Natural Supply Research Articles

Milk, meat, and human edible protein from dual-purpose cattle in Costa Rica: Impact of functional unit and co-product handling methods on predicted enteric methane allocation

In many developing countries, milk and meat produced from dual-purpose cattle systems contribute substantially to the national supply of animal-derived human-edible protein (HEP). Defining a main product and a co-product may be difficult in these diversified systems because of the large spatial variation and possibly rapid temporal variation in the contribution of each product within a farm and among farms. Few studies have investigated the impact of the milk-to-meat ratio output of cattle systems of developing countries on allocation of greenhouse gases when using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). In this study, we analysed data collected from 677 Costa Rican farms with the objectives of 1) developing a field-based methodological framework to quantify the contribution of milk, meat, and HEP from milk and meat in dual-purpose systems relevant to developing countries, and 2) evaluating the effect of the functional unit (FU), co-products handling methods, and milk-to-meat ratio on how predicted enteric methane (CH4) would be allocated in an LCA of dual-purpose systems of contrasting orientation (towards beef vs. towards dairy). Farms were categorized based on farmer-reported farm income from milk sales relative to income from both milk and animal sales: Beef (BS; <1%), Dual-purpose towards beef (DP-B; 1–39%), Dual-purpose with dairy and beef in similar proportion (DP-DB; 40–59%), Dual-purpose towards dairy (DP-D; 60–89%), and Dairy (DS; 90–100%). Enteric CH4 emission was predicted from reported herd structure and emission factors per animal category (adult female, adult male, heifer and steer), and allocated to milk as the main product (FU = 1 kg of milk) with meat as a co-product or reported per kg of HEP. To allocate emissions to milk and meat, we used the following methods: (a) All-to-milk, (b) mass-based, (c) biological-based, and (d) system expansion. Milk and HEP production were significantly greater in DS compared to other systems. Emission attributed to milk varied from 66% to 100% when using all-to-milk, mass-based, and biological allocation methods but from −1% to 44% when using system expansion. Low productivity and high emission intensity of meat for the alternative system, leading to unrealistically high meat emission deduction, explained the substantially lower percentage of emission attributed to milk for system expansion compared to the other methods. All-to-milk and mass-based allocation methods were insensitive to change in milk-to-meat ratio of the system but increasing ratio altered substantially the partitioning of emission between milk and meat when using biological allocation and system expansion. Depending on the allocation method used, the imputed emission intensity of meat varied from zero (all-to-milk) to 13.4 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-eq) as CH4/ kg of meat (system expansion). Using HEP does not capture the importance of other nutrients in animal source foods but helped resolve LCA methodological issues of concern for dual-purpose cattle systems of developing countries.

A resilience systemic model for assessing critical supply chain disruptions

AbstractAssessing the impact of natural disasters and manmade incidents against critical infrastructure systems is important and challenging. As critical infrastructure sectors become more interdependent, a method is needed to assess how disruptions to one sector affect other sectors. This need is particularly significant in the case of critical national supply chains which have not received the same attention as other critical infrastructure systems. This research develops a methodology for performing supply chain impact assessments by integrating model‐based systems engineering (MBSE) with discrete event simulation (DES). SysML models capture the supply chain structure and critical infrastructure interdependencies. Simulation of the supply chain model subjected to external constraints identifies the impacts from critical infrastructure disruptions. This approach enables researchers and public policy planners to assess critical supply chain risks associated with current infrastructure implementations, and to conduct what‐if analyses on alternative solutions. Application of this methodology to assess the natural disaster impacts on an urban food supply system demonstrates the effectiveness of modeling and simulation for evaluating the impacts of critical infrastructure disruptions on a wide range of critical supply chains. Future research should apply this methodology to different national supply chains and investigate additional critical infrastructure interdependency linkage mechanisms.

