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• Dry woodlands are progressively degraded by three distinct, sequential charcoal production waves. • Even extremely selective charcoal production systems cause considerable modification to forest structure. • The environmental consequences of an expanding producer population are more serious than charcoal poverty traps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of aspirational capacity, one cognitive dimension of well-being, as a driver of deforestation among rural smallholders living in or near Mozambique’s portion of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. Integrating analyses of remote sensing, socio-economic, and semi-structured interview data within a theoretical framework drawn from Amartya Sen’s capability approach, we examine land use decisions in the context of the available options people have to choose from as well as the factors influencing their ultimate choice. Land change detection analysis indicates that more forest conversion occurs within the park, but rates show considerable variation at the community level. We find no association between economic deprivation and deforestation rates. Limited aspirational capacity, manifested in expressions of helplessness and despair, a lack of perceived choices, and fewer agentive pursuits, is one dimension of poverty that does contribute to cropland expansion. Qualitative findings indicate that a more limited capacity to set, pursue, and achieve aspirational goals perpetuates agricultural land use traps and, consequentially, higher deforestation rates. Higher levels of aspirational capacity also contribute to negative conservation outcomes as people adopt the risky but profitable activity of illegal rhino hunting as a means to obtain other valued capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Natural rubber production was associated with increased economic inequality in Laos from 2007/08 to 2012/13. • Inequality and polarization trends varied regionally. • Increased inequality and polarization were greatest in the South, which is dominated by large-scale concessions. • Voluntary multi-stakeholder programs and government regulation are needed to address rubber's socioeconomic impacts. • Rubber sustainability programs should address systemic drivers of inequality to maximize benefits and avoid unintended consequences. The Southeast Asian rubber boom beginning in the early 2000′s shaped a myriad of socioeconomic and environmental consequences, including deforestation, ecosystem impacts, shifts in community livelihoods, and altered local access to land and resources. Although there has been significant research assessing rubber production in this region, there has been less focus on economic inequality and polarization outcomes in rubber producing areas. This analysis explores the extent to which rubber production growth was associated with changes in rural economic inequality and polarization from 2007/08 to 2012/13, using Lao PDR as a case study. We also investigate the implications of these changes for voluntary sustainability programs focused on rubber production. We achieve this through a synthesis of land-use change and economic data. First, we estimate rubber plantation extent based on Landsat time series data and supervised classification. We combine this with household expenditures data from the Laos Expenditure and Consumption Survey from 2007/08 to 2012/13, conducting Gini decomposition and Duclos Esteban Ray Index calculations to explore economic inequality and polarization in rubber and non-rubber producing areas. Our results indicate that rubber areas experience greater inequality and polarization compared to non-rubber areas. The Northern, Central, and Southern regions experience different economic inequality and polarization outcomes – inequality-enhancing effects appear to be greatest in the South, where large-scale concessions dominate rubber production. We assess the implications of our findings for voluntary rubber sustainability programs, arguing that these programs should address systemic drivers of inequality and polarization, including dispossession from land and forest resources, insufficient worker protections, livelihood vulnerability, and barriers for smallholders. Overall, our results underscore the importance of strong regulation, multi-stakeholder action, and environmental and social performance criteria in rubber production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charcoal consumption remains high in cities across Sub-Saharan Africa. As urbanization continues, this presents serious problems for biodiversity and the realization of Sustainable Development Goal 7. Understanding the persistent demand for charcoal, especially among urban households with access to electricity, is a critical step towards ensuring sustainable forest management while encouraging households to transition to cleaner sources of energy. Herein, we profile urban charcoal users living in the heart of southern Africa's miombo woodlands. We use an ordinary least squares regression model to predict charcoal consumption among a sample of households in Tete, Mozambique with widespread connectivity to the electrical grid. Our findings indicate that income plays only a negligible role in predicting monthly per capita charcoal