World's Hottest Research Articles

Heat Exposure among Adult Women in Rural Tamil Nadu, India.

Exposure to heat is associated with a substantial burden of disease and is an emerging issue in the context of climate change. Heat is of particular concern in India, which is one of the world's hottest countries and also most populous, where relatively little is known about personal heat exposure, particularly in rural areas. Here, we leverage data collected as part of a randomized controlled trial to describe personal temperature exposures of adult women (40-79 years of age) in rural Tamil Nadu. We also characterize measurement error in heat exposure assessment by comparing personal exposure measurements to the nearest ambient monitoring stations and to commonly used modeled temperature data products. We find that temperatures differ across individuals in the same area on the same day, sometimes by more than 5 °C within the same hour, and that some individuals experience sharp increases in heat exposure in the early morning or evening, potentially a result of cooking with solid fuels. We find somewhat stronger correlations between the personal exposure measurements and the modeled products than with ambient monitors. We did not find evidence of systematic biases, which indicates that adjusting for discrepancies between different exposure measurement methods is not straightforward.

Genetic relatedness among interspecific hybrids in the genus Capsicum and their implications in breeding King chilli

The present study explores the potentiality of interspecific crosses using three different Capsicum species, comprising of two C. annuum (Krishna and Capsicum), five C. chinense (King chilli A1, A5, A18, A19, A20) and one C. frutescens (Mem) genotypes, with the objective to identify the incompatibility barriers, accomplish the morpho-molecular characterization of parents and hybrids and assess the genetic relatedness between the genotypes.Amongst the three species used for the crossing programme, 'Krishna' (C. annuum) and 'Mem' (C. frutescens) are local cultivars of Assam (India) and possess excellent adaptability. Guinness World Records certified King chilli, or 'Bhut Jolokia' (C. chinense), as the world's hottest chilli (10,001,304 SHU) in September 2007. King chilli has tremendous export potential but is prone to viral diseases, thereby necessitating the transfer of desirable disease resistance from local cultivars.It was observed from the study that the reciprocal crosses involving C. chinense and C. frutescens were compatible, but C. frutescens (Mem) was crossable with only accession A5, suggesting genotype specificity in the interspecific crosses. The usual Euclidean distance between Mem and A5 was 716.605Similarly reciprocal crosses involving C. annuum and C. chinense were partially incompatible. Both the C. annuum (Krishna, Capsicum) genotypes successfully crossed with King chilli accession A18 thereby exhibiting genotype specificity. It was observed that in the cross A18 x Krishna the F1 seeds failed to germinate and in the cross A18 x Capsicum the F1 plants exhibited dwarfism. Hence, unilateral incompatibility was observed when King chilli accession A18 was used as the female parent. In the reciprocal crosses, germination and plant development was normal.The pollen viability ranged from 72.64 to 94.92 % for parents and 23.55 to 81.02 % for the hybrids. Thus, hybrids exhibited lower pollen viability compared to their parents. Significant morphological differences were visible between the parents and their combinations; some features were similar to the male or female parent, and others were either intermediate or novel.Parental polymorphism was detected using thirty random SSR primers, and the markers showing polymorphic bands were used to confirm the hybridity of F1s. Therefore, an attempt was made in this study to assess the possibility of interspecific crosses to transfer disease resistance from the related species to enhance the quality of King chilli, thus improving its commercial valve.

Identification of novel SNPs in Pun1 locus for pungency in Capsicum species.

Capsaicin and its analogues known as capsaicinoids are the principal sources of pungency in Capsicum spp. In this study, characterization of North-West Himalayan chilli germplasm and commercial landraces of different Indian states known for different pungency-color combinations was done based on capsaicin concentration. Moreover, molecular variation in pungency among high, medium and mild/not pungent Capsicum spp., especially those adapted to North-West Himalayas were elucidated. Forty-nine genotypes of chilli comprising breeding lines of Kashmiri origin, commercial landraces of Southern Indian origin and one of the world's hottest chilli Bhut Jolokia from Nagaland state of India were used as an experimental material. Wide variation in capsaicin content was observed among the genotypes, wherein, Bhut Jolokia (Capsicum chinense) expressed the highest capsaicin content (10,500.75µg/g). Further, molecular analysis of PunI gene was done for discovering SNPs responsible for variations in pungency. In the non-pungent Nishat-1 (Capsicum annuum var. grossum), the 650bp DNA fragment was not amplified due to 2.5kb deletion spanning the putative promoter and first exon of AT3. The amplified DNA product for high and medium pungent was sequencing. Sequence alignment among revealed SNPs which were further observed responsible for variations in amino acid sequence and protein structure. The observed variation in protein structure might be responsible for high capsaicin production in one genotype as compared to the other and hence the protein conformation determines its interaction with the substrate.