A safety management system for natural gas pipeline in subsidence area of coal mine

ABSTRACT As one of the main ways to transport natural gas, pipeline safety is of great significance to maintaining social stability and ensuring the national energy supply. Aiming at the safe operation of natural gas pipelines in subsidence areas of coal mine, this work proposes a safety management system for condition monitoring and control. This system contains three technical modules: the surface and pipeline displacement monitoring, the risk assessment index system, and early warning model. Firstly, the collected data of site topography and pipeline conditions are transmitted to the database remotely. Second, multi-source data are collected to form data reports and conduct in-depth analysis and mining. Then, according to the analysis results, the pattern of surface and pipeline displacement is explored, the risk assessment system of gas pipelines is constructed, and the pipeline strain is monitored. Real-time computing and other technologies are developed to form a safety management system for gas pipelines in subsidence areas. Taking Shanxi Province in China as an example, based on the system developed by the technical modules, the application of surface and pipeline displacement monitoring, risk assessment, and pipeline stress-strain monitoring technology in subsidence areas is achieved. The results show that the risk score of the area where the pipeline is located is 82, which is a high-risk level. In addition, in the process of strain monitoring, the measured stress at the most unfavorable position is 140.207 MPa, which meets the allowable stress requirements. This safety management system can provide important support for decision-making of risk prevention, assessment, and management of natural gas pipelines in subsidence areas of coal mine.

Ecosystem restoration job creation potential in Brazil

Abstract The central motivation to restore ecosystems at a planetary scale has been to reverse degradation and provide multiple environmental benefits, but key global players like governments may be more interested in social outcomes from undertaking restoration, such as job creation. Assessing the job opportunities stemming from ongoing restoration programmes can leverage additional investments for their implementation and support their long‐term maintenance. Here, we aimed to understand and quantify current and potential ecosystem restoration jobs in Brazil, based on a widely distributed online survey performed in 2020 and led by the main restoration networks in the country. We explored the structure, job distribution and outputs of the national restoration supply chain. At the beginning of 2020, 4713 temporary and 3510 permanent jobs were created, nearly 60% of which were generated by organizations specialized in restoration, mainly from the non‐profit (48%) and private (37%) sectors. Restoration jobs were concentrated in organizations working in one (58%) or two (28%) biomes, and the vast majority were in the Atlantic Forest (85%). Similarly, most restoration jobs were concentrated in the southeast region (61%), with one‐third in the state of São Paulo. This geographical distribution was more strongly associated with the states' GDP than with the legal deficit of native vegetation area. Nearly 20% of the restoration jobs were terminated during the COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020. We estimate that restoration activities can generate 0.42 jobs per hectare undergoing restoration, which could potentially create 1.0–2.5 million direct jobs through the implementation of Brazil's target of restoring 12 million hectares. We conclude by reinforcing the value of ecosystem restoration in promoting economic development and job creation, which can be crucial to promote countries' effective engagement in the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. We also highlight the critical role of grassroots organizations to maximize restoration opportunities for socioeconomic development during the post‐pandemic economic recovery. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Danish Water Supply Areas and their links to water production facilities: an open-access data set

This data set establishes the missing link between drinking-water quality monitoring data at the water production facility level in the Danish national geodatabase Jupiter and supply areas. Water Supply Areas (WSAs) were collected at municipality level, digitised and linked to the waterworks they are supplied by. Infrastructural changes between 1978 and 2019 were taken into account by allowing WSA polygons to change over time. The number of active WSAs decreased from 3172 in 1978 to 2602 in 2019. The data set consists of longitudinal WSA polygons and a table linking WSAs to the water production facility identification in the Jupiter database, allowing the estimation of current and historical drinking-water quality across Denmark. In combination with the Danish Address Register and the Civil Registration System, this data set allows exposure assessments of drinking-water quality at high spatiotemporal resolution for the entire Danish population. Therefore, this data set is an essential part of studying health effects of drinking-water quality in epidemiological research in Denmark.

