A systematic review of climate change impacts,adaptation strategies,and policy development in West Africa

Climate change studies are diverse with no single study giving a comprehensive review of climate change impacts,adaptation strategies,and policy development in West Africa.The unavailability of an all-inclusive study to serve as a guide for practitioners affects the effectiveness of climate change adaptation strategies proposed and adopted in the West African sub-region.The purpose of this study was to review the impacts of climate change risks on the crop,fishery,and livestock sectors,as well as the climate change adaptation strategies and climate-related policies aimed at helping to build resilient agricultural production systems in West Africa.The review process followed a series of rigorous stages until the final selection of 56 articles published from 2009 to 2023.Generally,the results highlighted the adverse effects of climate change risks on food security.We found a continuous decline in food crop production.Additionally,the livestock sector experienced morbidity and mortality,as well as reduction in meat and milk production.The fishery sector recorded loss of fingerlings,reduction in fish stocks,and destruction of mariculture and aquaculture.In West Africa,climate-smart agriculture technologies,physical protection of fishing,and inclusion of gender perspectives in programs appear to be the major adaptation strategies.The study therefore recommends the inclusion of ecosystem and biodiversity restoration,weather insurance,replacement of unsafe vessels,and strengthening gender equality in all climate change mitigation programs,as these will help to secure enough food for present and future generations.

Advocacy Coalition by External Actors and Strategies Used to Influence the Emergence of the National Nutrition Policy in Lao PDR

This article aims to explore the coalition of external actors and the strategies it deployed to influence the emergence of the National Nutrition Policy (NNP) in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The Advocacy Coalition Framework and the conceptual model of Effective Advocacy Strategies for Influencing Government Nutrition Policy were used to frame the data collection and their analysis. Sources of information were semi-structured interviews conducted with government and external actors, as well as all available documents on nutrition policy in Laos. The commitment of the government to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to leave the Least Developed Country status created a favorable condition to support the emergence of the NNP in Laos. This context was a driving force for the building of an effective and convincing coalition of United Nations agencies able to accompany the government in redefining health priorities. Various strategies were used by the coalition to this end, including generating, disseminating, and using scientific evidence, assisting the government with a budget and technical expertise, providing decision-makers with opportunities to learn from other countries, and building relationships with the key actor. External actors can be a major force to support the emergence of a public policy in Laos, but this requires a window of opportunity like what the MDGs have been able to bring.

Engineering Strategies for Suppressing the Shuttle Effect in Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur(Li–S)batteries are supposed to be one of the most potential next-generation batteries owing to their high theoretical capacity and low cost.Nevertheless,the shuttle effect of firm multi-step two-electron reaction between sulfur and lithium in liquid electrolyte makes the capacity much smaller than the theoretical value.Many methods were proposed for inhibiting the shuttle effect of polysulfide,improving corresponding redox kinetics and enhancing the integral performance of Li–S batteries.Here,we will comprehensively and systematically summarize the strategies for inhibiting the shuttle effect from all components of Li–S batteries.First,the electrochemical principles/mechanism and origin of the shuttle effect are described in detail.Moreover,the efficient strategies,including boosting the sulfur conversion rate of sulfur,confining sulfur or lithium polysulfides(LPS)within cathode host,confining LPS in the shield layer,and preventing LPS from contacting the anode,will be discussed to suppress the shuttle effect.Then,recent advances in inhibition of shuttle effect in cathode,electrolyte,separator,and anode with the aforementioned strategies have been summarized to direct the further design of efficient materials for Li–S batteries.Finally,we present prospects for inhibition of the LPS shuttle and potential development directions in Li–S batteries.

New Systemic Order and Foreign Policy Strategies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Middle East

The international system has characteristics that have a direct influence on the foreign policy of the countries.Among these,the systemic cycle of power is one of the most conspicuous features of the global system and the regions that affect this issue.In this vein,the systemic order resulting from the cycle of power in the strategic policy-making circle of units can play a limiting role and influence the type of strategy and strategy.The Islamic Republic of Iran is also one of the units of international order;hence,it is not exceptional.Therefore,the purpose of this study is to examine the order of the Middle East and,accordingly,to determine the strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in that region.Accordingly,it assumes that the regional order in the Middle East puts defense strategies,especially deterrence and passive defense,at the forefront of the strategies of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Middle East.So,the present paper,while explaining the order of the international system and the order of the Middle East region,designs the foreign policy strategies of the regions of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Community Pharmacists’ Strategies in Greece: An Assessment of the Policy Environment and the Mapping of Key Players

