Systematic Literature Review Of Studies Research Articles

Habitat value of bivalve shellfish and seaweed aquaculture for fish and invertebrates: Pathways, synthesis and next steps

AbstractAquaculture can have negative environmental impacts, adding to the suite of anthropogenic stressors that challenge coastal ecosystems. However, a growing body of scientific evidence indicates that the commercial cultivation of bivalve shellfish and seaweed can deliver valuable ecosystem goods and services, including provision of new habitats for fish and mobile invertebrate species. We completed a systematic literature review of studies focused on understanding habitat‐related interactions associated with bivalve and seaweed aquaculture, and a brief meta‐analysis of 65 studies to evaluate fish and mobile macroinvertebrate populations at farms and reference sites. Bivalve and seaweed aquaculture were associated with higher abundance (n = 59, range: 0.05× to 473×, median lnRR = 0.67) and species richness (n = 29, range: 0.68× to 4.3×, median lnRR = 0.13) of wild, mobile macrofauna. Suspended or elevated mussel and oyster culture yielded the largest increases in wild macrofaunal abundance and species richness. We describe the major mechanisms and pathways by which bivalve and seaweed aquaculture may positively influence the structure and function of faunal communities—including provision of structured habitat, provision of food resources and enhanced reproduction and recruitment—and identify the role of the species cultivated and cultivation gear in affecting habitat value. Given the continued deterioration of coastal habitats and increasing investments into their restoration, understanding how industry activities such as aquaculture can be designed to deliver food within ecological limits and have positive influences on ecosystem goods and services is essential in ensuring ecological, social and economic objectives can be achieved.

Policy evaluation and efficiency: a systematic literature review

AbstractThis paper provides a systematic literature review of studies investigating the effect of an intervention on the efficiency of a decision‐making unit, when efficiency is computed using nonparametric frontier approaches. This paper offers a guide for future research by identifying patterns in (1) the fields of application, (2) applied efficiency models, and (3) analysis of efficiency determinants. Our findings indicate that, despite the prominent role of frontier techniques in the analysis of public sector performances and the importance of the effectiveness and the policy perspective, these two approaches have long been kept separate. Nevertheless, the combination of efficiency and effectiveness is fundamental to evaluate public interventions and to detect inefficiencies at the policy level, especially in key sectors such as education, health, and environment.

A framework for modeling structural association among De‐Motivators of scaling agile

AbstractUsage of agile methods for software development has increased in recent times. Rapid delivery of software products is ensured by these methods with less expense and high user gratification. Application of these methods on a large scale causes many De‐Motivators or challenges as initially these methods were aimed at those developmental teams that worked on small scale. However, no effort has been made yet to hand out the various correlations among the challenges. To fill the space, the Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) approach is used to reconnoiter the correlations among the De‐Motivators regarding Scaling Agile Software Development Methodologies (ASDM) from the management perspective. Creation of a framework for structural modeling association among the De‐Motivators is the aim of this study. To attain the goal, a hybrid methodology was applied based on a Systematic literature review (SLR), empirical survey, and ISM. First, we pointed out 15 De‐Motivators of Scaling ASDM from management perspectives through SLR study. Second, with the help of 59 experts from different countries, a questionnaire survey was conducted to empirically examine the correlations among the detected De‐Motivators. Further, correlations among the challenges are discovered with the usage of ISM through review of the panel, and they accomplish the categorization through CrossImpact Matrix Multiplication Applied Approach.

Plant Feed Additives as Natural Alternatives to the Use of Synthetic Antioxidant Vitamins on Yield, Quality, and Oxidative Status of Poultry Products: A Review of the Literature of the Last 20 Years.

Scientific evidence demonstrates that plant feed additives (PFA) can be a viable alternative to synthetic antioxidant vitamins in poultry nutrition. PFA are represented by plants, essential oils, plant extracts, and by-products from herbal or crop processing. The use of PFA in the feed industry has increased in recent years as their biologically active compounds (polyphenols) have demonstrated antimicrobial and antioxidant effects in food-producing animals. However, few trials have directly compared the effects of PFA with synthetic vitamins. After a systematic literature review of studies comparing the effects of PFA and synthetic vitamins on poultry products in the last 20 years (2000–2020), a total of 44 peer-reviewed articles were included in the present work. A positive effect of PFA on poultry products’ oxidative stability during storage, organoleptic characteristics, and fatty acids profile has been observed without a specific impact on their performances. The effects of PFA are variable but often similar to those of vitamin E, suggesting the opportunity for a partial substitution of the latter in poultry diets.