RWD66 Leveraging Laboratory Results from Multiple Data Sources to Re-Assess a Possible Association between Serum Uric Acid and Schizophrenia in Real World Practice Settings

The relationship between serum uric acid (UA) and schizophrenia has been extensively investigated but remains unclear. Analysis of this relationship in RWD requires sufficient sample size and integrating multiple data sources. We leveraged laboratory results from a national supplier (Quest Diagnostics) to enhance clinical records in IQVIA’s Ambulatory Electronic Medical Records (AEMR).

The influence of foreign direct investment on the Egyptian audit market: what do Big 4 partners’ perceptions tell us?

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effects of the entry of foreign direct investments (FDIs) on the audit markets in developing countries (i.e. Egypt). There is a long-standing debate on the impact of FDIs on developing markets, but little is still known about the effect of FDI on national suppliers, such as audit firms.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reports the results of a study that used qualitative research methods. It involves interviews with senior management teams of the Big 4 audit firms, to find out how these firms deal simultaneously with conflicting global and local influences. The interviews were complemented by the publicly available data on the firms’ websites as well as published reports related to the Egyptian economy and current investment regulations.FindingsDrawing on the institutional theory, the findings suggest that an increased litigious environment, compliance with developed markets’ regulations, auditor regulatory sanctions and improved local accounting and auditing standards are highly significant consequences of foreign investment inflows. The findings indicate that more emphasis has been given to the quality of audit and auditors’ independence when auditing FDIs. Both audit regulators and audit firms in the domestic market pay higher attention to improving the quality of financial reports when FDIs have entered the market. More inspections and reviews for audit firms have been conducted, and local auditing and accounting standards have been revised to be in compliance with international standards.Research limitations/implicationsOur results have important implications for investors, regulatory authorities and governments in relation to the development, implementation and enforcement of international financial reporting and auditing standards.Originality/valuePolicymakers and regulators in Egypt have responded to international pressure by revitalizing their local accounting and auditing standards and adopting international financial reporting and auditing standards. The authors identify strategies that have been adopted by audit firms to face the FDIs’ challenges.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the international labor market

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in labor markets around the world. Extraordinary political efforts have been made to overcome the effects of the corona crisis. Governments, together with trade unions, have taken immediate action to address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the protection of jobs, including financial support for businesses and households experiencing sharp declines in income.Purpose. Justify the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international labor market.Methods. The following methods were used in the research process: decomposition – to form the purpose of the research and set tasks; theoretical and methodological – to reveal the theoretical aspects of the international labor market; economic analysis – to study the regional and sectoral aspects of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the international labor market; synthesis, comparison, analogy – to study the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for regional labor markets; logical generalization – to identify problems in the functioning of the international labor market caused by the COVID-19 pandemic; graphical method – to visualize the results of the study.Results. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on the participation of the population in the labor force, reducing employment in all regions of the world with different income levels, both men and women, as well as increasing unemployment. Empirical analysis has shown that the greatest decline in employment among both men and women is observed in countries with incomes below and above average. In 2020, compared to 2019, the total working time in the world decreased by about 8.8 %, which is equivalent to the full-time work of 255 million employees. The loss of working time was particularly severe in Latin America and the Caribbean (16.2 %), Southern Europe and South Asia, and the total loss of working time in North and South America was 13.7 %. Overall, the COVID-19 crisis affected global working hours by about four times more than the global economic crisis of 2008-2009. The decline in employment was highest in the United States and lowest in Europe and Central Asia, where working hours were offset by job retention schemes. Many people have become inactive in the labor market because they did not see the opportunity to find a job successfully or simply could not search for it due to quarantine restrictions caused by the spread of the global pandemic. It should be noted that in high-income countries the unemployment rate in the period 2019-2020 (2.0 %) was very close to that observed in the period 2008-2009 (2.1 %). The female part of the working population suffered more from the decline in employment than the male. Young workers in all regions and groups of countries were particularly affected by the 2020 crisis, which led to a reduction in their employment by 8.7% compared to 3.7% among adults.Discussion. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit businesses and the informal economy hardest. Most informal enterprises are characterized by low productivity, low savings and investment, and scarce capital accumulation, which makes them particularly vulnerable to financial and economic shocks. Most workers could not afford to stop working because it would mean that they would not be able to meet their basic needs (such as food). Where markets and trading floors were closed during a harsh lockdown or curfew, the incomes of many informal workers, especially street vendors, disappeared instantly, putting them at risk of access to food. Informal homeworkers who produce goods or services for local, national or global supply systems have lost commercial orders from customer companies and in many cases have not been able to get paid for previously executed orders. Refugees and migrant workers have also been particularly affected by the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. They are mainly concentrated in sectors with high levels of temporary, informal or unprotected employment, characterized by low wages and lack of social protection. For many migrants, losing their job not only directly affects their own income, but also reduces their remittances. The post-pandemic period will be a time of building the future by creating new jobs, but this will only happen if effective labor market policies are implemented at both the national and global levels.