consumption. More important are personal preferences and the peer effects of friendships with non-charcoal using peers. These findings present possible pathways for policy-makers to induce a shift in charcoal demand among urban households and to promote switching to cleaner cooking fuels. • Charcoal consumption remains high among urban households with widespread connectivity to the electrical grid. • A strong preference for charcoal as a cooking fuel substantially contributes to high consumption. • Friendships with non-charcoal users exert a substantial downward effect on charcoal consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Protected areas (PAs) in Tanzania are effective at preserving forest carbon stock. • A scalable method is developed to assess PAs' efficacy in preserving forest structure. • GEDI's 3D forest structure measurements can be used to support forest conservation. • Community-governed PAs had the largest positive influence on forest structure. • Small PAs are effective at preserving forest structure in well-connected PA networks. Protected areas (PAs) serve as a critical strategy for protecting natural resources, conserving biodiversity, and mitigating climate change. While there is a critical need to guide area-based conservation efforts, a systematic assessment of PA effectiveness for storing carbon stocks has not been possible due to the lack of globally consistent forest biomass data. In this study, we present a new methodology utilizing forest structural information and aboveground biomass density (AGBD) obtained from the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission. We compare PAs with similar, unprotected forests obtained through statistical matching to assess differences in carbon storage and forest structure. We also assess matching outcomes for a robust and minimally biased way to quantify PA efficacy. We find that all analyzed PAs in Tanzania possess higher biomass densities than their unprotected counterfactuals (24.4% higher on average). This is also true for other forest structure metrics, including tree height, canopy cover, and plant area index (PAI). We also find that community-governed PAs are the most effective category of PAs at preserving forest structure and AGBD – often outperforming those managed by international or national entities. In addition, PAs designated under more than one entity perform better than the PAs with a single designation, especially those with multiple international designations. Finally, our findings suggest that smaller PAs may be more effective for conservation, depending on levels of connectivity. Taken together, these findings support the designation of PAs as an effective means for forest management with considerable potential to protect forest ecosystems and achieve long-term climate goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how extreme weather influences regional inequality and polarization within Mozambique in the context of on-going economic shocks. Utilizing satellite-based estimates of rainfall spatially analyzed within a GIS, we establish a 16-year rainfall climatology and calculate monthly rainfall anomalies for 665 villages. We approximate storm-total rainfall from all tropical cyclones entering the Mozambique Channel, as well as the extent of damaging winds for those making landfall, between 2005 and 2008. We group villages according to tropical cyclone impacts and use hierarchical cluster analysis to group the remaining villages according to shared patterns of monthly rainfall anomalies. Using economic data from the 2005 and 2008 National Agricultural Surveys of Mozambique, we relate weather patterns associated with near normal rainfall, tropical cyclones, flooding, and drought to changes in inequality and polarization by conducting decomposition analyses of the Gini index and Duclos-Esteban-Ray (DER) polarization index. Our findings mainly correspond to the generally accepted view that weather shocks exacerbate existing income and power disparities within societies. However, in some cases we find evidence that inequality and polarization can decline in the aftermath of an extreme event, and increase even where the weather is relatively good. By identifying varying effects of extreme events on inequality and polarization at subnational level, our study enables a more detailed understanding of weather-related effects on socio-economic outcomes in rural societies rapidly integrating into the global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pediatric dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a devastating and poorly understood disease with most clinical treatment paradigms extrapolated from the adult population. Our studies showed that aspects of metabolism and mitochondrial function are dysregulated in pediatric hearts. Cardiolipin (CL), a unique phospholipid in the inner mitochondrial membrane, is essential for optimal mitochondrial function and was shown to be dysregulated in failing adult and pediatric human heart. Our objective is to investigate if serum circulating factors from pediatric DCM patients can remodel CL resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction in vitro, similar to what is observed in the failing pediatric heart. Using a novel in vitro model that consists of treating neonatal rat ventricular myocytes (NRVMs) with