Practical implications of cost of quality: a systematic literature review

PurposeThe present study focuses on the cost of quality (CoQ) based on which organizations can evaluate their quality-related activities in economic terms. The purpose of the study is to identify the CoQ practical implications as well as to group them into logical themes.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted based on well-known academic publishers, such as Emerald Insight, Elsevier/ScienceDirect, SpringerLink, Taylor & Francis, Wiley and Scopus. Sixty-seven peer-reviewed journal articles in the field of CoQ were collected, which were published between 2010 and 2019. The “affinity diagram” was applied to group the practical implications identified into logical themes.FindingsA plethora of CoQ practical implications were identified and grouped into the following meaningful themes: benefits of CoQ measurement, effects of CoQ, business sectors measuring CoQ, factors influencing CoQ measurement, CoQ elements, future research in CoQ and the role of government.Research limitations/implicationsThe limited number of the publishers and keywords used to search for the articles of interest, as well as the subjectivity of grouping the large number of the practical implications into themes are the main limitations of the present study. These limitations constitute the basis upon which future literature review studies can be designed.Practical implicationsThe present study by presenting analytically and in summary (through the themes revealed) the CoQ practical implications, provides all the respective available literature in a single study for the benefit of practitioners and academics. Thus, clear and straightforward guidelines are given to practitioners with regard to CoQ issues and academics with regard to research topics of high interest.Originality/valueNo previous SLR study focusing on analyzing the practical implications of CoQ has been published so far.

Automation of systematic literature reviews: A systematic literature review

Systematic Literature Review (SLR) studies aim to identify relevant primary papers, extract the required data, analyze, and synthesize results to gain further and broader insight into the investigated domain. Multiple SLR studies have been conducted in several domains, such as software engineering, medicine, and pharmacy. Conducting an SLR is a time-consuming, laborious, and costly effort. As such, several researchers developed different techniques to automate the SLR process. However, a systematic overview of the current state-of-the-art in SLR automation seems to be lacking. This study aims to collect and synthesize the studies that focus on the automation of SLR to pave the way for further research. A systematic literature review is conducted on published primary studies on the automation of SLR studies, in which 41 primary studies have been analyzed. This SLR identifies the objectives of automation studies, application domains, automated steps of the SLR, automation techniques, and challenges and solution directions. According to our study, the leading automated step is the Selection of Primary Studies . Although many studies have provided automation approaches for systematic literature reviews, no study has been found to apply automation techniques in the planning and reporting phase. Further research is needed to support the automation of the other activities of the SLR process.

Classification and categorization of Brazilian agricultural startups (Agtechs)

Purpose This paper aims to identify and analyze the agtech classification and categorization systems in the Brazilian context. Design/methodology/approach The systematic literature review (SLR) was carried out according to the protocol of Kitchenham and Charters (2007). The classification systems found in literature were evaluated using the thinking aloud protocol, as proposed by Ericsson and Simon (1993). The responses obtained were evaluated through lexicographic analysis, described by Bécue-Bertaut (2019) and content analysis, described by Bardin (2011). Findings SLR identified four agtech classification systems. The model proposed by Dias, Jardim, and Sakuda (2019) was the one with the highest adherence to classify Brazilian agtechs. From the analysis of the systems found in literature, the authors proposed a new categorization model of agricultural startups (agtechs). Research limitations/implications The study has limitations in relation to the theoretical and empirical validation of the model proposed by the authors. This limitation can be the subject of subsequent research. Practical implications The SLR study considers the evolution of the classification systems of a new agribusiness reality, the agtechs. In addition, there is a practical contribution in proposing a new classification system that attempts to address some of the limitations found in previous studies. Originality/value Agtechs are startups focused on developing solutions for agriculture and have shown a significant increase in recent years. However, there are few studies focused on this type of company. Even rarer are the studies that seek to classify and categorize them. The present work opens the horizon for future studies focused on this new reality.

