Articles

Implementing REDD+ at the national level: Stakeholder engagement and policy coherences between REDD+ rules and Kenya's sectoral policies

Elsevier, Forest Policy and Economics, Volume 65, April 01, 2016
Effective implementation of rules on reduced emission from avoided deforestation and forest degradation (REDD. +) depends on the compatibility between these rules and existing sectoral policies associated with forests. This paper applies content analysis of policy documents, semi-structured interviews and case study analysis to examine the interplay between REDD. + rules and Kenyan sectorial policies and local socioeconomic settings. Results reveal that the preparation of national REDD.
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SDG:

Goal 13: Climate action; Goal 15: Life on land; Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Tags:

Forests, Africa

Worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980: a pooled analysis of 751 population-based studies with 4.4 million participants

Elsevier, Lancet (London, England), Volume 387, 9 April 2016
FINDINGS: We used data from 751 studies including 4,372,000 adults from 146 of the 200 countries we make estimates for. Global age-standardised diabetes prevalence increased from 4.3% (95% credible interval 2.4-7.0) in 1980 to 9.0% (7.2-11.1) in 2014 in men, and from 5.0% (2.9-7.9) to 7.9% (6.4-9.7) in women. The number of adults with diabetes in the world increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014 (28.5% due to the rise in prevalence, 39.7% due to population growth and ageing, and 31.8% due to interaction of these two factors).
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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being

Tags:

Health and population, Global

Trends in adult body-mass index in 200 countries from 1975 to 2014: A pooled analysis of 1698 population-based measurement studies with 19.2 million participants

Elsevier, The Lancet, Volume 387, 2 April 2016
Background Underweight and severe and morbid obesity are associated with highly elevated risks of adverse health outcomes. We estimated trends in mean body-mass index (BMI), which characterises its population distribution, and in the prevalences of a complete set of BMI categories for adults in all countries. Methods We analysed, with use of a consistent protocol, population-based studies that had measured height and weight in adults aged 18 years and older.
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SDG:

Goal 3: Good health and well-being

Tags:

Health and population, Global

Sexual trauma and the female brain

Elsevier, Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, Volume 41, 1 April 2016
Sexual aggression and violence against women (VAM) are not only social problems; they are mental health problems. Women who experience sexual trauma often express disruptions in emotional and cognitive processes, some of which lead to depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Animal models of neurogenesis and learning suggest that social yet aggressive interactions between a pubescent female and an adult male can disrupt processes of learning related to maternal care, which in turn reduce survival of new neurons in the female hippocampus.
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SDG:

Goal 5: Gender equality; Goal 3: Good health and well-being; Goal 16: Peace, justice and strong institutions

Tags:

Health and wellbeing; Gender equality and women's empowerment, Global

Winners selected for 2016 Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge

Elsevier,

5th April 2016

This article highlights the winning proposals of the first edition of the Elsevier Foundation Green & Sustainable Chemistry Challenge. The winning proposals were chosen for their innovative green chemistry aspects and their large positive impact on the environment, contributing to SDGs 6, 12 and 15.
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SDG:

Goal 15: Life on land; Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation; Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production

Tags:

Science; Biodiversity and ecosystems; Sustainable consumption and production; Water and sanitation; Chemicals and waste, Global

Advances in research and applications of energy-related occupant behavior in buildings

Key strategies to low energy buildings
Elsevier, Energy and Buildings, Volume 116, 15 March 2016
Occupant behavior is one of the major factors influencing building energy consumption and contributing to uncertainty in building energy use prediction and simulation. Currently the understanding of occupant behavior is insufficient both in building design, operation and retrofit, leading to incorrect simplifications in modeling and analysis. This paper introduced the most recent advances and current obstacles in modeling occupant behavior and quantifying its impact on building energy use.
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SDG:

Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy; Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure; Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities; Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production

Tags:

Energy; Sustainable cities and human settlements; Sustainable consumption and production; Technology, Global

Patterns of earthworm, enchytraeid and nematode diversity and community structure in urban soils of different ages

Elsevier, European Journal of Soil Biology, Volume 73, March 01, 2016
Annelids (Lumbricidae and Enchytraeidae) and nematodes are common soil organisms and play important roles in organic matter decomposition, nutrient cycling and creation of soil structure and porosity. However, these three groups have rarely been studied together and only few studies exist for urban soils.
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SDG:

Goal 15: Life on land

Tags:

Biodiversity and ecosystems, Europe

Sexualities and accounting: A queer theory perspective

Elsevier,

Critical Perspectives on Accounting, Volume 35, March 01, 2016

There is a paucity of research on sexuality within accounting studies in general, and next to nothing on lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans* (LGBT) sexualities in particular. One major problem associated with this neglect is that the heteronormative bias within the accounting studies goes unchallenged, reproducing a heterosexual/homosexual binary that posits heterosexuality as a normative standard by which other sexualities are judged and found wanting.

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SDG:

Goal 10: Reduced inequalities

Tags:

Diversity and inclusion; Industry; Homosexual Female; Accountability, Global

The role of smart grids in the building sector

The smart grid's components
Elsevier,

Energy and Buildings, Volume 116, 15 March 2016

The smart grids are modern electric power grid infrastructure for enhanced efficiency and reliability through automated control, high-power converters, modern communications infrastructure, sensing and metering technologies, and modern energy management techniques based on the optimization of demand, energy and network availability. The role of buildings in this framework is very crucial. This paper addresses critical issues on smart grid technologies and the integration of buildings in this new power grid framework.

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SDG:

Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy; Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure; Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities; Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production; Goal 13: Climate action

Tags:

Energy; Sustainable cities and human settlements; Technology; Smart Grid, Global

Urban building energy modeling - A review of a nascent field

Heat map of simulated annual heating demand for South Boston using UMI (a) and daily gas and electricity demand profiles for the highlighted building in South Boston (b).
Elsevier, Building and Environment, Volume 97, February 15, 2016
Over the past decades, detailed individual building energy models (BEM) on the one side and regional and country-level building stock models on the other side have become established modes of analysis for building designers and energy policy makers, respectively. More recently, these two toolsets have begun to merge into hybrid methods that are meant to analyze the energy performance of neighborhoods, i.e. several dozens to thousands of buildings. This paper reviews emerging simulation methods and implementation workflows for such bottom-up urban building energy models (UBEM).
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SDG:

Goal 7: Affordable and clean energy; Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure; Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities; Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production; Goal 13: Climate action

Tags:

Energy; Sustainable cities and human settlements; Sustainable consumption and production; Technology, Global

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