Technical Paper on Stock Prediction using Machine Learning Algorithms

Abstract: In today's financial world, a stock market is quite important. The stock market's worth is an important part of today's global economic system. The stock market attracts a large number of people from all areas of life, whether corporate or academic. Because of the non-linear structure of the stock market, research is one of the world's hottest and most important topics. People invest in the stock market based on previous theory outcomes or assumptions. When it comes to forecasting, people typically look for ways or procedures to help them reduce risk and improve performance. As a result, in today's competitive stock market, stock value forecast is crucial. Critical and technical studies' approach cannot guarantee the consistency and accuracy of estimations. As a result, machine learning technology has risen in popularity in stock forecasting over the last 5-6 years, with estimates based on current stock values that have been educated in terms of prior values. This research focuses on using LSTM (Long Short Time Memory) technology to forecast future market trends.

Ghost Pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) - A Reservoir Plant for Therapeutic Applications: An Overview

Ghost pepper also known as ‘Bhut jolokia’ or ‘Bih jolokia’, is grown in India's north-eastern states. The Assamese name ‘bhut’ relates to the plant's typical enormous pod size, whilst the term ‘bih’ means ‘poison’, denoting the plant's strong hotness in the fruits. Ghost pepper, world's hottest chilli, is at least two times hotter than Red Savina Habanero in terms of Scoville heat units (SHU). Thanks to the northeast region of India, which is considered a biodiversity hotspot with a unique ecological environment with hot and high-humidity conditions. In several regions of the world, the plant's fruit and leaves have been employed as ethnobotanical medicine. The high capsaicinoids concentration of the ghost pepper (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) is well-known around the world. The fruit's extreme pungency is due to its high content of capsaicinoids according to phytochemical study. The two primary capsaicinoids that give chilli its pungency are capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin. Capsaicin has been proven in recent studies to have a wide range of medical applications including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antidiabetic, antiarthritic, antibacterial, anticancer and pain-relieving properties. As a result, this review aims to highlight the most recent research and developments in ghost pepper, a plant with enormous economic potential in India's north east.

Rising temperatures and increasing demand challenge wheat supply in Sudan.

Climate warming poses challenges for food production at low latitudes, particularly in arid regions. Sudan, where wheat demand could triple by 2050, has the world's hottest wheat-growing environments, and observed yield declines in hot seasons are prompting the national government to prepare for a warming of 1.5-4.2 °C. Using advanced crop modelling under different climate and socioeconomic scenarios, we show that despite the use of adjusted sowing dates and existing heat-tolerant varieties, by 2050, Sudan's domestic production share may decrease from 16.0% to 4.5-12.2%. In the relatively cool northern region, yields will need to increase by 3.1-4.7% per year, at non-compounding rates, to meet demand. In the hot central and eastern regions, improvements in heat tolerance are essential, and yields must increase by 0.2-2.7% per year to keep pace with climate warming. These results indicate the potential contribution of climate change adaptation measures and provide targets for addressing the wheat supply challenge.

