Water security, a key policy objective for sustainable development, is under stress as a result of land use and climate change, especially in (semi-)arid areas like Iran. Land use change alters surface runoff and affects basin-wide hydrological processes and water consumption, while climate change modifies precipitation and temperature patterns and consequently evapotranspiration and water supply.

Background: Migraine occurs 2–3 times more often in females than in males and is in many females associated with the onset of menstruation. The steroid hormone, 17β-estradiol (estrogen, E2), exerts its effects by binding and activating several estrogen receptors (ERs). Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) has a strong position in migraine pathophysiology, and interaction with CGRP has resulted i

Theoretical and empirical studies have shown that species radiations are facilitated when a trait under divergent natural selection is also involved in sexual selection. It is yet unclear how quick and effective radiations are where assortative mating is unrelated to the ecological environment and primarily results from sexual selection. We address this question using sympatric grasshopper species

The Amazon rainforests and their biological diversity are being lost rapidly by the onslaught of extractive industries, large-scale agriculture and infrastructure development, which also undermines the integrity of indigenous territories and ethnicities, threatening the tremendous cultural diversity of the Amazon. The loss of forest, the disintegration of local communities and the increase of the

A Grigorchuk-Gupta-Sidki (GGS-)group is a subgroup of the automorphism group of the p-regular rooted tree for an odd prime p, generated by one rooted automorphism and one directed automorphism. Pervova proved that all torsion GGS-groups do not have maximal subgroups of infinite index. Here we extend the result to non-torsion GGS-groups, which include the weakly regular branch, but not branch, GGS-

ObjectiveMost research on patient experiences of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) care is performed with patients who have established RA and less often with patients with early RA. Experiences of and expectations about health care may change over time, which is why the aim was to explore patients’ perceptions of person-centered care (PCC) early in the RA disease course.MethodsThirty-one patients with ea

This paper investigates the drivers for, and implementation of, digital transformation projects and organizational change initiatives in 20 companies in the UK. The study follows on previous research based on the Socio-Technical Toolbox [STT], specifically focusing on the activity analysis and employees’ experience and participation in the change initiative or digital transformation project.

This article arises from an interest in African urbanization and in the food, farming and nutritional transitions that some scholars present as integral to urban life. The paper investigates personal urban food environments, food sources and access strategies in two secondary Ugandan cities, Mbale and Mbarara, drawing on in-depth interviews and applying an intersectional lens. Food sources were si

As an introduction to the rigorous treatment of diffusion encoding in the rest of the book, this chapter gives simple non-mathematical explanations of the relations between the properties of biological tissues and the translational motion of the tissue water with the aim of conveying an intuitive feel of the relevant time and length scales and the level of detail of the information that can be obt

President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy questions the fundamentals of the global U.S.-led alliance network. Where other allies implemented hedging strategies, Japan’s Prime Minister Abe Shinzō pledged to “make the alliance even greater,” insisting that the bilateral ties were “airtight” and “stronger than ever before.” However, Trump’s approach to trade, détente with North Korea, and off-t

Operating lignocellulosic fermentation processes to produce fuels and chemicals is challenging due to the inherent complexity and variability of the fermentation media. Real-time monitoring is necessary to compensate for these challenges, but the traditional process monitoring methods fail to deliver actionable information that can be used to implement advanced control strategies. In this study, a

Structural health monitoring systems have been widely implemented to provide real-time continuous data support and to ensure structural safety in the context of structural integrity management. However, the quantification of the potential benefits of structural health monitoring systems has not yet attracted widespread attention. At the same time, there is an urgent need to develop strategies, suc

Purpose: The study aimed to explore family caregivers’ support needs prior to allo-HSCT, how these change over time and whether they are associated with demographic factors and caregiver outcome. Methods: This longitudinal repeated measure study included 87 family caregivers of allo-HSCT recipients: 63% were partners, 74% women, 65% lived with the recipient, and their mean age was 54 years. They c

We use historical data on union density and new historical data on policies toward migrants to study the long-run relationship between the strength of trade unions and the social and economic rights of migrants in the Global North. In countries with strong trade unions, there was, for a long time, a widening distance between the rights of migrants and the rights of citizens, probably because the rWe use historical data on union density and new historical data on policies toward migrants to study the long-run relationship between the strength of trade unions and the social and economic rights of migrants in the Global North. In countries with strong trade unions, there was, for a long time, a widening distance between the rights of migrants and the rights of citizens, probably because the r

Past studies suggest that people are often reluctant to use occupant evacuation elevators in case of fire. However, existing research is scarce and current knowledge is based on questionnaire studies and laboratory experiments. An unannounced evacuation experiment was therefore performed on the 16th floor of a 35-floor high-rise hotel building. Sixty-seven participants took part and eye-tracking g

Concerns that prospects for upward mobility are fading are common in popular and scientific discourse. The fact that fewer Americans today surpass their parents’ economic status than in the past has been invoked to explain trends ranging from the recent spike in drug and alcohol poisonings to the growing appeal of right-wing populism. Using General Social Survey data, the authors ask whether peopl

Background: The interaction of allergens and allergen-specific IgE initiates the allergic cascade after crosslinking of receptors on effector cells. Antibodies of other isotypes may modulate such a reaction. Receptor crosslinking requires binding of antibodies to multiple epitopes on the allergen. Limited information is available on the complexity of the epitope structure of most allergens. Object