Nutrient Composition of Plant-Based Substitutes for Animal-Sourced Foods: Evidence From Packaged and Processed Meats in 30 Countries

ObjectivesTo compare the nutrient composition of plant-based (PB) to animal-sourced (AS) items sold in 30 countries, and identify associated changes in national nutrient supply. MethodsUsing Euromonitor data from 30 countries for 2015–2021 we identified the main items contributing to PB and AS processed meat sales, and used their nutrient composition (calories, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, fiber, sugar, protein, and sodium) to quantify the impacts of change in sales on the nutrient density of sales in each country and in total. ResultsSince 2014 total calories from PB meat rose a total of 3.1%/yr to 9.9 million kcal in 2021, in contrast to sales of AS processed meat which rose by about 1%/yr to 30.6 million kcal. In 2021, the energy in AS processed meat was 59% fat (22% kcal from saturated fats), 28% protein and 10% carbohydrates (3% kcal from sugar), with 0.21 g fiber, and 1.07 g sodium per 100 kcal. In comparison, energy in PB meats sold in 2021 was 41% fat (8% kcal from saturated fat), 31% protein and 13% carbohydrate (2% kcal from sugar), 2.17 g fiber and 0.56 g sodium per 100 kcal. The average annual changes in sugar were + 11% in AS and –4.1% in PB; sodium + 4% in PB and –1% in AS; and saturated fat + 12.6% in PB and –0.2% in AS. ConclusionsIsocaloric substitution of PB meat for AS processed meats would lower density by 14% for saturated fats and 18% for total fats, while raising density by 3% for both protein and carbohydrates, raising fiber intake by 1.99 g/100 kcal, and lowering sodium intake by 0.51 g/100 kcal. Differences between items, and reformulation over time of both AS and PB products would affect these results and may explain observed changes in this period. On average since 2015, the rise of PB meats has led to healthier food composition of the processed meats category regarding these nutrients of concern. Overall, PB alternatives have a preferential nutritional profile to AS processed meat. Funding SourcesNIFA National Needs Fellowship.

Review of Biodiesel Policy in Indonesia

Indonesia is known as an energy-rich country, both fossil and renewable. In 2019, the national energy supply still relied on oil, coal and natural gas, with a total proportion in the primary energy mix of 91.5%. Import dependency on petroleum and the high burden of the state budget for fuel subsidies are why the Indonesian Government implements biofuel policies in Indonesia. Biofuel development in Indonesia has been implemented from 2006 with Presidential Regulation No. 5 of 2006 to Regulation of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources No. 41 of 2018. Since 2008, the Government has issued a mandatory policy for using biodiesel with a mixture content of 2.5%. The Government gradually encouraged increasing biodiesel content to 7.5% in 2010, 10% in 2011, 15% in 2015, and 20% in 2016. By 2020, biodiesel mandatory is targeted to be 30%. Over the years, the biodiesel industry has shown an increase in quantity and capacity. Using biofuels has many positive impacts, such as reducing diesel import and CO2 emission and increasing CPO and labour’s added value. On the other hand, the mandatory biofuel policy negatively impacts the environment due to the possibility of land expansion. This study aims to review biodiesel policies in Indonesia since 2006 and analyze the problems and outputs in each policy and challenge for future biodiesel development.