Systematic literature review and Bayesian network meta-analysis of episodic cluster headache drugs.

The drugs used in Europe to treat episodic cluster headache (eCH) are mainly verapamil and lithium carbonate, even though topiramate and pizotifen can be used. Galcanezumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody was approved by FDA recently for prophylaxis treatment of eCH. In order to evaluate the efficacy of galcanezumab compared to the drugs used for the preventive treatment of eCH, a systematic literature review (SLR) and network meta-analysis (NMA) of only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed. A literature search in MEDLINE, Embase and Cochrane Library including RCTs and observational studies was conducted. The primary outcomes for the NMA included the main change from baseline in reducing ECH attacks while the percentage of responders was used to pairwise comparisons of the observational studies. The NMA was conducted using a fixed-effect model and a random-effects model with deviance information criterion (DIC) reported for both models. The surface under the cumulative ranking (SUCRA) was shown only for the model with the lower DIC. Three RCTs and six observational studies were included in the SLR. The Bayesian NMA was performed on the two RCTs included in the SLR, specifically galcanezumab and verapamil studies. SUCRA indicated that galcanezumab had the highest probability of being the most effective treatment (probability = 66.33%) compared to verapamil (probability = 31.58%) and placebo (probability = 2.09%). Galcanezumab was also the treatment with the highest overall probability to be the second most effective (probability = 88.79%). The results suggest that galcanezumab is more effective compared to verapamil as a prophylaxis treatment for reducing eCH attacks in adults. Further, head-to-head RCTs of galcanezumab vs. treatments using in clinical practice are needed to better assess its comparative efficacy and benefit-risk profile.

Diet and PPARG2 Pro12Ala Polymorphism Interactions in Relation to Cancer Risk: A Systematic Review.

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ2 gene Pro12Ala allele polymorphism (PPARG2 Pro12Ala; rs1801282) has been linked to both cancer risk and dietary factors. We conducted the first systematic literature review of studies published before December 2020 using the PubMed database to summarize the current evidence on whether dietary factors for cancer may differ by individuals carrying C (common) and/or G (minor) alleles of the PPARG2 Pro12Ala allele polymorphism. The inclusion criteria were observational studies that investigated the association between food or nutrient consumption and risk of incident cancer stratified by PPARG2 Pro12Ala allele polymorphism. From 3815 identified abstracts, nine articles (18,268 participants and 4780 cancer cases) covering three cancer sites (i.e., colon/rectum, prostate, and breast) were included. CG/GG allele carriers were more impacted by dietary factors than CC allele carriers. High levels of protective factors (e.g., carotenoids and prudent dietary patterns) were associated with a lower cancer risk, and high levels of risk factors (e.g., alcohol and refined grains) were associated with a higher cancer risk. In contrast, both CG/GG and CC allele carriers were similarly impacted by dietary fats, well-known PPAR-γ agonists. These findings highlight the complex relation between PPARG2 Pro12Ala allele polymorphism, dietary factors, and cancer risk, which warrant further investigation.

Driving factors of sustainable production in upland watersheds: systematic literature review

Sustainable production in upland watersheds is a formidable challenge for farmers. The trade-off laid between economic benefits (productivity) and sustainability. Farmers’ resilience in the upstream watershed needs to meet sustainable agricultural production. This paper was conducted to review the local driving factors which are supporting economic resilience and climate change mitigation to sustainable production in upland watersheds. Systematic Literature Review (SLR) design as preliminary exposure toward the key variables and driving question. The framework of a systematic literature review refers to the conservation and environmental management that is built with PRISMA protocol. SLR protocol starts from planning review, citation screening, data extraction, and analysis. The review addressed terms of current developments and plans for the participatory in sustainable watersheds management. This review article performed the basic steps of SLR and meta-analysis studies on environmental science and agricultural and biological science fields. The SLR protocol starts from planning review, citation screening, data extraction, review progress, the analysis result. The keywords addressed to current study in sustainable production in upland watersheds. This review has highlighted that agroforestry as a primary driving factor in directing the sustainable production in upland. Agroforestry within coffee farming could set as sustainable production system in upstream watersheds.