Climate and COVID-19 pandemic: effect of heat and humidity on the incidence and mortality in world's top ten hottest and top ten coldest countries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a global public health crisis with social, psychological and long-lasting economical damages. Weather-related dynamics have an impact on the pattern of human health and disease. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of heat and humidity on daily basis incidence and mortality due to COVID-19 pandemic in ten of the world's hottest countries compared to ten of the coldest ones. Worldwide, we selected 20 countries; 10 hottest countries with the highest temperatures and 10 coldest countries with the lowest temperature. The selection of the countries was based on the daily basis mean temperature from the date of appearance of the initial cases of COVID-19, Dec 29, 2019 to May 12, 2020. In the world's 10 hottest countries, the mean temperature was (26.31±1.51) and humidity (44.67±4.97). However, in the world's 10 coldest countries the mean temperature was (6.19±1.61) and humidity (57.26±2.35). The data on the global outbreak of COVID-19, daily new cases and deaths were recorded from World Health Organization, and daily information on temperature and humidity was obtained from metrological web "Time and Date". In countries with high temperatures and low humidity, the mean daily cases incidence were (407.12±24.33); cumulative cases (9094.34±708.29); and cumulative deaths (452.84±43.30) were significantly low compared to countries with low temperatures and high humidity: daily cases (1876.72±207.37); cumulative cases (44232.38±5875.11); and cumulative deaths (2008.29±310.13). Moreover, COVID-19 cases and deaths per million population were significantly low in countries with high temperatures (cases 711.23, and deaths 16.27) compared to countries with low temperatures (cases 1685.99; and deaths 86.40). Furthermore, in hottest countries, a 1% increase in humidity reduced number of cases and deaths by (β = -5.40, p<0.001) and (β = -0.187, p=0.004) respectively. A similar trend was seen with a 1°C increase in temperature, reducing the number of deaths by (β = -1.35. p<0.001). The results revealed a significant decrease in incidence of daily cases and deaths in countries with high temperatures and low humidity (warmest countries), compared to those countries with low temperatures and high humidity (coldest countries). The findings could be of interest to the policymakers and the health officials on the epidemiological trends of COVID-19 pandemic and weather changes.

Validation of the binary designation Symbiodinium thermophilum (Dinophyceae).

The binary designation Symbiodinium thermophilum was invalid due to the absence of an illustration as required by Article 44.2 of the ICN. Herein, it is validated. This species is the most common symbiont in reef corals in the southern Persian/Arabian Gulf, the world's hottest body of water sustaining reef coral growth.

The spatiotemporal characteristics of environmental hazards caused by offshore oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico

Marine ecosystems are home to a host of numerous species ranging from tiny planktonic organisms, fishes, and birds, to large mammals such as the whales, manatees, and seals. However, human activities such as offshore oil and gas operations increasingly threaten marine and coastal ecosystems, for which there has been little exploration into the spatial and temporal risks of offshore oil operations. Using the Gulf of Mexico, one of the world's hottest spots of offshore oil and gas mining, as the study area, we propose a spatiotemporal approach that integrates spatial statistics and geostatistics in a geographic information system environment to provide insight to environmental management and decision making for oil and gas operators, coastal communities, local governments, and the federal government. We use the records from 1995 to 2015 of twelve types of hazards caused by offshore oil and gas operations, and analyze them spatially over a five year period. The spatial clusters of these hazards are analyzed and mapped using Getis-Ord Gi and local Moran's I statistics. We then design a spatial correlation coefficient matrix for multivariate spatial correlation, which is the ratio of the cross variogram of two types of hazards to the product of the variograms of the two hazards, showing a primary understanding of the degrees of spatial correlation among the twelve types hazards. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first application of spatiotemporal analysis methods to environmental hazards caused by offshore oil and gas operations; the proposed methods can be applied to other regions for the management and monitoring of environmental hazards caused by offshore oil operations.

Limited erosion of genetic and species diversity from small forest patches: Sacred forest groves in an Afrotropical biodiversity hotspot have high conservation value for butterflies