The Role of Public Health Emergency Management in Biodefense: A COVID-19 Case Study.

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impact on human lives as well as economic and social stability. The United States has a complicated history with biosecurity as policy making, biodefense activities, and government transparency have historically been in contention. The terror attacks of September 11, 2001 uncovered various weaknesses in the national public health infrastructure that have persisted into the current pandemic. This study explores the biodefense and public health preparedness landscape for trends in federal support and capacity building. It also investigates the applicability of public health emergency management principles to the biodefense structure. A mixed method was utilized in this study to investigate the qualitative and quantitative factors of the research inquiry. Braun and Clarke's six phase framework for thematic analysis will assist with defining the important information from a review of the literature. The concurrent triangulation design permits that use of qualitative and quantitative data to more accurately define and analyze the relationship among the variables of interest. The results included the identification of 8 common themes of failure during the COVID-19 response: (1) accountable leadership, (2) statutory authorities and policies, (3) inter-agency coordination, (4) coherent data system for situational awareness, (5) strategic national stockpile and supply chain, (6) testing and surveillance, (7) health care system surge capacity and resilience, and (8) federal funds and the role of public health emergency management in the evolving landscape of biothreats, both intentional and natural. To counter the increasing biothreats, the United States must invest in revamping the biodefense infrastructure to mimic and support public health emergency preparedness initiatives which will increase our resilience to various biothreats.

The Lived Nile: Environment, Disease, and Material Colonial Economy in Egypt by Jennifer L. Derr

<i>The Lived Nile: Environment, Disease, and Material Colonial Economy in Egypt</i> by Jennifer L. Derr

Zng1 is a GTP-dependent zinc transferase needed for activation of methionine aminopeptidase.

The evolution of zinc (Zn) as a protein cofactor altered the functional landscape of biology, but dependency on Zn also created an Achilles' heel, necessitating adaptive mechanisms to ensure Zn availability to proteins. A debated strategy is whether metallochaperones exist to prioritize essential Zn-dependent proteins. Here, we present evidence for a conserved family of putative metal transferases in human and fungi, which interact with Zn-dependent methionine aminopeptidase type I (MetAP1/Map1p/Fma1). Deletion of the putative metal transferase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ZNG1; formerly YNR029c) leads to defective Map1p function and a Zn-deficiency growth defect. Invitro, Zng1p can transfer Zn2+ or Co2+ to apo-Map1p, but unlike characterized copper chaperones, transfer is dependent on GTP hydrolysis. Proteomics reveal mis-regulation of the Zap1p transcription factor regulon because of loss of ZNG1 and Map1p activity, suggesting that Zng1p is required to avoid a compounding effect of Map1p dysfunction on survival during Zn limitation.

Special issue: NBS for resilient cities and communities the circular economy of water – investigating the spatial variation of rainwater harvesting systems in Ireland

Rainwater harvesting is a nature based solution which has the potential to replace non-potable use for toilet flushing. It's integration into a national supply strategy in Ireland has been limited by uncertainty over its reliability as a supply option. This study sets out to address some of these uncertainties by investigating the spatial variation of rainwater harvesting systems in Ireland. Daily non-potable water use was monitored in a set of four study households (A,B,C,D) over 24-months. A standardised methodology to predict the hydraulic efficiency of rainwater harvesting for any location was developed from this dataset and applied to develop national supply charts. The average daily non-potable demand for toilet flushing (DN,d) in the study households ranged from 27.89 L/day to 473.37 L/day, equivalent to a per capita consumption range of 13.9 L/hd/dayay to 94.67 L/hd/dayay. The higher demand was due to a leaking toilet cistern in one of the houses and shows the potential impact on daily household water use. The results showed that house A and house C could potentially meet 100% of toilet demand from a rainwater harvesting system with minimum storage requirements. Within these houses a rainwater harvesting system could potentially reduce annual mains water consumption by 25% and 22% respectively. House B and D will not generate sufficient excess to balance supply and demand so will always operate at a hydraulic efficiency of less than 100%. Within these households, a rainwater harvesting system has the potential to reduce public mains water consumption by 18% and 12% respectively. The hydraulic efficiency methodology was then applied to investigate rainwater harvesting in a “Standard House” with a roof catchment area of 75m2 for 2, 3 and 4 person-households based on an analysis of 30 year daily rainfall records across 26 catchments. A set of design charts for Ireland is published in this paper. This study has developed a rapid methodology which has the potential to be used in any location once the supply and demand profiles can be accurately estimated.