The aim of the study was to form and assess the pharmacists’ strategies in Greece, by analyzing the policy environment and identifying the role of the key players-stakeholders. For collecting and organizing important information about the pharmacists’ policy, the PolicyMaker’s computerized version of political mapping was used, serving as a database for assessments of the policy’s content, the major players, the power and policy positions of key players, the interests of different players, and the networks and coalitions that connect the players. As the research findings show, the initially expected impact of the pharmacists’ policy proved to be very optimistic in most of the implemented strategies, as the majority of the strategies have worsened or minimized their success ratio throughout the time in study. Concluding, either the initially set strategies were at the wrong direction or the actions taken to implement them were inappropriate. Moreover, one can suggest that the shifting ability in both the position and the power of the most key players were over-estimated, while they under-estimated the impact of troika-constitutions meddling in the pharmaceutical policymaking and in the health sector cost-containment measures imposing.

How do the landslide and non-landslide sampling strategies impact landslide susceptibility assessment? d A catchment-scale case study from China

The aim of this study is to investigate the impacts of the sampling strategy of landslide and non-landslide on the performance of landslide susceptibility assessment(LSA).The study area is the Feiyun catchment in Wenzhou City,Southeast China.Two types of landslides samples,combined with seven non-landslide sampling strategies,resulted in a total of 14 scenarios.The corresponding landslide susceptibility map(LSM)for each scenario was generated using the random forest model.The receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and statistical indicators were calculated and used to assess the impact of the dataset sampling strategy.The results showed that higher accuracies were achieved when using the landslide core as positive samples,combined with non-landslide sampling from the very low zone or buffer zone.The results reveal the influence of landslide and non-landslide sampling strategies on the accuracy of LSA,which provides a reference for subsequent researchers aiming to obtain a more reasonable LSM.

China's Universal Second-Child Policy: Grounds, Effects and Strategies

The 13 th Five-Year Plan(2016─2020), with the balanced development of population being the core element, is crucial for China. The superimposed effect of an aging population and low birthrate leading to a reduction in the labor supply would have a fundamental influence on the long term balanced development of China's population, implying that China's population policy must be adjusted. This paper argues that a gradual relaxation of the family-planning policy adjustments accords with the original intention of the population policy design and development direction. The universal second-child policy is the logical results of the adjustment and improvement of China's family-planning policy, and is designed to bring about positive effects on future demographic and economic development, particularly in sustaining the long term balanced development of China's population, easing the marriage squeeze, extending the demographic dividend, and delaying the population aging process. China needs to develop and improve support and governance systems for fully implementing the universal second-child policy, realizing the policy transition from rewarding one-child families to population security and the modern transition of governance systems and capacity to a universal second-child policy.

Micro-reconstruction Strategies of Urban Villages in Small Towns from the Perspective of Policy Orientation:A Case Study of Zhuangqian Xiongjia Village,Fengcheng City

As China’s economy shifts from high-speed development to high-quality development,China’s urbanization also shifts from incremental expansion to stock optimization,providing a new direction for the transformation of urban villages.At present,the reconstruction work office of urban villages in small towns is mainly promoted based on government-led and villager main body in the initial exploration stage.From the perspective of policy orientation,to solve the main problems in urban villages in small towns,Zhuangqian Xiongjia Village,Fengcheng City was taken as an example,and the micro-transformation strategies of urban villages were put forward from the perspective of satisfying the appeals of the government,village committee and villagers,so as to provide some references for the transformation of urban villages in other small towns across the country.

Drug resistance mechanisms in cancers:Execution of prosurvival strategies

One of the quintessential challenges in cancer treatment is drug resistance.Several mechanisms of drug resistance have been described to date,and new modes of drug resistance continue to be discovered.The phenomenon of cancer drug resistance is now widespread,with approximately 90% of cancer-related deaths associated with drug resistance.Despite significant advances in the drug discovery process,the emergence of innate and acquired mechanisms of drug resistance has impeded the progress in cancer therapy.Therefore,understanding the mechanisms of drug resistance and the various pathways involved is integral to treatment modalities.In the present review,I discuss the different mechanisms of drug resistance in cancer cells,including DNA damage repair,epithelial to mesenchymal transition,inhibition of cell death,alteration of drug targets,inactivation of drugs,deregulation of cellular energetics,immune evasion,tumor-promoting inflammation,genome instability,and other contributing epigenetic factors.Furthermore,I highlight available treatment options and conclude with future directions.