Sacred forest groves are often located in some of the world's hottest hotspots of biodiversity, and consequently have high potential conservation value. Recent efforts to quantify their value have focused nearly exclusively on a single component of diversity, species diversity within communities, which may or may not be an effective proxy for a second fundamental component of diversity, genetic diversity within populations. We studied fruit-feeding butterfly communities to simultaneously assess to what extent five small sacred groves have retained the level of species and genetic diversity found in two much larger forest reserves. We additionally evaluate whether measures correlate across habitat fragments to investigate how closely these two components of diversity mirror each other. We quantified the diversity and composition of the fruit-feeding butterfly communities at each site and also the haplotype diversity within three specific species that differ with respect to their sensitivity to habitat fragmentation. Of the multiple measures of species and genetic diversity computed, only rarefied species richness was correlated with forest fragment size and even in this case the relationship was weak. Importantly, the limited decline in species richness documented in the sacred groves was not due to species replacements, whereby common, broadly distributed, generalists supplanted more vulnerable species in these communities. Although similar processes are known to drive declines in both species and gene diversity, we found only limited evidence of positive species-genetic diversity correlations (SGDCs), and only in the species most sensitive to fragmentation. Thus, a conservation strategy that emphasizes species complementarity or richness may be ineffective at capturing other critical levels of biodiversity. Overall, our findings demonstrate that even very small forest patches can have a conservation value that rivals that of much larger forest reserves. The implementation of official national and international initiatives that preserve and strengthen existing community-based conservation practices is critically needed to ensure that indigenous conservation areas persist into the future.

QTLmapping for capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin content in a population ofCapsicum annuum‘NB1’ × Capsicum chinense‘Bhut Jolokia’

AbstractCapsaicinoids are pungent compounds used for industrial and medical purposes including food, medicine and cosmetics. The Indian local variety ‘Bhut Jolokia’ (Capsicum chinenseJacq.) is one of the world's hottest chilli peppers. It produces more than one million Scoville heat units (SHUs) in total capsaicinoids. In this study, our goal was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) responsible for the high content of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin in ‘Bhut Jolokia’.Capsicum annuum‘NB1’, a Korean pepper inbred line containing 14 000SHUs, was used as a maternal line. An F2population derived by crossing between ‘NB1’ and ‘Bhut Jolokia’ was generated to mapQTLs for capsaicinoids content. A total of 234 markers, including 201HRM, 21SSR, 2CAPSand 10 gene‐based markers of the capsaicinoid synthesis pathway, were mapped. The final map covered a total distance of 1175.2cMand contained 12 linkage groups corresponding to the basic chromosome number of chilli pepper. Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin content were analysed in 175 F2pepper fruits using theHPLCmethod. The maximum total capsaicinoids content was 1389 mg per 100g DW (dry weight), and the minimum content was 11 mg per 100g DW. TwoQTLs (qcap3.1andqcap6.1) for capsaicin content were identified onLG3 andLG6, and twoQTLs (qhdc2.1andqdhc2.2) for dihydrocapsaicin content were located onLG2. We did not detectQTLs for total capsaicinoids content. TheQTLpositions for capsaicin content were different from those for dihydrocapsaicin content. These results indicate that the complexity of selecting for more pungent chilli peppers must be considered in a chilli pepper breeding programme. TheQTL‐linked markers identified here will be helpful to develop more pungent pepper varieties from ‘Bhut Jolokia’, a very hot pepper.

The implications of recurrent disturbances within the world's hottest coral reef

Determining how coral ecosystems are structured within extreme environments may provide insights into how coral reefs are impacted by future climate change. Benthic community structure was examined within the Persian Gulf, and adjacent Musandam and northern Oman regions across a 3-year period (2008–2011) in which all regions were exposed to major disturbances. Although there was evidence of temporal switching in coral composition within regions, communities predominantly reflected local environmental conditions and the disturbance history of each region. Gulf reefs showed little change in coral composition, being dominated by stress-tolerant Faviidae and Poritidae across the 3years. In comparison, Musandam and Oman coral communities were comprised of stress-sensitive Acroporidae and Pocilloporidae; Oman communities showed substantial declines in such taxa and increased cover of stress-tolerant communities. Our results suggest that coral communities may persist within an increasingly disturbed future environment, albeit in a much more structurally simple configuration.

Local adaptation constrains the distribution potential of heat-tolerant Symbiodinium from the Persian/Arabian Gulf.