Key challenges and best practices in the coordination of volunteers in healthcare services: A qualitative systematic review.

Cooperation between voluntary organisations and volunteers within healthcare services contributes to the development of public welfare. The coordination process between healthcare services and volunteers must therefore be studied to understand associated challenges and best practices. This paper presents a systematic literature review of studies that have used qualitative methods. The review was conducted to identify the knowledge base concerning these issues. The search was performed in 4 April 2019 on five databases: EbscoHost, Ovid, Scopus, Emerald and Svemed+. The selection criteria included papers published between 1 January 2009 and 4 April 2019. In total, 5,340 papers were extracted; after removing duplicates and screening titles and abstracts, 49 papers were independently read by two of the authors. Ten papers addressed the research question and were thus included for further investigation. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist was used to check the eligibility of the papers, all of which were found to be of sufficient quality for analysis. A thematic analysis for synthesising qualitative research was used to identify key challenges in the coordination process and the best practices needed to deal with these challenges. The findings demonstrated the pursuit of a common understanding between employees and volunteers and described challenges in organising the associated work. The main solution applied to these challenges was the involvement of a volunteer coordinator. Although several identified challenges remained unresolved, the papers selected for this review provide an overall picture of volunteer cooperation in health services.

Best Practices for Including Individuals With Dementia as Research Participants

Including individuals with dementia as participants in research studies can be a challenge given the cognitive symptoms experienced, including difficulties with attention, memory, language, and executive functioning and behavioral symptoms, such as agitation and frustration. Researchers, however, have begun to include individuals with dementia as more active participants in the research process. Specifically, individuals with dementia have provided self-report information about their illness experience, including how they cope and manage with their illness and how illness-related strains are related to psychosocial outcomes. Researchers also have starting using self-report data collection protocols instead of proxy-report measures to assess the impact of non-pharmacological interventions developed for individuals with dementia on well-being outcomes such as depressive symptoms, unmet needs, and relationship strain. To date, however, there are no clear guidelines or ‘best practices’ to assist researchers in developing study protocols that facilitate the inclusion and participation of individuals with dementia. This poster will present findings from a systematic literature review of studies that have successfully included individuals with dementia as research participants. Key areas examined include: 1) the focus and type of research question studied; 2) the use and type of cognitive screening tools for determining study eligibility; 3) implementation of qualitative versus quantitative research designs; 4) objective versus subjective measures; 5) data collection tools; 6) psychometric evidence of data obtained; and 7) how data have been analyzed. Findings highlight the importance of collecting data directly from individuals with dementia to further understand the illness experience and assess the impact of non-pharmacological interventions.

ECONOMIC VIABILITY OF FAMILY FARMS IN EUROPE – A LITERATURE REVIEW

As family farms are the dominant form of agricultural activity in Europe, their economic viability is a prerequisite for the sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas. The aim of this research is to review the latest publications on the economic viability of family farms in Europe. Based on a systematic literature review of studies related to European agriculture published in 2010-2020, this paper presents various concepts of family farm economic viability and assesses the methodologies used. The paper also presents the results of selected empirical research from the last 10 years on family farm economic viability in Europe, broken down into international and national comparisons. Results suggest that the most common approach to measuring economic viability is to use the opportunity cost concept of own factors of production. An important observation is also that, although most studies are based on the FADN database, the results of the analyses are sensitive to the selection of the threshold wage and own capital costs. What contemporary literature lacks is a long-term comparative analysis for all EU countries, as well as studies of drivers of family farm economic viability.

Micromobility and public transport integration: The current state of knowledge

Cities globally are grappling with the negative externalities of car travel and are therefore striving to move towards a more sustainable urban transportation system. The introduction and popularity of new personal transport modes, such as e-scooters and electric bicycles, could potentially accelerate this transition as they become more commonplace and are accepted into regulatory frameworks. The integration of these new modes and vehicles into public transport systems, for example, could enhance accessibility and lead to potential modal shifts away from private car use. In order to assess the potential for change that micromobility holds, it is key to study these new modes in the context of access and egress trips to and from public transport.This paper presents an extensive systematic literature review of studies that focus specifically on the integration of micromobility and public transport systems and is, to the knowledge of the authors, the first review focusing on this specific aspect of micromobility. This paper offers an understanding of how this topic has been studied to date, which factors and aspects have been considered and analysed, which causalities have been identified in the research, in addition to identifying gaps in the literature and providing guidance for future research on this topic. Furthermore, this paper provides a comprehensive collection and critical discussion of suggestions and recommendations included in the literature which are analysed in this study, aimed at improving and further promoting the effective integration of micromobility and public transport services.