serum from pediatric DCM patients or from non-failing (NF) healthy controls, mitochondrial respiration was assessed using the Agilent Seahorse, and reactive oxygen species (ROS) was assessed using Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Relative mtDNA copy number was determined by qPCR and expression of enzymes involved in CL biosynthesis were analyzed using RT-qPCR. Mass-spectrometry was used to quantitate total and specific CL species and to investigate the metabolite composition of NRVMs treated with NF or DCM serum. While mitochondrial ROS and mtDNA copy number were not significantly altered, we show that DCM serum decreases mitochondrial function, which is associated with alterations in CL content and composition and the downregulation of enzymes implicated in CL biosynthesis. Analysis of metabolite content showed an alteration of pathways involved in fatty acid metabolism, mitochondrial biogenesis and regulation of β-oxidation by PPARα. In conclusion, pediatric DCM serum circulating factors can promote CL remodeling resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction in primary cardiomyocytes. These findings suggest that CL could be a novel therapeutic target for this particular population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the ways in which climate stressors and economic changes related to liberalisation alter the local vulnerability context. Household and key informant data from two villages in Mozambique are analysed. First, we explore how changes such as increased market integration, altered systems of agricultural support, land tenure change and privatisation of agro-industries may affect factors important for response capacity, including access to local natural resources, employment opportunities, and household labour and capital. Next, we investigate how people related to the market while coping with the 2002–2003 drought. The study reveals that there had been an increase in informal trade and casual employment opportunities; however, market relations were very unfavourable and as the drought intensified, smallholders were locked into activities that barely secured economic survival and which sometimes endangered long-term response capacity. Only a few large-scale farmers had the capital and skills necessary to negotiate a good market position in urban markets, thus securing future incomes. Inequality, social sustainability, vulnerability and natural resource use are all closely linked in the savannas. Hence, both climate change adaptation policies and sustainability measures need to target vulnerability context and the social and environmental stressors shaping it. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• People resist narrow environmental explanations for migration in favor of broader accounts of collapsing rural economies. • Extreme weather often contributes indirectly to migration. • The strength of the weather's influence on migration falls along a spectrum. • Sudden-onset events, particularly cyclones, are associated with stronger degrees of weather attribution. • The environmental migration narrative may serve to mask the role of governments and elites in perpetuating rural hardship. This article investigates the pathways linking environmental and economic drivers of rural-to-urban migration in Mozambique. Using examples from two rural-to-urban migrant communities located in the coastal city of Beira, we build on a generalizable migration framework (Black et al., 2011) in order to explore how perception and lived experience influence migration decision-making in contexts of environmental stress. We combine content analysis and descriptive statistics of semi-structured interview and household survey data. Using a decision-tree diagram to trace pathways linking experiences of adverse weather to migration, we evaluate the relative strength with which respondents attribute migration to weather-related factors. Qualitative findings reveal that (1) the weather's influence on migration falls on a spectrum of attribution, (2) while few migrants directly link their migration to weather-related factors, the overwhelming majority link weather to worsening economic conditions in origin areas, and (3) migrants reject the label of climate migrant, and maintain that migrating from rural areas is primarily an economic decision. Results indicate that people would stay in rural areas, regardless of extreme weather, if resilient economic livelihoods existed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prohibitions against wildlife hunting often have impoverishing outcomes for rural households. Previous research has emphasized the financial losses and attributed material deprivation as the motivation for illegal wildlife hunting. However, this narrow focus does not capture the values rural communities ascribe to hunting nor consider the broader outcomes hunting bans have on multidimensional well-being. In this study, we utilize Amartya Sen's capability approach to gain a deeper understanding of hunting bans' effects. Iterative content analysis of 435 interviews with respondents from three study sites located within or near protected areas in southern Africa revealed that individuals hunt for three primary reasons: to procure meat for household consumption, to manage human-wildlife conflict, and to generate