The symbiotic association of corals and unicellular algae of the genus Symbiodinium in the southern Persian/Arabian Gulf (PAG) display an exceptional heat tolerance, enduring summer peak temperatures of up to 36 °C. As yet, it is not clear whether this resilience is related to the presence of specific symbiont types that are exclusively found in this region. Therefore, we used molecular markers to identify the symbiotic algae of three Porites species along >1000 km of coastline in the PAG and the Gulf of Oman and found that a recently described species, Symbiodinium thermophilum, is integral to coral survival in the southern PAG, the world's hottest sea. Despite the geographic isolation of the PAG, we discovered that representatives of the S. thermophilum group can also be found in the adjacent Gulf of Oman providing a potential source of thermotolerant symbionts that might facilitate the adaptation of Indian Ocean populations to the higher water temperatures expected for the future. However, corals from the PAG associated with S. thermophilum show strong local adaptation not only to high temperatures but also to the exceptionally high salinity of their habitat. We show that their superior heat tolerance can be lost when these corals are exposed to reduced salinity levels common for oceanic environments elsewhere. Consequently, the salinity prevailing in most reefs outside the PAG might represent a distribution barrier for extreme temperature-tolerant coral/Symbiodinium associations from the PAG.

Symbiodinium thermophilum sp. nov., a thermotolerant symbiotic alga prevalent in corals of the world's hottest sea, the Persian/Arabian Gulf.

Coral reefs are in rapid decline on a global scale due to human activities and a changing climate. Shallow water reefs depend on the obligatory symbiosis between the habitat forming coral host and its algal symbiont from the genus Symbiodinium (zooxanthellae). This association is highly sensitive to thermal perturbations and temperatures as little as 1°C above the average summer maxima can cause the breakdown of this symbiosis, termed coral bleaching. Predicting the capacity of corals to survive the expected increase in seawater temperatures depends strongly on our understanding of the thermal tolerance of the symbiotic algae. Here we use molecular phylogenetic analysis of four genetic markers to describe Symbiodinium thermophilum, sp. nov. from the Persian/Arabian Gulf, a thermally tolerant coral symbiont. Phylogenetic inference using the non-coding region of the chloroplast psbA gene resolves S. thermophilum as a monophyletic lineage with large genetic distances from any other ITS2 C3 type found outside the Gulf. Through the characterisation of Symbiodinium associations of 6 species (5 genera) of Gulf corals, we demonstrate that S. thermophilum is the prevalent symbiont all year round in the world's hottest sea, the southern Persian/Arabian Gulf.

Offline: Progress towards planetary health

2014 was the world's hottest year since records began in 1880—0·69°C higher than the 20th-century average, and 0·04°C higher than previous peaks. NASA's Gavin Schmidt was reported last week as saying that these latest findings do “not bode well for a civilisation that is continuing to add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere”. The news came just as Johan Rockström's team at the Stockholm Resilience Centre updated their now famous idea of “planetary boundaries”. In 2009, Rockström proposed the notion of a safe operating space for humanity. A zone of sustainable life was surrounded by nine boundaries—climate change, ocean acidification, stratospheric ozone, nitrogen and phosphorous cycles (now called biogeochemical flows), global freshwater use, land-system change, biodiversity loss, atmospheric aerosol loading, and chemical pollution. As these boundaries were crossed, Rockström argued, the sustainability of our planet would become eroded, reducing the safe operating space we inhabit. The planetary boundary concept has become a powerful lever in debates about the meaning and measurement of sustainable development. In 2013, Rockström, together with Jeff Sachs and others, wrote an influential submission for the High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. That paper concluded that, “The science of planetary boundaries makes clear that we are on an unsustainable trajectory…Planetary boundaries define a planetary playing field that guide humanity on how to avoid environmental changes on a global scale.” The latest iteration of the planetary boundary approach, published in Science, includes important modifications. First, two core boundaries are identified—climate change and biosphere integrity. Adverse movements towards either boundary would likely have the necessary force to take us out of the Earth's safe operating space. Second, boundaries are given regional context. The integrity of the biosphere, biogeochemical flows, land-system change, freshwater use, and atmospheric aerosol loading all have considerable sub-global heterogeneity. Third, progress towards protecting our safe operating space is described, incorporating regional as well as global metrics. Finally, the concept of planetary boundaries is refined. For example, a boundary is not a tipping point. Instead, the gap between the boundary and the true threshold for catastrophic change not only indicates uncertainty as to where that threshold actually lies, but also provides an opportunity for early warning and action to reduce the risk of irreversible transition. Revision of the planetary boundary approach will surely continue. Most importantly, they are not yet integrated into the practical politics of sustainable development, the SDGs, or post-2015 planning. They should be. But come back to Gavin Schmidt's word—civilisation. The history of civilisations (our societies and our cultures) tells us that what often seems secure in our lives can collapse and disappear surprisingly easily. There are many well-documented examples of civilisations that have been born, grow, thrive, and then die. The time course is long—over many hundreds of years. There is an abundance of evidence chronicling the precarity of human civilisations. It is not unreasonable to suggest that it is at best complacent and at worst dangerous to think that our societies and cultures are somehow different (better and smarter) today compared with the past—that we are now immune from the forces that challenged and overcame our ancestors. History and science, to the contrary, suggest that we should take our intrinsic fragility very seriously. The planetary boundaries approach is powerful. But it repeats the mistake of saying that it is something outside of us that should be the object of our concern—carbon dioxide, acidified oceans, and so on. Not so. The object of our concern should be us. The seeds of our vulnerability lie within ourselves, not the disturbed natural systems around us. Do we have the right governance, institutions, and decision-making processes to address the predicaments we face? There is reasonable evidence to suggest that we might not. If we accept that our civilisations are fragile and if we agree that the principal threats to our species are deficiencies in human political, economic, social, and knowledge systems, surely the conclusion is that we must redefine health. Health is not only the health of individuals and populations. It is also the health of our civilisations too—what we might come to call planetary health.