SRv6 Policy业务可靠性方案探讨

介绍了SRv6 Policy、SBFD技术及5G承载网络SRv6 Policy业务可靠性方案。针对SBFD误触发问题,提出了在被动端生成BSID、部署引流策略及设置不同检测周期等3种完善措施,这些措施不仅提高了业务的可靠性,还显著提升了网络服务能力.

Overview of the immunological mechanisms in hepatitis B virus reactivation:Implications for disease progression and management strategies

Hepatitis B virus(HBV)reactivation is a clinically significant challenge in disease management.This review explores the immunological mechanisms underlying HBV reactivation,emphasizing disease progression and management.It delves into host immune responses and reactivation’s delicate balance,spanning innate and adaptive immunity.Viral factors’disruption of this balance,as are interac-tions between viral antigens,immune cells,cytokine networks,and immune checkpoint pathways,are examined.Notably,the roles of T cells,natural killer cells,and antigen-presenting cells are discussed,highlighting their influence on disease progression.HBV reactivation’s impact on disease severity,hepatic flares,liver fibrosis progression,and hepatocellular carcinoma is detailed.Management strategies,including anti-viral and immunomodulatory approaches,are critically analyzed.The role of prophylactic anti-viral therapy during immunosuppressive treatments is explored alongside novel immunotherapeutic interventions to restore immune control and prevent reactivation.In conclusion,this compre-hensive review furnishes a holistic view of the immunological mechanisms that propel HBV reactivation.With a dedicated focus on understanding its implic-ations for disease progression and the prospects of efficient management stra-tegies,this article contributes significantly to the knowledge base.The more profound insights into the intricate interactions between viral elements and the immune system will inform evidence-based approaches,ultimately enhancing disease management and elevating patient outcomes.The dynamic landscape of management strategies is critically scrutinized,spanning anti-viral and immunomodulatory approaches.The role of prophylactic anti-viral therapy in preventing reactivation during immunosuppressive treatments and the potential of innovative immunotherapeutic interventions to restore immune control and proactively deter reactivation.

Assessment of challenges and strategies for driving energy transitions in emerging markets:A socio-technological systems perspective

The pursuit of improved quality of life standards has significantly influenced the contemporary mining model in the 21st century.This era is witnessing an unprecedented transformation driven by pressing concerns related to sustainability,climate change,the just energy transition,dynamic operating environments,and complex social challenges.Such transitions present both opportunities and obstacles.The aim of this study is to provide an extensive literature review on energy transition to identify the challenges and strategies associated with navigating transformations in energy systems.Understanding these transformations is particularly critical in the face of the severe consequences of global warming,where an accelerated energy transition is viewed as a universal remedy.Adopting a socio-technological systems perspective,specifically through the application of Actor Network Theory(ANT),this research provides a theoretical foundation while categorising challenges into five distinct domains and outlining strategies across these different dimensions.These insights are specifically tailored for emerging market countries to effectively navigate energy transition while fostering the development of resilient societies.Furthermore,our findings highlight that energy transition encompasses more than a mere technological shift;it entails fundamental changes in various systemic socio-economic imperatives.Through focusing on the role of social structures in transitions,this study makes a significant and innovative contribution to ANT,which has historically been criticised for its limited acknowledgement of social structures.Consequently,we propose an emerging market energy transition framework,which not only addresses technological aspects,but also integrates social considerations.This framework paves the way for future research and exploration of energy transition dynamics.The outcomes of this study offer valuable insights to policymakers,researchers,and practitioners engaged in the mining industry,enabling them to comprehend the multifaceted challenges involved and providing practical strategies for effective resolution.Through incorporating the social dimension into the analysis,we enhance the understanding of the complex nature of energy system transformations,facilitating a more holistic approach towards achieving sustainable and resilient energy transitions in emerging markets and beyond.