Early periprosthetic infection: dilution, jet dilution or local antibiotics. Which way to go? A meta-analysis on 575 patients.

Objective: Periprosthetic infections (PPI) after total hip and total knee arthroplasty (THA, TKA) are subdivided into early and late infections. Early PPIs are defined as the occurrence of infection within 6 weeks following the primary surgery. Aim of therapy in early PPI is the retention of the prosthesis using dilution, jet dilution or local antibiotics. However, as of yet, no evidence is available supporting these procedures. The aim of this study was to evaluate their success rates.Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review of studies reporting on early PPI. Clinical trials published after 1990 that reported success or failure rates as the primary outcome were included. A meta-analysis using the Scheffé-Test showed if there are any advantages of single treatment concepts.Results: We identified 575 patients over 10 studies. Success rates were diverse: Undergoing dilution without jet lavage revealed treatment success in 49.48%, using jet dilution increased the success rate to 78.26%. Local antibiotics were successfully used in 55% of the cases. The meta-analysis compared the three interventions and showed no significant difference in using dilution, jet dilution or local antibiotics. Even combining local antibiotics and dilution/jet dilution does not provide significantly higher success rates. Conclusion: Previous studies showed differences in methods and results, however pooling the data of these studies for our meta-analysis didn’t show significant advantages. We therefore conclude that studies conducted until thus far cannot provide any recommendation as to whether using dilution, jet dilution, local antibiotics or any combination of three is better for treating early PPI cases.

Per Oral Pyloromyotomy for Gastroparesis: A Systematic Review of the Current Literature and Future Recommendations

Background: Gastric per oral endoscopic myotomy (GPOEM) was developed as a therapeutic option for gastroparesis after the pylorus was identified as a key target for gastroparesis management. This study includes a systematic literature review of studies in which GPOEM was utilized as therapy for gastroparesis. Methods: A literature search was conducted in three databases (MEDLINE, Scopus and Embase) of articles that included the keywords “GPOEM”, “Gastric per oral endoscopy myotomy” or “per oral pyloromyotomy” and “Gastroparesis” in the abstract or title. The search covered articles published until 29 February 2020. Results: A total of 139 articles were identified. Only 15 articles met the final inclusion criteria and were retrieved for qualitative data synthesis. Conclusion: GPOEM for gastroparesis is shown to have a high success rate among the studies but data interpretations are limited because of small sample sizes and short follow-up. Subjective and objective data prior to and post-GPOEM will be mandatory to establish credibility. The procedure is technically feasible and safe based on the limited studies available.

Does anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha prevent the recurrence of Crohn's disease? Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α agents are now well known to function as effective treatments for Crohn's disease (CD). Several meta-analyses have revealed the efficacy of anti-TNF therapy for preventing recurrence after surgery; however, the efficacies reported in some prospective studies differed according to the outcomes. Moreover, adverse events (AEs) were not well evaluated. We conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate both the efficacy of anti-TNF therapy after stratification by the outcome of interest and the AEs. We performed a systematic literature review of studies investigating anti-TNF therapy, CD, and postoperative recurrence. Meta-analyses were performed for endoscopic and clinical recurrence and AEs. A total of 570 participants, including 254 patients in the intervention group and 316 patients in the control group, in eight studies, were analyzed for recurrence. Based on the results of the meta-analysis, the efficacies of anti-TNF therapy at preventing endoscopic and clinical recurrence were as follows: relative risk (RR) 0.34, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.22-0.53 and RR 0.60, 95% CI 0.36-1.02, respectively. The RR of AEs with anti-TNF therapy was 1.75 (95% CI 0.81-3.79). Anti-TNF therapy after surgery for CD displays efficacy at preventing endoscopic recurrence for 1-2years, without increasing the incidence of AEs. However, clinical recurrence was not significantly reduced. The efficacy of postoperative anti-TNF therapy may differ in terms of the outcomes, which include long-term prevention, the avoidance of further surgery, and cost-effectiveness.