Building Energy Self-Sufficiency of Municipalities on the Basis of National Legal Conditions in the Theoretical Perspective of the Polish Legal Experiences

In today’s social, economic, and political reality, it cannot be overlooked that the energy self-sufficiency of municipalities not only optimizes the lives of the inhabitants of the municipality but also, in a broader perspective, the services provided by the municipality. The sustainable development of a municipality will therefore depend on its degree of self-reliance and self-sufficiency. Economic and technological considerations are not sufficient for the municipality to achieve optimal energy independence without normative conditions. The current (2021/2022) trends in electricity prices and in the development of national and international policies and strategies for electricity generation from renewable energy sources also make the change in the energy market structure toward distributed generation. The main objective of this paper is a theoretical analysis of the legal solutions in force in Poland that allow building energy self-sufficiency in municipalities and their adequacy to the current economic, technological, and political conditions. The scientific discussion will focus here on research problems related to the impact of the national regulations on the gradual assumption of control by municipalities over the generation and distribution of electricity with regard to energy produced in RES installations and the independence of municipalities from the national energy management and supply system.

How to enhance the good health and well-being of Canadians:

Diet-related diseases and disorders in Canada are a national public health emergency, now and as projected. One main reason is that the national food supply has become increasingly dominated by ultra-processed food and drink products, mostly snacks, that displace dietary patterns based on fresh meals. Policies and practices that will enhance the good health and well-being of Canadians of all ages, regions, classes, and social and ethnic groups, and that will benefit society, the economy, and the environment forever, are immediate and imperative priorities. Current programs, including the 2019 Canada’s Food Guide, are moving in the right direction, but are too slow and have notable limitations. Compelling and consistent evidence from studies conducted in Canada and by independent research teams all over the world shows that the main issue with food, nutrition, and health is not nutrients, as has been assumed, but the nature, purpose, and degree of food processing. This is already recognized by UN agencies and an increasing number of national governments. This review examines the evidence on the impact of diets high in ultra-processed food on human and planetary health. It also comments on recent Canadian food guidance. It then introduces the NOVA classification, which takes food processing into account, and analyzes the recent Canadian diet in terms of food processing. Finally, this review proposes healthy eating and policy recommendations that strengthen the 2019 Food Guide, so as to reduce the burden of diet-related disease and enhance the health and well-being of the Canadian people.

Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Rice Farming Planning in Indramayu District, West Java

Indramayu District is one of the centers of rice production in West Java Province which contributes quite a lot to the national food supply. Climate change has resulted in droughts, floods, and pest attacks resulting in crop failure in the area. To protect it, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) in collaboration with Jasindo provides a rice crop insurance program for affected farmers. However the COVID-19 pandemic has limited social interaction and has an impact on the insurance administration process and rice farming planning in general. The aims of this study was to determine the impact of covid-19 on rice farming planning and insurance activities for farmers. The research was conducted in Indramayu District, West Java Province in April-August 2021. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and questionnaires from 7 key informants, then analyzed using a qualitative descriptive approach. The results showed that: (1) COVID-19 pandemic did not directly affect the planning and implementation of rice farming; (2) the administrative process of the rice crop insurance program manually is hampered. This causes the absorption of insurance programs to decrease to 30% until August 2021. To overcome this problem, online insurance services are needed and provide training for agricultural extension workers.