Study on the Development of Environmental Industry in China

Environmental industry has become one of the world's hottest sunrise industry and there is a big necessity for China to import leading environmental technology from the EU to develop environmental industry and build Sustainable economic development.However,problems such as unsatisfying environmental policy implementation,not advanced environmental technology R&amp;D investment and financing system,lacking of long-term strategic planning and not perfect innovation mechanism and talent management and so on,greatly reduce the efficiency of putting the technology introduced into use and developing the environmental industry.In order to solve that,government have to strengthen the environmental supervision,formulate appropriate R&amp;D investment and financing policy,enact enterprise long-term strategic planning and also improve the personnel management.

Molecular characterization of 'Bhut Jolokia' the hottest chilli

The northeast region of India, considered as 'hot spot' of biodiversity, having unique ecological environment with hot and high-humidity conditions, has given rise to the world's hottest chilli, 'Bhut Jolokia', which is at least two times hotter than Red Savina Habanero in terms of Scoville heat units (SHU). This study was undertaken to determine the distinctiveness of 'Bhut Jolokia' from Capsicum frutescens or Capsicum chinense through sequencing of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene-internal transcribed ((ITS) region along with its phylogenetic analysis. Although a compensatory base change (CBC) in the ITS2 region was not observed between the closely related species of C. frutescens and C. chinense when compared with Bhut Jolokia; phylogenetic analysis using ITS1, 5.8S and ITS2 sequences indicated a distinct clade for all the accessions of 'Bhut Joloikia', while C. frutescens and C. chinense occupied discrete lineages. Further, a unique 13-base deletion was observed in all the representative accessions of 'Bhut Jolokia', making it distinct from all other members within the genus and beyond. The degree of genetic variations along with its extreme pungency might be related to ambient environmental factors of northeastern India.

The World's Hottest Recorded Air Temperatures

Perhaps the most vexatious of all weather extremes are those concerned with heat, and few pieces of data have caused as much debate in the meteorological community. The World Meteorological Organiz...

The Puma Story: The Remarkable Turnaround of an Endangered Species into One of the World's Hottest Sportlifestyle Brands

This is the story of Puma. Overall, it is an easy-to-read book that provides an interesting insight into a life of a particular brand. In general, a reader might get a feeling that too much emphasis is given on historical affairs and facts and not so much on strategies. This is particularly true for the first part of the book. However, more explicit analytical emphasis on strategic decisions and reasoning behind would make even the second part of the book better learning content for both brand management practitioners and university students. Nevertheless, it is a refreshing experience to read a book on a topic of professional interest from a different, historical journalist point of view, so this book is to be recommended to both students and practitioners such as brand managers.

Some like it hot: The benefits of fiery food

Is extreme spice good for your health? To find out, New Scientist tried the world's hottest chilli pepper