Problem identification and revitalization strategies for the recovery and reconstruction of traditional villages in the Ms 6.8 Luding Earthquake

Post-disaster reconstruction is a topic of global concern,and traditional villages have special heritage attributes and need to face more requirements and obstacles in post-disaster reconstruction.This paper summarizes four concepts based on the research on post-disaster reconstruction both domestically and internationally,as well as the recovery and reconstruction of cultural heritage.Through a field survey of traditional villages in the Ms 6.8 Luding earthquake-stricken area,it is found that there are problems such as insufficient awareness of heritage value,misalignment of scientific reconstruction technology,and insufficient protection of reconstruction elements during the reconstruction process.Traditional villages face the risk of declining or even loss of heritage value.In order to effectively protect traditional villages and inherit the carrier of regional culture,four targeted reconstruction response strategies are proposed,i.e.,to"establish special planning for traditional village preservation","emphasize recovery of the authenticity of village heritage","ensure elements for village heritage recovery"and"promote the activation and utilization of village heritage",based on the problems discovered during the survey and the four concepts summarized in the research on post-disaster reconstruction of traditional villages.The research results hope to provide useful reference for ancient cultural areas affected by earthquakes on how to protect cultural heritage during the post-disaster reconstruction process.

Addressing Sustainability Risks of Bioenergy—Policy Strategies and Corporate Initiatives

This paper focuses on the sustainable use of solid and gaseous biomass for electricity, heating and cooling. It provides updated findings of policy analyses and corporate strategy analyses performed in the frame of BIOENERGY PROMOTION, one of the flagship projects under the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region. In particular, the paper highlights policies and measures which have been adopted by the EU and EU Member States to address environmental and social sustainability risks of bioenergy. Taking into account the conclusions of BIOENERGY PROMOTION, the paper identifies promising policy developments, but also shortcomings. On the Member State level, the paper refers to the examples of Germany and Poland. It illustrates how problematic policy priorities and policy malfunctioning in two sub-sectors (biogas from energy crops in Germany, biomass co-firing in Poland) led to undesirable environmental and social developments and how policies have been re-adjusted to mitigate sustainability risks. The paper also portrays a number of voluntary corporate sustainability initiatives which emerged due to the lack of a binding European sustainability framework for solid and gaseous biomass. The authors conclude that without a binding sustainability framework at EU level there is a risk of having a patchwork of potentially diverging sustainability regimes and initiatives across Europe causing market intransparency and insecurity for investors.

Progress on Transition Metal Ions Dissolution Suppression Strategies in Prussian Blue Analogs for Aqueous Sodium-/Potassium-Ion Batteries

Aqueous sodium-ion batteries(ASIBs)and aqueous potassium-ion batteries(APIBs)present significant potential for large-scale energy storage due to their cost-effectiveness,safety,and environmental compatibility.Nonetheless,the intricate energy storage mechanisms in aqueous electrolytes place stringent require-ments on the host materials.Prussian blue analogs(PBAs),with their open three-dimensional framework and facile synthesis,stand out as leading candidates for aqueous energy storage.However,PBAs possess a swift capacity fade and limited cycle longevity,for their structural integrity is compromised by the pronounced dis-solution of transition metal(TM)ions in the aqueous milieu.This manuscript provides an exhaustive review of the recent advancements concerning PBAs in ASIBs and APIBs.The dissolution mechanisms of TM ions in PBAs,informed by their structural attributes and redox processes,are thoroughly examined.Moreover,this study delves into innovative design tactics to alleviate the dissolution issue of TM ions.In conclusion,the paper consolidates various strategies for suppressing the dissolution of TM ions in PBAs and posits avenues for prospective exploration of high-safety aqueous sodium-/potassium-ion batteries.

Present Situation, Problems and Strategies of Agricultural Credit Policy in Dingxi City

This paper analyzes the current situation of agricultural credit policy in Dingxi City,and further studies the problems in the implementation of credit policy in Dingxi City,and puts forward strategies and suggestions according to these problems.

The Correlation Study between Thinking Styles and English-Speaking Learning Strategies of Junior School Students under the Background of “Double Reduction” Policy

Based on Cognitive Style Theory,Oxford’s Speaking Learning Theory and Communicative Competence Theory,this paper adopts questionnaire method,uses Sternberg’s Thinking Style Inventory modified by Zhang Lifang,as well as Oxford’s Learning Strategies Scale,and combines with the actual situation of junior high school students’oral learning to design the questionnaire of speaking learning strategies.Eighth graders of a junior middle school in Sichuan Province are randomly selected as the research object.The statistical tool SPSS23.0 is used to conduct the descriptive analysis and Pearson correlation analysis of the questionnaire results to explore the overall situation of junior high school students’thinking styles and the use of English-speaking learning strategies as well as their correlation.According to the research,junior high school students generally tend to executive style,liberal style,conservative style,legislative style,hierarchic style.The use of speaking learning strategies is at an average level.They tend to use memory speaking strategies,social speaking strategies,affective speaking strategies,and cognitive speaking strategies.As a whole,there is a relatively significant correlation between thinking styles and speaking learning strategies.Specifically,there is a partial correlation between thinking styles and speaking learning strategies.