Intestinal cancer in patients with Crohn's disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Although surveillance colonoscopy is recommended by several guidelines for Crohn's disease (CD), the evidence is insufficient to support the validity of this recommendation. Moreover, the efficacy of surveillance colonoscopy for anorectal cancer remains unclear. Therefore, we performed a systematic review of cancer in patients with CD before considering the proper surveillance methods. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis examining the incidence of intestinal cancer and a literature review to clarify the characteristic features of cancer in CD. We performed the systematic literature review of studies published up to May 2019. Overall, 7344 patients were included in eight studies. The standardized incidence ratios (95% confidence intervals) of colorectal cancer (CRC) and small bowel cancer (SBC) were 2.08 (1.43-3.02) and 22.01 (9.10-53.25), respectively. The prevalence of CRC and SBC was 57/7344 (0.77%) and 17/7344 (0.23%), respectively, during a median follow-up of 12.55years. Additionally, 54 studies reporting 208 anorectal cancer cases were identified. In patients with anorectal cancer, the prognosis for survival was 2.1±2.3years, and advanced cancer greater than stage T3 occurred in 46/74 patients (62.1%). Many more reports of anorectal cancer were published in Asia than in Western countries. Although we were unable to state a recommendation for surveillance for SBC, we should perform cancer surveillance for CRC in patients with CD. However, the characteristics of cancer may differ according to geography or race. We must establish proper and effective surveillance methods that are independently suitable to detect these differences.

A Systematic Literature Review on Using Machine Learning Algorithms for Software Requirements Identification on Stack Overflow

Context. The improvements made in the last couple of decades in the requirements engineering (RE) processes and methods have witnessed a rapid rise in effectively using diverse machine learning (ML) techniques to resolve several multifaceted RE issues. One such challenging issue is the effective identification and classification of the software requirements on Stack Overflow (SO) for building quality systems. The appropriateness of ML-based techniques to tackle this issue has revealed quite substantial results, much effective than those produced by the usual available natural language processing (NLP) techniques. Nonetheless, a complete, systematic, and detailed comprehension of these ML based techniques is considerably scarce. Objective. To identify or recognize and classify the kinds of ML algorithms used for software requirements identification primarily on SO. Method. This paper reports a systematic literature review (SLR) collecting empirical evidence published up to May 2020. Results. This SLR study found 2,484 published papers related to RE and SO. The data extraction process of the SLR showed that (1) Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling is among the widely used ML algorithm in the selected studies and (2) precision and recall are amongst the most commonly utilized evaluation methods for measuring the performance of these ML algorithms. Conclusion. Our SLR study revealed that while ML algorithms have phenomenal capabilities of identifying the software requirements on SO, they still are confronted with various open problems/issues that will eventually limit their practical applications and performances. Our SLR study calls for the need of close collaboration venture between the RE and ML communities/researchers to handle the open issues confronted in the development of some real world machine learning-based quality systems.

How climate change can affect cholera incidence and prevalence? A systematic review.

Although the number of cholera infection decreased universally, climate change can potentially affect both incidence and prevalence rates of disease in endemic regions. There is considerable consistent evidence, explaining the associations between cholera and climatic variables. However, it is essentially required to compare and interpret these relationships globally. The aim of the present study was to carry out a systematic review in order to identify and appraise the literature concerning the relationship between nonanthropogenic climatic variabilities such as extreme weather- and ocean-related variables and cholera infection rates. The systematic literature review of studies was conducted by using determined search terms via four major electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus) according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach. This search focused on published articles in English-language up to December 31, 2018. A total of 43 full-text studies that met our criteria have been identified and included in our analysis. The reviewed studies demonstrated that cholera incidence is highly attributed to climatic variables, especially rainfall, temperature, sea surface temperature (SST) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The association between cholera incidence and climatic variables has been investigated by a variety of data analysis methodologies, most commonly time series analysis, generalized linear model (GLM), regression analysis, and spatial/GIS. The results of this study assist the policy-makers who provide the efforts for planning and prevention actions in the face of changing global climatic variables.