk creation, placing vulnerable populations at risk of displacement and associated stressors. As displacement governance is an integral part of addressing the human impacts of climate change and natural hazards [3], this research suggests how displacement risk could be reduced in Australia through national-level policy interventions.