Policy Gradient Adaptive Dynamic Programming for Model-Free Multi-Objective Optimal Control

Dear Editor,In this letter,the multi-objective optimal control problem of nonlinear discrete-time systems is investigated.A data-driven policy gradient algorithm is proposed in which the action-state value function is used to evaluate the policy.In the policy improvement process,the policy gradient based method is employed.

LDAS&ET-AD:Learnable Distillation Attack Strategies and Evolvable Teachers Adversarial Distillation

Adversarial distillation(AD)has emerged as a potential solution to tackle the challenging optimization problem of loss with hard labels in adversarial training.However,fixed sample-agnostic and student-egocentric attack strategies are unsuitable for distillation.Additionally,the reliability of guidance from static teachers diminishes as target models become more robust.This paper proposes an AD method called Learnable Distillation Attack Strategies and Evolvable Teachers Adversarial Distillation(LDAS&ET-AD).Firstly,a learnable distillation attack strategies generating mechanism is developed to automatically generate sample-dependent attack strategies tailored for distillation.A strategy model is introduced to produce attack strategies that enable adversarial examples(AEs)to be created in areas where the target model significantly diverges from the teachers by competing with the target model in minimizing or maximizing the AD loss.Secondly,a teacher evolution strategy is introduced to enhance the reliability and effectiveness of knowledge in improving the generalization performance of the target model.By calculating the experimentally updated target model’s validation performance on both clean samples and AEs,the impact of distillation from each training sample and AE on the target model’s generalization and robustness abilities is assessed to serve as feedback to fine-tune standard and robust teachers accordingly.Experiments evaluate the performance of LDAS&ET-AD against different adversarial attacks on the CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100 datasets.The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves a robust precision of 45.39%and 42.63%against AutoAttack(AA)on the CIFAR-10 dataset for ResNet-18 and MobileNet-V2,respectively,marking an improvement of 2.31%and 3.49%over the baseline method.In comparison to state-of-the-art adversarial defense techniques,our method surpasses Introspective Adversarial Distillation,the top-performing method in terms of robustness under AA attack for the CIFAR-10 dataset,with enhancements of 1.40%and 1.43%for ResNet-18 and MobileNet-V2,respectively.These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method in enhancing the robustness of deep learning networks(DNNs)against prevalent adversarial attacks when compared to other competing methods.In conclusion,LDAS&ET-AD provides reliable and informative soft labels to one of the most promising defense methods,AT,alleviating the limitations of untrusted teachers and unsuitable AEs in existing AD techniques.We hope this paper promotes the development of DNNs in real-world trust-sensitive fields and helps ensure a more secure and dependable future for artificial intelligence systems.

Eradication Treatment of Helicobacter pylori Infection: Evaluation of Therapeutic Strategies in N’Djamena

Background: Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection is the most widespread bacterial infection in the world. The infection is generally acquired in childhood, but can persist into adulthood. Eradication therapy has undergone several modifications. The aim of this study was to evaluate the different therapeutic strategies used in the eradication of Helicobacter pylori infection in the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire La Reference Nationale of N’Djaména. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective, descriptive analytical study spread over one year, from September 2021 to September 2022. Patients at least 15 years of age presenting with dyspeptic symptoms, seen consecutively in a hepato-gastroenterology consultation and with a positive stool test for H. pylori infection, were included in the study. Equally, 1/3 of patients were treated with dual or triple therapy. The remaining third received quadritherapy. Results: A total of 268 patients were included in the study (mean age 38.40 ± 14.66 with extremes of 16 and 80 years). Males predominated in 58% of cases. Overall therapeutic efficacy was 88.9%. According to different therapeutic strategies, efficacy was 90.75% for dual therapy with PPI (Rabeprazole) and Amoxicillin. On the other hand, efficacy was 87% and 88.88% for PPI-based triple therapy and dual antibiotic therapy, and for PPI-based quadruple therapy and triple antibiotic therapy. Conclusion: H. pylori infection is a common disease in Chad. Dual therapy with rabeprazole combined with a high dose of amoxicillin over a period of at least two weeks showed similar if not better efficacy than triple or quadruple therapy.