revenue via commercial poaching. When detailing the impacts of hunting prohibitions, respondents overwhelmingly emphasized the instrumental value of hunting. They described significant material losses that are deeply intertwined with a broad range of non-material costs to well-being. The strongest objections to wildlife regulations centered on how they serve to humanize animals while de-humanizing people. Additionally, the non-material impacts of hunting bans exacerbated discontent with material losses arising from conservation. We find a need to critically examine the non-material losses of conservation given their potential to alienate rural communities, increase resistance, and undermine local residents' voluntary participation in conservation efforts. • Anti-hunting laws can undermine the legitimacy of conservation initiatives. • Hunting was valued for primarily material reasons. • Enforcement of anti-hunting laws diminishes multiple dimensions of well-being. • Non-material costs of hunting bans exacerbate discontent with the material losses. • Resistance motives for illegal wildlife hunting can emerge and strengthen over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rough endoplasmic reticulum (rER) is the site for synthesis, folding and quality control of secreted and membrane proteins. Impairment of ER function in response to stresses such as oxidative stress, disruption of calcium homeostasis or ischemia causes the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the rER lumen, resulting in ER stress. Over the past decade, ER stress has emerged as an important mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases including heart failure. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the contribution of ER stress to cardiac dysfunction remain poorly understood. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of the ER stressor tunicamycin (TN) on cardiac function in mice. TN injection (2mg/kg, 72h) induced a significant impairment of systolic function as indicated by the decrease in ejection fraction and fractional shortening. However, the heart rate, left ventricular internal diameters in diastole and systole and wall thickness were not affected. Transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed that TN induced an important ultrastructural remodeling of the cardiomyocytes with an increase in the occurrence of rER. Whereas rER was essentially located near the nucleus in cardiomyocytes of control mice, we observed an expansion of the rER network near sarcomeres and around T-tubules and mitochondrial clusters after TN treatment. In addition, mitochondrial structure and network were also disorganized. When measured in skinned fibers, the rate of mitochondrial oxidation was slower and an impairment of the function of the creatine kinase energy shuttle was observed in response to TN. In addition, ER stress triggered a metabolic remodeling characterized by a shift from fatty acid to glycogenic substrates consumption. Taken together our results show for the first time that the cytoarchitectural and metabolic alterations of cardiomyocytes contribute to the cardiac injury induced by ER stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we aimed to understand the underlying mechanism of Dichlorvos-induced toxicity in cardiac cells. For this end, cells were treated by 170 μM of Dichlorvos (DDVP) (corresponding to the IC50) and molecular events were monitored by flow cytometry and western blotting. We have first demonstrated that cell exposure to DDVP for 24 h induced cell death by necroptosis. In fact, cell treatment with DDVP upregulated RIP1 expression and we have shown that chemical inhibition of RIP1 kinase activity by necrostatin-1 (Nec-1) greatly prevented from the induced cell death. Besides, we have demonstrated that, while there was no observed cell death following short exposure to DDVP (6 h), autophagy was enhanced, as proven by the increase in the level of both Beclin-1 and LC3-II and the accumulation of the CytoID® autophagy detection probe. Besides, when autophagy was inhibited by chloroquine (CQ) the percentage of necroptosis was significantly increased, suggesting that autophagy acts to protect cardiac cells against the toxicity induced by this pesticide. Concurrently, we have shown that the inhibition of the deacetylase sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) by EX527 or its knockdown by siRNA significantly increased DDVP-induced necroptosis, whereas when SIRT1 was activated by resveratrol (RSV) a significant decrease in DDVP-induced cell death was observed. In addition, we revealed that when the autophagy was inhibited by CQ, we can't reveal the protective effect of RSV anymore. Altogether, these results suggest that activation of SIRT1 protects cardiac cells from the toxicity of DDVP through an autophagy-dependent pathway. [Display omitted] • DDVP induces necroptosis in cardiac cells. • Inhibition of autophagy enhanced DDVP-induced necroptosis. • SIRT1 protect cells against DDVP-induced necroptosis by activating autophagy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding changes to aboveground biomass (AGB) in forests undergoing degradation is crucial for accurately and completely quantifying carbon emissions from forest loss and for environmental monitoring in the context of climate change. Monitoring forest degradation as compared to deforestation presents technical challenges because degradation involves widespread, low-intensity AGB removal under varying temporal dynamics. Charcoal production is a key driver for forest degradation in Africa and is projected to increase in the future years. