Search results for "Scarcity"
showing 10 items of 106 documents
Hydrological consequences of natural rubber plantations in Southeast Asia
2020
Since the turn of the century, rubber plantations have been expanding their footprint across Southeast Asia in response to an increasing global demand for rubber products. Between 2000 and 2014, the area cultivated with rubber more than doubled. It is not clear how this major change in the agricultural landscape of Southeast Asia, the main area of rubber production in the world, is affecting land‐use patterns and water resources in the region. Here we use maps of rubber plantations and other croplands in conjunction with a hydrological model and remote sensing analyses to assess land‐use patterns and water resources affected by natural rubber plantations. Results show water requirements of …
Adolescentes del África Occidental: motivaciones y reflexiones del proceso migratorio. Un análisis comparado
2021
Este artículo presenta la percepción de profesionales-expertos y de adolescentes del África Occidental sobre su proceso migratorio, y su paso por España cuando se dirigen hacia Europa. Tiene por objetivo 1) identificar estímulos para migrar, 2) analizar la influencia de la familia en la toma de decisión y 3) señalar condicionantes del proceso migratorio. Se utilizaron técnicas cualitativas como relato de vida, panel de profesionales-expertos, Delphi y DAFO. Los resultados profundizan en la escasez de recursos económicos familiares, el estatus de adulto que el adolescente recibe en origen, bajos ingresos y escasa cualificación como estímulos motivacionales para decidir migrar. Como conclusió…
Iron‐Catalyzed Cross‐Couplings in the Synthesis of Pharmaceuticals: In Pursuit of Sustainability
2018
The scarcity of precious metals has led to the development of sustainable strategies for metal-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions. The establishment of new catalytic methods using iron is attractive owing to the low cost, abundance, ready availability, and very low toxicity of iron. In the last few years, sustainable methods for iron-catalyzed cross-couplings have entered the critical area of pharmaceutical research. Most notably, iron is one of the very few metals that have been successfully field-tested as highly effective base-metal catalysts in practical, kilogram-scale industrial cross-couplings. In this Minireview, we critically discuss the strategic benefits of using iron catalysts a…
Drivers and Social Implications of Artificial Intelligence Adoption in Healthcare during the COVID-19 Pandemic
2021
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact people worldwide–steadily depleting scarce resources in healthcare. Medical Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises a much-needed relief but only if the technology gets adopted at scale. The present research investigates people’s intention to adopt medical AI as well as the drivers of this adoption in a representative study of two European countries (Denmark and France,N= 1068) during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results reveal AI aversion; only 1 of 10 individuals choose medical AI over human physicians in a hypothetical triage-phase of COVID-19 pre-hospital entrance. Key predictors of medical AI adoption are people’s trust in medical …
Shared effects of organic microcontaminants and environmental stressors on biofilms and invertebrates in impaired rivers
2016
Land use type, physical and chemical stressors, and organic microcontaminants were investigated for their effects on the biological communities (biofilms and invertebrates) in several Mediterranean rivers. The diversity of invertebrates, and the scores of the first principal component of a PCA performed with the diatom communities were the best descriptors of the distribution patterns of the biological communities against the river stressors. These two metrics decreased according to the progressive site impairment (associated to higher area of agricultural and urban-industrial, high water conductivity, higher dissolved organic carbon and dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations, and high…
Drought Management Decision Support System by Means of Risk Analysis Models
2007
Droughts in arid and semiarid Mediterranean river basins have an increasing socioeconomic and environmental impact. The problem is especially complex in basins where droughts are very frequent and intense and where water resources are under a massive use. For that reason in the Mediterranean basins it is necessary to manage the water resources in constant alert in order to relieve the consequences of a drought. In this chapter a complete methodology for the mitigation of the droughts is defined. The methodology includes different tools: from the definition of an alert system for the different types of drought up to the simulation and optimization software for water system management. This m…
Analysis of intermittent supply systems in water scarcity conditions and evaluation of the resource distribution equity indices
2007
Generally, urban water distribution shortage situations are solved by introducing discontinuous service and rationing the available water resources. This approach is widely adopted, not only in developing countries but also in developed ones, for solving short term scarcity conditions which can be caused by unpredicted drought periods. Intermittent distribution has the advantage of requiring small financial efforts but it leads to network operating conditions that are very far from the usual design ones. With the aim to analyse and describe the water supply network behaviour in intermittent conditions, a network hydraulic model has been set up in which both user and manager dependent regula…
Discounted Prototyping of Virtual Reality Solutions for Science Education
2017
Science education requires experimental work for learners to achieve the intended learning outcomes, which sometimes involve abstract concepts by nature. Advances in digital technology can help learners to undertake experimental work, which would otherwise be costly, either due to the scarcity of laboratory equipment or safety requirements. However, one of the major concerns resides into how to design usable learning solutions from the users’ perspective. That would require the involvement of users at all stages of design and development process, even if the technology itself could still be in its infancy. It can be very helpful to present the new design concepts to potential users at a ver…
Information in the aspect of security threats and challenges
2019
INFORMATION IN THE ASPECT OF SECURITY THREATS AND CHALLENGESIn the article, the author describes the driving force behind deliberate informational activities. He pays particular attention to the current security situation in the information dimension. Existing systems in the area of security management should be resistant to disinformation and informational operations. There is no room for the freedom of interpretation of the information acquired since every decision results in the actions of people, therefore it requires accuracy and caution. This issue takes on a special dimension when it concerns the state, because this environment contains specific features such as a changing environmen…
Does investor attention influence water companies’ stock returns?
2020
Abstract The potential impacts of climate change and population growth are having serious effects on the energy and agricultural industries, which might compromise water availability. Water scarcity requires the global water industry to examine the rapidly changing market and, together with public initiatives, make innovative investments to guarantee better water management models. Therefore, from an investor's perspective, it is important to understand what might influence water companies’ stock returns. This paper analyzes how the energy and agriculture industries and the growing environmental awareness of investors influence water companies’ stock returns. Panel data on the monthly stock…