The Utility of Planned Deprescribing in Pandemics and Other Disasters: A Systematic Review

How can psychiatrists best provide care in complex, sometimes overwhelming disasters? COVID-19 strained every aspect of health care to the breaking point, from finances to pharmaceutical supply lines. We can expect more challenges to prescribing in the future, as shown by recent hurricanes in Puerto Rico, fires in California, and ice storms in Texas. When medications become scarce or inaccessible, then clinicians need to make difficult prescribing decisions. We suggest that a culture of deprescribing, a systematic approach to reducing or simplifying medications, could be applied to a wide variety of crises. Deprescribing is defined as the planned reduction of medications to improve patient health or to reduce side effects (see deprescribing.org). It has been used to reduce polypharmacy in geriatric and other complex populations. It provides evidence-based guidance for phasing out many classes of medications. It is part of the larger program to reduce waste in health care and to make pharmacy more rational. Disasters and resource scarcity, however, require a different approach. In contrast to routine care focused on individual patients, crisis standards of care (CSC) shift the clinical focus to the community. Instead of deprescribing guidelines for individual clinicians, CSC deprescribing would be national policies addressing shortages of important medications. We did a scoping review looking for studies of deprescribing in a crisis. We extracted 1340 references in Google Scholar 2016 to 2021 using (deprescribing) AND (disaster OR crisis OR climate OR pandemic OR supply lines). A scan of texts found 160 references matching our criteria, and only 19 of them addressed deprescribing as a strategy to strengthen health systems or providers in an emergency. Most of those were related to scarce supplies during COVID, and a few addressed the carbon impact of medications. We also reviewed related literatures on medication supply chain vulnerabilities, WHO Essential Medicines, and healthcare rationing. Deprescribing gained attention during the COVID pandemic, responding to both disrupted supply lines and improving patient safety. Writers concerned with climate change support deprescribing to reduce the carbon impact of medications. Deprescribing as crisis policy could help streamline national stockpiles, supply chains, and manufacturing. Education could make deprescribing second nature for clinicians, potentially decreasing stress and increasing flexibility in future emergencies. Barriers to deprescribing generally include cultural inertia, industry lobbyists, education, and malpractice fears. In a crisis, deprescribing guidelines could provide clinicians with confidence and flexibility while conserving scarce resources. Research is needed to evaluate deprescribing guidelines for crises, especially ensuring equity in how they reduce polypharmacy and save money. No funding.

Mapping 33 years of sugarcane evolution in São Paulo state, Brazil, using landsat imagery and generalized space-time classifiers

Remote sensing techniques can help estimate large sugarcane areas in order to support sustainable planning and management for the sugarcane industry, as well as in the context of environmental monitoring. In this study, four generalized space-time classifiers of high-resolution satellite images were tested in Sao Paulo State (SP) in order to map out sugarcane areas over the course of 33 years. These classification models were created based on the random forest (RF) algorithm, using Landsat historical imagery from 1986 to 2019 as input data. Models were calibrated with reference data under the sugarcane and “other uses” classes over 10 sites across the state of São Paulo and applied to the entire state area. The four models differed in their use of input data from the different Landsat sensors. The Dice Coefficient (DC) accuracies across sites ranged between 0.60 and 0.90. The best model employed data from all sensors and was calibrated with data from 6 consecutive years. When this model was applied on independent years, the DC values averaged at 0.82. The sugarcane areas estimated from satellite imagery demonstrated a notable correlation with areas estimated from reference Canasat maps (R2 = 0.91), data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (R2 = 0.92), and data from the Brazilian National Supply Company (R2 = 0.73). The general trend was a large increase in sugarcane areas starting in the early 90s up until 2015, and a trend toward stabilization, and even small decreases, after 2015. This study showed that a single classification model trained on 6 years of data allowed for the accurate monitoring of sugarcane areas over 33 years, without the tedious and time-consuming work of re-calibrating the classifier for previous or new years. Year-to-year accuracy, however, largely depended on the availability and quality of Landsat imagery. The results were applicable to the monitoring of sugarcane areas over large areas and numerous years, which could assist the sugarcane energy sector.

Homeward.

Homeward.