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where charcoal production drives widespread ABG removal, the utility of optical remote sensing for degradation quantification is challenged by the large inter-seasonal variation and high complexities in ecosystem structure. Limited field measurements on tree structure and aboveground biomass density (AGBD) in many parts of the SSA also impose constraints. In this study, we present a novel data fusion approach combining 3D forest structure from NASA's GEDI Lidar with optical time-series data from Landsat to quantify biomass losses associated with charcoal-related forest degradation over a 10-year time period. We used machine learning models with Landsat spectral indices from the time period of limited hydric stress (LHS) as predictor variables. By applying the best performing Random Forest (RF) model to LandTrendr-stabilized annual LHS Landsat composites, we produced annual forest AGBD maps from 2007 to 2019 over the Mabalane district in southern Mozambique where the dry forest ecosystem was under active charcoal-related degradation since 2008. The RF model achieved an RMSE value of 7.05 Mg/ha (RMSE% = 42%) and R2 value of 0.64 using a 10-fold cross-validation dataset. We quantified a total AGB loss of 2.12 ± 0.06 Megatons (Mt) over the 10-year period, which is only 6.35 ± 2.56% less than the total loss estimated using field-based data as previously published for the same area and time. In addition to quantifying biomass loss, we constructed annual AGBD maps that enabled the characterization of disturbance and recovery. Our framework demonstrates that fusing GEDI and Landsat data through predictive modeling can be used to quantify past forest AGBD dynamics in low biomass forests. This approach provides a satellite-based method to support REDD+ monitoring and evaluation activities in areas where field data is limited and has the potential to be extended to investigate a variety of different disturbance events. • GEDI-Landsat fusion quantifies AGB loss in degraded forests with limited field data. • Data fusion enables spatial mapping of AGB loss and recovery in open dry forests. • Filtering GEDI data by sensitivity improved modeling results in open dry forests. • Seasonal compositing of Landsat produced more accurate AGB loss estimates. • Derived AGBD dynamics reflect intensified charcoal degradation with slow recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental effects of disease are broadly recognized but still not fully understood. The impact of health on economic development has been well-documented, as have how changes in land cover can contribute to poor health. However, little is known about how changes in health may impact land use and land cover. Fallowing has long been regarded as an advanced, sustainable land use decision employed by subsistence agriculturalists. In the presence of a prolonged illness, however, subsistence agriculturalists may also potentially use fallowing as a coping mechanism. In this paper we seek to understand the extent to which fallowing is used as a coping strategy by households facing a prolonged illness. If illness threatens a household's labor supply, it could affect their ability to cultivate all of their land and may impact food security and general economic well-being. Additionally, it may also impact the actual landscape, as previously agricultural land may revert to a transitional state or land abandonment. This study employs mixed methods to determine if unhealthy agricultural households use fallowing as a coping strategy, identifies whether or not unhealthy fallowing households are more vulnerable agriculturally and economically than their healthier fallowing counterparts, and examines whether there is a land cover effect that can be detected using Landsat TM/ETM + satellite imagery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly heritable disorder with a multifactorial pattern of inheritance. For complex conditions such as this, biologically based phenotypes that lie in the pathway from genes to behavior may provide a more powerful target for molecular genetic studies than the disorder as a whole. Although their use in ADHD is relatively new, such “endophenotypes” have aided the clarification of the etiology and pathophysiology of several other conditions in medicine and psychiatry. In this article, we review existing data on potential endophenotypes for ADHD, emphasizing neuropsychological deficits because assessment tools are cost effective and relatively easy to implement. Neuropsychological impairments, as well as measures from neuroimaging and electrophysiological paradigms, show correlations with ADHD and evidence of heritability, but the familial or genetic overlap between these constructs and ADHD remains unclear. We conclude that these endophenotypes will not be a quick fix for the field but offer potential if careful consideration is given to issues of heterogeneity, measurement and statistical power. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]